[Sword of Islam]: Byzantine Conquest

[AnotherPacifist]

Nice job. I would keep some troops near Mosul, Ardabil, Samarra and the far East (Mongols), but disband as many troops as possible.

Switch civics too (religious freedom and free labor).

I would have kept Kermanshah rather than Ardabil--it's very productive, grows relatively quickly, and since we own most of the tiles around it anyway, the hit on stability would have been less. But it doesn't really matter.

 

[AnotherPacifist]

I played ahead and there are no respawns even when we're just stable. Lots of barbs though near Dongola, Damascus, Samarkand and Quetta. And the Portuguese can be allowed to live.

I think we need to build another settler with a missionary since the little island SW of Rodos will not be encompassed by our culture any time soon, especially if we want to declare war right near the end. (I'm also curious what it's called)

 

[blizzrd]

Good job rrosen.

 

[Jusos2108]

Nice! BTW, We also need to found a city in Goa.

 

[blizzrd]

I think we need to build another settler with a missionary since the little island SW of Rodos will not be encompassed by our culture any time soon, especially if we want to declare war right near the end. (I'm also curious what it's called)

Will we have a spare Great Artist?

 

[rrosen]

Oh yes, Goa. Is Samarkand part of the Samanid spawn area?

 

[Science Rules]

Playing now. (already completed the first 5 turns). I'm going to lay off of KoC & Portugal until after we finish the tech tree. However, I might found Delhi & Goa after we learn Civic Architecture. I'm already halfway through my set and I already have a settler built and it is asleep in Goa.

Samarkand is in the Saminid spawn area.

 

[Science Rules]

Done!

Turn 0: 1550 AD: Nothing

Turn 1: 1551 AD: Chop forests, build economy. Start settler in Chandrapur for Goa. Inam Reza Shrine is complete.

Turn 2: 1552 AD: Switch Amastris from wealth to research. The modifiers for both are the same (+85%).
Given our current situation, we want to minimize the amount of gold in our treasury (we need to ensure that 100% of our economy goes towards research).
Switching Amastris to research results in a 4 gold deficit, but 37 more beakers. Previously, we "wasted" 33 hammers by converting them into gold rather than beakers.

Turn 3: 1553 AD: Amastris is back to producing wealth. I put Bamiyan and Quetta on research instead because they have Hindu Ashrams which give +95% for research rather than +85% for gold. Also, our deficit is only 1 gold per turn, which is about as efficient as we can get.

Turn 4: 1554 AD: Perre receives reliquary. Shah mosque complete in Isfahan.

Turn 5: 1555 AD: Nothing interesting. I micromanage Research/Wealth.

Turn 6: 1556 AD: Hemu destroys a light cavalry, but is killed by a heavy cavalry.

Turn 7: 1557 AD: Civic Architecture is done. Bridge of 33 arches is begun in Hamah. Perre begins Taj Mahal. Both will be done in 5 turns. GE born in Constantinople.

Turn 8: 1558 AD: Nothing of note

Turn 9: 1559 AD: Nothing of note

Turn 10: 1560 AD: Nothing of note

Turn 11: 1561 AD: I accidentally started to play this turn. Our golden age is over so I switch all cities back to wealth from research.
(I think I switched Smyrna over by accident, could someone put it back).

Questions:
I never founded Goa or Delhi, when do you guys think is the best time to found these cities? Right before we win? Right after we finish the Tech Tree? Right now?

I started building paved roads with our workers. I think I prioritized the best routes, but I might be wrong.

In order to deal with barbs, I think I might've accidentally moved troops that are guarding the site of a rebel city. Could someone double check to make sure I put them all back in the right place?

I picked Imperialism as our next research project because there is no need for us to have grenadiers.

 

[AnotherPacifist]

I would strongly suggest using our great people for another golden age. We could very well dip into shaky territory.

Found the cities at the end--with all our conquests, we will just be shaky at the end, even in golden age.

 

[jammerculture]

you guys are badass

 

[Science Rules]

I think we'll get another Golden Age from the Taj Mahal in 2 turns. OTOH, we can start a GA with our Great People now and the Taj Mahal will just extend it a bit longer.

 

[blizzrd]

Turn 0: 1561
Pillage lots of Armenian improvements for 195g. Sell Optics to KoC for 50g. Set Amastris to emphasise growth. Sevasteia's Guild Hall has been destroyed at some point previously by espionage, so I begin rebuilding it. Destroy a Muslim Swordsman near Damaskos and a Tajik Axeman near Bamiyan. Set Armadil and Bander-e Abbas to build Work Boats for the unimproved coastal resources nearby respectively.

