Monarchist Cookbook Game 3, Hammurabi of Babylon!

nice work on the early IW and beating Toku to the gems location! Sword/axe-rushing Toku does look appealing in this situation. do your plans include the GLH? Definitely you have the forests in the capital to chop it out.

Build order:
Warrior -> Workboat -> Workboat -> Worker -> Warrior (Partial) ->

Settler -> Warrior (Finish) -> Settler (Chop partial) ->

Worker (Whip at 88 hammers = 43 overflow) -> Settler (finish) ->

Workboat -> Warrior -> Warrior -> Library (partial) -> Settler (Partial (3))

Akkad: Barracks (Until 1 turn from size 2) -> Monument (1 turn then whip) ->

Barracks (finish) -> Granary (Partial (26 but will go down))

Dur-Kurigalzu: Monument (Partial (13))

Tech: Fishing -> AH -> Mining -> Bronze Working -> Writing ->

Mysticism -> Hunting -> Pottery -> Archery (Partial (3))

AIs Met: Kublai Khan (3475 BC), Huayna Capac (Buddhist Founder, 3150 BC),

Tokugawa (2125 BC), Darius (1575 BC)

Summary:
Cities are in place, 4E2S (Akkad, 2225 BC) has 2 sheep, 8E4S (Dur-Kurigalzu, 1800 BC) has fish + corn, and 3N2W (planned next city) has 2 ivory, some riverside grassland and wheat.

Slavery revolt at 2675

Late settler at size 4

Scouted SE to HC and NW until my warrior got savaged by a pack of animals (Panther + Panther + Lion )

The S man gave us an interesting map (fun starting area )

Map:

After reading everyone else's reports I don't like my start much.. (I'd still win the game but not as easily as with your saves..) I settled the same cities as Rameau's Nephew and:
Didn't go for the GLH out of habit (been avoiding wonders at emperor/immortal recently ) and that costs my start a bit :S. I like DaveMcW's position most so far. (I haven't found Toku's lands, but knew he was north.) TMIT also has an interesting game, as usual
futurehermit: I like Akkad's placement, but your expansion is just a bit too slow IMO.

I decided to settle in place, with the idea that I had 2 clams I could poach into 2nd cities. Being coastal, my natural thought process went "GLH" right away. Even without that, Fishing was the obvious first tech, and since a Worker wouldnt have anything to do, I started with a Warrior to grow a bit, and get a second explorer out.
Turn 0/750 (4000 BC) [10:17:36]
Babylon founded
Babylon begins: Warrior (11 turns)
Research begun: Fishing (9 Turns)

Turn 7/750 (3825 BC) [10:22:01]
Babylon's borders expand

Turn 8/750 (3800 BC) [10:22:06]
Tech learned: Fishing

Fishing comes in, and I start Mining, headed to BW to chop . . . something. So far my warrior exploring the east has found decent coastal sites, so I am still thinking GLH if I can get cities here.

Turn 9/750 (3775 BC) [10:22:11]
Research begun: Mining (10 Turns)

My warrior finds HC to the east:



Turn 10/750 (3750 BC) [10:22:20]
Contact made: Incan Empire

Turn 11/750 (3725 BC) [10:22:34]
Buddhism founded in a distant land

Buddhism FIADL, and by HC. I hope he expands to his east, and not west toward me.

Turn 12/750 (3700 BC) [10:22:39]
Babylon finishes: Warrior
State Religion Change: Huayna Capac(Inca) from 'no State Religion' to 'Buddhism'

Warrior finishes, and I start a Work Boat. Getting the clams online is going to be my way to produce workers and settlers quickly. Getting all 3 clams will also allow me to poach them for future cities to the North and East.

Turn 13/750 (3675 BC) [10:22:44]
Babylon begins: Work Boat (45 turns)

Turn 14/750 (3650 BC) [10:23:10]
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.68/2) defeats Barbarian Lion (Prob Victory: 90.9%)

Turn 16/750 (3600 BC) [10:23:33]
Babylon grows to size 2

Turn 19/750 (3525 BC) [10:23:58]
Tech learned: Mining

Mining in, and I start BW. Lots of forests in our Capitol area to chop, and the hills need to be cleared for mines.

Turn 20/750 (3500 BC) [10:24:08]
Research begun: Bronze Working (22 Turns)

Turn 22/750 (3450 BC) [10:24:29]
Hinduism founded in a distant land

Hinduism FIADL, unknown who. But my Warrior exploring the North finds something awesome!



