Round 6: 370 AD to 670 AD
I started the round by whipping...
...and I didn't let up. I can't show all of it, there was just too much going on and I'd like to get it all in 1 post, but I don't think I've ever whipped so much in a Civ 4 game before. I tried to whip as much as possible at the optimal point (2 pop just before it goes down to 1 pop), but sometimes I whipped 1 pop away, and not always at the optimal point because I was just in a doggone hurry. I know at epic speed 1 population point whips for 44 hammers, but I'm running Organized Religion for another +25% production and some of my cities have Forges for another +25% and Workers and Granaries have another production bonus and all that math just makes my head hurt.
At least I think I was doing the tile assignments correctly. To heck with the hammers, I focused on food tiles to recover my population quickly so I could whip again. The city governor (I hate that guy, by the way) kept removing my specialists whenever I'd whip, and I'd keep pulling citizens out of mines to work in my science labs (which, frankly, I should think they'd prefer).
So I got a good amount of infrastructure built, mostly libraries, granaries, and lighthouses, as well as several Hindu missionaries and a few units and even a couple of those cheap Workers I need so much.
I also made that trade with Mao:
Heck, why not. Besides, shortly after this, he went all WFYABTA on me. And as you'll see, by the end of the round, I was starting to feel kind of sorry for the guy.
Some of you expressed concern about Gandhi pursuing a cultural victory, and here's an early sign that he may be going down that road:
Still, we'll have a look at the victory screen later, and I'm further along towards a cultural victory than he is.
Maybe we should give that some thought.
Speaking of Gandhi, once I had Code of Laws, I went to see him:
He initially offered me Meditation and Priesthood. While I need Meditation to lightbulb Philosophy with my first Great Scientist, I'd get the short end of the stick on that trade, and Gandhi's already up to Friendly status. This got me a very valuable military tech. To guarantee that I could, indeed, lightbulb Philosophy, I purchased Meditation from him for 120 gold.
And I managed to found that city in India's back yard to claim me some furs:
Looks like I just beat Gandhi to it. I may end up fighting off his culture to keep those furs. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up building the Hermitage here. Gandhi, however, was good enough to spread Hinduism, Judaism,
and Christianity here for me. So I'll be able to build several Temples and Monasteries to jack up Vladivostok's culture. Thanks, dude!
Oh yes, Tokugawa had an Archer hanging around over there. I think he wanted that spot for himself. Remember this, it's significant.
Another focus of this round was completing the quests that came up earlier in the game. The first one was accomplished once my 7th Library was completed in Yakutsk (a name I remember from the old Risk game, so I always get a charge out of seeing it).
Based on the wording, I was wrong before when I posited that the addition of +2 flasks in only one city was a bug. I'll have to remember this; in my opinion this quest is pretty lame unless you have the Great Library. The free scientist works just like the ones from the GL, contributing both flasks and Great People points, so that's pretty awesome.
Remember that Archer Tokugawa had outside of Vladivostok? Well, apparently Toku thinks he's got superpowers, because on the basis of his presence, he did this:
What a nut. I've thought long and hard about it and I've decided that I dislike Tokugawa even more than Montezuma. At least Montezuma will trade techs and resources with you. Monty also makes a better pet dog, because he's at least capable of getting along with other civs if they share his religion. EVERYBODY hates Tokugawa. I mean, the only time I saw mild-mannered Mansa Musa wipe out another civ, it was Japan. (Really, though, can you think of two more incompatible civs to end up sharing a continent? I think Mansa just got fed up with trying to trade techs with Toku and getting nowhere.)
Anyway, Toku's Archer pulled a kamikaze on my Axeman's blades and that's the last I've heard from Japan. I've got a Trireme heading his way to see if I can now get the circumnavigation bonus by sailing around Japan, and to do a little pillaging on the way if he has any fishing boats around. I'm thinking I should mass my Triremes in the southwest as well--I'll do that early in the next round.
Am I being too blasé? Supposedly the new AI is better at naval invasions, but I'm seeing myself how hard it is to build both units and ships this early in the game, so I'm not too worried at this point. I really thing Toku was just being opportunistic--you know, because that Archer was stranded and costing him maintenance. Or something.
On that same turn, I earned my first Great Scientist in Moscow and used him to lightbulb Philosophy. The timing was perfect--on the next turn, once Civil Service was complete, he would have lightbulbed Paper. If needed, I would have slowed my research to make this happen, but that wasn't necessary.
I had avoided spreading Hinduism to Rostov in the hopes that this would happen. I mean, this is going to be my main commerce city (and eventual capital), so making it a holy city is just a bonus. The tricky part will be generating a Great Prophet so I can build the Taoist Shrine. I think we need to start planning for that now, so any suggestions are welcome. The good news is those three religions that are in Vladivostok--I could spread them to one of my other cities (maybe Moscow?) and then go hog-wild with Temples and Cathedrals there.
