Playthrough on the Great - finished

[Araneya]

Since I started playing Old World in April I've fallen in love with this game. I've started doing different challenges and trying out multiplayer through the Discord. In this thread I'd like to share a game on some of the hardest settings while I play through it. I got the "Hardcore" achievement recently through an ambition victory so this time I'll aim to win through points.

Most other settings are set at what is expected. I could make it a bit easier by changing the turns to semesters or by showing pendings crits. Points to win set to high would also give us more time to catch up.

We're starting as Kush with the dynasty leader Piye, a Fervent Zealot who gains Militia when spreading Paganism. With all the DLC installed, this game could show some of the newer features. Kush is also a nation without the Champions family and their Steadfast units, which makes the early game battles a bit more difficult. But hopefully our Zealot should be able to help out in that area. I often go with starting leaders with some Wisdom so this game our science will need to come from other sources. Starting with Divination we can get some early Acolytes with their nice 2 science as urban specialists.

Our starting site is has a lot of goats and on the huge 90x90 map we're slightly above the center. Right now I'm thinking that I could follow the Hypanis river north to find some coast. We're next to mountains so our first quarries will be extra efficient. There are some furs to the south, but maybe theres another city site closer to them. But a Hunters Capital would give the Sentinel promotion to any ranged units we gain through research. Artisans could also be strong with all the possible mines and lumbermills, and it is common to build many urban buildings in the capital. Landowners seem strong as well, with the growth helping out a lot to get the early settlers and workers going. Only Traders doesn't seem very suited to this location.

In the end I decide to go for the Hunters and use the starting shrine from the leader to reach the furs. Maybe I'll be able to snag Zoroastrianism with a second city being Artisans. I chop the forest in the shrine tile so it is not wasted, and assign my leader as a general in order to start attacking the nearby Barbarian camp for 7 hp a turn. It turns out that there was another site near the fur so a Landowners capital could in hindsight have been better for this map, leaving the Hunters for the southern location.

We're offered Ironworking, Administration and Polis as our options for research. Polis could be interesting to get to Forestry faster and the nice bonus cards there. I decide to go for Ironworking on the way to Husbandry, which also lets us get around to Aristocracy faster. Aristocracy would give us our first law, our unique building the Kushite pyramids, and enable the Ambassador, in case we need to sweet-talk our way out of any early warmongers. With the advanced staring development for the AI, early wars usually don't go well at this difficulty.

Looking towards early tech-goals, Portcullis is an interesting beeline, since the Kush families lean towards espionage with only Landowners lacking Schemers. Citizenship with Divine Law and Monasticism with Polytheism are also very valuable together with the Pyramids and the Kush shrines.

What family and starting tech would you go for?

 

[Araneya]

Turn 2 I hit the Barbarian camp and start the Farm on the Sorghum resource. Turn 3 I am also able to start moving the Scout towards the Ancient Ruins. The Pagan Matriarch is right now the only other available governor, but as a Timid Orator it's not very interesting. The opinion boost for being a governor isn't needed either since she is in love with the leader. Turn 4 I clear the camp and gain 50 food as a bonus. We meet the Scythians which also have a Zealot leader. The contact event gives us the option to influence the leader and gaining Bone Dice. A pleased Tribe could give some benefits later on and let me focus on other fronts. The Scout harvests the Elephants on the way to the ruins but no event this time.

In the ruins I choose to gain slums and another worker over some orders and another scout. The new worker begins building a camp on the furs and I continue scouting in the direction of the river. Turn 6 I start moving the Settler, begin building a quarry with the idle worker and start an Acolyte in the capital. Turn 7 Kawa is founded and I buy an order for 100 training to start a growth shrine as soon as possible.

There is a builder that could be interesting as a governor, altough with the limited civics right now it would delay our first law.

The Thracian camp in the northeast could be the next target for the slinger. Kawa starts building another worker until the shrine is done. Our heir starts his studies in Philosopy, which together with the new city increases our total science rate from 4 to a total of 6 per turn. Every little bit counts right now!

Next turn we get a choice of ambitions. Although ambitions can't win us the game, the legitimacy is still valuable. I go for promoting a unit 5 times over clearing 3 camps, researching 6 technologies, or doing none of them and gain 20 experience. As a Zealot I should be able to gain the necessary training together with the experience gained from fighting. I start another quarry since the fur camp is done and heal my leader to prepare for meeting the Thracians.

