Quest for Glory - Deity Challenge #7

[Nizef]

Hi there,

The current GotM247 with Arabia turned out to be very hard. Just to compensate for that, I now present another game with Arabia and this should be a little easier. We play on a large Fractal map with Standard speed. Acceptable victories (All VCs are turned on) are Domination or Science. The plot twist is that you have to conquer at least one AI protected city state before t130. This will hopefully make your neighbours hate you From there onwards, I am sure that you will find Camel Archers REALLY useful! To your aid you have an appealing starting area and some friendly neighbours. Camels Galore!

 

[raider980]

A consolation bracket. I'll take it!

 

[ForkOfSpite]

Second most recent at this time, so camels are next! I've been agonizing over the Turn 0 decisions for days. Passing up the mountain opportunity seems wrong, so I'll probably uncomplicate it and settle T1 on the deer.

 

[ForkOfSpite]

Will provide some updates as I go this time ...

T0-24 (Session 1)

Spoiler :

Move settler to the wheat, and I see the hill northwest of the mountain. Go to the warrior and scout southwest. Looks like there is a decent settle there to pick up the second salt and furs in an expansion. Thankfully, I decide it's too risky and use the settler's second movement point to go to the deer. Mecca settled T1. Warrior continues scouting south and finds the excellent expansion location on a river/mountain/hill with marble, deer, wheat, and an oasis (Huzzah for Ships of the Desert!) But Pedro finds us over the end turn, and I see a Brazilian scout standing on the tile I'd like to settle.

The warrior continues to scout the desert to the east, and after finding some ruins, heads back west to search for Pedro's land and maybe steal a worker from him? I haven't had much (or any) success doing that. But, when I find Rio and Sao Paulo, I am one turn too late on each of two workers. They were making mines north on the two hills north of Sao Paulo, but they both finish and move back south one turn before I could attempt a steal.

The first scout heads northeast quickly finding a good coastal expansion on a hill. Crab, two fish, deer, bison, two more salt (plus sharing a 3rd ring salt with the capital). Two turns later, we find a perfectly timed population growth ruin for Pop 3 (same thing happened in the QfG8 Spain game), but that forces me to immediately buy the 2nd ring salt tile to avoid starvation. When the second scout finishes (Turn 11), I desperately need a worker and granary, but I delay that decision to build a settler instead. Don't have to worry about starvation, so that will give the capital more time to culture expand into good tiles. Looks like I'm giving up religion because I just can't fit the shrine in and to just hope for the best.

The scout continues east barely beating a Brazilian scout to meet Kuala Lumpur and Antananarivo first. There's a good settle spot south of Kuala Lumpur for some copper, but it's a very dry desert between there and Mecca. It's about 12 or 13 tiles away, so that settle isn't really being considered. A bit later on Turn 21, that scout finds one of Gada Mada's scouts. I haven't found his land yet, but it looks like he's too far away to affect my game - at least, too far away to affect my early game (unless, maybe, I can bribe Pedro/Gada Maja to war each other).

Although the warrior and first scout have some success (meeting city-states first, several ancient ruins, one good expansion spot), the second scout has more success by heading west. Mount Kalish! It's no Uluru, but it should get me a pantheon. Earth Mother is still available, so religion is back on the table. Looks like I'm building back-to-back settlers, and the first one is heading to Kalish. Unfortunately, we find Ormus (also first!) and see that I can't settle Kalish in the first ring, so I'll need to buy it. That second scout heads southeast to fill in area towards Brazilian land and finds La Venta along the way. We're not first this time, but Pedro has already pledged to protect. This looks like a good opportunity to fulfill one of the Quest for Glory 7 objectives. Declare war to steal a worker and keep the war open? I could capture the city state later to fulfill the objective (as long as Pedro doesn't revoke his protection). Plus, I could use camels to take out Sao Paulo and Rio (maybe even raze Sao Paulo to resettle two tiles north). Seems like a plan, so I send Super Scout (it's an archer) south through La Venta land and find the worker improving some gold. It's not the most convenient steal in the world (to get the worker back to my land), but it certainly has a chance.

So, that seems like a plan. Three city, four lux (8 salt, 1 each of furs, crab, and cotton). Capture at La Venta and Rio for a fourth and fifth city. Maybe a sixth with either Sao Paulo or a resettle after razing it. La Venta has gold. Sao Paulo has marble (and maybe more). Rio has spices (and maybe more). If I manage to get a great general, I almost certainly will take Ormus's horses. My anticipated land (from non-conquered land) only has four horses plus two more in 4th rings.

Cities:
T1 Mecca (observatory)
T24 Medina (Mount Kalish cost 125 gold to buy)

Social Policies:
Tradition 2

Wonders:
Temple of Artemis is still available ...

