Situation Assessment: The spreading of our 4 religions is looking pretty good. The last holdout is to get Hinduism spread to Basra. And, as Methos pointed out in his post, we are not doing too bad on the construction of the Temples. There is still some work to be done, though. Some of the Cathedrals have also been built. It looks like Medina has one, Damascus has three, and Baghdad has two.
I am very concerned about the culture growth in Mecca. It is still outpacing our three cultural cities.
Militarily, we are still weak. We have 6 Axemen and 6 Macemen. Fortunately, nobody is upset with us at the moment; they are all
cautious. Unfortunately, nobody was interested in trading techs with us. The best deal offered was Paper for 120 gold by Alexander. At those prices, he will have to research it himself.
And, it looks like we have a new barb city! Hurrian, a size 2 barb city, has spawned up in the icy wasteland. It is being defended by 2 Longbowmen; however, we have a contingent of Macemen enroute. It will not be much of a city, but I will probably go ahead and keep it.
In the science department, Liberalism will be known in 10 turns. Unfortunately, the free tech that comes with discovering it first has already be taken. The Free Speech civic, with its double culture growth, will be nice, though.
Objectives: Build some temples and train some missionaries. Capture a barb city and then found one of our own.
Turn 0 - 1595AD I preempt the Caravel build in Basra for a Christian Temple. I'm not sure if this is a wise idea or not.
IBT: Alexander's golden age comes to an end.
Turn 1 - 1600AD: Saxon completes its Library. I start it on a Hindu Missionary.
Turn 2 - 1605AD: Mecca trains another Maceman. I queue up a Pikeman, next, since any AI landing will probably include a Knight or two.
Saxon completes the missionary. That was quick! Evidently a forest chop came in. There is enough overflow to shave a turn off of a Christian Temple. The Hindu Missionary is sent on its way to Basra.
Turn 3 - 1610AD: Mecca trains a Pikeman, start on another Maceman. Medina completes a Buddhist Temple and starts construction of a Christian Cathedral. Meanwhile, another Hindu Missionary is trained in Najran. Another Caravel is queued up, next.
Turn 4 - 1615AD: Saxon completes the Christian Temple, its last temple. Construction of a Caravel is queued up. Meanwhile, Khurasan completes its first Temple and starts on a Hindu Temple. Once it is complete, another Hindu Cathedral can begin construction.
Hinduism
failed to spread in Basra. A rather stupid mistake on my part. It is a pop 3 city and I was trying to put a 4
th religion into it.
Unfortunately, it will be 21 turns before the city grows.
Turn 5 - 1620AD: Another Maceman in Mecca; start on another Pikeman, next. Damascus completes its University. No other cultural improvements to build, so I start it on a Barracks. Kufah, meanwhile, has finally trained that last Settler. Construction can now begin on a Hindu Temple. The Settler heads towards the southern peninsula.
Our forces have finally arrived at the barb city of Hurrian. Unpromoted, our Macemen have a 25% chance of winning. With a City Raider I promotion, it only goes up to 60%. The first Maceman dies. The second Maceman is barely victorious; he is 0.4/8 health. The third Maceman pillages 102 gold from Hurrian before burning it to the ground! I had originally planned on keeping the city; but because of its location, I figured it would be difficult to defend if we are attacked by an AI.
With the extra gold in the chancery, I up our research to 70%. This will shave a turn off of the Liberalism research. We are now spending -11gpt.
IBT: Washington stops by with an offer of cow for gold. We've got a few minor health nuicances, so I go for it.
A barb Galley has pillaged our fishing nets at Kufah. Starvation sets in.
Turn 6 - 1625AD: Baghdad completes its University. Again, it has built all cultural enhancing building, so I start it on a Barracks as well.
I head our troops back to our borders, since they will heal faster at home.
Turn 7 - 1630AD: Complete one Pikeman in Mecca and start another. Najran completes its Caravel and starts on a Hindu Temple. Kufah completes its Hindu Temple and starts construction on an unplanned Work Boat. Meanwhile, the Caravel from Najran goes barb hunting.
IBT: The barb galley attacks our Caravel. It sinks after doing slight damage to our Caravel.
Turn 8 - 1635AD: Damascus completes its Barracks and begins a Hindu Cathedral. Basra completes its Christian Temple and resumes work on the preempted Caravel.
Anjar is founded on the southern peninsula and begins constructing a Lighthouse. City Maintenace is a bit pricey, so I lower the research slider back down to 60%. We are still drawing -9gpt from the treasury.
Our Caravel returns to port for healing. Meanwhile, a stray Buddhist Missionary boards the ship.
Turn 9 - 1640AD: Mecca completes another Pikeman and starts yet another one. Baghdad completes its Barracks and begins constructing a Courthouse. Najran completes its Hindu Temple and also begins constructing a Courthouse. Kufah completes its Work Boat and begins a University.
Turn 10 - 1645AD: Mecca trains a Pikeman and starts training another one. Saxon completes a Caravel and begins a Courthouse.
Liberalism has been learned. I did not select the next technology. I shall leave this to the discretion of MP. There are several choices to choose from, including Guilds (Knights) and Gunpowder (Muskets). Printing Press is also available for the extra commerce. Unfortunately, there are no real tech trading opportunities.
Liberalism has given us access to a couple of new civics. Free Religion would improve our foreign relations but we lose the +25% construction bonus. Free Speech has double culture growth but we lose the Bureaucracy boost at Mecca.
Despite all of the troops that I produced out of Mecca, we are still dead last in the size of our army. I concentrated on Pikemen to counter any potential Knights that may land on our shores. Every coastal city needs at least one Pikeman. Please note that 2 of the Pikemen that I trained are on
GoTo orders.
We now have 3 barracks' to train troops. Mecca, Damascus, and Baghdad. These are our 3 highest shield producing cities. Another barracks and the Heroic Epic (+100% military prod) need to be built at either Najran or Kufah.
Required Temples:
Buddhism:
Christianity: Khurasan
Hinduism: (Basra or Anjar)**, Khurasan*
Judaism: Khurasan, Medina
* -
Notes the city is currently working on a temple.
** Hinduism has not spread to either Basra or Anjar. Basra will need to grow before it can take another religion. A Hindu Missionary has arrived at Anjar, which has no religion at the moment.
Required Cathedrals:
Buddhism: Medina
Christianity: Medina*, Baghdad
Hinduism: Medina, Damascus*
Judaism: Baghdad
* -
Notes the city is currently working on a Cathedral.
Current Culture:
Mecca: 6796 @ 63cpt
Medina: 1605 @ 34cpt
Damascus: 1779 @ 57cpt
Baghdad: 1380 @ 42cpt
![[civ4]](/images/smilies/civ4.gif "Civ4 [civ4]")
. Mainly because I've haven't tried. 
