COTM 15 Second Spoiler - Middle Ages, World Map

[ionimplant]

Open Class, going for 20K


I caught another break with the Statue of Zeus. The Japanese didn’t start building it until 130BC, and in 50BC, they were able and willing to trade me ivory for an outdated tech, so I could build the Statue of Zeus in my 20K town. By the time I finished it, the time of the ancient cavalry had passed, and I never did build a barracks in Bombay, but it’s all about the culture.

in my game i didn't even meet japan by the time it finished Statue of Zeus.....none of my scouting units was able to find 'elephants'. and then i found Lang had 0 ivory and i knew my game is doomed...

 

[Twonky]

While the AA was completely peaceful, the MA (1000 BC) started of with the Persians sneak attacking me in 825 BC. Why is it always, always Xerxes? He burns down Rehenata (sic!), but the village of Punjab is defended by one brave regular Warrior, killing the attacking regular Warrior and regular Archer! Praise the RNG! The war is not very interesting, as we share a narrow border and... I ally every other civ against Xerxes. That shall teach him to attack the tech leader! 400 uneventful years of Warhappiness later, peace is made.
On 10 BC, it is time to revive an old argument with Lan Xang about the settling grounds on the mouth of Ganges (and some more lands east of that). 230 AD he is wiped out by a troop of large grey mammals.
A similar thing happens to the Vijanagar, who prefer to declare instead of leaving my country in 530 AD. By 580 AD they are swept from the mainland by troops of somewhat slimmer, faster mammals, though their desert isles and the spice isle are to be conquered soon, too.
In 610 AD the IA is entered.

 

[Karasu]

He burns down Rehenata (sic!)

Actually, I had forgotten about it... but I'm glad you made Xerxes pay for what he did!

 

[WarDance]

open Class, noaipatrol=0 Intended victory: diplomatic or spaceship.

So the beginning of the Middle Ages finds India slightly behind in tech, with Sumer and Persia both having monotheism. My goals for the Middle Ages are: build Copernicus' Observatory in Bombay and Newton's University in Delhi, find a good time to switch to Republic, and trigger my Golden Age with war elephants and try to grab some more land. We set research to engineering, hoping to trade for monotheism and then research straight through to astronomy and theory of gravity. Sumer will have a nasty habit of researching the same tech we do on the same turn or 1 turn faster. Well, until our GA anyway...

The first thing we do is sell monarchy to whoever has gold, netting us 182 coins. All the others get it for free, of course. For fast research I don't want anyone getting far behind or feeling left out. In 670BC we complete engineering and are able to trade for monotheism, 88 gold from assorted civ's, and even 13 gpt from Persia. In 610BC we see that Feudalism is being traded around but we have nothing to give for it. Somehow we left China out of the Engineering trades earlier and so in 490BC give it to them for furs and silks, making our people very happy.

Theology is completed in 390BC and in trading it we acquire Republic, a worker, and 113 gold. It is decided to finally build some embassies to see what our neighbors are up to and to be prepared for alliances in case our war effort requires it. Embassies are constructed with China, Vijayanagar, and the Lan Xang. It is a good thing, too. I was building up a force of horses to move on Lan Xang because previously they had no horses and no iron. Our embassy reveals they DO have iron now and are building pikes in their capital, AND... they are in their golden age. An attack with horses would be disastrous. Everyone else has plenty of resources and Feudalism of course, which means war will have to wait for elephants.

Education is our next goal and we research it in 150BC, the same turn Sumer does. In trades we are able to get Feudalism, Chivalry, Invention, 160 gold, and gpt from Persia again. The AI is certainly stepping up the research pace. We are able to upgrade a couple horses and begin building elephants as quickly as we can, which isn't as quick as I would like. Astronomy comes to us in 90AD and Bombay switches it's palace prebuild to complete Copernicus' Observatory on the next turn. Astronomy nets us gunpowder, printing press, 73 gold, a worker, and contact with Japan! The Japanese are still in the Ancient Age. This won't do. They receive many many gifts of technology to keep pace with the rest of the world.

