GOTM 42: Rome: First Spoiler

In this spoiler, you qualify if you have reached the end of the ancient age, you have all contacts on your starting continent, and you have a full-view of the staring continent, showing the majority of the coastline, and the locations of all the capitals of other civs.

You may post screenshots, but please:
Do not: Post any showing anything not-on the starting continent.
Do not: Post any minimaps showing any galley routes (successful or not).
Do not: Discuss anything outside of the ancient age.

This was a tough starting location. Where did you decide to settle? What were your initial builds and why? What was your strategy throughout the ancient age as you learned the lay-of-the-land and the locations of critical resources?

Open, [ptw]

Settling

Where did you decide to settle?
I did not so much decide as bite the bullet. After walking around the lake - worker south of the lake, settler north of the lake - I settled 2NE of the wine. The walk was not worth it, with all that jungle to the east, but at least I got easier access to the wine and the river bonus. It was the river that made me move in the first place, hoping for two floodplains with wheats and 18 bonus grasslands. ;)

Indeed it was a troublesome start. I could not find a good RCP from where my capital ended up. Eventually I decided to start with RCP5 to secure some land, and then fill up with RCP3 later. But I never got around to RCP3 for reasons that will be evident later. I did not see the coastline to the east and only partly the coastline to the south, or I would have chosen RCP4.

After founding Rome, I built 2 warriors and a settler. I then thought it fit to start a granary prebuild. But after my first tech goal, The Wheel, was obtained, I chose Mathematics as the second tech. In the end this made me squander 31 shields on the granary, because I couldn't buy or trade Pottery until I met my last neighbour, Greece, who traded it to me.

It was a nervous time when my sole worker mined the wine (12 turns, remember) and both warriors were out walking, but the barbs didn't show themselves. Near Greece I popped a hut with barbs, though.

Research

My research sequence was The Wheel (didn't get much trading value but was able to trade potter later) ---> Mathematics (did get full trading value) ---> Code of Laws (full trading value) ---> Philosophy (don't remember). All these techs were researched at full speed except for the first 5 or so turns on mathematics when I saved money to be able to buy pottery.

I then researched republic at minimum speed, but decided that my first war could not wait for this research to be completed.

Egypt

Egypt's weak UU is the one break we've gotten in this game so far, together with the protective moutain range that leads all the way from our territory to Thebes (pretty similar to the last Persia GOTM). With about 25 turns left on republic I marched 17 legionaries and 1 archer onto that range. This was not an ROP rape; I figured I should save that option for later civs.

As my despotic Golden Age commenced my Forbidden Palace build just south of Egypt speeded up a little.

Thebes was captured with ease, but the two towns north of it held sway a bit longer. Thebes flipped once, which cause minor problems, like temporary disorder because Thebes had The Oracle and I had built a couple of temples. In 90 AD, with 1 turn left on republic, I made peace with Egypt for the reamaining AA techs. Egypt was left with 1 town quite far from Thebes. I founded a town in the midst of the flood plains to flip the palace to, but I may flip palace to Thebes instead, seeing how the conquest of Egypt went smoothly.

Importantly, horses are secured. My min research on republic netted a surplus of 1537 gold.

An unusual problem may occur when I finally flip the palace: I may lose access to the wines because of my RCP5!

Goal
Well, it's domination. I'm uneasy about my late entry into the Middle Ages. I'm prepared for a shock when you people tell about yours.

[ptw] Open

I'll keep this quick, there's little to tell.

After setting 2N on the hill, building a couple of towns and deciding I didn't like the local territory (desert?! jungle?!) I built a few Archers and went after Egypt. My first target fell easily, but Thebes was Size 7 and I fell at the gates.

Then Egypt built the Great Wall.

No problem, surely my stack of 10 Archers can break through the defenses of Thebes.

That didn't work either.

No problem, surely my stack of 7 Legions can break through.

That didn't work either.

By this point I was way down in tech, had thrown away my GA in Despotism with a handful of cities, and I crawled into the Medieval Ages sometime around 500BC.

I finally killed off Egypt after about 4 attempts, but not before Greece had Cavalry before I even had Knights, and Greece eventually finished me off in 1190AD.

Maybe I was too hasty in going after Egypt with just Archers. Maybe I should've hooked up Iron earlier, built Legions sooner, and waited a bit longer to make my first attack. Egypt had great territory, Horses, Iron, and Thebes was an ideal Palace jump location.

settled two NW of the starting position and found my 20K city 2 tile to the west along the sea, but not along the river since too big a corruption will result. and i don't feel like bringing it to size12 soon considering this is empire and there isn't much food around.
nothing happened after that. built colossus and was really worried before GL finished in 390 BC, bring me all the techs and sent me to MA in 370BC. drawing a 3 turn anarchy on my way to republic.
1990 BC Temple
1250 BC Colossus
390 BC Great Library
lost all the AA wonders except for the two that i mentioned. but nothing to complain about.
On F11 screen Athen is the number 1 city while my culture city is number 2.

@eldar, i'm sorry to see that a good player like you finish this early due to rng luck... good luck next gotm! (did you try offa's calculator to see the odds of taking thebes?)

I did retrospectively use it to work out the odds, based on a guesstimate of the city's defence (1 Elite spear on top, one other known Elite spear, and a guess of 3 more Reg spears), 10 Vet Archers still had a better-than-50% chance of taking the city, even at 7+/with walls. I'd left 2 Archers behind as well, maybe if I'd taken all 12 things would've been different :(

I thought walls didn't have an effect when a city was size 7+.


Anyway. Vanilla Open, Goal of Diplo or 20k.

Diplo could wait, 20k couldn't. I settled 2 NW, on a forest tile that connected ocean with lake. I did lose the forest, but had 3 more chops and several BG's available. Rome was to be my 20k city, and since I was going for a low score, a good date wasn't a requirement. I just needed to have enough wonders/improvements early enough to get it ~1950 or so. (Any later and the AI will most likely be heading for alpha centauri while I'm nurturing the last 1000 cp in Rome.) I managed to get 5 cities out before I ran out of room, mostly because I lost my second worker early on to a single barb and couldn't get my semi-pump going fast enough. I didn't see another barb on the home continent the rest of the game.

Rome got temple, colossus, and library. Athens looks like another contender, second place on the F11 screen with the library and something else(don't remember exactly).

Got into an early war with Egypt but left them with 3 continental cities. Greece, in an alliance(still keeping the diplo option open, I decided on having greece as my "partner to the end") got 1 city out of it, but I now had the entire subcontinent under my control and was ready to charge towards the middle ages. Despotic GA actually worked out fairly well, since I had a lot of roaded but unmined BG's around, so they got full bonus from the Golden Age, and it let my workers focus on connecting up the new egyptian cities, and along with 12 slaves, clear away a good portion of the jungle.

Will I charm the world into becoming UN Secretary General? Will the world be awed by Rome's great culture? Or will I fall to an unforseen enemy? Stay tuned.

Open PTW

Settled 2N on the hill. This isn’t looking nice: 1 bg and no foodbonusses. I’m taking Nata’s advice from the pregame and start building military. Research min. on writing.

Soon an Egyptian warrior arrives from the north. We do some trading. Then some scribe made a list of something. I only notice there are Greek and Carthagians on the list. Knowing the evilness of Ainwood, they must be on the same continent. After building a barracks and a archer, the archer heads north in the direction the Egyptian warrior came from. Mostly mountains and jungle around. :( Then he approaches the Egytian border: Thebes. What a magnificent sight: 2 wheat, 2 deer and plenty bg’s. Anyone with his capitol in such a location must become a superpower. The only thing wrong with Thebes is that it isn’t the Roman capitol. So that needs correction, and I change the settler build in Rome to archer.

In 2110BC three veteran archers attack Thebes which is defended by a regular spearman and a regular warrior. The third archer doesn’t have to fight. For now I only want Thebes and we make peace with the Egyptians in 1950BC for 2 workers, BW, Wheel, Pottery and 6 gold. Next turn we abandon Rome and Thebes (which is renamed to Rome) becomes the new capitol.

Second Egyptian war starts in 1075BC, this time using legionairs. Next turn our golden age starts when we capture Memphis. In 825BC we autoraze Alexandria and the following turn Heliopolis is captured and we make peace again, this time getting Map making, Mysticism and Pi-ramesses.

In 590BC when our despotic (and wasted) golden age ends we dow the Greek. We capture Plebos Nexia and autoraze Argos. Peace in 490BC for literature and territory map. Next turn Republic is researched and we draw a 7 turn anarchy, but reroll gives a 4 turn.

The Carthagians think they can expand by settling some open space between the Greek and the Romans. In 370BC we dow them and capture 4 settlers. In 290BC we get message that a distant civ is destroyed. And finally in 90BC we enter the Middle Ages.

And here a pic of the Roman empire in the Ancient Age.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=87408&stc=1

Predator http://gotm.civfanatics.net/common/swordsman_small.gif PtW

Started with worker w settler nw. Finally settled on the 2 n hill.
Built 3 warriors then settler.
Started with min research on writing.

cities
3850BC Rome
2670BC Veii
1750BC Antium
1575BC Cumae
1125BC Neapolis
1075BC Pompeii
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/klarius_g42_0.jpg
6 towns, 12 pop
3 barracks, 2 granaries
4 workers, 1 settler
6 warriors, 5 archers, 1 galley

875BC Pisae
750BC Ravenna
610BC Hispalis
530BC Viroconium (ponies)
330BC Lutetia
250BC Byzantium

science
2590 traded BW, all I could get for my starting techs :(
2110 traded pottery
2070 writing researched, Greece already had it. Still could trade masonry, CB and TW for tech parity.
1525 philosophy researched
1475 trade MM and mysticism
1225 trade IW and CoL
1150 Mathematics researched, trade for HBR
710 trade literature
590 trade construction
530 trade polytheism
510 republic researched 3-turn anarchy
250 trade for currency. Greece already had it some time but I couldn't afford it before (monopoly).

diplomacy
3000 meet Egypt
2590 meet Carthage
2150 meet Greece
2030 establish embassies with all three
1025 Athens builds the pyramids. I'm far from being able to capture it, but it's on the list ;)
925 declare on Egypt. Raze Elephantine. Goal of this war is to get some horses.
900 meet the rest of the world
875 embassies somewhere else in the world and the first phony war there
450 Carthage declares. Make peace with egypt and ally them.
430 we have horses online :), Raze Sabratha (only real action in this war)

Will soon switch sides again and go for Egypt in earnest.
Then at some time Greece and the rest of the world.

Class: Open, PTW
VC: Domination/Conquest always
Notes: I'm sorry if the dates are a bit inaccurate. I saved periodically throughout this game instead of logging it (wasn't too sure whether I'd post it). Any dates I'm not completely certain of have a *.

4000-3900bc: I have a certain fear of deserts from my first deity game... I go N without a second thought and end up settling on that hill 2 N of starting location.
3650 bc: warrior builds, sent N.
3600 bc: Egyptian warrior approaches from NW. God am I glad they're not the aztecs or zulu, but that's a pretty immediate approach.
3200 bc: Thebe's boarders discovered.
3100 bc: Egyptian boarders have me bottled up pretty well. I assumed this is a small continent and set pottery at max.
2700 bc*: cruddy terrain means I'm going to get about 3 citys up then go for several warrior to legionary upgrades. About 3 quality cities early on will be a must.

