*Spoiler2* Gotm22-Vikings - End of Medieval Age + Full World Map

This is the Mid Game spoiler discussion thread for the Gotm22-Vikings

Again take a few moments to read this introduction carefully to make certain you DO NOT run afoul of the new spoiler rules.

This is the second spoiler thread to support discussion of the Gotm22-Vikings. If possible, you should have already summarized your ancient age progress in a short report in the Early Discussion thread for this game.

For many players the game could end in this era.

Every player must pass two tests in order to be able to view or participate this spoiler thread. These two tests define a dividing line where knowledge and events prior to the line may be discussed but knowledge that you may have from later in the game may not be included.

For Gotm22-Vikings:

• you must have the full world map and contact with all 8 rivals or their remains AND
• you must have reached the End of the Medieval Age and discovered Magnetism and The Theory of Gravity (or already submitted your game) but you may not discuss any feature of the industrial age with respect to technologies, wonders, or resources. (If you discuss or hint about locations of Coal, Oil or Rubber you will be thrown into a tidal pool in chains until the cold north sea comes in and drowns you.)

Information in this thread must be from BEFORE BOTH OF THESE EVENTS.

Do not mention industrial age or modern age wonders except as future goals.

You may discuss continuations of Cavalry warfare that may include encounters with riflemen defenders of you enemies but essentially this thread is intended to be a discussion of the Middle ages and nothing beyond that point in time.

We are again particularly interested in discussions of your progress in managing culture in your prime culture city
-and-
Any special activities that you put in place to take advantage of the special abilities of the Berserks or Galloglass dudes.

If you are playeing v1.29 what do you think of the Galloglass unit?

What were your impressions of the behavior of the other Civilizations during this phase of the game? Try to touch on all the surviving civs and what you thought they were doing.

Please make sure you discuss how you gained contact with the last three civilizations and if possible post an early map that shows all 9 civs (or their captured corpses) from the earliest yaer that you could see what they were doing. Who were the big dog's and whipping boys on the remote civ cluster.

Have fun!! Again that's what this game is all about. Even though many players will be playing a 20k culture game, there should be lots of gratuitous hacking and hewing to fish for leaders so this game has lots of potential to be just as violent and bloody as a standard Domination or Conquest style game.

PTW 1.21f OPEN

One of my many suicide galleys finally made contact with the New World (Aztecs, America, China) fairly quickly after Map Making. I think the Aztecs were trying a OCC up to one point. The Chinese were dominant in my game together with a cultural powerhouse England (which will eventually be overtaken by the Vikings but that’s beyond this thread…..). I decided not to sell the contact to prevent them from trading, at least until the GL was mine. When the GL finally was completed - strangely enough I was the single builder for a long time as the AI didn’t research Literacy for ages - I was so happy that I ended up forgetting to sell the contacts. Well, at least I got all the technologies through the GL.

In my game, the Celts were pretty much eradicated by the English. They had only a few tundra towns left. On my continent, the Russians decided to be the bully but were annihilated by the Viking Berserks with a little help from their friends. The French were the next to go. The Chinese had taken over all lot of American land and were the main force on that continent.

By the end of the Medieval Age, I was behind in technologies. I still had to research Theory of Gravity and Magnetism while the English and the Chinese were already in the Industrial Age. I, therefore, presented all my techs to the remaining civs and hoped one of them would research Magnetism for me. By the time I had completed research of the Theory of Gravity, lo and behold the Aztecs had managed to get Magnetism for me. And off into the Industrial Age we went…..

As far as leaders go, unfortunately, I got my first relatively late in the game, around the 14th century, despite ongoing squirmishes. I decided to form an army in order to get the Heroic Epic (4 culture points) in my cultural city of “Moose”.

OPEN PTW (spoiler 1)

The medival era didn't start all that great, I had a four turn revolution into monarchy and greece for no reason (except me being militarily week) declared war on me, I in turn payed russia and france to open the can of whoopass on them (didn't go to good but atleast greece left me alone).

I missed three wonders in a row by mere turns, hanging gardens, art of war (sparta) and leonardos (england). That completely killed of the idea of a mass upgrade of archers. Archers sent off to war as I started to build a hord of berserkers to go visit all of englands coastal towns (especially wonder towns). I did snag the Sistine chapel in 720ad, magellans in 1010, shakespears in 1200, smiths in 1210 (hero rush).

Having a hoard of berserkers ready I set sail with three berserks per boat, russia had recently declared war on me so I tried out the raid and raise approach on them first taking down to cities (I should have keept them but I didn't). That was enough for Cathy and once again peace came to the vikings as we steered our boats north towards the british isle. First sack target York, which we pillaged raped and plundered, I even had to kill a few workers since I couldn't fit them all in my boats. All englands other coastal towns above size 6 followed. That ought to have taken care of england as a cultural contender I didn't dare send my berserkers to London (which in hindsight was a misstake). The other misstake was not to destroy sparta and Sun Tzu's. The era was coming to an end when China finally made it across and contacts was had by all, maps where exchanged. The aztecs had been squeezed down to the south island, where they would remain for a while.

Naturally everyone hated my guts for the evil berserker raids I had brought on the world, but hey what can you do, it is in my blood and nature

At the end of the era we where about 1/4 of the way for a cultural 20k victory (estimate). At the end of the era my second revolution (5t) to democracy as we blast into the industrial age and prepare to assume control over the world.

I had three heroes in the medieval era (1160ad, 1255ad, 1320ad).

QUESTIONS:
Who's the big dog on the other side: America and China are split about even, while the aztec had been whipped down two a few cities in the southern continent.

Impression of other civs:
War, war, war, war and oh yes war. Don't think many turns in peace passed in this era. If you were not at war it was only a matter of turns before you where dragged into it.

Spoiler 1

(Btw, In 430bc a suicide galley had reached the E coast of China when it went W from Greece.)


After a decent start in the QSC and Ancient Age, we machined gunned ourselves in the feet in this age. We had built many archers, so we could upgrade them to berserchers. The only problem was the 100g per unit upgrade cost! We cut research to zero to save gold for upgrading with the plan of later buying techs and getting some in peace negotiations. So much for this plan. We managed to get so far behind in techs that victory in this game would be in doubt.

Here's a little of the good, bad, and ugly:
50 ad Anarchy for 6t for Republic. Declared war on France who has 3 cities.
270ad Peace with france. Captured 3 cities and they only have 1 left.
660ad England declared war on me. I was going to declare on them soon as I had enough g to upgrade archers.
730ad Russia signed alliance against us. I got alliance with greece against russia.
750ad Aztecs joined alliance against us.
800ad Destroyed Aztecs.
820ad Peace with Russia and I got 2 cities. They are left with 2. I captured half a dozen cities, too.
920ad Peace with England for a city. I need to build my forces just a little more.
1100ad We declared war on England.
1140ad Ended distatrous war w England. I was losing units fast. Capture JS Bach's. Almost got pyramids and another wonder.
1170ad Americans declared war on us.
1240ad Peace with america and I got a city. They put a stack of doom beside one of my cities. I was happy they saw my diplomat.
1305ad Revolting for Democracy. The other guys have railroads and riflemen.
1325ad Greeks declared war on us.
1330ad I gave England 388g, 90gpt for alliance vs. Greeks. 117gpt to Chinese for alliance vs. Greeks.
1335ad American allied w England against Greece. Last turn the Greeks wiped out several of my cities on their continent. I heavily fortified the 2 I can keep and gifted the others to England. Greece captured them. That should keep England mad at them. I may attack England in a few turns after they've sent all their offensive units to Greece. It sucks that I have berserckers and musketmen against cavalry and rifleman, galleys vs their ironclads. I also sent some units over to harass behind their lines.
1340ad New plan: Since so many ppl are coming to fight greece, I've decided to go for techs and wonders from Greece. I may go for the Pyramids from England afterward if England is weak. Greece has the Art of War, Leonardo's Workshop, and Newton's Univ plus some old Wonders. England has in Paris Shakesheare's Theater, Sistine Chapel, and the Pyramids. With some of my units fortified on the SW mtns of the Greek area and units elsewhere plus England's units, I think Greece is getting it's puppet strings pulled.
1395ad This is a slow methodical war. Everytime the Greeks land troops beside my cities on the English continent England takes them out. I'm building lots of berserckers. I'm going to take another Greece city in a few turns and then gift it to someone so all those berserckers shoot to my capital. Leonardo's Workshop is right beside my capital (across the water). I can then upgrade lots of archers. I don't think Greece has any horses, so that'll help in a few turns when they're all gone.
1475ad America joined alliance w Greece against us then declared war on England.
1485ad Captured Leo's Workshop and then got peace with Greece for 35gpt.
1515ad We gave America 80g for peace. Everyone is at war with England. England has infantry and I'm still in the second age!
1520ad Finally entered industrial age.

Hmmm, maybe if everyone would stop declaring war on us and we had a modern military and lots of gold and weren't way, way behind in techs this would be going better.

The 2nd age opened VERY slowly for me. Unlike past games I put a priority on doing my own research and with the help of the Great Library I built in 570bc I was the tech leader. At the expiration of the GL England took a small tech lead (they were tops in culture and research). However England, Greece, America and the Aztecs (Russia was gone and France/China were almost dead) all seemed to be developing the top part of the tech chain.