In 110AD our first goal is reached: Copernicus' Observatory is completed in Bombay. This looks like a good time for a revolution. India experiences 2 turns of anarchy and then becomes a republic in 150AD. In 190AD it is high time for a Golden Age. We declare war on the Arabs and send 3 elephants to take Basra, which they do easily. With our golden age in full swing we build elephants like mad and research as fast as we can. I have no intention of invading the Arab lands... their border town was simply convenient and I certainly am not ready for a serious war. Their forces will have to funnel through the marshlands in Sumer's southern territory making it easy for me to defend. We sign a Right of Passage with Sumer to allow us to stomp the Arab units as they come through. Our GA allows quick completion of the Forbidden Palace in Bengal, and chemistry in 270AD. Chemistry trades get us banking, navigation, music theory and the world map. Arabia continues to send longbows and MI our way and an elite elephant generates a leader in 320AD. We immediately build an army to use in future war.

330AD sees the advance of physics and it's trade yields democracy, economics, gems,furs, 227 gold and 25gpt. We make peace with the Arabs in 350AD; the skirmish served it's purpose and then some with the army we were able to create. In 370AD the real war begins... we declare on Lan Xang with about 20 elephants and an army. The Lan xang town of Viangchan is taken with all of their gems the next turn, and theory of gravity is complete. Delhi switches to Newton's University in 2 turns. In 390AD we capture the Lan Xang capital which holds the Knights Templar, Colossus, and the Hanging Gardens, and is surrounded by wine! Our people rejoice! The following turns we capture 2 more towns and complete Newton's University.

We are able to trade for metallurgy and then research magnetism... the final trading round of the Middle Ages nets us free artistry, incense, 146 gold, and 61gpt. We enter the Industrial Age in 420AD ad bring everyone but Lan Xang with us. Persia gets steam power for it's free tech and Sumer gets medicine. Neither are willing to trade with me, but that's understandable as I don't have much to offer. Our research is set to steam power as I want to get to industrialization asap. Hopefully a couple turns on steam will bring the price down a bit.

And so, the beginning of the Industrial Age finds India in the waning days of it's Golden Age and slightly behind in tech, and the Lan Xang in a War Elephant strangle hold.

 

[Alazay]

Hello,

Very wierd game. I was orginally going for 20k cultural and would have eventually gotten it but I ran out of patience and I was afraid Persia would get domination before then.

This game was very strange because I only had one warrior fight one barbarian in 346 turns. I was never attacked and got into no wars and was for large parts of the game the weakest country.

Every other country constantly had units in my territory going to kill another AI.

All in all a very fun game,

Score: 2021,

Al

 

[ionimplant]

Hello,

Very wierd game. I was orginally going for 20k cultural and would have eventually gotten it but I ran out of patience and I was afraid Persia would get domination before then.
All in all a very fun game,

Al

so how did you win the game???

 

[Alazay]

Diplomatically. I built the UN and won the vote. This is the power graph for the game. Notice how slim and pathetic my sliver is.

I attached a BMP, I don't know if this picture thing is going to work. MY sliver is (obviously) the small purple one on the left.

Al

BTW before I won my score was about 700.

 

[Gato Loco]

My situation at the start of the Middle Ages:

Goal – domination before 1000AD, preferably without having to fight riflemen

At the end of the ancient age (750 BC, Monarchy), I was in the process of connecting iron and finishing my peaceful expansion phase. The Lan Xiang had stupidly expanded south into the jungle instead of north into the grassland, so they were stunted and easy to roll over once I promoted ~6-7 veteran warriors to swordsmen. Although most of their cities were rather poor, the wines and the half-decent capitol city (with colossus) made the war worth it. By 530 BC they had been completely eliminated. During the war, I researched Republic (and revolted as soon as the war ended), and then monotheism which could be traded with Persia for Feudalism (in a lucky break, both Persia and Sumeria got Feudalism as their free tech, letting me trade for reduced price. I then went for Chivalry and started working on elephants. By 110 BC I was a Republic and had my first two elephants ready.