Noting that I'm not playing with an industrious civ, I think about 3 good cities pumping warriors for legion upgrades should take most of Egypt and a LOT of workers later on could turn this area around, though it will take some time.

2500 bc* settler/warrior pair moves down to the gold mountain outside of thebes, my SOD monitoring warrior is nearby and I block them off using the lake and ocean as natural barriers.
2150 bc Veii founded where that warrior/settler pair was headed. They turn back.
2030 bc Egyptians start on pyramids, now have contact with carthage and greece. Ugh, so that's why Egypt only had a couple extra techs.
1900bc*: see another settler/warrior pair heading down toward the spices. I go for a semi-block but they move towards the coast and keep heading S. Let them pass and send warrior back to SoD scout mountain.
1725 bc: Alexandria appears in the jungle close to rome. Ye god that's nearby. Must be some killer future resource over there.
1575 bc: Antium founded.

1100 bc: Egypt has the only capital with size 8, they started first on the Pyramids, and my invasion force is almost ready. I build an embassy with Egypt to check progress of Pyramids. Zero growth and due in 8 turns.
1100-1000 bc: connect iron and upgrade about 8 vet warriors to legions in Veii. Send 6 legions up toward Thebes.
950 bc: declare war on Egypt, send stack of 6 legions toward thebes. Upgrade another warrior so I'll have 3 to send at Alexandria next turn.
850 bc: Egypt completes pyramids and I lose 2 Legionaries capturing Thebes. Alexandria falls with no casualties but suprisingly isn't destroyed :).
470 bc: Greece takes the Great Wall.. crap.
290 bc: make peace with Egypt for a free ride into the middle ages and a WM of the continent.

I've gained Thebes, Alexandria, and Helispolis. Destroyed another 2 Egyptian cities but have already resettled them before anyone else could nab the spots. Greece and Carthage are in a pretty big war and I've already seen about 10 units fall on both sides. Because of their UU's, both are probably in their golden age by now. I'll have to build quite a bit before I assault either of them. Greece is currently building the GL, and Carthage has no wonders it is pursuing. Since the remainder of Egypt is right between myself and Greece, I'm planning to mow through Egypt and assualt Greece after the 20 turn peace period to nab their GL if it completes.

After first seeing Thebes, I descided that would be perfect for an FP, and started building one immediately after capture. Now all I need is republic but Alexander refuses to sell it. I'll be pursuing monarchy at max and try for a trade.

Mistakes & Miracles:
- Assuming I was on a small continent was a pretty big blunder, but I guess it doesn't matter at this point since I'm almost caught up in techs.
- Catching that warrior/settler pair that was aimed for my Veii spot was huge. Without that city, I'd be way behind on warrior production.
- Thebes taking the Pyramids and its completion time working out to be just after my planned invasion time was perfect. Amazing timing really.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/2000warrior-gotm42-290bc.jpg

Open for a 20K attempt

My story is somewhat similar to Redbad's. In the pregame I had decided on an archer rush and banked on having someone close by to pound on. And lo, when 3500 BC rolled around and an Egyptian warrior stumbled across our (future) great civilization, we knew that North is the direction we would go.

I settled one NW on desert (a palace move WAS in order), worker west who saw the sea, then chopped the woods on turn 3. Warrior-warrior-barracks was the build order, with the barracks quickened with the chop and no wastage. Set research to writing at min. 5 archers were sent to thebes and at 2030 we declared and took thebes. Wait a few turns, whack some straggling Egyptian warriors for some elite archers. Send 2 elites and a vet east to Memphis. Attack Memphis with the second elite and get a freaking MGL, Trajan. Boy did I love PTW at that moment. On the same turn he runs to Thebes and builds the Pyramids at 1500 BC. We took peace, all the first tier techs, a few workers, and a city from Egypt. 1400 BC we jump the palace to thebes once it had grown, in order to quicken the temple build.

I then saw a stack of Numidians and archers headed my way. This could be bad. But they attack Greece! Thus started the 2000 year long war between the two. This got both of their golden ages out of the way without any really needed wonders out there. The game could not have progressed any better at this point.

My research path was where I screwed the pooch. I went writing-philo-lit-col-republic, forgetting that the AI does not value polytheism at all in PTW. Lit should have followed writing, then poly, then monarchy for a new govt and more importantly the hanging gardens. That, coupled with losing no less than 9 galleys trying to find another civ in this godforsaken world, meant we lost the HG to civ X and Thebes was stuck building legions foreverrrrr. We entered the middle ages by researching currency and getting construction from the library around 200 bc. I replayed and researched lit, poly and monarchy, and this led to saving 10+ turns on the library and GL, allowed me to build the HG in the BCs, and get to the MA so much quicker. Im really, really kicking myself on that one.

My builds:

1500-Pyramids
1400-Palace
1225-Temple
630-Library
230-GLibrary

I never saw a single barb on our home continent.

Arrrr, my AA was similar to Redbad's. I settled on the hill 2 north, decided to build a barracks instead of a granary until I found a food bonus. Generally a conservative approach, only units for MP, archers to deal with raging barbs, no exploring until things moved a little. DOW on Egypt in 2070, Elephantine, one of their new towns, destroyed the same year. Peace in 1790 for everything they had, a floodplains town, a tech, some gold. Oh my, the land I captured extends farther than my troops could have even marched! The floodplains town is at rcp=5 from Thebes, and Egypt's remaining town is, too. Nice!
The capitol didn't move to Thebes until 1575 BC- all cities were size1, it was size2. Interesting. I grew the best I could, had a mind toward resources.
1000BC: 6 cities, 12 citizens, 9 worker, 5 warrior, 3 archer, 2 barracks, Iron, wines. 38g.
I hooked Horses in 975. Carthage build the Gr. Lib in 690, so they were targeted next. I didn't want a despotic GA, so I waited until I was a monarchy to attack...in 30AD. Actually, I attacked the Egyptian remnants first to finish them off, triggering my GA. I just so happened to meet some foreigners this very same turn, and was able to trade for all necessary AA techs and enter the Middle Ages. I did some fomenting, but that story only begins where this thread ends.

[ptw], Open.
Goal undecided, but after the MicroManageMania I experienced in GotM 41 I want something a bit more fast-paced.

The early game
Settling on the spot was out of the question. My people took a short hike of 100 years, to settle on the forest NW-N of the starting location.
My plan was to build warriors and settlers, expand and wait for IW.

Met Egypt early, traded for CB and Masonry. Researched Pottery myself, then Writing at minimum. Met Carthage in 2510 BC and traded for BW. Writing finished in 1575, I then bought IW from Carthage...
Didn't meet Greece until 1425 BC, they were at war with Egypt. Just keep on fighting, my dear friends...

War and more war!
Iron in the mountains to the south, I had two workers dedicated to the task of connecting it (and the wine) to Rome. They were finished in 1075 BC, and I immediately upgraded 7 warriors to legionaries. 10 more warriors are waiting. Declare on Egypt in 1025, raze Elephantine in 1000 BC.

QSC stats:
6 towns
14 pop (14 happy... )

1 granary
4 barracks

10 legionary (1 elite, 9 veteran), 2 of them less 2 hp.
12 warriors (10 veteran)
3 workers
1 slave

Tech: Missing TW from first tier, have IW and Writing on second tier.

2gp, -7gpt (very temporarily ;)

As you see I have a habit of maximizing happiness before handing in my QSC...

My legions marched on Thebes, which fell easily in 875 BC. Memphis and Heliopolis fell shortly after, and Pi-Ramesses actually flipped to me the turn before I was to capture it. I bought TW from Greece, and then made peace with Cleo in 710 BC for all her tech (HBR, Philo, CoL, MM and Myst) and one of her two remaining towns. Go for Republic at 100%, I can afford the -10gpt for quite some time and if I get it first I might be able to get back the investment.

My legions were still restless, and Carthage make themselves my next target by first building the Pyramids, and then plopping down a town to steal "my" horses. I DoW on them in 610 BC and bring in a reluctant Egypt with me. Doing that saved me a lot of trouble since most of the Carthagian counter attacks were directed towards the much weaker Egyptian troops.

Diplomacy, Republic and MA
In 430 BC I met the rest of the world with my very first galley, trading for Maths and Poly. Construction is also available but one of the civs have a monopoly so I wait. No intercontinental contacts were traded since I plan to abuse Greece badly and take them out before they can tell the world about it.

Researched Republic in 370 BC, 3 turns anarchy means we were a Republic in 310 BC. Traded for Construction and Monarchy from the other side.

Carthage fell in 390 BC. and their two other major towns shortly after. Unfortunately I screwed up and allowed them to take Utica back again, with the Great Lighthouse, while I was off chasing Hippo. Before I could rerecapture it I had to sue for peace in 150 BC since WW was running rampant on me. At least I know hold their two towns on hills.
The turn before peace, 170 BC, I had traded for Currency and entered the MA.

Plans for the future are to build horsemen, build treasure and wait for Chivalry. Then ROP rape Greece with at least 20 Knights. Hope it works. :)

"In 430 BC I met the rest of the world with my very first galley"

*grumble*
I cant really complain about the crazy RNG though...

[QUOTE=killercane]Open for a 20K attempt{/QUOTE]
wow, very impressive! you're going for 20K and yet you did that with a city from another civilization!!! :eek:

[civ3mac] http://gotm.civfanatics.net/common/swordsman_small.gif Predator Spoiler 1

The early years

We sent the worker off north west to look for better pastures. Here are my timeline notes:

Worker NW. Sees coast to west, more forest NW. It would take two settler moves to get the probable grass in the north into the first city radius. Unless it's bonus grassland, it will take 6 turns to mine it to be a 2.1.0 tile, and 9 turns to get it to 2.1.1. In 11 turns we can have 10 shields from a forest and open up a grass tile. 2 settler turns will lose 4 food, 4 gold, 2 turns research. Options are:

1. Settle NW/N turn 2. Start mine turn 3. Complete mine turn 9. Complete road turn 12. pop 2+0 food+14 gold+3 shields.

2. Settle turn 0. Start chop turn 2. Complete chop turn 12. pop 2+4 food+24 gold+10 shields.

Decide to settle in place. Start warrior. Wheel at max. No point in having spare cash around at this stage.

And so it came to pass. Rome's builds were:

3500 BC: Warrior
3000 BC: Settler, who built Veii on the hill NW/N/NE from Rome in 2850 BC.
2750 BC: Barracks
2550 BC: Warrior
2190 BC: Archer
1990 BC: Worker
1700 BC: Archer
1625 BC: Warriors ....

Meanwhile our first solitary warrior did a circuit south of the lake and then headed north east and north. Our brave little soldier met victim #1, AKA Egypt, in 2550 BC, and Carthage in 2190 BC. We bought contact with Greece in 1830 BC.

Veii built a barracks first, then a granary to become a ten-turn settler factory. Cities then came fast and furious - but mostly built by Egypt :rolleyes:

2310 BC I logged: Egypt are encroaching fast! It looks like Cleo is going to be running our settler factory for us.

1500 BC: Antium
1250 BC: Cumae
1025 BC: Neapolis
730 BC: Pompeii
550 BC; Pisae

QSC Report

5 towns, 10 citizens, 9 working fully improved tiles or lake. 2 granaries, 2 barracks, 11 warriors (1 reg), 2 archers, 5 workers. 1st level techs + IW, Writing, HBR, Literature in 20 turns at 10%. 79 gold + 12gpt. Egypt is building our cities for us. We have iron, and will hook it up real soon now and we'll need 40 gold per legion. Don't think barbs are going to be a problem.

