COTM14 Second Spoiler - early MA and Southern Hemisphere

[solenoozerec]

I finished this game in MA (as always on non-deity games), but due to spoiler limitations I will post in the next spoiler.
Just one bit of information: I did not manage to get GA

 

[Jove]

I demanded frankfurt to get them angry, and they actually gave it to me.

Awesome! What determines when AI will give in to demands, and how much, I don't really understand. Anything unusual about your world at this time?

 

[Puppeteer]

Open Class
Mods: NoAIpatrol=0, smiley popHeads, CivAssist II
Link to first spoiler

Quick recap of first spoiler: decided on space race goal, founded on the spot, granary-settler-colossus while german spears stomped by. Research order BW-Writing-CoL-Phil picking up others in trades/pointy-stick. Used colossus GA to build 1-turn archers from London and beat down Germany until he gave me everything but he could then took a couple of teleported workers in tech & lux trade. Wanted Rep slingshot and GLH as well as colossus but Dutch built GLH and I didn't have MM in the first spoiler. I met only Germany and Spain because I sacrificed expansion and exploration to grow London and barely had enough to beat down Germany. I ended the spoiler w/3 native cities, 3 captured cities and a settler.

I founded a city on the western hills so I could irrigate the western peninsula. To my surprise I still got the Republic slingshot and started researching Lit since I knew MM was out there somewhere. I revolted in the IT and had 4 turns after that. London was going to starve, but I let it go into disorder instead of starving and got away without losing any buildings.

I think I only had 4 to 6 curraghs so far; none sank in the sea and my first two suicide runs found N hemisphere civs. I didn't meet barb galleys until after 1000Bc even though GLH had been built for centuries, so I was able to meet all the civs before the barb galleys really started causing me problems.

I was able to trade myself to the top of the tech race. I got Lit at monopoly and didn't even have to trade it or Republic to get out of the AA. I started researching Currency after Lit and traded so all I had left was Monarchy and currency, but I'm don't need Monarchy because I'm not going to get HG. About this time civs started warring with each other a lot, including Spain vs. France in my hemisphere. At the time neither had writing but Spain was up to Monarchy. Come to think of it that was before the tech trading because while they were at war I "gifted" Joan writing for 3g so I could trade CoL and Phil to her for Construction and Poly, I think. Joan was less powerful, so I didn't even up Spain in trade so Joan could sue for peace with her techs if necessary.

After finishing Currency I went MA. I gifted OCC no-contact Germany into MA and they got Engineering. I traded him Republic and Lit for Engineering and shortly thereafter DoW'd on him. Surprisingly he had managed to get a settler and some military built during the 20-turn peace treaty and had a elite spear/settler pair strolling through my territory. I started the war a tad earlier than I wanted, but I wanted to kill the settler before he made a city, and after peeking in on his city I thought he was light on military. He was stronger than I thought, but I had good RNG luck plus good tactical opportunities so I wiped him out in short order taking over Leipzig and eliminating Germany from the game. To my surprise there was a galley in Leipzig; I'm surprised he got one built so fast in addition to the other stuff he built with one city in 20 turns. Glad I got him before he settled another island.

The last attack on Germany netted a leader, but I don't know what to do with him. I thought I'd make an army, but I don't expect to be in battle for a long time now, and HE can't be built without an army win, so Edward's chillin' in London for now.

I believe I still have Currency, Lit and Republic at monopoly. I definitely have Engineering at monopoly since I'm the only MA civ. (Germany who?)

Somewhere in here I build MoM in London just ahead of the Dutch. I had met them and built an embassy and saw that they were going to beat me to it until I MM'ed and quick-built a mine on a hill. I started it for the happiness and because at the time it started London had nothing else useful to build. I had to race William just to avoid losing the shield investment.

I'm way ahead in tech, but at this point my expansion is so stunted that I doubt I'm researching as fast as half the other civs. London is at size 12 making 20-24spt depending on MM, and I've been wasting tons of shields since I don't need archers and spears. I thought trebs were 40s but they're 30, so I stopped building after one or two of those. Depending on my next goal I may build archers and then disband them in other cities for shields...I think that's still better than cash rushing especially since I'm spending all I can on research. York is just now starting to become decently productive since I quit taking settlers out. Woolmer Green is on Settler duty now, but I want to get him off that soon because it's going to be my 3rd big city. The 3 big ones should be science monsters with the rivers and coast...that's the plan, anyway.

