Round 4: to 1030 AD
His resolve is not to seem, but to be, the best.
- Aeschylus
So I want all the Great People I can get. If that makes me greedy, then I don't want to be unselfish.
I decided to keep researching towards Literature; along with everything else we discussed, the kicker was that the longer I put off the Great Library, the more expensive those Great Scientists were going to get. Towards that end, I finally founded the science city:
Its first build was a library, and I'm farming the floodplains to maximize the specialists I can run. I chopped those 2 forests and when I got close enough and had enough pop, whipped to finish the library.
I did a little horse-trading--literally--with Victoria, as some of you urged. I'm hoping I won't regret that; I tend to doubt it.
Once I had Alphabet, I went shopping:
Not a bad haul! I also obtained Calendar from Saladin, also for MC.
I don't mind trading away Metal Casting. I'm coming to prefer it to Code of Laws as the Oracle tech for that option alone. I find if I trade away CoL, the recipient of my largesse will inevitably beat me to Philosophy and Taoism. But Metal Casting doesn't yeild quite the same advantages. Consider: forges are expensive. If the AI is building them, it's not building units. The Colossus, while nice, is not exactly a must-have wonder. And Machinery is of limited value without Civil Service for Macemen. All told, I don't consider myself to be trading away as much of an advantage as I am with CoL.
Anyway, with my tech trading done, I felt it was time to start doing a little pointy-stick research, even though my economy, as you can see, is somewhat improved. My target was my nearest neighbour, of course:
This was the start of something of a "phony war". I think Saladin has sent a grand total of one Swordsman at me. I put together a Medic I/March Phalanx, my best Axe (Combat II, Shock, Cover), and a Flanking I Chariot to go do a little pillaging. I took out most of the improvements around Medina with impunity, then went south along the cost to worry Mecca. I decided to haul tail back to my own territory when Saladin finally grew a couple and sent a stack of 4 Catapults my way.
During this time, some other important developments occurred. I still didn't have marble, so my next GE from Athens got used as planned:
And shortly after that (to ensure Corinth had a lead on GP production), Beijing finished its 2nd wonder:
I'm not sure how ships are gonna make it in and out of the harbour with those two wonders in the way, but whatever. I'll probably get a Great Merchant out of this later in the game. I'll probably see if I can manipulate that right when a trade mission's cash infusion would allow me to upgrade a whole whack of my veterans.
With the wonders complete, Construction researched, and a decent army built, I decided it was high time for a civics change. I researched Monotheism (2 turns) to further justify the change and amplify its benefits:
Organized Religion, of course, is for faster buildings; and Representation is great since I now have most of my cities running at least one specialist (scientists, mostly). Corinth is running two specialists and slowly building the National Epic. (I really need some marble...)
Meanwhile, my next Great Person was a Great Prophet out of Sparta. Since I was researching Currency, I was clearly in a monetary state of mind, so I used him for the Confucian Shrine:
I should also mention that Iron showed up in the tundra at the northern edge of Shanghai's fat cross. It's a pity, but with 2 low-food resources and so much tundra, Shanghai is just not going to run specialists until maybe Biology. So I'm going the cottage route around the city.
Then my first Great Scientist appeared. This is usually a dilemma for me: get the Academy in place in the science city, or snag Philosophy for another religion, a head start on the later Liberalism race, and the option of building Ankor Wat?
Well, that's just too much fun to pass up, isn't it?
Again, reflecting on the game in a larger sense--if I can't found Taoism, I'll often just build the Academy. I can't help wondering if the AI reacts the same way--that getting beaten to a religion-founding tech takes some of the shine off of it. That would certainly enhance your chances in the Liberalism race: you not only get Philosophy early, you dissuade the AI from also researching it.
And I'm still wonder-crazy! In Athens, I went for another GE-generating wonder:
Over time, as a wonder, the Hanging Gardens are growing on me. (Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.) The AI usually doesn't build the HG, making them low-hanging fruit; they provide a handy health bonus to a non-Expansive civ; and the population boost is very flexible. It can be used for whipping if you get the HG early; in my case, I need more people to work the cottages and other tiles, and/or to serve as specialists. It strikes me then that the HG must be an even bigger boon to a pure specialist economy. I'm still running slavery, but I'm not using it very often. Like I said, I need the tiles to be worked.
Ah, yes--I got construction several turns back. What of that? Well, I had to build several Catapults, and move them into position. Get this: I took out Medina's defenses, then attacked its three Archer defenders with three Catapults. All three Cats survived! That's the first time I've taken a city entirely with Catapults. Behold the mighty Greek Catapult rush!
So the war with Saladin has begun in earnest. I offered the poor sap a peace treaty when I was done pillaging, but he won't part with any of his techs. Foolish. So the war went on, albeit coldly and quietly, until I could turn up the heat.
I have Civil Service--I switched to Bureaucracy--and I'm working on Machinery, so I'll have Macemen very soon. Meanwhile, back home, I'm working on Markets, then it's back to units.
A look at the map:
So the road for the next few turns is a little clearer: keep taking Arabian cities, pausing to see if Saladin will give up some of his juicy techs like Compass.
Speaking of techs, after I have Machinery I think Engineering would be wise for the movement bonuses. Then I'd like to look into Optics for the Circumnavigation bonus and to find my other victims. Bwa-ha-ha.
I have fog-busters up in the north now, so barbs aren't really a problem anymore. Research is firmly hovering around the 50-70% range depending on how many units I have in the field. I'll have to rebuild the quarry I pillaged way back outside Medina (hey, Saladin had Literature before me, okay?); once that's done, Iceburg is a much lower priority. I'm thinking of founding a city 3S 2W of Beijing. Yeah, it's out in the desert, but it will have iron, wheat, and fish, so it'll be a decent little fishing village. Working the fish will also let me glean a little more of the benefits of the Colossus.
Whaddya think?
Saladin is already toast from what I can tell. Science city looks very powerfull already. 350% GP points with National Epic (all scientists). Get those Acadamies in place. 1 for Corinth and propably 1 for Athens. It is looking very good. Optics and engineering are techs the AI prefers so you can propably trade them anyway so you might start to think about education -> liberalism and maybe even snag the great merchant from currency. Another option is to merge great merchants with the science city so you can even support more specialists as they provide 1 food.
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