With many hills around the starting position, I though I could build 2 settlers before Collective Rule time.
So... I opened Honor.
Got 3 cities with monuments, libraries and granaries. Also built 2 caravans to food cargo the capital.
I got Sun god pantheon, it was CRAZY, until northern neighbor whiped it out.
Only then I started building a real army, starting with spearmen, because Dido Elephants are nasty. Delayed Construction until the time I had 7 archers.
Convinced Theodora to join the fight against Carthage, even then, It took a while.
Crossbows were necessary to take Carthage, then quickly moved north to attack Byzanthium, in a slow war. Things got easier when I started getting range promotions.
After Constantinople, Lisbon and Seul fell quickly (beetwen turns 140s and 150s), because range+logistics XBs are silly.
The naval game was not good.... I can only say the UA sucked
While crossbows were gaining ground, I was building a bunch of galeasses, to be upgraded to frigates ASAP.
I stole very few ships. I managed to steal 1 Quadrireme, 3 Sea Beggars and 3 SoTL, and a few Caravels, but I lost most of them immediately in the next AI turn.
ALL SoTL died like this... captured... then... dead on the AI turn. ALL of them
I also lost a few Caravels, because most of the times stealing failed, my ship would end in a bad, bad place.
In the end, I ended up producing most of my fleet myself. I'm sure it would be better if I simply ignored the UA...
Slow naval buildup made the war with Netherlands really slow. I captured one city,but I acturally had to wait my ground troops to finish Korea to make significant gains and take Amsterdam.
Same thing with England... ships captured one city, but it was the land army that won it.
After I got Arties, London and venice fell in less than 10 turns.
My tech path was roughly: Philosophy > Construction (delayed until 7 archers) > Machinery > Compass > Education > Metal Casting > Navigation > Industrialization > Dynamite
My SPs were: Honor (full) > Commerce (up to Mercantilism) > Rationalism (secularism) > Order > Exploration (just the opener, in the very end of the game).
City state game was SUPER bad. My spy died in the first coup attempt... over 80% success chance
.
Cape town was coup'ed by the AIs like... a lot. I had to dump too much money there, and my replacement spy had to stay the entire game there.
Could have finished a lot earlier, if my Naval game was better, and City state game was not so frustrating.