Wars

In 370 BC all the local Egyptian towns had expanded culture or pop and would not autoraze if captured. I had upgraded a bunch of legions, and decided I had to use them, even though I was still a Despot. A despotic Golden Age happened in GOTM 41 and we survived to tell the tale, time will tell whether we can get away with it at Emperor. We declared war on Egypt and our legions captured her three local towns by 290 BC. In 210 BC we took Thebes, and in 150 BC we captured Memphis in the east and we had horses in our sights. In 70 BC Thebes flipped back to Egypt. It was quickly recaptured, but this was to be an early portent that our failure to build any early Roman culture was going to cost us a few sleepless turns.

We autorazed a couple of Egyptian towns, and captured two more before 130 AD, removing all of Egypt between us and Carthage. We made peace during The Great Trading Round that took us into the Middle Ages in 130 AD. Meanwhile, in 10 AD, Greece demanded tribute. I figured a bit of war happiness wouldn't hurt, so I rejected and Greece declared.

Research and Trade

2750 BC: Researched The Wheel, started Writing at max. Confirmed that Ainwood was living up to his reputation and we had no horses as far as we could tell.
2470 BC: Traded Egypt The Wheel+3gpt+5 for Pottery+Bronze.
1830 BC: Traded The Wheel+1gpt+1gold to Carthage for contact with Greece.
1525 BC: Buy Iron working from Greece for 30+6gpt. Swap IW for Writing with Carthage, start Literature at minimum. We have iron next to the wines. Thanks!
1350 BC: Buy HBR from Greece for 4gpt+26. Sell HBR to Carthage for CB+7.
775 BC: Buy CoL from Greece for 10gpt+, buy Mapmaking from Carthage for CoL+WM+55.
550 BC: Literature complete. Buy Philosophy for 5gpt+11+WM from Carthage. Start Republic at 10%
210 BC: Buy Maths from Carthage for 7gpt+11. Buy Mysticism from Carthage for 3gpt+14
130 AD: We finally reached the Middle Ages as a result of alien contact and some nifty trading in The Great Trading Round, which the spoiler rules preclude me from describing.

At that point our citizens reluctantly offered to put a front door on our cave - our first palace improvement.

Where next? Spoiler 2 beckons .....

[EDIT] I've added a screenshot showing Rome's territory at the point of entry into the Middle Ages. I assume the constraint of "Starting Continent" allows me to show the offshore islands, since they were visible once maps were traded and/or Rome got ships in the water.

@ Ionimplant

Well I had a settler that had gone to the best coastal spot NW of Rome, but that city couldnt match Thebes' powerhouse production and central location. I also thought about disbanding Thebes and putting it on the coast, but I would've been wasting a bonus grass, the game, and the good production. I could've done the Hanging Gardens in a mere 10 turns (40 spt) in my golden age if I had just had Monarchy. In addition to everthing else, you really need the Gardens or the Oracle in the AA if you use a landlocked city, and I pulled neither so it really hurt my end date.

PTW - Open.
Going for fast Domination or Diplo.

Start - exactly from Pregame discussion.

Settler NW and settle. Worker chop N from Rome.
We are on the coast!!!
Research: Writing at Min.
Build (work Forest - 3, Lake - 1): Warrior, Warrior, Archer with a chop.
1st warrior explores (We are in the jungle!!!), 2nd guards Rome.

3400BC. BG under the forest - road, mine.
3250BC. Archer explores. Settler in 10, grow in 9.
3000BC - Archer sees yellow border.
2950BC - chat with Cleo, she can trade BW and Pottery for Alpha and WC, but suddenly she says something strange: "Illegal operation - system will shutdown". WTF?!!
Reload from Autosave from this turn, repeat the moves (all 2 of them), hope it's OK.
Resume chat with Cleo - she trades BW and Pottery for Alpha, WC and 5G. Has 2 workers for sale, but I can't afford it. Save game - just in case.

Missed opportunity
RedBad, you played my dream game! The moment I set eyes on the wondrous Thebes I wanted it and I knew that the key to the game lies beyound its gates.
But instead of following my own advice and just build archers I proceeded with my 1st settler.
The result - not enough archers to take Thebes quickly, and I only managed it much later with legions.

2670BC - Veii found on the coast NW. I deside for RCP4. Archer crosses Egyptian border, meets Carthage, trades Pottery for Masonry + 50g. Rome is building barracks.

2310BC. Worker chops right after barracks, hurries an Archer. Archer moves North, war with Egypt is imminent.

The war which was too late

2150BC. One archer trails behind Egypt warrior/settler, another watches 2 workers clearing/roading Spices next to Memphis.
I want to declare as soon as workers finish with Spices and Archer catches up with the settler pair. 4 extra workers would be nice.
Well, this turn settler plops a town in a really weird place and workers finish clearing Spices and just leave! D'oh! Aren't you guys suppose to mine it or something? Lazy bastards!
So I dow on Egypt and all I can manage is to autoraze the new town and pillage Spices just out of spite.

2110BC. Archer on Spices withstands 2 warrior attacks, gets promoted. Another vArcher and warrior move to position on Thebes. One more vArcher is hurrying North.

2070BC. Get Writing first, trade with Carthage for IW, Wheel and CB. Get Embassy with Cartage, but hold off on MA against Egypt. Unfortunately can't trade with Egypt.
Memphis has Horses and Iron! Got to get Egypt, and get it fast!

1950BC. Heroic Archer on Spice kills approaching warrior and a defending Spearman in Memphis. A,A,W and a new A move to Thebes. A attacks Thebes and dies. Warrior pillages road. Another A kills the Spearman in Thebes.

1675BC. Veii builds Granary, starts on Settler. Rome builds Archer and starts on Settler, to clame close Iron.

1625BC. No way we are getting Thebes now. It seems like it's adding a spearman every turn.
Peace with Egypt for Mysticism, 43 g and contact with Greece. I'll connect Iron first, and only then repeat the attack with Legions.

1500BC - Antium on river/coast close to Egypt.
1475BC - Cumae on iron.

QSC
1000BC Neapolis founded stealing Wheat from Thebes.
975BC. Pompei founded on S coast.
Forgot to save 1000BC, so 975BC stats: 6 towns, 12 pop, 2 workers, 2 barracks, 1 granary, 2 v archers, 1 spear, 11 warrior (3 reg, 8 vet.) 337 cash, CoL in 2 turns, Wines hooked up.

670BC. Have lots of Legions and 29 turns to Rep. Time to declare on Egypt. Maybe GA will help research Rep. faster.

650BC - declare. Autoraze Spice city and move worker over. Take Thebes (9 Legions, 2 die) and capture 3 slaves.

410BC - peace after we take Heliopolis with Ivory. They give Byblos with Horses, Math and 30g for peace. Their Capital jumps to El-amarna in a the jungle in the midst of our territory.

170BC - suiside Galley sees a border.

10BC we are the Republic.
Earlier Greeks beat us 2 turns to Republic so we couldn't get any trade benefits from that. And Carthage beat us to Great Wall by 6 turns. Bad omens.

170AD - reach another tribe, get Currency and enter MA.

Attached: Roman empire at 50AD.

PTW Open - Going for the ambulance.

I have never won an emperor game before, and looking at the start didn't give me much hope that I could now. Nevertheless it is the taking part that counts, and my main goal is to learn from the mistakes i will make.

I settled Rome NW and N of the starting location and started building some warriors to explore. I soon met the egyptians and traded away with them. It was 2670 BC before I got a settler out of rome, which I used to settle on the river and coast up North, calling the city "20k attempt city" - despite having never achieved 20k and only really intending to have a half hearted attempt at it. I then built some more warriors for the purposes of Military police and hopefully to deter aggression. This is how things looked in 1000BC

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/rome100bc.JPG

Obviously a terrible start, still - Rome wasn't built in a day.

In 825 BC the 20k attempt city built the colossos, but I was unable to build any other wonders as I was by now too behind in tech. I settled some more towns to the east and started building some troops to go against egypt. In 290 ad Egypt demanded tribute and I refused. They declared and as my military wasn't as strong as I wanted I waited for their attack. In 320ad my golden age began as I fought back. However I made a massive mistake here, I left Rome undefended save for a warrior, and bad luck on the RNG meant a stack of egyptian swordsmen approached rome. I manged to kill all but 1 of this stack, but bad luck on rng left this sole swordsman standing on full power. He then beat the warrior in rome and had taken my capital. The palace jumped to the 20k attempt city, which had already built the forbidden palace. Although I re-took Rome 2 turns later the damage had been done, my remaining towns were extremely pissed off at the war and my lux rate was so high I was running deficit spending - despite having no research. Every turn i was losing a unit, which most turns was fine as I could take losing warriors, but I also lost some workers. Nevertheless I was begining to advance my troops into egypt as they were now fighting the greeks as well. I took 2 of their cities (with heavy losses) before accepting peace and some techs. I now had the jungle to myself and thus decieded to rebuilt my infrastructure and military. I then traded my way into the MA.

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

[PTW] Open class for whatever victory falls my way.

I'm playing this one as quickly as I can with little MM as I must submit by May 1st before vacation.

I settled on the spot and built warrior-warrior-settler-warrior-settler. I was able to find both Carthage and Greece before they found each other as Egypt quickly blocked the center. Trading contacts allowed me to temporaily reach tech parity. Greece demanded something relatively early and I refused. Before they reached my land they were ready for peace but I bought Egypt into war with some large GPT which I promptly broke by signing peace. I was researching as fast as possible to Monarchy and once I had gone through a 2 turn anarachy declared war on Egypt. While taking Thebes I got a MGL and rushed the palace in Thebes which increased my remaining FP build time by nearly double.

Greece and Carthage were then also at war so I participated as well and eventually took Alexandria from Greece before getting peace. Egypt got peace when they were down to one Tundra town. Carthage got two cities between Thebes and the Horses so I got a settler across and rushed a Library to claim the horses.

I then started preparing an attack on Carthage. They had the Great Library and I was vastly behind in techs. I noticed that I could place cities CxC on a path that would allow Knights to attack Carthage on the turn of war. So that was what I would do.

A couple other points:
I was able to settle a couple of offshore islands including one overrun with barbs. The Legionaries stationed there quickly became Elite while I built Vet warriors to ship home.

I got my 2nd or 3rd suicide galley adjacent to a border on another landmass while still in the ocean. Shift-D allowed me to contact the Civ even though they didn't show up in F4. That was good as the galley quickly sunk. The other continent was generally backwards but was able to pay lots of GPT for techs. One Civ over there appears to own nearly half the continent including lots of cities with names belonging to two of the other civs.

I might go for Diplo again. The next play session I will be sure to gift each of the small civs a small city near my capitol so that they are not eliminated.

As usual, I played another crappy game. But, this one had a twist at the end. Can't wait for later spoilers.

