Immortal Cookbook II: Pericles of Greece

The round was devoted to expansion and teching...
So I settled 3 cities:
Ephesus to run specialists (6 floodplains)
Halicarnassus also to run specialists (4 food resources)
Rhodes (rice +dye) to block Cathy on the east
I also captured Polynesian (iron, spices, wheat) to block Cathy on the western front.
So that makes a total of 12 cities (2 designed for specialists but still small, 3 for production, and finally 7 for commerce)...

Civics: I switched to HR+Bureau +Caste after CS. No religion adopted as I plan to rule FR after lib and the religious situation is quite messy anyways.

On techs: I grew two scientists, so I was able to bulb paper, part of education and part of liberalism thanks to the one Abegweit had also produced.
I traded for techs like mettalurgy, compass (to clear the bulb path), feodalism and mechanic for military protection (mechanic was trade after the last bulb).
We are currently at 1 turn from Liberalism (we can take PP among the available techs).

I think we can go for a lot of victory conditions from the save, but I would prefer a run to conquest (vassalizing loop)...

Tech situation:



Diplo:



yeah I forgot to say that Surry is after Bismarck!

Overall situation:



Finally, I have said nothing about national wonders because well... you see the point

Settled one city 4W of Athens, cottaged up, Another settler heading for the Phlx near corn, SW of Cap. One settler should head NW where the Barb city was just raised, planned for the riverside grassland. 4 Swords heading for the SW barb city on Cathys borders. Traded late for Calender and currency, for Col and Asth. Had to deny Cathy CS, -1 and traded with Lincon -2. Still happish. Impressive Bur capital.







500-600ad
Settled another 2 cities, pigs and corn, and one near the ex barb NW city.

Plenty of trades availabe, but there are a few worst enemy considerations, so i've held off for the moment.

Question, you were clearly winning the Lib race, why did you need to use 3 GS on bulbing? I was thinking maybe you could use one of them to start a GA to mass build Universities or build another Academy in another high commerce city.

700AD: Won lib taking Nationalism for Taj. Sury still Friendly, Cathy pleased. I had sentry near Russian borders looking out for any large stacks. If I see large any large stacks, whip time... All my cities bording Russia are on hill, so I am confident I can hold them with just a few turns of preparation. But I never saw any Russian offensive stacks...

Sury later got busy fighting Persia, So I was able to concentrate on infrus building.

Again Diplomacy is the best weapon to defend myself on these levels.

880AD: Capital after building Oxford. Now pushing for Early Democracy to allow super cottage civics.



1020AD: Got Democracy, Under a Taj GA. Empire View, expanded further to the West.



1070AD: Silver pop in Capital.

1090AD: This is the super capital approach I was talking about looking at the 4000BC save. It does produce more beakers than 10 other cities combined (renaissance Era) after the right buildings/improvements/civics.




1110AD: used 3rd GS to start another GA right after the Taj GA to rush research Mil Trad/Rifle and etc. I am planning a lighting Cavary/Spy based invasion against Cathy.




1200AD: Empire View, running Theo for Cav building, 4 turns to Steam Power and Levee. Have high EP will use on city revolts.



1200AD: Techs. Planning to use this tech edge to take down Russia. Then it is pretty much game over.



1200AD: Capital with HE and Oxford. After building the levee in a few turns, the base hammer will be 55; when producing units that is a whopping 151 or 1 Artillary every turn without a factory or power.



With this high research rate, Assembly line is about 6 turn effort. Now we should be able to do a quick war with Cavs/Spies to take down Cathy.

I think we have more options that way, as we can research other techs to open more ambitious sling (Steel of liberalism would be awesome)... but I played quickly so perhaps I missed something (a GA to mass build universities is not something I am used to but could have been nice indeed). See you at the next round

As I sorta said earlier, I decided to use my GS for an academy in the Holy City of Knossos. I then whipped a couple of workers and a settler out of Sparta, Corinth and Thebes to continue REXing while Athens and Knossos were encouraged to grow.

