*UN*-Crowded Map, Huge 1-Opponent Emperor

Puppeteer's Un-Crowded Map Log
NoAIpatrol=0 (oops, I later discovered I did NOT have fixed barbs)
Helpers: CivAssist II and smiley-modded popHeads

Replay of the first 80 turns of a game I started in 2005. At the time there were a number of huge, crowded games in Stories and Tales and succession games, and I toungue-in-cheek started a one-opponent huge map.

C3C
Difficulty: Emperor
Map size: Huge
Opponents: One (In this replay I know it's Greece, and he's closer than expected for a huge 2-player map)

Barbs: Restless
Pangea 60% Water
Climate: Normal
Temperature: Temperate
Age: 5 Billion
Civ: France. Commercial & industrious. Because expanionist and agricultural feel like cheating and I like fast workers and reduced corruption.
Rules: Default except culturally linked start loc is turned off
AI Aggression: Normal
World Seed: 1377781828

It's been a long time since I played this save from 4000 BC, but I recently read my thread so I know the general shape of the then-explored pre-1000 BC lands, and I know about where Greece's border is. I know generally what to expect in my core lands, but I didn't absorb enough to remember exact city placement. I know there are no horses in the area explored by 1000 BC in the first game.

I think I can scout as if I didn't know the approximate shape of 1/4 of the world, and I don't think my city placement choices will be spoiled, but the knowledge of the opponent Greece, his approximate location and the lack of early horses will unavoidably shape some research and strategy choices. (I recall reading about having only one luxury, but I don't recall where it is on the map.)

But in my mind the key to this game is still to outgrow the opponent to nullify his Emperor production and research advantage and ultimately his unit support advantage. And I don't think my spoiler knowledge will help me grow the empire more quickly, so I will find out what I want to know: can I grow more quickly now than 8 years ago?

One thing I didn't realize before is how scarce resources will be. As another poster noted, random epic games know how many players there are and provide resources based on how many civs there are, so all resources are very scarce in this game!

My default government strategy then and now is to head for Republic, but in this game I dont see much point in not attacking him as soon as I have the ability and advantage to do so and pressing until I win. So Monarchy makes more sense.

Turn 0, 4000 BC: Last time I settled in place, on top of a bonus grassland. I don't usually waste an uncorrupted BG like that, and I won't this time, either. I would still get the commerce bonus if I settle on one of the tobacco tiles, but the layout of the rivers suggests 1NE will net more riverside tiles. It's also one tile closer to the center of the map, but I'm not sure that's as big a deal on a map this size. Move settler NE and start mine w/worker.

Turn 1, 3950 BC: Found Paris -> warrior, get maps from the hut which gives me a pretty darn good view of my surroundings for city planning! Three cows, wheat, a gold hill and a bunch of BGs are unfogged in my first-ring space. First city site might be 2W.

Research thoughts: I only have one trading partner, as does he. He starts with BW and Alpha; I start with Masonry and Alpha. I expect to meet him by 1000 BC based on last game. I think I'll research Writing and then Math for trade value when I meet him as I expect him to go for the other first-level techs first and then either grab Iron or Myst. After I meet him it's a beeline to Monarchy, and I might even manage a Monarchy slingshot; we'll see. Research Writing at minimum since max doesn't make a difference.

Great Wonder thoughts: I usually shun wonders, but in this game it's either him or me, and do I really want to face a world where all the enemy cities have granaries and barracks? Pyramids I want, and I have the tech for a head-start. Ivory is probably rare enough where only one of us will have a shot at SoZ. He can have Oracle which I don't care for and Colossus which I probably don't have a good spot for and for which he will have a huge head start. GLH is useless as is GLib in this game. I don't care for GW, but I'm not sure I want him to have it. MoM, who cares. Hanging Gardens may be worth going for, and even ToA may be worth it for auto-border-pops until Education, and I'm not sure this game makes it to Education. So, Pyramids and Hanging Gardens are priorities (unless we're at war during THG construction in which case I have other priorities), GW depending on the strategic situation and ToA if convenient. And if I have Ivory, SoZ if convenient. *Maybe* I'll consider Oracle if I think I'll have both it and ToA and I'm looking for stuff to build. I'll look at MA wonders when I get there.

Turn 4, 3800 BC: Worker mine -> road.

Turn 5, 3750 BC: Paris war -> war. Name him Sly. The hut game me maps enough where I feel good about my second city spot, so he will scout onward. We are in the SW quadrant of the map, so he will go N to the mountain and then scout E.