Anyway, I was paranoid about raging barbs and having no iron. So, I played oddly. I built RCP 3 and 6 and fortified all cities. I researched at max to Republic, trading along the way for some techs. With 3 turns left for Republic, Egypt declared war. With the legions I was now producing, I walked through their jungle cites on the east coast. The first battle started the Golden Age. The last battle produced a great leader who rushed the Forbidden Palace in a northern city. All the extra troops camped in the northern cities after making peace with Egypt. I pulled a 2 turn anarchy and finished the Golden Age as a republic. Egypt was divided east and west. I filled in cities as Greece and Carthage picked at Egypt.

At the entrance to the Middle Ages, I saw how powerful Greece was becoming, and didn't have the military skills and tech to take out anyone. I resolved to fortify my borders and concentrate on production and tech. I had a lot to catch up on.

Preview:
Will Greece continue to be the powerhouse?
Will Egypt survive as a divided nation with each half in its own vice?
What is happening in the rest of the world?
Can Rome defend its borders and join the elite ranks?
Stay tuned.

I started out well. I expanded along the NW coast towards egypt.

By the time I had 4 or 5 towns I caught a wandering egyptian warrior/settler combo in the sights of my archer and I opened fire. This was an archer/spearman war.

This early war initially went very well. Tons of egyptian soldiers died. I destroyed one of their towns. Then in 1225BC I got a great leader from an elite spearman. Stupidly I built te Great Lighthouse instead of the pyramids. But,that was OK.

Next, I knew that thebes was building the oracle. I thought I would capture it. But, I did it all wrong. Instead of waiting until I had a force of about 10 archers, I sent them in peacemeal in 1s and 2s and lost them all. Wen I realised what I had done, I quit with out saving.

Next, I knew that thebes was building the oracle. I thought I would capture it. But, I did it all wrong. Instead of waiting until I had a force of about 10 archers, I sent them in peacemeal in 1s and 2s and lost them all. Wen I realised what I had done, I quit with out saving.
don't you want to revenge the death of those archers?

Interesting. So far I'm the only poster who settled at 4000 BC. I wonder how it will all shake out :hmm:

Interesting. So far I'm the only poster who settled at 4000 BC. I wonder how it will all shake out :hmm:
I settled at 4000 BC as well, detailed spoiler is coming soon

@Ronald: That puts me in exalted company! I'll be interested to see whether our logic matches in any way, however, I suspect that's the last point at which our games bear any similarity :rolleyes:

As someone who isn't planning to play this one, it's pretty cool to see what you all did with that start. I have no idea what I'd have done. Well, "build military" is a given. :)

Renata

Vanilla, conquest

After having played hundreds of CIV II games, I recently started trying III. Never having won at emperor level, I decided to join the easiest class. Being very careful I decided to settle on the hill for the extra defense, while sending my two spearmen exploring.

Exploring

4000
sent spearman1 W and spearman2 S. So, no second lake, but we're near the coast! sent settler and worker NE
3950
spearman1 goes south to look for fish. No fish spearman2 starts his walk around the lake. settler + worker go N
3900
sent worker N and definately decide to settle on the hill
3850
Rome built on the hill.
worker starts building a road on grasstile
both spearmen start walking north
Research pottery
3650
An Egyptian warrior approaches us from the north
We trade Alphabet, 2gpt + 45 g and get masonry and ceremonial burial
3600
worker starts mining the winehill. spearman2 fortifies in Rome
3500
boundaries of Egypt become visible
3350
Rome expands. Egypt has 2 warriors exploring the area
Built warrior which starts exploring eastwards. Start prebuilding barracks
3250
contours of our island slowly get form
it seems we're on a small island with only Cleopatra as our neighbour.
3200
We're not alone, some guy who calls himself 'NeoCartagean' approaches us in the NE, past Egypt. They don't have jack to trade. By now, we located two sources of spice.
3150
Egypt is expanding east, Memphis founded next to spice source.
3000
The Largest Nations of the world:
1 Egypt
2-6 Greece, Russia, Aztek, Viking, Keltoi
7 Carthage
8 THE HOPELESS ROMANS...
2900 All jungle has been defogged
2750 Pottery researched, start writing. Rome grows to 3, disorder!
2670 We discover the outlines of Cartagean territory
2470
our workers completed a road to bring wines into Rome
We discover fish+whales nearby. The whole southern end of the island has been defogged now. The towelreference is completely ungraspable.

Egypt approaches, Roman expansion phase starts

2270
Those nasty Egyptians found Elephantine 4NE4N from Rome
This is going all wrong... Next turn settler will be ready in 1 turn. We need to prepare a strategy of how to deal with Egypt.

I'd post a screendump here if I only knew how.

2190 Veii founded on the shore 2NW1W from Rome. Start building barracks
1725
Next settler built in Rome, going to settle on the spice to secure it.
The next few turns Rome wil start dropping settlers, Veii will produce spearmen.
1600
Egyptians founded Alexandria 3E1NE from Rome... We found Antium on the spice, start building walls
1475
Fourth settler ready, heads towards Elephantine. Meanwhile the Carthageans are spreading like the flu
1400 Cumae founded, start building walls
1375
It seems Egypt is blocking the way to the rest of the island... Greece is located there, maybe more.
1350
Finished walls of Antium, start building Temple. One or two more cities and then we'll start the attack on Egypt.
1250
The most powerful nations of the world:
1 Vikings
2 Egypt
3 Greece
4 Carthage
5-7 Russia, Keltoi, Aztec
8 THE FORGOTTEN ROMANS...
1175 Neapolis founded next to Alexandria
1150 Athens completes the Pyramids
1100 Moscow completes the Oracle
1025 disease in Antium
1000
traded world map for Egyptian territory map
They have 9 cities, Carthage 7, we 5
875
Pompeii founded on the southern coast near the fish and whale
Cleopatra starts bullying, we give her all our cash [12gold]
650 Pisa founded in the SE corner, last before the war
410 Kiev builds the Colossus

the first attack on Egypt

Around this time I decide to attack Egypt, based on the assumption that noone has any iron. Two turns after my initial attack two Egyptian swordsmen appear. With some luck and AI-stupidity we manage to fight them of with one spearman behind walls. We conquer Elephantine.

150 Thebes builds the Great Library. With Thebes, my problems would be gone, as I am 4 or 5 techs behind.

Interbellum

110
Peace negotiated, we get Mapmaking, Iron Working and their world map for it after we threw in our world map, and some cash. I see the iron now and don't have any idea as to why there was any mentioning of it not being generated by the map. Probably just to annoy us :) The peace will be temporary, because I want Thebes. From now, I will work towards this goal.

Rome's Golden Age

440
The time has come to attack again, with 11 legionary's and 5 archers. I am lucky; the Greeks have weakened Thebes with their knights.
Egypt will not make it to the industrial age... Thebes falls in Roman hands in the first attack, starting a Golden age for Rome.
450 The Great Lib yielded all 4 remaining AA techs + 5 MA techs.
460 The discovery of Education ends the fun, we were right on time!
480
Cleopatra comes crawling, begging for peace.
We give her peace and get 2 cities for it.
Egypt is left with 5 towns size 4.

We now have 14 towns avg. size 4/5; Carthage has 12 of average size 8. Greece is the superpower (15, but the majority is size 11/12 and they have loads of knights)

Short-term goals

1) republic, FP in Thebes (I still need to get some knowledge about free palace jumps and how to quickly set up a 2nd core and stuff)
2) keeping a good relationship with Greece
3) mopping up the Egyptian towns
4) explore the sea, see what's out there

Conclusions

I reached AA very late (440 AD), but I am not too far behind Greece after the Great Lib boni <- Latin plural for bonus, we keep things Roman :). We were very lucky with the attack of Greece no Egypt, the lack of barbs and the just-in-time conquest of Thebes.

Next turn we abandon Rome and Thebes (which is renamed to Rome) becomes the new capitol. :thumbsup: Awesome! a superior move. I think this should give you a remarkable advantage. I'm really curious if you can transform it into a superior game.

You've got a new fan. :)

I actually did that too. Only i left it much later than RedBad so the effect wasnt so great :( . i also used a GL to rush the FP on the south near the old Capitol wich resulted in a very balanced game. Corruption was not a problem even choosing Monarchy instead of Republic :)

I was planning on shifting my capital to Thebes as soon as I took it down. Pity it took me a little longer than I'd originally hoped for :(

(Vanilla predator)

The granaries of Rome

Early in the morning Caesar woke to the bustle of his camp. He left his tent, and looked around.
Just ahead of him, the heavy armour of the Legionaries of the First Roman Army glittered in the bright sunlight. His eyes wandered to the right. In the distance the contours of Elephantine were vaguely visible. Deep down in the valley he could see the river Rubicon that had so long been the boundary with Egypt, but that Cleopatra now claimed was hers, and hers alone.
It was this insolence, and Cleopatra's insatiable thirst for gold, Roman gold, that has caused the crisis that was about to unfold. The glory of Rome demanded the downfall of Egypt.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/zyxy_GOTM42_Egyptian_Battle_Plan_950BC.jpg

His attention turned to the battleplan. It was flawless. The initial strike would be against Elephantine, and an attack on the iron mines of Memphis would be imperative. But the main prize was Thebes, the proud capital. Ah, Thebes.... Blessed with fertile lands and abundant wildlife, Thebes was the driving force behind the quick expansion of the Egyptian empire. It woudl supply the Roman empire with the food it needed to grow, more effectively than the granary of Rome ever could. Egypt would be the granary of Rome from now on.

A deep rumble behind him announced the approach of the artillery. Four groups of sturdy catapults, drawn by oxen, the latest development in siege warfare, came moving down the hill of Antium. Behind the catapults was the garrison city of Antium, and behind that, on the other side of the hill, was Rome.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/zyxy_GOTM42_Rome_1325BC.jpg

Rome, city of wine and water. It was not founded in a day. His people had wandered the desert for 100 years before finding this spot. After the construction of the Roman Granary, the people had peacefully colonized the area around Rome, founding the cities of Veii, Antium, Cumae, Neapolis...
until it became clear that Egypt would block further peaceful expansion. In 2450 A.U.C. Cleopatra extorted 28 gold from a defenceless people and that was the trigger. Barracks were constructed, and the Romans trained to become fearsome warriors. The exploitation of iron deposits near Cumae, that started some 50 years ago, supplied them with the improved weapons and armor that would be needed against Egypt.

Caesar beckoned his atjutant. Orders were shouted. They would march in one hour, cross the Rubicon by noon, and set up camp on the hill near Elephantine in the evening. From there the catapults could easily fire into the town, and the camp could easily be protected at night. Yes, his plan was flawless.
The year 2950 A.U.C. would go down in history as the start of the ascendancy of Rome.

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

A question of leadership

The campaign was going well. The Roman people enthusiastically supported the war effort, working harder than ever. Elephantine, Thebes and Memphis had fallen quickly. Cleopatra and her ministers had fled to Heliopolis. Not one of the Roman armies had been lost in the attacks. The effect of training, artillery, superior weapons and leadership, no doubt. Caesar could not help but smile at the thought of the hapless, untrained warriors and spearmen of Egypt, and the folly of their generals, who unwittingly moved their troops out of beleaguered cities.

The success had led Caesar to divide his forces in two. He had left the main force in the hands of his trusty right hand Trajan, and personally took charge of the assault on Alexandria. Caesar took it as a personal affront that Cleopatra had named a city after the Greek leader, just around the time that Greece had declared war on Rome because they wanted to know the secrets of Mathematics.
Needless to say that the Roman explorers axed several Greek troops before a peace treaty was concluded. However, relations between Greece and Rome were sour ever since, and Caesar vowed that
the evil Greeks would have to pay one day.

