The "Al Gore" Challenge -- beeline the Internet!

About a year ago (has it really been that long??) I participated in this thread: "Beeline the Internet!" The idea is to click Fiber Optics on the tech tree in 4000BC, and make no changes until the Internet is built. Just to see, of course, how many outdated techs you can acquire. It sounded like a great idea, but at the time I wasn't confident enough with my Civ4 skills to try it. But now, since I've (finally) mastered Prince level, and even tried Monarch a few times, it's time to go for it!

So here's the scenario:
Leader: Gandhi (see below)
Difficulty: Prince
Speed: Epic
Map: Standard, Archipelago, Snaky Continents, Low Sea Level (best chance for an "isolated" start)
Victory Conditions: Any
Variant Rules: Cannot research or trade for any technology that is not a direct prerequisite for Fiber Optics. If more than one path is available, the shortest reasonable path must be taken. "Lightbulb" techs are not allowed, if they aren't on the beeline. However, techs popped from "goodie huts" are okay...we can't help it if someone wants to give us something we don't need!!

The absolute required techs are (as ekanata listed in the above linked thread): Fishing, Sailing, Mysticism, Mining, Masonry, The Wheel, Pottery, Writing, Bronze Working, Iron Working, Mathematics, Monarchy, Feudalism, Calendar, Construction, Currency, Compass, Metal Casting, Machinery, Engineering, Optics, Paper, Guilds, Banking, Gunpowder, Chemistry, Printing Press, Replaceable Parts, Astronomy, Scientific Method, Physics, Steel, Electricity, Radio, and Computers.

From Rep. Parts to Fiber Optics, the shortest path requires Rifling, Artillery, Rocketry, and Satellites. (There are much longer paths, but I won't concern myself with those...if you really wanna know what they are, check the thread above.)

To get to Paper, there are many different paths, the shortest being Polytheism, Monotheism, and Theology. However, it costs only an extra 200 beakers to take Meditation, Priesthood, and Civil Service instead...I think it's a no-brainer, the Med/CS path is a lot more reasonable. So that's the path I choose.

I decided the Leader must start with 2 of the required techs...sorry, no Agriculture allowed! I chose Gandhi because he's Industrious, and the best strategy (that I could think of) was to get as many early wonders ASAP. Of course, the only Wonders available are Stonehenge, The Oracle, The Pyramids, The Great Lighthouse, The Colossus, The Hanging Gardens, The Hagia Sofia, The Eiffel Tower, Broadway, Rock'n'Roll, and of course The Internet. I plan to try and get all of them.

4000BC: We start with...OH MY FREAKING GOD! STONE!!!


No WAY am I passing that up! Time to MOVE THE SETTLER and get it in Delhi's fat cross!


Research Meditation, discover Buddhism. Scout with a few warriors, and pretty soon realize: (1) I'm all alone on this continent, and (2) it's the South Pole. Very marginal terrain, with tons of resources I can't use -- Deer, Sheep, Corn, and Wheat. (Remember, no Agriculture or Hunting/Animal Husbandry allowed.) I didn't take many screenshots in the beginning, but here's a typical battle with some rabid arctic wolves:


Here's a preliminary dotmap from 1575BC (which I hardly followed at all):


Unfortunately, I made a BIG mistake, assuming I could "access" the food resources by settling right on top of them, the way you can with minerals. I swear, it worked for me before...or at least I thought it did. For example, Bombay (blue dot) was dropped on sheep, and Madras (yellow dot) originally went on the wheat, and only then did I figure out it wasn't working. In fact, Madras was in such a horrific location, I chose to revert to an earlier save and re-plant it. It still sucks as a location, but what can you do. Here's what my core cities look like (actually taken from later in the game):


Bombay does get +1 health (3/1/1) for being on grassland sheep, and frankly I don't see any place else it could go...you've got to understand, without the ability to farm or hook up resources, it's a much different ball game. I really had to look hard at how much food was really available on each tile; anything GREEN became premium property! Luckily, I've got tons of coastline, so it can function as a Commerce empire -- which is what's most important, after all. RESEARCH!!!

And besides, Bombay has teeny tiny sheep running around the city streets. You can't see from this picture, but one baby lamb is actually jumping up on the monastery roof over and over again:


Trust me, it's absolutely precious.

Moses the Great Prophet is born in 120BC, built The Mahabodi. Shortly thereafter, I start noticing parts of the map that weren't visible before:




And just across the channel:


Hmm, didn't realize there was any land that close. Luckily, the narrow strait by Corinth is the only way for galleys to cross, so as long as I keep borders closed I can backfill at my own pace. And I'm not concerned about Alexander, we've been neighbors before and he always picks on OTHER people, not me. Plus, Alex & Washington are my Buddhist buddies now. We're all going to get along like one big happy family.

Seriously, that's what I thought at first.

Seriously.

(to be continued...)

You'll notice on the dotmap that copper showed up in a horrifically distant location. In fact, it wasn't until 240AD that I *finally* managed to get a settler party down there:



I decided right away to settle ON the copper, since the land is so marginal I probably would never be able to work the mine anyway...and some little voice told me, by the time I got down there, I would need copper hooked up in a VERY bad way. Remember, we've only got Warriors so far...no Archery!!!

