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PTW 1.27f - Monarch level
Standard map, 8 civs
Continents, wet, warm, 70% water
Sedentary barbs
The game will follow the same rules and restrictions of any submitted GOTM.
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Intro (and nothing else for the moment)

Game 41 has been my 1st GOTM attempt. It's been a quite fun challenge, although i did i lot of mistakes and the end result could have been much better than the game i submitted. The scenario has a lot of potential, and different paths can be followed. I have decided to replay the game, just to see if and how much i could behave better... and at a certain point i found myself undecided: i could go for the usual world domination path, but an early spaceship attempt was also appealing. Then i come up with the idea that a detailed log of the game would have been quite interesting (maybe...), but i didn't have it. So i quitted the game and decided to replay for a 3rd time, with a precise strategy in mind: i'll play as usual at first, then the game will split in two. In the 1st timeline i'll go for world domination, in the 2nd timeline i'll go to hell Alpha Centauri. The available UU (Immortal) and the civ traits (scientific, industrious) make Persia good for both a warmonger game and a peaceful one.

The game is already in progress, but obviously i'll refrain from posting anything about it before the submission deadline is reached. It's 2 days and 12 hours at the moment i'm writing this intro, so expect the 1st part to be posted next sunday or monday. In the meantime, if someone is interested in this "double challenge", feel free to post suggestions, encouragements, specific requests or what else.

Remember: submissions are still open, so DON'T POST ANYTHING THAT CAN BE USED AS A GAME SPOILER PLEASE!

That's all for now. Seeya soon dudez!

EDIT: blunder :blush: the game i submitted was played in vanilla. This game is played in PTW. Corrected.

in my gotm 41, i got rop raped early on, and got conquered. so much for that attempt. :p

edit: i hope this isn't a spoiler

in my gotm 41, i got rop raped early on, and got conquered. so much for that attempt. :p
OUCH! :cringe:
Usually it's the human who ROP-rape the AS...

Submission are closed now, so anything can be posted. First part of the log tomorrow in the evening... stay tuned folks!

Surprisingly, having a previous knowledge of the map and the opponents is of little to no help to the experienced player. There's a preferred path for the initial expansion that leads to meet the Romans very early and to secure a source of iron and (potentially) spices. A quick glance north reveals, in the middle of the jungle, some mountains that can be followed to reveal more territory, and this leads to meet the Japanese.

Here's the starting point:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC4000.jpg

It comes immediately at the eye that this location is great! A luxury can be immediately hooked. The excess food is significant, there are lots of river tiles that can be used to provide sheer amounts of gold. A forest+fur tile can be exploited immediately without any worker job, and the forest tiles can be chopped for extra shield outcome.

4000BC - The dawn of Persia

I move the settler SW and the worker east. The capital will be founded on a fur tile and it will take advantage of the irrigated floodplains. The worker spots 2 mountains with gold to the west, with some plain or floodplain tiles and a grassland. Going east seems immediately the best path.

3950BC - Persepolis is founded. The worker starts to irrigate the tile (2 turns). The productive tile is set to the 2nd fur tile. 4 shields per turn. A warrior (3) is started. Research is set at Iron Working at minimum. Ok, now that i know what is going to happen i could do something different, but this is the thing i would surely have choosen without knowing the map. Anything else would be justified only by a knowledge i shouldn't have. So i'll stick with this plan (and report the mistake later :()

3850BC - Production in Persepolis is readjusted. Active tile set on the newly irrigated floodplains. The warrior is still due in 1 turn, but population growth is raised substantially. The worker is roading the tile now.

3800BC - The 1st warrior is built, and a second is started (4). The brute moves west toward the golden mountains. 2 more mountain tiles are spotted. East is definitely the best path.

3750BC - The worker and the warrior move east both. More good land is spotted.

3700BC - Worker start roading, warrior move south. There is quite good land to the east. Expansion will go into that direction.

3600BC - Road finished, the worker starts to irrigate it. The warrior continue exploring. More good land is spotted.

3550BC - Second warrior completed. Persepolis starts Settler (8). The 2nd warrior moves through the road to the nortern golden mountain, revealing more good land to settle on. The 1st warrior continue its exploration. Due to the apparent lack of land south, he'll go east.

Here's the discovered land in 3550BC. In evidence, the path followed by the 1st warrior in its exploring trip.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC3550.jpg

3500BC - Finished irrigation. Worker set to road another floodplain tile near Persepolis. Exploration continue. In the interturn, Persepolis reach rank 2. Production is readjusted to match the completation of the Settler with the city reaching size 3.

3450BC - Spotted red borders. Probably Rome, and judging from the shape it's a rank 2 city, so it's surely the capital. No units around, so i'll have to move toward it to make contact.

3350BC - Contacted Rome. Caesar is annoyed. Acquired Alphabet for Bronze Working, Masonry and 10 gold. With those techs Rome is more likely to go wonder-crazy (and build less units!). Need Warrior Code, i must collect the necessary gold.

Now i know there's Rome around, and it owns Bronze Working. This means that it will probably go for Iron Working, and it will finish earlier than me since i'm researching at the minimum allowed. Now i know that my first tech should have been Pottery or Ceremonial Burial. Ok, let's ditch Iron Working. Knowing Alphabet now, i can go for Writing at minimum, and so do i.

3100BC - Settler built in Persepolis, production set to warrior (5). The settler goes for the site of the 2nd city, that will be founded next turn. The worker is mining a tile for the 2nd city.

3050BC - The 2nd settlement

Pasagardae is founded 3 tiles NE of Persepolis. Production set to worker. The production will be readjusted to have worker speed up a bit, but not too much (if it's finished before city reach size 2 we're wasting production)

3000BC - Rome founds Veii. I beat them in the 2nd city!

2850BC - Switched production in Pasagardae to warrior. Worker will come next. Persepolis finishes a warrior and starts a settler (15). Production is at the moment only in floodplains, but will be adjusted to speed up the settler.

Meanwhile, the wandering warrior is moving back to Persepolis. The warrior now garrisoned in Persepolis will move to Pasagardae, and the warrior now in Pasagardae will be sent exploring north and NE.

2800BC - Pasagardae is 1 turn short to finish the warrior, so the unit actually garrisoned may be sent immediately to scout north. A massive extension of jungle is spotted.

2750BC - Finished warrior in Pasagardae. Production set to worker (4). Since the settler in Persepolis is still a few turns away plans are changed. The warrior due to reach Persepolis next turn is sent west for a quick scouting trip. There is a mountain 2 tiles west that can show a lot of territory. The worker has finished roading another floodplain tile and is moved east, to improve some tiles for the soon-to-be 3rd city.

After 25 turns, things are going well. In the demographic screen, i'm number 1 in several things. In the histograph, i'm superior to Rome for a tiny margin. My army of 4 regular warriors is average compared to Rome. Technology is lacking, and i need to meet some other people as soon as possible in order to strike some favourable deals with the starting techs.

This is the known territory in 2750BC:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC2750.jpg

hey ? how do you paste those pics? i'm having the best game ever and i don't know how to paste pics, can you please tell me how? thanks

hey ? how do you paste those pics? i'm having the best game ever and i don't know how to paste pics, can you please tell me how? thanks
Please refrain from asking questions (or posting stuff) not directly related to this game log. This is not the right place to ask how to use the forum's features. If you cannot figure out by yourself, you'd better start a thread in the "general discussion" area in which you expose your problem and ask for help.

BTW, i will reply you with a PM when i have the time to do it (i'm still at work). Unless, in the meantime, you start the thread and receive the necessary clarifications.

EDIT: the reply has been sent. Check your PM.

Explore and expand

2710BC - The warrior near Persepolis reach the mountain to the west. More land is spotted. There's strong evidence of sea SW and west. The other warrior moves to the nearby hill. Some forest tiles are visible. The worker start roading the bonus grassland tile west of Pasagardae.

In the next turn, exploration continue. Definitively sea SW and west. The warrior north reach a mountain. Massive jungle extension around. A river and some more furs are now visible. A hill 2 tiles north is worth exploring further. Pasagardae is size 2 now. Production is readjusted to have the worker finished 1 turn earlier, at the cost of 1 gold.

Here's an actual shot with the newly-discovered land. In evidence are the path for the 2 exploring warriors. The unit south will spend exactly 5 turns to go back to Persepolis, so to have the warrior actually garrisoned there to move with the settler. The northern one will reach the hill to discover more territory, and possibly meet someone.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC2670.jpg

2630BC - The 1st worker has completed the road, and the 2nd is just built. We must decide what to do with them. The best thing to do is to prepare the tiles for exploitation, but a fast communication from Pasagardae to the 3rd town will also be useful. So worker 1 will move south where it will work the floodplain tile (5 turns). The 2nd will move east and road the mountain (6). The 2 warriors move as planned. Pasagardae is set to build barracks (14) but this production will probably be changed. We'll see. Caesar is annoyed again. I decide to trade with it. Warrior Code for 120 gold, and now he's cautious. That puke has just founded his 3rd city (Antium).

Next turn, warriors and workers act as planned. The northern warrior see more jungle, and more hill tiles north and NW. Production in Persepolis is readjusted to reach size 3 one turn earlier without delaying the settler.

2550BC - Warrior reach the hill north and spots another hill NE.

2510BC - Production in Persepolis is readjusted again. Settler still due in 1 turn, but with more population growth. The warrior moves NE and still see only jungle. Since there's a wide undiscovered area east, we'll go that way.

2470BC - Settler completed in Persepolis. It moves, escorted by the warrior, to the founding site, which will be reached in 2 turns. As planned, the other warrior joins Persepolis. Great news north: the warrior has spotted the possible end of the jungle, along with a green border. Contact should be established next turn. Production in Persepolis is set to barracks (20).

2430BC - Border reached, but still no contact. Settler+warrior are in the founding site. The floodplain has been improved, and now the 2st worker start mining the bonus grassland tile (3).

2390BC - Contact with Japan is established. Traded Alphabet and Masonry for Ceremonial Burial, The Wheel and 10 gold. Warrior moves SE to avoid invading the Japanese territory. Susa is founded and the city starts producing our 3rd worker (10). The 1st worker has finished the road and joins the 2nd to mine the bonus grassland (1).

With 2 new techs in my hands it's time to pay another visit to Caesar. He owns Iron Working now. I buy that tech for Ceremonial Burial, the Wheel and 20 bucks. Damn robber! I hoped to carve some gold out of him, but he want to be paid instead. Anyway, i can see iron now. It can be reached by Susa once the city gets cultural rank 2, so maybe a temple would be ok. A temple, or another city 3 tiles away... we'll see.

Judging from the histograph, i've lost some terrain to Rome, probably due to the fact that Caesar founded its 3rd city a few turns before me. But i'm ahead of Japan. Tokugawa has only 2 cities. Things aren't going bad. Frankly, i don't see how i could have expanded faster that i've done without hampering defense or tiles improvements.

It may look like i've founded Susa where it is because i actually knew before that i would have found a source of iron in its useful range. Well, it's true that i knew it, but it's irrelevant. In the game i submitted i founded my 3rd city exactly where it is now, because the terrain looked better and the position was in my opinion the best possible.

Here's an endturn shot. In evidence are the discovered jungle and the japanese border to the north.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC2390.jpg

Avoiding reckless expansion

This territory is helluva good. Lots of money and a terrific growth potential. The double worker rate will help a lot in improving the land fast and collecting even more resources. I plan to build barracks in Persepolis and Pasagardae now. It may look odd, but i'd prefer to have veteran units when it's war time. And war will come, for sure. Rome is quite an aggressive civ.

The next objective is to expand further. City 4 will be founded 3 tiles SE of Persepolis. City 5 will be probably placed NE of Susa, to secure that source of iron. City 6 will be coastal (i need one!) and placed SW of Persepolis. Quite a distance, but i prefer to give my core city enough room to expand until size 11/12.

In the meantime, exploration continue.

2350BC - Mining finished. Now that the immediate needs of Susa are satisfied, it would be a good idea to chop the forest tile west of Persepolis in order to speed up the barracks. The 2 workers are moved to the plain tile west of Pasagardae. From there, they can reach the forest in 2 turns (max speed possible!) or perhaps delay 2 turns to work that tile.

2310BC - The northern warrior reaches a mountain. More land is shown and the eastern coastline is revealed. Meanwhile, the worker team road the tile. Persepolis is size 2 and production must be readjusted manually, since the governor likes so much to go floodplain-crazy. Barracks are due in 8 turns.

Here's a shot of the newly-discovered land:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC2310.jpg

2270BC - Pasagardae is size 2. The worker team irrigates the plain and the 2nd productive tile is placed there. Barracks due in 4 turns, with a 2 shield waste that can be absorbed by working the floodplain.

On the foreign front, Rome has founded its 4th city. Japan is still stuck at 2. Rome is raising steadily in power, at the obvious expense of tile improvement. BTW, i need to keep an eye on Caesar.

2230BC - The 2 workers move to the forest tile, finally. The exploring warrior has reached another mountain, and spots a barb hut 2 tiles SE! There's a chance to pick a tech, or to be killed by barbs... Japan has finally founded its 3rd city.

2190BC - Quiet turn. The 2 workers reach the forest tile. The explorer moves to the hut. Production readjusted in Pasagardae to not waste shields.

2150BC - Started woodchopping (3 turns). Production in Persepolis readjusted to not waste shields after the chop. The hut poops a conscript warrior. It may be useful for exploring. It moves east and discover more coast and a spice tile. Production readjusted in Susa, for the usual reason.

2110BC - Barracks completed in Pasagardae. Started a settler (10), but i'm not sure if i'll switch to a military unit. The 2 explorers move south. Spotted a jungle-ridden small peninsula, a second, more affordable, spice tile, and probably a small zone free of jungle.

2070BC - Completed worker in Susa, started walls (20). Once again, it's not said that i'll complete them. Barracks could be more useful. Before giving orders to the worker, i move the explorers... Good move. The ideal spot for the next city has just been discovered. Two explorers are better than one! I can use the regular warrior to MP the next city and the conscript to continue the exploration.

The worker is moved north. It will build a road to the selected foundation site for the next city. The new settlement will be coastal and not only will secure the iron supply, but will also benefit of a bonus grassland and 2 fine forest tiles.

On the main area, Persepolis is just 1 turn short to finish the barracks, thanks to the woodchop that will be finished next turn. Production in Pasagardae is temporarly readjusted to avoid shield waste and speed up a bit the settler.

Things are going as planned for now. My military is weak compared to the Romans, but i was expecting this, since i built 2 barracks. But it's better to take advantage of veteran units now, than regret to have regulars later. Roman score and power isn't surging away. Actually, they're losing some of their edge over Japan.

No one has discovered new techs yet. Rome is still at 4 cities and Japan at 3.

The actual shot covers both the core land and the newly discovered area. The 2 spots are the selected places for the 4th and the 5th city. The 2nd settler will be provided by Persepolis after the barracks and (probably) a military unit.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC2070.jpg

Needless to say, comments, questions and so on are always welcome. Spam is not ;)

Nice log. Shouldn't you secure the Iron N of Perespolis so the AI can't get it?

thanks! :thumbsup:

About your observation: if you peek at the 2310BC screenshot, you'll see in the far north a source of iron on a mountain already under Japanese control. So Japan is going to have iron anyway. Then, the source of iron you're referring to is too far away at the moment, and in the middle of a jungle-ridden land. It is more important now to secure the iron hill east of Susa before the Romans have a chance to claim it.

Time to grow

2030BC - As planned, wood west to Persepolis has been chopped and the city has completed barracks. A spearman is being trained now (4), and a settler will follow. The terrain is a plain next to a river and workers are improving it. Road now, irrigation next turn. The 2 warrior move south.

1990BC - Things go as planned. More coastal land is spotted. Work on the plain tile has finished. Production is readjusted in both Pasagardae and Susa (just for 1 turn).

1950BC - Production readjusted again, to nullify shield and food wasting. Workers move SE to chop more forest around Persepolis (and speed up the settler).

1910BC - Start woodchop. The 3rd worker is still roading to the spot for the 4th city. Japan is 4 city now. And Caesar has started the Pyramids in Rome. Good news, they'll be useful for me :evil:

1870BC - Completed spearman in Persepolis, started settler (6 turns, 4 with the woodchop). In the interturn, Caesar demands 32 golds. Time to bow down. Here you are your bloody money, you puke. But don't worry, i'll come to take them back, and with heavy interests.

1830BC - Susa is size 2 and walls are due in 6 turns. Another chunk of road has been completed.

1790BC - Completed settler in Pasagardae. Started spearman (20 turns, but it will be completed faster). The settler move east to the spot for city 4. Woodchop in Persepolis finished, the settler is due in 2 turn. Workers cross the river to road and irrigate some tiles that will be exploited by the future city. Rome has just founded its 5th city.

1750BC - Nothing new, things go as planned.

1725BC - Lots to report. The worker stack completes a road to the spot. The settler in Persepolis has been trained and, thanks to the road just build, moves to its designated location in only 1 turn. The settler in Pasagardae reaches its destination. Next turn 2 cities will be founded. Persepolis has started a spearman (7). Production in Pasagardae is readjusted to avoid food waste. The spearman is due in 6 turns.

1700BC - Arbela is founded on the spot NE of Susa. In the same turn, the worker finishes roading the wood tile and so the city is connected from the very start. At the same time, Antioch is founded 3 tiles SE of Persepolis. Both cities start building walls, but they are (at 99%) placeholders for something else. I still have to decide what to build first on those cities.

The worker placed east moves to the jungle tile with spices north of Arbela. I want to connect immediately the luxury. The workers near Antioch are ordered to irrigate the floodplain tile. The conscript warrior has reached the road network and now it's moving fast eastward, to explore what is still unknown around the core of Persia.

Production in Susa is switched from walls to settler (7). The city is about to reach size 3, so why not taking advantage of it? When the settler will be finished, there will be at least 1 free escort to take it to the 6th founding site, and more road will be built.

5 cities in 1700BC. I've played 52 turns so far. I'm doing slightly better than i did in my submitted game. I've reached city parity with Rome and i have 1 city more of Japan. The bad news? Rome has just researched Writing, and i was only 3 turn short of finishing it :mad: But Rome still lacks contact with Japan, and i intend to sell it to them only after i've built embassies.

Caesar, you moron. Why didn't you research something else?!?!? Pottery, to say one. We should have made some fine trade, and speed up the race to Map Making... bah.

Sleep time now. The game will continue tomorrow. Here's a shot of my territory in 1700BC:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC1700.jpg

Oh! Very nice!

You got an execellent spot, the few jungle squares you have may house coal/rubber and the forests are good too. Plus the large jungle to the north can serve as a buffer later, when fast units are more in use. You don't even have to settle the jungle if you don't want. Just take Rome and ignore Greece. If you can take Rome and get a city around those gems and gold you can bring in some nice bonuses

Don't worry about Japan but attack Rome

Hi folks!

Yeah, you're both right. Rome will be my first target. Those gem and gold tiles are too much a treasure to be overlooked. But i'll wait for capturing Rome until the city has finished the Pyramids. Probably in the meantime i'll start a short war to grab a pair of cities and extort some techs.

Japan is worthless at the moment. But a short war with Tokugawa, in order to secure an outpost to the successive assimilation, could be a viable option once he founds a pair of cities not too far from my border. And that jungle extension, although it could provide a lot of bonuses, isn't worth colonizing for now. Better expand around the capital and exploit all the relatively uncorrupted tiles.

How can YOU attack Rome? Isn't it against your Code of Whatever?

Better send that settler north. Don't send any new settlers south, those are easy targets.

Those plains between you and Rome look like an easy spot to get caught in the open, with little defensive value. You should found more cities there, to give your Immortals a better base against Rome.

Hi!

Before posting the update, some quick replies:

Pentium: (athlon would be better :D) The magnificent civilization of Rome doesn't deserve to be lead by that such an inept ruler as Caesar. It's my precise duty to remove him and bring the proud roman nation to a destiny of glory, wealth and enlightenment. Too bad this means that i'm going to wage war, but hey, this is the way things work in this game... :D

Chunky: the terrain north is for the most part crappy. I'm better settle the area NW and SW of Persepolis, i will benefit of more productive tiles. About being an easy target, well, i don't intend to become it. Two barracks are already functional in Persepolis and Pasagardae, and in the next turn they will start to poop some veteran spears and archers. From the Roman side, i've seen only regular warriors since now.

Dachspmg: good observation. I intend to found another city 3 tiles south of Susa. It will be only 3 tiles from Antioch without rivers in the middle, so it will be able to receive quick reinforcement. From there, an attack on the 2 near roman cities will be quite effective.

And here's the update:

Exploiting the industrious trait

Being industrious means being quite poweful in the early game. Workers operating at 2x speed are a big deal. In the following turn, i'm putting the emphasis on producing more workers. I want all my useful tiles to be roaded and improved. This will earn more gold and more shields. Obviously, i'm not forgetting the other needs: military units and at least a settler are necessary.

1675BC - The worker north of Arbela start to road the spice tile (5). The 2-team moves to the plain tile SW of Persepolis where it will build the road to connect the next founding site. The conscript warrior has reached the mountain NW of Persepolis.

1650BC - First trait of road to the spot of the 6th city completed. In the interturn, i complete writing and immediately build embassies.

Rome is size 4. Defenses: 2 regular spears. Production: 9 shields per turn. Pyramids will be complete in 31 turns (surely less, since it will grow to size 5 next turn). No improvements present except for the Palace. 88 culture points.

Kyoto is size 1, building an archer. It will reach size 2 next turn and is now defended by 2 regular warriors. As Rome, no improvement except for the Palace. 88 culture points. No luxuries connected.