In 3250 A.U.C. Caesars task force entered Alexandria, which would now be known as Caesarea. Just before the assault, an Egyptian galley was seen leaving Alexandria. Suspicions that it carried Cleopatra and her government were later confirmed, when Roman diplomacy revealed that the small village of Giza became the new Egyptian capital.
In the same year Trajan showed his Great Leadership skills by liberating Heliopolis. From that moment he was known as The Legiondary Trajan.

The question how Trajan could best be employed in the interest of the empire had bothered Caesar for quite a while. With his recent success and popularity it became urgent. Caesar weighed the options. On the one hand, he could give Trajan his own army. Although Egypt would not put up much of a fight anymore, peace with Greece would not last very long. A strong army, led by Trajan, could be useful, especially against the strong Greek hoplites. On the other hand, the Roman empire was getting too large to be ruled by one man. Caesar had been thinking about setting up a second center of government in the lands now held by Greece. There was a good spot near Thermopylae....

The die had to be cast. But which hand would he choose?

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

Money, money, money

The market of Rome opened in 3510 A.U.C. Pecunia non olet, but the market smelled of all that the Roman empire had to offer: spices from Memphis and Caesarea, cattle from Hieraconpolis, game from Thebes, fish from Pisae, even elephants from Hispalis.
Money started rolling in and the treasury was growing day by day. There was little to do with the gold, but Caesar could be heard muttering that the money could be spent to improve cities, once a mythical thing called republic was established. Nobody knew what that was, but rumour had it that a wise man retired to the jungle to find out.

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

An empire lost

Anxiously the settler party watched as Greek and Roman soldiers duelled in the plains near Hispalis. The Romans had the advantage of terrain, but the Greek hoplite defended itself with vigour. When their escort was vanquished, the settlers feared for their lives, but they were spared and would live on to labor for Rome.
The year was 3490 A.U.C. and the war between Greece and Rome had just started.

The Roman attack consisted of three prongs, with the main battle force striking straight at Athens and the main Greek cities on the North Coast, while smaller forces would move along the Eastern and Western Shores. Foolish Alexander spent his resources on building two or three wonders at the time, and Greek resistance crumbled quickly after Romans had taken their iron deposits and horse farms. The hoplites were not all they were cracked up to be, and the Greek counters were feeble and uncoordinated.

Early in the Greek War the city of Trajanopolis was founded, and the Legiondary Trajan rushed hither to establish the second capital of the empire. In 3730 A.U.C. Hadrian showed his brilliance under the walls of Argos. Unfortunately he died in a construction accident in Pisae a few years later, but he will be a shining example for generations to come. And indeed, the year 3810 A.U.C. witnesses the rise of the brave Maximus to the command of the First Roman Army.

Peace was concluded in 4009 A.U.C. with Greece handing over the secrets of construction. With that the Romans entered the Middle Ages.

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

Basic facts, answers to Ainwoods questions:

settled NW-N of start. Initial builds were warriors for exploration, followed
by granary (by this time I had seen about 5 reasonable spots to settle, and a
few unreasonable ones too). After that settlers, warriors,
workers. Exploration revealed that Egypt had a much better start with quite a
lot of the most critical resource: food. Consequently barracks were founded
and warriors were trained.

By 1000BC the Roman empire had the grand total of 15 citizens in 5 cities, 4
workers, 12 veteran warriors and some regulars, 4 catapults, and a phony war
with Greece. Two turns later there would be an active war with Egypt, fought
by warriors-turned-into-legionaries.

Greece had much nicer lands than Carthage, with a good FP spot somewhere in
the middle of their territory. Getting my first GL near the end of the
Egypt War settled their fate.

Nice map btw! I like low food starts, gives you something to do :)

OPEN, going for conquest

This is an interesting starting position. The decision is between settling on the spot, or moving several times north. Since it is emperor, I did not want to loose any moves. Additionally in PTW a somewhat decentral palace is not as bad as in C3C, but then an early FB is needed. Since we are militaristic and I definitely planned to fight for some good land, I decided to settle on the spot.

My buidling sequence is accordingly: warrior (to find a nice target), barracks (to get veterans), settler, archer, archer, archer, archer, settler. The archer production was speed-up by chopping some forests.

My first warrior went north and found the land where milk and wheat in abundance exists: Egypt and in true Roman style we sent our legions (ah archers at that moment to make Egypt our food producing colony.

in 1950 BC our archers conquered Thebens:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/Ronald_gotm42_1.JPG

and in 1475 BC we had a very positive battle outcome: The first GL
He was used to rush the FB in Theben (after some more cities were built to meet the minimum cities for FB:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/Ronald_gotm42_2.JPG

No this game should become much easier. The Roman gods were very generous. After the greek declared war (I didn't want to give in on their demand) a second great leader was produced who built the pyramids in Thebens.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/Ronald_gotm42_3.JPG

Now I settled the remaining land and prepared myself for a nicely timed GA, just after the anarchy period. In 350 BC I finished researching republic, traded for the last AA techs and started the revolution and the middle ages.

This is the graphic summary of the development of the Roman Empire:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/Ronald_gotm42_4.JPG

So far I had lots of luck and fun with this game

Interesting reads!

And I'd like to say that this is the most fun I've had playing civ for a while.
I actually had to fight a defensive war, which was great!

My strategy was to pump military from the very beginning, and hope to conquer rather than expand.

INITIAL BUILD/ARCHER RUSH

We settled Rome one square N, but this proved to be a temporary location. My worker did a lot of forestry, and by focussing on shields rather than growth, I was able to produce

2750 BC Have barracks, 3 vet archers.

2550 BC My first archer attacks 2 Egyptian workers, and then dances around avoiding warriors until I have a stack of 3 archers.
I complete 4th archer in Rome

2350 BC Attack Thebes with a stack of 3 archers.
Kill 2 spearmen without loss, and take the Egyptian capital. I then negotaiate peace as quickly as possible, as my archers won't last long against Egypt's warriors.
Rome is size 4, so I build 2 settlers, and plan to abandon my capital.

1830 BC
Attack Memphis and again kill 2 spearmen without loss of my (now 2/4 elite) archers.
Abandon Rome and have my palace jump to Thebes.

1790 BC I win with an elite archer, and get a great leader while dispatching some warriors approaching Memphis.
I use him to rush Pyramids in Memphis.

1575 BC Destroy Heliopolis, the last Egyptian city. I have 2 wounded archers remaining after this, and I decide to sit back and try to build an empire.

FROM OFFENSE TO DEFENSE

1000 BC stats:
7 cities, 1 settler
26 population
14 warriors, 2 archers, 1 spear, 8 workers (incl 3 slaves)
all first tier techs, plus iron working and writing. 8 turns from Code of Laws at min science.

775 BC Greece demands territory map and 55 gp. I give it to them.

450 BC Pompeii deposes to the Greeks. Takes my 2 remaining archers with it.

410 BC Greece declares war on me. Initially their attack is slow, and this allows me to get my defense in position and pop rush a number of spearmen.
This puts a crimp in my plans. I won't have republic for 8 turns, so I don't want to upgrade any of my warriors to legionarries.
I just have to hold back Greece until I have a reblic.

330 BC Greece takes one city down in the jungle. Apart fromt hat, I am now in a decent position, with 5+ spearmen in my vulnerable cities, plus many warriors. The Grrek swordsmen are taking their toll however.

230 BC Discover Republic. First period of anarchy would be 6 turns. I try again, and get 3 turns of anarchy.

150 BC upgrade 10 warriors to Legionaries. Not a huge force. I’ll try to take 2-3 Greek cities and then sue for peace, in order to properly enjoy my GA.

50 BC Uh oh… Carthage ally with the Greeks, and declare war on me.

30 BC I Destroy Greek city Pompeii, losing only 1 legionary (but a lot of HP, and I’ve vulnerable to swordsmen now)

10 BC Lose Pisae to Carthage.

10 BC I attack a swordsman with an elite legionary, and get my second great leader.
Negotiate peace with Greece. I give then Republic, and they give me all their gp (117) and their world map. Now I can focus on ONE war.

30 AD Use great leader to hurry great library

130 AD Recapture Pisae

150 AD Destroy the lovely Carthaginian seaside village of Oea. This is the first properly enemy city (ie not mine originally) I have captured since my archer rush.

170 AD Negotiate peace with Carthage, and they give me a crappy city in teh Jungle and their world map.

Around here I leave the ancient age.
Still no contact with any other civs, I've sent about 4 galleys off into the sunset.
Plan is to keep growing for a while, saving money, building horsement, and letting the AI research to Chivalry for me.

Open, going for ... survival !

I have yet to read what others have posted, but I found the start really difficult. Desert, mountain and jungles. No cattle, no bonus food resources, no floodplains, nearly no rivers, no extra luxuries to trade with, missing resources, outrexed since the very start. The Greeks have been strong in my game from turn one. They, of course, had everything. Boy what a challenging game. Forget winning, I'm even having trouble to survive. Is it just me ?

Took down Egypt easily and settled on all their land (at war already with Greece and Carthage). My problem is Greece.

All in all, this Emperor game is VERY hard, at least for me (my first GOTM).

Yea, I've been struggling with this game too. My first problem was just finding the right save when I started playing again, seeing as I had a few other Rome games which I had the brilliant idea of naming just "Rome".

The start wasn't easy, and I just felt like moving south might help, and so Rome was founded on the coast, which I was happy about. After that, it felt like things wouldn't go right. By the time I had my third city, Egypt had surrounded me with cities. I was forced into a despotic Golden Age just to gain control of some land. Even with Legionaries, I only had a limited supply, but end up vanquishing all but one Egyptian city.

Problem is at this point, I've fallen very far behind in tech, and I'm nearly broke, but luckily Egypt somehow stayed ahead and I could negotiate for all my missing AA tech just for peace.

Problem is at this point, I'm right between Catharge and Greece, both of whom already have feudalism (And possibly Chivalry, but I haven't seen any knights yet...) and neither sees me in good light. Not really sure what to do with them yet....

I haven't yet decided what I wanted to do with this game, I've just wanted to survive long enough to have the choice, and now I think I'll just take my continent. Can't really think past that, maybe the other civs will inspire me in some way.

Interesting. So far I'm the only poster who settled at 4000 BC. I wonder how it will all shake out :hmm:

In post #19 I indicated that I settled on the spot as well. Maybe not too clear, but that was the 4000BC spot.

In post #19 I indicated that I settled on the spot as well. Maybe not too clear, but that was the 4000BC spot.
Missed that, my fault, sorry :( There was such a strong lobby for moving towards the grass during the pre-game discussion that I was assuming I'd be the only odd-ball trying the in-place option.

As it turns out, the stronger reason for moving north was probably to get nearer to Egypt, but that wasn't apparent in 4000 BC. The reasoning I gave in my spoiler post still seems to me to be sound for the early game. It's clear that Rome can't amount to much a few thousand years later, almost wherever it is. But by then I suspect most of us will have consigned it to the status of a small outpost.

Well, I settled 2NW and was going for 20k in it. With prebuilds it's not that bad, keeping up in tech was my problem(after hopping the Palace out to a city just south of Thebes in the late AA, it hopped back after I didn't switch it out for an improvement after the Library, Wall, and Gardens all cascaded to the AIs).