Turn 6, 3700 BC: Worker road -> W to river BG and towards 2nd city site.

Turn 7, 3650 BC: Worker starts mine.

Turn 9, 3550 BC: Paris war -> war. Name him Ug. I will send him a bit S and then E and might angle Sly to the NE. C3C crashes! What's up with that? At least it was easy enough to redo my moves.

Turn 10, 3500 BC: Sly finds a coastline and a forest deer. He will go N and Ug will scout the fog to Sly's S / empire's E.

Turn 11, 3450 BC: Borders pop, Paris size 2. Lux to 10%, reassign citizens. Worker mine -> road.

Turn 12, 3400 BC: Paris war -> war. Name him Shifty. Shifty will scout N. Ug is re-tasked to scout around the S cow to determine future city placement.

Turn 13, 3350 BC: Worker road -> NW to next city site, will road to save the settler a turn.

Turn 14, 3300 BC: Paris war -> wealth, queue settler. (7 turns to grow at 5spt). This warrior will move to the 2nd city spot. Worker starts road. Ug spots coastline SW. Sly spots diamonds and more deer to the NE.

Turn 15, 3250 BC: Paris wealth -> settler. Shifty spots hut.

Turn 16, 3200 BC: Hmmm. Worker finishes road; I want that cow irrigated asap. Guess I'll irrigate the tile I'm on so I can start the cow before the settler arrives, but I think I may be wasting a few turns. Change Paris to barracks temporarily. Shifty busts hut, disturbs 3 warriors. Paris back to settler.

IT: Barbs fortify. It's still the grace period I guess.

Turn 17, 3150 BC: Shifty attacks the barb on the hill, wins redlined.

Shifty attacked by barb, wins and promotes to 2/4.

Turn 19, 3050 BC: Worker irrigation, move to cow. Shifty gets brave at 3/4 and steps next to remaining barb. Sly spots another hut.

Turn 20, 3000 BC: Shifty fortifies to heal and tempt barb. Temp change Paris to rax. Sly busts hut, disturbs 3 barbs. Paris back to settler.

IT: Sly fends off a barb unhurt.

Turn 21, 2950 BC: Paris settler -> war. Shifty attacks barb, wins unhurt. Sly attacks barb, wins unhurt. The warrior that was going to the 2nd city site has wandered NW and figures he might as well keep going that way; name him Stumpy. Lux to 0.

Turn 22, 2900 BC: Found Orleans -> settler. Cow irrigation will finish at end of this turn. Shifty spots another hut.

Turn 23, 2850 BC: Worker irrigated cow -> road. Ug spots a hut. Sly attacks barb, wins redlined. Military advisor reports tribes near Orleans.

Turn 24, 2800 BC: Shifty pops hut, gets *Ceremonial Burial*!

Turn 25, 2750 BC: Paris war -> war. This one will guard Orleans and the worker. Change Orleans to rax (forgot to do this last hut bust), Ug busts hut, disturbs 3 warriors. Orleans -> settler. Worker road -> move to river BG by Orleans. Stumpy finds W coast.

IT: Ug fends off 1 barb, at 2/3.

Turn 26, 2710 BC: Orleans size 2, war defends and MP's. When Ug attacks, wins at 2/3.

IT: RIP Ug, killed by a barb who his hurt and on the loose and extremely dangerous. Well, mildly annoying, anyway.

Turn 27, 2670 BC:

Turn 28, 2630 BC:
Turn 29, 2590 BC: Paris war -> war. Name him Son of Ug. He will avenge his father's death and make the SE lands slightly safer.

Turn 30, 2550 BC: Son of Ug, taking a different route than his father, spots his own fateful hut 3E of Paris which also seems to be a good future city site. Worker mine -> road. MM Orleans to use the new mined BG so Paris has two mined BGs when it grows next turn. Shifty spots hut. I feel like I forgot something, but everything looks good.

IT: Wealthiest nations report: French over Greeks.

Turn 31, 2510 BC: Paris size 2. Lux to 10%. Son of Ug busts hut, gets barbs.

IT: Son of Ug fends off 1 barb unhurt. Reminding myself the barb that killed Ug is still to the SE of Paris somewhere.

Turn 32, 2470 BC: Orleans settler -> worker. Paris war -> war. SoU attacks, wins unhurt, promotes to veteran and stands face to face with the barb that killed his father. Shifty busts hut (no settler builds going right now), 3 angry barbs. Change mind on Orleans -> settler. Settler and war head N towards wheat near river. Paris war moves to cover Orleans. Worker completes road, will start roading to southern cow.

