COTM 22 First Spoiler - entering the middle ages

[7Losses]

Headed the Galley along with troops east.

3900: Founded Macosten on the tip of the coast by the Game and BG.
Found the Virologists (Who will be known as the americans from here on in). Am shocked that they have 2 extra cities already. They must have popped 2 settlers from a hut.
Galley heads North. Trade Bronze and Alphabet for Masonry, Pottery and 10 gold.
Set reasearch to writing on minimum.

I'm scared.

3700 BC: Warrior pops out. Head toward the east mountains.
3600 BC: Contact with linux AKA Vikings (will be known as Linux from here on in....I like Linux!) . They have 3 extra cities! Holy cow batman
- Get Warrior code + 20 gold for Masonry
- Trade Warrior code to America for Ceremonial and 25 gold.
- Trade Ceremonial and 35 gold to Linux for a worker.

3550 BC: Contact with Programmers (Russia from now on.)
- Trade Alphabet and Masonry for The Wheel and 25 gold. They have 6 cities (This is quite ridiculous indeed.)

3500 BC: Trade The Wheel to Linux for Mysticism and 35 gold.
3100 BC: Russia has 8 cities, we have 1.....
2950 BC: Contact with Windoz, aka Satan (Known as Germany from here on in.) They have 4 cities but are cmpletly backwards
- Trade Pottery for 35 gold (I feel sorry for them ok.)
2850 BC: Despite being backwards:
- I trade Alphabet+Masonry to Germany for Iron working.
- Trade Iron+Mysticism+30 gold to Russia for Maths. (Who now have 9 cities...)
- Horseback riding+25 gold off America for Maths
Galley completes the Lap of the internal circuit.

2750 BC: Trade Horseback+28 gold to Russia for Writing. Research Philosophy as fast as possible (27 turns...ugh)
2670 BC: Buy worker off america for 106 gold.
2590 BC: Programmer (Russia) Completes Collosus. Damn that was quick
2510 BC: Spot an undefended german city with warrior scout. Moving for the kill...
2470 BC: Not undefended now. Bummer.
2430 BC: The Console have been destroyed. Wonder who or where they were...
2270 BC: Finally found my 2nd city. East on the river by the cow. This means I will have to wait till my culture expands to get the iron though unfortunately. No more cities now. The plan is to build around 15 archers and attack Satan. His land looks better than Americas.

1990 BC: Philosophy is reached first, Choose Currency as a monopoly tech. I'd considered Literature but I can't afford to build the GL. Research set to none, will buy techs to stop wars.

- Currency to Russia for Construction+132 gold
- Currency to Linux for Map making+35 gold.

I still have a monopoly on currency.

1870 BC: Linux Demands Philosophy. Refused. Linux declares war. I form an embassy with america and bribe them into a war with Linux with philosophy and a tad of gold. Still keeping 2 techs above them.

1650 BC: Russia (with over 10 cities) demands philosophy. Refused, and war is declared. I can't even ally america against them because they don't even know each other..

1625 BC: Start researching literature. will need a tech If I have to get peace in a hurry.
1450 BC: Culture expands but iron still not in boundary. ARrrrg. Satan Complete the Oracle.
1425 BC: 25 barbarian horsemen appear next to my second city. Linux and america sign peace. Russia finishes the Pyramids.
1400 BC: I have to pay 160 gold for peace with linux. Will now focus my attack on america and hope russia don't attack ee masse. All horsemen head toward america. YAY! Pillaging my land along the way though.
- Polytheism+79 gold from america for currency.

1250 BC: Linux declared war on Russia. Dell completes the great wall.
1225 BC: Contact with Spain.
1100 BC: Culture of 2nd city expands. Can finally build swordsmen.
1050 BC: Take Netsky from the Americans.

1000 BC:
- 3 Cities
- All Techs except: Literature, code of laws, Monarchy and Republic.

950 BC: After taking Chernobyl. I sue for peace and take 2 more cities: Sobig and Codered. Will now build an army of swordsmen to finish america in 20 turns time. Researching Literature for a monopoly tech.
800 BC: Aquire Literature 1 turn too late. Everyone has it now. *@#!

