COTM49 - First Spoiler

COTM 49 First Spoiler - the Ancient Age!

Let's get the first Spoiler going a little early.

Reading Requirements

1. You must be able to research a Middle Age technology.

Posting Restrictions

• Please be discreet about civ locations further than about 15 moves beyond your immediate location; however, feel free to discuss contacts and trades.
• No discussions of the middle ages (or later)
• No screenshots of any middle-age (or later) resources.
• Absolutely NO discussion of any other currently active 'X'OTM!

Playing Deity Pangaea can make you feel a little vulnerable - what actions did you take to enhance your survival odds? When the GS did become available, how did you use them, and did you find the bombard ability useful? And how is your game going? Did the other civs use their bombard ability to any meaningful amount?

Open, going for a diplomatic win.


So, I am going to have to confer with our moderator about how to fully spoiler my game so far.

However, I can say a few things at least:

Went warrior-warrior-granary to start with the forest chop on the game (as suggested in the pregame discussion thread). That worked out nicely. Popped the nearby hut in 3700 BC, to get, of course, an opportunity to gain experience on my exploring warrior. He died on barb #2. Could this be the fastest loss in COTM history? No, it wasn't.

The good news is that that warrior did spot the wines before he died. Once that barbarian set was gone (along with one from the north--I was really quite worried for a bit, but more on that soon), I went another warrior after the granary then a settler, which (probably stupidly) settled on the wine hill for quickest lux hookup.

Met the Romans in 2590 BC as they sent a few archers to help with the barbarian situation. They were up 5 techs and had 4 cities. Not fun. I had nothing to trade. I decide to be nice to them.

This, however, led me to a VERY good discovery that I think I made early enough to save the game from ugliness: in an effort to find the Romans, my exploring warrior headed north, finding the 1-tile-wide chokepoint to the north. He plopped down on the mountain (later moving back to the hill when Rome settled Viroconium in the jungle--more on that later too!), completely blocking any non-naval access to my part of the island.

With all that, I managed to not even see the cow until 1950 BC.

Finished Alphabet in 1750 BC, only to find that Rome already had writing. Boo to that. Press on anyway, hope I can get lucky for some sort of slingshot. Any sort.

An amusing screenshot pair for you. I almost--ALMOST felt sorry for them.

Before:

and After:


I know the normal notation for combat is something like: 3/3 rWarrior vs. 2/2 barbarian = 2/3 rWarrior. Well, for this screenshot, I have to assume it is like this: 99/99 volcano vs. 2/2 barbarian camp = 99/99 volcano.

Question: what does a volcano do with 25g?


So, I was cruising along in my own little low-military world, when in 1200 BC the barbarian uprisings began. Holy schmoley. I knew of one barb camp in the west (I'd pretty well settled the east coast); it turned out there was a second in the far southwest in the one tile I didn't have fog-busted that turn (had a warrior bouncing back and forth down there that couldn't quite cover things).

Now, keep in mind at this point I didn't have important things like, you know, Bronze Working. Or The Wheel. Or Warrior Code. This was not a fair fight!

So, I took a page from the recent Byzantine game, and turned Tres (my third town, for those of you scoring at home) and Nueve into barbarian party villages. Then I looked for something to spend gold on.

So, having gotten Writing, I, uh, bought the last two turns of Philosophy from Rome for 80g, and at this point Rome had EVERY next available tech along the tree except Literature. I had about 230 gold left. But there was good news: I was about to meet purple with a curragh, and the barbs couldn't get to me for two turns thanks to terrain.

In 1175 BC I met France. I bought Masonry for 180g, leaving me with 56 (and -3gpt at current tax rate). That should buy a lot of mead and wenches. Of course, I'm researching Lit in 14 turns in a hope of getting the Great Library to semi-catch up in tech. Masonry at least let me prebuild with the palace in Dos. Forget to build embassy with France with the cash, and then don't have enough next turn--fortunately Joan builds it for me shortly thereafter. A barbarian galley sank that curragh (and a couple others) shortly thereafter.

Next couple hundred years were the barbarians pwning my towns. Which was fine. Met the Iros in 1050. They have the entire row of techs (except Lit) and 886 gold and an extra ivory. And the next turn they finish the Hanging Gardens. Yeesh.

QSC stats:

9 cities
25 pop
2 settler
7 worker
12 warrior
2 curragh
3 contacts (Rome, France, Iros)
Techs: CB, Pottery, Alpha, Masonry, Writing, Philo. Lit in 10 at 80%.
15 gold, 0gpt.

And I think I'll stop here for now, except to briefly answer two questions:

Yes, the GS bombard is very very useful, at least it was for me in blocking the northern chokepoint (bombing enemies >>> attacking them on a mountain, they would often turn back). The can also bombard then move, or move then bombard (or both, in case of a road), which is incredibly awesomely amazing on defense. More than one opposing ship has rued the day they got too close to my shore.

I never saw any AI use bombardment with their UU (except France, but, well, that's expected).

Open just to be on the safe side thought about predator...

4000 B.C.

Settle directly and have worker move onto the deer to chop the trees.
Begin 50 turn research on The Wheel for future pointy stick research
Warrior, warrior, granary (chopped)

Sometime later B.C.

Exploration in spiral fashion with the 2 warriors, LOTS of barbarians...
Settler, warrior, settler

north warrior finds the choke point, change settler plans to grab early wheat next to the lake and move him up there instead. Grab it successfully before anyone else

now that I have the choke point, I can kinda relax. KINDA....

explore north and meet French and Romans. France has 3 cities. lol
eventually meet the aztecs trade CB for BW.

Settling running smoothly. Only 2 things that bother me: AI is WAY ahead in tech, and those FREAKIN BARBS!! lost several warriors, a worker, and a settler to their horsemen.

Get really mad when I lost the settler and whip every city, even my capital for archers and spearmen. Blitz 4 barb camps down and settle their former hideouts.

Then a HUGE barb uprising with 30+ horsemen occurs near the horses. Like duh!

At that point I'm a little worried the AI will bring a settler on a galley but GOOD THING, not quite yet, though 3 of the 7 AI have entered the medieval times (1 full tech age ahead)

Have to fight the barbs and a huge standoff with their horsemen occurs for 20+ turns until I finally kill most of them and use ICS creeping to pre-claim the horses. Finally, by the time the AI is building leornardo's workshop I have secured the circular empire and killed all the barbs. Problem 1 solved.

I begin building GL remembering that the AI tends not to build it if most of them have learned education. Too bad I was wrong like 16 turns into it when the Iroqois started building it so I gave up on it. Began making LOTS of military to make France cough up some techs.

Long time of inaction and silience...

Then several AI gang up on France but take a long time reaching the cities. During that time, France suddenly completes the Great Library!!!!!

