I like highland maps, so I was looking forward to this GoTM since it was announced. I figured that since this is Monarch, I may as well go for the handicap and downloaded the Challenger start. One extra tech for the AI doesn't sound like a game breaker, since I usually play Emperor in my SP games.
I decided to settle in place, and started a workboat.
Research path would be hunting, archery, mining, bronzeworking.
Pretty non descript start. New York was founded in 2040 BC (or possibly 2840BC, my notes aren't all that clear!) 1N of the horses, where it can work both gold tiles.
1640BC Stonehenge is completed in Washington.
1160BC Start Oracle in Washington.
1000BC I had a hard time deciding on where to put my 3rd city, eventually I settled 1W of the wine, where my borders would pop and cut off the Germans. I hadn't fully explored to the east of there at this point, but I figured I could possibly tie Bismark up.
975BC Start researching Alphabet
875BC Oracle done in DC, take Code of Laws. With 2 wonders putting out Great Prophet points, the plan is to lightbulb Civil Service with a great prophet.
500BC Great Prophet arrives. 3 turns left to research Civil Service, which I switch to once research is completed.
I trade Writing to Bismark for Sailing and Meditation and Priesthood to Monty for Masonry. Everyone is nice and friendly on this end of the map. Monty becomes my Confucian buddy and bestest friend ever.
125 AD Great Library is built in Washington. Industrious is a great trait when you've got a tech lead!
150 AD Philly is founded east of Boston. It will be able to work the wheat and pigs and the plains hills that overlap with Boston's fat cross that Boston doesn't have enough food for anyway. Philly will be a crappy city in the modern era, but 2 food sources and four mines will be pretty good for now, and I decide it will be my Heroic Epic city.
Plus, with Philly built, once its borders pop the only fog of war will be along the thin strip to the east of Washington and the Barbs threat to the homeland is ended completely. Overall all, I had pretty good luck with my archers defending against several barb axemen.
Here's a pretty picture:
Berlin has the Pyramids, the Great Lighthouse, and the Parthenon, and Bismark hasn't hooked up any metals yet! Since I don't have iron or bronze either, it's time for collateral carnage! Time to let the Cats out.
425AD I discover Music and get the free Great Artist, but more importantly, my Chariot scouting out Germany sees something very disturbing:
Munich has popped it's borders and is only 2 turns away from roading up the copper mine. I'm not quite ready to bring my stack north to Germany yet, but declare war now anyway. My chariot takes the German worker, pillages the copper mine and backs up a bit, keeping an eye out to make sure the Germans don't send more workers.
This bodes ill for the Germans, since their capital is only defended by archers:
At this point in the game, I've managed to build a solid core of three very productive cities and Boston, which blocked German expansion. Germany should not survive my stack of catapults and I'm expecting to pick up three very useful wonders. (With bureacracy running in Washington, the extra traderoutes for the Great Lighthouse will do as much or more than the extra beakers for Representation, but the nice thing is that the Germans will be providing them both!) I've put myself in a good position by scouting the Germans, finding their strategic resources and researching Construction, which gives me a unit he simply can't compete with.
I still haven't met anyone but Monty, Napoleon and Bismark, but I'm good friends with Monty and far enough from Napoleon that he has better things to do than mess with me.
I'm teching along pretty well, and things are looking up for the Americans.
Instead of settling back to archery or horses, I bravely said, well, there must be iron somewhere nearby, right? And pushed on to iron working.
That was crucial, because I then had to sttop my settler and wait for backup. In the meantime, quite literally seconds before I finally arrived on scene, Napoleon planted a city to claim the iron after an expansion?!?!?
And for the next several decades, I would be fighting long and hard with my first really "raging" barbs down there. Needless to say I was extended with a city far to the SE, even with copper, and had to run HA's down there regularly to hold back the Axes, which is only a semi-fair fight. I suffered a bit, both militarily and economically because of it. We'll see if that was a good decision at the time?!?