And it turns out, as it so often does, that little voice was right. No sooner had I settled on the copper, when.....ALEX INVADES!!!!!!

It was just a Phalanx and a Swordsman, but Madras was guarded by two lonely Warriors, and they stood no chance. Before my newly-upgraded axeman could get there, the city fell:



Luckily, both were tuckered out from the battle. And, Bob The Axeman was pissed. Really pissed. Despite chancy odds, Bob charged up the hill and took the high ground from Alex's injured Combat II swordsman:



Next turn, Bob promoted to City Raider I, and despite his wounds, successfully took the city back from Alex!



Now.......understand something. I've never, ever been invaded before. That's right, in all my Civilization games, I've never had an enemy strike at my heartland when I wasn't looking. Oh sure, there's been the occasional skirmish in an outlying area when Genghis Khan or Louis XIV gets frisky (and the time I declared war on Asoka w/o realizing he had a Defensive Pact with two other civs...but that doesn't count) but never, ever have I been directly invaded by another civilization. Even when I'm trying to be invaded, I can't get invaded! And I've certainly never lost a CITY before, and had to struggle to take it back...

...and as it turned out.......I LIKED IT!!

Come on Alex baby, gimme some more!!! (And something tells me, he will oblidge...)

But first, I needed money. BAD. I've got about 10 warriors to upgrade to axemen (for some reason Spearmen aren't available...as it turns out, they require Hunting. Never knew that!) and dropping research to 0% isn't gonna cut it. So, to fund the war, two Former Warriors strike at a Barbarian city that just happened to pop up in the south:



Even got a free Worker out of the deal.

One thing I *did* have was Galleys. In fact, when I paired two Galleys together, Alex seemed awfully reticent to do anything about it. I pushed all the way to his capital and ripped up his fishing nets (a measly 6gp, but every bit helps) and then caught Alex sending his second wave...THREE Galleys this time. My Galley #1 suicided, but #2 was fortunate to send 1/3 of Alex's invasion fleet to the briny deep:



I also took the opportunity to slip another Galley past Alex's borders...after all, he was blocking my expansion, too. Along the way, another Alex Galley is discovered, and against overwhelming odds, is sunk:



The remaining forces landed, but by then I had enough axemen to fend them off quite handily. Still...this is gonna be a lot more dicier than I thought. Worst of all, Alex will NOT accept peace. Not even a Cease Fire. When I ask what he wants for a Peace Treaty, he wants...Madras. A freakin' city! Didn't sinking half your navy convince you that Gandhi's not to be trifled with??

Anyway, the war dragged on, with little action for many years...until suddenly, I couldn't build axemen anymore!!! Turns out a barb city had sprung up on the coast, cutting off my trade route to the far-flung Copper City:



Yeesh, didn't expect that. Normally I'd let that city grow, until at least they hook up the corn & sheep for me. But this was an urgent situation. And finally, after almost 300 years, Alex accepts a meager peace settlement -- 20gpt, nothing more. (Yes, I'd researched Currency by now.)

Phew! That was a whole lotta fun. Oh, and my exploring Galley/Warrior discovered three more huts -- one gave money, another hostile warriors, and a third...MONARCHY!! Hey, at least it's on the beeline!

Oh, forgot to mention, I *did* manage to build the following Wonders:



Not bad, not bad. Sure would have loved the Great Lighthouse too, but missed that one by less than 5 turns. (Probably a good thing...the refund money was VERY desperately needed for axeman upgrades!) Of course, we've only got four cities, none of which are very productive, except Delhi which is doing okay. One BIG problem is going to be health issues...even with an aqueduct and harbor, Delhi's health cap is six!! Luckily, happiness is NOT an issue (yet) -- so the whip has been cracking hard, let me tell you.

Anyway, there is more, but it will have to wait for tomorrow...I've got The Amazing Race 10 on TiVo to watch right now. I promise, I will actually finish this game, for better or worse.

I'm very interested to see how this turns out. Keep up the good work!

In 640AD I sprout my 2nd Great Prophet:



Unfortunately, all he can teach is Polytheism, a useless (and forbidden!) tech, so he gets added to Delhi as a Super-Specialist. In fact, I've decided to add ALL future GPs to this city...Delhi has already maxed out on production, and the Prophet adds +1 and +3 (as well as +3 beakers with Representation); years later, a Great Engineer gets added to Delhi as well, giving an extra +3 hammers. (All the possible Wonders have been built, at least for a long time to come.) One thing I'm very worried about is the utter lack of production capacity in most of my cities -- research is keeping apace, but once we get to Fiber Optics, we still have to BUILD the damn Internet! And it's a Project, not a Wonder, so it can't be rushed and it doesn't get the Industrious bonus (I think.)

Another handicap will be the lack of National Wonders. Believe it or not, the only one available will be the IRONWORKS. That's it. No Epics, no Globe Theater, no West Point!! And I'm wondering if it's worth building Ironworks at all, due to the +2 health penalty and the lack of COAL to fuel it. But maybe we can trade for coal?