Turn 9 I start the second Acolyte and the worker in Kawa begins building farms on the two barley resources. I also see that there is a second child in the family which promptly starts Commerce studies. The heir becomes disappointed and frugal when I don't fund his wish for tools.

Turn 10 a drought starts and we meet the Thracians. Gaining additional science and an ambition seems better than becoming cunning or declaring war without a bonus to legitimacy. Selling some wood lets us buy food imports cheaper than the normal price and start another settler in the capital.

Next turn we continue exploring and meet Boadica in another ruins. Since this is realistic mortality and she starts at age 30 I decide to go for the tech. She also can't go on the Militia we gained from Paganism spreading to Kawa, triggering the leaders ability. There's also a second Scythian camp in the southeast. Right now I want to find another camp in the north for my slinger to start fighting.

Turn 12 comes and our daughter Shepenut is not doing well in her Commerce studies. Instead of giving her +1 to charisma and becoming extravagant, I decide to gain an extra discipline on the leader and bringing he back from the studies, with the chance of her becoming bitter. Instead we'll see if the third in line is better at commerce. We find another Thracians camp on the other side of the Marrah mountains pass and continue with the farms in Kawa.

Next turn we learn that Rome has begun constructing the Jerwan Aqueduct. As a favor I also accept some stone from the Artisan oligarch instead of him becoming estranged. Looking at the wonders, none of them look very appealing and I think the stone will be better used for urban buildings.

I continue exploring and find more ruins and a vandal site that seems to be by the sea. The Good Fences event from the ruins give the choice between trading 140 wood for Animal Husbandry, 36 wood for 280 food, or gaining a farmer in Kawa for no cost. Contacting the Vandals could give us 110 iron or we could declare war for 6 legitimacy. Since there are usually 2 barbarian camps close to you at the start I believe that the second should be up the river northeast of the capital. It would be possible to chop some wood and sell other resources to get the necessary wood for the tech, probably taking the iron from the Vandals. The pastures would be helpful after the drought but with the farms we already have and the lush terrain I don't think we will be lacking for food. There are also shrines, quarries and barracks to be built. I decide to go for the farmer specialist, which gives another point to our science rate and an extra tile into Kawas borders. I accept the iron from the Vandals since warriors will be better than slingers in all this forest and we have the ambition to make peace with a tribe. Even though it will probably be the Scythians we make peace with, it is good to have some options. War and legitimacy will come eventually. I start building a barracks in Napata.

Next turn the drought ends and the Hunters oligarch is worried about food security. I decide to disappoint her instead of taking on the ambition to stockpile 2000 food. Maybe if we had Animal Husbandry it would be possible but right now it is too much. The Hunters are still cautions since they are pagan and the enamored matriarch boosts that opinion by 120. The Vandal camp looks great for a Trader city. Looking at the tech options, Stone boost is always nice but I don't want to delay Aristocracy. I start a warrior in Kawa after the Acolyte finishes, further delaying the second worker.

Turn 15 we found Zoroastrianism and gain civics by learning more of their ways, saving 70 stone and not boosting the opinion. We get offered the option to convert to it immediately, which we do instead of refusing and damaging the opinion. The disappointed heir is 18 and isn't offered any of the guvernor archetypes to go with his frugal strength. I decide to go with Zealot instead of Tactician, boosting his opinion. The tutor Kartir gives us another ambition that is quite easy to achieve.

I also find another Vandal camp, not a barbarian one.

Looking at the state of the game so far with 15 turns played, we're in decent shape. The ambitions look alright, and with +95 training per turn the promotion ambition is easily done, as long as we have more than one unit that can be promoted.

The next city is probably going into the empty site south of Napata. When it's founded, the fur tiles could be traded to Napata, unless it's also a Hunter city and the choice of a third family is delayed. In any case, it is probably not a good Traders seat. I might want to wait with deciding until the scout explores the other side of the Volcano.

Any civics gained should go to adopting a state religion, assigning an ambassador, making peace with a tribe and adopting our first law, probably Centralization. Might want to hold off on making additional specialists until that is done and focus on expanding our territory.

The science rate is still poor, but gaining Military Drill for free means we are not so far behind the desired rate.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Solver]

Reading this with interest!

 

[Araneya]

Continuing with the game, the capital Napata reaches Developing culture level. We could become a judge, which is tempting, but the Misthophoria for 360 gold seems like a better deal. I will need about 900 training for promotions and I don’t think I will have the orders for holding court. Rushing things as a Zealot is also a nice option to have.

