Gandhi on the Rocks

[Lanzelot]

Turns 201-210:

870AD (turn 202): an Aztecan settler/spear pair walks through my territory. They neither declare nor leave, so I declare and capture the settler and two more workers. Can't hurt to get some saltpeter...

I notice that someone has burned down Hattusas! So much for using the GLib a second time...

17 Elephants are ready to storm Isandhlwana:

880AD: Storm of Isandhlwana: 6 Elephants die, many more retreat red-lined, but then the three defending Muskets are defeated and Isandhlwana is ours!

Interturn I lose two more Elephants to MI-attacks. And Pasargadae completes the Sistine Chapel.

890AD: The Aztecs have not stood the test of time...

From Persia I buy wines for 40gpt. War weariness is making itself felt a bit now. 7 Elephants are on their way to Isandhlwana as replacements. Also Chandragupta will capture Seattle next turn, and then he can be redeployed in Zululand as well. We finally need to break through to Zimbabwe!!

900AD: Shivaji discovers Bapedi and the Zulu saltpeter. We can pillage it in two turns.

Ah yes: and the Americans have not stood the test of time either...

920AD: The Zulu saltpeter is pillaged. Now we will start attacking Bapedi.

950AD: Two Armies are ready to attack Bapedi.

Both of them kill a Musket, and an Impi appears on top.

Now the ordinary Elephants can attack, and finally Bapedi falls. Two turns of healing for the Armies, and then we can move on to Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile at home everything is ready to start a campaign against the Iroquois. The core is also pretty much finished:

And F11 shows that the income is at 1031 gpt and production at 273 spt. Still remember, what I had 30 turns ago before jumping off our cosy island? 322 gpt and 79spt... However, this is my last turn of GA. Let's see, whether I can keep the number one spot after the GA.

In old India I have rushed a granary in New Delhi, so that I can now rush a settler every 4 turns. I still have all those galleys, so I decided to fill the old home island with a couple of settlers to a) gain some extra territory and b) ease the unit upkeep. With the old island settled and then the territory of the Iroquois, Arabs and Zulus and what's left of the Hittites, I should already be getting close to 66% land. (I currently hold Old India, Aztecia, America and parts of Zululand and with Artemis, the gaps in between should fill up quickly.)

 

[tjs282]

On what grounds did you decide where to make the first invasion? After I had explored most of the nearby shorelines and established embassies everywhere, I decided that the Aztecs had the best land by far. On top of that they were quite close, and when they finished the Colossus for me (a very useful wonder for the rest of the game), my decision was made...
Mongolia on the other hand, with all those tundra tiles, did not appear too appetizing to me, and Persia was too far away (and also not as good as Aztecia).

The Aztecs certainly have the best land, but as I say, I was a loooong time getting off my island (the Aztecs had already started founding towns in India by that point, not that it did them much good -- those towns are mine now). Shortly after my GA, I'd grabbed the Hittites' coastal river Dyes-town (east of Delhi), intending to use that as a foothold against the Aztecs, but before I could follow through on that plan, I lost the town without warning to an American Cav onslaught (they had an RoP with the Iroquois, which I had overlooked), while I was assaulting the Horse-island (I've got that Dyes-town back now, though)...

My first successful all-out overseas invasion was taking the Horse-Island from Monty using Cannons, Wellies, Maces and Muskets (vs. his Rifles), but they were too strong for an assault on their mainland to work at that point (and they got to Flight before I did). I wanted to use the Horse-Island as a jumping-off point to invade NW Azteca, and plant a town on the Hill next to the Gem-Mountain, but I lost my entire stack (Cavs and Rifles) on the first attempt (the second attempt went better: the town there now is guarded by an Inf-Army, and full of Bombers!). Temujin had already conquered the Persians and Inca, and held the entire northeastern end of his continent, bounded by the long range of Hills bordering the Maya; although the Mongol Tundra's not great, the rest is useful. I invaded Mongolia relatively recently, in-game (post RepParts), for their Oil and Furs, taking half their land using Infs, Artillery and Cavs before WW forced me to make peace, then redeclared 20T later. I'd revolted to Communism shortly after getting MotorTransport, and took former Persia using Tanks when it become clear that the Mayans were going to overrun the Mongols if I didn't do it first. Right now those towns are building mostly Tanks and TOW/MechInfs, in preparation for a war with Smoke (I'm hoping to be able to seal him off from the Americans, get an MA with him against them, then backstab him and take his Aztec conquests before he eats Mongolia, which should -- I hope -- get me to 66%...)

