GOTM 17 First Spoiler

[ainwood]

GOTM 17 First Spoiler

Reading Requirements:

1. You must have reached at least 0 AD.
2. You must have reached at least one other landmass

Posting Restrictions

1. Do not post any details of anything that happens after 500 AD.
2. Do not post any details or screenshots of anything happening on land-masses not reachable by galleys.

 

[kuukkeli]

I should have known better. Monarch and difficult (I suppose) maptype don't mix too well with lack of skill and experience I'm not going to finish this one but I'll give a short recap on what were IMO my biggest mistakes. I'll try to actually finish GOTM next month.

Mistake #1: I was too obsessed by the circumvention bonus. With the workboat that was an Adventurer Class bonus I should have checked the nearby islands before going round the globe. Now I missed the island to the south (one with the diamonds and gold) - I actually managed to get grip of it later but it required warring with two of the strongest civilizations in my game. It's not funny to be the weakest civ when you're hated by the strong ones.

Mistake #2: Lack of (reasonable) city management and dot mapping don't get you to very good position, especially when you're settling on inferior islands due to mistake #1. Hopefully I get these two in better shape before GOTM 18 (actually they're already in better shape but not better enough). In a way mistake #2 could be summarized as lack of experience and skill in general.

What comes to my actual game decisions, I settled in place after moving Scout W-NW to reveal the Corn. Initial build was Worker and research path was Wheel - Mining - BW. I put my second city in the SW part of the starting island (grabbing both Sheep and Fish). After that things went wrong.

First of all I had difficulties in finding city locations that looked good. Seems like someone had stolen hills from this map (obviously there were some hills in the southern island which I initially missed). I think my 3rd and 4th cities were on an island to the east (one with a lake at the northern end and maybe Cows [ EDIT: Not Cows but Pigs. I'm referring to the AgedOne's Pig Land here. ] somewhere in the south, I've already deleted my save so I can't confirm). Southern one of these was crappy production city (at least it had few hills [ EDIT: and Iron - I knew there was metal somewhere because I never settled the Copper Land but waged my little wars with better-than-Warrior units. ]) and the northern one was going to be either commerce or GP farm (never made the decision as the city was SO slow to develop due to lack of production and forests).

5th and 6th cities went to that island on the south. First I took a good commerce city from Egypt(?) and then I pushed Romans(?) out of the western end of the island. Obviously neither of them fancied my actions. I don't think I built more cities before I tapped out (or more like threw in the towel)

My position at the end of my attempt was rather poor. Two of my closest neighbours were strong and shared a mutual hatred towards me. I had two friendly civs across the map but due to distance I hardly expected military help from them. Most of my military strength had been focused on taking those two cities and elsewhere my empire was quite lightly defended. I was behind in every meter. I guess I could have survived for quite some time but with my (lack of) ability I had no clue how to actually win. Therefore I assumed it would be better to return to Noble and learn few more lessons than to fight this losing war.

Next month I'll do better (don't give up until the second spoilers?)

EDIT: After reading the first few reports I'm starting to feel stupid for abandoning the game so soon. It seems that others have had pretty similar problems with settling and with Hatty. Next month I have to finish, damnit!

 

[Harbourboy]

Well, I am still in the game at 500 AD but not sure how things are going to pan out.

I settled one spot west of the starting position, which was OK but nothing special.

My first aim was to get a religion, because I like to get one under my belt in archipelago games and with Philosophical Alexander, I should be able to get a money making shrine easily.

I managed to found the usual Hinduism and I set about building an early Oracle after deciding to bypass Stonehenge. I completed Oracle and took Iron Working instead of Monarchy because I hadn't expanded much and need to know exactly where to put my settler to get some metal.

Unfortunately, Hatsepshut settled on the gold and gem island so I had to to go to war with her early, even though she was the most powerful. Luckily, her isolated position on that island meant she could not bring in reinforcements so I managed to get that island off her.

Meanwhile the Hindui Shrine was bringing in enough cash to fund the war and keep science at 100%.

At 500 AD I have 6 cities, but not really enough food to properly fund the specialist economy I was aiming for to get maximum benefit from Alexander's Philosophical trait. Not sure where to go from here. I don't have enough religion to head for cultural so I might look to launch a galleon borne attack on the new top dog, Julius Caesar. Either that, or a missionary spam to see if I can get someone to convert to my Hinduism.

 

[dalamb]

Yay! I've been waiting for this thread, since I want to see what everyone else says before continuing (well, manyone else -- a couple of days' worth).

Adventurer, 50AD. I initially settled on the hill that added access to the corn.

