RBC13K -Middle Ages- Faithful Fatimids (Emperor OPEN SG)

From the Civilopedia:
„...the Fatimids needed a commercial base stronger than what Tunisia offered if they were to achieve political success against the Baghdad caliph. They invaded Egypt several times, but it was not until 969 CE that the Fatimids conquered Egypt under their fourth caliph, al-Muiz.”

That pretty much describes our situation: We have to struggle for a long time to build a decent empire, but will end in a pretty strong position, able to take out nearly everyone – though I don’t believe we can/ should take Egypt that early.
We have a quite unique start: Only three cities in place, and one of those – Oran – is so far away from our capital, that it tends to be the only mostly corrupt ‘Royal’ city. And way have the only size 1 capital. Our single, still far away neighbor, the Abbassids, should be busy with the Byzantines, so it may look like we could expand peacefully for half of the game, with only a few useless Viking colonnies not worth a war scattered in our lands. Unfortunately this is not at all true; we’ll face hordes of Barbarian Keshiks (3/2/3; Hills + Mountains as Grassland)...



General Strategies:

• Contacts and maps rules; being first at Map Making usually nets all available Techs, about 1000gp, and a complete WM. So use Curraghs for exploring.
• All Wonders in this Conquest are worth it. For us, especially the Domesday Book (Central Bank) and the Bayeux Tapestry (Sun Tzu’s) would be extremely helpful, as well as the Magna Charta later (3rd Palace & Courthouse equivalent everywhere – having Oran on a looong Palace prebuild could work).

Specific Strategies:

• Barbarian uprisings. Since we start with 3 Ansars, we should be able to handle the initial Barbs, and we should be able to defend against the uprisings around our core; however, resistance in the West (Oran) may be futile; consider to spent all money with the 1st era advance, and open up a town to absorb them there. Killing Barbs gives a lot of VPs, however losing our Ansars (or even the Caliph at Oran...) will hurt more.
• The map...a general problem. The AI loves to build cities on the Southern edge of the map, and there’s no way to get any information (Defender, name, size) about them. Also, you frequently have to use the DEL key, since the status field and the Minimap hide parts of the territory. There especially may be some resources in the bottom left corner not visible without DEL...
• Those mediterranean islands and Italy may be tempting, but remember Harbors and Galleys are not available before the last era.
• No cities on Desert!
• We start with 3 Ansar Warrior, which will trigger a GA. While it could be possible to immediatedly attack the Abbassids, this leads nowhere in terms of VPs; most VPs in this Conquest are made by conquest (100* city size), so waiting until the Mesopotamian cities reach max size pays out. Also, once the Abbassids are gone, we would have to face the Byzantines next, and considering most of our core is coastal, Dromon SoDs would wreck havoc...
  Nevertheless, expansion towards Egypt is wise, and if there’s a good possibility to capture Alexandria without triggering a premature GA, why not?
• Techs: I for one prefer heading for Map Making, but if we desperatedly need Ansars, it can be better to research Jihad ASAP.
• Wonders: As said, Wonders rule. Fortunately, we have one of the most productive city spots on the whole map (Cairo); concentrate workforce there, and around the capital, of course.

This is an Emperor level Open SG; grab it, post a ‘Got it!’, and enjoy your 10 turns.

Please stick to the following rules:

• Read the discussion thread for a list of s and general rules, and familiarize yourself with the Civilopedia. By all means, don’t kill our reputation!
• End your report with clear notes for the next player, especially about Diplomacy and Barbarian activities.
• Include a screenshot.
• Zip the .sav – it’s a pretty large file, around 500kb.
• Have fun.

RCC13K Fatimid Caliphate (Emperor)

Turn 1: 843AD
Use the Ansars to explore. Keep the Caliphs at home, don’t want them to run into Keshiks.
Tripolis -> Granary (it’s size 1!), Oran -> Settler, Tunis -> Barracks.
Research Norse Traditions @min, still -6gpt.
Enter.
IBT: Nothing (as hoped)

Turn 2: 846AD
At least, we have all crucial resource nearby – Iron, Horses, Quarry and Wines.

