GOTM 176 Spoiler

[Major Advantage]

I was trying to say that you are doing pretty well considering your awful hut luck. Early one, a unit and an advanced tribe each make a big difference; Major and I got both, you got neither.

My hut luck was pretty awesome, the only bad outcome was the advanced tribe! The city was pretty much useless, so I disbanded it into a settler.

I have just finished my game a few minutes ago. It all went pretty much as planned, except for one AI city that I had missed and that delayed the end by a few turns.

Stats at 2000BC:
pop.: 180k; Cities: 7 (3 former barb); techs: 10; gold: 72; Gov.: Desp; wonders: -; TR: 0D/0F
units: 1 settler, 3 warrior, 1 Archer, 2 horse, 1 chariot, 2 dips
Goals: Get to Monotheism somehow... BTW, why are there barb warriors sleeping on ocean tiles???

-1950 Bribing Samarkand (the city blocking spice) would be 95g, we only have 84
(dip expelled)
-1850 Now Samarkand would be 176, far too much, open embassy with Mongols, they are researching poly; Odessa founded
-1800 Sevastopol founded; attack Zwickau (declare war on barbs??? Yes we do! Was it because of that that they didn't attack us so far? Kill defending phalanx, city captured (19g)
(Barb warrior attacks one ouf us, we win, maybe the barbs are barbarian now)
(Persian caravan approaches Pskov, sign peace, they deliver for our 1st trade route)
-1600 Laws->Monarchy;
-1450 None-horse from hut
-1200 None-Legion from hut; We capture Linz (11g); Tblisi founded north of Moskau; Box is almost full, but 40% Lux for 2 turns would be wasting...
(Horse in Linz survives barb warrior attack)
-1150 Monarchy->Literacy; Sverdlovsk founded
(English begin HG)
-1100 First delivery hides(d) Akindofmagic>Karakorum 56g; Capture Pilsen, 17g, cheers! Revolution
(English cancel HG)
-1050 Become monarchy
-1000 Orenburg now would be 690 (!!!); There is a pikeman in Karakorum?? F3 doesn't tell me they have feudalism....

Stats at 1000BC:
pop.: 610k; Cities: 14 (6 former barb); techs: 12; gold: 65; Gov.: Mon; wonders: -; TR: 0D/2F
units: 4 settler, 2 warrior, 2 Archer, 1 legion, 4 horse, 1 chariot, 1 dip
Goals: Sun Tzu, Monotheism, more light expansion (take barb cities without defense bonus)

 

[Ali Ardavan]

I have just finished my game a few minutes ago

I suppose via conquest, right?

Which reminds me of a question I have been meaning to ask but keep forgetting: What happens if you capture all rivals cities but there are some barbarian cities left? Does the game end or do you have to conquer the barbarian cities as well?

-1000 There is a pikeman in Karakorum?? F3 doesn't tell me they have feudalism....

As part of the initial conditions as described by Inkerman the Mongols got a horseman and a pikeman right outside Karakorum which moved in on their first turn. They had neither Feudalism nor horseback riding at the time.

 

[Major Advantage]

Ah, ok, now that you told me, I vaguely remember having read something like that...

Which reminds me of a question I have been meaning to ask but keep forgetting: What happens if you capture all rivals cities but there are some barbarian cities left? Does the game end or do you have to conquer the barbarian cities as well?

Do you want me tell you or do you prefer to find out by yourself?

Spoiler :

I delayed conquest by one more turn so I could also bribe all barbarian cities (there were two more left, plus build another wonder for score).

Regarding the subject, I remember a GOTM (we were Mongols on small map), there were no respawns when I wiped out the first 3 (?) rivals, then I lost a city to barbs and when I took out the final rival, ther WAS a respawn.
We have respawns off this time, so this is unlikely to happen.

 

[Jokemaster]

1900 BC: Moscow settlers, start Pyramids. (Postgame edit: One too many settlers built. Needed to start building my first WoW earlier, missed out on so many shields+no room to expand since there's always a Barb city in the way.)
Interturn: Persians conquer Barb city of Grozny. They have Ellies!

