COTM 10 Spoiler 1: Entering middle ages

COTM 10 Spoiler 1: Majority Map of staring continent, entering middle ages.

This is the first spoiler for COTM 10. To qualify to read or post in this spoiler, you must have satisfied the following conditions:

1. Be able to research a middle-age tech.
2. Have a map of all accessible parts of the starting continent.

Please do not post screenshots of anything that is not on the starting continent.

Please note that this game had workers fro goody huts instead of settlers. Did you get any workers? Is this a good option that should be considered in future games for (a) All games or (b) expansionist civs. Please don't let this discussion hijack this thread, so if you want to comment, you need to post your spoiler

For the most part, my early game was fairly boring, so this is going to be short.

I quickly found the Spices, Incense, and Gems and attempted to take control of these as fast as possible. My early exploration showed a ton of tundra up north, and grassland/plains (with rivers!) down south, so I mainly decided to screw the Northern section and instead just focused on moving my settlers south. I did end up building two cities to get the spices though, but other than that I left it alone. I quickly came into contact with the Russians, Chinese, and Koreans, but unluckily I wasn't able to get much from them. The Russians and Koreans got into a conflict in the late ancient age, and I started massing up forces to (hopefully) take advantage of Russia's distraction, but peace was declared before I managed to get enough troops.

The lack of iron killed me, as the Russians were able to take the only iron before I got there, I did however get the horse's, and most of the lux's on the continent. So I left the ancient age's massing horsemen up to upgrade later on, and with plenty of trade to Korea, China, and Japan.

---------------

I did manage to get a worker, didn't help me much though. It was 18 turns away from my cities and ended up getting killed by barbs before it got there.

Predator

I settled 2 west to get some BGs and forest.
Originally I planned to get some scouts out and then build a settler.
But when the second scout popped a worker near the capital, I changed to granary first.
So I founded:

3900 Karakorum
2390 Ta-Tu at the flood plain wheat
2150 Kazan coastal to the west
1725 Almarikh horsetown
1425 Tabriz
1350 Ulanbaatar
1250 Hovd

and my empire looks like this in 1000BC:



By that time I knew already everbody on the home continent by a brave curragh that made it to China and met a Jap unit there.

I did add:
875 Darhan
670 Dalanzagdad
650 Mandalgovi to open up the chinese wall



The highlight of the science was the philosophy->republic slingshot in 1225 followed by a 4-turn anarchy.
Bought construction in 510BC to enter the middle ages.
By that time the same little curragh had made another contact somewhere else in the world.

No hostilities in the AA, but that will change soon.

Darn, why didn't I think of that trick to open up the Wall?!

Open.

Entered the Middle Ages in 230BC, a turn before becoming a Republic (I got the slingshot but delayed my revolt because I planned on taking out Cathy and didn't really have the population to support both research, and a war).

I settled South, West, West of the start location.

Highlights of the Ancient Ages:

3850 Found Karakorum three turns after the start, Settler went S,W,W to get to the plains bounded by river. Not ideal, but it pulls in both BGs, avoids the Lake, and will be nicely productive late on.
3700 Hut 1: Maps
3450 First contact: Russia. No trades worth talking about.
3400 Hut 2: Warrior
3200 Hut 3: Maps. Contact with Korea, trade Pottery+WC for BW+Alphabet+29g. Start on Writing. Cathy has CB but won't take anything for it - and I'm up Pottery, WC, and lots of gold. I sell her WC for 10g.
2950 Discover the Great Wall of China! Complete with guards! Contact Mao, and Alphabet gets me CB and The Wheel.
2800 First Settler produced. Heads towards the Horses in the vicinity.
2670 Ta-Tu founded.
2510 Buy a Worker+6g from Russia for The Wheel
2230 Hut 4: 25g. Funny thing about this one, the Koreans had a wounded Warrior parked on a mountain right next to it - and could've popped it themselves!
1950 Finish Writing
1910 Writing nets Masonry, Mysticism, IW, and 50g from around the world. Only Russia is spared…. She tries to extort IW inter-turn, I call her bluff, she declares.
1725 Kazan founded.
1625 Sign peace with Cathy, getting Novogorod and 7g into the bargain. The only shot in anger was her capture of my Scout. Trade her IW+Writing for HBR.
1400 Almarikh founded.
1375 Code of Laws finished.
1350 Tabriz founded.
1175 Philosophy completed. Free tech Republic. No revolt as I'm about to go to war with Russia again.
1125 Declare on Russia. Ulanbataar founded, up in the hills. IT: Russia kills a Horse.
1075 There is an uber-Spear in Moscow: 3 Vet Archers manage to promote it to Elite, and redline it. Aaargh, the place is on a hill!!
1000 Well, if it weren't for the Hill of Moscow… I have 7 cities, including 1 Russian. I did have 5 Archers and 2 Horses… well I still have 2 Horses, but now only 1 Archer 4 Barracks, 1 Granary, 1 Curragh, 5 Warriors, 5 Workers, 1 Slave. 13 population, having just whipped a Spear in Novogorod. Didn't by MM from China before, and can't get it now. All AA techs apart from: Lit (5 turns away), Maths, Currency, Constr, Poly, MM, Monarchy. 16 gold, running at -gpt. MapStat QSC score: 4090.