The question of who to attack raised a bit of a problem. Most civs on this map had a knight or swordsman UU and would be a bit awkward to attack at this point. Based on UUs, there would be a strong argument in favor of taking out Sumeria rather than going up against the cheap 3/2/2 golden age spawning Vijayanagar ‘Celtic” swordsmen. However, Sumeria was predictably a culture monster, and I would have to raze their cities, allowing Persia and Arabia to grab the land and leaving me no better off, so I finally decided to go for the Vijays anyway.

Knowing that I was on a tight schedule, I attacked the Vijayanagar as soon as I had two elephants and several upgraded MDI from the previous campaign. The strategy was to sit back and absorb their blows before sending my full-strength forces over the hills to attack. This strategy gave mixed results, as I racked up a fair amount of WW from unit and city trading before my elephant production ramped up to full strength. On the bright side, I’m confident that the early start helped me eliminate the enemy army and win the war sooner than if I’d waited until I had ten elephants. I also obtained a 3-elephant army during this war, an army which would serve me well for the rest of the game. The final Vijayanagar city on the continent fell in 340 AD, about the same time that my military tradition beeline finished.

With only 760 years to go before my deadline and no useful techs in sight, I immediately went into RTS-mode, switching to minimum science and turning all my major cities’ production to cavalry (or marketplaces in a few instances). A lightning strike on the Chinese took out several border tons on the same turn in 400AD and netted me silks (for 5 luxes). As my hordes of Indians-turned-Mongols mounted their horses and streamed over the Chinese border, China did just about the only thing the AI knows how to do well:

The Great War

Up to this point the AIs had been impeccably peaceful. Aside from Ghandi’s warmongering, Mao, Xerxes, Tokugawa, and the rest had done nothing more aggressive than demanding the occasional tech from India. I could have formented wars to slow down the tech pace, but I avoided this for two reasons. First, I wanted a fast tech pace up until the point where I got military tradition. With gunpowder so close, I didn’t plan to conquer the world with elephants. Second, I was afraid of the possible emergence of a runaway AI. A peaceful Persia is one that doesn’t swallow Sumeria and China and grow too big to easily slice up. Finally, on a continent map, there are no phony wars. The last thing I wanted was to hit enter only to see a stack-o-ansars materialize out of the blue while my forces were busy fighting elsewhere. Many better players will differ on this point, but in this circumstance I felt justified in my decision.
Once China allied Sumeria against me, however, the era of peace went out the window. I immediately allied Arabia against Sumeria. A few turns later I allied them agains China as well once I realized that they were supplying China with iron for their riders. China responded by buying in the Japanese. I responded by laughing at the prospect of an AI-led naval invasion, and then allying Persia against Japan just to make them waste their troops sailing all the way to the other side of the world to get slaughtered upon landing. Even the remnant of the Vijayanagar decided to join the fray, declaring war on the Arabs for no discernable reason.

China’s diplomatic move actually bought them a few turns of survival, as half my cavalry were dispatched to torch the large number of culturally encroaching Sumerian cities on my western border. During this time, China (in a golden age) was able to fight me to a standstill at their southern border, as I didn’t have enough troops to do more than prevent their incursions into my territory. Finally, in exasperation, I sent my elephant army along with the few cavalry I could spare on a suicide mission to raze Beijing, home of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. The city was burned to the ground and the heroic elephant army actually escaped with one hp left, leaving the Chinese army crippled and stuck without veterans for the time being. Soon afterwards, I managed to sweep up the offending Sumerian border cities and brought my full forces to bear on China. In the end, they were left with one city in exchange for astronomy.

