Noble/Epic
So here we go. I don't think I need to go through the start really. it's pretty basic. I knew I was playing on a Pangaea, and as the Mongols, so to me that meant one thing; war. Well, I always conquest, so it actually meant; rush keshiks.
It's kind of funny because I went for BW first to get my infrastructure going, I built worker, worker, settler and almost forgot to research AH. I ended up sending the settler way west to grab that Horse, all the while researching Archery and HR.
My third city is going to go SW of that copper, on that forest
That'll be the last city I build barring one exception which, in retrospect, I shouldn't have bothered building because my victory was assured at that point and it only drained my economy.
Okay, so after the civ is setup, I build, Whip, and Chop (a tiny bit) some Keshiks. There's really not much to say other than I went off to War;
525 BC - German Civilization Destroyed
365 BC - Korean Civilization Destroyed
During that time, Genghis Kahn rose to lead the Horde across the world.
By about 10 AD, I had engaged England and Took London, York, and Hastings. I also Engaged Tokugawa as well by this point. A fantastic victory was had where a Keshik defeated seemingly his Only Spearman with only a 10% at victory. I Destroyed a Japanese city, leaving them and England both with 2 (England had swiped a good Barb city, unfortunately). When I finally sued for peace I had about 6 techs in total. From memory; Fishing, Sailing (dif turn), Ironworking(!), Mysticism, and 1 or two more.
The Western Empire;
The Eastern Empire;
Only a short amount of time passes before I decide that to seal the deal with England and Japan. War once again and they die swiftly. Though Not without a tragic loss.
Victory in Japan at 280 AD;
Victory, at a price, in England at 445 AD;
At this point I faced a Choice. Continue onward to war, recouping my (relatively few) losses and pressing into Byzantine or Viking Territory - Or hang back and allow my economy to catch up to itself. Initially, the I was going to go the economic route. Though it's important to note that this point was economy wasn't even really that messed up. Early on before I made peace with Japan and England the first (and only) time, I had units on Strike. I was essentially racing the clock to reach objectives before I lost units.
That was quickly remedied however, by switching my entire nation to an SE, spamming libraries everywhere, tossing up Scientists even if it meant city stagnation - and building science in other cities. The slider was at zero yet I was making a good pace in tech. I managed to get currency, build the Pyramids (Oracle, too) and even in newly conquered Kyoto, I manage to build the Great Lighthouse.
Beshbalik, 775 AD. Machinery in 6 turns at 10% science, loosing some money that can be remedied;
Though there's something to notice in that shot. My idea of economic overhaul was short lived, as only about 20 turns after I ended my Wars with Japan and England - Ragnar decided to hop in the game and bring me down.
I unfortunately don't have any shots during this time as like I mentioned before, I'm not really used to doing write-ups, let alone tracking my game via screenshots or anything. But suffice it to say it was a decent war. Ragnar came prepared. He had plenty of time with Iron and Copper to himself, and he had Horse Archers for himself as well. He swiped Kyoto just a few turns after it built the great lighthouse, and I lost a few troops trying to get it back.
All of the action was focused in the area of Japan, and eventually I crossed that isthmus of dessert in the north and went full into his lands. It'd also be worthwhile to note at this point that for the entire game I've been using my Great Generals and attaching them to units. One had died so far, and as I broke into Scandinavia, I gained another one and quickly brought him up.
Oh yeah, also around the time I got that general, I finally learned guilds. Now, With a broke economy it's not that significant considering I couldn't upgrade until I got pillaging money from the cities. Yet to get the money I either had to wait some time for my catapults to come online, or suicide massive stacks - Both of which I didn't have at the moment. So, this is where the generals come in. I now had two very well promoted Knights. As the Upgrade cost for Generals is always free, and they even keep their XP totals. This meant I now had a Unit (Genghis, the first one) that was fully capable of attacking culture-defended cities, with spears, with a 90%+ ratio. Which I proceeded to do, after I also charged my Knights to their source of Iron. All I had to do now was wait a few extra turns as Genghis killed all of the spear units for the rest of the Horde to be safe. Additionally, He had March, so he could usually attack about every turn.