I've picked up the game again after not playing for at least a year and wanted to give the gotm a go. The wines on the hill made me settle Rome in 4000BC and send my worker to mine the hill. Sent warriors north as it looked like the best spot to find good city locations. Jungle everywhere and alot of egyptian cities. They must have a much better starting location then I do. I managed to settle three more cities before egypt had me boxed in. One to the north, one a square from the river to the east boarding the jungle and the last in the middle of the jungle to the north. At this point I was churning out workers and legionaries and I later founded two more cities along the coast to the south east. All of this time I was trying to keep research to a maximum as I usually have trouble waging war and keeping science up at the same time. There is something with the death of my enemies that makes me forget everything else.

I then sent my stack of 10+ legionaries to the first egyptian city along the western coast and took a serious beating from the two spearmen defending. I was left with 3-4 units and had to make a halt. A few turns later I accepted a temporary peace treaty to give me time to rebuild my strength. Somewhere around 700BC I took Thebes. What is it with legionaries against spearmen anyway? My win rate must have hit rock bottom as each spearman easily took down 3-4 of my legionaries. Alot of my resources went into reinforcements. While using Thebes as a strongpoint against the western front I took three of the remaining four egyptian cities to the east leaving the last one as a buffer against the other civilization. Thebes culture flipped once without being near the egyptian border which left me shouting :mad: Easy to retake but I lost the units I had in the city. My culture must suck ass (hadn't built a single temple yet as I was busy replacing my fallen soldiers).

Made peace with egypt around 0BC for all they had but a few cities and later made it into monarchy and the mediveal age around 200AD. I'm not too pleased with my position on the continent with rivals both left and right (even though egypt is out of the game) and I'm not sure if I should strike the stronger greeks first or not. I will need the other civilization with me what ever I choose. Only time will see. Culture is my main priority or a campaign will be a major culture flip setback. Must get that forbidden palace up as well.

Open, PTW, 20K attempt

I was worried that I wouldn't have time for this game. I should have known better. I'm going to include everything here, even though I did play a few turns into the middle ages.

I settled 1 NW of the start, built a 20K city 3 spaces north, a third city by the spices (which flipped to Egypt later on, the turn after completing its temple), and two more down near Rome. I met my neighbors reasonably early and got a few techs in trade, but didn't do particularly well. I studied CB and then headed for literature, after the GL.

My 20K attempt went poorly. I built a 300 shield granary shortly before learning literature, as I had no way to switch to anything else. I thought having the palace there would be worse. I did get the great library, which in short order brought me from early ancient age to theology upon completion. Unfortunately, I got nothing past education from it, and no middle age techs that weren't a prerequisite for education. In the end, it probably didn't matter as Egypt conquered me shortly thereafter.

I was somewhat surprised that my Jason score had 3 digits in it. I'm hoping to have time to try again, in search of an easier victory, probably diplomatic. Maybe then I'll be able to avoid being conquered.

Open 1.29 [civ3mac] Another Ill Attempt at 20K

I hardly finished licking my wounds after watching in awe Mark Cutt's 20K victory in gotm41 before starting the next try. And it was not easy. Lots of difficult decisions in a very interesting and enjoyable game.

The Beginning
I decided to go for the hill 2N of the starting position. My worker went around the eastern shore of the lake and the east looked like a reasonable good position for the 20K city. Rome was founded 3850BC and the worker mined the wines hill. Surprisingly, none of the raging barbarians appeared. Our first warrior starts exploring NW on the mountain range and 3350BC we meet the Egyptians and traded our masonry for alphabet. Because of the low food situation, I decided to grab the opportunity, declared war on Egypt 3200BC, and captured 2 workers. Egypt agreed to peace after 2 of its warriors died attacking the Eternal City on its hill; and Cleo added ceremonial burial to the deal. Afterwards, we sent our warriors to seek more contacts. We met Carthage 2310BC and Greece 1425BC. And still did not encounter a single barbarian.

Research
I started with min research on writing, followed by medium research on literature. Masonry(trade), ceremonial burial(peace), pottery(buy) came from Egypt; iron working was traded for literature from Carthage. The other techs came from the Great Library, and I entered Middle Ages 230BC while in 2 turn anarchy towards republic. I revolted despite of the Golden Age, because I gambled on short anarchy period because of my small empire size. And I was right in the first try. :)

Wars and Great Leaders
The short skirmish after capturing the 2 slaves was but a beginning for serious fighting Egypt later on. Thebes and its surroundings just looked too good. And the Egyptian UU was too weak compared to our legionaries. Because I stopped research after the Great Library, I had plenty of money to upgrade 15 vet warriors to legions once our iron (nice touch to have it so close) was connected 410BC. As in history, Egypt built The Pyramids for us. 350BC our attack starts the despotic Golden age when we capture Alexandria. Thebes falls 310BC and we acquire The Pyramids and 5 slaves loosing a single legion only. :)
Conquest continues towards Memphis (with iron) and to our great pleasure, Greece and Egypt sign a military alliance against Carthage and the stupid Egyptians go after the Carthage troops instead of attacking our powerful legions.

Great Leaders is a short story: there were none.

20K Veii
Founded 2430BC, Veii built temple, Great Library, library, and was working on Great Wall hoping (in vain) for monarchy and Hanging Gardens to become available. Not a very strong 20K start, but a beginning.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/tao_gotm42_190bc.jpg

Especially the low food situation posed a problem to balance growth of the 20K city (joining workers) and expansion. Rome had a granary, but growth still was slow. And as always, I did not do any paper and pencil nor spreadsheet planning of my turns. This is a game after all. :)

1.29 [civ3mac] Another Ill Attempt at 20K

Founded 2430BC, Veii built temple, Great Library, library, and was working on Great Wall hoping (in vain) for monarchy and Hanging Gardens to become available. Not a very strong 20K start, but a beginning.


good to see you're working at 20K again! :goodjob:
so are you going to finish the great wall if monarchy doesn't become available in 2 turns?

This is my first ever game with PtW [party]

This was a tough starting location. Where did you decide to settle?
I moved worker W, settler NW and was shocked to find coast to the west (in a bad way). With coast on 2 sides (W,S), that meant a non-central capitol (the downfall of seafaring civs,imo). So what do I do? Settle on the coast of course! Several times I've looked back at this move and determined that I just wasn't thinking...

What were your initial builds and why?
I built 3 warriors for scouting, 1 N, 1 W, and 1 S, then one returned home for MP. next was settler.

What was your strategy throughout the ancient age as you learned the lay-of-the-land and the locations of critical resources?
I was understandably quite jealous of Egypts food rich start. I knew they would soon be building towns in *MY* land. When I saw later that they had horse and I didn't, It became my goal to get rid of them and take their land ASAP.

I had my worst GotM setback ever occur in this game. With just 4 cities I had built 1 primary attacking stack of 14 Legions to put a unrecoverable dent in Egypts empire. First, they took Elaphantine easily, a size 2 border town between us. Next ~12 marched to the capitol Thebes with thoughts of adding it to the Roman empire in mind. About 6 Legions died in the attack and 6 were left to quell the resistance. Immediately after the "free" turn (no flip possibility), Thebes flipped, thus eliminating 12 Legions, 2/3 of my available Legion force :cry: . I quit playing for 2 days thinking all hope was lost. My army dead, with 5 cities total vs Egypts 11! When I looked at the save again, Cleo offered to *give* me two cities for peace :crazyeye: . So I kept playing :love: . Fun game.

Greece became extremely powerful in my game (must be all those cows :mischief: ). They have half of the worlds wonders, and as I have just now entered the MA, they are building Copernicus' Observatory :eek: .

Troops poised to (hopefully) eliminate Egypt:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/mp_rome1.gif

Fledgling empire:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/mp_rome2.gif

Isn't there really few spoiler posts for this game so far? In the corresponding thread for GotM41 there were twice as many (87) on the 27th. Is it the difficulty level that deters people?

Submissions are low as well. I think maybe this game, and perhaps more significantly COTM 11 as the deadline draws near, are keeping people up late.

Submissions are low as well. I think maybe this game, and perhaps more significantly COTM 11 as the deadline draws near, are keeping people up late.

I abandon this game. I did some mix up with RL, which was very negative for the game. I played while not being fully alerted, under the influence of jet leg, alcohol, etc. This resulted in a number of very stupid mistakes. I kept forgetting to change luxury rates, which resulted in a number of riots very earlier in the game. I even researched invention thinking that I am researching chivalry.
As a result, I got frustrated and abounded this game around 200AD. So no submission from me, though I sent my QSC.

I hope I’ve learnt my lesson. I will be playing COTM12 very carefully and I will avoid any interference from RL :smug:

Going for spaceship.
I settled 2N on the hill in 3850BC and researched Pottery. Rome built warrior, granary, warrior, settler and then a warrior and a settler every 10 turns.

I discovered Pottery in 3200BC and stopped reasearch waiting for same trade. Few turns later, I started researching Writing but after some 10 turns I bought it ... what a waste!

Met Egypt in 3150BC, Carthage in 2590Bc and Greece in 2270BC.
After trading Cerimonial Burial, Bronze Working, Masonry, Writing, The Wheel + gold and 2 workers, I researched Literature.

Discovered Literature in 1425BC, Code Of Laws in 1100BC. In the meanwhile I traded for Iron Working, Mysticism, Map Making, Philosophy + gold and an additional worker.

I built a 5 cities 3-RCP and a 3 cities at 7.

At 1000BC I had:
7 cities
2 settlers
4 workers + 3 foreign workers
7 warriors
1 granary
1 barrack
3 libraries
researching Republic with 24 turns to go

I did not meet any barb.

In the following turns I build more warrior waiting for Republic to trigger the Golden Age.
Rome was a Republic in 490BC. Few turns before Rome had entered MA.

Pregame strategy

I figured for sure I was going to get my butt kicked in this one, particularly after seeing the huge bonuses for conquest class. I decided to be brave and try the open, though. In the pre-thread I predicted we'd see our old buddies Carthage and Greece. Sure 'nuff...

Figuring that Ainwood was going to be a fiend and plant the iron in the enemy lands, I decided on an archer rush. Where to put the settler was a balance of desirability divided by time. I used 3 turns to move 2n and decided to settle there. If this was regent or even monarch I probably would've settled on the grapes.

Rough Beginnings

My first build was a rax, against the supposed barbarian hordes. Interestingly enough, I never saw one! Saw a few galleys on patrol. I know I'm in for a rough time when an Egyptian warrior appears out of the north just 6 turns after I found the capital. We trade, though.

Wine is connected in 3150BC. We build archers and settler, until somehow hearing from Carthage in 1910BC: We trade techs, they have contacted the Greeks but we didn't get that.
Veii built in 1830BC 3nw of Rome.

Egypt builds Pi-Ramsses s of Thebes in 1600BC, hemming me in. I planned to build the 3rd city on the spice and that was too close. We hear from Greece in 1325BC, getting IW at discount. Build Antium on the spice that same turn. Find the iron, start roading there. In 1275BC we build Cumae next to the iron.