It's my practice to end each turn by going through all my cities and then checking for possible trades. When I did this, I was surprised to discover that Lincoln had more than 400 bucks One of the benefits of the upper road to CS is the ability to make cash trades. So I gave him CoL for it and turned on the afterburners, reaching CS and a revolt to Bureaucracy and Hereditary Rule in 175 AD.

Research followed with Literature and Music, getting the free GA. He's dozing in Athens. I am planning on a Golden Age when I am ready to build universities and to switch to Caste System (and perhaps Pacifism), which will be in about five turns. I then moved on to Paper and Education. I also traded for a few other techs: Construction, Metal Casting and Feudalism.

Even though two cities were allowed to grow and built nothing but infra, I pursued other goals at the same time. The REX continued apace and I am now up to thirteen cities.



A bold moved placed Rhodes to grab the marble. When that's online I should be a lock for the GL as I still have a monopoly on Literature.

Polynesian was captured from the barbs in a small war and the troops are moving in for an attack on another barb city, Visigoth, in two turns. After that, the boys will be a good deterrent against Cathy in case she gets any ideas. You can see the placement of Rhodes and the troops just north of Visigoth.



I've been pretty aggressive in city placement so I'm going to have to keep up the military. I am now the equal of Darius in power graph and will soon surpass him. That should keep Cathy from getting any ideas. Seventeen workers. The eight units at the bottom of the list are planning to meet a chariot at Visigoth.



There's room for about six more cities before the REX stops. Two in the south for the fish, two in the mid-west for flood plains and some fillers in the north. REX to twenty cities on immortal. That's scary! When that's over, it is time for the smackdown on the Russkies.

Athens and Knossos have been encouraged to grow as fast as they can, reaching size 16 and 12 respectively. Athens is now producing 187 beakers and Knossos has gone from nowhere to 68. They both have plenty of potential for further growth. See Halicanarsus in the far south? I beat Cathy to that site by one turn.



The sustainable tech rate has more than doubled in the last 600 years to about 175 bpt. In fact I am far ahead of my rivals in GDP, probably the most important demographic, and education will be discovered in 2-3 turns. After that comes the GA. Life is good!



I have been trading first place in score back and forth with Cathy over the last couple of turns. I expect to hit her with cannons. With monopolies on both Paper and Philo, I am so far ahead in the Liberalism race that it should be possible to take Steel as my free tech. I also have monopolies on Literature and Music with Education soon to come.



It would be nice to build The Dao Mao. Not because it's necessary but because I can... Maybe I'll claim the stone to the south and build Ankor Wat to in order to run some priests. OTOH, that's a lot of hammers to throw at a distraction. And you do know how Cathy just loves a big gun.

Whip some courthouses, beg 50 gold from Link, then sell him Mono, beg from Wang and sell Meditation to Sury.
As much as I'd love to get CS I don't want to be greedy. We're a bit behind in power, so I decide to go for Construction and HBR.

Get HBR and Construction.

On the same turn there's a vote for AP between Bismark and Sury. I vote for Sury to improve relations, although at +2 he's still cautious.

Interestingly enough no one has researched Literature yet. I have no marble to speed up the wonders and HE is still locked, so I decide to pass. Heading for CS.

Bismark asks for Philo. Damn... I guess he's far enough, so I decline. This drops him to Cautious. Not good. I decide to sell him Aesthetics for a discount (Priesthood & gold). He'd give me Archery too, but I'm not interested in it; I'm already doubtful whether to include Priesthood in the trade or not...



CS in, I bulb Paper. No trades in sight except Feudalism from Link or Wang, but I don't want to pay their price. Sell the map around, get some gold in return (could get Archery for it but I decline) and finish mapping the continent. Looks like the only ones with land left to settle are Catherine and us.



Cathy's been attacking Visigoth from the beginning of the round with no avail. Talk about dumb AI...

Revolt to Bureau and Hereditary Rule and set research for Metal Casting. Only Darius has it and he's not trading it. I can afford to double-bulb Education anyway while I get Maces.

375AD: I press Ctrl+Tab and the game crashes. First time, not bad.
400AD: Again. Drat, and here I thought I was getting good at this!

Sury declares war on me despite being pleased. Grr... Come on, leave me alone! I freaking voted for you!