At least we've got iron on this continent...unfortunately, the barbs already claimed it:



Ugh! ARCHERS ON A HILL! My axeman retreats for reinforcements & I build a few catapults, then dial up Washington to see what he'll trade for Ivory:



Yikes! Gold + Crab + 5gpt! Still...I take the trade. Alex won't be cooling his heels for long, and axemen won't hold him off forever. Delhi starts cranking out War Elephants!

Several decades pass without incident. By 1100AD, however, I make one of my bigger bonehead moves...you see, that little voice in my head suggested whipping a Settler to save 3 turns, but I decided not to waste the population. Once again, I should pay more attention to the voices in my head...because Washington beat me to Sugar Island by ONE FREAKING TURN:



Oh man, what a cherry spot. I didn't even notice the 2 fish squares until now. Washington's already running away with the game (his score is 200 points over Alex, who I'm basically tied with) and this city's gonna be a monster. I'm forced to settle on the lesser part of the island, which at least has a single sugar plot:



Heh. Kinda looks like Haiti compared to the Dominican Republic. Those bloody Americans are always stealing from the Indians. Oh wait, that was the British. Never mind...I'll get him back by stealing away all his call centers.

Optics is discovered in 1130AD. I check for tech trades -- Alex doesn't have Alphabet yet, but Washington does, and here's what he's got:



Not so bad, really...he's got Feudalism (which he won't trade) and Calendar, plus a bunch of cheap, useless techs I won't see for centuries. I'm up Machinery, and he's willing to trade ALL the non-red techs for it...but adding up the beaker costs, it only comes to 1/4 the value of Machinery. Umm...NOT!! Besides, I'm still relying on Stonehenge for border pops, so I'm not looking to get Calendar for some time.

And what's this I spy across the western ocean??



Sure looks RED! Tokugawa, perhaps? Great, that's all I need, another psycho neighbor...

One of the cooler things about this variant is building improvements on top of resources you normally wouldn't. For example, ever seen a cottage in a wheat field before? Looks like the city's on fire:


And look at this, a Sheepmill!


Uh-oh, no time to admire the pretty improvements. In 1140AD, Alex attacks...again!!!



However, this time I'm slightly more prepared. Alex's stack gets pummelled with 2 catapults, and the rest of my forces wipe him out with ease. I'll bet he wasn't expecting WAR ELEPHANTS up his skinny ass!



But wait, there's more! Remember how I just got...Optics?? My freshly whipped caravel screams out of Bombay and takes dead aim at Alex's retreating navy:



Next turn: Caravel promotes = Combat I. YOU WANT SOME MORE, PUNK??



Next turn: Caravel promotes = Combat II. He's badly damaged, and the last galley will make it to Corinth harbor next turn, so I wait to heal and...HEY!! Where you running?!?





P3WND, BIOTCH!!!!

And...what's this to the north? A settler party??



All I've got in the area is a Nav I Galley, and the odds are long, but I've rolled the dice and won before, so...



Aww, crap. Can't win 'em all, I guess.

A second caravel joins the fun, as two fully loaded galleys (plus two empty ones) descend from the north. The results were predictable:







It went on like this for awhile. Sink a galley, retreat to ocean and heal/promote, sink another one. I swear to God, I've never dominated the ocean with CARAVELS before!! Usually I build one, send it around the world, and park it. This is great!

Alex must be pissed. He's lost 10 troops, and his navy is decimated. Learn your history Alex...India is where you FAILED. Go pick on Egypt and Persia instead!!!!

In all the excitement, I completely forgot to check out the new civilization to the west. So I send a spare caravel over there, and...well, she's Red all right. But it's not Tokugawa...it's CATHERINE!

(Yes, I know the real Catherine wasn't Communist.)

Tech-wise, she's down Metal Casting, Compass, and Construction. I ask her what she'll trade for Metal Casting, and here's her offer:



And here's her offer for Compass:



(For Construction, she'll only offer Calendar + 20 gold.)

Now...I have to think about this. Technically, the rules forbid trading any non-beeline tech. However...I did not expect to wind up with low-production land, tons of resources I can't use, AND a belligerent neighbor to the north. I think it's worthwhile to bend the rules a little bit, and accept the Calendar/Hunting trade. We've got FOUR deer plots going to waste, and I'm think not so much about the extra food they'll bring, but the TRADING possibilities for more health resources. Washington has pigs & wheat, all going to waste since my only tradeable items (gold & crabs) are tied up in that critical Ivory deal.

Still...I'm going to think about this. Sugar Island needs 7 more turns until its borders pop to claim the sugar, so I'll wait and then decide.

Meanwhile, a party of axes & catapults finally take the barb city to the south:







I swear, this is the most UNFAIR resource city imaginable. I mean...just LOOK how crappy it is! It does have crabs to the south (and the bay is totally icelocked, so it will have to build the workboat by itself) but that's it. Not to mention the distance costs are killing me...city maintenance is a whopping -11 per turn! (And no COURTHOUSES in sight!)

