Round 1: 4000 BC to 2875 BC
First off, I sent the Warrior 1NE as suggested to check on the existence of any other seafood:
Nope, nada. Well, that just added more weight to the decision to settle in place.
The first build, I thought, was rather obvious: a Work Boat. In fact, that was going to be my second build as well. But what about research? As Fierabras mentioned above, going after Meditation/Buddhism was going to be risky; 13 turns even while working the lake tile. Which is not a big deal to my mind. I'll want Meditation later on, but I could trade for it or research it when it's cheaper.
Some of you were urging me to forgo an early religion. But come on, this is Isabella! It's like she was whispering in my ear, her voice mysterious and husky, her lips tickling my earlobe, her warm breath caressing my temple... "Sisiutil... found a religion for me... I promise you won't regret it..."
Whatever you say, babe.
So, yeah, I delayed the build of the Work Boat a little in the quest for Polytheism, Hinduism, and an early religion. But I was thinking long-term as well. We're anticipating generating several Great Prophets, I should think, so shrine income--from several shrines, potentially--could be a real boost to Spain's economy.
As much as I said I'd like Isabella to be Christian, we'll see how the game plays out. That wish on my part was solely for flavour; let's focus, as we should, on winning the game.
Meanwhile, my Warrior had some things to do. Exploration had to be postponed a few turns. Founding Madrid had revealed a tribal village south of the city that wouldn't be popped until the third border expansion. I couldn't leave it that long and take the chance that the AI would beat me to it, especially since I wasn't going to building another exploratory unit for some time. And as it turned out, sending the Warrior down there was very worthwhile:
I managed to pop two other huts this round, also for gold, so I now have a good little next egg to support early research and take care of any nasty random events. Yes, and I have wine nearby too, so Monarchy--already on the early tech priority list--has become even more attractive.
In 3700 BC, 1 turn before I would have finished the tech myself, I got news about Buddhism:
And I was to find out who the culprit was very soon indeed. So Fierabras, you were right, pursuing Buddhism was a little too risky. But could I still found Hinduism? Only time would tell. I had to wait four more somewhat anxious turns to find out.
Cool! Madrid is now a holy city and can later host a gold-generating shrine. I did not convert to Hinduism just yet, though. I don't need the happy boost until Madrid grows to its cap, and I'd rather see what the diplomatic situation is like with any neighbours I may have before making a religious commitment.
Meanwhile, I changed Madrid's tile assignments to speed up the build of the Work Boat, now that I didn't need the lake's commerce boost for research:
And speaking of research, with one religious tech out of the way, I started on the path to Bronze Working, via Mining.
My Warrior, moving ever further westward while exploring north to south and back again, began running into the other civs. First off, an exploratory Archer from England showed up:
My favourite redhead. Well, she's up there with Batgirl and Gillian Anderson, anyway. I have not yet determined exactly where her territory is. If she's far enough away, Elizabeth may be a convertee rather than a potential victim. We'll see.
And look who else showed up:
Good to see we have one of the new BtS leaders in this game, since we didn't see any, strangely, in the last one, even with all the colonies that popped up. And Charlemagne went and founded Buddhism, meaning that his capital is
also a holy city.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yes, Isabella was hissing in my ear this time, her fingernails biting into my shoulders, leaving those little half-moon shapes that are kind of embarrassing when you go to the local swimming pool. "The Buddhist heretic must
die!" she snarled, and I had to nod my head in agreement. The HRE capital would be another shrine city to add to the one I already have and the others we're anticipating. If Buddhism is the faith that spreads to England, we could always do the politically expedient thing and convert to it. Bronze Working was on its way, and I crossed my fingers and hoped for copper somewhere nearby.
Back in Madrid, both Work Boats were now complete. The city had grown relatively quickly to 3 pop, and it was time to start on a Worker.
Working both clams and the plains hill seemed to provide the fastest combination for the build, not to mention a little extra commerce for research.
Thus, after 45 turns, in 2875 BC...
I switched civics immediately. I love being able to do this anarchy-free. I've become very used to being very conservative about civics changes when playing as a non-Spiritual leader. Sometimes I have to remind myself, when I'm playing as a Spiritual leader, that I don't have to wait to do several civics changes at once, or that I can just change civics for 5 turns for whatever reason and then quickly change back.
And so... where's the copper? Anywhere nearby?
Isabella gasped softly, then her anticipatory laughter was low and malevolent in my ear...
And that's where I ended the round. I think it makes sense to research The Wheel next in order to hook up the copper as soon as possible.
Here's a look at the map as revealed thus far:
My Warrior, now with Woodsman I, was exploring south and west around HRE territory when he spotted a jaguar watching him from a hill 2 tiles away. Since the Warrior was on open ground with no cover in sight, I pulled him back in the other direction. He's heading north just outside of the Holy Roman Empire's western border.
So what next? With Charlemagne so close by, I think I'm going to have to hurry if I want to get a couple more cities built. It looks like the coastal desert hill to the northwest, claiming the cows, wheat, and clams, would be a good spot. Another one might be 1W of the corn, claiming another clam tile, 2 flood plains, and the wine 2N of that spot. I could put a city on the grassland hill 3S 1W of Madrid (cows and wine), but that's a lower priority. I eagerly await your dot maps.
As far as immediate builds go. The potential is definitely there to axe-rush Charlemagne. But I'll have to hurry, otherwise his capital will quickly grow to a 60% defense bonus, and how much money do you want to bet that it's on a hill? I might have time to found one more city before I need to start pumping out axes, and I might not even have time for barracks.
This would rule out Stonehenge, since I'd need the hammers for one, maybe two Settlers, and then Axes. But with an early religion now in hand, I don't really need the 'henge. As several of you have pointed out, once I have Priesthood (which I can now research any time), I can build temples and run priest specialists to help generate Great Prophets, so I can do without Stonehenge's GP points. Despite the lack of marble so far, the Oracle is still a goal, and I have several forests to chop it, so let's keep that in mind.
The saved game file is below.
. well i hope it was just forgetting anyway (must hold back the giggling too!)
.
