Test-Chile
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Test-Chile Strategy Report
Final Standings
The game is still in progress. Current standings by score at turn 150:
- Vietnam — 1,413 points
- Chile — 1,408 points
- Iroquois — 1,286 points
- Bolivia — 1,220 points
No winner has been declared. Vietnam holds a narrow score lead, but the contest is far from settled.
Per-Player Strategic Verdict
Vietnam (Nhi and Trac Trung) — 1st place, score leader
Vietnam opened Liberty and pivoted to Piety at turn 39, founding the game's first religion at turn 64 with Protestantism. Its beliefs — Goddess of Protection (+1 Faith and Culture from Walls, +50% City Bombardment), Devout Performers (+1 Culture from Colosseums and Circuses, +5 Local Happiness and +4 Culture from the Circus Maximus), Dawah (+3 Culture and +4 Faith from the Palace), Followers of the Refined Crafts (+1 Culture, +2 Gold and Faith from relevant specialist buildings), and Disciples (+2 Gold and Culture from Great Person improvements) — gave it a layered cultural and faith economy. Its 9 cities at turn 150 carry a tech cost multiplier of 1.40 and a policy cost multiplier of 1.80, but its 38 techs lead all civilizations at that checkpoint, ahead of Chile's 42... wait — Chile holds 42 techs at turn 150 to Vietnam's 38, meaning Chile has the superior tech count (42 vs. Vietnam's 38, Iroquois's 35, Bolivia's 29). Vietnam's research pace, with 160 science against a 1.40 tech multiplier, is meaningful but slower than Chile's 254.76 science against only a 1.10 multiplier. Vietnam's strength at turn 150 is instead its military: 2,567 military might and 29 units, the highest military might figure among all four civilizations at that checkpoint (ahead of Bolivia's 4,415... Bolivia's 4,415 exceeds Vietnam's 2,567, so Bolivia leads in raw military might). Vietnam does lead Chile's 2,853 but trails Bolivia's 4,415. Despite fighting a costly war against Chile and multiple city-states at turns 140–146 (losing 3 units in the Chile war and absorbing heavy attrition fighting Harappa from turn 106 to 131, where it lost 7 units killing only 3), Vietnam's military rebounded sharply by turn 150. A late score snowball from turns 123 to 141 lifted it past Chile in score at turn 136. Vietnam's trajectory is strong, but its ongoing unhappiness (–6 at turn 150, a period running from turn 143 onward) stalls population growth and applies a combat-strength penalty at a sensitive moment.
Chile (dysk) — 2nd place, human player
Chile pursued a hyper-tall three-city strategy under Tradition, maintaining the lowest possible tech and policy cost multipliers throughout: 1.10 tech cost multiplier and 1.20 policy cost multiplier at turn 150, unchanged since before turn 75. With only 3 cities all game, Chile converted its science output — 254.76 at turn 150, the highest raw science of any civilization in that snapshot, compared to Vietnam's 160.03, Iroquois's 181.95, and Bolivia's 102.5 — into the highest tech count (42 techs, ahead of Vietnam's 38, Iroquois's 35, and Bolivia's 29). Chile's wonder construction is extraordinary: 27 wonders by turn 150, including Stonehenge, Great Lighthouse, Great Library, Mosque of Djenne, Parthenon, Hagia Sophia, Hanging Gardens, Chichen Itza, Alhambra, Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu, Oracle, Terracotta Army, Globe Theatre, Leaning Tower, Sistine Chapel, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, and many national wonders — a haul that generated enormous culture (221 at turn 150, by far the highest), faith, and great-person output. Chile's Exploration branch (adopted turn 111) with Maritime Infrastructure (+2 Production every city, +50% toward maritime buildings), Colonialism (free Worker, extra population, and extra tiles in new cities — though Chile founded no new cities after this policy, making it largely vestigic), Naval Tradition (+1 Happiness and Culture from Lighthouses, Harbors, Seaports), and Economic Union (+5% gold per city-state trade route, +2 Trade Routes) explains its explosive gold economy: 886 gold banked and 211 gold per turn at turn 150, vastly ahead of rivals. Volunteer Army (adopted turn 141) adds unit maintenance relief and grants 3 Foreign Legion units with the Morale promotion. Chile's happiness remains strongly positive at 54, the only civilization not in or near the red. The Piety branch completion at turn 101, including Free Religion (renamed Religious Tolerance in LEKMOD, providing cities with the second most popular religion's pantheon, +2 Science from Temples, +25% Science from Grand Temple), Mandate of Heaven (+1 Faith in capital, +1 Happiness from Temples, 20% cheaper Religious Buildings and Units), and Theocracy (+33% Gold from Grand Temple, Holy Sites +3 Gold, +1 Gold from Shrines and Temples) reinforced the gold engine. Chile founded its religion very late — turn 149 — which limits the strategic value of its beliefs within this game's remaining turns. Chile's Cooperative (unique Factory replacement providing +2 Happiness, an extra Engineer Specialist, and unlocking ideologies after only one is built) enabled its Freedom ideology unlock at turn 141 — the only civilization to unlock an ideology in this game. Despite all this, Chile was overtaken in score at turn 136 and remains 5 points behind Vietnam at turn 150. Its military might of 2,853 places it second among all civilizations at that snapshot, behind Bolivia's 4,415.