I have to decide if I want to settle other islands. I don't have iron, but I'm not going to need it except for maybe a few island-guard troops and then for rails when that comes. My plan is to stay ahead in tech, so I can trade tech for resources when I really need them. If I stay on one island I can better get away with spears and horses for island defense. If I spread to another island I'm more likely to get DoW'd on and lose a city. If I can't think of a must-have resource I'll probably just stay on my original island and turn it into a super science isle.

I'm not usually a wonder builder, but London is building too fast and too wasteful that I'll probably build wonders to give it something to do after the other cities have had some disbanded-archer-from-London help; I'll focus on happy wonders like Sistine and Bach's. I want Shakespeare's, but I'm not sure yet if I want to research 3 optional techs to do it; then again I may go Democracy this game for the space race goal.

I'm researching Mono and then going Theology and Education. After that I usually like Banking but may go FA for Bach's, Astronomy for sea trades or PP & Demo for Democracy and a shot at Shakespeare's. I have time to decide.

Also, after the first spoiler I was reading SGs and relearned that you can run deficit spending and not get screwed if all your money is demanded because you can click on the advisor to get to the advisor screens and adjust science so your cash flow isn't negative before giving into the demand. Thanks DocT! So while I was always running a surplus in the first spoiler I've been mostly running defecits since then and have almost no cash. Surprisingly nobody has made a demand yet. This is Emperor, right?

EDIT: Can you rush palace with a leader and then switch that build to a great wonder?

EDIT 2: Some dates:

3500 BC: Border expansion, see blue border
3150 BC: Contact w/Germany
2800 BC: York (2 cities)
2070 BC: Colossus finished, GA started
1450 BC: GA ends, attack Germany
1425 BC: Auto-Raze Munich
1375 BC: Capture Berlin (3 cities)
1200 BC: Auto-Raze Frankfurt, found Woolmer Green (4 cities)
1100 BC: Contact w/Spain
1050 BC: Peace w/Germany results in OCC for Bismarck, get Hamburg & Konigsberg (6 cities)
1025 BC: Nottingham (7 cities)
975 BC: Contact w/France
925 BC: Republic gained via slingshot
825 BC: Become Republic after 4.5 turn anarchy
800 BC: Contact [?]
670 BC: Contact [?]
650 BC: Contact [?]
610 BC: MoM built
570 BC: Germany 20-turn peace ends, Enter MA
510 BC: Attack Germany & Contact [?] now contact w/all civs
410 BC: Germany elimated, got leader as Leipzig captured (8 cities)
390 BC: Hastings (9 cities)
250 BC: Watton-at-Stone (10 cities)
210 BC: Get FP message and rush-build FP with MGL from German war
150 BC: Canterbury (11 cities)
-note: all my cities through 150 BC are on the original isle and loosely spaced...there are even about 4 land tiles not in a city radius.

 

[Redbad]

Can you rush palace with a leader and then switch that build to a great wonder?

No, you can rush a palace, but then you can't switch it to a Great Wonder. No improvement that has been hurried, may it be great leader, forest chop, disbanding or cash/pop-rushing, can be switched to a great wonder.

 

[sanabas]

Awesome! What determines when AI will give in to demands, and how much, I don't really understand. Anything unusual about your world at this time?

Nothing special. I was more powerful than germany, I was in a position to hurt them, and a size 1 corrupt city with no culture or resources was low enough to hand over. Problem with demands is knowing where to set the line. Easy with trades/peace treaties, as your advisor will say yes/no, but you only get 1 shot with demands, and it's just guesswork as to whether you demand too much/not enough. Demand 1 gold, and you'll probably get it a lot of the time. Demand a big city on a resource, and you won't. I usually only demand stuff as a way to antagonise AIs, and usually only demand 1 or 2 small, outlying cities, or occasionally try for a cheap tech. Sometimes they cough up, and 95% of those times I go to war anyway.

 

[Perugia]

Things are going well and more or less to plan.

In 975BC Berlin completed the MoM so I switched London to Great Lighthouse. I then sold Republic to Otto for Horseback riding which I passed on to Spain for some pleasantly smelling luxury. The very next turn I cancelled the Alliance with Spain and made peace with France getting Poly and 31g for HBR and CoL. Sold France the Republic for dyes. Upgraded 3 chariots to horsemen.