Turn 27/750 (3325 BC) [10:27:10]
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.68/2) defeats Barbarian Lion (Prob Victory: 90.9%)

Turn 28/750 (3300 BC) [10:27:23]
Warrior promoted: Woodsman I

Ugh, Toku is RIGHT next to these gems. I doubt I can beat him there. My plans are a city to the north to claim the elephants, then one to the east to cut off HC and claim some of those coastal resources. It also looks like we are on a fairly large landmass, but I am still thinking GLH.



Turn 29/750 (3275 BC) [10:27:37]
Contact made: Japanese Empire
Babylon finishes: Work Boat
Attitude Change: Tokugawa(Japan) towards Huayna Capac(Inca), from 'Pleased' to 'Cautious'

Work boat done and I start my first Worker. I also come into contact with Kublai Khan, but have no idea where his lands are.

Turn 30/750 (3250 BC) [10:27:50]
Babylon begins: Worker (30 turns)
A Fishing Boats was built near Babylon
Contact made: Mongolian Empire
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.68/2) defeats Barbarian Lion (Prob Victory: 90.9%)

Turn 32/750 (3200 BC) [10:29:09]
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.08/2) defeats Barbarian Lion (Prob Victory: 90.2%)
While defending in the wild near Kyoto, Warrior (2.00/2) defeats Barbarian Wolf (Prob Victory: 100.0%)

Turn 34/750 (3150 BC) [10:29:43]
Attitude Change: Tokugawa(Japan) towards Huayna Capac(Inca), from 'Cautious' to 'Pleased'

Turn 39/750 (3025 BC) [10:31:08]
Tech learned: Bronze Working
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.64/2) defeats Barbarian Bear (Prob Victory: 72.8%)
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.64/2) defeats Barbarian Wolf (Prob Victory: 100.0%)

BW in, so I head for Masonry. My exploring has discovered that we are on a pretty big chunk of land, so I may decide to chop those forests into the Great Wall (for spy points) instead of the GLH. Maybe even the Mids, although I have tended to try to force myself NOT to build them unless its optimal to do so (IND leader or Stone).

Turn 40/750 (3000 BC) [10:31:27]
Research begun: Masonry (178 Turns)
Warrior promoted: Woodsman I
Civics Change: MC3 Bleys Rd1(Babylon) from 'Tribalism' to 'Slavery'

Turn 41/750 (2975 BC) [10:31:59]
Civics Change: Tokugawa(Japan) from 'Tribalism' to 'Slavery'

Turn 45/750 (2875 BC) [10:34:11]
Babylon finishes: Worker
Attitude Change: Tokugawa(Japan) towards Huayna Capac(Inca), from 'Pleased' to 'Cautious'

Worker in, time for another Work Boat.

Turn 46/750 (2850 BC) [10:35:09]
Babylon begins: Work Boat (12 turns)

Turn 48/750 (2800 BC) [10:35:40]
Civics Change: Kublai Khan(Mongolia) from 'Tribalism' to 'Slavery'

Turn 50/750 (2750 BC) [10:36:02]
Babylon grows to size 3
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.74/2) defeats Barbarian Lion (Prob Victory: 99.5%)

Turn 51/750 (2725 BC) [10:36:19]
Babylon finishes: Work Boat

Turn 52/750 (2700 BC) [10:36:30]
Babylon begins: Work Boat (9 turns)

Turn 53/750 (2675 BC) [10:36:53]
A Fishing Boats was built near Babylon
Tech learned: Masonry
Contact made: Persian Empire

Another AI comes into view, Darius. It seems Sisuitil took my advice and chose AIs that would be strong opponents for Hammu. Immortals dominate Bowman (and so do Quechuas for that matter), and Toku is just plain difficult, period.



After Masonry, I go AH. No copper showed up, and since I have a pasturable tile, I decide to look for horses as well.

Turn 54/750 (2650 BC) [10:37:05]
Research begun: Animal Husbandry (16 Turns)
Attitude Change: Darius I(Persia) towards Tokugawa(Japan), from 'Cautious' to 'Annoyed'
Attitude Change: Kublai Khan(Mongolia) towards Darius I(Persia), from 'Cautious' to 'Annoyed'

Turn 57/750 (2575 BC) [10:38:31]
A Mine was built near Babylon
Attitude Change: Darius I(Persia) towards Tokugawa(Japan), from 'Annoyed' to 'Cautious'

Turn 58/750 (2550 BC) [10:38:45]
Babylon finishes: Work Boat
While defending in the wild, Warrior (0.72/2) defeats Barbarian Lion (Prob Victory: 90.9%)

