Another submission snatched at the very last moment. My initial goal was conquest but then i turned to domination in order to stay in the deadline. The end result suffers from some haste in the final phase (i had 3 failed attacks) and a less than optimal planning. Yet, the score was bigger than expected.
The game is a domination victory in 480 AD, with 5876 Firaxis points and 11547 Jasons.
I settled in place and went for the granary gambit, with the idea of setting up a 6-turns combo factory. After a sequence of granary -> worker -> settler -> worker -> worker -> warrior the combo was operational, producing a warrior and a settler every 6 turns until Republic, when it turned into a proper 4-turner.
Research as usual: Pottery at max -> Writing at min -> Map Making at max, followed by the canonical beeline to Republic. Cities were placed at RCP 3 and 6 from the capital. City 2 was built on ivory, city 3 on the coast NW, where a second 6-turner combo was set up. Not much came from huts: i popped the first with city expansion and i drew a conscript warrior that, curiously, climbed the ladder up to veteran mace and survived until the very end of the game. Two more huts were explored but they only produced barbs.
I met Greece and Arabia quite early and then realized than nobody else was in the main continent. As soon as Maps were known i sent galleys to explore the coast, but nothing interesting came from it, except for a large landmass still unsettled where barb camps were the only signs of life.
I reach the 1000 BC mark with 11 towns, 28 pop units and an army of 1 settler, 9 workers, 24 warriors, 3 spears, 2 galleys and one slave. I'm 8 turns to Republic, lacking Math, Poly, Currency, Construction and all the optional techs. There are 379 quids in the coffer, that will be used later on to upgrade a large part of those warriors. Here's the screenshot:
At this point, a core city is building the Great Lighthouse and Athens is quite ahead in the completition of the Oracle. This is the plan i devised: complete the Great Lighthouse, capture the Oracle (in
this order, or else i would end up with a premature golden age), use a leader to build the Forbidden Palace in the middle of the central area (to fully exploit its insane food potential) and finally use the Great Wall, the cheapest wonder, to trigger a Golden Age at its full potential. It's a risky business to rely on leaders in a Regent game, but i expected barb uprisings to give a substantial help in the prior elite fishing.
In short, the plan was a complete success. The GL is completed, Athens build the Oracle and Athens is captured. One of my suicide galley survives the trip across ocean waters and makes contact with the AS oversea in 670 BC. By 430 BC i'm in the Middle Ages, the scientific AS provide Monotheism and Feudalism and, most importantly, a few untouched barb camps in the northwest area start popping out barbs. I send boats with swordsmen to meet them and a fairly large amount of elites is produced, enough to wage the Arabian campaign with an elite-only force.
The first leader comes. A boat chain transport it to the designated FP city and the Great Wall is started in a core city. Surprisingly, a second leader also emerges while attacking the very last arabian stronghold. The GW is turned into a library and the leader is used to rush a much more useful Sun Tzu in the former arabian capital. Mission accomplished
With all the research potential i have at this point, i decided to not pursue the suicide galley path and research up to Navigation instead. Meanwhile, i would further develop the core and build a massive army to take over the 2nd continent. By 150 AD, Navigation is known and two fleets of 10 caravels each set the sails to Mongolian and Viking lands.
The plan is to take over Mongolia and Scandinavia, then have those combined forces move to Germany. Meanwhile, the fleets would reposition themselves to invade the Ottomans. England would be left alone for the moment because it was the only civ to build a harbor and, therefore, a trade was in place. They would serve as a good passageway to invade the large Ottomans empire from three fronts (2 stacks + the units coming from the German campaign).
Alas, the execution wasn't perfect. I didn't send enough units to take over quickly Germany and so those units found themselves late to be of help in the Ottoman campaign. Moreover, the lack of roading between England and the Ottomans slowed down the passage, to the point that, probably, keeping the English alive wasn't worth it. At the end, domination was reached 5-6 turns later than my expectations and with the Ottomans still alive, but considering the lack of time i certainly can't complain.
Tech progress:
4000bc: Alphabet (prerequisite)
3350bc: Pottery (research)
2630bc: CB (trade, Greece)
1675bc: Writing (research); Mysticism, Masonry (trade, Arabia); War Code, Bronze (trade, Greece)
1400bc: Map Making (research); Iron Working, Wheel (trade, Arabia)
1225bc: Code of Laws (research)
1200bc: Philosophy (trade, Arabia)
1150bc: Horse Riding (trade, Greece)
_825bc: Republic (research); Math (trade, Arabia);
_610bc: Literature (trade, Arabia); Currency (trade, Ottomans);
_490bc: Construction (trade, Vikings);
_430bc: Polytheism (trade, Germany);
_430bc: Feudalism (trade, Germany); Monotheism (trade, Greece);
_230bc: Theology (research);
__90bc: Education (research);
__10ad: Monarchy (trade, Ottomans);
__30ad: Astronomy (research);
_150ad: Navigation (research);
_230ad: Engineering (research);
_310ad: Chivalry (trade, Ottomans);
Cities till 1000 bc:
4000bc: Delhi
2670bc: Bombay
2150bc: Madras
1870bc: Bangalore
1675bc: Calcutta
1525bc: Lahore
1375bc: Kolhapur
1375bc: Karachi
1200bc: Jaipur
1050bc: Hydebarad (incense)
1000bc: Bengal (iron)
Meetings
2630bc: Greece
2030bc: Arabia
_610bc: Mongols, Ottomans, Germany, England, Scandinavia
Kills
_430bc: Greece
_130bc: Arabia
_290ad: Mongols
_350ad: Vikings
_420ad: Germany