750 BC: Peace ends with Russia and I redeclare. I do so because Linus is also at war with them and I am able to get an alliance against them. Linux gives me code of laws for just 5 gold per turn if I ally with them.
Recieve Engineering as my free tech.
- Germany gives me Monotheism, Monarchy 4 gold per turn and 14 gold for Engineering.
- Spain gives me ivory, horses and 158 gold for monotheism.
- Vikings give me 12 gold per turn and 37 gold for monotheism.
- Research Feudalism and 100%. (25 turns, ugh.) Still waiting on Republic.

 

[lroumen]

I believe Open

I'll have to look into what I've done so far, but I know already that I am a slight bit behind in the Middle Ages, about 2 techs. But I'll go from the start.

I thought that East wasn't going to be prosperous enough or some sort of trap, so I tried to explore North first. Well, by then I discovered how wrong I was, so I had to make up for time and head east. Stupidly enough, that didn't work well.

1. Settler S, worker S, Galley NW-N-N
2. Galley SE-SE-SE
3. Galley E-SE-SE?
Well, I don't remember the exact steps, I'll have to check when I get home, but in the next turn I put my worker on the bonus tile 1S of the Game by unloading to the East. The turn after that I sailed SE and placed my Settler 1S+1SE of the game (knightsmove)

Mined the bonus tile, roaded it and roaded the game for when I expanded (same turn as pop2 I believe). That was the foundation of my capital.

Creation: 2 warriors - barracks switch to settler
I went to explore a bit to the east and then to the south because I ended up sending my galley north after all (I thought galley south would be good but for some reason I headed north). Warrior south spotted the sugar, gold and the incense and I sent my settler there to meet the warrior.
I placed the town in the center of the three (floodplains?) and after that I don't remember much what I created, but it was at least one more town in between the two already existing.
I popped one hut near the sugar which gave me Ceremonial burial and I popped a hut to the right which gave me barbarians and I ran off whilst they killed some AI warriors and a spearman with a settler (hahaha).
I started creating Barracks and went to make Swordsmen which was easy since my capital had Iron (woohoo). Pumping out Swordsmen and some Hoplites continuously. I'm hoping to just capture towns around me rather than expand too far, since I'm so far behind in turns right from the start.

Trading and teching:
I don't recall when my galley met all the civs (except for one) but I knew that one would be in the southeast (logic). I held off trading with black and Linux until I met the Programmers in the north, but that was a mistake because the programmers traded the tech I had to Linux and black. Grrr..

I started my teching towards pottery but when I saw that Linux already had it when I met him so I switched to writing. Despite my starting techs being useless for trading I beat them all to writing and promptly went shopping.

I traded writing for all the gold and lowly techs they had (Masonry, Warrior Code, Pottery, The Wheel and Horseback Riding I think). I don't remember who had Ceremonial Burial but I believe it was the Programmers the Because there was no more gold to be had and I knew the Programmers would probably get contacts from those they had met, I gifted Ceremonial Burial to all the civs that didn't have it yet. They went from Cautious and Annoying to Polite and Gracious, but not for long of course.

I went for Philosophy and got to it first, I took Code of Laws and entered the Republic as next tech. I traded Code of Laws and Philosophy around and what I got I traded around even more until I was only missing Currency, Monarchy and Construction. Once I got the Republic I got Construction and I think Monarchy. I was left with Currency to research for the Middle Ages and of course I found out that I traded just a tech too few to start well.

I entered the Middle Ages with only 3 towns, lots of Swordsmen for a starting war with Black who is invading my space but who is also the only one who is still Gracious with me, darned. Maybe I ought to get Blue first and expand West.
I don't remember which Tech I got in the Middle Ages. I'll have to check. I can't wait to get some Medieval Infantry.

 

[FlowKey]

OK, since nobody else has mentioned it I will. Something's not right about this game.

