GotM 170 Spoiler

[Inkerman]

It's a bit special to have 4 spoilers receiving contributions at the same time, so let's start one for GotM 170. It can join 169, 168 and 167 all of which have had posts about current games in the last few days.

Catalin says in the game thread that his spaceship has landed, maybe he is waiting for a chat.

For my game I am still nearer the start than the finish. I remember another game with quite a big map and only two AI. Looking back I see it was #132. We noted then it was not a situation that the regulars were very familiar with, and maybe a slightly different approach might be good.

For my own part I remember pushing out ships to the other AIs asap. I didn't look back at the detail but my memory is that it was not so satisfying, so this time I will more "do my own thing", as we say.

#169 had Barbarian Wrath. Here we have the opposite: a no Barbarian game. That reinforces my decision for splendid isolation.

I see the thought from Jokemaster in the game thread about doing size-1 settler twice - I'm not sure I've ever done that before?

And so off we set, towards monarchy....

But first, fairly extensive black clicking reveals we are on a large continent which stretches out typical game-generated strands of land in most directions. What we can see of the map suggests it may not be a straightforward build-everywhere terrain. Also there are several local lakes, particularly to the north. The start is likely to be "interesting".

For this game I will use alphabetic city names for a while.

4000- Found Asphalt. Intend size 1 trick asap so work oil. Start CB.
3500- Size-1 settler - moves to road oil. Worker on the grassland.
3400- disc CB -> Alp. Settler completes road.
3350- settler stores a turn of work in Asphalt.
3300- settler moves N of Asphalt.
3250- settler completes road.
3200- settler stores a turn of work on the Oil.
3150- settler moves S. River visible.
3100- settler completes a road to S.
3050- settler onto river.
3000- settler onto wheat.

2800- disc Alp -> CoL. Second size-1 settler. Found Bitumen (59,65).
2700- Found Chippings (58,54).
2650- IRB Asphalt. Will do a warrior at Bitumen, for exploring.
2550- Warrior at Bitumen.
2500- disc CoL -> Mon.

Some turns pass quietly.

2050- disc Mon -> BW. Become Monarchy.
2000- Found Digging (57,63).

Status at -2000
Population: 0.08M; Cities: 4; Techs: 4; Government: Monarchy
Gold: 32; Cost: 0; Trade routes: 0D0F;
Wonders:
Units: 1 warrior.
Goals: Trade discovery. Pot to allow HG and continuing growth.
Celts, Sioux: No info.

 

[Inkerman]

1700- Found Erstwhile (61,69). Will do for SSC.
1550- disc BW -> Cur.

1400- Found Flint (52,54).
1200- disc Cur -> Tra. Science reduced.
1000- Found Granite.

Status at -1000
Population: 0.20M; Cities: 7; Techs: 6; Government: Monarchy
Gold: 32; Cost: 0; Trade routes: 0D0F;
Wonders:
Units: 4 settler, 4 warrior.
Goals: Trade discovery. Pot to allow HG and continuing growth.
Celts, Sioux: No info.

 

[Inkerman]

975- Found Hornblende, Inkling.
875- disc Tra -> Pot.
675- Found Jade, Kimberley.
650- disc Pot -> Wri. Found Limestone.
600- Found Maidstone, Nails.
575- Erstwhile builds Colossus. Found Oolite, Paving. Riot factor kicks in.
Sioux start Pyramids.
500-

Status at -500
Population: 0.38M; Cities: 16; Techs: 8; Government: Monarchy
Gold: 46; Cost: 0; Trade routes: 0D0F;
Wonders: Colossus.
Units: 3 settler, 8 warrior.
Goals: HG, MPE.
Celts, Sioux: No info. No exploring warriors near AI cities.
We are 1st on demographic measures.

 

[Inkerman]

450- Sioux abandon Pyramids. Sioux undertake Pyramids.
425- Celts start HG.
400- Erstwhile builds Market. disc Wri -> MM.

375- Erstwhile builds HG. Celts change to Pyramids.
350- Celts abandon Pyramids.

275- disc MM -> Lit.
250- Digging completes MPE.

We are Supreme, no surprise. Both AI have MM, which is a surprise.
Celts(5), 8 cities, have HBR, Mas, Whe.
Sioux(4), 4 cities, have HBR, Mas, Math, WC.
Give CB to Celts to swap maps. They are far away. Swap Wri to get Mas.
Spend down gold before contacting Icy Sioux. Give Wri to get Peace. Swap Tra to get Math. Give Pot. Get map swap. They are not quite as far away.

225- Digging completes Pyramids. Sioux switch to LH.
200- Settler completes planting trees in special place nr Hornblende.
Celts start LH.

125- Sioux nearly done LH. Do not feel need to compete on this.
100- Cedar Creek builds LH. Celts change to GW.

75- Erstwhile builds Library.
50- disc Lit -> Rep. Give Lit to Sioux, update map.
25- Van, Silver, Nails - Erstwhile, for 44g.

Status at 1AD
Population: 0.81M; Cities: 20; Techs: 13; Government: Monarchy; Power: Supreme.
Gold: 35; Cost: 0; Trade routes: 1D0F;
Wonders: Pyramids, HG, Colossus, MPE. Sioux have LH.
Units: 11 settler, 8 warrior, 1 phalanx, 2 trireme, 8 vans.
Goals: Republic in AD60. Grow Erstwhile (SSC). Then Monotheism. Build up trade.

Celts(5): Enthusiastic, Peace, 322g. 8 cities. 10 techs.
Sioux(4): Enthusiastic, Peace, 286g. 5 cities. 14 techs.

 

[Major Advantage]

Now that the 1 AD barrier has been passed, it is time to join in the conversation. My game was somehow low on techs which was hardly surprising with only 3 civs and no techs coming in from huts to nobody. Interesting though that we have chosen the same site for our SSC (even though my C is not that much SS so far, and having missed Colossus there might be a change of plans).
I really would have preferred a quick OCC for this game but with the starting conditions we had, I gave up on that plan before the first turn.