1625BC - Rome has Pottery, and lacks contact with the Japanese. Surprisingly, Caesar considers the contact with Tokugawa more worthily than the tech. I sell the contact for Pottery and 40 bucks. Thank you Caesar! Tokugawa has no new techs and absolutely no money.

What to research now? If it was vanilla, i would go for Literature, granted. But in PTW i've seen the AS actually researching it. Mysticism can be completed in only 6 turns at 2.8.0. I decide to go for it.

Roadbuilding continue. The conscript finally start to show some undiscovered land. Susa is size 3 now and the settler is due in 2 turns.

1600BC - Production readjusted in Persepolis to have the spearman finished in 1 turn.

1575BC - Completed settler in Susa, started worker (10). The settler begin its trip. Completed spearman in Pasagardae, started archer (7). The spear moves to Susa. Completed spearman in Persepolis, started archer (7). Spear moves to the spot for city 6.

1550BC - Connected spices, and now the 100% of my citizens are happy! :) :) :)
The worker goes to improve another bonus grassland near Arbela. The conscript is exploring the coastline... there's definitely the sea (and even ocean!) to the west. In the zone NW of Persepolis there could be some more premium tiles. A river, 2 more furs... what else? We'll discover it soon. Japan has just founded Satsuma, in the middle of the jungle not too far from my territory. Could that city be my first japanese target? We'll see.

Production readjusted in Pasagardae to avoid wasting food. I'm micromanaging to death, and from this point i'll refrain to report such details. Don't wanna bore the readers with some marginal stuff.

For the picture-loving readers: a shot of the known japanese territory in 1550BC. What lies under Satsuma? :rolleyes:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC1550.jpg

1525BC - Antioch has reached size 2 and production is switched to worker (1). A peon more will be surely more useful than the city walls. For the rest, things go as planned.

1500BC - Completed worker in Antioch, started walls (20). The worker crosses the river east, in order to help irrigating and woodchopping.

1475BC - Completed Mysticism. Still no new techs from the AS. Starting Mathematics (11 turns at 2.8.0). The settler has reached its destination. The 2 workers have already irrigated a plain tile next to a river. The 3rd is irrigating another bonus plain. A roman warrior is wandering around my border, probably to check my defenses. The wandering warrior has discovered some a cattle and a game tile. City 7 will be placed around there. The east worker has started mining a bonus grassland in the range of Arbela.

1450BC - Completed archer in Persepolis, started archer (4). Completed archer in Pasagardae, started settler (8). The 2 archers move to Antioch and Susa. A reg warrior from Susa move back to Pasagardae.

Founded my 6th city, Tarsus. Production set to walls (20). Irrigated the 2nd plain, 2 free worker move to the fur tile to chop the woods. The 3rd will follow next turn.

Mathematics is due in 9 turns now. Still no sign of new techs discovered from the AS. I sell mysticism to Caesar for 118 golds (all his treasure).

I've somewhat recovered the gap from Rome. My army is made of 5 warriors, 2 archer and 3 spears and is judged "average" compared to both Rome and Japan. The city count is now at 6 for everyone. In the histograph, the power bar shows an almost perfect parity, but judging from the demographics i'm quite far ahead: number 1 in GNP, annual income and productivity. Number 2 in goods. Number 3 in population. I'm only 7th in land area, but my territory is rich and quite well developed.

Here's the shot of the known territory in 1450BC. The spots marked as 7 and 8 are where i intend to build my next 2 cities. Note the large amount of money already in my coffers.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC1450.jpg

next turn they will start to poop some veteran spears and archers.

lol careful with the spelling

Ouch! :cringe: you're right... i've used it many times as 'pop' but its not the same thing... thanks :D another step in english improvement.

The first way is funnier. That's what I say when it happens to the AI (not me :lol: ), and I'm a native English speaker.

Another thing: If Rome isn't building a lot near you (I only see a few cities), then there must be something on the other side of Rome keeping their attention over there...

Well, it's Monarch level, so the "settler diarrhea" effect on the AS isn't so strong. Rome has 6 cities (as me). In the map 4 of them are visible. Judging from what we can see now, there should be some nice land east of Rome that the AS has judged worth of at least 2 cities.

More info will be available as the game goes on. Where will be founded the next roman cities? If he turns on me once again, it would mean that the yet unknown land east of Rome is already filled, or not worthwile colonizing.

Steady Progress

The next goal are: founding city 7 and 8, working the necessary tiles and starting build up the military. Having a tech or two to trade with the AS wouldn't be bad either. I'm not counting too much on Japan, but Rome should come out with something useful in the next turns.

From now, i'll limit the detail on worker actions and micromanaging to the bare minimum. That stuff is usually very interesting in the opening moves, but it tends to become more and more boring as the game goes on.

1425BC - Chopping the forest in the fur tile near Tarsus. Production in Arbela switched to temple (24). Nothing strange, some basic culture will be needed. That city is not supposed to build military units for the moment.

1400BC - Worker completed in Susa, started barracks (40, but it will be faster). Workers around Arbela start to chop a forest tile. The task will be completed next turn. The wanderer warrior continues its exploration

1375BC - Fur forest chopped. In the next turn, those workers will irrigate and build a road to connect Persepolis to founding site 7.

1350BC - Completed archer in Persepolis, started worker (2). The romans have founded their 7th city, Pisae, right outside my core, distant and unconnected. It's good that those inept waste their settlers for cities that will produce little less except some unit support. Here's a shot:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC1350.jpg

1325BC - Tile to link site 7 roaded. Production in Tarsus switched to temple (22). This city too isn't supposed to build units for now, and some culture won't be a bad thing. Having a slight culture margin over Rome or Japan will reduce significantly the risk of flip once we start conquering around.

1300BC - Completed settler in Pasagardae, started archer (7). The settler+warrior team moves to site 7. Completed worker in Persepolis, started spearman (10, but faster). Worker team 1 (site 7) is improving tiles around. Worker team 2 (Antioch) is performing the same job for Antioch.

1275BC - Production in Antioch switched to barracks (8). Tiles improvement continue.

1250BC - Site 7 reached.

1225BC - Lots of thing happening this turn.

The 7th city, Gordium, has been founded. Production set to barracks (14).

Research on Mathematics is completed, started Polytheism (16 turns at 3.7.0). Rome owns Map Making. Finally a tech to trade! Let's call an audience with Caesar. Hello, you idiot. Would you like to teach me the art of Map Making? Hmmph. You're quite a robber. Mathematics, my world map and 180 golds. Well, i need that tech. Ok, the deal is made. Cheer while you can, you moron.

Now a brief visit to Tokugawa. Japan is hopelessly at zero money and not a tech researched. I give them Mathematics in return for the japanese world map. What a surprise! I've discovered the Roman territory map too! Those pukes have traded their respective maps. Good. Now back to Caesar, i want his world map. I must toss in mine plus 19 bucks... all right, i still have plenty of gold in my coffers. Now i know the (almost) whole map of this continent, and this is more important than the money shelled out.

Here's a shot of the known world map:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC1225.jpg

Hmmm, so Rome has almost exhausted their land...I think you should declare on Rome as soon as you have a huge number of military units (no Immortals, don't waste GA), wipe them out, and switch to finishing off Japan...but that might be hard because of the jungle.

Hehe, that's what i will do, except for the fact that i won't wipe them out immediately. I intend to attack, grab a few cities, make peace, extort everything i can and then deliver the fatal blow. About Japan, yes, it's not a worthy target for the moment, but their time will come :evil:

Interesting news on the storyline. Here's the next update:


Emphasis on improvement

I don't plan to build more cities in the next few turns, except for the one, already in schedule, that will be founded in site 8. Probably mine it's not the best strategy overall, but i prefer to have my cities connected and with productive tiles, instead of distant isolated settlement that won't produce anything significant for lots of turns.

From now, i won't give the maximum detail on the military production of cities, unless something is particularly significant. Even such stuff becomes boring after a while.

The cities of Persepolis and Pasagardae are going to train units for now. Supposing the same use, Antioch, Susa and Gordium are building barracks. A temple is being built on Arbela, on the far east, and once finished the city will probably start a naval unit for exploration. Tarsus is going to complete a galley.

1200BC - Nothing to report.

1175BC - More to report. :)

Woodchop completed around Arbela. The temple (first one!) will be completed next turn. The workers have roaded the tile. Too bad if i add a shield it will go to waste, so it's pointless to mine the tile now. Next turn, the team will head to Susa, where some improving and woodchopping work will be much more useful.

The first naval unit of the Persian Empire has been completed in Tarsus. The galley start venturing into the sea, looking for possible new landmass. Tarsus is now building a temple (20).

1150BC - The first Temple of Mithra has been built in Arbela. It's the first cultural building except for the capital Palace in Persepolis.

1125BC - Rome owns Horseback Riding now.

1100BC - Finally, started woodchopping near Susa.

1075BC - Completed barracks in Antioch. Started a settler to colonize site 8. A road connecting site 8 has been finished this turn. The galley from Tarsus ventures oversea, and spots a probable landmass in the distance... a puny sea tile, but there seems to be coast too. If that heroic boat survives the ocean, a very early contact could be established.

1050BC - The galley didn't survive the ocean cross, but at least i have an idea of where a possible other landmass is. Production in Tarsus switched to galley (5). The rest is business as usual: more worker activity and the conscript warrior returning to Persian land to be employed somewhere.

1025BC - Woodchop terminated and barracks completed in Susa. The city will train units from now. Rome has built the Pyramids. What will Caesar decide to build now? Another wonder would be perfect.

1000BC - Tokugawa owns Map Making now... can't he research something that i don't have?!? I give him Mysticism for his world map, so he'll probably go for a new tech. The map is not completely useless, some extra roads in Roman and Japanese lands are shown.

The problem now is that Caesar will start again to gain culturally over me. I need at least 2 more temples to bring things back. Gordium will delay the barracks and build a temple (8). Susa switches too. The temple will be built in 19 turns, but another woodchop will speed up things.

975BC - Tile improvement around Tarsus has been completed. The workers in charge are sent north, back to Gordium. There are some plains to be irrigated and some forests to be chopped. City 9 will probably be founded north of Gordium, so it's better to prepare the terrain. The 2 teams, now pratically merged, continue working the tiles around Antioch and Susa.

950BC - The Romans have started the Oracle, in Rome. It wouldn't be a bad thing to capture it. If someone else don't beat Rome in the construction. Anyway, our plans don't change. Build city 8, then crank up the military at full steam.

925BC - More units are moving to the gathering point in Antioch. A 2nd galley has been built in Tarsus. I hope the crew will have better luck than the previous one lost in the ocean. Tarsus is building a temple now.


The first Roman war

900BC - Completed Polytheism, started Monarchy (20 turns at 2.8.0). Veii has now achieved cultural rank 2. It seems that Caesar is willing to compete culturally. Well, that city won't be autorazed even if it goes back to size 1. But i'm not sure if capturing it would be the best option. I could raze it and found a new city 1 tile west, on the hill. This would leave room for another city at CxxC between it and Rome, and would make possible a better exploitation of all the gem and gold tiles.

The settler has reached site 8. Arbela has completed a galley. The boat goes east to explore the shorelines of the jungle-ridden stripe of land eastward. The city starts training a worker (3).

In the interturn, Caesar demands that i hand over Polytheism. I send him packing and he declares war.

875BC - The current state of war forces us to change our plans a little. As planned, Bactra is founded on site 8. Production in Susa switched to archer (1). The archer currently in the city moves south to reach the main strike force currently parked in the newly founded city. The archer and 1 spear currently in Antioch move there too.

Inspired by the excellent strategy shown by Theodora of the Byzantines in a parallel universe :lol: i decide to use a bait to possibly lure some military units out of Veii. Since i am not the Byzantines, i cannot make use of Byzantine Babe Magnets :( So i'll have to think about something else. I pick a worker with strong legs and send him on a nearby hill where he will scream profanities at the garrisoned troops inside Veii, then run away as fast as he can when the cretins will come out to chase him.

Meanwhile, woodchop out of Susa is cancelled: i need 3 workers to build a road for an immediate connection of Veii once captured. The 2nd suicide galley sail boldly for a trip on the oceans. This is a shot of the current situation around the front:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0875.jpg


World meetings, trade madness, dumb AS

850BC - Two great news!

First, the suicide galley has survived the trip. The proud ship sails westward and reaches the safety of a coastal tile. Borders of 2 different civilizations are spotted. Since i don't want to sell communications with the civs on my mainland, i won't ask for a meeting with the Celts. In the interturn, the civs will probably establish a contact and sell communication with me each other. This will obviously spare me the money to buy contact for myself. :D

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0850.jpg

Second, the bait has worked! An archer has popped out from Veii and now it's threatening the lonely worker. I move the bait west to further lure the archer out of the city.

825BC - Delaying contact has worked! Now i know 6 of the 7 other civs of the world. Time for some trade madness around!

First a preliminary tour. I miss contact with the Spanish. All the known civs on the new world have knowledge of Code of Laws and Horseback Riding, but lack Polytheism. I have a big asset to trade: my world map, completely unknown to them.

The cheapest embassy to establish is with the Celts (45 bucks). Entremont is quite undeveloped. No city improvements except for the Palace, no luxuries connected, 2 regular spears as city defense. Now building the Oracle (28 turns). Only 6 cities in the Celtic nation. I buy Code of Laws and the celtic territory map for my world map and 10 bucks. Big deal! One tech mastered.

Next customer: the Ottomans. I establish an embassy for 59 bucks. Sogut is size 7, defended by 3 regular spears, no improvement except for the Palace, no luxuries and no resources connected. They will complete the Oracle in 2 turns. I sell to Osman my world map for contact with the Spanish and 60 bucks. Osman has 11 cities, almost all unconnected and undeveloped.

Let's go to see gorgeous Isabella now. Spain is quite backwards, lacking Mathematics and Code of Laws. But before trading with them i pay a visit to Tokugawa. I sell him Code of Laws for Horseback Riding, his world map and a measley 1 gold. I want him to trade with Caesar, in the hope that the Romans would have a useful tech to extort when peace will be signed.

Now a visit to England. My world map for their territory map plus 50 bucks. Not bad.

The Iroquois: world map for world map. They have absolutely no money to shell out, so this deal is the best that i can obtain.

Back to Isabella: Mathematics and Code of Laws for world map + 20 bucks. Good.

Back to the Celts now: my world map for their world map + 20 bucks. Money!!!

A second visit to Elizabeth of England to grab the english world map. I have to shell out 10 bucks, but they are worth spending them.

Finally, Osman again. World map for world map + 1 gold. Agreed. At the end of the trade round, i come back home with a complete map of the New World, a tech, and 82 more gold coins. The embassy expense is 104 gold. Net loss: 22 gold, almost nothing. Rome and Japan still don't know the map of the New World, so i still have a good asset to sell them if it's the case.

Back to the front, the archer from Veii isn't anymore in the range for going back into the city. I send 6 archers, 2 spears and 3 workers on the forest tile north of Veii. Next turn the city will be mine and immediately connected. The worker bait moves south.

800BC - The heroic bait has worked better than expected! Now 3 archers are chasing him, another idiot has exited the safety of Veii to join the madness. The worker is surrounded so he'll be lost next turn, unless i send some units to protect him. But the reward is far greater than the loss. The shot explain well the situation: 3 idiots chasing a lone worker while my stack of doom is ready to take over Veii. Dumb AS.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0800.jpg

Gordium has completed the temple and now barracks are being built (10). Arbela has completed a worker and started walls (10).

My stack of doom attacks Veii. The 1st archer is killed, the next 2 are both victorious and the city is conquered. A fine roman slave has been captured. Only 2 regular spears were defending the city, and without the bait, there would have been 2 spears and 2 archers, possibly enough to repeal my attack. :D However, troubles aren't over. The cultural expansion of Veii is a real curse. Next time resistance will probably end, but i'll need some 7 units garrisoned to ensure from the cultural flip menace. Probably the best thing to do will be abandon and resettle. I decide to recall the bait and defend it with 1 archer and 1 spear, veterans and behind a river.

Although war was almost unexpected, i reacted quite well. The first Roman city has fallen, thanks also to the bait trick that worked perfectly. And i profited quite well of the early contact with all the other civs. By not selling contact, i can play dirty with Rome and Japan while keeping my reputation pristine with the civilizations of the New World.

Monarchy rush

775BC - Resistance has ended and now the archers are threatening Veii. The trade with Japan has worked! As expected, Tokugawa has sold Code of Laws to Caesar and now he owns 150 fine gold coins. I sell my world map to Japan and every money flows in my pockets! :D Another selling round with the New World civs earns 20 extra golds. I decide to keep Veii and insist with the worker bait. The wanderer moves east and some units are garrisoned in Veii. Slowly, reinforcement are coming.

The Ottomans have built the Oracle. All the other civilizations were building the Oracle in one of those cities. Amazingly, none of them was a coastal settlement, so there's no wonder left to build and everyone has lost shields. Rome, in particular, has lost a damn lot of them!

750BC - The bait worker continues to do an excellent job. The 3 archers are on open terrain. I attack one of them and kill it, but no elite promotion :(. Two of them are coming from Cumae.

730BC - Another archer came out of Cumae. The bait insists in yelling and berthing at the roman archers, then flee away before they have a chance to catch him. With a total of 9 archers, i'm half-tempted to go for the big fish, Rome. Meanwhile, the heroic galley try to sail back to friendly waters.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0730.jpg

710BC - Trip back home successful! And Gordium is rank 2 now. Rome has just researched Construction, and at least England knows Philosophy. Another moron killed (attacker redlined). The bait continues its trip.

690BC - Strangely, one of the morons has fortified outside Veii rather than chasing the bait. The worker steps back. In the interturn, two of the morons attack Veii but are killed by my superior forced garrisoned inside. I try a (fake) peace deal with Caesar. He's ok in offering 2 size 1 cities. Good news. If i manage to capture Rome, i have a chance to extort Ravenna and Viriconium, thus freeing immediately Rome from most of the cultural pressure.

670BC - Nothing to report.

650BC - Killed 2 more pesters. Completed a woodchop near Veii. If i join a worker, i can pop a settler next turn. The bait joins the city, the roman slave is used as a new bait.

630BC - Completed settler in Veii. The unit moves to a strategic spot for building a fort.

610BC - Built Sidon. It's not just a fort, it's a city, built to stay in place. Veii will be disbanded and resettled.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0610.jpg

590BC - UGH! Those pesky japanese have beat me in building a city north of Gordium. It wouldn't be so bad (just have to capture it) except for the fact that the location is totally wrong. Damn AS.

570BC - The Iroquois are building the Great Lighthouse, as me :(

550BC - Research complete on Monarchy! Started a revolution immediately. Lucky, only 2 turn of anarchy. Research set on currency. It's time to trade Polytheism, i guess.

First round with Tokugawa. Polytheism for Construction and his world map. Too bad he doesn't have any money. BTW, the deal is made. Then, the Ottomans. Osman is happy to shell out Philosophy, his world map and 20 golds. More money are carved out from Spain, England and the Iroquois. Brennus has nothing worthily to trade, but i give him the tech anyway. The city of Tyre is founded north of Padagardae (while in anarchy!) and workers move north to connect it.

510BC - Monarchy is established and Mario of the Persians is appointed King of Persia! Finally i can do clever rushbuilds with money. I have lots of gold in my coffer and it's time to build warriors for a mass upgrade to immortals. I set spending on 5.5.0 and Currency is due in 11 turns. I move the roman slave to an undefended tile to act as a bait.


The Persian Bastard Worker

490BC - Theodora of the Byzantines uses Byzantine Babe Baits to lure the mentally challenged into the wilderness while her troops march into enemy cities. The Persian version of such a thing is the Persian Bastard Worker. Here's one of them luring some imbeciles out of Rome while a nice Persian stack of doom prepares to capture it:

(can't help it, when some serious action is involved i become a poet)

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0490.jpg

The AS is soooo dumb! See those 3 idiots chasing my bastard worker while a big bunch of bad guys threaten Rome?

470BC - Need to say more?

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0470.jpg

450BC - Despite big losses in the capture of Rome, some free troops are still available, and more can be sent as reinforcement to lower the risk of cultural flip in Rome. Enough troops for trying a strike on Viriconium. I decide to take the risk and refrain from signing peace. I'm counting on no more than 2 regular spears on Viriconium, so 3 archers should be enough. I know it's risky, but if i fail the damage is little, and i can still get a favourable deal with peace negotiations.

430BC - Lucky strike! An archer was present in Viriconium. The pester attack my stack but fails, inflicting only 1 hp of damage to one of my troops. The persian archer charge and conquer the town. As expected, no more than 2 regular spears, but the archer was an unpleasant surprise, although harmless.

Time to offer peace to poor Caesar. That damn idiot won't give 2 cities... we're getting close to a deal, but there's nothing i can do to make it acceptable. I'll try to kill or inflict some damage to a pair of archers wandering around. The first attack is successful, but the second is not. And Caesar still isn't willing to give up the 2 cities i want... uff, i cannot go on without unreasonable risks. All right Caesar. Peace for Ravenna, Byzantium, your world map and all your money (46 gold). Now go to hell, you idiot.

What to say? My offensive has been far more effective than expected. The bait strategy worked great, but i have to admit that Caesar did his best to easen my task. He didn't connect his 2 sources of iron to his cities. And this means no legionaries. I've met only archers and spearmen during my attack.

The Roman Chiefdom is torn into pieces. Once reorganized a little, for Persia it will be easy to swallow what remains of it. And i still have to spend my golden age. Probably i'll start a short war with Japan in order to trigger it, then i'll sign a ROP treaty with both Rome and Japan. At this point, a fine ROP rape will take care of both of them.

Things are going greatly for Persia. My kingdom is number 1 in almost everything. The score and power graph show a nice rising curve. My army is strong compared to everyone else. And all civilizations apart from mine are still in despotism.

What is still worrying me are the wonders. I need the Great Lighthouse, and i'm at risk of missing it, but if i trigger the golden age early enough and i work fast some more tiles around Tarsus i should not miss it. It would be nice to build the Hanging Gardens too. But 300 shields probably are better spent into 10 immortals.

I think the reality split point is now. I'm researching Currency in 6 turns, but i can lower this time period at 4 turns if i set the spending at 2.8.0. In 430 BC, the timeline splits in two. In this reality Persia will go for a fast world domination. In the alternate reality, Persia will head for space.

Here's a shot of the former romans land after my first roman campaign:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0430.jpg

Middle age rush

410BC - With its output of 10 shield per turn, Persepolis is now the perfect warrior factory. It's popping a unit every turn. I haven't connected my source of iron yet, i will do it at the right time, then mass-upgrade all the warriors (or some of them) into immortals.

A good thing to do now is to establish embassies with the remaining civs.

Iroquois (62 bucks): Salamanca is size 2, building a temple. Troops: 1 mounted warrior and 2 spears, all regulars. Improvements: the Palace and a granary. Resources connected: 1 iron, 1 horses, 1 luxury (wines).

England (58 bucks): London is size 2, building a settler and wasting production, since the settler would be already built but the city is short 2 turns to reach size 3. Troops: 2 reg spears. Improvements: the Palace and a temple. Resources: iron, horses and 2 luxuries (wines and dyes).

Spain (59 bucks): Madrid is size 3, building a settler. Troops: 3 reg spears and 1 settler. Improvements: the Palace and a granary. Resources: iron, horses and a luxury (dyes).

Pasagardae has ditched military production and is building a temple now (what to say? i like temples)

390BC - I'm spending some money to rush workers in Rome. The goal is to have only 1 native citizen inside, in order to move elsewhere the majority of troops currently garrisoned in the town.

370BC - Another interlocutory turn.

350BC - Completed temple in Susa. The selected target for triggering the GA will be Satsuma, for 2 good reasons. First, it's connected with the northern Japanese cities, so to provide an ideal beachead for the final invasion. Second, it's size 2 now and it could stay the same (not sure), but for the worst case i'll send a settler with the invasion force.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0350.jpg

Sardis is founded, south of Antioch. It's the 2nd "son" of Veii. The ex roman city has worked as an excellent settler factory. It will poop another settler, then it will be disbanded.

Currency is due in 2 turns, but if i raise the science spending to 90% i can complete it next turn. I go for it.

330BC - Currency is researched. Middle age is reached and i get Engineering as free tech. Exactly what i was hoping. Not bad, not at all. :D Research is set to Feudalism at bare minimum.

I do a quick diplomacy tour, just to acquire some updated world maps and a few bucks. Some people in the New World have entered the Middle Ages as well, and the Ottomans have acquired Feudalism as free tech. Osman is willing to trade and would like Monarchy and something else in return. It could be a good deal (i would save the medieval tech), but it would be better to give him Engineering and have the Ottomans stuck with despotism.

But hey... this is good in the assumption that Persia will go for world domination. And if we go for the space race? In this case, i would give Engineering again in order to have the tech race go faster :) Then, i would leave them in despotism anyway so to encourage the research of Republic, in order to have the tech race go faster :lol:

It's fun how two very different objectives lead to the very same course of action.

Anyway, the deal is made. Engineering and my world map for Feudalism and 80 golds. Research is set to Invention at bare minimum (10.0.0 with a specialist)

I realized now that this timeline is good as well for the space race. But now things really need to be different. Well, the split point is set now. From here reality will follow 2 different paths. This is path 1 and the goal of Persia is world domination. For space race, i would probably switch research to Literature at max useful science rate.

Whew! Almost time to go to bed (0142). Just saw the last two entries, very nice job!

Thanks! :thumbsup:
But i must admit that the AS did their best to easen my duty, and not only with the Bastard Worker bait. Caesar have 2 sources of iron in its territory, but failed to connect both of them until a few turns ago. I still have to see one legionary.


Some game stats

Research log:

3950BC - Bronze Working, Masonry (prerequisites)
3350BC - Alphabet (trade - Rome)
2630BC - Warrior Code (trade - Rome)
2390BC - Ceremonial Burial, The Wheel (trade - Japan), Iron Working (trade - Rome)
1650BC - Writing (own research)
1625BC - Pottery (trade - Rome)
1475BC - Mysticism (own research)
1225BC - Mathematics (own research), Map Making (trade - Rome)
900BC - Polytheism (own research)
825BC - Code of Laws (trade - Celts), Horseback Riding (trade - Japan)
550BC - Monarchy (own research), Construction (trade - Japan)
410BC - Philosophy (trade - English). I forgot to report it in the log, but i'm almost 100% sure.
330BC - Currency (own research), Engineering (free scientific), Feudalism (trade - Ottomans)

Frankly, i don't remember a game in which i researched 6 techs in the ancient age. Well, the difficulty level isn't at max and the home land is quite rich, so i had big bucks to spend in research without hampering other basic needs.

City owned: 16. 3 of them are size 7: Persepolis, Pasagardae and Susa.
Population units: 53
Workers: 12, 8 natives and 4 roman slaves.

City buildings:

Wonders: 1 - Pyramids (Rome, captured)
Temples: 4 (Arbela, Gordium, Tarsus and Susa)
Barracks: 6 (Persepolis, Pasagardae, Susa, Antioch, Gordium, Bactra)
Granaries: everywhere except Byzantium, thanks to the Pyramids.
And nothing else.

Military: 2 galleys, 9 spearmen, 11 archers, 18 warriors. Average with the Ottomans, strong compared to everyone else.

Culture: 340 points, 10 per turn.

Isn't founding a city on a resource a waste of production? In the games I've played, building a city on a resource or a bonus grassland always seems to produce less than the resource or bonus grass is supposed to produce.

I presume you're referring to the founding site of Persepolis. Yes, partially. Shields are wasted, gold is earned. Typically a good reason to found a city on a resource is to hook up it immediately without spending worker turns to connect it or, in case of a bonus resource, to earn immediately the extra gold. Usually a golden hill is a great place to found a city.

In this particular case, we have that Persia is industrious, so the capital tile produces 2 shields instead of one. A fur forest tiles produces 3 shields, reduced to 2 by the despotism penalty. So the resource waste is almost zero (exactly zero until monarchy or republic!)

First Japanese war and Persian golden age

310BC - A team of 3 workers in now on the iron hill between Arbela and Susa. Iron may be connected next turn. Some warriors from Persepolis are moved to Pasagardae. A pair of them are sent to Gordium. Yokohama will be size 2 in 3 turns, and if i time the attack correctly it will be captured instead of razed.

290BC - The Ottomans declare on England. And i finally connect my iron source. Uh, it seems that i just found a PTW bug:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0290.jpg

Ok, i mostly play with Rome, but this time my civ is Persia! Persepolis, not Rome, damn you! :lol:
A nice number of warrior and spears are upgraded into immortals and pukemen. I spend almost all my money in the mass upgrade.

270BC - Susa is finally rank 2. Pasagardae has completed a temple and starts a marketplace. Before attacking, it would be useful to acquire the Japanese maps. Surprise! Tokugawa has just trained a worker. An extra japanese slave could be useful. Worker + territory map for Philosophy, world map and 20 quids.

Perhaps it's time for another diplomacy tour. Let's start with poor Caesar. Uh uh, there are 2 roman workers in the capital. Two more slaves, why not? Rome lacks Currency, and its inept ruler is happy to shell out the 2 workers and a world map in return for the technology. The deal is made.

Buying foreign workers is killer for an industrious civ. They act like national for a non-industrious one. The roman workforce is sent to irrigate a floodplain tile that was still only roaded.

Little much is earned. The english lack currency but have 40 quids to spend. Currency for the money plus an english world map, and now everyone is in the Middle Ages, but still in despotism! With the other civs, just a world map exchange for a few quids.

With what i've left, i rush the final settler on Veii.

250BC - As expected, Yokohama is size 2 now. War is declared with Japan. The 2 stacks move to their target. A japanese worker has just popped out of Satsuma, and i divert an immortal to capture it. The slave is sent along with the 1st stack to road a jungle tile. 2 national workers follow along. Satsuma is back to size 1 now... bah. It will be razed and rebuilt then. A spare settler is send with the stack.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0250.jpg

230BC - lah lah lah, lah lah lah... CARNAGE!
Yokohama is captured and Satsuma is razed. Not a big deal, the former Satsuma will be refounded near its original tile and in a better position. A japanese slave is captured. An immortal is now elite and 2 regulars have been promoted veteran. No casualties from mine, and golden age started. Income per turn has skyrocketed. :D

210BC - Nothing to report. Strange for a war-time turn.

190BC - Founded Nuova Satsuma.

170BC - Team of 5 immortals move to Osaka.

150BC - With the death squad out of Osaka and ready to destroy it, i call an audience with Tokugawa. This time he accept my envoys. Peace is signed, and the poor idiot agrees to hand over 4 cities! Matsuyama, Sapporo, Izumo and Edo are in my hands. Not bad for a quick campaign which was intended to trigger my golden age! The terror team moves out of the japanese territory, just to play nice.

In this shot: an overview of my new conquests in the north. Three out of four extorted cities are visible.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0150.jpg

Uh, it seems that i just found a PTW bug:

(...)

Ok, i mostly play with Rome, but this time my civ is Persia! Persepolis, not Rome, damn you!

Actually, if you haven't connected the road from the iron to Persepolis, it takes the next largest city that it's connected to.

Ok, but Persepolis was connected.
EDIT: and the next bigger city was Pasagardae, followed by Susa, Tarsus, Antioch... Rome is just size 2.

ive awaited your new game tricky! im sure it will be just as good as the diety+ugly start!!!

Hi Coolio! Glad to see you around again. Even if this log is far from being an almost heroic struggle i hope it will be interesting.

The assimilation of Rome is my next target. More hard work for Persian Immortals and Bastard Workers.

Preparation for the next wars

130BC - Tyre is disbanded and refounded 1 tile NW. Dariush Kabir is founded in the jungle 3 tiles north of Susa and 3 tiles south of Nuova Satsuma. Its scope is to be a link between cities and to claim more space. I don't expect those cities to be productive, but they'll be useful anyway. After providing a sheer number of settlers and workers, Veii is finally disbanded.

I'm building the Forbidden Palace in Sidon. 39 turns, but they should be less. Next turn the city will be in WLKTD.

Marketplaces are completed in Persepolis and Pasagardae. Susa will follow next turn. After the markets, the scope of those cities is again unit production. Persepolis is a perfect catapult factory with its production of 20 shields per turn.

I've raised the lux slider at 10%. It wasn't strictly needed, but more happiness means an higher score. The excess cash is still 130 gold per turn. Workers continue relentessly to improve tiles. I've put up a jungle road team of 4 nationals and 1 slave to link all the cities. The extorted ones need to be connected.

Spearmen are rushed in Sapporo and Edo. Better not give those pukes an excuse to attack me.

110BC - Completed marketplace in Susa, now building immortals. Spearmen rushed in Izumo and Matsuyama. Worker trained in Byzantium. That city alone could be enough to colonize the whole eastern island (with the necessary money for rushbuilding, of course)

Next target must be Rome, and i have to be quick. I need the coastal cities to build the necessary boats for the invasion of the New World. Some espionage must be done.

Cumae: size 1, growth in 7 turns, training a settler (25), 2 regular spears defending.

Hispalis: size 3, not growing, training a settler (8), 2 regular spears defending and 1 galley present.

No more money, but the trend seems obvious. No barracks around. Regular spears and archers defending. Possibly one or 2 legionaries in the capital.

90BC - Upgraded some warriors to immortals. Now i'm connected to Japan. Tokugawa owns ivory and is more than happy to give me a supply in return of Engineering. More happiness for me, and a few clowns relieved from duty (i was using them to stay in WLKTD)

The Ottomans have researched Republic and are in anarchy now. All the other civs are still in despotism.

70BC - Here are the battle plans for the upcoming RoP rape against Rome.

Part 1: the 3 coastal cities. The red lines are the road that must be built before the attack. Caesar is too dumb to properly improve its territory and connect its cities. Worker job will be done in 4 turns. Then the marauder teams will place on the numbered spots and await the order to attack. Each marauder team will be made of 4 immortals and an unprecised number of catapults.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0070-1.jpg

Part 2: Cumae. I choose to road the mountain, so to place a sentry there and keep an eye on enemy troop movements. After the road has been built, marauder team 4 will move to the spot and wait for the attack order. Since there are many pesky romans around, i plan to send at least 5 immortals to capture the town, escorted by 1 pukeman. Probably the town will be razed, so i'm going to pop a settler from Susa to rebuild the settlement ASAP.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0070-2.jpg

Part 3: Antium and Hispalis. Since Antium is the capital, i'm going to send my main strike force there. Probably 6 immortals, at least 1 pike, and a bunch of archers currently garrisoned in Rome. Marauder team 5 will place in the spot 5 from where it will probably attack immediately. For Hispalis, i'll send 2 boats loaded with 2 immortals and 2 archers to disembark troops on the mountain south of the city (spot 6). The city is far away so those troops should be enough to capture it.

Probably there will be some free units wandering around Antium, so a few Bastard Workers will be sent in the zone to taunt the dumb roman troops.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC0070-3.jpg

70BC - 30AD: In these turns there's little worthily to report. Troops from the Japan border are moving south to be part of the upcoming RoP rape attack. Workers build the necessary road. New units are cranked out from the unit factory cities. RoP with Rome is signed in 30BC.

In 10AD, the final positioning on Pisae, Neapolis, Pompeii and Hispalis are complete. I'm having difficulty to reach Antium because of a troop blockade enacted by Rome. The Cumae marauder team is late too: not enough troops available.


The second Roman War

30AD - The capital cannot be attacked right now, there are some roman troops blockading the way for it. So Antium will fall with 1 turn delay. Bastard Workers are already placed to lure the idiots outside of the city. If all the pukes around run back to Antium to fortify my attack could fail.

The original plan was a combined attack on all the 6 Roman cities, leaving only Lutetia alone (not worth conquering). But it's ok too if i attack 4 cities now and the remaining 2 (Cumae and Antium) next turn.

I sign a RoP with Japan, then the carnage begins. Pisae, Neapolis, Pompeii and Hispalis are captured. Little losses by my side, but all the catapults have failed the bombardment! Captured 2 slaves. All the city have little population (max 2), so they should not be at risk of flip.

50AD - My very special unique units, the Persian Bastard Workers, are doing an excellent job: see how many roman units are chasing them while a persian army prepares to attack the roman capital:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0050.jpg

Three regular spears were defending Antium. If all the idiots around would have stayed garrisoned in the town my attack would have been repealed. Only 2 cities are still roman, Cumae and Lutetia.

The attack force of Cumae is made of 5 immortals and 1 pukeman as an escort. Amazingly, it's barely enough to conquer the city: 4 spearmen and 1 warrior were defending it. The last immortal is damaged at 1/4 before killing the warrior! I've been almost repealed. Phew...

A settler to refound Cumae is already on the route. Next turn a new city will be founded on the ruins of the old one. Mobilization to Japan has already begun.

The last Roman city is now Lutetia, and it's not worth destroying it. Too much turns wasted for the immortal to reach it. Caesar will play OCC for a while, let's see how he fares :) To not being annoyed culturally, Sapporo rushes a temple. Another temple is rushed in Pompeii, just to close the gaps and claim more land.

In the New World, Bob of the Iroquois has completed the Great Wall in Salamanca.

In the interturn, Osman calls an audience and propose to exchange Republic for Monarchy. I deny and propose to sell my territory map. Osman hands over his world map and leaves with a "May the sun over you be shiny or something" :lol: More funny diplomacy in PTW.

70AD - Still mobilizing. A few more pester killed, but so little promotions :( I still have to see a leader... Another temple rushed, in Matsuyama. I hope this culture pays off when invading the New World. My culture rate is raising, but i'm still behind of Ottomans, Celts and English. If i reach a ratio even slightly superior to 1 it would be a nice advantage when dealing with flip threats.

See Ceasar playing OCC :lol:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0070.jpg

90AD - In the interturn, Isabella of Spain proposes an exchange of territory map. How can i deny something to gorgeous Isabella? This meeting suggest me to enact another diplomacy tour.

The English are in republic now. I buy the tech in return for Engineering and 70 bucks. Why Republic? Well, i'd like to offer it to Japan the turn before i attack them, so i'll penalize them with 1 turn of anarchy and avoid a desperate poprush of units. And, if i keep them at zero money, they won't rush anything. And finally, they're too broke, unimproved and undeveloped to take advantage of Republic in the short term.

Now i need to regain my money. England again. I sell my world map in return for their plus 18 bucks. Not bad. Now let's sell Engineering around and see how much money i carve out of it.

Iroquois: world map + 110 bucks.
Spain: world map + 50 bucks.
Celts: world map + 30 bucks.
Ottomans and Japan already have it.

The trade round went to my advantage once again ;)

Antium is set into starvation and a settler is rushed. Bye bye cultural flip risk. Temples are rushed in Sardis and Samaria.

110AD - Peace with Caesar is signed. He'll play OCC for now. :lol: Those pesky Japanese have put a sort of blockade around Osaka. I have to turn around them and reach the distant cities more slowly. Umph...

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0110.jpg

Did the other continent find Japan &/or Rome? Didn't you RoP rape them? What about your rep?

Just curious.

Hehe this is the tricky stuff. I didn't sell contacts, so Japan and Rome don't know the civs of the New World and vice-versa (although they all know the world map!!!). I'm the only one to know everyone. In such a situation i can play dirty with Japan and Rome and still be a good guy by for the other civs. :cool:

Oh - I see now. I saw the light blue galleys and thought they were Spanish, not Japanese.

I thought your cover was blown! :eek:

In my game, I kept contacts AND my world map secret from them until someone got navigation - then I sold all I had for quite a pretty penny! GPT for a world map! From all the civs! :D

Hehe clever move! I sold my map to gain theirs and a tech (or 2?), sold them again for bucks when i discovered new land. Money is quite important in this game, lots of stuff must be rushed, i'm trying to maximize score as well.

----------------------------------------------

Short Peacetime

The following turns are in preparation of the next RoP rape against Japan. Troops are moving north, a few of them have already crossed the border, but a sort of blockade from Japanese troops prevent them to move quickly to their targets through the (scarce) Japanese road network.

I've just realized that i cannot use catapults, except in the attack of Kyoto. No city, except for the capital, has built a cultural infrastructure, and the population is quite low. The risk of killing people and reaching pop size 1 (which would result in an autoraze) is too high.

Some espionage must be done to figure out the defensive force of those cities. I will spy on the cities directly interested in the attack, and in some other that i could obtain via peace dealings.

130AD - Troop movement and some espionage.

Osaka: size 1, growing in 1 turn, building a catapult (1). Defended by 1 sword and 1 warrior, all regulars. Absolutely no buildings inside.

Nagoya: size 2, growing in 2 turns, bulding a galley (12). Defended by 2 regular archers. No building at all.

Kyoto: size 2, growing in 3 turns, building a settler (1). Defended by 1 archer and 1 warrior. The only building is the capital palace.

Tokyo: size 2, growing in 5 turns, building a settler (6). In the town: 1 warrior, 1 archer, 1 swordsman, 1 settler, 1 galley. All regulars. No building and zero culture.

150AD - Completed the Great Lighthouse in Tarsus. Now building galley. The boat buildup must be quickened, but despite the great income per turn rushbuilding costs a damn lot!

170AD - Golden age ended. :(


Second Japanese War

190AD - Amazingly, those pukes seem to be intentionally blocking my passage on their territory. See what damned blockade they have put on:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0190.jpg

What to do? If i insist i'll end up wasting even more turns. Not counting that a blitzkrieg offensive would be almost as effective. So i attack now, and to hell with the RoP rape thing. I sell Republic to Tokugawa for the world map + 15 quids (all his cash) and Japan falls immediately into anarchy! :cool: And now some serious asskicking, while His Dumbness Tokugawa cannot rush units in any way.

Immortals attack Osaka, defended only by 2 warriors. Tokugawa, you keep archers and swords around your territory and defend your cities with warriors? Well, as an inept ruler you are, it's my precise duty to remove you from command.

Free troops kill some pesters around. More immortals, escorted by a pukeman, move to Kyoto.

210AD - Troops advance en masse toward Kyoto.

230AD - Kyoto captured with only 2 immortals. A warrior (redlined!) and an archer were defending the city. 2 lousy outdated units and no one else, while a wide bunch of warriors and archers is left roaming into the wild, to serve as sparring partners for my immortals. Seriously, Tokugawa: what were you smoking lately?

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0230.jpg

I do some killing around then send the spare troops to Nagoya.

250AD - Attacked Nagoya. No, i wasn't repealed, but there were at least 3 warriors defending and i had only 2 immortals to toss in the fight. Next turn... Meantime, more pukes are killed and some immortals head toward the Japanese cities in the far NE. Target: Tokyo, and its ivory fields.

Once captured Kyoto a big chunk of Japanese territory has become unclaimed. No wonder since the Japanese capital was the only one with cultural expansion. Now the road to Tokyo can be exploited by my troops for a quick offensive. This is the plan that i intend to follow:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0250.jpg

The main strike force (pale yellow path), currently splitted, will rejoin at the tile outside Tokio next turn. In turn 2, they'll attack the town and the spare units may be sent immediately outside Nagasaki. In the same turn the reinforcements (dark yellow path) can reach Tokyo for military police duties. In turn 3 the attackers can conquer Nagasaki and the excess forces may move to Nara. In turn 4 Nara should be captured.

