Predator, going for a Diplomatic victory.
My first move was worker N, followed by settler N and scout SWx2; Nidaros was founded on the golden hill, with the worker sent to bring fresh water to the wheat NWx2 and the scout, well, scouting
Although costly in terms of worker actions (the tile in the middle had to be turned to mine later), getting the wheat to 4 fpt ASAP had its obvious benefits: first, Nidaros could grow faster, and second, the gem mountain could be exploited properly while mantaining a 5-turns growth once a granary was built.
The initial build order was quite unusual but perfectly in touch with an opening strategy that required a big amount of workforce from the very start. Here it is:
worker -> settler -> settler -> worker -> settler -> granary.
Cities were placed at RCP 3; the 2nd city trained immediately a warrior, followed by a worker and a second warrior; although the island turned out to be void of immediate threats, a barb camp could always pop out... as it actually did later in the game, but i was prepared to face it.
Research was the usual beeline to Map Making, actually a no-brainer this time. Map Making was available in 1350BC and in the same turn we had 2 galleys ready to explore the world, each of it equipped with a warrior and a scout to (hopefully) fight off barbs and find goody huts. The first target was the landmass NW already visible from the continent, and there we met our first foreign civ.
In 1300 BC we met India. But it was the successive turn (1275) to be really crucial in regard of game advancement. With a 3rd galley soon to be built, i carelessly had sent galley 2 in a suicide trip eastward, not remembering that it had valuable units loaded into it! But what could have been a half disaster turned out to be a bless, as the galley
survived, reached secure waters and went in touch with Greece.
In the same turn we got contact with India's neighbour: Russia, and at this point i realized that none of the known AS had knowledge of Map Making. I was so sure to be completely backwards that after MM i zeroed research in order to amass a few money and be able to buy my way to tech parity, so imagine my surprise.
Moreover, the contacts report could be summed up that way:
- all the civs in group 1 know each other;
- all the civs in group 2 know each other;
- ...but group 1 and group 2 do not know each other!
This lack of meetings and the unexpected monopoly tech were enough to engage in a trade frenzy that netted us all the known techs, all the contacts, all the known maps and all the available money. From there the game went on flawlessly. We completed Mathematics undisturbed and were able to trade it for Code of Laws. Philosophy was gained from a hut, but money would have been more useful, since many of the AS were researching the same tech and i ended up giving away Math for free. We were also able to snatch a colony in the north landmass to gain control of a 2nd luxury before the AS had a chance to fill the gap. Next target was Republic at max rate.
The 1000 BC mark was hit with 11 cities, 21 pop units, 7 workers, 8 warriors, 2 scouts; 1 archer, 1 spear and 3 galleys; Two buildings only: a granary in Nidaros and a barracks in Bjorgvin.
The following turns were easy as well. We filled the island, explored landmasses, smashed quite a few barb camps, losing a pair of warriors in the process but gaining an equal amount of promotions and an important amount of money. A constant trade of maps paid off too. We had enough income to sustain 100% research, upgrade a few veteran warriors and amass a nice monetary reserve.
We found 2 more huts, the first giving Polytheism and the second a nice 50 quids. This time the free tech was quite an asset: as it turned out later, the AS headed for Construction and Currency and shunned Polytheism in mass. For the time i was able to trade my way into the middle ages i could count on not one but two monopoly techs.
Republic was completed in 610 BC. The revolution was started in the interturn, with 4 turns of anarchy being considered good enough to not reroll. In the same turn a few AS had completed Construction and Currency, enough to trade our way into the Middle Ages by selling Polytheism alone. Then we gifted the scientific AS into MA and here were the free picks:
- Greece: Feudalism
- Germany: Monotheism
- Russia: Engineering
With Republic being still a monopoly (although Russia was just a few turns away from it) we were able to trade all the MA techs for it and also gain a few quids in the process.
Finally, every relevant AS was gifted to the MA and to tech parity, except for Arabia (no Engineering), Iroquois (no gifts, they're mostly worthless) and Rome (same story).
An historician might say that, far from being mere placeholders, the Viking
anarchs showed themselves to be skillful traders, benevolent benefactors and lucky people too!
Here's the tech log:
4000AD: Pottery (prerequisite);
2750BC: Alphabet (research);
1830BC: Writing (research);
1350BC: Map Making (research);
1275BC: Ceremonial Burial, Mysticism, Wheel (trade, Greece); Bronze Working, Warrior Code, Masonry (trade, Russia); Iron Working (trade, Germany); Horse Riding (trade, Egypt);
1175BC: Philosophy (hut);
1075BC: Mathematics (research); Code of Laws (trade, India);
_975BC: Literature (trade, India);
_925BC: Polytheism (hut);
_630BC: Republic (research);
_610BC: Construction (trade, India); Currency (trade, Egypt);
*******
_610BC: Monotheism (trade, Germany); Feudalism (trade, Greece); Engineering (trade, Russia);
The city log till 1000 BC:
3950BC: Nidaros;
2670BC: Bjoergvin;
2190BC: Oslo;
1790BC: Stockolm;
1650BC: Uppsala;
1600BC: Linkoping;
1275BC: Goteborg;
1175BC: Jonkoping;
1075BC: Norrkoping;
1025BC: Vasteras;
1025BC: Kalmar;
And the meeting log (quite simple):
1300BC: India;
1275BC: All the rest;
Finally, the map of our empire at the dawn of Middle Ages:
).
). Still no government tech around so continued with republic.
.
(I'll have to watch how many SCI civs I put in!)