Currency came in in 925BC but Spain won't yet deal so we start learning construction ourselves to reduce the cost. In 900BC the Dutch completed GL so we switched London to ToA thanks to trade from France 2 turns back. Other temple builds switched to Markets. Germany became a Republic and we enterred a 3-turn anarchy.

Just before DoW on Germany we gifted them Poly and Currency to move them closer to MA. A worker also landed on the gems and started roading. I have since learnt that to speed this up I could have build a colony before the town was founded.

In 850BC we DoW on Germany and Archer/Horse/Catapult army killed the spear and warrior in our territory yieldig up two German workers. A spear/archer/horse army headed into the mountain south of the one island lake and captured two workers. The next turn they captured Frankfurt.

In 800BC the English Republic was formed.

In 775BC Spain learned Monarchy and started HG.

In the next three turns we traded into the MA by selling spain some furs, 5gpt and currency for part researched construction. Now going for Literature as fast as possible for some culture science boost and growing the river towns to cities to reduce military costs.

Made peace with Germany for two towns leaving them with 3 plus one on the western island. While at peace I gifted them into the MA and they gor Mono as the free tech. I read on the Military Academy that there is no reputation hit for breaking peace deal so I will give it a try and redeclare as soom as I have 4 catapults just outside the border of their hill/silk city.

I had a narrow escape from the barb iron island after my 3/3 spear with a catapult became 2/5 when attacked by the massive barbarian uprising. They took out about 5 barbs before being picked up by an evacuation galley which itself was redlined by three barb ones. They are now healing in Warwick Gems. As soon as the Germans are broken I will make peace for all they have including Monotheism and ship out most of the army to deal with the remaining barbs and get the iron (via a colony) and make other contacts.

I also have a settler ready to make first city on the large island directly to the to east - this will be a canal city in the north to speed up ship movement to the iron/gem islands.

 

[IronKnight]

The Starting Island
2nd German war started when Germany out of the blue attacks Hamburg (British). It was their only move left as they had become boxed in by England, with no coastal cities and nowhere else to go. Germany is destroyed in 1250 BC. I now work to fill up the starting island and continue exploration. Became a Republic in 350 BC.

Expansion
An early curragh had spotted the gem island, so my first galley took a settler there. Built Oxford in 610 BC (The Gem Island). Being an emperor game, I wanted all the luxuries I could find! I was not able to secure an iron source in the southern hemisphere.

Kuningas – I like your culture timeline for London. It was interesting to study. I want to try and keep track of that for my future games. Thanks!

 

[denyd]

Edit: Removed story as it was mostly about events post 1st level MA techs. I'll re-post on the appropriate thread.

 

[Puppeteer]

No, you can rush a palace, but then you can't switch it to a Great Wonder. No improvement that has been hurried, may it be great leader, forest chop, disbanding or cash/pop-rushing, can be switched to a great wonder.

Thanks. I shoulda known that, but I guess I was hoping too much. I wound up rushing the FP with the leader since I plan on avoiding wars for a while.

By the way, I updated my post above with milestone dates.

 

[civ_steve]

Barbs still "fixed"

Continuing on from 1000 BC; in pursuit of a 20K OCC win!

I did complete the MoM in 975 BC, giving me a 3rd Wonder. Lit was researched in 925 BC, and a partially rushed Library complete on the same turn. Great Library would take 16 turns, and was completed in 570 BC. A Coliseum was cash rushed in 550 BC (started out by spending 80 Gold for a Warrior, then 440 Gold for the remainder.) Great Library gave me the remaining Techs in 510 BC, putting me in the Middle Ages.

Along the way, I did contact Sumeria, my last civ to find. France and Spain were at war, and Spain destroyed in 610 BC! At this point, the Dutch and Babylon are at war. I completed a Harbor, too, and have been able to trade my 4 Furs for 4 other Luxuries; even my last Fur is being traded! I don't gain an extra Luxury this way, but I do gain trading points and happier AI by doing the trade.

Regarding Strategic resources, I have been able to make a trade with France for Horses. I haven't been able to build any, but by establishing the trade I should be able to continue it at Future times. Iron isn't currently available, but I'll look for an opportunity at some point.