Oh, yeah, that Great Engineer. Whatever did I do with him? Well, I decided to save him. I heeded everyone's advice about not wasting him on a marble wonder. And frankly, given Ruska's health issues and the amount of whipping I was doing, one wonder that several of you suggested was very attractive. And I mean, Ruska was going to benefit from the Aqueduct anyway:
Yeah, most of the new population got whipped away, but not all of it. Normally I wouldn't pollute my Great Scientist-generating my city with other GP points, but hey, if I accidentally get a Great Engineer, am I really going to object? And if I don't, it will just accelerate the generation of Great Scientists. Besides, I have Moscow as well to generate Great Scientists. Having 2 capitals for 2 Great People farms when you're Philosophical is a dream, let me tell you.
Speaking of the SE, you'll notice that my science slider gradually lowered this round. Yet it didn't have dire effects on research, as more Libraries were built and more scientists running in my cities.
595 AD was a very eventful year. I also finished the other quest on that turn:
Strange, I'm not sure why the first option wasn't available. Perhaps you need the Great Lighthouse? But as I saw with the other quest, that usually results in an additional 3rd reward option. Oh well, the only reward available is a pretty darn good one. The Harbour is, of course, one of Peter's cheap buildings, and the quest just made it better. As it's a long-term advantage, I think I would have chosen it anyway; most of the Triremes will get replaced rather than upgraded as better units become available. And Harbours are great for this game. Most of my cities will be coastal, and with all three types of seafood available, you can bet they'll have Harbours. And look! I just happen to be researching Compass on my way to Optics. How serendipitous.
Did I mention I'm enjoying this game a lot more than the previous one?
I got another Great Scientist out of Ruska about 5 turns later and lightbulbed Paper. With all those techs in my goody bag, it was time to go see my buddy Gandhi:
Somewhat generous on my part, I know, giving away a Liberalism-path tech like that, along with CS. But I got Machinery for it, so I can now build Macemen and Crossbowmen, and I'm that much closer to Optics. I picked up a couple of other handy techs as well, along with a map of India. Gandhi will probably build Agnkor Wat, but that's okay. I've got more than my share of Wonders (and I still wasn't done!), and it's a stone wonder anyway. I still have Paper on Gandhi and I expect to have Education shortly, courtesy of my next 2 Great Scientists.
Now, this will also have an impact on our relations with Japan. Gandhi now has techs for units that will allow him to stand up to the slow-teching Tokugawa for quite some time. I'll have to watch that. It could make me a much more attractive target, for one thing. It could also mean that Gandhi could war successfully with Japan and end up with a large, powerful empire. I think I may have to throttle back on tech-trading with Gandhi.
Yeah, I still wasn't done wonder-whoring:
I really did consider giving it a miss, but I thought I should build at least
one of the new wonders, as several of you suggested. And this one leverages the many improvements to Golden Ages in BtS. I'm thinking that after 2 Great Scientists are used to discover Liberalism, I may burn the next Great Person on a Golden Age. Then again, I could use Academies in both Moscow and Ruska. Decisions, decisions...
At any rate, with marble and a good production city in St. Petersburg, I'm thinking that Nationalism is looking very attractive as the tech from Liberalism in this game. The Taj Mahal's Golden Age would now be extended to 15 turns.
Oh, I should also mention, this is why I didn't change civics right away--in fact, at all. I was building a wonder and didn't want the 3 turns of anarchy required to switch to Bureaucracy, Caste System, and Pacifism to make me lose it.
The phony war with Tokugawa continued--no sign of a Japanese invasion fleet thus far. One of my Galleys took a break from exploring China's shores to pillage some Japanese fishing boats:
There, that'll learn 'im.
Remember I said I started feeling sorry for Mao towards the end of the round? Here's why:
Dang, he's having a rough time of it, isn't he? Well, as you see, he's good for a few shekels for an old tech every now and again--which is something I've done in other games with Toku, but not in this one. And I now have a better idea what China looks like:
Well, look at that. I'd given up on that wine/fish site in Chinese territory when I saw China claim the other wine tile, but it looks like the nearest Chinese city is not going to snag that plonk anytime soon. So now I'm reconsidering sending a Settler and a protective unit down there on a Galley--the one I have nearby, pillaging Japan's fish, would do the trick. Mao might beat me to it, but if he does, I'll just turn around and found one of the other cities planned for my own land mass.
Anyway, that's it for this round. A lot got accomplished, but there's still a lot to be done. What should my priorities be now? And should I be more worried about Tokugawa? And who else is out there undiscovered?
A state of the world post will follow.
That never happens to me this early in the game! And I'm running a specialist economy! Weird...
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