In order to prevent any AI from attacking Paris, I sign ROP with France getting them to pay me 55 gold, and use my 50+ units including archers, gallic swordsmen, horsemen, and catapults to surround the city (I bet Joan started sweating and gulped - can't blame her)

Eventually they had 1 city left...Paris

I was debating when, if, and how I should use the ROP rape. The AI just completed knights templar. I began a prebuild for Smith's because I planned to nab the Great Library when the AI started building it and I can finish it that turn. Surprisingly, the AI took forever to research economics and I massed up 500+shields on my prebuild.

Ottomans demand 175 gold I refuse of course, they declare, and I get everyone except France to MA against them since they are a pretty dangerous runaway AI having 25+ cities already and about to get siphais!!! Good thing the Zulus are just as big as they are!

This all turned out to greatly work out in my favor because later on the Ottomans signed a military alliance with France against me!

France's archer's came out and took only like 3 of my units out and also sent out their spearmen to protect ..what? their archers and not their last city. Oh well, the stupider the better...

Redlined the 5 spearmen in their city with the Gallic swordsmen bombard and then used non-golden age units to hose them down. When a redlined longbowman showed up, I signed MA against France with Sumeria which had 13,000+ gold where I offered them like 80 gpt for their 1,000 gold or something awesome like that in the MA deal

Also MA with Iroqois for their 500 gold for my 50gpt in the deal. Then finished France so that I didn't have to pay a penny for ripping off 1,500 + gold from the 2 civs.

Next turn I got boosted all the way into the end of the medieval times (1.5 tech ages boost)

Bought music theory off of the Iroqois and finished JS. Bach's Cathedral instead of Smith's!!! From here on, I doubt that I could lose unless something very extrodinarily stupid happened. I thing this game is well in my hands so far...

Wow, good job there Axehand. My game did not go so well. Though the fact that this was the first time I played more than an hour into a Deity game consoles me.

Took the Conquest bonuses, since I've never even played a Demigod game. For all the good the bonuses did me, shoulda gone open class.

Settled in place and since I had the 3 spears, started immediately on granary. Shoulda started to chop the deer right away, but thought I had time to mine bg north of town. That was the first of many mistakes. Research writing at min, thinking I'll then try Philo at full. Send spears east, west, south. Spear finds choke in 3300, and a few turns later I meet Rome. They're up 3 techs and won't sell any.

Second mistake was not getting another explorer up past the choke fast enough. The barbs didn't really give me toooo many problems (lost a total of 5 warriors, 1 settler, 1 worker before I had the homeland under control). I didn't meet France officially until 1500. With Philo. set to come in 3 turns later, I wait a second then buy mysticism and Poly for most of my gold and gpt. The idea was to be first to philosophy and take monarchy. Another mistake -- I forgot about WC being necessary for Monarchy. Didn't really matter, as I wasn't first to philosophy. Neither France nor Rome had it, so I thought my chances were good, but oh well. Philosophy gets me BW and Masonry from France, Phil. and gold gets me IW from Rome. My notes at this point say "Crap. What now?"

I get at town on the hill side of the choke point, Romans get a town covering the mountain side. Next turn I meet Iroquois, who are as far ahead of Rome and France as they are ahead of me. Next turn I find out the Iros start FOUR wonder builds. They'll eventually get 3 of the 4. All AA wonders except GLib are gone by 1100bc. By 800 when I meet the Ottomans (last contact), they are the only ones still in AA with me. I slowly buy techs from French and fill out my homeland. Romans get a city on the horses in the south, and the French land a settler on what I assumed was an absurd location on the Western tip of the peninsula.

Monarchy finally came in and I revolted immediately, setting up the Celtic Kingdom in 150BC. Use the extra GPT from the government switch to buy Construction. I'm last to MA by a ton, but at least I made it. Iros are only a couple of turns away from finishing Leo's, and Sumeria, who turn out to be the other monster civ in my game, have already started building Copernicus and Magellan's. Still, I'm not hopeless. GS invade the roman city on my peninsula and their choke point city the same turn I hit MA. We'll see how it goes.

Okay, I'll continue now that I've talked to our esteemed moderators.

Having bought Masonry, and researching Literature, I started a prebuild for the Great Library in Dos. Yes, this was probably too late. I know that now.

Founded Diez in 975 BC, on the north shore in the midst of the hills. Crappy site, but will be OK eventually with coastal tile working. Plus it beat sending it to its doom against the barbs. And, well, 4 units of support was nice.

This gave me the FP build option, which was a nice fallback for GLib.

950, I founded Once just SE of the chokepoint hill (where it could also serve as a canal). Having done this, I released my warrior blockader (pulled in for MP), and allowed a couple Roman archers to have a way home.

Dispersed a barb camp in 850 for some much needed gold.

Founded Doce in 825 BC along Chokepoint Alley, on the east coast.

800: Iros make an embassy with me.

775: Get Literature. Nobody yet has Literature. Could I have possibly traded Lit and gotten myself much of the way out of the hole? I guess so. But I decided to hang my hat on getting the Great Library. (It makes for a much better spoiler this way!) Set science to BW at 50%, due in 4 at +9 gpt. (I plan to mostly shut down research for a while but I want to get to IW to get my Gallics set up).

750: Light blue Sumerian galley comes out of the fog to the west. I say hi. He is up all techs but down Lit, and has 3 luxes. Buy Roman worker for 106g + 1 gpt (can't buy at lump sum).

710: Found Trece on west coast. Squeeze an extra 9gpt out of the last turn of BW research.

690: BW in, set research to IW at 30% (+25 gpt, due in 14). IBT: Sumeria lands archer/settler pair on my northwest coast, right where I was going to put a city. That settler is a space away. I decide to found Catorce right there to block Sumeria settling. I'd love to pick off a couple of slaves, but, well, I have warriors and more warriors, and I'm not ready for trouble.

610: Found Quince in far southwest, that fills the land with Celtic cities, so no AI will settle in my land for a change, though I will squeeze in a few more towns. IBT: Sumeria and Iroquois ally vs. Rome. That Sumerian couple is wandering through my lands toward the chokepoint.

570: Exploring curragh meets the Aztecs. They have everything I could want except Lit. I am hanging on to Lit and praying. 200g, +28gpt, IW in 4.

550 IBT: France + Sumeria ally vs. Rome. The Sumerian couple parks for a bit while Rome moves north through the chokepoint (those archers from 400 years ago). An interesting and helpful thing to note.

510: Swap Seis to the Forbidden Palace (having switched Dos to GLib a ways back, not sure when). Meet the Zulus. They have Lit. Boo. As do Sumeria and Iroquois. Boooooo. Time to put on my prayin' hat. GLib due in 18 at the present time. Nobody else has started it. Is there a cascade available?

490: IW in. Iron spotted but not hooked up yet (boo). (I had actually founded Doce on iron, but no roads to it; the other iron source was about the only spot in that area I had not roaded.) I think in retrospect this was a good thing, believe it or not, as I was able to build more warriors. In for a penny, in for a pound on the Library gamble, I shut off research except for one scientist (who, embarrasingly, can get Wheel in 30 by himself).

