Deity game

[Thrar]

Round 3

Without having read the other reports yet, it looks like mine is losing steam, although nothing bad happened. But see for yourself...

Spoiler :

(80) After some miscalculations which I still don't quite understand, we build the Pyramids in 850BC.
Shouldn't be one whipped citizen be 20 hammers when building a wonder? Therefore, for the Pyramids, 40 hammers? Then why couldn't I whip them for 2 pop at 422/500 hammers?

(90) Isabella has Alphabet, as well as any other tech we can currently research. I ask her for Mysticism for free, in order to help in the culture war with Saladin. She accepts.

Currently, one scientist is running in Sparta, the other cities are still growing.
Tech path was Writing -> Aesthetics (11). I decided against going for IW, there are not too many places where iron could pop up, and I don't want to risk fighting a buddhist alliance.
Sparta is falling behind in the culture war, as Saladin now has a monument, temple, monastery and his UB library (total 11cpt including religion). Sparta has only a library. The culture on the tile can be seen on the screenshot.

After growing to the current maximum size, which should be fast thanks to all the flood plains, I'm planning to settle the north. A barb city has been founded 2N of the deer, I will probably keep it once I get there. A workboat explorer is going south along JC's coast, a land-based explorer will finish with the overflow of Corinth's library whip to explore the southern lands.

Wonders built so far:
2560BC Stonehenge
2280BC Great Wall
1440BC Oracle (Isabella -> Theology)
1400BC Great Lighthouse
875BC Pyramids (yay!)
800BC Temple of Artemis
675BC Buddhist (Isabella) and Hinduist shrine (same year).

 

[Thrar]

I hope this turnset doesn't disappoint you with regard to my tech gathering speed...

This is crazy. You're in an extremely good position there I'd say:
- tech speed is incredible
- your well in the tech trading loop
- Saladin and Isabella are fighting each other
- there are barb cities in the south which provide space for further expansion later

 

[Snaaty]

Round 3 (1200 - 625 BC):

Spoiler :

View attachment 171548

We managed to get the Pyramids AND the Great Lighthouse built… …WOW, didn’t expect that, but after reading Rusten´s report, I thought it would be worth the try (have to admit here, that I peeked into his round 3 report this friday). But since I still was afraid of loosing the Great Lighthouse, I whipped it after this option became available, saving 5 turns but sacrificing 3 pop (which explains the sorry state of my capital & my research a little)…

First GP is almost done, very likely a GE (hopefully)

Only thing researched this turn was Aest, Alpha hasn’t been started (don’t know if I go for that because 2 of my neighbours (Isa, JC) already have it and I expect Salat to get it soon). I might even switch to Poly- Lit directly to keep the option of the Great Library alive, with the GE I very likely will get.

View attachment 171549


I managed to snag the barb city and things are looking quite OK now. All my cities are tiny, seems I went a little crazy with the whip... ...Nevertheless, my offensive army at that point consists of 1 chariot only (and some archers), but a second chariot will be done this turn. Plan now it to get 1-2 blocking cities up in the north, but I will have to scout there a little more (but after reading some other players report, I already know that there must be some seafood, only question is, where)…

Then settling the coast for the trade route bonus form the Great Lighthouse, although these cities will not be very good in the long run because of the many tundra tiles

Met JC who is Hindu also (poor Isa). Bad news is that Hindu hasn’t spread into our empire so far…

Feel pretty save despite my lousy military buildup, because a war JC+Salat against Isa is VERY likely, they are already starting to build up massive hatred against each other…

…

I think more and more that I’m not really such a good succession game player, because I keep forgetting/ignoring what and why I started to build at the and of a turnset during the break towards the next turnset… …I have discovered at the end of this turnset that I have build a library in Sparta instead of barracks or lighthouse or granary or archer (or anything but a lib)… …no idea why I did this, because Sparta will never be a science city and never be able to have enough food for specialists so basically any other build would have been better…

...

EDIT:

Forgot the save again
View attachment 171551

...