 

[Lanzelot]

"Cavalry", "Infantry", "Tanks", "Bombers", "Communism", "Oil"... My head is spinning, what do all these fancy words mean...?

I think this shows pretty well, what the "problem" in your game was: you invested too much into your home island, waited too long and let the AI grow too strong. If you have very bad land, while the AI has excellent land, it is clear that the longer you wait, the bigger will the advantage of the AI over you grow! And the more difficult the game will become. Also consider: in the later game, all AI cities will eventually reach size 12 and have good production. However, in the early game, the AI has the bad habit to build settlers at size 3 and keep their capital and other core towns at size 1 for quite a long time. (You can see this in the screenshots from my early game.) So by using Delhi and 2-3 further towns at size 4-6, I was able in the early stages to actually compete with the production and research capacity of the AI! Also take into account, that the AI usually builds all kinds of stuff, granaries, courthouse, libraries, wonders..., while I was building one granary, one barracks and then nothing but galleys, warriors and archers for centuries...

If you look at the early stages of my game, you'll notice, that I declared war on the Aztecs in 1000 BC Of course I was not yet ready for a "hot" war at that time, but I was able to sign MAs with the Iros and the Hittites, so while I was busy building up my invasion force, they were already busy weakening each other. (How effective this scheme was, can be seen by the many ruins that are visible in my early screenshots... ) And: the war kept them from sending settlers overseas, so I was able to secure the Iron/Horse Island without problem. By the time that I was finally ready to enter the hot phase of the war (10 AD), they were already so weakened, that 8 swordsmen were enough to take their capital and break their resistance... (And you talk about Cavalry and Rifles not being able to attempt a mainland invasion... It is clear: by that time Monty had finally grown so strong that the meager production capacity of the Indian home island no longer sufficed for beating him.)
Ok, finishing the job and conquering enough land for a new core took some more swordsmen and more time, but after the fall of the capital the resistance was broken and it was only a question of time.

 

[Spoonwood]

There exists some truth in Lanzelot's joke about fancy words like "bombers". Except maybe in a space race game, many of the late industrial and modern age units and optional governments like Communism rarely play a part in many experienced players games. Though, if you crank up the level, that might change.

Lanzelot,

Why do you have muskets fortified in Bengal and Tlatelolco?

 

[Lanzelot]

Good question...
I had them as "security net", when many American, Arabian and Iroquois archers/spears were roaming my territory. (One Arabian spearman returning home from exploring the north can still be seen in the last screenshot.) I have experienced it quite often, that the AI can't resist the temptation to sneak-attack and capture an undefended size 12 city, when the opportunity presents itself for a unit passing by, even when they are "gracious". Losing one of my core cities, especially during GA, would have hurt quite a lot, so I kept some defenders close by that I could shift from town to town. And when that dangerous period was over, I just kept them there out of habit...

 

[Quintillus]

Read through the first page, definitely a good story and a good plan! The challenging start makes it interesting, it's quite different than the typical early land war. Keep up the good work, I'm sure the Aztecs are consigned to the dustbin of history by now!

 

[Nathiri]

Just waiting for the next post .

 

[Lanzelot]

Turns 211 - 220:

960 AD: as I have tons of gold, I buy Chemistry from the Incas for 1224g, world map and RoP. Then I trade Chemistry with the Iroquois for Printing Press. (Not that I would need that...) Lone Scientist continues with Metallurgy. Then I cancel the RoP with the Iroquois and declare war...
Tyendenaga and Kahnawake fall on the first day without losses, Akwesasne will follow next turn.

I had to act quickly, before they manage to connect their saltpeter. (At the moment, they don't even have their iron connected...)

A stack of 6 Maya units is dispatched at Isandhlwana.

