I'm not sure how I went relative to the rest of the roster yet.
I felt that my first half was fine, and while unable to get Mao to capitulate, capturing some large cities sure made things tough for him after signing peace. Wonder-wise things went as planned, getting The Taj Mahal in York, and The Statue of Liberty in London. Two Great Artists (not 'activated') and a Great Engineer (used to hurry production of The Statue of Liberty). A Great General was used for a Military Academy in Nottingham.
I spent a while on developmental stuff and researching in the mid-round, and fear that I probably waited too long to get more Chinese cities. I'm fighting a fairly uncoordinated war with Cavalry and Redcoats against Chinese Medieval units. Mao's got Gunpowder, but not Rifling. It'd be nice if we can shove the Chinese borders back allowing Beijing to access the Stone resource in light of our Cathedral builds (and would have been nice for West Point too!).
Plenty of Temples went up, but still some way from getting maximum Cathedrals in Rome, York, and London. Buddhism's widely spread, but the others still need a move-along.
I decided to stop researching prior to Chemistry and Scientific Method, although we're still hauling
rather than maxing
;
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Hannibal-Cyrus Defensive Pact;
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Some progress into China, but a concerted effort over the next 10 turns or so would see further headway;
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I have a blow-by-blow rundown ... which I might work on depending on how everyone else did! ...
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A more comprehensive run down;
1400AD
An exciting start to the round with battle underway. I made the following build decisions;
Rome: Forge (faster build on The Globe Theatre in time)
Cumae: Whipped the Temple > Courthouse > Forge > Harbor
Neapolis: It’s good > Christ Temple > Forge
Hastings: It’s good too > Lighthouse > Forge
Gepid: Musketman > Courthouse > Trebuchet
Chendu: Courthouse
London: Oxford University > Buddhist Monastery
York: The Taj Mahal
Nottingham: Musketman <-> Trebuchet <-> Knight (varied upon mood)
Antium: Courthouse > Stock Exchange
While it’s nice to have Mutineer’s Versailles in York, I really felt with our expansion into China and the unlikelihood of England ever getting to State Property, that the Forbidden Palace should be targeted. We’ve done the lion’s share of research, but Oxford University was a relatively cheap build for London, and it does generate some culture. Military switches for a non Gunpowder enemy – especially as we were a bit lacking in City Garrison defenders prompted Musketmen builds. The decision to go with York as The Taj city was a risky one, but I wanted the Great Artist points there, and so emphasised production (including running a Specialist Engineer) with slow-motion starvation.
Press on with
Constitution with
Democracy in our sights.
Troops heading to Hangzhou.
Hannibal: Cow <> 8 gold per turn
1410 – 1490
Taoism is successfully spread to York.
Over the next few turns, many of the builds end up getting whipped out. I chop and change between Trebuchets and Muskets from the unit pump cities (most notably Nottingham and Gepid).
Hangzhou falls in 1420, although our city defenders get knocked around the following turn by some Chinese Knights.
Nikola Tesla (19th – 20th Century electrical engineer, groundbreaking theories on alternating current power systems) is born in York against significant odds. Choice is to hurry the Taj Mahal or hold back for The Statue of Liberty. Few tribes have Nationalism, so I power on with the self-build and keep the Great Engineer for later.
Cyrus: Divine Right + Liberalism <>
Printing Press + 110 gold + Map
With the map from Cyrus, we gift him our trusty novice explorer Warrior.
The Americans have set up Houston to the west of London near the Gold tile. It’s very food-poor.
Frederick: Paper <> 120 gold + Map
In 1490, Mao builds the University of Sankore.
Washington: Education <> 350 gold + Map
War weariness starting to bite, and Theatre-based happiness is improved with the Culture slider. Hangzhou gets a Theatre whipped.
1490 – 1550
Xian and Tianjin fall - Mao’s Horses were pillaged by a Knight prior to the main invasion.
York finally gets to whipping’ level with The Taj Mahal, and while it’s not a great move usually to whip a lot before a Golden Age, there’s a backlog of builds that need addressing.
Shanghai also gets a Theatre whipped. York starts working on religious buildings kicking off with a Taoist Temple. Ex-Chinese cities also start getting defences whipped and Forges built.
Both Nottingham and Gepid take some time out from unit production with some developmental builds such as Temples. Gepid also queues up a Stock Exchange.
Ningbo, a small ‘mushroom’ city founded by Mao west of Tianjin gets captured and razed.
More importantly though, after another ‘down to the wire’ fight where even El Cid had to get involved, in 1510 Beijing finally falls into English hands. Elizabeth’s troops are badly wounded and running out of gas – a serious counter strike would see the decimation of units if not the recapturing of the city by the Chinese. Beijing is no slouch in the commerce department however –
The Temple of Artemis would be a notable contributor when the city came out of resistance.
