Monarch Pangea OCC Space Game

Theodora one day got starry eyed. She decided to send her people to the stars. But, she only gave them one city.

I'll try this on a pangea, 80% map, standard sized map with the agressiveness setting set at minimum or "least aggression". I pre-select my opponents as Greece, Babylon, Persia, Ottomans, Korea, Sumeria, and Germany. I'll have mass regicide enabled to get super early contacts and then return to Constantinople. I'll go for The Colossus straight away and reserach Writing. Maybe I'll have a river start, maybe I won't. I'll go Writing-Code of Laws-Philosophy hopefully The Republic as my free tech and then Literature. Hopefully by then I can land in the middle ages, and gift everyone up for their scientific freebies. I plan on doing this in every age. Maybe a granary or something after The Colossus... we'll see .

I assume that you will be giving us regular updates then. How much does changing the aggressive setting help in dealing with the AI?

I have the settler and the worker wait move the scouts... ahem... king units. I think I want a more coastal start for more beakers. The settler moves one turn south. I don't think I need a whole lot of production here. I have the worker move southeast to mine to get The Colossus in faster. I have 6 commerce already. I'll get Writing in 36 turns at 100%... not too shabby. By the end of 3950 I've already spotted two luxuries nearby. I hope I didn't draw the funny "not on the pangea" sort of map here.

In 3750 I already spot my first neighbor... grr... its Germany. Oh well. I trade them Alphabet for Warrior Code and 10 gold immediately. In 3650 the worker finishes the mine and moves to the next square... a road won't do me any good until The Republic and my worker will struggle for a bit to optimise Constantinople. In 3550 I have two queen units already in Constantinople... much earlier than I expected, but I have an edge start, so that's the way it goes. In 3450 I meet The Greeks... of course we already have the same techs... as we started out that way. But Alex doesn't have Warrior Code. In 3300 The Greeks learn Warrior Code... that seems a bit fast for them... oh well. In 3250 I meet The Babylonians and swap Alphabet for CB and 10 gold. Checking MapStat afterwards I see Germany has a worker, so I trade them CB for their worker. In 3200 I meet The Persians and trade them Alphabet for Masonry and 10 gold. In 3100 I meet The Koreans. In 3050 I notice Germany's 2nd city of Leipzig.

In 2950 I give The Bablyonians Masonry for a worker... maybe I've overdone this. In 2710 Germany has Iron Working, but they won't take Masonry and 40 gold for it. In 2670 I trade Greece CB for 10 gold. I also learn that no other AIs lie on my continent. I'll need a curragh after The Colossus. In 2590/2550 I learn Writing and go for Code of Laws. In 2350 I decide to add a Babylon worker in to Constantinople to hurry CoL. The lux. slider births at 10%. In 2310 Persia has Iron Working, so I swap Masonry with Germany for Iron Working. In 2190 Greece learns The Wheel... I trade them Iron Working for it. Maybe I should have tried to hold off on the trading since I want The Reublic slingshot... maybe not though. In 2150 The Colossus completes and I start on a curragh. In 2070 I start on another curragh and notice the Babylonians now have Writing. In 2030 I notice Korea has a slave... I trade CB for it and get their 10 gold. He goes to chop the game. I then start on a barracks. In 1910 I make a suicide run. I swap the barracks to a temple and use the real worker to finish the chop off. In 1790 I swap Writing for Mysticism with Greece.

In 1750 I learn CoL and start on Philo. Due in 10 turns at 1 gold deficit... I might still get it. We'll see. The temple finishes and I start on The Oracle... the Tourist Attraction bonus might work out well. In 1725 Philosophy drops a turn, as Constantinople grows to size 7. In 1700 I add a Korean slave on in to Constantinople and raise the lux. slider to 20%. In 1675 Korea learns Pottery, I trade them Masonry for it. In 1650 Germany demands Mysticism... I cave. In 1525 I learn Philosophy and get The Republic as my free tech. I revlot, setting reserach to Literature... I end up with one citizen as a scientist. That turn the Babylonians FINALLY start The Pyramids. In 1500 I trade Persia Writing, CB, and Pottery for Horseback Riding. In 1475 I make a suicide run. In 1450 I become a Republic and my curragh survives. I set research to 70%, lux to 20%... literature due in 10 turns. The curragh survives again. And again in 1400. Germany has another worker and 7 gold... I give them Pottery for it. The curragh spots a coast... will it survive? I add the worker into my city.

It survived! I found the outline of the Sumerians. Persia has a worker... I trade Mysticism for it and add it into the city. Of course Gilgamesh has squat in tech really. But, I trade him Horseback Riding for 34 gold. I also build an embassy with The Germans in 1350. I spot Ottoman borders the next turn. I spot the Ottomans the next turn... of course they have squat in tech too... I trade them Pottery for 23 gold. I set up embassies with Greece and Babylon. In 1225 I trade Greece Pottery, CoL, and Horseback Riding for Polytheism. I also learn Literature and research Maths. In 1175 Korea learns Maths. I trade them Horseback Riding and Mysticism for Maths, and research Currency. In 1050 Babylon gets Map Making. I wait on this one... 4 techs for one sounds a bit too much... although it really wouldn't be so here I'd guess. The curragh also sinks. In 1025 The Oracle completes and I start in on a library. I also build an embassy with Korea.