First Egyptian War

In 1050BC I roll the dice and take my mighty military force of 6 archers and try to extort Pi-Ramsses. Cleo makes us do it the hard way. I take Pi-Ramsses, getting 2 leet archers. At the end of the QSC I had these stats:
Score: 153 Firaxis, Mapstats 1312, QSC 1317
Land: 5 towns, 61 squares
Population: 8--4 happy, 1 content, 2 sad, 1 taxman.
Units: 4 workers, 6 archers. 2 archers are leet, others vets.
Buildings: 2 rax, grain, temple.
Production: 36 food, 47 shields, 11 gold.
Diplomacy: 3 contacts, no embassies. At war with Egypt.
Tech: All starters + IW, HB.

Continuing with the war, I set my archers on the mountains nearby. Egypt wants Antium bad, and I force them into a killzone. In 900BC I get the iron roaded, start bringing legions online. Thebes nicely builds the Pyramids for us in 875BC. The next turn, she cries uncle, giving us Writing, Mystic, and 5 gold. I hole my archers up in Pi-Ramsses to prevent flip while building a temple.

The Second Egyptian War and the Golden Age

Then Carthage shows up, building Oea 5ne of Rome in the jungle in 800BC. Egypt sends a settler pair e of Antium in 710BC. I get angry. After they send another settler pair in 650BC, I have enough, rep be damned. Archers kill them, take slaves.

The GA begins in 610BC. I know what y'all say about a despotic GA, but I'm tryin' to survive , so I'm not going to be picky. The research time HAS quickened, though. Carthage unloads a settler pair s of Rome in the desert in 590BC. In 550BC Egypt dashes themselves against Antium, giving me a leader. I rush him home to Rome and build the GLib when Lit comes in. Pompeii built 5ne of Cumae to put pressure on Oea. Whip a temple in Antium at this time.

The Great Library

In 430 we get Lit. Cleo makes peace, forking over 61 + 11gpt! Figuring with everyone in Repub that no one would research Monarch, I try for it myself. This turns out to be a waste of time. I do use the money to open embassies on the continent.

In 270BC, Greece declares war on Carthage. 3 turns later, a Carthagian warrior crosses the border from their desert city. It was also at this time I found that researching Monarchy was a waste, as two civs just learn it.

The next turn, our GA ends, we pick up monarch, perfect time to switch, getting 3 turn anarchy. Carthage decides to pick a fight. OK... Pisae founded 2e of Antium on the coast.

The new monarchy and the Carthagian War

They have Numidians by this time, so probably kicked off THEIR GA, but what can ya do. Destroy Oea in 150BC, later build Ravenna in its place. Must be some future resource there, otherwise it's a crappy site.

In 130BC the monarchy is established, next turn we pick up currency and move into the medieval age.

Scores: Greece 640, Egypt 545, Carthage 441, Rome 282. Our mighty military force is 7 legions, 5 workers, 4 slaves.

Great start, DBear, but why rush Great Library in Rome? It looks like you have other towns that could do with a culture expansion. And the Great Library could be hard to part with if you ever want a palace flip, if not for the sake of techs then for the sake of the culture boost.

I have been working the Quartermaster Challenge over in the Hall of Fame. I should be on the QC table after today's update. I have generated hundreds of C3C maps using MapFinder for me attempts. I have started and discarded at least 5-10 games for every submission.

I don't know if this would be the ultimate distracted play story or just a case of ordinary stupidity carried to an extreme. I have been playing GOTM42 in C3C. :blush:

I last played a week ago. I left it just after entering AI. The current date is 330AD. I rolled over Eygpt pretty easily but have been ping-ponging between war with Carthage and Greece. My production has barely kept up with losses.

The part I am most curious about is whether playing this game under C3C should have been an advantage or a handicap. :crazyeye: I am hoping it was a handicap, that way I have a excuse other than the RNG for my poor progress. ;)

http://gotm.civfanatics.net/common/swordsman_small.gif[ptw] 1.27

Going for Domination

Opening Moves:
I moved the settler 3 steps and founded Rome on the hill 2N of the start. The worker moved over to mine the wines. Rome built Warrior, Warrior, Settler (2800 BC), Warrior, Granary, Settler, Settler, Barracks, and alternated Settlers and Warriors after that point.
Cities were plopped down in roughly an RCP-3 and RCP-6 configuration, but I didn’t really worry about it that much.

Contacts:
Egypt - 3000 BC
Greece - 2150 BC
Carthage - 2070 BC (they purchased contact)
1125 BC - A suicide galley caught a sniff of another continent, but sank. I didn’t bother sending out more galleys until much later, as it looked like I had plenty to do on the home continent.

Science:
3850 BC - Writing at minimum, completed at end of 2070 BC turn (technically 2030 BC)
2030 BC - Code of Laws at minimum, completed at end of 950 BC turn
925 BC - Started Republic at minimum, but shut off research in 900 BC after Egypt completed the Great Library in Thebes.
IBT before 510 BC – Learned Math, Polytheism, Currency, Republic, Construction and Monotheism all from capturing the Great Library. Entered Middle Ages.

Trades:
2950 BC - Alphabet, Warrior Code and 43 gold to Egypt for Bronze Working
2390 BC - 68 gold and 1 GPT to Egypt for Pottery
2150 BC - Pottery and 4 gold to Greece for Ceremonial Burial
IBT before 2030 BC - Writing and 1 gold to Carthage for Iron Working; IW to Greece for Mysticism and 5 gold; Myst and 8 gold to Carthage for Masonry. Everyone on the home continent now at tech parity.
1475 BC - World Map and 46 gold to Carthage for The Wheel; Wheel, 3 GPT and 90 gold to Greece for Map Making; trade maps around.
1200 BC - WM, 1 GPT and 103 gold to Egypt for Literature; Literature to Carthage for Horseback Riding, Territory Map and 1 gold.
925 BC - World Map, 5 GPT and 15 gold to Carthage for Philosophy;

Warfare:
Greece: 1200 BC – 630 BC
Alex demanded tribute and I told him to piss off, so Greece declared war. This was essentially a phony war until Greece managed to march some archers near my territory in 750 BC. By this time, I had hooked up iron and started upgrading warriors to legionaries. I resigned myself to a Despotic GA (I would be attacking Egypt soon anyway), and triggered it in 750 BC by killing a Greek archer. I killed the rest of their archers and warriors in the neighborhood and gave them a peace treaty (straight up) in 630 BC.

Egypt: 610 BC – End of AA
I declared honorably in 610 BC and moved 6 legions toward Thebes and more legions outside 2 other towns (captured both of them in 590 BC). I captured Thebes in 530 BC, and the Great Library promoted me to the Middle Ages in 510 BC.

Other noteworthy developments:
1025 BC - Pyramids completed by Vikings
610 BC - Great Wall completed by Vikings – they are going to be a pain.

As of 510 BC, I have yet to build (or even start building) a single cultural improvement (not even a FP). This would make things a bit interesting later on.

I visited the large island S of the continent before the end of the AA, so this will lead to some rather interesting “regional barbarian intensity.” Details to follow in the second spoiler.

The tech pace in my game (compared to others) seems to be screaming along. It was probably a combination of the Predator “handicap” (it will be a true handicap given my chosen victory condition), the fact that I left the Egyptians alone until relatively late, and the GPT I was paying for some techs.

Immediate Plans:
Continue war on Egyptians, as they should crumble fairly easily. Then I will stir up trouble with Greece and Carthage using legionaries. Going against hoplites and numidian mercenaries with legionaries will be a bloodbath, especially given some of the “interesting” city locations that Ainwood provided to the Greeks and Carthaginians.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/ShigellaGOTM42a.jpg

Military in 510 BC

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/ShigellaGOTM42b.jpg

Open for conquest / domination
After failing to submit Cotm11 running out of time, I did no detailed logging this time...

The GA begins in 610BC. I know what y'all say about a despotic GA, but I'm tryin' to survive , so I'm not going to be picky.

That's what I experienced, too. Not to survive, but to make progress. Egypt could be handled without legions, but I'm curious if any of the big dogs handled Greece and Carthago with archers...

I even managed to switch goverment during my GA conquering The Great Library and getting Republic in the first half of it... :rolleyes:

I expelled Eqypt to a small island and had a long war with Carthago. I signed in the Greek, but "soft-"blocked them north of Thebes to make Cartagho raze the Greek city at the horses :ack: :crazyeye:

But all Carthago managed was to get Greece an elite hoplit and a leader...
Greece having the Great Wall I dared not to use Catapults to get that city (bombing-walls-Bug), so I took the horses by culture, which was tough, because that greek town had built some culture already...

At the beginning of the middle ages I have been seriously going after Carthago. Meanwhile the Greek troops trying to cross my terrain on their way to Cartagho where playing hide-and-seek with my barrier of workers :D

First Emperor attempt in any game. This should be good.
Going for survival.

I open up settling Rome 1 NW and roading to the wines. I'm not used to the lowered # of content citizens, so I want lux asap. This scouts out my location for the second city, 2 NW of wines.

I meet Egypt, Carthage, Greece in that order. Unfortunately, I can't get much in tech trading. After researching IW myself, I am very pleased to see the iron right next door! Egypt starts encroaching with 2 jungle cities, so I mass build warriors before I hook up the iron.

By 1000 BC, I have 4 cities, 10 pop and am hemmed in. I am also nowhere near getting a govt tech, so I decide I'm going to have to have a despotic GA to survive.

After I get enough gold to upgrade my 7 vet warriors, I launch my "Take the rightful Roman lands" war on Egypt. End up autorazing 3 southern towns, and I am stopped on the doorsteps of Thebes. It will have to wait. Gain some techs from this war (Thank god for pointy stick research!) Still a despot.

Egypt continues liking to trample on my land (with my new northern frontier) I ask to leave - Egypt DoWs! I play defensive war drawing in her units and slaughtering, but no Great Leaders. :(

Call for more peace, get techs to move to MA in 270 AD - but STILL as a despot. :mad:

At this point I feel pretty good about survival, not sure how to win.

Vanilla, open class, going for world domination.

I'm quite at risk of not submitting this game. Real life issues have taken over, and my game has reached 700AD at the moment. With 5 days left for submissions, things are at stake. I'm going to post the AA log this evening after work, in the hope of finishing the game anyway. The AA got quite well and funny things happened later... i wonder how many of you saw an enemy city completing a great wonder just when a huge stack of friendly forces were placed 1 tile away, ready to capture it next turn. It never happened to me before, and it happened in this game twice.

In reply to Paul#42 question, my first punic war was actually fought with archers and spears. Heavy losses, but the goal was achieved. I had legions coming so losing a bunch of obsolete archers was no big deal.

Here's the AA log. I've played till 910 AD, but i'm still at risk of not submitting this game. In the hope of finishing it, here's what happened in the AA.


OPENING MOVES

I decide to go to the risky route and settle 2 tiles N. If barbs catch me before founding Roma, this will be one of the shortest GOTM submissions ever and the red ambulance will almost certainly be mine :)

4000BC - Settler and worker move NW. A probable coast is spotted west.

3950BC - Settler and worker move north. More land spotted. Mountains and then jungles NE. A little grassland north and NW. Some fine forests to be chopped.

3900BC - Settler move NE. Worker start chopping forest.

3850BC - Roma founded safely. No red ambulance, then. :( Science is set to Writing at minimum. Production is set to warrior. Since it's an high difficulty level and i wasted 3 turn for moving the settler i need the 1st unit quickly. The active tile is the forest i'm chopping. With 2 turns that way i lose 1 turn in growth but i can have the 1st warrior in 6 turns instead of 10.


INITIAL STRATEGY

I wonder if the map creator has been inspired by my recent game log on Rome. Unfavourable start, the Egyptian right out of my doors with lots of good terrain, then the Greeks with even better landmass, with the Carthaginians as a nice bonus.

My initial build sequence in Roma has been:

warrior -> barracks (chop) -> warrior -> warrior -> settler (chop). Then archers and a pair of spears.

I've met the Egyptian very early and immediately traded techs. Then i sent the 1st warrior (the regular) to wander north so to have an idea of the egyptian landmass. Not only i saw excellent terrain, but i also met the Carthaginians before researching Writing, sparing the money to buy a contact.

The 2nd city, Romola, was founded only in 2590AD on a golden hill. Built barracks, then military units. I've slightly favoured shield outcome over immediate expansion. Chopping the forest to get the extra shields seems immediately the best thing to do, and some nice bonus grasslands were waiting under the woods. I've tried to keep Roma and Romola to size 3 whenever possible, so to have 7 shield per turn in both the cities and build an archer or spear every 3 turns.

Here's the log until writing is researched:

3550BC - Warrior finished. Production set to barracks. Warrior sent exploring. Barracks in 7 turns with another turn at half growth.

3400BC - Woodchop terminated. Exposed a nice BG. Worker start mining (6). An Egyptian warrior is spotted on the jungle. Traded everything. Alphabet and Warrior Code for Ceremonial Burial, Masonry and 10 quids.

3350BC - Expansion to rank 2

3300BC - Completed barracks, started warrior.

3250BC - Roma size 2 - lux slider raised.

3150BC - Completed warrior, started warrior (3).

3000BC - Completed warrior, started settler (8)

2800BC - Met Carthage. Traded Bronze Working for Ceremonial Burial and 40 quids.

2670BC - Completed settler. Started archer.

2590BC - Founded Romola on the golden hill. Producing barracks.

2510BC - Spotted the border of Carthage.

2390BC - Roma archer -> worker.

2270BC - Roma worker -> archer.

2230BC - Romola archer -> archer.

2190BC - Romola size 2, archer in 5 turns.

2030BC - Completed Writing. Started Literature at minimum. Embassies in Egypt and Carthage.

Thebes: size 1, growing in 1 turn, building a settler (7). In city: 1 settler, 1 reg spear. Rank 3 in 18 turns.
Carthage: size 1, growing in 6 turns, defended by 2 reg spartan hoplites. Building the Pyramids (107 turns - good luck!)

Those pukes know Writing as well! Crap. Only option is pointy-stick now. I'll put emphasis on military units, building only 1 settler for the south city and another to replace Elephantine and grab spices. Only another worker will be built.


EXPANSION AND MEETINGS

At this point i discover that there are also the greeks in the initial landmass. But i have to discovered myself, since Cleo asks too much money for the contact. I send the explorer warrior around and finally met them in 1790BC.

In the following turns, i do little but building military units and woodchopping. No new cities are founded for a while. Wines are connected. Two settlers are trained for founding city 3 (SE of Roma) and city 4 (N or Remola). Here's the log of those few peaceful turns:

1950BC - Still no sign of the Greeks. Cleo wants an insane price for the meeting. Completed a woodchop around Roma. Exposed another BG. Workers start mining.

1870BC - Roma archer -> archer.

1830BC - Romola archer -> archer.

1790BC - Finally met the greeks. Embassy in Athens. Obviously, they know Writing too and i have nothing to trade.

1750BC - Romola worker -> archer. Moving to woodchop around Roma.

1700BC - Roma archer -> warrior.

1650BC - Roma warrior -> archer.

1625BC - Woodchop completed. Worker team roads. Romola archer -> archer.

1600BC - Roma archer -> settler

1500BC - Romola archer -> spearman

1475BC - Roma settler -> spearman

1400BC - Romola spearman -> settler. Workers connecting wines (finally!)

1325BC - Roma spearman -> archer

1250BC - Romola settler -> spearman. At the end of the turn, war with Egypt is declared.


FIRST EGYPTIAN WAR

In 1250 war is declared. In 1225 i found my 3rd city and move a big stack toward my 1st target: Elephantine, a city in the middle of the jungle that is controlling a source of spices. The city is captured. Then my stack move to Thebes and captures it. Peace is signed ASAP, and a fresh set of technologies are extorted.

In the following peaceful turns, i gather forces for the 2nd egyptian war. The 1st wonders are completed, and a wonder cascade effect take place. Pyramids in Athens, Great Library in Carthage. It's at this moment that i decide to shun completely resource (unless at minimum). Leave them evolve, then steal the GL and learn everything :D Literature is researched and some more techs are obtained via trade. Obviously i need to get out of Despotism and collect some critical techs ASAP.

Elephantine, the 1st captured city, is abandoned and refounded 1 tile NE. This apparent waste is justified by strategic reasons. With this move i have all cities except for Thebes placed in a supply chain with roads connecting them and units that may be sent from a city south to the next one north in always 1 turn, even with the river penalties.

My QST stats aren't bad at all. 6 cities. 13 pop units. 9 techs mastered. An army of 3 workers, 4 warriors, 4 spears and 6 archers. 174 quids in the coffers and an income of 21 gpt.

Here's the log until peace is broken again:

1225BC - Founded Remola, SW of Roma, producing barracks (10). Founded Rubola, in enemy territory, 2 tiles SW of Elephantine. Producing barracks (20). Big stack outside Elephantine.

1200BC - Elephantine is captured. Now controlling spices, but they must be connected (a tile is missing).

1175BC - Advancement to Thebes.

1100BC - Captured Thebes. Cannot advance more, too few units. Peace with Egypt is signed. Nice Cleopatra agrees to hand over Code of Laws, Iron Working, Pottery and 20 quids.

1075BC - Nidaros (Vikings) builds the Oracle.

1000BC - Romola spearman -> warrior.

975BC - Remola barracks -> archer.

925BC - Completed Literature. The greeks alreaky know it. Bah. Trade will be poor. Once again, pointy-stick will be my source of technologies.

Carthage: i get Map Making for Literature, my world map and 90 quids.

Egypt: the pukes shell out Mysticism, their territory map and 20 quids for Literature.

900BC - Romola archer -> archer. Roma spearman -> archer.

825BC - Thebes settler -> settler. Rubola barracks -> archer.

800BC - Romola archer -> worker.

775BC - Roma archer -> spearman.

750BC - Romola archer -> archer.

730BC - Roma spearman -> archer. Athens builds the Pyramids and it's wonder cascade. Moscow builds the Hanging Gardens.

690BC - Thebes settler -> settler. Carthage builds the Great Library.

670BC - Rubola archer -> archer. Romola archer -> spearman.

650BC - Roma archer -> spearman. Rubola archer -> archer. Nidaros (Vikings) completes the Great Wall.

630BC - Mohacs (Keltoi) completes the Colossus.

590BC - Romola spearman -> archer. Roma spearman -> archer. Remola archer -> archer. At the end of the turn, war with Egypt is declared again.


SECOND EGYPTIAN WAR

After gathering the forces, war with Egypt is declared again, and the 1st move is a coordinated strike on 3 egyptian cities. One is autorazed and 2 are captured in the very same turn. Thebes is set to produce settlers. My goal is to have it poop 3 settlers, place them in useful positions for the supply chain, then disband it. I've put a lot of importance in mantaining the supply chain, sacrificing a pair of cities, shields and a lot of worker turns. Hope this strategy pay off.

570BC - Triple attack. Alexandria autorazed. Memphis and Pi-Ramesses captured.

550BC - Founded Fregola, the 1st colony son of Thebes.

530BC - Lucky strike. The elite spearman in Memphis resists a charge from a sword, weakened at 2/3 by an archer.

510BC - Killed some egyptian pukes wandering around. Killed also a warrior escorting a settler. Gained 2 more slaves.

490BC - Killed 2 warriors and 1 archer escorting a settler. More slaves.

470BC - Razed El-Amarna. Killed a spearman escorting a settler. More slaves! Cleo now is really desperate, the best time to offer peace. Big extorsion: 2 cities (Heliopolis and El-Amarna), 3 techs (Philosophy, Mathematics and the Wheel), 40 quids (almost all her treasure) and a world map. Not bad!

A little pause is necessary now. Some tiles must be roaded and improved, and more units are necessary since my next target will surely be a civ with a 3 points defensive unit. Greece or Carthage? We'll see. Rome is doing quite well since now. 11 cities owned, and i'm founding the 12th next turn. No leader created, i'll need one to build the Forbidden Palace.


MIDDLE AGES RUSH

No more war are declared in the ancient age. The Roman empire need to expand, work a few tiles and rebuild its military for the next strike. An important goal is now to exit from Despotism ASAP. I'll go for Monarchy. I plan to have at least 2 units garrisoned in every city, to be used in the supply chain. In monarchy, those units will be useful MP as well. The Thebes job need to be completed. 2 new cities will be created from that useful settler factory, then the city will be abandoned and resettled 1 tile SE.

450BC - Founded Frugola. Connected Heliopolis. And now stop with the detailed building / action log.

310BC - Founded 2 new cities, Trogola and Trugola.

170BC - Thebes abandoned and refounded in a better place. Now all the cities strategically important are connected, with their garrisons filled with 1 spear and 1 archer. The warriors are about to be upgraded as legionaries so to be used as soon as Monarchy is researched. Archers are piling up in Frugola, and an attack on Carthage is near.

90BC - Polytheism is researched, at minimum. Surprisingly, no one has gone for it. They're probably headed for Republic... who knows. I could take both the remaining tech for Middle Ages, but i prefer to wait a few turns. Greece wants way too much money for Construction, and reselling it to Carthage won't be so much of help since Hannabaline has absolutely zero quids in its coffers.

70BC - Carthage has researched Construction! Time for a trade.
Carthage: Construction and Horseback Riding for Polytheism, world map and 20 quids.
Greece: UGH! Alex want money... Ok, damn robber. Currency for Polytheism and 110 quids.
Egypt: I sell poor Cleo Currency for a world map and 20 quids.

And i'm in the Middle Ages now! Researching Monarchy at MAX (15 turns).


END AGE STATS

I've hit MA in 70 BC. The empire has a decent size, power, production and monetary outcome. 15 cities owned with 38 pop units. Almost 1000 quids in my coffers and a turn outcome of 36 gpt. More than enough for a mass upgrade of warriors once Monarchy is established.

Meetings:

3400BC - Egypt.
2800BC - Carthage.
1790BC - Greece.

Research:

3850BC - Warrior Code, Alphabet (prerequisites)
3400BC - Ceremonial Burial, Masonry (trade - Egypt)
2800BC - Bronze Working (trade - Carthage)
2030BC - Writing (own research)
1100BC - Iron Working, Code of Laws, Pottery (pointy stick - Egypt)
925BC - Literature (own research), Map Making (trade - Carthage), Mysticism (trade - Egypt)
470BC - Philosophy, Mathematics, The Wheel (pointy stick - Egypt)
90BC - Polytheism (own research)
70BC - Construction, Horseback Riding (trade - Carthage), Currency (trade - Greece)

Wars

1250BC - 1100BC: 1st Egyptian war.
590BC - 470BC: 2nd Egyptian war.

Finally, a screenshot of my empire the turn before i entered the middle ages (i've not saved the 70BC turn):