On the other hand, Alex has TWO beautiful iron mines, one right outside his capital, the other next to Corinth. GRASSLAND iron, too! Some guys just have all the luck...

Next turn...uh-oh, Catherine's begging for Compass. I don't want her to have Compass yet...not until I'm ready to trade, at least! So I decline to help her. Trust me...with Catherine, this is bad news.

Next turn...sure enough, she won't leave it alone:



Part of me wants to say, "Yeah? You and what army?" But...here's the deal with Catherine. She can be a powerful ally, but you gotta know how to treat her right. She's like a high-maintenance girlfriend that wants jewelry, nice clothes, dinners at fancy restaurants, and if you don't give her what she wants, she'll murder you in your sleep. On the other hand...keep her happy, and she's yours. So I agree to gift her Construction:



See how easy that was?

I also notice that Catherine has NO religion! So I queue up a Buddist Missionary in...what's this?? NO MONASTERIES anywhere?!? Dammit, I'm so used to running Organized Religion...okay, Bombay's got a monastery, but will take 12 turns to build one. Start monasteries in other cities, too. We've got the bloody Buddhist shrine...time to spread the faith!!

In 1210AD I take a close look at my economy, and it ain't pretty. We're barely making a profit @ 30% science, and lots of infrastructure is missing -- no Markets, very few Libraries, and only a couple Harbors! That ain't gonna work, friend. So, first I dial up Washington and beg for money:



He agrees!! Okay, now we can fund deficit research. Now...here's the land/military situation:



There's enough troops to fend off an invasion, but not enough to mount one. Delhi may look unprotected, but that's because my War Elephants have moved up to the front lines. Now, as for the south and east:





Most cities are protected by one or two axemen, with a few extra axes hunting down barbarians, and a lonely warrior on fogbusting duty in the south. Good enough for now, but...oh, let's face it. My military stinks. BOY do I miss archers!!

And if that's not bad enough, there's a Washington galley exploring the coast. No doubt he's spotted the unclaimed silver hills to the extreme southeast:



So I'd better get a settler down there ASAP. It's gonna hurt, though -- economically, city maintenance is killing us:



Boy, do I miss courthouses. And farms. And pastures. And theatres. And religious civics. And horses. And so on and on and on...

At least the borders of Sugar Island have finally expanded:



Unfortunately, the Calendar/Hunting deal with Catherine is off the table. Just a few turns ago, she was down Metal Casting/Compass, and now she has them BOTH!!!! Oh well...at least it prevents me from cheating. The good news is, Alexander seems pretty gassed out. I'm tempted to load a few elephants & cats to try and take some of his island cities, but...let's take care of the homefront first, shall we?

Thankfully, happiness is a non-issue. So I *cancel* the expensive Ivory trade with Washington, and replace it with this one:



Health is taken care of, at least. Not much I can do about military, but raising research to 50% will give us Engineering in 7 turns @ -14/gpt. Hopefully, by then, Washington will be willing trade Feudalism for it...

1225AD: Out of the blue, Alex comes begging for peace:



Had enough, eh Ally-boy?!? Actually, he offered Polytheism + $$$ at first, but asking "What's the price for peace?" gave me this offer instead. Okay...enough of this crap. I'm tired of looking at all those resources I can't use. If the land were more forgiving, and the neighbors less feisty...besides, we're building THE INTERNET, baby! Our computer geeks need deerburgers and nachos to keep the work going! So, I accept.

Besides, the rules only specify that we can't "research or trade" non-beeline techs. They say nothing about accepting them as part of a peace settlement. That's not cheating, right?

Now that the war's over, I send two caravels in opposite directions to circumnavigate the globe. Well...first, I build and Explorer. That's right, and Explorer. Not a field medic, either. Why, then? You'll see...

1250AD: Engineering FINALLY done. Unfortunately, Washington already has it. Guess I'm gonna have to research Feudalism myself, due in 10 turns @ -11/gpt.

Alexander wants to trade Calendar + gold for Metal Casting. Wow, he's THAT far behind?!? I think of saying yes, but decide to wait for a couple more border pops before accepting...gotta get as much out of Stonehenge as possible!

1260AD: Sure enough, there's a Washington settler party heading south at full speed:



Not to worry, my own settler is way ahead of him. On the other hand, it looks like Alexander has founded Islam! That doesn't bode well...how dare he break the Buddhist fellowship!!!

1265AD: Catherine converts to Hinduism!!!! Oh yeah, I never did send those missionaries. Luckily she's not running Theocracy, or we'd be really screwed...

...And what's this I spy? A pair of orange-colored Caravels?





Looks like we're not the only ones in a Race Around The World For ONE! MILLION! DOLLARS!! And Huyana Cupac, apparently, is using the same strategy I use, sending TWO caravels to meet up with each other in the middle! It's gonna be close...

1275AD: Borders have popped in Jaipur & Zhou, and the worker on Sugar Island is ready to hook up the Sugar resource, so I go ahead and complete the MC/Calendar trade with Alex:



Notice that he's Pleased again, despite invading me and everything.

