I've finally won every victory condition on Noble and I've moved up to Prince difficulty, playing vanilla CIV IV (as opposed to Warlords), so I've set a new challenge for myself and I'd like to share it with you and hope you'll join in.

I'm playing a Random Prince Game, in that everything is random, the map settings, the civilization I play etc. The goal is to survive with whatever the random generator throws at me. No reloads, no quitting.

I will post pics and info at key points in the game and I'll wait to hear your collective thoughts before I move ahead. Any and all comments are appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Ready? Let's go! :D

Here's RPG #1's settings...
http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/1402/1ng9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And look who I pulled... 8-)
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/8355/2qh7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

This should prove interesting, Philosophical and Spiritual... I could go for a cultural or a space race victory with that.

Let's look at my starting position... :D
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3513/3oi7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Ooh! Ive got sheep, silver and a goody hut in my start position. This opening raises a question though.

Do I move my settler towards the ocean for a coastal city placement or do I settle in place?

Another question. I'm definitely going to build a worker first but do I go for bronze working for chopping or do I go for animal husbandry for the resource? (and to reveal horse, which is important for my Camel Archers)

What do I research?

As for my warrior.

Which direction should I scout?

And finally...

Which victory condition or opening strategy would you pursue?

P.S. I know I'm no Sisiutil, but I'll try to keep it fun and interesting...

First, turn on gridlines. It can be hard to tell how many tiles there are some times.

I'd move my settler SE onto the hill with a goody hut (watch the GH pop barbs. lol gg). I think that would grab the fish, but it's hard to tell without gridlines. Before doing that, you could also move your warrior onto the hill to see what else is there.

Hi Orgull! Just moving on to Prince myself, so I'll join you on this voyage of exploration, but not sure how much my two pennies worth will be. So really only one thing to say first: On warrior movement, one option is to move warrior NE one to reveal one square N of the silver which might influence immediate placement. You could move the warrior NW one instead to see the two blanks to the W, but you could also see these by moving your Settler W one. By doing this (and so moving warrior NE one), you will get all 3 revealled in the first go and can still move the Settler back to the original place for settling in the next turn if its move W and Warrior NE would suggest doing so.

Hiya! I too am just into the "Prince" level. For my two cents I would move the settler to where the warrior is at start. True you lose the woods for hammers but now you have a city that will harvest 3 resources.

For the warriors first move, head NW. Let your city placement pop the hut.
It may yield better results like a scout does (is this documented anywhere by chance?)

For research... head for animal husbandry quick to use the sheep as soon as possible.

Also note... ugly tundra to the southwest. It appears you are at the south edge of your land mass.

Good luck!

4000 BC to 3360 BC

I moved my settler south towards the ocean for a coastal city start and I moved my "scout" NW to clear the only bit of darkness he could reach. Lo and behold...

http://img475.imageshack.us/img475/6716/4ef4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Corn! This makes the placement of my first city a no-brainer...

http://img475.imageshack.us/img475/875/5yd6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

That will give me three food sources and four forests to chop if need be. So far so good! But wait, turns out there's a goody hut just west of Mecca, let's see what I get from it...

http://img334.imageshack.us/img334/3381/6ck5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

WOOT! :lol: This start is turning out great, but suddenly it got even better. Mecca expanded and popped the goody hut next to it...

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/8650/7nu9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

GASP! :shock: This may well be the "Best Start Ever(tm)"

So, as my "scout" heads for the third goody hut, I take this quick snapshot of the region west of Mecca... look at all the neat stuff!

http://img345.imageshack.us/img345/4760/9re2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The goody hut yields me 41g. I build my worker in Mecca and move him onto the corn while I build a warrior and let the city grow for a few turns. And look who shows up...

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/4668/12vm6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It's Izzy!

So I've stopped here at 3360, researching Animal Husbandry, building a Warrior and exploring the area north of Mecca. Here's what the world looks like so far...

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/1949/11hi9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Thoughts?

