Gooblah
Heh...
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2007
- Messages
- 4,282
Okay. this is not a game, or whatever, but something to chew on.
Mansa Musa has one of the strongest positions in the entire scenario. 2 Settlers, 2 Workers, 13 Skirmishers, and barb cities to the West. So, I decided to try him out.
This is my tale:
Opened the game, and immediately conquered the western cities. I realized that since Saladin's AI was really tough, but also weak, I DoWed Saladin. Setting my research to the inexpensive Drama, I sent hordes of Skirmishers to the coast, where I conquered Tunis, Cairo, and the city in between. The barbarian city of Aksum fell as well. I sued for peace with Saladin, getting 1 Gold per Turn, 40 Gold, and a Peace Treaty. I made contact with Frederick, Louis XIV, Elizabeth, and Isabella. Traded for Compass and Metal Casting from Frederick and Elizabeth, horribly in my favor. I set my sights on Music. I tried to beg for techs; didn't work. Built an Explorer, and officially "settled" my second city. As the Explorer auto-explored, I built 3 more, signed an OB with Saladin (who was Pleased, btw), and contacted Asoka, Peter, Genghis. Doing pretty good for a late-start. Got more techs, like Machinery (from Saladin, for Music) and Optics. Began exploring and had made contact with a lot of Civs, all of them to be exact. But getting Optics was a boon. I used to trade for Engineering, Divine Right, and other high-power techs. I built Courthouses everywhere, and spammed Settlers till my culture extended across North Africa and to Lake Victoria to the south. Running 20% research, I focused on military. Isabella was duly conquered as I laughed maniacally. I built a stack of Pikes, Maces, et al, then captured Jerusalem. That alone brought in close to 100 gold per turn!
The playing field (by score)
Mansa Musa
Saladin
Frederick
Louis
Elizabeth
Peter
Qin
Asoka/Genghis/Tokugawa (close in score)
Monty/Huayna (fighting for last)
That was the end of Phase 1. Phase 2 began when I declared on Saladin. Raids by Asoka's elephants shrunk his empire to 5 core cities. Most of them fell, the last being Mecca. Being on a hill, coupled with masses of Archers, destroyed most of my stack. I retreated, sued for peace, then built a stack of Cats. But alas! Just before I captured Mecca, Frederick won the last city of the Byzantine Empire. It fell, just as the Vikings did to Peter and Elizabeth. So Phase 2 ended.
the playing field:
Mansa Musa
Frederick
Peter
Elizabeth
Louis
Genghis (conquered Tokugawa)
Asoka (conquered Indochinese barb cities, Indonesia)
Qin
Monty/Huayna
Phase 3 saw the mid-game. Up till now, Europe was dominating. But a series of wars would see to the end of that. Asoka, of all the people, issued a DoW! Against none other than Qin. Genghis joined in, and his territory was carved up. Asoka went up super-high in score. Settling Australia by him and Genghis had begun. Astronomy was the new "gotta-have" tech. I bribed Frederick to go after Elizabeth, who had a DP with Louis. Peter and Frederick teamed up against Elizabeth and Louis. Peter got Scandinavia, but Frederick was forced out of Europe to Asia Minor and the former Byzantine Empire. Louis survived, but barely. Monty settled all of North America, then declared on Huayna. I sent over a few Galleons full of Cavs and Rifles to mob Huayna. Conquered Peru, Brazil, and Venezuela. Monty got the rest. That was the end of Phase 3.
The players:
Mansa Musa
Asoka
Genghis
Monty
Frederick
Louis
Elizabeth
Peter (backwards, nearly as backwards as Monty)
By now, it was the 20th century. yep. I teched to Tanks, then massed em for a final stand. 30 Transports, 20 Destroyers. 120 Tanks reached for the East, bulldozing India, China, Mongolia, and Japan. The Asian Powers signed a PA (had the option enabled, but peacemaker and warmonger?!?!?!?!). I was all set for a Domination. Finished settling Africa, then set the Culture slider to 100%. I won a domination at 1920 AD.