Mistake #1: I was too obsessed by the circumvention bonus. With the workboat that was an Adventurer Class bonus I should have checked the nearby islands before going round the globe. Now I missed the island to the south (one with the diamonds and gold)

Smarter than me -- I did find the diamonds island, but didn't settle it soon enough, and Hatty got it. I'm not in a position to attack her yet, since neither my copper nor iron are online yet. The lack of diamonds happiness is limiting the size of a couple of cities that could do with a little more growth.

Next month I'll do better (don't give up until the second spoilers?)

I'm really really hoping to keep my spirits up long enough to finish this one. Good luck next time.

My first aim was to get a religion, because I like to get one under my belt in archipelago games and with Philosophical Alexander, I should be able to get a money making shrine easily.

I am really regretting not going for Hinduism; I had the idea it was too hard to do on Monarch. As with the diamonds, I could really have used the extra happiness.

Other mistakes:

1. On the island to the northwest, IMHO the most valuable spot is on the coast near the stone, so that those of us without early religion have a speedup on obelisks and maybe a chance for the pyramids. I settled near the horses, then near the wheat.
2. Possibly exploring too much with the workboat. I got circumnavigation, but I've read advice that trading is better if you haven't met everyone yet, since the ones you meet later won't have advanced their "don't trade anymore" counters for trades before you meet them.
3. I should have gone for copper earlier than I did. It was the second (or, worse, maybe third) off-main-island city instead of the first, and I still don't have the copper available. I may not build any phalanx before they're obsolete at this rate!

On the plus side, I haven't run into any land barbarians, and only one barbarian galley.

 

[AgedOne]

Preparation

I’ve played probably more Monarch level games than any other, and have a balanced chance of victory or defeat. However, I’m not good at archipelago maps, so I approached this GOTM with caution.
I played a lot of trial games – usually only as far as the year 0 – to see how I could make them work out. I got rather stuck on the map that Mastiff_of_Ar published in the pre-game thread. Must’ve played that one 10 times!
The trouble was, I didn’t have one really good game in all of the trials I played. Always found myself at or near the bottom of the scores when I left off. (The best one was a random generation where I had stone and horses nearby, built wonders, got HorseArchers and kicked some butt.)

I fancied the idea of a specialist economy, and studied some of the many strategy threads that there are on this. I wanted to use it as a backbone to support a military campaign.

So I sat down to play with a set of notes on research and build priorities by my side. Plenty of coffee, and away I went…

The start

Spoiler :

There seemed to me no good reason to move, so Athens was founded in place.
The early scouting quickly exposed the home island. Slightly dismayed that it was just as small as the Mastiff_of_Ar one that I had practiced on so much – perhaps even smaller. I also had to reassess the original guesswork that we were quite far south. Evidently we are closer to the equator, with lands around us in all directions.

My research went: Mysticism – Polytheism, as I was intent on founding Hinduism. I gulped when someone founded Buddhism in 3610BC – just 13 turns in – but held on at max commerce in Athens and founded Hinduism in 3250BC (turn 25)!

I then carried on research with Agri – Mining – Masonry – Wheel – Bronze – Pottery – Writing – Alpha –

Athens built Warrior – Worker – WorkBoat – Warrior – then in 2110BC I thought it had good enough productivity to go for Stonehenge, which we completed 19 turns later in 1480BC.

I had tried various different exploration strategies in practice, sometimes building many boats and sending them off to all points of the compass, sometimes just circling our local area. I felt that the most efficient path was to scope out the nearby islands without getting distracted into going further afield. That could wait until we had more boats a bit later on. So our lone WorkBoat explored to the NW, seeing something of the promising-looking land there, before sweeping around clockwise finding the pig-island to the NE and then heading south.
Coincidentally, just as it approached the island to our SE, in 1330BC, we learned BronzeWorking, so the copper deposit there was clearly visible and sparkling!

So we had completed our first wonder while only having a single city, but now was the time to expand to fill the lands we had discovered (If we weren’t already too late!)

Founded Sparta to the SW of our island, by the sheep and fish.

Taking stock

Spoiler :

About 750BC I looked around at how the game was panning out.

Strangely we hadn’t met anyone yet. A lonely world. Of course, we hadn’t strayed too far from home yet ourselves.

Our home island was surrounded by 4 islands that had some useful resources.



To the NW, the Land of Promise had Stone, Fish, Clams and Wheat – and was partly unexplored.
Pig Land to the NE had … pigs! And some fish. And a lot of jungle.
SE of us, Copper Land had the copper, of course plus sheep and some fish.
Finally, to our SW, Land of Riches had 2 gems, 2 gold, some sheep and fish!

I felt that my priorities were to continue research towards Literature and build the Gt Library, as this was one of the cornerstones of the specialist economy, and also to colonise the lands around us – starting with the Land of Riches and Copper Land.

No longer alone. (Meeting The Others)

Spoiler :

Well, we had been getting along quietly alone, but you can only judge your true progress when you see how your neighbours have been doing.

I could detect that progress was brisk elsewhere. The Oracle was completed in 745BC, and Christianity founded the same year.

In 700BC we met Hattie, as our workboat continued its exploration a little further afield, having completed its first circuit. The shock was that she was on double our score (350 to 188) and had a huge string of tech that we didn’t!

Shortly afterward, we met Saladin. He wasn’t quite so scary (230score to our 210).

Very soon, I realised that Hattie was about to overrun us by settling everywhere in the world! How could she afford it? She appeared first on Land of Riches (No!) in 600BC or so. I resolved to get copper and throw her off as soon as feasible.

Back home, I completed research into Alphabet (which I then traded to Saladin for Sailing, Animal H and Priesthood) before heading for Literature.
Getting Animal H showed the horses at the SE tip of Land of Promise, making it even more promising than before.

While waiting for Literature to come up, I indulged in a bit of building the Parthenon, not really expecting to be able to complete it. (Especially as I was stopping regularly to build other units and buildings) I was right. It was built elsewhere in 125AD. I got some good money for my work, though.

I had a pleasant surprise when silver appeared beneath a mined hill N of Athens!

Now we had sailing, I started galleys to take some new settlers to these lands. Hattie had other ideas! I could see that she had squatted on Copper Land in 220BC. How irritating! Now I needed to throw her off of the copper before building good axemen to throw her off the Land of Riches. What with? Horses. That’s what!

Founded Corinth by the horses in 115BC. (Oh, yes, I had plonked Thermopylae down earlier to complete our homeland)

Our religion was doing OK. 2 Gt Prophets by 80AD. The first had built our Hindu shrine and the second settled in Athens.

Stunning turn of events

Spoiler :

After researching Lit, I had continued with Meditation – Code of Laws – Archery.
I started the Gt Library in Athens, and brought all of my workers over to join in the chopping frenzy. Athens was set to max productivity, using the various mined hills.
We started this project in 145BC (turn 157).

At turn 177 – 155AD – with still 7 turns to go to completion – I received the news that left me staring at the screen in stunned silence: Saladin had completed the Gt Library.

Where did this leave me? My whole strategy relied on having the Gt Lib. Would it still work without?

I had to reassess. Carry on.

And I really had to get rid of Hattie from our islands!!

Preparing to expand forcibly

Spoiler :

In the final years of this spoiler period, we learned Archery and HorseRiding.
As our WorkBoat explored further to the east, we met Cyrus and then Isabella. Cyrus was relatively pleasant, and we traded Code of Laws to him for IronWorking and Monotheism. Isabella was much less pleasant, and went on the ‘Bad People List’. She was weaker than us, though. Hattie would come first on our hit list.

The knowledge of IronWorking was a useful addition. It revealed the stock of the stuff that was on Pig Land (Pig iron?).

We leave this first write-up with Big Al of the Greek preparing his forces for action against Hattie the spam-settler.

 

[Harbourboy]

Yeah, I missed out on Great Library as well. Seems like Hatsepshut likes the look of gold and gems in everybody's games so far.

 

[AgedOne]

Yes. Hattie's been a royal pest.
I found that in several of my practice runs the AI were quite willing to settle a city or two on islands that were right in 'my backyard'.
I generally am fairly happy about this, as you can attack them, take them (and keep them if you wish) and the AI will have virtually no military to back them up with.
Also, you tend to find that the AI cannot mount a concerted attack against you by sea in order to retaliate. Not until later when they have galleons anyhow.
Makes these little island outposts the AI settle into easy pickings for us.

 

[AgedOne]

After reading the first few reports I'm starting to feel stupid for abandoning the game so soon. It seems that others have had pretty similar problems with settling and with Hatty. Next month I have to finish, damnit!

Yes, I know how you feel. I have a great temptation to pack games in if I'm not doing too well, or am missing all of my objectives.
I still do this sometimes if its just a game, but I've resolved not to do it again in GOTMs.
It can be rather a miserable experience at times, unfortunately, continuing to the bitter end when you know there's no hope any more.
But earlier on, I think there's definitely more I can learn from not abandonning the game. I'm always surprised to hear of some of the resourceful ways in which players here have improved their lot when in a difficult position. Imagination!

I don't know how things are in your game, but I don't think the AI are using vey advanced military during this spoiler period. Mainly seem to be archers and spears. There's still hope when they're at that level. I just need to get a stack of HorseArchers at them, then some Axemen... hmm. We'll see.

... Not Cows but Pigs. I'm referring to the AgedOne's Pig Land here.

Hey! I've got a Pig Land named for me! Cheers.

 

[beeflow]

Pre-game thoughts: on this type of map, I was expecting there to be little natural production potential. This meant that most of my production would come from the whip throughout the game and eventually the draft for units. Additionally, I was expecting there to be little land to cottage so I'd have to get commerce from the coast/sea. As a result, I set up the following early game goals:

Get the Circumnavigation bonus
Build Great Lighthouse (extra trade routes = more commerce)
Build Colossus (extra commerce from the sea)
Build Great Library (just plain useful)
Early forges for increased production from the whip and for early happiness
-Need to find gems, gold, silver for happiness (works nicely with forges)
Plan every city to have at least a food resource (namely seafood) for whipping purposes.
Go light on defenses/military early. It'd take a concentrated effort to launch an attack on this type of map. Also, could expect little barb activity due to the type of map.

Now, onto the game.

Founded on the plains hill SE in order to free up the corn for another city. Early tech progression went,

Agriculture -> Mining -> Fishing -> Bronze working -> mysticism -> masonry

And started with a worker to get the rice hooked up (which was naturally irrigated for the additional +1 food) and to get the hills mined. My scout went scouting and mapped out our island very quickly. Next build was a workboat until size 2 and then went with a settler to claim the fish/sheep spot south west of Athens. Then finished the workboat and began a galley to start out for the navigation bonus. I built another galley and loaded the scout on it to map out the islands nearby and noticed the perfect island of riches to the south west with gold and gems (which worked perfectly with my initial plan to get forges up quilckly) . This island became my number one priority to settle so I was fortunate enough to grab the island before any of the other AIs.

As you can see by my tech progression, I went for the Great Lighthouse early for a couple of reasons. First to get the extra trade routes and also for the Great Merchant points. Since we were Philisophical, we'd get the GM early which I would use to lightbulb Metal Casting (forges and Colossus) . I build the Great Lighthouse in 1000 BC, pop the GM in 445 BC and lightbulb Metal Casting. I love it when a plan comes together. I start building forges in my cities to help increase whip effectiveness.

Remember that galley I sent out earlier to snag the circumnavigation bonus. Well, he ended up finding all the AIs and circumnavigated the globe in 610 BC. Of note here, when he ran into Cyrus, we hadn't researched writing yet so couldn't open borders so I just declared on him and sailed through his lands. At first, i thought this was a mistake in that he wouldn't sign peace with me for a long time. But it eventually worked out because the only other civ he knew was Isabella at the time. Note: the AIs are very bad at exploration on these types of maps. It took them a long time to meet each other which I was able to take advantage of.

I popped a Great Scientist in 25 BC and lightbulbed Philosophy and founded Taoism (on my way towards liberalism).

Everything up to this point was going great. I found copper on the island south east and was planning on founding a city on top of it but decided to found a different city first. Well, this proved to be a mistake as hatty decided to found the copper city first. This was bad for me because I was just about to start building the Colossus (double production speed with copper). I thought oh well, just build it the old fashioned way. I popped a Great Engineer in 455 AD. I didn't know what to do with him at first. I could hold onto him to build the globe theater for my future drafting city or use him to complete the colossus which would save my capital 21 turns. I decided to take the colossus which I think was a mistake. Had I used him for the globe theater in my drafting city, I could draft pretty much at will as my future drafting city would be able to regrow almost every turn. Oh well, lesson learned.

My initial strategy played out extremely well as I landed the Great Lighthouse in 1000BC, Circumnavigation bonus in 610 BC, Great Library 350 AD, Colossus in 470 AD.

Some final thoughts so far:
- The extra trade routes from the Great Lighthouse are great for new cities. I was able to get 12 commerce from a size 2 city which allowed me to run 70% science or better throughout the early game. Of course, this also meant I could probably have expaned more.
- I was late starting the Great Library but I kept 3 of the forests around my capital and chopped them after researching Mathematics for the extra production.
- I took advantage of the poor AI exploration. I was able to trade alphabet away early to Caesar since he hadn't met any other AIs. this ensured I still had a "relative" monopoly on alphabet. i also made currency a priority so that I could sell outdated techs to the AI.
- I think I used the philisophical trait decently so far. A specialist economy could definately work well, especially if someone finds that stone early on the west island.
- As I expected there was little natural production so I whipped like crazy to get infrastructure in my cities and to build some units. I wasn't expecting as much land to be able to cottage as there is.
- Current state of Greece in 500 AD: 6 cities with 4 settlers ready to be settled.