I did well getting Invention first by far and staying at least a tech ahead on that chain and selling off the trailing tech shortly after I researched the next.

This allowed me to build Leonardo's, but not until 940 AD, which I assume is much later than many. At that time I upgraded about 20 Archers (had to upgrade the other dozen over time due to cash flow) and set off to take over Greece.

In about 800 AD I gained a French city on the coast closest to my continent via Culture! I think that's the first time it's happend to me in a high level game.

What was very interesting is that the city flipped in about 600 AD, but a few turns later I had a game crash and had to restart about 3 turns before the flip. I don't think I did anything different, but it took an extra 20 turns to flip. No idea why this would be the case. Does that mean if a city is about to flip and I save to start up later I am resetting some kind of culture flip clock?

In any event, this Frech city was perfectly located for my beachhead vs. Greece and I exploited it fully, stacking my Viking hordes there before attacking Greece.

The Greek wars were very good to me, and I managed to get SIX Great Leaders which I used to build Bachs, Smiths, Forbidden Palace, an Army, GL "Fran Tarkenton" built the Military Academy, and my final GL is being saved for Women's Sufferage as I just entered the 3rd age.

The close of the 2nd age sees me controling all but a few cities on the Greek continent. England is starting to lose ground vs. the Kelts and I plan to jump in to that to pick up a few of their cities as they have about 8 wonders. America is virtually alone in their half of the world.

My MA began with a war with England. They demanded, I refused. For a long time, much of the war was phony. Then they made an alliance with France against me, and they were a much easier target. I sailed across the strait and landed my horsemen (and later knights) and MI. France fell without much of a fight. As the result of a pre-build I was able to build Sun Tzu. It is my only wonder.

I managed to get an alliance with Russia against England. This was the start of a long and prosperous realtionship.

England was the first to get to the other continent. The Aztecs were weak, and had been beat on pretty bad by the Americans. China and America were both strong.

Back on my side of the world the Celts had been reduced to two cities, and the Greeks one (just west of the land bridge). So I built a fleet and Berserks to take the Celts out. Berserks are expensive. I should have built archers and upgraded, but I didn't. My fleet wasn't ready to sail until the end of the MA. That was fine with me. The later a GA is, the better.

In the latter MAs England started to annoy me by shelling my coastal improvements. I countered with cannon. They landed a few knights on my tundra coast, but I made short work of them. The English did manage to capture one of my cities on the land bridge, but I re-captured it.

As the MA drew to a close my ally Russia made peace with England. I followed suit. My fleet (with a dozen Berserks) then set sail for the only remaining Celtic cities. The beginning of the IA is a great time for a GA!

China and America were both strong.

It is amazing how different the games will be. In my game China is pretty much the ONLY power over there. It is causing me real headaches in my domination push. I usually prefer to pick up techs @3rd or 4th Civ prices. However, at this point China is the only power of worth left beside myself. Buying at second Civ prices is just not viable. England was crippled this age due to being far too strong of a Civ. Their tech pace grinded to a halt after I razed London and the majority of the nearby cities.

I use the spare cash for temple rushes / unit upgrades. Despite getting Leo's this game I am still having problems with enough cash to upgrade units, let alone rush temples. Research is sucking all of my cash up. I expect to just finish the pike to musket upgrade about when I get Nationalism.

v1.27f, Open

History:
Ok, so the Ancient Age had England leaning on everyone to maintain their advantage. However, as the Age closed the East was revealed. Even England was no match for the powers that lie across the seas.

Middle Age:
The Great Library kept the Vikings in the thick of things, but there was much work to be done if they were to become a superpower. Having had problems with England since the start, it was only a matter of time before the Chinese & Americans would start putting pressure on us - (how have the Aztecs lasted so long?). England was obviously upset that they were no longer the 'big boy' and proceeded into a war with China, in a failing attempt to claim the throne once again.

Plan:
America is large, but otherwise poses minimal threat. China is not only large, but slowly grabbing land from the once mighty English. Something needs to be done to slow their growth. If I could lure America into the fight against the Chinese, maybe that will keep the 3 superpowers busy long enough for us to gain a tech advantage. We are still too small by comparison, and will need to have a small land-grabbing war to accomodate.

Greece is an easy target, but it will be tough to secure colonies on the far side of the continent. They are also too friendly with France - I don't need a large scale war. Russia has been quiet since the start, and could pose a threat soon. If I could utilize the southern land bridge, I could rush mass cavalry in and claim half their lands before they know what happened. In fact, pulling France in may help the war go more quickly and ensure others from allying with the Russians.

