![PTW Icon [ptw] [ptw]](/images/smilies/ptw.gif)
1.27f
Got this done with 3 hours to go. Not a very good outing, I'm afraid. Took way too long to capture Persepolis (might have done better to go straight there and bypass Susa; not give him an opportunity to go on a war-production). And I actually left Persia with 5 cities while I PJ'd to Persepolis and developed the empire. I decided to expand to the nearby islands and explore before doing in Xerxes, which didn't happen until about 900 AD.
Persia got one foothold on the island to the East, I got the rest. And the Vikings (who built Great Lighthouse), got 2 cities on the Jungly island to the West, the Zulu got 1, and I got 8-10 or so. I decided this island would be a good launchpad for an invasion of Babylon/Egypt, since I could reach them safely. (And Germany/Russia after that ... well, that was the plan, anyway!)
However, Persepolis was on Iron, which I didn't know (but should have guessed) when I captured it. Warrior upgrades were out. I decided to stay in Despotism and pop-rush lots of Regular Swordsmen; these would be my main force against the Babs, who had no Iron. So I DOW, and got Egypt Allied (they were already at war), and started the build-up. I would also pop-rush Galleys to move the troops. This was around 100 AD.
I eventually landed 12 Swordsmen, and another 8 after that. My Regular Swords did not do as well as I'd like against the Bab Bowmen. I captured Memphis, and razed Babylon and another city, and captured a 3rd (founded new cities in their place), but I stalled at that point, with just enough units to defend my holdings. By this time (500's more or less), I was already in the Middle Ages, got Monotheism for Free and Feudalism for a trade, so my pop-rush Swords were now longer to do pop-rush MedInf.
So I hurriedly researched Chivalry, and pop-rushed Horses. Got up to 27 Horses, and built a Barracks, when I was first to learn Chivalry. Sending Knights over was the final straw to break Babylon's back, sometime in the 800's AD. Egypt had decided to switch sides during this time, so I finished them and Persia off by 980 AD.
My original plan had been Babylon/Egypt, then Russia/Germany. Russia had Iron and Pikes, and I was pretty sure that would be the end of my knights. So I decided instead to base an invasion against the Vikings, and gain control of the Great Lighthouse. I assembled my Knights, some MedInf, and 17 Galleys off the coast of the west Jungly island. 8 Galleys sailed forth; 4 survived, and they ferried 8 knights brought out by 4 Galleys to the Viking's Iron Mountain near Nidaros. No more Pikes from here out! Of the 4 Galleys left in the Ocean, 3 survived, and they carried another 6 Units to the mountain Island, as the first wave disposed of the Viking MedInf sent to ask their business. War was on! Vikings sent out 2 more MedInfs, one directly in our way. It took 2 Knights to do him in, and the remaining 12 hit Nidaros, taking it's defenders down to 2 1hp Pikes. 4 More reinforcements were ferried across, and the 2nd wave captured the city and generated my first GL. The Great Lighthouse was ours (good thing, I think I was down to 5-6 Galleys!).
The remaining Viking/English (you didn't think I forgot their invitation to this party?) invasion was straightforward, with the Vikings eliminated in 1200 and the English in 1250.
Remaining elements of the game: pop-rushed and built MedInf are forming on the island to the East, to form a joint invasion of the Zulus (who had taken the Aztecs out of the Game) with the surviving units from the Viking/English invasion. This 2 pronged attack met some stiff initial resistance (I botched the original invasion; should have razed the captured Aztec city and founded my own safe city), but eventually ground out complete control of the continent in 1395 AD.
Last Chapter: I used my one and only GL to rush Forbidden Palace in the middle of the Babylon/Egypt continent. They went on to build a bunch of Warriors, which were ferried to a Barracks on the Jungly island East of the starting continent, which had Iron. They were upgraded to MedInf, and sent back to form Shock troops against Russia. I had already captured one island SW of Babylon (last Bab city was there), and I rushed over the next island, capturing 4 of Russia's 5 cities there before declaring peace. Then I ferried over tons of MedInf, and using 9 Galleys, landed 36 units in 2 turns to start the real invasion. Meanwhile I had discovered and colonized the island SE of our starting continent, and was attacking another Russian held island from there. Got to 6 tiles from Domination in 1410, and in peace negotiations, Russia gave my the next to last city, founded on some small Jungle island I'd never seen before; 9 more tiles gave me Domination in 1415 AD.
Very slow development; and all these Regular troops don't cut the mustard. Only when I built lots of warriors and upgraded them did the numbers start to get ahead.