Turn 3: 849AD
Cairo founded on the Hill range S of Tunis. This city is a production monster if working both the mined Quarry and Wines, and can grow above size 6. Set to Temple. Finally at 0gpt.

Turn 4: 852AD
Zzz
IBT: Tripolis’ borders expand.

Turn 5: 855AD
Mahdiyya founded. Iskandariyah founded. Our income jumps to +14gpt.

Turn 6: 858AD
For any reason, I now have to rise Sci to 20% .

Turn 7: 861AD
Zzzz

Turn 8: 864AD
Zzzz…again.

Turn 9: 867AD
IBT:
Mahdiyya (Warrior) -> Worker

Turn 10: 870AD

Get used to this:

IBT:…but at least, they don’t attack right now.

Turn 11: 873AD
IBT: Wines connected…but not to our capital.

Turn 12: 876AD
A Byzantine Dromon comes for a visit – Hey, we’re not alone on this planet! Theo is polite, but has nothing to offer.
IBT: Another Dromon passes. 2 Keshiks approach.
Cairo (Temple) -> Granary

Turn 13: 879AD
Run away!
IBT: A Keshik and a Barb Warrior show up next to Mahdiyyah I patrolled there 2 turns ago, must be a newly materialized camp

Turn 14: 882AD
Spend money – rush Granary in Tripolis (I planned on doing this anyway, since it’ll grow in 2), rush Barracks in Tunis; Theo doesn’t accept a loan. Move Warrior out of Mahdiyyah, the Keshik would catch a Worker otherwise
IBT: Parthians grab 6gp.
Tunis (Barracks) -> Spear
Tripolis (Granary) -> Curragh
Mahdiyyah (Worker) -> Barracks
Iskandarihja (Warrior) -> Settler

Turn 15: 885AD
Ansar slays Barb Warrior, promotes to Vet.

That’s it.

Dot Map, some suggestions for possible cities:



Red is pretty obvious, grabbs the Iron.
Blue are just several good sites, but before settling them all, get at least one city E of Tripolis, and consider also settler a city to absorb barbs W of Oran


Notes for the next player:

• There’s a possible Barb camp somewhere near the blue dots, and 2 more Keshiks somewhere in the vicinity of Oran.
• Don’t risk our valuable Ansars; they have move 3, but the Keshiks ignore Hills/ Mountains…
• Worker jobs: I concentrated on getting a road connection to Tripolis, after that they should concentrate on Tripolis first, then Cairo.
• Before we get Irrigation to our capital, better not build Settlers there; most of our income will come from that city, it needs to reach size 6 ASAP, and should stay there.

We’re small, we’re weak, we know only one other Civ…

The Save

Got it

Grimjack

Any strong reasons we should not move our Royal heir from Oran to Iskandar ?

885AD As we mellow in our old age, we issue a pardon to Ma'ad al Mustanfir, that he is fogiven, and may return home, instead of manning our most distant outpost.
Distances involved will make it a couple of turns before he will be reached with this missive though. ( Wait until we grow a settler so he is not needed as MP. )

Build Curragh in Tunis instead of Tripoli, as Tunis is much closer to Europe.

IBT:

888 Able to lower science again. Our brave Ansars scour the desert looking for bandits.

891

894 Scouting

897 Workers have connected Tripoli, and start irrigating around Cairo, as this looks like a good place to build settlers/workers out of.
Or at least draw irrigation towards Tripoli which is a bit dry.

IBT: We get a Curragh, and I start another. Tripoli gets a spear, and I start another. Our warrior in the far west gets stalked by horsemen and warriors of the Idrisid bandit tribe.

900 Warrior kill off one of the two horsemen, and hope to survive the second. Our mighty Ansars burn and plunder one of the Carcissian settlements.
Spend 44 gold rushing the settler in Oran.