I did shortly mention the possibility I was playing predator by mistake, but as a relative noob, I didn't want to suggest anything unfounded.

Like you, I wrote up in my log the odd fact that Virologists had a spear, while not knowing Bronze Working. It also occurred to me very early on that my tech pace was near stand still.

But, as mentioned before, this is a game that was modded to pose an equal challenge to all of us. We simply lost. Too bad. See y'all next month ...

 

[Redbad]

open

I sailed east and founded Macosten SW of the deer. The galley sailed clockwise and found the Windoze. Man does he have many cities. As everybody knows the windows and the macs are not the best of friends, so I decided to behave badly.

The production in Macosten is set to barracks and we trade alpha for warrior code. (Bill will regret it )The galley continues its journey and meets all but the Console (already dead) and the Dell (contacted later when some warriors popped by).
After the barracks we build an archer who is sent south to pop the hut and then walk towards the Windoze. The hut gives mysticism Shortly after reaching the blue border we spot a settler/spear-combo heading north. When they step down from the hills our veteran archer attacks and we are two slaves and one war richer. Satan must have been caught off-guard, as he doesn't respond for quite some time.

Macosten continued to build archers. And when the third is ready, we see Virus-Abe sending a settler/warrior south. That's again two slaves and a second war. Around that time the Programmers must have spend all their money on pizza's. They ring me up for a donation, so that's a third war. We manage to pull Linus Torvalds in on our side against the Programmers. So we don't see any angry Programmers, but quite some Viruses and later on some Windoze.
After some minor battles we can get peace one by one. First Windoze then the Virus and finally the Programmer.

We extend our empire south with a third (by the incense) and a fourth city (by the horse). The viruses spread east, claiming “our” iron. Because it’s also a very good site (with a cow in range) and the viruses don’t look very strong, our brave archers attack again. The virus-city dispatches a settler and shrinks to size 1. So unfortunately upon capture the city gets destroyed. For some unknown reason the dispatched settler and escorting archer return. Thank you Virus-Abe. Because my horsemen come online Abe’s archers don’t stand much chance. Soon we declare peace again and the virus-city is replaced by a mac one.

We tried to research the Republic-slingshot: max writing, code of law and philosophy. Alas some three turns before the end we're beat to philo. We continue with max Republic. Around 800BC Republic is researched. We trade ourselves in to MA and draw a three turn anarchy.
The turn we discover the Republic, Gates (of all people) demands money. We use our Republic monopoly to get into the MA and ally most against the Windoze. Not the Linux however, ‘cause they don’t know nothing about Windoze We get Feud as does Bill, the Programmer gets Mono. Now Linus wants money. What’s the matter with you folks. I use Feud to ally some against Torvalds.

At the moment the world’s ablaze with new alliances fighting yesterdays alliances. Fortunately we almost immediately get a GL when an elite archer kills a win-mace. The resulting horse army kills another mace. Oops but now I’m talking MA. So here’s a screenshot from 710BC, a few turns into the MA.

 

[Taxpayer'sMoney]

COTM 22, MacFanatics, Open.

I check out the space-race screen to find that we're facing some pretty wacky civs. F11 reveals that the programmers have been busy, six cities already.

I've read lots of the pre-game discussion about this unusual start. I decide not to figure out whether the obvious path east is a bluff, double bluff, or bluff3 and just jump in the galley and sail that way anyway. Besides my settler is scared of heights.

My settler jumps out the boat at the earliest opportunity (turns out he's sea sick too, what a weed!). He settles SW of the game. Galley sails on and dumps the worker south east of that. Resolve to try the usual Republic slingshot, so writing at 100%. My first build will be a curragh. Galley will sail anti-clockwise, the curragh will sail clockwise. Hopefully I'll meet a few civs and act as a tech dealer. Galley should help my civ reach parts that other civs can't.

In 3600BC I meet the Linux (Celts). Trade pottery for warrior code + 10g. Next I think I met the Virologists (Americans), followed by the Programmers (Russians). Deal a little tech and am beginning to feel good about the start to my game. My curragh spots a goody hut, switch build from worker to warrior 'cause I want to get me some goodies! Next my curragh meets the Windoze (Germans) more tech dealing and I build up a healthy treasury.