EDIT2:

@ CellKu:
Yup, your research continues at an impressive speed. Backed by the fact that there is war between Salat & Isa in your game, you are having a superstrong position right now. Only thing to remember it the WFYABTA limit, so some of the cheaper trades you did (AH, Myst) might have been better "stored" for later trades, but that might be only my personal opinion.

@ Flo7:
I´m still impressed about your expansion. If you manage to settle the blocking cities you have planned in your dotmap, you would be able to secure an incredible amount of land, making your game/position as strong as CellKu´s

@ Rusten:
Thanks for posting your 3 round that early... ...Our positions seem to be pretty similar now, despite you starting with the GL and I with the Mids, giving us both also a pritty solid position now to continue from. Like you I´m a little surprised with the game so far, because usually wonders on deity without beeing industrious are pretty rare

 

[Rusten]

@ Rusten:
Thanks for posting your 3 round that early...

You can expect round 4 early as well, I "cheated" and started on it this afternoon, one day ahead of schedule.

Just to tease you a little I can say it's going incredibly well after making a different tech decision than my usual.

Edit: And yea, I'm very surprised, but that's half the fun of deity, you never know what kind of game you're going to get. I'm really curious as to which civs are on the other continent--the suspense is high.

 

[Atropos]

Is the slower city- and wonder-building speed a "feature" of BTS? I'm trying to beat Deity in Vanilla right now, and pyramids are normally built well before 1000 BC and, with a wondermonger, frequently as early as 2000 BC.

Also, what's with all the cities? I'm usually hard-pressed to place a single city between myself and the AI, let alone two or three! Are you people just that good, or is this another BTS thing, or particular to this start?

Finally, how do I use the "lurker's comment" tag?

 

[Rusten]

Is the slower city- and wonder-building speed a "feature" of BTS? I'm trying to beat Deity in Vanilla right now, and pyramids are normally built well before 1000 BC and, with a wondermonger, frequently as early as 2000 BC.

Someone might be able to give better answers than me as I didn't play deity back in Vanilla, but I can confirm that the Pyramids are built later. Still, isn't the cost lower in Vanilla too? 350 hammers or something compared to BTS 500? Can't remember tbh, been so long since I played Vanilla.

However, even for BTS the pyramids went very late this game. I for one did not start them to finish them, I simply wanted extra gold. It can go as early as ~1500 BC in BTS too if you're unlucky. Stonehenge and the Great Wall for instance are usually built turn 30-35 in my games.

Also, what's with all the cities? I'm usually hard-pressed to place a single city between myself and the AI, let alone two or three! Are you people just that good, or is this another BTS thing, or particular to this start?

Finally, how do I use the "lurker's comment" tag?

The start was quite food-heavy (flood plains, corn and a plains mine) so the settlers were built faster than an average game. I can't comment much on what it's like in Vanilla, but most of us only have 3 cities so far and "Continents" maps are usually roomy.

 

[DMOC]

Round 3: 1160 BC to 625 BC (Turns 71 - 90)

Situation looks pretty good. Anyone have thoughts about it after seeing it?

Spoiler :

Okay, so my goals for this round were to finish AH and Aesthetics, which were the only two techs I researched this turnset (Aesthetics took the bulk of the turnset). I also wanted to get a Great Scientist quickly.

So the round starts. On the very first turn (71) I meet Julius Caesar. Is he Buddhist or Hindu? NEITHER!!! He's Jewish He didn't found it so Isabella must have founded it and Judaism spontaneously spread to him. Unfortunately, he would later convert to Buddhism in the round so that glee I had vanished.

Also, in 1220 BC, both the Temple of Artemis and the Great Lighthouse were built. I don't know if this is early or late, but the point is, none of the civs on my continent built those wonders. I'm pretty sure there's probably no industrious civ in this game.

As for my capital, it provided me with lots of research. After finishing its library, I ran 2 scientists and got my first scientist in less than 10 turns! The philosophical trait is awesome for getting those first few great ones. I had the scientist (in 775 BC) to build an academy. Afterwards, I fired one scientist to work a mine but kept one scientist specialist working for a future GS.