IBT: We lose word from our valiant warrior in the west. It is believed he has been killed by the bandit kingdom. Retribution will come in time.
Oran makes settler, and starts a worker.

903 Hmm, with the rushed settler, I no longer have money to rush a granary in Cairo before it grows. Too bad. I send settler to a hill overlooking the river to the west of Oran. This will be the honeypot for drawing out barbarians. Also, not having it on the coast make us not having to worry about sneak attacks from zerks in Longships.
Ma'ad starts the long trek towards our core cities.

906 Settler reaches spot

909 Found Mansuriyya
Byzantines are up HOrseback. No reason to buy before we haev lots of contacts.

912 We have contact with Burgundy

915 Hurry granary in Cairo so it finishes before growth. Set tripoli on a warrior, planning for it to build workers alternating with warrior MPs, or even settlers. If settlers, then switch now. Food will be wasted otherwise, as Tripoli cannot grow past size 6.
I am irrigating down to Tripoli with the single worker. The two workers roading the forest by Cairo are supposed to mine and road the stone after roading finishes on the forest.

The ansars are patrolling the desert to check that settlers can travel unescorted to our sites. Suggest rushing settler as soon as it is about to grow.

Also, suggest next Curragh from Tunis should loiter around and pick up a settler from Cairo to deposit on the closest island. Island is close enough to Tripoli so it should be a fairly productive city.



Take us to further glory.

Grimjack

Since Aggie hasn't started the RBC13 Turks thread yet, I'll take a turn on this one.

'Got it'

Everything looks good. Will continue to settle our lands and kick some barb butt.

[IT]: Nothing. Tripoli Warrior-Worker. Cairo Granary-Spear. We are the Wealthiest Nation in the World.

918 AD (1): Send Warrior to Tripoli. Ansars spot no new Barb Camps.

[IT]: Dane longship appears off the coast of Iskand.

921 AD (2): Have to remind myself not to chop the 2f/2s forests. We now have contact with the Franks and French.

[IT]: Danes sail north into the fog. Tripoli Worker-Curragh. Tunis Curragh-Granary.

924 AD (3): Moving and Exploring.

927 AD (4): Disperse a barb camp. Send one of ouir Ansars East to explore and make contacts.

[IT]: Cairo Spear-Settler.

930 AD (5): Everyone and their mother is up HBR on us.

[IT]: Oran Worker-Worker. Triploi Curragh-Worker.

933 AD (6): Quiet Turn. Exploring and Worker movement.

[IT]: Cairo Settler-Settler.

936 AD (7): The settler is loaded onto a Curragh. Destination: Sicily. Eastern Ansar kills a barb Warrior.

[IT]: Triploi Worker-Settler. Mansu. Worker-Worker.

939 AD (8): Eastern Ansar disperses a barb camp, promiting to Elite. Settler lands on Sicily.

[IT]: Mahd. Spear-Settler.

942 AD (9): More movement. Move Spear from Tripoli to defend a worker from a Barb Warrior. Hurry settler in Iskand., since it will grow to size 3 next turn. Adjust lux slider to prevent disorder in Tripoli.

[IT]: Iskand. Settler-Settler.

945 AD (10): Ansar kills barb warrior and discovers barb camp south of Tripoli.



Notes:

-There are 3 curraghs - one has just passed through the Pillars of Hercules, another is in the Adriatic, and the last is preparing to sail West and explore along the Eastern Med. coast.
-Barb camp south of Tripoli.
-Once the spear arrives in Tripoli, Lux tax can be killed.
-Settler out of Iskand. was intended to found a city where the King is fortified

RBC12K Fatimids!

Great set of turns.

Who will make sure to take the next step on this game ?
Grimjack

... and am playing now

Jabah

Pre-turn
Change Tripoli to have settlers in 2t. other things look fine (don't know about granary in Tunis, but why not)

948AD (1) Cairo settler-> barrack (good shield potentiel)
Ansar lost 2 before killing a keshnik barb (1hp left but on hill)

951AD (2) tripoli Settler->worker (can be a 2t worker)
HBR is known by lots but more expensive than 110g+6gpt..

