Pong 8: Georgia

Coming off my victory in Pong 7, I was pretty disappointed with my draft choices for Pong 8: Spain, Georgia, and Australia. I detest Spain's reliance on the random continent splits in Civ 6, and I while Australia is quite strong, I think their bonus production from receiving declarations of war and liberating City States is really gamey in multiplayer.

And then there's Georgia, widely considered to be the weakest civ, and for good reason. Their unique unit and building both suffer from becoming obsolete very quickly. However, I wanted to see how much use I could get out of their other abilities: easier golden ages and doubling envoys in city states with Georgia's religion. I really like the idea of Georgia, so hopefully I'll be able to make something cool happen with them.

The Ancient Era

My starting location is pretty mediocre. Lots of food from the sugar, but I've got a big desert to the south and more coastline than I'd like for a non-naval empire.

My warrior finds some decent hilly land and gets some bonus culture from first-meeting Mohenjo Daro. Early culture is always welcome.

Hello Scythia. Not exactly the neighbor I want to see early, but our capitals are actually pretty far apart so I feel somewhat safe for now. My plan is to keep a good relationship with him and try to direct him toward attacking his other neighbors.

I settle my second city in the hills to the southeast. It also has a few mountains that will provide nice campus and holy site district locations. And I throw down my first holy site in my capital. Knowing India, Arabia, and Scythia are in the game I am paranoid about getting my religion quickly. In hindsight I probably bee-lined this a little too hard which ended up delaying my expansion a bit.

I grab the Divine Spark pantheon to speed up my Great Prophet and just give me an overall advantage throughout the rest of the game.

My scout gets a glimpse of Scythia's (Nate's) capital city. Lots of tundra.

And to the south my other scout skirts the borders of another empire.

I plug in Agoge and Colonization to get more settlers and a few military units out.

I stick with my usual governors: Magnus for the overpowered chops, and Amani to take control of city states early.

Tskhumi isn't in the greatest 3rd city spot, but it gives me a defensible border with Scythia and a potential harbor spot. My land is surrounded by water, so I might need to get my navy going to expand in the future.

I meet Joe's Nubian empire to the south and Darren's Macedon in the far east. They're both far from me, but I'm getting a little worried since all my neighbors are strong warmonger civs.

My exploration also grants me the civic boost for Political Philosophy by meeting 3 city states. None I'm particularly interested in at the moment though.

The game seems pretty peaceful at the moment, and I just made an alliance with Scythia, so I grab Classical Republic for my tier 1 government. The extra economic slot is helpful, and I'm about to have campuses built that can benefit from the extra GPP.

Our first session comes to a close just before the dawn of the Classical era. I'm doing pretty well according to the scores, but haven't caught up to the unmet AI yet.

The Classical Era

I'm off to a decent start having already founded 4 cities and exploring a decent chunk of the map. It would have been nice to fall into a dark age considering that I'm not facing any loyalty issues at the moment. My goals for the Classical Era are to get more districts built, conquer Mohenjo Daro, and especially to get Petra so my desert city isn't a total waste.

Just a boring Normal Age. Usually I take Free Inquiry, but I'm about to build a bunch of districts so I try out Monumentality this time.

The religion of Infinite Knowledge. I pick up Choral music to boost my culture, and Papal Primacy. Usually I would consider this a pretty weak choice, but I wanted to see if it had good synergy with Georgia's double envoy ability. In the end it was somewhat helpful for spreading my religion to city states, but not really a game-changer. I probably wouldn't pick it again.

I meet Gorgo to the southwest. Our territory is divided by a small river valley north of a HUGE mountain range that will become known as the Western Wall.

Joe makes quick work of AI Japan. That's bad news because now he probably has a lot of nice land to himself. And likely some upgraded Pitati archers that I don't want to mess with.

Excellent first great scientist.