-4000 London founded, will build warrior for exploration, then s1-settler
-3950 Research Alph;
-3400 Alph->Laws
-3350 Settler built, need to work grass since the city is hungry
-3100 York founded
-3000 Laws->Burial
-2550 Burial->Monrachy(45);
-2300 Nottingham founded
-2150 Hastings founded; move London worker to ocean
-2050 Mon(revolt&est.)->Bronze;
-1550 Bronze->Curr; Canterbury founded
-1400 Coventry founded
-1250 Warwick founded
-1100 Curr.->Trade; found a city at 61,69, the best possible SSC site so far and we name it Hill Valley, because tomorrow Marty McFly will arrive from 1985; Oxford founded

Stats at 1000BC:
pop.: 170k; Cities: 9; techs: 6; gold: 22; Gov.: Mon; wonders: -; TR: 0D/0F
units: 3 settler, 3 warrior, 1 phalanx
Goals: Expansion, Marco & HG

-900 Trade->Writing; Liverpool founded; time to raise taxes for vans & MPE
-875 Dover founded
(Celts begin pyramids)
-850 Brighton founded
-625 Marco Polo built; Norwich founded; hail Sioux, peace, get mapmaking and pottery, no maps though; get celtic maps
-575 Leeds, Reading founded; get Sioux map, riot factor starts to cause trouble
-550 Birmingham founded
-475 Writing->Literacy;
-450 Richmond founded
-425 HG built in Hill Valley
-400 Exeter founded
-275 Pyramids built (Celts & Sioux both switch to Colossus)
-250 Celts about to finish Colossus...not much we could do about it...need 3 more turns...
(Celts Colossus, in a nice trade destination city, just a little far away)
-225 Or should we build LH and conquer? Take a break... Build LH and expand overseas, priority is to settle towards Celts, aim for Mono and build Michelangelo, then decide about conquest
-200 Lit.->HBR; Cambridge founded
-175 LH built; Gloucester, Manchester founded
-125 Bristol founded
-100 Get HBR from Sioux (the also have myst. & construction, but obiously, we have nothing else to offer...)
-75 Research Poly; Carlisle founded
-50 Ipswich, Portsmouth, Berwick, Neapel founded; now Michelangelo would really come in handy...
-25 Issus
+1 Poly->Myst.; get Myst. from Sioux

Stats at 1AD:
pop.: 1.04M; Cities: 29; techs: 15; gold: 72; Gov.: Mon; wonders: Pyr, HG, LH, Marco Polo; TR: 0D/0F
units: 3 settler, 14 warrior, 3 boat, 10 vans
Goals: (oversea) Expansion; Michelangelo; start trade, shipchain towards Sioux

 

[Jokemaster]

Unsurprisingly similar starts from all of us. I will preface by saying that I did not build an SSC early on in this game, only late when it was already over. I missed out on Colossus, which was almost a miracle in hindsight but not quite. If only the Celtic capital had better terrain.


GOTM170 log: Why am I doing this...
Going to size-1 twice. Monarchy to Pottery to Masonry to Trade. Be wary of the 20th tech. I’m guessing that north will have more hospitable lands than south. 470 game turns!
4000 BC: Londres built. Will build a warrior, then size 1 twice.
3950 BC: >Alphabet.
3850 BC: Warrior in Londres, will size 1 twice now. I value exploring to find settling spots highly after the debacle of GOTM171. Warrior heads north.
3400 BC: Alphabet > Ceremonial Burial.
3350 BC: First settlers built. I’ll road the oil square for a quickie. But I’ll need to alternate between oil and shielded grassland to not run out of food in London.
3250 BC: Screw the size-1 trick twice idea, making the warrior was a mistake most likely. I’ll have to settle soon.
3200 BC: York built. Start building Settler.
3050 BC: Ceremonial Burial > Code of Laws.
2600 BC: Code of Laws > Monarchy. London and York size 2.
2500 BC: London settlers.
2400 BC: York settlers.
2350 BC: Nottingham built. Hastings built.
2150 BC: Monarchy > BW. Going for Trade first now, I think that with this low amount of food, vans are more important for a quicker Pyramids+HG.
2100 BC: Nottingham, Hastings Warriors. Revolution.
2050 BC: Monarchy. Have lots of 3+ shield specials nearby… nice.

Status at 2000 BC:
Cities: 4 Techs: 4 (currently researching BW) Government: Monarchy
WoW: None
Units: 3 Warriors

1850 BC: London settlers. Another round and I’ll start a wonder.
1800 BC: Pop exceeds 100000 citizens.
1750 BC: We are 2nd most advanced. York settlers. Tech costs have spiked suddenly, guess I’m not 1st anymore in the Power Rankings due to no key civ. Goddarnit settlers.
1550 BC: Canterbury built. Techrate 10 turns.
1500 BC: BW > Currency.
1400 BC: Nottingham settlers. Coventry built.
1300 BC: York settlers. Warwick built.
1250 BC: Newcastle built.
1200 BC: London last settlers. Coventry warrior.
1000 BC: Currency > Trade.

Status at 1000 BC:
Cities: 8 Techs: 6 (currently researching Trade) Government: Monarchy
WoW: None
Units: 7 Warriors, 2 Settlers

975 BC: Canterbury, Hastings settlers. London warrior, starts Colossus.
950 BC: York settlers, start warrior.
925 BC: Oxford built.
900 BC: Liverpool built. Need to watch out for the riot factor now.
875 BC: Douvres built. Brighton built.
825 BC: Trade > Masonry. Coventry settlers. Techrate 6 turns! Holy moly. Norwich built. Not having any offpath techs leads to some very good progress despite the progress being slow.
775 BC: Warwick first Caravan.
750 BC: Leeds built.
725 BC: T7L0S3 for a second.
700 BC: T3L0S7 after rushing some caravans.
675 BC: Newcastle settlers. Masonry > Pottery. York gold. Switch to Pyramids in London, 68/200.
650 BC: Canterbury settlers, Nottingham copper.
625 BC: 2 Vans in London, 20shields left. Pyramids in 4 turns.
575 BC: Civil disorder in Coventry, Hastings settlers. T7L0S3. Reading built.
550 BC: T3L0S7.
Interturn: Celts start HG.
525 BC: London builds Pyramids. Starts Marco’s.
500 BC: Douvres spice, Liverpool wine. Pottery > Map Making as I need Triremes. York wine.
475 BC: Leeds, Coventry settlers.

Status at 475 BC:
Cities: 15 Techs: 9 (currently researching Map Making) Government: Monarchy
WoW: Pyramids
Units: 20 Warriors, 6 Settlers, 3 Caravans

475 BC: T7L0S3 to secure HG in a few turns. Birmingham built. The Sioux keep moving their capitals around.
450 BC: Van in Londres: 80ish shields left for HG. There’s a landmass SW of Leeds… huh.
425 BC: Richmond built.
400 BC: Exeter built. Cambridge built. T3L0S7.
350 BC: Brighton settlers. Gloucester built.
325 BC: Leeds revolts. Douvres spice. Canterbury revolts. Map Making > Writing.
300 BC: London HG, Celts switch to Colossus. Start Marco’s.
275 BC: York coal.
250 BC: Leeds, Warwick settlers. Van in London: 138s left.
225 BC: 2 vans in London: 32s left for Marco’s. Bristol built. Leicester built. Landmass 22 spotted.
175 BC: Writing > Mysticism.
150 BC: Brighton settlers. Carlisle and Ipswich built as first offshore cities.
125 BC: Douvres salt.
100 BC: WLTKD in London.
75 BC: Coventry Settlers. London MPE. I’ll avoid contact until I get the dreaded 20 techs. In the meanwhile, I’ll stockpile caravans. Portsmouth built. (ALERT: BIG MISTAKE. Hindsight 20/20, but it's gonna show. Maybe I should have tried to refuse tech trades and give techs instead to get maps? idk.)
50 BC: Mysticism > Literacy. 5 cities settlers.
25 BC: Naples built.