470: Ulp. Sumeria starts Great Library. So does France. I think I should still be okay? Maybe?

450: Embassy Aztecs (temple in 2), Sumeria (library in 2), Zulu (Sun Tzu in 17). GLib due in 11 but will get shorter when Dos actually hits size 6 next turn. I think.

430: I haven't been paying attention to the foreign wars, partly because I can't see much of what's going on. But I did manage to notice that France took a couple of potshots at the Roman CAPITAL of Viroconium, which is the town just north of the chokepoint. So Rome is almost wiped out, and is all that stands between me and likely pain.

410: I am an idiot, and I didn't realize it until now. Remember that Roman worker I bought? Forgot all about that minor detail. Which is bad as I agree to ally vs. Rome with France for Wheel and Warrior Code (because I could get them). I have horses hooked up that I can't see. Some hunting finds them under Quince. Of course, I think I broke the gpt deal with Rome, dammit. Fool. Lone scientist starts Code of Laws for something to do.

IBT: Aztecs start Leonardo's Workshop.

390: Meet the Ottomans, who don't have Literature. Buy slave for 128g.

IBT: Aztecs start Great Library. Sumeria starts Great Library and Knights Templar. Ottoman embassy reveals swordsman in 9999 turns (anarchy?).

370 IBT: Aztecs start Sistine Chapel. Sumeria starts basically everything.

350: Great Library due in 6.

330 IBT: Iroquois finish Sun Tzu. Wonder cascade results. Zulu build Great Library in Zimbabwe. So, not only do I not have it, it came late enough that I have some icky number of shields in it, no wonder to go to, and oh by the way it's landlocked in the far side of the continent. Great. Oh, and not that it matters much but they have the Great Wall too just in case I wanted to wade through a few small towns first.

310: Seis FP-->library (lose 5 shields), Dos GLib --> FP (lose 148 shields). Cry a lot. Take break from playing.



290: Swap lone scientist to Mapmaking. I could research it in 4-5 turns, but I decide that I want the Library, one way or another. And if I can't build it, well, I'll send some Gallic Swordsmen for the job. Even if I started researching, I'm not sure I could ever catch up, as far behind as I am. So, basically, I decide it's Capture Great Library or Bust.

210: Sumeria complete Leonardo's Workshop.

190: And Knights Templar.

30 BC: My two exploring curraghs meet on the far side of the world. I spot some sea to the north of where I am. Decide to send a curragh north. He dies, spotting some coast in the process. A vacant island sure would be (would have been, more like it) useful.

50 AD: 1026g, +39 gpt, MM in 32 (hahahahaha)--ugly, no?

70 AD: I manage to crack the unit support limit for Despotism. Switch Uno back to a settler or two to cram in cities for more unit support.

90 AD: Sumeria builds Sistine.

230 AD: Unit count: 26 Gallics, 23 warriors, 3 spears (blockading the chokepoint), 14 curragh, 17 worker. I have the curragh and warriors to upgrade (current cost: 23*90 + 14*45 = 2700 gold. Paying 11 gpt in unit support in despotism.

IBT: Rampaging Ottomans destroy the Zulu (but the Iros have Zimbabwe). Looks like a nice ROP with Sumeria should get me close, judging entirely by coastlines.

250 Ad: 1328g, making 38 gpt. MM in 23.

IBT: Ottomans demand 83 gold, I refuse, they declare. I look forward to landing Ottomans and a golden age shortly (too bad, but stuff happens).

260 AD: The two Iro knights approach on the mountain. I hope they don't think they are going through 12 Gallics and two spears, but we'll see.

IBT: Yup, they did. Spears go 1-1 vs. knights. One MI also approaches. Knights retreat.

Oh, and the Iros are buliding Smith's.

270 AD: How not to set off a golden age? Bombard with 12 Gallics! Knock the MI down to 1 HP then fortify.

IBT: Iros ally the Aztecs against us. Urk. Spot Iro caravel off the coast of Doce. Double urk. The MI withdraws. At least that's good.

Upgrade a lot of warriors to Gallics just in case an invasion does come via the caravel or the Ottomans. Invaders will have a very bad day.

Notice that war happiness allows lux to 0%. Duh. That makes income 50 gpt.

Post-upgrade unit situation:

43 Gallics
11 warriors
15 curragh
2 spears
19 workers
269g, making 50 gpt

290 AD: Iro caravel approaches western volcano area. I merge a couple workers to save unit costs.

Upgrade a couple more warriors. 49g, making 50 gpt. 48 Gallics, 8 warriors.

IBT: Iros start Shakespeare's.

300: Upgrade one more warrior.

310: Iro caravel is to my south. One more approaches from north. One Iro knight approaches the place to get bombed. 52 Gallics, 7 warriors, 16 curragh, 2 spear, 18 worker.

IBT: It is officially a dogpile, the French are allied in by Ottomans.

320: The Golden Age is about to be upon us. Iros land two knights and one AC in the south. In the north, one knight approaches on the mountain.

In the north, I use 10 Gallics to bombard down to 2 HP from 4 (nice shooting, guys). Then Gallic #11 attacks, is redlined, but wins and promotes, triggering GA. Remaining Gallic and spear advance to cover. In the south, bombardment and Gallics make quick work of the invaders. Oh, with GA I am making 97 gpt. Decide to set science to 10%, which makes it 83 gpt and MM in 8 instead of 16. Heh.

I also giggled at the sight of Gallics bombarding the caravel.

Nasty thing: Gallics can bomb then advance. That's not polite at all! Even worse, they can move out of a town on a road, bomb, then return. I think I'm glad the Ottomans haven't landed yet. That will be messy.

330: As long as I've advanced, I attack the Roman town to build some street cred, killing 3 spears.

58 Gallics, 6 warriors. A mere 27 gpt in unit support. We're getting there! Now to clear off some wars so that I can head for Zimbabwe.

340: Iros start Magellan's. MM in 6. 95g, +77 gpt.


350: More random wonder builds start. French galley appears. Three Iro caravels in the area. Aztec longbowman shows up. Spear withdraws so that Gallics can bombard.

370: Iro musket/pike lands in west coast. It dies. Two French Musketeers approach via Chokepoint Alley. I advance a bunch of Gallics onto the mountain to meet them (plus a spear).

380: Ottomans build Copernicus.

390: Note to self, Iros go before France in the order (as they take the chokepoint mountain, about to meet a nice stack of Gallic bombs). France retreats away. Ottoman galley comes from west.

400: Two Ottoman caravels. Okay, this is getting moderately ugly, even though I doubt anyone can actually land. I may buy some peace soon (and make a break for GLib). About to have some galleys! Finishing off MM with 0% sci and one scientist. Good news: up to 74 Gallics. Bad news: 47 gpt unit support.

410: MM in. Math at 20% in 5 turns (will be going for Currency next). Change some coastal towns to harbors, especially Cuatro where the stack of curraghs is sitting.