Where do I go from here:
- Expand, expand, expand. Almost any city can be made profitable as long as it has a food special. Start exploiting the aggressive trait (ie get a war started). Drafting is going to be extrememly important and with the half price barracks, I'll be able to get +2 happiness from my barracks and nationhood.

P.S. Sorry for the lengthy post. I'll try to get pictures up next time.

 

[Sarek]

GOTM 17 – Alex (Monarch) Contender

This being a Monarch game and Archipelago, I was setting out to a) survive, b) not be too far behind in tech by the time I contacted the rest of the Civs (from which I usually suffer) and c) find some sites to capitalize on production (which is always hard on archi-type maps).
I settled in place. With lots of nice hills and some food around, I was hoping to really max out the production in Athens.

Go mining first. Need copper for UU (just in case I have any close neighbours to “exploit”. After mining it’s on to BW then to Ag to work on the corn.

Naturally sailing is next priority. After scouting out my island I found I was alone. That always scares me because I fear being way too behind and suffering the “surprise invasion of superior tech military” at some point.

By 2260 I have ability to sail. I start on Mysticism next for border pops then to Wheel to hook up resources.

Research begun: The Wheel (11 Turns)

Sparta founded in 1900 BC near the southwestern tip of my island. With the resources on the starting island laid out they way they were I figured three cities were do-able, but without copper I was going to have to get a galley out quickly.

After wheel it was on to Pottery to start cottages to keep up with research.

By 1630 I have both a galley and another settler ready to go. The galley goes out to scout, while the settler waits. I do spot some copper relatively close by to the southeast on a new island! I work to generate an expedition.

Thermopylae founded in 1150 BC near the copper. Must hook up!

Writing (and with that Athens begins a library). By this point I had planned to use the production-oriented capital to both try for the Great Library and then try and stack as many Super-Science-Specialists as possible in Athens to maintain tech pace.

Animal Husbandry

Athens finishes its Library in 805 BC and by now I have settled on science/production for Athens, trying to establish military at Sparta (through the seafood, cottages on the plains and some mines) and also trying to setup Thermopylae (on the new island) as a commerce centre.

User comment:
760 BC & still no neighbours! This is scaring me!

Then in 640 BC my wandering galley meets the Egyptians! And I also spot another seemingly nice island off Sparta. A couple of gems and then some gold mines will make for a nice place (if I can get there in time). And I also spot a great site for a hammer powerhouse to the east of Athens on yet another island!

Alphabet

In roughly 460 BC I come across the Spanish. They come in from the east, but I can’t really determine where they live. Obviously there is a “galley path” somewhere? Then I also meet the Persians.

Archery

Merit Ptah (Great Scientist) born in Athens in 415 BC. As I mentioned, the general plan is to attach every GP to Athens as a Specialist.

Athens finishes: Academy in 400 BC to speed along research!

Iron Working

Corinth founded in 340 BC on the home island directly south of Athens.

Contact made with the Roman Empire in 295 BC

Polytheism

In 175 BC I decide that Hatty of Egypt will be an enemy because she seems to be expanding toward me from the west and has already screwed up the placement of my Gems/Gold city on another new island. Spain I can’t seem to find yet and Rome is equally far off. So I befriend the Persians and trade Alphabet for:
Meditation
Priesthood
Masonry

And, at roughly the same time, I learn Literature really hoping that I can grab the GL! I start the GL in 160 BC in Athens.

Throughout the next while I am building military. Combinations of Axes/Phalanxes and Archers, with the idea of taking away Hatty’s city on the southwest island, are assembled. I also start researching Construction to add Cats to the mix. And make sure that I have enough Galleys to make a quick and powerful strike. I’m quite sure that when I declare (notice I said when, not if) I will feel a reply.

Of course, usually at anything beyond the Price level I tend to be less aggressive for fear of starting something that I can’t finish…getting into a protracted campaign that simply slows me down so much that I cannot recover…and, combined with usually being behind in tech, means impending doom! This game I vow to try short bursts of war, then recover and keep researching. We’ll see how this goes…

In 10 BC, with an assembled military, I declare war on Egypt!

To be continued…

 

[dr_s]

This is my first GOTM, and also my first Monarch game.

I didn't take notes, and I forgot to turn on autologging, so this won't be too detailed. Fortunately, I'm finished with the game, so I can use replay for some vital information.