In 725 the Pyramids and the Hanging Gardens were both built at the same time (wow that's the second time this round). Once again, both creators were unknown.

Some stuff to know: No wars going on. No one has alphabet (I thought deity AI's got alphabet by this time). Isabella and Julius both have 7 cities and Saladin has 5 while I have 4 (yes I founded a fourth city for blocking purposes). Saladin is pretty much dead meat with the buddhist faction hating him and larger.

Also, generating 53 beakers per turn at 100%.

So should I start the summary?

 

[Snaaty]

@ Atropos:

You can´t compare vanilla or warlords (warlords it even harder then vanilla) with BtS:

The diff levels have "flattened" quite drastically, because all the boni for the AI have drastically been reduced in the higher diff levels (unit upkeep, city upkeep, production boni etc.). The reason for this is the "better" AI in BtS (which is really better), but around immortal it can´t outweight the former boni, left alone on deity.

The settling behavior has also changed and the AI in BtS deity starts with less workers (I think) and settles slower and closer to their own capital and usually wont walk through your territory with setters up to ALL other land has been settled

...

@ DOMC:

Yea, we have quit some games in, you can post the summary

...

@ ALL

Round 3 ends with DOMC´s summary round 4 starts tomorrow and ends on Thursday

All that are late and still want to play on simply try to catch up with the game during the next turnset

...

EDIT:

@ DOMC:

Just had a look at your turnset. With the city you got out to the north, blocking off ALL of it after first borderpop (if I have seen it right), I would rate your game at the high end also, together with CellKu and Flo7´s. I also wonder about the absence of Alphabet in your game, mine is pretty different (and more "deity-like" here). Simply wait for them to get it, maybe you are lucky and they research slow in your game???

 

[CellKu]

@ Thrar and Snaaty: Thanks for your comments. I hope I can keep that tech speed. Actually, I do fear the WFYABTA. That is why I wanted to stay away at least from Mono. Myst I needed for the research path to Lit and AH for the cows. So, I didn't want to "save" them. Well, we will see...

Snaaty, perhaps you intended to build a lib in Sparta to help with the culture against Saladin? Even though Pericles is creative that alone will not be enough to fight off Saladin's culture...

On another plane I must say, DMOC made a great move with his eastern blocking city (also Flo7's dot map). I have to admit that I forgot about that... I hope Isabella will be focused on her war in my game, so she will not expand too quickly into the north. (I have already played round 4, so my attempt for an eastern "blockade" will be delayed until round 5. Too bad!)

 

[shyuhe]

I caught up to turn 90 (625 BC). My tech rate is terrible though I need more libraries and workers but I was too busy land grabbing...

Spoiler :

Here's my diplo:

And my empire:

Tech went archery --> pottery --> AH --> writing --> masonry --> currently aesthetics.

Sparta was founded where I finished the settler at the end of the 1st turn set. I realized that going 1S opens up a passage north of the city so I opted for where it was to block off the land. Thebes was founded to finish off the blocking - this will allow me to settle the frozen north at my own leisure (I think). I will probably send out a settler next set to claim some of the grassland + the silver. I am severely capped right now...

Izzy has dutifully spread Buddhism through all of my cities but JC and Saladin are both Hindu. This makes for a difficult situation... Saladin's capital must be pretty close to me (and Izzy's) because I saw the borders when I was scouting around. Saladin took a barb city on the SW border and I may try to culture flip it since I'm creative and I'm about to finish a library in the border city. Hopefully he won't get too mad I figure he'll hate Isabella soon enough. Nobody has enough on their hands yet.

I was short workers initially and that has definitely come back to bite me as I'm building the workers now (about 20 turns late)...

 

[Unconquered Sun]

Shouldn't be one whipped citizen be 20 hammers when building a wonder? Therefore, for the Pyramids, 40 hammers? Then why couldn't I whip them for 2 pop at 422/500 hammers?

Rushing wonders is a pain. They're at x3 normal, so a pop equals just 10 hammers (plus multipliers like stone).

