The State of the World, 275 BC
Let's start, as usual, with a look at the map. First, the west, focusing on Aztec territory.
I'm convinced that Zara is somewhere on the other side of that tip of land we can see just SW of Aztec territory. I've seen Zara's work boats, but not any of his units. Once the war with Huayna is done, I'll need to do some more exploring of my own.
Montezuma captured that barb city 2N of the northern iron. Notice that there's elephants and marble up there--making the territory all the more desirable. And if I leave Monty for too long, he could use those gems around Teocihuacan to tech past me. Like I said, I think war is inevitable for so many reasons.
Now the east, with the focus here on America, the remnants of the Incan civilization, and Egypt.
Huayna is down to one decidedly mediocre city, Machu Picchu. I decided to keep Tiwanaku, though fighting Hatty's culture is going to be a pain. I figure I'll farm that area, load it up with cultural buildings, and come Code of Laws and Caste System, I'll run as many Artist specialists as I can afford there. Oh, by the way, Hammurabi's territory begins on those three tiles of land you can see just across the bay from Tiwanaku.
As I mentioned above, if I leave him alone, Huayna will likely become someone's vassal as soon as Feudalism comes along. I could try to beeline to that tech myself so he might become
my vassal, then I can demand the stone from him. But I rarely pursue Feudalism like that, and I don't think Huayna, in the state I've left him, will be that great a vassal--hardly worth the diplo hit from everyone else.
Another problem is that the only place he can really expand to--which you know he will--is that little strip of no man's land between New York and Cuzco with the fish off the coast. That could cut off my new possessions from my core cities--not good. I'm torn between rushing a Settler there myself (between the flood plains and chopping all the forests, my cities wouldn't mind a health boost), or letting him settle it for me and then taking it from his cold, dead hands.
If I do DoW on Huayna again, should I keep Machu Pichu, raze it, or give it to Hatty? All it's got going for it is the stone and spices--Hatty already owns the wheat and wine to the south--and it will be under tremendous Egpytian cultural pressure.
And which city do you think would be a good candidate for the Heroic Epic? Cuzco is a possibility, though it can also run several specialists, so its duties might become divided, which is not good for a HE city. The clam-wine-flood plain city is another possibility. I don't see a good Maoi Statues candidate yet--that may be much further down the road, up on that marble-fish peninsula north of Monty.
One other thing. There's a barb city that has appeared on the southern peninsula 1S of the wheat. I was thinking of taking my stack over there next and capturing it. I was thinking of keeping that city--it saves me a Settler and claims wheat, pigs, and horses. It's well-positioned to leave the deer-spice city on the SW coast as originally planned, and allows for a clam-wine-flood plain city on the desert hill 1N of the wine. Or is there a better arrangement of these city sites?
Now onto the advisor screens. First off, domestic advisor:
So after focusing on military, I've now switched to civilian builds. Washington, by the way, is perfectly poised to whip the library to completion on the very next turn.
Foreign advisor, relations and glance:
The good news here appears to be that once I'm done with Huayna and Monty, I'm well-positioned to settle back for a peaceful game until America's late-game UU and UB show up. My neighbours to the immediate west, Hatty and Hammy, are both Buddhist and on their way to Friendly; I can likely make them my triangle diplomacy partners, at least for the early game, provided they don't turn on each other for some reason. I'm hoping Gilgamesh is east of Hammy and will provide them both with a mutual enemy to hate. I may try to spread another religion to him other than Buddhism so their glares are turned in his direction.
Active trade deals:
Another reason I stayed friendly with Hatty, as you can see, is for the very beneficial trade deals I'm getting from her. I'll also gradually earn diplomatic bonuses for these deals with her and Hammurabi over time.
Resources:
I
could trade gems to Hammy for fish, but I'm reluctant to do so. I already have the clams-for-rice deal for the diplo trade bonus, and I am reluctant to give the AI any more boosts than it already has. Bad enough I'm trading gems to Hatty.
Civics and trade route income:
So like I said, I'm convinced that Zara is on another continent since suddenly, the most lucrative trade routes are with him.
Techs:
Well, between this being Immortal level and my delaying the SE in favour of warring, this is as I expected. But as you saw above, I could close the gap considerably and at very low cost if I go for those deals with Montezuma and Huayna. I would catch up instantly with Hammurabi, Huayna, and Gilgamesh, for one thing. Well, at least on the visible techs, anyway.
I've picked Aesthetics as my next tech target, as it's usually a good backfill tech, but I'm wondering about that. It's the same price as a lot of other contemporary techs like Monarchy, so I usually have to research those for several turns to get the AI to part ways with them. And some techs, like Currency and Calendar, cost more. Should I, perhaps, pursue Metal Casting instead? Forges would be helpful both for production and would give +3
since I have gems, gold,
and silver now. The AI usually stays away from it (though I notice Zara must have snagged it from the Oracle--it's a monopoly tech for him, so he won't trade it for a while), so it's an excellent backfill tech. And there are supposed to be more barb boats post-3.17 (though I haven't seen any yet), so with all the seafood I have, being able to build a few Triremes might not be a bad idea. What other thoughts do you have on research?
Military Advisor:
I'm only 4 XPs from my first Great General. He'll likely be earned early in the next war, whether that's with Huayna or with Monty. I'm really liking that peace deal from Huayna.
Religion:
I'm building a monastery in New York so I can spread the good word of Buddhism everywhere.
Victory conditions:
It's a little too early to comment, but many of you like seeing this screen as early as possible, so here it is.
Power graph:
I took a dip capturing Tiwanaku, as you can see, but I hop I'm powerful enough to keep Monty off my back until I'm ready for him. I just have to remember, I think, to keep going for military builds and not get caught up with civilian ones. As soon as I get Masonry, Boston gets a wall.
Demographics:
Top 5 Cities/Wonders:
So there you have it. Despite the higher difficulty level, each round contains several turns; I was expecting to go slower, but I'm whipping and warring, two things I'm very familiar and comfortable with. I have to admit that means I'm enjoying it more than the more peaceful (initially) Saladin game, hence the frequent updates.
Let that be a lesson to those of you who urge me to REX peacefully: a brutal, bloodthirsty, warmongering Sisiutil is a happy Sisiutil.