First choice: Settle on the goody hut hill, it will also give you a 1H bonus. You should think of working a mine on that silver as soon as possible, that means Mining is one of your priorities. But if you work it from the get go, your city won't grow at all... I'd forget about a Worker first build a Warrior. Once the city grows to size two you can put it to work the Silver too and switch to a Worker. Research path should be Mining then Animal Husbandry, so once your worker gets done it can improve the Silver which will speed up your research. Food from the sheep should come next, the research bonus you get from the silver is more important in my opinion.

Second choice: You have Fish!!! That's an awesome food resource. You could settle where your warrior is and get the sheep, the fish and the silver all in your fat cross. A worker doesn't seem recommended even in this case. So, build order and research: Warrior & Fishing, switch to Work Boat when done with Fishing. Mining -> Animal Husbandry should be next, and also after Work Boat get a worker, don't let the warrior finish. Once the border pop build a mine on the Silver and switch one population to it.

One more thing. Settling on the goody hut hill means you currently don't know what five tiles from your fat cross are. Most likely many of them will also be water tiles, but any resources? This would most certainly also mean wasting the fish. Settling on the warrior's tile means you get a tundra I think (why does it give you 1F by the way?! is it near a river?), one unknown tile and 9 water tiles (1 with fish). On the other hand that might mean you'll get a good production city a little further North, and you can also hook any resources that could have been in your fat cross had you settled in place.

In view of all this I'd recommend moving your warrior up the goody hut hill to see a little farther around (more important to discover those tiles than the one unknown for the second location). If nothing interesting is revealed, go 2S with the settler and build the city there on the next turn.

Argh, too late! You left the Silver out?!?!? Bad move. :( That would have been a huge boost to your research. It would have been much more important than the Corn... Oh well. You can still hook it up with the stone in one city I guess...

Edit: Okok, rethinking here, no need to panic... ;) 3 food resources? You can go for Fishing next, build a workboat, and with the Fish, Sheep and Corn a settler would come in no time. Unfortunately, hooking the Stone and Silver mean a border growth, so that means you'll have to build an Obelisk first thing there. I'm thinking of building Stonehenge, so the Obelisk would be somehow wasted, but still... Another disadvantage is that you'll have to build another settler to hook up Copper or Horses, but given the amount of food that shouldn't be a problem, right? And you might get lucky and have Horses in your fat cross. Fat chance, I know. ;)

Oh, and you've been very lucky with the goody huts! You know, had you popped the first one with the warrior, you might have gotten different results. Maybe all of this is for the best. :D The one bad thing is that there seems to be no copper around. I'd head for the Stone & Silver site with the Warrior to see if there isn't any around there. Or horses, once you finish researching AH. Or any other resource that would make the site even more interesting.

3360 BC to 2960 BC

Oh boy, look how close Izzy's start city and mine are (especially considering I moved two spaces south before I settled)

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/3104/13tk3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Hmm we get to 3000 BC and just as Hinduism is founded I find this incredible copper site NE of Mecca...

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/696/15mg0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

As you can see I also decided to research Fishing as soon as I finished with Animal Husbandry. In 2960 I finished researching Fishing and decided to head for Priesthood for the Oracle. My first warrior was completed and I started building my first settler... now my question is, where do I build my first city?

Here's where I'm thinking... (This site should make carl corey happy... grabbing the silver)

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6344/18vv5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

... but if anyone has a better idea please let me know.

So, here's the world as it stands in 2960

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/1562/19iv6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Now that I'm thinking of moving the ALCs up to Monarch level, it's good to see someone posting a game at good ol' Prince difficulty. :goodjob:

First off, bummer about your city placement. Settling on the spot where the warrior started seemed best to me, and hindsight proves it: you could have had silver in the capitol's fat cross, corn for the city that also grabbed the stone, and both seafood resources in the fat cross of copper city. I suggest that you take more time and get more opinions between game rounds to get the best advice possible.