1000BC pic:


950 Trade CoL for MM from Korea.
900 Sign peace with Cathy, this time she gets CoL, I get 4g. IT: <Civ1> complete the Oracle.
875 IT: Korea tries to extort HBR from me. I call his bluff, he goes away. Literature completed.
850 Sell Lit+Phil to China for Poly.
825 Hovd founded.
800 China suddenly has 183g. How? I get all of it for Republic. IT: Mao tries to extort some back. I send him packing, and he backs off.
690 IT: <Civ2> builds Colossus. Maths finished.
530 Darhan and Dalan founded.
470 Declare on Russia again.
450 The first Horse that attacks Moscow kills the annoying Elite Spear Moscow falls, lost 1 Horse. IT: Learn Currency.
410 Yekaterinburg razed, lost one Elite Horse.
390 St Petersburg razed, no losses, 2 slaves.
330 Mangdalovi founded.
290 Rostov razed, 3 slaves. Should've given Cathy Republic - she was whipping units and all the cities are size 1. Yaroslavl' razed, 1 slave. Russians dead. Revolt - 4-turn Anarchy.
270 Choyb founded by the former Russian Iron.
250 Gift Korea Republic. Not letting Wang get away with whipping his citizens away.
230 Finally an AI researches Construction - China. A straight swap for Currency sends us both into the MA - and here come the Barb hordes…. IT: Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many Barb horses plant themselves by Mangda:

"Don't worry, you won't feel a thing!"

...and one turn of the MA because I just hate to leave things unfinished:

210 Become a Republic, and splash the cash before the Barbs get it all. Embassies with the neighbours, rush some units and buildings. IT: The Barbs hit Mangda, and carry away 10 gold and wipe out 9 shields of production. Not bad to get rid of 20+ Barbs.

My plan: take out Korea, find out who the 'other mystery Civ' China knows is (I would find out in 230AD, when a Japanese Galley appeared out of the fog - my sailing attempts had all been thwarted by evil Barb Galleys), and deal with China. This has evolved into the plan to start a war vs. Japan and ally China against them. Should give me enough time to build up sufficient forces to crack open the wall. Klarius's pic has shown me the way, and I will be taking a Settler along with the combat party!

Neil.

I start by trying to maximize the removal of FOW on the first turn. I move the scout N then E, the worker goes S and the settler W. The next turn I go scout E and worker SW. Not seeing any bonuses and the limited grassland I decide to build my city on the hill.

I built another scout first and then a granary again because of the limited food. The extra scout helped me claim 5 GHs. Which provided me 2 techs, 2 map and some gold, no workers. I think this was a good change for this game. Had someone popped a city in one of the better food areas it could have been a game changing event.

I met the neighbors in the following order. RUS in 3200BC, CHN in 2900BC and KOR in 2550BC. I was active in my trading and actually managed to acquire the Wheel right before I produced my first settler. After scanning the visible map I saw that there was only 1 horse close to me so that is where I sent the first settler. I became a Republic in 1000BC.

QSC Summary
Republic
7 cities
14 pop
5 workers
1 scout (and 1 killed)
6 warriors
1 horse
1 barrack
2 granary
74 tiles

Techs
POT, WC - started
CB - 3150BC from GH
WHEEL, BW, ALPHA, MAS - 2550BC trades
MYST from GH
IW - 2230BC trade
WRIT - 1725BC learned
MATH - 1525 trade
HBR - 1450BC trade
COL - 1325BC learned
PHIL,REP - 1125BC learned and slingshot
MAPM - 1075BC

Rest of AA
925BC - haven't seen this in a while - KOR went for CURR before CONST
Trade: COL & PHIL to KOR for CURR and 11 gold
Trade: CURR to CHN for POLY

825BC - claimed the iron by RUS
775BC claimed an incense
690BC CHN learned CONST / trade CHN REP for CONST and 160 gold / then gift both KOR and RUS into MA and trade REP & 20 gold for MONO

I enter the Middle Ages with 9 cities.

Open class (and the barbs are, of course fixed. If you haven't fixed your barbs yet, get on the stick!)

4000 -- The scout moves south, revealing promising terrain to the west. So the worker moves west. It's good, but not great. I move the settler west, too.

