To recap, I had settled my capital 2 tiles east in a bad spot. In 875 BC T80, I completed the Great Lighthouse.
I believe that I'm on a continent with only Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia and Shaka of Zululand. My France is in the west, Ethiopia is in the center, and Zululand must be in the east. In 800 BC, Shaka converts to Buddhism. I don't know who founded Buddhism, so Shaka must have met a 4th civ. Either the continent is larger than I guessed, or Buddhism crossed the sea.
In 550 BC T93, I settle la
Jungleville (6th city, 7 tiles north of my capital). My new city is unhealthy and would lose 1 food per turn, but isn't in starvation; I guess that cities can't starve below size 1. I soon bring Workers to connect a road (+4 health from clam, corn, cow, fish) and chop jungle. After I learn Calendar in 275 BC T104, I build plantations for dye and spices. In 250 BC T105, Ethiopia steals 3 tiles from la Jungleville's 1st ring; I lose rice and dye. In response, I hurry the Monument in la Jungleville. I guess that the city 5 tiles east of la Jungleville got its 3rd border expansion.
In 175 BC T108, I settle
la Plage Loin (badly named 7th city, near marble, northwest of Surcolline) and also meet Gilgamesh of Sumeria, the founder of Buddhism, who has a scout near Ethiopia's capital. I agree to export a clam and fish and import a gold from Gilgamesh, who has only 3 cities total. I now have 3 cities on Ethiopia's border: la Plage Loin in the northwest, la Jungleville in the center, and la Vache de l'Est.
But I don't like the city name "la Plage Loin", because "loin" isn't an adjective in my dictionary. I change it to la
Plage Éloignée.
In 125 BC T110, I learn Alphabet, so I can see the techs of the 3 other known civs. I am the only civ with either Alphabet or Calendar. The Zara is also missing Mathematics. Some of them have Archery, Meditation, or Polytheism. Shaka has Horseback Riding. Gilgamesh has Metal Casting and Construction.
I have found the Hindu holy city of le Gondar, 3 north and 1 east of la Vache de l'Est, and 5 east of la Jungleville. Holy cities get extra culture, which explains why I lost the 3 eastern tiles of the 1st ring of la Jungleville, and why I can't grab the ivory (now 60% Ethiopian 39% French) in the 1st ring of la Vache E. To fix this problem, I would declare war on the Zara and conquer le Gondar. I need Construction (for Catapults to bombard the 60% defense) and Engineering (for Pikemen to have a chance against War Elephants), but I decide to research Currency before Construction. I don't know whether it is better to skip Currency. I want Currency because it might speed up my research, when it adds 1 trade route to each city, and allows trading gold with other civs.
I have room for 3 more cities. I settle la
Fin de la Terre (8th city, 1 AD T115, on a rice tile in the far west), la
Sansvache (9th city, 1 AD T115, between la Jungleville and Reine), and la
Dauphinville (10th city, 25 AD T116, south of Reine). La Sansvache has no resources and la Dauphinville can only take the copper from Reine.
I settle la Fin de la Terre on top of rice, because I don't want to lose the clams. La Plage Éloignée must be 3 tiles away from la Debre Berhan in Ethiopia, and must be close enough to its clam. Then la Fin de la Terre must be 3 tiles away from la Plage Éloignée; but the only way to do this, and reach the other clam, is to settle on rice. (If la Debre Berhan would be 1 tile east, I would not settle on rice.) I build Monuments in both la Plage Éloignée and la Fin de la Terre, because I want quick culture, but I can't make a Hindu Missionary.
As my Scout moves east, I find all other civs: Suryavarman II of Cambodia in 25 AD T116, Willem van Oranje of the Netherlands in 50 AD T117, Tokugawa of Japan in 225 AD T124. Everyone is on my continent. I forgot to read the map spoiler, so I don't know whether the map might be Pangaea or Terra.
I learn Currency in 75 AD T118. I sell Alphabet and Mysticism to Shaka, who pays 20 gold and stops trading with the Zara. I sell a spice to Gilgamesh, who pays 2 gold per turn. Shaka and Gilgamesh have Construction; Suryavarman and I have Currency; Willem and I have Calendar. On later turns, I continue to collect more gold from trades. For example, I trade with Suryavarman to get Meditation, and sell Meditation to Willem, who pays 40 gold.
I learn Construction in 175 AD T122, but then I need to detour to Metal Casting and Machinery before I can research Engineering. In 350 AD T129, the Zara learns Theocracy and founds Christianity in Debre Barhan. In other games, the founder of Christianity often builds the Apostolic Palace. In this game, I might need to defy the Apostolic Palace if it would stop my future war against the Zara. Also in 350 AD T129, I revolt to adopt Hereditary Rule and Organized Religion.
In 375 AD T130, I have 10 cities and rank 1st in crop yield. Shaka has 11 cities; Willem has 9 cities; Suryavarman has 8 cities; the Zara has 8 cities; Tokugawa has 7 cities; Gilgamesh has 5 cities. I put all my espionage weight on Suryavarman, because his Cambodia is nearby (the next civ east of Ethiopia), large, and near the front of the tech race.