Yukk, massive barbarian uprising,... 1turn too soon as we had Ansar just next to 2 camps
Germans are starting the Holy Roman Empire

954AD (3) 8 keshniks in each camp, shadow them

957AD (4) Tripoli worker-> spear
Found Minya on hill next to river with good potential -> granary

disperse (too late) the barb camp south of Tripoli, but the keshnik are gone west

8 keshniks appear next to Oran
4are killed trying to get our ansar (->elite)
Franks are building HRE

960AD (5) Mahdiyya settler->spear
Mansuriyya warrior-> worker
Found Asyut (next to Iron)-> worker
Found Fustat in Sicily (next to Etna, but will cover the whole island)->worker

had to stop 2 workers from their job to protect them
since we will lose lots of money, buy HBR from Abbasids for 150g+8gpt

Oran pillaged 8 times (lose 3g and the work on worker)

963AD (6) Discover Norse tradition, Casttle or seafaring are 28/32t at maximum possible research (40%), so put a lone scientist in Oran on seafaring to collect more money to buy Castle.
Check the tech. we CAN buy for 9gpt ONLY seafaring from the only Viking we know (Denmark) while we have no chance of buying Casttle from the 3 civs that know it...
--> min on Castle and let the next player decide about buying Seafaring (maybe after meeting other Vikings)

966AD (7) Tripoli spearman->spearman
to save a settler, empty Mahdiyya (to let it be pillage)
meet sweden, buy Seafaring for 5+4gpt!!!, how stupidly cheap is that !!!

lose 3g to 3 pillagers as planned
Burgundians are building HRE

969AD (8) Cairo barracks->spearman
Found Aswan in the hills -> temple

dispatch a barb camp east of Tripoli


972AD (9) nothing special...

975AD (10) Tunis granary->temple
Tripoli spearman->worker
Fayyum worker->worker


Few comments
- workers south of Tripoli are there to MINE the desert to allow Tripoli to get either 10spt (military) or 5fpt (worker) at size 6 .
- some barbarians in the mountains 4titles south of Mansuriyya
- need more workers !!!

Jabah

Our kingdom (most of...)

Jabah

Isn't it nice to have the day off ? Sanguinary Swedes was fun, so lemme have at the fatuous (er, faithful) Fatimids !

'Got it'.

Apologies for the briefness of the report; it's hard to make hay with things that didn't happen

9 Shangian Keshiks show up headed for empty Minya - pillaging seems inevitable there.
A Norse longship sails into view; still no deals for Castle Building.

978 AD (1) Cairo spear - settler. Mahdiya spear - spear ? (I may change my mind here) I think we want another city to the SE of Tripoli which will be first-ring.

IT Barbs appear to be more interested in our Ansar than in Minya, but we will lose some gold eventually.

981 AD (2) Tripoli worker - settler. Disband a curragh off the ITalian coast since its main purpose has been served. Since there's no point in letting the barbs eat up our gold I spend 104 out of our 105 gold on a temple in Mahdiyya.

IT Minya absorbs 4 barbs, the others go after our Ansar again.

984 AD (3) Mahdiyya temple - spear, Fustat worker - temple. Contact the English, who are at parity with us. Ansar withdraws out of Keshik range.

IT no sign of the Shangian horde.

987 AD (4) Fayyum worker - temple. Contact the Turks, no deals possible. Only the Kievan Rus, Poles and Magyars remain to be found now. If we can't buy Castle Building at last-civ prices then I don't know if we ever can .

990 AD (5) Our income drops to 3gpt as a bunch of workers and a settler finish - we'll get some back fairly soon as two new towns are to be founded quickly though. I do realize that disbanding the curragh was a mistake as otherwise we might have settled Sardinia too.