 

[Unconquered Sun]

Round 3

Spoiler :

I forget things when I play a game just a bit over days, so I sat and played three rounds straight (up to 375 AD). I won't be breaking any report deadlines though.

As I said, I forget stuff. Round 3 didn't start great, despite having a ton of workers I didn't remember corn wasn't linked, and somehow I didn't notice it either

I also managed to overlook madrassas have +4 culture, which helped Sala reach 100 culture in Baghdad far sooner than I had calculated and endangered the wheat.

I even started a library in city #4, thinking that it is a better investment for 45 hammers compared to 30 for monument, somehow not remembering creative is also +2 culture, so granary first is a given

The diplo front didn't go well either, Izzy founded Christianity, but Ceaser nonetheless attacked fellow buddhist Saladin, leaving me alone against the crazy Spanish zealot. Moreover, out of all cities, Christianity was found in the one I border with, boosting it with +5 culture per turn right away and threatening +4 more for Church of Nativity.

Apart from being distracted and unlucky, I continued to develop my hybrid empire, focusing on city development and not bothering with wonders. Instead of Alphabet/Aesthetics, I went for Monarchy.

 

[Rusten]

Round 4 625 -> 125 BC

I know that DMOC didn't post his report yet, but I might unexpectedly be OOP for days due to easter so I'll take the liberty to post early.

Spoiler :

After doing the trading around with Aesthetics (alphabet with JC, Mathematics with Saladin and IW with Izzy) I noticed that everyone was lacking currency, so instead of being stuck in my usual ways pursuing a (very delayed) Great Library with no marble (probably wouldn’t get it) I decided to tech currency instead as I had both of the pre-techs. I don't have the luxury of a Great Engineer to rush the Great Library unfortunately.

This turned out to be quite a success. I got there before everyone else, and after putting some beakers into metal casting I started trading it around. The moment I had enough invested into Metal Casting JC came to me and offered a trade for it. Next I trade currency to Saladin for construction (half-price UB) and then metal casting to Izzy for Calendar. Those currency beakers were certainly well spent. I am (as always with a continents map) worried about what’s happening on the other continent though. The good news is that JC has built most of the wonders (he must have marble) so the chance of a super-techer/economy on the other continent is lower than otherwise. So far he’s completed the Oracle, the Colossus, the Parthenon and the MoM which are very powerful in the hands of the AI (they work a lot of coastal tiles). Good thing he’s lacking land compared to Izzy and Saladin, but he’ll still be dangerous.

Here’s the current tech screen as of 125 BC, looking pretty good although I’m obviously behind on the religious route. As you can see nobody’s got CoL yet (which I’m planning to research next), at least not on this continent, but Confucianism was founded 925 BC or something on the other continent.

Great scientist is due in 3 turns in Corinth. Sparta just started on a settler again and will get a 2nd after this one finishes. I want to start developing those two remaining cities as soon as possible. I chopped out a library before a granary in Argos as Izzy also had her first border popped and is a contender for the deer. My capital is short on population right now because I had to rush a settler earlier to stop Isabella from expanding further north-west.

Diplomacy: Turned down a request from Izzy asking me to join Buddhism. She has been kind enough to spread it to all of my cities though, so I might consider joining it later on, but not at this point. Lazy Saladin didn’t send a single missionary so I won’t be joining Hinduism either. Still no wars between Izzy and the rest (nobody’s in WHEOOH mode either) which sucks. It's too risky taking an official side at the moment.

 

[DMOC]

I waited until Monday to post it since I figured that some people still had to post their reports.

And also, I decided to add a "Beakers" section to compare research, since it is at this point of the game where we notice substantial differences.

Also, if you notice any mistakes in a summary that I made to your game, please let me know.