End of the Middle Age:

1.21f open

Ancient times

I don`t remember who I traded contacts with China, America and the Aztecs with, but it happend in the ancient times.


The viking empire 90bc

I started the middle ages by switching governments to republics which endured for the rest of the game. I declared war with France in 30 AD, captured Paris in 50 AD, their last city. It didn`t eliminate them though, so I got a peace offer in 190 AD. This didn`t help them much as they were eliminated by another civilization.

After this I planned to learn Russia to speak norse, but they beat me to it and declared war in 440 AD. My respons was simpel.

(sorry for the bad screenshot)

I got a military alliance against them with every singel civilization left. I didn`t want a two front war. This however got me in troubble later as the greeks got a lot of forces in the south, getting me into a two front war against the greeks later on. The war ended in 610 when I destroyed the russians. In 520 I got a great leader Inwaer (Ingvar), build an army ang got the heroes epic. The golden age started in 590 as my last berserk (I only built two) won a battle.

Peace was however not long won as the English attacked in 690 followed by the Greeks in 740. It soon became a stallmate, but I gained Hubba, another great leader, in 770 and built Leonardo`s workshop in 770. I wasn`t able to destroy the greeks, so in 970 we got peace with both civilizations. The greeks didn`t have much left, and I know controlled the colossus and Sun Tzu`s Art of War. In 1040 we entered the Industrial Age.


The world 970ad

There was only one superpower as I see it. The cultural powerhouse of England hasn`t helped them to be real powerful, but China expanded on the cost of America, and America became history early. The Aztecs however, supprised me. They had only two cities as we entered the middle ages, but grew strong through the middle ages.

As I launched against Russia, England sent a sneak attack and almost sacked my capital. That was a chilling moment....



EDIT: Put my pictures in

Cracker:

I saved this for the second spoiler thread, but one thing that was very different in my game was that before the MA (not just for me, for anyone- I was technologically advanced, with the GL) and before I had fully settled my little 'island', the Aztecs landed and settled a city on it!

I haven't seen anyone else experience anything like that.

Open PTW 1.21

I didn't post an ancient age summary... nothing of note, beyond settling the subcontinent and popping some techs from huts...

The Vikings entered the Middle Ages far behind the rest of the world, for Ragnar was no emperor-he was just a monarch, really, and not all that great of one. When they finally entered the MA, the Vikings headed for Engineering and, of course, were beaten to being the first to get it by one turn or so.

By the time the Vikings at last received Invention, just about everyone else was well defended by Pikemen, or even Musketmen.

Not content to fall ever farther behind, The Norse loaded 4 galleys with Berserkers and sent 'em over to France. The tiny lands of the weakest known nation were snatched away from them. Tours, in the west, later flipped to Greece.

The Vikings fell further and further behind.

Eventually, they purchased contacts from England for the new world civs. At the time, they were merely an interesting amusement, though England was busily colonizing all free land in the New World.

In the New World, Aztecs and America had apparently warred with each other early and allowed China to surge far, far ahead: it controlled almost all of the northern part of the continent and almost all of the large island off the east coast of the new world.

The Middle Ages did not prove to be very productive for the Vikings. The Industrial Age dawned for the other nations long before the Vikings arrived there...

*yawn* What a boring, poorly written spoiler.

PTW 1.27

Hi everybody!

Good lord what a fiasco... If you'll remember, my ancient age was fraught with frustration and bloodshed. The AI were beating me to techs and wonders just in the nick and I was getting fed up. Anyhoo, In the MA I finally got completely fed up. I had conquered the greeks with my Berserks and knights and had to now set my sights on the powerhouse English. China had almost all of the former Aztec and American lands having reduced those civs to a couple of cities each, yet were still behind England. I carefully had kept track of the fact that england had no native Saltpeter(none attached yet anyway) and would then be an easy target for my newly upgraded Cavs. I made a RoP with Brennus and planned to ally with him in case I needed it. So, I landed 30+ cavs in Celt terr. and set about my invasion of England from land and sea. I marched up to Coventry and lo and behold! Riflemen!! I had also been sure to take all of Elizabeth's spare gold she had lying around just in case, but, sure enough she had somehow produced Riflemen! Now, I knew she had progressed, but how in god's name had she built them! Also, she didn't have a couple, she had HUNDREDS!!!(This is an exaggeration. There were stacks of them tho) What in the wide, wide, world a' sports was a' goin on!? Anyway, what with here massive forces wearing down my armies and the culture flips(on her island and mine!!) I had enough and S---canned my game. I will not be submitting this month. I am now playing and replaying so that I can still learn from my mistakes. One I had always wondered about was how people could roll through other civs so quickly. I learned with replaying my attacks on the culture giants England to just leave the cities undefended with a unit waiting nearby. They were gonna flip anyway. when they did I just retook them or killed the unit that captured them. Other than that major point, I just had to fine tune my play. I'm doing much better now on my current replay, having captured all of the original English country. They have only three old Celtic cities and the frozen island. I also built 4 wonders in my culture city. Cracker, and Staff: another wonderful game. Clearly you should take all this anger and frustration as a compliment. Producing that much passion is a good thing!