IT We lose a worker to a Barb Keshik . Spot a Burgundy sword killing a French spear.

993 AD (6) Tunis temple - curragh for the next settler from Cairo. Tripoli settler - spear. Once it reaches size-6 again we may want to build another settler out of it and found in the hills to the south on a spot where it can work 2 grasslands for growth and hills for production. With most of our costs coming from unit support, every remotely viable town helps !

IT Our source of Quarry near Tunis depletes A barb disconnects the road between Oran and Iskandariyah.

996 AD (7) Ansar kills the Keshik. Workers work, settlers shamble along, curraghs coast.

999 AD (8) One settler pair ends up right next to 3 'shiks; the other one founds El-Alamein close to Tripoli (so close, in fact, that it can steal one of its grasslands and maybe the wheat later once we're done churning workers).

IT our brave spear kills 3 Keshiks on defense and promotes to Elite.

1002 AD (9) Cairo settler - spear. Looks like I messed up the MM there a bit. Settler sets out to the spot south of Tripoli. Tripoli spear - worker. Uqsur founded.

1005 AD (10) Nothing much; we have one settler on the way with another one in production in Cairo. Sardinia is Swedish now, so the curragh in Tunis could be vetoed. The one in the Eastern Med should probably be disbanded now that we've surveyed most of the coastline, the other dinghy is going to try and enter the Baltic if the Danes don't kick us out first. Otherwise it's up to the Ansar in the steppes to contact the remaining civs.

A look at our empire:


Note the hideous placement of the palace - should we ever get a leader, moving it West seems like an excellent idea.

I recommend we settle at least one more city to our West, the spot to the south of Tripoli and then maybe another coastal city further east. After that, I have no clue really - get Ansars some way or another and go lay down some smack ? It's still a distant dream at this point - our money can't buy CB yet (we have 59gp +15gpt) and our only possible target is the Abbasids as long as we don't have galleys, and that's a long walk.

For a real challenge, fly the friendly Fatimids !

edited

Got it.

RBC 13K –Fatimids 1005AD
I’m not really sure if I like those Sicillian cities, what are they supposed to build –Settlers? Vet Horseman to upgrade?
Change a few builds.
Enter.
IBT: Barb Warrior dies to Spear.
Tunis (Curragh) -> Horse, Tripoli (Worker) -> Horse, Iskandariyah (Settler) -> Settler, Aswan (Temple) -> Barracks

Turn 1: 1008AD
Frag Harrapan Camp. Exploring, Workers work.

Turn 2: 1011AD
Found As Suways S of Tripoli. Frag Sarbardar Camp.
IBT:
Turks throw us out. 8 Keshiks move next to the Asnar that dispersed the Camp .
Iron connected.

Turn 3: 1014AD
Ansar runs away. That N Ansar may never find his way back home...
Start a few Swords. We finally could afford CB – for all our economy
IBT:
Turks ask us to leave again – I’ll try, Buddy!
Cairo (Swordsman) -> Palace (we need Wonders!)

Turn 4: 1017AD
Zzzz...
Contact Poles.
IBT:
Tripoli (Sword) -> Worker, Mahdiyah (Horse) -> Sword.
Oran is finally connected to our road net.

Turn 5: 1020AD
Peaceful building – I wonder if that’s the best strategy in this Scenario?
IBT:
Turks throw us out again...but luckily we now end up next to a Magyar city.
Tripoli (Worker) -> Curragh
Burgundy joins the HRE club, now only England is missing.

Turn 6: 1023AD
CB still at ~250gp, and we can research it ourselves in 7 at +1gpt.

Turn 7: 1026AD
Grr...for a moment, I had the plan of attacking the Abbassids at Alexandria with some Horses and a few Swords dropped by Curraghs...but there are those **** Lybian Galleys. Meet Rus.
CB has dropped to 5.

