We have a
fruitful start, right next to wheat on floodplains. A delta is visible, so I
assume there is a coastline nearby as well. A coastal city would be preferable,
as income will be crucial to get a fast spaceship. I will lose quite a lot of
shield should I move to the coast though, so some consideration is in order.
In the end
after some 16 minutes deliberation, I decide on the coastal tile, mostly
because then I might squeeze in another city on the landmass allotted me.
I already
know Pottery, so I start max research on Ceremonial Burial.
Start
worker on Irrigation, as I may shave a turn of the second growth by doing that.
I order up another scout before I go Granary/settler. I haven’t decided yet
which one I would want first.
A hut near
the wines in the east gave us a skilled warrior.
Hmm, at
turn 5, I discovered I had forgotten to crank up research, and amends are made.
3700: Our
exploring warrior meets up with a haughty Ottoman spear.
I trade
Masonry for Alphabet and 4 coins of gold. Pottery is not up to the task of
getting Bronze working from him. We celebrate the deal with ingesting some
peppery fruits hanging from the bushes in a nearby patch of jungle.
3650 Our
scout enters a hut in the desert to the east, and found a tribe that want to
join us on the condition they do not have to move. This is not a very good city
placement, but I will accept them for now.
3450 We
meet the Maya. Looks like a cramped corner of the world. We are actually ahead
of the Mayans in tech.
We get
Ceremonial Burial, and I take an unorthodox route, and start Mysticism instead
of Writing at max.
3350 We
trade Alphabet to Mayans for their 10 gold and Warrior Code. Then I trade
Pottery and Warrior Code to Ottomans for his Bronze working. I also decide for
Settler before Granary in Hattusas. I want to settle some silks in the middle
between us and Ottomans before it gets too crowded.
3150 We get
Wheel from a hut.
3050 Uck, I spot Ivory on the other side of the Ottomans. That
could get nasty.
2950
Ottomans beat me by two turns to Mysticism. I continue my research anyway. I
will not give them the wheel for saving two turns of research. I am tempted to
buy a worker from them though for merging into Hattusas, but I am fairly
certain Ottomans will go to war against me sooner rather than later, and I do
not want to deal with war weariness. ( I suspect
foreign citizens are unhappy even in Monarchy should you fight their
motherland. )
2900 Our
first settler is finished, and Hattusas start a granary. Our scout is really scared as a barbarian
camp pops up right next to him, and he leaves with some speed.
Mysticism
comes in, and I start Polytheism.
2710
2630
Horseback riding comes in from the next hut.
2510 As far
as I can judge, I am stuck on a continent together with the Mayans and the
Ottomans. It is a bad year though, as it is the year of the plague in Hattusas.
Our desert
city of
2190 Our
growth is really hurting as we get struck by disease in Hattusas yet again.
Meanwhile
Mayans and Ottomans are foiling my plans for fast techs by research the exact
same techs that I have, so we cannot exchange techs with each other.
1990
Ottomans beat me by three turns to Polytheism. I am starting to get annoyed
with them.
I trade
Ottomans Horseback riding for Polytheism and 50 goldcoins.
I start a gambit for Polytheism now. It is very late, but if the other
continent has made the same choices in tech that we have, it might work.
1870 I
settle my fourth city right west of the Wines. It was a close race with a Mayan
settler, but thanks to our scouts we managed to divert the Mayan settler long
enough so that we got the spot we wanted. It is some waste though, since I
couldn’t get the wines easily otherwise.
1750
Polytheism doesn’t feel completely wasted, as it gets me Iron working and 30
gold from the Mayans.
Having
paper cut-outs as defenders costs me money, as Mayans wants 24 gold coins to
keep quiet about this fact.
I whip
1650 My
Curragh finds another continent, and hopes goes up that we may find several new
trading paths to earn lots and lots of money.
Now who
could this be ? Well, soon we will find out.
1575 Writing
comes in, and I start Philosophy at max, in a vain hope of a free Monarchy. I
also spend my money building Embassies, as I would rather have an embassy than
be extorted.