Lots of ships look menacing, but nobody has tried anything yet.

420 Uno riots at size 11. Set a taxman.


430: Ottomans land 4 knights and an MI. French reach Chokepoint Mountain with 2 LB/musketeer/pike. Not so hot with the bombarding. I look forward to two LB attacks next round. Sink an Ottoman redlined caravel.

Found Diecenueve for 4gpt in support.

440: Those LBs go 1-1 vs. my spears. Elite spear redlined, will retreat.

French land musketeer on west coast. Iros land knight/musket just behind front lines. Those will go poorly for them.

French longbows kill my last spear (though one more will arrive).

Iros build Bach's.

450: Cuatro completes harbor. Nine curragh become galleys. I am at 29g, switch sci to 10%, math still in 1.

Iroquois caravel gets too close, bombed to 1HP then galley sinks it.

Trade WM to Sumeria for territory map. Looks like 3 turns from Sumerian territory to Zimbabwe.

Start Palace prebuild in Cinco. For what, I don't know, but it seems like a good idea for some reason. Maybe I'll get the UN with it, haha.

460: Math in, shut off research for now. Upgrade 2 curragh; 3g, + 79 gpt.

Ottos land 3 knights + sword. They die. But one Ottoman super-knight takes 3 gallics with him.

For ROP, Sumeria wants 10g + WM. I think I'll be doing that soon.

Iro caravel bombed red but my stray galley loses anyway. Boo.

IBT: Iros land a musket, archer, warrior, knight, ancient cav and two regular cav. Ulp!

470: Time to make peace. Especially when I whiff on bombardments for the first half dozen or so GS. Decide to kill knight/MI combo in north then do it. For the low, low price of 11gpt and a world map, I make peace with Iros. For now. Muahahahaha!

Meanwhile, an Ottoman galley and caravel are on my west coast. Bombardment makes them sad.

Galleys begin move up the coast. I hope to have a surprise for France soon.

480: A couple of riots (oops) as the war happiness was less. Make a couple of taxmen.

Operation Beat Up France begins, as gallics load galleys in a trek toward Tours, source of dyes.

490 IBT: Iros build Shakespeare's. Ottomans land at west with three knights.

500: Bombardment goes badly, so I make peace. For 10 gold down and low monthly payments of 8 gpt, I am cool with the Ottomans. Meanwhile, France advances a pike/LB combo onto Chokepoint Mountain. Where I have about 30 Gallics waiting to board. Bombard then kill with elites; no leader though. Upgrade 4 more curragh to galley (only 1 left!); 10g, +42 gpt.

Lux slider to 10% to compensate for less war happiness.

Army: 85 gallics, 3 spear, 2 warrior, 18 worker, 18 galley, 1 curragh. My military is weak to Iroquois, average to Aztecs/Ottomans/Sumerians, and strong to France & Rome (who has just the one city, at the chokepoint-- I like having them there!).

IBT: Ottomans finish Smith's. French caravel at the west (no landing), I bombard. Three Aztec knights appear near Viroconium. French LB alone on the second mountain.

510: Elite kills French LB after bombardment, to reveal about 15 Aztec knights over the hill. Urk! Aztecs want... 20g for peace. Um, okay. Go fight someone else. As a bonus, trade Aztecs extra gems for 8 gpt.

Waiting for the other galleys to arrive before mass shelling of Tours begins. I am sitting in Roman waters right now. What are they going to do about it?

IBT: Iros finish Newton's, Ottomans finish Smith's. Aztecs very much in France's grill as far as communications go. My elite gallic dies to an archer (boo).

520: Finally clear the chokepoint so Iros and Ottomans can start to head home (I hope).

IBT: Golden Age ends. A couple of riots. 73g, -11 gpt. That's what 135 units vs. 76 support will do. Founding a couple more cities soon which will help. Look for spots to merge workers to save unit support. Find a couple, which reduces deficit to 6 gpt.

530: The invasion begins! Sort of. Plant two GS on a mountain between Tours and Orleans to hopefully suck a few troops up there and/or cut off communications.

IBT: Sumeria demands 21g + TM. I cave. I need them nice later.

550: Landing time! 32 Gallics in one stack, plus two others to semi-strategically cut off reinforcements, land next to Tours. The solo guys fare decently, and I think it was worth it, they took out an attacking musketeer, and two MI didn't make it to town. Plus one of the two Gallics retreated into my stack.

560: The attack on Tours begins. The redlined Gallic bombards (successfully!) on a musketeer, revealing another vet musketeer. This could get messy. The attack begins.

It is messy, as one would expect with gallics attacking musketeers in a size 8 city. After those went down (4 of them, I think?), the few longbowmen died well.

Finally, the result is:

20 surviving Gallics, of which:
9 are redlined
2 have 2 hp
1 has 3 hp
8 have 4 hp

One size 7 city with 6 resisters, a barracks, and an aqueduct. I start Tours on the "all taxmen all the time" diet.

Happily, the Gallics can all move into town (I landed on a roaded dye tile). And the French have just the two wounded MI in the borders of Tours; I finish them off (though another Gallic gets redlined).

And the best news: my ecomony has a nice turnaround thanks to less unit support; I'm now 39g, +17 gpt.

I decide it's time to chat with Joanie.

For the low low price of 13 gold down and 2 gpt, she'll agree to teach me Currency in exchange for peace. This is a big deal; markets will have to help with my cash flow situation.

I am now at 26g, +13 gpt, at war only with Rome. And happily, though Tours has no direct connection to me, there are roads to someone else's harbor then back home to me, so everyone has the dyes right now.

Now for the bad news: the French and Iros have an embargo against me. Sumeria and Ottomans don't need dyes. Aztecs do but have no cash.

IBT: I apologize for Joanie for the one scouting Gallic invading. She'll buy my WM for TM+15g + 1gpt. I agree.

Resistance in Tours ends (20 gallics will do that). Six taxmen take over.

570: 60g, +31gpt.

580: Move explorer-gallic toward the Iroquois town of Marseilles, which just border-popped. Oh, goody, it's defended by a rifleman.

Make ROP with Sumeria (staging area for beating up Zimbabwe). Two gallics land in Sumerian territory to scope out the fastest route to Zimbabwe.

Embargo with Ottomans vs. Iros.

IBT: Ottomans and Rome embargo us. I know how to end that if need be. (muahaha).

590: Iros boot us.

600: Ottomans and Sumeria sign MPP.

610: Squeeze in Veinte near chokepoint.

620-630: zzzzz.

630 IBT: Iros start Universal Suffrage. Hmm.

Rome sends one archer out of their "capital" toward Tours. Bwahahaha. Elite Gallics pray.

640: A few markets have come in. With 3 luxes, that's nice for happiness.

ROP with Aztecs, since that looks useful.

Whip a temple out of Tours.

650: Archer gets close enough to die. No leader though.

