ROUND 1 (4000 BC - 1125 BC)
Here we go with round 1. I like my starting spot, but I always seem to find that the better the start, the worse the area around it seems to be. Let's see how it goes...
Turn 1: Settling in place is a no-brainer. Silk is revealed in the BFC, and another Corn is to the SW:
I'm not a big fan of Plains Silk tiles. I start on a Worker and Polytheism is the first tech. Since I'm on a river and I can work a 3F, 1C tile to start, I'm not worried about anyone beating me to Hinduism.
Turn 8: My Quechua goes east along the river and reaches the coast. There's several floodplains in the area as well as some more good resources. North is Jungle and south is Tundra and Ice.
Turn 12: Buddhism is founded in a distant land. Man, that always gives me a heart attack when I hear that sound. I keep thinking that I've lost the religion. Well, I guess that means I won't get both of the early religions. Not that I was planning on that in the first place.
Turn 15: Polytheism is done:
I don't convert right away. Instead, I'll wait for my Worker to be done in 3 turns. There's no reason to delay his arrival even 1 turn. My Quechua was attacked my a Panther and has to rest 1 turn.
Next is Mining so I can get that Gold on-line.
Turn 18: The Worker is done so I start another Quechua. First I'm going to convert to Hinduism. The Worker starts Farming the riverside Corn.
My Quechua has fought a ton of Wolves in the southern Tundra and has already reached 5XP. You know what that means: Woodsman I and II. Now he'll move double speed through the Forest once he's healed.
Turn 24: I finally pop my first hut, but it's only a map. Incredibly, it shows me Amsterdam is only 8 spaces west of my capital!:
Um, no. Sorry, buddy, but that's waaaaaaay too close to me. Yeah, he's going to die.
Turn 25: I formally meet Willem. OK, I'm peaceful now, but don't expect it to last. Mining is complete and instead of Masonry as I planned, I switch to Bronze Working. If there's Copper nearby, I need to grab it and take Willem out. Enemy capitals make excellent Legendary cities.
The Worker finishes my first Farm and goes to Farm the other Corn.
Turn 30: The second Quechua is done and I start a third. He'll go wander around the northern Jungle while the next guy is garrison duty.
Turn 32: West of Willem is everyone's bestest buddy:
Surprisingly, he's not the Buddhist. I must have beaten him to Polytheism instead. He's actually a threat to beat me to Judaism. I'd better get to it after Bronze Working. The last thing I need is for him to be a different religion than me.
Turn 37: The third Quechua is done and fortifies. Next will be a second Worker. I plan on chopping out a Settler and then a couple of Axes for my good pal, Willem. Bronze Working will be done soon. The second Farm is done on the Corn and my Worker moves to the Gold.
Turn 38: My Jungle-exploring Warrior dies to a Panther at 4.4% odds. I hate animals.
Turn 39: Gee, no wonder Monty missed the early religions:
And she's soooooo happy with me too. Just look at those loving eyes. Great, now I've got 2 psychos to deal with in this game.
Turn 41: Bronze Working is done. There's Copper on the east coast. I can make a riverside city that will grab Pigs, 5 Floodplains and the Copper. Nice. Unfortunately, the Copper will be in the second ring and the new city will need a border pop to access it. I revolt to Slavery.
Turn 42: The Gold is on-line and research takes an obvious big step forward.
Turn 43: I meet Pacal II. I really don't know anything about this guy. Let's look him up. Hmmm, Expansive and Financial - that's kind of a pain. UU is a resourceless Spearman. Yawn. UB is the Ball Court. Double yawn. Kind of unremarkable, I guess, except for the goofy picture.
Turn 45: Here's an interesting event:
Wow, that last option sure seems tempting. My city is small enough that the happiness hit isn't a big deal. Losing 1 pop is kind of bad since it will take the Gold off, but a permanent +2 health in every city? Now I'll be Financial, Industrious and Expansive. Too good not to try.
The treatment was a success! Now my health cap in Cuzco is a ridiculous 14. My Worker will be done next turn so I can regain the population I lost.
Turn 46: Far to the NW, my exploring Quechua meets Joao II. I already know what an expanding pain in the butt he can be. Good thing he's not too close to me. The second Worker is done and he'll help the first with a couple of chops. I'll start another Quechua until I'm size 4 and can whip a Settler.
Turn 49: Masonry is done and Monotheism is next. I want my Settler out in time to become the Jewish Holy City. I may have to delay Monotheism a turn or 2 to make that happen. I hope I don't lose it.
Turn 54: Another chop comes through, allowing me to whip the Settler in 2 turns.
Turn 56: I whip the Settler. Monotheism will be done in 5 turns since the Gold is offline again. That's enough time to found my second city.
Turn 57: The Settler is done and I start a Barracks for the upcoming Axemen. He heads east to the appointed spot where a Quechua is waiting for him.
Turn 58: The Gold is back on-line and I will have to delay Monotheism 1 turn to accomodate the Settler.