Round 3 Summary: 1160 BC to 625 BC (Turns 71-90)

Total number of games: 10

1. Rusten

Tech: Aesthetics (3 turns)
Beakers: 53 at 100%
Cities: 3 (12 population)
Summary: Rusten has managed to build the Pyramids after all (well, by next round since Rusten played ahead two turns) and is now farming instead of cottaging, so Rusten's capital now has two wonders, with The Great Lighthouse being the second. In the next round, Rusten will plan on acquiring Aesthetics and then trading for other techs (such as Iron Working). Rusten's first great person will be in 2 turns. Finally, Rusten is planning on taking Astronomy from Liberalism to further benefit The Great Lighthouse.

2. Betruger

Tech: Aesthetics (4 turns)
Beakers: 54 at 60%
Cities: 3 (12 population)
Summary: Betruger has built The Pyramids (825 BC) and of course switches to Representation and hires scientists. By the end of Betruger's turnset, he is generating quite a healthy number of beakers in Athens and Corinth. Betruger's first great person is approaching, and if it is an engineer, that will further magnify Betruger's research.

3. Flo7

Tech: Masonry - Aesthetics (9 turns)
Beakers: 22 at 50%
Cities: 4 (15 population)
Summary: Flo7 will soon complete the Pyramids as well as continue blocking so after that, Flo7 will be in a fairly strong position. Being one of the first to get 4 cities definitely helped. Speaking of Great People, Flo7 hopes on getting an engineer and, like Betruger, will rush the Great Library. The bad stuff in his game? Not much, probably the worst thing going on in this game is that there were no AI wars yet.

4. Sleepless

Tech: Horseback Riding - Masonry - Sailing - Aesthetics (8 turns)
Beakers: 31 at 100%
Cities: 3, which includes a captured barbarian city still in revolt (11 popuation)
Summary: The good news, as pointed in Sleepless' report, is that, by using a horse archer army, the barbarian city to the south has been captured, bringing Sleepless' city total to 3. Has not yet built the Pyramids. Sleepless' plan for next turnset is to use Aesthetics as trading fodder as well as to use Sleepless' horse archer army to go barbarian hunting.

5. CellKu

Tech: Aesthetics (finished) -> Alphabet (4 turns) -> Mathematics (for 2 turns "parking" until Literature up) -> Literature (! turn)
Beakers: 41 at 70%
Cities: 3 (12 population)
Summary: CellKu has managed to do some small tech trading which results in being slightly more advanced than some of the rest of us. Also, CellKu has built the Pyramids in 725 BC and adopted Representation. Another great fortune in CellKu's game is Isabella's DoW on Saladin which will keep CellKu safe for a little while. Finally, CellKu's plan for Round 4 is to tech to Code of Laws and build the Great Library.


6. Thrar

Tech: Mysticisn (free from Isabella) - Writing - Aesthetics (12 turns)
Beakers: 23 at 60%
Cities: 3 (12 population)
Summary: Well, Thrar has managed to get the Pyramids out which should result in increased tech speed. Future plan for Thrar is to expand quickly to the north while scouting Julius Caesar's land. Unfortunately for Thrar, some culture wars with Saladin are causing problems in Sparta. Thankfully, though, everyone on the continent is a happy, Buddhist alliance.

7. Snaaty

Tech: Aesthetics - Alphabet or Polytheism next
Beakers: 30 at 70%
Cities: 4, including a captured barbarian city (9 population)
Summary: Like Rusten, Snaaty has managed to get both The Pyramids and The Great Lighthouse in his capital. Snaaty has also managed to capture a southern barbarian city, netting city number four. Snaaty's cities are a little bit tiny because of the whip but Snaaty will likely grow them more due to obtaining The Pyramids and Representation. More good news: Saladin and Julius Caesar are Hindu, making a Hindu-Buddhist war more likely.


8. DMOC (me)

Tech: Animal Husbandry - Aesthetics - Masonry (1 turn)
Beakers: 53 at 100%
Cities: 4 (13 population)
Summary: I seem to be one of the few people who have forgoed The Pyramids in favor of more settling. I settled my fourth city in this turnset near the other stone, as well as netting deer and horse. The fouth city was purely for blocking purposes, and I will backfill next round. I already got my first great person (Scientist) who built an academy in Athens. Unfortunately for me, there were no wars in this turnset. All three civs don't have Alphabet as well so I can't start trading (although this may actually be a boon for me -- slower tech speeds).

