GOTM 29 Spoiler 1

[smackster]

Open 1.27f

4000BC Warrior east, settler west

See nothing settle on the spot, luck gets the floodplain wheat in range

I fully expect to get pottery in a trade therefore research Myst on 40 turn gambit

3050BC Meet Zulu, Pott+Warr C for Mas+Cer Bur+30

Actually managed to get Myst before anyone else and traded wisely with that.

2670 BC got the disease as Thebes hits size 4. Lose the usual two citizens.

1000BC 8 cities , 1 settler, 17 warriors, and 4 workers

Paid over the odds for Iron Working and Horse Riding but had the cash and wanted to see where they were.

690 BC roaded iron, big sword upgrade, eyeing Zulu

Had noticed that Zulu were fighting Toku, and Babylon. Decarled war on Zulu and got lots of cash and Code of Laws to join the alliance.

It wasn't long into the war when we joined the Middle age [fixed thank to AlanH].

Talk of the wars in the next spoiler

Managed to keep up with tech using wise tech trading, maybe I was lucky sometimes as Poly came in for us and was able to trade for various techs as middle man.

 

[AlanH]

Originally posted by smackster
3050BC Meet Egypt ...

Mirror, mirror on the wall?

It wasn't long into the war when we joined the Industrial age.

I missed the bit where you researched time travel ...

Nice start. Wish I had enough military at that stage to do anything but say "Yes sir" to everyone, very politely

 

[smackster]

Got it, edited that post, serves me right for copying it straight out of my notes.

Sorry about the lack of info during the transition to IA, my notes were sparce then and I didn't make any saves for a long period there so wasn't able to go back and find the exact year. Made more sense to just leave the war description for the next Spoiler.

I just posted that.

 

[AlanH]

Originally posted by smackster
Sorry about the lack of info during the transition to IA

My point was that most of us go through the Middle Ages before we can get to the IA. You've found a wormhole, perhaps

 

[gozpel]

Open PTW 1.27

After my worker had a peek up north, we founded Thebes on the spot. Built one warrior and a settler after that. To my dismay I saw the fp-wheat outside my borders, but it still did well in the second city, so nothing to cry about.

No disease struck any of my cities, and most of them were by flood-plains. This is a random factor that is not fair. I can see that people that moved their settler in different direction got hit or almost whacked by disease. I don't enjoy this concept and feel guilty for being untouched. Well, almost anyways

Met Zulu early and Greece not long after, got a few techs for Masonry and a couple more for the Wheel. Bought 2 Zulu workers for 4 gpt together with wheel I remember now! I tried the Math-gambit and lost by a few turns, but still got techs out of it. Then Currency at fullest pace possible and traded myself into MA around 700bc. My research was set to Monarchy at full pace at this time.

Zulus demanded gold once and then some distant civ (Tokugawa) once, but otherwise I was surprisingly unbothered. Sure, they weren't happy with me and traded like hawkers on a field-day.

This made me change my first idea of cultural challenge and go for them later, I simply hate when they give away techs to the left and right and I have to sell my grandmother and her jewelry to get even close. Fine,conquest or domination it is, depending on the map.

Zulu and Greece really had a go at each other, my scouting warrior saw greek troops burn a city to the ground and by 1000bc I had 15 towns, compared to Zulu 2 and Greece 3!
This gave me room to quietly expand at will.

Unhappiness was a real problem in this game, already early on I noticed sour citizens and I couldn't avoid luxtax. My military build was way to slow in the beginning, so I had to pay with gold and slower research rate. Still I'm quite happy with 2 luxes, 3 iron and 2 horses in my territory.

Barbs never threatened me, a couple of huts was around but my warriors took care of that and sentried mountaintops and hills to avoid any more, to help my unguarded settlers. I got sacked once though and they stole the heavenly price of 8 gold.

In all towns settled near neighbours, I whipped temples when they grew. Best way to deal with behavioural problems with a religious trait and it worked wonders in this game.

A fairly decent start, considering the lack of shields and I could probably wrenched out a settler or two extra earlier, if I really needed to.