Interturn the Arabs want to trade world maps for Chemistry... I haggle them down to 19 gold... This gives us now a good view of the world:

970AD (turn 212): Akwesasne falls, I lose an MI.
Another stack of Mayan units is dispatched at Bapedi. No losses, but it keeps slowing me down. One Army is now healed to 15/16, so I send a large force to Zimbabwe. The Army kills the first vet Musket, but loses 6 HPs.

Thanks to the world map, I can see now, that the Iroquois have their iron at Aleppo connected. I send a few Elephants to disconnect it.

980AD: Because of the HP losses last turn, I decide to wait with the final storm of Zimbabwe, until both Armies are healed.
The Iros also have saltpeter connected. I can pillage it next turn:

990AD: Aleppo (with the iron) falls, I lose two Elephants against a Pike at Harran and fail to take it. Saltpeter at Tonawanda is pillaged.
And two Armies and 12 Elephants are ready to assault Zimbabwe next turn.

Interturn the Persians want to trade maps. So two nations have now discovered Navigation.

1000AD: Finally we take Zimbabwe, taking three Muskets with the Armies, and then an Impi with an Elephant. That was easier than expected...

1010AD (turn 216): Atzcapotzalco finishes the Forbidden Palace. One Army had lost only 1 HP, so It was able to kill two more Muskets in Mpondo. Two more Elephants captured it, generating another leader in the process: Porus. It forms the third Army, and Chittagong starts the Pentagon.

10 Elephants attack Hlobane. Three losses and a few retreats, but then Hlobane is ours.

On the Iroquois front, we finally take Harran.
The Persians settle the first town on our old home island...

1020AD: The Arabs have captured Ulundi. But the Zulus have also founded a crap town on our old home island. Hope I can get it in a peace deal.

1040AD: Chandragupta alone defeats 2 Pikes and a Knight in Tikal and takes the first Maya city. Especially nice: we now have dyes. Lux tax can be reduced to 0%. In two turns we get a culture expansion which will bring ivory into our borders. Then we can even afford a bit more war weariness. (Currently we seem to have level 1.)

Two Elephants take Intombe. But the Zulus are still not willing to give their last size-1 town for peace. Probably because it has incense.

Salamanca, the Iroquois capital, is only defended by Spears, but quite tough ones. I lose 2 Elephants, 3 more retreat, two Spears are killed, and Salamanca holds.

We own 21% of the world's territory. Next turn many towns will get their culture expansion, so let's see, how much that brings.

1050AD (turn 220):Next attack on Salamanca: 4 Spears killed, one Elephant lost, and Salamanca is finally ours. Oops, St.Regis is defended by a Musket.
Porus defeats 3 Pikes and takes Yaxchilán.

I decide to research Military Tradition. These Muskets are getting on my nerves, and it's now only a few turns to Cavs. Also several AIs use to have a few hundred gold lying around each turn, so I can probably get a bit of the invested money back by selling Metallurgy (especially to the Arabs, who have the Great Wall... )

The Mayas only have large cities, so getting a town in a peace deal is highly unlikely. Therefore I finally pay 224 gold to the Incas and sign them up for the war against the Mayas, now that it entered a hot phase.

We are now at 31% territory, that was quite a jump.

The power keeps rising:

Thanks to the Golden Age, we are now at 50+ Elephants, slowly rising, as the production/shortrushing in the core outweighs the losses.

And you can notice, when we captured the Artemis Temple...

 

[Spoonwood]

I buy Chemistry from the Incas for 1224g, world map and RoP.

I have to wonder how much it would have cost to steal instead.

 

[Synobun]

Definitely interested in seeing how you contend with the Persians when the time comes...

 

[Lanzelot]

I have to wonder how much it would have cost to steal instead.

So buying it for 1224g was even cheaper than stealing "carefully" and "safely". And what is the failure risk of stealing "immediately"? In any case, it would probably not have been worth it to try and save 106g, if there is a high risk that 1118g go down the drain for nothing and they declare war on you on top of that, at a time where you want them as alliance partner.
But to be honest: I didn't even think about stealing... I always thought the Intelligence Agency would be necessary for that, which comes only in the Industrial Age. Was quite surprised to see that I can steal already in the Middle Age... Never noticed that before...
One can see that I haven't really used the tech stealing feature in my games so far. Perhaps because I'm a mathematician and not a gambler...?!