4000 BC: Settled in place
2200 BC: Founded Sparta (Pigs/Fish)
1330 BC: Adopted Slavery
865 BC: Completed Stonehenge
850 BC: Founded Thermopylae (Gold/Gold/Gems/Gems/Clams)
715 BC: Completed Oracle (Monarchy---Hereditary Rule)
325 BC: Corinth Founded (Iron/Fish/Fish)
10 BC: Circumnavigated globe
200 AD: Completed Great Lighthouse
230 AD: Hatshepsut DOWs me
260 AD: Founded Delphi (Horses/Fish/Clams)
425 AD: Made peace with Hatshepsut

I think I started agriculture, sailing on the tech tree. I built two galleys pretty early and sent them each out with a scout. I built my second city on the SW part of the starting island, and then my third on the "Land of Riches" in the spot that could work all five special resources. I also chopped both stonehenge and oracle; my thinking from the beginning was that I might go for a cultural victory, so I was planning on building lots of early wonders.

I never got the copper city; Hatshepsut got that in 250 BC when I went for the iron city to the northeast since it had more food/better land. The fifth city was to the northwest, on the little peninsula with the horses.

The war with Hatshepsut was pretty much a phony war; no land forces were involved. I think I sunk a couple of her galleys. She razed some of my workboats.

I settled the first two Great Prophets that I got, both in Athens. I didn't try to found any religions, and I got pretty lucky with that as several spread naturally to me. I did pop a lot of goody huts. The main bonus was that one of them gave me metal casting. That was a big help.

 

[Thrallia]

Alright, so this is my first time attempting a Challenger start. I was swayed by the arguments that it would lead to better later game teching, and will thus attempt to get a faster world techpace than I usually see. I plan to win by either Diplo or Space Race...perhaps Cultural if there is enough early religion spread.

After looking at the opening scene, I decided to settle in place because I felt there wasn't a really compelling argument to mvoe anywhere else...yes, it appears we are on a small island, but the only place anyone else considered in the pregame thread was the plains hill where our scout started. I briefly considered moving 1NE in order to truly increase the number of cities available on our visible landmass, but I decided not to...fortunately. Once I founded, I saw the corn and was glad I stayed put.

This is also my first time to play through a game planning on a specific victory from the start. My first techs are Mining>Agri>BW>Mysticism>Pottery, I think>Writing. No real big reasons for any of my early techs...I wanted to be able to chop forests, build obelisks, cottages, and farm the corn and rice. I also needed to know where the copper was...it was on the island SE of our starting island. I expanded very slowly compared to my usual expansion. I built Workboat>Workboat>Warrior>Worker>Workboat>Settler>Stonehenge, in Athens. The first two workboats went off exploring in opposite directions, and I quickly met Cyrus, Izzy, Egypt, and Saladin...I met Julius much later, after having researched Writing and getting OB with Cyrus. Sparta was founded 1W of the sheep hill on our starting island in around 1800BC and immediately started on an obelisk.

Stonehenge was finished in around 1200BC and I promptly built a Galley afterward in order to get access to the copper site and the gem city site on the islands SE and SW of the main island. Thermopylae was founded in 675BC on the coast, right below the copper, but as I only had 2 workers at the time and was now attempting to chop the Pyramids, I didn't hook up the copper right away.

In 300BC, Egypt founded Alexandria on the gems location!! That's very frustrating, because I was planning on using that spot to help jumpstart my research with my next settler. Unfortunately, Egypt is my best friend right now...everyone else is cautious with me, while Egypt is +13 with me thanks to her requesting I adopt Judaism and my acceptance of it(+1 for accepting it, +7 for same religion!)

Normally, I would leave her alone because I really hate betraying my friends...especially when I'm planning on a diplo or space victory. However, I feel distinctly that if I allow her to stay right there it will seriously damper my ability to expand and compete with the AI militarily, resourcewise, and techwise. So I use one of my galleys to bring a worker over to Thermopylae, hook up the copper, and immediately start an axe in all 3 of my cities(I had just lost out on the Pyramids by 6 turns). In 370AD, I have 3 axes and a phalanx, I move to Hatty's border and reluctantly declare war on her. I take and keep Alexandria with no losses(it became the christian holy city around 100AD but still had no culture thanks to her state religion being Judaism). I originally planned on only taking Alexandria, as after the war, she would likely still be pleased with me and I didn't want to ruin my relationship with her...but then I realized she only had 4 cities on her main island, and lots of gold and resources there, so I loaded up, left Alexandria defenseless, and headed over to Egypt.

I reached her island quickly and took Elephantine immediately upon arrival, keeping it, and then killed and pillaged the units on her iron mine so she couldn't build anything but archers and chariots. That is the state of my empire at 500AD...I took Elephantine exactly at 500AD.