Mansa Musa has one of the strongest positions in the entire scenario. 2 Settlers, 2 Workers, 13 Skirmishers, and barb cities to the West. So, I decided to try him out.
This is my tale:
Opened the game, and immediately conquered the western cities. I realized that since Saladin's AI was really tough, but also weak, I DoWed Saladin. Setting my research to the inexpensive Drama, I sent hordes of Skirmishers to the coast, where I conquered Tunis, Cairo, and the city in between. The barbarian city of Aksum fell as well. I sued for peace with Saladin, getting 1 Gold per Turn, 40 Gold, and a Peace Treaty. I made contact with Frederick, Louis XIV, Elizabeth, and Isabella. Traded for Compass and Metal Casting from Frederick and Elizabeth, horribly in my favor. I set my sights on Music. I tried to beg for techs; didn't work. Built an Explorer, and officially "settled" my second city. As the Explorer auto-explored, I built 3 more, signed an OB with Saladin (who was Pleased, btw), and contacted Asoka, Peter, Genghis. Doing pretty good for a late-start. Got more techs, like Machinery (from Saladin, for Music) and Optics. Began exploring and had made contact with a lot of Civs, all of them to be exact. But getting Optics was a boon. I used to trade for Engineering, Divine Right, and other high-power techs. I built Courthouses everywhere, and spammed Settlers till my culture extended across North Africa and to Lake Victoria to the south. Running 20% research, I focused on military. Isabella was duly conquered as I laughed maniacally. I built a stack of Pikes, Maces, et al, then captured Jerusalem. That alone brought in close to 100 gold per turn!
The playing field (by score)
Mansa Musa
Saladin
Frederick
Louis
Elizabeth
Peter
Qin
Asoka/Genghis/Tokugawa (close in score)
Monty/Huayna (fighting for last)
That was the end of Phase 1. Phase 2 began when I declared on Saladin. Raids by Asoka's elephants shrunk his empire to 5 core cities. Most of them fell, the last being Mecca. Being on a hill, coupled with masses of Archers, destroyed most of my stack. I retreated, sued for peace, then built a stack of Cats. But alas! Just before I captured Mecca, Frederick won the last city of the Byzantine Empire. It fell, just as the Vikings did to Peter and Elizabeth. So Phase 2 ended.
the playing field:
Mansa Musa
Frederick
Peter
Elizabeth
Louis
Genghis (conquered Tokugawa)
Asoka (conquered Indochinese barb cities, Indonesia)
Qin
Monty/Huayna
Phase 3 saw the mid-game. Up till now, Europe was dominating. But a series of wars would see to the end of that. Asoka, of all the people, issued a DoW! Against none other than Qin. Genghis joined in, and his territory was carved up. Asoka went up super-high in score. Settling Australia by him and Genghis had begun. Astronomy was the new "gotta-have" tech. I bribed Frederick to go after Elizabeth, who had a DP with Louis. Peter and Frederick teamed up against Elizabeth and Louis. Peter got Scandinavia, but Frederick was forced out of Europe to Asia Minor and the former Byzantine Empire. Louis survived, but barely. Monty settled all of North America, then declared on Huayna. I sent over a few Galleons full of Cavs and Rifles to mob Huayna. Conquered Peru, Brazil, and Venezuela. Monty got the rest. That was the end of Phase 3.
The players:
Mansa Musa
Asoka
Genghis
Monty
Frederick
Louis
Elizabeth
Peter (backwards, nearly as backwards as Monty)
By now, it was the 20th century. yep. I teched to Tanks, then massed em for a final stand. 30 Transports, 20 Destroyers. 120 Tanks reached for the East, bulldozing India, China, Mongolia, and Japan. The Asian Powers signed a PA (had the option enabled, but peacemaker and warmonger?!?!?!?!). I was all set for a Domination. Finished settling Africa, then set the Culture slider to 100%. I won a domination at 1920 AD.