Upon entering the MidAges, I gifted Currency to Germany. He got a Free Monotheism. Sumeria got a Free Engineering. I traded Lit, Monarchy and 205 Gold to Germany for Mono, then Mono, Lit and Republic to Sumeria for Engineering. Then Traded Engineering to Germany to get my 205 Gold back. So I'm not quite up to 2nd tier yet, but I guess that's far enough to qualify for this Spoiler.

Here's a screen shot of my one city - London. Lot's of Germans crawling around the neighborhood! The German Horse is part of a 1 Horse, 1 Archer, 2 Settler stack, so I'm feeling fairly safe that they're just looking for city sites.

And here's a list of my cultural buildings and progress up to 510 BC:

4000 BC 1 cpt Palace
2750 BC 4 cpt Temple (2 Forest chops)
1650 BC 9 cpt Colossus
1350 BC 13 cpt Oracle
975 BC 15 cpt Museum of Masollos
925 BC 18 cpt Library (partial cash rush)
570 BC 27 cpt Great Library
550 BC 29 cpt Coliseum (short cash rush to Warrior; then cash rush to complete)

I have 834 culture in London at 510 BC.

It would have been sweet to get Ivory and complete SofZ, but the Vikings finished that before we had Harbors. I also missed the Hanging Gardens; the TofA cascade caused that to go away. I still had a monopoly on Literature at the end of the AA, so it might have been possible to finish HG first, then GLib; that's also pretty risky.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Open

After entering the Middle Ages in 690BC i set about trying to secure the iron source in the southern island. I found Dover in 550BC near the iron, but I had a stack of approximately 25 barb horses to deal with. It would be some time before I managed to get the iron hooked up. I learn Feudalism and after I am satisfied the Germans can't get near the iron i gift them into the Middle Ages, they also get Feudalism - doh!

Eventually, a few of my galleys make it through the barbarian straits and meet the other civs. I have all contacts by 270BC. Now I decide that I'll probably go for a conquest victory, so after researching Chivalry, I head towards Navigation and Economics (Smith's - for GA purposes). I don't intend to build the UU in this game. I set up a few phony wars with the northern hemisphere and negotiate a few alliances to keep them busy until I get round to them. Just as I am stockpiling troops near the German border for a swift assault, the Spanish land a couple of horses near our iron city. I ask them to leave, they declare. I only see a couple of Spanish warriors land after this, and the war happiness is greatly appreciated, so I let the war continue. I get France in to keep them busy - hopefully they'll have left their island nice and war-torn by the time I get to it. I finally declare war on Germany in 30BC.

It seems that the Germans only built one horse in the entire time they had them hooke up, so I figured this war would be quite quick. But I was wrong, I had terribly bad luck with the RNG - my stack of approximately 10-12 knights should have been able to deal with 4-5 cities, but they ran into lots of trouble. My game picks up a little when I get a leader in 170AD - use him for knight army. Only put two knights in so that I can transport by caravel to Spain later on...

My conquest of the lower hemisphere isn't going as quickly as I planned. Perhaps a new goal should be chosen...

 

[Gato Loco]

COTM 14 – Open class – going for fastest win I can manage, probably diplo

I entered the middle ages in 975 BC sharing the starting island with Germany. Having recently gotten map making, I began shuttling settlers to the two large islands nearby, as well as a few little islands. Pirates weren’t much of a problem, and I had no trouble contacting all the other civs, including the northern hemisphere, allowing some profitable tech trades. I tended to be very generous in the trades in order to catch everybody up, since I have no intention of invading the northern hemisphere.
Island colonization is a very long-term investment, so my tech pace slowed at this point compared to other civs that had larger home islands without neighbors. Spain overran France and became the major southern hemisphere power. I don’t think I’ll be messing with them anytime soon. Germany, on the other hand, stayed on the island and stagnated.
Since iron was still a ways off, and on an island with a massive stack of barbs, I took a pass on chivalry and beelined toward MT, hoping to finish off the Germans with cavalry. However, on discovering gunpowder I realized that we were also bereft of saltpeter. In fact, the nearest saltpeter was just beyond the island with the iron, and also infested with barbarians. Looks like I’ll have to go barb hunting…

 

[Perugia]

Following on from my post #26 in this thread, I banished Otto from the starting island in 210BC following two more wars. There doesn't seem to be any reputation hit for breaking peace treaties. We got one leader from the war that rushed the FP in a new city in the centre of the larger island to the SE.