660: Culture expansion in Tours. Have galley-lifted all the troops out. I plan to give it away (sorry about the luxuries, guys) as part of some useful deal, I think.

670: D-day, a bit earlier than hoped. Iros ask to renegotiate. I decline.

Iroquois forces move on Tours, defended by one Gallic.

680: Big fun time!

Ally France vs. Iros for 13gpt.
Ally Sumeria (remember that MPP)? vs. Iros for WM+21gpt+40g.
Ally Aztecs vs. Iros for 18gpt + WM + 2g.

God help us all.

Peace + ROP with Rome for HBR (because I could).

Gift Tours to Rome. If they stay at peace, I'll be able to get it back eventually; if they fight the Iroquois, well, at least I won't be responsible for genocide.

Evacuate worker + 1 gallic from Tours are via galley.


IBT: Iros send one rifleman out of Hlobane to attack my second Gallic stack. Rifle wins but is redlined.

Iros take Avignon from France.

Ottomans are still moving out; the are in the chokepoint at the moment (hehehehe, nice timing for me).

700: Move troops.

IBT: Iros and Ottomans ally v. Aztecs. Ottomans start Suffrage.

Iros kill advance Gallic in Aztec lands.

Sumeria has lots of cavs advancing on Hlobane. Aztecs sent rifles out.

710: France declares on Ottomans.

IBT: Iros kill stray Gallic that was making sure I had a clear path.

France lost Orleans to them.

No sign of any Iro troops my way; one frigate after my galley scoping out the coastline.

Ottomans declare on Iros.

720-730: move troops. Lots of fighting. Iros pick off a gallic.

730 IBT: Sumeria declares on Aztecs.

740: move troops. Galley sinks an approaching frigate (hehehe). My ragtag band of 32 Gallics (re-supplemented from the pile I had in Doce) is at the gates of Zimbabwe.

IBT: No attacks on me; lots of pillaging around Zimbabwe and a few skirmiskes. Ottoman caravel headed around my south coast.

750: CHARGE!!!!!

Zimbabwe is, amazingly, defended by only 3 rifles, 1 cav, and 1 trebuchet. And I get some usefully lucky RNG I think. I lose only 8 Gallics in attacking, with three redline/runaway Gallics in addition. The Great Library, Great Wall, and Oracle are mine.

I pillage roads around the city, as I really don't intend to have it for too long. Gallics pillaging in this game is really funny, because it makes the bombard sound/blowup on their tile. Try it.

IBT: Sumeria beats up Aztecs around me. NO Iroquois counterattack.

And, from the Great Library, I get *inhale*

Mysticism
Code of Laws
Polytheism
Republic
Monarchy
Monotheism
Feudalism
Engineering
Theology (oh noes, the Oracle is obsolete)
Chivalry
Invention
Gunpowder
Printing Press
Education
Banking
Astronomy
Chemistry
Democracy
Economics
Physics
Navigation
Metallurgy
Free Artistry
Theory of Gravity
Military Tradition
Nationalism
Steam Power
Medicine
Communism
Industrialization
Fascism

*exhale*

Which puts me even or ahead of everyone in tech except that the Iroquois have Electricity. Max research on Electricity is 50 turns, so I'll do min for now. Hopefully I can do some trading soon. I revolt. To what, I haven't decided yet. I don't have the cash flow for Republic. I barely have it for Despotism. I may go commie. Or even Fascist. I don't know.

I have stopped playing for a bit at this point. I have a LOT to think about.

Predator, going for conquest.

Moved worker to deer, saw nothing to make me want to move, so I settled in place. Warrior/chopped warrior/granary. Warrior went N to explore. Set min run for alpha. Plan is to trade for alpha at first chance, then max run on writing/philo and switch to monarchy, build a bunch of gallics and go nuts.

3200 BC - meet a barb *sigh*
2950 BC meet France, who is up everything and won't sell alpha for anything
2710 BC meet Rome, who is up everything. No one will sell alpha.
2630 BC barbs to the south. Fortunately, this is roaming, so barbs aren't that big a deal.
2590 BC - meet aztecs and Iroquois, trade 1 gpt and 110 gold to france for alpha, no one has writing so 100% on writing. France has started oracle, so I know they have mysticism.
1990 BC Romans and Iroquois start ToA, so I know I can get the slingshot if no one beats me to philo.
1950 BC - Romans and Zulu (who I met sometime) have writing.
1725 BC - get writing, trade to france for CB/BW and cash, it plus cash to aztecs for mysticism, power run to philo.

Around this time, stacks of french warriors are coming down to help me with my barb issues, which I think is right neighborly of them.

1700 BC IBT - Aztecs build collosus. Meet Zulu, who are at tech parity and have a TON of cash
1650 BC IBT - Iroquois build pyramids
1626 BC IBT - Zulu build Oracle
1575 BC zulu and rome both have map making, so unless someone unmet gets it, I should get philo
1550 IBT - Iroquois in Monarchy
1475 BC get philo, trade philo for Polytheism, take Monarchy, trade for tech parity. At this point, I have all AA techs except for CoL, Construction and Currency. Set research to lit at minimum, go into anarchy.
1450 BC Rome demands, I rebuff, they declare
1375 BC romans found Lutetia south east of the iron by the mountains, and Byzantium at the choke point. I know who my target is!! About this time, I found an embassy in France and find that they are at war with rome
1250 BC 1st gallic is trained. At this point, have 10 towns, 4 have barracks and are in gallic production and two are on the way.
1275 BC meet sumeria, who are up Col and Construction and republic.
1100 BC - take Lutetia, kicking off the GA. Note: Aztecs have a warrior stuck south of the choke, probably been there since 1375 BC. That warrior will sit there for a very, very long time.

Lutetia changes hands a couple of times

850 BC everyone starts the GLib.

690 BC France builds the Glib. I abandon all research and decide to take it when I know someone has Chivalry. Fuedalism means I can't build GS anymore and I really don't want to fight with slow units on this map.

590 BC meet ottomans. Me and Ottomans form the "not in the middle ages yet" club. They are further behind than I am, actually.

330 BC All rome is conquered, except for a settler somewhere, I think. make peace for all remaining AA techs and zoom into the middle ages.

Somewhere along the way, I've got everyone at war.

Iroquois declared on me a while ago and the aztecs are fighting them for me, as is France without needing an alliance.
Zulu declared on me, but I've seen nothing. I think they are at war with Sumeria now, though I'm not sure.
Sumeria is at war with me, Aztecs and France.
Rome (nearly gone) is at war with me and France.
Ottomans are peaceful.

QSC stats:

11 cities, 3 of which are rioting (screwed up the lux slider)
36 population
7 Barracks
6 warriors
5 GS
14 workers
In GA.

On the bombard - we had only defensive bombards, which were somewhat useful. I dunno if legions had bombards - Rome never hooked up Iron. I dunno about Iroquois, either - I havent' seen any MW yet, though I have seen a bunch of Iroquois MDI.