Meanwhile, the workers south will build a road to Nara for a quick return home of the Persian troops. Probably there will be a turn delay or two, due to the fact that some units won't be available to attack immediately the last town, but this is just a minimal nuisance. Japan will fall in a few turns, my forces are simply too strong for towns defended by units with defensive value of 1 or 2.

Perfect execution

260AD - The last warrior in Nagoya is killed, and the victorious immortal walks into the town. Another japanese city captured. The 2 spare immortals move to Tokyo to give, if necessary, an extra backup. As planned, the main strike force is outside Tokio.

Meanwhile, the offensive on the New World is already in preparation. Galleys are being built and units are being amassed outside Tarsus.

Rushwork: a settler in Antium and a worker in Byzantium. The eastern island will provide useful tiles for the domination limit.

270BC - Tokyo is captured. Only 2 swordsman were defending it. Not that i expected something more by the "intelligent" Tokugawa. Once again i have ivory, and the effects are visible expecially in those cities with a marketplace. Five immortals are already outside Nagasaki. A settler from Antium is heading for the eastern island for one more colony.

Workers are rushed in Dariush Kabir and Nuova Satsuma. There are never enough workers in a map like this one!

In the interturn, Bob of the Iroquois proposes an exchange of territory map. I think that my map is worth his world map + 10 quids. As a side effect of the acquisition of our 4th luxury, a bunch of cities go into WLTKD.

280BC - Nagasaki is captured, and now it's time to call for peace with Japan. Not that i want to spare them, it's just another dirty trick to speed up the conquest. Tokugawa didn't want to hand over Hakodate, on the tip of the peninsula where Lutetia is, probably because of its source of iron. But i take Kagoshima and Shimonoseki, the 2 coastal town on the northern part of the west coast. Those 2 cities were size 1, and so they would have been autorazed in case of a conquest.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0280.jpg

My culture is already more than 3 times the japanese, so 1 garrisoned unit will be enough to prevent any cultural flip. I start to recall the redundant immortal for the upcoming invasion of the New World. I do an espionage on the remaining 2 japanese cities... surprise! There are 7 units garrisoned in Nara, 2 archers and 5 warriors, along with 3 future slaves :lol: In Hakodate there is a lone archer and no one else.

The 3 immortals outside Nara don't retreat. In the interturn, Tokugawa asks to remove them. I refuse and war is re-declared. Yes, i'm quite a bastard. 3 warriors exit from the town to venture in the forest of Nagasaki. There are still 3 immortals in the city, so what are they hoping to do exactly? The two archers attack my troops escorting the workers that are supposed to build the final chunk of road, with no avail.

290BC - It's my turn now. Only 2 regular warriors are still in the city, and 2 immortals are enough to dispose of them. Nara is captured, and Tokugawa joins Caesar in playing OCC :lol: They're even neighbours!!! :lol: I'm half-tempted to let them live for now, just for the fun :D

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0290.jpg

The wandering warriors are used for training my immortals (2 elite and 1 veteran). Alas, no promotion. And i still have to see a leader! :mad:

Send a galley or two down to take care of the japanese city on the island... otherwise great plan. i tried this game, and was doing pretty good agasnt rome, but then trajety struck, rome and the japs signed an alliance agasnt me it was all downhill from there...

Japan's on an island?

Doesn't look like an island...Excellent!

Hi guys!

Hakodate and Lutetia are on a peninsula... a small stripe of land almost completely jungle-ridden. Ok, capturing them would be the right thing to do, but i'm not sure... it so much fun to see those 2 inept excuses for a ruler to play OCC in those stinking locations (what they deserve BTW). We'll see.

Thanx for the interest. Actually i'm performing quite better than my submitted GOTM... if only i had played that way... tomorrow i'm posting some details about the game, then probably i'll suspend the log for a few days to play the GOTM 42. Not sure what to do yet, anyway it's sleep time now. Seeya!

:bump: to keep it near the top of the Stories and Tales list...must do the same for the great Pax Romana...

tricky!!! where have u been? you havent posted here in awhile!

He said he'd be doing GOTM 42 stuff, just wait and keep :bump: ing the thread

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/CFC_Tr1cky.JPG

build a fort, declare war, and you'll prolly pop a leader

The japanese still have iron... if all they build is swordsmen they might have a chance!!!


Or maybe not... :D

Hi guyz!

Been away a few days from the PC i have the game installed on, so no update. I'm back now and the next update should be posted in 2 days or 3. Just be patient! You won't regret it :D

build a fort, declare war, and you'll prolly pop a leader
How is it possible? Is it an exploit i wasn't aware of? Or is it just a strategy to lure the imbeciles into a trap and hope to get a defensive leader?

Probably just a strategy. But have fun building a fort there w/o a defensive stack.

Hi guyz!

Been away a few days from the PC i have the game installed on, so no update. I'm back now and the next update should be posted in 2 days or 3. Just be patient! You won't regret it :D


How is it possible? Is it an exploit i wasn't aware of? Or is it just a strategy to lure the imbeciles into a trap and hope to get a defensive leader?

well, the fort is the only land route. you could blockade the sea routes, but the majority would probably come to the fort instead of by sea

Is it over? Is tR1cKy working his COTM / GOTM?

Is it over? Is tR1cKy working his COTM / GOTM?
its been taking him awhile i dunno...

Don't worry dudez, i'm still around. I've got loads of issues from real life... probably i won't have the time to finish my GOTM either (and i'm quite pissed of that :gripe: ), but i should be back with the log quite soon. Sorry for the unpredicted delay.

The New World awaits

300AD - Troops are moving south. It's a slow process that will take many turns, but in the meantime i can build up the necessary number of galleys to have an efficient shipchain in place. I've decided that my next target will be the Celts (in the original game i went for the Ottomans first). To avoid wasting galleys, a new colony will be founded on the east coast. Travel from there to Camulodunum (my planned beachead) will require only 2 intermediate nodes and no galleys in the starting point.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0300-1.jpg

The funny stuff is that Japan has founded another city! They should have had a galley wandering around with a settler embarked... btw, here's the fresh new japanese settlement, on the far edge of the eastern island. It won't survive too long, i guess :evil:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0300-2.jpg

An espionage on Lutetia (Rome OCC) reveals that in the city there's a respectable number of defenders: 1 archer and 3 spears, and a fourth spear is about to be completed. There's also a legion slowly moving back to the city. I'll have to decide quickly if it's better to attack now or spare our troops for the big fish oversea.

Rushwork: a pukeman in Susa and a settler in Nuova Cumae.

310AD - Settler created in Nuova Cumae and already in place to build a filler city. Another settler is rushed in Kyoto for filling a gap. Osaka rushes a temple, important to fill the gap and claim a pair of very fertile tiles.

Actually, 8 galleys are ready to send troops in the New World. Too few. I need at least 15 of them for an efficient shipchain, but 3 cities are building only naval units, so it won't take too long before i have the necessary fleet for a successful invasion.

320AD - Completed colosseum in Pasagardae. I didn't really need it, just wanted at least one in my empire :) The city is back to military production now. Investigation on Camulodunum: the town is defended only by 2 regular spears. Built the filler town of Tureng Tepe, on the east coast.

330AD - Founded Nuova Tokyo to fill a gap in the ex-japanese territory. Nothing else to report except for the movement of troops southward. There's already a respectable number of immortals and catapults parked outside Tarsus.

I'm quite tempted to launch the offensive in advance. The troops and the boats now available are enough to secure a beachead in Camulodunum and probably take over the capital. This is the projected plan:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0330.jpg

The spot is the landing site. Once there, troops will conquer the coastal city (1) while 2 worker will road the tile. Keeping the city safe from cultural pressure will require 9/10 units garrisoned, but this number will drop to 2 once captured the capital (2). Obviously, the capital couldn't reasonably be kept, so troops must be stationed outside to promptly recapture it, and they are likely forced to stay there until complete assimilation of the Celts.

Have still to decide yet, and i have at least a turn to do it. BTW, the game is progressing well since now. Hope to not screw it up, it would be a real shame. Next update later or tomorrow. I've vowed to go on as soon as possible and here i am! Sorry for the delay and thanks for the respect you have showed for this thread by not spamming it. Seeya dudez!

Hey Tricky

Spam sucks, support helps. Good luck, well thought out goals and paths. Hope real life is relaxed once again (it has a way of sneaking up and giving you a kick in the balls, huh?)

V

that celtic capital is in such an easy spot. you can take it down in 3 turns (?) looks good.

Did you use a shipchain in the original GOTM?

Hi guyz! Thank you very much for the interest you're still showing for this crap gamelog. Now, reply time :D

Vanadorn: totally agree. Glad to see you here man. I never miss an update of your Pax Romana story. I've tried to put in my previous gamelog a chapter or two inspired by your story but the only feedback i got was from a guy that suggested me to stick with gamelogs... :lol:

Coolio: yeah, it should be easy to take, the troubles will come after. It will be necessary to have some extra troops for retaking it, and they must be enough to withstand skirmishes without being slowly weakened and then overwhelmed.

rbis4rbb: (sometimes you should tell me what this cryptic nickname actually means :D) yeah, i use shipchains whenever i feel the need of them: almost always. In the original game i set up a chain with 4 units per turn capacity, but it ended in Ottoman territory.

About your suggestion on the fort, well, i think this time it's not worth the effort. The jungle tiles are unroaded, so it will be too much trouble to send fresh troops in case they are needed, then the probability of a defensive leader are ridicolously low. I think it's better to have the necessary troops on the New World front.

BTW, since we're talking about it, i still have to see a leader in this game! :(

Playing right now, expect an update later. Seeya guyz!

Mission oversea

I ended the 330AD turn and nothing worth reporting happened. Before playing i've made a short comparison between the game i submitted and this one, in 340AD. The difference is amazing. In the submitted game i was still chasing off Japan in the north and i had less than 600 points. In this one my campaign in the north is already finished, a half of troops is still back near the shores of Tarsus, the invasion of the New World is about to begin and i have 784 points. If i would have played this way i probably would have been in the top ten score.

340AD - 9 galleys ready. 2 more will be available next turn. I'll wait another turn before sailing for the New World. More troops are arriving.

350AD - 11 galleys ready. Troops are loaded. 2 workers, 3 pukemen, 5 catapults and 12 immortals. The fleet sails off for the New World. The settler that will build the city used as a startpoint has just been trained and already on the way. Workers are building the necessary road.

Rushwork: a pukeman in Susa, temples in Ravenna and Izumo. Score is past 800. Amazing.

360AD - Fleet of doom moving. Amazingly, the Japanese have founded another city! It's right next to the 1st:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0360.jpg

Probably the best thing to do now is the "Capital Hunt". Wait for Hakodate to be rank 2, capture it, then do the same when the next capital will reach rank 2 and so on until total assimilation. This will allow me to spare the settlers to colonize the area. Or i could call peace with Tokugawa, try to extort the 2 cities, then capture the capital and settle the issue. We'll see... for the moment, the japanese refuse to acknowledge my envoys, so everything is still to be decided. I've unloaded 2 immortals on the hills outside the capital. The best defending unit is an archer.

In the north, Osaka has just reached rank 2, and a major hole has been filled. Another hole remains open, and the necessary settler to claim it is already being built.

Rushwork: a harbor in Zohak, a settlement on the eastern island. Now every city there will benefit of the luxuries available in the mainlands, and happiness will grow.

370AD - The fleet of doom has just crossed the ocean. Next turn it will disembark its deadly cargo in Celtic territory:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0370.jpg

The japanese are still deaf to my envoys. The attack on Hakodate is delayed. I want to see if the 2 other cities can be extorted. Max result with minimal effort.

I've done a diplomacy round to get updated world maps of the New World. Well, nothing new actually, but i saw that everyone except for the Iroquois is at tech parity with me. Probably the Celts have some pukemen, at least in the capital. An investigation on Gergovia reveals that the Celts have access to iron, but the city in question is defended only by 2 regular spears.

The turn ends, and it will be probably the last "peaceful" one for long time. Will my expedition be blessed by success? Only time will tell. That's all for now. Tomorrow the dogs of war will be left loose on Celtic territory, and Brennus will cry like a chicken :evil:

Did you use a shipchain in the original GOTM?
I remember his anti-Bob (Iroquois) shipchain in Now THIS is a bad start!.

Die Brennus die! Still keeping up with teh story.

The Celt season begins

380AD - Our glorious scientists have just finished researching Invention. Surprisingly i'm the 1st one to know this tech, although i researched it at minimum. I hoped to trade it for Monotheism, but no one has researched it. And probably it's better. Don't want the pukes on the New World to reach Gunpowder. BTW, research is set to Gunpowder at minimum.

Behistun is founded. That city will be the near end of the shipchain. Roads already connect it to the core. Workers are improving the tiles around to have the town grow quickly.

Rushwork: a temple in Edo and a worker in Ravenna.

Brennus salutes me with "Hail you friend of the Celtic people" or something. Yes, i'm a friend of the Celts, because they will live much better under Persian rule. Too bad Brennus will be "removed" in the process. BTW, to reward this friendship, i'll refrain from razing any Celt city. War is declared and my stack of doom lands outside Camulodunum

In the interturn, Sidon completes the Forbidden Palace and my 2nd core is finally fully operational. Some gold and gem tiles are fully exploited now, and my net income per turn jumps from 98 to 138 quids.

A regular gallic swordsman tries to skirmish, but a catapult weakens him and a veteran pike is enough to defend.

390AD - I'm tired of Japan refusing peace talk. Hakodate is rank 2 and can be conquered. The 1st immortal attacks, kills the archer and walks into the city.

Catapults bombard Camulodunum, with little damage. A reg spear is weakened, another one show up. Then the elite attack and win every fight, but once again no leader. 3 spears and 1 archer were defending. Workers road the tile, then 8 units fortify into the city and the others stay in place. Galleys are moved back to form a shipchain.

The first Celtic target has fallen. A useless Colossus is also captured.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0390.jpg

In the interturn, a celtic MedInf attacks, but a catapult weakens it and a veteran pukeman is enough to resist. A gallic sword and a warrior, all regular, are outside Camulodunum. Izumo reaches rank 2 and another little hole is filled.

400AD: The 2 celtic pesters could be easily dispatched, but probably the best thing to do is to leave them free to recapture the city. The real problem is the cultural pressure from the Ottomans. If i leave Camulodunum alone with insurance troops stationed outside, i'm at risk to see it flip to Osman. But if i leave inside enough troops to withstand cultural pressure the offensive will be delayed by several turns. The best solution is to leave it open now, have the Celts recapture it and in the meantime move the big of my troops toward Entremont. Once captured the capital, Camulodunum will be safe with only 3 units garrisoned. The risk period is a measley 1 turn.

Galleys are moved to form a shipchain. From next turn, 4 units per turn will be transported to the other side of the ocean. This number will raise to 6 once 3 more galleys will be available.

The gallic sword is attacked and retreats redlined. The warrior is left untouched. Camulodunum is left open for recapture. 3 immortals and a pukeman are parked nearby. The rest of my army moves to Entremont.

In the interturn, the warrior walks in and recapture the city, followed by the redlined gallic sword. 2 more gallic swords move to the hill just south of Entremont, and it will be necessary to dispatch them in order to secure a good defensive position for the insurance troops.

410AD: Camulodunum is recaptured easily. A temple is rushed immediately, sacrificing a wounded immortal. The 2 gallic swords are killed too and the big stack is on the hill south of Entremont, ready to capture next turn. The shipchain is operational now, and the first squad of 4 immortals are sent to secure Camulodunum.

Peace is signed with Tokugawa. The poor fool agree to hand over one of the 2 newfound settlements and now he's playing again OCC in Ise: :D

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0410.jpg

A settler is rushed in Nuova Satsuma to fill the final hole. Another one is in place to refound Hispalis on a better place. The turn ends. No skirmishes from enemy side.

420AD: Entremont is captured, but the attack was almost repealed. 3 veteran pikes, 1 regular and 1 MDI were defending the city. 4 immortals are dead and the whole rest of them has taken some damage. More troops are sent to the chain. Fresh units are moved from Camulodunum to the Entremont hill and the newly-trasported ones take their place.

The 1st offensive on Celtic territory has been a success. The goals have been achieved, and now that troops are regularly flowing from the mainland, the other cities can be captured as well. Here's a shot of the front zone:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0420.jpg

As someone may have been noticed, i'm playing honorably with the Celts. A RoP rape may be better spent on the Ottomans rather than the Celts, that are somewhat weaker. This is the last turn played for today. More news from the front tomorrow. Stay tuned folks!

nice capture tricky! BTW is that iron the celtics ONLY iron. if so their screwed.

Uh, good spotting Coolio. Yes, that was the only source of iron for the Celts, and yes, they're screwed :D

----------------------------------

Tough progress

430AD: In the 420AD interturn, the Spanish have started Leo's Workshop. A quick tour reveals that everyone in the New World, except for the Iroquois, know Invention now. Damn them, the turn before they were all economically broken, and now all the bastards have bought the premium tech almost for free.

The next target is the Celtic city of Mohacs, probably followed by Lugdunum and Gergovia. However, the bad placement of celtic cities could hamper me.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0430.jpg

By founding a city on the spot near Entremont i could set up a good reinforcement line between several cities, both Celtic and Ottomans. This could be of much help in the upcoming conquest of the Ottoman empire and also in the advancement north. Richborough would be razed and refounded in the marked spot to extend the grid. It's still to be decided what to do with Entremont. It could be left where it is, and in this case Lugdunum should be razed and refounded on a "?" spot. Or it could be razed and refounded 1 tile north, leaving alone Lugdunum. Or the city could be both razed and a new city in place of Lugdunum could be founded directly on dyes. It's still unclear what would be the best solution.

A settler for the first spot has just been rushed. It will be founding the city 3 turns from now. In the meantime, the invasion goes on. An army of 7 immortals, 5 catapults and 1 pukeman is moving to Mohacs and will be on the target 2 turns from now. The wounded units outside Entremont are sent back to Camulodunum for healing. Fresh troops take their place. The celtic capital is left open for recapture.

More troops are sent through the shipchain. A new galley is in place, and another one is rushed in Matsuyama. From next turn, the shipchain capacity will be 6 units per turns instead of 4.

I end the turn, and nothing happens. Entremont is still loyal, with 9 pop inside instead of 10.

440AD - Kandahar is founded, and the last hole in the jungle is filled. Stack 1 is just outside Mohacs. The troops outside Entremont are moved north to Lugdunum (ETA: 2 turns). Fresh troops from the shipchain take their place.

Rushwork: a temple somewhere, barracks are fastened in Roma and Samaria. The turn ends, and nothing important happens. Entremont is still loyal (and starving). A celt archer come out from Mohacs headed north. Not the best moment to venture out of the city, with my stack ready to take over it.

450AD - The attack on Mohacs begins. Catapults bombard the city. A pukeman is reduced to 1/3 and a spear is weakened at 2/3. No more units are present. Two elite immortals are enough to dispatch them and the 2nd victory finally pop up the 1st leader of the game.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0450.jpg

Stack 2 is just outside Lugdunum. The settler is in the New World, but it's not said if it will build immediately the "link city" or go north to replace Lugdunum. The decision will be taken next turn. Meanwhile, another settler is rushed in Pasagardae.

The leader is embarked and sent into the Mainlands while, as usual, fresh troops come through the shipchain.

In the interturn, some cities in the new core complete barracks, and from now they will train military units at full potential. Nothing worth reporting happens. All the captured cities are still loyal, and my game score has just passed the 1000 points mark. In the submitted game, i had 767 points at this moment.

460AD - Darius, the leader, arrives in Persepolis and the Hanging Gardens are rushed. I could have choosen to rush Leo's Workshop or Sun Tzu's academy, but they look like somewhat lesser in this situation. Barracks are already built in all the cities that are devoted to military production, and there are only 9 spears and 2 archers that could be upgraded around. It's better to exploit the Hanging Gardens for the extra happiness, and relieve some people from MP duty.

Lugdunum is razed. Two pukemen and a MDI were defending it, no match for my unstoppable immortals. The settler is sent north to refound the city in a better location. Cultural pressure on Entremont is almost over, at the point that it may be worthwile to keep it.

More units are sent to Camulodunum with the shipchain. The city has just reached rank 2, and the cultural danger comes only from 2 tiles under Ottoman control. Since my overall culture is bigger, 2 units are enough to keep it safe.

The culture ratio between me and the Celts is (approx) 1.244 - in this moment Mohacs would be safe with 10 troops garrisoned. Supposing it's kept on starvation, this number will drop to 9,7 and 5 in the following turns. But once rank 2 is reached and the population is dropped to 1, 2 units would be enough.

Capturing Richborough will free Mohacs from cultural pressure from the Celts before reaching rank 2. It could be done in 3 turns from now, after what Mohacs would be safe. I decide to take the risk. 6 immortals are sent to Richborough. And since we're going to risk, a temple is rushed in Mohacs.

Side note: 3 immortals are outside the last japanese city. I end the turn, Tokugawa ask to remove them, i laugh hard at him and war is declared again. Nothing disastrous happens. The 2 risky towns remain loyal.

470AD - Lots of things to report.

On the mainland, the Hanging Gardens are complete in Persepolis and happiness is a bit up everywhere. Ise is captured easily and Japan is out of the game. Immortals are short-rushed in Rome and Samaria (new core). More units are sent oversea with the shipchain.

On the eastern island, Ise, the last japanese settlement, is captured easily, and Tokugawa is gone.

Before dealing with troop movements, i take care of the less critical tasks. Reinforcement troops just trained are moved with the city-chain. Workers are assigned tasks. It's incredible how much workers are needed in this map, The industrious trait really helps!