I rushed Mathematics and now I'm getting started on Petra. Kutaisi has 8-9 desert mines in range, so it'll have insane production if I can finish Petra first. However, I figure Nubia probably started in desert and will be gunning for it too. 

I place Reyna in my harbor city in preparation for a commercial hub/harbor/city center triangle. 

Mostly focusing on production cards, particularly getting the wonder boost for Petra.

In the meantime I've amassed a small force of swordsmen and archers to take over Mohenjo Daro. It's a nice big city and right next to my capital. I can't have Nate controlling it in the future, so I decide to absorb it into my empire.

Got my first missionary so he can start spreading Infinite Knowledge.

I chop some deer to finish Petra ahead of Joe. Finally I have a good production city in my empire.

My scouts discover Kumasi and check out a bit of Pete's Indian empire.

Joe and I agreed that the horizontal river would be our border, but I didn't expect him to settle that close. I really considered attacking Faras, but his army score was higher than mine and I know he has some upgraded pitati archers about to be upgraded to crossbowmen. I can't fight that kind of power at the moment.

My current governor setup.

And I've moved into 2nd place in score. AI Gorgo is way out in front with huge cultural output. I realize at this point that somebody will probably have to put her down later in the game.

I have friends!

Starting to get my harbors up to take advantage of the upcoming Free Inquiry golden age dedication.

The Medieval Age

I achieved most of my plans in the last era which has set me up for a nice Medieval Age. I'll need to get my harbors and commercial hubs completed to make the most of my dedication and hopefully get a nice lead in science. I'd also like to expand a bit more, but I think this will require some investment into my lackluster military since the map is already getting crowded. Secondary goals include spreading my religion to city states and getting to my tier 2 government asap.

 I develop my religion by grabbing Defender of the Faith. Nobody's going to be invading me anytime soon.

Scythia declares war on Arabia to kick the Medieval Era off with a bang. I don't have a good look at either of their armies, and I'm friends with both of them so I decide to stay neutral. However if push comes to shove, I'll definitely be backing my trade partner Scythia.

Policy cards. I've got my double adjacency from Harbors giving me tons of gold and science. And I'm using Limes to get my initial walls up while abusing the 100% production overflow chops.

Gorgo foolishly moves a settler across the river, and I take this as an invitation to declare war. I was already preparing to attack her because her culture and tourism are starting to get out of hand. A free settler on top of that is just too good to pass up.

War!

Darren (Macedon) captures my city state Kumasi, which I'm not too happy about. But it's much too far away for me to retaliate.

New city thanks to Gorgo's settler.

And I finally get Pingala's 3rd tier promotion. Now my great person accumulation will be a lot stronger. Ideally I would have liked to get this one earlier, but I really needed to upgrade Reyna for the gold boosts to my harbors.

I plant Gori on the river to give me a better point to launch my attack on Greece. Also, it's pretty much the only place I can safely expand to now.

Finally found Rome. They're faaaar to the west so I doubt I'll interact with them too much.

A religious emergency is called against India, but I don't care. As long as he's not converting my cities more power to him.

I catch a glimpse of the famous Scythian aquatic horse army. Looks like he's trying to flank Arabia.

Oh baby. Isaac Newton is going to help keep me ahead in science for the time being. His timing is perfect since my science per turn will drop off pretty hard when my Medieval golden age dedication ends.

Mostly military and gold cards to prepare for the fight with Gorgo.

The Renaissance Era

The good news is that my empire has become the scientific leader in the world and I continue to have peaceful relations with my (non-AI) neighbors. Furthermore, due to Georgia's era score bonuses I was able to get back to back golden ages. However, war looms with the powerful Greek empire and I'm starting to become suspicious of Nubia's expansion in the south. His science and culture are more than respectable, and his economy is booming even more than my own. It seems that Joe will be my primary rival going forward even though we're friendly now.

