MRG's Random Game of Randomness

[Spoonwood]

You may have a good point here. My original plan was to stop research after Chivalry (which can be reached reasonably fast without libraries, so we can save those 80 shields and build more military...) But on this map it may indeed happen that Keshiks are outdated before we reach the dom limit, after all, the map is large and the AI is demigod.
But I think that Keshiks will be sufficient for conquering our continent, and after that we can decide on the further strategy. If we see we need to catch up in tech in order to beat the remaining AIs, we can still build a few Libs and fire up research again, or check whether we can capture the GLib somewhere and use the elevator...

I'm still wondering if you capture Naissus, and put a harbor there, and then put one in one of your coastal core cities also, and then go to war with Korea, how will you have control of horses when at war with Korea?

Also, I checked the civilopedia and see that I had forgotten that keshiks only require horses. India loses the ability to train horsemen when they learn Chivalry, since Jumbos don't require any resources, and that's even after they have had their golden age. Similarly, I would expect that the Mongols can no longer train horsemen once they learn Chivalry. Consequently, they couldn't do any horseman - cavalry upgrades.

So, I think you need to decide ahead of time what you want to do:

1. Get keshik horse archers and use them. Accept paying the shield cost of Keshiks or the shield cost of cavalry if/when you fight with them.

OR

2. Avoid even learning Chivalry for a while, so that you can upgrade horsemen -> cavalry. When it seems like you have enough cavalry for a while or don't mind paying the full shield cost for cavalry, then learn Chivalry, and make some keshiks for your golden age.

 

[Lanzelot]

and then go to war with Korea, how will you have control of horses when at war with Korea?

As I said, I don't want to go to war with Korea (yet). It's much safer to make an alliance with them, wait for the AI to bang their heads against each other, while building horsemen, then upgrade to Keshiks, and only then declare war against Korea.

 

[Lanzelot]

Ok, I played my 10 turns as outlined.

Spoiler Turnlog :

Preflight: rearrange a few tile so that Darhan can grow with 2fpt instead of just 1. Move warriors, who are not needed as MP, into position for next turn.

1. 975BC: Lots and lots of barbs become visible east of Mandalgovi .
   I switch the archer in Kazan to spearman. We need more of those, and a vet spearman fortified on a mountain can kill many barb horses.
   Move warriors into the mountains.
   Darhan finishes curragh and starts granary. We can still change it later, but Darhan looks like a nice site for a 2-turn worker pump under Republic, and we need more workers...
   As the NE is barb infested, I decide to send our new settler south. Would be too risky trying to settle in the NE as long as the uprising is not yet under control.
   
2. 950BC: Our curragh is attacked by three barb galleys! It survives two, but the third sinks it. That was a short voyage...
   Tabriz starts a new one.
3. 925BC: Kazan has grown, so I need to increase lux to 10%.
4. 900BC: We lose a reg archer against a barb horse on a hill.
   Choybalsan founded, not sure what to build.
   By now, Korea and Byzantium both started the Hanging Gardens and are in monarchy now.
   Meanwhile three towns have reached size 4 or even 5, so lux 10% is justified.
5. 875BC: nada
6. 850BC: nada
   
7. 825BC: Theodora wants 24 gold. I tell her where the exit is. She declares, not bad. Unfortunately the war happiness is not yet enough to reduce lux back to 0%
   Karakorum has now reached size 6 and can build a settler in 3 with 3 10spt! That's worth a picture:
   
   
   
   
8. 800BC:
9. 775BC: We lose an elite archer to the barbs
   Meanwhile everybody is a monarchy. Good chances that Republic will still be monopoly, when we get it.
   
10. 750BC: Settler is finished and moves to the north, by the fish and whale tiles. Road there is already prepared, so it arrives next turn.