Iroquois (Hiawatha) — 3rd place
Iroquois opened Liberty and completed it at turn 65, then switched to Piety at turn 80, and picked up Tradition at turn 112. It holds 10 cities at turn 150 with a tech cost multiplier of 1.45 and a policy cost multiplier of 1.90 — the highest policy cost multiplier of any civilization. At 36 techs, Iroquois trails Chile's 42 and Vietnam's 38 but leads Bolivia's 29. Its 35 techs confirmed above (rechecking: turn 150 shows Iroquois at 35 techs from the timeline — the timeline's final entry is Economics at turn 150, which is the 35th distinct research entry, excluding the duplicate Mining entry for Bolivia). Its science of 181.95 against a 1.45 multiplier gives it a research-per-cost ratio inferior to Chile's. Iroquois suffered from repeated Bolivia attacks (turns 71–77 and 120–130), winning both defensively (Bolivia lost 6 units in the first war and 10 in the second, against Iroquois's 1 and 4), but the sustained unhappiness periods (turns 58–62, 106–108, 120–133, 143–144, 148–150) confirm that city over-extension and wartime attrition continually capped its growth. Its wonder count is minimal (Writers' Guild and Artists' Guild, both national). Its military might of 1,736 at turn 150 is the lowest of any civilization. The Iroquois unique ability — free road movement through Forests and Jungles in friendly territory and city connections via those tiles from The Wheel — would have supported its wide expansion, but the empire's fiscal and happiness management was consistently strained.
Bolivia (Manuel Belzu) — 4th place
Bolivia adopted Liberty and completed it at turn 107, then picked up Honor at turn 54 and Rationalism at turn 124. Despite trailing in score and having only 29 techs at turn 150 (the fewest of any civilization), Bolivia holds the highest military might in the game at turn 150: 4,415, far ahead of Chile's 2,853, Vietnam's 2,567, and Iroquois's 1,736, with 34 units. This is a real strategic asset even as Bolivia's research pace has fallen further behind. Its tech path was heavily skewed toward a military tree — Steel at turn 89, Gunpowder at turn 101, Chemistry at turn 116 — while Writing was not researched until turn 139, foreclosing a library-based science economy for most of the game. Bolivia's Honor + Warrior Code (2 free Warriors, 4 maintenance-free units, gold per kill) and Discipline (100% Production toward Heroic Epic providing +4 Food/Happiness/Culture/Production/Gold; +50% XP for non-air units) built a combat-focused empire. The Revolución Nacional unique ability — using Great Artists to add +1 Production to Mines, or Great Writers to add +1 Food — was used (a Great Writer was consumed turn 145), but with only 3 great people generated across the entire game, the ability paid out modestly. Bolivia's gold per turn is deeply negative at –29.57 at turn 150, and it entered unhappiness at turn 144, making its large army increasingly expensive to sustain.
Key Moments
Turn 57 — Chile attacks Vietnam (turns 57–64): Chile, having just completed Tradition at turn 57, launched an early strike on Vietnam. The result was minor: Chile lost 1 unit (the spike at turn 63 involved casualties from the simultaneous multi-front war rather than Vietnam specifically), Vietnam lost 1, no cities changed hands, and peace came at turn 64. What matters is what followed: Chile's declaration pulled in its Maseru ally against Vietnam (turn 58) and Harappa against Chile (turn 62), simultaneously triggering wars between Chile and Bolivia, Chile and Iroquois, and Maseru against both Bolivia and Iroquois. This city-state cascade, a direct consequence of Chile's war, cost Chile two units lost against the Iroquois with zero killed in return and briefly stretched its military thin.
Turn 64 — Vietnam founds Protestantism, first religion in the game: Vietnam's early faith accumulation via the Goddess of Protection pantheon (turn 40) produced the first religion at turn 64, well ahead of Iroquois (turn 111), Bolivia (turn 125), and Chile (turn 149). The beliefs chosen — Devout Performers, Dawah, and later Followers of the Refined Crafts and Disciples — gave Vietnam a persistent cultural and economic edge throughout the Classical and Medieval eras.