Status at start of 1 AD:
Cities: 28 Techs: 12 (currently researching Literacy) Government: Monarchy
WoW: Pyramids, HG, Marco
Units: 31 Warriors, 13 Settlers, 2 Caravans, 3 Triremes, 2 Phalanxes
Contact with both enemy civs.

Recap so far: I went for Pyramids first, but it was probably a mistake this game. My home island's geography wasn't very good for fast expansion, which wasn't helped by the lack of advanced tribes: my expansion pace slowed to a crawl after 500 AD. Lots of chokepoints and barren land instead of linear expansion, alongside constant island hopping. Pyramids' main draw is to hardexpand and still have size-3 cities faster when you prepare for Republic celebration, but no food to immediately grow to size 8... wasn't that bad of a choice in this instant, but RNGsus will make me regret it in a few turns.

 

[Major Advantage]

Jokemaster made me look up about the 20th tech issue. And then it came back to me (I thought the threshold was 32, now I think the 32-threshold was something with commodity shifting). I never took much heed of this issue, I need techs anyway and try to avoid bad techs whereever possible. It is just bad luck if the AI has nothing on-path to offer (mon>trade>philo>mono>rep, + pottery for HG and mas for Pyr).
Speaking of pyramids, I consider it high-priority in this game. Not for the first wonder though, but third after HG and Marco Polo, because of quicker regrowth after having built a settler for expansion.

So, my next 500 years, which were about starting trade, expansion and receiving another bump for SSC-developement:

+20 Research Philo
60 Cunaxa founded on island 19
100 Philo->Mono->Republic; 1st delivery for 128; get construction from Sioux
120 Michelangelo built; delivery 252>The box is full and oedo coming up, we could, but should we?; Pepperland founded on island 16, this would also be a nice SSC
140 Rep.(revolt&est.)->Seafaring; Cannae founded
160 Get Math from Celts
180 Edinburgh founded on island 26
200 Delivery for 192; New London founded on cont. 1
220 Bunaxa founded
260 Seaf.->University; deliverx 248
280 Sheffield founded; delivery 360;
300 Univ.->Wheel; Trafford, Salamis, Lissabon(on cont. 3, but deep south) founded
320 Delivery 168; Poormond founded
340 Inverness founded
360 deliv 100; Toronto (cont. 22), Rom, founded
(Sioux discover Astro, switch their wonder to Copernicus and have it almost done already! Uff!)
380 Wheel->Engineering; deliv. 240
(Little Bighorn builds Copernicus)
400 Hm, LBH is weakly defended (only 1 phalanx), we could conquer and turn it our SSC...; delivery 76, get Bridge-Building from Celts
420 Eng.->Medicine; Auaxa founded; 320
440 Glasgow, New York founded; 224
460 Med.->Banking; Salford, Tirinti, Aston founded; some black hats, increase Lux to 20%
480 Peacewick, Montreal, Dunaxa founded
500 Del. 216

Stats at 500AD:
pop.: 3.28M; Cities: 53; techs: 26; gold: 101; Gov.: Rep; wonders: Pyr, HG, LH, Marco Polo, Michelangelo; TR: 0D/11F
units: 31 settler, 1 warrior, 8 boat, 12 vans, 1 explorer
Goals: more expansion; not really sure about grabbing LBH; explosives & demo; Bach if someone does feudalism for us (AIs are working on Navigation and Banking)

I tried to keep some clarity with my cities, giving them names according to their continent that represents a country/island/whatever: *unaxa, USA, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Falkland, continental Europe (continent 3, which seems to be really huge, and stupid Celts not taking any benefit)...ooops, I have to rename Rom!

 

[Jokemaster]

20 AD: Issos built. Cunaxa built.

Interturn: Cardiff builds Colossus.

40 AD: 2 cities riot. Literacy > Philosophy. Need HBR for Mono. Hail Sioux: Trade Literacy for HBR. Give Cerem Burial, trade maps. Give Trade and Pottery for good measure. Now up to 14 techs, six more. Need to exert restraint. The Sioux are on landmass 1 up north, have offpath techs but that's not what I need. Could build a shipchain to them, LBR is accessible by sea but they don't have Colossus. Cremona built.

Interturn: Celts develop Warrior Code.

60 AD: 3 cities riot. York Temple. Cannae built on a desert tile because city spacing is important in my book. Start Lighthouse in London, 2 vans.

80AD: Hastings Hides. Capoue built.

100 AD: 2 cities riot. 2 cities settlers. Turin built. Gênes built. I’ll hold on LH and build Mikes instead. Really want LH for general usefulness and exploring, but Mikes is the obvious priority.

120 AD: Crète built.

140 AD: 4 cities riot. Philosophy > Polytheism > Monotheism. I really wish there was an option that told you when cities are about to grow

Interturn: Sioux start GL.

160 AD: Vérone built. 16 techs total so far. Salamis built.

180 AD: 2 cities settlers, Warwick coal. With no huts and only 3 civs, progress is agonizingly slow despite high science returns. (Probably was too late to the MPE party, coulda skipped HBR maybe.)

200 AD: Lisbonne built. HAmbourg built.

Interturn: Celts develop Iron Working.

220 AD: I’ll develop Mono next turn anyways, so T7L0S3.

240 AD: Monotheism > Seafaring. Switch London to Mikes. 4 vans in Londres: RB the last 30 shields. T3L0S7. Road network is coming along great, but pace of expansion is noticeably slowed thanks to geographic problems. I have a trireme path to the Sioux, but it is extremely inconvenient due to the lack of good settling spots around the coastline: so it's gonna be tricky to avoid unrest in Republic thanks to multiple units stationed away from home. So I’ll probably build LH. Hail Celts: Trade Philosophy for Seafaring. Give Writing. Maps. The Celts are out of reach. WAAAAY out of reach. Dang, I wish I built LH sooner. If making a ship chain to the SIoux is hard, then making one to the Celts will be a herculean task. But the Colossus... HNNGGG... Why didn't I share maps sooner...

260 AD: > The Republic. Leeds settlers. Douvres spice. LONDON MIKES. Starts Lighthouse.

280 AD: Van in London: 143s left. Prague built.

Interturn: Sioux develop Math.

300 AD: 4 cities settlers. Van in London: 86s left for Lighthouse. Salzbourg built.

340 AD: 20 shields left for LH. I have a trireme path for the Sioux, but I’m building it anyway for the sake of convenience.