1285AD: The westbound caravel meets Mansa Musa. He's ahead of Washington in score, but surprisingly, not in tech. (Washington has Civil Service!) Also, Huyana Cupac is his Worst Enemy. Gotta be careful how I play the diplomatic game...

Archimedes (Great Engineer) is born in Delhi. He will discover...Feudalism. Ack! Due in just a few turns! I'll wait and see what he'll discover later...

1290AD: Meet Hatsheput. Despite what she says, it doesn't look like she's smiling:



She's Hindu, but didn't discover it. She's also way behind in tech (down Compass & Machinery) and way behind in score. We've already earned a major "Traded With Worst Enemy!" penalty with her -- must be Catherine, that's the only other civ she's met so far. Those two chicks never seem to get along...I'll bet dollars to donuts, we'll see a catfight break out very soon!

Speaking of Catherine, I finally got around to Buddhafying her cities:



1305AD: Feudalism done, switch civics to Vassalage (but not Serfdom -- we're still whipping cities!) Start researching Civil Service, due in 14 turns @ 50% (+1gpt)

1310AD: Hyderabad, the silver mine city, and the last one on this continent (I hope) is founded:



...thus dropping our City Maintenance even further into the toilet. (Did I mention how MUCH I miss Courthouses??) I considered moving the city one space SW in order to claim BOTH mines, but with only a fish resource, there's no way this city could work both mines w/o starving. As for the blue circles...what's the deal? Why does the game always suggest locations that are so clearly awful?!?

OOPS!! Forgot about Archimedes! Looks like he'll discover...



+1650 for GUILDS!! Well, that's a no-brainer! Burn the GE on tech, which is due in a mere 5 turns! Finally, we'll have....umm, I guess we won't have knights. But maybe I can trade it for something?

1325AD: WE'VE WON THE AMAZING CARAVEL RACE!! But...where's Phil?



He must have been eaten by a bear. Oh well, we don't win a million dollars, but our ships sail slightly faster now. And this looks like a nice island, with iron & spices. Unfortunately, you need Astronomy to get there. And I doubt that tech will remain undiscovered for long...

On the bright side, Cathy's Buddist again. I knew that Hindu thing was just a passing fancy.

1330AD: Guilds done, and immediately, GW offers this trade:



Naturally, I remove Polytheism from the table before I accept. I also renegotiate the Ivory trade:



and then accept this trade with Alex:



(Later, when more Deer comes online, I'll swap that for Dye instead, and save the Gold for someone else.)

With the spare cash, I upgrade some veteran axes to macemen...including Bob:



Set research to...GUNPOWDER!! Due in 19 turns!

Here's the Diplomatic window, showing who's met who so far:



And...what's this? MORE land to the east? It doesn't look navigable by galley, though. I'll have to send a caravel to check it out!

1335AD: Catherine declares war on Hatsheput! COOL!! I'll bet she asks me to join her soon...

Okay. Here's why you should always bring an Explorer along during the Amazing Caravel Race, it's for all the goodie huts that nobody's discovered yet:





And here's another one, right under Huyana Cupac's nose:





Sadly, no techs...only boring gold. (Once I popped ASTRONOMY from a hut; that was a game-winner, to be sure!)

1345AD: Chichen Itza BIADL. (Probably HC; I forgot to check.) My Combat II/Medic caravel finds a barb galley and sinks it. Sadly, no XP gained...it was only a barb.

1350AD: Marble is finally hooked up, so I can get to work on the Hagia Sofia! Normally I don't bother with this Wonder, but I need it for the Engineering points. Delhi's got two mature Towns it's working (one on the Corn, that I haven't farmed yet) so I take advantage of Gandhi's spiritual nature by swapping civics accordingly:



Only 15 turns to build it! Here's what Delhi looks like a couple turns later:



Madras is also looking much better...after hooking up the Wheat resource, it's finally able to work the Gold mine!



Huyana Cupac keeps encouraging me to stop trading with Washington. Don't think that's gonna happen any time soon! At least he hasn't demanded that I stop trading...yet.

1360AD: Holy cow, Mansa's got BANKING! Yes, it's a beeline tech!!



Hatty also wants to trade...



Yeesh, she didn't have to be so nasty about it. Not that I would have said yes. We're lawless heathens baby...we're building THE INTERNET! We don't need no stinkin' Code of Laws 'round here!!

1365AD: At last! Catherine asks for war:



Now, this is how you really get on Cathy's good side, share a few wars with her. Too bad that I have no way of getting actual troops over there! I'll send a few caravels to check things out anyway.



Heh heh. I am sooo gettin' laid.

1370AD: Washington offers Code of Laws + 340 gold for Banking. Umm...I *don't* think so!

I notice that our Internet builders in Calcutta have suddenly gotten quite angry, for the first time ever in this game:



Hmm. I queue a temple, but it's not enough. Oh, wait. We switched out of Representation. THAT'S why they're pissed off. Still...something to keep an eye on.

Looking at the map, I notice an Iron + Fish island FAR away, all the way towards the north pole. All the available land's being gobbled up rather quick, so I send a two-galley settler party to claim it. Gonna be expensive as hell, but we can always use a backup iron town.