Handover:

• Karakorum can now build an archer at size 5 with 2x7 + 6 and a settler at size 6 with 2x10 + 9 + 1 on growth.
  However, it takes a lot of shifting tiles around with Kazan, Ta-Tu and Tabriz, and a bit of care so that Kazan and Ta-Tu can also finish their units in three turns with 2x7 + 6!
• Settler in Almarikh is bound for the NE fish.
• Don't know yet, what to build in Choybalsan. Perhaps another granary, and then use it as another 2T-worker-pump with three irrigated BGs?
• Once our spearmen next to the barb camp have healed a bit, we can take that camp, and that should carry us through another three turns of deficit research... Republic is only 11 turns to go, maybe less.
• Unit upkeep is becoming a problem. Once in anarchy, move all reg warriors to Mandalgovi and disband then to speed up courthouse and temple. We won't have iron for a long time, and even if we had, would have no money to spare to upgrade them anyway.
• The war happines from Byzantium allows us to run 0% lux, even with size 5 towns, so don't make peace. However, we need to be a bit careful, I don't want Korea to join on their side... Once we have a bit money to spare, make an embassy and check, how much it is to sign them up on our side.
• Temple in Tabriz is also up for discussion. Usually I don't build any temples, as they are useless... But here it might be useful for getting all the coastal tiles into the BFC and set up a nice commerce city eventually. Usually I would do that with a library, but I don't think we will have libraries for a long time. (Only after we have secured our continent with Keshiks?!)
• Barb uprising is almost subdued, so we can soon let a worker build a road N and NE of Mandalgovi, found a town on that hill and finally irrigate the floodplains so Mandalgovi can start growing.
• choxorn's dotmap is good, except I made a few modifications:
  - the southern town is moved closer to the capital and on the coast, so it can also get a few water tiles at size 12. (That's Choybalsan.)
  - I would like 2 towns closer to our future FP to get the most out of it.
  - More towns in the tundra to crack down on our unit upkeep, and the desert towards Korea can probably also be ICSed.

 

[Spoonwood]

3spt

I think you meant 10 spt.

 

[choxorn]

I mostly like your version of the dotmap, but the circle 2E of Kazan is right next to a Volcano. Is it worth the risk of building next to one just to be on the river?

 

[tjs282]

I've got the save.

The handoff notes seem fairly straightforward, I haven't much to add.

Current Settler to Chox's Site4 north of Almarikh is fine. Assuming I don't mess up the MM of KK I'll be building at least 2 more Settlers during my set. I'm thinking I'll send the first to the coast south of Darhan, the second's destination will depend on the Barb situation. If it looks safe, then towards Mandalgovi for the NE expansion; otherwise, to the coast south of Choybalsan.

However, given that TT is likely eventually going to need most of the tiles towards Choy and Darhan (so that KK can eventually get to Pop12), the currently marked spot near Choy looks like it will crowd Choy pretty badly -- especially if you want to turn Choy into a Worker-pump. While I realise that the current spot would get both the Whales and the Fish eventually(!), I'd still therefore prefer to put the next town (much) further south on that coast.

e.g. founding on the BGrass tile 2S of Choy (i.e. CxxC) still gets the Fish, while also getting more Grassland to mine; and founding on the Grass 3S of Choy, W-NW of Hovd (CxxC) would get the Fish immediately (and give Choy plenty of breathing-space!).

Don't forget (@Lanzelot), this is a Large map. That means we will get to build more core-towns than on a Standard map, so it makes no sense (to me) to start ICS-ing from the second-ring towns already (especially when our first ring is already so tight around KK).

Question: I see that TT and Kaz now have Barracks: should I take that to mean that I should only be building mil-units there, or can I also spin out the occasional Worker to keep Overpopulation-unhappiness in check?

I mostly like your version of the dotmap, but the circle 2E of Kazan is right next to a Volcano. Is it worth the risk of building next to one just to be on the river?

Yes, I was wondering about that as well. That particular Volcano hasn't popped yet (AFAIK?)...

I'll start playing tomorrow evening (Friday 27th), 10 turns this time...

 

[choxorn]

However, given that TT is likely eventually going to need most of the tiles towards Choy and Darhan (so that KK can eventually get to Pop12), the currently marked spot near Choy looks like it will crowd Choy pretty badly -- especially if you want to turn Choy into a Worker-pump. While I realise that the current spot would get both the Whales and the Fish eventually(!), I'd still therefore prefer to put the next town (much) further south on that coast.

I don't see a better place to put it, 1 SE of it would waste the BG and lose the Whale and still crowed Choybalsan, farther South than that would just have too much Tundra. I think it's fine to put it there, Choybalsan still can have enough grasslands to build a good number of workers.

 

[Lanzelot]

If we leave the interior of that southern peninsula empty, all those coastal towns should get enough tiles to work. There is also plenty of coastal tiles for commerce.

The vulcano is indeed a risk. But the spot is just so much better than the alternatives...
Isn't the frequency of volcano eruptions going down as the game progresses? Perhaps we get lucky here...

 

[Lanzelot]

Question: I see that TT and Kaz now have Barracks: should I take that to mean that I should only be building mil-units there, or can I also spin out the occasional Worker to keep Overpopulation-unhappiness in check?

There is no such thing as overpopulation...
In the beginning, we had KK at size 4 and all the rest at size 1 or 2. I guess in these circumstances, it was ok to delay the growth of KK a bit by hiring a scientist. But meanwhile we have 5 (soon 6) towns at size 4 or higher, basically our complete first ring! So it's worth it to handle happiness problems via the lux slider.

Remember: in about 10 turns we'll have Republic! And those towns still have a long way to go till size 7! I'd say no worker in any first-ring town. (Unless it's a dedicated worker-pump with a granary.) Probably the player after you will be able to set up two worker-pumps, and then we'll be swimming in workers...

 

[MrRandomGuy]

Haven't forgotten about this. I live in Uvalde and taught math at a private school. We were ok when the incident happened, but then the school decided to fire me that night and told me the day after while they knew my son was in the hospital (unrelated to the incident.) He was born in September with very little diaphragm that caused bowel to go up into his chest and his left lung not to develop. We were concerned about seizure activity, but turns out it's a combo of gas and reflux.

I'll be ok. Going to use this time off to finish my master's degree and aim for teaching college level math. My life can get crazy at times but I have a good support system and this game is a healthy outlet.

 

[Lanzelot]

Hey, take good care, and my best wishes for your little son!

If I can help with a math question, just let me know. It's been 30 years since I got my master, but I guess math hasn't changed much since then... (Except for Andrew Wiles proving Fermat's Last Theorem in 95/96...)

 

[choxorn]

Yeah, what Lanzelot said, sounds like you and your son have been going through a lot of hard stuff lately, hope it gets better.

Let us know if IRL things are getting to be too much and you need to step away from this game for a bit, we understand.

 

[tjs282]

Last night was a bust for playtime, since everyone in the house wanted to watch Stranger Things (S4:E1) and Obi Wan.

So I started today, but I only got 3T in before several things happened that it might be best to talk about. We have now met Sumeria (I sold Gil the Wheel[!] for 215g, immediately used most of that cash to build Embassies in Seoul and Washington, per @Lanzelot's suggestion above) -- and also Portugal.

We also just got DoW'd by Abe. Even though we were rated STRONG vs. America, it turned out his tribute-demand wasn't a bluff (but at least we now have more WHappies...!). He already has (at least one) Sword(s), but given that the AI loves Feudalism, he may soon be building his 28-shield Maces instead

And on that same interturn, Korea discovered Republic(!).

No-one else knows it yet (AFAWK; obviously we have no information about America or Byz right now!), and we now need only 5T at SCI%=100%, which we can easily afford (current Treasury = 112g). But (I thought) maybe it would be better to buy Rep now and try to use it to trade ourselves into the Medieval?

Sumeria is backwards, but everyone else is (nearly) there already: Henry only lacks Construction (known to both Korea and Egypt), and he has 206g right now.

So I zero'd SCI% to give us +50 GPT income, and Wang wants 40gpt + 93g (or similar) for the remaining beakers. That's steep, but if we can prevent him from getting Medieval techs (or Lit) for it by destroying his monopoly, then maybe it's worth it?

I was thinking maybe I could try selling Rep to Cleo for her 63g + Construction [plus Maps or Poly?], and then sell Rep + Construction to Henry for Currency [plus Poly or Maps?] -- or at least get all his gold. But since this would commit us to a 20T-deal, and possibly also force us to delay our revolution to ensure that we don't go broke during the Anarchy (which does still matter, until we have Keshiks!), I don't want to do that without the team's agreement.

Just out of curiosity, I also asked Wang about MAs vs. America (26 GPT) or Byz (27 GPT). But before we sign him up as our proxy, I would like him to finish building Artemis for us (Seoul is at Pop12 and 13 SPT, with ~316/350 shields in the box) -- which might also free us to switch Lanz's Temple-builds into Harbours/Courts...

 

[Lanzelot]

I assume, we have about 250 beakers left? So 893g would be a steep price indeed...

If the other AIs don't have anything that Korea does not yet have, the risk is low that Wang sells it around, so we can still get enough for it in five turns, I hope.
So I would not buy it now. We won't go broke during Anarchy, but probably during the first turns of Republic... Too many units...
And I guess, there is no chance of getting anything of that gold back?

But perhaps we should sign the military alliance now. He will still finish Artemis, it's only 3 more turns. Any chance, we can sign someone else up against Byzantium, now that America is no longer possible? And how many curraghs do we already have? We'll need some cash for upgrading those and start preparing the ship-chain to Byzantium.

 

[tjs282]

I'm not sold on this ship-chain to Byz idea. Gil has Horses as well, and is so backward that he would make a much easier target than Dora. He doesn't even know Writing yet! Sumeria also looks like it might be an island.

 

[Lanzelot]

I'm not sold on this ship-chain to Byz idea. Gil has Horses as well, and is so backward that he would make a much easier target than Dora.

Well, we hadn't met Sumeria yet, when I formulated this plan. But I assume we will need ships for Sumeria as well? We can still adjust as we go.

 

[choxorn]

I'm with Lanz on not trading for Republic at that price. Maybe we can try to find Sumeria before anything else, and figure out from there who we should attack first for Horses?

 

[tjs282]

OK, I won't buy Republic. But I'm assuming it's OK to revolt as soon as we get it?

Maybe we can try to find Sumeria before anything else

Sumeria has already been found -- that's how I managed to sell them a tech!

Gil seems to have a large island all to himself (I assume, given his large number of towns, but lack of tech-development) whose northernmost point is just south of Pi-Ramesses. A Coast-Sea-Coast crossing from Pi-R is possible, but it looks like none of our neighbours* have sent any Galleys that way yet (again, given Gil's ignorance).

We now have a Curragh circumnavigating Sumeria, but I decided to send it down the west coast, because that took it further away from Byzantium's M=4 Dromons. But if it turns out that the island extends substantially eastwards, there may be a more direct crossing available from our core, which does not involve sailing our ships near or through our (soon to be hostile) neighbours' waters.

*To recap: we have now met 6/7 of our rivals, five of them are on our landmass, and the nearest one is building Artemis for us (so we won't need Temples of our own as long as we avoid getting Educated for at least 5T after we capture it). This suggests to me that Domination should be easily achievable, if we can absorb Sumeria (and their Horses!) before our neighbours do.

Playing now...

 

[tjs282]

OK, I'm done.

But perhaps we should sign the military alliance now. He will still finish Artemis, it's only 3 more turns. Any chance, we can sign someone else up against Byzantium, now that America is no longer possible?