360 AD: 2 cities settlers. The Republic > Construction. I now have all my core techs: Construction will be my 20th. Canterbury Dye, York Wine.

380 AD: Warwick copper. Bergen built. Venise built. Next oedo year is 460 AD. T7L0S3 to prepare stockpiling money, also because I have a delivery en route after Republic and I don’t want to waste the beakers. Probably shoulda switched this turn actually.

Interturn: Celts develop Monarchy, start LH.

400 AD: 4 cities settlers. It seems like almost none of the Sioux cities want hides anymore… darn. Guess I have to stick to T3L0S7. Milan built. Somehow York is size 6.

420 AD: Douvres food, Hastings hides. London LH! Ghent built. First hides convoy departs for Celtic lands. Shipchain there is gonna take a LONG while. Again, massive mistake to delay mapsharing this long, since all the energies and monies spent for the Sioux chain are now pre-tty useless.

440 AD: REVOLUTION. T4L6S0.

460 AD: Many cities riot. Republic. I’m at an awkward spot with no black hat and all red hats thanks to not enough cities, so 8 luxuries needed for size 7… rip heavy celebrations. T2L8S0. Nothing else will work. Lots of cities need harbours built and settlers rehomed. The lack of good settling spots northside screwed me over this game, the transition was not very good as the Sioux caravans won’t be on time. Good land eastside of my home continent, but no idea that expanding towards the Celts was the correct idea either. Gosh darn it to heck! Pise built. Dublin built.

480 AD: Many cities celebrate. Trireme lost accidentaly due to no shield support, fortunately no cargo. Same for Portsmouth’s settlers… and they would have settled this turn. Birmingham dye. Hail Sioux: Trade for Iron Working and Mathematics. Give Seafaring, update maps. Will deliver first trade route from Douvres next turn, Harbour rushed to accommodate. Rehome a few settlers. Toronto built.

500 AD: Richmond copper. Douvres Harbour. Hastings Hides. York gems. Douvres spice (d) to Wounded Knee: 312g. Huh, not even capped. Melbourne built. Sydney built.

Status at 500 AD:
Cities: 51 Techs: 21 (currently researching Construction) Government: Republic
WoW: Pyramids, HG, Marco, Lighthouse, Mikes
Units: 5 Warriors, 21 Settlers, 14 Caravans, 11 Triremes
Peace and maps with both enemy civs.
Goals: Celebrate mainland, create shipchain to Sioux and colonize lands east onwards to Celtic lands. Ship chain to Celts is unfeasible right now, but will send vans there still for Trireme pickup. No plans for conquest.

So yeah. The big mistake I was referring to was delaying MPE, Lighthouse and maps with the Celts. I should have been able to dump vans over there much sooner for very good payouts. Somewhat unlucky that they were so far away, but that's how it was. Satisfied with my earlygame WoW pace, but I wonder if I could have sacrificed a few extra settlers southwards to get LH in an alternate city and speed things up towards the Celts.

Pretty sure I'm lagging behind Major because the other civs had no on-track techs for me to take. Not sure if contacting earlier woulda helped, maybe that's why.

Any reason why you chose to not celebrate immediately after getting Republic Major? Putting off celebrations after Republic is unheard of for me. Poopy terrain, yeah I know, but still.

 

[Major Advantage]

So yeah. The big mistake I was referring to was delaying MPE, Lighthouse and maps with the Celts. I should have been able to dump vans over there much sooner for very good payouts. Somewhat unlucky that they were so far away, but that's how it was. Satisfied with my earlygame WoW pace, but I wonder if I could have sacrificed a few extra settlers southwards to get LH in an alternate city and speed things up towards the Celts.

The Celts were a little...hmm. They had the Colossus in my game as well (in a better city though), so sending vans there was really tempting, but they are so far away, a trireme with two vans would just be a one-time-blast. Sioux are nearby, and if you send vans there for half the payout but four times quicker, I think it is the better choice.
Right now (Automobile discovered) I am about to build a ship-rail-ship-rail-ship-rail-ship-rail-ship-route towards the Celts.

Pretty sure I'm lagging behind Major because the other civs had no on-track techs for me to take. Not sure if contacting earlier woulda helped, maybe that's why.

If they are researching something I have, I try to give to them, hoping they choose something useful next. Quite often, this is not paying out though.

Any reason why you chose to not celebrate immediately after getting Republic Major? Putting off celebrations after Republic is unheard of for me. Poopy terrain, yeah I know, but still.

I didn't think we were ready for celebrations by then, Republic came a little to early and I was reluctant to switch. I did not have enough cities for black hats everywhere. And I did not want to be commited to have to spend 50% on luxuries just to prevent them from rioting. Captain Hindsight told me I missed the point and went too late for celebrations though.

 

[catalin72]

'Catalin says in the game thread that his spaceship has landed, maybe he is waiting for a chat'.
Hi,good luck all,I played like a 'noob' in the end of the game,a nuke launched for nothing in Little Bighorn,AI engi sure let the pollution,score 'damaged' for this pollution...
Is a big map,not too hard to win by conquest,but spaceship was easy,just celts makes some structurals.Problem was fundi of sioux,chat denied more time(I have UN),they making Morning Rock in a free tile in my island),bribed without incident.
Looking to capture wonders,I have Magellan from Cedar Creek in the last turn with nuclear device(other pollution...),losing few spies who close the entries in the city.
Is a 'shame' for me to win an emperor level map spaceship late,not conquest,maybe thinking too much about my Civ 4 and Heroes 3 maps).

 

[Inkerman]

I have apologised in the game thread for starting this spoiler and then being quiet whilst others are contributing. I have been overtaken by events, and it will continue that way for, probably, two more weeks.

In the meantime, rather short of comments I know, here is the next section of my log.

20-
40-
60- disc Rep -> Mys. Rev - a bit of disorder. Become Republic.
80- Lux up to 70% - could have done last turn, but didn't realise how much it worked.
100-

120-
Van, Beads, Flint - Erstwhile, for 68g.
Van, Wine, Erstwhile - Inkling, for 90g.
140- disc Mys -> Phil. Erstwhile (SSC) reaches 8. Lux down to 40% - need a few elvises.
160-
Van, Wool, Jade - Travertine, for 92g.
180- disc Phil -> Ast -> Uni. Give Rep to Celts, update map.
Van, Maidstone - Travertine, Hides, for 72g.
200-
Sioux develop Poly.

220-
240- Erstwhile builds Copernicus. disc Uni -> ToG. (not best choice, need Con more)
Swap Rep to Sioux for Poly.
260- Give Phil to Celts.
Van, Limestone - Travertine, Hides, for 88g.
280- Erstwhile builds University.
300- disc ToG -> Mono.

