Round 9: 1360 AD to 1600 AD [49 Turns] - The Dutch Renaissance
Welcome ... to a new era of the Dutch empire. The post-war empire ... where the cities can grow grow and grow.
Meanwhile, the Russian-Celtic war ended, with the Russians ceding a city to the Celtics. Boudica, however, would still be warring with Bismarck. This is more good news - now Boudica is distracted by Bismarck and will hopefully not target me anytime soon.
I continued to fill in cities at the gaps I could. I razed the Japanese city there due to the Greek culture, but that changed when Sitting Bull captured Mycenae. This meant that I could settle a city there without cultural worries. Unfortunately, it has to start from scratch - but better a city there than nothing.
In terms of espionage, I put my points on Peter.
- Boudica is the most powerful civilization, so I know her power by the demographics.
- Peter might be in decline soon, so I need to know how well his power stands to Boudica, which I can do by approximating the power graph.
- Boudica is putting too many points on me per turn (same with Saladin).
My research went
Electricity ->
Radio. This is because I wanted to plan a bombers + cavalry war with a future target, most likely Bismarck. However, my plans would change.
In addition to the advantage of bombers, the Radio technology also unlocks a crucial wonder for me - The Cristo Redentor. I still haven't changed to Emancipation since I do not want to suffer the anarchy. I am, though, only getting 1 unhappiness a turn.
Actually, I should backtrack a bit. I researched
Railroad for one turn, then got it in a trade with Hannibal (by giving him Electricity).
Then I researched Radio.
Technology. Hannibal and Saladin are really becoming advanced, which is probably due to the fact that they get almost all overseas trade routes.
With Railroad researched, I immediately grouped my workers to have them road the mines, quarries, and lumbermills to get +1 production. The below screenshot shows me making a mistake, as on epic speed I should be grouping workers in groups of 3 for 1-turn railroads. 2-worker groups are useful for desert railroads, though.
And I'm finally getting the Forbidden Palace built. When it was built it saved me 103 gold-per-turn at maximum research, a significant amount.
The every-50-turn report. No surprises there. We are first!
Plans for a Golden Age were eliminated when I got a second great artist. It's a good thing I beelined for Radio earlier (to get the Cristo Redentor) for a backup plan to changing civics anarchy-free.
As expected, Boudica takes over both of the bordering German cities. This means that the chances of me culturally flipping both cities is greater.
Thanks, Boudica.
On turn 315/1475 AD, Peter becomes the first civilization to complete the Apollo Program. Yes, that's not a typo - before 1500 AD.
See for yourself.
And some corporations are being founded. Boudica founded Mining Inc., for example. However, she soon switched to the State Property civic, thereby eliminating all of its benefits!
Wow ... Boudica really has the upper hand in this war. I hope Bismarck can hold out a little longer.
I take advantage of Augustus Caesar's lack of WFYABTA to get Democracy. Now if only I can get the Cristo Redentor or a Golden Age to change civics ....
Thank goodness both Hannibal and I are in Free Market (favorite civic bonuses). It allows me to continue making trades to stay afloat in the tech race.
The construction of this wonder by Carthage reminded me that I better keep checking the victory conditions to watch out for a potential Carthage cultural victory.
All right, I did something a little unusual for me. See the sign called "gift gamble?" That's where I GIFTED Bismarck my large stack of cavalry from the last war. I was hoping the additional power for Bismarck would help him resist Boudica a little while. He got the stack, but moved it away from Munich, so it didn't help him defend the city. However, Bismarck DID avoid vassalizing to Boudica (the two made peace, a very stupid decision on Boudica's part again).
My Ironworks city finally got within whipping range for the Cristo Redentor. 7 population points is very significant, but I could not afford to delay the wonder construction any longer. I was getting negative 4 happiness in each city due to emancipation weariness by now.
In 1530, the United Nations vote popped up. This was an easy decision for me - I voted for Boudica to gain the +2 diplomacy points. If Peter ever started to plan a war against me, I probably could have whipped and rushed enough defenders in time. Boudica, however, was out of reach.
Now do you see why Boudica has once again goofed up this game? She made peace with Bismarck, and her entire stack is stuck in Munich! And to make matters worse, Bismarck ended up being cautious to her later (meaning, he would accept open borders), but Boudica would be ANNOYED, so she would keep refusing open borders, despite the fact that her army was stuck there!
If you've been paying attention to my research, you probably know what my next objective is. Yes, that's me researching Computers in just 6 turns (4 on normal speed). I like having 2,500+ beaker empires.
To prepare Kyoto for building my next project, I had the city work on a hydro plant to provide power (gives more production bonuses). Coincidentally, the plant's construction would coincide with the Computers technology research.
More AI silliness. Defying resolutions that would have passed otherwise means 5 unhappiness per city.
Well well well ... looks like Boudica is preparing for war again. And yes, her older stack is STILL stuck in Munich. I count 49 tanks.
What would Boudica do ... and what could I do to stop her?
TO BE CONTINUED ... in ROUND TEN!