Turn 8: 1029AD
Zzzz...
IBT:
Tripoli (Curragh) -> prebuild
Turn 9: 1032AD
About the only way to save our N scout is to board him with the baltic Curragh. Road to Alexandria makes progress.
Hire a number of Scientists to get CB in 2.
IBT: Those Viking Logships are really scared by the Lybian pirates . Lots of movement in Siberia.
Fustat (Temple) -> Granary

Turn 10: 1035AD
Frag Cuman Camp. I’ll play 10.5 turns, I need to see the tech situation to be able to comment on further strategy.
IBT: CB comes in.
Tunis (Horse) -> Worker, Mahdiyah (Sword) -> Sword, Asyut (Temple) -> Library

Ok, I’ll stop here without moving any units, and without any MM. I hired a number of Scientists, they should go back at work. The Settler could found at spot, good forward base.

Tech situation is pretty interesting: Some Civs know CoL, and we can afford it. Turks and Abbassids know Jihad, but won’t sell – however, they both lack CoL! 2-fer someone? – but IMHO better to grab as much gp as possible, and research MM at max; we’ll get Jihad for sure during Map brokering.

Strategy notes: I was tempted to start a war for Alexandria (in case the Abbassids wouldn’t have Jihad), but maybe it wouldn’t be the worst idea to do that soon nevertheless – looks like it is not connected yet, and though we may suffer some casualties, triggering an Abbassid GA now is better than later...Aside from that, we don’t need to hurry. Unlike the Western Civs or Cordova, we have no window of opportunity anyway, we simply need to grow large enough to take out the Abbassids, and even the Turks and Byzantium if they run away with the VPs. Fatimids are definitely a late-game power.
Research: Map Making! We have contacted everyone, we have a good WM already. No beakers spent so far.
Cairo: We need Wonders. Domesday Book is incredible useful when your 100% gross income is only 83gpt...and we need a lot of Townhalls ASAP anyway. And since we’re not MIL, the Bayeux Tapestry is crucial as well. Remember, this is Emperor, we have a good chance to complete the Domesday Book, rush a Blacksmith and grab the Tapestry as well in that city. Cairo can make about 20spt even without a Smith!


Eastern half of our Empire (no changes in the West):


The Save

A very interesting game, and an interesting situation upon the Fatimids. As it's sat for several days, I'll jump in and see what I can do. The war and tech options will need careful consideration.
FWIW I do like the Sicilian cities, adding to your economic base and unit support - just don't let them become 'sinks' in terms of buildings or overprotection.

"Got it"
Charis

Overall thoughts - way too many temples being built. For border expansion and more
important empire expansion, settlers are better than temples. Our econ is surprisingly
good. We want to stay cash-poor, gpt-rich if barbarians are a problem (which they are)
Docs turn went pretty well and got us a new tech. We could self-research Jihad in about
13 turns. I check to see if we're doing the Norse thing for Smithing, and YES, good choice
guys. The combo of GA+UU+Smiths around same time has been *very* powerful in other games.
Cairo is, as he says, a monster city and possibly a wonder builder. (Domesday, Tapestry)
I do like the idea of Abbasid war and pre-firing the Abbasid GA w/o firing ours.
But not Alexandria, it's way too far and could never be held. Let them bring the units
to us to be killed instead. The *next* war, with *our* GA fueling it, will expand
East and take everything up to and including Alexandria! One last thought...
Why was Fustat founded next to volcano? Small chance of a problem due to shortness of game?

More specifics on tech situation: We know all civs, CoL costs ballpark 22gpt.
Knows CoL: Germany, Rus, Cordova, France, Norway, Burgundy.
Doesn't know it, has Jihad: Turks and Abbasids. Doubtful even at 33gpt, despite non-monopoly
Doesn't know it, but otherwise broke and at parity: Byzatines, Poland, Sweden, Celts.
Backwards AND broke: England, Denmark, Magyars, Bulgars, Castile all lack Castle Building.