320-
Celts nearly done GW - another one to let go.
340-
Give Phil to Sioux, as we use their road network for a van.
Armagh build GW.
360-
Van, Hides, Erstwhile - Cedar Creek (Sioux), for 440g.
380- disc Mono -> Con. Give Uni to Celts for Sea. Give Uni to Sioux.
Van, Beads, Travertine - Quartz, for 120g.
400- Bitumen builds Michaelangelo.
Celts start Oracle.

420- Some celebrations.
Celts develop Cur.
440-
Van, Hides, Erstwhile - Talc, for 212g.
460- disc Con -> Med.
Sioux start GL.
480- Erstwhile completes Aqueduct and grows to 9.
500- Erstwhile size 10.
Van, Copper, Asphalt - LBH (Sioux), for 352g.

Status at 500AD
Population: 4.43M; Cities: 31; Techs: 23; Government: Republic; Power: Supreme.
Gold: 360; Cost: 15; Trade routes: 8D2F;
Wonders(6): Pyramids, HG, Colossus, MPE, Mike's, Copernicus.
Sioux have LH, Celts GW.
Units: 13 settler, 3 warrior, 4 phalanx, 7 trireme, 1 dip, 18 vans, 1 explorer.

Celts(5): Enthusiastic, Peace, 322g. 9 cities, 16 techs.
Sioux(4): Enthusiastic, Peace, 286g. 7 cities, 18 techs.

 

[Inkerman]

520- Erstwhile size 11.
540- Erstwhile builds Isaac Newton College. disc Med -> Chem.
Talk to Celts, give Con, get Whe.
Reduce lux as several cities now reached 8. Erstwhile is 12.
Sioux develop Banking.
560-
580-
Van, Beads, Erstwhile - Slim Buttes (Sioux), for 544g. Oops bit of a waste on discoveries, I did not expect it to be so much with Slim Buttes a small place, and Sioux being Despotic.
600- disc Chem -> Eng. Swap Con to Sioux to get Ban. Give Whe also.

620-
Van, Hides, Quibble - Paving, for 116g (continent bonus.)
640- disc Eng -> San.
Sioux propose to give Iron for Sea. We deem it prudent to accept. They want Mon too.
660-
Sioux deliver Gems from Cedar Creek to Vera.
680-
Van, Dye, Jade - LBH (Sioux), for 328g.
700- disc San -> Inv. This discovery of San was late. Give San to Sioux.

720- Erstwhile builds sewers.
740- Erstwhile builds Shakespeare Theatre. Sell Temple. Give Trade to Celts.
760-
Van, Hides, Kimberley - Wackestone, for 100g.
Van, Dye, Talc - Digging, for 132g.
780- disc Inv -> Dem. Erstwhile builds Bank. Found Walltown, Jane.
note 860 is next OEDO.
800- Update maps. Sioux refuse Mon, they want Inv. They study BB.

820-
Sioux nearly done GL.
840-
Van, Cloth, Maidstone - Ulpha, for 87g.
Van, Hides, Limestone - Ulpha, for 70g.
Cedar Creek builds Great Library.
860- disc Dem -> Nav. Become Democracy. Some tactical issues mean lux = 40%.
Useful to get some ships homed to Erstwhile and its Shakespeare - not so easy.
Van, Silk, Vera - Jade, for 210g.
Van, Gems, Asphalt - Erstwhile, for 87g.
Van, Spice, Riproar - Erstwhile, for 129g.
880- Bitumen completes Leonardo Workshop.
900- disc Nav (13x triremes -> caravels) -> Physics.
Erstwhile reaches size 22 - need more irrigation to grow.
Van, Coal, Erstwhile - Vera, for 375g.
Van, Spice, Flint - Erstwhile, for 105g.

920- disc Physics -> Magnetism. Give Celts Nav, Sioux get from GL. Cut lux to 30%.
Van, Copper, Jade - Wounded Knee (Sioux), for 168g.
Van, Hides, Quibble - Paving, for 86g.
940- 1 civil disorder. disc Magnetism (13x caravel -> galleon) -> Steam Engine.
Van, Silver, Digging - Wackestone, for 112g.
Van, Copper, Digging - Ulpha, for 74g.
Van, Wine, Leicester - Kells (Celts), for 535g.
960- Bitumen completes Magellan Expedition. disc Steam Engine -> Economics (at least that's what I thought I chose).
Note: Sioux have been working on BB all this time, which is why we don't gift them anything.
They are still (4) so no key civ though. Give Inv to Sioux. Swap maps.
Van, Copper, Rumble - Three Forks (Sioux), for 136g. Lux down to 20%.
980- Give Iron to Celts.
1000- disc Atomic Theory (oops) -> Gunpowder.
Van, Silver, Harp - Velocity, for 157g.

Status at 1000AD (Turn 150)
Population: 10.02M; Cities: 42; Techs: 37; Government: Democracy; Power: Supreme.
Gold: 932; Cost: 49; Trade routes: ?D?F;
Wonders(10): Pyramids, HG, Colossus / MPE, Mike's, Copernicus, Magellan, Shakespeare / Leonardo, Newton.
Sioux have LH, GL; Celts GW.
Units: 21 settler, 5 warrior, 6 phalanx, 13 galleon, 4 dip, 29 vans, 1 explorer.
Goals: Techs.

Celts(5): Enthusiastic, Peace, 433g. 9 cities, 22 techs, incl HBR, WC.
Sioux(4): Enthusiastic, Peace, 286g. 10 cities, 25 techs, incl HBR, WC. -> BB.

 

[Major Advantage]

My game turned out be be uncomfortably huge...too bad there was always room to expand into. Maybe it would have been quicker if I had a nice SSC early in the game, but the Sioux built Copernicus...

520 Stanley, Dublin founded; 144, 192
540 Banking->Chemistry; Ottawa, Boston founded; plan for LBH: found a city just north of it and let some crusaders attack while switching to Demo
560 Hamilton founded
580 Blackpool, Paisley founded; update Sioux map, they have some units exploring and we have undefended cities...maybe the conquest plan was too ambitious
600 Brightlight founded, now there are 3 units in LBH
620 Chem->Sanitation; deliveries 264, 120; Fish+Chips, Sdeel founded
640 Motherwell founded; Get IW from Celts; 108
660 San.->Economics; Halifax, St. Johnstone, Vollmond, Antigua founded
680 Sioux City, Philadelphia founded; 152
700 Cadiz, Wellington, Edmonton founded; 128
720 Econ.->Invention; Auckland, Funaxa, Barbuda founded; 296; Just realized I cannot switch to Demo, need Bach or Magnetism before; Lux to 40% for some celebrations
740 Gunaxa, Caledonia Canal founded
760 312
780 Inv->Gunpowder(Should have gotten Navigation from Sioux before...); Braga, Quebec, Albany founded; 140, 184, 171; get Navigation from Sioux
800 Leonardo built; Winnipeg, Simba, Samba, Halbmond founded; 60
820 Gunp.->Explosives; 276, 185; Goose Green, Kitchener founded
840 Chicago founded
860 Expl.->WC(going for Bach first since Sioux are working on physics); 132, 148; Banff, Dundee, Paris, Barbados founded; tried to get WC from Celts but they demand gunpowder for it and Sioux have GL...rather not, we'll try the less elegant way and attack LBH in Republic
880 Try to attack, senate interferes; Southwick, Hunaxa, Amsterdam, Sublin founded
900 188; attack again and senate agrees: We capture Little Bighorn, along with Copernicus, 54g, Astronomy, they offer peace immediatly, we agree; Nantes founded; get WC from Celts
920 Feudalism->Theology; Cut Lux down, but need 30% still
940 Adam Smith built; Madrid, Iunaxa, Kingston founded
960 Delivery 116; Hartford founded; Theo next turn, Bach the turn after, can we get Demo in 1020? Not sure, but we will try
980 Theo->Demo; 80, 132, 170; Bombay, Christchurch founded; No trade next turn, Box half-full, looking good for demo
1000 Bach cathedral built, maybe this helps to cities not to riot when they build an engineer; Sudbury, Fox Bay West founded