We also find the second barbarian camp and I move closer to start clearing it.

Turn 17 and Judaism is founded in Persia. One Skirmisher moves close to the slinger and hits me. I hit back for 10 hp and begin building a mine in artisan Kawa.

Turn 18 and the third in line has a Bookish demeanor. This time I decide to not disappoint an heir and give her 240 gold and roll the dice on her becoming either Eloquent, Romantic, Inspiring or Extravagant. She becomes Inspiring. I also find another ruins with Religious Carvings.

Next turn the barbarian Marauder comes up and we exchange a hit each, giving me enough experience to level up. I move my scout to make a better decision next turn of what family to choose for the third city. In the end I go with another Hunter city to easily move the furs, keep the extra citizen from the settler, and make use of my extra worker in the capital.

I also level up and decide to go with Herbalist to save some turns and orders when we need to heal.

Turn 20 we get 4 events. I decide to adopt Zoroastrianism, completing the ambition. We also get to marry off the heir for peace, completing another ambition but becoming unpopular in the process. We also gain 100 civics for when we refuse a pagan demand from the Hunters family. Duchess Artaha, third in line, finishes her commerce studies and becomes a diplomat instead of a schemer, so that I might be able to make use of her inspiring trait.

The completed ambitions give us the Able cognomen, increasing our legitimacy all the way up to 58. We also buy one of the Fur tiles for the capital. I continue scouting a bit further south but for now I think it’s better to focus our orders on clearing the camps within the enclosed valley, going for the Vandals now that the ambition for peace is done.
I decide to promote the Slinger with Warden instead of Ranger, in order to be stronger on the urban tiles next to the camps, or when defending our cities.

Turn 21 the developing city event in Kawa attracts another Magus and the bitter builder marries a spoiled and deceitful hero in order to keep the Hunters happy.

Next turn a rebel slinger forms in Napata, on the slums. I defend the city with the leader, using the new warden promotion on the shrine tile. Workers start another mine in Kawa and a second fur camp.

With a warrior finishing the next turn in Kawa and the additional orders for my legitimacy, I’m thinking that maybe I’ll have time to go for the vandal city site with four pearls next, waiting a bit with the barbarians.

Turn 22 Another rebel slinger forms, this time in Kawa. The new warrior moves into position and the Artisan oligarch gets assigned as general in order to move the family opinion from upset to cautious. I get an event that increases the Zoroastrian opinion. I finish the first rebel and start another barracks in the capital.

Next turn I move and heal the leader slinger. There are a few orders to use. Since we’re already 52 I we might die soon and seeking political allies might not be worth the cost. There are some interesting governors available, like our inspiring Diplomat daughter. But in the end I decide to save the civics for our first law and continue exploring in the southwest. Aristocracy finishes and I go for Polis over Labor Force to get closer to Forestry. Also Rome finished the Jerwan Aqueduct in the bottom left corner of the map and with only one farm adjacent to it .

Turn 24 gives us a lot of bad news. The Artisan oligarch dies and a scholar takes over, making the family angry, while another rebel slinger forms in our capital.

Fortunately we can increase the opinion with a pagan burial. The disappointment from the Zoroastrian patriarch is already compensated for with us being Zealot and following the religion.

I move back with the leader to fight the new slinger and finish the one in Kawa. The third fur tile is bought for the capital and I continue scouting. We find some Numidian camps and on contact I declare war for legitimacy instead of losing charisma and becoming stressed. Unfortunately it’s not possible to save the scout, even with a few extra orders bought.

Next turn the bad luck continues.

Two more rebels form. I decline a Thracian marriage offer for our third child and take 280 gold over 60 culture in Kawa. The last event is Rebellion Grows which forms a third rebel in Napata. I decide to become stressed and gain some orders instead of taking the chance to become slothful. I use a few of the extra orders to Indulge in revelry which hopefully can rid us of the Stressed status next turn.

I decide to rush out another warrior in Kawa, using our Zealot powers. I promote the warrior we already have with Warden and the new Slinger with Ranger. This gives us a new cognomen and a bit closer to finishing the third ambition.

Looking at the state of the game so far, all the rebels have slowed down our expansion. The plan right now is to finish the rebels and use the new troops to get that excellent traders city site.

Kawa can build another settler for the Barbarian site to found our second Artisan city which could then focus on mines and quarries. The inland Vandal site can be a third Hunters city with 4 furs.