A persian Stack of Death is just outside Richborough. The settler due to replace it is a bit late, it should be in position 4 turns from now.

I decide to take the risk and try to keep Entremont. The city is kept on starving, and is set to train a settler. Wounded units from Lugdunum are moved back. The previous insurance troops are garrisoned into the city. Some units are moved north toward Gergovia and Verulamium, the new capital. Although the flip risk is very low, it's not zero. Will i be screwed up? The turn ends...

480AD - ... and nothing disastrous happened. Lots of worker actions, then the settler is sent through the shipchain. Another settler is rushed in Entremont.

Richborough is conquered and razed. Only 2 reg spears were defending it. The Celts can't offer a significant resistance anymore. Brennus' fate is sealed. More troops are proceeding north to conquer Gergovia and Verulamium.

A temple is rushed in a city on the eastern island.

Here's a significant shot of the mayhem in Celtic territory:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0480-scaled.jpg

I got two questions
can i see the rest of the other continent?

and why didn't you kill the Japanese completly? nevermind

Thanks for the interest madviking. About your questions:

1) you'll see it in the next update.
2) ok. but it may be worthwhile explaining why i didn't kill them off completely before. In a few words, why i let Rome and Japan survive? Well, there was no real necessity to kill them completely. All the captured towns were safe from cultural pressure. And the waste of turns and units necessary wasn't worth the effort. At the end, i've gained 3 cities by letting the japanese survive from a while. I've spared the settlers (and money) to found them by myself.

About Rome, the reason is pretty much the same. Lutetia was isolated in a jungle land, and there were no roads to reach it quickly. Once again, i would have been forced to divert some troops to capture a lonely and unproductive size 1 city. Not worth the effort. Now there are galleys and troops available and the destiny of Rome is signed. You'll see them falling in the next update.

When you're one % from domination, will you go for space while milking?

Own: not exactly. What i am going to do is to play 2 different games. On the 1st (this one) i'll go for domination. Then, i will reload a certain turn in the ancient age and play for a quick space race. I consider my gameplay until that turn to be good for both.

-------------------

Easy conquest

490AD - Nothing important happened in the previous interturn.

Gergovia is defended by pukemen. The catapults fire, a reg pukemen is weakened, a second shows up, is weakened too, and [i]remains visible[/b]. Two pukemen at 2/3 and nothing else, then. Two immortals, a veteran and an elite, should be enough to dispose of them... and so it is. Gergovia is captured.

More units are marching toward Verulamium, the capital, and the 2 remaining celtic settlements north of the big jungle. They should be more than enough to capture those 3 cities, and so new units are parked on the Ottoman border, ready for the next big prey.

In the mainlands, after the demise of Japan, the employed troops are sent via galleys to dispose of the last Roman settlement. Lutetia is defended only by 3 regular spears. The legionary and the archer seem gone. It's possible that Caesar is so broken that he had to disband units. Well, i think it's my duty to put an end to this pitiful struggle.

Persepolis is now in the cultural top 5 (last place): an excellent result for a game totally devoted to war.

Rushworks: temples in Nuova Yokohama and Neapolis, barracks in Sidon. In the northern part of the Old World, workers are furiously roading and irrigating tiles. The cities around will be forever corrupted, so the best thing to do is to grow them to size 7+ (when possible), raise their eccess food to the maximum and turn people into taxmen. At least they will provide unit support, a few gpt, and a slight increase in score.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0490.jpg


500AD - Time for a little confrontation between the submitted game and this one.

In the original game, i've finished off the Japanese a few turns ago. Currently i've just disembarked 24 immortals in Ottomans territory for the future RoP rape. The easter island has only 1 settlement in it and the jungle peninsula is completely deserted. Troops available: 67 immortals, 19 pukemen, 4 catapults. Score: 827.

In this game, i've conquered the japanese mainland long ago and i'm active in the New World from 12 turns. The Celts are about to be conquered and troops are already amassing to take over the Ottoman empire. Troops available: 64 immortals, 29 pukemen, 15 catapults and some archers (spears and warriors weren't counted). The Old World is completely settled and the score is 1094 points, more than 30% bigger.

Once again, i have to be sorry of myself. If i had played this way in the original game i would probably have been in the top ten.

Now back on the game. The planned city south of Entremont is founded. Since the settler is persian, the city takes the persian name of Bunyan. Another settler (Celtic) is in place to refound Richborough.

The 1st chunk of troops is just outside Verulamium. Since only regular spearmen are defending the city, probably 4 immortals and 6 catapults will be enough to overcome it. But more troops are following 1 tile after, just in case.

Temples are rushed in Nagasaki and Nuova Pisae. Nothing else happens. I end the turn... and this time the Celts have an unpleasant surprise: a MDI moves into Verulamium, then attacks and kills one of my immortals. Then, the visible defender is now a pukeman. Probably it came from the north. Brennus has zero money and no iron.


510AD - 3 units aren't enough to kill all the defenders in Verulamium. Catapults are successful in weakening the pukeman and a spear. Then the 3 immortals kills the pukeman, a spear and the bastard MDI. Only a regular spear remains, and next turn it will be surely buried.

In the mainlands, the southern part of the big jungle (near to the core) is slowly being cleared and worked. There are some relatively uncorrupted cities that will benefit of it:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0510.jpg

Rushwork: a temple in Kyoto and a worker in Neapolis.

520AD - Verulamium is easily captured. The stack moves in to quell resistance as quick as possible. There are wide gaps in the ex-celtic territory and at least 2 settlers will be needed to fill them. The 1st one has just been rushed in Entremont (this city is a nice settler factory). The 2nd one will be provided by Verulamium next turn, when resistance will be quelled.

It's time for Caesar to retire from its assignment. 3 immortals are disembarked just outside Lutetia.


Early retirement

530AD - Uh. Failed attack on Lutetia. Mysteriously, a 3rd spearman appeared. A veteran immortals is killed by a regular spear (who gets promoted too). The other 2 are successful (although a 2nd immortal has been redlined!), but the wounded spear at 2/4 survives. Next turn it will be at full hitpoints, and a single immortal may not be enough to overcome it. An archer is sent as reinforcement. Crap. Just when you're not expecting it, the RNG gods screw you.

There are some Ottomans units that are crossing my territory. They are directed north, toward England. The english and the ottomans are at war from ages. The immortals parked on the border are too few for an extensive RoP rape, but they are more than enough to capture the ottoman border cities.

540AD - Lutetia resists, again. The spear is fully healed and a regular legionary has magically shown up. The available immortal gets redlined before killing the spear. And attacking a legionary with an archer isn't exactly an intelligent thing to do.

It's time for some espionage on the Ottomans.

Aydin: size 5; defended by 2 regular pikes; training a MDI (14). 3 content citizen and 2 clowns. The Ottomans are badly screwed by WW. Good for me.

Iznik: size 3; defended by 1 pike and 1 spear, all regular; training a longbowman (10). 326 culture points but not a single building in the city. Good news, the Ottomans are in deficit and are scrapping building and units.

Konya: size 2; defended by 2 regular pukes; training a MDI (1).

Sogut: size 5; defended by 4 regular pukes; building Leo's (92 turns - hohoho)

Uskudar: size 6; defended by 2 regular pukes; training a longbowman (10).

The 1st of the 2 settlers is in place to build a filler city. The 2nd one will be in place next turn. A stack of troops in just outside Augustodorum. Another one is 2 tiles away from Agedincum. Brennus is about to be "retired". Another immortal is outside Lutetia.

550AD - The immortal outside Lutetia was redundant. In a lucky strike, the archer attacks and kills the remaining legionary on Lutetia. Caesar is fired, and Brennus will follow soon. Augustum is captured easily; the last Celtic town is Agenincum and a stack of persian units is just outside it.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0550.jpg

The 1st of the 2 filler cities, Celtonia, is founded in the middle of the jungle. Brennus couldn't care less to clear it. The 2nd celtic settler is in place.

A RoP is signed with Osman. Troops are moved into Ottoman territory for a devastating rape.

Rushwork: a temple in Nagoya.

560AD - Agenicum is captured and Brennus is fired.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0560.jpg

Founded Gallica, the 2nd filler city in the ex celtic territory. Nothing else happens, except for the movement of troops in Ottoman territory in preparation of the big rape.

RoP Rape Party


570AD - I still have to decide what to do with the Ottomans. They have 12 cities in their core, plus one in the far north. Rape them all in a shot would be quite expensive, and probably slow down my victory and lower my score. I'm thinking about raping their main cities and then proceed with the assimilation normally.

The Ottomans have just signed peace with England and exited from war weariness. Some of their troops are still hanging north around the captured english city:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0570-1.jpg

Some more are in the middle of my territory. A few of them are heading north while some other are returning home:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0570-2.jpg

With all those troops around, they should not have a big skirmish potential. The situation should be exploited quickly, before they have a chance to rebuild their military.

In this turn, i do nothing but rushing a settler in Entremont and upgrading a few archer into longbowmen. Next turn more troops will be available and i'll take the final decision.


580AD - Six more units have been deployed in the New World. Another ottoman city is ready to be raped. I think i'll go for it next turn. Meanwhile, a settler from Entremont has just been trained and sent to fill a small gap. Only 1 settler remains to be built, the one who will relocate the city in a better strategic position.

A temple is rushed in a northern ex-japanese city, and that's all.

Here's a shot of the Ottoman empire. My rape squadrons are clearly visible, bearing persian colors:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0580.jpg


590AD - I offer a RoP to the English and Elizabeth is happy to hand over Literature for it :D They also know Monotheism. The settler from Entremont is once again Celtic, so we found the city of Brennus, in honor to my former opponent :D Then, the Rape Party begins. All the attacks are successful and seven ottoman cities fall instantly. Then i proceed to kill some ottomans troops around and my immortals starts to fail miserably, but after a few embarassing losses they recover.

Obviously, the ottoman source of iron has been included in the raped territory, and so poor Osman cannot train new pukemen and MDI.

The ottoman capital, Sogut, is one of the raped city. It contains the Oracle, a big asset this time: most of my cities have a temple and the increased happiness will be of help. Now Theology must be avoided at all costs, or the benefit of the Oracle will be nullified.

With a total spending of 16 gpt, i sign with England and Spain against the Ottomans. That lone city on the north must be purged and i don't have troops to divert going there. If the spanish or the english can do the job, it's fine for me.

Temples are rushed in Ise and Shimonoseki. Then the turn ends. Here's how the ottoman core looks like now - what a difference from the turn before! :D

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0590.jpg

In the interturn, the Ottoman reaction is weak. A damaged longbow attacks an immortal and fails. Some ottomans troops are moving from the captured city of Hastings to my northern holdings. They need to be buried, but i've left some units there exactly for that purpose. In the jungle, some ottoman pukemen are approaching the cities and one of them has blocked a road. In the ottoman core, a MDI and a longbow are approaching Uskudar, and that's all.

It seems that Osman wasn't able to recover in time. The long war with England, and the consequent war weariness, has hampered its production quite a lot. Few units are still around, and without a supply of iron, he's now stuck with longbowmen and spearmen. Probably i've choosen the best moment to hit hard.

WAY TO RAPE!!!
Obviously, the ottoman source of iron has been included in the raped territory, and so poor Osman cannot train new pukemen and MDI.
another one-iron civ huh? thats lucky. im supprised the english gave you RoP its gona be easy now.
BTW..... i lost this GOTM :(

I signed the RoP with the English right before raping the Ottomans... and so my reputation was clean at the moment. I've raped the Romans and the Japanese too, but since i didn't sell contact between civs oversea, the New World nations know nothing about this. :D

BTW don't worry Coolio, you'll improve overtime and will be able to win those games as well. Everyone starts as a n00b.

-------------

After the big rape

600AD - The rape has been successful, but now an even bigger task must be accomplished: keeping the conquered towns and, at the same time, capture the rest.

The cities of Kunya, Sinop and Izmit had zero culture, so the 2x multiplier doesn't apply. Sogut, Uskudat, Iznik and Aydin were at least rank 2, and so the 2x factor occurs. The culture ratio (Ottomans/Persia) is approx. 116/170 = 0.6823. Considering resistors, tiles under foreign control, 2x multiplier and culture ratio, here are the necessary troops to keep the cities safe:

Iznik: 3
Izmit: 5
Konya: 7
Sinop: 8
Aydin: 10
Uskudar: 11
Sogut: 16

Konya is worth keeping, since it could act as a gathering point for the capture of the western cities. Iznik will be kept easily, there are also excess troops available in the area.

Uskudar is put on starvation and kept open for recapture, not before moving the stationed troops on the mountain and pillaging the road connecting iron. There are 1 MDI and 1 longbow that will take it next turn, so i can recapture it later with 1 pop less.

Aydin too is left open, there aren't enough troops to keep it.

Sinop is left open and troops around are sent to the near city of Antalya. Once captured, cultural pressure on Sinop will be much smaller.

Izmit could be kept with 2 more immortals around... but there aren't. The city isn't even resisting, and could be used to rush a settler and rebuild it in a more convenient location. I decide to take the risk. 3 units (max available) are garrisoned in the city, and the settler is rushed.

A temple is rushed in Kagoshima, and more units are sent with the shipchain. Then i end the turn. In the interturn, Uskudar is recaptured (as planned), and 3 wandering workers move inside the city, hoping for protection. Fools. 3 more slaves next turn. None of the risky cities flipped.


610AD - Uskudar is recaptured, and the 3 ottoman slaves that were inside are sent to road a tile.

Antalya is captured easily. 2 regular pukemen were defending, and 2 immortals are enough to get rid of them. Two slaves are captured and sent north for future use. The settler in Izmit is complete, and is moved on the hill west, escorted by an immortal. It would be useful now to see again the situation of the captured cities. The cultural ratio is now 115/175 = 0.6571

Iznik: 2 (safe now)
Izmit: 3 (safe now)
Sinop: 4
Konya: 6 (safe now)
Aydin: 10
Sogut: 12

Uskudar and Antalya are in the grace turn.

Izmit must be moved, and the 3 immortals in the city could be better used for a quick attack on Adana. Troops are moved in enemy territory, and the city is abandoned now. Since it will be refounded next turn, on the hill and in a better location, it won't hurt much to kill it 1 turn earlier.

All the excess troops are moving toward Uskudar, an important waypoint for the capture of all the remaining Ottoman cities.

Rushworks: temples in Behistun and Zohak.

The turn ends... and nothing happens. All the captured cities remain loyal. I bet that if i park units inside for resistance quelling at least a city will flip back to the ottomans with all my units inside... :mad:

620AD - The city of Nuova Izmit is founded on the planned spot. The lone immortal in the city is enough to keep it safe from cultural flip.

Adana is captured, but an immortal is lost and another one is redlined. I was almost repealed.

Hasting is still in Ottoman hands... what are doing the English and the Spanish? Did i sign an alliance with them just for fun?!? This is what remains of the Ottoman empire:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0620-1.jpg

The 3 ottoman cities can be captured 2 turns from now. The northern city of Hasting requires at least 3 turns, unless someone finally does it first. Anyway, i move north all my available troops in Agenicum. The city is left open this turn, but no one is in range to capture it. I hope to lure in the wilderness some Ottoman troops in Hastings to easen the city's fall.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0620-2.jpg

Meanwhile, the available troops on the southern front move to their targets, as the screenshot explains.

Rushworks: a settler in Entremont and a temple in Toyama. Then, the turn ends, and once again no city flips. Two ottoman units, a spear and a pukeman, are moving toward the open city of Agenicum. After the Bastard Workers, we're using now the Bastard Open City :D

ERRATA: i didn't pillage the ottoman iron source, just wanted to do it, then i forgot :( Osman got another turn with iron, with the recapture of Uskudar, and so he probably was able to put in production some MDI or Pukemen. But it's unlikely that he'll got them ready before being annihilated.

Cleanup

630AD - As planned, the 1st attack take place. The target is Edirne. Defenses are greater than expected: 1 veteran pukeman, 1 regular and 1 veteran longbow. After killing the 2 pukes, the 3rd immortal fails against the longbowman that, although redlined, survives. Since its defense value is only 1, i risk attacking with the escorting pukeman... and win! Edirne is captured:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0630-1.jpg

A pikeman attacking and conquering a city... not a common event, i guess :D

Once again, i'll do the usual culture math. The ratio (Ottomans/Persia) is now 110/178 = 0.618; counting everything (that i don't list to not bore people), the necessary troops to keep the cities safe are:
N. Izmit: 1 (safe)
Iznik: 2 (safe)
Sinop: 2 (safe)
Adana: 4
Konya: 5 (safe)
Uskudar: 5
Antalya: 7
Aydin: 9
Sogut: 12
The unsafe cities are kept open, with insurance troops just outside. Three cities are still in Ottoman hands: Istanbul, Bursa and Hastings. Two stacks are outside Istanbul and Bursa, and will attack next turn. Meanwhile, Entremont has popped a Roman settler, thanks to the roman slave joined a few turns before. The settler moves and found a city, which is given the name of Nuova Augusta. Entremont is abandoned.

Sinop has no resistors. Ideal for rushing a settler to fill a gap in the former ottoman territory. The settler is rushed.

In the north, a pukeman is outside Agenicum, the open city. Rather than defending the city, i send an immortal to dispose of the pukeman. The idea is to leave the city open to lure more enemy troops, but an unexpected bonus comes out: the 2nd leader of the game, Cirus.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0630-2.jpg

Frankly, this leader is quite useless now. An army is useless, and moving the capital in the New World is absolutely out of question, since the core is fully developed and fresh units arrive to the New World quickly, thanks to a tight placement of cities already full of troops and a 6 units per turn shipchain. Probably the best thing to do with it is to ship it back to the mainland and use it to rush Sun Tzu somewhere. This would earn a few money, so a pair of temples or libraries could be rushed earlier and the domination limit could perhaps be reached a pair of turn before.

The Hastings stack is moved north, but the catapults cannot move to an unroaded mountain and so they retreats. The Ottoman city is defended only by spears, and there are a few english and spanish units around. Probably it won't be necessary to destroy it. A few spare troops are present in Konya and are sent into the remnant of the ottoman territory, just in case.

Finally, Persepolis is now 3rd in the cultural top 5. Nothing else to do, apart from the usual relocation of troops via the shipchain. The turn ends.

In the interturn, the Spanish finally conquer the ex-english (and now ex-ottoman) city of Hastings. Once again, no city has flipped, and next turn the Ottoman empire could be completely obliterated.


640AD - Only 2 ottoman cities remain: Istanbul and Bursa. Two stacks are just outside the cities, ready to attack. Bursa is defended by 1 regular puke and 2 spearmen. The attack is almost repealed. Catapults damage the puke, then a loss against a spear, a win against the puke, a win against a spear and another loss against a spear damnthem! The surviving spear is redlined, and once again i send the escorting pikeman to charge. The unit is victorious and for the 2nd time in the game a pikeman captures a city! Whims of the RNG gods, i guess...

The last Ottoman city, Istanbul, is defended only by 2 regular pukes. The 3 elite immortals are almost repealed too: one is killed and another one is redlined, but the city falls, and the Ottomans are gone for good.

Settlers are rushed in Augusta and Gergovia. More are being trained in Sogut and Aydin and another one is moving from Japan. A temple is rushed in Nuova Hispalis.

The next target are the English. Probably assimilating them would be enough to reach the domination limit, but things doesn't look so easy: England know Gunpowder now, and this means musketmen (supposing they have saltpeter). However, i could crush them only with numbers: lots of immortals are coming every turn from the Old World, and most of the force employed against the Ottoman is now free to join the upcoming carnage on the north.

Here's a shot of the conquered part on the New World, taken after the interturn (actually, at the start of the 650AD turn).

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0640.jpg

what are you reseaching as of now tricky? just wondering

Ooops! A quasi-crosspost, i was about to update :D
I'm researching Gunpowder now, at minimum (lone specialist). But techs are irrelevant now, i don't need anything else.

-----------------------

Migration

650AD - After the Ottoman's demise, it's time for another confrontation between my submitted game and this one.

In the original game, i had just finished to rape the Ottomans, which were playing OCC in Sinop now - that damn Sinop! Defended only by spears, it resisted 6 immortals charges before being taken over by England with a lonely persian merc... (MDI). The Celtic nation was still intact, although i was about to rape it too. Persepolis was 2nd in the cultural top 5. I was earning 139 gpt and my score was 1085 points. Research is set on Gunpowder (11 turns). Medieval tech known: Monotheism, Feudalism, Engineering and Invention.

In this game, both the Ottomans and the Celts are already gone, and i'm moving my troops north to assimilate England. Persepolis is 3rd in the top 5, after Salamanca and London. I am earning 198 gpt (with a higher luxury rate!) and my actual score is 1428 points. Research is set on Gunpowder (13 turns). Medieval tech known: Feudalism, Engineering and Invention. Apart being a little backward in technology (that is completely irrelevant in such a situation), i'm performing quite better. It will be interesting to see the Jason scoring of this game.

Now back with the usual stuff. First, the leader is sent into the mainland and ends its course in Persepolis where it rushes Sun Tzu. Then, the usual bunch of 6 immortals is sent to the New World. Finally, all the troops available in the New World continue the march toward England.

Rushworks: a library in Hakodate and a temple in Turing Tepe. Nothing else happens, except for the usual worker actions. The turn ends.


660AD - Sun Tzu has been built in Persepolis and the income per turn is up at 208 gpt. I proceed to sell all the barracks and earn a few extra money.

The 1st of the ottoman settlers is in place and a filler city is built. Its name: Osman. Built also a city north of Augusta, on the English border. Englans is putting up a partial blockade (like Japan did), but there is a way for my troops to pass. Workers are sent to road a mountain tile and troops follow along. More units are arriving at the border and more troops are sent through the shipchain.

There are still resistors in 2 ottoman cities. Don't they know that Osman is no longer their king... oops, president :D

Rushworks: a settler in Sogut, libraries in Lutetia and Byzantium. Another peaceful turn ends. Here's a shot of the English border. Another hurricane is about to hit, this time in English territory :evil:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0660.jpg

Persian tourism in England :D

670AD - Warwick is defended only by pukemen. Good news. I spend some bucks to investigate it. Well spent, the situation is better than expected. The city is defended only by a regular puke and a veteran spear, and England has no saltpeter. No muskets then.

Another filler city has been founded north of Gergovia, on the tip of a small peninsula. A few more tiles are claimed. It's time to load MapStat to see how far i am from the domination limit. 1037 tiles owned, 226 to go. I need to fill a few gaps and make some cities reach rank 2, or the assimilation of England won't be enough. A hundred or so tiles could be claimed this way. The rest of them must be conquered.

Some troops have already crossed the border, to at least secure a passage. More immortals are flowing north, and the final attack is a matter of few turns. A settler has been rushed in Verulamium (thanks to a joined worker) and now the city of Augusta can be refounded in a better place. A library has been rushed in Nuova Izmit, and nothing else. Money isn't enough for another rush.


680AD - A city has expanded to rank 2 somewhere. Another settler is in place and builds a filler city between Sogut and Aydin. The settler is ottoman so the city is named Suleyman. Tiles owned: 1055. To go: 208.

More troops are moving in English territory. York is defended by reg spearmen! They won't stand a chance.

Libraries are rushed in the ottoman cities of Iznik and Antalya. In 4 turns, some 30 tiles will be claimed that way.

Plans have changed a little. Augusta will stay in place. The new settler will build a filler city NE of Verulamium. A few more tiles will be claimed this way.

In the interturn, two cities in the mainland expand to rank 2. A nice number of tiles is claimed that way.


690AD - The filler city of Herat is built on the planned spot. 8 more tiles are claimed. 1085 owned, 178 to go.

An English MDI is blocking the way for Nottingham, and i am forced to cross a forest, with evident lag. The English are scared... and they're right :D I refrain from crossing the forest and stay in place. Probably the best thing to do is to act like with Japan. Initial attack on the available targets and quick assimilation on the rest. Two cities (Warwick and York) can be captured now. We'll see next turn.

Rushworks: libraries in Richborough and Bursa.

Here's a shot of the NW part of the New World. The next mayhem will take place here:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0690.jpg


700AD - Two more cities have expanded to rank 2: Byzantium and Tureng Tepe. Both of them have claimed a few useful tiles, and the count is updated: 1098 tiles owned, 165 to go.

The blockade around York is no more, and an immortal moves north to Nottingham. The city is size 8, on grassland and defended by (at least) 1 veteran puke. I move more immortals and see that even the road to London is clear. Probably a complete rape will be possible, after all.

Turn after turn, troops are reaching the English lands and fresh ones are sent through the shipchain. Elizabeth is living its final hours as president of England, and she doesn't know yet.

Rushworks: libraries in Augusta and Agenicum. The turn ends, and nothing relevant happens.


710AD - The city of Nuova Izmit is rank 2 now, and a few more land is claimed. Domination count: 1108 tiles owned, 155 to go. More troops are moving: big stacks are already outside Warwick, York, Nottingham and London. Next turn Canterbury too will be covered. This leaves off only the city of Newcastle, on a small tip of land surrounded by Iroquois territory. It could be quite a nuisance... but surprisingly, Bob of the Iroquois is willing to sign a RoP with me! Didn't he hear about the rape against Osman? Probably he hated him... :lol:

A screenshot of the NE part of the New World follows. By taking it, i've discovered that there's another english settlement far away: the rogue city of Oxford, deep in Spanish territory:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0710.jpg

What to do now? I have sufficient galleys to divert some of them for a mission on Oxford. Too bad i've already used the shipchain at its full potential. The mission will be started next turn then.

The rest is business as usual. Rushworks: libraries in Istanbul, Uskudar and Lugdunum. Then i hit enter... and something interesting happens: the English city of York completes Leo's Workshop and, for the wonder cascade effect, Madrid builds the Great Library.


720AD - Two more cities, Iznik and Antalya, have reached rank 2. Let's check the domination count: 1131 tiles owned, 132 to go.

Five units are ready to be embarked in the Old World. The transport via the shipchain is done as usual, except for the last passage. Instead of being disembarked in Camulodunum, the troops are loaded into the 3 stationing galleys in the city. The empty spot is filled by a sixth immortal previously garrisoned into the city. Then, the 3 galleys with full load move north to reach Oxford. The shipchain is then rearranged for a 4 units per turn capacity.

More troops are moving. Currently there are units in place outside London, Canterbury, York, Nottingham and Warwick. Newcastle can be reached in 2/3 turns. Oxford in 3. Next turn i could even start the rape.

Rushworks: libraries in Nuova Gergovia and Gallica. The turn ends, with nothing relevant to report, except for the English that have just started Sistine. Puff.

Is this conquests?
Because why do both Spain and England have an inland start?
can i see the histrogram?

Is this conquests?
Because why do both Spain and England have an inland start?
can i see the histrogram?
uhhh this is a GOTM and i *believe* that is is modded or created by someone before released, its not just a random map...

Hi guyz! An update will follow in a few minutes. It will include the maps of the New World as requested a few ago. For now, let me say that this PTW, not conquests, as said in the 1st post :) The game is standard PTW, but i don't know if the map is custom made (including the start points) or has just come out from a random map generation. It's GOTM 41 as is. Surely the GOTM staff know the answer.

EDIT: uh, the maps of the New World have already been posted :blush:
madviking: the histograph will be posted too, not in this update but in the next one (that will follow soon)

World domination

730AD - Two more cultural expansion this turn. The actual domination count is: 1158 tiles owned, 105 to go. Troops are ready to lay waste on England:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0730-1.jpg

I sign a RoP with the Iroquois. Then the final attack begins. Warwick, York, London, Nottingham and Canterbury are captured. After the rape fest, the domination count is: 1203 tiles owned, 60 to go. There are wide gaps in the ex-English territory, not that all the cities are back to rank 1. Let's see how those 60 tiles can be owned quickly.

Next turn, Agenicum will be rank 2, claiming 9 tiles good for the domination count. 2 more will come from Augusta. 11 tiles, 49 left. 18 from Oxford and Newcastle, and 31 tiles are left, 2 turns from now. 15 could be claimed by a settler in the gap, and we are left with 16 tiles to own. But in 2 turns Lugdunum will be rank 2, and this will claim 4 more tiles. Istambul will claim 9 tiles and uskudar 4 tiles, leaving Persia with 1 tile over the domination count.

Domination victory in 2 turns then? Not exactly. There's a settler coming north, but it's late damnit! I screwed up a little in this, by not timing correctly the arrive of the settler with the RoP rape. Another one may be trained in York or London, supposing we manage to quell resistance in this turn at least in one of those 2 cities, but even in this case the filler city cannot be built before 760AD.

All the free troops are garrisoned into London and York. At least one of those 2 cities must rush a settler next turn. As a further insurance, a galley is rushed in Augusta, to send more troops to NewCastle should the 1st attack be repealed.

See how the English territory looks like now:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0730-2.jpg

The turn ends, and nothing relevant happens.


740AD - With almost 20 units garrisoned inside, York is no more in civil resistance now. A settler is rushed immediately. Augusta and Agenicum have expanded to rank 2. Domination count: 1214 tiles owned, 49 to go.

Troops have been disembarked outside Oxford. The best defender in the city is a regular spearman. Six immortals should be way enough to capture the city. The galley in Augusta is ready, an immortal and a longbow are embarked and the boat set the sails for Newcastle. The first chunk of 2 units are outside the city. 4 more (boat included) will be in place for the attack next turn. Once again, a regular spearman is the best defender visible. There should be no unpleasant surprises coming from the 2 remaining english cities.

There's nothing else to rush now, so i disband a catapult in Warwick and rush a temple. Rank 2 in 2 turns, exactly the planned turn in which the domination limit will be reached. Just for safety, some extra tiles won't hurt.

Little else is done. The units available now are more than enough to finish the job. No more troops are needed via the shipchain. The turn ends. In the interturn, 2 more cities expand culturally. Resistance is quelled in every captured English city. An upleasant surprise comes from Newcastle: a longbowman came out of the city and killed one on my immortals. No problem, the reinforcements should be enough to capture the city.


750AD - Istanbul and Lugdunum have just expanded, claiming 17 more tiles. Oxford is captured easily, only 2 regular spears were defending it. The surviving immortal outside Newcastle kills a defending spear, then 4 more units arrive, 2 from land and 2 disembarked from the boat. No more than a regular spear and the damaged longbow should be in the city. The fate of England is sealed.

The domination count is now: 1240 tiles owned, 23 to go. The english settler is in place and the last english city has no chances of resisting another turn. I hit enter.


760AD - Gallica and Nuova Gergovia has expanded to rank 2. I'm just 4 tiles short of the domination limit, with the population already way up. Newcastle is captured easily, and the city of Victoria is founded in the english territory, filling a huge gap:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0760.jpg

According to MapStat, i'm 21 tiles over the domination limit. Nothing else is done. The turn ends, and the game is over: Domination victory in 770 AD.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0770-1.jpg

Detailed final stats will follow soon, there are a few interesting facts about this game. Just to say one, the end result isn't so brilliant as expected. Stay tuned folks!

Did you get the lonely city Oxford (?) in the Spainish territory?

I am honored to be the first to congratulate you. Great game, but too bad it wasn't the original GOTM :p .

:eek: 297 hours! Did you leave your computer running overnight a lot?

Now for SPACE RACE TIME!!! [party]
I'm the 2nd to congratulate you!

Hi guyz! Thank you all for the support! :thumbsup:

Short replies:

madviking: yes, i took them over both, although they were redundant at the end. The 2 cities provided 18 tiles and i ended the turn 24 tiles over the limit. But they provided a tiny increase in score anyway.

Own: it won't be immediate. I'd like to try GOTM 43, then go for the 2nd part of this quest. Real life takes its toll, and i don't have too much time to spend here. :(

--------

Some condiderations about this game

Let me say first that the final result wasn't so exceptional, in regard to what i was doing in the earlier part of this game. I was hoping that with this replay i would have been able to enter in the top ten. Well, i was mistaken. The final score is 6965 points and the resulting Jason is 10720, putting this game at place 21 of the scoreboard, if it was submitted. My original game resulted to be ranked 36th, and my end score is just 7% over the original one. Not an astounding progress, then :(

The score progress is almost flawless:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0770-2.gif

And the cultural histograph is quite good: i ended up being the cultural leader of the world, in a game totally war-oriented:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0770-3.gif

What went wrong then? Without bragging, i can say that my ancient age progress was quite brilliant. The culprit then is the strategy i followed in the middle ages. In the original game, i raped the Ottomans, then went for the Celts, then assimilated the English. This time i attacked the Celt first, with an honorable war, then signed RoP with Ottomans and England, then raped both. Well, this strategy didn't pay off as expected. First, it was too ambitious, at least for me. The capture of the Celtic nation went slow, due also to the fact that a big chunk of Celtic land was still unroaded jungle. I had to spend turns to walk over the jungle and worker action to at least road it somewhere. If i would have gone for the Ottomans first, probably the celtic workers could have had the time to road a few jungle tiles... who knows? Then, once the capture was over, i didn't have enough troops to attack both the Ottomans and the English at the same time (i was hoping for it), and so i went for the Ottomans first (good move) and the English 2nd. But having all the troops on the southern part of the New World delayed the capture of England at least for 4/5 turns.

At the end, the strategy of attacking Ottomans first then proceed north smoothly would have been the best, unless i had enough troops to withstand an attack on 2 different fronts. In this case domination could have been earned by 600-650 AD, with a fairly better score. Uh, a humbling lesson for me at the end. :rolleyes:

A map progression will be posted soon. Then this log will sleep for a week or 2. Once GOTM 43 is over, i'll start the Space Race part. A turn in the late ancient age will be reloaded and i'll start from there. I'm going to research literature (to crank out libraries) then go for the usual assimilation of the Old World. At this point, the whole thing should turn into a peaceful game in which technological progress would be paramount. And, being scientific, i have the necessary potential to keep it up.

However, it's bloody ages that i don't play a peaceful game. The turn progress will be slow and suggestions would be very appreciated.

That's all for the moment. Seeya soon guyz!

what would happen if you did this in conquests?

:confused: uh?!? what do you mean exactly?

EDIT: Own i usually leave the PC always up, to download stuff with WinMX and such. In a few occasions, i left the game open as well overnight, and so it shows a disproportionate number of hours played :D

good job tricky, not the "legendary game" that the ugly start game was, but it was entertaining. i look forward to more storys by you.

tr1cky- i mean, what would like if you had Civ3 Conquests. in other words, how would you overcome the volcanos, curraghs, ancient calvary etc.

297 hours??? Man, that's insane. If you started on April 15th, the date of the first post, you have averaged well over 6,5 hours pr day. W00t??? You should get out more! ;)

Hi dudez! Some replies:

Coolio: thanx man! Yes, it's not like the "Bad Start" game, nor it could be in any way. The Bad Start was an almost hopeless struggle from a desperate start position. This was an "easy" map, in which the only challenge would have been to win fast and/or maximize score. BTW, you'll see more from me... after the GOTM 43, i'll play the "Space Race" part, then probably i'll try a domination with only expansion game. It's an intriguing challenge.

madviking: uh... ok i understand now. Well, i'm sorry but you're asking the wrong man. I don't have Conquests, nor i plan to buy or "obtain" it... about volcanoes i would have simply avoided to settle around, don't like to have a productive city torched suddenly by something that, sooner or later, will happen for sure. Curraghs? They're like the canoe in DYP, right? A cheap, slow and defenseless boat that can be built from the start. Quite useless in this game, in which you could only travel safely to the other continent with the GL built. Ancient cavalry? Uh, no horses into the home continent, so it would have been quite useless as well.

Fjonis: hehe you're right man :lol: but i haven't stayed in console playing for so long. In several occasion, i left the game running overnight, and even during the day while at work. It's a side effect of having the PC always up and connected to download stuff from the net. BTW, i definitely neet to go out more... now that i have ditched my ex-GF :D

ACs don't need horses, they come the ToZ wonder. (ivory required)

curraghs are 1.1.2 (3 for seafaring) no transportation

... then probably i'll try a domination with only expansion game. It's an intriguing challenge.

How can you possibly reach a domination limit by expansion alone? You need war, don't you? Or am I misinterpreting your statement?

Coolio: thanx man! Yes, it's not like the "Bad Start" game, nor it could be in any way. The Bad Start was an almost hopeless struggle from a desperate start position. This was an "easy" map, in which the only challenge would have been to win fast and/or maximize score. BTW, you'll see more from me... after the GOTM 43, i'll play the "Space Race" part, then probably i'll try a domination with only expansion game. It's an intriguing challenge.
*in napoleon dynamite voice*............"yessss"

Ex - Girlfriend and 6.5 hours of civ per day, coincedence, I think not.

Hi U all! After a short vacation, here we are again!

Own hehe... it's true that the time i devote to Civ3 is quite incompatible with girls - you cannot play with a gorgeous chick hanging around you, right? Gals could be a real pain, some of them simply cannot understand the fact that sometimes we need to be alone with ourselves doing what we like, or have some times with good old friends... i hope for a better pick with the next one :D

Zelda's that's precisely the difficult with this variant. You cannot declare war (unless forced by MPP), you cannot use failed espionage attempt to trigger war, but you can ask people to remove their troops and, if they declare, so be it. In war time, you cannot conquer nor raze enemy cities, you cannot even invade enemy territory, although you can attack enemies currently placed in neutral or ally territory.

So how to reach domination limit? Self expansion, cultural flips, extorsions during peace treaties, propaganda missions, and resettling empty spaces. Nothing else. Culture would be paramount, and the difficulty level cannot be too high. I'm thinking about these settings, for a 1st attempt:

- Babylon (rel/sci, so temples and libraries at half price)
- Regent level
- Standard pangea map.
- Wet, warm, 5 billions years old territory.

Something i forgot to post: the map progression of the game. Enjoy.

Part 1:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0770-4.gif

Part 2:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0770-5.gif

Final:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AD0770-6.gif

wow tricky, i love how you keep these logs! so detailed! this kinda makes me wanna go back and try gotm 41 again.

Since you've already won domination, are you just gonna build your spaceship, even though you won't get a "win?"

Ok guyz - first, reply time:

Coolio: thx! IMO, you definitely should try game 41. No matter it's been over for a while, if you seek knowledge, wisdom and self-improvement (say "yes, sensei" :p) GotMs are challenges that deserve to be taken. The level (Monarch) makes it good not only for the top-tier players. Actually, by playing game 41, i've learned that i almost SUCK when there's a lot of free land for expansion. I need little space and big difficulty to play my best.

Own: no, it would be quite boring. With the Ottomans and Celts out of the game, there is little left for the AS to do some significative research, and i'd like to see how i would have performed in playing a space race game. I'll explain now what i'm going to do:


Prelude to space race

I'm going to reload the game at the end of 330BC. I've just come out from the Ancient Age. I know all the AA techs except Literature (that i'm going to research now) and Republic (that i'll buy later in return for some medieval tech). MA tech known are Engineering and Feudalism.

Researching Literature now at max (4 turns at 2.8.0) would cost me a cheap price: 73 quids per turn, for a total of 292 quids. There's more than enough money to afford it.

In post #27, i've explained why the whole turn is good for the Space Race as well. In particular, i've refrained from giving Monarchy to the Ottomans in return of Feudalism. I've choosen to give Engineering instead. While keeping them in Despotism would hypotetically slow the tech pace, acting that way they are encouraged to go for Republic, and so they'll end up having a better research potential, so the tech race would be actually fastened.

Then, if they research Monarchy on they own and establish it, my "smart" plan would fail miserably, but hey! I hope not... :D

Production strategy would essentially remain the same. I'm going to build the Forbidden Palace in Sidon: those gold and gem tiles are too good to be wasted with corruption, and there are also several river tiles to take advantage of. The Great Lighthouse in Tarsus wouldn't be necessary anymore, since i'm going to research up to Navigation as soon as possible.

In the Domination timeline, i was going to research Invention at minimum. I need to speed up the tech race, exactly the opposite of what i'm used to do, and libraries will be important. I'll have to gift the AS with some tech too, no problem.

In the old timeline i was preparing a short war with Japan, to extort some territory. Then i went for Rome, then i went for the rest of Japan. This will happen here too, but probably at a little slower rate, since i'm cranking up research too.

Once claimed all the old world, the game should become quite peaceful. I'm going to revolt again to establish a republic, essential to boost research. About luxuries, i'm going to trade them, or obtain those i can't buy via a quick military campaign, limited to the objective of collecting luxuries. I need to keep the New World's AS intact and powerful whenever possible. They must do some research for me.

It will be an interesting challenge, since i'm forcing myself to play in an unusual way. I have no idea when i'll be able to launch the spaceship, really.

Here's a map of the Persian Kingdom at the start of the Space Race (330BC, end turn):

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/Reloaded_in_Space-AC0330.jpg

OHHHH!!! AWWWWWWW!!!!
*starts chant* tR1cKy! tR1cKy!

Isn't researching yourself (with nobody else knowing the techs your researching, so you pay full price) plenty fast enough? Just switch to republic, build libs and your fine. I think you'll be way ahead of the Ottomans.

Not exactly. If i want to launch early (and i mean early) i need the AS to research some technologies to be later collected via trade deals. The more they are, the better is for me. And being quite ahead isn't a good thing, since they will research for sure techs i already have. The best thing would be to be slightly backward in order to research the right tech and own a few more via trade.

And, believe me, switching to Republic would be premature now. I need at least 4 luxuries and some marketplaces in the key cities, in order to take advantage of it. Now i'm preparing the wars with Japan and Rome, so a few turns of anarchy now aren't good. I intend to switch, but only after cleaning up the home continent.

EDIT: not counting that i still have to research it!

Back at it... cannot leave this log unfinished.

Actually, the 330BC situation isn't much exciting. I have seen it over and over, it's like a chess position studied for a long time - you lose interest on it. To make it more interesting, i won't resume the game as planned, but i'll restart from the beginning, with the precise intention to build a spaceship from the very start. It's kinda new for me, since the "Rising Sun" story was a spurious space race: the game was all-out warmonger style, turned into space race only in the very end because the military victory was almost too easy, while a space race was much more a challenge.

And since my skills have improved so far, the level of the challenge must be raised as well. No open class, but predator. The equalizers are:

enemies start with 2 offensive and 4 defensive extra units.
AS support level is raised to emperor level.

Rules stay the same: i won't reload unless a stupid mistake occur, like hitting the wrong key on the keyboard or a mouse misclick. The thing that could actually false the game is the prior knowledge of the map and the position of the opponents. I'll try to play as i would have ignored those things, but there's always the risk to be influenced in some way by it.

All right, here's again the start position

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/GOTM41Reloaded-AC4000.jpg

http://gotm.civfanatics.net/games/images/gotm41mini.jpg


Initial strategy

I intend to build my core cities in a RCP 4 position. They will need to grow a lot in the late game, and losing a few productive tiles in the early part seems a good tradeoff for the later advantage. I intend to avoid a despotic golden age, so immortals won't be used until a republic is established. Wars will be slow, since i need to go leader-farming at least in some stages. Libraries and temples will be needed in the core, to boost happiness and increase the research potential. We'll also need some help in research from the AS, so they must be kept intact as long as they don't settle into a space where i can put productive cities. Wonders will be needed as well, expecially those providing extra happiness or research. We may go for the Oracle or the Hanging Gardens in the ancients. A Colossus seems out of question, and so the Pyramids: too early to be built, better hope to capture them.

In the space race screen, we may see what our opponents are, and report their starting techs:
Persia : (sci/ind) Masonry, Bronze Working;
Rome : (mil/com) Alphabet, Warrior Code;
Japan : (rel/mil) Ceremonial Burial, Wheel;
Iroquois: (exp/rel) Ceremonial Burial, Pottery;
England : (exp/com) Alphabet, Pottery;
Spain : (com/rel) Alphabet, Ceremonial Burial;
Ottomans: (sci/ind) Masonry, Bronze Working;
Celts : (mil/rel) Warrior Code, Ceremonial Burial;
The least frequent tech we don't know is the Wheel (1), followed by Pottery (2). As we want to maximize our chances to trade for prerequisite techs, the Wheel would be the best choice, but it's also the most useless one. Pottery, with the ability to build granaries and research toward Map Making, is the best compromise.


Initial expansion

As we noticed in the past, settling SW seems the best choice. Rich tile, luxury hooked from the very start. The worker goes E to improve the floodplain. Persepolis is founded in 3950BC. The city trains a warrior (5), while the worker irrigates the floodplain. Research is set on Pottery at max (14 turns).

The worker irrigates the floodplain, then roads it, then moves E to work another FP tile. The 1st warrior is sent exploring NE, and a 2nd one is trained. Thanks to the pop growth, the 2nd warrior is complete in 3550BC. A settler is now being trained. The 2nd warrior is sent exploring W, while the 1st is recalled.

In 3450BC, Pottery is complete, and we start Alphabet at max speed. The warriors are exploring through the eastern chain of mountains and hills that seems to cross our lands from north to south. We should meet someone very early. Some micromanagement is done to time the completition of the settler with Persepolis reaching size 3.

In 3200BC, we meet the Romans. They already know Bronze Working, but are lacking Pottery and Masonry. We can get Alphabet and Warrior Code, but an even trade is impossible. So we lower research to zero, then get their 2 techs for our 2 techs plus 2 gpt. By paying them gold per turn, we should deter them from attacking with their initial free units. Perhaps.

What to research now? Considering what we have and who we met, the tech that we're more likely to gain with trades is now Ceremonial Burial. We go for Writing then. 40 turns at 3.7.0 (can't do better), but with the increase in population we should save a good number of turns.

We step back with the 1st warrior, to explore the area south of Persepolis and find the best position for a city. Ok, i know already what lies there, but i'm supposed to ignore it hehehe.

In 3150BC, the Romans found the city of Veii. Our settler is complete now, and moves to the location for city 2. Persepolis starts another warrior. The 1st one continues to explore north, through the chain of mountains and hills.

In 3050BC, Pasagardae is founded, on a hill 4 tiles NW of Persepolis. The city starts a worker.

In 2900BC, the warrior is complete, and Persepolis starts a granary. Some MM is done to gain a few shields, at the expense of 1 turn delay in population increase.

In 2850BC, we meet the Japanese. We sell Alphabet and Masonry for Ceremonial Burial, the Wheel and 10 quids. All the possible prerequisite techs are known now. We sell the Wheel to Rome for all their treasury (24 quids). Since they're likely to meet quite soon, it's better to trade everything possible.

The 2nd worker is ready in 2670AD. It moves south to prepare the tiles for city 3. Pasagardae starts a temple, but the production will probably be changed. With the increased income, we can raise science spending to 80% and Writing is done in 19 turns.

In 2630BC, disease strikes Persepolis. Crap. But we are losing only 1 pop unit. Pasagardae turns production to settler. Persepolis sticks with the granary.

In 2470BC, Persepolis is back to size 2 and Writing is done in only 11 turns. No new tech has been acquired by our competitors. Production is readjusted to have the granary complete before reaching size 3. Next turn, Japan masters Horseback Riding. They don't accept at all an even trade with Bronze Working, and we don't have the necessary money to toss in, so no trade for the moment.

In 2390BC, disease hits Pasagardae too. What else can be happen at this point? The Romans sneak-attacking? :mad:

In 2150BC, we raise science spending again, and Writing is due in 4 turns. Persepolis has completed the granary and now is training a settler. Japan and Rome know Horseback Riding and Iron Working.

In 2070BC, Rome found Neapolis in a place that seems absolutely perfect to bork my RCP 4 scheme. Why a city so far apart? Well, actually i know. The iron source. Without the 2 diseases, i would have beat them.

Writing is finally complete in 1990BC. No one has contacts to sell. Considering the free units happily wandering around, it is a strong evidence that no one else should be present in our landmass. We need to expand to the coast and make contacts oversea.

A trade round is called. Japan offers Iron Working and Horseback Riding for Writing, and i happily accept the deal. I sell the tech to Rome too for 26 quids. Research is set to Literature (21 turns at 1.9.0). A few turns later, the settler are complete. Pasagardae starts a warrior and Persepolis starts barracks.

City 3 (Susa) is founded in 1830BC. City 4 (Arbela) is founded in 1790BC, in the location planned to keep the RCP 4, and to hell with Neapolis! I'll try to build culture before them, poprushing if necessary, and so secure at least the rank 1 tiles. Both the new cities are building a temple, although production in Susa is likely to change later.

In 1750AD, the Romans demand money. We bow to their demands and they become polite. It will be necessary to swallow our pride for a while, three regular warriors are all our army.

A shot of the territory at the start of 1725BC turn:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/41Reloaded2-AC1725.jpg

Our future plans are pretty much explained by the picture. City 5 will be needed to hook up the 2nd luxury, and possibly steal the supply of iron with a cultural expansion. City 6 will continue the RCP 4 ring. Then, we'll probably build city 7 and 8 westward and city 9 on the SE coast.

We're now 13 turns short of completing Literature, and Rome is building the Pyramids. The income per turn is zero, and we have a reserve of 44 quids, not that much. After the 1st ring is complete, we could build up some military and wait for Republic to incorporate the Roman territory. Meanwhile, if Rome builds a pair of wonders for us it wouldn't hurt

Next playing session NOW. Next update tomorrow. Seeya soon guyz!

[party] YAY TRICKY!!!! :band:

Back at it... cannot leave this log unfinished.
yes! good luck!

Another fine installment by Tr1cky!!!Go Space Race,can we hope for a nuclear armageddon before the spaceship launch,to make it more fitting for AC story? :D

[party]:dance::banana:

Hi dudez! And thanx for your endless and enthusiastic support! Since this log won't be so much exciting as those who preceeded it, i wonder if you would like a more storylike approach. I'm quite far away from writing something like Pax Romana, and it would be too time-consuming anyway, but i could make it in the form of short historical reports. Here's what i have in mind:

-------------------


History of Persia
from the words of our ancestors
-- Tome 2 --


1700BC: The ancient age of Persia was essentially peaceful so far. Our wise rulers had put a great effort in keeping peaceful relations to our neighbours, the Japanese and the Romans. When the arrogant Romans showed up and demanded gold, Persia simply gave them what they wanted. Embarassed, the Roman emissary went back to Rome and since then the Romans had kept a friendly attitude toward us.

It was seen by some as a loss of pride, but it was actually the best thing Persia could do at the moment. In such a scenario, a war would have been quite an hazard: the Persian army was weak, and most of the nation's resources were spent of expansion and development rather than in the military buildup. But since then, the Persian rulers vowed to make Rome regret for its arrogance. At proper times, Persian immortals would have knocked at Rome's door.

Meanwhile, the development goes on undisturbed. Turn after turn, the eastern worker team is building the road to connect city 5 with the road network between our existing cities. Although quite far away, city 5 will be quite important strategically, since it will hook up a spice source necessary for our people's happiness.

The 2nd worker team is currently employed in improving the terrain around what will become the 6th persian city. Roads are built, and the terrain near the river is irrigated. When colonist will reach the place to found the city, they will find a rich and developed land ready to be populated.

A third team is currently under training in Pasagardae.

Our proud capital, Persepolis, has just experienced a substantial increase in population. Attracted by its wealth and food surplus, many people are struggling to reach the city to find a better life than in the wilderness. The production and money potential of the city has benefitted much of this. The tasks of building a barracks and researching Literature will be complete earlier than expected.


1625BC: According to the city log of Pasagardae, the 3rd worker team is finally ready to operate. Our wise governors send them to help team 2 in developing land for city 6. The city of Pasagardae starts assembling a team of colonist to build another city. Our nation needs to grow and expand, before the other tribes outpace us.


1550BC: The rulers of Persepolis cheers at the completition of the 1st military structure of Persia: a training ground for soldiers, commonly named "barracks". Contrary to the expectations of some, the city authority announces that the military buildup won't start right now. A further settler team will be trained instead.

But, in the same years, our explorers bring some worrisome news: the Romans have founded the city of Pisae just outside the Persian borders near Susa. Obviously, Rome is an arrogant and ruthless nation: seeing in us a benevolent attitude toward the foreigners, they try to upset us by limiting our expansion space. Their hope to lull us into declaring war, so to have a pretext for an invasion, is quite evident. But once again our governors refrain from doing a foolish act. The only Persian response is to train a unit in Persepolis and send it to garrison in Susa. The Romans must know that our cities are not left undefended.

After the warrior team is assembled and dispatched, Persepolis resume its plan to train the planned settler team.


1500BC: Our scientists announce us that we have finally reached a complete understanding on Literature. We can finally abandon our rudimental writing style for a more sophisticated form of written expression. The Persian culture is expected to grow much, and so our ability to learn more and better. In consequence of that, research will have a boost, once a sufficient amount of people will be able to read and study our new form of writing.

The half-built temples of Arbela and Susa are converted to libraries. Those new types of buildings will be set up with the precise task of collecting books and make them available to a broader audience. We start researching the art of Map Making. The benefits of this area of research are multiple: we'll be able to draw precise maps of our regions and exchange it with our neighbours. We'll also be able to build naval units so to explore the sea, and possibly make contacts with populations living oversea. Although we don't have any evidence of them, our shamans assure us that they exist somewhere on our world, and their word isn't disputed by anyone.

A few years later (next turn, ndt) we have words that our neighbours have been busy to research as well. Rome has mastered Map Making, our current field of research. And Japan has developed a system of theories and beliefs on the supernatural that goes way beyond our use to bury the dead so to have them rest in peace and have their soul reach the World of the Spirits, where they can rejoin with our ancestors. They call it "Mysticism". It is said by them that this Mysticism can lead some people to make predictions on the future, and strenghten the religious beliefs of common people once a temple is built.

Our rulers recognize the importance of those 2 new areas of knowledge and attempt to trade for them. Although Japan is willing to exchange knowledge, the greedy Romans value Map Making too much to accept an even trade with our Literature. After much debate, our rulers decide to refrain from trading for the moment. Persia will continue to research Map Making by itself, and attempt to trade later when a partial knowledge of the matters involved will hopefully convince Rome to ask a fairer price for it.

----------------

No shots this time, there's nothing new on the map. Like this style? Some feedback will be appreciated, so i can decide what's the best way to continue this gamelog. I'm resuming the game right now, so expect a further update quite soon!

Not bad,go on with that style.

@Cleric: thanx! To answer your previous question, it's unlikely that you'll see a nuclear holocaust before the spaceship launch. It's in my best interest to keep at least some AS alive and healthy, so to have a chance they will research something for me even in the modern ages.

-----------------------


History of Persia
from the words of our ancestors
-- Tome 3 --


Arbela, museum of ancient history, unknown source, ca. 1450 BC.

After some fierce debate, the local council of Arbela has decided to speed up the completition of the library as much as possible. Efforts are doubled, then tripled. Every able citizen of Arbela is put into some forced work turn. Those who tries to escape the duty are chased, and if caught they are sent to work in chains as slaves. In every moment of the day and the night, a frantic activity can be seen around the construction site.

When the library is finally over, the tradeoffs of the poprushing policy are evident. Many died in working accidents, many other fled to avoid the forced labor. Almost a half of Arbela's population has been lost, and those who remained (and survived) are less than happy. We had words that the governor of Susa wanted to start a similar programme to speed up the library in his city, but after seeing the damages caused by such a ruthless policy, he decided to back down and have the citizenry complete the task at its natural speed.


Persepolis, museum of ancient history, City Governor's log, ca. 1400 BC.

Our partial mastering of the art of drawing maps has finally convinced the greedy Romans that we cannot be fooled into paying an unreasonable price for that precious knowledge. Our foreign trade authority has been able to strike a deal without putting a heavy burden into our economy for the time being.

The terms of the agreement are onerous anyway: we taught Rome our Literature, shared with them all our current knowledge of our territory, and we paid them 9 gold units immediately, plus a yearly tribute of 6 gold units over a period of 20 years. But the art of Map Making is finally ours.

Another important success has been obtained in those very same days. We got from Japan the knowledge of Mysticism. In return, we taught them the arts of Literature and Map Making. We also obtained their world maps by giving them a yearly tribute of 2 gold units.

A further deal is then signed with the Romans: they give us their complete world map in return for our updated world map, the knowledge of Mysticism and 3 gold units. It's impressive how the Romans and the Japanese were able to explore this land, a task in which we obviously lagged behind. Now Persia has an almost complete knowledge of the continent we share with them. No other population appears on the map, not even barbarian villages.

Our scientists are now studying a new science called Mathematics. It's still unclear what benefits should it bring to our society. Those involved in the research talk about war machines that can toss huge rocks at long distance with good precision, and possible ways to improve our monetary system currently based on raw gold. There is nothing wrong with gold, it serves its purposes quite well, and those "war machines" seem more a visionary's dream than something that can be effectively made real. But our rulers put a lot of faith into this project, and there's no one who dares to openly speak against it. Time will tell if it's been a wise decision or not.


Persepolis, museum of ancient history, unknown source, ca. 1400 BC.

Our newly assembled colonist team is ready to leave Persepolis to found a city in the distant eastern regions, still mainly unexplored. The city will be built next to a source of rare spices. Given the huge distance, it's difficult that the new city will give any significant benefit to our economy, but the supply of spices will be quite important in keeping the Persian citizenry happy and under control.

In the past years Persepolis has experienced a continuous rise in population, to the point that our capital became overpopulated. The citizens are often constrained in narrow and unhealty spaces, and unhappiness has become quite a concern. Nothing better than a new settler team to weed out the undesirables and put Persepolis back to a lower, more controllable population.

Although a road already exists, it will take many years for the colonist team to reach its final destination. A warrior company will escort the team, so to avoid dangerous encounters. Good luck, you brave colonists, and may our ancient fathers look upon you!

--------

Geez! It takes way more time to write the log in that style than playing the game! Any other feedback?!? I would like to continue that way as much as possible, my impression that a simple log of events will become quite boring over time. There will be some warfare in the early medievals, but nothing comparable to a warmonger-style game.

I like this style, a war oriented turnlog like the domination game would be exiting, but just building isn't.

Btw, just noticed that The Rising Sun, Japanese Power Play beat the fastest space ship win in GOTM 43 :D .

Own: thx! Yes, surprisingly i got the "virtual" spaceship award with the Rising Sun. I hope to repeat myself with this game, although winning some "real" awards would be better. :crazyeye:

I'm trying to create a good balance between storytelling and event reports, without adding too much fiction that could strain the turnlog fans without impressing the fiction fans. Hope to continue well. For the moment, 2 positive feedbacks are encouraging to go on with this thing.

------------------

Arbela, museum of ancient history, carthographer's scrolls, ca. 1400 BC

The maps of the known world handed to Persia by the Romans and the Japanese have finally been sent to our library. For the first time we are able to draw a world map where the words "Lands of the unknown" no longer take place. It's still under dispute if more tribes exist in the so-called "land oversea". Some argue that the known world is simply too small to be the only land mass present, but there's no proof to support such a view. Anyway, our duty is to create comprehensive maps of the known and not to argue about the unknown.

With pride, we present to our vast and rich community the first Atlas ever made by persian hands. It's remarkable to note how our belongings, despite being the smallest ones, are already connected by a good network of roads. It's also notable that the lands where the vast majority of our population lives and works are for the most part irrigated and rich of food.

On the other hand, the Roman and Japanese cities are for the most part unconnected and undeveloped. Our wise rulers have always valued quality over quantity, and they have always been right. Over time, our decisive lead in land improvement will bring us additional money and productivity, so to make possible to build more libraries and reach further advancements in science.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/41Reloaded2-AC1400.jpg

Persepolis, museum of ancient history, worker's guild scrolls, ca. 1375 BC.

Two of our coordinated teams have completed the irrigation of the floodplain area SE of Persepolis. Their next task is to move to the forest west of the capital, chop the trees and then road and irrigate the zone. Although the deforestation will cause the area to lose productivity in the long run, it will provide a nice production bonus that will speed up the completation of the next structure, probably a library. But most importantly, it will provide a way for the irrigation channels to reach the western plains. Those lands have no direct access to a fresh water source, and without proper irrigation they simply cannot rise enough food to sustain a good population growth.

Our 3rd team has just started a road to connect the known spice source to our existing road network. Since it's in the middle of a jungle, completing the road will take much more time than doing a similar work on an open terrain. We regret to report that the road won't be complete when the colonist team will be in place to found the planned city.

We are also putting the issue on the recent expansion of the city of Arbela. As reported by the local authorities, the library is already giving a cultural benefit on the surrounding population. Rural villages are being attracted from the thriving Persian culture, to the point that the small area disputed between Arbela and the Roman city of Neapolis has recently turned allegiance to Persia. The terrain in question is a small forest with direct access to fresh water. It's opinion of our Guild Masters that, once worked, that land will provide a good production potential and a good income as well.

In regard to this new event and to the subsequent evaluation of our Guild Masters, we are suggesting a new worker team to be trained in Arbela. It will be useful to improve properly that small portion of territory that is still undeveloped.

Wow your on a island,conquer the romans.Story good as always.

lurker's comment:: Awwww! But Rome 0wnz0rz! (looks at sig)

Eh. As long as it's not me, I'm fine. This is pretty inventive, cool, usual tR1cKy!

Cleric: don't worry, the fate of Rome is already sealed. Caesar is a dead man walking. It's only a matter of time :evil:

Dachspmg: Rome ROX in the hands of a human for how much it SUX in the hands of an AS. And as a proud Roman, it's my precise duty to bring the people of Rome to a destiny of glory and greatness. This means that i'll have to declare war, but hey! That's how the game works... :lol:

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Persepolis, museum of ancient history, unknown source, ca. 1325 BC.

Note: this collection of papers contains notes about some important facts that happened in Ancient Persia approximately in the same period. Considering the writing stile, it is supposed that they form a collection of reports sent to the central government from various sources. For the 1st time, the central authority is referred as "Great One". It's a clear proof of a transtition from a government based on tribal councils to a more centralized state, possibly ruled by a single despot. Sadly, nothing else is known about this first "Great One" of Persia. His name and his accomplishments are long forgotten.


"The population of Persepolis has grown again, to the point that unhappiness has become a problem. Unless some men in arms are put into the capital to keep the population under control, a riot is likely to happen. The civil office suggests a warrior company, currently stationed into Arbela, to be sent back immediately and garrisoned into Persepolis, until the archer company currently under training in the local barracks is ready to take service."

--------------

"Great One, the council of Arbela is proud to report an increased influence of our city over the surrounding areas. As our culture grows, more and more people are aware of the Persian way of life and tend to prefer it over a more rough life in the wilderness. A good portion of land, previously unclaimed, may now be considered under Persian control.

Some of our sages are suggesting that our influence may extend to the point that it will possibly incorporate the near Roman city of Neapolis. Given the aggressive nature of the Roman nation, we should consider how they would react to this possible expansion at their expense. With this problem in mind, and considering the relocation of part of our military garrison in the capital, we suggest more armed companies to be trained and sent here to discourage the Romans to attempt any form of military retaliation against us."

--------------

"Great One, we are glad to inform you that the library of Susa has been completed as planned. Given the beneficial effect already seen in Arbela, we should expect our influence on the sorrounding area to grow up and incorporate new territory in the near future.

As happening in Persepolis, more and more people from the wilderness are attracted to our beatiful city. Although this is an obvious success, it will, in the long term, plague us with the same unhappiness problems already seen in our capital. Considering this issue, we are asking for a further military company to be trained in the barracks or Persepolis and sent to reinforce our city garrison.

Our next task is to train a new settler team and send it to the nearby coast to build a new city. The coastal location will allow our country to finally have a navy to explore the surrounding coasts, and possibly make contacts with other tribes, before the Romans of the Japanese have a chance to beat us."

---------------

"Sir, as the first Governor of the newfound city of Antioch, i bring you the salute of all its population. A library has been started immediately and, if we complete it fast enough, we'll be able to expand our influence on the surrounding area and take control of the source of iron that lies between our city and the Roman settlement of Neapolis.

Our production is still at the bare minimum, but we expect to ramp it up after some of the near forest has been chopped. We all know the strategic value of having that source of iron under Persian control, and we're proud to have such an important task to complete for the overall greatness of our proud nation. Be assured that we'll work as hard as possible to have our project completed in a short time."

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/41Reloaded2-AC1325.jpg

I just had to subscribed.:rolleyes: Turns out your stories are too addictive.:goodjob:

Ansarking: thx! :thumbsup: But it's difficult to write the story this way... it's taking much more time that posting the turnlogs, even in a creative way :D Expect not-too-fast updates :(

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Persepolis, Royal Collection, ancient Governor's report, ca. 1300 BC

"Sir, the first archer company of Persia has just been trained and is ready to take service. In according to your previous orders, we are dispatching the company to the city of Arbela, where it will reinforce the garrisoned troops.