To sum up, I destroyed 4 cities, and left em with 3. War Weariness was starting to take an effect and I finally got my Espionage at a level to see what Justin was researching - Feudalism. Something I wasn't about to let happen (Though it did anyway...).
So, I sued for Peace with Rag, he gave me a city and some techs, and gold. Then immediately I declared war on Justin. All while this is happening, btw, I had some cities building more military - With Catapults finally. I also got the ability to build macemen without noticing at all. I didn't even realize I could, funny enough, so I started adding them to the stack.
What's left of Ragnar, and primary targets within Byzantine;
A few turns later, and the objectives were complete. The first and second Armies, preparing to capture the northern and southern city.
Adrianople is taken this very turn, Thessalonica a few turns after. Both armies meet at Constantinople for the siege of the capitol. The Knights pillage while they wait for the second army (who has the siege) to arrive.
They move south-east and face 4 more cities. By the time they get to the Last one, I've reached Cuirassers - a novelty at this point as the game is won. I upgrade anyway. Also during this time, yet another general joined the fray. Additionally, I sent a 3rd army to assault Ragnar to get this done in a timely fashion.
Upgraded 1st Army, the destruction of Byzantium;
The Northern Army ready to siege Nidaros;
Victory;
The Big Three;
Genghis Kahn achieved Level 13. With the XP ready to learn Blitz upon discovering it's tech. He had Combat VI, Shock, Tactics, Flanking II, March, and Leadership.
Jahsa Kahn achieved level 10. With Combat VI, Formation, March, and Leadership.
El Cid achieved level 7. With Combat II, March, and Medic III. (Yes, I actually attacked with him too
)
Two other generals appeared in this war-torn world. Sadly, they were defeated in Combat. Hamilcar Barca died during the final battle against the English. Nebbuchadrezzar II was killed sometime amidst the bloody Viking campaign.
Final Words;
So I don't know if this really suits your setup. But like I said, It's Kublai Kahn, whom I love. Plus the mongols in general. Pangea too. I suppose I could take questions about anything, as I don't know if I detailed certain stuff appropriately. Random comments about the game though;
-My first GG survived the whole game. This usually doesn't happen and I definitely thought I'd loose him against the vikings. I did loose Nebuch to them though, as well as one earlier to the english - both frustratingly enough were 90%+ losses. All generals were turned into Units. Why? Just for fun. Seriously though, I also wanted two or 3 for Knights because I knew I probably wouldn't have enough money to upgrade. Plus, I always make a medic, and I always make a super unit. The rest go to XP in cities. Yet I didn't feel that was necessary here, as I ran Vassalage for quite some time.
-I'm a fan of SE anyway, but you could say I hybrid really. But honestly, this game it was scientists that saved my behind. Interestingly enough being Creative helped my economic needs too, as I was able to toss up Libraries everywhere as soon as I said "Hmm.. My slider isn't gonna hold". It's no surprise to me, personally, but it's still a wonderful thing to be running 0% science and still discovering things in 6-10 turns on Epic. I established and maintained the tech lead for the whole game after crippling the English.
-Wonders! I managed to Construct the Pyramids, which was a shot in the dark as I decided to do it after I resorted to Library-scientist spam. I may have over-chopped for it, but it was worth it. I snagged them without Stone. I also swiped the Oracle, and later on as my well-promoted army needed little in the way of reinforcements, I started building wonders all over the place. Perhaps the conquest would have gone quicker, but I was enjoying myself. Mausoleum, Taj Mahal, Great Lighthouse, and Colossus were all built.
-Golden Ages. Due to my wanting to B-Line knights to Promote my generals (and later units) to fight Classic era troops. My tech tree was a bit off. I never personally researched any religion techs, and eventually I was in the position where my Scientists could only bulb Compass. After deciding on an Academy (or two), I used 1 for a Golden age, then nabbed Music in a quick 5 turns and used another GS for a 2nd. Taj Mahal granted me a 3rd.
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(trait, monument). IMO you don't need much of a UU to leverage charismatic, although super promoted late game units sure are fun. What does everyone else think?
.... Keshiks usage is pretty diferent of the other rushes and exactly because of that is a nice school of how to war.
). He still had about 20 or so cities...