I went with Conquest since I usually play on Regent.

I settled in place and send my spearmen exploring. I eventually found the choke point and sent a settler to capture it but Rome beat me by one turn. Erg.

The barbs weren't much of a problem. Three Roman archers helped me to take care of them.

I continued settling my area of the world. France and the Ottomans eventually settled two cities on my peninsula. They seemed like obvious first targets.

Rome and France got into a war early and I joined in to get rid of the French city. The spearmen in the city fell easily to my gallics and since Rome controlled the chokepoint, French forces couldn't reach me. I was able to quickly settle for peace.

Soon afterward, the Romans and the Ottomans joined in a war and Rome lost its choke point city. I decided it was a good time to join the Romans and try to take the two Ottoman cities. The first fell easily but when I reached the choke point city, I found that the Ottomans had rifles.

Luckily my stack of gallics, defeated the rifles and took the city.

But the next turn, I saw an Ottoman galleon approaching. Two turns later, it landed four knights. I was able to kill one and wound the other three but they still managed to take a city. Next turn, my gallics defeated the riflemen and the two remaining knights and retook the city.

The Ottomans also managed to get the Aztecs and Sumeria to declare on me.

So, on the dawn of the Middle Ages, I'm facing riflemen and at war with the Ottomans, Aztecs, and Sumeria. No one is willingly to make peace.

The weakest civs appear to be Rome (down to three cities) and France (down to 6 cities).

Predator, going for a military win

Settled in place and went warrior-warrior-warrior-granary(chopped the game) followed by settlers and the occasional warrior. Research was set to alpha at max. to lower the cost when I would be able to trade. Explorers went north and another south which eventually became an mp. I settled my first town by the lake near the wheat to claim gems. A few more towns south on the river and then one to claim the wine.

After exploring through the chokepoint, I met France and Rome on the same turn and then immediately bought the rest of alpha and started on writing as fast as I could. The luxury slider had to be used some, so research wasn't quite at max. Contact with the Iroquois, Aztecs, and Zulu followed soon. About 10 turns from getting writing the Aztecs had it. I waited until a couple turns until 2 more civs had writing and started a max. run on philosophy. Trading writing with the two civs that didn't have it got bw and cb as they didn't value it much.

In 1675BC, the Pyramids was completed by the Iroquois. 1625BC saw the Oracle and the Colossus built. The ai were moving fast as ToA had already been started. A few civs established embassies which is usually a bad sign as it means they are considering an attack. About 4 turns from philo, in 1600BC, the Aztecs and Zulu got philo as they benefitted from their war with early GA's. I had been expecting to get philo first, but it wasn't to be. I traded for the rest of philo and got IW, wc, masonry and mysticism trading it around. By this time I had met the Sumerians and most of the ai's had established embassies with me. Rome had already claimed the chokepoint and the northern source of iron.

By 1150BC, all the AA wonders save the lighthouse and library had been built. I started research on lit, but bought the rest of it soon as the Zulu and French got it in 1000BC. Trading this got me hbr and polytheism so I started a min run on monarchy, which all the other civs already had. QSC stats were 12 towns, 21 pop, 12 workers, 3 warriors, 1 GS, 1 settler, and a granary with 6 contacts and 6 embassies. Gems, wine, and iron were hooked up and I had 4 settler, 3 workers, 4 barracks, and the FP in production. I still lacked math, currency, construction, CoL, and MM.

I continued claiming territory on the peninsula, but couldn't prevent the Romans from building a town on the western tip in the desert. By 490BC, I was able to buy the rest of monarchy and became one in 470BC. Research was then set to math, which I got in 390BC. In 430BC, Rome dow'ed and took a town with an archer from their town on the western tip. In 390BC, I took the town back and the Roman town by the iron in the north, starting my GA. The Zulus landed an Impi and took a town which I got back in 1 turn giving me even more war happiness. I purchased ma's with the French, Aztecs, Iro's and Sumeria which were fairly cheap as some of them were already at war. The French ma was tied to a peace treaty as they had built the GL in 590BC. Research was turned up to max as I had several libraries by then and I researched CoL, MM, currency, and construction at 4 turns each during the GA, reaching the MA in 90BC.

The war with Rome and the Zulu continued and I had captured their chokepoint city and was about to attack their core when I reached the MA. The French were still honoring their treaty. I still had about 5 turns left on my GA and set a lone scientist to research engineering as I wanted to build GS's as long as possible. By now I had about 20 GS's, 21 towns and 87 pop. The plan is to press the war with Rome and the Zulu to completion and eventually get the GL from the French. Cash will be used to rush Gallics when possible. Cope's has already been started, so I am far behind the ai at this point, but the Romans and French both lack iron and horses.

So after losing COTM48 on diplo, i deciding to have a go at COTM49. Still open class, since I have never played pangaea above emperor. This time i'll try and grab the tougher domi or conquest wins, no more of this sitting back and waiting for the end victories.

The start was once again good. Chop game, irragate game, chop forest and granny was done just in time. You don't really need warriors early unless you are gonna trade with the enemies. I opted to go for the great libary and just steals all the techs from them instead. Alpha-writing-lit, who needs anything but warriors anyway

I quickly found the choke point and was able to secure it just in time. Unfortunally rome and france had basically blocked the area and since I only had 1 warrior there, I opted to sit on the hills waiting for another warrior to come up, but it was to late, I couldn't get past em. A boat came slighty later but a few sneaky moves made the boat go back and forth for a few turns till I had settled the chokepoint area, and eventually all my land.

Barbs were utter pushover, well compared to last time. I built a city beside the hut and got 25 gold. I killed off the 3 barb camps that spawned and my warriors were able to make sure no more appeared.

So after building 12 settlers from my cap, I started building a barracks, shortly after I got lit. Initial I had a prebuild going for the great lib, but I quickly found out that the prebuild city was so slow that I could do it faster in the cap, so I switched from barracks to the great libary (said 46 turns, but I ended up doing it in about 15-20 or so). I joined a few workers and speeded the great libary production up vastly. In 530BC I got it, and in 510BC I was given all the techs all the way up to feud, though I only had contact with france and rome.

The plan for now is to build up a grand stack of gallics, 20-30 should do, and kill off france or rome depending on what is easiest.

Stats for now include:
14 cities (POP: 70)
23 workers
14 warriors
1 curragh
kidda weak

On the upside i'm 2nd in mfg with 73mfg and 4th in the other important stats. I'm still not sure what is best, monarchy or republic. But I learned last time that republic is ******ed, if you wage even the smallest war, so i'll probably try monarchy this time.