Mao: Peace Treaty <> Peace Treaty + 170 gold + Map
London squeezes in a Stock Exchange amongst the religious builds including a Buddhist Stupa. Despite Mrchadt’s committed Specialist Priests, presumably hoping for The Mahabodhi,
Yunis Emre, that famous 13th Century Turkish poet is born in London. Uncertain as to whether to settle him somewhere or not, he’s held back for a late-game Culture Bomb.
Cyrus: Incense <> Silver
A large expanse of Grassland with access to a Dye tile not far from Hastings beckons, and Gepid works on a Settler.
Rome finally reaches a sufficient population to whip
The Globe Theatre.
In 1530 Democracy comes in, and with a Level 6 unit, Horses and Gunpowder and a pesky neighbour in the south, we opt for
Military Tradition.
Mr. Telsa makes a big contribution towards the building of The Statue of Liberty in London. Generally the empire is pushing on with Temple and Missionary builds and Stock Exchanges. Unit pumps also get Stables.
Washington: Nationalism + Liberalism <>
Replaceable Parts + 10 gold + Map
Canterbury is established in 1540 to the south of London by the Lake and is soon introduced to the Taoist faith.
Cyrus: Cow <> 13 gold per turn
After the setting of our inaugural Golden Age that saw a flurry of Temples and Monasteries set up in York, the decision’s made to stick
Hermitage there after toying with the idea of putting it in Rome – more than idea, Rome spent a handful of turns whacking about one hammer per turn towards it.
1555 - 1600
Military Tradition is in, the Cav’s are dialled up, and onward to the widely known technology of
Economics. Nottingham goes after
West Point, despite not having access to Stone and the size of the build. Whether this city should have stuck with Cavalry is a debatable point. Both Washington and Cyrus are prepared to sign Defensive Pacts if we want either.
Ex-Chinese cities push on with Theatres and Libraries, and after several attempts, Shanghai accepts Buddhism.
Several resource deals are re-worked to skim off 3 or 4 gold per turn.
Mao demands Divine Right … "Gosh, if you insist". This puts him at ‘Cautious’.
The Statue of Liberty is built in 1565, and much time is spent micro-managing the free specialists. Rome gets health-related improvements lined up and whipped, although starts to turn up the heat with numerous Specialist Artists.
With Economics coming in, the much awaited civic switch goes ahead;
- Universal Suffrage
- Free Speech
- Free Market
‘The Redcoat Beckons’ – although several AI tribes have
Rifling, I can’t find a trade deal that I’m happy with to get it, so I set to researching it ourselves.
Beijing comes out of revolt, and starts off with some serious whipping, beginning with a Theatre then a Forge. Beijing and Hangzhou were less problematic than Shanghai in getting Buddhism accepted. Shanghai begins work on the
Forbidden Palace.
York completes Hermitage as Houston goes into an English revolt. Washington is not deterred however, and sends big band jazz man Duke Ellington to Houston to ensure that this tiny American city is not swayed into Anglophilia!
1605 – 1650
‘The Redcoats are coming!’ … watch out Mao! Next tech –
Corporation – no Great Lighthouse worries for England this game and we have numerous Stock Exchanges for Wall Street if required.
Despite the appeal of switching to Nationalism and drafting Redcoats all over the place, England’s approaching the likely end of its research run, and can cash-hurry units with less pain, or whip with more pain! The draft is not the path chosen.
Gradual religious spread and Temple builds continue. Xian also picks up Buddhism.
1615 sees Corporation come in, and Chemistry is selected, but the slider is dropped. Knights are upgraded to Cavalry, and Redcoats begin to be whipped out of ex-Chinese cities … “Motherland” humph!
1630 – and the trigger is pulled on China. The battle plans are disappointingly far from ideal, but the window of opportunity was potentially closing fast. Mao has not got Replaceable Parts, let alone Rifling, but there is some concern that another tribe may lend him a helping hand.
Finally! Some real Anglophilia!
Joseph Conrad, the Polish-born novelist who spent most of his life in England appears in York, and heads to Rome to hang around with Yunis Emre.
Shandong; a respectable city, is taken in 1640, while to the east England and China battle over the small city of Baoding that was founded on the ruins of Ningbo. It is captured, lost, and retaken by England, but remains vulnerable. Trebuchets and Redcoats approach the Chinese capital Kassite, while some inexperienced Redcoats are heading towards a lightly defended Guangzhou while the SoD heals. Our early battles do however bring rise to
Rommel, who sets up a Military Academy in Nottingham.
War with China is raging, but it's disorganisation versus obsolete troops! Some coordination and focus will probably lead to Mao vassalising. It would be great to nab the Stone just south of Beijing in light of the Stone-based Cathedrals ahead of us.
Two Great Artists are on hand, and more Great People points are building up in a few cities. Rome and York should be the two main contributors to the popping of Great Artists from this point however. Religious spread has been respectable with some Cathedrals now established.
I finished my turnset at about 2.45am ("Idiot - will you never learn?!?!") - and the detail of the notes dropped away in the last hour or so.
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Too drunk to civ. Let's try again tomorrow. 
a trip to the market. Maid comes next day, so need to get up early. No time for civ. Let's try tomorrow.