I would suggest moving the copper city location 1 tile east, giving up the silver for the fish. You can make up for the loss of the silver with a cottage (eventually), and the capital's third border pop will claim it for the civ-wide happy.

I think the location you've mapped out is going to have a hard time feeding itself and taking advantage of all those production-rich tiles. With fishing boats the clams will provide 4F, giving you the 2F you need to work the silver mine, but stagnating the city. You also need +1F from somewhere to work the plains copper. So you'll need to farm both riverside grassland tiles (+2F), but you still won't have enough of a food surplus to work the plains hills until Civil Service allows to to farm the other grassland tiles. You basically won't be able to work the silver and copper until the city reaches 5 pop, and it will stagnate there.

On the other hand, move it 1E and the fish give you 5F, more than enough to grow the city and work the copper. Put a mine on the grassland hill and you've got a decent early production city at only 3 pop with the clams available to fuel further growth (and support whipping!).

EDIT: Okay, stop the presses, I forgot about the 2F you get from the city tile itself. D'OH! I still think 1E makes a better overall city, especially if you make use of the whip.

Some big picture stuff occurred to me too: did you turn on random personalities as well? If you did, that should make things very interesting. Also, since Saladin is Philosophical and you now have 3 food resources for the capital, you may want to ramp up its population and run specialists there for more Great People. And since stone is nearby, have you given any thought to attempting the Pyramids? Spiritual Saladin can easily jump between all those civics as needed.

2960 BC to 1040 BC

Well things got interesting fast.

But first let me tell you what I planned and changed. I switched Mecca to building a work boat and let it grow to size 3 before continuing on the settler. I also decided that if I'm going to go for a space race victory, or at least stay ahead technologically I'm going to need early Representation.

To get that, I'll need the Pyramids before 1000 BC. Let's see if I can pull it off...

As soon as I started time up again, I met my second civ...

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/6643/20ij1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Hatty! :D But wait, there's more people on this continent

http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/9695/22dw9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Gandhi! :shock: It's getting crowded in here. Time to spread out

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3844/23hu8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

My second city of Medina is built and my worker immediately chops an obelisk for it so it can grow. In the meantime the Venerable Bede has spewed some crap about Hopelessness... we'll see about that!

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/1336/24hw6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Here's the state of the world once I've built Medina... notic a few things? Izzy has adopted organized religion and Gandhi has sdopted slavery. I've stalled my expansion by working on the Oracle and I have the lowest score. Am I in trouble? (Don't answer that Oh ye of little faith... just wait)

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/1092/25ak9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 1640 BC I complete the Oracle!

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/7742/27ih1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And what do I take as my free technology?

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/6572/26zl3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

That's right, Metal Casting... which I immediatley used to chop/whip a forge (Mecca was getting crowded anyway). I also added an engineer in Mecca (see where this is going?) and sure enough a few turn later, thanks to some terrific luck, look who's born in Mecca baby! 8-)

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/6659/28fj6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

That's right. Imhotep the Great Engineer... and one turn later he rushes me some Pyramid action! Notice the date in the upper right corner?

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/8821/29cl2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Now we're cooking with gas... Representation gas that is. :D

So here's the state of my empire at this point. It's 1040, I've got Representation and Slavery, I've got access to copper, I'm about to research Code of Laws and get me a religion and courthouses.

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/254/30jc4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And here's what the world looks like

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/889/31pi7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

So now I'm faced with a choice. Obviously its time to expand, but the question is... Do I peacefully settle or make war?

If you're going to use a GE to complete the entire wonder in one turn (like rushing the pyramids), don't put any extra hammers into it, build something else, then switch to pyramids just before your rush. Why? Because the "hammers" the GE gives you doesn't overflow.

You're playing waaay too fast for this kind of game. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not interested in following another game with little discussion, I'll follow mine if that's the case... The GE popping in the capital was pure luck, what would you have done if it had been a Great Prophet? The good plan would have been to rush a forge in the SECOND city and do it in such a way that you'd get a GE there before the GP from the Oracle.