Work boat in Zhou finally completes, but before netting the crabs, he checks out the southern fog to see if there's anything else down there:



Yup, totally icelocked. It's important to check these nooks and crannies, you know. In one game, I had an icy bay just like this, which just happened to have WHALES down there...which I didn't discover until the 20th century!

1390AD: Sugar plantation *finally* connected, aiding our happiness woes:



Looks like George planted an extra city there, too...why'd he do that? Is he gonna culture me out? Oh well...it opens a canal, at least (not that it's important on this tiny island.)

On its long migration northward (good thing these Galleys move at +3 instead of +2) the settler party sees that George's mega-sugar city has gone Buddhist. Great...the one city I did NOT want to give culture to! Oh well...money is money.



1395AD: GW really wants my gold, but all he will offer is pigs for it:



Yeesh! Check out the smug look on that greedy bastard's face. He really wants to win the game, doesn't he?? Thank God refusing trades doesn't hurt your relationship. So I have great pleasure telling him N-O!

1400AD: Washington completes Notre Dame! Good for you, pal. If that were an eligible Wonder for me? I would have completed it centuries ago. Gunpowder due in 4 turns!

1410AD: Okay, this is how NOT to use an Explorer:



Thought I'd scout out Hatty's lands by sticking to the trees & jungle...however, they wind up on an exposed hilltop, right outside one of Hatty's smaller cities. Only three units in the garrison, but that's all it took:



Well, he managed to take one of 'em down. That was unexpected!



An exploring caravel spots one of Hatty's gondolas out in the open...unfortunately, it made it safely back to port the next turn, so no free experience.

1420AD: GUNPOWDER!!!!!



Okay, what to research next....well, Paper will take only 8 turns, so let's do that. Astronomy's available, but requires a *whopping* 32 turns. Chemistry? Wait 'til after Paper. Either that or Printing Press.

And then there's PolytheismCodeofLawsArcheryAnimalHusbandryAlphabet... naturally, everyone else has those.

Here's what the tech tree looks like now (spoiler boxed to preserve width):

1425AD: Hagia Sophia completes.



Now that the building's done, it's time for one of the most powerful civic combinations in the game:



This, my friends, is how you beat Prince level: Representation + Mercantilism. That's a free specialist per city, each one earning +3 per turn!! Cancelling all foreign trade routes hurts, dropping science from 50% to 40%, but time left on Paper remains steady at 6 turns.

Of course, you need The Pyramids to do it this early. And it's REALLY awesome if you can build the Statue of Liberty as well...but that's not on the beeline, sorry!

One of my exploring caravels discovers macemen guarding an empty pasture:



Heh. I suppose that supposed to be a horse farm, but they all got out!!

1430AD: Catherine needs to be pleasured again:



You know how it is...whatever Cathy wants, Cathy gets. In the meantime, I suddenly notice there's a trade network opened between our continents! In fact, it looks like she built a crappy city on an icebound peninsula, just so our borders would touch and galleys can pass between them. Aw Cathy, how sweet of you to do something for ME for a change!

So now we can trade the following items:



I hold back the spare gold, just in case. Don't want her to get too happy...

Oh, and I trade Corn for Clam w/ George. Unfortunately, there's no longer Pigs on the trade menu...he must have traded them with someone else!

1435AD: CATHY MAKES PEACE WITH HATTY!!!

You know, that is SO like her. Give her Gunpowder, and instead of killing the enemy with it, she uses it to powder her nose. Well...that's what you gotta expect, when dealing with Cathy. She's an awesome ally, but she comes at a price!

Hatty, meanwhile, refuses to give anything for peace:



Hmmf. Didn't killing one of your longbows convince you? Oh well...there's no War Weariness yet, so I'll ask her again next turn.

And if that's not bad enough, Alex is badgering me for Engineering. What...you don't have that tech yet? Well, sorry Alex. You STILL don't have it! He stomps away to his room and pouts:

SO ..... ?
Verry intersting btw. I'm at work and I feel like playing.
(I have to try this beeline)

WHAT IN THE.....I had another post here, but it VANISHED!! Oh well, let's recap what's happened:

1440AD: The settler party finally completes it's long-distance voyage, only to discover that Iron Island has already been claimed by Alex....or, has it??





Nice try, Alex. The location's not my first choice (would definitely prefer the ice/river tile 1 square SW) but you take what you can get. Besides...what was Alex THINKING when he settled there?!? It's off the coast, and can't work either fish square...dumb move, Alex. DUMB. Also, I plan to pump a lot of culture into this city, so Myceane is doomed. If it flips, I'll probably let it auto-raze!

1445AD: The Enemy Has Been Spotted Near Calcutta! How in the world did Hatty slip a Galley behind enemy lines and...oh wait, it's just a barbarian archer. Huh? We're still getting barbs in this day & age? Apparently there's still quite a bit of fog down by the South Pole. No matter, I have a spare axeman deal with it:



Speaking of Hatty, I finally manage to wrangle a peace treaty out of her:



Only 10 gold?!? Feh. What a waste of time that was. Oh well, at least Cathy's Friendly with me now. And...guys? I have a confession to make. I am seriously, seriously HOT for Catherine. There, I've said it. And I don't care who knows it!