In what i see as my duty of governor, i'm asking to reconsider your decision to build a library in the capital. We need to solve urgently the unhappiness problem in Persepolis, and this problem is expected to worsen in the long run, especially if we make use of forced labor to speed up the construction as suggested by some of your less concerned aides.

To solve this problem at least for a while, i'm suggesting to assemble and train a new colonist group immediately, and send it to build the planned coastal city in place of the team currently under training in Susa. The additional resources provided by the deforestation west of Persepolis will allow us to have the new settler team ready and equipped much earlier than normally expected. Once fulfilled this task, we could complete a library and train another military company before being forced to limit again the population of Persepolis.

Lord, i sincerely hope that you will consider with the necessary attention the issues i'm glad to inform you about, and i'm confident that our Ancient Fathers will assist you with their wisdom in taking your final decision."

Note: this is an interesting writing. We note how the local governor is freely expressing his dissent with the actual Lord of Persia without apparent fear to be removed or punished in any way. A hint that, at least in that period, the ancient despotism of Persia wasn't the bloodthirsty government that we are used to think about, but a government in which illuminate leadership, rather than fear and oppression, was the leading force of it.


Arbela, National Trade Union, historical archive, worker's guild scrolls, ca 1300 BC (transcribed)

With the team that has just been trained in our town, we have 4 worker units currently operating in our territory. This isn't far from the optimum that is considered to be 1 worker team per town. However, our governor is reluctant to have further units immediately trained, and we must admit that the drop in population would hamper the production potential of our city.

Given the fact of our main cities are currently training settler teams, we don't expect new units to be available in the near future. This could lead Persia into a period of shortage, in which no sufficient workforce will available to improve the new lands. We are sending reports to our Lord in Persepolis and to the local governors of Persepolis, Susa and Pasagardae, warning them of the possible shortage and asking for new units to be trained as soon as possible.

The new team won't work the surrounding forest. Among the lands that has recently fallen under Persian control, we have located a promising grassland area. The zone in question is also rich of resources and can be conveniently mined. We are sending the new team to accomplish this task, then we'll send it to join the team operating north of Antioch, once the spice road will be complete.

The 2 teams will give their aid to speed up the library in Antioch, by chopping some forest and improving the terrain around the city.

Note: another interesting writing. The different powers of the era, although submitted to the Lord of Persepolis, are entitled with some sort of autonomy and are used to take some decisions on their own. It is surprising that the Lord of that period wasn't shy of leaving some matters in the hands of some trusted entities, even if they weren't directly expressed by the central government!

This tendency to delegate part of the power is the main cause of the little golden age that Persia experienced in the following years. This form of regional autonomy lead to a general increase in efficience. It is easy to imagine that those trusted bodies could handle some matters better and faster than the central government.

Ironically, it's the very same tendency that lead, many centuries later, to the ultimate abolition of the Lordship and the consequent adoption of a representative form of government that has survived till today with nothing more than minor tweaks and changes.

Ansarking: thx! But it's difficult to write the story this way... it's taking much more time that posting the turnlogs, even in a creative way Expect not-too-fast updates


Heh, no prob. I am lurking in like 5 SG's so long updates dont bother me.:p

Susa, State Museum, manuscripts department, governor's log, ca. 1300 BC

Although the local library is still a recent project, it didn't take long for our city to experience the same culture boost previously observed in Arbela. Susa is spreading the Persian influence over the surrounding territory, and some of the previously unclaimed land is now to be considered under Persian control. Oddly, the Roman authorities seem to overlook this aspect of foreign culture. The nearby settlement of Pisae is getting more and more surrounded by Persian lands, to the point that a turn of the city to our side is not to be excluded.

With the expansion of our territory, more land needs to be roaded and improved. It's disappointing that the worker's guild seems unable to supply the necessary workforce for the moment. We are asking to the guild's authority to locate the best cities to have at least 2 more teams to be trained in the shortest time possible.


Pasagardae, State University, Institute of Archeology, historical collection, ca. 1250BC

Note: likely a trascribed copy of a report sent from the local governor to the central authority of Persepolis. The original document appears to be lost.

Sir, we are glad to inform you that the a new settler team has just been dispatched from Pasagardae to found a new city on the northern lands. The loss of population has cut our production ability to a mere third of what was before, but we are confident that we'll regain the lost potential quickly. Considering the benefits already seen in the cities of Arbela and Susa, we consider the completition of a library a top priority for our proud city.


Persepolis, museum of ancient history, merchant's guild scrolls, ca. 1250 BC

The first expedition of spices from the distant fields of Antioch has just reached our capital. More supplies will follow in the next months. The spice appears of high quality and in perfect state. Apparently, no particular care is necessary in the trasport and conservation of those spices.

The Lord has expressed appreciation for our gift package we delivered to the Crown, and has been positively impressed by the new taste those spices can give to our traditional meals. After a mild welcome, the spices are meeting a very favourable welcome from our citizenry. The product is quickly sold out, and more caravans will be needed to meet the increasing demand.

Screenshot?

Persepolis, Royal Collection, annual reports to the Crown, ca. 1200 BC

Another collection of reports sent by various sources to the central government and describing some important events occurred in this time period.

"Sir, the new settler team trained in Persepolis has just left the city, headed for the soutwest coast. According to your will, the preparatives for the construction of a library have already been done. The building site has been located and the civil office is recruiting the necessary workforce for the project. Despite the drop in population, we are confident to have the library of Persepolis completed in short times."

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"Sir, as the appointed governor of the city of Tarsus, i am honored to send you the first annual report of our town.

Tarsus has been founded in the planned site. It's a beatiful land, surrounded by fertile plans and extended woods. Thanks to the wisdom of the worker's guild, some of the nearby land is already roaded and irrigated properly, so no further improvement is necessary for the moment. Considering that several cities already own a public library or are in the process of building it, and given the actual weakness of our military forces, i have given orders to have a military training structure build at maximum priority."


Persepolis, museum of ancient history, worker's guild scrolls, ca. 1200 BC

The area west of Persepolis is now completely roaded and irrigated. The two teams previously employed in the task has now been splitted and sent to build roads respectively south and west of their previous location. We intend to speed up the travel of the upcoming settler team from Susa as well as create a communication route between the southern cities and the planned city on the western plains.

In the area of Antioch, our worker teams have joined in chopping the forest surrounding the city.

Our available work force is somewhat tight. We are forced to delay the necessary improvements west of Susa to fulfill those more strategic tasks. We have already sent messages to various local governors in which we ask to consider the deploying of further worker teams. Should our requests not be accepted, this shortage of workers is expected to continue for the time being.


Arbela, museum of ancient history, cartographer's scrolls, ca. 1200 BC

A detailed map of the persian core territory, drawn shortly after the foundation of Tarsus. It's amazing how our ancestors were able to build an extensive network of roads and irrigate so much land, while the other tribes didn't even bother to connect their cities each other! This fondness on land improvements over blind expansion is the main cause of the rise of Persia in the ancient era.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/41Reloaded2-AC1200.jpg

back from my GotM fatigues, with a fresh update:


Persepolis, Royal Collection, royal correspondence, ca. 1200 BC

This is a transcribed copy of a message sent from the Lord of Persepolis to the local worker's guild, and probably to all the other detachments of that astounding organization that led with terrific efficience the task of the workers team employed in ancient Persia to connect the cities and improve the land. The originals were never retrieved.

Sirs,

i have studied with tireless attention your reports on a possible shortage of work force for the next future. The problem you describe is real, and is already taking effect. Our next city, soon to be founded on the southeast coast, won't be able to benefit immediately from a road connecting them to the main network.

Curiously, this shortage is a consequence of our success. As time passes, new cities are founded, new land is claimed and more territory requires proper improvement. The increased demand of workforce is simply too much to cope with, even for a noble and industrious organization as yours. However, i cannot overlook the fact that an excessive emphasis on worker training may reduce too much our population, hamper our cultural and scientific progress, reduce our productivity and delay too much the strengthening of our military.

I have given orders to the governor of Arbela to delay the completition of the military training grounds and focus on assembling new worker team. This extra unit is all the reinforcement i can promise you, at least in short time. Use it wisely.

This work force improvement comes at the expense of our military potential, and we must be aware of the fact that the Romans could decide to take advantage of it. We CANNOT allow them to catch us off guard, or we could face dire consequences. For this reason, i'm asking every organized structure in Arbela to follow with the maximum attention possible any possible suspicious activity of the Romans near our borders.

I need you, and every worker employed by your guild, to keep the eyes open and report everything that may be seen as unusual Roman activity, no matter how insignificant it could be.


Persepolis, museum of ancient history, unclassified scrolls, ca. 1125 BC

Likely a genuine transcribed speech of the governor of Gordium to the local populace. Although the source is unknown, the year of foundation of Gordium is within the error margin of the radiometric dating.

"Citizens of Gordium!

this is a great day for all of us! We are no more a small village of farmers and fishermen, but a true recognized Province of the Persian Domain, with Gordium as its main city!

Today we are a small, isolated town. But tomorrow we will be big, rich and strong! Our location is good and healthy! We have no costrains in expanding our city! We have a lot of virgin land to work and develop! Soon we will have a road connecting us with the rest of the Domain, and so we'll no more lack any of the goods that are traded in the markets of Persepolis! And our coastal location will give us the benefit of the maritime trade! We have an opportunity to become a great city, let's not miss it!"


Persepolis, Royal Collection, royal corrispondence, ca. 1125 BC

Another transcribed message from the Lord of Persepolis, this time to the Governor of the newfound city of Gordium. It's a bless that the orders sent to the Lord were usually transcribed and stored safely in the royal archive of the epoch, since in most cases, including this one, the original letters are lost.

Governor,

it's paramount for our proud country to start as soon as possible to christen naval units and start exploring the coastlines of our main continent. If there are ways to reach other populations abroad, Persia must absolutely be the first to contact them, or else we are likely to lose the technological and economic advantage over our neighbours. Until Rome finds convenient to collect our annual payments and learn our technology, they are likely to stay at peace. When this advantage is no more, they would have no reasons to refrain from attempting a military takeover of our country.

Being the other coastal city busy in an important strategic task, your city is the only one that can produce naval units in reasonable time. It's essential that any construction project thay you were planning be delayed until the strategic needs of our country are satisfied. I hereby send you the plans for the construction of a wooden sea vessel. It's your duty to have two of those units built and sailing the seas as soon as possible. And it's the duty of every able citizen of Gordium to partecipate in the construction and to work hard for the success of it.

You have a very important task to fulfill for the greatness of Persia. Do not disappoint your country!


Arbela, museum of ancient history, worker's guild scrolls. ca. 1125BC

A small report on the current tasks assigned to the worker teams active on the epoch.

Our worker force is currently split in two. Three teams are operating in the western regions of our country, while the remaining two are working the hinterland of the western settlement of Antioch. We are still experiencing a shortage in workforce, and so careful planning is necessary to optimize the work of our teams in order to give our country the best advantage we can.

With the limited workforce at our avail, we are currently engaged in many different tasks. Team 1 is in place to build a road connecting the village of Gordium to the rest of our empire. Team 2 is roading and irrigating the plains west of Persepolis where a new city is about to be founded. Team 3 is moving to a small forest between Persepolis and Gordium where an important source of furs is in need to be connected, possibly for trade reasons. Team 4 and 5 have just completed the deforestation of the area southwest of Antioch and are now roading and mining a productive grassland area.

Since Arbela is now busy building a military training structure, no new teams are expected to be ready anytime soon, so the planned work on the forest east of Arbela will be further delayed.


Arbela, museum of ancient history, cartographer's scrolls, ca. 1100 BC

A map of the region around the city of Gordium, probably drawn for the local worker's guild, showing the worker teams employed in the area in the given period

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/41Reloaded2-AC1100.jpg

Persepolis, museum of ancient history, unclassified scrolls, ca. 1100 BC

A chronicle on an important tech exchange deal made between the nations of Persia, Rome and Japan, from an unknown author. Another strong example on how "illuminated" were the Lords of the given period on both foreign affairs and domestic policy. Their idea of improving Persia was focused on technological advance, cultural growth, economic health and peaceful relations with the neighbours. They were seeking peace and prosperity rather than the dubious glory of a military conquest.

Although those noble efforts didn't prevent war to erupt later, they surely had their weight in the growth process of Persia in the ancient ages.


Our scientists have finally improved the art of dealing with numbers to the state of an exact science, called Mathematics. After this breaktrough, our wise Lord has urged the intellectual community to focus on crafting an organized Code of Laws that should lead to a better and more efficient management of our country. But with the Romans already owning such a Code, the Lord, in accordance with his advisors, has found more advantageous to borrow the Roman code rather that developing a Persian one on our own.

Our ambassador in Rome has been properly instructed to propose such a deal to the ruler of Rome, and authorized to offer in return the knowledge of our Mathematics and some gold if necessary. After a long bargaining period, not free from some tense situations, the Romans have agreed to offer their Code of Laws in return for the knowledge of Mathematics and an annual payment of 7 gold units. The Lord of Persepolis has agreed to the Roman terms, and the exchange has been made.

With much rejoice, the Roman Code of Laws has been found fair, comprehensive, very well written and very well organized. It's opinion of our administrators that it can be fitted for Persian use only with minor adjustements and tweaks.

A similar deal has been signed with the Japanese nation. As the Romans, the Japanese saviours have, over the course of centuries, crafted an impressive philosophical system, but they still lack a written code of laws and a mathematical science. Our Lord has offered to share the knowledge of those precious disciplines in return for the Japanese Philosophy and a lump payment of 70 gold units. The deal is considered to be in Japan's favor, but nothing would have prevented the Romans to sell the techs themselves and 70 golds was all Japan could afford at the moment. It's also obvious that those gold coins are better inside our coffers rather than in Roman hands.

With those deals signed, there is again tech parity between our countries. The regular gold payment to Rome should further deter them from trying a military campaign. They simply have too much to lose on it.

Our Lord has now instructed the scientific community to research a method to further improve the management on our country, a method involving, if necessary, some changes in the way the power is distributed between the central authority and the local communities. With our nation continuously growing, we are facing the limits posed by a centralized state. Despite the concessions made to local governments and organized structures, such as the worker's guild, corruption, waste and inefficiences are already showing up, and this problem is likely to worsen in the future. A decentralized state may be the answer, although some argue that the risk of chaos and anarchy is not to be underestimated.

-----------------------------

OFF STORY quick resume: bought Code of Laws from Rome for Mathematics, world map + 7 gpt. Sold Code of Laws + Mathematics to Japan for Philosophy + 70 quids. Researching Republic now.

Looking good :)

Persepolis, Royal Collection, royal reports, ca. 1050 BC

A collection of small reports sent from various offices to the Lord of the time. Those concise reports are getting more frequent over time. They are no more fully detailed, and deal only with the most important facts happening. As the Domain grew bigger, the Lord was no more able to control everything, and had to rely on ministers to deal with an increasing amount of tasks.

The Lords of the time didn't oppose, and in some cases encouraged this progressive shift of power between the Throne and the ministers. They were able to focus on the key decisions of the empire without waste some precious time on minor issues. This way the Domain was actually best managed. Corruption, for instance, was quite low. At the end, the only one who was screwed by this method was the Lord itself: this decentralization surely speeded up the final abolition of the Lordship.


"I just read the report about the completition of the Pyramids in Rome. My opinion is that we should consider this thing with some attention.

I don't think that Rome will be ever something comparable as an envy of the world, but the Romans will gain some benefits with them. Those Pyramids are likely to boost their national pride, and to generate a cultural awakening of some sort on those rusty peasants. Such an event would weaken our supremacy on the border areas.

Rome is already ahead of us with population and military size. If we lose also the cultural advantage we could be in an unpleasant situation. They will see us weaker, and maybe decide that the time is right to conquer us."

...

"Our investigation confirms what we have previously learnt from the roman world maps. Rome is still lacking a regular intake of iron, although there are at least 2 sources of it safely under the Roman controlled territory."

...

"Sir, the town of Bactra has recently been founded in the planned area of the western plains. The new settlement is already connected to our road network. Part of the surrounding plains have already been irrigated, and so those new colonists will be productive from the very start. The governor has ordered the construction of a military school, and is awaiting further orders from the Crown."



The following manuscript is probably a bit younger. The dating on the underground of the old Royal Library gives a date around 1025 BC.

"Sir, the Royal Library of Persepolis is finally complete. We expect the same effect already seen in Arbela and Susa. Given the large population of the capital, the benefit on our research will, in the long run, be even greater.

It's a pity that libraries make a population smarter but not happier. Persepolis is once again overcrowded, and unhappiness is going to be a problem. We are assembling a new worker team for the Guild. They are in need of manpower, and we are in need to limit our population."


Susa, State Museum, manuscripts department, worker's guild scrolls, ca. 1000 BC

Governor,

thank you very much for your proposal of assembling a new team. It will be the sixth to operate in Persia. We're still short on workers, even with the new team, but we'll be able to cope with the increased need of workforce a little bit longer. We are asking the other cities to provide, if possible, at least 2 more teams and we'll be grateful if you would advocate our request. You have already contributed to the cause, now it's time for the others to do the same.

Meanwhile, we are sending further workers to improve the plains between Persepolis and Bactra. For the moment, we'll be able to avoid the 2 cities competing for irrigated land.


Persepolis, museum of ancient history, cartographer's scrolls, ca. 1000 BC

A collection of maps both showing the lack of improvement over the iron sources in Roman territory:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/41Reloaded2-AC1025.jpg

A map of the Persian core territory in the given period:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/41Reloaded2-AC1000.jpg

Holy(censored), Rome has 2 cows and is on a river!:eek:

Persepolis, Royal Collection, royal correspondence, ca. 975 BC

an interesting exchange between the Governor of Antioch and the Lord of Persia. The reply from the Lord is a transcribed copy, and once again we should be thankful to those ancient bureaucrats that were so patient to copy every outgoing message from the Crown: the original papers were never found.

"Supreme Lord,

the latter part of the forest around Antioch has been completely cleared. The extra raw material from the deforestation will allow us to complete our library even earlier than anticipated.

Some unusual Japanese activity needs to be reported. Japan has founded a new village, called Izumo, in a coastal position not too distant from Antioch. The city lays in the middle of a virgin jungle, and it will take lot of time and hard work before the Japanese will be able to generate some meaningful production from it. However, we shouldn't undervalue the fact that the Japanese keep expanding, and an hostile environment like the northern jungle doesn't prevent them to go on. They already are stronger than us, and we should start worring about what they intend to do once their available space is out.

Moreover, two Japanese companies have been spotted moving near our borders, apparently headed for the small strip of land to the northeast. That small portion of jungle between the seas is still unknown to us. There's a warrior company currently stationed into the city, and it could be a good idea to use them for reconnaissance."

.........

"Governor,

do not move the warrior company from inside the city of Antioch, for no reason at all. The relations with our neighbours are fine at the moment, but this doesn't mean that one of them couldn't be tempted to capture the city if we are foolish enough to leave it open without defending troops. It shouldn't be necessary to remember you the strategic importance of the city you're governing, and what could happens if we lose control of the spice fields and the source of iron that we're trying to incorporate.

Regarding the unknown land, don't worry. Actually it's not necessary to explore the area, if the japanese could do it for us. Their attitude, although cautious, isn't hostile versus us. They have already agreed to trade our respective world maps, and our current policy is to encourage further map trades to keep them happy."


Persepolis, Royal Collection, royal reports, ca. 975 BC

"Sir,

the worker team just assembled in Persepolis has been sent reporting to the Guild and has already be sent in service on the western plains. Considering the status of our military, i have already ordered the training of further warrior divisions. Soon the city will be again overpopulated; next time we could find convenient to assemble a new settler team and get rid of the problem for a little while more."


Antioch, Geographical Archive, carthographer's scrolls, ca. 975 BC

A map of the known area east of Antioch in the given period:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/41Reloaded2-AC0975.jpg


Persepolis, Royal Collection, royal reports, ca. 925 BC

Likely a resume sent to the Lord from the Civil Office of Persepolis. This structure was in charge of most of the domestic policy tasks. A good part of those tasks were fully handled by the Civil Office, and the Lord wasn't even informed of them, nor he wanted to bother since the Office was, in the given period, doing an impressive job.

"In the last years, the Persian Domain has experienced a period of prosperity and growth. Our land is rich, fertile and productive, and the excess food achieved almost everywhere has made easier for our population to raise childs. The population count of Persepolis, Pasagardae and Arbela has has never been so high. The risk of disease is always present, and some isolated cases are reported from time to time, but the food abundance has apparently made the populace more resistant to the infection. The plague that halved the population of Persepolis and Pasagardae in ancient times is no more than a distant, bad remembrance. Productivity has reached its all-time high, and the military structures being built in Susa, Arbela and Tarsus will be ready earlier than initially expected."


Susa, Museum of War, ancient manuscripts department, ca. 925 BC

A military dispatch about a possible Roman menace on the southwest coast. Contrary to popular belief, the Romans were the 1st to actually sails the seas in the ancient era.

"Commander,

we are closely following the course of a fleet of Roman vessels that are sailing near our coast. The galleys have entered into Persian waters and are apparently headed for Gordium. We don't know the nature of the cargo transported. It could be a settler team with its escort, or a full archer company sent to take over the city. Given their actual course, it can't be said for sure if they intend to disembark troops outside Gordium or simply pass by and reach the unclaimed plains west of our Domain. We will probably know in short times their true intentions.

Reinforcements from Persepolis are urgently required. We have sent a company to Gordium, to deter an eventual attack, and some reinforcement troops are needed in Susa."

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/41Reloaded2-AC0925.jpg