9. Shyuhe

Tech: (I think this includes Round 2 as well) Archery --> pottery --> AH --> writing --> masonry -> Aesthetics (4 turns)
Beakers: 41 at 100%
Cities: 4 (14 population total)
Summary: With four solid cities, Shyuhe is in a good position to continue expanding in the north. Only Buddhism has spread to shyuhe which complicates the situation as Isabella is the only Buddhist. As Shyuhe mentioned, more workers and libraries will be necessary to continue competing in the tech department.

10. Unconquered Sun

Tech: Monarchy (2 turns)
Beakers: 74 at 100%
Cities: 4 (17 population)
Summary: Unconquered's research rate is stunning at this point of the game (see the "Beakers" section of this report). The bad? Isabella founded Christianity and Caesar attacked Saladin, who are both buddhist, which will complicate the diplomatic front. However, it seems that Unconquered Sun will be able to use his hybrid economy (17 population in cities already) and technology speed to soon surpass the AI in terms of technology and army.





Other stuff:

Best Research: Unconquered Sun or Betruger
Highest Total Population: Unconquered Sun
Highest City Total: Unconquered Sun/Flo7/Snaaty/DMOC/Shyuhe



-----

 

[Snaaty]

EDIT:

@ DMOC:

Thanks again for the report (was already getting nervous, stupid me)

 

[Betruger]

Round 4 (625 BC - 125 BC)

Spoiler :

Previous round: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=6606712&postcount=57

First of all, I had to cancel OB with Saladin immedately, because he showed up with more swordsmen going north to capture Goth.

I Proceeded with the plan to generate a GE. I fired one scientist in Athens to increase the chances.
I couldn't fire both, because then Corinth would generate a great person first, and I couldn't fire scientists in Corinth, because I needed to keep good research rate.

Oh! The supsense...
and the result:

All right! That was lucky!

At this point I had to cancel OB with Isabella as well, because she also sent some troops to the north.

After Aesthetics was in I did following trades:

That last trade was to speed up literature. I'm not sure if taking Sailing was a good move due to the WFYABTA, but if I can get Sal and Julius to Friendy, then it won't matter.

Later on I also traded Literature to Izzy for Monotheism and 80 gold.

Right after I researched literature, the Great Library was built using my GE.

Research set on Drama, for trading and for Philosophy bulb.
At this point, I could re-sing OB with both Sal and Izzy, as I had finally gathered enough troops to take Goth myself:

As you can see, Isabella was quick to expand in the north. I now race her to claim as many cities there as possible.

In 200 B.C my second great person, a GS born in Corinth, is ready to build academy in Athens. At the same time Taoism was founded in distant lands. But that's probably the other continent.

Here's an overview at the end of turnset:

I have a settler in place in Fish/Whales site, i need to rush another one ASAP (probably whipping Athens) to claim that crabs site, where the chariot is currently standing.

Research-wise, I'm 2 turns from Drama, therefore 3 turns from Philosophy bulb. I'll try to use it to bribe my hindu buddies to declare on Izzy.
Wait, I don't have hinduism in my lands yet. Well, the good news is that I will have in 2 turns. I plan to convert immedately.

Good plan would be to make JC and Sal declare on Izzy and while they are busy fighting, use my swordsmen to capture some lightly defended northern cities from that religious nut.

Capital shot:

My capital is currently in pure research mode, but after getting that GS I'll consider firing scientists, working mines, and building some swords. Maybe National Epic can wait a little.

 

[Mahatmajon]

I'm still here - just haven't had a chance to write up a summary.