To get my science rate up we should build officers. Napata first needs more citizens so more military while we wait for that. A shrine in El Usheir, the second Hunters city, would also let us build an acolyte there. I could also go for a Scholar and do an Inquiry in the capital which has a decent 15 civics a turn right now.

What are your thoughts on the game?

 

[Araneya]

When turn 26 starts we are no longer stressed and no more rebels form. The courtier Kartir dies and we celebrate the Silver Jubilee, where we organize a royal spectacle, gaining 60 each of growth and happiness in Napata for 110 food.

I also decide to adopt the Centralization law, giving us a few more precious beakers so we end up on a total of 17 science per turn. Since there’s no cleared city site, I delay the settler and start up an officer in Napata.

Next turn we finish the rebel warrior in Kawa and move one of our units closer to the capital, giving it a warden promotion.

We also get an event that lets us declare war on the Vandals for legitimacy, how lucky!
I also start a Kushite pyramids in Kawa, clearing a riverside forest, but giving room for adjacent tiles to have more shrines.

Turn 28 I decline the marriage offer from the Scythians. We’re severely ill and I finish the ambition, becoming the Good.

I start the training shrine in the second Hunters city, El Usheir, hoping to expand to an urban tile left from ancient ruins.

Next turn and the illness is spreading!

We get offered new ambitions but since we might die soon I decide to wait. We also meet Hatti who started in the north east corner of the map and has now settled one of the Thracian sites next to us. We give them some gold to improve our relations and open the gates to the Thracian families.

The barbarians attacked our worker in El Usheir so I move a Slinger to defend. The last rebel is killed and I shuffle my other troops around, healing the leaders slinger and assigning the heir to a warrior.

Looking to the east, we see that there is a Scythian raiding Carthage.

Turn 30 greets us with another rebel. I might just leave the militia to deal with it.

We’re also doomed, soon joining our wife in the afterlife. I start to move up to scout the Vandal city site and find 4 Elite Skirmishers and one Elite Marauder. It will not be an easy fight. The events give us a Court Soldier, which I take instead of a Spearman since we only have one Clergy at age 40 and might want to tutor our heir in 8 years. We also improve relations with Hatti and take a hit on Zoroastrian opinion.

Kawa starts building a Zoroastrian disciple, to spread some happiness to our other cities.

Turn 31 we die.

The new Hatti heir wants to build a relationship which I use to reveal their territory and become Cunning. I choose to go to war with the Thracians instead of the Scythians, keeping my peace with the Scythians and opening up the northern Thracian city site.

The Hatti queen boasts but I decide to let it pass. We do some more battling and begin researching Border boost over Husbandry or Forestry. It should time well with the founding of our fourth city and let us take some more land now that our rival nations start to get close to our borders.

Overall, we're making progress but it doesn't feel fast. We should have enough military to clear up our pocket of land, but if any neighboring nations want to take it, we'll need a lot more.

 

[Mesix]

I've got the popcorn ready to watch this playthrough...

 

[Araneya]

We start turn 32 and the Artisan oligarch's spouse is in love with us. There’s also rumors that our wife is a witch and either we take 20 discontent in all cities or she is burned at the stake and we declare war on the Scythians. We also get the choice of a new ambition: either founding another religion, having 8 shrines, or enacting the Divine Rule law. I decide to go for the shrines since Polytheism is something we would want sooner or later.

After attacking with the new leader we also gain a level and get to choose a new strength. I go with Steadfast and to defend the spouse, making her love me and increasing her science bonus from 0.7 to 2.2.

The fighting continues and we are in position to found a new city next turn.

Paganism spreads to El Usheir and gives us a nice bonus to Pagan opinion.

The AI continues building wonders and the Vandals are raiding. We clear the city site and become endeared with the Artisan oligarch. Soleb is founded and we start building a worker there.

Border boost finishes and we meet Aksum. We kill another Vandal skirmisher and heal some of our units. The nations we haven’t met yet are Rome, Carthage, Egypt and Persia.

I decide to begin researching Monasticism so that we can get Polytheism as soon as possible.

On turn 35 the war-machine keeps turning.

Meanwhile our cities are focused on our economy and science.

Next turn we kill more vandals and get peace with Hatti.

Overall our foreign relations look decent with no big threats right now.

On turn 37 we kill more units and become the Drillmaster. We also move into position to finally found the Trader's seat. Our hero general gains a level and we get to choose another ambition.

Instead of controlling two Medjay archers or simply not picking an ambition and gaining 2 legitimacy, I go for spreading religion 8 times, which should be relatively easy with two religions to spread.

Next turn we found El Kurru and find another(!) pearls resource.

Our heir turns 10, converts to Zoroastrianism instead of Paganism and starts studies in philosophy. The oligarchs spouse that was in love with us has written a bawdy poem which I decide I’m not interested in. She falls out out of love and we gain a point in Discipline. Aksum wants peace and we gain a citizen in Napata when we cleared the city site.

We are making progress now with five cities and two or three more that seem easy to get. Science is still not going so well but we’re working on an Inquiry and some more urban specialists. After Monasticism and Polytheism we can build some order shrines in all our cities which together with the Kushite pyramids should get our order economy going.

Science also needs to remain a priority so that we don't get overrun by higher tier units.

 

[Dale]

Good read, keep going!

 

[King Jason]

This is a fun read, I miss threads like this. Though, you accidentally forgot to toggle on Realistic Mortality. Shouldn't matter since you already got the Achievement. Map looks fun.

 

[Araneya]

This is a fun read, I miss threads like this. Though, you accidentally forgot to toggle on Realistic Mortality. Shouldn't matter since you already got the Achievement. Map looks fun.

Good catch! I'll change the thread title.

 

[Araneya]

On turn 39, Christianity is founded in Carthage. We kill a Vandal, heal some troops, start building a barracks in Kawa, and assign a Tactician general to defend against the raiding marauders.

The tribes are starting to have some strength 5 units.

We clear up one of the raiders but the other one is actually a Clubthrower! Our Hero general has an event and kills one of the Thracians. We start to get some of our workers building again and move the settler closer to the Thracian city site.

Next turn a drought starts and we get offered food or a courtier from the Scythians. I decide to take the courtier.

Our heir also wants to assign a governor, which we do, choosing the Warlike Judge instead of the Witty and Debauched Diplomat. The capital reaches Strong culture and we can choose from 120 culture, 90 civics, +1 discipline or 80 happiness. I decide to go with the happiness since it is my strongest science city.

We tutor our heir, heal some troops and continue fighting the tribal units. The last of our four starting shrines is started in Soleb, the second Artisan city.

I also decide to rush the Inquiry in Napata. Maybe I’ll be able to finish another one before our wife dies.

Next turn we move closer on the city site. There might be a Hatti unit or two that I can’t see from the other side that has already damaged it.

The Artisan oligarch is detested and I decide to not interfere, giving us some positive opinion with the family. The Hunter oligarch died and I take an extra discipline instead of her Book of Secrets which would give +40 to all family opinions. Lastly I pay 130 training to not disappoint the new Scythian courtier. The Traders seat also gains the ability to train Drought adept infantry and mounted units, but I doubt that will ever matter, although I might get an achievement for it.

Turn 43 we manage to found Kadada.

Many more events happen. First we decide to not take a hit on our legitimacy to appease the Patriarch.

Next the Artisans have a lot going on. I pay money to boost their opinion of me and keep one of my courtiers neutral. With the Cult of Flame I decide to gain a happiness level in Kawa instead of them starting to dislike Polytheism since we will probably use it a lot in this game.

Lastly I choose to influence the new Oligarch instead of taking 770 gold and lowering their opinion for 80 years. Lastly with the Scythian festival we get some experience instead of spending orders to make them happy.

Next turn we get very lucky and the Traders lets us enact the law Monetary Reform . I also move troops towards the vandal city with the furs and start building another shrine with the new Polytheism law enacted.

I decide to become a Pet Monkey owner instead of the heir, instead giving him a chance to become Educated. Our second child begins studies in politics, to compensate for the new law.

I decide to immediately use the new law and rush another inquiry. I choose to research Administration in order to get closer to Sovereignty and the Civics boost there.

Turn 45 the Drought ends. The heir did not become Educated.

We continue moving on the vandal city site, taking a small detour to kill a rebel warrior.

I decide to make our wife a Steward of the land instead of disappointing her. We level up and I take another point in courage.

For the tech I decide to go with Husbandry to get some more food and orders from the goats and horses, instead of researching Forestry, Drama or Steel.

A big win these turns with the free law, and with two more cities I feel that there is a good momentum. I'm starting to fall behind a bit on military, so that will have to be the next focus while settling this city and finishing the ambitions. I also need to start meeting the other AI so I know if someone is starting to run away with the game.