Turn 94 — Chile reaches the Renaissance first: Chile entered the Renaissance Era at turn 94, leading all civilizations. It was already producing exceptional science and culture from its wonder stack by this point, and it snowballed in science from turns 92 to 109 and in score from turns 58 to 75. This era lead translated into a string of Renaissance wonders (Leaning Tower, Globe Theatre, Sistine Chapel) that no rival could contest.
Turns 106–131 — Vietnam attacks Harappa (25 turns): Vietnam's war against city-state Harappa was costly: 7 units lost, 3 killed, no cities captured. The 25-turn grinding engagement coincided with Vietnam's unhappiness period (turns 121–128), stalling population growth and imposing a combat penalty exactly when Vietnam needed its army healthy. Despite this, Vietnam's military surged in 2567 might by turn 150, suggesting the attrition was weathered.
Turns 120–130 — Bolivia attacks Iroquois (second war): Bolivia's second attempt on Iroquois was its most destructive engagement, losing 10 units to Iroquois's 4. Bolivia's Warrior Code policy (gold per kill = strength of killed unit, max 30) meant Iroquois's kills generated gold for Iroquois, not Bolivia. Bolivia's army surged after this war (military might swings show a 50% rise at turns 124–126), suggesting it rebuilt rapidly with Honor-fueled production, but at the cost of severe attrition.
Turn 136 — Vietnam overtakes Chile in score (leader change): The score leadership passed from Chile to Vietnam at turn 136, coinciding with Vietnam's score snowball (turns 123–141). This is the defining competitive moment: Chile had led in score since at least its first snowball period (turns 58–75) and had dominated the era race through the Modern Era, but Vietnam's broader city count and faith/culture economy eventually produced a higher score yield.
Turns 139–147 — Vietnam attacks Wittenberg; turns 140–146 — Vietnam attacks Chile: Vietnam declared war on Wittenberg at turn 139 (Chile's ally), pulling Chile's allies Baku, Harappa, and Port-au-Prince into the fight against Vietnam. Vietnam lost 3+7+4+3+8+3 units across multiple loss spikes while Chile lost 2+3 in the bilateral war, for an overall exchange where Vietnam absorbed more attrition. Chile killed 2 and lost 3 in the war with Vietnam specifically. Vietnam's military might at turn 150 (2,567) still exceeds Chile's (2,853 — Chile's figure is actually higher), meaning Chile's military is slightly stronger despite these losses. Chile's military might collapsed at turns 142–143 from 1,435 to 1,173 (–18%), then surged to 2,533 (up 116%), likely representing the Volunteer Army's 3 Foreign Legions arriving.
Turn 149 — Chile founds Confucianism with three Prophets simultaneously; turn 150 — Reformation: Chile's use of three Great Prophets on turn 149 (and a fifth on the same turn) to found a religion this late in the game — order 4 of 4 — reflects its extremely high great-person output from the Leaning Tower (+20% great-person generation all cities), National Epic, and Piety branch, but the strategic value of Synagogues (+2 Faith, +1 Production and Culture, +15% Production toward buildings), Salat (+4 Production from the Palace), and Apostolic Palace (+5 Food, Production, Science, Gold, Culture, and Faith from the Grand Temple) will only pay out over the remaining 180 turns if the game continues that long.
Decisive Decisions
Chile's choice to stay at 3 cities for the entire game is the single most structurally consequential decision. Locking in a 1.10 tech multiplier and 1.20 policy multiplier permanently allowed Chile to outresearch every rival in effective terms even when raw science outputs were comparable. At turn 125, Chile had 137 science against 1.10 (effective ~125), while Vietnam had 105 against 1.30 (~81) and Iroquois had 48 against 1.40 (~34). This asymmetry compounded into Chile's 42-tech lead at turn 150.
Chile's wonder prioritization — beginning with Stonehenge at turn 39 and Great Lighthouse at turn 45, then chaining through a remarkable sequence of world and national wonders — established its production, faith, culture, and great-person engine. The Aristocracy policy (+15% Production toward Wonders, +1 Happiness per 10 population) made this self-reinforcing. The Angkor Wat (free University) and National College combination gave Chile a decisive science edge. Chile's ability to construct a Cooperative instead of a Factory (the unique building that also unlocked Freedom ideology after just one, compared to three Factories required for other civilizations) gave Chile first access to ideology.
Vietnam's early Liberty + Piety combination and first religion founding established the cultural and faith base that sustained its competitive score. Its decision to found religion at turn 64 — 47 turns before Iroquois, 61 before Bolivia, and 85 before Chile — meant its beliefs worked for the maximum number of turns.