Start worker and my warrior is on its way to the goody hut when it spots some Barbarians looking menacing. I figure that I ought to deal with them first. My brave warrior successfully defends against to Barb axes - promoted to veteran. The Barb camp remains but I send the vet off to the goody hut first before I take it on (they're fortified on a mountain so it could get nasty). Warrior from hut! Conscript goes off to explore, veteran waits a couple of turns out to heal before taking on the camp.

Add worker to city to boost production. Vet axe takes on barbs and gets toasted. Conscript stands on mountain next to barb camp and shouts "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough". Doesn't work. The camp is now full of barb horses. Wow, that was fast. They're breeding like rabbits in there! Conscript killed by barbs. On reflection perhaps I should have fortified my axes in my capitol when I saw the barbs and waited for a decent offensive unit to take 'em out but it's too late now.

So things are looking gloomy. I have barbs rampaging right next door, and no military. My granary build is almost complete (2 turns) when I see a barb horse in striking distance. Reluctant to switch to Hoplite as it would waste shields and threaten an early golden age. I choose to pop rush the granary so that when my defenceless city is pillaged work on it is not lost. [I can't even remember if barbs can disrupt production in this way. Anyone?] The horsey pillages my town steals gold and kills a citizen. Eek!

Add second worker to city. Pop rush a Hoplite. Build archer (my best available offensive unit) to take on the annoying barb camp. Archer makes its way to the camp. Defends against three horses, promoted to elite. Archer retreats to heal. Archer finally disperses barb camp, but 1hp left. Archer defends against barb horse and wins. Those prayers to the RNG Gods are obviously paying off.

Galley completes its lap of the rather strange continent, after spotting a location that might be a useful canal town. Our expert Cartographers name it 'Doughnut World'. There is a great deal of argument as to whether it should be a custard or jam doughnut. We settle on jam, but an unfortunate schism occurs over the issue of whether the doughnut has strawberry icing. These heretics are banished for ever.

Do some more tech trading. Settle my second town to grab the iron. Build another settler. Load settler and archer into galley in search of my canal town. I reach the much fabled canal town location only to discover that it's just a poxy lake after my archer gets out to look around. My archer defends against three barb horses and is promoted to elite. Since I spot loads more barbs around I elect to get back in the boat and sail on. I keep going clockwise before I jump out and settle on the Programmers' side of the continent.

My elite archer has been exploring. It goes to stand on a mountain for a better look and is promptly blown to kingdom come by a volcano. Ouch. Next more bad news - Programmers demand tribute. I refuse cause they're so far away. Dow from Programmers. Now it gets really nasty. My western city is captured, and Programmers manage to get everyone to declare war on me. Settle my third town just east of the mountain range.

It's 1125 BC and I have three cities and everyone is at war with me. Not nice. My eastern most city soon falls to the onslaught. My capitol concentrates on producing Hoplites (it has barracks). The enemy troops are attacking over a river so I get a defensive bonus. Horse after horse is successfully beaten back at the Capitol. Elsewhere my second city is captured - down to one. Now enemy archers throw themselves to certain death at the hands of my Hoplites. Bring it on! After years and years of conflict an elite Hoplite generates a leader. Yay! Err...with only one city my leader's completely useless. Boooo!

A bit of pop rushing secures some more Hoplites and walls. I now have five Hoplites (3 elites) to beat back the enemy hordes. I know now that death is just a matter of time but it's fun to watch the enemy hurling themselves to their death at the hands of my Hoplites. The people are unhappy about their treatment. They say it's because of the pop rushing. I tell them they should be more worried about the stonking great army of knights on their doorstep than my gentle whipping (what a pathetic, work-shy bunch of weaklings my civ is). Personally I think they're unhappy because of all the dead horses that surround our city (they start to smell after a while).