1850 BC: Trade Chemistry to Persians for Polytheism. Convenience at its finest!

1800 BC: >CoL.

1750 BC: Odessa built.

1700 BC: Spot Barb city of Voronezh, and the one of Lvov.

1650 BC: CoL > Monarchy. Barely (!!!) kill defending warrior w/Vet Archer in Voronezh, and city is mine for 13g+3citizens.

1550 BC: Hut: Archers. Lvov defended by Phalanx on a river! Lose my Elephant. Will most likely need a dip, vet status is annoying. Dang, it was a big investment as well… west-bound expansion will take a tumble.

1450 BC: Minsk settlers. St Pete settler almost to SSC site, will need to irrigate the marshlands. Maybe a bit early… don’t need Colossus maybe… Barb city of Vilinus spotted.

1400 BC: Trade Alphabet to Persians for BW. Krakow spotted. I really need to start thinking about wars.

1350 BC: Lose my vet Archer to Kamyshin w/o a scratch on enemy Phalanx!!! Damn… Sébastopol built. Really need to focus on the non-rivered cities for now. (Postgame edit: city was maybe on a hill?)

1300 BC: Tblisi built.

1100 BC: Sverdlosk built.

1050 BC: Monarchy > Pottery. REVOLUTION, Monarchy established, T3L0S7. No Writing available.. Size 7 city of Brunn spotted. That’s another city for the bribes.

1000 BC: Persians: 100g. Yakutsk built.

STATUS AT 1000 BC: (Beginning of 61th turn)
Population: 330.000 Cities: 13 Government: Monarchy Total advances: 13 (researching Pottery)
Gold: 218 (btw that’s way too much, should have spent more on vans+ellies) T3L0S7 Income/Cost per turn: 11 income, 0 cost. Production: 40MT 0 polluted tiles
Wonders:. Currently building Pyramids
Foreign relations: Peace w/Persians and Mongols.
Units: 11 Warriors, 1 Archer, 1 Elephant, 4 settlers.
Goals: Get Pyramids, HG, Sun Tzu, Mikes, expansion w/Ellies. Maybe will need Barracks somewhere (Moscow?)
4 cities built, 1 conquered... many vans were built in this sequence. Should have been quicker still. At this point I hadn't realized that I was literally surrounded, but it turned out to be OK still.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Do you want me tell you or do you prefer to find out by yourself?

I rather know now because it will affect my decision of strategy. I am still officially undecided as to whether I want to play space ship or conquest. I was originally leaning towards spaceship but the more I see of the map, the more I am leaning towards conquest. There is too much swamp and too much mountains. I am surrounded by Barbarian cities. I built a boat before -2000 and I still have not found any rivals (other than Persians and Mongols) or a way to safely and conveniently trade with Persians.

On the other hand, the fact that my science city is on a different continent (even though attached to land mass 2) and has decent specials is a great plus for space ship and so is my abundant number of cities. Furthermore, with the barbarian cities being as expensive as they are, I pretty much have to conquer them all rather than bribing which is quicker and more effective.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

1350 BC: Lose my vet Archer to Kamyshin w/o a scratch on enemy Phalanx!!! Damn… Sébastopol built. Really need to focus on the non-rivered cities for now. (Postgame edit: city was maybe on a hill?)

No, not Kamyshin; but the two cities in Southeast and Southwest of that are both on hills.

 

[CharlieChuck]

Just to confirm that after reinstalling I had no more problems (both with old save file and restarting from the original file) and Barb cities gave the usual amount of gold (about 80-100 if I remember correctly). I guess something had gotten corrupt somewhere.

 

[Major Advantage]

I rather know now because it will affect my decision of strategy. I am still officially undecided as to whether I want to play space ship or conquest. I was originally leaning towards spaceship but the more I see of the map, the more I am leaning towards conquest. There is too much swamp and too much mountains. I am surrounded by Barbarian cities. I built a boat before -2000 and I still have not found any rivals (other than Persians and Mongols) or a way to safely and conveniently trade with Persians.