Meanwhile a galley with one warrior on board sailed N from Germany and spent two turns in the open ocean before sighting land and meeting some more civs who were very backward. I traded them up and they got both monotheism and feudalism for free so there was some good deals to be made. I am researching the lower path but am resisting letting the Vikings have invention as long as possible because it may make them too powerful on this map and I want to keep a balance of power in the North. .

It took me until 230AD to have a fleet of galleys loaded with 2 spears, 1 warrior, 1 longbow, and 6 trebuchets ready to land on the iron island and I easily forced a beachhead against the 25+ barbs. The barb horsemen all ended their turns on the mountains which allowed room for us to land on the plains. Only a few barbs were able or willing to attack my stack and they were easily repulsed. I had horsemen, worker and settler ready to reinforce from the gem island.

 

[stagnate]

Reputation hits are transferred with contact, so if Germany hasn't met anyone (and in most of the games they were pretty stunted) then word of your misdeeds doesn't spread.

However, when they do make contact it'll get out, so if reputation is important you want to destroy them before they can make contact.

 

[Perugia]

Reputation hits are transferred with contact, so if Germany hasn't met anyone (and in most of the games they were pretty stunted) then word of your misdeeds doesn't spread. However, when they do make contact it'll get out, so if reputation is important you want to destroy them before they can make contact.

Thanks for that - you are of course quite right - but I knew that already and still decided not to destroy Germany as I tyring to see for myself that breaking a peace deal doesn't counts as a rep hit. According to what Microbe said in the War Academy:, I don't think I have any misdeeds.

Peace treaty reputation

Well, there is no such a thing. It means if you sign or renew a peace treaty and declare within 20 turns, you do not incur a rep hit, unless by doing so you break a gpt deal (within the same peace treaty or not).

So you could attack an AI, sign peace and get several cities, and break it immediately without a rep hit.

So far my reputation is intact even though Germany has some contacts.

 

[DBear]

QSC spoiler

Crowded

In 975BC Warwick is founded on the s peninsula.
In 875BC the Germans build Heidelburg on the
island to the w. Several wonders are built at
this time by others.

The horses are connected in 800BC. In 690BC we
see that the Germans have some, too. In 670BC
we learn poly, start HB. Trade Poly to France
for math + 55. Trade math to Spain for philo.
At this time we build Liverpool on the 2-tile
island to the se. Next turn we trade Germany
poly for HB, silks + 54. Start researching
.

In 570BC I started a :suicide: run.. The galley
finds the Dutch in 510BC and they have iron
nearby.

The Great Library

Also in 510BC, London finishes the GL and Spain
finishes Artemis. The GL starts paying off next
turn as we pick up law + construct. Meanwhile,
Spain and France had been at war.

I found Newcastle on the isthmus, just n of the
sugar, between them in no-man's-land, creating a
buffer between them. Spain tries to drag us into
the war, we refuse. What do we have to send?

The galley sails on and finds the Babylonians,
who are backward. In 330BC we pick up currency
and move into the Medieval Age.

Founding a republic

In 310BC the Dutch pick up monarchy, so I know
the GL will get it for us next turn. I turn off
research and go into anarchy next turn, get 6
turns of anarchy. Meanwhile, we build Oxford on
island e of Liverpool.

Just before the anarchy ends, we pick up Republic
and switch over to it. Also at this time we hail
a Sumerian galley. They are ahead Feud. We don't
know where Sumeria is, yet. Next turn we open
an embassy to Babylon.

The colonization race

While exploring the island chain, our galley gets
sunk by barbs. Cambridge is built in 70BC, starts
a harbor. Germans are colonizing the e side of
the island. In 50AD, we found Exeter in the
middle of the island to try to flip the German
cities. This would end up for naught. Just
before that we had picked up Feud.

Brighton is built in 150 on the gem island to the
e. Cambridge starts FP, but will take centuries
to complete. In 230 we pick up Mono, Engineer
AND chiv! Sumeria and Netherlands are the tech
suppliers at this time.

