King of the World #20: Pericles

[GGracchus]

I think the next best step is to take Jerusalem, doesn't look like there are many defenders there. You should also send your northern warriors to grab all the goody huts. There's one in portugal, one in denmark, and one in sweden. The shrine is capped at +20 gpt by the way. You look OK stability-wise.

 

[Dem Taqat]

Jerusalem has almost certainly got archers by now. Even If you do take it, it will be culture-pressured like crazy until Babylon is dead, at which point it is easy pickings for whoever killed them. And then you're fighting Barb Camel Archers until the Arabs spawn, at which point it either revolts to them or you fight Arab Camel Archers. It's in a nice spot for starting wars, and isn't that great if Judaism was founded elsewhere.

DT

 

[Pieman]

Heh, good work taking out those woeful Egyptians. Warriors only, golly...
I'd still try and be conservative - that other poster's suggestion of 1 more city in Egypt and and Greece sounds good. You'll probably need some good fogbusting to prevent Egypt being ravaged by barbarians though. Not sure if Persia will go for Egypt but might want to buff it up a bit just in case - the Arabs certainly will when they spawn anyway, so might as well get a headstart.

 

[coanda]

Don't even try to fogbust RFC. Way too much empty land, and some of the barbs have scripted spawns anyways. Just focus on defending if/when they invade.

 

[capnvonbaron]

Oh my... well, I don't have much experience with RFC, but in nearly every game (if not EVERY game) Carthage gets destroyed by barbs, and Egypt always seems pretty weak when I find them. I have a feeling Egypt is gonna be tough to hold against The Horde, especially when the plague rears its ugly, grey-green skull... I'd say it'd be a good idea to get a good production city settled and start cranking out spears/phalanxes. Beyond that, good luck

 

[MyOtherName]

It might be worth putting the comments on barbarians in spoilers. Don't want to ruin the surprise!

 

[coanda]

I don't know that it's a particularly enjoyable surprise to discover that

Spoiler :

some barbs ignore the Great Wall.

 

[MyOtherName]

I don't know that it's a particularly enjoyable surprise to discover that

Spoiler :

some barbs ignore the Great Wall.

Spoiler :

I was more thinking about the surprise that the barbs are Camel archers! That one really nailed me my first game, since I was Egypt and didn't bother with Bronze Working since I thought I didn't have metals.

I do think it's not spoiler-ish to remind him that the great wall in Europe wouldn't help with barbs in Egypt. The trick with the Impis are, of course, that they aren't barbarians. But he'll get a heads up from the Gaelic Swordsman, right? (I don't know the relative timing of when they appear)

 

[NoSuchName]

I count 11 in Thebes at pop 3, working stone, marble and copper. It might be better to build the Oracle there and let Athens build Work Boats and Colossus followed by Phalanxes/Triremes for defense. Have the Egyptian worker hook up the copper ASAP, then cottage those floodplains. As you get bonus stability from a growing GDP, cottaging Thebes should make up for it being in the red stability zone.

Jerusalem honestly looks like a lousy city - looks like 5 plains and a desert in the inner ring?! I just don't see what it could possibly contribute to the Greek League. Almost anything in Yugoslavia or Anatolia is better than that one. Raze if you take it.

As to techpath, what about Priesthood-Masonry-AH Followed by Monarchy-CoL(Oracle)-Aesthetics? While Code of Laws is cheaper than Machinery by far, the ability to rapidly run HR+Caste will make Byzantion a monster GP-farm. Bulbing quicker should make up for the difference in beakers.

 

[Chieron]

I don't know that it's a particularly enjoyable surprise to discover that

Spoiler :

some barbs ignore the Great Wall.

Spoiler :

Not true. But the Great Wall is continent specific, remember? In RFC, Asia, Europe and Africa are different continents, despite being one landmass - a Great Wall in Africa will not stop European Barbs (there won't be a wall on the map either)

 

[Barbuesque]

edit: hmm how do you insert a spoiler?

 

[Dem Taqat]

edit: hmm how do you insert a spoiler?