On the other hand, the fact that my science city is on a different continent (even though attached to land mass 2) and has decent specials is a great plus for space ship and so is my abundant number of cities. Furthermore, with the barbarian cities being as expensive as they are, I pretty much have to conquer them all rather than bribing which is quicker and more effective.

Ok, if you really want to know

Spoiler :

Barbs do not count as a civ, so no need to take them all.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Thank you Major for the note.

I played till -500 last night and I still have not discovered any new rivals!

Since -850 when my first rushed and daring-but-very-risky attack on Constantinople failed, I have started a siege of the city in preparation for a major attack. I investigated the city in -650 and discovered an archer and a pikeman behind city walls and a legion being built. So far I have killed all reinforcements Persians have been building and sending from other cities, but have been hesitant to attack a pikeman behind city walls without a large army. In -500 I have 10 units outside Constantinople and wondering whether I should wait for my diplomats (en route) to take down the city walls or just go ahead and attack.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

-0975 Persians capture barbarian Grozny. Elephant kills barbarian warrior and turns vet.
-0950 Philosophy -> Monotheism -> Pottery. Lublin discovered.
-0925 Polytheism -> Persian (5) -> Iron Working.
-0900 Crusader kills Phalanx defending Ab^, elephant kills settler in Ab^ and gets paid 150g for a leader! Persian -> 50g.
-0875 Ab^ captured for 8g. peace, Philosophy, Polytheism, Iron Working -> Mongol -> 50g, maps. Despite the lateness of obtaining their map I can still see a lot more than I used to be able to see. Definitely worthwhile. Interestingly I can only see 3 new cities, all barbarian. But I see a lot of roads and irrigation in otherwise empty land. I am guessing there are cities there that I cannot see. Phalanx defending Varna killed and the city taken for 10g. This was long in planing to give me access to the southern ocean. Horseman disbanded in Varna to rush boat. Barbarian warrior approaching Warsaw killed.
-0850 Lost an elephant and a vet horseman before killing phalanx defending Lvov and capturing the city for 8g. Persian -> Warrior Code in tribute. Vet crusader attacks walled Constantinople in hopes of it having just one defender and loses to a pikeman.
-0825 Pottery -> Currency. 3 barbarian warriors killed.
-0800 Lost a crusader before killing phalanx defending Lublin and capturing the city for 8g. Postdam discovered. 2 Barbarian warriors defending Visby killed. Sevastopol founded. Single phalanx defender of Kishinev killed and the city captured for 6g. Silk from science city to barbarian Brunn establishes the first trade route for 204.
-0775 Currency -> Seafaring. 2 more warrior defenders of Visby killed and the city razed but there are warriors left in its ruins.
-0750 Tblisi founded. Saxony and Popitz discovered.
-0725 Crusader kills legion defending Berlin and the city is captured for 7g. Barbarian warrior killed and its fort occupied. T7L0S3
-0700 Hanging Gardens built in science city which celebrates. Halle discovered.
-0675 2 Persian warriors near Constantinople killed. Basle discovered. Phalanx defending Papitz killed and the city taken for 9g.
-0650 Constantinople investigated: it has an archer and a pikeman as defenders and will finish a legion next turn.
-0625 Moscow builds Michelangelo. Seafaring -> Wheel. Sverdlovsk founded. Elephant kills Persian legion which stepped out of Constantinople. Barbarian warrior killed. Weimar and Linz discovered.
-0600 Persian Susa discovered. 3 phalanx defenders of barbarian Malmo killed. Anhalt discovered. Just realized that Azov is now a Persian city. Persian elephant near Azov killed.
-0575 Single warrior defending Postdam killed and the city taken for 4g. Lost an elephant while killing 3 more phalanx defenders of Malmo. Brunswick and Pilsen discovered. None legion from hut. Barbarian warrior killed. Persian Azov bribed for 165g. Got 29g, a warrior, and Masonry.
-0550 Mongol (1) -> 25g. 2 more Phalanx defenders of Malmo killed. The city is down to size 1. I am going to spare it for now. Single warrior defender of Glatz killed and the city taken for 2g. Killed a warrior and lost an elephant attacking a Persian legion near Constantinople.
-0525 Single legion defender of Saxony killed and the city captured for 1g. Mongols declare war rather than pay tribute.
-0500 Yakutsk founded. Lost 2 crusaders attacking Halle. Luxemburg and Nancy discovered.