Also kidda hoping the volcano beside Camulodunum doesn't go off, seeing as that was prebuild city and I ended up building the forbidden palace there

Yay! I'm well into the industrial age currently fighting a war against Iroqois. Though, I want to say details about what's going, I'll probably spill the beans about resources if I did so I can't... It Looks like I have this game on the road to a conquest win! Unless of course someone nukes me with like 40 nukes later on which is 0.00000000000000000000000001% likely


One major question though I've always wondered and never quite figured this one out:

What drives the cost of stealing tech from an AI? Does their total culture matter in total cost of stealing? Does their capital city size affect it? Does the number of cities? I'd like a easy way to cut the 3000 gold required for a safe steal down to like 2200 gold because its taking me a ridongculous 17 ~ 18 turns to mass up enough cash for a steal attempt. Though I think bombers will be very helpful I'm at a loss on whether I'll get them soon enough or if I could just continue using arty and cavs to wipe out the 3 remaining civs...

Predator, going for, um, indecision. I started planning on domination, but a few AI’s looked like they would be runaways, so I thought it might be better to hitch my wagon to them and go for a fast research game instead of fighting them. By the end of the Ancient Age, several AI were at war with each other even without any encouragement from me, so I went back to military.

Just like everyone else, I settled on the initial spot and moved the worker to the game forest. I only built 1 warrior to find my second city location and sent the chop to an early settler. Entremont then built a granary in 2710 BC then went straight to 4-turn settlers while Alesia took care of warriors and workers. Research was Alphabet at full speed.

Barbs were not too bad early, but they got progressively worse as my warriors who tried to kill them kept dying. I was doing fine as long as I ignored the barbarians – it was only attempting to clear their camps that I got in trouble. All told, I lost 1 settler (due to sheer stupidity on my part – I sent him unescorted toward a known barb camp hoping I could beat the barbs to the spot ), 7 warriors, and several handfuls of gold.

I completed Alphabet on my own and continued with Writing and Philosophy. I bought the end of Writing once my first 3 known contacts already had it and wasn’t very close to getting Philosophy first – the Zulu completed it in 1650 BC and chose Republic as their free tech . I completed Philosophy in 1525 BC and via the big picture traded for Code of Laws, Bronze Working, Iron Working, The Wheel, Warrior Code, and Ceremonial Burial.

I thought for a while about going for the Great Library, but I decided I was starting a bit late. To get it, I would certainly want to add a bunch of workers to a city, keep Literature as a monopoly, and turn off research after Literature, and I felt that if I didn’t get it after doing that, then the game might be hopeless. I decided to go without building it myself figuring my research and trading would catch the AI eventually. When I completed Literature in 1200 BC, I traded it for Mysticism, Masonry, Mathematics, and Horseback Riding. Construction was pretty well-known at that point, but nobody had Currency yet.

QSC:

13 cities
34 citizens
1 settler
15 workers
9 warriors



I didn’t worry much about the choke point. I figured any towns settled there by the AI would be easy pickin’s later, so the Romans settled it for me.

In 950 BC, all known AI got Currency at the same time and entered the Middle Ages – I still lacked Map Making, Currency, Construction, Polytheism, and a government. I was researching the Republic – I started at minimum until I got a few libraries built (this was during my “going for research victory” phase), then cranked research back up. The Zulu and the Iroquois (I think) had it for a while, but I was 1 turn away from completion in 630 BC when all known AI show up with it, so I just missed being able to trade it around.

In 590 BC, as a new Republic, I decided it was time to get moving. Rome was at war with both the Aztecs and the Iroquois. I renegotiated peace with Rome and promised to help them in both of their wars, and I even threw in 47 gpt in return for Currency, Construction, Map Making, Polytheism, 2 slaves, and 85 gold which brought me to the Middle Ages. Rome would break this deal 5 turns later.

Settled in place and started a warrior. The worker went SW to the BG and started a road. I didn't want to chop the game too early, as I wanted to use its high production for completing the granery. Research was set on Mysticism. I thought there's no chance to get the slingshot anyway, and I didn't want to risk loosing the Oracle. (The plan for the 20K town was: Temple, Oracle, Artemis and Library, and then we'll see what the Middle Ages will bring...)

After the warrior I start on the granery, the worker moves to the game and starts a road first and then chops the forest just in time for completing the granery. But I lost two precious turns because of civil disorder: I had to take the baby for 10 min right at the time when Entremont had grown to size 3, and when I returned to the game, I had completely forgotten that I had not yet adjusted the lux slider, and pressed enter right away ...

Anyway, at that point I thought I had a pretty good start. The granery was completed in 3100BC and the first settler in 2590BC. Then 4-turn settlers at size 4-5. The barbs were not a big problem this time, as I was using some of the techniques described in Doug.Lefelhocz's article. I had covered most of the territory with a few scouting warriors and a few rushed temples, and there was only one barb camp that I was not able to eliminate before the great uprising. The only real damage that the barbs did during that period: they killed all my warriors which attempted to get past the choke point! Therefore I didn't get any early contacts except for France and the Zulus, and this severely handicaped my tech trading.

How big this handicap was, I learned in 1125BC: at that time I got the message "The French have entered the Middle Ages"

At that time I had exactly 5 techs: my two starting techs, one that I was able to trade and two more that I researched myself...

A short while later everyone else entered the MA as well! These guys must've traded techs like crazy and I was kept out of the loop! Now I had a difficult decision to make: "shall I wait for GOTM80 or play on"?! I decided to hang on and was duely rewarded for this: a horseman from the one barb camp that I didn't clear out on time destroyed 20turns worth of prebuild for the Oracle.
Not that it mattered much: a few turns later the Zulus completed the Oracle anyway, and a short while after that someone finished the Temple of Artemis -- 16 turns before I discovered Polytheism.

Ok, this is probably not going to be a 20K win... Back to plan B, which is: yet another domination...! Hopefully someone close by will complete the Great Library for me.

Well, fat chance! Guess who built the GL in my game? The Iroquois on the other side of the continent! But after I played on for a while, I realized that this game is not as hopeless as it first appeared: the "modified" Gallic Swordsman is a GREAT and deadly unit (I take back everything I said in the pre-game discussion...), even French Muskets proved to be no match for him! And even though everybody is way into the MA, there are three easy opponents: the Zulus have only Impis, the Aztecs only Spears and the Sumerians only Pikes. Apparently there isn't o lot of Salpeter and Iron around... So I should be able to conquer these three with my Gallics and then send a huge stack to Grand River to take the Great Library. The diplomatic setup is perfect for this plan: the Iroquois are my best friends, with several lux trades and a ROP going on. I'll do everything to keep them gracious, until it's time for the backstab I also have a ROP with the French, which I will need for easy access to the Iroquois core.

So how did I deal with my precarious tech situation? Very easy: I set tech slider to 0% and built Gallics, Gallics and Gallics... After I had bought two or three techs for a lot of gold, I discovered a simpler way to catch up: I had a number of small wars with Rome, Zululand, France and the Aztecs, and whenever they asked for peace, they were willing to toss in one or two techs into the deal! Apparently having a large army frightens the AS... At one point I got Literature, which I was able to trade to the one nation that didn't yet know it. And I got 5 techs via "gpt for tech" deals right before I was about to attack that civ. The first time I did it with the French. Payed them 60gpt for three techs and then declared war. I knew that this meant "burning all bridges behind me" as would probably not be able to get another gpt deal for the rest of the game, but I felt desparate enough at that time, and when the opportunity presented itself, I grabed it. Surprisingly though, a couple of centuries I was able to do it again!! Right before my troops were ready to attack Sumeria, they agreed to sell Construction and the Republic for 60gpt, so I took it and finally entered the Middle Ages in 430AD -- I think I've never been that late! The plan is now to postpone capturing the Great Library until the ASs are in the Modern Age . I wonder whether anyone has done this yet?! But then: DWetzel's 31 techs in one turn is already quite a record! Probably hard to beat...

On the military side everything went quite smoth. I stuck to my strategy to always attack the civ which is currently being dogpiled. And I guess axehaxe was right in the pre-game discussions after all: on Pangea the ASs do fight a lot among themthelves... On some occasions I even got paid for joining the fight!
That way I was able to take three towns from France, reduce Rome to three towns and Zululand to one town. The nice point: Zimbabwe had the Oracle (increases the value of all those cheap temples that I built) and Leonardo's (at that point I still had a stack of 40 warriors waiting to be upgraded to GS...)

Then I had to decide about the next target: the Aztecs still had only Spears, but were farther away, the Sumerians had Pikes, but my stack of 50 Gallics, which had just overrun the Zulus, was already right at their borders, and Ur has the Temple of Artemis, which would be a nice complement to my Oracle...
When I saw that Sumer was willing to accept gpt as payment for the last remaining two AA techs, the decision was easy.

QSC stats:
9 cities
29 pop
8 workers
12 units
7 techs
gems & wine
Score: 2710

Played Open Class, because the Conquests bonuses didn't seem too useful.

Research: Thought I'd try BW-IW, then trade IW for the starting tech's. Didn't work; everyone I met had IW by the time I met them. I was able to trade CB for a couple of gold, but that was about it. I was the first to Lit, and got most of the starting tech's from that. Noticed that several civ's were missing Currency, so tried a max run on that, which got me the last three AA tech's, so I am barely into the Middle Ages, though I still need a better government.

4000 BC Settle in place. Sent worker SW to BG. Start Max. run on BW.

3800 BC First warrior built. Heads West.

3000 BC Finish Granary w/ chop from the game forest. Start Settler.

2850 BC Meet France and Rome to the North of the isthmus

2630 BC Found Alesia along the river to the SW.

2310 BC Found Lugdunum along a second river to the SE.

~2150 Learn IW. Everyone else already knows it, so I can't trade it for anything.

2070 Camolodunum founded next to the the wines on the hill.

1910 Richborough is founded on the Iron Hill. Already connected to Entremont.

Started my GA when Rome attacked in 950 BC or so. Will probably try for a military win, but don't know if I'll finish in time.

i registered only a coupla days ago after i´d been lurking already for quite a while. then i thought, give the game a try. open class as the conquest bonus did not appear too helpful to me.

i won´t be able to submit though, so hopefully it´s ok if i post here. just let me know if i am not supposed to do any posting as i am not yet 100% sure about all the rules that apply here.

reason is that i reloaded once and started over. i had soon come to a point where it would have been only frustrating to me (those f* barb horsemen killing 3/5 of my army in one round plus i realized i had set up the settler factory wrongly after already three builds ).
and this being my first game on deity level fixing the start kept me in the game and i learned a lot about how to deal with deity AIs.

at the start tech race was unbelievable. i started warrior-warrior-granary and from then my capitol built settlers until the whole peninsula was settled.
for the first time in ages my first hut didn´t offer my barbs but... a warrior. i had good use for him. one exploring warrior soon found the choking point. there was not much exploring possible from there with those masses of deity AI troops. so i fortified it on the chokepoint mountain and later retreated to the hills when rome settled there. my peninsula was pretty safe this way for a long time and the romans built only one city transporting a settler by ship. wasn´t their wisest idea though, presenting themselves as my first victim.
but that was much later. getting there was another thing. when i met them first hand any AI already knew all the techs i could even SEE. wow, they must´ve traded them like crazy. even if i bought one, france allowed pretty good deals when i could afford them, all of them AGAIN knew any tech i could see. therefore i sure did not go for any slingshots but BW and IW – i only wanted my GALLICS. this game was going to be about muscles more than brain.
tech situation became only slightly better by the beginning of the MA when i gained parity with some of the weaklings (in my game the mongols, the sumerians and the aztecs). the romans died soon after i declared war on them, however, the biggest piece of their cake went to the iros who are my runaway AI. they already seem to be at the end of the MA tech tree which is kind of scary.

barbs were annoying, but fortunately due to fast settlement and quick disbands i did not face those hordes of the millenium uprising.

as to the GS bombard ability – this one is HUGE! i learned to love it. am avoiding the tech that makes it obsolete now for a bit. had a big laugh when i had my first hit on an enemy ship

btw... ships, another funny thing i noticed for the first time, maybe helpful: one civ sailed two ships around the continent to enter my waters (ok so far, we had a ROP). i had two vessels around i had no use for at the moment and built a primitive blockade along the (straight) coast. i only wanted to delay them, since he only had to move 1 tile further and could have bypassed my block easily then next turn (sure i would have moved further, allowing them only 1 tile per round ). but the AI ships did NOT MOVE ANY MORE AT ALL, sitting there like made of stone for let´s say already 20 turns. muahahaha

the GL? not of much use as only the iros are really strong and far ahead. no way i could gain more than just a few techs. and then it was built by a distant civ and i cannot even see the city yet...
in military terms, for the other civs i should be fine with the GS for now and then i definitely will have to make a plan how to deal with the iros... hopefully they don´t deal with me before that.
as stated by others, this GL is strong enough even against pikes... i already face mukets as well and here only my armies can help. but when i declared against the french after elimination fo the romans they built the GW... and hell, having no army by then, that has been a bloodshed! i lost half of my GS and now they´re history, myself gratefully inheriting their nice wonders (GW and Sun Tzu´s!). it´s around jesus´ birthday and i am now picking on the zulus.

with the french i had a funny GS observation: i bombarded their cities a lot and would have never defeated them without my bomb ability, them sitting behind those GW-walls. however, bomb success against troops in cities was minimal (so i used huge stacks against all these walled french towns) until i laid siege on the capital and disconnected it from everything... all in a sudden nearly every bombardment hit.
against units outside of cities bombardment was going fine at any time.

anyway. since i had the GS i did not really build any cats and hardly any trebs. i did something very unusual to me though: i built regulars. spears for the peninsula and, more importantly, GALLICS – using the regulars as highly mobile cats! worked great for me and i think i will continue to use all of them i´ve got for that purpose further on, never upgrade them, and build new troops for the actual combat when i need stronger units.

AI bombing? the AI always playing poor there, i think in this game i was not bombed a single time until now.