Turn 24 Screenshot

Spoiler :

 

[ForkOfSpite]

Overnight Thoughts

Spoiler :

Of course, part of the challenge given to us is managing the diplomatic hit. Who cares about Pedro at this point (what's done is done), but can I maintain civil relations with others? Ideally, I'd like to somehow pay for Pedro to attack someone else before I denounce and Declare War (thereby cancelling the gold per turn deal I just made - yes, it's an exploit, but this is Deity play). By doing so, relations with the AI I bribe Pedro to attack might actually improve. Even better would be if I could get that AI to pay me to DOW Pedro. Joint DOW instead should also help diplo.

The pertinent question for now is how to handle Pedro's upcoming reprimand for attacking a city state he pledged to protect. I think telling him off (stay out of my business) would make it nearly impossible to bribe Pedro to DOW anyone. I don't mind apologizing to him, but that leaves a couple of questions:

a) If I never make peace with La Venta, would capturing it later be "going back on my word" to refrain from further aggression?
b) If so, would that piss off other AIs beyond the ordinary hit for capturing a city state?

Since I don't know the answer to either of those questions, I make up my mind to refuse Pedro's upcoming request. Although instead (after-the-fact thoughts now), maybe I should have agreed just to test the two questions I have?

T25-60 (Session 2)

Spoiler :

Having made up my mind, "My affairs are my none of your business." As expected, this is a second bright red diplo hit with Pedro (although, I didn't actually know for certain that would be the case, so I guess this was a good test just to confirm).

Turn 27 is pretty good. I claim the third pantheon (Earth Mother), so now Medina can start working a food tile (plains salt) rather than stagnating at Pop 1. Also, the Eastern scout finds a population ruin taking Mecca to Pop 4. Was still on an empty bin at Pop 3 (due to settler production and not much food to work anyway), so that's a big help. Unfortunately, I take a wrong step though, and an Indonesian scout beats me to another ruin and probably 15 gold since I'm not the first to meet Kabul (or maybe it was Wellington - maybe both).

Settler finishes on Turn 32, but it's going to be a tough journey because there's a hand-axe in the way. My warrior is there to escort, but I don't know if it'll be able to survive long enough - won't be able to move directly from iron forest to coastal forest due to zone of control. But now, it's time to revisit the Turn 11 dilemma: worker or granary question for Mecca? Artemis is still available, too, but I go for a worker. The warrior and settler survive the trip, and I settle Damascus on Turn 37. Instinctively, I start a worker there, but after reconsideration, I switch to a granary (before ending the turn, so no time wasted). Since this is a coastal city with a coastal lux, it has additional responsibilities. I have to get workers from elsewhere (such as La Venta, Mecca, and/or Medina).

Most of the rest of this session is spent trying to handle barbarians in my own land. Super Scout has to come back to help and is only now heading back to see if I can steal or pillage anything else from La Venta. (On Turn 60, La Venta's combat strength is 26, so Super Scout's prospects seem dim. About the best I could hope for is an occasional shot at a unit La Venta sends north, and that would take forever to generate a Great General. Most likely, Super Scout will go back to scouting - lots of land to the west between Carthage and me, plus more land southwest of La Venta.) On Turn 39, I start another worker in Mecca (sending the one just generated to Damascus - forest chop on the iron along the way. After finishing the furs forest chop, a barbarian unit shows up from the south. Super Scout can't handle it, so I'm going to lose the salt mine (on Turn 41 to go unhappy), and I send La Venta's worker west to help Medina. Eventually, the warrior, Super Scout, and Mecca itself takes care of that barb unit. Finally get salt back online on Turn 47.

On Turn 43, I decide to tech The Wheel before Writing because I need units. Might as well get some chariots - for barb camp quests if for no other reason. Maybe I'll find the gold to upgrade them to camels. I start on a chariot in Mecca and buy one in Damascus on Turn 57 for a Kuala Lumpur/Antananarivo barb camp quest. Already friends with Kuala Lumpur since they desired horses.

Temple of Artemis is still available on Turn 44, but I go for another worker instead. That worker finishes on Turn 50, and Artemis is still available. Still no granary, but I decide to go for it. Another policy this turn (picked up Legalism on T38), so I take Aristocracy now to help the Artemis build. Unfortunately, it's still a 16-turn build with no reasonable forest chops available, but I do have three mines that will be improved along the way (two salt and an iron). I almost immediately regret taking Aristocracy as Artemis goes on Turn 52. One turn of production gets turned into 16 gold. Going for Artemis was a very bad choice since that decision convinced me to take Aristocracy early (other tradition policies would have been better).

Granary in Damascus finishes on Turn 54 - need a trireme before a work boat because there are two barb triremes blockading my sea resources. Mecca's granary finishes on Turn 57 (plus food caravan coming from Medina in two turns). How long must I wait for AIs to get duplicate luxuries online? Decide to sell a salt to Gajah Mada. Of course, the next turn, he suddenly has three sugars online, so I buy one of those (net loss of 2 gpt).