Summary to this point: I've got 6 cities(4 built-Corinth was built after declaring on Hatty on the hourglass island E of Athens to gain iron, 2 captured), Caesar and Cyrus are ahead of me technologically, but Izzy is backward, Saladin is about even with me. My only wonder is Stonehenge, I lost out on Pyramids and Great Library by 4-6 turns each...Cyrus built them both. Even though I'm Jewish currently, Cyrus and Caesar are both pleased with me(Caesar has no religion right now, Cyrus is Hindu, Saladin is Buddhist, Izzy is Hindu, Hatty is Jewish), Hatty is still pleased with me as well despite us being at war.

 

[Thalaba]

This will be brief as my game was not very eventful.

Founded Athens in place. I explored w-nw first but didn't see anything that would convince me to move. Considered moving to the plains hill but figured staying put would be better in the long run.

2020 BC founded Sparta to the southwest. I built another settler right away but didn't have galleys yet, so he sat around for quite some time until I could move him over to the copper.

925BC Great Lighthouse in Athens

670 BC Stonehenge in Athens

550 BC Finally founded third city - Thermopylae on the copper

355BC Alphabet, traded for may techs with it including Ironworking. Still
hadn't me all the other civs, so I continies to trade as I met people.

130 BC I only noticed the nice gold/gems island later and by that time Hotsfoot had already settled on it. I wanted it and began building axemen in 130 BC.

85 BC used a prophet to lightbulb Theocracy and founded Crhistianity in Themopylae. Athens was by this time Jewish and Sparta was hindu - I had no state religion and kept it that way.

155BC founded Corinth on the island NE (so called Pig island) "Pig Iron, Pig Iron, I got all Pig Iron".
455 founded Delphi on same island as Thermopylae

That's it. Haven't decided on a victory type yet. I'm generally growing building up tech and culture. Production seems very slow - maybe in part because I've been playing normal speed games for a while and this one is epic. I'm preparing for an attack on Hotsfoot so I can claim Pi Rammeses with it's gold and gems for my own, but otherwise it's peaceful and quiet.

Thalaba

 

[Harbourboy]

Nice work, Thrallia.

Hmm, most people are in a similar position at this point in the game. I think Archipelago reduces the number of early game options so people are closer together at this point (with just about everyone having to deal with gold-digging Hatsepshut). My main problem comes with what happens next. It is usually about the Liberalism stage of the game that one or two civs take off and I struggle to catch them. This will almost certainly happen in this game too. Glad to see that I was not the only person who missed out on Great Library too.

 

[Thrallia]

Interestingly for me, the gem/gold site is the only off island spot where Hatty had settled in my game, so at this point, she's in major truoble as I attack ehr main continent.

 

[Harbourboy]

Thrallia, I think that one of the things I need to do to get better at these sorts of games is to make that extra effort to hobble the AI by taking their core cities. I congratulate myself at knocking off a few of their easy outlying cities, but that doesn't really make much difference to a Monarch and above level AI civ.

 

[AgedOne]

Hmm, most people are in a similar position at this point in the game. I think Archipelago reduces the number of early game options so people are closer together at this point (with just about everyone having to deal with gold-digging Hatsepshut).

We do all seem to be playing fairly close variants of the same game. More so than in the average GOTM, anyway.
Although I do notice that dr_s has been more of a globetrotter than the average - getting his circumnav by 10BC and settling each of the surrounding islands unopposed!

I'm just waiting for some superhero to appear on this thread in a day or two to tell us all how they're just approaching domination in 500AD.

Glad to see that I was not the only person who missed out on Great Library too.

Yes. We all seem to be missing out by 5 - 8 turns. That's the kind of distance off that just leaves me staring sullenly at the screen. For real animation, you need the 'missed by 2 turns'. That's when I start shaking my head around like a groggy drunk and muttering ancient curses under my breath. The family hide the cutlery at moments like that.

 

[Htadus]

The Beginning.
Was it just a bad nightmare? Alexander struggled to understand what happened. All he can remember is answering to Zeus….or was it telling Zeus…that he is indeed Great, greater than even the Gods. Zeus’ wrath was immediate. Zeus’ thunderous command to go back to the beginning and prove beyond any doubt, he is Great, echoed in his mind.

The brilliance of the rising Sun woke Alexander atop a grassy hill. He realized he is in a strange land with a young family but they were not alone, there was another with him. Zeus had asked God Hermes the messenger to aid Alexander in his quest for Greatness. Upon Alexander’s beckoning, Hermes began exploring the land to south.

Alexander observed the surrounding land and determined the time needed to move to the foodless hill is not acceptable and settled where he woke. His family started to raise a worker and pondered upon all the knowledge to be learned and determined to found a religion. Their efforts were reworded with the knowledge of Mysticism and the skills to build great monuments and wonders. Alexander realized the pursuit of an early religion will slow the growth of his Civilization, therefore instead of exploring the secrets of Polytheism, the young clan began to pray for goddess Demeter for the Knowledge of Agriculture. Just as the worker was created, the young Greeks learned the mystery of Agriculture to start farms in fertile lands. The scholarly Alexander started to learn the art of Mining.