One thing needs to be resolved before I continue. These turns were played before I was notified that I made a mistake in the game settings. Should I continue with the game as is? I got some kind help on Discord from fluffybunny and there is a way to turn on Realistic Mortality by editing the save file, but that would mean it's no longer a locked save. Either way it will no longer be the correct "Hardcore" settings, so I leave the new thread title. Let me know what you think.

 

[Solver]

I actually think free Monetary Reform is a bit of a trap at this stage. You don't have much rushing capability, the happiness bonus is just mildly helpful but you lose a lot of civics upkeep for the law income.

Given a Zealot leader though, I'd try to leverage the law now by maxing out Training

 

[Araneya]

It's true that the upkeep is expensive, 4 civics per city. Without using the rushing the law trades 2 civics per happiness. Using rushing, you "get" a lot more happiness out of the deal. And it's still another law on the path to 7. To counteract the cost, with Kushite Pyramids and Civics Shrines I can increase my Civics rate faster than other nations. Overall I still see it as an overall positive.

 

[Araneya]

I decided to do the change and go with realistic mortality from now on. It’s what I wanted to do from the start, so better late than never.

We start turn 46 and our heir can become a Builder or a Scholar. I decide to go with Builder with the plan of putting him in the new traders seat. A Scholar might also upset all the Zealots and a Builder would probably have good relations with the young Hatti ruler.

We also become the Victorious, further increasing our legitimacy.

Two Vandals killed. In other news, Carthage began construction of the Necropolis and our excellent wife becomes Eloquent.

Next turn we discover Animal Husbandry and I start building a Horse pasture and another shrine. A vandal is killed and we move the new Settler closer. There’s three Clubthrowers and it’s an Encampment giving 40% defense, so it might take more than a turn to clear.

I decide to go for Labor Force since I think the wood cost will be too high with Composite Bow right now. Another Inquiry is rushed since we have so much training. I also go for another Zoroastrian Disciple in Kawa to get us closer to completing the ambition of spreading religion.

Turn 48 and Hatti wants war. I guess the Peace was not enough anymore. We could take on a Special Ambassador instead.

Hatti are only Stronger so it is possible that we could hold in the north with just slingers, but Kawa would be difficult to defend with no strength 5 units yet. Spoked Wheel would let us build Chariots and move them in, I could even rush them in both El Usheir and Kawa. But I don’t have that much Food or Wood. I haven’t seen any Spearmen from Hatti. The Capitol could do a Hunt project next, so there could be a way to defend without losing cities.

I think we would be able to boost my Civics income and get Governors in most cities. With Realistic mortality finally on the special ambassador might not live more than 20 years, and a National Alliance would be very nice to have, even under these circumstances.

I decide to take the special ambassador alliance. What would you have done?

It might have been possible with the Thracians annoying them as well, but for now I think I made the right choice.

We continue the battle with the Vandals and building Shrines.

Turn 49 and Hatti immediately want more from us to not declare war. We take truce with the Numidians and choose extra charisma instead of conspiring with our sister. There’s a plague coming but I decide to not spend the money and orders to prepare for it.

The battle continues.

Next turn we are doomed. I start another shrine in the artisan seat to hopefully finish at least that ambition before we die. The plague starts but so far we seem to be okay.

In the power struggle we get the option to Imprison the Special ambassador. I decide to try it and see what happens. I also decide to spend some gold and food to spread paganism to the Aksum, but it doesn’t count for the ambition. Is that intended?

I choose some options that give bad things until we die. But hopefully we’ll be able to finish the ambitions first.

Unfortunately that was not meant to be. Next turn we are dead, this time the same time as the spouse. But imprisoning the Special ambassador doesn’t seem to have sparked any reaction. We found the new Hunters city and move some units to defend from a raid.

The plague gives us Tyranny as a free law, which I decide to take to save on the civics. The Hunters are upset, partly because of the rebels, so I choose to give them a lot of money to be happier.

I accept the other of our old aunts as heir in order to avoid becoming stressed or unpopular. It probably won’t matter, but the leader is also infected, so I promptly choose to incubate.

Forestry finishes and I choose to go for the Medjay Archer in order to get some better military.

We’re up to 7 cities and as a builder leader with a lot of orders we can get some cheap workers and build up a really good economy while teching up some better units.

We still haven’t met the four southern nations, but there’s a scout that's finishing soon that will rectify that issue.

 

[Mesix]

I thought the locked save would prevent you changing the settings.

 

[Araneya]

I thought the locked save would prevent you changing the settings.

Yeah I thought so too! I couldn't use the in game editor and lost the locked save setting in the process.

 

[Araneya]

We start turn 52 and the Plague is over.

The bypassed aunt becomes insane, killing her sister. I decide to punish her with death. We kill a raider and Hatti has taken the city site north of us.

One of the legacies are done and I decline taking on another ambition, feeling that building two wonders or connecting nine cities might be too difficult. We also get the Monkey’s Paw.

Next turn all the other rulers die as well.

We continue building stuff and kill another raider.

The new Hatti ruler wanted a lot of gold or that we lost legitimacy in order for the alliance to continue.

I snub the new 13 year old Aksum ruler, thinking that a regent will take her place anyway. I appoint an ambassador to try to keep the relations with Hatti going, for now at least.

Turn 54 we meet Carthage.

We finish the raider but another raid is announced. The events give us orders as tribute from taking a Numidian spouse instead of an Artisan or Carthaginian. We also manage to sell some iron to Carthage for orders. Instead of building Estates in our Artisan city with the ore, we become an Artist and Impulsive.

Luckily we get an event next turn where we’re not Impulsive anymore, only stressed, which we can remove by Indulging in revelry. Otherwise, turn 55 is a quiet building turn.

Turn 56 we finish a bunch of improvements.

The Aksum Queen has employed the Vandals to gain knowledge of our lands. I decide to take on a Tribal invasion for her not to be estranged anymore.

Fortunately we don’t need to be Stressed anymore and we have an heir.

Next turn we meet Egypt! They don’t seem to be further than the other nations we’ve met so far. Otherwise this turn is mostly focused on building quarries.

The building of improvements continue on turn 58.

Next turn another raid is announced and I look at my lovely Hatti ally massing his army outside my borders.

Turn 60 we finish Composite Bow and start Navigation, getting us closer to 7 laws. Right now we will probably need the civics boost to get there.

Next turn we improve relations with both Hatti and Egypt because we are inspiring.

We finish the legacy and continue buildermode.

Tun 63 we level up and I choose to gain some extra civics. I pay to protect us against a flood and to give our endeared wife two more Wisdom.

Even though the Ballista is tempting, I continue with the plan and research Rhetoric.

Next turn we defend against the raid and decline to take one of the ambitions, either to send a bunch of luxuries we don’t have, or to have two elder Shopkeepers, while we lack coinage and a legendary city.

Next turn we get another rebel and I decide to research Spoked Wheel, to get is closer to Portcullis and opening up Chariots. Land Consolidation is tempting but I want to get to 7 laws.

We become the Architect because we’ve built 47 improvements. Looking at the records we’re still only third in the game in total, looking at improvements.

Turn 66 we have a party and end up a Zealot, enabling rushing again for training.

Now we can start to crank out military units from the capital. Our research is not shameful anymore and we’ve survived so far. Overall things are looking quite good. Hopefully Rome and Persia are not much further ahead in points. With some strong military, it becomes much easier to defend and we won’t need to suck up as much to the other AI. I don’t want to go on the offensive until I have some siege and splash or pierce, to handle the masses that they will throw on us and to be able to take cities.

 

[Araneya]

We start the game again and go into turn 67, where we are greeted by war from Carthage, since we won’t give them our city.

Our good friend the Hatti comes to the rescue! Spoken Wheel finishes and I start on some archers and chariots. We’re not offered Sovereignty so I go for Portcullis instead.

Next turn, Carthage moves in and starts to hit me. Hatti kills a unit, I kill a unit, and continue building up the war machine. I also see that Carthage is now Learned, not Erudite anymore.

Turn 69, Hatti moves in to kill a slinger in my territory but Carthage responds by killing their spear. We also kill another slinger and get Child Labor in Napata, our capital.

We have a repeat where Hatti moves in more troops next turn and Carthage responds by killing another spear.

I’ve only been spending a few orders defending, still building a lot of improvements and doing some scouting.

On turn 71 Hatti doesn’t want to be worse off and captures a Carthaginian city.

We also meet Rome who is taking a beating from Aksum and Egypt. We finally get offered a doable ambition, this time for killing 10 units from Carthage.

Next turn a prophet talks about a great beast at sea and I think for the first time when I've chosen this event path, I manage to slay it.

I also get my spouse as Spymaster giving a whooping 33.7 wisdom.

Turn 73 I get my first chariot and start moving units to better set up a rout next turn.