 

[PaperBeetle]

The War Years (1000bc - 440ad)

The end of the QSC finds the English Republic stockpiling chariots, ready to pounce on Germany. I trade Riding from Otto and can upgrade 6 chariots, but that's only half my army, and my support costs are so high that I'm not making any cash. I procrastinate a while, building horses, while I plan my campaign.

In 875bc Germany has a town on the nearest western island; I follow suit in 850bc, my first off-continent settlement. I send a couple of horses over there, ready to take the german town. I also give Otto Republic in 800bc to hinder his rushing ability.

In 775bc, Germany is in anarchy, and I dow, razing the island town. I have 9 horses on the mainland which pile into Germany. They are headed for the mountain next to Berlin. They aren't enough. I should have done my maths; from my embassy, I know he had at least 4 spears in there, but I thought that doubling his numbers should give me a fair chance at success. 5 dead horses later, I have succeeded in taking a hit point or two off his defenders. My campaign is shattered.

Okay, so Berlin will have to wait. I turn west to Konigsberg. Another two horses are lost, but I capture the town in 610bc. It flips back in 550bc. War weariness is hitting in, and I try my last avenue of attack: Frankfurt, on Germany's southern coast. Two horses down and it is mine in 510bc. Finally I seem to be gaining ground. Leipzig falls in 430bc.

In the meantime, France, Spain and I have all been settling filler towns on the various islands in the southern hemisphere. This is obviously a source of tension, as Spain dows in 370bc, capturing a town on a shared island. I immediately buy France into the war, and give Otto peace in return for Konigsberg and a ROP; he hasn't met the other guys yet, so I will rape him soon, but first I want his free tech.

I bring Otto into the medieval in 330bc, and he gets Engineering. He's not very interested in my optional ancient techs, so I have to wait until 70bc to trade him Feudalism. The ROP is raped in 30bc, with the capture of Hamburg in the north, and in 10ad the fall of Berlin marks the end of Germany.

Contact with the north is made when they start settling the northern Barb Isles. I have been active on the southern side, claiming the gems, and failing to make a landing on the impregnable iron island. Sailing north, I meet Ragnar in 260ad, Gilgamesh in 270ad, Ham in 280ad, and finally Will in 350ad. They are a tech or two ahead, but I can catch up quite easily, getting Invention in 270ad and Chivalry in 350ad.

The Spanish war has progressed slowly, but Bella has not tried any offensive action since 370bc, so I have picked off several island settlements. The first mainland victory comes in 370ad, as I capture Spain's peninsula town, Barcelona. I want to keep this town as a base of operations, as it is the mainland town closest to England.

The next city west is Cadiz; size 12 on a hill and containing the Gardens and controlling incense. That'll help with the war weariness. I have been shipping trebuchets and horses to the hills south of Cadiz, and despite its formidable defense, it is taken in 390ad. Three turns later it flips, taking out some healing units, while my stack marches on Madrid. The stack turns and recaptures Cadiz at the loss of most of my best horses. I am overextended, so I bring the army back to garrison Cadiz, and in 430ad I give Bella peace for Theology, breaking my alliance with France.

In 440ad Cadiz flips for the second time, finishing off the bulk of my offensive military. At least my trebuchets were withdrawn to Barcelona. Things look pretty bleak. 800 years of war have gained me virtually no power, but left my infrastructure underdeveloped, while in the north Sumeria is cruising to a cultural victory - possibly even a 20k in Ur. Where can I go from here?

 

[Dynamic]

PREDATOR

No much details but...

This game I try to win by pure Conquest without reaching Domination Limit, so may be my score will not be so high.
I not settled on the islands and only rush my science and military.
I built FP in York in 925BC and some libraries in the cities. My goal was Navigation for free trade, maps and shortest ocean way for Caravels.

After entering in MA Germany wasn't needed anymore and after collecting horsemen I killed them in 570BC. I hadn't Iron and can't capture it because of barbs so I sent to the France about 20 horsemen. Without PoP I must attack without preparing but It was successful and I kill them in 390BC (use peace for cities and immediately attack again).
I got my first Leader from this war.
In the same turn I reached Navigation and stopped my science for ever. I got all maps and at first time saw the free Iron (without barbs and AI). My next goal is to capture it and upgrade to Knights.