Status at -0500
Population: 2.8M; Cities: 35; Techs: 21; Government: Monarchy
Gold: 120; Cost: 0; Trade routes: 0D1F;
Wonders: Colossus, Hanging Gardens, Michelangelo
Units: 12 settlers, 27 warriors (1 None), 2 Phalanx, 2 Archers (1 None), 6 Legions (1 None), 7 horsemen, 3 elephants, 18 crusaders, 2 Trireme, 5 diplomats, 10 vans, 1 explorer
Goals: Finding other rivals, conquest of Constantinople (have 10 units ready to attack), conquest of more barbarian cities, containing Mongols (bribing Bokhara?), Pyramids?
Notes: 10 Russian cities, 1 former Mongol city, 1 former Persian/barbarian city, 23 former barbarian cities.
Babylonian: no contact
French: no contact
Spanish: no contact
Persian: no embassy; 4 visible cities; Marco; war with me
English: no contact
Mongol: 2 cities, 12 techs; nominal war with me
Barbarian: 21 visible cities

 

[Jokemaster]

Snowball fully in effect by now. Pretty incredible what you were able to do in these next few years. Waiting for Major to post his part next since mine is really spicy!

 

[Major Advantage]

"Snowball" is exactly the right designation. However it came later in my game than in Ali's. Monotheism was discovered in -650, until then conquest was done by two teams, consisting of an attacker (Legion and chariot, both from huts) that took out the defenders, and a horse to take the empty city. I did go for feudalism and Sun Tzu first, so that my produced crusaders would be vet.
I left the persians for later, they seemd too far away, so I decided to expand there through the barb cities on the way. These mostly had defense bonusses, so that had to wait until vet crusaders. Marco Polo would have been nice, but I had all the key techs before anyway and seeing that the barb city names were a more or less accurate projection of real european cities, I did have a very good idea about where to find Spain, France and England.

Until 500 BC:

-975 Capture Passau (11g)
(Mongols Poly, nice)
-950 Literacy->Philo; Get Poly from Mongols (no feudalism), also gift Lit. to keep our alliance
-925 Capture Memel (12g); Sign peace with Persia, they offer IW, no, exchange maps, they have taken Baku
-875 Delivery 28
-825 Philo->Feudalism->Iron Working; Karakorum no longer demands hides, delivered anyway for 36; Capture Modena(8), Fiume(11); Get Ironworking from Persia (also have masonry+pottery)
-800 Research Mono
-775 Discover Sigmaringen with city walls, we will leave them for later
-750 Yakutsk founded
-700 Try to attack Dalmatia and Mongols repair us again?!
-650 Mono->Theology (Really don't know what to research next, cut down science, raise army, find AI);
(Persians brag about Math)
-625 Sun Tzu completed
-600 Capture Carinthia (11), riot factor starts to become a problem
-550 Two Crusaders ready to hit Sigmaringen, but it's yellow all of a sudden! Spanish hail us, deny peace, ask for tribute, get 50g; Capture Luxemburg 10g
-525 Sign peace with Spain, get wheel (only choice), exchange maps; Capture Orenburg (10)
-500 Delivery 36; Vladivostok founded

Stats at 500BC:
pop.: 1.67M; Cities: 23 (13 former barb); techs: 19; gold: 235; Gov.: Mon; wonders: Sun Tzu; TR: 0D/5F
units: 9 settler, 5 warrior, 11 phalanx, 2 Archer, 1 legion, 5 pikemen, 4 horse, 1 chariot, 5 crusader, 1 boat, 1 dip, 4 van
Goals: Meet rivals; conquest with crusaders, some wonders

 

[Ali Ardavan]

I did go for feudalism and Sun Tzu first, so that my produced crusaders would be vet.

