ANCIENT AGES
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I didn't see any reason to move away from an excellent coastal spot, so i decided for a strategy of settling in place, building the Forbidden Palace in a nearby city and moving the capital later. The initial build order was warrior -> settler -> worker -> Pyramids, but then i met India, traded CB and switched to temple.
City 2 (the future FP city) and a few other settlements were built at RCP-4 from the capital. Research was set at Writing at minimum, followed by Code of Laws, Literature and Republic. Philosophy and a bunch of other techs were provided by the AS.
After the early temple Paris produced another settler, then it was time to decide what GW to build: i considered the Colossus as a lost cause (and i was right, it was completed abroad before 2000 BC!) and i put my bet on the Pyramids instead. The great building potential of Paris was enough to overcome the 20% discount of the AS and the magnificent Pyramids of Paris were completed in 1225 BC. Persepolis was a close contender but i was fast enough to beat it and the Persian capital immediately cascaded to the Great Lighthouse.
This was good news actually, because the Oracle was already built, and therefore there was no further cascade possible. It was time to research Literature and move on my next big project. I withold Literature for a while, took my chances in building a library first (to help discovering Republic faster) and only after that i went for the Great Library. My calculations still gave me an edge on all the known AS, but if someone abroad had researched Literature early enough, it would beat me.
The QSC stats weren't anything great, because i built no granaries and didn't use Paris as a settler pump, as i would have done with a different victory condition. I reached the 1000 BC mark with:
1 city, 7 towns; 26 pop units;
army: 2 spears, 8 warriors, 8 workers, 2 slaves;
one temple, 3 barracks, granaries everywhere due to Pyramids;
Rep in 23, missing a buttload of techs;
128 quids, -4 gpt;
Know all the AS in the home continent;
By 650 BC Republic was known; i revolted immediately, got only 2 turns of anarchy (lucky shot) and of course didn't even think about rerolling
At this point, i decided to put all my chances on completing the Great Library and put research at zero. The bet paid off and i completed it in 270 BC; on the less pleasant side, India cascaded to the Great Wall. Next turn, my shiny new Great Library gave me all the 3 compulsory AA techs i was still missing, plus Monotheism and Feudalism
The Middle Ages had just begun.
MIDDLE AGES
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On the military side, after some expansion i begun the invasion of India. I don't remember exactly when it started because i wasn't taking notes by that time, it can be either the late AA or the beginning of the MA. Anyway, the Indian proved to be surprisingly tough and what, in my mind, should have been a quick and dirty job actually protracted itself well into the Middle Ages. India was finally disposed of in 430 AD, not an exciting date actually. In the meantime, there were two short wars with Ottomans and Persia that i used to take over a few small settlements they had managed to sneak into my sphere of interest, but besides that i left their core nations totally intact, because i wanted to exploit their research potential to my advantage.
About the far landmass, i soon realized that there was no safe passage abroad, even with the Great Lighthouse. Nonetheless, making contact was important, if anything for meeting the 3rd scientific civ. I assembled a fleet of galleys and sent them away from different starting points. Two of them made their journey and the rest of the AS were met on the last BC turn. Some fruitful trades were made, but unfortunately Babylon didn't get the missing MA freebie, so i had to research Engineering myself in order to "stimulate" the AS to research on the lower path.
Until then, Paris had produced a colosseum, a marketplace, a cathedral, and was prebuilding with Sun Tzu. However, in the very same 10 BC turn, Monarchy was known with the Great Library. Too early! I immediately switched to Hanging Gardens but ended up losing the race to the Ottomans for a mere 3 turns
Ok, there was a plan B: Back to Sun Tzu, then speed up for Engineering, trade immediately for Theology and switch to Sistine. But even this plan was at risk of failing: in 330 AD Sun Tzu was built in Trondheim, and the Persian city of Susa switched to... Sistine.
By 370 AD i had got knowledge of Chivalry and Invention, and i was 4 turn away from completing Sistine. So i decided to trade for
Education, de-facto deactivating my Great Library. The rationale was to research at full speed to Music Theory and have a plan C for the worst case scenario: should i lose Sistine, i could still have good chances to cascade to Leonardo's and then turn to Bach's. On the other hand, if i had success with Sistine, i could still benefit from this course of action because of a spare leader gained during the Indian campaign, that i could use to rush immediately Bach's.
By 410 AD, i managed to complete Sistine. Immediately after, Susa cascaded to Leonardo's... and completed it! Geez, i just realized i was only one turn away from losing Sistine, what a thrilling race! Playing 20k at Emperor level is not for the faint-hearted
Next turn, Music Theory was known and the leader was spent to rush Bach's. Two good points scored.
Research went on Astronomy, with Paris building a university as an intended prebuild to Copernicus. I bought Astronomy half-way from the Ottomans and switched immediately. Research continued with Navigation. In the meantime, i got two useful techs from abroad: Gunpowder (Scandinavia) and Printing Press (Spain). Navigation was known in 580 AD and by that time i already had assembled a fleet of caravels with enough units (and with a bunch of musketeers included) to launch an invasion oversea.
My plan was to hit at Spain first, then go on with England and America, followed by Scandinavia. At that point, i still had to build a second core. The idea of using the former Indian land was rejected because it would have taken too much to turn that jungle nightmare into something at least decently productive, so i decided that i would have built my new capital in-between England and America, where there was enough room for a nice RCP5 first ring and an equally good RCP7 second ring, plus some stragglers.
War started, i got my musketeer victory and the French Golden Age could finally be started. With the bonus of the GA, i completed Copernicus, built a fast university (shortrush is your friend here) and started on Magellan's. The possibilities were open at this point: i could either complete Magellan or use it as a prebuild for a more culturally strong wonder. In the meantime, i had kept research low until i could trade for Banking (Ottomans) and Chemistry (England), then i went for a 4-turn research on Physics and used it to trade for Democracy (Ottomans) and Free Artistry (Persia). The strategy of keeping the Persians and the Ottomans intact was paying off, as i could switch to a more lucrative Shakespeare's with an unbeatable advantage.
I kept the 4-turn pace with Magnetism, bought Metallurgy and Economics from the Ottomans (good guys
) and then went for the final research, Gravity. In 780 AD my Middle Ages were over, and i could also buy Military Tradition once again from the Ottomans. In the very same turn i completed Shakespeare and turned to Newton, which would be complete the next turn thanks to a spare leader. The three AS got each one a different freebie, and most importantly Babylon got Nationalism. By selling off all i had i had good chances to trade for it and buy all the rest.
INDUSTRIAL AND MODERN AGES
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I rushbuilt Newton's as planned, then went back to Magellan, but with very low chances to actually build it. However, if the tech pace was fast enough, i could use it as a prebuild for an Industrial wonder. The attack went on, research went on as well and after three turns on Nationalism i could buy it from Babylon and collect the other two first-tier techs as well. A pleasant surprise was the presence of coal: Paris was switched immediately to Iron Works, even if it meant to forego Magellan's.
An added bonus of the Spanish campaign was the capture of a city that had just completed Magellan. In 880 AD Spain was no more and i immediately started to pluck England and America. A third leader came up and it was used to form an army and score an army victory. Paris completed IW and begun to build Heroic Epic. One turn before its completion, Smith was built in Istanbul, so i was out of prebuilds. For the first time in centuries Paris built a non-cultural building, a bank.
I sped up Electricity (which i gave away to everyone) and then i went fast for Industrialization in order to get enough of a head start for Universal Suffrage. I completed it in just 10 turns (IW is great!), built a factory and a hospital. Meanwhile, the 4th leader of the game allowed me to finally build my new capital in Hastings and from now on i could use the Palace prebuild in Paris.
By now, the building potential of Paris had become enormous. I netted Evolution as well (the very same turn i moved my capital) and got another lucky shot by immediately obtaining the 5th leader, that i used to rush Hoover Dam. At that point i had netted all the IA wonders and the rest of the IA was a rush to build all the minor wonders i could and, at the same time, complete the IA as fast as i could. Toward the end of the age i run out of wonders to build, but i could use the free turns to build a stock exchange and a commercial dock.
On the military side, things went smoothly with the demise of England (1050 AD) and America (1160 AD). In 1335 AD, with the purchase of Flight from the Chinese i made it into the Modern Ages. Both Persia and the Ottomans got Computers, while Babylon got Ecology, but i was at war with them because the pesky Vikings had dragged them in. I researched Rocketry, made peace with Babylon, traded the freebies and turned my palace prebuild into SETI. Successive goals were Miniaturization and Genetics. Scandinavia was gone in 1425 AD and, after the 20 turns of peace expired, i got rid of what remained of Babylon as well.
With the help of two more leaders, i could build all the Modern wonders as well and then i turned into the remaining small wonders. As nobody was controlling all the necessary resources to build a spaceship (and i had no intention at all of trading them), my plan was to just give up the conquest (in order to save some time) and be milking my game up to 20k, with an open eye on the Chinese and Ottomans borders, but at some point China obtained a source of aluminium and started building spaceship part. To be honest i almost lost my game because of that: when i checked on the spaceship race, for pure fun, i discovered that China had 5 components build and the remaining 5 under construction!!!
I assembled a force as fast as i could and stormed China with all my might. Their reaction was brutal, and i immediately collected a buttload of war weariness to the point that i had to run at 60% luxury rate! But, most importantly, i could destroy their spaceship just in time. I took over all of China, then donated a part of it to the Celts (which were my good buddies for the whole game) and then just sat at 1 tile below the domination limit until the 20k was reached.
The end result is a 20k victory in 1758 AD, for a Firaxis score slightly above the 10k mark and a Jason score of 8k plus something.
Here are some logs:
Complete tech progression:
4000bc: Masonry, Alphabet (prerequisites)
2550bc: Ceremonial Burial (trade, India);
2150bc: Writing (research); Bronze Working, Warrior Code (trade, Persia);
1950bc: Iron Working (trade, Persia);
1500bc: Code of Laws (research); Wheel, Mysticism (trade, Ottomans); Pottery (trade, India); Horse Riding (trade, Persia);
1125bc: Literature (research); Philosophy (trade, Persia);
_950bc: Map Making (trade, Ottomans);
_630bc: Republic (research); Mathematics (trade, India);
_250bc: Polytheism, Construction, Currency (Great Library);
_250bc: Monotheism, Feudalism (Great Library);
__10bc: Monarchy (Great Library);
_210ad: Engineering (research); Theology (trade, Ottomans);
_280ad: Chivalry (Great Library);
_370ad: Invention (Great Library); Education (trade, Ottomans);
_420ad: Music Theory (research);
_480ad: Astronomy (trade, Ottomans);
_500ad: Gunpowder (trade, Scandinavia);
_550ad: Printing Press (trade, Spain);
_580ad: Navigation (research);
_600ad: Banking (trade, Ottomans);
_660ad: Chemistry (trade, England);
_700ad: Physics (research); Democracy (trade, Persia); Free Artistry (trade, Ottomans);
_740ad: Magnetism (research); Metallurgy, Economics (trade, Ottomans);
_780ad: Theory of Gravity (research); Military Tradition (trade, Ottomans);
_810ad: Nationalism (trade, Babylon); Steam Power (trade, Persia); Medicine (trade, China);
_900ad: Electricity (research); Communism (trade, Persia);
_940ad: Sanitation (research);
_980ad: Industrialization (research);
1020ad: Corporation (research); Replaceable Parts (trade, China);
1060ad: Scientific Method (trade, Ottomans);
1120ad: Steel (research);
1150ad: Atomic Theory, Electronics (ToE);
1230ad: Refining (research);
1265ad: Combustion (research);
1290ad: Espionage (trade, Babylon);
1305ad: Radio (research); Mass Production (trade, Ottomans);
1325ad: Motorized Transportation (research);
1335ad: Flight (trade, China);
1365ad: Rocketry (research);
1370ad: Computers (trade, China); Ecology (trade, Babylon); Amphibious War (trade, Persia);
1395ad: Miniaturization (research);
1420ad: Genetics (research);
1430ad: Space Flight (trade, Ottomans); Fission (trade, Persia);
1440ad: Recycling (research);
1465ad: Nuclear Power (research); Satellites (trade, Ottomans);
1485ad: Laser (research); Superconductor (trade, Ottomans);
1500ad: Synthetic Fibers (trade, Persia);
1525ad: Smart Weapons (research);
1550ad: Integrated Defense (research);
1580ad: Stealth (research); Advanced Flight (trade, Ottomans);
Cities up to QSC:
4000bc: Paris
3050bc: Orleans
2190bc: Lyons
1990bc: Rheims
1450bc: Tours
1425bc: Marseilles (furs);
1150bc: Chartres
1050bc: Avignon
Meetings:
2550bc: India
2150bc: Ottomans, Persia
__10bc: everything else
Kills:
_430ad: India
_880ad: Spain
1050ad: England
1160ad: America
1425ad: Scandinavia
1510ad: Babylon
1675ad: China
20k progression:
4000bc: Palace
2470bc: temple
1200bc: Pyramids
_950bc: library
_270bc: Great Library
_210bc: colosseum
__90bc: cathedral
_410ad: Sistine Chapel
_430ad: Bach's (leader)
_610ad: Copernicus
_640ad: university
_780ad: Shakespeare's
_790ad: Newton's (leader)
_880ad: Iron Works
_910ad: Heroic Epic
1080ad: Universal Suffrage
1150ad: Theory of Evolution - palace is gone
1160ad: Hoover Dam (leader)
1230ad: Military Academy
1255ad: Wall Street
1280ad: Battlefield Medicine
1305ad: Intelligence Agency
1375ad: SETI Program
1420ad: The Internet / research lab
1430ad: Cure for Cancer (leader)
1445ad: United Nations (leader)
1475ad: Manhattan Project
1495ad: Apollo Program
1500ad: Longevity (leader)
1545ad: The Pentagon
1565ad: Strategic Missile Defense
1758ad: 20k
A shot of Paris in the victory turn; the research bar was raised just to show its potential:
