Well, now. How does one play Civ3 again? Something about building things starting with "w".... Oh, well. I'm sure it'll come back to me at some point.
In trying to get my bearings, I note we're down all visible techs to everybody except Japan. Japan is only up Iron Working and Polytheism. We're working on IW, of course, so we'll have no trade possibility once it comes in. Too late to stop now, though. Twofers are right out, as we have nowhere near enough cash.
Early turns are pretty straightforward, try to settle here, there, and everywhere, in a slightly more spaced pattern than typical, making sure each city has 12+ squares and a reasonable chance to not flip.
And sending out explorers. There's a lot of land around and we only have a couple warriors out exploring. Heck, it's almost impossible to even know where to settle, we have so little map information. Nearly all warriors produced are sent out on exploration missions.
Of course, this ticks a few people off, so I leave when kicked out by Mao, Theodora, Mao again, Theodora again, Cathy, etc. I also kiss Mao's feet in 1450 when he comes demanding all 14 of our gold. I briefly toyed with the idea of saying "NO!" just to get Lee's reaction, but it's so blatantly wrong, I just couldn't do it.
In 1325, upon founding Rouen in a slightly dangerous cultural spot (the temple should be whipped on turn 7 of the next player's turn), we got the FP message. Avignon might be the place for it. That's when things started heating up a bit.
A warrior met a different blue guy up in Theodora's territory in 1300 BC. He claimed to be an emissary of the Germans, led by some guy named Bismarck. Upon checking with them, they are only up Polytheism and Iron Working. Again, some x-fer action might be possible with cash (which would have been demanded away earlier, I know). Anyway, it drops our time to IW to 1 turn...1 beaker in fact. Typically, in that case, you can buy the tech for next-to-nothing. But, no, any civ with IW (all 5 of them, in this case) are insulted at the thought of 8 gold. Wild. I'll just complete the research.
So, when IW comes in, what do I pick? Literature, but I put no gold into it. I smell a deal coming soon, if we can swing it. Plus, the only iron anywhere near us is on the island to our SW and we will need Map Making ASAP to be able to claim it.
1275 shows more fruits of exploration labor. Egypt, in stunning yellow garb, is met in the east. She knows Math, Philosophy, and Polytheism that we don't. I want to buy MM and then trade it around for more cash and stuff, but we can't afford it yet. I'll risk one more turn at 0 sci and then see what happens.
Oh, BTW, Japan has iron, up by the Byzantines, but it was unconnected last we saw. Egypt has two sources, as they have one for trade (though we have no trade route). China has a source, unconnected as far as we know. And that's it, other than the one on "our" island, that we may have to hurry to claim.
In 1250, we can afford Map Making. China has the best deal for it...9 of our 40 gold and all 24 gpt (or maybe 1 less gpt and a bit more up-front). I'm certain we could then send MM to Egypt for Math and gold. With MM and Math, we'd be certain of getting Polytheism from Germany, but I'm not sure about Philosophy from Japan, though it's definitely a possibility, depending on what they've been researching. Polytheism would open up Monarchy for a nice min run on an expensive govt tech that we'll need/want (more on this later), since our cash will be tied up for 20 turns. 3 techs in 20 turns is a good deal, though, and it might be our only way to get iron. NOTE: I did *NOT* make any of these trades. I left it open to the team and the next player. I would do it in a solo game, for sure, but it's not appropriate for a turn 10 deal, IMO.
On government, I think we'll be needing to build big old slow stacks and using alliances, which means Monarchy, not Republic, will probably be better. We have no native horses and none particularly near. Our UU is best suited for slower, grind-out war. Plus, we really, really want to avoid casualties and slow stacks are better at that, if you can afford the time. With alliances (probably necessary), we can play "pick on the leader" and show a strong front, to get the razes we need. I think Monarchy and stacks of swords/MDI/longbow with catapult/trebuchet/cannon support and spears/pikemen/musketeers defending will be the way to go. With China and Japan as neighbors, the knight age won't be the most friendly to us, but big stacks and good allies will allow us some progress.
For me, I built
warriors,
workers, and settlers. A couple curraghs for exploration, and I started two temples in culture-attacked cities (Japan founded AFTER we did), plus one granary in a city I can't remember but that looks to have great worker factory potential -- ???? Worker Factory 2B or something like that.
Major NOTE Lux tax will need to be increased to 10% before you press enter!!! Else Paris will riot. This might cause a tiny budget problem, short-term, if you pay the 24 gpt, but it will resolve quickly as other towns grow.
Minor note, whip Rouen when you can, to get its temple up ASAP. It's in a culture war.
That's it for now. Fun stuff, but should be more fun later, when the fireworks begin.
Arathorn
We are 4 turns away from the galley, but instead of whipping it I use the two curraghs to block it. 