3950 -- The scout moves west, then south. Our terrain is definitely hilly. I move the worker onto the BG, and send the settler west to settle between the two BGs.

3900 -- Karakorum is founded. I start researching Ceremonial Burial on max and building a granary. My worker starts mining and the scout moves south. He sees a goody hut on the mountain two squares west.

3850 -- As I make my way to the goody hut, I see incense. It's in the desert, though, so any city built to claim it could be seriously unproductive -- I like the incense, but I'm not sure I want an unproductive city as my second city. Maybe there are enough grasslands to the northeast to make it worthwhile.

3800 -- I pop the goody hut and learn Bronze Working. I see lots of plains and fresh water with which to irrigate, so I think my second city will be near the incense.

3450 -- A second goody hut (north-northwest of Karakorum) yields a worker. It would have been a settler if it wasn't for that pesky ainwood!

3400 -- Our scout finds spices. Unfortunately, there in the midst of tundra -- any city up there won't grow past size 2 until Map Making.

3300 -- I learn Ceremonial Burial and start on Alphabet.

3050 -- Now I see gems. I'm definitely not going to need any temples after the early game (I like to build them in the early stages no matter what in order to start building culture. After literacy, I use libraries for that purpose unless I need happiness).

2900 -- Another goody hut yileds 25 gold.

2710 -- Yet another Goody Hut. This time, I get Mysticism.

2510 -- My settler heads west, toward the mouth of the river. I meet Korea -- they have the Wheel and Alphabet, but not Ceremonial Burial. I sell Ceremonial Burial for Alphabet and 36 gold. I start minimal research on Writing.

2390 -- I meet Russia. I buy Masonry from them in exchange for Mysticism and 32 gold. Then I sell Masonry and Mysticism to Korea in exchange for the Wheel and 59 gold. There are horses near the incense -- that's my next stop. I also found Ta-Tu.

1950 -- Kazan is founded. There are lots of barbs around Kazan; I'm going to have to send a warrior down that way to clear them out.

1870 -- I meet the Chinese Wall Guard. What the heck is that!?! They have the same defense as regular spearman. Interesting ...

1830 -- It's time to boost my research back to max. I buy Iron working from the Chinese for 167 gold. The only iron in sight is near the Russians -- we're going to have to get a settler down there ASAP.

1575 -- My scout falls to barbarians. Alas, poor scout. You were a noble part of Mongol history.

1525 -- I learn writing. It's time for a decision: do I go for the Rpeublic slingshot or the Monarchy slingshot. I decide to research Polytheism to see if I can't get Monarchy for free.

1500 -- I found Almarikh on the iron and start building a barracks.

1475 -- Stupid warrior loses to a barbarian. Jerk.

1400 -- I found Tabriz near the gems and the BGs.

1000 -- Well, it's the end of the QSC period. Time to assess. I have:
6 cities
14 citizens (all content)
Horses and Iron (though the iron is not connected to my capital)
1 settler
4 workers
2 warriors
1 archer
7 spearmen
1 charriot
194 culture
All first tier techs, plus mysticism, writing, and iron working (and I'm 1 turn from polytheism)
3 contacts
2 embassies

Next stop: War with Russia, who were kind enough to build the Colossus for me and are hard at work on my pyramids.
3 % of the world area and 14% of the world population.

975 -- I finish Polytheism and start on Philosophy

950 -- Time to do some trading. First, I sell Polytheism to Korea for Map Making, Mathematics, and 126 gold. Then I sell Polytheism to China for Horseback Riding and 42 gold. I now have all available techs except Code of Laws and a good war chest.

730 -- I get Philosophy before any of the other Civs I've met, but apparently one of the unknowns beat me to it. Oh well. I start researching Monarchy on minimum.

410 -- Russia finishes the Pyramids in Moscow. I declare war, then pay 28 gold to drag Korea in on my side.

350 -- Moscow falls to my swordsmen.

10 AD -- I declare peace, extorting Code of Laws and Construction from Russia in the process. Russia has one city left; I'll leave them as a vassal, jump start them into a new age whenever possible, and trade for their free tech. Unless I get bored with them and finish them off. Meanwhile, it's time to start preparing to invade Korea.

50 AD -- I discovery Monarchy and trade it to China for Literature and Construction. I revolt, but it will be 5 turns before I make it to Monarchy. Meanwhile, I gift Russia into the Middle Ages, but when those ungrateful jerks get Engineering, they won't sell it to me (even though I have Monarchy, Literature and a bunch of gold). Hopefully, Korea won't wipe them out before I get a chance to buy it from them. Meanwhile, I start researching feudalism, which the Chinese and the Koreans already have.

