I started by building a Scout, Worker, Scout, while researching Mining, then Calendar. My thinking was that getting a Worker producing asap easily outweighed the advantage of a second scout 14 turns earlier. This proved to be correct. I doubled down on the need for early workers by stealing an Aztec worker on T15 – the earliest war I have ever been in. This also paid off, as the Aztecs never attacked and eventually paid a modest sum for peace.
I researched the early techs then beelined for Civil Service, while building a monument and granary. Any thought of going for the Pyramids or the GL evaporated as they were both snatched up surprisingly quickly. I took Tradition, then went for Collective Rule and built Pasargadae on T50, on the hill two tiles below the silks south of Persepolis.
By then I had met the rest of the civs, and was friendly with all. There was no way I was going for a domination victory on terrain like this, even with the Persian GA speed advantage. I decided to focus on Science, and built Susa on T83 5 tiles east of the capital. My plan was to stop building there and acquire ports at the expense of the Aztecs. But when Songhai declared war on T78, I made peace with the Aztecs and focused on fighting Askia outside Susa. This was pretty easy – he had levies and archers vs my immortals and one archer.
I built Chichen Itza on T98 while pushing south toward the Songhai border. Askia agreed to peace on T115. By then I was researching Printing Press, which got me close to all the techs I’d need to take the Aztecs. I triggered my first GA with a Satrap’s Court on T119 – and then Montezuma obliged with an admittedly risky DOW on T126.
My pikes, swords and crossbows switfly demolished his army, and once I had two trebs I took his two-city on T155. By now Songhai and Ottomans were both very strong, and I had met the Mongols and Arabs. I had RA’s with everyone and built the Taj Mahal. This is a very unusual difference between my game and most of the others. I had essentially no opportunity to compete for the Pyramids, GL, or HG.
I then focused on gold and science while researching Astronomy. I also built two additional cities on the peninsula south of the former Aztec capital, to pick up all those luxuries. Maybe because my population was relatively low, I was surprised to find myself 5 or 6 techs behind my two neighbors. But it wasn’t that low – 13, 10, 10, 9, 6, 2 and 1. I’ve built science buildings and employed specialists, and have lots of RA’s. Because of how I approached the social policies as Persia, I now have completed Liberty and all of Tradition except Oligarchy and Landed Elite. (Ceremonal Rites went to Opera Houses; I played it conservatively taking Legalism and Monarchy to have an edge getting those two crucial Wonders. Still, I’ve noticed that my science-victory performance has dropped significantly – maybe by 50 turns since whatever version was around last spring. I can’t figure out whether I’m doing something wrong. One big difference is that I have been exploring not beelining for the NC over the last few months.
My plan now is to build up these cities as quickly as possible, but am debating whether to dip into Commerce before Rationalism. My guess is that I won’t, as long as the gold I have stays high. I’m pretty sure I can afford to ignore Patronage. In the meantime I’m readying my army for a two-frontwar with Askia (Susa and Teotihuacan), who is bound to come after me next.
As someone mentioned, the map is wonderful, with its highly strategic mountains and unusual amount of rough terrain.
and 10
, which was increased to just over 20
. The Academies really need to scale up with increasing era for them to be worth using (unless you settle one very early, like after Writing when playing Babylon).
could be improved. That would make the game much more challenging.
Starting in a massive rainforest is slow at first, but the terrain is excellent once marshes are cleared and mines/lumbermills built. There's a ton of foothills available for production along the mountain ridges.