Turn 60: I found my second city, Tiwanaku:
Yes, it's far too late for Stonehenge at this point, especially with at least 2 other civs starting with Mysticism. But what the heck? I need the city to grow for a bit.
Turn 61: Montheism is done and Tiwanaku is the Holy City. I convert to Judaism so my second city will get the +5 culture and pop its borders. Next on the tech tree will be The Wheel and Pottery for my unique building.
Turn 64: A third chop in Cuzco will finish the Barracks next turn.
Turn 65: The Barracks are complete and I start a third Worker. I need to get the Copper hooked up before I can build the Axemen.
The Wheel is complete and Pottery is next.
Turn 70: Pottery is done. The Copper is Mined and now needs a road to hook it up to Cuzco. The next tech will be Animal Husbandry.
Turn 73: Ack! I saw a Barbarian Uprising event, but assumed that it wasn't near me since I didn't get the additional pop-up. But now out of the fog between me and Willem comes 4 Barbarian Archers. They're special Barbarians that will immediately enter cultural borders. I need some more Quechuas, fast! The Copper is hooked up, but Quechuas are cheaper and still effective against Archers.
Turn 75: I actually have to whip another Quechua. That will give me 3 defenders against 4 Archers. I should have a 4 defender in place by the time they attack. Animal Husbandry is done and I'll start on Writing.
Turn 76: A flood destroys my Barracks. What else can go wrong? On the plus side, my 4 Quechuas (2 with Cover) should rout these stupid Barbarians.
Turn 77: Yup. 4-for-4 and I win with no losses. Time to start on some Axemen. Meanwhile, my Workers are busy Cottaging the Floodplains around Tiwanaku. I am Financial, after all. It will make a great super-science city.
Turn 84: Writing is done. Next is Priesthood so I can get the Oracle. I'll Open Borders with everyone except Izzy, because she hates me. I'll use this opportunity to scout out Willem and see how much I need to destroy him.
Turn 91: I guess it wasn't too late after all as Tiwanaku finishes Stonehenge in 1725 BC! It will build a Terrace as Cuzco continues with Axemen.
Amsterdam is guarded by 2 Archers, while Willem has a second city to the SW guarded by a single Warrior. The second city has Copper in its first ring, but there's no Mine yet. He has 2 Workers on the way, so war is imminent. I only have 3 Quechuas and 2 unpromoted Axemen (*sigh*). It will have to be enough for now.
Turn 94: The Workers start Mining Willem's Copper. That's a big no-no:
I have a Quechua in place to snag both Workers. I have 3 Axes and 2 Quechuas moving in on Amsterdam.
Turn 96: By the time my forces arrive outside Amsterdam, he has 4 Archers and I have no chance to take the city. I'll pillage around it until help arrives.
Turn 101: Interesting. Pacal II is actually listed as being more advanced than me. Of course, I have Alphabet due in only 3 more turns. We'll see who's better then, Pacal.
Amsterdam has been whipped down to size 1 and has 5 Archers. I have 4 Quechuas and 4 Axemen ready to attack. It may be an exercise in futility, but I have to try next turn.
Turn 102: The assault begins:
First I attack with a Combat I, Cover Quechua. He has a 20.5% chance and wins! Things are looking up!
The second Combat I, Cover Quechua attacks at the same odds and loses, but he knocks the defending Archer down to 1 strength. I'll take it.
Next an Axeman attacks at 18.5% odds and wins! Wow, the gods are smiling on this fairly foolish attack. It might actually work.
The next Axemen attacks at 20.7% odds and does little damage. Only 1 undamaged Archer left.
The next Axemen has 24.5% odds (the odds are greater because the Archers have less fortify bonus). He loses, but does OK damage to the Archer.
My last Axeman hits the wounded Archer at 42.5% odds. He loses and does no damage to the defender. Ouch.
Another Qeuchua attacks and loses, doing a good bit of damage to the defender. He has 3 badly wounded Archers left.
My last Quechua attacker wins and takes no damage. I have 3 attackers left and he has 2 wounded Archers left. Unfortunately, the Archers will most likely promote and heal next turn. But so will my attackers.
Turn 103: Hmmm, only 1 Archer promoted and he got Combat I instead of City Garrison? My undamaged Quecha promotes to Cover and attacks at 45.4% odds. No dice.
Next, my Axeman that won at such great odds last time can promote to City Raider I and II. His attack against a badly wounded Archer is no contest. Only 1 defender left!
I decide to risk my wounded Quechua against his more wounded final defender. Again I fail at pretty good odds.
Turn 104: My final CR II Axeman has no trouble cleaning up his last defender and the city is finally mine:
You can see at the top of the screen an awesome city site that will give me Corn, Gold and 2 Ivory. That will be my next expansion site. I'll have to hurry to beat Pacal there.
Unfortunately, I only have 1 Axeman left. On the plus side, he'll be CR III. Will that be enough to take out Willem's other city? I doubt it.