The Plan
During this time Alexander wondered about his path to Greatness. Should he become a conqueror destroying all who stood before his path? Perhaps he should become a great Diplomat to be adored or He is destined to dominate the world. Domination appealed to Alexander’s great ego, but it will not become a quick Domination. First there are lands to settle, wonders to build, an economy to grow and raw material to acquire. Of the wondered, Alexander did not care to build the Oracle but wanted the Parthenon dearly. It would be a grand temple for him to build a land of many Great leaders.

The Exploration and the Others.
Hermes’ exploration halted when he discovered the south coast of The Greek Isles. Hermes' messages told Alexander of lands fruitful of fish, sheep’s and luxurious Gems to the south. So when the Greeks learned to build sea-going vassals, Alexander commissioned a workboat to explore the seacoasts nearby. Hermes and a warrior kept all the southern lands free of notorious Barbarians for the next few centuries.

The exploring sailors found more fertile lands and coasts surrounding the Greek Isles and met the Queen of Egypt and the Prince of Arabia to the west. Later when a galley was available, these noble sailors gave there all to build a fishing net for the second city. The second city was founded to the southwest claiming the fishing village and the sheep hill. The workboat had discovered 3 tribal villages to the southwest during its adventures. Realizing the potential rewards, Hermes commandeered a Galley and again began his exploration. His discoveries in these villages provided a warrior, gold and experience to the warrior (by accident warrior exited the boat first).

Cyrus the Friendly sailed by to be turned around when Alexander denied him Open borders. Much later, Alexander would meet the Romans and the Evil Queen Crazzy.

The Knowledge and Builds
Alexander knew the knowledge to pursuit is the knowledge needed the most. So the Greeks learned the secrets of sailing, masonry, Animal Husbandry, Bronze Working, Pottery, Mettle Working and Iron Working after Mining. These secrets allowed Young Alexander to build the Stonehenge in Athens, followed by the Great Pyramids. Alexander realized that the Pyramids could be built faster with stones. He stopped the work and started a settler followed by a warrior. One of the exploring Galley’s was recalled for transportation. The new settlement ignored the first Stone site on the Horse Island and headed to the Arabian lands and founded a city atop the Stones in Arabia. Between the capital and the second City, Alexander managed to build the Great Lighthouse, Colossus, the Pyramids, the Great Library (of Alexandria) but lost the Parthenon. Not just lost the Parthenon, never even remembered to start. Aargh.

The Opportunities and Access
When the Egyptians claimed the gold and gem island, Alexander was furious. But he then realized this is good since the early cities were built to claim copper, Iron, Stone and Horses, the economy is only capable of sustaining the pursuit of Knowledge at 60 percent. The Egyptian City is closer to Greek Isles and easily taken when needed. Then something wonderful happened as the religious Hatty discovered Islam (as well as several other) in the Gem City.

At the beginning of the 5th century AD, The Greek Nation had Six Vital Cities and one “what the hell are you thinking of (at 3 AM)” city on the Copper Isle, and was only building units to sustain happiness. Miraculously when the happiness became a problem, Zeus blessed Alexander with the discovery of silver within the capital. Alexander schemes to build Maces and cats to start Acquiring additional land when the needed Courthouses are completed. Only the Egyptions outpace Alexander with useless knowledge.

Crystal Ball
The seers has foreseen the glorious news of Circumnavigation and addition of Arabian Lands with Maces around 12th century.

 

[Lanstro]

I had a different game to most of you so far. I settled in place to take advantage of the many hills and the 2 food resources. Exploring the island, I decided that it wasn't worth shoving 3 cities on it so i put my second city down the SW where the sheep was.

Seeing the jungled gems across the water, I decided to go straight for it, so I researched sailing. After getting out a settler and a galley from the second city, I started on the great lighthouse.

Getting to the southwest isle, I noticed that I could easily fit another 2 cities there, one of which would have its own gold too. Beautiful! The great lighthouse is keeping my economy ticking over and so is the 2 gold and 2 gems. Egypt took the copper island but I took the iron one.

I've met everyone else and am clearly first in score and tech. Am still slowly colonising good-looking islands, and planning on wiping everyone out in the cavalry/galleon/frigate age.

 

[Harbourboy]

Brilliant stuff, Htadus. Very entertaining. Interesting that we are all finding that "random" silver in the hills near the capital. Clearly, it is not random at all.

Lanstro, how can you possibly be first in everything at 500AD? Tell us how!