We currently have 1x spare Great Engineer (for the Red Fort) and 1x spare Great Artist (to culture bomb in either Rodos or Cyprus). Our next Great Person will be born in Smyrna in a few turns (5). I decide to wait and see what our next Great Person is before launching a Great Person-fuelled Golden Age.

Start building a bunch of Hindu and Catholic missionaries to further enhance our shrines.

Turn 1: 1562
Bridge of 33 Arches is completed in Hamah.

Spoiler :

Start a Drydock in Attaleia. Bedouin Camel Archers destroyed near Dongola (2x) and Masqat (1x). Pillage many more improvements for a total of 193g. We have dropped to Shaky (-11).

Turn 2: 1563
Taj Mahal is completed in Perre, launching a Golden Age.

Spoiler :

Switch civics to Free Religion and Free Labor. Funj cavalry destroyed near Dongola. Bedouin Horseman destroyed near Sana'a. Pillage various improvements for another 154g. Load espionage units onto boats near Cyprus.

Turn 3: 1564
Turkoman Horse Archers destroyed NW of Samarkand. Muslim Axeman destroyed near Hierosolyma. Pillage another 76g worth of improvements. Steal a total of 351g from KoC.

Turn 4: 1565
Drydock completed in Attaleia, start producting Galleons. Destroy a Pashtun Cavalry near Quetta and a Rajput Horse Archer near Ajayameru. Pillage for 11g.

Turn 5: 1566
Great Artist born in Smyrna. We now have enough spare Great Artists to culture bomb both KoC cities immediately after capture. Destroy a Bedouin Horseman near Hierosolyma and a Funj Marksman near Dongola. Pillage 7g.

Turn 6: 1567
Imperialism is learnt, Military Science next (and final tech before Future Tech). Jews settle in Sinopi. Rush production of Red Fort in Konstantinopolis with our spare Great Engineer.

Turn 7: 1568
Red Fort completed in Konstantinopolis.

Spoiler :

Purge Judaisim from Sinopi. Knights Hospitaller spread into Attaleia.

Turn 8: 1569
Destroy 2x Turkoman Heavy Horse Archers SE of Ahvaz.

Turn 9: 1570
Steal a total of 228g from KoC. Destroy a Muslim Maceman near Damaskos.

Turn 10: 1571
Load more Galleons ready to invade KoC.

To do:

1. Finish tech tree.
2. Conquer Rodos and Cyprus.
3. Culture bomb former KoC cities after capture with our 2x Great Artists.
4. Use our remaining 4x Great People to continue our Golden Age as required.
5. Found remaining cities in Hindustan and Soccotra.
6. Spread Orthodoxy to Goa (no missionary is currently ready for this).

 

[AnotherPacifist]

Heh, Red Fort and Theodosian Walls in the same city.

 

[Jusos2108]

Okey, so I am up. I'll play later today.

 

[Jusos2108]

Turn 0 Last Golden Age is sparked.

Turn 1 Little micromanagement so that we'll get Military Science in five turns instead of the previous six.

Turn 2 Nothing happens.

Turn 3 Barbs spawn in various places but they are all killed. I stop spreading non-state religions, so that our piety level doesn't drop to apostate, which gives stability penalty.

Turn 4 Nothing happens.

Turn 5 Nothing happens.

Turn 6 We research Military Science, so the tech tree is now completed. Suqqutra, Goa and Dilli are founded. We declare war on our last reamaining foe Kingdom of Cyprus. Assassins spark revolts in Famagusta and Rodos, which are both captured and culture bombed to encompass the islands.

Spoiler :

Turn 7 We win a Conquest Victory!

Spoiler :

Middle East in 1000AD, 1250, 1450 and 1578:

Spoiler :

Statistics

Spoiler :

 

[Jusos2108]

Thank you everybody, it was really fun!

 

[hoplitejoe]

That was a nice read, well done everyone

 

[AnotherPacifist]

That's why we needed to play Caliph.

 

[Science Rules]

Hey Jusos, do you have an autosave from right before we won? I think it would be awesome to use our Frigates to sink the Portuguese fleet before winning.

In any case, great job guys! I had a blast and learned a lot from playing this one.

AP, Instead of Caliph, maybe we should pick a Civ with a tougher starting situation. How about a Crusader or Hindu Civ?

 

[AnotherPacifist]

Sultan is quite easy for any truly Indian civ (the Sindh aren't lol). I've won domination with both of them, which meant that I could conquer Constantinople and become Roman Emperor, which meant that I could build a huge stack to traverse the continent.

I'm interested in a Hindu religious victory game in Sultan, anybody up?