Meanwhile, Alphabet is in. Let's look at the tech screen:
Yikes. Willem has Iron Working already. I hope he wasn't able to hook up that Copper yet. I doubt he's been able to muster up another Worker by now.
I don't want to trade just yet so I'll research Hunting myself.
Turn 105: I build another Axeman and chop out a third. The 2 reinforcements are on their way.
Turn 106: Hunting is done. I don't really need Archery or Fishing right now, and Pacal won't trade Iron Working. I'll start on Code of Laws. I'll need to get Courthouses if I plan on having 5 cities right now.
Turn 108: Willem's last city has an Archer and a Warrior. I have 3 more Axemen on their way, but I'll see what the odds are next turn.
Tiwanaku finishes its Terrace and will start on The Oracle. I want to keep the Prophet wonders together so I can get a Great Prophet. I'll want to either get a Shrine or lightbulb Theology for religion #4 (I'll have CoL by then).
Turn 109: Hmmm, 95.7% to take out the Archer. That's plenty good enough for me. I win and still have 3.5 strength left. More than enough for his lone Warrior next turn.
Turn 110: Oops! Willem whips an Axeman. I still have a 55.6% chance to win, but I'll back off until help arrives.
Turn 111: The final AI is revealed in the far west and it's Suryavarman II. Ha. That's Joao II, Pacal II and Suryavarman II in the same game. No love for the originals?
My 4 Axemen move in to take out Willem.
Turn 113: Willem has upgraded his Warrior to a Spearman and whipped another Spearman. So it's an Axe and 2 Spears against 4 Axes. Not good odds for Willem.
I'll save my CR III Axe and attack with an unpromoted one at 20% odds. He loses, but actually does really good damage to the defending Axe.
My CR III can easily take out a Spear (98% odds), and does so with no damage.
My third Axe attacks a Spear at 96% odds and wins as well.
The final attack is my last Axe against his wounded Axe. I won, and the city is mine:
This is a really nice city - Wheat, 6 floodplains and Copper. I think this will be my GP Farm. I'll put some Artist wonders in it like the National Epic and the Globe Theatre and use it to pump out Great Artists all game long.
I'm going to stop here. This was a very long round because of the Axe rush of Willem. I was very foolish with that attack. I should have simply pillaged the Copper Mine and then waited for a stack of Axes before attacking. Instead, I rushed into an attack before I was ready. Unpromoted Axes? What the heck was I thinking? 4 Quechuas and 4 Axemen against 5 Archers and 40% cultural defense? I really should have lost miserably and was amazingly lucky to win. I could have easily kept Willem away from metal, rebuilt my Barracks, and had a stack of 6 or so CR I Axemen along with the Quechuas take him out.
Well, here's my plan for the future. Cuzco is finishing a Library and then will make constant Settlers for my final REX. Tiwanaka is finishing The Oracle in 10 turns or so. I'll get Metal Casting with it for Forges. Then it will also make some Settlers.
Here's the land around me:
My 4 cities are in Yellow. Pacal's city is in his Blue. Monty has a city that I think is on the Light Green dot next to Utrecht. You can see that the Pigs are under his control. I'm not worried about that city. There's no way it can keep up culturally with a Great Artist Farm. It will flip to me and I'll disband it.
Red dot is a high priority for me. The Ivory will be a much needed happiness boost and it's in the most disputed territory. I'll have to get it soon if I plan to get it at all. Black dot and White dot are next on the list. They have lots of happiness resources that I want under my control. The others are lower priority cities just to get me to the necessary nine. Yeah, I have 10 cities mapped out. Well, land IS power, and I'm not going to stop at nine if I can get more. There's decent land above Black dot that could yield a coastal city. I could always plant something in the wasteland in the middle, but with no resources, that's unlikely to happen. I could get the Furs in the far south too, but I doubt I'll need them.
Techwise, I'll probably follow some very strict beelines. Code of Laws is being researched now, and the other religions will be high priority. Music is another priority for the free Great Artist. Instead of a Golden Age, I'll settle him in one of the 3 culture cities. I'll let the AI's research the following techs for me: Iron Working, Horseback Riding, Construction, Machinery, Compass, Optics, Engineering. I'm not going to go the military route anymore.
It looks like my 3 future Legendary cities will be Cuzco, Tiwanaka and Amsterdam. The rest will be science and support centers. Utrecht is the GP Farm.
Diplomacy is going to be tricky here. I'll have to convert Monty and share a religion with him. Once I do that, he's next to Izzy and Izzy will be toast. Pacal is a little close for comfort so I may have to convert him as well. If I can get 1 world religion going (like Judaism), then a Shrine of that religion will be very powerful. Sury and Izzy are not very close by, but Izzy is crazy and could still attack. I'll have to watch out for her until I can get Monty to destroy her. Joao is fairly close by, but Pacal and I can easily block off his expansion. Without his powerful REXing, he loses a lot.
Well here's the current save and the initial save:
View attachment Huayna Capac BC-4000.CivBeyondSwordSave
View attachment Huayna Capac BC-1175.CivBeyondSwordSave