Great map and a sinister layout with all those flood-plains.

 

[Lance]

Civ3 open

This was going to be only my second gotm game and first emperor level game ever started. I did't know exactly what to expect, but I did find it out after meeting the first opponent; A Hoplite (nice, I don't have to worry about war chariots), who lets me know that my neighbour, the greeks, has a four techs lead compared to us.

I'll start from the beginning: I decided not to settle where I was, to avoid having 11 fp-tiles to my capital. Moved settled sw, and settled there, irrigating the starting location. Researched WC first, then mysticism, in order to get monarchy asap. Anyway, that plan didn't work out, you'll see why.

2750BC Founded second city south, between the southern wheat and sheep. 2590 had my first contact (look the first paragraph) with greece, and then with Zulu, with who I traded Masonry and gold for BW and after finishing mysticism, also that for pottery and gold. Also bougt wheel from greecs with cold cash, and found horses inside my territory.

Third city, Heliopolis was founded in 2230 BC more south. After myst. Research only 10% poly. Had cash coming in nicely, so I was able to by techs. Trades in 1870BC:
Bougth alphabeth from Rome for 38 gold + 3gpt
Bought writing from greece for 52 gold + 6 gpt
traded HBR from zulu for writing + 5 gold
Bottom line: Alphabet, writing and HBR for 95 gold+ 9gpt = 275g

1830 BC met babylon

1650 BC after finding out that I was in the corner on the continent, I decided that my capital was in a bad place and so I abandoned Thebes and moved my Palace to Memphis which was more cental city (or was going to be, at the time I only had three cities). Also moved the Thebes one tile west.

1175 BC I discovered Polytheism:Trades:

with rome MM for Poly+24 gold
with zulu Math+IW+42 gold for Poly and MM
with babs Philo+53 gold for poly
Bottom line: Math+IW+Philo+MM+71 gold for Polytheism

After finally having IW, I also noticed that I had Iron(unconnected) but zulu didn't. Now knowing that the best zulu could do was Impi and archer, I quickly connected Iron and started to upgrade my warriors.

My plan on keeping up in research with GL collapsed as Germany (Who i hadn't met at that point) built GL 710 BC (I had about 7 turns left to finish it, then swithed to Pyramids, Rome finished them about 3 turns later. So I lost about 270 shields.

I figured, well, If I couldn't build a technological powerstate, I would build an army, and that's what I did. I started to build military, only. Started war against zulu in 610 BC and in 510 BC bought currency, CoL and construction and entered MA.

I didn't see a single barbarian during AA.

 

[Offa]

Originally posted by gozpel
Open PTW 1.27

by 1000bc I had 15 towns

How?

 

[mace6223]

Took a 2 month hiatus from Civ 3 (girlfriend made me) but decided enough was enough so I had to play this one.

Started by moving Settler SW and worker W. I was able to work toward a 4.5 settler factory which I figured was as good as it would get on this type of location. Built 2 warriors, settler, granary, settler, settler, ....

Researched Pottery at max, followed by Myst at max, then a 40-turn gambit on Poly (which I won). Was able to trade Poly around and gain tech parrity. Started a pre-build for GL in Memphis (and actually got it ).

First Warrior started out West and met Zulu, Babylon, Rome, and Greece fairly early. Eventually met Toku, Germany and Russia. Ended up exploring the Western hemisphere for ages until Germany demanded tribute at the end of AA and I refused. A German Swordman made quick work of that warrior. Second warrior headed South through Zulu and Greek territory only to return home later in game.

Due to the close proximity of the Zulu and Greeks, I expanded South until I couldn't expand South any longer. This allowed me to gain quite a bit of area to the South, but little did I know that the Babs were eying the wool in the N. They settled on the northern most cape and stole my only lux. They became my first target (along with Greeks).

When I felt I had enough money and units, I upgraded 10 warriors allied with Rome (already at war with Babylon) and went after the bab city (fell in first attack). This was almost simultaneous to my civ reaching the MA in 300BC. Now I'm on to the Greeks (who are at war with the Zulu ATM).

