You guys might be disappointed to know that I figured I might as well play my turns before going to sleep tonight, I did, ended up taking quite a few chances...and failed at every single one of them
This game may as well be unofficially over now as I have single-handedly wasted our chances of victory.
Spasmodic gesticulations aside, here is my "too little, too late" turnset:
Turn 0: Still in expansion phase. Raised science from 70% to 80% temporarily, netting -1 / turn, cutting alphabet from 4 to 3 turns.
Turn 1: Archer completed in Bearfall. Begin 1 more worker. At the time all pivotal buildings have already been built there. Kept exploring w/galleys.
Turn 2: Didn't see the need for barracks atm in Arbela so switch to granary. Worker done building roads near Arbela so moved him south to finish pasture.
Turn 3: Settler done in capital, alphabet founded. Traded Mansa Musa iron/alphabet for masonry/mathematics/mysticism. Started on polytheism @ 4 turns. I got the idea that I wanted to go for a great lighthouse now (would be a boost for sure w/all these coastal cities) and decided Arbela had the most disposable trees atm. Switch from granary to lighthouse.
Turn 4: chop chop
EOT: Hinduism spreads in Persepolis, decided not to go for anarchy.
Turn 5: Galley to the west meets the Incans!
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He's annoyed that we traded w/Mansa Musa, and thus all trading options are redded out. He doesn't have anything good anyway.
Turn 6: Galley meets America (Roosevelt):
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He's pleased after I trade sailing for meditation.
Turn 7: Polytheism founded. Someone else built the Great Lighthouse
Way too little, way too late. I was still only trying to chop finish the lighthouse (prereq). Not to be daunted, I trade Roosevelt polytheism for priesthood and immediately switch to the oracle in Arbela (workers chopping atm). Settler founds Tarsus near the gold mine:
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Move archer south to clear more fog and oops, barb archer alert.
EOT: archer defeats barb archer.
Turn 8: Persepolis and Susa grow in size, with Persepolis reaching happiness limit. Adjust working tile to limit growth. Galley finishes exploring the northeast island (no civ there, but decent land). Park warrior on the island.
Turn 9: Mostly worker actions. More chopping, jungle clearing, cottage building. Oracle's about halfway done, with perhaps 3-4 turns more chopping to go.
Turn 10: Pwned!@$# Someone beat us to the Oracle as well
My guess is Mansa Musa is the culprit, as he all of a sudden has Code of Laws whereas he didn't the previous turn.
So all my efforts to garner these wonders have been eradicated, and our civ is now and forever doomed
...Well, not all is lost. We'll get some gold out of the Oracle next turn. Since workers are still chopping we can finish off some queued buildings in Arbela like the lighthouse/granary. Out of the 3 civs we know, Mansa Musa is the only one outteching us right now, and not by too much either (although that Code of Laws he got is a big jump). The other 2 civs we know are behind us. We're still chugging along atm at 70% science (like it was 10 turns ago), still with profit. Above all, scorewise we're now the current leader. Sure there are other civs we haven't met yet, but still:
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Furthermore, majority of cities are building libraries which will certainly help.
The gold mine can be worked in the new city anytime, right now I've put it on stagnant growth and queued it to build settler.
Would really like to settle that NE island before anyone else does although we have to be careful not to overextend.
As for Pyramids, I've decided against it because, eh, it's expensive and we don't have marble hooked up, but it's still there, unclaimed, if anyone wants to give it a try down the road.
We don't have a dedicated great person outlet yet. Libraries will give more options, but something to keep in mind.
Our empire:
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Good luck..hopefully better than mine
I could only wish there was a "We love the Despot" day right now.
Without a scratch! Grabs woodsman 2.
Make peace for the moment and trade fur for cows and open borders.