Stats at 1000AD:
pop.: 14.7M; Cities: 112; techs: 39; gold: 207; Gov.: Rep; wonders: Pyr, HG, LH, Marco Polo, Michelangelo, Bach; TR: 22D/21F
units: 53 engineer, 8 musceteer, 6 crusaders, 12 boat, 29 vans, 3 explorer, 1 dip
Goals: more expansion; Demo next turn, then head for railroad+corporation, railroad-network, intensive trade, maybe shipchain to Celts

 

[Jokemaster]

Interturn: Celtic gov’t overthrown.
520 AD: nothing of note.
540 AD: Lots of cities stop celebrating, some can continue. Some Harbours rushed where I can. I really needed boats earlier, but unfortunately I expanded the wrong way. (For the earlygame, that is.)

560 AD: T0L8S2 to trigger discover of a tech, to not waste any beakers. Deliveries incoming. Londres II built. Celebrations are slow thanks to some cities stuck with no Harbours. York II built.

580 AD: Bristol Beads. Construction > Bridge Building. T2L8S0. Cardiff is surrounded by woods and marshes as a Colossus city… that stinks. Liverpool copper (d) to Little Bighorn: 240g. I can’t deliver my Dye van anymore but it unblocks Hides. Nottingham II built. Celts: Give Republic after refusing to give gold for tribute. Hastings II built. Canterbury II built.

600 AD: Hastings hides (d) to Slim Buttes: 360g. Canterbury Dye (nd) to Little Bighorn: 168g. Scientist in York to trigger tech discovery.

620 AD: Bridge Building > Banking. Will end celebrations in a few turns. Canterbury Hides (d) to Slim Buttes: 392g. Still about 7 turns away from first deliveries to the Celts. Coventry II built.

640 AD: York Gems (d) to Wounded Knee: 432g. Beaker box full.

Interturn: Sneak attacked by the Sioux! Lose a van, nd fortunately.

660 AD: Cunaxa Hides. No tech pop... T6L4S0, scientist in Berwick. That’s enough for the celebrations.

Interturn: Celts learn Feudalism, start Sun Tzu’s. Celtic gov’t overthrown.

680 AD: Banking > University. Richmond hides. General IPRBing. Sioux don’t want to sit down and pow-wow. Celts switched to Republic! Excellent.

700 AD: Warwick II built.
720 AD: Leicester, Warwick, Hastings hides. Sioux: Give Mono for peace. Few of their cities are accessible by sea, so gotta. Newcastle II built.

740 AD: Coventry beads. Oxford II built.

Interturn: Sneak attacked by the Sioux AGAIN! That’s low.

760 AD: Cunaxa coal. Issos hides. Richmond hides. Oxford copper. Canterbury wine. York coal. London food. Leicester hides (d) to Little Bighorn: 320g. It will be the only city where transactions will actually be safe (assuming no naval attacks). Liverpool II built.

Interturn: Celts develop Currency.

780 AD: Leicester hides. Cambridge beads. Exeter beads.Brighton wine. Newcastle food. Warwick hides. Hastings hides. Bristol beads (d) to Three Forks: 352g. Pay 50g tribute to Celts. Carmathen still size 2… disappointing. Douvres II built. Shipchain to Celts is in construction. T2L4S4 to trigger discovery next turn.

800 AD: Capoue wine. Carlisle silver. University > Economy. Coventry food. Cunaxa Hides (d) to Carmathen: 520g. First delivery to the Celts themselves. T0L4S6 to ensure discovery next turn. Brighton II built. Norwich II built.

820 AD: Issos hides. Leicester hides. Manchester dye. Richmond hides. Economy > Medicine. Liverpool wine. York silver, starts Adam Smith’s. London Gems.

840 AD: Birmingham hides. Leeds salt. Oxford dye. Warwick hides. Hastings hides. 4 vans in York: 193s left for Adam Smith’s.

860 AD: Coventry Cloth. Canterbury Wool. Leeds II built. Richmond copper (d) to Caerphilly: 376g. Issos hides (d) to Three Forks: 272g. T4L4S2. Reading II built.

880 AD: Issos hides. Gloucester Gems. Cambridge coal. Richmond hides. Birmingham hides. Leeds beads. Warwick hides. Medicine > Chemistry. Hastings hides. London silver. Sioux: Pay 50g for peace. Trade University for The Wheel. Leeds dye (d) to Three Forks: 240g. Birmingham II built. Richmond II built. 2 vans in York: 79s left. T6L4S0.

Interturn: Celts develop Chivalry. Abandon Sun Tzu.

900 AD: Leicester hides. Reading copper. Douvres beads. Liverpool coal. Oxford wine. Coventry silver. Van in York, RB the remaining shields for Adam Smith’s.

920 AD: Nottingham beads. York Adam Smith’s. Vans are arriving infrequently so I’m not sure if relying on them for science is a good idea instead of using city science. Lots of spent money not returning very quickly bc not enough ships and cargo room… I need Magellan’s. Exeter II built. Issos hides (d) to Three Forks: 272g. Hastings hides (d) to Tintagel: 690g!!! There’s the money shot I was looking for. Sioux: Give Monarchy, update maps.

940 AD: Chemistry > Engineering. Manchester Dye (d) to Wounded Knee: 272g.

960 AD: London Gems (d) to Three Forks: 348g. Leeds salt (nd) to Little Bighorn: 120g. York silver (nd) to Little Bighorn: 136g. Oxford copper (nd) to Wounded Knee: 156g. T5L4S1.

Interturn: Sioux almost done with GL.