In 950 the little library comes in. I start on a spear. In 900 I learn Currency and start on another spear as I see an imminent crisis coming. I turn research off for a bit. I dial up Babylon and trade them CoL, Philo., and something else for Map Making. I sign an RoP with Germany, giving them Map Making and gold. Germany still attacks... they just RoP raped me... why did they sign the RoP :lol... its an unadaptive computer program. I lose my spear to their first archer. Their second archer loses to my queen unit which promotes! I counterattack their spear with my now veteran queen unit... it redlines, but wins!

I swap the spear to an archer. I move the archer out a bit to edge of the 21 radius and train a spear. The German archer moves to the hill, so I move my archer back and swap the spear to another archer. I lose another archer, but cash-rush a worker and then let it finish on another archer. The archer loses to a horseman, but the new archer redlines the horse in the next battle and it runs back. I cash-rush another worker and swap to an archer. The red-lined horse attacks my archer... no more damage to my archer, I win. I lose an archer attacking their archer, but win with the second archer which promotes to veteran status. In 690 I make peace with Germany giving them Polytheism for an RoP, peace, and some gold. I swap the city to a market. In 610 I finish off embassies and start on a prebuild hopefully for the SoZ. In 510 I build an ivory colony and swap to the SoZ... due in 7 turns. Still no Construction... I should have researched it myself.

In 470 I trade Mysticism to Korea for a slave. Ur completes The Pyramids in 430... still no Construction. In 410 Korea completes the SoZ, Babylon gets MoM, I swap to the Great Lighthouse... a tourist attraction still seems nice. I also sell the temple. In 350 Persia FINALLY gets Construction, I trade them Literature, Polytheism, and The Republic for it... time to get gifty. Persia has Feudalism and I have Engineering as my free tech. I gift Korea into the middle ages. They also get Feudalism and I swap them Engineering for it. Greece gets Construction for 79 gold... they don't have Monotheism. Hammurabi gets gifted in... he doesn't have Monotheism either. Gilgamesh also gets gifted in... no Monotheism. Osman gets mega-gifted in... no monotheism. Germany gets gifted in... yep... you guessed it... NO MONOTHEISM. At least one of them has a jump on Invention I guess. 270 I finish The Great Lighthouse. I start on a harbor.

In this sort of game I don't have experience as to what min aggressiveness will do. I've read that it basically decreases frequency of war. All the better, because I want a faster tech pace for all the AIs and as few attacks on me as possible. As I note I drew Germany as my neighbor... the last tribe I would have picked as my neighbor and they did start a war. In a Monarch OCC diplomacy game I just won on an archipelago map I had aboslutely no trouble leading in tech throughout and actually wanted more trading opportunities for tech in the industrial ages. Maybe a 70% or 60% water map here would work better for this. The tech pace of the AIs seems awfully slow. I guess that's what starts to happen when you play games on "higher" levels for a while and trade tech as much as possible since they move fast.

Starting again in the morning I swap the harbor to a spear. I don't need a harbor yet. I'll need it once I finish Shakespeare's Theater. I can use more military to disband-rush the university, maybe the harbor, maybe the bank also... or something else later. Maybe I don't need to do this though, since I can pre-build some of those structures. Shakespeare's Theater does require three optional techs. But, since I have The Colossus, Newton's University *will* trigger my Golden Age (hence Sumeria might work better for this sort of game since they need an agricultural wonder). This also tells you why I forgot The Museum of Mausollos. By itself it gives The Byzantines their Golden Age everytime.

I train an extra worker, this way I'll instant growth when Shakes comes around. I go with another spear. After the spear, the city will grow in a turn, so I go with a worker. I go with a granary, so I can grow from 11 back to 12 faster. The city will take 20 turns to grow right now, I started re-irrigating some tiles to help with this. I should have done this before. I also decrease research a tick to 60% to get a little more cash, I only lose a turn on Monotheism. A few turns later I swap Literature and The Republic with Sumeria for Monarchy and 11 gold. I start on a trebuchet. In 10 B. C. E. I learn Monotheism... I do want Knights Templar, but I don't have time to research it. So, I go for Theology... due in 20 turns. I trade Monarchy to some tribes for some lump sums... no one can give me gpt yet.

I decide to go with a harbor now, since I might just trade with Sumeria for luxuries... oh wait... that won't happen. Whoops! I just disbanded all my archers and spears, oh well. I swap one tile to the coast, since the city will grow in two turns either way... oh wait... the harbor might work well that way. Sci. goes up to 70% as I'll now can make money at that rate. I train another worker and move some tiles to the coast. I quickly irrigate the mine along the river... I want 5 food. I move tiles back the coast and start on a spear. I get the irrigation finished with the new worker helping out and the city will grow back in 4 turns.

In 50 C.E. Theodora the 300th... or as she once called herself and would come to get called for centuries later Theodora Weir became ruler of the city. She looked around the buildings of the city at all the nameplates which said "Constantinople" and thought for a while. A day later she called a meeting of the city's finest architects. In the next few weeks the city's people could say that the architects had started some sort of renovation project in the city. They thought this strange as surely every Byzantine and non-Byzantine recognized the city as the best in the world. A few weeks later Theodora Weir held a meeting in the forum outside city hall. The townspeople say some of the architects high above near city hall.