1.22f - Open Class

I sent the worker west and the scout east. I saw the river square 2 west as my best option. I moved the settler there and settled in 3900BC. The worker mined the BG to east. I started out researching Alphabetic on max.

My initial builds were scout, scout, warrior, granary. The starting scout continued eastward. The second scout went SW. The third scout when north.

GH Results: map, worker, BW, warrior, (I lost track after that but nothing major after that execpt another tech the AI's already knew.) The worker took 15-20 turns to get home.

Contacts:
3650 BC - China
3500 BC - Russia
2750 BC - Koreans
1325 BC - Japanese

Pre-1000BC Techs:
3950 BC - Pottery; Warrior Code
3400 BC - Ceremonial Burial (trade)
3100 BC - Bronze Working (trade)
2750 BC - The Wheel (trade)
2630 BC - Masonry (trade)
2430 BC - Alphabet
2190 BC - Iron Working (trade)
1500 BC - Writing
1475 BC - Horseback Riding (trade)
1225 BC - Mathematics (trade)
1200 BC - Mysticism (trade)
1050 BC - Map Making (trade)

QSC:
5 Cities
12 Pop
2 settlers
6 workers (one from GH near east coast)
1 slave worker (korean trade)
5 warriors
5 archers
1 horseman
1 Curragh (+ 1 sunk)
2 granaries
3 barracks


I was trying for the Republic slingshot and missed it. I traded for philisophy only 2 turns after I started researching it. Since I wasn't going to get republic for free, I decided to go for Monarchy instead. I was planning on having lots of units and I didn't what to have issues with number of units I could afford.

Strategically, I had horses and incense nearby, spices to the north, gem and furs to the east and northeast. The nearest iron was close to Moscow but had not been claimed. I plopped a city 2 east next to fresh water.

Post-1000BC Techs:
925 BC - Code of Laws
875 BC - Philosophy (trade)
690 BC - Construction (trade)
590 BC - Polytheism
230 BC - Monarchy
170 BC - Currency (trade); The Republic (trade); Engineering (free)
150 BC - Literature (trade)

I built up 5 archers and 2 horsemen near Novgorod (east of moscow). In 730BC I declare war and began a 7 turn campaign against Russia. I auto-raze two cities, captured Moscow (Colossus) and got Yarislavl' for peace in 590BC. This left Russia with one city adjacent to Korean territory.

By the end of the AA, I had cities on or near all the resources. I had incense, spices, gems and iron connected. (For gems and incense I had used slave labor to create colonies rather settler in a bad spot or wait for border expansion.) I had contacts with all civs by then.

I was building a road to the fur city when the AA came to an end with massive barbarian uprisings. I had learned Monarchy in 230BC and was still in the middle of a 6 turn anarchy. I had traded my way in and wan't prepared for the numbers otherwise I would have waited. (see picture).



In addition, to the barbs shown there were another dozen in the northeast that showed up. With most of my units down south near the Russian and Koreans, I had to leave cities undefended. I struggled to find ways to spend money I gained as I continued to trade over the next few turns. I lost one worker when I guessed wrong on which way to move. I allowed the northern barbs to pillage my capitol, lossing all but one pop there. Otherwise all I lost was a couple hundred gold. Both my unescorted settlers were able to reach their destinations and found cities. The one in the south, established his city just in time. Most of the 24 barbs next door stopped in to look a the new digs.

Not my best AA but good enough.

I don't much care for getting a worker, I mean its better than a "skilled warrior" but in this game and this poor start I was disbanding warriors and quickly dispatched my scouts once they were done. Although, as fortune would have it all the huts in the nearby area seemed to be around luxuries, perhaps that was intentional? I got a worker near the incense so I did road that back to Karak. If I had gotten one from further away I would have just colonized whatever luxury was nearby.


All my local civs were tight fisted with their techs, so I gained next to nothing popping huts, I got bronze for instance. I eventually worked deals between the first 3 and easily got ahead in tech, but expansionist has been nullified adequately.

I began with Wheel, although I figured it could be possible to pop it. But other than gotm2 I don't recall a game where huts have been unmodified. And this game as well, but I think in a different direction. Cathy had 4-5 techs when I met her and this was with my second scout so thats about turn 10-15, she must have been surrounded by huts. Although it was pretty sparse, only about 4 in the immediate vicinity, and then 2 or 3 more futher out.

Anyway my game plan was Horses ASAP, and then Monarchy. Horses so I can get them claimed and begin churning out my forces. I'll be upgrading them later but for now my plan was to let the AI generate settlers for me. Beginning with Wheel and after building 3 scouts I began my settler. Then settled Ta-Tu by the horses and lake (Wheel had completed by then), starting with barracks this town was generating horses thru out the AA and into the MA.