Never saw a single Barbarian, and only suffered through disease 2 times. Overall, I think I'm doing very well. I have something like 11 cities, 12 warriors, 9 swordsmen, 2 war chariots, 8 barracks, 3 temples and ready to demolish the Greeks.

 

[Gnat]

Civ III 1.29f Open

Oh well, I've eventually managed to get to the point fo being allowed to do this spoiler (view of the whole map was a swine to get).

I started out by placing Thebes on the start position. So Thebes was mainly concerned with pumping out Settlers (albeit slowly).

Memphs was placed to the West, but I made a big mistake in my early exploration. I went North, when looking at the mini-map should has made me expect the main continent to be South & West (which it was). I got The Wheel, and then built a War Chariot do the exploration, and started out to the North (my mistake). Once I realised my mistake, I headed out West (after getting a city near that lovely Wool). I ran into Zulus, their territory, and then Jungle. Going South I ran into the Greeks, and more Jungle. No where for my Chariot without annoying someone. Not feeling secure at this stage, I went for the safer option.

So I ended up stuck in the North West with a fairly small area (6 cities by 1000 BC). By 1100 BC, I had decided researching myself was not worth it, and went to 10.0.0 and started trading for all my research.

Strangely enough, I have been very lucky throughout the AA. No disease, no Barbarians, and no war.

Shields were provided by Memphis (to the West fo Thebes), and Heliopolis (next to the two Wool).

By the end fo the AA, (210 BC), I has not met everyone, neither had I got any of the map beyond my little empire.

So off I went into the MA, hoping I could survive (something I'm not good at, at this level).

 

[DepDog]

PTW 1.27 Conquest

Well this looks to be my first GOTM that I can submit. I just began playing Civ3 in Jan and have already learned a lot in the prior two GOTM's, although I had to restart countless times in India to counter Xerxes before I finally was able to finish in 2050 with a measly "1st in points" victory, somewhere in mid 4000 range.

My notes are almost non-existent. But I did manage to scribble down 1000 BC highlights and I'll try to remember some of the general AA events.

Thebes was settled on the start location. I was interested to try a food rather than shields capital. It didn't quite work out as expected, not having the shields to get settlers out quick enough. My 2nd city, settled S near the two sheep and wheat became the primary city for settler productions.

I built two warriors that went exploring and soon had met all but the Germans, which didn't occur until much later when I used a galley to scout around the continent. I was also surprised that I was able to keep up with tech through trading until towards the end of AA. Usually, I fall behind quickly so I think I'm improving on my brokering skills. But then I stagnated and had to research Construction and Currency myself, having nothing that the other civs wanted. Didn't enter MA until 40 AD and all other civs were well ahead of me in tech now.

I tried laying my cities in a RCP 4, but don't quite have all the details and understanding on that figured out. I did manage to keep Zulu, Greek, and others out of my territorial boundaries that I staked out. Greece and I split the land available between North/South and Zulus are bordering with a city SW of the big mountain range.

I seem to have been among the lucky in not getting struck with disease in any of my cities and only had one incident with barbs in which I lost a single warrior scout. First game that I've had to use the lux slider liberally, attributing that to emperor game. It has put a damper on my ability for building infrastructure and an army as I've also had to employ entertainers to prevent any civil disorder. Therefore I've tried to accommodate all requests for extortion to avoid wars. That's not my usually MO, but I was trying not to get sucked into a conflict that would slow down progress further and damage reputations.

The Zulus finally tried my patience and declared war on me when I wouldn't submit. However, that didn't come until the beginning of the MA, so I'll wait to post in 2nd spoiler.