I deliberately put those off since regular units were fine in most cases and some turned vet in the process. In fact, any time I found a barbarian warrior in a fort not on a hill I would attack it with an elephant or crusader hoping to turn my unit vet.

My other reason for not seeking Sun Tzu was that I was inclined to do space ship (I am still officially undecided.)

I left the Persians for later, they seemed too far away, so I decided to expand there through the barb cities on the way. These mostly had defense bonusses, so that had to wait until vet crusaders.

Reading your log it is quite apparent that you went west and ignored both south and north. For example you captured Orenburg in -525, I got it in -2500. On the other hand your western front is further west than mine. I have not yet discovered Modena or Sigmaringen or Dalmatia ...

I reached Persians not by land through the southeast (though one exploring horseman got to Susa that way in -600) but rather by capturing Varna (in -875) which is the closest city, by far, on the southern ocean other than Azov (which I stayed away from because it is on a hill) and then shipping units from Varna to Persia.

Marco Polo would have been nice, but I had all the key techs before anyway and seeing that the barb city names were a more or less accurate projection of real european cities, I did have a very good idea about where to find Spain, France and England.

I am not after Marco for tech exchange either. I want it for maps. I too took note of Inkerman's comment that the map has a general resemblance to real world and see the progression of names as I am moving west. I just discovered Luxemburg in -500 and I am hoping I run into French soon. I am guessing English, French, and Spanish are all on the western end of the map from north to south. I expected to find Babylonians near Persians but so far have not seen any sign of them.

-550 Two Crusaders ready to hit Sigmaringen, but it's yellow all of a sudden! Spanish hail us,

Congrats. You ran into European rivals before I could.

 

[Jokemaster]

Falling behind super fast at this rate. It gets worse before it gets better though.

950 BC: Multiple units defending in Krakow… kill 1 warrior but the Phalanx lives… geez this is getting hard fast! This is what a border feels like…

925; BC: Vladivostok built.
Interturn: Babs start Pyramids.

900 BC: Novgorod built.

850 BC: 2nd van rushed for Moscow.

825 BC: Pyramids in 3 turns. Krasonyarsk built as science city.

800 BC: Persians: Trade Monarchy for Currency.

775 BC: Pottery > Writing. Techrate 11 turns. Going to attempt on Krakow with 3 ellies, 1 archer and 1 warrior.

750 BC: Pyramids built. Babs swap to Colossus… not worth it. (Postgame edit: if only you knew their true location… if only the *”*$/*!!/”$” Find City bug didn’t exist on my patched MGE executable file… maybe need to switch to nonpatched to find out where AI-built WoW cities are w/o bugging my game in the future. Spoiler alert: my SSC was not super important this game, so Bab trade would have helped a bit w/funding) I’ll build the SSC with Cope’s and Isaac, that’s all.. Riga built. Don’t really need HG at the moment for too few cities… Great Wall started: I believe it doubles combat strength against barbs? Just defence or attack as well? Maybe I can get away with it before HG. Hopefully building it second (and not first) was not a mistake.

700 BC: Attack Krakow again: Kill 2 units at the cost of an ellie. 5g+1 citizen. Still need to secure Brunn and Lvov, and I will need dips for that.

675 BC: Mongols: 100g. Persians: Update maps.
Interturn: English start HG.

650 BC: Rostov built.

575 BC: Writing > Construction. Both techs are traded in a deal with the Persians. T7L0S3.

550 BC > Literacy. 582g FOR BRUNN??? WTF?!?!?!?! This has gotta be a joke… I really need that GW ASAP. Brunn only has 1 Phalanx defending tho… T3L0S7.

500 BC: Civil disorder in 2 cities. Kill Warrior in Vilinus: 8g+3citizens. GW in Moscow done next turn. HG soon to follow.

