620 AD: Rostov founded in the SE between the pigs and the hill. This isn't a fantastic site, but it maximizes the cultural coverage and allows me to retire two fog-busters. Pottery due in 1 turn for badly needed cottages. I would dearly love to tech toward Math and Construction to improve my military and wipe out the barbarian sub-continent to the SW but I need the happiness from Monarchy more. Libraries are coming online and I slowly allocate pop to scientists, which improves my tech rate but further undercuts my struggling economy. The difficulty now is that I really can't afford more troops, but I am running out of things to build. I do need workers, however, and Pottery will allow granaries so the situation is not hopeless yet. This game has generated a very strange set of priorities!
695 AD: Xi Ling Shi (GS) is born in Moscow. Never heard of him. He wants to bulb Math (Gahh! Don't tease me, bro!) but I chose an academy in Moscow instead. This knocks a couple of turns off Meditation and an unknown number off Priesthood and Monarchy. Plus it is good for culture. I wish I could make contact with another civ and possibly get some religions in here. It is very strange to be researching religious techs but completely unable to build the buildings they allow.
755 AD: Meditation
830 AD: Priesthood. The next turn my units go on strike! Wah?? Oh, I see. Rostov increased my maintenance but I neglected to adjust my production to keep the balance positive. Major blunder! I lose a fog busting warrior but I am able to readjust my troops using DanF5771's fog-busting tips (thanks Yamps!) so I don't actually lose any coverage. I look around for other places where I can make the fog busting more efficient but things are already pretty sparse. One warrior to the N is lighting only 3 tiles, but I can't move him inside my borders without leaving at least one tile uncovered even with my new knowledge. I might consider it since I need cash more than security at this point.
1070 AD: Nabu-rimanni (GS) born in Hsung-Nu. Deciding what to do with him is difficult. Building another academy will only contribute 4 cpt (since it will never double). Even assuming maximum multipliers that barely exceeds the equivalent of a culture bomb if the game lasts the entire 422 turns remaining. The generated science will of 4 bpt at current research rates will equal the value of bulbing Math in 146 turns. Long term, this is a good deal since I am pretty sure the game will last substantially longer than that, but this is not particularly promising. On the other hand, Math is necessary for Music and bulbing it will save 14 turns immediately plus clear the deck for the next GS to bulb something more interesting. (I will be running scientists for quite a while until I get to Liberalism so I am pretty sure I will waste at least two or three more on Great Persons on GS rather than GA. Might as well make them useful). Of course I could settle the GS in Moscow and make 10 bpt at current rates but that still takes 50+ turns to pay for Math. Reluctantly, I bulb Math since I really need some short-term savings rather than long-term benefits at this point. *Sigh* (In calculating all of this, I realize that I should have gotten Priesthood through Polytheism rather than Meditation, since I will need the former for Literature and the NE. ) *Double Sigh* Rostov's border pops which allows me to retire a fog-buster. Monarchy due in 6.
1100 AD: Liz sails past St. Petersburg. She is the founder of Hinduism. I immediately open borders with her for diplo bonuses and the faint hope that she will send missionaries my way. Of course I have no techs to trade and we cannot trade resources yet.
1118 AD: Monarchy finally in. Revolt to HR. Now that the happy cap is effectively gone, I can begin growing my cities to a profitable size. Unfortunately, I need to detour to Sailing so my coastal cities can work their many coast tiles. In a normal game I would have traded for this long ago. Moscow pops a border in 1130 but this does nothing for my fog-busting situation.
1190 AD: Euclid born in Moscow. He can bulb Alphabet which is what I am currently researching saving me 12 turns and a little less than 500 beakers. A slightly worse deal than that for Math but I still need the short-term boost. Cottages are starting to turn into hamlets and villages. The delayed development of this game is almost like playing a Medieval start, but without the free early techs.
1280 AD: Drama finally in. Moscow, St. Pete and Hsung-Nu begin producing Theater. Yaroslavl' founded in the NE directly N of the cows. This wastes a clam, but the alternative would be founding on the mini-peninsula and trading 3 ocean tiles for 3 grassland forests. No-brainer. Teching toward Music, which Liz doesn't have so perhaps no one else does either? Fat chance, but not no chance.
1418 Ad: Music in. I am not the first to discover it (no big surprise) but I did get it before Liz and evidently before she even began researching it. She is willing to trade me Polytheism, Code of Laws, Masonry, Iron Working and 210 gp for it. I try renegotiating the last three since they are not that useful to me, but she won't agree to any other deals. As I pretty much knew, no Iron on the continent or on the barb sub-continent. Well, masonry is useful for Construction, but that is a ways away since I still need to tech to Liberalism. No one has discovered it yet, but I am sure I am pretty much out of the race. At least building a bunch of courthouses will help with the finances, though my cities are fairly close by so not as much help as usual.
1430 AD: Aryabatta (GS) born in Hsung-Nu. He bulbs philosophy. Since I have no religion, it would be meaningless to revolt to Pacifism and very expensive. Liz pops in asking to trade banana for my extra ivory. I renegotiate for her dye which gives me 2 extra happiness in all cities with Theater (which is most of them). Nice.
1460 AD: Islam spontaneously spreads to Novgorod! Not the religion I was expecting but Ill take it. Monastery on the way (unfortunately, this is one of the worst cities for production).
1490 AD: Mansa Musa shows up. Of course I have no techs to trade with him, but I do open borders since he is Christian and I hope he sends missionaries. (Being spiritual, he is somewhat more likely to do so than Liz). He also is willing to trade copper for my horses. Definitely worthwhile as I have more than enough chariots and could really uses some axes.
1535 AD: Liz discovers Liberalism. Oh, well. Next turn Hinduism spreads spontaneously to Hsung-Nu. Very nice.
1541 AD: Al-Razi (GS) born in Moscow. He wants to bulb Compass, which I have no use for and which will lead me down the Optics path. I will keep him until CS comes in when I can use him to bulb Paper.
1571 AD: Civil Service in. I immediately revolt to Bureaucracy. Consider Caste System as well, but that will increase my civic cost and I don't really have the extra population to make full use of it at the moment. Will wait until Liberalism comes in then do a FS-CS-Pacifism trifecta. Al-Razi wakes from his 30 year sleep to invent Paper. All 23 culture cities have Islam. Founded Yekaterinburg in the SE next to the Deer and Crabs. This will provide 2 health points, which Hsung-Nu could really use. This will be a commerce only city. Looking at taking over the barb sub continent to the SW at long last. The city has 3 Longbows so it will be a blood-bath without cats. (Also, the city is well placed for Deer, Clams and Sheep, but it will not allow access to the Marble which was my main goal in this area.) I ask Mansa nicely if he can spare it for a good friend but no-can-do. He will give me 100 gp for my world map and Liz will give me 80. Might be a worthwhile deal as it will allow me to run at a deficit for the final push to liberalism. Will consider it after the anarchy is over.
1577 AD: Louis appears off the NW peninsula. He is annoyed because I traded with Mansa (how the devil does he know who I traded with.) He doesn't have paper yet but he is unwilling to trade with me. In other great news, Liz has planted Birmingham on that same peninsula right where I was planning on putting my next settler. I could theoretically take it back with my culture, but that might not happen before the end of the game. The good news, such as it is, is that I get a foreign trade route from the deal worth 2 gpt.
1601 AD: Judaism spreads spontaneously to Yaroslavl'. Very nice. Yekaterinburg could have used the religion more, but there are now 3 religions to choose from. My settler reaches the Stone on the SW sandbar. It is a blue circle, which is an intriguing idea, but I think I will transport him by boat to settle near the Marble. This will also have the advantage of putting cultural pressure on the barb city. I doubt I will be able to take it any other way as the longbows have taken 3 of my troops by making sorties while I was still approaching the city. I now have two axes on the forest hill E of the city, so this won't be a problem in the future, but the sorties allowed the barbs to promote. It will take far to much military power to take that city, and I can't afford the expense. Culture from Novgorod surrounds Birmingham on 3 sides and the city drops to 13% English. Even better, Liz has no hammers within reach so she cannot build either cultural buildings or garrison troops. That city should be mine in short order, saving me the cost of the Settler. I notice that I can trade Ivory to Louis and he gives me 12 gpt for it. Wow! I think that is the most profitable resource trade I have ever made.
1604 AD: Kepler born in St. Pete. He bulbs most of Education, leaving 1 turn left. Perfect. Next turn Liberalism due in 22 which I can drop to 19 by running a deficit. I won't be able to bulb that, though, since Compass is in the way.
1616 AD: Birmingham is revolting. Next turn Louis drops from annoyed to cautious. He is now willing to trade Paper for Construction, Monotheism and 150 gp. The turn after that, he trades Education for Feudalism, Currency, Metal Casting, his World Map and 10 gp. I immediately resell my new World Map to Mansa and Liz for 120 gp each. Nice. I can now see (but not contact) China, Germany and India. Mansa and Liz are both building cities in my SW subcontinent. May be able to flip them.
