I am fundamentally a HoF player and risks are taken way too much and I don't want to disappoint my team for SGOTM 14...so I decided to try this gaun...err...game of the month for practice WITHOUT reload (In HoF definition, quit and make another attempt).
Early rushes are hard by nature and under conditions not chosen (i.e. not ideal), it is the best to test it out, especially under evil conditions, to see if I'm a decent warmonger or rather a buffon.
Of course, I chose Emperor level, mainly because Tectonics is a hard kind of mapscript...and the lack of hills is, I think, a consequence of it. First time I play with keshiks and I am curious to see how powerful they are!
I outlined a fast scheme and I found fishing first better, providing a warrior in addition!
In consequence, I entered in my usual mode: worker farming.
IIRC, fishing was in 10 turns and I wanted to match the warrior training with the beginning of the WB for the fish.
So I did:
5 turns of forested grass hill working for a total of 15
+
3 turns of un-wet corn working for a total of 3
+
2 turns of grass forest working for a total 4
=
22
the cost of a warrior.
In the process I banked 18
, making a remaining of 15
for the next pop.
Calculus period ends here. The rest of the game relies of what my guts say. What I had in mind is a bloodbath and I didn't plan any wonders except a late Oracle after the initial rushes. Strange thing I did, I didn't oracle HR, I teched it. Since the map designer was enough kind to provide us commerce tiles and of course I had to miss a resource in my second city BFC. To eager to act before thinking.
IIRC (once again), I went Fishing => Agriculture => AH => Mining => BW => HR => Archery...
HR before Archery because I want to whip Ger at all cost. AH before BW was a big mistake...damn you evil map designer!
My enslaver (Warrior #1) went east to enslave (steal) some workers. I met Victoria's scout and I was encouraged to know I am not isolated. I found her capital I was enthusiastic to see two silver plots (I already knew it is a gift for those who went for early keshik rush).
DS, you did add these tiles? And those plots were well-placed in addition for worker steal. Her fate was sealed! Nonetheless, I was careful and try to find food resource first. It was at the other side of her capital and ill-placed. I decided to give up those tiles because she guarding her worker during improvement. Not a bad loss, given it will speed up the next workers for me. And I want her to found some cities to fill the area. So I attacked her with my warrior with 1 XP (Wolves) onto the hill and it was roaded.
But I wasn't afraid: by experience the AI remains stunned in shock for one turn.
...
...
She attacked! True I am not used with her, but even Shaka doesn't retaliate. It must be the road.
But, once again, RNG Gods favoured me, pitying me for being a noob, and I won at ~ 25 %, giving me faster 2 XP (i.e. 2 wolves).
One archer remained and I could pillage her food tile, but it would have been an idiot move and uselessly risky. Come to think, maybe she attacked me because she had three archers.
Using my scout, I escorted the worker back to my home lands. My future promoted enslaver was XPs, while keeping an eyes on those hills.
BTW, folks, one question, does anyone why she didn't even accepted a CF? She lost a worker and an archer as well. Normally, a worker is sufficient. Frankly, the AI's reactions surprised me this time.
Later I did reach the woodsman II enslaver and I rampaged, giving me 5 workers and a definitive protection against strategic resources. Honestly, that was the most interesting part of the game as I need to tiptoe at every turn to stumble upon a lone
archer happy to eviscerate me.
Meanwhile, I met JC! Damn, tough neighbours if not wiped out early! My agenda was to eliminate both before 1 AD. The horrible factor in this map configuration is not only the lack of hills, but how far away the AI's are located!
The captured workers (slaves) had as mission to build a long road between my empire and brittish empire. IIRC (I don't dare to open an autosave before finishing my game),
I rushed her with 8 keshiks (was it?) and captured a side city first with two sheeps and a strat. resource. Even on a hill, the capital was a piece of cake with 6 keshiks and I attacked the capital on forest away. I don't know the mechanics behind whipping-an-archer-because-the-AI-fears-to-lose-its-city, but made a guess it's about our army is one turn away before incursion. The AI's is f**ked up regarding woodsman II soldier, so why not with keshiks ignoring terrain penalty.
She didn't whipped any archers...either she was building a settler/worker or it worked.
It was at this moment I got the payback: I often lost for no reason at 80 % and higher.
After Victoria murdered, I prepared my war against JC and he was in war mode at the same moment I rushed Vicky, but stopped for no obvious reason. That was bad because this must meant he trained lots of units...spears...
Nevertheless, I was lucky I diverted all my spy points towards him the moment I encountered him...letting me to have a peek into his technological agenda.
He suddenly went Mysticism => Polytheism => Masonry => Monotheism and I was pleased he avoided IW. Meanwhile, he built The Great Wall...Perfect! I have to put his head on pole.