Theodora Weir announced "This city will get remembered for centuries to come. A once proud seapeople had a city unlike no other. In their honor, I rename our city Atlantis... for one day our city will far exceed all others... Atlantis itself oneday will launch towards a new world." She pointed to the sky "Atlantis will one day fly far away to Alpha Centauri." Some people looked quizzically at this, others laughed, while a few prescient few began to clap... they knew the true capability of The Byzantines and their friends.

I renew a bunch of RoPs in the interturn and trade away some gold and tech for them. In 110 Atlantis finishes its spear and goes for a worker. The worker completes next turn, I swap tiles and go for another spearman. Sci. drops to 60%. In 150 I check the civilopedia on a university. I knew it cost a good bit, but I still yell "200 shields!" when I see it. I calculate and remember that Atlantis can produce 19 shields at size 12. 200/12=100/6=50/3... so it'll take Atlantis 17 turns to build the University. I plan to pre-build it as soon as I get Theology or maybe a little bit sooner. I'll finish the spear-worker cycle here and then go archer-worker, and then probably an archer or spear... then I'll start the pre-build. I want The University of Atlantis the turn I learn Education.

Whoops! I had swapped the tiles to check things out. Oh well... I got the spear a turn earlier than I expected. I still go with a worker next. In 190 Germany has Invention. They won't take Monotheism straight up for it. In 210 Korea has incense available... but I wait on that. Sci. slides back to 50% as I'll get Theology in the same number of turns either way in 260. In 270 one worker moves to re-mine brown. In 280 the rest of the real workers move to mine brown squares not on the river. The slave still works on her barricade. In 300 I learn Theology. I make a nice gpt deal with Germany for Theology, also getting Invention. I research Education... due in 17 turns. Some other tribes get Monotheism also. I get Korea's luxury. I consider gifting some of them Invention, but I decide against it. I pre-build with The Hanging Gardens... I have The Sistine Chapel to fall back on .

I notice The Hanging Gardens comes as due in 16 turns. Huh? Oh... I did the calculation wrong... it's 200/19, which equals out to 11 turns... what a silly mistake. Atlantis trains another worker. Atlantis swaps to a bunch of coasts and trains another worker. Atlantis uses the coasts again and trains a warrior. I want that uni. the exact same turn I learn Education. In 340 the warrior trains and I go with The Hanging Gardens... for now. In 350 Atlantis hits size 12 and I swap tiles to the productive ones. Education due in 12. I swap to one more spear... 11 turns... that's the number here.

In 360 Atlantis goes back to The Hanging Gardens. I renew the RoPs. More later

In 410 Sumeria completes The Hanging Gardens, so I swap to The Great Library... at least for a little bit . In 430 Sun Tzu's and The Great Library pop out, so I swap to Leo's. The Babylonians who trailed many of the other AIs in tech got it. In 460 I have one turn left on Education. If I did my calculations correctly and I had 19 shields the first turn I started on my university pre-build, I should do this well. I swap all my non-river squares to the coast squares for a little extra food and for a little extra commerce. Sci. dropped to 60% a turn before, now it drops to 50%. Well I did get my calculations all correct. But... again I input the wrong information. It tells me I'll lose 90 shields by swapping to a university... why? The Byzantines have the scientific trait, so I only have to pay 100 shields instead of 200 for a university. LOL... I don't think a shield waste will matter all that much anyways. I use another coastal square. Now I'll pre-build Copernicus's Observatory.

So, I then reserach Astronomy... due in 19 turns at 60%. I swap the tiles back to the productive one's... I should get Cope's soon after I learn Astronomy. In 470 Germany learns Gunpowder... good . Leipzig completes Leo's in 490, so I swap to The Sistine Chapel. In 500 my gpt deal with Germany expires, but at the same turn Persia learns Gunpowder also. So, I trade Germany Theology for Gunpowder and get three luxuries in the deal. I lower my luxury slider to 10% and keep the same science rate at 60%. In 550 Greece starts Knights Templar... Persia has it too. I take a pass on Chivalry... I don't have time for Knights Templar. In 560 I renew the RoPs, except the one with Germany since it's timed differently. I used mainly tech to renew them and get a wee little lump sums in the process. I also get a Greek slave.

In 610 Astronomy drops to 50%, I'll still get it in 5 turns. In 660 Astronomy comes in and I switch to Cope's... due in 3 turns. I start on Printing Press... due in 12 turns. Greece Germany and Persia now have Education, I get 9 gold from Babylon for Education. In 680 Cope's finishes... Printing Press drops to 6 turns. I swap all productive and non-river tiles to the coastal ones... I start on a colosseum as a pre-build for a library. Yes, you read that right... I'll sell the old one in 4 turns, then build it back on the 5th turn... this way I don't have old-building culture. I sell Germany Astonomy for 14 gpt and to renew the lux deals. I sell Astronomy to the Greeks for 28 gpt and 34 gold. Research goes up to 90%, and I'll get Printing Press in 3 turns. Since I have Priniting Press due in 1 turn, I sell the library... but now I'll get it back in 2 turns... oh well... maybe it won't matter too much.

In 730, I learn Printing Press and set research to Banking... due in 8 turns. Persia learns Chemistry! I can't quite trade for it... yet. Banking drops to 6 turns... I swap some tiles to more productive square... just enough so that Banking doesn't drop to 7 turns. I *try* the Sistine Chapel as a pre-build... it might not work... we'll see. In 760 I renew the RoPs using contacts as trade bait. In 800 I learn Banking... I MM so I can get Democracy in 9 turns. Greece now has Printing Press. In 810 Germany finishes Knights Templar. In 820 a bunch of civs get Chemistry... I swap Banking for Chemistry with the Babylonians. Germany gets Banking the next turn... I MM for maximum productivity... Democracy still due in 6. In 880 The Babylonians complete the Sistine Chapel. I swap to a colosseum.

I finish Democracy in 890... I have Free Artistry due in 7 turns. I use a bank as a pre-build. In 900 the lux. deal with Germany expires, but I don't need it anymore since I have a colosseum. I drop research to 70%, since my gpt deals have expired. In 920 4 AIs have Navigation. In 970 Greece and Babylon have Metallurgy... I make a nice trade with Babylon for it and some good gpt.

In 980 I have Free Artistry and use "what's the big picture" to immediately swap the bank to Shake's. I research Physics... due in 9 turns. In 1030 I buy a Korean worker for Astronomy. In 1050 I buy a German worker for 100 gold. Someone makes a power ranking... I come in front of the Ottomans... I think they only have 3 cities or something like that. In 1070 Physics comes in... I research TOG... due in 9 turns at 90%. In 1080 Persia has Economics and starts Smith's... not good. In 1100 a bunch of tribes get Free Artistry and Military Tradition.

In 1110 I accept a strange map deal with Sumeria. In 1130 Shakespeare's Theater of Atlantis completes. I start a bank as a pre-build and wait one turn for growth. The luxury slider dies. I add in all the slaves I have and take Atlantis to size 20. I rebirth the luxury slider to 10%. After I've done this I see Korea has another slave... I get it... oh well. I have 5 workers and a slave right now. 1160 proves an eventful year as another (I haven't mentioned them all) RoP renewal comes up. I learn TOG and swap to Newton's... due in 18 turns... I hope Smith's and Magellan's finish SOON! I research Magnetism at 90%... due in 7 turns. I also get pollution and use my worker stack to clean it.

In 1160 Perselopis completes Magellan's... now Smith's guys... come on... you can do it. I drop sci. to 70% as my gpt deal has run out. In 1180 Persia and Babylon have Physics, so I trade Physics to Greece for a wee little gpt and Economics. I then trade Physics and Economics to Germany for Military Tradition... if someone can finish Smith's before I get Magnetism, I think I can get in a very good position soon enough. Of course the next turn Greece starts J. S. Bach's and two other tribes have Music Theory... NOT good. I finish my pollution cleanup, but Atlantis gets more pollution. And then more pollution on the very next turn. In 1210 I swap Physics for Music Theory with Korea. And then more pollution in 1220. I lower sci. to 10% to delay Magnetism.. if they had finished Smith's and not started on Bach's, I would have NOT done this.

And then even more pollution in 1230. And more pollution in 1240. Three AIs have Magnetism now... oh well... let's hope no cascades happen... I'll try it anyways in a turn... here goes nothing... I ring up Sumeria and gift them until they look like the screen capture. I ring up the Ottomans and gift them until they look like the screen capture. I also ring up Korea and gift them Metallurgy. First comes the Ottomans, then Sumeria, then Korea... then the others *maybe*. In 1255 The Babylonians start Newton's and I move on. I reserach Electricity, drawing Industralization as my free tech.

Wait... what happened you ask? I learned Magnetism, then clicked on "What's the Big Picture"... I then rang up the Ottomans, gifted them in, and then gave them mega-tech and some gold for Steam Power. I rang up Sumeria... I gifted them in and they got Medicine. I traded for it with Steam Power. I then rang up Korea, I gifted them in and they got Nationalism... swooosh! Except, I couldn't trade Medicine, and Steam, and all my gold for Nationalism, so I rang someone else up and they also drew Nationalism. I then traded for Nationalism. I like this in one way... but since basically everyone now has TOG this means Smith's might cascade into Newton's before I finish it... that wouldn't work out well. I also sold Industralization for some gpt... hopefully they'll research The Corporation soon enough. I won't hold my breath though. We will see.

Germany has two sources of coal, but neither hooked up yet. Stupid AI- lack-of-worker strategy. In 1265 I a pollution cleaning finishes and I swap some coast tiles back to production to finish Newton's faster. Atlantis sits at size 15. 41 cpt... I don't think I have a problem here. Newton's currently dues in 7. It's 1295 and I have ONE turn left on Newton's... I think I've got it! In 1300 a famous Atlantis mathematical scientist invents... The Calculus! I think I have a very good shot now! But, I still don't have any SGLs... did I somehow leave them off by accident?

Of course, my GA starts. I timed my work crew so they would finish irrigating the extra mines 1 turn after Newton's finished. At least most of them. I start on a factory... due in 7 turns, but it goes to 8 after I irrigate, I think it did at least. Let's see that coal soon Germany or somebody. I send the Korean slave into Atlantis and merge him in... Atlantis sits at size 16 now. In 1315 Persia demands Industrialization and I give to them. In 1320 I learn Electricity... I almost want to gift it now so they'll research Replaceable Parts... but I have three wonders out there, so I won't. I research Sci. Method, due in 7 turns. I sell the colosseum.. I don't need it anymore. A save

In 1325 Germany has Communism. In 1330 Persia completes Smith's and Germany and Persia both have Communism and Fascism. In 1340 The Factory of Atlantis completes... I swap to J.S. Bach's as a pre-build on TOE... at least for now. Germany also has extra coal now, so I buy it for 180 gold and start railroading. The sci. slider drops to 80%, Sci. Method still due in 3 (I've done this throughout this game and usually elsewhere also). In 1350 Babylon has an extra worker and I buy it.

In 1350 I learn Sci. Method. I swap to TOE and raise sci. back up. Persia completes Bach's. I research The Corporation... due in 7 turns. My gpt drops also. In 1370 Greece has an extra worker... I purchase it. In 1385 Germany and Persia learn The Corporation... they beat me to it by a turn... that still might work out to my advantage... I decline on purchasing it. In 1390 I learn The Corporation... TOE due in 4 turns. I'll take Atomic Theory and Steel as my free techs. In 1395 I sell Sumeria Industrialization for something like 19gpt and 56 gold... not much really. In 1400 my GA ends... I have 4 turns left on TOE. GOOD! Now I trade Electricity away, as I should have a lock on TOE. I also get a pollution square. I get gpt in 2 deals, and Communism and Fascism in other deals. In 1420 TOE completes... I take Atomic Theory and Steel as my free techs. I still research Refining. The very same turn Germany completes Universal Suffrage. I still have SGLs on! I checked and I had them on in the set-up. I want at least 2, I might deal with 1... possibly even none.

lurker's comment:
It would be nice for the screenshots if you "scrolled-down" the "building list" in your city. That way we can see all the wonders you built in the capitol as well the "std buildings" list

Thank you

I don't think I can show them all in that screenie. Maybe I don't know something here though. I have a granary, marketplace, library, university, factory, The Colossus, The Oracle, The Great Lighthouse, Copernicus's Observatory, Shakespeare's Theater, Newton's University, Theory of Evolution and that's it for the moment, I think. I'll try and put some of the wonders in the next screenie.

Oh... and I wouldn't call you a lurker here. This isn't a succession game... but whatever man.

I decide to research Refining. I also decide to swap to a pre-build. On what? A new university. I don't want an old university... I don't know if I could accidently win culturally here really, but some other Monarch OCC space games had that problem. I don't have time to rebuild it later. Not even if I cash-rush later and I don't want to cash-rush until the modern age, because... well I hope you can guess my plan . I have 22 shields, so I'll pre-build for 4 turns, then sell the university.

I get pollution on turn 1, I use a taxman and a scientist. Not much on turn 2. I get more pollution on turn 3. I use three taxmen. On turn 4 Germany learns Espionage. I use 2 scientists and a taxman. I also lost my supply of coal, but all the railroads have finished now, so I don't need it. I sell the university and build it back... 3 shield waste... I miscounted. I use three taxmen. In 1445/1450 (where do I put the inter-turn phase?) Germany demands Sci. Method and I cave. I sell Sci. Method to Persia for some 44 gpt and their lump sum of 112 or thereabouts. I add a Greek and a Babylonian into Atlantis, I use 4 tax collectors. In 1460 I buy a Korean. I add him in to Atlantis. The barracks completes and I start on a rifleman.

In 1475 I learn Refining and so do two other tribes. Germany and Persia have both Espionage and Refining. The Greeks don't. I trade them Refining for Espionage. I use all scientists... even if this works out sub-optimal right now, if I get pollution I think I want them all as scientists until I get closer to Combustion... due in 10 turns. I get pollution in 1480. In 1500 the tech I've waited for comes in with multiple AIs. Nice timing actually, a bunch of gpt deals just expired... so I try to create funnel # 2. I trade Atomic Theory for the tech wanted with funnel # 1... Replacable Parts. Do you see funnel # 2?

Germany earns their spot at the top of the list (yes I have a list... you'll see). Persia has spot 2, and Greece spot 3. In 1505 I renew a bunch of RoPs and notice Germany has extra oil. I acquire it... maybe he won't go totally broke that way. It costs me a world map... I could have bought it for 1 gold??? Does that forebode an attack? In 1515 all the scientists get new jobs as taxmen. We did train them in arithmetic, right?

In 1525 I learn Combustion... STILL NO SGLS. I want to know the probabilites on this sometime... I think it's 5% *each* time. But, if I get to 20 techs first, or 30 techs, how do I compute the probability of getting at least one SGL? I've studied a little probability theory, I just don't recall. Mass production due in 9... I swap my artillery build over to the Intelligence Agency... I know I'll way over pre-build the commercial dock, but I don't want to underbuild it at all. In 1540 we catch Wang Kon trying to plant a spy in Atlantis. In 1560 Germany declares war on the Greeks.... grr... NOT good, or maybe it'll work. Greece has Ironclads. I don't know why I can't trade for Persia's extra rubber. They have it roaded and all.

Germany drags Korea into the war with an MPP. See a Germany infantry fight a Greek rifle near Atlantis. In 1570 I buy three German workers and a Korean one... excellent. I learn Combustion and overbuild the commercial dock by 100+ shields... still no SGLs. I seem to have little choice but to build a coal plant now. In 1580 Greece drags Babylon into the war against the Koreans. In 1585 Germany drags The Ottomans into the war against the Greeks. I buy a great leader and keep swimming for that SGL. In 1590 Germany signs a MPP with the Babylonians and then declares war on them... did I read that all right? I acquire a German worker.

In 1595 Greece drags Sumeria into the war against Korea.... but good news comes elsewise. Germany starts Hoover's as does Persia... excellent... I'll trade for Electronics in 1 turn when the gpt deals expire. I'll finish off the hydro plant and MM the tiles so I learn Flight and have 2 turns left on The Intelligence Agency for a maximum pre-build. I learn MT in 1615... and no SGL. I have Flight due in 11. I still can't trade for rubber with Persia... what gives? THEY HAVE 3 SOURCES! I buy a worker from the Babylonians.

In 1620 Babylon and Greece have Sanitation... I trade Combustion for Sanitation with The Greeks. I start mining tiles. Hydro Plant in 1. In 1625 I get pollution... and why didn't I think of using Hoover's? I use all civil engineer specialists... come on SGL. Flight due in 9. We'll have a food shortage and lose some pop, but we've got to get SETI ASAP... there simply doesn't exist an alternative. Hoover's drops in turns nicely once I got some mines up. I acquire two workers from the Greeks. In 1635 I but a Babylon worker, a peace deal happens (Ottomans and Greece?) Germany declares on Sumeria. In 1640 I get a Greek worker.

I buy some workers in the turns waiting for Flight. The order goes... hold your breath... Babylon, Korea, Sumeria, Ottomans, Greece, Persia, and then Germany. Hopefully, I can avoid the last three or somehow manage all 4 first level techs. I don't think this likely, but I want to go for it. Babylon comes first becuase I don't want them to have too many techs... I don't mind if Korea, Sumeria, or the Ottomans have 2 or 3 techs... I don't see them catching me... Germany, Greece, and Persia all might do so. If rubber doesn't pop up I'll research until I have all the techs.

In 1670, Babylon draws Computers, Korea draws Fission, Sumeria draws Computers, Ottomans draw Rocketry, Greece draws Computers, Persia Rocketry, and Germany Rocketry. Oh well... I didn't really expect all 4. Theodora Weir draws Ecology, of course. I already have Aluminum from Germany. I have SETI due in 4. Space Flight due in an awful 22 turns. I plan to get some gold back, cash-rush The Research Lab, and then pre-build the hell out of The Apollo Program. I'll start upgrading... and soon enough I have to re-irrigate some squares. Maybe I'll pop an SGL for the U.N. or a spaceship part. I could easily lose diplomatically or because I can't trade for rubber for some strange reason.

I sell Ecology to The Ottomans for some 15,000 gold. Sounds like enough... I don't think I want to cheapen ecology. I upgrade all the old units and still have 14,000 gold in the bank. In 1675 Persia completes Hoover's Dam... talk about close. The Ottomans sold Ecology to the Koreans... and so it goes. In 1680 I wake my worker crew and do some irrigation... I don't want Atlantis to drop below size 20. I also move them to road up nearby uranium.

In 1685 I get pollution at possibly the worst possible time. I lose a turn on SETI. I lose a population point, which, of course, I gain back by adding a slave. The Germans capture Mycenae and, at least for a little bit, I have uranium within my cultural borders. That means I have the resources for 9 parts... BUT I STILL LACK RUBBER!

Edit: by "buy a great leader" I think I meant a worker.

Empty post.

I did my upgrades the next turn. In 1695 SETI completes... Space Flight down to 13 turns (from 18, I think)... I cash-rush a worker, then swap to a temple and cash-rush it, and let the research lab finish in 1 turn by shields. In 1700 The Research Lab of Atlantis completes. Space Flight drops to 11. Seoul in Korea completes the U.N. The Intelligence Agency doesn't give me much of a pre-build and only The Manhattan Project remains elsewise. I hope elections continually come up indecisive if Korea decides to hold them. My gpt deals expire and I have negative gpt... that's O.K. with me actually. Hmmm... The Apollo Program only costs 500 shields, so if we have a Manhattan Project cascade, I might still get started fairly fast.

Waiting for Space Flight some more wars break out. I get pollution in 1730 and clean it right away. 1740 I get more pollution. In 1750/1752 I learn Space Flight and use "what's the big picture" to swap Atlantis to The Apollo Program. I research Miniturization, due in 17 turns at 90%... even if the AIs get here first... I want it ASAP now for the offshore platform... I don't know if I actually have a production deficit... I don't think so actually. Irrigating squares will only help by 3 or 6 beakers max per square... that doesn't seem enough to get Atlantis to build its starship. But, where's the rubber? I start with the cheap docking bay... only 3 turns. Miniturization due in 17 turns. I'll need more gold. I sell Ecology to the Babylonians for 1000+, basically everyone else has it already.

In 1754 I sell Greece Ecology for some gpt and some cash and a lux... they only have 2 cities left. Germany has pounded them. In 1756 Greece has 1 city left. I get their slave for Fission. I start making gold... of course... I only lost so much gold because I bought tech... duh. By the next turn Greece no longer exists... Germany exterminated them. I guess Persia traded away their extra rubbers before I could get them... I see now two other tribes don't have rubber. I think Germany will soon have extra rubber. I complete The Docking Bay and get started on The Cockpit.

In 1762 I get pollution and clean it. Persia has rubber in 1764... I buy it and upgrade my rifles to infantries. No extra oil for the moment at least. In 1766 Germany has oil and I buy it and upgrade my infrantry to mech. infantries. In 1768 the cockpit completes and I start on the engine. RoP renewal comes us in 1772 and I get some decent GPT from Sumeria... not bad for a tribe with so few cities that has struggled for so long actually. Atlantis also reaches 10,000 culture this year. In 1774 Sumeria learns Space Flight... maybe they stole it??? Persia has started rampaging Babylon. Persia drags Germany in to war. In 1778 it says Germany has finished off the Babylonians... hey at least these guys survived to the modern era for their free techs!

Oh... if you didn't catch it... I could have had diplomatic victory in 1695 if I had chose to do so. I've had just about everyone at Gracious, and the rest at Polite... I would have just bulit the U.N. instead of SETI and held elections, easily done. If I hadn't have the contstruction fiasco, and perhaps if someone had drawn monotheism and done the gift in all the sci. tribes and trade for all their techs... well maybe something like 1650 or possibly earlier, I'd think. There might exist a fast OCC diplomatic victory around here somewhere, I don't know.

Alright... I figured out how to compute the probability of getting at least one SGL for N techs researched first. The sum of the probability of all possible combinations must equal one. For instance, say we had 2 techs researched first. Let Y mean our tribe got an SGL, N mean our tribe did NOT get an SGL. We have {YY, YN, NY, NN} as our set of possibilities. P(YY) meaning the probability of getting a scientific leader out of both techs, for a scientific tribe, equals (1/20)*(1/20)=1/400. P(YN)=P(NY)=(1/20)(19/20)=19/400. P(NN)=(19/20)(19/20)=361/400. Taking P(NN)+P(YN)+P(NY)+P(YY)=361/400+19/400+19/400+1/400=380/400+20/400=400/400=1.
We only really need to know the probability of getting at least one SGL for this sort of game, if you manage pre-building either SETI or the U.N. with Hoover's like I did. So, we take 1-P(NN) for two techs researched first, or 1-361/400=400-361/400=39/400... almost 10% with just two techs.

If my memory serves me correctly I nabbed Writing, Code of Laws, Philosophy (I won't count The Republic... I don't know if you can pop an SGL off a free tech), Literature, Currency, Monotheism, Theology, Education, Astronomy, Printing Press, Banking, Democracy, Free Artistry, Physics, Theory of Gravity, Electricity, Scientific Method, Combustion (I don't think the TOE techs can pop an SGL), Mass Production, Motorized Transportation, and Flight (the modern age techs don't matter as much). That's 21 techs by my count. If each event of an SGL works indendependtly as I've assumed (and maybe I've got that wrong), that's 1-(19/20)^21 as my probability of popping *at least* one SGL, for a scientific tribe. It's only 65.9 %. Unlike what I naively believed, I guess the RNG didn't screw me over all that badly. You need 14 techs reserached first before you get a probability over 50% for an SGL... with a scientific tribe. With a non-scientific tribe one has to to compute 1-(97/100)^N for N techs. So, for 21 techs reserached first, we'd have a 47% chance of popping an SGL.

In 1782 I notice Miniturization has dropped to 1 turn. Korea has it. Korea also has an MPP with Germany... that's bad... I had thought about razing Seoul and now I doubt I'll try to do it. I probably could have, and should have waited to reserach Miniturization. Instead, going for Synthetic Fibers might worked as the better choice. I'll have my third spaceship part in 3 turns... I have plenty of time to build them all if elections don't get held and the AIs don't progress that fast through this tree, and I doubt with the optional techs and such they will. Maybe I should have and still will irrigate all my tiles. I may as well do that now really.

I buy Miniturization from The Koreans and decide against irrigation. I research The Superconductor due in 16 turns. Seoul completes The Manhattan project in 1784 and they start on The Internet. Germany learns Miniturization that turn also. They start on The Internet the next turn. In 1788 I finish the SS Engine. I cash-rush a worker, then a temple, then a courthouse and then let the offshore platform finish by shields. In 1790 I start on The Internet as a pre-build. Germany has Nuclear Power... I trade them Space Flight for it. That's it... hopefully Persia gets Synthetic Fibers soon and I can trade for it soon enough. In 1794 I notice that everyone left but Sumeria has Space Flight. In 1796 I buy the aluminum back from Germany, for I think 300 gold.

In 1804 the rubber deal expires and Mycenae expands over the uranium... I thought it wouldn't last. I buy the resources. In 1812 I get pollution and of course, immediately clean it up. In 1814 I learn The Superconductor and use "what's the big picture" to immediately complete The SS Life Support System. I start in on The SS Fuel Cells... due in 2 turns. I research The Laser... due in 15 turns. In 1816 I get pollution and immediately clean it. Korea and Germany have Synthetic Fibers. I swap The Superconductor for Synthetic Fibers and their lump sum... I don't take their gpt. In 1818 The SS Life Support System completes. I start on The SS Exterior Casing. Germany STILL doesn't have The Superconductor... that's good!

In 1822 Seoul completes The Internet. In 1830 I get pollution. In 1832 The Ottomans demand Miniturization... I cave for the heck of it. During this time Persia and Germany and I think Sumeria also has done the "Map for map and a tech of yours deal", I've gifted them 100 gold each time they've done this. I also get more pollution in 1832. In 1836 I repurchase the aluminum for some 530 gold. In 1838 The SS Exterior Casing completes. I start on The Storage supply. Only Korea has The Superconductor technology. No elections so far.

In 1840 (I think they had it in 1838) I notice Korea has Satellites... that's good! In 1842 The SS Exterior Casing completes. I use The Intelligence Agency as a pre-build. In 1844 I get pollution and start on The SS Party Lounge. The rubber deal expires and I renew it. I lose the uranium deal with Germany, and I can't get it back right now. In 1844 The Ottomans have Satellites and I make the last deal. Now if I can only get uranium and elections don't come up, I should have this locked down. Grr... I think Germany's uranium depleted. Persia has 2 sources, but I can't trade for anything right now. Robotics due in 17 turns.

In 1848 The SS Party Lounge finishes... I start on The SS Thrusters. In 1852 Germany, The Ottomans, and I think The Koreans declare war on The Persians. Hopefully this means Germany will soon have extra uranium. Scracth that... Persia now has two extra sources... I trade from them, of course. In 1856 The SS Thrusters complete. I have Robotics due in 11 turns. Korea has The Laser. I decide to irrigate all the tiles. I now have an ICBM and Robotics due in 11... as long as I have uranium somehow in 11 turns and no elections come up, I have a lock. That's very much an overbuild on the last part, but I don't care.

In 1858 I notice that Germany now has two squares with uranium. So, maybe I could acquire from that if Persia loses it. Germany does seem close to domination. I get pollution in 1862. I think Korea grabbed a city... that's good! Germany needs 218 more tiles to win according to MapStat. Germany has The Laser in 1864. They need 205 tiles now to win. In 1870 I buy a Korean slave... pretty pointless at this point, I admit, but fun nonetheless. Germany needs 164 more tiles to win. I add the Korean, some Germans, a Greek, and a Babylonian into Atlantis taking it to size 28. In 1874 Germany and Persia make peace... and then...

Well done!

I've never gotten an SGL off a freebie slingshot tech that I can recall, but I think that it is possible. At least, that's what I think I remember reading.

In 1874 the great descendent of Theodora Weir, Theodora Weir Sol called a metropolitan meeting and proclaimed to the people of Atlantis that very, very shortly Atlantis itself would fly up to the stars and head to Alpha Centauri. Many skeptics looked askance at all this... hadn't the Theodoras told them of such for centuries and it never seemed to happen? In 1876, inside the ultra-modern... now totally enclosed (think Logan's Run)... sleek city of Atlantis many people felt a rumbling. At first they thought it an earthquake. Someone in the crowd, indeed the greatest skeptic of them all, shouted "but Atlantis has NEVER experienced an earthquake in its 5800 year history!"

The metropolitans of Atlantis not near the glass windows (hardly anyone understood how they had made this glass actually) raced to see outside. One looked above and saw a cloud coming down towards her. Another looked down and saw that the land getting farther and farther from The Metropolis of Atlantis. ATLANTIS WAS FLYING! Soon enough The Atlantisian would make their home at Alpha Centauri... but somewhere along the journey they decided they might rename their tribe to the Maya.

Some final notes... at least before comments. Germany redeclared on Persia the next turn. The Aluminum deal also ran out that turn, but I could have renewed it. Could I have done this faster? If I had researched Construction and gifted the AIs into the middle ages, they drew three techs, and all four got drawed in the modern ages, sure. A better start may have also worked out towards a faster finish date, but I liked the start... it seemed good enough.

Some people might feel squeamish about how I stacked the deck and gifted the AIs into the modern and industrial ages. Some players, such as here http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=82799 seem to have thought that you don't want a fast tech pace (well you don't want Deity, but at Monarch it can't move fast enough, perhaps not at Emperor either) in this sort of game. With respect to that, I think they've missed something. It comes as a simple fact that it takes time for cities to grow. With your one city, it will sit at its maximum size for quite a while, while other tribes cities grow. The result of this comes as that the slower the tech pace, and the later you get to the modern age, the better resrearchers the AIs become... and you don't want them outresearching you then... you only want to trade for some of those techs. So, if you try this on your own I actually suggest stacking the deck with scientific tribes and unlike what I did gift them into *every* era. You might want to make a list like I did and decide on an order so that the stronger researchers hopefully come out weaker tech-wise than the weaker researchers. I don't know if pangea picked up the tech pace much on this level... but it's worth a shot. Here's an Emperor OCC game http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=126593