Definitely interested in seeing how you contend with the Persians when the time comes...

I estimate that 66% territory can be reached without having to attack the last two AIs, Persia and Incaland. Counting the tiles currently (1050AD) shows the following picture:

I need 1055 more tiles. 438 tiles are unclaimed, I will get those from Artemis and by settling the still unsettled remainder of the starting island.
The resistance of the Maya, Iroquois and Zulus is now broken, so I will get their territory now quickly, that's another 154+247+28 = 429 tiles.
The force currently in Iroquois lands will on its way back take over the Hittites: 192 tiles, that's already 1039 tiles. The two forces from Hittitia and Mayaland will then converge on Arabia, to take the final missing tiles. Probably taking some land in Arabia will even be quicker than settling all of our starting island. See the following battle plan:

1. Phase 1: mop up Iroquois, continue advance into Mayaland
2. Phase 2: mop up Hittites, mop up Mayas and Zulus
3. Phase 3: converge both forces on Arabia until dom limit is reached, new units from the core, which would not reach the front on time anyway, can take care of those 5 isolated Arabian towns on my border.

During all that time: keep settling more towns in the unclaimed northern half of Old-India. Estimated time to realize this plan: 30 turns. So I hope to finish this game before 1400AD. (It has already taken longer than originally expected anyway...)

 

[Spoonwood]

And what is the failure risk of stealing "immediately"?

68% risk of failure. I like your choice in the above.

But to be honest: I didn't even think about stealing... I always thought the Intelligence Agency would be necessary for that, which comes only in the Industrial Age. Was quite surprised to see that I can steal already in the Middle Age... Never noticed that before...

Once you have an embassy with a tribe, you can steal technologies from them. I haven't used tech stealing in any of my HoF games or any game I've finished. But, I've lately experimented with 60% wet/warm Sid standard sized pangea maps on Sid, and I would prefer NOT to use the Great Library elevator, and have forbidden myself from using the "screw yourself" tactic where you deliberately break your trade routes for free techs and gold ("Emsworth agreements"... though I think I saw Microbe mention them before). There do sometimes exist some nice n-fers at that level, and carefully timed steals has seemed worth it at least twice, and more and more like something I will consider going forward.

 

[Lanzelot]

Turns 221 - 230:

1060AD (turn 221): Chandragupta advances towards Copán and killing the first Pike in it. He also gives cover for a couple of Elephants that follow him.

Renewed attack on St.Regis: three Elephants defeat a Musket, a Pike and a Spear, and St.Regis is ours. We also pick up a few stray units on our way to Grand River.

Interturn Salamanca flips and takes 4 Elephants with it... I thought I had enough culture by now.

The Arabs start the Bach Cathedral.

1070AD: And Salamanca is immediately protected by two spears?! Did they cash rush one? One Elephant dies, but two more retake Salamanca.

Chandragupta kills two more Pikes in Copán, capturing the city, but goes down to 3/16 in the process...! That was close. I must not lose an Army until the Pentagon is finished, as otherwise it would be switched to some random building...

Everybody else and their grandma starts the Bach Cathedral.

1080AD (turn 223): 6 Elephants take Piedras Negras, one loss. Porus and Shivaji kill three Pikes in Palenque, an Elephant defeats the last Longbow, and Palenque is also ours. We really made a dent now into Mayaland, having captured 5 major cities in the last 4 turns.

The advance into Iroquoisia, however, has been temporarily halted, thanks to the mishap at Salamanca, which cost us 5 Elephants. But reinforcements have been arriving over the last two turns, and now 8 Elephants are ready to storm Grand River. It's their last major city, so taking it should finally break their resistance.

1090AD: Interturn: Persia and the Incas sign an MA against the Mayas. More help... Hlobane flips. Fortunately it was empty, but it cuts off access to our 8th lux resource, and as we have some war weariness, due to three hot wars going on, it will have an impact on the core cities. Fortunately Bombay, a crap town, riots first and I can cycle through the more important cities and hire some clowns there to prevent the worst.

