Open class (I always forgot to write that!)-
Another somewhat random log, although more detailed than AA log. If you don't read it all, please read the last few entries. I am hoping for some advice on where to go next with the game.
570 - Finally found Persia, though I can't talk to them yet. Next turn, will see where they are.
550 - Persia is backward. The seem to have been hurt by being left out of my trading ring, and lack Polytheism, Philosophy, Lit., and Mathematics. I give them Polytheism for 218 gold.
530 - For the second time, Ottomans make a demand, for the second time I say no, for the second time they declare war. I guess I fogot to write it down earlier. Oops. They made me pay a bit for peace before, which wasn't a big deal since I made it back with tech trading. Now, though, I have no means to get out of war and they do know where I am since I saw an Ottoman galley in the area. I also found Trebizond, where Middelburg used to be.
510 - The Dutch will almost give me a city for peace, maybe because of the Dromon floating around. Maybe I will go pick up a couple archers, which could convince them to give me the city.
470 - Dutch land a swordsmam next to our undefended capital, they know the tables have turned, so I give them polytheism for 6 gold and peace.
430 - 13 gpt gets Russia into the war against the Ottomans. Monotheism brings India in. Hopefully, that will keep both of them occupied for a little while, as I try to build my forces for an eventual attack on India.
410 - A small stack on my border appears to mean that India wants to fight me despite our alliance. It isn't unexpected, but I was hoping to survive to lose by some other condition than conquest.
370 - India did attack. I wasted a turn, but now I have Russia in the fight for 520 gold. Probably spreading her a bit thin. I'll see if I can get Carthage in, though it will probably bankrupt me. I guess it doesn't matter though, if I manage to survive. For 440, Carthage will declare on the Ottomans. Hopefully, that will save me from having to deal with them. The Dutch join against India for Monarchy. So I am at war with the two biggest nations, but I have three allies. We will see how much that helps. I also end up triggering my golden age. It is a complete waste, though, since most spaces are next to rivers and roaded, and there are quite a few bonus grassland. Commerce goes up 2 gpt, and I saw change in the the production of only a half of my cities.
290 - I lost one city (right past the choke), about to lose another (Heraclea, my choke point city on the hill, put inadaquetely defended and no walls), which isn't so bad. But I am kicking myself because I haven't used the Dromon at all effectively. I want to play this game again desperately.
250 - The RNG seems to be taking its revenge. Last game I got rather lucky, and now my dromons are 1 for 4 on the attack, and 0 for 2 on defense. I have lost three archers, two of them while attacking archers, and the other one of them only managed to promote a swordsman. And it looks like I completed SoZ just in time to lose the city to the Indians.
230 - I make peace with the Indians, trading The Republic for Chivalry. Now the Russians and the Dutch are pissed at me, and my reputation is shot. But the Indians were rolling right over me, and I expected to be seeing War Elephants soon.
210 - Somehow, I never really built all that many workers. That has been a huge problem this game, since I don't even have iron hooked up yet. With everything else, especially barbs, I never managed to get all that many workers.
190 - Dutch are angry about me getting peace with India, they ask for ivory, we have ROP so I tell them to take a walk, and they declare. I am hoping I can keep the Dutch away with my dromons, and maybe pick up some faraway Dutch holding. Or that the Dutch will make it quick and painless.
10 BC - The Dutch have evened the score from my taking Middelburg years ago, as I lose Trebizond. I finally had another victorious Dromon elsewhere, but I have yet to have a successful bombard after a dozen or so tries.
70 AD - Not a whole lot has changed. I dropped off a veteran archer and veteran AC on the island southeast of the Dutch mainland. Archer killed another archer and promoted, but the AC lost to a spearman in tundra. Ouch. Still managing to hang on with six cities, but my score is less than a third of India's.
110 - Woo-hoo! I captured Holwerd, on the Dutch main continent. Two AC victories and an archer victory gave me a holding on another continent, and a spot that might give saltpeter. If I make it to Gunpowder, since no one will trade with me now, and Engineering is still coming along. The Dutch have made one landing on my continent, which wasn't a threat. What does concern me is the Indian troops wandering around in my territory. Holwerd might not be a flip threat if the Indians make it my capital.
130 - Amazingly enough, Adrianople, my SoZ city, is a bigger threat to flip to India than Holwerd is to go back to the Dutch, according to the flip calc in Dianthus' MapStat.
150 - I have decided to make the change to Monarchy. My empire isn't really big enough for corruption to be a problem, and the extra commerce would not off set unit costs, since I am so small.
190 - After waiting two more turns, I finally revolt. Four turns isn't so bad, I was just hoping for less with such a tiny empire.
210 - Dutch bring three swordsmen onto Holwerd, more than I can handle, so I kill a couple, am sure that I can't hold it, and jump back on board my Dromon. I decide to learn a bit about getting peace, so I check what it will take for peace. They are close, but need a little something for peace. I abandon Holwerd, and suddenly they are willing to pay. I was never sure how much they took into account the ability to capture a city into the peace process, but this experience along with their early need for payment when they discovered that Constantinople was undefended proved that the situation is important.
280 - I capture Den Helder, on the island southeast of the Dutch. Getting the Dutch in on the war against India way back is paying off in a way, since they are still at war and Indian war elephants are aiding me in my fight, and distracting the Dutch galleys.
300 - Having a small empire [sort of] pays off! Carthage will pay me for ivory in addition to giving me silks. Of course, that and the fact they have completed Copernicus' Observatory means they have Astronomy, and I have yet to learn Theology. Persia and the Dutch are trading and catching up. I am afraid they will zoom right by and I will have nothing to trade.
310 - I can now trade World Maps with Russia, I just noticed, and they have been the slowest among the tech leaders. India gives me theirs and 30 gold for my world map. Carthage gives 56 and their world map, and Russia gives theirs and 5 (all they had). Scandinavia, I discover, doesn't have Navigation yet, and now that I have a world map it seems that Carthage has taken some cities from the Vikings. I am still at war with the Ottomans, but they go from insulted to almost willing to make a deal when I give a world map for peace, so I imagine there is much about the world they do not know.
320 - I abandon Den Helder, as the Dutch drop off a swordsman and two horsemen. I was planning on seeing if I could hold on, especially since an Indian war elephant was in the area and would probably attack, and then I could take out a horseman. But the elite swordsman was some sort of super-swordsman, as it beat both the vet war elephant (all 5 hp) and my elite archer. Once again, the RNG laughs at me. But holding Den Helder wasn't all that important, as its only value was the possibility of oil down the road, and I don't know if I will make it that far.
330 - I capture Leiden, which actually does have value. It sits atop horses, and could have iron inside its boundaries upon expansion.
370 - My last little attack on the Dutch mainland doesn't go so well, as yet again RNG spites me. A couple elite AC are attacked by and lose to regular swordsmen without retreating, so I call back a MI and a few AC and see what the Dutch will give for peace. I have two options. Eindhoven, founded near the ruins of Holwerd, or Harlingen, a small colony on the other side of the world, with an unconnected source of iron. I take Harlingen, which gives me three sources of iron in my territory, though only one is connected and one is inaccesible until I get Astronomy. My Dromons floating around with units are sent to the Ottoman chokepoint. It is the closest target, and if I threaten a city, even with no chance of capturing it, maybe the Ottomans will take peace straight up. At this point, we have been in phony-war for 900 years, the lone action being a failed Dromon attack on an Ottoman galley headed elsewhere, I guess, since I haven't seen anything orange since.
380 - I am disappointed now that my reputation is shot. I could pick up a couple techs for lump sums, but that isn't a long term solution. The bigger problem is that the Indians are now, after signing peace with the Dutch, without a focus for their military might. I would have to pay a huge amount, if they would make any deal at all, to get them into what would be a phony war for me and a real war for them.
420 - I make one of my little AC landings in Ottoman territory, and find that they still want huge payment for peace. Oh well. Interturn, my AC perform admirably, taking a knight and a MI with them, without terrian bonuses (I thought maybe if I landed in a remote place, where there might not be any units around, that would make up for lack of bonus, and I was wrong).
440 - Catherine asked for ivory interturn, I said no. Now I am at war with continent mates the Ottomans and Russians.
450 - The Ottomans threaten Leiden, and it is time to see what it will take for peace. After giving up 159 gold and my World Map, the nearly 1000 year conflict finally ends.
520 - Not much worth mention has happened. India has joined the conflict against the poor Scandinavians, and I have been trying, with little luck, to disconnect Russian resources. But they are willing to accept peace. I am a bit hesitant, since they appear to be rather weak, and without iron. Maybe I can sufficiently scare Catherine so that she'll give me a tech. I am afraid to bring any troops over, though, since Adrianople is still a big flip risk (1.7%) even though it has SoZ, a Library, Marketplace, and Temple. I am working on Cathedral, which should hopefully help.
620 - Well, what was the poor Scandinavians to me a hundred years ago may be an opportunity for the hapless Byzantines. I am at peace with all at this point, while the dogpile against Ragnar has grown. I am thinking that a few knights and a few AC, a force that even I can muster, might be enough to take Trondheim, if I work fast enough, and the Great Library. I have put off researching Education recently to keep this possibility open.
720 - I manage to get Metallurgy before a couple others, but I am holding on to it for a while because I still want to try for GL. I am three turns away from the invasion at this point, of three knights, two AC, and a pikeman. Pretty meager, but I am hoping the Vikings only have spearman and that their defenses have been worn down.
730 - DoW on Scandinavia by the weak Byzantines. We will find out shortly if I have made a huge mistake, or pulled myself back into the tech race.
740 - I make the first drop off, and then bombard. Both are successful (they won't be when it counts, though), and I see that they have an elite pike, and veteran spears underneath.
750 - AC wins without losing an hp against 3/5 hp pike. Vet knight beats vet spear, loses two hp and promotes to elite. AC loses two hp, beats vet spear. Third AC retreats after taking two hp off vet spear, and the spear is still showing. This might actually work, but I have no more units with moves.
760 - Vet knight redlines but defeats 3/4 hp spear (bombard). 3/5 knight retreats, and then vet AC also retreats against 3/4 unfortified spear. Don't do this to me! Finally, 3/5 AC defeats now 2/4 spearman, and Trondheim is mine. Nine resistors means I will really need to abandon it after getting my techs. I wonder if I will manage to get Electricity or Industrialization as my free tech. Wouldn't that be nice!
770 - Didn't get Steam Power from GL, but I did get it as my free tech. For some reason, I didn't get Music Theory either, even though I discovered that five civs had it. I got all other Middle Age techs, as well as Nationalism, Communism, and Medicine. Unfortunately, no money to upgrade. A bit of a brain lapse on my part, but I still had science at 100% the turn before, meaning instead of gaining 134, I gain 4 (getting 48 per turn from trading luxes, and low maintenance and unit costs mean I can research at 100%). I am wondering now whether I should even bother researching since it would take me about 30 turns for any tech at max. I also have a tech advantage on a few other nations, and with cavalry that could translate to some territorial gain.