aelf
Ashen One
Round 4: 70BC - 350AD
As most people recommended, the GE went to Edirne to rush the Great Library. So we made the trade with Genghis:
We could actually get Monotheism instead of Sailing for maximum beakers, but Sailing is much more useful for now, since both our first two cities are on the coast and could use lighthouses.
With Priesthood traded for, we researched Construction next for catapults to prepare for the war against Shaka.
Two turns later:
So far so good. We still have our eyes on the Janissary strategy. For that, we need to win the Liberalism race and GS's from the GL will be very helpful.
On the same turn, I realised that Shaka had become pleased with us thanks to the same faith bonus. I seized the chance to make a long-awaited tech trade:
So we still end up with Monotheism after all. And little does Shaka know that the cottages at Edirne will soon be ours again thanks to the GL's cultural push.
With Judaism relatively well-spread, I decided to revolt to Organised Religion to help with building production:
Once the OR bonus kicked in, I noticed that we could rush the Hanging Gardens in our capital immediately. That was a tempting option. We needed to be getting our troop production going again, as well as build necessary improvements in the capital, such as a lighthouse. Moreover, there's always the uncertainty of whether we can get the wonder before someone else does. I decided to do it, even at a pretty high cost:
And so the Hanging Gardens was built in our capital, adding to the GE points pool:
At least the additional 1 pop it gave to all our cities made the whipping less painful.
The still-jovial Shaka came and offered us a deal shortly after:
Since it was a reasonable deal, I took it.
Anyway, as suggested, we marched several of our units down to the barb city and captured it:
I decided to keep it as per the second option of the dotmap. The two cities are probably better than one in the long run. Unfortunately, I realised that Genghis had recently settled a city near our second city spot in the south:
Well, we can still settle a city there and fight a culture war with his city. Or we can eventually raze his city before we settle ours.
Several turns later, we received a rather disturbing message:
That means there is probably going to be a monster civilization out there. But, on the plus side, that might mean the other continent is too busy warring to tech and, ironically, the continent with the warmongers is actually the peaceful one. So far, anyway.
We finished researching Construction on the next turn and, as planned, we researched Code of Laws next so that we can build courthouses in cities newly acquired from Shaka, who has yet to declare his war. Maybe we will have to do it for him after all. We started whipping catapults out almost immediately anyway, just in case.
Next, the Khan came with an offer:
It was actually a pretty good one. But I was afraid that he might trade it to Shaka, so I turned it down. Eventually, though, Shaka researched Construction himself, so I went back to Genghis with the deal, but couldn't get as good an offer:
Oh, well. Better than nothing. Horse archers might prove useful against a now catapult-armed Shaka anyway.
And, indeed, the GL helped us win our cottages back:
As you can see, Edirne is taking a break from building units and starting on the NE in order to capitalise on the free scientists from the GL. We should aim to get as many scientists as possible before the GL expires. GEs will be more useful later in the game, as we have previously discussed.
Then we received more news from the other continent:
Not particularly advanced for Immortal AIs. So perhaps we are right to think that they've been too busy fighting.
We have not decided on what to do with the other southern city site, but I guessed that most of you would advocate settling it first anyway and dealing with the Mongolian city nearby later. In this light, I decided to build and whip the settler at the capital:
This is where I stopped playing. We have to make a crucial decision now, one concerning a favourite subject: War. Our troop strength at present:
And our power graph:
Shaka had not declared war as predicted but we may have enough or close to enough troops to invade. Should we attack first? Or, in light of Genghis' new city in the south, should we declare on the Khan instead? I'm inclined towards the former, since our long border with the Zulus and hence the proximity of their cities, along with their higher military strength, pose a greater security threat while presenting more strategic advantages to be gained from a successful war.
Also, we have just discovered CoL. I assume that we would be researching towards Education now, with winning the Liberalism race for Nationalism and researching Gunpowder as ends in mind. But what should we do about Currency? Trade for it, which might be difficult, or make a detour and research it ourselves? Here's the tech situation:
Both would give Monarchy and 100 gold for Code of Laws, but they would not give Currency, as expected. Should we get Monarchy, then? And, if so, from whom? Trade with Shaka because we might cripple him anyway, or trade with Genghis so as not to help Shaka's war economy?
And here are the maps of our whole continent:
Lastly, there's the question of the other city site near Sakae. Do we settle it now or wait till we've dealt with Khan's annoying new city?
As most people recommended, the GE went to Edirne to rush the Great Library. So we made the trade with Genghis:
We could actually get Monotheism instead of Sailing for maximum beakers, but Sailing is much more useful for now, since both our first two cities are on the coast and could use lighthouses.
With Priesthood traded for, we researched Construction next for catapults to prepare for the war against Shaka.
Two turns later:
So far so good. We still have our eyes on the Janissary strategy. For that, we need to win the Liberalism race and GS's from the GL will be very helpful.
On the same turn, I realised that Shaka had become pleased with us thanks to the same faith bonus. I seized the chance to make a long-awaited tech trade:
So we still end up with Monotheism after all. And little does Shaka know that the cottages at Edirne will soon be ours again thanks to the GL's cultural push.
With Judaism relatively well-spread, I decided to revolt to Organised Religion to help with building production:
Once the OR bonus kicked in, I noticed that we could rush the Hanging Gardens in our capital immediately. That was a tempting option. We needed to be getting our troop production going again, as well as build necessary improvements in the capital, such as a lighthouse. Moreover, there's always the uncertainty of whether we can get the wonder before someone else does. I decided to do it, even at a pretty high cost:
And so the Hanging Gardens was built in our capital, adding to the GE points pool:
At least the additional 1 pop it gave to all our cities made the whipping less painful.
The still-jovial Shaka came and offered us a deal shortly after:
Since it was a reasonable deal, I took it.
Anyway, as suggested, we marched several of our units down to the barb city and captured it:
I decided to keep it as per the second option of the dotmap. The two cities are probably better than one in the long run. Unfortunately, I realised that Genghis had recently settled a city near our second city spot in the south:
Well, we can still settle a city there and fight a culture war with his city. Or we can eventually raze his city before we settle ours.
Several turns later, we received a rather disturbing message:
That means there is probably going to be a monster civilization out there. But, on the plus side, that might mean the other continent is too busy warring to tech and, ironically, the continent with the warmongers is actually the peaceful one. So far, anyway.
We finished researching Construction on the next turn and, as planned, we researched Code of Laws next so that we can build courthouses in cities newly acquired from Shaka, who has yet to declare his war. Maybe we will have to do it for him after all. We started whipping catapults out almost immediately anyway, just in case.
Next, the Khan came with an offer:
It was actually a pretty good one. But I was afraid that he might trade it to Shaka, so I turned it down. Eventually, though, Shaka researched Construction himself, so I went back to Genghis with the deal, but couldn't get as good an offer:
Oh, well. Better than nothing. Horse archers might prove useful against a now catapult-armed Shaka anyway.
And, indeed, the GL helped us win our cottages back:
As you can see, Edirne is taking a break from building units and starting on the NE in order to capitalise on the free scientists from the GL. We should aim to get as many scientists as possible before the GL expires. GEs will be more useful later in the game, as we have previously discussed.
Then we received more news from the other continent:
Not particularly advanced for Immortal AIs. So perhaps we are right to think that they've been too busy fighting.
We have not decided on what to do with the other southern city site, but I guessed that most of you would advocate settling it first anyway and dealing with the Mongolian city nearby later. In this light, I decided to build and whip the settler at the capital:
This is where I stopped playing. We have to make a crucial decision now, one concerning a favourite subject: War. Our troop strength at present:
And our power graph:
Shaka had not declared war as predicted but we may have enough or close to enough troops to invade. Should we attack first? Or, in light of Genghis' new city in the south, should we declare on the Khan instead? I'm inclined towards the former, since our long border with the Zulus and hence the proximity of their cities, along with their higher military strength, pose a greater security threat while presenting more strategic advantages to be gained from a successful war.
Also, we have just discovered CoL. I assume that we would be researching towards Education now, with winning the Liberalism race for Nationalism and researching Gunpowder as ends in mind. But what should we do about Currency? Trade for it, which might be difficult, or make a detour and research it ourselves? Here's the tech situation:
Both would give Monarchy and 100 gold for Code of Laws, but they would not give Currency, as expected. Should we get Monarchy, then? And, if so, from whom? Trade with Shaka because we might cripple him anyway, or trade with Genghis so as not to help Shaka's war economy?
And here are the maps of our whole continent:
Lastly, there's the question of the other city site near Sakae. Do we settle it now or wait till we've dealt with Khan's annoying new city?
). Still, when considering the borders and landscape it makes much more sense to go for Shaka next and keep trading with Temujin.
)