I stunted Russia and Korea early (before 800 BC) so they did nothing much after the initial stages. I only kept them around to get their free techs. Which worked well enough, although with 3 needed techs and only two civs you have to plan differently. At any rate thats beyond the MA so all thats left is the screenshot below showing my progress at ~1000BC.


Edit:
Oh yeah forgot, my early war with Russia, when I captured Moscow, yielded me 3 of her cities when we agreed to peace. (I later got 3 from Korea, although I had to take her capital and raze two other cities to get that good of a deal.) Also, its hard to see on the map since her city is on an uncovered spot on the map just southeast of her old cities. If you remember that location, she settled on the cattle. :/

I entered the MA in 450BC. I used the Philosophy acceleration to get back on the tech pace using Philosophy, Code of Laws, and later The Republic to trade almost into the middle ages. It was amazing that I got it first. That helped a lot.

I really did not find the map that hard at the beginning. That may be because of the difficulty level. I was not bothered by having no Iron, as I never built a single unit that required Iron in the entire game. Having horses was enough. Also, there were 6 luxury resources on the West side of the 'Great Wall.' I only had 2 hooked up by the MA (Gems and Incense), but two more were close by (although surrounded by tundra). The other two were by the Koreans. True, it would take a while to get them back to my capitol, but I would probably not need them until a little bit later anyway. In addition, getting these last two would also get me the Korean Iron as well.

By the MA I had the Russians on the ropes (they were trying to come back, but it was too late). I had captured 2 Korean towns, and their capitol was about to get smashed. I got to The Republic around 500BC, which led to some high costs to support troops, but it was worth it for the added trade. I am happy to support productive workers and horsemen. I tried to get rid of warriors where I could, but with the barbarians it was hard.

The hardest parts of this map were the barbarians (obviously), and getting my capitol connected to my towns in the south-east lush areas. It took longer than I wanted, but by using two Russian workers captured from a settler, I was able to speed the process by making colonies (with the free roads that come with them) on the Gems. The Gems, Incense, and Horses were enough to get horsemen out early and take contol of the West.

The best part of the whole AA was the volcano that blew away a Russian town.

Predator,going for20K
My start was very slow as i have chosen capital as my 20Kcity.i didn't manage republic slingshot couse i was afraid of being not first to philo(other civs learned writing very early so i researched philo and took lit),then went on rep getting it in about 300BC..Entered ma in early AD's
Culture buildings in my capital:
3900BC Palace,
3000BC Temple,
1000BC Great library,
875BC Library,
10AD Hanging Gardens(after i lost pyramids),
30AD Colosseum
This is my first 20K culture attempt so the victory date should be crappy i guess..In MA's i will start few wars and i will be trying to get as much territory as possible for maximizing my score

First time GOM – nervous posting my mistake riddled attempt – my Monguls would have benefited from having a Kublai Khan to lead them

Open, barb fix on

Start – philosophy was to find enough food to est city, then find horses to upgrade to Keshicks, then go conquer the world.
Settler move S then worker W, scout E – looks better to W
2nd settler move NW to max grassland availability, send scout E in search other productive lands and GHs, build capital
Initial builds – scout, scout, warrior, granary
Research writing, pottery, phil -> free map-making
Scouts pop GHs for CB, 2 workers (wish they were settlers – 2 bonus cities would have been a great start and IMO reward for playing to my civs traits), several gold and I think one other tech
Mistake made in joining 1 worker to capital -> size 3 with no MP -> disorder!!
Met Russia almost immed with 2nd scout going SW – they wouldn’t trade CB for pottery and all my gold, met Koreans shortly after and traded for BW, and others I didnt note.
Met China at great wall and traded Masonry
Also traded for IW, wheel, horse, maths with my phil, MM
Research currency (trade for poly), CoL, construction -> MA in 650BC but no optional techs so plan for what may be radical move of going into feudalism (seems good to me – aiming for large no. small towns which should support large army of Keshiks provided I keep wars short – we shall see)

Cities
3900 Karakorem after settler moves S then NW
2550 Ta Tu 2 tiles W and 1 S of capital on hill to open up to productive land to W
1525 Kazan 3 tiles E of capital on forest to max all those lovely BGs
1450 Almarick in SW between horse and incence – note need to defend well as lux + my most important strategic resource
1150 Tabris plains tile SW of SW-most gems – gem city
750 Ulaambaatar on tile immed E of fish on W coast – setter and worker producer (I’M sure experienced players would make this a settler factory but despite reading the good oil, I remain in the dark)
670 Tabriz destroyed – see below…