Turn 59/750 (2525 BC) [10:39:16]
Babylon begins: Settler (22 turns)
Warrior promoted: Woodsman II
Attitude Change: Tokugawa(Japan) towards Huayna Capac(Inca), from 'Cautious' to 'Pleased'
Attitude Change: Kublai Khan(Mongolia) towards Darius I(Persia), from 'Annoyed' to 'Cautious'

Turn 60/750 (2500 BC) [10:40:09]
A Fishing Boats was built near Babylon

Turn 65/750 (2375 BC) [10:41:24]
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.28/2) defeats Barbarian Lion (Prob Victory: 99.9%)

Turn 66/750 (2350 BC) [10:41:44]
Tech learned: Animal Husbandry
Civics Change: Darius I(Persia) from 'Tribalism' to 'Slavery'

AH in, and there are horses on the map, at least, LOL. Now I feel like I MUST go straight to Archery, so I dial up Hunting. That will help with the Elephants anyway.



Turn 67/750 (2325 BC) [10:41:52]
Research begun: Hunting (5 Turns)

Turn 69/750 (2275 BC) [10:42:42]
A Mine was built near Babylon

Turn 71/750 (2225 BC) [10:43:08]
Tech learned: Hunting

Turn 72/750 (2200 BC) [10:43:29]
Research begun: Archery (6 Turns)
Babylon finishes: Settler

First settler finishes, and I decide to queue up the GW here. Archery is a few turns away, and I plan to interrupt this build quite a bit, with Bowman and another settler at least. The first settler heads north to claim the Elephants.

Turn 73/750 (2175 BC) [10:44:26]
Babylon begins: The Great Wall (225 turns)

Turn 75/750 (2125 BC) [10:45:00]
Babylon grows to size 4
Babylon's borders expand

Turn 76/750 (2100 BC) [10:45:05]
Akkad founded
Akkad begins: Worker (18 turns)

I found my 2nd city, and since I have no culture building to make, I start a worker and poach a clam from the Capitol.



Turn 77/750 (2075 BC) [10:47:04]
A Pasture was built near Babylon
Tech learned: Archery

Archery in, so I start Myst to open Monuments. I also stick a Bowman in front of the GW. The GW is as much about getting a pile of gold as the wonder itself, so I am not going to be terribly disappointed if I dont get it.

Turn 78/750 (2050 BC) [10:47:08]
Research begun: Mysticism (6 Turns)
Babylon begins: Bowman (6 turns)
Judaism founded in a distant land

Turn 82/750 (1950 BC) [10:48:52]
The whip was applied in Babylon
Babylon grows to size 4
Babylon finishes: Bowman

Turn 83/750 (1925 BC) [10:49:09]
Tech learned: Mysticism

Myst in, I and go Sailing. I can get a PILE of coastal cities up before I have to go inland, although I do want that gold and marble near the horses. GLH is still in play here, as far as I am concerned, but I do want a regular Lighthouse anyway.

Turn 84/750 (1900 BC) [10:50:00]
Research begun: Sailing (11 Turns)

Turn 87/750 (1825 BC) [10:50:48]
Akkad finishes: Worker

Turn 88/750 (1800 BC) [10:51:09]
Akkad begins: Monument (45 turns)
Civics Change: Huayna Capac(Inca) from 'Tribalism' to 'Slavery'

Turn 89/750 (1775 BC) [10:51:32]
Babylon begins: Settler (12 turns)

Turn 94/750 (1650 BC) [10:56:12]
Tech learned: Sailing

Sailing in, Monument queued up in 2nd city to pop the Elephants, and I stuck a settler in front of the GW for a 2-pop whip. I whip it now, and send it up north, where my Wood II warrior is waiting on the Gems (barbs had ruined my plans in the east, I had intended the Corn-Fish city first, and Toku hasnt claimed them yet). I also queue up Pottery, since I may still skip the GLH plan and if I do I will need cottages.

Turn 95/750 (1625 BC) [10:57:03]
Research begun: Pottery (7 Turns)
The whip was applied in Babylon
Babylon grows to size 3
Babylon finishes: Settler
While defending in Barbarian territory at Burgundian, Warrior loses to Barbarian Archer (1.98/3) (Prob Victory: 16.1%)

And thats the end of my turn. The settler is on the Gem site, and the GW is actually in range. I have chopped a bit, and actually regrew one of the forests.



Here is the Cap:



This is going to be an interesting game. There are a lot of nice looking inland sites, but there is almost no food in there, and lots of plains which suck as city-feeders. The coast toward HC has been settled by a barb (3 archers in it, as my now-dead warrior discovered), and wouldnt you know it, right in a spot between my 2 city-signs, argh. Oh well, I will need Iron Working ASAP after Pottery anyway.