Rock on!

So, I landed 30+ cavs in Celt terr. and set about my invasion of England from land and sea. I marched up to Coventry and lo and behold! Riflemen!!

England would have done this in my game if I didn't raze the southern half of the continent. When I stole the Great Library from them I only got three techs, even though England was 8 or 9 ahead of me. The good news is that by destroying southern England, is that they lost the tech lead to almost even with the world.

I'gve got to learn to start keeping a time-line.

My beserkers had done me proud early in the MA securing a few cities from russia and eventually a couple from france. At this stage I had control of my half of the island with a firm footing in the west.

I was the first to cavalry and started about producig them at a fantastic rate. unfortunately this was about the time that I started to fall behind in the tech race. I was so busy attacking russia and france that I let greece become a superpower. They were first to riflemen and things were looking grim.

At this stage it was decided that the only way to win was to destroy the other civs, as I have found that once behind in the tech race always behind in the tech race.

ATTACK...............

Open (Civ3 1.29b)
Ancient Age Post

In the Ancient Age, I had built up archers and horsemen in anticipation of a combined knight/galloglass (berserk) conquest of the other civs, and had a palace prebuild ready to switch to Leonardo's Workshop to save on upgrade costs. In 250 AD I researched Invention and found that the Workshop would take more time to complete. Nevertheless, I declared war on France in alliance with Greece and used an expensively upgraded Galloglass to kick off a golden age.

Primarily amphibious forces attacked the southern holdings of France, while a mixed force of horsemen and berserks took out the French center. By 360 AD France had been removed from the continent, and the Northern forces (now upgraded to knights with the aid of the Workshop) wheeled south to attack Russia. The eastern and southern Russian cities were vulnerable to amphibious operations, while knights quickly dealt with the interior cities (which were guarded largely by spearmen).

Russia was removed from the continent in 450 AD, and the English invasion began immediately with Greek aid. England was much stronger than Russia or France, defending with pikemen from their numerous size 7+ cities. Galloglass support was invaluable in dealing with England's strong coastal cities, but casualties were heavy against the strongly fortified inland city of London. In 610 AD a great leader finally made an appearance and rushed the Forbidden Palace in Moscow. Over the course of 20 turns England was steadily pushed back to a few frozen cities in the north. A couple cities flipped back to England eventually, but they were finished as a world power.

Between 670 AD and 710 AD the Vikings recovered from the war with England, and researched up to Military Tradition. A short 1 turn war in 700 AD destroyed Russia, and by 710 AD cavalry and berserks were ready to begin the conquest of Greece. The Greeks had the majority of their offensive forces trudging through Viking territory toward a small English town in the south at the outbreak of war, and were quickly left without a viable counterattack. The Greeks defended with musketmen and hoplites, but were overrun by advancing cavalry to the south and rampaging berserks to the north. Greece was destroyed in 800 AD, Navigation was discovered, and war against America began with Aztec help.

The Viking forces remaining in (former) Greece embarked onto America's poorly defended eastern flank, while troops from the Viking homeland attacked the western flank. America counterattacked with numerous outdated troops (mainly swordsmen and archers), but most of their mobile forces appear to have been destroyed by Azteca. On the eastern flank, Viking troops found non-resisting Chinese citizens in most of the cities allowing more cavalry to be cash rushed right away, and great leaders were used to manufacture even more cavalry at the front lines. Cavalry bypassed the coastal cities, leaving them for Berserk laden ships as they pressed on deeper into inland American cities. The eastern and western prongs met as they reached the heavily defended core American cities, and the musketmen succeeded in halting progress on a few occasions. In 930 AD, the scattered remnants of England and France were wiped out using a few spare berserks. When America had been nearly destroyed in 950 AD, the Vikings turned on Azteca and China.

The Chinese had been banished to a large island (Formosa ) and defended with spearmen in every city, so it was only a matter of bringing cavalry to the right place at the right time. The Aztecs were stronger with a few musketmen, but had already been weakened by war with America. Berserks helped greatly in dealing with the mountainous southern Aztec island as they provided landing points to speed cavalry to their destinations.