Not really a brokering situation, as there is no second tech to pickup unless our
Arabian friends think CoL for Jihad is fair. We'll also want Smithing, btw, at or before
our GA. It's fairly cheap (at least in some games!) Getting CoL and fast-research at Map
Making seems best.

Our army: three Ansars, 2 horse, 3 swords, 10 spears.

Ok, here's the plan: Buy CoL. If we can broker good, but in any case research Maps.
War with Abbasids and hope for a draw with them getting GA, perhaps some discount.

[0] 1038 - I was going to say I didn't like the workers roading East when we're in
desperate need of land improvement back home, but I see a settler heads East, good
Several swaps need to be ordered, mostly temple to settler and take non-river cities
off granary. Tripoli is capped at size 6, working excess food and at 9spt building a horse?
That may have been a computer choice since Doc didn't MM this turn. It goes to 10spt. Wow does

Tunis need a town-hall! In fact I better broker before I continue fiddling with the queue.

Tech time. Castille, Cordova, Norway are weakest in power. The last two have CoL. Same price.
We pull Cordova to the negotiating table. Instead of 215+14gpt, the price is now
182g+4gpt, a savings of over 11gpt. Wise move for the weak Cordovans.
Now, are there any qualified buyers? Our so called Turkish friends still won't part with
Jihad. They will after we get maps. Hmm, wait, Abbasids will trade it, for 18g+8gpt.
Can't beat that price with a stick! Could they be spared afterall? Weird! I go back to
Turks and make same offer. It's an insult. OH, duh, the Turks are just about to get CoL
by self-research, the Abbasids are not. I like the Abby deal, and go for it.
We are now Ansar-capable!

Whoa!! Cordova are flush with cash! They will pay 34gpt+227g for Jihad!! They're not OUR
enemies, why not make use of this extra expensive tech? Done. Can any of the others missing
CoL buy it? Not for a puny 30g, no thanks. It would be *great* if Swedes researched Smithing
tech before getting CoL!

Settler founds where he sits, to found on the hill. This will be the city that the
Abbasids attack or go by in the upcoming war. Samarra is the name, and for its intended
purpose, a rax is ordered.

Research: Map Making. With our new income we can go 100% sci and be surplus! Due in 11!
Smithing would be 17 at the same rate. Better brokering by far with the map though.

Back to queues. Throw out the above. Tripoli has Ansar due in 5, and town halls are ordered
up right and left. Cairo could lose a few shields now and get 2spt back from an instant
town hall. Payback time is 18 turns, and it will take 27 to get the Domesday. We take the
immediate town hall in Cairo and go max food this turn. I go back through cities in order
to make sure 3 more town halls besides Cairo finish quickly, and to try to get some more
scientists. Which 3? Tunis, Aswam, and Fayyum (hey, that island city!) Perhaps Mahdiyya.
Map Making with sci down to 8 turns.

Finally, hit return.

[1] 1041 - Camp cleared by Ansar south of Alemain. Upgrade horse to Ansar.
A second camp cleared. Ca-Ching! Make note to self to check these civs for
new techs each round: Germany, Rus, Cordova, France, Norway, Burgundy, Swedes.

[2-3] 1047 - Careful MM, camp hunting, and very small partial rushes on the halls.

[4] 1050 - Our valiant Ansar scout reaches the Baltic curragh! They go on a long goto
home.

[5] 1053 - Hmm, we have zero embassies. Perhaps make one with a rich small-area one and get
RoP? We're 7th in land area. I wonder how small Sweden is. Let's make embassy.
Sigtuna is size 2, 5spt, iron, seven defenders, one lux. Shoot, they're larger than we are.

[6] 1056 - Can't settle in desert. Whoops, should have known that. We do hill instead.
Sweden has Smithing, and they still lack Code of Laws! With this weird economy, they
consider ours more valuable despite their monopoly and it's usefulness, and pay us 22g!

