NCG 5-The Revenge of the Ottomans

[vicawoo]

Definitely not for horses, since you don't have any horses. Organized religion might not be so bad if you get religion in the right places. But I'd hang on to civil service until he's close to it or if he can trade for it from someone else. Research paper, as it's cheap and not worth a full great scientist.

Since you're organized, I'd focus on city management, figuring out what city fills what role, and even expand a little more to fill up your island. Bigger, more developed empire means you win in the end.

 

[Hackapell]

Round 6: 890 AD to 1256 AD
Wow, Vicawoo, I think I hit all the things you asked for.
I started by trading:

perhaps not the greatest trade, but Mansa cut off quite a few turns on the proposed beeline, so I didn't feel too bad. at the end of the round, he still didn't have machinery, so no macemen for you!
I noticed the barbs had settled intelligently on the southern coast, but my matinence was still to high for me to keep it, so my axes had a field day:

Maybe I'll upgrade them to macemen so I can have some escort with my Janissaries, 'phants and Trebs.
I continued he specialization of my cities. Novgorod became the HE city:

and therefore, my GG had one place to go:

He's now a military instructor, so level 3 units out of the gate in Novgorod.
Meanwhile, a GS sprung from Istanbul and bulbed Philo:

and taoism was founded in Edirne:

Therefore, I began spreading both Taoism and Confucisanism throughout my my Empire. I'm not sure which religion will become my state religion, or whether it will matter. It's a good source of happiness, so no complaints here!

My next GS bulbed Paper, since I was focused on the beeline.

Having bought Mansa's map for 80 gold; I can now give you the core of Mali.

Note that there is one city just below Kumbi Saleh, Tekkada.
With my economy roaring back, I settled a small fishing village and the old barb city I razed at the beginning of the round:

I finished the beeline to Engineering:

And traded Philo to Mansa for Feudalism and 40 gold, just for a leg up on gunpowder.
The round ended with the discovery of Guilds.

now, normally, I would've continued towards Banking, like I planned. But something caught my eye:

Gunpowder's available. I switched research to that, but I have a GS next turn. Should I tech throught Edu to make gunpowder cheaper? Another thing to think about is how to ferry over our troops. We don't have compass ( Mansa had it the whole time and even on friendly wouldn't gift it to me)
and don't you need Optics to get Astronomy? I see that we could beeline Astronomy after Edu, pick up Nationalism, DoW on Mansa, and take Demo as our free tech from Lib.
Of course the choices are up to you. Here's the save.

 

[Hackapell]

knock, knock.

 

[vicawoo]

You need constitution and printing press for democracy. Printing press, you can get 2/3 of it with a GS.
I'd be a little worried about everyone else. How close are you to domination? Conquest might be really hard if they're on other continents.
Do you need astronomy (do you have to cross oceans)? You can draft jannissaries and upgrade your axemen to grenadiers while building fleets if you want to take out mansa musa. You went engineering, so you're pretty much going for chemistry as it is.

 

[Hackapell]

I actually need astronomy for two reasons. First, to explore and prepare to conquer the other continent. Second, to build the galleon fleet I need in order to conquer Mansa efficiently. So I have a plan. I will build galleys for now, then, when I hit Astro, I will upgrade and save up to upgrade all my axemen to grenadiers. After the conquest of Mansa, I will already have a fleet that I can use to transport my army to the other continent. another thing I thought about was the fact that the AI on the other continent may be ahead, seeing as they're trading among themselves. Therefore, I've decided that democracy as our free tech is too optomistic, and I will aim for constitution and Rep. then, I will grab Grens, frigates, and cav, and attack until I have enough land for dom.

 

[Hackapell]

I've played the next round, will update soon

 

[Hackapell]

Round 7: 1256 AD to 1418 AD
A very rare event happened this round, mostly because I let it. I apoligize for any moves I might have made. I'm learning here too, so bear with me.
I changed my tech path to Education:

and peformed this trade with MM:

a little idiotic , but I needed to get a leg up on astronomy. Plus, He was going to die anyway, it was a matter of time.
I lightbulbed Edu to shave off 17 turns:

and finished that, continuing towards optics for contacts and trade.

I made a civics swap in order to expand my infrastructure and take advantage of organized's half-priced civics:

I don't need pacifism now. It was costing me too much thanks to my military build-up.
Mansa, however, was busy settling land and making me angry.

Also, around this time, Islam was founded. I panicked, figuring that the other continent was way ahead, and that I would need land NOW to catch up.at that point, I should have stopped and taken a breath, but I forged on, making in retrospect, sloppy moves.
Therefore, it's been nice knowing you, Mansa, but party's over.

I razed all the squattters except Walata, which was a good port city.
I also met the neighbors and gained the circumnavigation bonus:

Wang I haven't met before in my games, but I already hate him more than Mansa. He has Tech parity with me and is protective, so dislodging him will be a pain.

Gandhi, eh? Cool.

Qin was the one who discovered Islam, and also has most of the wonders

Ugh, Chronic backstabber. You're first once I get calvary and Jans.
And no, my mother was not a hamster, and my father did not smell of elderberries.
As an aside, everyone else on the other continent is at about the same point; they don't have paper, philo, or optics.

I grabbed Lib, but at a steep price

yes, Bactrian was razed. I neglected to upgrade my defenders in time, so I lost it. Hoever, It did lower my maitinece, so my economy got a break.
My plan now is simple: Tech Demo and chem, build Grens, Jans, and Cavs. Finish the conversion to CE, consolidate the conquered lands, and destroy someone else, all to be done at the same time.
Thoughts?
I wil also be out until the 2nd, and will try to finish the game by the weekened, so keep that in mind.
Here's the save.

 

[vicawoo]

Wiping out some outlier cities isn't going to hurt mansa musa much (might even help him). You needed some foothold on his continent, and perhaps some naval superiority.

Divine right isn't that high tech and not a priority for humans (except for trade value), but computers tend to prioritize it. It's pretty ambitious to launch an invasion on the other continent if you haven't taken out mansa first. You can't reinforce, there's a good chance they'll have decent defense (at least cav/janissary level) by the time you attack or at worst have taken 3-4 cities, and they might dogpile you.

 

[Hackapell]

Have returned from a vacation, will update soon...