We have
contact with
Get another
83 gold from Smoke Jaguar for Writing.
Ottomans
make their first demand, and they know Writing for
free.
1475 We
find the Byzantines, and they are very behind. Mayans annoy me tremendously by
fortifying a warrior right on the spot I had intended to settle, and I will
need to settle on an inferior site.
Hattusha
is settled on top of a wheat. A worker followed by a
temple is ordered up.
1375 We get
Philosophy, and start Monarchy. And we get it for free J There is much
celebrating in the Hittite camps now.
Set
research on Literature, trusting the AI to come up with Math and Map Making for
us.
I have a
settler due, so I do not revolt immediately.
In 1325 BC
we draw a four turn Anarchy.
During
Anarchy we lose a settler race against the Mayans for the eastern coast of this
continent. The restrictions on city placement is really hurting me now.
1225 As
revenge, I trade Philosophy around, and get Map Making, Mathematics, and 50 gold from Byzantines and
1175
Interesting, Mayans declare on the Ottomans. They could both suffer a bit. Arrgg, I lose a settler to a barbarian horse. I had counted
on them to remain frozen. I better start building spear escorts instead of
warriors.
1025 I get
Literacy, and start a currency research. It is soon time to stop building
settlers in Hattusas, and it would be good to have some nice infra available to
build.
I discover
the Baylonians, and they are at war with the
Byzantines as usual. I sell them Horseback riding for 38 gold, and gift them
Mathematics, hoping they will hold out.
I start
Colossus in Hattusas, in a bid for some sort of wonder.
In 825 BC I
finally get the
710BC And it is time for the Mayans to get Literature for
free. Soon afterwards in 690, we trade
Code of Laws from Mayans for Currency. Unfortunately the Mayans are poor, so
they can not pay me anything for the pleasure. Code of Laws, Currency and Literature
is not enough to get Construction from the Ottomans. Hmm.. I set max research on Construction to blunt
the cost.
610BC The cost has gone down, because Mayans has the tech, so in
spite of the Ottomans reaching Currency, Literature and Code of Laws is enough
to get Construction and 30 gold from the Ottomans. I start a Feudalism research since that tech
is so expensive to buy from the AIs. Initially that is 22 turns with -6 gpt,
but I expect it to get better as my cities grow, and libraries complete.
I sell
currency for basically free to the backwards continent. Having markets will
help them pay me more for my techs .
590 I get
really nervous as
570 The
Colossus is ours. All hail the Grimjack. Colossus is of course a golden Age for
us.
510 I found
Kadesh on the other continent, hoping to secure some
incense from the deserts.
490BC
Ottomans complete
450 The
Oracle goes to
410BC
Horses come online, and we manage to snag Feudalism at Monopoly. Too bad the
rest of the AIs are so very very poor.
Since
Monotheism is known, I start Engineering research.
Theodora
wants Code of Laws, and I give it to her. I have nothing to gain even though
she is not a real threat to me.
350 A Mayan
spearthrower on a mountain collect five slaves
defending himself against a bunch of horses.
290BC
Realize that the jungle bound cities will take a loooong
time to get productive since each tile takes 24 turns.
I take the
opportunity to build a quick settler, in case the Mayans push back the Ottomans
enough to raze a city.
250BC Ottoman complete
210BC
Mayans capture
I buy
Monotheism from Byzantines for Engineering. Weird, Engineering is not worth as
much as Republic to the AIs. I had hoped to use it as trade bait. I will have
to check trade every turn now, so I can capitalize on my gains.
I really
want to capture
170BC Of course, now that the war is won for the Mayans, they sign
peace. Hattusas riots as the Ga ends.
130BC I
think it is time to start a wonder prebuild in Hattusas. I hope I can research
my way to Astronomy before the cascading starts.
90BC The
Byzantines have sent a Dromon over to our continent, and soon the continents
will have contact, without me having the opportunity to fully gain from having
exclusive contacts.
50BC
Ottoman complete Statue of Zeus. They are on the roll with the wonders. I have removed the last of the huts from the map,
and it gave me maps of the region of course.