After Monotheism, of course, he went IW, for 18 turns. At ~10 turns before tech completion, he requested me a tribute of horses, a tribute I immediately accepted to avoid him to entered another war mode for more units spamming. No more spears, please!
I scouted his lands with a chariot and discovered his SoD, in the capital...
so I decided to attacked his coutryside cities at once. The most finding later is he let an interior city guarded with one archer because seemingly, he was gathering all his army in the capital, without being in war mode. Later I camped two keshiks (one promoted and a novice in case something goes wrong and since the sturdy warrior, bad luck occured quite often, at least at moments without much negative kickbacks).
Eight other keshiks were going to attack diagonally two cities in the plain/tundra cities. I halved the stack because the cities were badly guarded (archers and axemen) and the incursion must be done efficiently. One turn away before "peace treaty" cancellation because of the tribute (one turn after IW completion), I was short of moves for my second half stack for the most northern city so I guessed stopping in the city itself and given the closest neutral tile was two tiles NW, I guessed I would fall these with cancellation of OP. Of course, it didn't happen at all, I fall two tiles west away. I am sure this happened because it was considered abuse...
Therefore, I still have difficulties regarding on what neutral tile a unit will fall on?
Does somebody have links to an S&T thread regarding that issue? 
Of course, bad luck raged. I lost my promoted keshik to the lone archer in the interior city at 80 %...a chance I don't rely much on luck recently...my second keshik took care the invincible archer. The two northern plain/tundra cities fell and was razed as a good mongol. A fourth city fell in the south (with a corn tile and crab) few turns later because I was preparing another stack. So in few turns, JC lost half of his empire. I capture two stacks of two workers and a lone worker. Unfortunately, one stack of workers was two tiles away of a part of his SoD (4 spears and one axeman), so I decided to sacrife one keshik (better save two gained workers) and the keshik destroyed the road between the workers and the partial SoD. Good think the keshik killed a spear at ~ 50% (he was promoted strength 1 and shock). My next target was the capital...
After pillaging (my economy was in bad shape), I retreated to the nearest city (the third brittish city captured). My medic 2 chariot was healing my keshiks for the almost final assault. During the first onslaught, a GG was born. I was about to attached to my chariot to make a supermedic, but my guts said to me the roman capital will be hard to capture and I wanted to put chances to my side. I settled the GG in London (the said city with two silver plots) and only built a barrack. I saved my forest for keshiks and problably the Oracle (even if I lose it, fail gold was needed). Ah yes, I lost the Oracle by two turns.
No MC, but Joao II sling-shot Alpha...
...well it was useful at least.
Unexpectedly, JC sent his partial SoD to attack the city where my keshiks were resting. I had three pops and no archers around. Because of roads I laid down, the partial SoD was gonna kill me...unless I sacrifice a worker to displace the SoD one tile away...
I knew it works...all the time. Soldiers love to whip the weakest.
My keshiks ran away by northern road network and I whipped archers plus an archer from London. I let a couple of keshiks in the targeted city.
I sacked Rome succefully and I took judaism holy as well, which was planted on copper...
Meanwhile, the partial SoD roam around not knowing what to do with the targeted but now well-guarded city. I made peace for tech extortion a better preparation for taking down his last cities. Unforturnately, a very southern city has iron, but I was sure on epic speed, he won't have time to build lots of praets.
Later, I DoWed once again I met not a single praet! Around 70 AD I think, JC was no more.
Some side details:
Sury, the forever-stuck-at-three-cities neighbour of JC built the Great Lighthouse.
I decided to avoid killing him asap because given his favorite civics, making friend of him was easy I did it. He is jew too. Joao II too.
Honestly, I think DS put them to easy tech trading, given their favorite civic.
I will see if I can crush Sury for The Great Lighthouse...given I already managed to stabilize my economy by 500 AD...
The big drawback of that game is the lack of hills and how far the AI's are located.
It's horrendous how far Nappy is...BTW he is in war mode and he has some phants.
Will I survive?
3rd city was food-mad - fish, wheat and sheep east of capital.
I tried to take it again next turn and it came down to having to win a 50% fight or wait a while for my troops to heal & get reinforcements. Thankfully I took it 
, so I would've gained something either way. I think I whipped 6 or 7 pop altogether (including whip overflow). I don't have the dates for the other wonders to hand at the moment as I'm at work, but I'm pretty sure the Orcale went at around 600BC to give you an idea of the AI (lack of) wonderwhoring.
I think it's fine to say what you say. If in doubt, don't talk about it is what I've learnt. Sometimes, even if you have no doubt you shouldn't talk about it too. 