Battles
Barbs to N good for promoting archers and later horses to elite
First war approx 1200BC Russia demands MM – I refuse, Russia declare
I send small army of 2 elite archers, spear and vet horse to Russian town on river SSE of Almarack (incence town) – lost to 2 reg spears – killed one, red lined 2nd, but all I had left was spear.
War of attrition goes on with pesky Russians with no major damage to either side other than big distraction from major picture until 730BC China demands construction. I of course refuse so China joins Russia in alliance against Mongols. I should note that I had tried to get Korea and China into war against Russia, but had forgotten to est embassies! ( I did not make this mistake in my later war)
Whilst Russia harried me from the W, China kept attacking from the E.
Eventually I made a mistake moving vet spear out of Tabriz to defend worker hooking up my gems only to leave elite warrior as lone defender with Chinese elite warrior perched on mountain above. Goodye Tabriz – a major blow to my esteem as the Monguls lose 1/6 of their cities in 1 careless stroke.
The war continued on with Kazan touch and go but remained mine until I settled for peace in 300BC with payment to Russia and China and loss of much pride. (I noticed Russia have hooked up their iron).

So at 650 BC I found myself entering the MA embroiled in war with 2 stronger militaries. I possess only 5 cities containing 3 graneries, 3 barracks, no culture other than palace. Units consist of 7 spears, 2 archers, 4 horse and 3 workers (one purchased from Koreans). From this bleak beginning, this Mongul general needs to lift his game or risk execution from his long suffering subjects.

My apologies for no screen shots – I am struggling as it is just to manage a post – perhaps I might attempt a screenshot in the future.

Curious how some of you solved problems. But first some comments on the game.

1. the great wall was neat, but it's existence threw me for a bit until I figured out Russia and Korea were more important than China.

2. Map was balanced. The horrible start and few good food tiles was balanced by availability of luxs.

3. Iron limitation was interesting and not a problem.

4. With mods, difficulty level is about right.

5. I hate raging barbs.

Ok, here is where I had problems and am interested in hearing how you solved them.

A- slow growth.
By 190bc I only had 9 cities, only one was normal with some grassland. With tundra to the north, desert to south and little inbetween, how did you get started with effective cities? By the time I figured out what I should have done it was middle MA. Just curious how you solved this problem.

B- Civ mix
Mongols are ok to play with, but expansion trait is a pain. Other trait, mil is ok, but with 3 other civs also being mil it's value is greatly disminished. With the slow city start, it is hard to afford the UU. What did you do to gain an advantage,i.e., what strength did you emphasize?

PF

Predator, fixed barbarians

No timeline, so no extensive spoiler.

Settled 1 W. produced 3 scouts then a settler. Had louzy GH luck (maps and one tech: CB. no workers). Had an early (defensive) war with China which cost me one of my two veteran archers, versus 2 archers and 3 warriors lost for Mao. Republic slingshot was succesful.
Entered the MA in 750BC', controlling the northern 3rd of the subcontinent, knowing all 4 rivals on the starting landmass. Gifted Russia and Korea into the MA but they didn't want to trade their free techs for republic and literature...
Uprisings brought two hordes of 24 horseman each (one from the north and one from the south). They all sacked empty towns, taking 9 gold and destroying maybe 10 produced shields in total...
I have horses and 4 luxuries.
Next up: research up to chivalry. Upgrade my horses to Keshiks, followed by a Genghis Khan like conquest (I hope )

Sent my scout west and see that there are lands to settle on. I move my settler also west to
settle the next turn. Moved worker towards the closest BG to mine and road. Started max research on Alphabet. I see there are 3 other civs that have it but take no chances. I start granary immediately.

For exploration I went south and met both Korea and Russians. I popped four huts, for one tech + gold + map + warrior. No workers, unfortunately. But also true I forgot to follow the rule not to produce settler while popping.

I meet Russia and Korean around 3400BC. I trade for alphabet and bronze working.

What?? China really has the Great Wall. And huge spears guarding it. This can be interesting

Trade Masonry from China in 2900BC.
Trade the Wheel from Korea in 2900BC.
Trade for a worker from China in 2850BC.

Writing discovered in 2230BC.

Trade for Mysticism and Iron Working in 2190BC. I have to give Writing, so a slight risk but on this level it will still be more than possible to get the Republic slingshot.

Code of Laws discovered in 1625BC.

Trade for Horseback Riding in 1550BC. Trade for Mathematics in 1525BC.

Discover Philosophy and free Republic in 1400BC. Pull 3 turns. I decide I dont need Literature yet. I think research will be less urgent on this large continent. So I start currency instead.

Trade for Mapmaking in 1300BC.

Discover Currency in 1000BC.

QSC stats:
7 small villages
14 population
3 settlers
3 native workers
3 slaves (purchased)
1 curraghs
7 vet warriors
3 granary

I have 5 contacts.