It's around this time that the treasury gets a little tricky. I have to sell off my barracks, and my library (none of my Hoplites can read anyway). Honestly who buys second hand barracks/libraries anyway? That would have to be a pretty large delivery truck...

In an amusing turn of events the Dells, Linux and Virologists all sue for peace and pay me for the privilege! That's right - you might have 15 cities to my one, an immeasurable tech lead but your fancy knights are scared of my Hoplites. I pay Windoze for peace and start a period of rebuilding. Soon I'm back up to three cities and have iron. I start work on some swords. I finally secure (bribe) peace with the Programmers when I spot a whole load of their troops on my doorstep. I actually feel sorry for them - they've come all that way for a bit of fisticuffs and they're denied at the last minute. If I can squeeze one more city out I'll finally be able to use my leader!

Just when I think there may be a glimmer of hope the Programmers redeclare and I am quickly down to one city again. I hold out for may long, painful years. But they have cavalry now so the end should be quick. Eventually my last Hoplite falls and the Macfanatics are defeated.

Conquest loss in 920AD (5hrs 27 mins). (I had held out in an almost continuous state of war since 1125BC.) Looks like the world will have to suffer blue screens, and internet browsers bundled with their operating system forever.

 

[Htadus]

Moved East turned south and settled on a hill in the Second delta since the first did not have good shield potential.

City's
3800BC Built Macosten -Build order War, war, settler and temple.
2630BC Build Glendale in the east to claim horse. Bad plan, about 8 Barbs
loot over 110g+.
2350BC Built Miniton north of Macosten by the game.
1870BC Built Geefive Towers to claim Incense.
1450BC Built intelimac to claim iron and hope fully 1 fur.
1275BC Built North of Capitol, closer than I wanted but Viro had a settler in
the spot we wanted.

Science
3900BC GH Teaches us CB.
3800BC Trade alpha for WC+10g to Satan.start researching writng at full
speed (41 turns)
### BC Learn Writing and Trading around got us all the first level and couple
second level techs.
1830BC Learn Philo, trade around and learn all but, cur,const, CoL, Lit and
govs. we get the sling to Monarchy. No one has it. We are not
going to trade. Revolt and draw 2 turn Anarchy? I think.
1750BC We are a Monarchy.
1250BC Learn Cur and trade to Satan for CoL+80g+ gpt, trade to Viro for
125g. Linux has Const but will not trade for curr plus 265g.
1200BC Dells trade const+3g for curr. Enters Mid Age and get Feud free.
Satan is also in Mid age and has Mono and willing to trade for feud.
He is also offering 90g and 15gpt. Chivlary at 100%= 32 turns.

Diplomacy
3800BC Meet Windoze(satan) to south
3600BC Meet Viroulogists( and they wont trade.
3300BC Meet Linux and they wont trade.
3250BC Meet Programmer and the same.
1475BC Meet Dell, they are behind by three techs vs all. Console is gone.
1200BC Establish embassy w/Dells and Satan.

Wars and other events.
30##BC See a Satan's settler with a warriar. We decided to attack since
Satan is building the Piramids so won't be able to counter and we
get two workers. Counter attack never happens. Eventually We sue
for peace giving myst for 40g.
2###BC My warrior with two slaves pop a settler from a GH. I did not think
this is possible. (I think this made a big difference in my game)
1675BC Pro warrior sneak attacked Miniton and the archer barely servive.
1650BC We establish embassy w/Linus and give monarchy for 9g and aliance
against Pro.
1500BC Livy says we are the happiest followed by Dell(?), Pro, Linux,Console
(?), Satan and Viro. This is good news . May be some flips to us?
1225BC Enter Middle Age. Established Emb with Dells and Satan (he has one
turn left on pyramid build).
1200BC Satan Built Piramids as I hoped. In 20 turns we will attack them.
(This did not happen as planned)

55 turns to build hanging gardens.
Still in war w/Pro

QSC
6 towns
4 Workers
3 Warriors
3 Archers
1 Hoplite
1 Gally
15 citizens

 

[PaperBeetle]

What, incidentally, was the predator handicap? The number/size of the AIs' bonus starting towns? I saw some pretty huge stacks of units and had massive flip problems. Until I got my first embassies, I assumed the predator handicap was to play more than one level higher, as we did in the American game...