10BC There is grief in our country as the Byzantines settle
Sardicia right next to one of our cities. Do they not realize that we will be
needing the space in 480 turns when the contested tile is free of jungle ???
I of course
rush a temple in the city in question.
IBT:
Invention comes in, and I suspect a sneak attack is due, as several Ottoman
swordsmen approaches the border. I dispatch our chariots to defend the border,
and start researching Gunpowder. I am counting on one of the AIs to research
Chivalry for me soon enough.
I send
wines to the Mayans to keep them somewhat calm.
The city
the Ottomans are heading for is a jungle bound city, so there is no way I can
get my chariots to that city. I am still number one in land area as well, so I
cannot do much damage to him.
The sneak
attack is official as two medievals and three archers
enter the jungles outside my jungle bound Tyrana.
They
captured the jungle city. This leads me to the question of what to do with the
orphaned worker. I will interpret the
rules to mean that I may indeed merge this poor orphaned worker back into the
population, where he may recover from the trauma.
I grant the
Mayans the use of Engineering in exchange for a mutual alliance against the
evil Ottomans.
In 150AD,
Also,
Byzantines manage to sneak in a settler and steal the jungle spot where
Ottomans razed my city. This is not really going well.
I give
Byzantines Invention though, to help them deal with the Japanese, and in return
they say they will defend my cities. And I do the same with
I have
managed to reach 260AD without any gains, and without any losses.
Ahh, a good feeling, getting the plans
together. I have
Gunpowder in one, Chivalry is just known by the Babylonians, and I have 280
shields in my capital, building ten per turn. I would say that Templar ought to
be mine.
Trade
myself some Chivalry, so I can use something against the pikemen/Medievals
the Ottomans throw at us like there is no tomorrow.
Knights
were expensive, so I notch down Science a bit, just to be able to afford to
upgrade my 6 chariots.
310AD, We are about to lose our outpost on the other continent. I
am feeling rather hemmed in. Very well, I will have to liberate it later. It is
still a deadlock on my own continent, where the Ottomans have managed to beat
of mine and Mayans combined forces. I expect it to break now that I can roll
out a couple of knights.
Theodora
comes in and demands Chivalry. Seeing as she has put two cities on my spots, I
refuse, but she wisely backs down.
Hmm, in
spite of the Ottomans being on the receiving end of our small dogpile, they are the first to reach Theology. Mayans
manage to complete two wonders at the same turn, and the Cascade is nearly
dead. I will do my best to kill it before Copernicus.
The might
of knights show itself as I capture
I want
Our
alliances ended now, and I pay
Five
knights are enough to get Iznik captured from a pike and a spear. One of our
valiant knights died though. I set it on starvation and
In 440AD
Theology is known around the world, but so is gunpowder, so I had better hope
for Chemistry. Hmm, with the capture of Iznik, I am again number one in world
area, and no further cities could be conquered. I will spend some time
pillaging this turn, so I can get a better peace deal.
At a closer
look, I notice Iznik has a one tile overlap with
Good thing
I checked on the rules, as I discovered I will have to abandon my pillaging
plans. I did not however discover if I was allowed to keep my captured city or
not. I will check the forum.
Having
scoured the forum, I discover I may indeed keep Iznik. I am still uncertain
what to do with my orphaned worker, since he is proud as well as homeless.
I will join
him into one of my cities, judging that to be most in the spirit of the game.
I kill off
the visible Ottoman forces, and wait a while. ( I want
to starve Iznik down to size 1 before I sign peace, since it is a high flip
risk. )
450AD We
have loads of pillagers in place which I cannot attack, so it may be time to
sign peace in spite of the flip risk. I sign peace with the Ottomans and pay
him 5 gpt for Theology.
Education
is out, and I start a couple of prebuilds. Ideally, I
would want to get JS Bachs wonder, and I star ta prebuild for it as well.
Chemistry
comes in, and it is time to grab all the money in the world.
500AD
Mayans make a very aggressive settlement on my eastern border. Not much I can
do about it though.