Turn 33, 2430 BC: "My name is Son of Ug. You killed my father. Prepare to die:" father is avenged, SoU is at 2/4. Shifty attacks, wins and promotes 3/5. Change my mind on covering Orleans and send war back to Paris to put lux back to 0. I have enough warning to cover orleans if I see a barb since there are no barb horsemen yet.

Turn 34, 2390 BC: Paris war -> wealth, queue settler. Um, I guess I can send one to Orleans now. Found Lyons -> worker.

IT: Shifty fends off a barb, still at 3/5.

Turn 35, 2350 BC: Paris wealth -> settler. I forgot to check F11 before founding Lyons, but I am guessing I got my city #3 down before Greece did. MM Lyons for food.

It is now occuring to me that my first two and my next 1-3 cities will be food-rich and not making warriors between settlers and workers. I may need to switch Paris over to exclusively military sooner than I had planned. On the other hand, I only have barb warriors to worry about. I'll build at least one more settler from Paris.

Turn 37, 2270 BC: SoU returns to the last barb he popped from the hut and attacks, wins and promotes 2/5. Sly spots hut.

Turn 38, 2230 BC: Change settler builds temporarily, Sly busts hut, learns *Pottery*! Builds back to settlers.

Turn 40, 2150 BC: Shifty attacks the last barb from his last hut pop, wins unhurt.

Turn 41, 2110 BC: Paris settler -> barracks. Lyons size 2. Settler/war heading 4N by cow.

Turn 42, 2070 BC: Orleans settler -> settler. Lyons worker -> settler. New settler will go to S cow.

Turn 44, 1990 BC: Decide to move settler 1S of where I originally had in mind for him; less crowding of Paris and 2 hills for the future. Greece has a 3rd city in F11.

Turn 45, 1950 BC: Found Rheims -> settler. Found Tours -> settler. I am really, really thin on military. Shifty spots hut. SoU was sort of heading back to Paris but now realizes he needs to scout the SE wheat first.

I have periodically tested research levels, and even at 14gpt I can't shorten Writing research time.

Turn 47, 1870 BC: Don't bother with switching settler builds as Shifty is too far to reasonably, safely escort a settler back. Shifty busts hut, surprise! 3 warriors. Sly spots hut. Shifty attacks, wins at 4/5.

IT: Shifty is redlined by a barb, next in line steps up.

Turn 48, 1830 BC: Shifty fortifies. Sly busts hut, 3 barbs.

IT: Sly fends off 1 barb, Shifty is killed by the last barb from his last hut.

Turn 49, 1790 BC: Sly attacks, dies. I just lost the NE scouts.

Turn 50, 1750 BC: Lyons and Rheims to size 2. Lux to 20%.

IT: Stumpy sees greek hoplite/settler (correction: warrior, not settler) pair move from S to N which is odd considering the areas around there that I've already scouted. Learn *Writing*. Go to big picture since I just met Greece, apparently. Alex has 3 cities (besides his capital), Bronze Working and The Wheel. Trade him Masonry for *Bronze Working* and 3g. He does not have IW but does have The Wheel. Will wait and establish an embassy before more trading.

Turn 51, 1725 BC: Embassy with Greece for 63g: nothing of interest except a lack of horses. It turns out that's a hoplite/warrior pair. They must be hunting barbs. Set research to MapMaking--the most expensive tech available--and hope Alex will research what I want to trade for. I'm thinking he'll grab either IW, WC or Myst and hopefully not self-reearch Writing. Hmm, research makes a difference now, but I'll still research at minimum and stockpile cash for trades.

I just have Alex the tech for Pyramids. He's not wonder-building yet, but he has quite a production advantage. Ok, I'm going to switch Paris from barracks to Pyramids and press the farmer's gambit until I get a couple of production (non-food-bonus) cities. Mil advisor still says there's a tribe near Orleans, so I have a pretty good idea of where it is and a good idea that my East is clear for now.

Turn 52, 1700 BC: Orleans settler -> settler.

Turn 54, 1650 BC: Greece has Iron Working. Give him Writing and 344g for *Iron Working* and *The Wheel*. We are at tech parity, briefly. I see no iron or horses in the explored world, but there is still a fair amount of fog in my core areas. I started the game strong with scouting warriors, but they've either died or are stuck on city defense, so I'm behind on nearby scouting.

Turn 56, 1600 BC: Rheims settler -> settler. I have to send city defenders out to scout the next city sites to the W/SW.

Turn 57, 1575 BC: Lyons settler -> settler. Lux to 10%.