Both China and America were destroyed completely in 990 AD, and the last Aztec city on the continent followed in 1010 AD. The final Aztec city on the southern island fell in 1030 AD resulting in a conquest victory.

zwingli

I am stunned at how quickly you won. I wouldn't of thought in my wildest dreams that you could win so quickly.

regards

"blown away"

Middle Ages:
We are aiming for the stars pregame
We last left our fledgling empire on the eve of its first naval assault spoiler1

France had denied passage to our fleet of galleys enroute to punish Greece. This lack of accomodation did not sit well with our leader. We would punish France instead. Our force of 6 galleys landed troops at the gate of Orleans. Our forces suffered heavy losses but the city was taken. A settler was present so that the old city could be razed and a new Viking city built upon the ruins. Through the smoke we could see Greek forces approaching. Our commander realized that the remains of our expeditionary force, while stalwart, would not be able to withstand the combined assault of Greece and France. In order to preserve our fighters and the benefits of a number of French slave workers, most of the survivors made their way back to the galleys which had wisely remained anchored at the French coast. Thus we were able to claim a victory on this first skirmish. But this type of fighting would not do. Our warriors were willing to fight 'till the last man but Einar had learned well the lessons of his late father. "I will not sacrifice our people unnecessarily. We must bring superior force to bear. That is the path to victory". Our military technicians were on the verge of outfitting a new type of warrior. The arrival of the first Galloglass was heralded. Vikings would now revisit the "new land" and we would not be pushed back into the sea this time!

Many cities were bent to the task of training these new warriors.




In the meantime, Greece had poached the former French territory of Orleans to found Plebos Nexia. This suited Einar. That penninsula suited naval assault well and we would be landing on familiar beaches. The Greeks would now pay for their arrogance. The people were pleased with these preparations and the palace was expanded to 3 buildings built of our native stone.



In the year 580 AD, our new Conquest Force landed outside of Plebos Nexia. Our first great galloglass was victorious in battle and the news of this ushered in an Age of Gold for our nation. The productivity of our people soared and many more galloglass were trained. Plebos Nexia was taken with ease. In its place was built the mighty outpost of Foort Neulünd. Our ships were kept in a constant rotation ferrying troops to the new frontier. Soon the discovery of gunpowder meant strong musketmen and permanence for our new cities.

By year 670, Paris itself was sacked. Our cultural advisor said we should not allow the original city to stand, but rebuild a completely Viking city. But Paris held a great Wonder - Smith's Trading Company, which would benefit us for many more centuries.



The city was kept but Einar proclaimed "We rename this city 'Starlight' so that all will be reminded of our glorious quest". The formerly French citizens were duly impressed with Einar's vision and there was no problem with subterfuge.

Rheims was justly captured and became the city of 'Moonlight'.



For many years Einar had postponed the peoples' offers of palace expansion. There were too many important issues to address. But the right time had come. A great addition was made to the palace using the dark stone of the new land. The talented freemasons of Starlight worked magic with stone and glass. The central building was capped in a 'grande homage' to the palace's original design.



The Viking people considered this building a Wonder in its own right (memoirs of Toynbee at Für, c 800 a.d.)

The plans for extracting new technology from France did not materialize. By the time sufficient cities had been captured we had surpassed the French in knowledge! The only thing France held for theVikings was territory and their people in the remaining cities in the southern reaches seemed eager to be captured. Newly-arriving Cavalry units greatly eased the process over the long distances. The renamed cities of Mårs, Sunlight, Åstro, Naut, and Jøn Glen announced our aspirations to the world! Peace had been made with Greece, who had become a tech leader and powerful, despite repeated breaks of alliances and treaties. Mårs fell victim to Greek treachery and deposed our governor. The Greeks would one day feel our wrath. Thus ended the first tour of conquest and we had enough strongholds in the new land for our next phase. Catherine had once engaged us in unprovoked war and we had not forgotten…. Yet SHE had the 'Gaul' to be furious at US!



At this time, the Keltoi nation was under seige as one after another nation sensed their impending disintegration and sought their land and possessions. The end result will likely be a stronger England.



Our surplus of saltpetre aided us in obtaining the knowledge to enter a new age in 1070 AD. Yes, we make England even stronger, but it is wise to stay on Elizabeth's good side. We may need a powerful ally against Greece and/or Russia.



The stars remain beyond our reach but the Viking scientists tell Einar that these 2 pieces of knowledge, more than any we have gained, are moving us forward. They expect great praise and perhaps a celebration. Einar admonishes them to carry on forthwith there can be no rest until the struggle is complete. "Valhalla is our reward but we must prove ourselves worthy by getting there." The lights in their studies do not dim all night.


This was the World Map at the time of our new age.



The three nations of the eastern hemisphere are powerful. First amongst these and strongest of all nations is mighty China. The English are second, owing to their great culture. America's power brings it third place, followed by Vikings! Aztecs are the ying to America's yang.

