Seeing that there would be some competition in the 20k arena, I chickened out again.
The start position was generous, even after I moved to the coast. My capital was built in 3800 BC. Contacts came quickly, with 2 expansionist civs on the continent, plus a fast warrior replacement for the third.
The AIs were pretty good about leaving me alone in the AA. Colossus, Oracle, Great Lighthouse, and Great Library came in short order, and by 350 BC the horses were within my cultural borders. The Aztecs and Arabs had an early war, while the Zulu expanded slowly but steadily across the southern half of the continent.
I had managed to send a galley to discover the other continent by this time, with all contacts acquired in 710 BC, and revolted to republic in 110 BC. As this was a GOTM game, Shaka demanded contact with the Romans in 30 BC. They had built a city that would take the horses away from me with one cultural expansion, so I was willing to let them declare war so I could destroy it. I also brought the Aztecs and Arabs into alliances against the Zulu. Oddly enough, the Caesar demanded contact with the Zulu shortly afterwards, which I welcomed as another source of war happiness.
I was building 1 archer per turn by this time, and pretty soon had an excess of them. Feudalism allowed me to start using Sun Tzu's to prebuild, though I didn't have a specific wonder in mind; I simply wanted to stop building units. My first MGL came from an archer win against an impi in 600 AD, so I wasted a few shields to switch to Copernicus, then rushed Leo's. I think this was when I decided that a military victory would be possible in this game.
After razing Zimbabwe and destroying the Pyramids and the Great Wall in the process, it seemed like the Aztecs were getting too strong and the Zulu had taken enough of a beating. Shaka gave up Printing Press for peace.
Rome finally lands a few legionaries by my capital, giving me the opportunity go trade GPT for peace + techs. Two turns later, I've goaded them into declaring war again, getting my money back. I started a war on the other continent by allying France against Rome, hoping that the AI would exhaust themselves and let me deal with the issues on my home continent.
I had to keep the Aztecs in check, so they were next on my list, not making peace until I gained access to spices and gems. More MGL's turned into Shakespeare's and Newton's. Medicine was the free tech once I reached IA, which I sold for some huge GPT from Greece and England. When Zululand got down to 1 city, I wheedled Nationalism out of a GPT alliance with France. Conveniently, this was my first Sipahi victory, starting my GA.
In 1440 AD, I got hit by two demands for spices, one from Rome, the other from England. Both declared war. Looking at the diplomatic situation, I decided to stir the pot some more. I ally Greece against England, then attack a Roman city in former Zulu territory, triggering a Greco-Roman MPP. Next, I destroy a Greek city near the horses, triggering a Greco-Aztec MPP. France would be my best ally during this time, at war with the rest of the other continent. This war happiness was going to last a while.
When my alliance with Arabia expired in 1545 AD, I immediately made peace with the Aztecs and switched sides. The Arabs were overextended and quickly destroyed (21 cities razed in 8 turns). The Aztecs were permanently crippled by now; when Greeks ultimately allied them against me, it was another 4 turns for them to be eliminated.
Home continent was clear by 1750 AD. Plundering barbarian camps would be a very helpful source of revenue for the rest of the game, without which I would have been ruined by unit support.
I began landing troops in Greek territory a few turns later, then razed Greek cities until I had cleared a path to England, which got eliminated in 1812 AD. Rome was the strongest AI now, so I made peace with Greece to get them into an alliance and gain access to their railroad network.
The Roman AI started to act kind of funny here -- I was rampaging through their core, yet they still had tons of infantry running around Greek and French territory, and they kept sending units that way. One stack of them captured Paris, which I razed the next turn, conveniently destroying Sun Tzu's. Even when they were down to 2 cities, the Romans made a successful attack on Marseilles, which wasn't too far from where Paris originally stood.
In 1896 AD, I stood at 19,949 culture, 97 cpt. Time to revolt to anarchy.
The Romans were destroyed in 1904 AD, followed by RoP abuses against France and Greece. Greece was destroyed in 1938 AD, leaving the French with a single city on the tiny island in the north. My lone scientist makes the breakthrough to reach Modern Age just before my ships could reach the French island. I had a MGL in town, so I managed to build SETI Program in anarchy. The next turn, the French are no more. (Curiously enough, this generated another MGL that I had absolutely no use for on the last turn.)
This victory came slightly faster than I expected. I guess the Sipahi really are overpowered after all. I was surprised that my final score was in the 4 digits.
Entry class: Predator
Game status: Conquest Victory for Ottomans
Game date: 1955 AD
Firaxis score: 659
Jason score: 1272
Time played: 17:43:20
Very nice diplo game, tR1cKy!
is an exaple of a SOUR.
