Noble Zarkon
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BOTM 290: Queen Isabella of Spain.

The world lies in ashes following a nuclear war / disaster / accident (depending on which news media you consume), food is very scarce, the land desolate, the people despairing. It is up to you Queen Isabella to rebuild your empire and the world and to turn despair and anguish into triumph. Can you make Spain great again?!
Game settings:
Playing as: Isabella of Spain
Rivals: 6 AIs
Difficulty: Emperor
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: No vassal states, no goody huts, no random events
Victory Conditions: All enabled
Map settings:
Map: Continents
World Wrap: Cylindrical
Mapsize: Standard
Climate: Rocky
Sea level: High
Map latitudes: -90°S to 90°N
Isabella is Spiritual and Expansive, and you start with Mysticism and Fishing.
The Spiritual trait gives no anarchy and double production speed of Temple and Cristo Redentor
The Expansive trait gives +2 health/city and +25% hammers for worker production and double production speed of Granary and Harbor
Unique unit: Conquistador (replaces Cuirassier)
The conquistador has +50% strength against melee units - very useful bonus on an already strong unit! And unlike the cuirassier, the conquistador receives defensive bonuses.
Unique Building: Citadel (replaces Castle)
Besides the usual benefits of the castle, the citadel gives +5XP to siege weapons built in the city.
Starting screenshot
This is the start of the game (click for a bigger image):

Adventurer Class bonuses:
Madrid has been founded and is size 2, both seafood resources have been netted and you have the Great Wall so no Barbarians to worry about!
Challenger Class Equalizers:
You play at Deity level although the AI civs still have Emperor level units.
To Enter the Competition:
This competition will open at 00:01 am on 18 Apr 2025, server local time (UTC-6:00). From that date and time, you'll be able to get your chosen starting save >>>here<<<.
Submit the save after your victory (or defeat) here, by 26 May 2025.
Here is a link to a list of the differences between Vanilla, Warlords and BtS.
Software Versions
Windows: This game MUST be played in Beyond the Sword (NOT Civ4 Vanilla or Warlords), patched to version 3.19, and with the BUFFY mod version 3.19.005 installed. You can download the BUFFY mod here. Players using Windows Vista or Windows 7 are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.
While playing...
Remember - for your entry to be accepted, it MUST be your first attempt to play this game, and you MUST NOT replay any turns. If you make a mistake while playing, you have to live with it, learn from it, and carry on the game without replaying.
We will open 'spoiler' threads during the month for players to discuss what happens in their games. Do not discuss any details of your game outside those threads.