Not sure what to say about city number two. Sisiutil has a point about the fish, but I'm fond of the silver tile too. Maybe too fond. :twitch: Good that you have copper, though as I see there's aren't any horses in sight.

Anyway, I'm too tired to give any advice now, but if you really want some input from others you should consider putting the breaks on this for a few hours. Oh, and turn on the detailed city info thingy (it's in the options somewhere), so you can see from the game screen how long a city has until it grows, completes the current task.

WAR!!!

Well, not yet, first I had to do a few things, like found Confucianism in Medina while I finished off the barracks there

(Image deleted to meet the 15 image limit)

And as predicted, the trouble started...

http://img348.imageshack.us/img348/3276/34yj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And it got worse when she built Cordoba right where I was going to plant my next settler...

http://img348.imageshack.us/img348/9660/35fc4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And now my missionary can't reach Helipolis to help me make Hatshepsut my "special friend"... ARGH!

http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/6093/52bd6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

So of course I had to found my next city in a less that ideal spot, well until I raze Seville of course :)

http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/8978/39jc9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Of course, Izzy started getting demanding...

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/7130/40ed7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I told her to get lost. So she comes back the next turn...

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/3184/41vr7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

That was the last straw. In the year 300 BC... WAR BEGAN!!!

First, Seville

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/6326/42kp3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Goodbye Seville!

http://img421.imageshack.us/img421/6205/44zb5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Next Cordoba

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/2745/43st2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Goodbye Cordoba!

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/1033/45nv4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Even the upstart barbarians wanted in on the fun...

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/5056/46pj4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

... and who am I do deny them their fun?

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/8216/47bj8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Meanwhile, back in Medina we've built us a Kong Miao!

(Image deleted to meet the 15 image limit)

And just to give our small civilization a boost, I used the next Great Engineer on...

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/1170/49ok7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

So at 1 AD things are looking better, here's the shape of things:

http://img414.imageshack.us/img414/2408/51wm0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I'm goint to take a break for a while, as suggested, and let you guys make some comments. I'm not sure whether I should press the attack or back off for a bit while I research Construction? Those key cities of Izzy's, Barcelona and Madrid are way to tough to beat with the axemen armies I have left. Also, I need to settle the area to the west of Mecca, with all those resources. Maybe it's time to consolidate?

I wouldn't have razed the barb city, that was in a solid spot.

You're playing too quickly for anyone to give advice. If you want to give an AAR, you should put it in stories and tales.

I agree you should have kept the barbarian city.

As for why I razed rather than captured...

I am a whore for ideal city placement. I'd rather have a few terrific cities with empty space between them than lots of mediocre cities, especially considering maintenance. Razing is the way to go pre-banking IMHO.

I'll get back into it tomorrow am, thanks for all the comments so far.

Yeah I'm going a little fast, maybe next time I'll take it to Stories & Tales (Actually I completely missed the existence of the Stories & Tales section) :blush:

1 AD to 1000 AD - One thousand years of uneasy peace

So Izzy and I set our differences aside and went back to growing our empires. Luckily, my previously trapped missionary popped out on Hatty's side of Izzy's border when we signed our peace treaty, so I was able to spread Confucianism to the Egyptians. In 75 AD, Hatty converted to Confucianism and we became "friendly". :wink:

The first interesting thing to happen during peace time was the development of a new religion, based ironically on love and peace...

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5010/53fn3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Right away we built two more cities, Baghdad north of Mecca, near where Cordoba used to be

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/4559/54fx9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

and Najran, west of Mecca, near where the barb city used to be

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/8648/55lk6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

My "friend with benefits" dropped by for a quick visit :D (Looks like I'll be cultivating her as my ally for the rest of the game)

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2387/56jh0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And in 600 AD I finished exploring my continent. Here's what the world looks like.

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/8379/57ik2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 660 we switched to Bureacracy (YAY!) and in 780 we began building catapults (Heh heh)

During this time our "buddy" Gandhi went and did something stupid. He founded a city just north of Najran...