Greece and I enter golden ages while a great darkness falls over the Eastern nations. I take Reform the Coinage as my dedication to boost my economy. Trade routes are also a very consistent source of era score from Georgia's ability. Hopefully this will allow me to chain another golden age into the Industrial era.

I start pushing toward Gorgo's eastern front. She's actually got a lot of crossbow corps which will make it pretty annoying to attack into her. I've also converted Preslav to my religion and sent them some double envoys to gain suzerainty over them.

Scythia and I strengthen our relationship with an economic alliance. I'll definitely take 21 gpt from each trade route.

I conquer Corinth with the help of my newly upgraded field cannons, but most of my units are injured so I'll have to proceed carefully. My missionaries are following closely behind my army to convert any cities I take.

Some game standings here. Gorgo's tourism is still creeping up there, but I think my attack will set her back enough to prevent an early culture victory. Though I'm still ahead in science, Nubia's score has skyrocketed past mine. Looking at the mini-map it's easy to see why: he has a ton of cities.

 I now realize that allowing him to settle Faras so far north was a big mistake. But I didn't know just how much free land he had to settle in the south, and I couldn't afford to fight him earlier so I'm not sure there's much I could have done to reign him in. I wish India or Arabia would have pressured him more, but the 3 of them have been on good terms all game. 

The Arabian-Scythian war enters its second phase, and I get dragged into it since I'm in an alliance with Scythia. I'm busy fighting Gorgo, but I have a few ships in the middle lake that I can use to help out my ally.

Georgia controls the seas... I mean lakes!

That +5 Industrial zone though.

I build some Tshikes just for the hell of it. They're pretty garbage (ok actually they are the worst unique building in the game), but at least I'll get some faith and tourism from them.

I take another Greek city, but decide to raze this one since it's pretty useless and almost impossible to hold due to loyalty.

After plugging in the Wisselbanken and Triangular trade policy cards my trade routes to Scythia are even more insane.

Arabia and I make peace. I later learn that this money came from a loan that Nubia gave him in return for his friendship and a great work. Even at this point Joe was manipulating everyone with his monster Nubian economy.

The Industrial Era

The last era was decent for me, but Nubia has started to pull ahead. At this point I pretty much see the writing on the wall, but I also realize that I'm the only one who can possibly challenge him in war. I decide to start building up my forces and prepare for battle with Nubia. I've still got a slight tech advantage though I believe his culture, production and gold will outpace me in the end.

Further hurting my chances is the fact that I only have a normal age while he achieved a Golden age.

I make peace with Gorgo as I realize that taking Buenos Aires will be extremely difficult due to the geography. I also need to refocus my forces toward Nubia in case war breaks out.

In fact Nubia has also jumped into war against Greece and is starting to absorb her southern cities into their massive empire. Unfortunately the majority of her great works and wonders are located in the cities Nubia will take from her. Again, there's nothing I could have done due to the Western Wall mountains blocking me. The future is not looking bright.

At least my spies are doing fairly well stealing gold from the filthy rich Nubians.

I spoke too soon.

Nubia has passed me in culture and they have by far the largest army in the world. I've started to mass troops on my southern border to pressure him. Maybe I can use my tech advantage to get tanks/artillery before him and make a quick attack.

I'm close to tanks, but he's got his border pretty fortified. Doesn't look promising.

For some reason, India and Arabia have continued to ally with Nubia even though he's starting to run away with the game. Meanwhile Macedon comes out of nowhere to declare war on Arabia which turns the wrath of the IAC alliance against him.

Nubia liberates Buenos Aires. 

Have to settle a new city just to reach my only source of oil which is unfortunate. But hopefully soon I'll have my tanks ready to roll.

Joe wants peace, but he knows it's out of the question now. Since he got all of Gorgo's great works he's starting to ramp up toward a culture victory himself. Making friends with him now will essentially hand him the win.

A timely Great General before war is declared.