The Plan
The Plan is very simple - set up a settler factory, build an infinite sprawl of cities, each of which does a barracks, and then an endless stream of swords. Plunge the swords repeatedly into the stricken body of the enemy. Even now, as I review The Plan, it sounds like it should work. It didn't work.

The Execution
I follow the shallow water east and found the capital SW of the game. This location can do six-turn settlers once the game is chopped. The galley heads north, and my first build is a curragh which heads south. I set research to Ironwork at full speed and trade Pots from Abe, so I can build my granary. I also trade for Burial in case I want to fight in culture, and Wheel and War Code in case I don't have iron to hand. Those are my only tech trades, as part of The Plan is to keep the world's science on the slow track.

The Crucial Resource
Research of Ironwork completes in 2800bc, and the second piece of The Plan falls into place; there is iron just a short way east of the capital. The granary also completes in 2800bc, to be followed by a hoplite and a settler. The second town, Glendale, is founded in 2350bc at RCP2 from the capital, bringing the iron into my territory. The first sword rolls out of the capital in 1910bc, and the next turn Cath demands 29g from me. How I laugh - that I, with my mighty swords, should be expected to give tribute to silly Cathy with her bad complexion and her bulgy eyes and her dozen towns.

Dawn of War
Having calmed down from my hysterics, I tell Cath how things are really going to be, and she dows. Of course, she is half a world away, so I don't actually expect to see any of her troops, and I can get other people to attack her on my behalf. And here we have the first big flaw of The Plan. The Plan doesn't involve getting Writing, so I have no embassies. But that's okay, because people will get annoyed with Russian troops trespassing on their land, and dow on them. Or maybe Cath will meet exciting new friends on her eastward journey, and invite them to join her war. Yep, Ragnar allies against me in 1575bc.

Testing My Mettle (or: Testing My Metal)
In the meantime, I have founded my third town, out towards the horses, and upgraded my axes. I now have six swords, with more on the way. When Viking archers start to arrive in 1500bc, I know it is time to see what my high-tech iron weapons are capable of. Wow, these things can kill archers! Specifically, it takes about two swords to take down an archer. It doesn't help that a lot of the fighting is being done on mountains, but still these aren't the kind of odds I was led to expect. I start to feel ill when Abe joins the war in 1250bc.

Terms for Peace
The instant that Abe joins the war, he dumps ten archers into the vicinity of my recently founded fourth town, G5. I have four swords in the area, which isn't going to be nearly enough to deal with ten archers, so after some head-scratching I hit upon the strategy which defines the rest of this war. I evacuate the swords and give the town to Ragnar in exchange for peace. The subsequent boot order lands my fleeing swords next to the American town of Sobig. Great - I can raze this town and buy myself better odds for peace with Abe! Err no, it takes three swords to kill one spear, and the town still has another spear and an archer. My last sword runs for his life as the archer Stack of Death storms to the defence of Sobig.

Late to the Party
In 1175bc, Otto finally joins the dogpile. I haven't seen much military activity from him, but he does have iron hooked up. Furthermore, I don't have a mountain range full of hoplites on my southern border, so my state of panic steps up yet another notch. But Otto never does make a concerted attack - I manage to distract some of his swords with a settler I had sent to grab the horses. The settler is finally cornered in 1000bc, so I found Intellimac and start shopping around for someone to give it to in exchange for peace.

QSC Stats
4 towns with 9 citizens and 55 tiles.
20 food in the bin, 41 shields in the box, 185g in the treasury.
1 granary, 1 barracks.
2 workers, 3 swords (1 vet, 1 elite), 1 galley, 7 hoplites (2 vets).
All first tier techs, Ironworking, Maths, 13 beakers of Writing.
4 contacts, no embassies.
Golden age in progress.

