The Ancient Age
My early expansion went well; I made good use of all the fresh water, running a four-turn settler factory, and I expanded west to grab both horses and ivory. I met the trans-Roman civs late, as I didn't have any early coastal towns, and wasn't prepared to risk sending an axe through Roman land. The last two contacts, Holland and Egypt, were actually made at the start of the medieval. Research was not directed towards the Republic slingshot, as I did not plan to use that government. Instead I leaned towards the Mathematical techs, and was rewarded with good trades which brought me into the medieval era in 850bc. I was still a despot, and still at peace.
Revolution, Not Evolution
My first medieval research priority is a proper government. I am tired of oppressing my people... so I appoint an aristocracy to do it for me. After a gruelling 19 turns of research, I get Feudalism in 450bc, and roll up a six-turn anarchy. I am ready to attack the Romans, but I don't particularly want to start a war while I am in anarchy, as I will also trigger my golden age. My patience is not rewarded; Rome builds The Wall on the same interturn that I establish my new government
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The Golden Age
Never mind about The Wall. I dow anyway, and take two towns in the ivory/horse area, kicking off my golden age in 330bc. Next up is the iron town Veii; I don't actually have much use for iron, but it is important to wean Caesar off the legionaries. Meanwhile, the southern hemisphere civs are researching strongly, which isn't what I want. I decide to distract them with some wars, so I dow on Holland and Germany in 250bc, forgetting that these are precisely the two civs that I have per-turn trades with. Rep? Who needs it? I bring Cleo and Ragnar into these wars with first-tier medieval techs. The Egyptians and Vikings would prove to be my staunchest allies for much of the next thousand years. Not so Carthage, who join the war against me at the request of the Dutch.
Rome
Despite brutal losses at the gates of Rome, I take the city in 150bc, and with it The Wall. The writing is on the wall for Caesar now, and I take about one town per turn until the Romans are destroyed in 50ad. During this period, the AI has a minor wonder spree: Holland builds Sun Tzu, and the resulting cascade leaves Germany with the Great Library and Templars. My own Great Works department comes up with a Forbidden Palace, which I build in my core's gems town. I want to put a library in here to keep my research in a high gear. By the end of the golden age (70ad) I have followed the bottom branch of the tech tree as far as Gunpowder. As I said before, I have little need for iron: I skipped Chivalry, planning to go straight for cavalry. After all, I would rather have seven braves than three knights, for the same shield cost.
Carthage
Having finished off Rome, I turn my attention to the Carthaginians, with who I am still at war. Although the numidian is a good counter to the brave, their empire is not large enough to stand up to my forces. I march down the west coast, again at the rate of one town per turn. By 280ad, Hanni is banished to a single town on the Scandinavian coast. Rather impressively, these two civs have managed not to actually meet yet, so I am unable to set Ragnar onto Carthage. By now, I have made peace with Will, and bought him into the war against my next target, Otto.
Germany
In 310ad I take my first German town, and discover Metallurgy. Mil Trad will be another 8 turns, but rather worryingly, the Dutch (still the best AI researchers) are also taking the bottom branch of the tech tree, so I won't necessarily have superior military technology.
In 320ad, things start getting hectic. Holland builds Leonardo. The Carthaginians and Vikings meet, and Hanni dows on Ragnar! Crazy - he only has one town, which the Vikings take in 340ad. Things are afoot in Greece too. Alex has been fairly well-disposed towards me so far, but he has an extremely suspicious stack of doom (19 units) marching through Holland and into my Carthago-German province. There's nothing he can be headed for except my towns, so I give him a boot order, and get a dow. I give Will 20gpt for war with Greece, and he pulls the SoD apart for me. I only have to pay that 20g once though; in 330ad, Will breaks our new alliance and dows on me! Most everybody seems to be at war with everybody else, just the way I like it.
Back at the German front, 370ad brings me the Templars, and by 390ad, Germany has only one town left, safe behind Dutch lines.
Holland
The AIs are now making and breaking alliances against each other at a furious rate, but I try to keep my own friends on side: the basic plan is Iro, Egypt and Scandinavia against Holland and Greece. The invasion of Holland is a painfully slow business. The German-Dutch border is a band of forests and mountains with few roads, and trying to cross it exposes my troops to counterattacks from the Dutch knights. Furthermore, troops making it as far as Dutch towns have to contend with swiss pikes, but in 520ad, I finally get hold of Sun Tzu, located in The Hague. At the same time Greek cavalries are starting to work their way through Holland and they briefly take a town from me. They seem to be using Dutch roads, so I guess they are allied now. I'll have to do something about that.
Turbulent Times
In 560ad I am ready to finish off the Germans, so I arrange a lot of peace/war deals which get me a couple of techs (Banking, Navi and Physics), slaves, hard cash, and gpt from my friends. Well, they aren't my friends for long! After 860 years of close collaboration, Cleo stabs me in the back, switching to the Dutch side of the war. Unfortunately for Egypt, they are before Holland in the turn order, so I get to move before Cleo. I start by razing one of her border towns, and whip up some more units in the Roman and Carthago-German provinces.
The next turn, Ragnar dows on me too, apparently unprovoked! Well that's bad, because I fear his berserks, so I switch some core builds to pikes. The Vikings have been concentrating on cavalry though: they land a couple in Germany, and my counterattack finally brings me my first leader. I wish I had been counting elite wins - my guess is that I would be in triple figures by now. Obviously, I form a cavalry army, and head off into Egypt
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Egypt
My first victorious battle with the army is in 680ad, and I immediately start building the Epic by hand. The same turn, I get another leader for fighting off Dutch landing parties in Germany: another army is formed. Egypt is not strong enough to stand against these monsters, and it falls apart with some speed. Cleo is finished in 710ad, and I give Ragnar peace that turn too, in exchange for his help against Alex. I then accidentally give Alex peace, and am back to war with Ragnar! Oops. The Vikings do actually manage to capture Rome for a turn by landing three cavalries in the province, which is totally undefended, but I take it back straight away. Will is also put out of his misery, with the last Dutch town falling in 740ad.
Greece
In 750ad, Alex researches Economics, and thus seals his fate: he could have done Gravity to enter the industrial era, and maybe get Nationalism free. But no, he just volunteered for my first ROP rape of the game. The ROP with Greece is signed in 760ad, which allows me land access to Scandinavia: I raze a border town and give Ragnar peace in 800ad, getting ROP with him too.
The next turn, I rape the Greek ROP. I didn't yet have all my troops in the area, so I concentrated on the towns which looked like the best researchers, including Knossos, home of Copernicus. It is still important that Greece be kept well away from the industrial era. In that first turn, I capture three towns, and raze three. By 840ad, the Greeks are no more.
Scandinavia
After a couple of turns resting up in the ruins of Greece, my forces are ready to move on into Scandinavia. This time, I have more units in place, and the rape is more devastating. I kick off in 890ad, capturing three towns and razing nine in the first turn.
And that is all they have to offer! Conquest victory is declared in 900ad. 8307 Firaxis points make for 10216 Jasons.
near the capital (I shadowed the galley for 4 turns with a MW).