Sigh, the
cascade never died. The Ottomans started JS Bachs,
and neither of Leo’s and Sisitine’s are dead yet.
580 I get
Metallurgy, and I start Astronomy. I had hoped some of the AIs would have
researched it by now, but I will have to do it myself. Ahhh, they did.
Mayans just started Copernicus later in this IBT. I will hope my prebuilds are enough for me to snatch that little jewel.
Get both
Astronomy and Music Theory from Mayans for Metallurgy. I gift up to and
including Education to the AIs that do not have it yet.
Mayans have
used my proceeds very well, and he now has a monopoly on Banking.
690AD The
AIs have received their culture expansions, and we are no longer number one in
land area. It is time to get back what the Byzantines stole from me. I declare
on the Byzantines.
We manage
to autoraze the Byzantian
poacher city, because they had just built a settler. I dispatch the workers
towards distant cities in need of population. Ottoman declare
on the Mayans. This is likely not good for the tech speed.
And then it
comes, as I discover Physics, I get a science leader. I will stay cool though.
I have four more turns for Copernicus. I will use the leader after I have
Copernicus safe, so the cascade doesn’t take out Copernicus for me.
I get
Banking and World map for Physics from Mayans. Sell Banking
around, as I want the AIs to be able to pay me for my techs. Mayans must be
rolling, since they have made Navigation as well. Both Banking and Navigation
in the same time I got Physics. I expect them to have Democracy when I have
Theory of Gravity.
Ooo, that
was close. Leos got finished, but cascade went to Sistine and Bachs.
730AD
Sardicia joins our empire as a suburb of Ankuwa. We
now have almost our entire empire free of foreign cultural borders.
740 And
that was just the right side of the coin, as Sistines gets taken out by the
last AI, meaning I get JS Bach’s, as well as Copernicus. I can only hope the
cascade from that takes out Magellan’s so that the cascade is truly dead.
I go to
peace with the Babylonians now that I have achieved my goals.
The world
just got much more dangerous as Mayans got Military tradition, while I got
Theory of Gravity. I start Magnetism without sharing Gravity, as I would like
to land
870 We are
Industrial. As soon as I complete
I do pay
Magnetism and 8 gpt to Mayans for Military Tradition. I think it best to keep a
few cavalry in case someone gets frisky. Then I get evil, and gift the MilTrad to Ottomans, hoping they can prune the Mayans a
bit, or at least withstand the mayan
forces when they have Sipahis.
Ack, Mayans
manage to research Theory of Gravity on their own. I was certain they would go
for Democracy. I have 6 turns left on my
920AD The
cascade dies as Mayans complete Magellan’s, and I gift Ottomans into the Industrial age, as
they need help against the Mayans. Ottomans draw Nationalism.
O gift
It is to
expensive to break the monopolies even when I can use a lux and MilTrad as bartering chips, so I will wait a couple of
turns to see if I can trade easier then.
Wonder upon
wonders, we have coal. It will take a while before it is roaded though.
990Ad Now
that the Mayan Cavalry has reached the front, Ottomans are falling despite
being owners of Nationalism. I should perhaps trade them my only Saltpeter, letting them build Sipahis.
1100AD We get our first short piece of railroad. This will take a
while to complete, so I better make hospitals soonish.
I trade
around Medicine for peanuts, hoping someone is going to research into Sanitation.
I manage to
get Pollution, and boy is that annoying with only one worker.
Hmm, I have
seven turns on Theory of Evolution, so I will sneak in a
Sanitation myself. It will take me six turns to research this.
I buy
Fascism from the Mayans. Since worker speed is essential, I will see if Fascism
is a good government. I revolt immediately
1315 Osman comes and demands Atomic Theory, and since I feel sory for him, I grant him the tech. I get Replaceable
parts, and I start radio, hoping someone will research Corporation.
1330
Babylonians are no more, after a ruthless Byzantine push to get them out of
this world.
The world
is now finally at peace. I continue to gift techs wherever I can open up a
branch, hoping at least one of the AIs will be able to do some research.
