I don't feel like I was at my aggressive best in this round. I rested on my laurels a little bit, coasting on the fact that I'm in a dominant position on a difficulty level that's far, far below me. I justify it by saying that I'm taking a hands-off approach to see how the AI interacts with itself on Real Always War. And, besides... I'm still shaking the rust off
Anyway, 1060 brought interesting news about the relative military might of the world's great nations:
#3 is not so bad, though I'm surprised to see Egypt sitting right behind us at #4. I get the feeling that the mystery AI in second place starts with "Monte" and ends with "Zuma." He loves spamming units no matter what the setting, and in an eternal war with America and the Inca? I'm honestly surprised Catherine was able to hold the top spot.
The same year saw yet another victory in our Real Always War against unhappiness:
It's honestly getting a little excessive at this point. Food and health are becoming the limiting factor here. We were also presented with the Warships quest. For building 11 Triremes, we could have gotten +2 Commerce from our Harbors. I decided against it, though, considering the number of Fisheries that were torn up by marauding Barbarians, maybe it would have been a worthy investment. Ah well.
Border skirmishes with Cyrus continued, as did a steady takeover of the Barbarian north and settlement of the rich southern islands:
May as well maximize the Great Lighthouse while we have it. Our excessive happiness also started triggering "We Love the Despot" days across the empire. China is big enough at this point that the one-city reprieve isn't such a big deal, but every little bit helps.
By the 12th century, I'd finally realized that the Persian emperor had no clothes. I was defending a border that, on the other side, was garrisoned by primitives. Yes, it was time to take Persepolis:
I hate the city's placement, but the Granary and three settled Great Generals were too much to pass up. What can I say? I'm a softy for free stuff
We beat Catherine to Cyrus' northern city, barely, which didn't bode so well for us:
Longbows are a #$^@&. And that was a heavy, heavy stack. I accepted the loss of the city, fell back to Persepolis, picked apart the Russians there, and eventually retook Surab. I think that may have been the end of Cathy's #1 ranking. Regardless, I also took (and razed) Persia's Mesopotamian stronghold, wiping the cyan off the map for good. Now it was time to face Mother Russia in all her naked glory. Well, not quite. This is a family game, after all.
Research-wise, I went through Printing Press, which wasn't quite the research windfall I'd expected. Turns out that when you have as many Plantations as China has, working a Cottage just doesn't have the same appeal. I then knocked out Horseback Riding, and worked toward Guilds. It was time to make my army a little more mobile.
Our scrappy Trireme, last seen rounding western Africa, made its way into northern Europe. What it found was rather interesting:
Paris is in Roman hands, but Orleans seems to be doing a serviceable job as Paris II. In fact, the City of Light appears to be something of a culture-choked backwater. RAW doesn't seem to have cramped Elizabeth's style, though. She's still chilling in isolation, playing her builder game.
The inevitable happened in 1315:
RIP Roosevelt. So much for him having more of a chance. Then again, so much for the idea that he'd die in the B.C.'s. This is about par for him to bite the dust.
An ambitious Daimyo rose in Japan:
And promptly had his dreams crushed. A few Pikemen that would need ferrying to the mainland? No thanks. Enough gold to fund 5 or more turns of deficit research? Yes, please. Sorry, warrior dude.
Paris passed into Spanish control in 1325. Good to see Isabella flexing her muscles, but I'm a little disappointed that it's taken this long.
We began a Golden Age that same year, and made some long-overdue Civics changes:
Mercantilism is the biggie. If the other civs are gonna be warlike jerks, the loss of foreign trade is no big deal. And one Specialist per city is... a lot of Specialists. Even if a lot of the outlying cities just end up getting a free Hammer every round from a Worker.
Astana was a nicely-developed Barbarian city that added a lot of value to the empire:
So we own about half of what, in our world, we call Russia. But Catherine's half is a tough nut to crack. I had a small but elite stack pushing in. They passed garbage town after garbage town, all on hills, all defended by Longbows. All more trouble than they were worth, basically.
Before I really knew what was going on, our army found themselves at the gates of Moscow itself:
With the help of a stationary Spy, and my own impulsive, opportunistic nature, we took the city. Despite the fact that it was staffed by no fewer than 5(!) Great Generals, I regretfully decided to burn Moscow to the ground. There's no way we'd have been able to hold the city, and denying it to Catherine is almost as good. I think her back is basically broken, but all those Hill Longbows are going to be tough scraps to clean up.
Well... They WERE going to be tough to clean up:
We should have a long, long monopoly on Rifling. And Rifles versus pretty much anything else is an easy win.
But before we scour the world clean with flying lead, we have some paperwork to take care of:
As much sense as Vassalage makes, the upkeep is a lot to bear, and the Culture boost of Free Speech will help bring our cities online more quickly. And, with Rifles versus (at most) Longbows, I don't think the extra promotion is going to make a big deal.
So I played through the Anarchy, but here's a look at what we can research as our government is reestablished:
I'm thinking Chemistry-Steel, but I'm willing to listen to other ideas.
Finally, a look at the world and our military:
So, what're your thoughts? I think we're well-situated. I'm thinking we swing through Russia and move into Europe. Leave Hattie and Africa for a cataclysmic late-game battle. It's not as efficient, but I think it would end the game with a bang.
Neal