Einar has hope of controlling the west. But racing to the stars will leave few resources for any campaigns overseas, much to the dismay of our admirals. "Keep your sights on the voyage that matters", said Einar. "There is but one Earth. But when we succeed, EACH of you will have an entire WORLD for your families!" After 5000 years most of them had become convinced this was possible. There was a great deal of mead consumed in port that night. This was contrary to Einar's orders and the officers were worried he might find out. Einar knew, but was glad of it. He had perhaps been too strict with the scientists the night before. The sailors needed this brief respite. They needed to feel like Vikings. The scientists meanwhile, toiled on, enraptured with the possibilities of their new knowledge.

Spoiler 1

PTW1.21 Open --- Goal is diplomatic victory

Not grasping the medal series condition I aimed for a diplomatic victory. Accordingly, the game proceeded quietly on my continent. Only the evil clutches of the Russians disturbed the peace, crippling the already weak France. I might have had a phoney war with Russia too, can’t remember.

Time passed without the establishment of a Forbidden Palace and a second core. I was not prepared to invade anyone except the French, who I didn’t consider worth the trouble. Had I played 20k, maybe I would have, but now we are…er…best friends.

The biggest excitement came from wonder races. We got Bach’s Cathedral and Smith’s Company. Both were tight hustles because England and Celts were very strong in research. It was obvious that their peaceful way of living gave them energy for such things. Still I found it relatively easy to prebuild in The Middle Ages. I had many friends to trade technology with when someone snatched the wonder I was aiming at, and even though I was far behind the Britons in tech, a war between China and America had disrupted the tidal wave of AI research. There was always a way. I started another prebuild before the end of the era, which forced me to keep up the research (80-100%). But I still had gold from the times of The Great Library and many 7+ cities to support troops.

A funny thing I noticed when calculating prebuilding was that England had built Forbidden Palace in York, 5 tiles or so from London.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages, when Columbus had gone quite mad in his search for India, Russia was my target for a second core. There were several reasons:
1) they were furious with me.
2) their warmongering had caused them to fall a little behind in technology. It would be a while before they had riflemen, if ever…
3) they had beaten me to the coveted Leonardo’s Workshop. I wanted it.
4) No lack of allies. England had gone to war with them and sent armadas of Men-of-War (but little else ) to harass them.
5) I was in monarchy and not republic and so could take my time.
6) they tried to coerce me so I didn’t have to declare war. It was settled: they are the bad guys.

My relations were satisfactory at 1080 AD:
Greece: polite
Celts: polite
America: polite
France: polite or cautious depending on whether we had a puny deal going or not
England: gracious
China: polite
Aztecs: polite as if I cared
Russia: furious, at war

Four civs were already in the modern era, England (leading the pack), Celts, Greece, China. Our martial tactics would be clear: war=extermination. Although if Russia were severely crippled and liberated from Leonardo’s we might accept peace for tech. I did not really trust the Berserks for my invasion because of their slow movement and inability to hide on hills and mountains but by then the horns of horned Viking cavalry could be heard here and there.

It will be interesting to compare with all you guys who go for 20k, hope you think so too. I also hope that someone chose to do it my way.

Edit: I tried to resize my minimaps but couldn't put them back in. Attachment option disappeared. Shall put them in the next spoiler.

End Spolier 1 :

Well, after last post, (basically to QSC 1000 bc), I was trying to get GLight on coast. I got it, and this paid REAL dividends. I was able to use extra distance and safe of sea to get across to china/america/aztecs, and keep monopoly of contact until astronomy/navigation.

England and Persia are also into Mid Ages, the others aren't.

Entered middle ages doubting ability for 20K. Only 2 ancient wonders, and I had read 3 was the plan. Reading the other spoiler 1 posts, I should per haps have worker pop'd and rush pop'd - I didn't think to do that at all.


TECH

Well, I think I switched to Mid Ages around 410 bc. Tech wise, I had everything but Rep. Still a despot. Studying monotheism at 40 turns. Gold close to 1000.

After Mono, I went Theology for Sistine. Got Feudal and Engine via trades. After Theo at min (40 turns), I went Edu, to open up Music, then the plan to get to demo and Free art. I gave up on Leo and Sun Tzu and the whole upgrade war route.

By 650 ad, I had kept tech lead by trading, and managed to retain my techs long enough to get my wonder (sistine) unchallenged. Mainly because I was still controlling contact with WEST/EAST.

In 1230 ad, entering Indust, I am behind in tech to Persia, Russia, China and England. The minnows of France and America, and Celts to a lesser extent, are nowhere near. Aztecs are long way behind, but have a decent civ.