Yet again Cairo's prebuild is changed for the better. We have 66 shields done, and Domesday
is 300, so 234 away, at 14spt due in 17 turns. If we rush smith, 300 at 21 is 15 turns.
We're slightly short of cash to rush this turn. When I say the other civs are broke,
I mean FLAT broke. A partial rush via library will have to do. Tripoli and Mahdiyya also
swap to Blacksmith. Most others continue their town halls.

[7] 1059 - English start HRE. New Cairo founded in east on hill. Barb camp dispersed.
Worker from Danes for old Castle Building.

[8] 1062 - Map making is done! We seem to be first, and/but no one has anything
worthwhile to sell for it. And it's not going cheap! We'll start Assasination
since someone else will do Siegecraft and we can trade Map Making for that.
We can also sell communications, eg Germany doesn't know Abbasids. In fact Abbasids
lack contacts with 11 civs. Do we want them to know more? Probably not
Map Making, all 11 contacts, won't get Assasinatoin. That's it, we self-research it.
We go around buying territory maps. Rus haven't met Byz, how sad is that?

I swap territory maps, never selling WM, not introducing Abbasids to anyone, and not
introducing Turks to Cordovans (!) The only TM's I couldn't get that way are Sweden
and Abbasid, but those will come one way or another. The few civs who don't know Castle
BUilding get that now for their WM.

Now we just wait for other techs to show up, and/or large sums of money.
We'll keep the scientists active for now, researching Assasination.

[9] 1065 - Fourth town hall finishes, in Tunis. Cairo starts Domesday, due in 13
Three our our Ansars surround two ministacks of Keshik barbs. We move up, kill one,
retreat to high ground while they sit there.
IBT - France completed HRE in Paris! (What were the Poles doing??)

[10] 1068 - France took the Knight techs, as she still lacks Map making (or Siege)
No change in tech situation. Abbasids will pay a pretty penny for Map Making, but
I would NOT take it at this point. We want to trade it for 1-2 techs, nothing less.

Some more embassies, lest they never get built.
Byzantines are 19spt size 12 buliding Cataphracts, 8 defenders, 1 queen, iron, horses, 4 lux.
Jerusalem is size 3, 6spt, building Assassins 8-\ 8 shields, 1 sword, 1 archer, 1 king.
They have horses and iron, and 4 lux.
That's it for my reign, we did very good on tech, economy and infrastructure.

Notes to next leader...
- Curragh-Ansar are on long goto home.
- As Doc was, I continue high on scientists for research, but now might be a good time
to fire them all, raise lux a notch, and get to finishing up those town halls. The
extra income/beakers from lower corruption will be of more value.
- Do *NOT* sell world maps, probably until others have Map Making and there are folks
willing to pay full value. We're the only one with a world map right now, and it should
almost be worth a tech in inself.
- Likewise we have a monopoly on Map Making. If the AI prioritizes Med Combat, we might
get both Siege and Combat for it. Don't trade it away cheaply!!
- After town halls, more food and workers are our next priority, and perhaps some more
Ansars from Tripoli and other cities when their smiths are done.
- Terrain is no diffeent from before really, no map.

Who will be next to Grab the Fatimids 1068 game? - hopefully a savvy trader and builder!

Good luck!
Charis

Nice trading Charis

I'll take it next. My trading nose is twitching already

@Charis:

Tripoli is capped at size 6, working excess food and at 9spt building a horse?

Click to expand...

Rest assured, I did click around some citizens already (though working the Fish saved 10% Research in the last turn).

And I see you also didn't start the War, somehow it's always this "Let's do it next turn"-feeling.

Cairo is really great, propably the best spot on the whole map (Quarry + Wines + 2 BG + Forrest + River and pretty close to the capital). The only location that comes close is in Spain, Madrid in the Reconquista! -SG.

Fatimids feel really different, peaceful building/ trading for about 150 turns, and then overrun everything.

Gosh that's a lot of twitching going on! Please do post your turn or give us some idea of where you're at! I hope all is well!

Charis