I'm doubtful that I can pull a conquest victory, but it looks like I'm strong enough to stay around and thus see how I compare to other scores on the bottom of the list (famous last words.... )

QSC stats:
Pop 18
7 cities
175 Gold
All AA Tech except Construction and Currency
3 workers, 3 spearmen, 4 warriors

 

[Justus II]

Ancient Age

1.27f

Predator

I started this month’s GOTM with multiple ideas about what kind of victory to aim for. Particularly after the discussion from last month’s GOTM, I was debating trying for a quick domination vs. a 100K cultural, and trying for the hybrid, i.e. going as quickly as possible for the domination limit, then focusing on culture. However, RL tends to make the 100K victories less appealing, as they are time-consuming. I finally decided to head for domination, and see where we were then. I also debated whether to try for the Pyramids, to get an early GA and build lots of Chariots, or maybe even use an early Chariot to trigger a GA so I could go for Pyramids! As the map developed, however, I decided that I would be better off using the GA to build lots of chariots and lots of cash, for a massive Knight upgrade, but probably couldn’t afford the Pyramids, so I was going to try and “plant” a chariot or two near a far-off neighbor and use a ‘phony war’ to trigger my GA (i.e. attack someone who is too far away to reach me before I can sue for peace).

Initial Builds
As for the start, seeing all the FP made me decide to bypass the Granary this time, as there were multiple high-food spots if I could get out and settle quickly. I did want to get closer to the forest tiles for more shield balance, so I moved W as I had originally planned, and after founding the city, saw the FP Wheat, although I would have to wait for expansion to get it in production. From that start, I figured that even though I didn’t have a 4-turn settler factory, I could quickly make 2 8-turn settler factories, which would be as good, and would get in operation sooner. Because I didn’t need the Granary, and wanted to connect horses ASAP, I started max research on The Wheel.

My builds were two warriors for scouting, then a settler every 8 turns, as Thebes grew from size 3 to size 4, completing just as I hit size 5. I worked the FP Wheat, another FP, and a forest, and an irrigated plains while at size 4, all of which were easily improved in time with our Industrious worker! Our first settler completes in 2900BC, and one per 8 turns thereafter. I originally planned out an RCP3 dense build, hoping to maximize the FP tiles, but as I explored, I saw the sheep and another wheat on the “Lower Nile” to the south, so I expanded in that direction, settling on an RCP4 instead. I also got a city in the north to connect the wool, but not until much later (1350BC).

My second city, Memphis, is founded N of the first sheep in 2800, and is my military producer, after a couple warriors it builds a barracks then Chariots every 4 turns. My third city, Heliopolis, is founded by the second sheep in 2390, and also gets to a settler/8 turns after a temple. Elephantine is founded in 2030 by the southern wheat, and produces workers every 5 turns. Other cities then fill in the RCP 4 pattern.

Contacts/Tech
In 3450, a Zulu scout moved in range. Shaka is polite, has 2 cities, Pottery and Warrior Code, but lack Masonry. I trade Masonry for Warrior Code and 10g. Shortly thereafter, I see coast on both sides, I hope I’m not stuck on an island with Shaka! 3100BC brings good/bad news, Zulu must have made contact with someone else, they now have Bronze Working, Pottery, and Mysticism! At least we’re not alone. The Wheel is discovered in 2750BC, but the Zulu already have it, and Alphabet I do see horses by Thebes ! No good min-research opportunities, and I can’t afford any techs @ monopoly from the Zulus, so no research for a while. I see a couple barbarians around this time, but the Zulu seemed to take care of most of them, I think I only killed 1-2 camps. In 2510 I finally meet someone else, the Greeks. Alex is cautious, has 4 cities, up Bronze, Alpha, Pottery, and Mysticism. I buy Mysticism for 10+4gpt, and start minimum on Polytheism.

