Turn 0
The cook has flown, huh? Probably got scared of all of this manly warfare and didnt want to break a nail. No bother. We dont need no steenking
er
cook. Weve the blood of the vanquished to drink. Well, that and beer. Blood really does need a chaser after all.
Anyhow, the cooks gone and he put me in charge. He fired all the nerds in the hopes that we can teach mace-wielding thugs to throw bombs. Perhaps thats why the cook no longer works here. We can churn out a Grenedier every two turns in Munich and another every turn somewhere else. I veto this no-science variant.
Speaking of variant, lets check the builds
Berlin (Sci) and has all the science building we can build.
Hamburg (Sci) ditto
Munich (Prod) and dropping units out like third-generation welfare moms
Cologne (Hyb)
Frankfurt (Fin) is building a bank. I add a grocer to the queue.
Beshbalik (Sci) is building research. Not sure why, but I leave it alone in case the cook has some plan.
Karakorum (GP) switched from bank to National Epic
Essen (Sci) is building a harbor. Not remembering the rules, I switch to monastery. But then I remember and switch it back.
Turfan (Fin) and doing everything its supposed to
Antium has no specialty so I assign it to production. Its only got one hammer, but it really only has one of everything until Caesar coughs up his last salad.
Rome has no specialty so I make it GP.
Guangzhou is bringing in 18C 23F and 14P so I make it a science specialty. However, its two turns from completing a caravel so I let it do so.
Holcomb I assigned to science and I switched builds from a courthouse to a library.
Shanghai is still in rebellion so I dont assign it anything.
I look at the sliders and wonder if Fox was running 0% science because our max of 20% was just too painful to look at. Whatever, I bump us to 20% science, 20% culture and war wariness is still threatening to make red shirts of our farmers. Some whips might help, but I decide a quick end to the war is better.
Press enter already!
Turn 1 1555
Munich finishes a Pike and begins a Grenadier. My lone cat next to Beijing takes the defenses down to 42%. We have a few troops there, but the bulk of our cats arrive next turn. We can wait.
IBT Asoka begins a golden age.
Turn 2 1560
Berlin: Confucian Missionary => Grenadier. Cologne: Harbor => Knight. Turfan: Market => Bank. Guangzhou: Caravel => Granary.
The Battle for Beiging
The catapult contingent arrives and throw rocks until the scoreboard says 6%. I have two Raider II Grenadiers and a Raider II. All three take out Longbow defenders at 98%+ odds. An non-promoted Grenadier relieves Qin of a Maceman at 91% and a Raider II Maceman of ours kills a Musketman at 74.3%. All thats left is to mop up a lone Catapult and the city is ours.
Qin gives us a lovely parting gift of 158 Gold. I take the money and
keep the city.
Moving on
Why do we have so many Caravels? I just use them to explore and spy.
Turn 3 1565
Munich finishes a Granary and builds a Knight. Then Shanghai hangs the rebels and begins a Courthouse to put a dent in that -12 maintenance cost. Shanghai comes with Stonehenge, Chichen Itza, and Notre Dame, none of which work anymore.
When Shanghai expanded, it illuminated a tile on which sat an enemy Mace. Fortunately, I had already sent a Grenadier that way to aide in the citys defense. Our bomb-chucker makes quick work of the ball-twirler. Incidentally, the Maceman graphic isnt wielding a mace. Those are morning stars. Go figure.
Lastly, a Confucian Missionary spreads his word to Guangzhou.
Turn 4 1570
Asoka asks to trade us Ivory for Iron. The window on War Elephants has closed so I say no. Hamburg finishes a Market and begins a Theater. Happiness is becoming a problem so I check to see what Qin will give us to stop raping his children. He offers Theology, Paper, some gold and his map. Its a nice offer, but itll still be there after we take Macao.
Ive got a lot of workers standing idle so I make them build emergency farms to slow the starvation in Shanghai. We might want to turn a few of these into cottages later.
Lastly, it looks to me like Ive just circumnavigated. I hear no weird music, but I think that often comes at the front of the next turn. Well see.
Turn 5 1575
Hamburg builds a Theater and starts a Confucian Missionary. Munich makes a Knight out of clay and fires up the kiln on a Grenadier.
Shanghais borders pop, so our workers have 12 more tiles to corrupt. Yay!
Also, apparently a few cats arrive on scene at Macau. This is weird. If a galley is selected, the defense says 25%. Select a cat, and its 100%. Toggle a Grenedier and its 25% again. Whatever, I have 6 catapults one tile away.
Now, whatever I select, the defenses say 25%.
The Battle for Macau is upon us
A Raider II Grenadier offs a Longbow (just how long is your bow, sir?) at 98%. A Combat II Knight takes a Chuck over his knee at 78%. Finally another Knight mops up the remaining Catapult and
Macau plus 128 gold are ours.
I decide to
make peace with Qin. He gives us Theology, Paper, his map, 60 gold, and 1 gold/turn. Well probably remove him outright soon enough, but lets let the wariness die down for a bit.
Looking at his map, Qin has two cities left. Ones on ice and the other is right next to Louis borders to our east.
Qin has also scouted the new world and it aint worth diddley. With peace, our unhappiness goes way down (about 7 in most cities) so I kill the culture slider and bring science up to 50%. Thats a -37/turn deficit, but we have 630 in the register.
Before hitting enter, I remember that I never got the circumnavigation music. Reading back in the log, I see that
JC circumnavigated in 1300. 
Werent we kicking the snot out of him around then?
Turn 6 1580
Cologne: Knight => Bank.
Karakorum builds the National Epic and begins an Aqueduct to counter the green fumes.
Turn 7 1585
Hamburg: Confused Mistress => Confiscated Minister. Caesar shows up demanding Chemistry.
Good one, guy. Munich swaps one Grenadier for another and Essen finishes a Harbor and begins a Monastery.
Turn 8 1590
Berlin: Grenadier => Miss Confucius while another Confucian Miss spreads her religion in Shanghai.
IBT Asoka asks for a map swap. I see no need to disappoint him. (Afterwards, I realize that I may have pissed off Louis for that. F--- the frog. He declared on us.)
Turn 9 1595
Hamburg makes one Confucian Missionary and begins another. Munich goes Grenadier => Catapult and Guangzhou goes Grenadier => Catapult. All turnset, Ive been sending new troops up north in case Rome forgets its place. This is when I realized that we didnt have any Cats up there if we needed them. Also, Guangzhou builds a Granary and moves to a Library.
IBT The aforementioned frog sacks (and keeps) Nanjing.
Turn 10 1600
Munich: Cat => Cat. Karakorum builds an Aqueduct and Rome finishes a Confucian Temple. In both cases, I forgot to write down what they started. Beijing comes out of rebellion and I begin a courthouse. Beijing has the Pyramids and Great Library. Macau also ends its resistance and begins a lighthouse.
Summary:
I've been sending new troops north to protect against JC's increasing hatred for us, but I don't have anything near an invasion force up there. Our grand army is camped in Beijing and I suggest we raze his last city when we meet our 10-turn requirement.
. I guess JC is next target or do you prefer to go for big fish (or big frog)
Guess someone will have to do it