Turn 60
* Enter Classical by researching all Ancient Era techs. (Masonry coming via an ancient ruin in Session 1. Archery and Mining too, but I would have researched those on my own.)
* Meet Harold Bluetooth and sell salt to him. He has multiple cotton, but I'll get that on my own eventually. Was at 0 gpt, so that sale helps.
* Send food caravan to Mecca. Thought that should have been Turn 59 (maybe my notes are wrong). Next caravan will need to go to Medina.
* Decide to go for National College. Timings will change, but for now ...
-- 15 turns to research Philosophy
-- 6-turn library in Mecca after taking 2 turns to finish a chariot. Might put a caravan in there too if it looks like I have the time.
-- Medina starts a 10-turn library (had just finished the first caravan)
-- Damascus switches to a 13-turn library with 2 turns remaining on a trireme. Since the work boat is delayed, I don't need the trireme yet.

End of Session.
* Mecca 5
* Medina 4
* Damascus 3 (4 next turn, and more excess food than Medina)

Social Policies:
* Tradition 4, but took Aristocracy early

Wonders:
* Sadly, no.

Turn 60 Screenshot

Spoiler :

 

[Nizef]

@ForkOfSpite, Your reports are truly enjoyable!!

 

[ForkOfSpite]

Thank you. Session 3 ended a bit prematurely. It's a dramatic pause!

T61-76 (Session 3)

Spoiler :

Full page of notes for this one, but most of it is ranting about the AIs not having duplicate luxuries online. I've met all nine now, and the only useful one was sugar from Gajah Mada the turn after I sold him my salt.

I start by zooming in on Sao Paulo and Rio. I DON'T want useful wonders in Sao Paulo because I want to raze and resettle to test if it would get the free monument and aqueduct even if I've already captured La Venta. However, Sao Paulo has marble, so we'll see. Of course, I want him to build wonders in Rio, and it looked like he was building the pyramids, but whatever I saw was gone within two turns. (Suleiman has the pyramids, and after thinking to review the notification long right now, he got them on T52. Don't know what I saw in Rio.)

Starting back up
I finish the chariot in Mecca, but the first chariot is already taking care of the only barb camp quest. I send this chariot out west to scout and start a caravan. Library first might shave a turn or two off the National College, but I think 10+ turns of caravan makes up for that. As for the first chariot and its quest, it looks like the unit in the camp is taking damage. I can move next to the camp and still don't see the source, so it must be a ranged assistant. Accurate assessment as a few turns later, my chariot can walk into the camp guarded only by a captured worker. Clearing the camp on Turn 64 takes me to allies with Kuala Lumpur (83 influence) and friends with Antananarivo (50). The worker is Antananarivo's, so I keep it. Mercantile city state, so who needs the extra 8 happiness (or the extra 4 from friendship for longer)? I would have returned the worker if it was from Kuala Lumpur. It's a walk back, but it's not too terribly long.

Meeting AIs (insert rant for each one!)
William on Turn 63, Nebuchadnazzar II on Turn 64, Suleiman and Ghandi on Turn 65. Sick of it by Turn 67, I sell salt to William and Pedro (surprisingly at full price - the initial bright red diplo modifier for decaring on protected CS is gone, but the second one for telling him off remains). Of course, William gets a duplicate cotton online the turn after, but I can at least take solace in that I wouldn't have traded for it. Another salt online on Turn 68 - sold to Dido. Meet Elizabeth on Turn 72, and just like the others, no duplicates. That should be all of them (Pedro, Gajah Mada, Dido, Harald, William, Nebuchadnazzar II, Suleiman, Ghandi, Elizabeth).

Religion
Second religion goes on Turn 64 and takes Pagodas with it. At that time, my faith was at 240 (+13 faith per turn) when 200 is needed for the first prophet, so it looks like I missed the prophet roll twice. I take the third religion on Turn 66 choosing Tithe and Mosques. Initially, I defaulted to either Religious Community (production per follower) or Religious Center (+2 happiness from temples), but I don't know if my religion is strong enough to survive. Defending against AI religion spread is either annoying (blockers) or expensive (inquisitors), so I chose Mosques instead. As long as I get it purchased, it doesn't matter if the city gets converted. The faith, culture, and happiness are still mine.

Wonders
None for me, and as noted, I want Pedro to build some in Rio. But not THAT one. Great Wall to Pedro on Turn 65. The Oracle and Mausoleum are still available, so maybe later. (The Mausoleum is a quest for three city states - including my ally Kuala Lumpur.)

Social Policies
Just one this session (Landed Elite) on Turn 66. On track to finish Tradition on Turn 84.

National College and Plan for Chivalry
Finish Philosophy on Turn 71 and take a look at the tree for chivalry. It's a long way away, and the clock is ticking if I want to fulfill the objective via camels. I don't even know how to estimate the time since I don't have the National College yet. So, I tech towards currency first for bazaars. Useful building on the way to chivalry. Ordinarily, I would tech for engineering first for the caravan, but that's a 2-tech departure (construction isn't needed). After engineering, it's only two more techs for metal casting's workshops. So, I decide to go for currency first in case the timeline is tight (plus, bazaars are useful). Mecca starts a 12-turn National College on Turn 72.