I'm not in any immediate danger, especially with Shock elephants coming out of Thebes and Corinth. Plus Cathy and Bismark have a peace treaty with me (from me begging gold), so there's little chance I'll be backstabbed, at least not from someone who could really attack me. I can get Bismark to go to war with Sury for Metal Casting and Construction though. That's a very steep price, but I decide to do it. I'll get diplo points with him and hopefully we can wipe out Sury together in the future.



And Sury retreats! Muahaha!



Let's see how he does against Shock elephants.

I take Visigoth in the meantime and found Ephesus.





Finish Machinery and set research for Engineering. First GS for Education is born.

500AD: Third ctrl+tab crash! Oh well, only 100 more years to go.

I pillage Sury's horses, maybe I'll go to his ivory to pillage it too. The pillaging pack is one CI Phalanx and one CI+Shock War Elephant. Try to break that!

Ask Cathy to adopt HR for Aesthetics. Her favorite civic is HR, so why not get the bonus? She becomes Pleased.



I keep expecting Cathy to backstab me, but for now she doesn't care for it. Finishing Engineering certainly makes me calmer with the increased movement bonus. Plus, she has only melee units (no Maces), archers and chariots. Not really scary.

Isvarapura falls.



Great General born in Corinth, which looks like a great HE city. I settle it there and switch it from War Elephants to Trebs, hopefully we can take Angkor Wat soon. Set research to Literature as I've found a suitable place for NE (city to the W, 2 fish, 1 cow, 1 deer and 1 grassland for 14 ) and hopefully will start HE in Corinth soon. (no 10XP unit yet, several at 9 and 8)

Last turn: Sury suicides 3 or 4 chariots against two elephants and a phalanx in Argos. I had a pikeman ready to get out next turn, but Sury decides enough is enough. He gives me my HE unit too, how thoughtful of him! Unfortunately I lose the crabs to a barb galley. Will have to deal with that one. (hence the trireme in the queue)

I take and keep Polynesian (barb city).



I block Angkor Wat's route to the rest of the empire with a War Elephant. Another one is on the way, and with a couple of Trebs we should finish it off.

Sparta is 9 turns away from a GS, then it can switch to full unit production. Alternatively it could build cultural buildings (Christian temple and monastery, monument) to put pressure on Bryansk. It's due to pop its borders in 11 turns anyway (giving us stone).

Visigoth already has Odeon and Monument and will get Library in a couple of turns; same thing should happen in Polynesian. We want to make it as hard as possible for Cathy to get to us if she ever declares war.

Knosos has alternated between Chariots (for growth) and Settlers (Effesus and the one for the NE city). The current Chariot should be sent North to fogbust what's left undiscovered, then Knosos can start on a Market.

Athens can switch to building three temples (has three religions) and run priests to get a Great Prophet for Knosos's shrine. We could also build Angkor Wat once we get the stone hooked up. Oh, there's a GS in Athens too, by the way.

Sury is ready to take peace, but I'm not.

Trade scene has Theology and Feudalism out there for us. (and Archery, but that one we can self research in 0.00001 of a turn anyway )

Tech is yours to choose.

Enjoy.

1AD Corinth switches courthouse for Barracks and Swordsmen, because I want more expansion.

25 Calendar is up for trade from Catherine. We have Monarchy, Alpha, and COL on her. I switch research to Calendar.

50 Cathy asks stop trading with Lincoln, her worst enemy. I agree. In the IBT she acquired Monarchy and Alphabet in the last IBT, so I give up on that trade and resume CS. I'm waiting for a multi trade for COL.

Thebes has chopped its Courthouse, so I hire scientists. It's an unremarkable food city, but I just want to get the next scientist out.

125 give Cathy demanded Sheep

250 CS, switch to Bureau and Caste. No good food cities yet, but the cities that are available for settling can get some chops. Resume Calendar.

300 start a Settler in Athens. Need to grab a jungle city for resources before Catherine gets everything.

325 Calendar -> Paper. COL + Calendar to Surya for Currency. No twofers are available, but COL is now known by 3 civs.

350 Circassian captured by Wang of all people.
More civs have learned COL, so I sell it to Bismark for his 355.
Thebes stagnates on 3 scientists.