1619 AD: Trade Paper for Monotheism, Construction, Metal Casting, Feudalism and Currency to Louis and Bismarck. Also about 500 gp.
1625 AD: Birmingham flips bringing a shiny new longbow. It is Jewish, so I don't get any new religion, but at least it has culture. Disaster on the subcontinent! My escort of 3 axes are attacked while crossing open ground by 2 wandering barb axes and all 3 defenders from the city. I manage to kill the axes and 1 longbow, but 2 of my escorts die and the third is gravely wounded. I heal by promoting to Cover and send the settler on ahead, but it doesn't work. One of the longbows either was unhurt or fully healed and attacks me via the roads on the deer tile. Now my settler has nowhere to go and no defense against a wounded but still living longbow. I will lose the city next turn and I can't whip any defenses. So I gift the city to Mansa who is running Universal Suffrage. With any luck he will have the brains to buy defenses and keep the city. I don't hear any reports about the city being sacked and the tile still shows as Malinese next turn, so perhaps it worked. Now that the barb city is largely depopulated, I shouldn't have as much trouble taking it with a few cats, once I can get them down there. Well, that settler was originally intended to settle where Birmingham is so I haven't lost anything (except a company of axes and a lot of time). And the barb city is well placed to flip both of Mansa's cities and Liz's one, so this may actually work out well.
1643 AD: Mansa cancels the copper for horses deal. Bastard! I just gave you a fricken city! Looking at the trade screen I see that he is still willing to trade copper, so I increase the price to horse plus 7 gpt and he accepts. Jerk. Qin appears out of the E and he is annoyed with me for trading with his worst enemy (evidently Mansa). I trade him my crab, which I don't currently need, for 6 gpt. I have lots of technologies to trade with him, so I really need him to drop down to cautious.
1649 AD: Liberalism discovered. Revolt to Free Speech, Caste System and Pacifism. Louis and Bismarck are still behind on the Education-Liberalism path, so over the next few turns I trade for Calendar, Horseback, Machinery, Compass, Optics, Gunpowder, Engineering, Guilds and another 400 gp. My treasury is now over 1000 and I can afford to run at 60% culture for many turns.
1730 AD: Circassian (the barb city in the SW tundra) captured by 3 cats 4 axes and a horse archer. Didn't actually need two of the axes.
1744 AD: Nationalism discovered. Next turn I trade it around for Theology, Banking and Astronomy to my backward neighbors (of whom Qin has become one, having dropped from annoyed to cautious).
1778 AD: Mansa spontaneously offers me Military Tradition for free. Circassian is putting cultural pressure on Mansa's two cities in the subcontinent: Yarkutsk and Yaria. Vladivostok founded next turn to put even more cultural pressure on Yarkutsk. Begin working the marble, but I will need another city there before it will be available to my capital because it has no route. In following turns I trade Military Tradition for the remainder of Printing Press, Constitution and Divine Right.
1827 AD: Buddhism spreads to Vladivostok. It will be a problem spreading this religion since I only have 3 hammers available to that city. Still worth the effort if I can get some extra cathedrals in my culture cities. Smolensk founded next to the marble which cuts production on both Islamic and Hindu cathedrals. Chemistry discovered but I have no one to trade it to.
1840 AD: My plan was to put a settler on the small island between the stone and Yaria, but the latter's culture expands the very turn my settler lands. Grr.
1844 AD: I found Orenburg on the tundra hill to the S. This won't help with flipping Yaria, but it will at least reclaim that island and allow me to work the fish. I would rather have founded on the forest tundra 1E of that hill, but Qin has a city 2 tiles away on the isthmus hill. Double grr. Mansa Musa completes the Apollo Program. My cultural progress is good, but might not be enough to beat him to the finish line. No one is interested in going to war with him, so I will just have to fight it out. Buddhism fails to spread in Circassian (frustrating, since I deliberately delayed spreading other religions there to make it easier).
1856 AD: Taoism spreads to Orenburg. Production low, so I doubt if I will get any useful cathedrals out of this, but no harm in trying.
1868 AD: Buddhism finally spreads in Circassian. Mansa is going gang-busters on the spaceship. Don't know if I will even get any Buddhist cathedrals and, if I do, it will probably not help much. Gandhi is also working on the spaceship, though I didn't notice when he completed Apollo.
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