The Modern Era

This era is shaping up to be a bloody one, with both Joe and I gearing up for the inevitable war. As I said before, I doubt my chances. I was hoping to get Tel (Arabia) and Pete (India) to betray Joe with some diplomacy, but it seems they're completely loyal to him. With them on Nubia's side I don't know how much damage I'll be able to do.

So much for Georgia being good at the era score game.

As we position our troops Tel decides to put some 'peacekeeping' forces along the border. I warn him that he's on a suicide mission but he can't be swayed.

Rome decides they want to actually do something in this game, so they take over Buenos Aires which triggers an emergency. Then a funny thing happens. Joe and I both join the emergency which technically makes us 'allies' for the duration. So we end up getting full vision over each other's units, land, spies, everything! If either of us wanted to surprise the other before our war, that plan is out the window.

I finally get to my 3rd tier government even though Joe has had his for a good 10-15 turns. Eventually I want to switch over to Fascism for the unit production boost, but I had the civic boost for Communism already so I went for that in the meantime.

And I'm ready to chop out the War Department in my capital for that sweet, sweet unit healing.

I just got Modern Armor so I figure it's now or never.

Taking some Arabian cities because I can. Retribution for not moving those peacekeeping units earlier!

This battle is a long slog back and forth along our border. I don't have many screenshots because I'm busy moving units around, and there are A LOT of units to move. Essentially I try to use my modern armor to dislodge his defending troops in order to get an advantageous position from which to shell his cities with my artillery.

At first things go reasonably well, and I'm able to get one of my modern armor armies into a fort directly in front of Faras. The problem is that he also has air support which is constantly attacking my units even in my back lines. And his superior production/gold output is allowing him to reinforce much faster than I can.

Then he drops the hammer. Unfortunately Nate couldn't join the game this week and the AI is now controlling Scythia. Joe takes the opportunity to bribe my ally into declaring war on me. Remember all those beautiful trade routes I had with them? Those are all gone and my economy is tanked. My gold is in the negative, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Scythia's betrayal fittingly triggers an emergency. This is my only chance to get some gold so I have to turn some of my troops to the north and conquer Scythia's capital.

All of these factors plus the development of Nubian modern armor and machine guns turned the tide swiftly against me. My southern cities start falling the the Nubian counterattack.

The Atomic Era

Well, it seems Georgia is not long for this world as Nubian troops flood across our now vulnerable border. During all of this violence Nubia's tourism has steadily risen and is starting to become dominant in the lesser empires. It's only a matter of time before he wins now. But at least I got a pointless Heroic Age!

None of these dedications are going to help me too much.

I conquer Scythia's capital which completes the emergency and I'm awarded with a cool 13,000 gold. I use it all to buy units, but even that is not enough to stop Joe's war march.

As he takes over my cities his tourism rises even more rapidly. About 15 turns later his culture becomes dominant over the world. Good game.

I can say that my Georgian experiment was not a complete failure. I was able to control some city states effectively with her double envoy bonus, and I chained a few important golden ages thanks to her Strength in Unity ability. However, her unique building and unit made absolutely no impact, as I expected.  Despite Georgia's flaws I think they are a rather fun civilization to play, and hopefully will get some buffs in the upcoming Gathering Storm expansion that make them more competitive.

This game I tried to play a bit more diplomatically than usual, and in some respects it paid off. My alliance with Scythia was extremely lucrative. But I should have made better friends with India and Arabia so that we could team up on Joe and his Nubian blob. Probably the biggest mistake I (or anyone else) made this game was to allow Joe to expand so easily. Once he conquered Japan his empire was pretty much uncontested. Perhaps Arabia and I could have prevented him from settling north with a coordinated attack. 

Anyway, Pong 8 was another great game with an especially interesting map. Now we are all looking forward to the release of Gathering Storm and the first Pong game with all the new civs and updated mechanics. Will the new expansion also crown a new winner? Or will Joe and I continue to trade victory screens? Only time will tell!