STATUS AT 500 BC: (Beginning of 81th turn)
Population: 970.000 Cities: 21 Government: Monarchy Total advances: 17 (researching Literacy)
Gold: 170 T3L0S7 Income/Cost per turn: 18 income, 0 cost. Production:93MT 0 polluted tiles
Wonders: Pyramids. GW next turn
Foreign relations: Peace w/Persians and Mongols.
Units: 15 Warriors, 1 Archer, 6 Elephant, 6 settlers, 2 Phalanxes, 5 Caravans.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

925 BC: ...Babs start Pyramids.
675 BC: ...English start HG.

Hmm... My rivals are not building any wonders yet.

if only you knew their true location… if only the *”*$/*!!/”$” Find City bug didn’t exist on my patched MGE executable file…

Don't sweat it; I have a much larger foot print and still have no idea where they are.

I’ll build the SSC with Cope’s and Isaac, that’s all..

You are playing for space ship victory?

Great Wall started: I believe it doubles combat strength against barbs? Just defence or attack as well?

I always thought it is defense only, since offense makes no sense, but I have never tested it.

582g FOR BRUNN??? WTF?!?!?!?! This has gotta be a joke…

All barbarian cities are expensive in this game. Early on I was planning on bribing many of them. Now I have scrapped that and do not plan to bribe any. Save your funds for rival cities; they are reasonably priced.

 

[Jokemaster]

You are playing for space ship victory?

By default I tend to play rather standard (Desp-Mon-Repu-Demo) since early conquest often results in suboptimal gameplay (a.k.a unhappy populace and underdeveloped cities thanks to late Mikes and lack of WLTPD) and weak GOTM score overall from no time in representative govt's. Reminds me too much of how I used to play before finding CFC (hint: I was bad) so often I end up kind-of-not-really going for conquest early but switch to spaceship strats to not fall too far behind in the curve of civ growth and development (what's the point of having 100+cities if they're all size 8 and you're stuck in a commie gov't?). SSC often helps out for these strats when I can't do Big Trade feasibly, so when I saw the 4special site SW of Karakorum it was kinda obvious choice for me.

That being said, my SSC was worthless this game. Only 20% of science output when it's usually closer to 35-40%. Not worth IMO since i have so many cities anyway from barbs. SHould have delayed these wonders and gone straight for Demo instead.
(I do get around to conquering the world, save Mongols, eventually, using a

Spoiler :

SoL-assisted 0-turn Anarchy Fall revolution. Messed it up in GOTM173, but not here.

I also had no clue if GW would work against barbs when attack power is concerned. Felt like I had to take a risk.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

... so when I saw the 4special site SW of Karakorum it was kinda obvious choice for me.

4 special? Do you mean the one on swamp with access to whale and 3 spice?
Why not build your science city at 82, 18? Inkerman told us that tile has a unique continent number. It is on a river and has 3 specials so pretty decent for a science city.

I almost always build a high trade city (with Colossus and Hanging Gardens) and make sure it gets large quickly. But for conquest games I usually skip Copernicus and Newton.

 

[Jokemaster]

Wait what? A unique continent number? That's news to me. No, it really is, I've never seen it quoted in here.

Well goddamn. It's actually true! Welp. Did not understand the implications of that line I guess. No way I'm winning the space race then. Oh well. Currently at 1090 AD and researching Mass Production. Offpace by a lot compared to my 2nd try (GW built in 1500 BC, 30-40 turns ahead of pace up to 400 BC) and even then. Imagine the unique continent number PLUS the critical path bonuses...geez louise. GG no re I guess. Time to play for silver.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

Wait what? A unique continent number? That's news to me. No, it really is, I've never seen it quoted in here.

Inkerman pointed it out in the game description. It is unfortunate you missed that.

Offpace by a lot compared to my 2nd try (GW built in 1500 BC, 30-40 turns ahead of pace up to 400 BC)

That continent number cannot possibly make such a huge difference that early. You probably had better hut luck on your 2nd try.

 

[Jokemaster]

GW makes a HUGE difference. No, seriously. Gambit worked out bigtime. I was 30-40 turns ahead expansion wise and 20 turns tech/WoW wise on 2nd try. Granted, pre-knowledge of the map, but still. GW OP as all hell in this GOTM.