I have four
cities now with hospitals, and the second worker. With Replaceable parts, and
Fascism, the two workers will rail a normal tile in one turn. I think I made
the right decision. The lower corruption is just gravy.
1350 We
complete the
1375
Believing Ottomans are about to do a sneak attack, I tell them to leave, and
they agree. However, instead of moving out during their turn,
they beeline for my core with two Sipahis.
I get
Radio, and start the Corporation research.
1385 The
Ottoman Sipahis continue beelining towards my
capital. This time it is leave or war though. Since I have rails and artillery,
I am not especially afraid of the Ottomans, even if they have Sipahis.
And not
surprisingly, the Ottomans weasel their way out of 100 gpt in payments to us,
and declare when asked to leave us alone.
I gently
point out to the Mayans that the Ottomans would be busy for the next couple of
turns, and they see the light. Ottomans are to be punished for the base and
cowardly deed they made.
1400AD The siege of
After a
short bombardment on the unprepared defenders, I capture
Antalaya a
small coastal retreat, is defended by Infantry. I
wonder at the sanity of an AI that defends their small time cities with
Infantry, but put pikemen and Riflemen in their
capitol.
It is in
fact defended by at least three infantry.
Another
short bombardment just a few years later, and Antalaya
is ours. Not even infantry can do much against cavalry when it is redlined.
Time to show why we are Fascists. ( Besides the
superman wannabes we use for workers. ) I whip three population
in Antalaya, and we have a temple. I whip three population
in
I gift
Corporation to the AIs, in order to help them make more money. It is a sad
state when a small fascist nation is the richest in the world.
For myself,
I start a ten turn Refining research.
In another
blazing artillery display, we capture Edrine, and discover ourselves in
possession of Hanging gardens, as well as fifteen cities. I will disband one of
my two suburbs.
I abandon
Antalaya. This will make Edrine a full city. I whip another four citizens in
1450 The
war against the Ottomans have gone into a defensive
one now. I am not even fishing for leaders. I whip some culture into Edrine.
Mayans have
reduced the once proud Ottomans to one single city, and a small frozen island.
I discover
that while Fascism is excellent at subduing captured cities, it is less than
optimal trying to get fishing villages up to speed.
I still get
no help with tech from the AIs.
1465, I
complete Smiths, to further boost our economy. Another boost is the Wall
Street.
Ack, a pollution in the mountains. It will take time to clear
this one.
Every
single turn for the last five turns, the single remaining Ottoman city is
attacked by two to three units. It is defended by three infantries, a guerrilla
and an artillery. I stand still on a mountaintop,
looking for opportunity targets.
I get Steel
in 1485, and crawl towards Combustion.
In 1490 our
MA deal with the Mayans ends, and I do not renew, instead I seek peace with the
Ottomans.
To
celebrate the peace, I share tech to all the AIs, making Combustion research a
race. I want to see if the AIs can research faster than I can.
I
graciously allow Mayans to complete Universal Suffrage, as they little know the
insidious danger of allowing the women to talk.
In 1515, it
is time to see if there is a tech race or not. We have two turns left on our
research, and I want to check if anyone is even close to that figure.
1525 As we
get Combustion first, Byzantines show they have been having theatres built.
They just started on building one to a great author named Shakespeare. I gift
Combustion, and start Mass Production, hoping an AI will research flight. ( Actually, the Byzantines get to pay us in oil and Free
artistry. )
I will not
take the Byzantines research money though, even though it pains me to let her
keep some money. I can use the culture from Shakespeares theatre in
At least I
have some research capability now, and Mass Production is due in 6 turns.
1550 As my
cities grow in size, so does my pollution. Even with two superworkers,
I cannot clear a pollution in a turn. I may even have
to hope for some help of the AI, in getting hold of pollution lessening effects.
I get Mass
Production first, and in the vain hope some AI researches flight, I start
Motorized transportation. I of course being a good
Samaritan spread the knowledge of Destroyers and Battleships around the world.