Mahatmajon Round 3 - 625BC

Goals:
Finish Pyramids & run lots of Representation Scientists
Don't do anything stupid

Unfortunately I only pulled off one of the 2 goals

Spoiler :

When I left off I just popped a G. Spy and made Scotland Yard in Athens.
1120 Ceasar declared on Saladin (beginning of religous fighting)
1080 Temple/Artemis BIFAL
1000 Pyramids finished in Athens -> revolt to representation
875 Writing -> Libraries built & scientists run in all cities

800 This year may turn out to be my downfal. Saladin asked me to declare against JC. Since JC was far away & Saladin was close I decided to say yes and hoped I could make this into a phony war for 20-30 turns, then sign peace with JC. The good news is JC hasn't brought anyone against me but spoiler-ing ahead to 1AD we're still at war and I don't know if I'll be able to get on his good side without a lot of luck.

675 Animal Husbandry

Spoiler :

Horses E of Athens within our borders and hooked up

600 Iron Working in 3 turns

Summary:
I don't have a save and can't calculate the science currently but I have 2 cities and a settler waiting to see if Iron pops nearby. There's a lot of unoccupied land to the N & NE still but with the GW and barbarian cities forming a natural border for me I don't feel that I have to overexpand and I want to concentrate on building up a Chariot army + hopefully axe/swordsmen.

Athens - Plains/Hills, G. Wall, Pyramids, Scotland Yard. Running 2 sci specialists & will put academy here ASAP to catch up in tech
Sparta - Wheat/Stone/Clams. Winning culture war vs. Saladin. Barracks/Granary/Library & running 2 sci specialists when possible

Goals for next set:

Spoiler :

Finish IW
Pray for Iron
Get to Alphabet and/or a trading situation. Plan is to build up an army with Iron if available then turn on Saladin to hopefully make Isabella and JC happy.

 

[Snaaty]

Round 4 (625 -125 BC):

Spoiler :

When sending two chariots and an archer finally into the north, I had to find out that I already have lost about half of it to Isa… …going for the early wonders and therefore neglecting the blocking cities there for too long shows its price now.

But then we have a little luck and can avoid loosing the north completely:

View attachment 171728


Isabella is already standing with her next settler next to the spot I wanted to found my central-northern emergency-blocking city, but hasn’t founded her city… …Where the hell did she plan to go (maybe for the cows/horses???)?

Doesn’t matter now, we will found our city now one tile west from the planned spot (ON the last roaded tile) so we can found it this turn and therefore will beat her, no matter were she was heading to…

450 BC is a good round btw, because we are not only done researching Literature and have a Great Engineer from the Pyramids waiting to build the GL, additionally had JC pity with the sorry state our empire is in and gifts us Math… …WOW… …but then demands Literature 3 turns later from us (we give in off course)

Our capital has grown now and is providing 63 beakers at 60% research, the next GP (most likely a GS) will hit home in 4 turns (the 3rd, first was a GE, building the GL, next a GS building the Academy)

View attachment 171729


Research:
Aesthetics (finished), Literature, Priesthood, CoL, Meditation (to be able to bulb Philosophy with the next GS)

Trade:
Aesthetics for Iron with JC, Aesthetics for Poly with Isa

I didn’t dare delaying Lit any further because my research was that weak at the beginning of this turnset (and I really got a GE on turns 2 or 3 for the GL), so I skipped the Aest - Alpha trade in favour of a weaker Aest – Poly trade, because JC and Isa already had Alpha and, as stated earlier already I think, I expected Salat to get it also any turn (which he in fact did).

Later I traded Aest-CoL for Currency + 20 Gold with Salat, and now have some interesting trade options (no other trades done):

View attachment 171730


I need Alpha to be able to bulb Phil (IF I remember right, not founded so far) and both, Monarchy and Calendar are interesting, because of the wine and calendar thingies in our empire…

Speaking of our empire:

View attachment 171731


You can see that Isa was very effective in spreading Buddhism into our cities… …and we have two spots left to backfill, once the bar city is conquered and destroyed

Army: 2 charriots, 2 swords (I think) and some archers for city garrison

All our neighbours have about 7-8 cities, so we are doing pretty well. No wars so far.