 

[hendrikszoon]

In 1000BC the second German war started. First target of the English Horsemen was London which was captured in 975BC, followed by Hamburg (900BC) and Leipzig (875BC). For peace (850BC) I got Frankfurt. In the same turn the last German town Konigsberg was captured and so the Germans were wiped from the map. Then same procedure (peace for a town, capturing the last town in the same turn) was later also used at the end of the other wars.

In the same year Oxford was founded on the only Iron island of the Southern hemisphere. Only two tiles from Oxford a Barbarian camp was located, but these Barbarians didn't attack Oxford. It seems to me that because of the mountains they didn't see the unprotected town. Together with the Settler, who founded Oxford, an Worker was landed. This Worker started immediately to connect the Iron. Parallel a Harbor was build in Oxford.

In 900BC the Spanish made an attempted extortion resulting in the first Spanish war. After finishing with the Germans I sent my Horsemen to the Spanish front. For a fast transfer a galley chain was used. I had enough galleys because London became an one turn Galley factory in the Golden Age. In 710BC Barcelona was captured. I was not interested to fight only with Horsemen (too much losses), I wanted to fight with Knights. So I made peace in the same turn. The price, Spain had to pay, was Manzanares.

In 900BC Feudalism and in 710BC Chivalry were researched. At this moment I stopped all further research.

In 610BC the great offensive began. I had decided to start a two wings offensive. Both wings should meet at the Sumerian-Scandinavian island. One wing should conquer Spain and France on its way, the other one the Netherlands and Babylon. So the first victims were Spain and the Netherlands. To engage parts of the Spanish and Dutch troops on other battle fields I signed Military Alliances with France (vs. Spain) and Babylon (vs. the Netherlands).

The supply to both battle fields was sent by galley chaining, at which the galley chain to the Dutch-Babylonian island was a suicid one. Warriors, Archers and Spearmen do not have a real chance against Knights. The only serious enemy unit were the Dutch Ancient Cavalries. The Statue of Zeus was created in 800BC in Rotterdam which was captured in 490BC. So SoZ only produced three Dutch Ancient Cavalries. The attack of an Elite Knight to Rotterdam produced my second Leader. The first one appeared on the Spanish battle field (610BC). Both Leaders were used to build Knight Armies. The Leader appeared in the Spanish war became a Three-Knights-Army, but the other one an One-Knight-Army, which could transported by a galley.

Spain was defeated in 450BC. The Netherlands followed two turns later. So the next step of my strategic plan could start: the throw down of my present allies France and Babylon.

The French resistance was not very strong. France was defeated in 230BC. The Babylonian resistance was a little bit stronger. Not before 150BC the last Babylonian town was captured. In the same year (150BC) I tried to get a bridge-head on the Sumerian-Scandinavian island. But this trial was only a half success.

Then in 90BC also the Sumerian war started with the capture of Zabalam. While my Knights coming from the Babylonian war were advancing across the islands, the Knights coming from the French war landed at the south coast of the Sumerian-Scandinavian island. So Sumeria and Scandinavia were attacked from three sides.

Main target now was Sumeria, because they had researched Gunpowder and had an Saltpeter ressource connected. So they were able to build Musketmen. But also Musketmen are not a problem for three Knights Armies (I got two further Leaders and had to leave one Army on the Spanish-French island). In 130AD Sumeria was defeated and Scandinavia was reduced to one town.

It was possible to finish the game with Conquest victory in 170AD, but I decided to milk the game a little bit. Every turn I got around 60 Firaxis points. My estimation for the MaxScore was 12000. So in every turn I got a ScoreBonus of 50 points while loosing around 38 DateBonus points. In sum I earned estimated 12 JasonPoints per turn.

But "milking" mades no fun. So after 10 turns - at this I was close to Domination limit - I finished the game with the following result:
Conquest victory in 320AD
FiraxisScore: 11160
JasonScore: 12368

 

[leopalas]

@hendrikszoon: First, let me congratulate you, in advance, on your more than probable, gold medal But, enlighten me, as i know little about the maths involved there, how did you know that you would gain by "milking" a few more turns, and how did u get the "50 bonus-38 finish date"? If it is too hard to explain would u be kind enough to point me out a spoiler/thread where i could understand it. Its just that i feel that not knowing anything about this things really hurts my game sometimes... Thanks in advance