Missing Construction and Polytheism to get to Middle Ages. Intend to let the AI research them for me.



In 925BC the Russians build a city just where I wanted one of mine. I have one elite warriors just next to the Russian city so I kiss my rep goodbye (dont think I will need it) and destroy the town who was only protected by a conscript warrior. I make an alliance with Korea so they can fight between them. I secretly hoped for a leader, but no.

In 825BC my other elite warrior meets a Russian warrior and kills him and spawns what I think to be the earliest leader I ever had. Now what to do with him? C3C armies are so efficient but FP would be very useful as well. It is true that conquest is my goal, but since I have no real army now and still in the phase of peaceful expansion I will build FP. Hopefully will not regret it.

In 800BC I give peace to Russia for 3 of its towns.

I trade Construction from Chinese in 730BC.

I build FP in 630BC next to the gold on middle of continent.

In 610BC someone finally discovers Polytheism and we enter MA after trading for it. I have carefully made sure there are no barb camps in the unsettled tundra north of capital. Uprising is not my idea of good fun.

My first age went well. I expanded and did an archer, catapult, horse rush on Russia. I captured the pyramids and the colossus in moscow. Then I decided to attack china next. I should have attacked korea first. But the first age went well.

PREDATOR

Militaristic and Expansionists Mongols are the good explorers and soldiers so the early war is their element. But this map with only 60% of water gives us the large territory and different civs are placed far from each other. And our starting position doesn’t look good. After some thoughts I decided to find the settling place first and further choose the strategy.

As I wrote in pre-game discussion I move worker to W first. He revealed some grasslands end plains. Scout moved E. The terrain is looked worse and I move my settler W. Next turn I moved settler W again and settled in 3900BC. As I can see on space screen we have 4 other Asiatic civs: China, Korea, Japan and Russia (mixed Europe and Asia). These civs know all interesting techs and map specific looks like we all placed on the same continent (I hoped) so I disabled research and decided to get contacts ASAP. My capital produced second scout first and he moved S because I settled in the north part of our continent.

My worker moved on BG grassland near forest and started mine. First scout moved E and after reaching the coast S. In 3750BC he opened the first hut and got worker (Hi ainwood!). Further he was going SE then SW direction. In 3600BC he met China’s wall guard. I think it’s new special unit for China in this game. They placed on the fortified mountains and can’t move. I decided I can’t win against them in AA and go away.

My second scout found the next hut and also got worker. Both new worker moved to the capital and started improve the lands and chop the forest. My first worker joined the city after mining and road BG tile. This way I build my first settler in 3250BC. He moved W and found Ta-Tu in 3100BC on the coast near the fish. Next building was granary. I slightly risked with no defense but all were good. Granary was completed in 2710BC, warrior in 2630BC. Further Karakorum built 3 settlers and 6 warriors then switched to ToA prebuild. These settlers went SE and E direction and Kazan founded near the wheat started pump other settlers. Ta-Tu’s settler founded Almarikh near the horse.

My first scout opened 3-d hut on the SE and got warrior. They continued exploring south. Much later I opened my last 4-th hut and got maps.

I met Russia in 3550BC and Korea in 3300BC. At this moment I traded for Alphabet and started researching Writing. I learned Writing in 2270BC, Code of Low in 1625BC and Philosophy with Republic in 1450BC.

All went well and peacefully. I decided not fight early (my enemies were too far) and concentrated on the settlers pumping. But Russia had its own opinion. In 1750BC Russian warrior is going to the south from north exploring attacked my capital! I had a single warrior in the city (across the river) and lucky win this battle. After several minutes of thinking I’m choosing not rush the military and wait for Russian. In 1550BC I saw 2 Russian archers walking to Kazan. I immediately started peace negotiations. In our war I had advantage (1 warrior) and Russia gave me 2 pop-rushed towns (St.Petersburg and Novgorod). I switched it to scientists for a while.

I couldn’t meet Japan for a long time (975BC) and began thinking ainwood placed Japan on the island as in real world. But finally my curragh from Almarikh found it.

After 3 turns of Anarchy I formed Republic and began research Literature with average speed. I need many cash for settler rushing and claiming the map. Because our starting region haven’t enough place for settling I decided to build the wonders in my 2 main cities (Ta-Tu also have granary). After trading Polytheism from Russia my prebuilds were finally switched to the real wonders: ToA in Karakorum and Pyramids in Ta-Tu. I go to 100K in this game and this 2 wonders seems to me are very helpful for this purpose. I not decided yet switch or not to Feudalism later (for pop-rushing buildings). It’s my first 100K game and I’m not sure what the way is better. Now I decide to stop science before Education for keep ToA effect.