Bolivia's decision to pursue an Honor/military path while neglecting key civic technologies — Writing not until turn 139, Philosophy not until turn 144, Theology not until turn 146 — left it with a powerful army but no science infrastructure. At 29 techs against a 1.40 multiplier, Bolivia cannot convert its military strength into a non-domination victory path within the game's remaining turns.
Vietnam's declaration of war on Wittenberg at turn 139, pulling Chile's alliance network into a war Vietnam could not decisively win, was a costly overreach. The resulting attrition (losing more units than Chile in the head-to-head) and Vietnam's ongoing unhappiness through turn 150 (–6) represent a strategic gamble that has not yet paid off.
Chile's late adoption of Exploration (turn 111) and its Economic Union policy (+5% gold per city-state trade route, +2 Trade Routes) combined with multiple city-state alliances by turn 150 (Wittenberg, Cahokia, Harappa, Baku, Port-au-Prince active across the mid-to-late game) built the 211-gold-per-turn economy that is now Chile's most durable advantage. The Tower of Belem (Compass, Exploration required) built at turn 147 adds +4 Golden Age Points and +2 Culture with additional bonuses from city settlement patterns whose exact impact cannot be confirmed without terrain data.
Counterfactuals
If Chile had founded 1–2 additional cities earlier: A fourth city at, say, turn 75 would have raised Chile's tech multiplier to 1.15 and policy multiplier to 1.30 — a modest cost for additional production, population, and trade route capacity. The wonder-construction engine suggests Santiago de Chile alone could sustain most of the build queue; a production-specialized fourth city would not have meaningfully disrupted the wonder chain. The cultural and scientific yields per additional city in the early-game are substantial, and Chile's happiness surplus (consistently 20–54 through the mid-game) easily accommodated expansion.
If Bolivia had invested in a science infrastructure: Bolivia's research priority for Steel (turn 89), Gunpowder (turn 101), and Chemistry (turn 116) gave it a powerful early-industrial military while leaving it without Writing until turn 139. Had Bolivia researched Writing, Philosophy, and Theology in the Classical/Medieval eras, it could have built Libraries, Universities, and Temples, and founded a religion far earlier (its pantheon wasn't founded until turn 106). At 29 techs and trailing by 13 against Chile, Bolivia cannot realistically compete for a science victory and is too far behind on policies for a culture victory; only domination remains viable, and the negative gold per turn (–29.57) threatens army sustainability.
If Vietnam had not fought Harappa for 25 turns: The 7 units lost to Harappa (turns 106–131) and the associated unhappiness (turns 121–128) interrupted Vietnam's population snowball and consumed military investment that might have translated into more cities or stronger positioning before the Chile war at turn 140. Avoiding that conflict and instead consolidating the 7 cities Vietnam had by turn 120 might have produced a stronger financial and happiness base for the late game.
If Chile had founded its religion before turn 100: Chile generated a Great Prophet as early as turn 63 (used to found the religion late at turn 149 instead). Founding Confucianism in the Classical or Medieval era would have allowed Synagogues (+15% Production toward Buildings), Salat (+4 Production from Palace), and Religious Community (+1% Production per follower, max +10%) to accelerate Chile's already formidable wonder and building construction for 50+ additional turns. The late founding means these beliefs will contribute only in the game's final stretch.
Conclusion
Through turn 150 of a 330-turn Quick-speed game, this is a contest between Chile's extraordinary tall-empire optimization and Vietnam's broader, militarily formidable expansion. Chile's permanent 1.10 tech multiplier has produced the highest tech count (42, leading Vietnam's 38, Iroquois's 35, and Bolivia's 29), the highest raw science (254.76), the highest culture (221), the only positive-happiness empire (+54), the strongest gold economy (211 gold per turn, 886 banked), and 27 world and national wonders — a compounding advantage that makes it the most technologically advanced and fiscally durable civilization. Vietnam holds the score lead by just 5 points (1,413 to 1,408) and the strongest military among the top two (though Bolivia's 4,415 military might dwarfs both), but suffers ongoing unhappiness (–6) and a heavier cost multiplier burden. Iroquois, despite strong defensive wars, is constrained by the highest policy cost multiplier (1.90) and limited wonder infrastructure. Bolivia's army is formidable but its tech deficit (29 techs) and negative cash flow (–29.57 gold/turn) with the game barely half over leave it without a credible path to any non-domination victory. Looking forward, Chile is best positioned: its science lead grows each turn, its wonder yields compound into great-person and culture output, Freedom ideology is already unlocked, and its happiness surplus allows further expansion or sustained military investment. A science or culture victory appears within Chile's reach; the decision that will determine the outcome is whether Chile can translate its technological lead into a winning position before Vietnam's broader empire and military strength allow it to dictate the game's terms on the ground.