BOTM 262: Saladin of Arabia.
[img=right]https://gotm.civfanatics.net/civ4games/images/botm262civ.jpg[/img]You will play on Prince difficulty level, with a rocky fractal map and medium sea level. Goody huts closer than 8 tiles from your starting position have been removed.
Game settings:
Playing as: Saladin of Arabia
Rivals: 6 AIs
Difficulty: Prince
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: No vassal states
Victory Conditions: All enabled
Map settings:
Map: Fractal, Rocky, Medium sea level
World Wrap: Cylindrical
Mapsize: Standard
Climate: Rocky
Sea level: Medium
Map latitudes: -90°S to 90°N
Saladin is Protective and Spiritual, and you start with Mysticism and The Wheel.
The Protective trait gives free City Garrison I and Drill I promotion for archery and gunpowder units and double production speed of Castle and Walls
The Spiritual trait gives no anarchy and double production speed of Temple and Cristo Redentor
Unique unit: Camel Archer (replaces Knight)
The camel archer is slightly more likely to survive combat than the knight, since it has a 15% withdrawal chance. But its real strength is that it requires no resources to build (the knight requires both iron and horses). The camel archer does require you to have researched archery, which isn't necessary for the horse archer - but that probably won't be an issue by the time you have the other pre-requisites of guilds and horseback-riding!
Unique Building: Madrassa (replaces Library)
The madrassa gives extra culture: +4/turn instead of the +2/turn of the library. And where the library lets you turn two citizens into scientists, the madrassa lets you run two scientists AND two priests! Hope your city has lots of food!
Starting screenshot
This is the start of the game (click for a bigger image):

Adventurer Class bonuses:
No adventurer class
Challenger Class Equalizers:
Play the game at Immortal difficulty level if you need a bigger challenge. Opponents start with Prince level units, however.
To Enter the Competition:
This competition will open at 00:01 am on 15 Nov 2023, server local time (UTC-6:00). From that date and time, you'll be able to get your chosen starting save >>>here<<<.
Submit the save after your victory (or defeat) here, by 15 Dec 2023.
Here is a link to a list of the differences between Vanilla, Warlords and BtS.
Software Versions
Windows: This game MUST be played in Beyond the Sword (NOT Civ4 Vanilla or Warlords), patched to version 3.19, and with the BUFFY mod version 3.19.005 installed. You can download the BUFFY mod here. Players using Windows Vista or Windows 7 are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.
Macintosh: This game MUST be played in Beyond the Sword (NOT Civ4 Vanilla or Warlords), patched to version 3.19, and with the Mac BUFFY mod version 3.19.003 installed. You can download the Mac BUFFY mod here.
While playing...
Remember - for your entry to be accepted, it MUST be your first attempt to play this game, and you MUST NOT replay any turns. If you make a mistake while playing, you have to live with it, learn from it, and carry on the game without replaying.
We will open 'spoiler' threads during the month for players to discuss what happens in their games. Do not discuss any details of your game outside those threads.