As I get my
first size 20 city, I spend some time thinking. I will need at most two or
three cities building space ship parts, the rest of my cities would probably
help better were they size 30 ish metropolises, stock
full of scientists. Should I occasionally need money, I could sell a tech
instead of just giving it away for free.
I whip eighty
shields in my fishing village for an aqueduct.
A small
fleet of pirates tries to capture our destroyer, but they fail ignominiously.
1575
Motorized comes in, and I start Flight, hoping I do not have to research all
the way myself.
1585, ooo, the Ottomans creep me, and settle in their third ring
around the capitol.
1605 I did
not get any help from the AIs in developing to modern age. I start Computers at
maximum. I will let the AIs research flight by themselves,
because I want to have computers so I easily can get their free modern age
tech.
1615 What a
coincidence. As soon as Mayans got Espionage, they also got Flight. I check,
and Byzantine and
1640 The
greedy Ottomans managed to keep their Computers as a monopoly until my own
research finished it. If I wanted to keep my research at full speed, I could
not spend my money buying techs.
After
Computers, I start miniaturization. I start a lot of research labs, in spite of
me aiming to get Internet. I hope I can speed Miniaturization with a couple of
turns.
I start Seti in Hattusas, hoping it will work well together with
Copernicus and
I give
computers away. I hope to gain lots of techs from Miniaturization.
1685
Miniaturization comes in, and I start Fission, as I hope the AIs go for the
unit techs instead. I had hoped in vain. In 12 turns,
Hattusas
complete the SETI in 1705, and it now has research of 290. Not bad for a nation
not in republic.
1720 After
Fission, I go for Nuclear power.
1730 We
manage to snatch Internet from the jaws of Bysans. I
do not know how close it was, as I like the thrill of the race to much to peek
into competing wonder cities in most situations.
( I
normally do if it is a do or die situation, but not normally. )
After I
discover the governor makes clowns of extra people, I will have to turn him
off, and deal with repopulation after pollution manually.
Ack, I am
starting to get unit costs. I will start to produce wealth in outlying cities
instead of units. As I am in fascism, I need to keep costs somewhat reasonable.
After
Nuclear power comes in in 1752, I start Laser
research. I am still waiting on the AI to complete some research of their own. And they have. I trade Miniaturization to
I get
Aluminium from
Laser comes
in on schedule in 1762, and I start Robotics. There is of course nothing to
trade for. I had hoped Synthetic fibres, or Space Flight would have been
available. I can always hope for it being there when I get Robotics.
1774
Robotics comes in, and I start Spaceflight by myself, since the AIs seem to be
mired somewhere.
1780
Stupidity erupts, as the two superpowers declare on each other.
My rep is
toast, as
1788
Spaceflight comes in, and I start satellites research.
1790 Apollo
comes in, and I start three spaceship parts.
1794 I gety excited over nothing, as I see a new tech at Bysans. I needn’t have bothered, it is Amphibious
war. Disaster looms though, as I cannot find any Aluminum
anywhere. I may even have to go to war in order to get this resource.
1796
Satellites comes in, and I start superconductor. I start to prepare an Aluminum expedition down to an Ottoman island.
1800 I woe
the war that deprived me of my just Aluminum.
1806 I have
two turns before my prebuilds run out, so I declare
war on Ottomans. Hmm, this will be more hairy than I thought. As I was seeking
some Japanese help in eradicating the Ottomans, I noticed they have an MPP. I
will never be able to hold against the Japanese when the Japanese finally has
researched Modern Armor.
And
I will just
have to take my chances. I prepare some lux tax to cover the loss of his luxes.
1810 In
hope Mugla contained a harbour, I captured instead of
razed, and we can build spaceship parts. I start them all, just in case I lose Mugla. I also abandon my fishing village.
1812, All
parts of the spaceships has started, and barring nukes, I will finish spaceship
in no more than six turns.
I micro the
specialists, and this is lowered to four turns.
1814 Bysans complete Manhattan Project.
1816 In
anticipation of the rocket celebrations, I increase lux taxes to 30% inducing
fireworks in all of our cities.
1818, We have achieved a late space race victory. A fun game. My thanks to the sponsors.
Grimjack