Judaism is followed by almost all other nations and that religion hates me. This might become a problem later on.

Next turn Hatti and Carthage have heated battles and we capture their city.

It gives us a lot of civics to keep the peace with Judaism which I decide to use for the Exploration law and sending our third child exploring. The heir becomes a bitter Hero and we gain a Rising Star who I assign as general to our frontline chariot.

Looking at the research options, I go for Land Consolidation to further increase our science rate, even though Machinery is very tempting.

Turn 75 Carthage is retreating and all the known nations are at most stronger than us. One of the children gives us the ability to gain more civics, which we use to enact freedom and begin building a citadel in Napata.

Looking at the map it seems like I need to go through Carthage to find Persia. Aksum converts to Judaism, making sure that all other nations are now the same religion, which of course hates me.

Next turn we do some scouting while we defend our captured city, putting a Schemer agent in Aksum's capital, finding one of the Vandal islands and clearing up some of the area between us and the other Carthaginian cities. We also have the most improvements now.

We celebrate my Silveer Jubilee and I decline another offer to take an ambition, since we are now 48 and I’m not sure they would be possible to finish before we die. We are not in a rush to finish our ambitions as soon as possible.

Turn 77 we meet Persia and Zoroastrianism wants us to declare war or become Timid. Even though Persia is already at war with Egypt, and seems to be winning, I keep the peace since we’re also already at war, but with Carthage. Our ally Hatti has continued attacking the northern cities of Carthage with a pair of horsemen and other units.

I choose to research the Free Onager in order to get around to Phalanx faster, so we get closer to Citizenship and the Divine Rule law. Doctrine could be interesting for the temples and laws, but I don’t see us having the civics and orders for it right now.

Looking at the game now that we know all the nations, I think we’re in a very good position. Carthage is in the lead but is losing the war so far against us and Hatti. Aksum seems to be the other threat to win the game, but if we can wait with warring them until Carthage is done, it should not be an insurmountable task. We’ll have to watch out for Hatti backstabs.

There’s also a few tribal sites left to settle. A naval presence should help us both against Aksum and Hatti, so the Vandal city sites will be a priority.

With our economy in shape and the civics we gained from events, if we research Civics boost now we can also use some of it for a wonder.

The Mausoleum would be nice, to boost our Beja Archers with Guard I and get extra culture everywhere.

We’ll also need to think about logistics, setting up a road going south from El Usheir into the connecting pass between the Numidians and Carthage will be good to move units in that direction. Going west will be easiest through the sea, avoiding the marsh pass next to Soleb. It would also be prudent to build a few forts in the mountain passes near Hatti, to prepare for any potential backstabs.

One big question is how to handle Judaism. If we don’t work on the relations, possibly adopting it, relations with all the other nations will be bad. Eventually they will all hate us, when we get close to winning, because of Ruthless AI. Ideally it would be good to wait until we’re actually close to winning before we make everyone hate us. I could also try and work on converting a nation or two, starting with Hatti. I don’t know if the AI nations care about theologies, but that is something I should get for myself at least. For example Legalism for the extra civics from monasteries looks nice.

In any case, I think we’re in a good spot and hopefully we can translate that into a win.

 

[Mesix]

How are you handling the rebels? I see discontent of 4-5 in each of your cities, but no mention of rebels or any rebel units on the map in any of your screenshots.

In my recent Hardcore game, I was playing whack-a-mole with rebels rising up in different cities each turn by this point in my game with similar levels of discontent.

 

[Araneya]

Early in the game the leader was unpopular and we struggled with many rebels. Now, the families are mostly cautious or better. I've gotten a few events with rebels but my inland military is pretty spread out. Usually you can leave the rebel fighting another unit and spend an order a turn to eventually kill it, maybe using the terrain to your advantage. I used a militia in a forest to kill a slinger in Kawa, and a Slinger in a forest to kill an Archer in Kadada. You can see the Archer going down in hit points on turns 65-68 and the Militia on turn 22-26. If you manage to keep the families happy, which legitimacy is a big help for, then not many rebels will spawn.

Another thing are religions. Zoroastrianism loves us, so the Artisans get a big boost from that. But Paganism is also positive and helps us with the other families. Discontent in itself doesn't really spawn rebels, but it it will affect the family opinion. At this point in the game we also have access to luxury resources, council positions, orders and gold to influence to increase their opinion. Sometimes things like laws and buildings can also make a difference.