475 BC: MOSCOW GW. HG up next.

450 BC: 558g again for a Barb city… pretty sure it’s a preset amount of gold that never moves. Only 1 defender in Lvov. Kill Phalanx in Brunn: Brunn stormed for 12g+5citizens. GW paying off baby! T7L0S3.

425 BC: Lvov taken for 9g+3 citizens.

375 BC: I’m trying to get Krasonyarsk Colossus but idk if I’m gonna make it in time… trying! HG done next turn.

350 BC: MOSCOW HG. I think I got it for Colossus. Glatz found.

325 BC: Attack Kamyshin: Kill Phalanx w/non-vet Ellie. God I love GW. 9g+4citizens. The same happens in Lublin. T3L0S7.

300 BC: Literacy > Republic. Glatz taken for 7g+3 citizens after killing warrior. Azov got conquered by Persia! Astrakhan built.

275 BC: Debrecen spotted. Warsaw spotted: kill 2 units inside. Still some more…

250 BC: Kill another warrior in Warsaw. City conquered for 3g+1citizen.

225 BC: Kill Legion and Warrior in Debrecen. 6g+3citizens. Some seriously big Barb cities are being spotted rn. Arkangel got stormed by the Mongols.

200 BC: Kill Warrior near Kovno. Kill Phalanx in Popitz, vet, 12g+6citizens. It is so hilariously easy w/Great Wall. I pity the fools who didn’t think of it quickly enough… and that includes me, btw.

175 BC: KRASONYARSK COLOSSUS. Berlin spotted. Kill 2 units in Kovno.

150 BC: Republic > Philosophy. Kill Warrior in Prague: 1 1g+6citizens. Kill Warrior in Kovno: Kovro stormed for 8g+4citizens.

125 BC: Bribe Barb warrior for 35g, didn’t want to risk an ellie when it was on a fortressed mountain. Zwickau seized for 9g+5citizens after killing Legion. I can’t wait for Mikes…

100 BC: Some Temples are starting to be built. I do not have the land to celebrate when I switch to Republic, but research is going to pick up. Pskov stormed for 6g+3citizens.

75 BC: Persians: Trade Republic for IW. 300g tribute. Rly need Bridge Building after Mono. Going to gun straight to Democracy afterwards: hopefully most of the Barb cities are conquered at this point. Oh snap, just got over 20 techs… Techrate 8 turns. There goes my pretty pre-AD Mikes.

50 BC: First trade route to Krasonyarsk: 12g, 1 arrow. Ok, Mono is a 0 and next tech is a 2, don’t panic…Naples built. Issos built.

25 BC: Kill Warrior in Memel: Memel stormed for 4citizens+9g. Potsdam stormed for 5citizens+7g. Breslau stormed for 3citizens+4g. 2 Phalanxes killed in Poltava. Persians: 250g. Mongols: nothing.
Interturn: English almost done w/Lighthouse.

1 AD: Philosophy > Monotheism > Feudalism because I want Sun Tzu. (Gotta use those idle vans somehow… BB not available) 8 vans in Moscow: Mikes next turn.

STATUS AT 1 AD: (Beginning of 101th turn)
Population: 3.430.000 Cities: 39 Government: Monarchy Total advances: 22 (researching Feudalism)
Gold: 160 T3L0S7 Income/Cost per turn: 50 income, 15 cost. Production: 193MT 0 polluted tiles
Wonders: Pyramids, GW, HG, Colossus. Mikes next turn
Foreign relations: Peace w/Persians and Mongols.

Units: 33 Warriors, 1 Archer, 12 Elephant, 19 settlers, 3 Phalanxes, 5 Caravans, 1 Diplomat.

Killing Phalanxes with non-vets and still having enough movement points to conquer on the same turn is SO GOOD.

In the (3rd) replay that I'm doing right now, I have 44 cities @ 675 BC and am on track for a 600 BC Mikes. (and I haven't even started trading yet) GW is actually broken in this GOTM. Holy moly... and not even good hut luck either. Might want to set that wonder as "lost" next time if that wasn't intended by Inkerman.