7 Elephants are necessary to capture Grand River. We lose one, the Iroquois lose a Musket, two Spears and a Longbow.

Chandragupta kills a Pike in Lagartero without losing a hitpoint! I also have 3 Elephants close by, but that appears too risky. No need to risk any Elephants, if there is an Army that can attack 2-3 times next turn.

Unfortunately I have nothing within reach of Hlobane, so I need to raise the lux tax temporarily. Two Elephants can reach it in two turns, hopefully the Arabians won't take Hlobane in the meantime...

Science can be reduced to 50%, Metallurgy due next turn.
Interturn Arabia and Persia sign an MA against the Mayas. Arabia is now also at war with Mayaland.
Our wines deal with Persia expires. Instead of 40gpt they now want dyes and iron. Ok, I don't expect to fight a war against Persia, so they can have iron.

I dial up Arabia and offer them Metallurgy. They are willing to give 350g, world map and Education. We don't need no Education, so I try to get some gpt instead. But they seem to be running a deficit, so I take the deal (without Education). Their Great Wall is now expired...

1100AD (turn 225): We see the first ever Mounted Warrior... Where did they get the horses from?! Anyway, it goes down without a fight. No GA for them... Three Elephants take Allegheny, one dies.

Chandragupta takes out two more Pikes and a Spear in Lagartero and takes that city. The Elephants proceed towards the Zulu capital. Finally need to eliminate them, lest Zimbabwe with Artemis flips!
Shivaji takes out two Pike in Quiriguá, the Elephants now have to take care of the rest. But that is not a problem: one Elephant is already enough. I have now 10 Eles left who could attack Chichén Itza, should I take the risk? Then my silks would again be connected to the trade network, I could increase science to 100% and do Military Tradition in 4 turns?!

I decide to try it, but the first Elephant dies without making a scratch. The next one takes off one HP off a Pike and then retreats. That doesn't look too promising, so I stop. (Protecting the wounded Elephant with two fortified ones and a Trebuchet.)

We have another chance: the Arabs have three units that can attack Hlobane interturn, a Templar, a Longbow and a Horseman. If Hlobane got 2 Impis in the flip (like Salamanca that got 2 Spears), then they have a chance of taking the city interturn, which would also connect my silks. Should I take the risk? Well, I think I can still get the tech down to 4, if I increase the science rate next turn and hire a few scientists, if necessary.

Interturn I watch the fight with interest: the Templar dies, promoting the Impi to veteran, the horseman dies, promoting the Impi to elite, but then the Longbow wins and takes Hlobane! So there was only one Impi in it, but it was close anyway...

 

[Lanzelot]

1110AD: Increasing science to 100%, MT due in 3 turns.

Three Elephants take Oil Springs, no losses.
The Incas have lots of Ancient Cavalry, and have taken the Maya town Kaminaljuyú interturn...

Interturn Tikal flips back to the Mayas, again empty, but again cutting off our silks!!! Again temporary clowns. Luckily this time we have two Elephants and an Army within reach.

1120AD: Tikal is swiftly retaken at no losses. It had only 1 Spear in it. Porus and Shivaji take out two Pikes in Chichén Itza, then the Elephants attack: 4 Pikes and a Longbow are defeated. We had a few retreats, but no losses!

At Swazi, the Elephants kill 4 Impis at no losses, and the Zulu capital jumps to Umtata on our old home island...

As much as I would like to preserve that town, eliminating the flip risk for Artemis seems more important, so I attack right away and raze the town. The Zulus are no more...

Interturn the Incas take Calakmul.

1130AD: And we take care of Bonampak, and even capture a Barrack intact. I move all my Elephants in there in anticipation of MT finishing interturn, except for the elite ones. 13 Cavaly will be able to attack the last Maya city next turn:

In the far south, Tonawanda is taken from the Iroquois, again no losses. Unfortunately there isn't any Barrack down there I could use for the interturn-upgrade.

1140AD: Interturn I upgraded 18 Cavs, which are ready to roll this turn. (This is a nice trick to remember.) The ones from Bonampak take Tiwanaku. Right the first Cav loses to a Pike, but that was the only loss, and Tiwanaku is ours. However, the Mayas are still alive?! Settler on a boat somewhere?! Ah, no: I forgot about Karakorum...

Hopefully the Incas will take care of that soon.

So phase 1&2 in the east are now finished, while in the south we are still busy with phase 1. Now we need to do some delicate regrouping, as the Arabs have lots and lots of Templars and Longbows running around. We need to shadow all these stacks, while suppressing the last Maya resistors (so we can squeeze a few more settlers out of these cities) and at the same time we need to bring the Cavs into position to take care of all those scattered Arabian towns. Once that is accomplished, we are ready to strike.

Three Elephants take Niagara Falls against a Musket and two Spears. I send many more Elephants in, hoping to quell the resistance. Then I can rush a Barrack in Niagara Falls and upgrade my forces there before proceeding with the Hittites.

Also switch the Pentagon to the Military Academy. This will be more useful in the remaining 15-20 turns. With 726 gpt I can rush an Army every 2-3 turns, once I upgraded the remaining Elephants.

1150AD (turn 230): Two Elephants take Centralia. And indeed the resistance in Niagara Falls was quelled, so I can rush a Barrack for 76g.
Two Elephants attack Mauch Chunk, the last remaining Iroquois town. One dies, one defeats a Spear. Well, it was worth a try to eliminate the flip risk. But I take the risk and have all Elephants inside Niagara Falls for upgrade interturn. If it works out ok, I can then attack the Hittites next turn.

These Arabian stacks of 26 units are headed for Karakorum, the last Maya city. But I don't want them in my back, when I invade Arabia, so I need to kill them now. Everything is (almost) ready for next turn, so I think I'll take the risk and start the Arabian war already next turn. Don't want my northern forces to sit idle, until the southern forces have finished their job. I hope that those scattered Arabian towns will cause no trouble on my borders...

Here the current world map and power graph. We are now at 42% territory and 53% population. 695 tiles left till domination. 368 are unclaimed, 201 are held by the Hittites and 308 by the Arabs.

 

[Toxicman007]

Not long left now! I vote for a Persian Conquest, to grab their juicy lands for the Glorious Indian Domination!

 

[Lanzelot]

Turns 231 - 235:

1160AD: Interturn the Barrack in Niagara Falls finishes and I zoom in to upgrade 10 Elephants to Cavalry. The Incas start Shakespeare's Theater. They should rather take care of Karakorum...!

Now the critical moment comes: the Arabs have units running around all over my place... Can I really declare war now? I check every unit and decide that I have all of them covered. Except for the Arab main army, where I can muster only 18 attackers against their 26 units. Well, the survivors will just have to cover Piedras Negras for one turn...

So we cross the Rubicon! After the fight is over, the situation looks like this:

And we got another MGL, Bindusara, which was converted into a Cavalry Army immediately. The Arabian stack contains 3 Archers and 4 Longbows. we have 14 units in Piedras Negras (including two Armies).

One of the scattered Arabian towns was already captured this turn, but it'll take a bit more preparation to capture the others as well.

Meanwhile I sign up the Hittites against Arabia (for Chemistry), so they will fight a bit among each other, and then declare war against the Hittites as well... Bringing some troops into position...

1170AD: Some good news interturn:

I expected the Incas to do it, but Xerxes seems more like the guy to get things done...

The Arabian counter-attack costs me one Cav, the rest of the Archers moves towards an empty city, instead of attacking my Armies.

One Cav takes Mauch Chunk - the Iroquois have not stood the test of time...

The attack on Hittite towns nets me Hubishna, Emar and Ugarit. I lose one Longbow, but gain another MGL: Asoka. I convert him into the Pentagon.

Near Piedras Negras, they remaining Arabian Archers and Longbows are mopped up at no losses. My remaining troops are distributed over the Mayan cities to quell some resistors on their way to mainland Arabia. Now that the Mayas no longer exist, this can be done quickly and without risk. A few more settlers rushed from these cities, will give some more tiles towards the domination limit.

I also take Khurasan, one of those scattered Arabian towns near the Isthmus.

Porus removes one Spear from Hlobana, hoping to take it next turn.

Also Mansura will hopefully fall next turn.