 

[PaperBeetle]

Another Peace Bribe
So I have a new town to give away. I count up my options. I still have three enemies: Russia, Germany and America. Russian troops have finally arrived on the scene, the hordes of American archers are still around, trying to find a way past my loose blockade of hoplites, and Germany has yet to make a significant sortie. And yet, it is Germany who I really fear. I can't afford to fight on two fronts and I can't stand up to swords. Otto gets the town.

Breathing Space
And maybe it was Abe who brought Otto into the war, because all of a sudden he is willing to give me peace too. He takes all my cash but also finishes my research on Writing. War with Russia continues, but that's okay; they give my swordsmen some much-needed practice. In 730bc, one of them discovers that the weapon is better used by holding the blunt end and stabbing with the sharp end! This new technique is so well received that he is asked to train up an Army of swords. For the first time in this game I feel like I have a bit of a safety net.

Taking the Initiative
With the sword army, I easily cut down the Russian troops - they are still mostly archers, although the AI has Feudalism by now, judging by the Sun Tzu builds which are starting around the world. In 530bc I give Cath peace for Mapping, and start thinking about going to war to actually try and expand my territory again. The best target looks like America; they still don't seem to have iron hooked up, and they have towns located in what ought to be my core (including the town which I gave to Ragnar - it flipped to Abe). I dow in 390bc.

Wondrous Technology
I quickly take three nearby American towns; one was an isolated settlement to my southeast, the other two give me control of the fertile mountain bowl east of my capital. I also get to see what these Americans are doing with their medieval techs. They have longbows! These things are like the bows that I have known about for thousands of years... only longer. My scientists are totally mystified as to how such a thing could exist, and estimate that it would take many centuries of dedicated research to reach that level of understanding. I tell them not to bother, and plough their wages back into my treasury.

War On / War Off
Abe also gets hold of iron and starts showing off his macemen, so I quickly give him peace before they can do any damage. The war ends four turns after it began, and I get Riding, Philosophy, Mysticism and Laws in the deal. In 150bc my attention turns south as I lose my first town via flipping, to the Germans. I immediately respond with a dow. The army is in the area, so I storm in and take the town right back. I can also bring Abe into this war by joining his fight with the Vikings. It costs me 17gpt too, but that's better than having him attack me again, and end up fighting two fronts.

Flipping Great
By 70bc I have taken another two German towns, one of which was built on iron; this town flips back in 10bc, and I wonder why I didn't raze it first time around. Next turn I lose another town to a flip. It's that blasted G5 again, the one I gave to Ragnar, flipped to Abe, recaptured by me, now flipped to Abe again! Lincoln, you just made my list. The German war ends abruptly in 90ad when Otto turns up with a big pack of medieval units. I lose my rep breaking the alliances, but I get Construction and Polytheism for my trouble.

The G5 War
Germany is at war with America, so his stack of death trundles off north through my land. I can't afford to give Otto ROP as my territory is still miniscule, but I would like to join this war so I can get G5 back. I let the Germans attack the muskets in G5 for a turn, then dow on Abe (230ad) and swoop in to take the town back for myself. Next the Germans trudge over to Sasser and kill some defenders there. Thank you Otto, I'll have that one too. All seems to be going well until 290ad, when I get a flip. And it's... G5! Take it back immediately. Then in 320ad, I get a flip. And it's er, let me think, G5? Why yes. And this time Otto captures it before I can get troops over there . If I be Ahab, then this town be Moby Dick.

Better Late Than Never
I have only gained one town in this war so far, but my military is getting rather thin from fighting muskets, so I finally realise it is way past time to leave the ancient age. Research is cranked up to get Currency ASAP (techs are really cheap when you are last place, huh?), and for the first time, I manage to pull the DaveMcW Tech Trick. On the 320/330ad interturn the medieval splash screen comes up, I go to the big picture and give Abe peace and lots of cash, and he gives me Engineering and Monotheism. My free tech is second tier Theology . Of course, I would still have preferred Feudalism, but that's life...