Situation Assessment: Well, as previously noted, we have open borders with both Huayna Capac and Isabella. Both are
pleased with us at the moment. There is a Spanish Galley, with a Settler on board, off the coast of our southern Island. Our lone Galley, also with a Settler on board, is off the coast of Easter Island. Also off the coast of Easter Island is a lone barb Galley.
Our 5 cities are all engaged in the construction of buildings. Guangzhou, in the icy north, is even constructing a Buddhist Monastery. I'm not sure if this is being done for the +10% research bonus or if we want to start spreading the faith. I'm going to assume it is for the research bonus. On a side note, 26 turns of unhappiness?
Somebody must really like cracking that
. I think I will give the poor souls of Guangzhou a break.
We are currently researching Guilds, to be followed by Banking. It looks like there is 16 turns until we are complete with the Banking beeline.
We currently have a Great Engineer available. Unfortunately, there are no wonders available to rush with him. His free technology is Construction, a 5-turn tech. This is tempting since Construction is not on the Banking or Economics beelines. But, Construction will offer no immediate benefits to us at this time. I think I am just going to sit on him in the hopes that there will be better uses for him later in the game. There will probably be more Great Engineers, though. Each of the 3 mainland cities is running an Engineer specialist.
Objectives: This should be an uneventful turnset. I am going to cancel our open borders treaties. This should have little impact on our relations, as we are all Buddhist here. I also plan on starting a Settler for the next person.
Turn 0 (1050AD): I decide to leave open borders in place for one more turn. I'm curious to know which direction that Spanish Galley would sail. No real strategic value, I know, but I am curious.
I offload the Settler onto Easter Island. The Galley then ski-daddles away.
Turn 1 - 1060AD: The Spanish Galley sailed off and disappeared. I'm not sure how it did that, frankly. It shouldn't have had the movement to disappear back into their borders.
Since the Galley is gone, I decide to leave open borders in place for the extra +6 trade route income.
Chengdu is founded 1 tile south of the iron on Easter Island. It immediately begins construction of an Obelisk for the quick border expansion.
With the Colossus and those 9 coastal tiles, this may turn out to be a pretty good fishing village.
Oh, and I found the Spanish Galley. It made a port call at Shanghai. I cancel open borders with Isabella. She is still pleased. We still have +4 trade route income coming in from the Incan open border treaty. Overall, we have dropped to -8gpt, but we still have 212 gold in the treasury.
IBT: Capac starts a golden age.
Turn 2 - 1070AD: Xian, on Easter Island, gets its first border expansion. The Spanish Galley appears to be stuck on the coastal tile between our borders. Isabella won't get it back until we have a border expansion.
Turn 3 - 1080AD: The ice city of Guangzhou completes its monastery. It begins training a Settler, due in 8 turns.
IBT: The Temple of Solomon is built in a far away land (well, Spain actually).
Turn 4 - 1090AD: Xian completes its Lighthouse. Because it is now size 3, I must build either a Market or a Forge. Frankly, I would rather have had a Library for the cultural border expansions. I choose a Forge since it is only 10 turns and will speed the Market construction.
IBT: Capac comes calling with an offer of Compass and 100 gold for our Feudalism tech. I decline, since it is not even remotely a fair deal.
Turn 5 - 1100AD: We learn all about Guilds and begin studying about Banking for the next 8 turns.
Turn 6 - 1110AD: Beijing completes its Aquaduct and begins work on a Grocer.
IBT: Capac puts 3 Axeman atop a hill that we can see on his island.
Turn 7 - 1120AD: Shanghai completes its Market and also begins work on a Grocer.
Turn 8 - 1130AD:
IBT: Capac's golden age has come to a conclusion.
Turn 9 - 1140AD: I sail our Galley into Incan waters to have a look around. A lot of desert and a size 2 city is what I find.
Turn 10 - 1150AD:
The world as we know it:
As expected, it was an uneventful turnset. There is a Settler in Guangzhou that will complete training next turn. I would recommend one of the spots below.
Pink dot is purely for resource denial. If I've done the math correctly, it will never get above size 7; but it will support 3 specialist at that size.
Yellow dot is on the off chance that we can make a Galley crossing after border expansion. My guess is we won't find anything with a single border expansion. The only thing I see peeking out under the blackness is an impassable iceberg. Which may mean that green dot is the better site, since it has access to the fish after border expansion. With only a single hammer, it is going to take awhile, though.
With these two cities in place (particulary pink dot), I think we can safely leave our borders open. Although, keep in mind that Capac still has open borders with us. Be sure to close them down if he sends in a Galley.
Also note that Shanghai is past the happiness limits. There is a Warrior on
GoTo orders from Guangzhou to Shanghai to rectify the situation. I totally failed to notice the growth and respond in time.
Sorry about that, folks!
... but I revolt to Bureaucracy and Mercantilism (since Economics is a good 30 turns away).
Need to see if we can start spreading Islam about.