Signing an MA would only have been possible if we slowed research on Republic: I had to zero SCI% just to find out what Wang wanted for any MAs -- and that turned out to be at least half our income at TAX%=100%. So I did not sign any MAs, and I did carry on researching at SCI%=100%.

So we now know Republic -- but Dora bribed Wang into an MA on that same interturn, so I did not push the Big Red Revolution-Button, because I did not want to halt our production for an indeterminate period while we were still dealing with the Korean Zerg-rush.

Just to add insult to injury, Cleo and Dora also both learnt Rep on that same turn (I guess we made it cheaper for them?), so we could no longer sell it to anyone except Portugal. I bought Construction (most expensive AA tech) from Henry on a GPT-plan, so we can build Ducts in our dry towns, and wouldn't/won't have to pay him if he MA's against us as well.

And then Abe bribed Cleo, so we are now at war with Egypt instead. Dirty details follow...

Spoiler TLDR :

T 90, 750 BC
Nothing to do but hit ENTER...
IBT
Barb-Horse attacks defeated without loss
Kaz: Spear --> Archer
Alma: Archer --> Barracks
UlanB: --> Curragh

T 91, 730 BC
Settler + rAxe sent NNE to Plains near Alma
Kaz vSpear sent to Mand
Curragh sent S-E. No point giving Dora's Dromons the target-practice...
vArchers skewer 2 Barb-Horses on future Hill-town site NE of Mand, 3/5 eSpear + 3 more vArchers cover the winner (only 4 Barbs visible now); 2/4 vSpear swapped for 4/5 eSpear
We meet the Sumerians (south of Egypt): Gil happily pays his entire Treasury (215g) -- for the Wheel! He also has 13 towns (plus Ur), so he should have more to give us later (for HbR and/or Writing). And he also has Horses
Western Curragh will map Sumeria's W/S coast
Given that the windfall will not speed up Republic, I spend a large chunk of it to build Embassies with Korea (96g) and America (66g) --expensive, but now we can buy some allies vs. Byz. Between them, they also have 3 Luxes to buy (or steal!) once we're a Republic

MM around KK and TT to keep unit-builds on track: TT will riot at Pop5, new citz Geeked to postpone increasing LUX%-slider
Worker-orders:
Near TT: NE to river Grass near Volcano
Near Dal: begins mining Grass on river
Near Alma: N to BGrass for the new town
Near Dar: W to BGrass S/SE of Choy
IBT
Barbs run away!
TT: --> Archer
Koreans begin GLight!

T 92, 710 BC
TT's new Archer to Choy, in prep for removing rAxe
Workers near Kaz sent S to road river-Plains + BGrass near Volcanoes to provide more commerce, and enable stack-improvement later
Erdenet founded: BGrass-shield is wasted, so works the Fish --> Warrior (10T)
Wonder why KK is building rSpear? Switched to rArcher
IBT
Lincoln demands 23g! He has Sword(s?), but we are "Strong" vs. America so I call his bluff -- and he declares! More War-Happies for us, thanks!
KK: Archer --> Settler (3T)

T 93, 690 BC
Barb-camp near Mand smashed for 25g, eSpear + 2 more vArchers forwards to cover
Yankee DoW allows TT's Geek to go back to work
SE Curragh near Hovd heads out to Sea to avoid Barb-Galley
Scout meets Portugal, NE of Egypt: Henry has 206g, Maps, Poly, Currency and 10 towns (plus Lisbon)
And Korea now have Republic! We now need only 5T, but maybe it would be better to buy it now and use it to trade ourselves into the Mid-Age (everyone but Sumeria is there already...)?
Wang wants 40GPT + 93g for the remaining beakers (or 26-27 GPT for MAs vs. America and Byz)...
GAME SAVED for team-discussion
Decision made: we'll finish researching Rep ourselves
IBT
Henry complains about our Scout. Jeez, sensitive or what?
Kaz: --> Archer (3T)
UlanB: --> Curragh (3T)
Korea builds Artemis (in Seoul)!
Byzzies build HGard (in Co'ple)!
Byzzies begin GWall
Portuguese begin/switch to GLight
Yanks begin/switch to GWall

T 94, 670 BC
eSpear + vArchers move NE onto Hills
vSpear + rArchers head SE along Hills on fog-busting/ Barb-hunting mission
Eastern Curragh stays offshore to avoid Barb-Galley
Sumerian coastal-explorer will be forced to turn west soon...
Most recent Curragh-builds therefore sent to search for a direct crossing from UlanB to Sumeria
IBT
Barb-Horse skewered by our eSpear (another dies near Korea)
Koreans, Egyptians begin GWall!

T 95, 650 BC
Eastern Curragh returns to the Coast near Dar
Damn, forgot to reassign KK's Cow last turn: MM to avoid (too much) overun in TT, finish Settler-build in KK (forcing it to use a Mountain) and keep Archer-build in Kaz on 3T
Alma's Worker sent to Mand
CAII says Byz will now talk: Dora doesn't know Rep yet...
IBT
One Curragh sinks on the way to Sumeria
Gil complains about our Curragh on his west coast. Chill out dude, it's not loaded (yet...)
KK: Settler --> Archer
TT: --> Archer
Dar: Gran --> Settler

T 96, 630 BC
Curragh spots east coast of Sumeria! Seven-tile crossing = easy ship-chain from UlanB/Tab!
Settler sent to Mand
Kaz' Worker also sent to Mand
Redundant rAxe garrisons begin heading for Mand
MM KK, TT, and Kaz to tidy up builds
IBT
Eastern Curragh sunk by Barbs
Kaz: --> Archer
UlanB: --> Curragh
Hovd: --> Worker
Byzzies begin SunTzu!

T 97, 610 BC
Curragh sentried in UlanB for later upgrade
Workers on unroaded tiles begin roads, Worker begins irrigating Plains near Kaz
1T to Rep, and it's still a Korean monopoly
rAxes on Mand's Mountains start moving
GAME SAVED
IBT
Byz signs MA with Korea against us! Wang, you totally lived up to your name!
We learn Republic, but I don't revolt yet because we are going to need to be able to build stuff for the next 5-10T
Next project => Construction as placeholder (before trading)
Alma: Barracks --> Archer

T 98, 590 BC
Scout backtracks south to escape Barb-camp (with Horse)
OH CRAP!!! Egypt + Byz both just got Rep as well!
Only Portugal (and America?) now lacks it, but Henry will now do a direct swap for only Poly, Maps OR Currency, and has no cash to make up the difference
I therefore buy Construction (for Rep + 30g + 4gpt) to discourage Henry from dogpiling us, and sell Writing to Gil (70g)
Treasury = 78g, research switched to Maps (cheapest remaining Ancient tech) in 6T at SCI% = 100% (-23 gpt)
We'll go broke in 4T, but we're also going to be losing some units soon
Tabriz Temple-build switched to Duct (9T); cheap Harbour can then be built at Pop6, to get us to Pop7
IBT
Yanks sign MA with Egypt!
Barbs sink Curragh on east coast of Sumeria
KK: Archer --> Settler
TT: --> Archer

T 99, 570 BC
Six(?) rAxes disbanded in Mand, Court now in 16T
IBT
Kaz: --> Archer
UlanB: -->Curragh
Portuguese begin GWall

T 100, 550 BC
Worker sent to road polluted BGrass near Alma
rAxe fortified in Mand to keep order at Pop3
Spears + Archers fortified on Hills north of Mand: incoming Korean rAxe visible
GAME SAVED

Handoff:

The next player will get all the fun of warfare against the Korean hordes. A lone rAxe is already visible 2NE of our Spear+Archer wall (on the Hills NE of Mandalgovi); he may attack the wall, or he may bypass.

There is also a Settler on the Hills NE of Mand, who should found our next town next turn. There are 2 Workers roading tiles towards that Hill. The Worker on the Desert will finish this interturn, and should then road the Flood to give us our first continuous road to the front; the Worker on the Hill will need another 4T to finish his road, but then we can reach the front without crossing a River

As @Lanzelot already noted, tile-assignments around KK, Kaz and Tatu need to be adjusted every couple of turns!

KK is now building another Settler at Pop6 and 10SPT. It needs the Cow (4FPT, 1SPT) for only 2 turns of the 3 needed for the Settler-build.

I think, it doesn't now matter on which of the 3 turns the Cow is given to TT, but on the last turn of the Settler-build, KK should be MM'd to 9SPT, and a 1-SPT tile must be left free for the new 7th citizen, to obtain the 10th shield-on-growth. This can be achieved e.g. by ensuring that all KK's available FPT-tiles are being worked by its neighbours, which will force it to use one of the Mountains for the 7th Citizen. It will then complete the Settler and drop back to Pop5, and can start building an rArcher (or rSpear) at 7 SPT.

Now that we are at war with Korea (who will likely have Feudalism soon -- if they don't already, since it is now known to the Byzzies), we need to keep churning out vArchers (and occasional Spears?) from our Rax-towns. Some Cats might also be useful.

I would suggest trying to make peace with Korea and Egypt ASAP, since those wars are giving us no WHappies. Once we've dealt with Wang's SoD, if we still have enough to take Cheju and/or Chinje, Wang might even become willing to pay us...

Although Dora and Abe are now willing to talk, we would have to pay them for peace -- and would then lose their WHappies. So don't sign peace with them before we've done them some damage (or vice versa)!

We have a relative short ship-chain route from UlanB/Tabriz to Sumeria, so Ulan is currently stockpiling Curraghs for upgrading. Of course we can't import any Resources from Sumeria until we have Astronomy (and better relations with our neighbours!), but once we have a beachhead over there (and have revolted to Republic!), we could maybe cash-rush Horsemen, and then ship-chain them back...?

I changed Tabriz's Temple-build to a Duct. Once it's done with that (a Worker is already on the Forest tile to chop, irrigate and road the coastal Plains all the way up to Dalandzagad), it should build a Harbour to get it to Pop7 with the Coastal tiles it already has access to, and then Galleys.

Save is attached...

 

[Lanzelot]

so I did not push the Big Red Revolution-Button, because I did not want to halt our production for an indeterminate period while we were still dealing with the Korean Zerg-rush.

Sorry, but that was not smart (not to say stupid). Couldn't you discuss this in the team? We could have revolted 4 turns ago (if you count the interturn, where you discovered Rep)! We pressed for Rep as hard as we could, and then we are not using it??? And the longer we delay the revolt, the longer our anarchy will be. (And the more it will hurt, because our towns are bigger and therefore the amount of gold and shields lost is higher.)

And why? There is a single Korean warrior approaching our borders. It'll be at least 15 turns, before any significant number of units start appearing, and we should have enough archers to deal with those for a while. And with the Republic online, we can always cash-rush a unit here or there, if things get rough. With Republic, we will become powerful and can handle anything. In Despotism, this game will definitely go downhill quickly.

BTW: we don't get WH for Dows that were the result of a military alliance. So we have WH from Byzantium and America, but not from Egypt and Korea. --> Ergo make peace with these two as soon as it is reasonable (meaning they don't want an arm and a leg for it).

Also I am not sure, whether researching MM was the right decision. The AI has it already, so why research it? My preferred strategy would be:

• Revolt immediately (or rather: 4 turns ago... )
• Set research to zero, waiting until we see clearer, what we can trade and what not. (Or maybe go for Literature after all? The AI tends to neglect it for a long time. Perhaps even the GLib elevator may be an option to consider in these dire circumstances?!)
  
• Use the gold for cash-rushing important things
• Use the extra food for setting up a pure 4-turn settler-pump and two 2-turn worker pumps
• Then the game'll get off the ground.