A Roman archer appears SW of the Zulus in 2110. Caesar is annoyed, and up Bronze, Alpha, Pottery, and Horseback. Greeks don’t have Horseback, so I see a deal here. Give Rome 50+3gpt for Horseback Riding (even though I don’t really need it yet), then trade it plus 1g to Greece for Alphabet. In 2030, I see Rome has Writing, and Greece doesn’t, maybe I can make another deal. Wait, I also see some blue borders to the west. I move my warrior, and now I know Babylon too. Hammurabi is annoyed, with 4 cities, and up Bronze and Pottery, but doesn’t even have Alphabet? First I trade Alphabet to Babylon for Bronze and 7g. Now I see Rome, Zulu, and Babylon have Iron Working, but not Greece. OK, first is Writing from Rome for 75g+5gpt (don’t want to feed the Zulu). Then Writing to Babylon for Iron Working, and then Writing to Greece for Pottery and 30g. It temporarily broke me, but I now have tech parity, and 37g, with a break-even at 20% lux (still 10% sci). I see Iron too, in the North, West, and S of newly founded Elephantine. Not everyone is impressed, however:

1450 is another trading round, as Map-making is known to all, but CoL and Philo are not. Start with Babylon, buying Code of Laws for 50+8gpt, then turning it to the Greeks for Map-Making and 15g, then CoL to the Zulu for Philosophy and 7g. My Polytheism gambit finally pays off in 1225, time to cash in. In a great stroke of luck, the Greeks get Math this turn also, but no one else has it! Start with trading Poly for Mathematics straight up, then it’s time to sell Poly around, getting 80+3gpt from Rome, 115 from Babylon, and 65 from Zulu, which cleans out their cash. Start research on Currency at 90% (16 turns, -16/tn). I keep Math, as I want a head start on Currency, besides, no one has anything to offer.

I had whipped a galley after trading for Map-Making, and loaded with 2 chariots, it headed west in search of new peoples. In 1050, the galley spots some purple borders on the far side of Rome, and drops off a chariot for a better look. We meet the Tokugawa, annoyed, 7 cities, 263 gold and even in tech. No opportunities here. I finally get smart a few turns later, and invest some cash in embassies and ROPs, so my Chariots can use their roads to explore faster, looking for the elusive Germans.

At the end of the QSC, we have 9 cities, pop, 4 temples and 2 barracks. Our treasury is currently at 334g. We also have 9 Workers, 5 Warriors (1 vet), 11 Chariots (all vet), and 2 galleys. We are 5 turns from Currency, and have all other non-optional AA techs except Construction. Not doing so well in score. The Zulus lead with 444, then Tokugawa-385, Babylon-354, Greece-350, Egypt at 321, and Rome at 318.
QSC Map

Post-QSC
My next big trade comes in 900BC with the discovery of Currency. Babylon has had a monopoly on Republic for a couple turns, and the other civs have at least some money, let’s see if we can make a deal. Even at 100% tax, everything I have, which is Currency (@ monopoly), 207g, and 39gpt, is only “close” for Republic. Time to get creative. I MM all my cities, maxing out on commerce tiles, and am able to tweak my economy up to 44gpt, which is enough. I get Republic for Currency, 205g, and 42gpt, which I hope I can afford once I revolt. OK, I definitely need cash to see me through, so I sell Currency around, netting 613g, and leaving everyone else broke, so I can keep Republic as a near-monopoly for later trading.

After a couple last-minute whips, I revolt to Republic, and find that I’m still losing money! Income goes up, even after re-MM’ing my towns, but unit support hurts, as I have 29 units for 10 towns (-38gpt). I disband a couple regular warriors that were on MP duty, set a lone scientist on Literature, and get to a livable –15gpt deficit, with 574 in the bank. Time to focus on infrastructure, particularly markets. I have enough Chariots for now, I can’t really afford too many more. A couple more cities will also help with support, as well as filling in blank spots.

Final Contacts, Middle Ages
My galley spots a Russian city in 875BC, and they are backward, missing Polytheism, Currency and Republic. Still no sign of the Elusive Germans. The search gets harder next turn, as a barb galley sinks my galley with chariot aboard! Meanwhile, I can trade with the Zulus, getting Incense for my wool. Quiet building turns, waiting for construction to break. In 670BC, suddenly everyone has it, but Rome still lacks Republic. Trade Republic to Rome for Construction, and I am in the Middle Ages. I won’t go into more details on that until the next spoiler, but I still hadn’t qualified for this one yet! I sent another couple chariots out, and two more galleys, trying to push southwest, where Germany had to be. I didn’t actually make contact until 390BC, when a German galley wandered up into Russian territory, and it was still more turns (nearly AD) before I was able to get my galleys down far enough to get a good look at the German part of the continent, so I could post here!