High Drama
Turn 76 arrives and Pedro has three warriors on Mecca's border, and he's not willing to DOW anyone (or, more precisely, 26 gold/turn plus furs is not enough to DOW anyone he's met - hasn't met Gajah Mada or Harald yet). The other way around, I'm only able to afford to pay Dido or Suleiman to DOW Pedro. Dido is far, far away. Suleiman is closer, but might not be close enough. Since it's cheaper to pay for Dido's DOW, that's the route I take - 16 gold/turn. Meanwhile, I decide to continue the National College in Mecca (but I haven't ended turn yet, so I might decide otherwise - 7 more turns on the NC). I switch Medina's production to a 6-turn chariot (was working on a water mill), and I add a 6-turn chariot to the Damascus queue (2 more turns for a work boat - only at 4 happiness right now). I plan on buying a spear in Mecca if the DOW comes, and if it does, I'll probably need to switch Mecca to units (4-turn builds). All I have for defense right now is the initial warrior and the purchased chariot. More production might be available, so the build times might be shorter.

Turn 76 Screenshot

Spoiler :

 

[ForkOfSpite]

T77-97 (Session 4)

Spoiler :

I guess Dido's DOW worked. Pedro's units moved off to the right. Sent my chariot after to look and saw the three warriors plus two comp bows and two chariots. Thought maybe Pedro was just rearranging before the DOW, but that wasn't the case. I still see some of his units at my border for no apparent reason. In fact, he even offered a Declaration of Friendship over the end turn from T81-82. I declined, of course, but all seems well for now, at least. (The bright red diplomatic modifier for ignoring his request remains, though.)

Bought a mosque in Mecca on Turn 81 because I thought the religion might spread naturally (the religious pressure from Ships of the Desert seems to work with internal trade routes - even if the destination city is within 10 tiles). At my next opportunity though (Turn 93), I bought a missionary. I might be able to get one more mosque in the Medieval era, but I almost certainly won't get two more.

National College finished on Turn 83, so I was able to judge that I might be a bit pressed to hit Chivalry in time to take La Venta via camels before T130, so my only detour was a 2-turn optics research so Damascus could get a lighthouse and send a newly built scout to Barb Island for the ruin. (I now have another scout-archer.)

With the National College done, I needed to figure out what to build in the capital, and my eyes were naturally drawn to a 12-turn Petra. Decided to go for it, but then I took a look around to see if it would be challenged. Zooming in on another well-placed expansion from Pedro, I saw this (hidden to save space):

Spoiler :

That certainly looks like Pedro is building Petra based purely on the settled hill and deity bonus hammers. But that was enough to convince me to build a water mill instead. Oracle was also available (same 12-turn build), but that wasn't as attractive to me for this game.

Moving along, I finished Tradition the next turn (Turn 84) and see that I'm in no hurry to break into medieval if I don't want another classical era policy. Getting into the renaissance with no fillers seems like a stretch though - would have to let influence with Kuala Lumpur fall, beeline renaissance (banking, probably), and that still might not be enough. No worries though - a commerce filler isn't exactly a bad thing. It does slow down science though.

Declaration of Friendship from William on Turn 86, Oracle to Gajah Mada on Turn 87, and then the capital's water mill finishes on Turn 89. Petra is still there. It's only 10 turns now, and I drop it down to 9 by working a hill instead of a flood plain. The next most attractive thing to build was so bazaar, then I couldn't resist - let's try for Petra! Mecca is a good, but not great, city for Petra. Only one Petra tile, but it has access to more. Of course, the extra caravan always helps.

Bazaar finished in Damascus on Turn 91, so I have more salt to trade, and doing so unlocked the Arab Trader steam achievement. Huzzah! But, I have absolutely no idea how I didn't already have this achievement - it's not like I've never played as Harun before. Anyway, I also had an extra crab to trade which only as I write this now, I realize I should have at least checked to see if William would buy it (we're friends, afterall). Instead, I sold it to Pedro. At this point, I'm selling or trading salt (mostly selling) to everyone except Nebuchadnazzar II.

Medieval entry via civil service on Turn 93 - the same turn Suleiman enters Rennaissance (gunpowder). (Same turn I bought a missionary, too.) Only four turns left on the Petra build (a forest chop and/or population growth must have shaved a turn off), so spying on Brasilia's build would be too late. Send the spy to Antananarivo instead. Still have a bit of influence plus my influence with Kuala Lumpur is solid (after I had gifted 500 gold - plenty of gold per turn if I need more gifts).

On Turn 94, I send a worker towards La Venta to build a few roads to facilitate camel formations. No engineering yet, so I'll need to be careful with rivers (or maybe I'll have engineering when the time comes). Two turns later - same thing for a different worker to prep a bit near Sao Paulo. Thankfully, Sao Paulo's borders haven't moved north at all, so it's exposed. A bit flatter around Rio, so I might be good there, too.

Turn 97 - Petra! I buy a couple of desert hills, and although I wasn't thinking of it when I started the build, this helps out Damascus a lot. I had Mecca working the shared salt and iron tiles for nearly the whole game. Petra allowed me to move those citizens to newly bought desert hill tiles which freed up some excellent tiles for Damascus (which was so starved for space that it had an unemployed citizen).

That ends this session. Approximately 10 turns to Chivalry! Since the Turn 97 screenshot is a closeup on Mecca, I'll recap the cities here:

* Mecca 12
* Medina 9
* Damascus 9

Social Policies: Tradition 6
Wonders: Petra

Turn 97 Closeup of Mecca

Spoiler :

 

[ForkOfSpite]

T98-113 (Session 5)

Spoiler :

Assessing the army that intends to participate in the upcoming assault: two chariots. Units in progress: pike in Mecca (2 turns), prebuilt chariot in Medina, horse in Damascus (2 turns). For melee blockers and capture units, I'd like at least two pikes and a horse, but I wouldn't object to an extra of each. I've never done prebuilds for units before, so let's see if I get it right. Intending to finish the chariot and two horses on the turn I research Chivalry.

Seems like a plan, but a prior plan certainly wasn't well thought out. The worker I sent toward La Venta to build a few roads arrived (Turn 98) at the first tile I wanted to prepare. Unfortunately, there was a La Venta pike right next to it - I had forgotten we were still at war, so I didn't send a unit to protect (not that I had a unit to protect - should have bought a pike to accompany the worker). I chase it around a bit and recapture the worker, so no big loss. Taking a closer look at La Venta, I decide I didn't really need roads anyway, but I send a worker down with the assault anyway. Somewhat relatedly, I notice that I'm desperately short on workers - Mecca is working several unimproved flat 1,1 plains tiles, and Damascus is also working one. My cities are outgrowing worker output and starting to outgrow cultural borders, too, so I throw some workers into the queue. Realizing I can't get a second pike into the queue, I buy one.

Fast forwarding a bit to T106 (open commerce T101, second mosque T103, cotton online T105, third mosque on T111, but that's a fast-forward), I complete Chivalry. Medina spits out a chariot. Damascus spits out a horseman. Mecca spits out - nothing? Still has 1-turn left on the horse even though it no longer exists as a build item. Eventually, on T108, it produces a camel, so at least one worked (sort of). Maybe I was supposed to time it for the turn after finishing the tech, but more research is needed. On T107, Sophia gifted me a knight. Thanks! Guess I'll upgrade one of the horsemen to a camel. After upgrading the three chariots (and a horseman), I have 5 camels, 1 knight, 1 horseman, and 2 pikes. One of the pikes is already down there, so I throw another camel into each queue and head out with the rest of the army. Tech choices: Construction into Engineering (finished by T109) followed by Iron Working into Metal Casting because production seems low. Probably Theology into Education next. Acoustics and Banking are the fastest way into Renaissance, and both require Education.

After clearing a couple of units, the city assault commences on T110. I have a worker build a road on a forest hill three tiles north of La Venta, but then I promptly removed it - wasn't needed (and plan to get road connection via a replaced Sao Paulo). I had one good forest two hexes northwest of the city from which camels could attack. Three camels could cycle in and out of that tile without starting or ending in city bombardment range. Due to the forest, La Venta couldn't strike at anything from the wheat tile, so I could safely ignore comp bows on the wheat. From the West, I had two more camels that could attack from one of two tiles, but various units got in the way frequently.

In the end, La Venta falls on T113. New red diplomacy modifier from Pedro: "You have killed City-States under their protection!" I mean, that's a bit of an overreaction - it was only one City-State rather than multiple City-States. Since the denouncement is coming, I tried to pay Pedro to war anyone else (still hasn't met Harald, though). No luck. Three were willing to DOW Pedro (Dido, Suleiman, Gajah Mada), but the price had gone up, and I don't really see the benefit. I could have asked if they would be willing to joint war (or pay me to war), but I'm out of movement and position. I'll just have to suffer the denouncement (probably by more than one - several were upset at poor Neb for the same thing).

Status at End of Turn 113
Cities:
* Mecca 16 (grow in 4)
* Medina 12 (grow in 1)
* Damascus 12 (grow in 1)
* La Venta 6 (grow in 10)

Social Policies: Tradition 6, Commerce 1
Wonders: Petra! (La Venta didn't have any)
Plot Twist Objective: completed T113 (La Venta protected by Pedro)

Turn 113 Screenshot

Spoiler :

 

[ForkOfSpite]

T114-122 (Session 6)

Spoiler :

Much to my surprise, Pedro did not denounce me over the end turn. Instead, he just declared war, so I guess we're settling this now. Almost as surprising, none of the AIs denounced me.

With his advantage (his words), he managed to capture a worker and injure a camel. That was the best he did. On T120, Pedro offered 10 gold per turn for peace, so I countered with Sao Paulo for peace. Impasse - the war continues. Two turns later when Sao Paulo was low health and I had multiple capture units in range, I offered peace for Sao Paulo again. Apparently, it was a generous offer this time. I really wasn't expecting him to accept - in fact, I had just decided that I would go on to take Rio as well since it looks like it might be a good science city (I see jungle to the south of Rio). I saw that if I took Sao Paulo, he might be able to take it back which would have actually been good for my raze and rebuild better plan. That route would have sacrificed a capture unit, but I have access to Landsknechts now!

So, that's the somewhat disappointing end of the mid game war. The diplomatic modifiers with other civs (other than Gandhi) aren't too bad. Suleiman is coming for me though (according to Gajah Mada), so the camels might get some more use.

T114 - Great General spawn. Use it for the attack bonus.
T118 - Social Policy (Mercenary Army) and assault on Sao Paulo begins with three camel shots
T120 - Pedro offers gold per turn for peace. Declined, but I'm contemplating if I still want to take Rio. I could just great general spices into La Venta and rebuild Sao Paulo.
T122 - Great Prophet spawn. Will use to convert captured cities which after Pedro accepts my peace offer, will just be La Venta and Sao Paulo. Not razing the peace deal city.

Plot Twist Objective: completed T113 (La Venta protected by Pedro)
Demographics: Still last in literacy (8% behind Elizabeth). First in population, food, and production.
Social Policies: Tradition 6, Commerce 2
Wonders: Petra!
Friends: Still just William, but no one seems to hate me yet (except Pedro, of course).

T122 Screenshot

Spoiler :

 

[ForkOfSpite]

Another session in the books ...

T123-145 (Session 7)

Spoiler :

"Acceptable victories (All VCs are turned on) are Domination or Science."
- Nizef.

I don't really know how to do a mostly continuous warmongering game (although I'm certain camels would be a fun attempt to learn as I go), I'm setting up for either Science or Stealth/XCOM Domination. Either way, it's time to turn to science. I still regret offering that peace deal to Pedro - five cities on a large map doesn't look nearly as solid as five plus a second capital would. Nevertheless, it's time to move forward. Deciding to aim for factories before schools, I check the tech path to Industrial. Acoustics isn't needed, so I set sights on Banking for the Renaissance entry.

Education finishes on T123, so I switch all three cities to universities and am pleased with the build times (4, 5, and 5 turns). That's workshops doing their job! Since Pedro's incursion is over, I go back to an early plan and steal some of Ormus's land on T126 - not because I need horses but rather because Medina needed better tiles to work. Purchase a mosque in La Venta on T129 - a few turns before Renaissance entry, so that saved a bit of faith (cost 200 rather than 300).

Banking and Renaissance entry on T131, and I decide to take a 2-tech detour to pick up a trade route (Compass) and an observatory (Astronomy). Afterall, the T0 move turned 3rd-ring horses into 4th-ring and crowded a coastal expansion with very few workable tiles (other than blank, 2-food coast/ocean tiles). I moved for the observatory, so it's time to take advantage of it and the sooner the better!

On T132, I try to gift Elizabeth into a friendship via a newly acquired fur lux (bazaar up in Mecca) plus 5 gold/turn. Seems unlikely to work since "(They dislike warmongering.)", but she's the tech leader - worth a shot. Maybe proposing the World's Fair later will be enough.

T133 - Great Engineer from Mecca. I'm going for Leaning Tower and will use the engineer if I think it's necessary or if it doesn't fit nicely in the build queue. No one has Printing Press yet, so no worries.
T135 - Open Rationalism. Can annex Sao Paulo now (didn't want to raise the social policy cost by doing it earlier), but might as well let the university finish in 5 turns.
T136 - Declaration of Friendship expired the prior turn, and William didn't offer to renew. Checking diplo, it looks like he has major land issues. So, I put the moves on Suleiman via an 11 gold/turn gift.
T138 - Astronomy done (6-turn observatory in Mecca). Tech for Printing Press which is required for Industrialization.

On T139 - Suleiman founds the World Congress, and I don't get a vote (Elizabeth had previously build the Forbidden Palace). I wanted to propose the World's Fair!! Big diplo boost with most AIs lost. I also wanted the actual World's Fair, but instead we get two ban lux proposals. At least I don't have either of those.

Also T139 - Research Agreement with William completes for 478 science (about 2.4 turns of research). Not bad - think the research agreement I had in the prior game was less than two turns worth.
T140 - Annex Sao Paulo and buy a mosque. It'll probably pay itself back in faith (cost 300), but it should be close even if the game doesn't last 100 more turns. Might as well take the additional culture and happiness, too.
T142 - Declaration of Friendship proposed by Suleiman over the end turn. Accepted! Immediate research agreement.
T144 - Over the end turn, Declaration of Friendship proposed by Ghandi? But, "(They hate warmongers.)" Dido just DOWd him, too. Fine - accepted. Immediate research agreement (but I have to pay both sides).

Turn 145 - Leaning Tower of Pisa to Suleiman. Same turn I finish Printing Press. At least it wasn't the turn after I finished the tech, because if that would have happened, my Great Engineer would have only produced some gold. Instead, I can save it for something else (such as the ideology wonder).

Demographics: 1st in population and food, 2nd in production (Suleiman is first), 5th in tech (2% behind Elizabeth)
Social Policies: Tradition 6, Commerce 2, Rationalism 1
Wonders: Just Petra and a spare engineer
Friends: Suleiman and Ghandi
Research Agreements: one complete and two in progress
Great Scientists: Still none, but they're on their way
Plot Twist Objective: Completed T113
Next Great Objective: Factories (possibly coal online via Great Prophet which should spawn soon) and a major decision for attempted victory condition

T145 Screenshot

Spoiler :

 

[ForkOfSpite]

A turn of events (but not really) ...

T146-157 (Session 8)

Spoiler :

Absolutely nothing noteworthy on T146!

T147 - William requested another Declaration of Friendship? Meh, okay I guess. At least he could afford the obligatory research agreement. Elizabeth goes industrial (Archaeology).
T149 - The 500-faith prophet spawned. Planning to wait to see if I can plant on coal (approximately an 11-turn wait according to the tech screen).
T150 - First Great Scientist!! (Mecca)

Turn 152
* Social Policy (Secularism)
* Suleiman eliminates Nebuchadnezzar II from the game. So sad.
* Pedro gives me another Declaration of War. Really? He thought he had the advantage, or maybe it was taking advantage of my weakness. One of those - whatever.

That evil-doer warmonger Pedro killed my poor scout south of Rio with his advantage. At least it wasn't Super Scout! I also lost one of the two camels scouting the land (they had originally left for a barb camp quest). Was swimming up in the northwest and got sunk by a Florence caravel. Time to adjust strategy! I upgrade a horseman and eventually build one more camel in Medina.

Turn 157
Industrialization and 7 coal on a farmed plains tile right next to Damascus. Will be able to plant the prophet next turn for coal (and more faith - less food, though). Haven't reached the critical ideology choice yet, but that should be upcoming in the next session (hopefully).

As for Pedro, I easily defend. He had a bunch of pikes, some crossbows, and a few muskets. Not sure why he didn't pillage any tiles (I guess he wanted to keep his former land intact?) Regardless, his units have backed off, but I can't advance on Rio. At least, I can't without another Great General to tear down the Great Wall. Progress is 269/400, so if he sends more units, I might get there. Otherwise, this was just to slow the game down some more for hopefully a decent peace deal.

Demographics: 1, 2, 3 in population, food, production respectively. 5 in tech (4% behind Elizabeth now, so I fell back a bit).
Social Policies: Tradition 6, Commerce 2, Rationalism 2
Wonders: Petra
Great Scientists: Just 1
Plot Twist Objective: complete

T157 Screenshot

Spoiler :

 

[Nizef]

Seems like William is coming with a Settler...

 

[ForkOfSpite]

That's been around. Was in the south by La Venta at some point (but it might be a different settler). The prophet is 100% out to convert Medina though, and we've been dancing for around 20 turns. It seems to like to swim in the lake going for the tile SW of Medina. Only reason I'm defending is to keep Earth Mother.

 

[ForkOfSpite]

Umm... Did someone mention William's settler?

Another short session in terms of game turns, but I felt the tension playing it.

T158-166 (Session 9)

Spoiler :

Turn 158:
* DoF from Harald. Will probably upset Gajah, but oh well. It's another research agreement.
* Coal online via prophet plant. Bulb artist for golden age. Ideology in 9 turns.
* Pedro finally starts to pillage.

Turn 161:
* Pedro offers almost everything for peace (3 luxuries plus 35 gold/turn which is about a third of his gpt).
* DENIED!! I want Rio!!!
* (It will be a major warmonger hit though - thought it said minor in our first tussle despite being his capital. Maybe it would have been minor only if I skipped Sao Paulo?)

Turn 163:
* Pedro seems out of units which slows down the great general progression.
* Turn focus to Brasilia to farm the general
* Also have the scouting camel by Florence (ally of Pedro), so that can contribute, too.

Also Turn 163:
* Finish Architecture - Porcelain Tower is available
* Research agreements are coming in, but I also want Big Ben and a future ideology wonder.
* Factory finishes next turn, so let's reassess timing then.

Turn 164:
* Success! The triggering hit was the roaming camel with a shot on a Florence crossbow.
* Need to figure out an escort unit that can survive one round, so I can plant. Gatling guns are so expensive (740 gold).

Also Turn 164:
* Next research agreement ends Turn 172 (which I'm fairly certain means during the end turn from T172-173), so Porcelain would need to be completed on Turn 172 or earlier to affect that RA. Maybe T173, but don't know.
* It's a 7-turn build in Mecca, so should be completed on T171.
* Let's hard build it!
* Plan to engineer Big Ben after because Dido is at Commerce 2. (She's still in the Renaissance, though.)

Turn 165:
* WAR PLAN - Decide to sacrifice a knight on the hill directly next to Rio
* Escort the general with a pike to the tile directly NW of the knight.

Turn 166:
* It worked! Somehow, the knight even survived, so it promptly ran back to La Venta. (I have a second knight courtesy of Sophia.)
* Golden age ended which delays Porcelain by a turn. It's now scheduled for T172, which should be in time.
* Ideology next turn, but did someone mention a random settler? (See screenshot in the in the other spoiler.)