980 AD: Engineering > Sanitation. Warwick copper (d) to Kells: 568g. Cunaxa hides (d) to Tintagel: 536g. Things are finally picking up. The nice thing about AI Republic is that you can forcefeed vans to make cities celebrate. Ship chain is also nearing completion to Celtic lands. Gloucester II built. Manchester II built. Bristol II built.

Interturn: Cedar Creek builds GL. I forgot to spend 1250g. Yay Me. Celts develop Trade.

1000 AD: Sanitation > Astronomy. Richmond copper (d) to Tintagel: 392g. Cunaxa coal (nd) to Tintagel: 268g. Hail Celts: Give The Wheel, University. Trade Masonry for Feudalism (I’m gonna need JS Bach after Democracy) Reading copper (d) to Little Bighorn: 208g. Liverpool wine (nd) to Little Bighorn: 144g. T4L4S2.

STATUS AT 1000 AD: (151st turn)
Cities: 73 Techs: 32 (currently researching Astronomy) Government: Republic
WoW: Pyramids, HG, Marco, Lighthouse, Mikes, Adam Smith’s
Units: 3 Warriors, 26 Settlers, 53 Caravans, 33 Triremes
Peace and maps with both enemy civs.
Goals: Finish shipchain to Celts, almost there. Get Demo, celebrate, win. But seriously: Need Magnetism and Explosives to start expanding really fast in the corners of the map. No plans for war atm.

My pace of expansion is rather low compared to GOTM124, with the exact same number of techs despite the lower emphasis on trade during my original game (don’t have an SSC this time around). I don’t know if it was the huts that helped me expand or if I’m prioritizing size 3 too much on the colonies (and not building enough settlers to keep up the expansion) Maybe it’s not a good idea earlygame. Major ended up building more cities than I did bc he didn't celebrate immediately after Repu, but interested in his expansion policy still (boats with settlers from the mainland?).

Also, Navigation can not come early enough. Probably spent too much cash on the vans and not enough on the colonies for settlers… at least I have good van reserves if payouts aren’t good anymore. Too much maybe.

 

[Major Advantage]

My pace of expansion is rather low compared to GOTM124...

Hmm, #124, one of my first Gotms... I just had a look at it and I only 33 cities by 1000! I think I still had a lot to learn back then, even though (I vaguely remember) there were a lot of barbs from huts holding back my offshore expansion.
Plus, we were cornered southeast on a flat world, whereas now we had room to expand in all directions. I tried to make use of it.

... prioritizing size 3 too much on the colonies (and not building enough settlers to keep up the expansion) Maybe it’s not a good idea earlygame.

I didn't care about size 3 for a long time. Priority was to build a settler for every new city. And then build another settler if the first settler will settle soon and/or there is enough food surplus. So I really wanted Pyramids, not just to speed up growth to size 3 later, but for faster re-growth after having built a settler.

Major ended up building more cities than I did bc he didn't celebrate immediately after Repu, but interested in his expansion policy still (boats with settlers from the mainland?).

Basically yes (as mentioned above), new colony-cities also built settlers first, and so on and so on... The home continent was almost filled with cities in 1000;
continent:cities:
28:2
22:12
19:9
1:9(including Little Bighorn and Sioux City, where my invasion force was stored)
32:2
42:1
36:3
23:1
26:9
21:3
3:8
20:1
In some cases, settlers were dropped off on several spots.

Also, Navigation can not come early enough. Probably spent too much cash on the vans and not enough on the colonies for settlers… at least I have good van reserves if payouts aren’t good anymore. Too much maybe.

I wouldn't say that about Navigation. Sioux are rather close, so some pre-Nav/Inv-trade pays out big time, spending 4 vans on Lighthouse instead is the better deal I would say.

Oh, and I forgot to mention barbs! No barbs whatsoever, so no need for defenses, dips or fighting units. That also was a huge help going for expansion, if the AIs are peaceful (which they were in my game. Right now, I have an engineer in Celtic territory, trying to do some roadwork for my freight deliveries).

 

[Jokemaster]

I just had some massive glut for a while on my Celtic chain, with 20+ vans idle in Hastings II. That's why I wrote the need for Navigation down. Sucks that I wasn't able to profit more off of trade with the Celts pre-Nav. The Sioux were so bellicose, only one city reachable by sea and very few of their cities demanded what I had in stock. (Zero hides cities. Whereas Tintagel demanded hides 'til the very end.)

I'm guessing waiting for size3 on the offshore colonies and making big efforts to celebrate them can be mostly scrapped until the Explosives/Democracy/Theology core is learned. Gonna try that next time. (As for the Pyramids strategy you mentioned, it was actually my MO for a very long time, and arguably still is. Just need some adjustments I guess.)

 

[lasingularidad]

So here is my first log for my first GOTM I tried to follow the
way you guys log, but if I missed important things (or if I am too
verbose on some other) please tell me! Also if you have any comments
on strategy or if you spot any "mistake" I could be doing, I really
welcome advises. I am here to learn and I understood this place was
also mainly for discussions.

I didn't have a very good start and I am a bit behind already, I
think. As I am joining late I will go for early conquest. My initial
plan was to grow up till I think I can go for the two civs and destroy
them. I hope a good combination of caravans, diplomats and crusaders
will do it.

I wanted to try to build only settler (no exploring warriors) but it
did'nt work so well. I understood some of you also experimented this
on previous games. Unfortunately I randomly first went north and west,
where the land is not so good and I missed the north and south rivers
for quite a while. This really delayed monarchy (and so grows also).

-4000 London(1) s1-settler (twice: I think it was not really a good idea...)
-3950 -> Alphabet
-3400 Alphabet -> Code of Laws
-2800 Code of Laws -> Ceremonial Burning
-2650 York(2)
-2550 Nottingham(3)
-2250 Ceremonial Burning -> Monarchy

Stats at 2000BC:
pop.: 70k; Cities: 3; Techs: 3; Gold: 31; Gov.: desp.; Wonders: -; TR: 0D/0F
units: 1 settler (3 in prod.)
Goals: monarchy; expand;

No contact with other civs

-1850 Hasting(4) on south river (why did'nt I go south before...)
-1750 Monarchy -> Bronze working. Only 2nd most advanced civ
-1700 Canterbury(5); Coventry(6). Revolution
-1650 New govt: mon. Tax: 3.0.7
-1400 100k pop.
-1350 Bronze working -> Currency
-1050 Warwick(7)
-1000 Newcastle(8)

Stats at 1000BC:
pop.: 120k; Cities: 8; Techs: 5; Gold: 38; Gov.: mon.; Wonders: -; TR: 0D/0F
units: 3 settler (8 in prod.)
Goals: expand; Pyramids + HG + Marco Polo

No contact with other civs

-975 Oxford(9)
-950 Liverpool(10)
-825 200k pop.
-800 Trade -> Masonery
-750 300k pop. Dover(11)
-675 Brighton(12)
-650 Masonery -> Pottery
-625 Norwich(13)
-575 Sioux starts pyramids. Nottingham builds pyramids
-550 Leeds(14)
-520 Riots. Maybe should have done HG before pyramyds... Reading(14)
-500 Pottery -> Map making. Tax: 7.0.3 [Go for HG and MP asap]
-475 300k pop. Norwich(15)
-400 We are the less powerfull
-375 500k. Many riots! Can't decide whether getting pyramids first was the think to do.
-350 610k. pop
-325 Nottingham builds Hanging Gardens.
-300 Birmingham(16)
-225 Map Making -> Writing
-175 Nottingham builds Marco Polo. Tax 3.0.7

-> Diplomacy:

We are supreme. Celts are Cordial and only have seafaring. Sioux are
icy but have mysticism and 3 other not yet needed war advances. I
fogot to use my money and did not wanted to pay: war. Give some tech
to Celts and share maps. They are very far away, will need LH. AI not
helpful for research: no pb that I delayed MP, only pottery could have
been gathered.

-150 Richmond(17); Exeter(18) 125 Cambridge(19); Gloucester(20);
Manchester(21); Bristol(22). Finaly got to apprease Sioux with gift
tech. Got Mysticism and maps. They are not so far.
-100 Leicester(23)
-75 Writing -> Literacy
-50 800k pop.

Stats at 1AD:
pop.: 850k; Cities: 23; Techs: 12; Gold: 107; Gov.: mon.; Wonders: Pyr,HG,MP; TR: 0D/0F
units: 10 settler (16 in prod.), 7 warriors, 1 trireme, 1 caravan
Goals: expand; build LH; trade/bribe/attack Sioux; go for Mikes in parallel. Stay in Mon. or switch to rep?

Celts: enthusiastic, peace
Sioux: enthusiastic, cease fire? (but... we did signed peace treaty?)

 

[Jokemaster]

At this point the complete lack of RNG aside from Colossus location will make for similar-ish openings stat-wise, so not much to say at this point. Mostly about efficient rushbuilds/worker usage (5shields produced in size2 cities) and unrest management (tedious tasks, so not 100% expected to be perfect) and building vans for WoWs vs. building settlers. The real stylistic differences will likely show themselves during the midgame.

Spoiler :

Don't know a whole lot about EC on maps like these, but I'd recommend sending settlers eastbound as soon as you have LH.

 

[lasingularidad]

Ehmm… That was what I planed to do: to quickly expand towards Sioux. But somehow I forgot important things about civ2 and made an incurable mistake: Celts just beat me on LH (which I didn't really tried to rush as nobody was building it). I forgot they were also building colossus and just switch to it when Sioux completed it.

I'll go for navigation now, but I'm afraid that I will submit Late Poor Conquest now And science will not be great since I played toward conquest (no SSC, nor nothing).

But pretty happy to play civ2 again, and amazed by what you have done in the last 15 years.

 

[lasingularidad]

I am not sure those 500 more years are really different from yours, besides I stopped expansion around 300ac to prepare for conquest and did not start any SSC. I think now is when thing will be completely different.

I stupidly missed Light House, but this turn out to be not important
at all, as I was able to reach Sioux with triremes chain (I only don't
have the +1 move bonus for caravels but I am going for magnetism
instead). Earlier Mikes and Magellans was better I think. So I'm still
looking forward EC.

@Jokemaster: why do you want to reach Celt east? They seems easier to reach from the Sioux. At least that was my plan for conquest: build/bribe some cities near the sioux, establish as ship/chain and pursue that chain towards the celts. For trade I would have probably done the same though. And this way on only have one ship chain with Sioux stopover?

Happines is not going so well. I should have build some warriors to
deal with riots. Somehow I'm playing as it was King level.

1 Give writing, masonery (and mysticism) to Russians to monitor
research and uptdate maps. Give writing to Sioux and try to get
Horseback riding to give to Russians but denied.
20 Carlisle(24). Give currency to Russians.
40 Sioux build Colossus (that will be good for trade). Celts switch to
LH. Have to build it quick or hope they will switch to GL. Literacy
-> Philosophy. Sioux definitly don't want to share HR.
80 Celts almost finished LH. Oops... That was very stupdid of me... I
think Early Conquest will turn to Late Conquest now :-(
100 Celts build LH. 1M pop. Ipswich(25)

140 Philosophy -> Republic -> Seafaring. Get Seafaring from Celts. Get
Horseback Riding from Sioux and give to Celts. Give Rep. to both.
160 Too many riots, I'll go for republic switch and lux. Don't want to
build warriors now. Portsmouth(26); Berwick(27); Naples(28)
200 Revolution. Issus(29); Cunaxa(30); Cremona(31); Cannae(32); Capua(33)
220 Celts switch to Rep. New govt: Rep (I should have switch as soon
as I had it). Turin(34). Stop expansion now (continue only
expansion towards Sioux and Celts) and start growing (aim for
money and good trade and science). Cities producing caravans now.
Tax: 0.4.6, adv/tr: 4. AI are only researching things I don't
need...
240 Genoa(35)
260 Sioux to Republic. Polytheism -> Monotheism. 3 more turns before Mikes.
300 1st delivery 168g (will give mono and enough gold to finish rush caravans)
340 Give philo to Sioux and update map. They soon will be dead.
360 London build Mikes. Let's go for WLTK. Sioux(36) spy city founded near Sioux capital.
380 Mathematics -> Astronomy. Carvan 232g (from size 2 city). Ship
chain to Sioux almost built.
400 2.45M pop. Caravan 204g.
420 Astronomy -> Navigation (need it and Sioux are for Invention
anyways); 3M pop. Ship chain to Sioux fully functionnal and used
for Settler. Oh no, most Sioux demande changed and my arriving
Caravans are not longer demanded... Non-demande: 160g. Most
cities size 2 or 5. Stop WLTK. Tax: 1.1.8
440 Way(37) founded (shortcut through land).
460 Navigation -> Physics (wait for Sioux invention; will have to
attack before they get gunpowder). Plan is to take their capital
(and colossus and probably soon king's richard) and then bribe
cheaper cities). Just waiting they find Invention.
480 Celts starts GL (loosers)
400 London builds Magellans;

Stats at 500AD:
pop.: 3.1M; Cities: 37; Techs: 22; Gold: 1; Gov.: rep.; Wonders: Pyr,HG,MP,Mikes,Magellans; TR: 0D/4F
units: 11 settler, 11 trirems, 11 caravans

Goals: finish before 1000AD? Wait for Sioux invention and
build leo to update trirems to galleons. Take Sioux capital (2
crusaders) and small cheap colonies with bribe. Reach asap celts (sent
trireme with 2 settlers, need to upgrade to caravan first? Maybe no
time to wait for Sioux invention?), buy dips, bribe small cities, rush
units and attack.