Turn 58, 1550 BC: Ah, there are the barbs from the tribe. 1 in camp and two stepped towards my warrior, but I'm on the other side of the river, hehe. I'm curious to see if they charge the settler next turn even though they shouldn't be able to see it. Found Marseilles -> settler. Stumpy busts a hut, disturbs three angry Vandal warriors.

IT: 2 barbs attack across river and die, promoting war to 3/4. 1 Vandal barb dies attacking Stumpy. Most powerful nation report: Greece is more powerful.

Turn 60, 1500 BC: Tours settler -> settler.

Turn 61, 1475 BC: Paris size 3. Lux to 20%. Attack barb camp, win...WTH? There are two barb galleys! I'm researching MM, but nobody has it yet. ??? Found Chartres -> barracks. No tribes reported, my wandering settlers and workers are safe for the moment. Found Avignon -> barracks. Change Rheims to worker; I really should have done that last turn. I keep changing my mind on whether to bump up research yet; no, I'll leave it at minimum for now. I anticipate Alex going for Myst next. I think I can buy that from him and then trade MM for his next tech which hopefully is Poly.

IT: People love me for killing barbs, give me a front lawn.

Turn 62, 1450 BC: Orleans settler -> settler. This settler may have to scout his own way SW. No tribes reported.

Turn 63, 1425 BC: Greece has WC. 189g doesn't buy it outright; I'll wait.

Turn 64, 1400 BC: Found Besancon -> barracks. Fount Rouen -> barracks. Oops, I apparently didn't change Rheims to worker in turn 61. Oh well, I'll switch it when the settler finishes. I also just noticed my city placement is skipping a deer tile on the E coast. Oops.

Turn 65, 1375 BC: Oh poop. The hoplite/warrior pair is close to my borders, about 5 seconds after I decided to send all my warriors scouting city sites and leaving my cities undefended until the barracks cities ramp up. I won't panic yet. I'll start panic-rushing units if/when Alex gets hostile.

IT: Hoplite/war combo one step closer to my border. There is a goody hut on my coast, but they shouldn't know that.

Next IT: Hoplite/war combo on my border.

Turn 67, 1325 BC: Rheims settler -> worker. Get *Warrior Code* and 9g from Alex for 17gpt. If he attacks, at least I'll have WC cheap. Change Tours from settler to spear, Besancon from barracks to warrior, but if they attack besancon it won't be done in time. Lux to 50% as Tours just grew and I sent its MP away.

IT: hoplite/spear enter my territory towards Tours. I should have thought to whip the spear last turn.

Turn 68, 1300 BC: Whip it now, but I think it's too late. If nothing else, it will have them auto-raze the city. I don't ask them to leave or declare. Whip a barracks in Lyons. Change Orleans to barracks, but no whip yet. Bust the hut on the off-chance that's where they're going, get 3 barbs. Kill one of them with another warrior, but I think I just gave the barbs a free shot at wrecking Chartres' barracks build. Switch Chartres to warrior, wasting 4 shields. Lux to 30%, hire taxman in Tours. End turn and prepare for a "sneak" attack.

IT: Guess what? Greeks declare war, hoplite auto-razes Tours and take 14g. (The hoplite took the city but didn't fight anyone; I don't guess their GA started.) The warrior attacks a warrior I put on a hill, it dies but redlines me. Also barb attacks and dies.

Turn 69, 1275 BC: Lyons rax -> warrior. Besancon war -> war. Two warriors on hut duty to the W need to get back to the core, but first attacks barb and dies. Hurry rax in Orleans. Wonder if I should have whipped units instead of rax. Lux to 20%

IT: Hoplite attacks my redlined war on hill, wins. Greek GA has begun.

Turn 70, 1250 BC: Orleans rax -> war. Hoplite is wounded but on a hill and in neutral territory. Attack a barb across a river because he's redlined and I'm 4/4: win at 3/4. Stumpy is only 2/4 but steps into greek territory to threaten Knossos. Change Avignon from rax to spear in 1. I'm very thin on army and need some time for the rax cities to produce.

IT: Hoplite charges S without healing!

Turn 71, 1225 BC: Move a war on a hill by him; if he steps in the grass at 2/3 I'm attacking him with a 3/3 warrior. Stumpy fortifies. Lux to 40%. Change Rheims from worker to warrior.

IT: 2/3 hoplite steps towards undefended Besancon.

Turn 72, 1200 BC: 3/3 war attacks 2/3 hoplite on grass, WINS! And promotes 2/4. Immediate panic is over. And it's really time to get some sleep.