After Literature I started Currency and got it in 730BC. At this time Korea researched Construction but I delayed trading because I want to clear barbs camp for preventing its massive arrival. I entered MA in 650BC. Korea got Monotheism and Russia (gifted) Engineering. It’s not best and I started Theology for future exchange with Korea’s Feudalism (I successfully traded Republic and Literature for AI’s free techs ).

Like klarius I founded city near the China’s wall but not free it yet.
I entered in MA with 20 cities and 42 pops.


In 1000BC I had:
15 cities (2 from Russia for peace),
32 pop,
1 curragh,
4 workers + 3 slaves (by trade),
12 warriors,
2 granaries, 3 barracks.

All AA techs except Construction, Currency and Monarchy.
Contact with Russia, Korea, China, no embassies.

My world in 1000BC:

MiniMe said:

I have carefully made sure there are no barb camps in the unsettled tundra north of capital. Uprising is not my idea of good fun.

Click to expand...

I wish I had. I cleared the NW and had expected RUS & KOR to have taken care of the other camps in the desert area. Well, I got hit by the full force of 3 camps. I absorbed about 60 attacks. I'll leave the details for the next spoiler.

Open, barbs fixed.
Initial moves
I tried to maximize explored tiles because I thought the start would only give us a trail to follow (i thought the game would be just like heading west, but maybe that's because I'm european. I didn't thought about going for China...). I moved worker W, scout E and finally settler S. I settled SE of the western isolated moutain. My build was scout, warrior, granary.

Exploration
I popped BW and an early worker, but i didn't use it well (took it back to my cities instead of trying to link the lux, because I thought that roading through the hills would be so long).
Got contact with Russia in 3500BC, and in 3200BC I was very surprised by the Chinese wall. That was an excellent idea ! I couldn't trade anything until I made contact with Korea in 2950BC (Alpha, Masonry, the wheel)
I made contact overseas in 530BC and 450BC.

Expansion policy
I tried to rush south east to the fertile plains. I thought that the civ which could manage to conquer this land would get a major push for domination in this continent, because it would be an interface between every civs, and it seemed to be the most powerful economically (food is scare elsewhere).
My problem was the lack of food of the starting position, and the long distance to the spot. I had to delay my establishment in the north, risking other civs to take the luxs. It also took me a little too long to connect luxuries.

Evil military plans
I didn't build a very powerful army, so I was blackmailed twice in the MA, both of them I rejected and was declared war on thereafter.
The first time it was the Chinese, it has been hot (a defending elite warrior vs warrior and archer was a key point of my game), but I didn't suffer from it eventually.
The second time it was the Russians, but I planned to attack them because they had iron and their cities perfectly fitted my plan.
My war goes OK, few losses, units massing to take peripheral Russian cities. But then Moscow completes the Great Wall, and my plans go bad. I have to make peace with them and gain one town.
I now want to take on China, who planted cities in the north and secured all the furs. I therefore start building my horsemens.

Situation assessment
Rather good. I don't have any overpowerful rival, they are all nearly equal. The Russians are under control, and my next target is China, which will prevent them from making good use of their riders. Korea will be my scientific engine for a time, and then the target following China.
As usually, I don't really have chosen a victory condition, I wonder if I should lowerize my score to get some ribbon (think I'll get one in last COTM), or take another goal. We'll see.

Dynamic said:

In 1000BC I had:
15 cities (2 from Russia for peace),
32 pop,
1 curragh,
4 workers + 3 slaves (by trade),
12 warriors,
2 granaries, 3 barracks.

Click to expand...

This is simply amazing. Even thinking about all the things I could have done differently there is no way I could have had stats like this. How did you manage to handbuild 13 cities by 1000BC? Do you think it was related to the early worker you got that allowed you to get out a settler very early? Do not hesitate to give us your secrets ...

1.22f

didnt take detail note,
go for 20k cultrue.

Start with settler W and worker SW, scout S

3950BC Karakorum

built 3 scouts --> Temple(2850BC) --> Ganary --> Settler --> The Oracle(1200BC) --> Library(950BC) --> The Great Library(490BC) --> the Mausoleum of Mausollos(310BC)

1700BC Ta-Tu
1250BC Kazan

Contact:
Russia --> Korean --> China

Tech:
CB100% --> Writing100% --> CoL100% --> Philosophy100% --> Repulic(1225BC free) --> Literature --> Construction(190BC entered MA)
got other techs by trade and the Great Library and huts

WAR:
China declare war on us in AA! but it cost a lot of time to send some worrior to our capital, we only some archer and a spearman fortify near the great wall. luckilly, we got a Great Leader in this war.

By 1000BC:
Republic
3 cities
13 pop
1 worker
3 archers
1 worrior
1 spearman
1 Granary
1 Temple
The Oracle