Answers to Ainwood’s questions:
Were the barbs a problem?
Zulus took care of most of them, I did have to shuffle-step a settler a couple times to avoid them or let warriors take care of one. I think I only killed one camp, and never did see the “uprising”, all our local lands were in view by then.
How did you handle your neighbours?
I have been peacefully trading with both Zulu and Greece, as they both have a luxury and need Iron, and because they already have good base defenders, I didn’t see giving them Iron as making them more of a threat.
How did you balance shield production v food production?
My basic strategy was to think in terms of 1 irrigated flood plain + 1 forest = 2 mined grasslands, for about half the worker investment. Where there wasn’t enough forest, I mined the plains, and again used 1 Irr. FP + 1 Mine Plains. I also mined the hills sooner than normal. I basically went for more workers than normal, even/especially for an industrious civ, after the QSC time. Several small FP cities built nothing but workers for a while. Unit cost was high, but I had every tile improved before my GA.
Were their any early wars?
None before the MA.
Did you manage to secure horses, and if so, did you initiate an early golden age?
Depends on your definition of early I used a scouting chariot to trigger it against a distant opponent in 430BC, but I was already into the Middle Ages by then. My plan was to use it to finish the FP and markets, and crank out Chariots, while boosting my research to Chivalry for a massive upgrade. Did it work out? Tune in next thread… (When I get there!)

I am also posting my QSC Timeline, for those who are interested:
QSC Timeline (zipped)

 

[killerloop]

PTW 1.14 predator

AA results

Start
Moved worker east, discovered the coastline, and decided to move my settler, in order to have more place for a nice RCP; moved settler west. Then in the fog I could see the outcrops of wheat. Hence moved my settler south and settled there.

Cities
Build a ring of 8 cities at distance 4-4.5 and 1 city more south. As I didn’t have any city suffering from diseases I thought disease was switched off, but found out in previous posts that this is not the case. Just have been lucky….!!

Exploration
Had one warrior moving west and one south. The one going west (and still going) discovered all other tribes, except for the Greek. In order of discovery: Rome, Babylon, Tokugawa, Russia, Germany.

Science
Started on wheel on 40 turns. Zulus passed by in 3400BC, traded pottery for masonry. In 3050BC met Greece, got BW and Alphabet for CB, Pottery & Masonry and changed to writing. In 2710BC I met Rome, traded WC and Wheel for Pottery & Masonry. Shortly after I met the Babylonians and traded for Mysticism In 2310BC I trade HBR and IW in a global exchange. I was the 1st to discover: Writing, CoL, Philosophy, Republic, Currency. In 1400BC there was another global trade round. In 850BC I discovered Currency, and by trading in 825BC for construction I enter the MA.

Wars
In 1075BC Russia declared war, after me refusing paying tribute. I do not understand why, because at that time I had an average army, comparing with all others, except vs. the Russians; compared with them I was strong! I guess one of the reasons she was pissed off at me, is that I moved all the way through her territory trying to escape from a barb horse, with her every time asking me to leave her borders. I finally lost the horse from my tail at Tblisi.

Barbs
Not really an issue. I posted one warrior on one of the northern mountains, to keep clean of barb developments there. Somewhere south between Greece and myself some barb camp(s) must have been existing. I aborted my exploring southern warrior mission after barbs showed up at my southern border. They never attacked my (at that time) unprotected cities, so I guess the Greeks or Zulus took care of them. Had a horseman chasing me in Russian jungle area, but shook him of.