1180AD (turn 233): The Arabs start Bach's Cathedral. I doubt that that is what is called for now...?!

Thanks to the Pentagon, we can now upgrade all Armies in the field to size 4, adding some punch! Especially impressive is this exemplar with 23 hitpoints...

And when the Military Academy will be finished in 3 turns, they'll get another boost in combat strength!

The Elephants, returning from the southern front, can all pass through Niagara Falls and get upgraded to Cavalry on their way to the Hittite & Arabian mainlands! For now we take Kanesh on the Hittite front, and Mansura at home.

In the far east of our empire, we take Muscat, another of those scattered Arabian towns.

And Porus takes Hlobane, the town that the Arabs took from the Zulus, after I had taken it and it had flipped back...
Shivaji takes Aden and two Trebuchets. Stray units dispatched here and there, and the northern forces moving closer to Arabia.

The Incas and the Persians are both annoyed with me. Don't want any sneak attacks in the final stages of the game, so I gift them a spare lux resource and also sell them Military Tradition for a total of 700g and 85gpt. (They don't have saltpeter anyway...)

 

[Lanzelot]

1190AD: I have noticed this a couple of times already: If there is a red-lined elite Elephant in a town with Barracks, it does not heal completely in 1 turn! Here is an example: the Elephant was 1/6 last turn, and now it is only 5/6?!? Has anyone noticed this before? I know that Armies in Barracks heal in one turn, even if the hitpoints are down to something like 1/20! Looks like a bug to me.

On the Hittite front, we captured Hattusha and Alalah, and are circling in on their last stand.

Near the Isthmus, 4 Cavs are ready for a raid on Ivriz.

And all of them are needed! (We had no losses, but one retreat.)

While cleaning up some stray units, an eCav generates another leader: Akbar! Immediately another Cav Army is formed.

Nice example of AI city placement: One tile further up, and they could have used both whales...

1200AD: With 4 Armies now in reach of the Arabian borders, some major progress is soon to be expected... (Please note the Arabian worker still working hard to connect my iron at Madras 2...)

And in fact we take Najran (Hanging Gardens and Knights Templar, yeah!) and Ulundi this turn.

At the Hittitian front, we have taken Kadesh and moved into position for their capital, Ankuna.

F8 tells us, we are now at 55% territory and 64% population, 310 tiles left. The map has changed again in the last 5 turns:

 

[Toxicman007]

I only just noticed that the Arabs have Crusaders! How ironic

 

[Lanzelot]

Turns 236 - 239:

1210AD (turn 236): Interturn the Military Academy finishes in Chittagong. A bit late, but I hope that 1-2 Cav Armies will still reach the front line before the end of the game...
3 Cavs take Ankuwa. 3 more take Alaca Huyuk. And two more take Tarsus.
On the eastern theater of war, it takes 4 Cavs to capture Damascus. Two Armies take Basra.

Disband the Musket in Chittagong and then rush the rest of the Army.


1220AD: Two Armies and a couple of Cavs take Mecca. An Army and two Cavs take Baghdad.
I now make peace with Arabia for Anjar and Bukhara.
4 Cavs are needed, one lost, to take Adana, the last Hittite town. But they are still in the game: must have a settler on a boat?! I make peace, so their resistors can be pacified faster.

Cash-rush some Settlers and disband units that won't make a difference any more, into Settlers.

Interturn I get the following unexpected message:

I guess their Settler has been running around in Arabian territory...

1230AD: Found 6 new towns. Back-stab the Arabians and take their last three towns. They also must have a settler somewhere...
F8 says I'm at 64%. Rush a few more Settlers via unit disband in resisting cities.


1240AD (turn 239): CivAssist says 38 tiles missing to domination. Several Settlers finished interturn, so that shouldn't be a problem.
Found 14 new cities, which pushes me to 67%. Press enter and: the Persians declare war on us and steal 3 fringe towns. But it does no longer matter:

Good that we founded some excess towns...

So that's the end, domination in 1250AD. Quite a tough game.

 

[Spoonwood]

So that's the end, domination in 1250AD. Quite a tough game.

You didn't even have to get to replaceable parts, let alone rails. Though, I suppose for Monarch, yeah.