GOTM 49 First Spoiler - end of the ancient age

[klarius]

Open PtW

Not much happened through most of the AA.
I started a little different than most.
I wanted whales, because fish are no use in despotism. And gems don't help either if there is no food.
After the first step I saw cows lurking in the fog. So another step to get whales and cow.
The cow was later time-shared with the second city.
RCP was already completely down the drain.

QSC was really low with only 6 cities. I didn't settle more although the two cities sharing one cow could have made more settlers (both with granary could do a settler every 8 turns having the cow half of the time).
I got ivory, iron and horses and other good city spots were only far away.
I intended an archer rush on Mecca, but then Mecca was building pyramids and seemed to have the best chances.
So my archers stood at the gates of Mecca quite some time and just killed a barb every now and then.
They were then joined by some swords also twiddling thumbs.
Only in 590BC pyramids were built - in Entremont. Mecca immediately cascaded and built the Great Library.
So here goes my plan of a pyramids driven late REX phase.
Seems the Arabs felt strong after that (not so wise) and demanded some gold immediately. And they declared when I rebuffed them. Really nice of them saving me the effort.
An alliance with the Celts will leave them completely helpless w/o much danger that the Celts really do something (no iron ).
After taking a city on the way, Mecca was ours in 530BC.
Entered MA in 510BC getting construction from GLIB (could have traded for it before but didn't see the point ).
Now what to do. Pretty late for a free palace jump w/o having FP. Decided to hope for a leader, while at the same time rush a courthouse in Mecca and start handbuild the FP. The low number of cities should make it feasible, but more about that in the next spoiler.

Some thing similar happened to me in my game. I traded a well-known AA-tech (don´t remember which, maybe Monarchy) to the Celts and the Aztecs for money (I think around 90 gold and 70 gold).
Both their attitudes dropped right away. I´m really clueless as to what caused this, but us becoming powerleaders through trades like mine seems rather unlikely imho. Strange indeed.

Cash enters into the power calculation. So it's not that surprising. The AI did also not do so well on this map (at least in my game ), so 160g may have really tipped the balance.

 

[Shigella]

Strange: When we traded, Aztecs went from Polite to Annoyed. We probably became power leaders right there and then.

Some thing similar happened to me in my game. I traded a well-known AA-tech (don´t remember which, maybe Monarchy) to the Celts and the Aztecs for money (I think around 90 gold and 70 gold).
Both their attitudes dropped right away. I´m really clueless as to what caused this, but us becoming powerleaders through trades like mine seems rather unlikely imho. Strange indeed.

Cash enters into the power calculation. So it's not that surprising.

One other thing to consider is that the AI immediately revolts when they pick up a preferred government tech by trade (even when it isn't their turn). Anarchy is considered a different form of government from your own (unless you are in anarchy yourself), so you see the rep hit.

Cash definitely plays a factor as well, but I think most of what you are seeing is due to AI anarchy.

 

[tR1cKy]

I'm one tech away from MA, and know the full map from bloody ages, so i'm gaining absolutely no prior knowledge by lurking here at this point. I'm overwhelmed by work in these days and the time to play is very little. It could take a week or more before i'm able to post the AA spoiler. In the meantime, here's a little anticipation that some of you may enjoy.

With all that mass of land open it's almost impossible to avoid a barb uprising, so i didn't even try to fill up everything, just prepared the defenses. The thing happened around 500bc. A few turns later, here cometh the horde of doom: three coordinated waves, for a grand total of 72 barb horsemen headed for Baghdad and Rusicade, the northern town hooking up incense. Consider that in predator class you have to face them with zero combat bonus.

Previously i had gained a leader in the struggle against the arabs. With it i FPJed to Mecca, rebuilt immediately Carthage and rushed the FP there. At this point i'm abandoning and refounding arab cities so to have both cores with a ring of cities at RCP 4.5; Baghdad has already been moved, Kufah has just been abandoned. Medina will follow shortly after. It's at this point that i see the 48 stinkers coming (the other 24 are headed for Rusicade).

Well, i move the arabic settler on mountain, escorted by an elite spartan and 2 regular swords, and leave open Baghdad for pillaging, hoping for those pukes to choose the easy target. Nope. Next turn, the wave remains splitted in two: 24 for the settler, 24 for Baghdad. I fortify the units on the mountain, cross the fingers, hit 'end turn' and wait...

Ok, what is a huge barbarian uprising without a nice SOUR? And here it is:

Conscript barb horseman kills elite spartan fortified on mountain without even losing a single HP!!!

The 2 swords defend valiantly, but the enemies are simply too much for them. With only 2 barbs remaining, the last sword is killed, and the poor arabic settler follows along in heavens

The other 24 move as expected in Baghdad, but the loss is little: 72 gold unit lost and production destroyed. The remaining wave hits hard at Rusicade. City on hill, 3 elite spartans defending. 2 of them are lost, the 3rd resists, redlined but alive.

The damage is significant, but not enough to cripple the game. Probably i have just lost a few turns from conquest victory, but hey! It's just a game after all.

(EDIT: typo: the waves were already divided in 2)

 

[Megalou]

One other thing to consider is that the AI immediately revolts when they pick up a preferred government tech by trade (even when it isn't their turn). Anarchy is considered a different form of government from your own (unless you are in anarchy yourself), so you see the rep hit.

Correct. I replayed and revolted myself before trading (no power gain) and Aztecs changed to annoyed just from that. It doesn't explain why they remained annoyed when we were both in anarchy (a very brief period since they are religious) but a wild guess is that despotism is Aztecs' preferred government. I can find no record of the preferred governments in the manuals except for the civs that were new to PTW. Right now I'm more concerned about the mood changes in Civ4...

 

[Shigella]

Correct. I replayed and revolted myself before trading (no power gain) and Aztecs changed to annoyed just from that. It doesn't explain why they remained annoyed when we were both in anarchy (a very brief period since they are religious) but a wild guess is that despotism is Aztecs' preferred government. I can find no record of the preferred governments in the manuals except for the civs that were new to PTW.

Based on the summary info for the various tribes on this site (Aztecs do prefer Despotism), I think your wild guess is spot on.

 

[DBear]

predator

As I didn't like the surroundings much I started walking north. And north it was, turn after turn after turn.... Only mountains and hills. And then: desert. I'm not sure if it was the lack of food and water or just the disappoinment. Anyway the settler died in 3450BC in the arms of the worker.

Glad to see I wasn't the only one. I thought for sure there had to be something better. mountains, hills, desert, orange border--forget this, I quit!

And since CotM19 is rumored to be Sid level, looks like I won't be playing for quite a while...

 

[Megalou]

@tR1cKy
Really good play. Didn't think it was possible to kick Arabian butt that early.

@Shigella
...and your implication is that manuals often stink. Is it because no one reads them anyway?

 

[Randy]

Carthage founded in 4000 BC.

Arabia met in 3200 BC. A trade was made that gave us Bronze Working & Ceremonial Burial.

In 2950 BC we have our first settler. The following turn in 2900 BC we found Utica at a ring distance of 4 to the west by the fish.

Writing is learned in 2310 BC.

In 2270 BC the Zulu met us some how. I think that Arabia sold us.

A second settler is born in 2110 BC. In 2070 we found Leptis Magna on a hill to the east of Carthage.

The same year we declare war on Arabia taking a slave. This will be known as the “Arabian Tech War”. This war is just to tech us up. My best unit is a warrior. I don’t plan to attack any cities just units in the field.

We take out a barb village in 2030 BC.

In 1870 BC the warrior settler pair I’ve been chasing build the Arabian town of Najran. We destroy it. This is just the one up I need. Arabia gives Iron Working, Pottery, The Wheel, Warrior Code, & Mysticism with all their gold for peace. We change all warrior builds to archers in prep for round 2.

Philosophy is learned in 1675 BC. We trade it for Horseback Riding, contact with Japan and Aztecs.

Theveste is founded in 1600 BC it is not in our first ring but this town will give us Ivory.

Hippo is founded in 1275 BC. Again this town is not in the first ring but it will provide iron.

Mathematics is learned in 1250 BC. We pick up Code of Laws thru trading. We are behind Map Making but I think I’ll get this in trade soon.

IBT turns on 1200 BC with our entire offence on the boarder of Baghdad, Arabia demand a lot from us. I look for the f*** off button but all I find is “Take your threat” button. Well long story short they declare war. This will be known as “Arabia is a Dumb Ass War”.

We buy Map Making in 1200 BC.

1175 BC we take Baghdad. We also found Leptis Minor.

In 1075 Arabia gives the town of Kufah plus world map for peace.

1000 BC QSC Stats:

8 Towns.
13 Population.
1 Worker.
1 Slave.
9 Warriors.
6 Archers.
15 Techs.


925 BC Sabratha founded.

We trade for Polytheism in 875 BC.

In 710 BC we learn Currency. We trade for Construction and enter the MA.

Edit: At some point I don't remember but it was early. The Zulu destroyed the Celts. I never met them.

 

[tR1cKy]

@tR1cKy
Really good play. Didn't think it was possible to kick Arabian butt that early.

Thanks! Well, the tr1ck is that i didn't expand. Just built a core around Carthage, and the necessary cities to hook up iron, ivory and incense. Then i focused on military production and went to war as soon as i had the necessary units. Actually, i was expecting more resistance from Arabia. Despite the high level, all the competitors didn't build up so much military.

 

[Fredrico]

Open
goal: military conquest

this is my first post in the GOTM forum, so hello everyone!

this was my fourth GOTM game and the first on emperor level.

4000 BC making a first assessment of the staring location. doesn't look very nice. went with the worker north up the mountain to see if there where some better spots up north... nope, only more mountains in sight. settled carthage at spot. started building warriors for scouting and protection against the raging barbs. began minimum research on mathematics, which i knew would be tradable in the future.

after some scouting we met the arabs. can't recall exactly what happened but after some trading we gained contact with the Keltoi, the Aztecs, the Japanese and later(?) the Zulus. since the plan from the start was set towards military conquest and the arabs were the only neighbours the first target for carthagenian war-mongering was obvious. for that purpose we built spartans/numidians for "defence" and warriors for offence to be upgraded to swords later.

1750 BC this is a picture of the first four cities. i didn't knew how to scale the image so it is unfortunately a bit big


850 BC war with arabia. the main assault army had been marching towards mecca through the mountains for several turns and were approaching the arabian border. we had no plan how to attack without losing reputation. a pretext was needed. luckily, arabia asks for tribute. we decline. they declare.


arabia was weaker than expected and did not launch much counter-offensive. a small arabian border-city was first captured (and destroyed in the process), and then mecca fell without much fight. arabia was broken.

650 BC peace was reached by arabia giving all their techs. i'm not sure, but i think this is when we entered the MA.

 

[Più Freddo]

Predator Conquest Challenge

I have played this very slowly IRL and must say I'm surprised to see
so few contributions from PCC players. I'm missing k-a-bob, Niklas,
nerovats, Kwibus and a real spoiler from tR1cKy. Compared to Twonky,
my development appears synchronous, with some events eerily occuring on
exactly the same date. tRicKy has played a quite different and
impressive game and we'll see if the early attack has harmed his
long-term power, a power that will be needed on this rather large and
slow map. I guess it all comes down to how fast he and we can
establish a second core in former Arabia.


Set-up

My plan for the Ancient Age was to establish a productive core in the
initial location. I settled in place, for I wanted the Bonus Grassland
from turn one. Initial build order was Warrior, Granary and Settler,
by which time I had finished the improvements needed for a size 2 to 4
10-turn combo Warrior and Settler factory in Carthage.


Sliding Settler Factory

I let the combo factory in Carthage slip ever so slowly towards size 6
using the Fish to achieve combinations of 3+3+4 spt for Warriors and
combinations of 5 spt for Warriors and Settlers. When I reached 6 spt,
the era of Settler production in Carthage was coming to a close.

Why let the factory slip and not wait at once for growth to size 5,
building say a Barracks or a Temple or more troops? Because it
appeared to me, that Settlers early were better than other
production. The total number of Settlers would be the same, but they
would come earlier. On the other hand, locking the factory at size 2
to 4 would cripple my Warrior production, and I needed Warriors for
both Military Police and Settler and Worker escort. For most of the
time, I was building two Warriors and a Settler in 11 or 12 turns. As
long as the factory stood, I suffered in total one (1) shield and zero
(0) food overflow. You must love spreadsheet technology!

Research in Carthage of course also suffered from the small
population, but that was partly compensated by the other cities.


Founding

My second city went at distance 5 by the Fish and Whale in the
west. It got a Granary and created some more Workers for me. When I
got a Warrior out to recce what proved to be the eastern peninsula, I
realised that a strict RCP5 would put a city on top of the Cattle. So
the third city had to break the pattern. However, I could fit in one
more city in the east at distance 5 and three more Hill cities in the
west. In Republic, these will produce 7 spt before corruption. They
would have to wait, however, until farther cities had been founded to
claim Ivory, Horses and Incense. The Iron appeared in my territory,
since the city location between River and Plains was too obvious to
let pass. Through one more city on the next Hill, irrigation was
quickly brought to the whole Plains coast with the Horse.

Leptis Magna by the Cattle was also a less formal Settler factory with
Granary. Having 3 fpt surplus and a Granary is a pain in the neck. Two
turns working Hill and two turns working Grassland resulting in
5+5+4+6 spt = Catapult, then the Settler in 5x6 spt.

4000 BC Carthage
2630 BC Utica
2190 BC Leptis Magna
1700 BC Theveste
1500 BC Hippo
1200 BC Leptis Minor
1025 BC Sabratha
0900 BC Rusicade
0650 BC Oea
0610 BC Hadrumetum​

1910 BC Connect Gems
1050 BC Connect Iron
0975 BC Connect Ivory
0750 BC Connect Horses​

Learning

My research goals was to reach the Middle Ages no later than the other
tribes and then enter Republic as soon as possible. Having to techs at
all, I first studied Pottery and Ceremonial Burial and then went
towards The Republic trying to pick Technologies the AI often avoids
in order to be able to trade for the rest.

I wanted Ceremonial Burial because of the need to expand cultural
borders. In the west in order to reach the Whale and for Barbarian
protection, in the east in order to claim the whole peninsula with
only two cities. I like to rush Temples with population sacrifice in
Despotism.

With my Technology monopolies I was out of luck. Arabia discovereed
Literature one turn and then Currency two turns before me. However, by
buying them cheap from Arabia and then selling them to the other
tribes, I was able to somehow tag along. With Code of Laws I was more
fortunate. I also sold my World Maps quite often.

I entered the Middle Ages in 550 BC without a Government Technology. I
choose Construction over Monarchy in trade. I really don't like
Monarchy and especially in this setting felt I could not afford to
spare any troops for Military Police. I hope to be able to get
something useful for The Republic in trade.

2800 BC Arabia
1950 BC Celts
1675 BC Zulu
1600 BC Japan
1600 BC Aztecs​

3300 BC Pottery
2750 BC Ceremonial Burial
1910 BC Warrior Code
1910 BC Alphabet
1600 BC Bronze Working
1450 BC Writing
1450 BC Mysticism
1450 BC Masonry
1450 BC Iron Working
1450 BC Horseback Riding
1100 BC Polytheism
1100 BC Philosophy
1100 BC Mathematics
1100 BC Map Making
1100 BC Literature
0750 BC Currency
0550 BC Construction
0550 BC Code of Laws​

Other events

In 1375 BC, Arabia extorted 20 gold. In 800 BC, Japan tried the same
trick for Mathematics, but was refused and declared war. The war
brought happiness and eventually ended evenly without a single
Japanese troop coming even near to our land.


Quick Start Challenge

7 Cities
13 Citizens
3 Granaries
1 Temple
1 Luxury
1 Resource
5 Contacts
1 Settler
6 Workers
12 Warriors
lacking Code of Laws, Currency and Construction

2892 QSC Points

 

[Niklas]

I'm missing k-a-bob, Niklas, nerovats, Kwibus and a real spoiler from tR1cKy.

I'm here, just haven't been able to take the time to write a spoiler yet. As a teaser, my game so far has been very similar to tR1cKy's it seems. And at the end of the QSC I knew BW, IW and TW...

 

[tR1cKy]

I'm here too - the reason that i haven't posted an AA spoiler yet is that i cannot tell exactly some crucial dates in which i captured Arab cities. A power outage caused part of my log to be lost. I'll be able to put the missing part once the game is over. Well, normally it should be already finished, but i have been quite busy with work. Probably i'll finish the game during this weekend and post everything at once.

BTW, my QSC is 7 cities too. And yes, with the early attack (and with the later barb galore) i have been quite weakened. It took some time to rebuild the forces and go for the zulu. If nothing else disastrous happens, i should be able to conquer around 600-650 AD.

 

[k-a-bob]

Not a full spoiler, but some small details of the AA:

Settled in place, 2 more cities go on the peninsula to the east. I grab the iron and horses to the north and plan my invasion of Arabia. Workers feverishly mine my 3 peninsula cities so I can get a lot of shields for war and settlers, and then road north and east for faster movement to Arabia.

Arabia is big, with the Zulu right with them. DoW Arabs, take half their cities in the AA, peace gets me into MA.

I had tried to get Monarchy to trade around to everyone for mucho techs, but someone beat me by 2 turns, giving it to all but the Aztecs and Japanese.
Japan apparently dogpiled Aztecs, so Japan is now up there with Zulu, with also-rans Kelts, now Aztecs and now Arabs, who shouldn't last long.

My problem was having to walk my troops so far to get to Arabia, and not being able to keep up tech-wise. My score is rising quickly now, however.

More updates later....

 

[tR1cKy]

Conquest Challenge
Vanilla - predator - going for a totally evil game.

ancient age spoiler (part 1)

Seeing salt water north i decide to settle SE to take advantage of the whale after expansion. The decision turns to be quite good: with that location Carthage can develop an almost RCP 4.5 ring, with 1 city at RCP 4 and 3 at 4.5 - not a bad result considering the crappy start location.

We're backward. No tech is known. What to research? I decide to research Alphabet at max and shun Pottery, for 2 reasons: first, techs as Pottery and Bronze Working are expected to be traded with some scum if a good monopoly tech is known, and Alphabet seems to be the ideal. And second, building granaries in those cities it's not worth the effort. Better use those shields for the military and take over some more fertile land, that surely will be around.

The build order of Carthage is warrior -> warrior -> warrior -> settler. 2 warriors are sent exploring, the 3rd remain around to be used against unhappiness. City 2, Utica, is founded E-E-S of the capital in 2850BC . Expansion is slow and is focused on the core.

Alphabet is completed, then Writing is researched at max. After some exploration, the Arabs are met in 2590BC, and nothing is traded for the moment. The warriors continue exploring. Writing is complete, but no one else is met and the Arabs have no contact to sell. Pottery and Bronze Working are purchased for Alphabet, money and gpt. Research is set to Map Making at bare minimum. The core is completed, then 2 more cities are founded to hook up ivory and iron.

In 1475BC, the Keltoi are destroyed, and Carthage will never know about them. The Aztecs are met in 1325BC. Surprisingly, the Arabs don't know them yet. Writing and contacts are sold, for Warrior Code, Iron Working and some money. In 1300BC a Japanese warrior shows up. No new tech are acquired, only a few gold for contacts with the Arabs. A vast land area is completely empty. Three spartans are exploring and killing barbs, and all of them get elite promotion. The Zulu are met in 1200 BC. Maps are traded and the most part of the Pangea is known.

In 1050BC, the village of Sabratha is founded, in the middle of the mountains. It will never go past size 2, but will provide an essential source of iron. In 1000BC the vital resource is connected and the first warriors are upgraded into swords.

The 1000 BC mark is hit with 7 cities, 14 pop units, 5 workers, 5 warriors, 3 swords and 5 spartan hoplites. Workers are connecting the western city of Hippo to Baghdad and a few units are already parked in the city, ready to be tossed against the Arabs:

Here's the city sequence:

3950BC: Carthage
2850BC: Utica
2190BC: Leptis Magna (gems)
1910BC: Theveste
1575BC: Hippo (ivory)
1275BC: Leptis Minor
1050BC: Sabratha (iron)

the meeting times:

2590BC: Arabs
1325BC: Aztecs
1300BC: Japan
1200BC: Zulu

and the tech progress:

2950BC: Alphabet (self research).
1790BC: Writing (self); Bronze Working, Pottery (trade, Arabs).
1500BC: Ceremonial Burial, Masonry (trade, Arabs).
1325BC: Iron Working (trade, Arabs), Warrior Code (trade, Aztecs).

---

more to come later!

 

[tR1cKy]

Conquest Challenge

ancient age spoiler (part 2)

The initial expansion is almost over. Another city will be founded in the distant north to hook up incense, then we will focus (almost) exclusively on conquest wars. In 875BC, we DoW on the Arabs. Baghdad is captured next turn. A few turns later, the Arabs draw the Aztecs into an alliance agaist Carthage, and immediately after the Aztecs sign the same alliance with the Japanese. Those pukes are too distant to be of any real annoyance, and the war goes on as nothing has changed.

Mecca falls in 670BC and the Oracle is under our control. I tried to go leader fishing with the elites, at the cost of a despotic golden age, and the leader arrives with the 3rd elite win. Shortly after, a palace jump to Mecca is performed, then Carthage is immediately rebuilt and in the very same turn the leader rushes the Forbideen Palace in the new Carthage. It's better that way, the conquered cities will be less prone to cultural flip, and i'm gaining a very productive city without the risk of having it flip back.

During the golden age, some techs are researched quickly, trying to carve out the maximum possible advantage with the successive peace dealings. Mathematics, Mysticism and later Polytheism are all self-researched. Around 500 BC, the dreaded barb uprising. A few turns later, an insane amount of barb horsemen comes to harass my land. A few units are lost, a settler is dead and a city is ransacked, losing 72 golds and some production, but this unfortunate event doesn't stop the war. In 610BC Kufah is captured, and in the very same turn the city of Rusicade is founded, finally securing incense. In 530BC Medina is captured. In 470BC, peace is signed with the Arabs, in return for Literature, the Wheel, Construction, world map and all their money.

When the Aztecs declare on Japan, we sign peace with them then offered an alliance vs. Japan for a nice amount of money. The cities around Mecca are abandoned and refounded in a RCP 4.5 ring. Barracks are built in the new core, then the military buildup continues. Some workers start to build a road for the Zulu territory, to speed up the upcoming annexation. Code of Laws is researched, then traded for Horseback Riding and Philosophy. The last AA tech, Currency, is already known by someone, and we go for Republic at max. Nothing else relevant happens until 110BC. The city of Hadrumetum is founded (hooking up dyes), then in the interturn Republic is completed. An immediate revolt follows in which 7 turns of anarchy are drawn, but are lowered to 4 with a reroll.

At this point, with the units already in place, we DoW on the Zulu and move a stack of swords and spartan outside our first target. In the very same turn, we sell Republic to the Aztecs for Currency and an alliance vs. the Zulu. In 90 BC, we're in the Middle Ages, with research set to Engineering with a lone specialist.

Here's a shot of our territory, centered around the new capital, the turn after we got into the Middle Ages (70 BC). It shows something that is part of the MA spoiler, the start of the 2nd Arabic War - we DoWed on them in that turn and assimilated them quickly and painlessly. The Zulu were quite a different thing, but we'll see how Carthage dealt with them in the successive spoiler.

I just noted a curious thing: the barb horsemen that i had to face after the uprising are in total 72. They ransacked Baghdad, taking away all my monetary reserve of 72 gold units. Funny uh?!?

 

[Megalou]

I just noted a curious thing: the barb horsemen that i had to face after the uprising are in total 72. They ransacked Baghdad, taking away all my monetary reserve of 72 gold units. Funny uh?!?

Now why didn't you anticipate this and put 72 spearmen in there? Alright, 36 may have been enough.

 

[tR1cKy]

Now why didn't you anticipate this and put 72 spearmen in there? Alright, 36 may have been enough.

Uh.
(scratches his head, perplexed)
Actually, there's a non-zero probability that the barbs were in fact 36 (3 waves of 12) instead of 72 (3 waves of 24) and i got confused with the gold amount. I'll go check this thing after submission. There's no prior save game and some turns will need to be replayed.

 

[Niklas]

Predator Conquest Challenge

Early decisions
I was this close to sharing the fate of Redbad and DBear. When the northern waters turned out to be salt, I decided I would take the hike north. But when the worker moved north to discover more mountains, I got cold feet. I didn't want to wander aimlessly, and if I couldn't settle next to the fish what was the point? After all it wasn't like the start in GotM 42...

So, after some time of ambivalence, I settled on the spot. With what looked like really crappy lands to the north, I was from the start determined to go for military expansion. Despite knowing that all AIs would go the same way, I decided to research Bronze Working first, followed by Iron Working, then turn off research and use the pointy end of those shiny things to research the rest.

Early build sequence was warrior x3, settler, barracks, and then warriors for upgrading to swords once I had iron.

Neighbors, sweet neighbors
My first scouting warrior met the Arabs in 3100 BC, the turn after I finished BW. Sure enough they already knew it, so no chances for trade. Me and Abu got off to a bad start, and matters never really improved.

In 2070 BC I learned IW, and met a Zulu scout on the same turn. By this time both the Zulu and the Arabs were racing ahead in tech. Saw the source of iron up by the cute little valley so the next settler were sent in that direction to claim it. Leptis Magna was thus settled by the iron in 1750 BC, and workers were toiling hard to build the road that would connect it to my other towns.

In 1830 BC I met a Celt warrior, another AI far ahead of me.

In 1575 BC, after circling around for quite a while, two arab warriors enter my territory next to Carthage. I tell them to get out of there, and Abu declares. In hindsight I only regret I didn't sign a gpt-for-tech deal first, but I don't think I would have chanced it even had I thought about it, I wouldn't want to be stuck with such a deal if he would change his mind. One of the warriors immediately kill himself attacking Carthage, the other keeps circling until I could get that iron and kill him off.

In 1350 BC I finally have iron connected and mass upgrade warriors to swords. I make short work of the arabs that linger near my territory, and start the march on Mecca.

In 1250 BC my scouting warrior met the Aztecs, who didn't know the Celts and would gladly trade me TW for the contact. Hence my first (and only) trade in the QSC period. As it turns out I should have taken Alphabet instead of TW, no horses near enough to be useful...

In 1150 BC the same warrior also met the Japanese, so by 1000 BC I had all contacts.

Rumble in the hills!
In 1200 BC I had gathered 9 swords near Leptis Magna by the iron, and decided it was time to go on a pilgrimmage, straight for Mecca through the mountains. The plan was to take the town in 1000 BC, thus looking good on the QSC.

But the best laid plans and so on and so forth, my SOD was met in the mountains by an Arabian SOD going the other way. Of course I was superior, the Arab SOD was 5 archers, 2 warriors, 1 horse and 1 spear + another spear going solo trying to play disconnection on my iron. The latter met his fate at Leptis Magna, the rest I herded the down from the high places into the hills where I made short work of the lot. Two swords lost, but by then I had reinforcements coming.

By 1000 BC I had 11 swords, and one NM staying behind so as to not trigger a GA too soon. I had lost 2 swords while fighting the arabs, and a warrior to barbies, but I had also made short work of 11 arabian infidels.


Trading galore
During the QSC I did no more trading, and no more research, and thus at 1000 BC I knew exactly three techs.
It didn't last long though. I missed the first chance, when Zulu and Arabia got MM, but I wouldn't miss the rest of them. In 975 BC Japan, Celts and Aztecs gain MM simultaneously. Using only my WM and some gp (of which I got most back) as barter, I was able to trade for Alphabet, CB, Pottery, WC, Myst, Writing, Philo and HBR. Lacking Masonry (and Maths as it would turn out) and MM, otherwise up to par. Too bad for my QSC score that they couldn't have gotten it a single turn faster...

Over the following years I bought Masonry and Maths for cheap gp since everyone had them already. After that I figured I'd gamble on getting Poly first, went for it at 100% and missed a monopoly by one turn. Should have gone for Currency, miscalculation of mine. Instead I bought the remaining
research on Poly cheap, and sold it further for Code of Laws. Still down Literature, Map Making and Construction on everyone, with only Currency and the governments left of the AA. I figured Currency would come in any minute, and CoL and Philo had been known for ages. Thus my only chance of a monopoly would be Monarchy, so that's what I aimed for. MA would come before finishing though.


Our New Home
In 825 BC my first swords finally came into position to view the beautiful Mecca. They fortified on a near mountain and waited for the rest, who had been healing, to catch up. In 750 BC Abu sends out an archer from Mecca towards my camp, but it has to cross the river and thus ends up at striking distance. I use my elite sword of course, and in my 2nd elite win (first was a warrior killing an arab warrior):
View attachment 106295

It took until 670 BC to get all the swords in place, but once they were it was almost an anticlimax. 4 spears in Mecca, first 4 swords take them out. Proceeded to take Medina and Najran, then make Peace in 550 BC for Construction, Map Making, Basra (by the ivory) and a Map of the World!

I quickly started setting up for a FPJ to Mecca, and I have the same plan that tR1cKy used, to use Hamilcar to rush the FP in Carthage after the jump. The useful AA wonders are taken already.

On the IBT between 510 BC and 490 BC we hear of massive barbarian uprisings as Japan, Zulu and Aztecs all learn Currency and enter the MA. I signed a (dummy) MA with Zulu vs Aztecs for Currency, then another MA with Celts vs Aztecs giving Currency. That would keep them all occupied and leave me to building up a core around Mecca.

Here's my world at the beginning of the MA:
View attachment 106294

Unfortunately I'm still stuck at 490 BC, haven't been able to play any further. I'm a few turns from jumping the palace, I wanted to wait until I had a few towns around Mecca to not abuse the rank corruption bug nono: tR1cKy ).

 

[tR1cKy]

Well, Niklas, i didn't know of that. My fault, of course, i should have read the code of conduct more carefully... anyway, i took my time to read that part, including the thread on it. Frankly, i didn't understand it completely, so i could be wrong... but it seems to me that the Forbidden Palace should already be built in order to take advantage of the bug. So i didn't exploit it, nor would you if you FPJed immediately.

Am i wrong?