You put [ SPOILER] [/ SPOILER] tags around the stuff you want in the spoiler. If you take out the spaces in the tags above it works

Spoiler :

Like this!

DT

 

[Power_of_Beer]

As to techpath, what about Priesthood-Masonry-AH Followed by Monarchy-CoL(Oracle)-Aesthetics? While Code of Laws is cheaper than Machinery by far, the ability to rapidly run HR+Caste will make Byzantion a monster GP-farm. Bulbing quicker should make up for the difference in beakers.

Depends if Neal goes for the UHV. If so, Aesthetics is needed earlier, the timeline for the 4 wonders (Oracle, ToA, Parthenon, Colossus) can be tight if you don't pay attention. CoL is not needed imo, Stonehenge can be built (with stone from Egypt) as it unlocks Caste System in RFC, along with all the other civics from that row. Early emancipation can be decent with all the cottages in Egypt and +1 for all enemies. Caste System is not needed because honestly, with all the wonders and +150% birth rate you get tons of GP with greece.

 

[coanda]

Spoiler :

Not true. But the Great Wall is continent specific, remember? In RFC, Asia, Europe and Africa are different continents, despite being one landmass - a Great Wall in Africa will not stop European Barbs (there won't be a wall on the map either)

Spoiler :

There are two issues, as MyOtherName mentioned. One is that TGW is continent-specific, so an African Great Wall doesn't protect Europe (which is a change from vanilla that can catch people off guard). The other is that there are "hidden" civilizations which aren't actually barbs, but which are colored black and are always at war with you like barbs, but ignore TGW. If I recall correctly (it's been a while), the swarms of "barbs" that attack Rome around 500 AD fall into that category.

 

[MyOtherName]

Spoiler :

The other is that there are "hidden" civilizations which aren't actually barbs, but which are colored black and are always at war with you like barbs, but ignore TGW. If I recall correctly (it's been a while), the swarms of "barbs" that attack Rome around 500 AD fall into that category.

Spoiler :

When I played, they were gray, and they weren't carrying the unmistakable barbarian flag. The couple of games I played as Rome, I got the impression the Barbarians swarmed a lot more than the Celts. In Egypt, the Camel Archers are Barbarians, making The Great Wall very useful. The Impis are independents, though, so you still need the phalanxes.

 

[Chieron]

Spoiler :

There are two issues, as MyOtherName mentioned. One is that TGW is continent-specific, so an African Great Wall doesn't protect Europe (which is a change from vanilla that can catch people off guard). The other is that there are "hidden" civilizations which aren't actually barbs, but which are colored black and are always at war with you like barbs, but ignore TGW. If I recall correctly (it's been a while), the swarms of "barbs" that attack Rome around 500 AD fall into that category.

Spoiler :

You mean the Natives (dark grey with yellow, african shield symbol) or the Celts (greenish grey iirc). Neither are affected by the Wall, anything that has the Barbarian flag is, though. (no special Barbs, as far as I know)

 

[plastiqe]

Resource bubbles on eh, gotta show everybody just how good your land is. ; )

Try and get one city working on a great person either through wonders or specialists to leverage your unique power.

Did you switch to Slavery? I think RFC will charge you 1 turn of Anarchy per civic, so there isn't much advantage in waiting. With the abundance of food you'll probably want to whip at least every time the cooldown is up, Granaries will help a lot too.

Your first couple Barbarian battles are guaranteed wins (it's in the civilopedia) so don't waste them on animals or warriors if you can help it. Be careful exploring and do not try to spawnbust.

 

[capnvonbaron]

I'm 99% sure its like regular normal speed -- you can change two civics at a time and only get one turn anarchy. So really it makes best sense to change two at a time if you can. However I'm not sure what that does to stability. Also (word to the uninitiated) RFC golden ages don't remove anarchy during civic changes

 

[Mousey_Commander]

Golden Ages don't remove anarchy, but it helps a lot stability wise to do changes in Golden Ages anyway.

 

[psychodation]

am not sure why i always have this feeling neal is much luckier than i am. i have not encountered an egypt THAT weak in ages....