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/9612/58kc7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

That city will have to go at some point... (gee Saladin is awfully Xenophobic eh?)

In 960, we dicovered machinery... which of course means MACEMEN! :twisted:

By 980, things between us and that brazen Spanish hussy had deteriorated badly (good thing we're building macemen now isn't it?)

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9590/59nw8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Finally, we switched to Theocracy for the extra experience when our macemen are done. We also are researching towards Vassalage, for an extra bit of help during our upcoming war. Here's how our empire looks in 1000 AD.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7296/60zv5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

That's it for now. I've got to go install a couple of phone extensions at a friends house so I'll get back to our Epic Saga after dinner. Stay tuned for our next installment, "War! What is it good for? Plenty." 8-)

P.S. the thread title won't update anymore so you'll just have to check back from time to time to know if I updated (this is #5)

Well, I loaded the pRNG for you, but if you want more topical help, you are going to have to slow down. What? It's been said? OK.

Here are the obvious places where our games would have branched:

1) I would have moved the warrior to find the corn first (maybe you did, I can't tell).

2) I might have targeted Polytheism (making a late run for a reli - I have giving up a turn to try that - mood matters)

3) With the early bronzeworking, I'd have turned my life toward axes

4) Pyramids would be rushed in the other city (touchy, because of the religion thing). Also, I'd have swapped to Police state (axes!) first.

5) My first Spanish target would have been Madrid - why bother with the suburbs?

At this point, my short term plan would be to capture Madrid; longer term: queue Madrid up to catch Taoism for double shrine income, move the palace over there, bless it with commerce specialization, and run scientists everywhere else, planning Mecca as NE + Ox.

You could also reasonbly look to Mecca for HE + GT, if you like whipping an army.

Of course, in the time it has taken me to compose this, you may have already finished.

"Of course, in the time it has taken me to compose this, you may have already finished."

Haha. Well put. I think your nick is a bit of a misnomer, VoiceOfUnreason.

Truth is, Orgull, you need to slow down and listen or the whole thing is pointless.

As for why I razed rather than captured...

I am a whore for ideal city placement. I'd rather have a few terrific cities with empty space between them than lots of mediocre cities, especially considering maintenance. Razing is the way to go pre-banking IMHO.


You got to be kidding. You realy like snow and tundra huh? I think city placement is one of the skills you might want to focus at a little bit. Too bad you didn't took the silver. I also don't see the reason to raze good city's when your maintenance still lets you run 80% research.

I must say I was somewhat suprised when you pulled of the oracle/forge/Mids shot. Although you were lucky not getting a priest. Since you are going so fast I don't know if you already doing this, but to crank out more troops you could switch to police state (or is it called nationhood?) and back to representation.

1000 AD to 1400 AD - The Fall of the Spanish Empire

In 1010 we switched to Vassalage for the extra experience and for the next 100 years we built macemen like crazy. In 1140, it was time once again for war!

Here's our mace/cats approaching Santiago

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/220/61zh7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And shortly afterwards... (I didn't keep Santiago because it was too close to Damascus for my taste and if you notice the swordsmen approaching the city from the west, I would have lost it if I'd tried to keep it, as I only had two catapults left there)

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1058/62qe4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 1210 we founded Islam and in 1220, thanks to one of our Great Engineers, we built the Spiral Minaret, giving us a nice economic boost during our war. In 1240 Hatshepsut decided to get in on the action and declared war on the now frighted Izzy.

Izzy got even more scared when I cut off her only supply of horses!

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/2486/66og7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

So of course she comes begging for peace... but her offer of only 20 gold tells me she doesn't really mean it.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6357/67gi3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 1280, we built Notre Dame for a much-needed happiness boost followed by the Church of Nativity in 1300.

