Food Bonus Bonanza
I send the worker up the mountain. He reveals the moo of course, but peering intently into the fog reveals something in the south. Thinking it might be a wheat, I decide to settle so as to get both food bonuses. Of course, it turns out to be game, but that's pretty much the same difference. I settle 2SW, and draw up a spreadsheet that goes axe > worker > granary (2710bc), and four-turn settlers thereafter. I send the axe to explore westwards, both because I am on the eastern side of the minimap, and because I can see another river (with flooding) in the west, which will probably be a good place to expand to. I settle Orleans up on the northwest coast in amongst three food bonuses, with the intention of making another settler/worker factory.
The Wrath of Mount Utica
Lyons is founded at the rivermouth to the east, with a remit to build curraghs for exploration. Happily the location is not next to the volcano; it goes active twice in the early game, blowing without warning in 2510bc, and again in 2230bc. On neither occasion does it strike the furs, which is nice, though for the second erruption (which was preceded by smoking) I had changed my micro and lux slider to account for the possibility that I would be losing that tile. The Carthaginians (who I hadn't yet met) were not so lucky. Lured by the possibility of getting both iron and fur in the same town, they founded Utica next to a volcano, and the town was wiped out in 2900bc.
What's My Research Path? I'll Give You 1 Guesses
I get the slingshot in 1475, and roll a 3 turn anarchy. I follow Philosophy with Wheel, which takes 5 turns, including the anarchy period. By this point, I still haven't met any AI, but I have explored a vast amount of eerily empty land in the west. Finally in 1300bc, a curragh finds Egypt, and I can start trading my slingshot-route techs for the other first tier stuff. The Carthaginians are of course the next AI clockwise; I meet them in 1150bc, and by this point it is obvious that we are on the larger continent, and there are only three of us. Doesn't sound promising for Cleo and Hanni does it?
QSC Stats
12 towns with 40 citizens and 135 tiles.
3 granaries, 1 harbour.
100 food in the bin, 235 shields in the box, 210g in the treasury.
1 settler, 21 workers, 4 axes (reg), 2 curragh (vet).
All ancient techs except Polytheism (Egypt has it), Literature, Monarchy, Currency and Construction (34 beakers gathered).
2 contacts, no embassies.
Ancient Age Conquest?
At this point I am wondering whether it is necessary to advance to the medieval, so I set my Construction research to 10%, and start using my cash to upgrade axes to swords. This strategy will later turn out to be total rubbish of course, but at least my Alpha continent neighbours aren't in any danger of seeing the medieval era. I dow Cleo in 510bc, after trading her Republic in exchange for Polytheism and Literature (which she got from a hut). I attack both from the west, having settled down the coast south of my core, and by using galleys to get to the towns in the North Egyptian highlands. Things go smoothly apart from one valiant spearman in Elephantine, who chews out about six of my swords before finally running out of steam. I give Cleo peace in 230bc, as she is busy finishing Zeus for me. We strengthen our new-found friendship with a Rights of Passage agreement.
Finding Beta
With the completion of Lighthouse in 470bc, my suicide runs get a bit of extra reach. Sailing east from northern Egypt, where my galleys have been doing troop-ferrying duties, I survive a turn on the ocean, and in 350bc I meet the Iroquois and Arabs. Contact with India and Persia follows soon after, but the Byzantines seem to be a bit more elusive. As I won't be getting luxuries from Beta continent any time soon, I apply for the other source of happiness: war. I start a dogpile on India, bringing Persia and Arabia in with peace renegotiations. In 10ad, I bring Watha into the war too, trading Republic for Currency at the same time. That tech brings me into the medieval, some turns behind the leading AI on Beta. So much for AAC. I start researching Feudalism at a slow pace. The next turn I complete the Gardens to kick off my golden age, and the Arabs give India peace, which gives me war happiness.
Claiming Alpha
Cleo completes Zeus in 70bc, and leaves the game immediately thereafter. I have a ROP in place with Hanni too, and my troops have been shuffling into Carthage for some time already. I am ready to start the war in 50ad. He has managed to sneak a settler out to the west to found a new town, so I won't knock him out in a single turn, but that's no reason to delay taking his core. The first strike deals with all but two of his towns, and Hanni is finished by 110ad. Now it's just me and the medieval uprising barbarians, who are still running riot over the unsettled western corner of Alpha. By now I have finally met the Byzantines. Bringing Theo forward, she gets Feudalism. Although I bought X Man's Monotheism with Republic, that isn't enough to get the government tech from Theo, so I switch my research to Engineering. I also add her to the Indian dogpile.
Going Abroad
I complete Engineering in 130ad, trade for Feudalism, and start Chivalry. Knights will obviously be the unit of choice for taking Beta, and I would have saved a lot of time if I had researched all the way to Chivalry without stopping or slowing down to spend cash on upgrades. Anyway, I land the first French units on Beta in 260ad, and start taking Indian towns. The crossing from France to India is too far for a galley to make safely, but I can have a stack of galleys on each side of the ocean; each stack takes two steps into the ocean, then the transported units jump from the France-side galleys over to the India-side galleys, and the stacks retreat to the safety of the sea. I am also sending galleys around to the west coast of Alpha, where there is a straightforward crossing to the Byzantine peninsula. We are at war, after Theo dropped out of the Indian dogpile.
Claiming Beta
By 330ad, the Indians are gone, earning me my first great leader, and I turn my attention to the Iroquois. My southern campaign begins in 360ad with the capture of a couple of Arabian junk towns to the east of Byzantium. The Byzantines are using pikes, and although my offensive in the south starts well, it stalls against unusually strong resistance in Constantinople itself. Back in the north, the Quois are defeated in 440ad without much trouble, apart from a flip in Salamanca, which took out several healing knights. Bizarrely, in 430ad X Man tries to extort 100g from me, and dows when I refuse. Who am I to turn away war happiness when it is offered? Despite his pikes and immortals, X Man cannot outlast the Byzantines, and is removed from the game in 500ad. By now my northern and southern armies are converging on the remains of the Byzantine and Arabian empires, and I am ready to finish up. I arrange peace and ROP with both civs, and rape the ROPs to finish the Byzantines in 520ad, and the Arabs the turn after. Conquest in
540ad, scoring 11367 Jason points.
with their ancient cavalry. I built Medieval Infantry until I researched chivalry, and then I built knights. I took back all my cities and built the Knights Templar.
), so now no one will make gpt agreements with me.