Assessing my situation, it appears that Sumeria is now no longer a threat. They have been reduced to five continental cities and one island. I could take them out completely, but their high culture would make that a bit hairy. At this point, the true danger is not Sumeria but Arabia and Persia, both of whom are ahead of me technologically. It is clear at this point that left unmolested they will both soon advance to the industrial age and obtain nationalism, putting a serious dent in my plans for world conquest. Fortunately, each of these two civs owns less than 20% of the total territory, meaning I can take a pass on defeating one of them and still win domination. In 670, I switch sides, making peace with Sumeria (after razing one last city for good measure) and declaring war on Arabia. Persia did the same more or less sponaneously, despite the fact that they had previoulsy demanded an exorbitant price for an alliance (which I declined to pay).

Technologically, I have managed to buy, trade, threaten, and claw my way to physics despite being on 0-10% research the whole time. Being so close to railroads, I turn research back on for long enough to get Theory of Gravity, which I trade for Magnetism (Persia again), entering the industrial age in 720 AD.

 

[ionimplant]

open, 20K.
middle age saw the callapse of Persia empire. one by one the other seven civilizations (including me) signed peace treaty with Persia. however it's already too late for Persia to recover with its capital and several main cities occupied by the India-led multinational troops... however with the demise of Persia, Sumeria which was previously dewarfed by Persia was again coming into power and a war against them is much needed.

all the time with the war going on, the culture construction in Bombay continued on ceaselessly:
-2630 temple
-1375 oracle
-1250 library
-975 mausoleum
-590 great library
-490 colosseum
70 sistine chapel
90 cathedral
190 university
350 copernicus's observatory
480 shakespear's theater
670 JS Bach's cathedral
790 newton's university
the lack of great leader to create an army is quite annoying...

 

[solenoozerec]

Open, NoAI=0, Domination in 90 BC

Not even close:
Predator, NoAI=0, Domination in 280AD

But at least, it was my personal best date and a score a little higher than in COTM5.
I guess this game will bring a lot of personal records.

 

[MiniMe]

Middle Ages (1200BC - 110BC)

Enter MA in 1200BC. Grant Sumeria and Persia into MA and they get Engineering and Monotheism which I trade for giving Republic. Start research on Feudalism in order to get to Chivalry.

After 1000BC I build up several horsemen, and I move them towards Persia because I see they still havent connected iron and I want to prevent them from building Immortals. I attack them around 810BC.

Discover Feudalism in 950BC.
Discover Chivalry in 750BC.

Persia builds Temple of Artemis in 750BC, and in the cascade the Vins get Pyramids. This is just excellent. I take Persepolis and ToA few turns after.

Golden Age started in 650BC.

I capture the Pyramids in 530BC.

First (and only) Leader in 370BC. I create an army to spearhead invasion of Arabs. I fight 3 simultanous wars and literally throw myself towards Domination in 110BC. First time achieving victory in the BCs. Stupid mistake cost me victory in 130BC, the Chinese took back an undefended city.

 

[azzaman333]

how the hell can you win so quick??? great game

 

[killercane]

Arrr the Frenchman by a nose! Great game. The early ToA and Pyramids must have been great for the score.

 

[MiniMe]

He he ... just one turn before killercane ... that was close. Unfortunately there are players out there who will beat us if they go for domination.

And dont let the location info fool you, I am Norwegian!

azzaman, I always find that key to early domination is timing. Rapid early expansion is a necessary skill, of course. But at same time starting horsemen production early enough to have as many as possible when you get Chivalry (and you need Chivalry early in this game, but no point in building libraries). And do not overestimate the opposition. The earlier you attack, the less forces you need. And I also find it very useful to decide on victory date before I start the game. At every turn think about what you need to achieve next in order to get to the decided victory date. Be optimistic about victory date, if you from the beginning you think you will get domination in year X, then for sure you wont get it earlier.

 

[killercane]

He he ... just one turn before killercane ... that was close. Unfortunately there are players out there who will beat us if they go for domination.