Pros of my save:
Gem City is ours, and soon Elephants will border-pop. No IW yet, but tech rate isnt horrible with the Clams. Sailing is in, as well as Masonry, so GLH is in play. GW almost done. All clams improved and 3 mines builts as well. I also know exactly where Toku, HC and Darius are. Capitol is well fed and has strong production.

Cons:
Only 2 cities, with a 3rd ready to settle next turn. Teching has been haphazard, which is one of my glaring weaknesses. Military is also weak, only 1 warrior, and 1 Bowman. Need IW ASAP to get Gems and find us a metal.

I don't think that I could've beat Toku to the gems in my game unless I settled Akkad there. He seemed to settle it pretty fast although I am not sure on the exact date. Fortunately he settled in the right spot though

The only reason I ended up heading up there is that barb city. If it wasnt founded, I probably would have waited til the 3rd settler to try for it, and it surely would have been taken by then. As it happened, the barbs did me a favor, I think its much stronger this way.

Start researching Fishing, begin with warrior in Babylon and start building Work Boat after finished. First Warrior that headed to the east dies, second warrior soon meets Toku and a bit later Darius. 2900 BC steal Toku's Worker, he would be annoyed anyway and won't trade techs unless Pleased and is a bad techer. And that gem site needs to be conquered anyways if Toku settles there first. Peace in 2750 BC, settle Akkad in NW 2450BC, farm Wheat after Worker pastures cows. Settle third city in 1625 BC or so in SE, meet Huayna in 1575 BC.

Tokugawa hasn't settled that gems city in my save either, so he must be going north, but I expect he'd beat me to it anyway. I hope that means there is some decent land to be had up there, although the AI settling it doesn't tell you much.. I think the best saves will be the ones where we get gem city, which is why I wouldn't vote for mine, since it's unlikely at this point.

Sorry, I'll stop that now. Probably.

Well, I was certainly feeling a little rusty when I started out, and several attempts at calculating efficiency left my head hurting. So I'm sure I made as many dumb moves at the micro level as I did at the macro. But, nevertheless, I really enjoyed this turnset, and isn't that the point?

No, it isn't. Winning is the point.

Thankfully, despite my errors, the round went well enough that I would be confident of victory if I played on.

4000bc - Settle in place. Research Fishing. Build Worker.

3775bc - Fishing complete. Research Mining. Switch to Workboat.

3500bc - Mining complete. Research Bronze Working.

3475bc - Workboat complete. Continue Worker.

While all this was happening, my initial warrior went on a little tour of the SE, identifying a couple of possible city sites, as well as a mass of nigh-on unusable hills:


I love Tectonics!

Though it would've been more efficient to carry on exploring the SE, I wanted to check out the land to the NW too. One reason was that I still had no AI contact.

That changed in 3250bc, when Kublai showed up in, you guessed it, the SE. Having some experience with this kind of map, I was aware that my failure to meet anyone didn't mean there was nobody there - I think the masses of hills and jungles tend to interfere with the AI's exploration. But, nevertheless, I had nurtured a slight hope that we'd have a decent area blocked off for future settlement. As if Sis would hand us that kind of advantage.

Meanwhile, my heroic Warrior had been on safari in the NW, bagging 3 lions, 2 panthers, and a wolf in quick succession. Contrary to what everyone seems to advise these days, I promoted up the Combat line, since this would benefit him regardless of terrain.

Around this time, my first Worker was born (next build was another Workboat). Unfortunately, with 8 turns left 'til BW, all he could do was build a couple of roads.


Poor build/research timing, I know. But at least the road saved several units a turn or two each over the course of the round. Back to the timeline:

3000bc - BW complete. Research sailing. Worker starts chop.

2900bc - Darius appears in NW.

2875bc - Workboat complete. Build Warrior. Worker starts new chop.

2675bc - Sailing complete. Research Hunting. Switch to building Lighthouse.

2575bc - Adopt Slavery.

2550bc - Whip Lighthouse.

2525bc - Hunting complete. Research Archery. Dump whip overflow into Settler.

2500bc - Switch back to building Warrior (allow growth).

2375bc - Archery complete. Research Masonry. Switch back to Settler (prevent unhappiness).

2175bc - Settler complete. Whip Warrior.

2150bc - Masonry complete. Research AH. Warrior complete. Build Bowman.

Going for AH was not my first thought, and this is one reason why:


A triple Gems city would be downright awesome, and I already had a Settler heading northwards. Obviously, taking that spot would mean going for IW sooner, rather than later. Moreover, the lack of Copper had me fiending for some metal, giving yet more reason for that path.

However, IW is a very expensive tech at this stage of the game, and there's no guarantee we'd have Iron in easy reach. Moreover, going for the Gems would require more workers than I wanted to build at this point, and would involve settling a city with no immediate source of food.