Then in 1310 a lonely little caravel from the Persian Empire showed up and we made a new friend.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/4104/70ai0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Fianlly in 1340 we captured Madrid and kept it, along with a generous stack of workers

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6886/71an6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Isabella came to me one last time and offered me everything she had...

http://img317.imageshack.us/img317/6003/72qa2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

But in 1390 we took Barcelona...

http://img317.imageshack.us/img317/7104/73rl9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And we got the bittersweet message...

http://img317.imageshack.us/img317/1843/74vv5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It was not to be cherie... Goodbye Crazy Lady!

So here's how the Arab Empire stands in 1400, at 7 cities.

http://img480.imageshack.us/img480/710/75ff8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I'd really like to have one more before we switch into high science gear. I'm planning on maxxing my scientist specialists out now to get some great scientists and a few acadamies up. I think it's time to get working solidly towards a victory condition.

Better grab those horses before the AI starts to fill in the newly created gaps.

And razing that Barb city! What a waste. :shake:

1400 AD to 1800 AD - The Path towards Rocketry

Turns out Cyrus has 9 cities to my 7... I can't even build a Forbidden Palace until I have 8 cities but there's no more room. What to do?

Well first I made some new friends.

http://img421.imageshack.us/img421/6640/76jy2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img322.imageshack.us/img322/7748/77pp7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And I traded some maps and finally got a good look at the whole world.

http://img322.imageshack.us/img322/1405/78ts5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 1510 I built my first Academy in Mecca and by 1530, everybody who could was building Universities. In 1590 we discovered Gunpowder. Which gave me an idea... In 1620 we built the Temple of Solomon in captured Barcelona. By 1690 I was ready for another brief war.

That's right, it's time to take Kolhapur and Hyderabad from greedy Gandhi.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/1058/81rp0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

While we were fighting, we built the Mahabodi in captured Madrid. Gotta love religion

Then we moved on Hyderabad.

http://img439.imageshack.us/img439/4717/83av9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

After suing for peace with the Gandhinator, I'm moving quickly towards Rocketry and have got science back up to 90% thanks to all the religious buildings I built and captured from Izzy.

Here's what the empire (9 cities now) looks like in 1800.

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5396/84jw5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Stay tuned for the final installment!

1800 AD to 1994 AD - Reach for the stars.

... and now, the conclusion.

In 1834 we finished Oxford University in Medina. Research became our top priority. In 1900 we fixed a defensive pact with Hatshepsut, which was much cheaper than building our own defensive armies. While she built units, we built factories and did research. In 1906 we finished the Ironworks in Bagdhad, knowing we were going to need production up the wazoo to have a chance at victory.

In 1910 we took one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind...

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5452/85mc0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Immediately we switched our top five cities into production mode! By 1931 we completed the Masjid al-Haram, allowing us to maintain our research at 90% and stay in the "green".

In 1933, disaster struck. Somehow the perfidious Persians managed to comeplete their own Apollo Program!

But in 1937, we built the wonder that cemented our chances for victory...

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6929/87vv8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In 1941, the situation grew even more desperate with Ghandi joining the "space club", along with our ally Hatty! Things were getting crowded. Everyone was building spaceship parts like they were going out of style.

In 1960 we made a defensive pact with the Perfidious Persians, guaranteeing that no one would dare attack us before we finished our speaceship.

On a rainy November night in 1972, a baby was born who would grow up to be known as "Orgull" on something called "The Internet". More importantly, that year we built the key to our victory, The Space Elevator...

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/6619/89wk4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Finally in 1994, with Ghandi needing only ONE MORE spaceship part...

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/667/90ap6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

My very first win on Prince difficulty. WOO HOO! :D

Let's take a quick look at how we did... ooh see where Izzy drops right off the chart? Ahh the moemories!

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/8315/91oy1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

My place in history? Not great, but not horrible either.

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/6921/92vj4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Here's what the world looked like at the end.

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/2818/93tm9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Thank you all for your help, comments and participation. I enjoyed this game much more than ususal, knowing you all were "watching". I had a great time snapping screenshots (I only posted half of what I took) and keeping notes during the game.

Thanks again and Good Gaming!

P.S. Next time I'll post in Stories and Tales, thanks for pointing that out to me.