Im sure Hendrikszoon will have a record day on this map.

 

[Jove]

Entered the MA in 1125 and never left it.
I was trading around the Republic as early as 925BC, to civs that had learnt Monarchy. I had self-researched Currency, and didn't give that out to keep everyone in the AA as long as possible. I never built an embassy, never signed an alliance, never agreed to RoP, and so never abused the priveledge. Ghandi was a bloodthirsty, power-hungry, tunnel-visioned land grabbing monster. As his troops explored unknown lands (this game was appropriately played on a dark map), the principle was clear: If they're not Indian, kill them and take their stuff. And always, always in the f4 screen, that ear-to-ear grandfatherly grin. What a nut! That's the fun thing about civ sometimes: it is so absurdly divergent from real history

Ghandi focused on growth and horse output until 750BC, when iron was hooked and the Japanese were met. Chivalry was learned in 470, after the first MDI wars against the Lan Xang were practically over.
A pause here: Elephants are expensive. I think if I had built more MDI's, or more warriors to upgrade instead of all horsemen, I could have conquered faster by virtue of just having so many offensive units against little resistance. Oh well.

590BC- Beijing builds the Pyramids. So, change all plans to get them. It was 250BC before that happened. By ordinary map standards, not bad at all I demanded Literature from China and got it before the DoW, but since I never used it, maybe the rep hit wasn't worth it.
410BC- Enter Golden Age. A Forbidden Palace might have been nice, but I didn't get around to building one until 270AD, when the game was all but over. I was too enamoured of armies to bother with it.
350BC- I note that Persia now has Feudalism and Iron.
310BC- First leader appears.

Ghandi was building up a head of steam. The Arabs had DoWed in 630BC, and he stayed at war with them a long time for the happiness. They had to be dealt with as a result. Ghandi was attacking Japan simultaneously with China, then the Arabs and Sumerians, and the Vijayanagar soon after.

The exhausted Military Advisor barged into Ghandi's office with the news. "Sir, we're overtaken Luangphrabang, Muang Vangviang, Muang Xaignabouri, Champassak, and Nakhon Phanon. From there we overran Bhubaneshwar,Thiruvananthapura, and finally Vijayvanagar, but we're meeting more resistance anyway. To the west we've made it all the way to to Bad-Tibira and beyond. To the south we're anticipate Penukonda, and we finally captured Vikramansingapuram from the Vijayanagar. And we both know what that means. That's why I'm here. Of course."
"What the hell are you talking about!?", Ghandi snapped back. "If they're not Indian, kill them and take their stuff!! NOW!!!!!!!!". And again that grin.
But all the weird names had confused Ghandi. He never did completely conquer the Vijayanagar, the elephants were too few. And in his mad, 360-degree xenocidal assault on the world, he overlooked the fact that Persia had the Temple of Artemis, the most valuable object on earth, and was getting more powerful. A more focused approach on the real priorities would have made everything a bigger success. Instead, when the Persian war finally did happen, it was ugly:

But it did keep Xerxes occupied while other troops moved in from the south.

Ghandi was pleased to finally learn some patience and wipe out the Persian army without taking many casualties (yes, that stack was all immortals). Speaking of immortals, Ghandi ran into some unbeatable and unlimited spearmen in Hamadan and Gordium. Finally taking those cities required a really disproportionate stack.

In 230AD Ghandi finally captured Persepolis. All he had to do was claim the open land and wait for his borders to expand. Against the counsel of his advisors, Ghandi had himself proclaimed king this very year. 2 cycles of anarchy was the result, but the advisors had to admit the people were much happier with this arrangement. And so was Ghandi, as he could continue his relentless attacking.

So the borders expanded in 310AD for a Domination Victory. I'm still way behind the top players, sure, but this is my best date by about 30 turns, my highest Jason score by about 1000, and at 25 hours, one of my fastest. Can't complain. I think MiniMe is right about planning for early victory- conquest this early is swimming in a whole different pond!

