Round 6: 100 BC to 300 AD [18 Turns] - Extinguishing the Barbarians
I'm back now and am on break for a few more weeks.
First of all, the math question of this round: If there exist 4 real numbers, a, b, c, and d such that a < b < c < d, and that those 4 numbers can be paired in six different ways, what are all possible values of d? Each pair, as in (a+b), (a+c), and so on, must have a different sum, and the four smallest sums are 1, 2, 3, and 4.
I found this problem very interesting when I looked at it yesterday. You have 15 minutes, maximum, to solve. The winner gets a congratulatory guesture from me.
Now, let's continue this round. I had to spend a while trying to re-learn the situation.
Unfortunately, this happened two turns later. Montezuma declared war on me even though he was still locked in a centuries-long struggle with Catherine.
I think this is because of a demand I refused, because I don't know of any other way he could declare war on me while already at war.
His lone wounded archer constituted his army.
My Great Scientist Angkor Wat bulbed Philosophy, and I was the first to that technology. Later, I was finally able to negotiate a trade for Calendar (Construction was just another benefit) which gave me an auto +1 health because of the silk under a city tile.
My next Great Scientist, this time generated from the capital, went to Angkor Thom to construct an academy. Angkor Thom was the second-best science city because of its cottages and relatively large size.
Banteay Kdei, my ninth city, was founded. It's sandwiched between two barbarian cities, but they would be gone by the end of this round. I settled on top of the stone in order to get the pigs in this fat cross, but that may have been unnecessary given the southern city's need for food (Magyar).
Starting on turn 120, I used my Great Artist obtained from Music to launch a Golden Age. I switched civics.
The round concluded at 300 AD. I could have played longer, but I'm at the point where I need to decide what to do about the Renaissance era. I think this game can be won peacefully, with Space Race, but obviously I'm not going to do that. I need to figure out what I want to prioritize for Renaissance military.
I am doing well technologically.
Here's the fairly wild diplomatic scheme. I'm quite surprised, because I thought there would not be as much warfare. Many of these leaders have a similar base peaceweight and warmonger respect, but I guess their war tendencies overcame their diplomatic relations.
Having a size 14 city this early does wonders for a city's importance. This once again shows how population is power.
The important statistics in the demographics are the GNP, MFG, and Crop Yield. I need to work on the third.
Here are the 3 featured cities: Yasodharapura, Angkor Thom, and Rajavihara. My capital is still focusing on research and Great People, and soon it will take the role of military producer. Angkor Thom is still growing and culturally pressuring Hannibal to the south, while Rajavihara is preparing itself for producing lots and lots of military.
Here's the southwestern belt. I have 3 new cities, 2 due to barbarians, and I'm not sure what to specialize them in. I think Zhou will be for commerce, Banteay Kdei a production city, and Magyar also a commere city.
Like last round, I saved and then took off the signs to make the overall map view easier on the eyes.
This round took a long time to play for only 18 turns. I hope to have a longer update in the next few days.
Goals for the next round:
1. Finish Liberalism and get Nationalism. I'll probably build the Taj Mahal in a city that has lots of Forests for chopping.
2. Build priorities: Forges, Barracks, Stables in production cities. Newer cities need to focus on Granaries, Libraries, and Barays. The cities on the western side of the empire should also have courthouses, which now save up to 5 gold per turn.
3. Research Military Tradition and Gunpowder. Ignore Banking and Economics for now.
4. Get an army of cuirassiers, musketmen, and catapults (or trebuchets, if I ever get Engineering) and attack Hannibal. Ragnar should be Friendly in the next few turns.
5. Switch to Nationhood, Slavery, and Free Religion.
I am thinking of attacking Hannibal because his cities are easy targets, and he is coastal, so he will naturally have less production. The question is with what units. My idea is a combination of cuirassiers (for the first few cities) for fast conquest, then get to the capital with horses as well as musketmen (drafted) and siege. There are going to be some hills on the way to Carthage so the horses won't get to use their full 2 move advantage the whole way.
You're in an excellent position, that's for sure.