20K

ancient age : Bjoern is my 20K culture city. Left Ancient age with temple(2430bc); oracle 1175(bc) hanging gard's (410bc).

middle age : I had added library(270bc). Palace pre-build for sistine was going (just started).Got Sistine in 430 AD. Bjoern has good prod (22 spt), and I'm thinking maybe, just maybe this culture thing might happen. Cathedral in 520 ad. Bach's in 850 ad. Uni on 930 ad, colosseum in 980ad. Shakespeare's in 1220 ad.

CONTACT and the WORLD:

Left Ancient age with the 5 contacts from the West Hemisphere

By 10 AD I had contact with the east. Given what I have in save, I think I made contact some where 100 bc or so.EAST is tech behind. Aztecs on 6 cities , America on 8, China look stronger with 14 or more. Aztecs look stroner than america, and teech bears that out as well.

150AD, I find "Australia" the SE island. I decide to try and get some guys over here, 'coz none of the Eastern civ's have got here yet. G Light helping lots ! I have almost totally settled "our area". Being the peaceful flower-loving culture-vulture viking I am, war hasn't even been thought of (Vikings the world over are probably turning in their graves).

By 500 AD I have 5 cities on Australia. AWFUL lands, but the have wine, furs and spices. I also have 2 cities far north of East continent, but they don't last long.

Somewhere around 750, england got Astronmy, and my scout galley's saw them trying for the east. I bid a sad farewill to the east/west monopoly, and traded contacts profitably.

by 990ad, I have 9 cities on "Australia". Russia have 2, greece has 1 and Eng has 1.

By 1203, when I have entered Indust age, I have still have 9 on "Australia". I had lost the 2 cities on North of EAST continent. 1 fell to Chinese, other was traded to Eng.

POWERG:

End Mid Ages : Rated 4th out of 6.
10AD : I am 5th out of 9, 544 point. Eng are on 750, china 2nd on 581.
650 ad : I am 4th (897), ENG still 1st on 1073.
990 ad : I am 3rd (1137), China 2nd 1230, ENg still 1st 1280.
1230 ad : 3rd. Eng 2nd on 1416. China 1st on 1428.


Status :

Using Palace for pre-builds definitely helped. I could get a lot more turns pre-build than with a FP.

I got 3 Mid Age wonders ... the 3 I really wanted - Sistine, Bach's and Shakespeare. The happiness helped me run the city at max prod.

I was worried about my civ's strength. I hadn't had a major war - just a minor tif with the long distance chinese. I was rated weak vs. the 4 bigger civs (China, Russia, Eng and Persia).

Somewhere along the way, I had to switch to Rep, before going to Demo. I wouldn't have kept up in terms of gold to pay up to the tech's from the other, so I had to. I feeling a little nervous about the AI tech-lead. I've never won higher than Monarch, and I usually start biting the dirt when the AI get's ahead in tech.

I'm still in the game, and a long Middle age (410bc to 1230 ad) helped slow down tech race, so hopefully space won't happen too arly and force either loss, or major war's to destroy space cities. Still going for the 20K win.

One very positive thing I found. Neither Russia for England had horse. I started making plan's to get an attack going, but since my tech concentration had been on the cultural top 1/2, and not the war-like bottom half, I was only building an army when we entered industruial age. (6 cav, 2 knight, 3 berserk, 12 musket, 2 pike, 1 sword, 1 spear, 1 archer, and embarrassingly 24 warriors) You can see what I meant about no being warlike. I had 26 cities, and 52 milit units, almost 1/2 of them still warriors!

Other major factor - I had still not triggered my golden age ... see, I have a plan, and it's centered around some expansion , a golden age, and the ToE!!!

Questions :

Other Civs : China seemed aggresize and expanionist. england still had a huge culture, but were losing their dominatioon, while greece, with a small city base (10, but only 46 on their continent) seemed to be gaining in strength and tech. Don't know what Aztec's started out doing - when I first saw them, I think they had 2 cities. By end of middle ages, they were decent civ, having squeezed out america, and had 12 cities. America and france the real weaklings (America only 4 cities, france 7, but split on either side of strong looking Russia).

Zwingli

I too am blown away! Awesome!

It looks like I need much more practice doing this

The turning point for me in my game was an assault on the Celts where I had 12 galleys with 24 knights in them (2 in each).

I approached the Celts through the English Channel (well, English waters anyway) when they suddenly joined forces with the Celts and declared war on me before I could land my troops on Celtic soil. I lost 10 galleys (20 knights) to the bottom of the sea because of English Ironclads and the remaining 4 knights when they landed were wiped out within a turn. What a waste!

I'm gonna have to plan naval assaults more carefully. It has been a good GOTM just for this experience.