375 Navajo weakened by other civs, taken at surprise zero losses. No luxury to mess around with farming XP unfortunately.

CS+140 up for Vassalage from Darius. CS is known by us and Wang. Deal taken.

Buddhist AP built by Bismark. Biz and Surya up, vote for Surya (closer, diplo, also weaker).

400 Surya is in war prep, but is Friendly. Cathy is not in war prep.

425 Paper -> Education
Wang asks me to stop trading with Surya, yeah right.
Surya asks me adopt OR. I'm willing to do that.
Bismark wins the AP with his and Lincoln's vote.

450 Darius asks me to stop trading with Surya, no.

Trade Cathy Feudalism for Construction+100. Fair and forthright is up to +2, and the total is up to Pleased.

475 Bismark has some tech trades up but is in WFYABTA, d'oh.

500 I have started another Settler in Sparta, but I see that Cathy is going to beat us to the nearby Pigs spot on the river. The settler can still go to the northwest coast food spot.

520 Work on farming XP from Ainu. It has 5 Workers, which is awesome. I surround it with Swordsmen, watching out for AIs.

Trade Feudalism to Surya for 120 + world map, then sell the map around for more maps and change, revealing the whole Pangaea.

540 Education is at 1446/2925, and a Great Scientist in Thebes bulbs the remaining 1479. I recently hired 3 Scientists in Corinth, but since Thebes already has a Courthouse, I keep its 3 Scientists hired until its next pop. Start Gunpowder, seeking Chemistry or Steel from Liberalism.

Settle Mycenae in the heart of the jungle for Sugar and Banana, along with Rice and Iron for the city. It's expensive, but 4 Workers are nearby, and it will have OK production from 2 mines.

560 capture Ainu. The champion only gets up 9 XP. No AIs were next to the city yet, but I was getting nervous, and the 5 Workers are much needed!

580 Market in Athens, yay. Starts University. Athens is a little behind on cottages, though, since I've spread the Workers out to the new cities.

580 Catherine asks for Civil Service. She is the score leader and Pleased. Lincoln is her worst enemy. Also, she is the worst enemy of Surya, who is in war prep. CS is known by us, Wang, and Darius. I refuse. She goes from Pleased to Cautious.

I notice notice that we can trade Silk to Surya for Gold and do so. I Haven't hooked our other Silk up yet. I couldn't really trade for Gold before, since he wanted both Wine and Fish.

600 We run out of money and hit our true research rate, which is around 50%.

Corinth and Thebes have 3 scientists each, with Corinth 2 turns ahead. Knossos is running 1 scientist, growing on flood farms to run more. Sparta is still all production. A Settler is 4SE of the northwest food spot. The gang of Swordsmen is healing in Ainu. With a lot of luck, the champion might score the last XP in the tundra.

Buildings are light. I haven't found time for any AP buildings.

No wars are occurring. Techs:




Land (large):

275AD I decided to use the GS to start a Golden Age as soon as I got CS as I needed to change civics and I could use the GPP bonuses to compensate for my lost GS somewhat. I switched to HR, Bureaucracy, Caste and Pacifism converting to Christianity as Corinth and Athens were Christian. On the last turn of the GA I then switched to Free Religion was enable due to the Shwedagon thingumy which I also got on the same turn as CS.

This is what my empire was like pre-Golden Age. Very appropriately on the turn I was due to start the GA a new source of Gold was found!


This is how I was after the GA and the Civic changes:

117 science in Athens and 44 GPP in Corinth, nice.

475AD I go West and build Halicarnassus, with a Ping on where I want to build a city to nab the Marble. I'm planning on warring with Sury not Cathy so I want my city right next to the marble just to keep it comfortable culturally.


Here's the overview at 600AD with tech at 100% to make comparison easier:


Athens and Corinth at 600AD:



Here's my Western and Eastern empire, Ephesus founded for Stone, I'll also build my big stone heads there.



Here's the tech trade situation at 600AD:


Taking a leaf out of Abeg's book here are my demographics: