Shark Diver
King
EDGE#136 - T219 Culture Victory
I settled on the desert hill on t1 and was immediately thinking this needs to be a Petra cap.
On t11, my Spearman found GBR and my scout found Mt. Sinai. Nothing like having >1500 gold that early. I would be the first to find FoY a few turns later. That's a bit OP.
I bought a Settler, then Worker, then another Settler to grab the decent land between Sweden and my Cap. I timed that really well and was able to plant the city and shoot Sweden's Warrior who was escorting a Settler and my Spearman finished him off for another free Worker. I had already stolen one Worker from Sweden and got another 2 from a CS, so my tiles are up and running. Sweden would shortly thereafter become my lifelong friend.
Cap's BO was Scout - Scout - Shrine - Settler - Settler - Granary - Library - Watermill - Lighthouse. I had found a Sailing Ruin and purchased a Work Boat to get the Whales online.
The massive Science boost from 2 GBR tiles was almost comical. Techs were going in a fraction of the normal time, but going 5-city Tradition meant I had to delay growth in my expos for several turns. I was able to grab a lot of techs like Optics and Bronze Working that I normally have to delay, so now the Cap is cranking out some good growth and production.
I got 1st and 2nd Profits from OWN and took Pagodas and Monasteries to make those Wine tiles more useful (although I wasn't able to work them until later than I had hoped). Tithe, Defender, and Sacred Sites for a near perfect religion. I would end up planting 6 Holy Sites.
I was heading towards Currency for my Petra build and noticed on t46 that Temple of Artemis was still around, so I decided to get greedy and had it built on t54. Max Greed Petra came next, then Oracle, NC on t82 and Great Mosque, Universities on t92, and we're off to the races......or so I thought.
Here's my empire on t100:
Hiawatha had an unusually strong early game and even though I was on pace to hit Printing Press on t117, he beat me there on t114 and GE'd LToP. I was furious, but since I had Sweden as an ally, my Great Person generation was still good. I had an Engineer laying around for Globe and then hard-built Sistine. At least I was able to propose World's Fair. but having it so early meant it was going to be very challenging to get to Radio before the 2nd Conference.
Thankfully, Hiawatha's neighbors took turns fighting him with no prompting from me. I had very good relationships the whole game, including an enduring friendship with the other game leaders Hiawatha and William.
At this point, my cities started stalling out due to a lack of good tiles to work. The whole mid-game seemed like a struggle, but part of that was because my tech was so badly outperforming my production.
The rest of the game was pretty routine. Beeline to Radio. Use some of my massive FPT to buy Engineers for those Wonders. Freedom, get the Archeologists out, and then just wait for IG. Production picked back up in my expos after Freedom, Chemistry, and Fertilizer so IG was a breeze.
Several turns later, I bought 3 finishing Musicians and sent them to the nearby Dutch lands.
This game was clearly dominated by Spain's UA and the massive Faith and Science. I didn't do much else particularly well, but that fast start was all I needed.
Due to the mediocre lands, this game was both overpowered and underpowered at the same time, and I think the biggest challenge is adjusting to the faster tech time. I did consider a 6th city on the desert/river/mountain area to the West, but I decided the slower Culture and Tech times weren't worth the upside.
Have fun guys, this is a wild ride.
Spoiler Maximum Greed Game :
I settled on the desert hill on t1 and was immediately thinking this needs to be a Petra cap.
On t11, my Spearman found GBR and my scout found Mt. Sinai. Nothing like having >1500 gold that early. I would be the first to find FoY a few turns later. That's a bit OP.

I bought a Settler, then Worker, then another Settler to grab the decent land between Sweden and my Cap. I timed that really well and was able to plant the city and shoot Sweden's Warrior who was escorting a Settler and my Spearman finished him off for another free Worker. I had already stolen one Worker from Sweden and got another 2 from a CS, so my tiles are up and running. Sweden would shortly thereafter become my lifelong friend.
Cap's BO was Scout - Scout - Shrine - Settler - Settler - Granary - Library - Watermill - Lighthouse. I had found a Sailing Ruin and purchased a Work Boat to get the Whales online.
The massive Science boost from 2 GBR tiles was almost comical. Techs were going in a fraction of the normal time, but going 5-city Tradition meant I had to delay growth in my expos for several turns. I was able to grab a lot of techs like Optics and Bronze Working that I normally have to delay, so now the Cap is cranking out some good growth and production.
I got 1st and 2nd Profits from OWN and took Pagodas and Monasteries to make those Wine tiles more useful (although I wasn't able to work them until later than I had hoped). Tithe, Defender, and Sacred Sites for a near perfect religion. I would end up planting 6 Holy Sites.
I was heading towards Currency for my Petra build and noticed on t46 that Temple of Artemis was still around, so I decided to get greedy and had it built on t54. Max Greed Petra came next, then Oracle, NC on t82 and Great Mosque, Universities on t92, and we're off to the races......or so I thought.
Here's my empire on t100:

Hiawatha had an unusually strong early game and even though I was on pace to hit Printing Press on t117, he beat me there on t114 and GE'd LToP. I was furious, but since I had Sweden as an ally, my Great Person generation was still good. I had an Engineer laying around for Globe and then hard-built Sistine. At least I was able to propose World's Fair. but having it so early meant it was going to be very challenging to get to Radio before the 2nd Conference.

Thankfully, Hiawatha's neighbors took turns fighting him with no prompting from me. I had very good relationships the whole game, including an enduring friendship with the other game leaders Hiawatha and William.
At this point, my cities started stalling out due to a lack of good tiles to work. The whole mid-game seemed like a struggle, but part of that was because my tech was so badly outperforming my production.
The rest of the game was pretty routine. Beeline to Radio. Use some of my massive FPT to buy Engineers for those Wonders. Freedom, get the Archeologists out, and then just wait for IG. Production picked back up in my expos after Freedom, Chemistry, and Fertilizer so IG was a breeze.

Several turns later, I bought 3 finishing Musicians and sent them to the nearby Dutch lands.

This game was clearly dominated by Spain's UA and the massive Faith and Science. I didn't do much else particularly well, but that fast start was all I needed.




Due to the mediocre lands, this game was both overpowered and underpowered at the same time, and I think the biggest challenge is adjusting to the faster tech time. I did consider a 6th city on the desert/river/mountain area to the West, but I decided the slower Culture and Tech times weren't worth the upside.
Have fun guys, this is a wild ride.