Gilgamesh completes the Mausoleum of Mausolos in 475 AD, so I get 245 gold for failing to build it in la Palourdbeaucoup. My border with Ethiopia moves in 500 AD T135, as la Jungleville takes back the rice and dye in its 1st ring, but loses the banana in its 2nd ring.
I whip the slaves and hurry Forges in 4 cities in 520 AD T136. This costs 3 population in each of la Surcolline, la Vache de l'Ouest, la Palourdbeaucoup; 2 population in Reine. I will chop my civ's last 2 forest tiles to get the Forge in la Sansvache. I now rank 4th in population but 1st in crop yield.
The 1st war of the game begins in 540 AD.
"Willem van Oranje declares war on Tokugawa! Shaka declares war on Tokugawa! Zara Yaqob declares war on Tokugawa!" It can't be an Apostolic Palace war, because the AP isn't built; I guess that 1 of Willem, Shaka, or the Zara gave gold or techs to bring the other 2 civs into the war. I would like to attack the Zara, but I have only 2 Catapults, and want time to build more units.
In 620 AD T141, I shrink la Palourdbeaucoup from size 12 to 6 to hurry the
Colossus, which is complete in 640 AD T142, at the cost of 2 unhappy for twice whipping the slaves. I like the extra commerce in my coastal cities from both the Colossus and the Great Lighthouse.
In 660 AD T143, I learn Engineering. I want Civil Service for Maceman, and Guilds for Knights, but because Civil Service also spreads irrigation, I decide to get Civil Service before Guilds: I research Feudalism, then Civil Service, then Horseback Riding, then Guilds. I learn Civil Service in 800 AD T150 and Guilds in 940 AD T157.
The help, Game Concepts, Irrigation, only says, "Civil Service enables irrigated farms to become a source of irrigation themselves." There is more to know. I had a previous game where a tundra farm didn't spread irrigation. I now believe that only grassland and plains can spread irrigation. Also, a city on grassland or plains can spread irrigation. This is how I can irrigate the corn southeast of la Palourdbeaucoup.
The corn farm isn't by fresh water. (It is near the head of a river, but the river flows away from the corn.) I am spreading irrigation from the river north of Reine. The river gives fresh water to the grassland farm of northwest of Reine. The farm spreads irrigation to Reine. The hills west and east of Reine would block irrigation, but Reine itself is a plains city, so Reine spreads irrigation to the grassland farm southwest of Reine. Finally, that farm spreads irrigation to the corn. (Other players probably don't have a city on Reine's tile, so they might put a plains farm there.) I have also spread irrigation through la Jungleville (a grassland city) to irrigate a corn.
I learn Banking in 1020 AD T162. It is about time to start my war against Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia. I might win my war, because I am 1st in crop yield and 2nd in production (and only 1 hammer behind 1st). My 12 Workers have improved most of my tiles. I am getting hammers from 15 of my 16 mines. (I have no workshops and 1 waterwheel.) For techs, I got Engineering, Civil Service, and Guilds by research; and Literature, Philosophy, and Paper by trade. I want to open two fronts.
At the northern front, I want my units from la Plage Éloignée and la Jungleville to attack the Christian holy city of la Debre Barhan. I have 4 Catapults in this area. My culture has retaken the bananas from the Zara.
At the eastern front, I want my stack from la Vache de l'Est to attack the Hindu holy city of le Gondar, site of the Kashi Vishwanath (a great source of gold). I have 5 Catapults here. I never got the ivory in the 1st ring of la Vache E; its tile is now 55% Ethopian and 44% French.
The war might go badly. My army of 9 Catapults, 6 Pikemen, 3 Macemen, 5 Axemen, 4 Chariots might be too small. (I also have 2 Triremes.) My cities might become unhappy, because the Zara has the Statue of Zeus. The Zara or Suryavarman will probably complete a Hindu Apostolic Palace, so they might force me to either stop the war or defy the AP. Most of my cities have Hinduism, and to defy the AP would be to add 5 unhappy in each Hindu city. As soon as I begin the war, the hostile Ethiopia will cut my trade with all foreign civs. I have Banking so I can adopt Mercantilism, good when I have no foreign trade. I will also adopt Vassalage; but I can't adopt Theocracy. Ethiopia is already a Theocracy, and the Zara's units have more XP than my units. Ethiopia can build War Elephants. Even if I pillage the 2 nearest ivory camps, the Zara has 2 more.
The Zara has made peace with Tokugawa, but their civs are far apart, so they wouldn't fight much. Willem and Shaka are continuing their war against Tokugawa. This game had no other wars. The continent is large, probably Pangaea. Every civ has converted to Hinduism or Buddhism. I share Hinduism with the Zara and Suryavarman, who are both friendly toward me (but I hate how the Zara's culture pushes my border). 3 of 4 Buddhist civs are pleased toward me, but Tokugawa is annoyed. This is in 1020 AD T162 before I declare the war.
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