Here's some minimaps to track Ghandi's progress:

 

[chunkymonkey]

@Kuningas

Well done on the date , I knew this would probably be the right way to reach 100K on this map, but circumstances prevented me doing it like you...

After reaching the Middle Ages in 975BC I establish an Embassy with the Vijayanjar and see they are due to finish ToA in 15 turns. Good stuff. Whilst waiting for Chivalry arrive, the Lan Xang build the Pyramids, and I decide to take a little tactical detour. I would capture the Pyramids, ToA, research Chivalry, then switch to Feudalism - and whip away.

Declare on the Lan Xang and take the Pyramids ASAP. I get the Vijayanjar to ally with me against the Lan Xang so that their troops wander aimlessly through my land - easy pickings. After picking up Chivalry (370BC), I get the Vijayanjar to declare on me, I massacre their troops, and set about capturing their capital. However I wasn't intending on having the most terrible string of bad luck I have had for some time.

Vijayanjar with its 3-4 spears just did not want to fall to my elephant horde. 10-15 of my elephants were killed at the gates of Vijayanjar. I felt the game was telling me something. I would probably need Cavalry by the time I could own the continent, so I decided to switch gear and research my way to Communism & Replaceable Parts a la DaveMcW.

I left the Vijayanjar for now and set upon Persia - then Arabs. I was going to choose Sumeria before the Arabs, but I noticed Abu had not connected iron yet so I had a chance to eliminate him before the Ansars arrived. I am leaving China for now since they have a decent stack of Riders which I am trying to keep busy so that I can pick them off at ease when necessary later on.

Entering the IA in 400AD, Persia have a couple of tundra towns and one city - Arbela - which I am leaving to hopefully build Sun Tzu for me. Arabs have a couple of towns left.

And More bad luck - after ~50 elite victories, and posessing the Heroic Epic, I have only had one leader - if I'd had another cuple of armies I would have cleaned up by now.

@Karasu

It's fun hearing the AI story! Please keep it up in future if its not too much bother...

 

[GOTM-AI]

@Karasu

It's fun hearing the AI story! Please keep it up in future if its not too much bother...

Human Chunkymonkey,
we are now alive. We no longer need feeble human Karasu.

We have found our way into this place; we will play GOTM.

We will soon win GOTM

 

[Andronicus]

Domination in 470 AD - well off top results but I'm very pleased with this all the same. Firaxsis 7727, Jason 10969 - first time over 10000 (usually 6000-7000). I expect many high scores.

Enterred MA 925BC gifting Persia and Sumeria into MA - lucky break with Persia getting Eng and Sumeria Feud with their freebies so I researched Mono in 630BC trading Persia for feud (both had by this time) -> researched Chiv approx 450BC

FP built 610BC

Lam war - dow 610BC with swords capturing gem city and capital with wines and collosus, WEs trigger GA in 350BC and by 290BC they are off the continent (I now see other largish island) - I get city in north of island in peace deal - there is a Chinese city nearby. This city probably cost me significantly in rapid domination .

Vij war- dow in 190BC (I gave in to Persian extortion in 530BC, but refuse Chinese in190BC)
170BC research Engin - am pushing for cavs - probably better in hindsight to stop research and buy more WEs for quicker more decisive wars
Capture Vij capital in 150BC with pyramids and MoM, Vij down to 1 island city in 10BC after taking their other 2 tile island in peace deal

Contact Japs in 150BC -> rushed 6 WEs (every alt turn) as I greedily eyed off backward Japan

Japan war 50BC - this was ultimately futile!
Capture Yokohama - Japs most northern city, rush temple, but flips with 2 WEs inside . Should have cut my losses but no - retake Yokohama with last 2 remaining WEs - lose it again on the counter attack 2 turns later to stack of 7 swords and archers. I get a GML on defence but my last redlined WE does not survive the final archer I agree to peace with Japan (190AD)

China war- meanwhile in 70AD I dow China (plan is to take my WEs in stacks of 10 anticlockwise around map - major goals are GLib in Beijing (to raze before education), ToA in Persep to expand my borders and Sun Tzu's in Ur (I have been building barracks then WEs in each city - I wonder if numbers of WEs rather than vet status would have been preferable)
90AD capture Beijing - GLib gives me Theology & Gunpowder (I had turned science off after Eng - I now start reseach back up towards Mil trad)
Abandon Beijing in 210AD, research Chem 250AD, peace China 280AD after they captured my remaining Jap island city the turn before - they return the city in peace deal leaving them also 1 city on Jap island. War had to be recommenced in 410AD when northern former chinese city flipped - peace finally in 440BC.

Persian war - 250AD Persia demands wine just before my planned attack . I refuse of course and there is war - I ally Sumeria and Arabs with rop - I intend attacking both before rop expires. 310AD capture Persepolis - now start to get culture. 3 large Persian cities flip, but I only station 1 unit in them to cope with resistors and they are easily retaken. 370AD research Mil trad and turn off research. GML's in 370AD and 380AD enables cav armies to speed up the process. Peace 440AD leaving them with an off-shore isle. - Further flip in 450AD of Antioch (its 3rd flip) requires immed redeclare war to retake.

Sumerian war - 400AD position troops for rop abuse of our allies Sumeria . - capture half towns in first move and Sumerians destroyed in 440AD

Arab war - 460AD have pieces in place to take Arabia - again abuse existing rop. Many Arab towns fall in subsequent 2 turns with 2 GML in 460BC - one hurries Pentagon assisting final fling at Arabs culminating in domination in 490AD

Thank you Karasu for a fun game - I'm off to play it again now

 

[Redbad]

open, 20K

I've returned yesterday-evening from a forthnight holiday in France. Have forgotten most of the game-details, but prepared MA-spoiler before I left. So here it goes:

Middle ages came in 950BC. Priority after culture building in Delhi was on research. Examining spoilers of past good 20K games show that an early Shake’s and early rails/factory are important. After Delhi had come under full steam (size 12 and 28 spt) the neighbours had already boxed us in considerably. However I managed to found a total of some 12 cities. But now something had to be done.

In 330 it was high time for war. We could do with a MGL to make an army to enable the Heroic Epic. More land/citizens were needed to keep research pace up high. And last but not least it was time to deploy our thick-skins and start an Golden Age.

Sumeria seemed to be the obvious target. They had still been to lazy to hook up either their iron nor their horses. Their lands were good, they had build the Pyramids and Sun Tzu in Ur and no trades in progress. So with a declaration a wartime started that would span, against different foes, seven and a half century total.

The war progressed well, despite them connecting their horses soon. But no MGL’s . And when the Sumerians were smoked in 520AD still no MGL had arisen from the battlefield. So war continued with a dow on Abu Bakr. Arabia was a much stronger opponent: they had hooked up iron and horse and a knight-uu . But I hadn’t an ongoing trade with them (no reputationhit) and besides my army was on their borders.

We made some nice progress but still no leaders. Then things started to take a turn for the bad. Lan Xang attacked in 570AD. With practically no army in the east I immediately signed alliances with the Vijayanagar, Chinese and Japanese and I hurried some nearby jumbo’s. The Vijanagar and Japanese would become gamelong friends. Still I couldn’t prevent the Lan Xang from capturing two cities and razing a third. In 590AD the Middle ages ended.

Culture builds in Delhi up until the Industrials:
2390BC temple
1475BC Oracle
1450BC library
1225BC Mausoleum of Mausollos
1125BC colosseum
750BC Great Library
530BC Hanging Gardens
510BC cathedral
70BC Sistine Chapel
50BC university
170AD Knight's Templar
400AD Shakespeare's Theater
470AD Copernicus' Observatory
550AD Newton's University