Wonders
Germany has built the Pyramids

Culture
No problems keeping up (yet?). Although difficult to see, looks like I’m number 1

QSC results
Cities: 10, population 40
Area: 130 tiles
Armies: 8 swordsmen, 7 War Chariots, 3 spearman, 3 warriors
Workers: 3 native + 2 bought in
City Improv’s: 7 temples, 1 barrack
Science: all AA, except Construction, Currency, Monarchy, Literature, Republic (one turn away )
Contacts: all civs
Embassy: 1, with Rome to see if I could convince them to fight against Russia
Luxuries: wool connected
Resources: iron and horses connected
Gold: 151

Scores (1000 BC)
Ger:487, Zulu:458, Toku:420, Rus:399, Bab:375, Egy:353, Gre:329, Rom:300

 

[Megalou]

Justus,
That was really interesting to read. I particularly liked your descriptions of tech trading. Most of us can probably learn things there. Turning off research when Zulu had a monopoly was creative, especially since you actually seem to have given techs a high priority. I find that I was much slacker in that department, trying to play the rogue just because I went for domination.

 

[Justus II]

@Megalou-
Thanks! Shutting down research was a lesson I learned the hard way last game, as I sunk plenty of good money into techs that Xerxes got way before I did, and then couldn't afford to buy them anyway. I was hopeful that Ainwood wouldn't strand us on an island with Shaka this time so I thought it best to hold out until I could start making more contacts. Tech was a priority in the Ancient age for me for two reasons, I wanted to get into a better government before triggering my GA, and I wanted to also be within range of Chivalry when I did start my GA.

 

[flexo]

OK I just started this weekend and there is only really one word that can describe the game so far: HORRRRRRIBLE.

Some disease ridden piece of river land I was living on. Before the QSC period was over I had been struck by disease a grand total of 8 times. I didn't get my first settler out of the capital until just after 2000 bc. That is 2000 years of disease, barbarians (think there were a total of three (could have been two) barbarian towns around me sending a steady stream of barbs to me) and suffering. By the QSC end I had 5 cities, was waaaaay behind in tech and everything. Quite frankly if this had been any other game then the GOTM I would have hit the quit button a long time ago.

Concidering my start I seriously doubt I'll finish the game in time for a submission or ever for that matter.

 

[Dianthus]

Open 1.27f

Initial moves

I moved the Worker E and the Settler SE as my first moves, moving towards the SE forest and hills. My first build priority for my initial towns was a Warrior, so avoiding another humiliating early loss like last month. I did a little exploring and decided to settle the 2nd town as follows, so giving access to Wheat and plenty of shields.

1st/2nd town


QSC

With the large amount of food available along the floodplains I decided not to build granarys, instead building settlers at a slow rate in a number of towns.

By the end of the QSC period I had 11 cities, and very little military. Here are some more screenshots :

Territory

Units

1000BC minimap


End of Ancient Times

Throughout the ancient times I continued my policy of minimum research, instead trading for techs. I had managed to amass more territory than the AI's, so was also able to trade ROPs to them for a profit. In 410BC I nearly reached the Middle Ages by the following trades :
Trade Wool+119g to Babylon for Currency
Trade Currency+23g+4gpt to Greece for Construction
Trade Currency+Construction to Rome for Horseback Riding+Literature+18g

I finally traded for the final required tech (Polytheism) in 210BC.

By 210BC I had managed to build a fair number of War Chariots, which I was intending to later upgrade to Knights to begin my Domination/Conquest attempt. Some more screenshots (I like to be able visualize this stuff).

210BC Military

210BC Territory

210BC minimap

At this point I was doing fairly well in score/power compared to the AIs (though I still hadn't met the Germans) :

210BC Score (power very similar)

But my culture was much lower :

210BC Culture

 

[Ronald]

Open, PTW 1.27f

I hate starts with floodplains, so I move my worker and settler untill I find some bonus tile. So I move worker SW, nothing visible, move settler SW as well (NE looks like coast, I want to go inland). Move worker SW again, see wheat, found Thebes.

I want to go for a conquest victory this time (I have not done conquests for while and I like Egypt for conquests: Cheap chariots for upgrade to knights with a good timed golden age at that time).

I have luck with deseases, no desease in the first 2500 years!!

Expansion phase went pretty well and by the end of the ancient age I am ready for war.