SIP. Mining and workboat to start with as worker first would have had little to do after improving the wheat.
Boat out T13, researching BW. Build worker.
BW in T24. Revealing copper in BFC.
Just us and Mansa looking at the espionage screen – potentially an interesting guy for semi-isolation given that he’s the only one who will definitely trade with me in these circumstances and is generally peaceful but can plot at pleased.
I go for another boat so that my second city will have something to do. Tech TW, AH. 4-2 pop whip for a ridiculously late first settler on T43.
Second city goes 3W of capital. Really nice land that’s quite easy to fogbust leading to minimal barbarian troubles with the help of a phalanx. Writing for cheap libraries next, then masonry for a very late attempt at The Pyramids.
58 failgold for Pyramids. Gambling my first great scientist on bulbing maths to get Pyramids out wasn’t good value.
This is more or less my empire. Eventually acquired Cherokee with a little army of phalanxes that could then be used for MP. He offered me Tadmekka on T98 but I didn’t want the maintenance – it’s a really annoying settle from my perspective! I had spy points on Mansa but still difficult to get techs he didn’t have and only managed a few trades with him – did have him at pleased making it pretty safe (but not guaranteed) that he wouldn’t attack.
Ghandi traded me alphabet and 80 gold for calendar on T141 and I bulbed optics and astronomy.
The next part went really well for me. Traded techs with Ghandi whilst only Mansa could see. Sold my map to everyone at the same time for a lot of gold having circumnavigated despite Ghandi’s head start and somehow doing all this managed to more or less lock Mansa out of the trading game by leaving him too far behind.
Moved my palace down to Corinth and built Oxford. Having education I put a few turns into lib just because I could. Hoped to lib steel but had to go for constitution as a trade chip when it became obvious I couldn’t hold out long enough. Abused philosophical for a couple of golden ages and then got unlucky on producing great scientists too many times for a third golden age until much later in the game.
Built Globe Theatre. Workshop economy with a bit of drafting and ready for war T197. Made sure nobody could be bribed in against me. Was aware Ghandi was going for culture and felt there was plenty of time to stop that.
Washington was far ahead in tech, building all the wonders and not well liked. I hoped that I could go diplo after taking out Mansa as I was well liked for all my tech trading and with Mansa’s land would be the biggest player. I took Mansa’s less good cities first on the basis that if I took his only source of iron he couldn’t build cuirassiers or cannons. He somehow got a few cannons anyway but it didn’t really help him.
Irritatingly halfway through the war Qin peace vassaled to Cyrus spoiling my diplo plans. I built a couple of dry docks in Athens and Sparta and pumped galleons to take my army to Ghandi after Mansa.
Mansa fell for minimal losses and not far off ready to take Ghandi. Decided to get destroyers first for bombardment.
Ghandi was considerably tougher than Mansa. Declared T238. Captured a beachhead city and immediate ceasefire. Redeclared T250 and slow advance under aerial bombardment and facing tanks but enough artillery, and infantry and a wimpy victim leads to success anyway.
