EDIT: I'm getting a "Failed to read worldbuilder file [file path]" error whenever I select a map. I'm not sure why.
EDIT2: Figured it out after a google search, apparently I had to change the EOL type to Windows.
Oh? Really, that's it? Because it would be fantastic if you had found a fix to this long-standing issue that doesn't involve me having to reupload the scenario files every single time I change them.
Knoedel, if you don't mind could you give us your strategy for this modmodmod's greece?
Alright. Keep in mind that every single one of my playthroughs was on epic speed:
Research Masonry->Aesthetics->Priesthood->Drama->Literature->Horseback Riding->Philosophy. Trade Aesthetics to Phoenicia for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, trade something else for Alphabet either from Phoenicia or Rome. Mathematics you will also have to research yourself unless you get lucky and somehow get it from India, I was never sure whether to do that before or after Drama and Literature so it varied from one game to the next. Metal Casting you get from the Oracle. Those are all the techs you really need, though Iron Working and Currency certainly couldn't hurt either, maybe you can even squeeze them in before Philosophy.
First turn switch to Caste System, settle Athens and use the Galley to move the second settler to Macedonia, founding Epidamnos. Knossos and Ephesos will flip to you shortly. Athenai, Epidamnos and Knossos are guarded by a warrior each, Ephesos by an Archer and a Hoplite to defend against Hittites. Use the other two Hoplites and Archer to steal a worker from Egypt, Jerusalem or Ankara, perhaps you can even capture a city or two with some luck, or at least pillage improvements. Egypt's copper mine and Horse are high priorities imo.
Build orders:
Athenai: Work Boat -> Pagan Temple -> Harbor -> Oracle -> Statue of Zeus -> Parthenon -> spam units, likely no time for Barracks at that point, just spam cannon fodder to support Alexander's conquests and then defend against Roman conquerors if you still don't have Philosophy by then; between Harbor and Oracle you might be able to squeeze in a unit or two, Odeon and Agora you whip as soon as you unlock them.
Epidamnos: Pagan Temple (need culture to grab the Clam) -> 2 Scouts -> Work Boat -> one or two Warriors -> Harbor -> Barracks -> just spam units, Hoplites, Hetairoi, Axemen, Archers, Catapults, whatever, interrupted only by Odeon and Agora; ideally the unit spam phase should begin right as Statue of Zeus is complete, there are lots of forests in the Balkans you should systematically chop at this stage, ideally you want to churn out one unit per turn.
Knossos: In 90% of my games it already had a Pagan Temple when it flipped, so that saves some hammers. Build a Work Boat followed by a Harbor which you will whip ASAP. Then it will just spam Work Boats, Galleys and Triremes for the rest of the game, only maybe interrupted by Odeon and Agora.
Ephesos: 2 Work Boats -> Pagan Temple -> Harbor -> Granary -> Temple of Artemis -> Colossus -> maybe Barracks -> spam units; whip settler for Byzantion when the opportunity arises, also squeeze in Odeon and Agora when you unlock them. Chopping all those forests in Asia Minor will certainly speed things up.
Byzantion: Pagan Temple -> Harbor -> spam units, only possibly interrupted by Odeon and Agora
All other cities you conquer just build a Pagan Temple and spam units. I like whipping a settler in Diaspolis Megale to settle Alexandria, which then builds Pagan Temple -> Harbor -> Great Lighthouse -> Great Library, not because it's optimal but because I have historical OCD, which is also the reason I build all the UHV wonders plus Zeus in their approximate historical locations.
Civics: Adopt Caste System immediately so workers aren't too slow, also Epidamnos will definitely be running a Priest from the moment you finish the Pagan Temple to help with the cultural acquisition of the seafood, Athenai possibly a Statesman between discovery of other civs and completion of some improvement, and Knossos a Priest as well. Adopt Slavery when the second Ephesos Work Boat is complete and in transit. Adopt City States around the time of Rome's spawn because in my experience nobody will trade Alphabet to you before then and there is no time to research it yourself. After Parthenon is complete it might make sense to adopt Autocracy for drafting and great general birth rate.
Conquests: Your initial units are likely only enough to capture one city, and even that is not guaranteed. You have to be opportunistic in the beginning, maybe Hyksian barbarians damaged Egyptian units enough for you to swoop in and finish them, maybe Babylon and Egypt launched a failed invasion of Jerusalem which you can snatch from them, maybe Hittite civil war allows you to capture Ankara, whatever. At the very least you should be able to steal a worker or two and pillage a bit in Egypt. The bulk of your conquest will happen as soon as Zeus comes online and allows you to churn out one unit per turn from each Epidamnos and Ephesos. Jerusalem and Ankara should fall pretty easily, then main army should head east through Babylon to Persia. Leave Sur for last, they make nice trading partners until the very end, maybe you can still get a nice tech from them before you annex them when they are completely surrounded by you. Egypt is probably relatively easy pickings too, you can likely capture it with freshly trained units that would be too slow to reach Persian front in time.
Catapults are only effective in coastal regions like Phoenicia and Egypt where you can land them from Galleys, for advancing into Persia they are too slow and Hoplite Bombardment + Archer and Hetairoi collateral damage are decent substitutes.
I always put cottage + road on Wine in Crete and Greece, but once you have City States they are probably not worth working because specialists give a better return. What else is there to say about improvements? Quarries, Mines, Farms, Pastures, roads, chop every forest you can once you have Mathematics.
And Leo, must your mod be so big, too?