…

The weedy move of this turnset:
The first build of the newly founded city of Argos was a workboat to work the whales I thought to be fishes (the fishes there are already worked by a workboat I sent up there from Sparta) … …I decided to suppress my first urge to disband the damn workboat (after shouting at it) and simply fortified it on the whales (for the next 100 turns or so). Everybody looking at my save feel free to borrow it for some whalewatching tours…

…

@ DMOC:

Some info’s for your report:

Cities: 6
Pop: 18
Beakers at 60%: 94
Rel: None adopted, but only Buddhism spread to us
Neighbours: No wars so far
Nest GP (most likely a GS): in 4 turns (3rd GP)
Wonders: GL, Mids, Glib (all in capital), wonders planned: Ankor Wat, Uni of Sank (maybe even SpiralMin)
Overall strat: mix of wonderspam and expansion for drafting rifles later (never tried this before, so pretty curious myself how it works out…)

 

[Unconquered Sun]

Round 4

Spoiler :

Diplomacy continued to be a pain. Izzy piled on Sala, and I was happy for a turn, and then a random event made peace between them. Now that was a huge problem as Izzy's AI was resetted to "choose the enemy" mode, with me and Ceaser being the only two options now.

Meanwhile I finished Monarchy and decided to beeline Drama to help with my cultural wars. Construction was also an option (awesome UB there), but Sala already had it and I expected to trade for it the moment another AI gets it.

Izzy brought her SoD on our border, I gave her Aesthetics for free, for +1 diplo, and on the following turn she demanded Cows, of course I agreed and got another +1 mod (reaching cautious again) and receiving 10 turns of blissful peace.

I also traded Aesthetics to Ceaser for Math. That's my only tech trade so far. I'm not going to trade Drama to Izzy/Sala for obvious reasons. Anyhow, with Drama, Math, and a high research rate I took a shot at Music...

(save/pic are for turn 89)

 

[Thrar]

Round 4

Moving along, still alive and sort of well, but nothing exciting going on. Maybe you don't want to look at my screenshot at the end if you don't have iron working yet.

Spoiler :

(91) As expected, Isabella finishes the AP for Buddhism. Population (Buddhist) according to upcoming election:
Isabella 37
Saladin 36
JC 28

(93) JC builds Mausoleum of Mausollos.

(96) Found Thebes. Isabella has settled on the silk 2S of the deer, so this one will serve as a blocker in addition to the barb city if/when we capture it.

(99) A random event for Isabella spreads buddhism to all our cities!

(101) Finally get Alphabet from Isa for Aesthetics, after putting about 100 beakers into it. Get Mathematics from Saladin, then. Hopefully next turn I can broker something from JC for Alphabet and Aesthetics.

(102) I can! Get Construction and Sailing for the two A's. He has Currency, but won't share it. Anyway, those Odeons will provide some much-needed help in our cultural border war. Finish the round of trades by getting IW for Alphabet from Saladin.

Spoiler :

The result: Iron pops up right next to Corinth, giving us another option to pursue for expansion! Catapults and axes/swords with free +25% vs. archers? Hmmm...

Tech situation: Everyone is up Meditation and Poly, most likely the next two religious techs and Monarchy. Isa has Metal Casting, while JC has currency. We will go for literature, after finally researching AH. All over the empire, workers are being built.

(106) Update on Buddhist population:
Isabella 64
Saladin 48
JC 49
us 17

The GE from Pyramids is finally born. Re-hire all the previously fired scientists in other cities.

(110) A settler is ready in the north to settle where he's currently standing. Ugly location, but it will get the crabs as well as eventually cover the fish, unless I build another junk city there later.
Isabella has been spotted in that area, but her settler turned back. Anyway, I will keep mine ready until I get the barb city, to settle if necessary. Otherwise I'd rather settle in the tundra near the fish. Isabella is moving with a sword and a chariot to the barb city, I have 3 archers nearby. This should become interesting.

Research in this turnset: Aesthetics (about half left) -> a bit of Alphabet -> (trade Math, IW, Construction and minors) -> AH -> Poly -> Literature (nominally in 10). Isa and JC both have Literature already, so the GL might work or might not.
Current research is a whopping 25 @40%, but there's only one scientist running at the moment (some whipping...), so that should explain it to some extent at least.