GOTM92 - First Spoiler

[civ_steve]

GOTM 92 - first spoiler, the Ancient Age

Reading Requirements:

1. Must have contact with all AI civs remaining on your continent.
2. Must be able to research a Middle Ages Technology.

Posting restrictions

1. Feel free to discuss distant contacts and trades, but be discreet about locations or directions of any AI.
2. No discussion of middle-ages (or later) including resource locations.
3. AS ALWAYS, do not post Spoiler information for ANY other 'X'OTM contest.

Not a bad starting spot for your Indian civ. But the surroundings are not very hospitable. How did you start and where did you expand to? How about resources - any problems there? (Not for your WE's, but that's for another spoiler!) I left a nearby hut - any luck with that? Finally, how are the Monarch AI doing against you as you enter the Middle Ages?

 

[MinutiaRules]

I popped two warriers and a worker(!) from goody huts. So that was a plus. But I really have no idea how to play with this terrain. It seems like this terrain requires much more than just a few extra workers and soon. Though I don't have any experience churning out that number of workers and developing other aspects as well. Hopefully when all is said and done someone that is in the know will let us in on how they managed this.

 

[Racinante]

4000: Found Delhi, worker irrigates then roads wheat, mines and roads BG, mines and roads BG, irrigates grass (a waste of time...)
3050: Meet Greece
2670: Meet China, trade CB for BW+10g
2510: Found Bombay at NW end of Jungle
2070: Found Madras between small lake and silk
1425: Found Bangalore near two cows, Found Calcutta W of Delhi
1325: Found Lahore on coast next to Ivory
1225: Sell Code of Laws, have all researched techs but Math, and all contacts
1125: Found Karachi, complete Philosophy, start MM (Need Poly, Math, Curr, Constr)
1000: Found Kolhapur

QSC: 8 towns (2nd), 15 pop (2nd), 104 land (2nd), 122 g (1st), China leads in towns, pop, and land, need Poly, Currency, Construction, 20 units - 8 workers, 8 spearman, 4 warriors. Currently building two settlers, three workers, two spears and one temple. Have met all civs and have all territory maps.

775: Found Jaipur
750: Found Hyderabad
725: Complete Polytheism, start on Literature
650: Found Bengal
630: Found Chittagong, trade Arabia Polytheism for Literature, WM +126g
490: Found Punjab
390: Complete Currency to enter Middle Ages

Lead the tech race (up Currency on all), 13 towns (1st), 140g (1st), 157 land (1st), 26 pop (2nd to China), third in the histogram, 17 workers, 10 spears, 4 warriors, 3 settlers, horses, dyes, gems, silks, ivory, soon iron

My strategy is to ICS the jungle to make it easier and faster to clear. Greece shouldn't be a problem as they are severely limited in expansion area, but China has some prime land so I see them as the most significant threat.

This is the QSC view of the world...

 

[CKS]

Open, 20K
My ancient age went horribly, but it could have gone worse.

I settled in place and expanded miserably slowly. I pop 3 huts, for barbs, nothing, and 25 g. A barb wanders into my territory and I kill two warriors without scratching it. This leaves me with a barb near Delhi and no military in the area. Delhi is my 20K city, and it is nearly finished with the Colossus. I have a worker next to the barb, too, and I decide to leave it there, in the hopes that the barb will take it instead. It does, but of course the barb is still there. I have another worker that can get there to be taken the next turn, and then I finally get a warrior over to protect Delhi. Losing both workers probably cost me more than losing the colossus would have, but it didn't feel that way.

I have a short war with the Chinese because I refuse to introduce them to the Greeks, but neither side does any real damage.

I round out my AA by losing a settler to barbs because I thought it was a Chinese warrior.

 

[Lanzelot]

I moved the worker S to the Wheat, saw that there's not much land left on that side and therefore decided to move the settler 1NW in order to have more space for an RCP3 ring. Build order was Warrior, Warrior, Granary (with a chopped forest). With the Wheat and the Game Delhi became a 4-turner quickly. It built 6 settlers for the RCP3 and 4 more to grab some far away resources. After that it built 2-turn workers. Two other towns also got Granaries to help with worker production.

Research went Writing, Philo, CoL, Republic, which was reached in 1075BC, and in 1025BC the new government was established. I did not trade Republic at that point. Instead I waited until I had finished Currency (4 turns) and used that to get Map Making, Literature and later Polytheism. Researched Math and Construction myself (which was taking a bit longer, as by now unit upkeep for all my workers started to eat me alive...) and entered the MA around 630BC.

No real wars until now. At one point Arabia demanded Polytheism, which I refused. They declared and thus I got a welcome source of war happiness, which continues until now. I signed MAs against them with all the other civs except China.

Upon reaching the MA, I gifted Greece up and they got Monotheism, but were not willing to trade it for Lit + Rep + quite some gold. I also gifted Russia up, and they also got Mono. Now Greece was willing to trade it for Rep...

No trace yet of the remaining 2 Civs.

When I thought I had enough workers (or rather: enough unit upkeep to pay...) I stopped worker production (24 + a couple of slaves) and started building Marketplaces in all 7 core towns. The plan is now to connect horses (the town is ready, but the harbor in it is not yet finished), build some horsemen until I reach Chivalry, and then pay our friendly neighbor China a visit... Their territory looks like it could support a second core... If I get an early leader (which I doubt... ) I'll use it for the FP, otherwise I'll have to try the Palace Jump once.