Things were rolling along swimmingly in the Greek Federation. The Colossus, the last World Wonder that Pericles' people insisted on as their own, was under construction in Athenoi. Literature was flourishing across the empire, and Drama would unlock Philosophy to complete our second goal:
And who better to give us the secrets of the stage than Thespis himself?
That left only circumnavigation. With Machinery having been unlocked by the Oracle, that was a simple traipse through Compass and Optics. Then we'd just have to build a Caravel and set sail, right? Easy as Baklava. "But wait," Pericles' wiser advisors cautioned. "Do not assume, for this is a new world." Sure enough, the King of the World checked the Tech tree...
D'oh! Sure enough, in Rhye's and Fall Optics requires Guilds, which requires Feudalism, which requires Monarchy. Pericles was sorely vexed. This would mean more time and research before we could focus on turtling up while our explorers won us the game. This, in turn, meant we'd need a bit more infrastructure and, more importantly, armies to hold off Rome and the oncoming Barbarian hordes that the advisors kept prattling on about. They were right about Optics, though, so I decided to humor them.
In order to secure our eastern border and eliminate a troublesome marauder spawn point, a Phalanx was sent to pacify Turkey:
The city auto-razed, we obtained a small sum of gold, and Anatolia can be considered fog-busted. I'm not going to settle the peninsula owing to the Turks' impending arrival. Not that the game should drag out that long, even with our added prerequisites, but still.
Our Settler, once bound for the coast of the Black Sea, was turned around and sent south to found the definitive Greek city in Egypt:
Apparently, a city that far north would be quickly crushed beneath the trampling feet of the coming horde. Pericles scoffed, but he was cautious enough to consent.
Our expansion was, in fact, recognized by the great Arnold Joseph Toynbee, who was apparently working far earlier than anyone had realized:
Two and Three are likely India and China in some order.
The Great Library was completed, not in Alexandria, but rather a few hundred kilometers south, in Thebes:
If we're going to get ridiculous Great People bonuses out the wazoo, we may as well take advantage of them. And maybe a Great Scientist could help us bulb Philosophy.
Our first Great Person after construction of the Library, though, was Rabbi Akiva, a fitting spawn for the birthplace of Judaism:
I ended up settling him for the gold and the slight boost to production.
With the completion of the Colossus, our quartet of Wonders was complete:
I've always been a fan of the Colossus. The Great Lighthouse may provide a bigger real benefit, but trade routes have always been kind of nebulous to me. Seeing all those extra coins on my water squares just feels beefier
With the coming of Monarchy, I decided to call for a revolution. Contrary to what some have said, I managed to switch to both Monarchy and Slavery in one turn:
Monarchy was the important thing. The happy cap was crippling our cities, and if we're gonna be fortifying against barbarians anyway.... But Slavery is always nice to have, too.
Apparently these changes were considered an insult to Caesar:
Rome never was much of a friend to kings... Well, unless they were "client-kings." Despite my constant fear of armies of Praetorians, though, it wasn't much of a war. A Roman Trireme sunk a Galley and tore up some Fishing Nets before a whipped Trireme of our own put an end to its threat. See? I told you that Slavery is good to have around.
As Caesar led his *ahem* assault in the Mediterranean, rare scrolls were found in the Egyptian sands:
I haven't taken advantage of those beakers yet, and probably should before they decay, but I still say rolling the dice and getting the extras was worth it.
Caesar, for all his bluster, was no true warrior. He was besieged by barbarians, and could not properly defend his outer rim, much less wage an offensive war. A city on the Ionian coast was beset by a doomed force of Axemen and Celtic Warriors. After the raiders had died at the city's walls, our Phalanxes swooped in on the injured defenders:
And thus did Greece's borders push north and west.
At this, with his plans in tatters and his very empire in danger, Caesar called off the dogs:
I took Archery gladly. This is no game of conquest. I'm simply killing time until I get a boat in the water
And this lets me field Crossbowmen without having to deviate from my research beeline.
Between training soldiers for the onslaught of Barbarians that everyone seems to think I should be expecting, Epidamnos got that other nautical wonder that everyone raves about:
Just because I prefer the Colossus doesn't mean I'm
stupid.
You'll also notice that I researched Philosophy by hand. I looked at the Bulb order, and Great Scientists want to do Alphabet and Mathematics first. And those together cost almost as much as Philosophy itself. Bah.
With Philosophy came our (second) Golden Age:
The first came the old fashioned way, through Great People. The fact that Rhye's "skips" the first one, forcing you to use two GP right off the bat, irks me, especially when you consider that you can't even freely switch Civics in a Golden Age, but whatever. Still worth it.
As the Greek people basked in the light of their accomplishments, though, dark clouds grew on the horizon. Yes, you all were right. Barbarians are, indeed, a force to be reckoned with in this mod:
They were beaten back (and continue to be beaten back), but if I had obliviously played my normal builder game, they might have been the end of us. You can also see the Ethiopians down there south of Egypt. Their role is to absorb the Impi swarms, which they've been doing... adequately. Frankly, I think they could do better.
So as Thebes filled once more with Great People, I decided to try for a third Golden Age. So you can imagine my disappointment when we spawned a second Great Scientist:
Oh, well. It's not like Thebes couldn't use the Academy. Oh, and Rome netted Christianity. So it looks like Judaism has suddenly become obsolete.
Caesar, much more friendly after his beatdown, even offered to Open Borders with us and shared his faith:
I haven't converted yet (waiting for it to spread to some more civilizations and maybe even to a few more of my cities), but I'm thinking I will. Gotta keep the neighbors happy.
Apparently even considering adopting a foreign faith drew the wrath of the, erm, Jewish Babylonians:
Speaking of, Babylon has gone from Gilgamesh to Hammurabi, and Rome from Julius to Augustus. I'm curious as to how that particular mechanic works. I like it. Regarding this war, though, I'm not worried. Babylon is doubtless getting pounded in the backside by Persia, and Hammurabi is just acting out.
Anyway, here we are, turn 147, ready for the endgame. We've begun researching Optics for our third and final goal:
And we could likely make a trade with our Western neighbors for Alphabet:
I won't give up Machinery, but anything else is really fair game.
Anyhow, here's our empire:
Any advice other than "Research Optics and send a Caravel west"? Maybe I'll get Alphabet and send a Spy eastward to meet the neighbors and cut a few turns off our boat's journey. Is it just me, or is the game pretty much won?
The save:
