I moved 2 NW and settled to start. This was an excellent production/commerce location so I was quite happy with that. I built a Worker first. Contrarian that I am, I wanted to play for a Culture or possibly a Diplomatic win. But first I needed to get a solid defense built up and grab some territory. I decided to go Mining -> Bronze Working right off the bat so I could chop and whip and, if I was lucky, find Copper.
In 2560 BC I chopped a Settler, which went south to settle on the coast between Crabs, Copper, and Silk. Id just finished The Wheel and started on Mysticism. New York was in a decent location but in hindsight I should have built it adjacent to the Copper, or at least researched Mysticism earlier. In the 25-odd turns it took to get New Yorks borders expanded and the Copper hooked up a steady stream of Barb Warriors began coming at me from the SE. I was able to hold them off without any really close calls, but only by building a lot of Warriors of my own. And while it proved unnecessary I did get worried enough to research Archery.
I built Stonehenge in Washington in 1640 BC, while still considering a Culture strategy. But shortly thereafter Asoka and Cyrus started boxing me in on the north and west, and a Barbarian cityThracianshowed up right on the coast south of the 2 Stone. So there was nowhere good left to expand peacefully, and I built Axemen instead and sent them after Thracian. My first Axe lost at 90%+ odds to a wandering Archer, and it got worse from there. When I managed to get a couple of Axes and Warriors next to Thracian, Asoka had two Archers lined up to attack as well. I refrained from attacking because if I was unlucky Id hand the city to Asoka. Instead he was
very lucky and won two long odds battles to kill the defending Archers and capture the city himself.
This was no good at all. I considered attacking Asoka then and there, but refrained. Why? I cant remember, but it couldnt have been a very good reason.
Something along the lines of believing Asoka was the only AI naturally peaceful enough that he might leave me alone, I guess.
Instead, I continued building up my forces and attacked
Bismarck, in 500 BC. He had a small city due east of Washington that I initially bypassed in favor of capturing Munich, near the Gems and Ivory. I wanted those resources! Shortly thereafter I was the first to discover Alphabet, and reaped the rewards of many tech trades. So maybe things were going to work out for me after all. The war against Bismarck continued well, as I pushed a bit further up his funky peninsula and razed a city there, then shifted back to the south.
Bismarcks city near Washington wasnt sited very well. I decided to take a chance and razed it after capturing it in 225 BC, knowing that I couldnt get a Settler there for another 5-6 turns. I then made peace in exchange for the rest for the beakers I needed for Mathematics. I started researching Construction, and a couple of turns later I popped a Great Prophet in Washington which I used to discover Theology and establish Christianity in Munich. I was too chicken to adopt a religion though, since all of my neighbors had different ones and I didnt want to anger any of them yet.
My gamble of razing the German city went all wrong. Cyrus snuck in there ahead of me and founded Gordium in the area I wanted. I ended up putting Boston 3 hexes south of his city, with access to Iron and Wine, in the hopes of keeping a path open to the still unsettled lands in the southeast. By this point Id completely given up on a Cultural victory but still thought a Diplomatic attempt might be fun. So I began work on an Aqueduct in New York, in the hopes of later snagging the Hanging Gardens and generating some Great Engineers.
Then my worst fear came true. In 25 BC Cyrus declared war on me, followed two turns later by a declaration by Mao. Per the power graph, both were stronger than me, Cyrus extremely so. Munich was highly exposed and quickly fell to Cyruss Immortals. I returned the favor by razing Gordium. In 200 AD I gave Alexander a big technology bribe in return for him declaring war on both Cyrus and Mao, which more or less eliminated the threat from China. I fought a lot of defensive battles against Persia and lost a few improvements, but ultimately was able to raze another one of his cities, and in 475 AD we made peace. The war with China continued, however.
. The military was just too weak.
why????)
while attacking accross the river and a barb city pops IBT.