Don't get me wrong, I like Hatsheput too. But she's more like a big sister...

1450AD: Out of the blue, Hatty offers this trade:



Y'know, I can't remember any game where Hatty was this downright snotty! Still...she's nobody's worst enemy, so I accept the trade. (Good thing I saved that Gold, eh?) Now our Internet builders can go out and get sh*t-faced after a long days work...

1455AD: One of my missionaries discovers a Catherine settler party sailing its way towards my territory. Since there's still some unclaimed land on my continent that's not in my culture boundaries yet, I'll have to keep an eye on it...



Paper is finished, and EVERYONE comes begging to trade Code of Laws for it. Obviously, I decline. We're building the INTERNET, baby! We don't need no stinkin' laws on the Internet! Instead, I start shopping around my World Map for cash...most everyone will trade an actual tech (Polytheism) for it, but I settle for gold instead. Veteran axemen start upgrading to Maces, Spearmen to Pikes. Delhi continues to build Muskets.

Start researching Chemistry, due in a whopping 18 turns!

1465AD: The Enemy Has Been Spotted Near Zhou! Hmmf, more barbs. A wandering maceman deals with it:



Not much happens for the next several years...caravels explore, maps sold, troops upgraded. Hatty demands we trade maps, which is good because it increases the value of mine. Except for Washington, we've got a monopoly on Paper. By 1495AD, a good deal of the world has been mapped out:





In addition, my caravel discovers something disturbing...you know that land barely visible to the east? It's Huyana's territory, and he's putting together a navy!



It's only Galleys, and he doesn't have Astronomy yet, but...that's bound to change soon. He must already know that I'm guarding all my towns with a single axe & spear (and in some cases, just an axeman!!!) so...next session's gonna be all about (1) building a decent military, and (2) getting to Astronomy myself, sooner than later. So much for the Colossus.

1500AD: If Huyana wasn't bad enough, turns out Mansa's building a navy, too...this one with Galleons!!



I've never known Mansa Musa to be aggressive, but he is Annoyed with me and all that...and, it's only a few squares away from Sugar Island, which is only guarded by a lonely axeman. Once again, I better start working on military!

Not only that, my economy STINKS. I'm losing money at 40% research, and the profit from map trading isn't bringing in what it used to. I decide to sell Marble to Washington for +9gp/turn, which helps things a bit. Then I...huh, what's this? Delhi doesn't have a BANK?!? We're running Bureacracy, got the Holy Shrine, and there's NO BANK in the city??!? No wonder my economy stinks! All the visitors have to travel to Corinth to use the ATM machine!

Ok, start a Bank in Delhi. Calcutta starts building War Elephants, Lahore and a couple other cities pick up the slack with Muskets. Bombay is building a SETTLER, for some bizarre reason...but the city's not useful for anything else, so I let it finish. Madras keeps cranking out missionaries.

1505AD: Alright, enough is enough. I've been staring at the city screen of Bangalore (the Copper City) and it's downright ugly:



There's not enough food to work the production tiles, so we're stuck at a lousy 7 hammers/turn. Had the city been placed one tile south, we'd at least get deer...granted, settling on the copper directly was an emergency situation, and probably saved the game, but that decision is having severe long-term consequences. So...time to "cheat" again. I check the rules, and decide that while I'm not allowed to "research or trade for" Animal Husbandry, there's nothing that prohibits bullying around a smaller, weaker nation for it:



Umm...I guess that didn't work. Lessee...Huyana's my worst enemy, so I can't bully him around, and I don't want to piss off Mansa right now, so hmm...how about if I ask a friend, nicely? How about Alex? Hey buddy, I know you're still mad about that Engineering deal, but...can ya help me out?



Fantastic! Now we're in business...

(I hope nobody thinks this blows the Challenge, having "acquired" three forbidden techs via rules-lawyering. But trust me...living without these techs is VERY hard, even without poor terrain and hostile neighbors! It really was getting to the point where it wasn't fun anymore. Anyone who tries this challege will find out the same thing.)

And whaddaya know, we've got Horses. I had a feeling they were there, somewhere. Since we've already cheated this far, might as well hook 'em up. I promise, I won't research Horseback Riding...unless I get invaded.

Meanwhile, it looks like America found Spice Island. Oh well, we were never in the running for that one:



1525AD: I've sold so many maps that nobody will offer more than 10gp now, and the last person left on the list is Huyana Cupac, so I sell to him for 338gp. Naturally, since he's Washington's worst enemy, George is none too happy when I talk to him next:



Heh. He looks constipated in that shot.

Washington completes Angkor Wat. Here's a look at the Top 5 Cities screen:



Looks like Mansa snarfed up all the early religions (Hinduism, Judaism & Christianity) while HC grabbed Confucianism & Taoism. This is good, because it means BOTH of them will probably revolt to Free Religion eventually.

Hey, it looks like Catherine actually built the Great Lighthouse. Way to go, girl! Usually, Russia doesn't manage to build any Wonders at all! She just invades and takes them from people.

1540AD: Another Barbarian sword pops up in the south. Bessie marches down to teach 'em a lesson:





Sheep's connected to Copper City, it's doing MUCH better now. Horses are also connected...we can build chariots now!

1550AD: Chemistry finished. Here's what we can research next:



As much as I really, really want Astronomy, I think it's wise to grab Printing Press first. Lots of cottages are reaching maturity (I MM'd several cities to make sure ALL of them got worked) and we're gonna need the extra income when Colossus goes obsolete! Oh, and we've got a TOTAL monopoly on Chemistry -- FEAR MY GRENADIERS!! We're also up Paper to Catherine, Paper/Banking to Alex, and Paper/Guilds/Engineering to poor backwards Hatsheput. Neither Mansa or GW will trade Chemistry for Astronomy, however.

1555AD: Hatty demands Paper. I see no reason to say no, so she gets it.



Way up by Iron City #2, my caravel spots a barbarian galley trapped in the ice. He attaches a bow line to help drag them out to safety, and...



Oops, must've pulled too hard.

Also, I cancel the 9gpt/Marble trade with George, and...the +9 gold per turn DISAPPEARS!!! That's not supposed to happen! So much for renegotiating the trade with Sheep instead...hmm, who's got money? Alex is making 6gpt, so I trade with him instead. I also discover that George is trading Pigs with Hatty, but neither one of them is willing to boycott the other. (Yet.)

1565AD: Delhi spawns another Great Person, and this time it's a...G-G-GR-GREAT MERCHANT!!!!!!



Okay, this is something special. I hardly ever spawn GM's, and since they can explore "rival" territory (people you don't have Open Borders with) he's gonna serve two purposes. One, map out Inca's terrain. And two...make a trade mission in Cuzco, which (ironically) is also the most distant capital city. Load 'im up in a Caravel, and away he goes!

1570AD: Bank completes in Delhi, and research jumps a WHOPPING 20%!!! No wonder our economy sucked! Mansa Musa also demands that I stop trading with Alex, but that ain't gonna happen, sorry Manny. I'm really racking up the negative points with that guy, however...not a good thing.

1575AD: Well, I knew this was coming eventually. Huyana demands tribute:



Huh, that's IT?!? A measely 120 gold to get you off my back? I thought he was gonna demand, you know, Chemistry or something. He gets the money, but is still Annoyed and we're still his worst enemy. Oh well, I've already fended off an invasion once...

1595AD: Washington adopts Representation & Free Market. Guess I know what technologies he has, now.

The borders of Iron City #2 expand, stealing a couple tiles from Myceane:



Hey, it's got a farm! I didn't build it, so THAT'S NOT CHEATING!

(What I wouldn't give for a Culture Bomb, though...)

1600AD: Atreyas the Great Merchant reaches Inca. Open Borders? We don't need to stinkin' Open Borders! He bribes the customs official, and walks right into Incan territory unmolested:



Workers are just about done building everything, so I revolt back to Slavery to save money.

1605AD: Renegotiate a few trades, and look for more partners. Hey...what's this?? Hatty doesn't have iron! I give her some for +6gpt:



1615AD: GM/Spy Atreyas continues wandering through Incan territory, and spots the Confucian holy city. Despite Huyana's assertion that he's got a Musketman (Ho-Ho-Ho!) I don't see anything but longbows & pikes guarding his cities:



Hmmf. Maybe a pre-emptive strike is worthwhile? You know what they say about the best defense...

Meanwhile, here's a look at Delhi up close. Pretty nice, I think:



1620AD: Printing Press done, and the extra commerce jumps science up ANOTHER 10%!! As for trades...well, Washington will trade Astronomy + every tech he's got for Chemistry/PP, but that's way too rich for my blood. Mansa, on the other hand, is now our worst enemy, and won't trade at all. His blood's boiling so hot, the crown's melting on his scrawny little head!

Well, there's nothing to do but research Astronomy myself. Thanks to the "everyone's got this tech already L0OZR" bonus, it will only take 13 turns to research.

Oh, and Washington discovered Liberalism. His score jumps WAY head of Mansa! Yep, we've got a runaway AI on our hands! Sure glad it's him and not Alexander!

1630AD: Atreyu the wandering merchant finally reaches the Incan capital city. 2250gp? Yes, think I'll take that, thank you very much!



Okay, let's check with Geoge again...aha! HERE'S a trade I can live with!



Yes Yes YES I will say YES! Naturally, the loss of Colossal Income plummets our science rate down to 60%, but that's okay, we'll make it back up. We've still got money, so I pick out all the caravels & galleys with promotions and upgrade them to frigates:







The extra galleys become Galleons. Enjoy this navy while it lasts, because it's the best we'll have for a LONG time to come!! Meanwhile, a few maces in far-flung cities get updated to Grenadiers, more Spears become Pikes.

And to top it off, I sign a Defensive Pact with Washington.

I think this game's in the bag now. Check back in a few days for the thrilling conclusion!

this is really cool dude. you should do a regular game.

stories are only good if they have lots of pictures like this. the ones with made up characters and stuff are gay.

keep up the good work.