AH, on the other hand, offered a much cheaper chance to find a strategic resource, and would be necessary to make use of Babylon's Cows and the Sheep to the SE. Also, with Elephants close at hand, I had one eye on the powerful HBR/Construction combo.

Lastly, I had encountered everyone's favourite AI, marching a settler to claim the gems himself:


Though he didn't settle in a spot to claim all three, I'd have faced a culture battle (in a jungle-hampered city) if I wanted more than one precious for myself. I judged it better to bide my time, and take a city with more immediate potential:


The great advantage of this spot is that it could claim the Eles and the Wheat, while borrowing a Clam from Babylon to get things moving straight away. On a side note, you can see that barb Archers began to show up at this time. Hence, I thought it prudent to get some Bowmen out before I did anything else. Incidentally, these things also explain why I have yet to tech Mysticism - I didn't feel I could spare the hammers for Monuments, and my cities already had enough food to be getting on with.

Shortly after this crucial city/tech decision, my Big-Game-Hunting Warrior encountered temptation in the form of an unguarded Japanese Worker.

Hmm... should I?


Of course I should!!


What followed was a quick game of cat and mouse, as Toku dithered over whether to try to recapture his Worker, briefly gave chase, then trudged home in depression when it became clear that I was not stupid enough to leave the defensive terrain:



As you can see from the last screenie, though, our heroes weren't out of the woods yet. A second barb Archer also showed up shortly afterwards.

I sent a Bowman out to rescue my boys from the gathering hordes, and he bravely fought off one Archer, putting the other to flight (ie. it just walked off for some reason) and clearing the way home:


(Incidentally, you can see that I had discoved Horses by this time. Horrible spot, though.)

Meanwhile, Toku saw sense, conceded that his Worker had called me a "beardy arse", and agreed that this was, in fact, grounds for enslavement:


We'll meet again, I'm sure.

(To be clear, the following timeline includes the period described above)

2100bc - Bowman complete in Babylon. Build Bowman.

1975bc - Bowman complete in Babylon. Build Settler.

1950bc - Bowman complete in Akkad. Build Bowman.

1900bc - AH complete. Tech Writing. Whip Bowman in Akkad.

1875bc - Bowman complete in Akkad. Build Bowman.

1775bc - Whip Settler in Babylon.

1750bc - Settler complete in Babylon. Build Great Lighthouse.

1675bc - Dur-Kurigalzu founded.

1650bc - Barb Archer attacks Dur-Kurigalzu, but is defeated by Bowman. (I also had a Warrior there as insurance).

1625bc - Meet HC in SE.

1575bc - Writing complete. Research Pottery. OB with Kublai, Darius and HC.

1550bc - Ivory connected.

1500bc - End of the round.

The Babylonian Empire:


Babylon itself:


Note that it'll grow in 5 turns (and the whip will be gone), so the GLh can be done much quicker than this suggests. It might be worth inturrupting the wonder for a Worker and/or Settler, though. Oh, and I totally forgot to pasture the Cows. How foolish of me.

Akkad:


Dur-Kurigalzu:


Once these Bowmen are done, we should concentrate on infrastructure. Libraries and Granaries are top of the shopping list, but we're going to need a couple more Workers too. Incidentally, Dur-K may look like it has more food than it needs. But my plan is to settle another city to the west, which will eventually take the Corn, allowing it to work a decent number of those hills.

Technology:


Another mistake - I should've gone for Pottery before Writing. But I don't think it'll prove too harmful.

Demographics:


Somebody is way ahead in the population stakes.

Tokuland:


I'm thinking it might still be possible, and worthwhile, to settle the site 1W of the Rice. It would make a good staging point for an invasion of Toku, and the GLh would pay the bills until the Gems come online. We'd need IW, though, which would drag us off my intended tech-path (Maths, Construction, HBR).

Well, as this was quite uneventful, I'll let the comic book:

Notice something odd? No cooper, no horses and no archery... in 1500 BC I somehow forgot to get decent defensive units..... ( ok, I not feeling too well ( nothing like a summer cold ), but this is too much ).

Some extra intel:


Well, atleast I almost got GLH and with it and org trait I'll be able to REX like a madman.

I also met all the civs except 2 ( one of the unknowns is behind Darius ( espionage ratio denounces it ... possibly the hindu founder ) and we have space to expand for the west ( Darius has that awful mountain ridge and desert in the way and Toku has jungle and some mountains ) .HC and KK decided to expand towards each other , so we should have some space to the east as well....

Well this possibly will not be the chosen one anyway.....