Total Pop on T166: 94
3% behind Elizabeth in tech (6th place)
One completed RA, and four more in progress

T166 Screenshot - It's a New Battlefield!

Spoiler :

 

[Nizef]

The Hague!! Well, at least you got a new target...

 

[ForkOfSpite]

A moment of truth ...
(Plus, see T191 for how I intended to deal with The Hague.)

T167-196 (Session 10)

Spoiler :

T167 - AUTOCRACY!!! Later (back-to-back on T193-194), Harald and Suleiman go Order. Fun times await!

Why Autocracy? Since I've picked this game back up, with one exception (a Venice diplo victory where I switched from Freedom to World Ideology Order to pick up the last two votes I needed), all my games have been Freedom Science wins. So, I want to try something else. I think Freedom would be safer (at least for me) - you can still go stealth/xcom - but I don't really know if I'm having a good science game. My science wins have been on quick speed except for Quest for Glory 8, and this play can't compete with that pace (not exactly a fair comparison though).

I also pick up a social policy via culture on T167, so I start at Autocracy 3:
* Level 1 - Elite Forces (wounded military +25% damage)
* Level 1 - Mobilization (purchasing units 33% less gold)
* Level 2 - Militarism (+2 happiness from barracks, armories, academies)

T169 - Scientific Theory. New tech goal is Flight for Prora and to start attacking with Great War Bombers. I can decide later if I want to go for research labs, delay it, or skip it entirely. Queuing up my tech screen:
-- Steel (armories)
-- 3-tech detour for Biology (oil and trade route - not needed for Flight, but needed if I want to use early aircraft)
-- Military Science (academies). Threw in a 1-tech detour for fertilizer which helped the food situation significantly.
-- Flight

T170 - Great Scientist from Medina (second scientist of the empire). Also, Rio falls as expected. It's very well stocked with buildings, so I'll certainly annex when it makes sense. Pedro didn't have much gold or gold/turn of offer in a peace deal, but he threw in Brasilia. Meh, why not? It has copper. Taking it puts me at -1 happiness, but that's easily fixed with a new mercantile city state friend. Finish the deal by denouncing Pedro. No denunciations towards me in response (except from Pedro three turns later). In fact, two or three other civs followed up by denouncing Pedro.

T171 - Vote Elizabeth leader host of the World Congress. (Maybe a future research agreement?) She had it on her own, but I could have voted in either WIlliam or Gajah Mada. Unrelatedly, Pedro seems to have a single copy of Cocoa which could certainly help me with city states (and maybe King's Day). He's willing to give it, too for the low, low, price of 89 gold/turn, 7 luxuries, 2 horses, 1 coal, and accepting an embassy. It was tempting, but to quote Pedro, "nao".

T172 and 173 - Porcelain Tower (third great scientist) and an engineered Big Ben. Yay! As expected, Suleiman's RA (worth about 4.6 turns of research) gives the boost over the end turn from 172 to 173, so Porcelain was probably exactly on time. Same turn, sign another one. I think it'll come through, but if not, so be it.

T175 - Ghandi's RA is not nearly as impressive - only 1.9 turns. He can't afford another one, so we're done. Elizabeth seems disgusted at me that I'm friends with Suleiman, so I guess no upcoming RA from her, then.
T177 - William's RA (~2.6 turns - tough to tell because I got a big science boost that turn) and Biology reveals oil. I'm less than impressed, but I have 12 including the Ships of the Desert bonus. No more RAs for William!!
T183 - Autocracy 4, Level 1 - Universal Health Care (+1 happiness from national wonders)
T189 - Harald's RA (2.7 turns). No more RAs for him either, because ...
T190 - Harald kills Pedro. Rio now shares a long and cramped border with Harald's Salvador. (I saw it coming, so I should have taken that ridiculous cocoa offer.)
T191 - I find out that the harbors in Damascus and Rio are not enough to keep city connections with my captured empire. Immediately renew open borders with William and start making a new road from La Venta.
T192 - Second Great Scientist from Mecca (fourth empire-wide). It looks like I might only get one more and I've had to intentionally delay an engineer to do so.
T196 - Autocracy 5, Level 2 - Total War (25% production for military units and new units get +15 xp)

End of session with Flight in 5 turns.

** Seven-city with 137 combined population
** First in pop, food, production, and tech
** Tradition 6, Commerce 2, Rationalism 2, Autocracy 5
** Five RAs complete worth approximately 14 turns of research. One in progress (with Suleiman which provided the biggest boost so far).
** Petra!, Great Wall, Porcelain Tower, Big Ben

T196 Screenshot

Spoiler :

 

[ForkOfSpite]

Bit of a miscalculation at the end of this one. Actually, at the beginning too. Only the very first plan could have worked, but neither revised plan has a chance.

Between Session Thoughts

Spoiler :

Should I skip Research Labs? It's probably safer to go for full science, but I wouldn't be opposed to the skip. However, I need to know if I have reliable aluminum because if I need recycling centers (Ecology), I'll definitely need full science. So, I switch my tech queue: Electronics, Flight, Railroad. Upcoming World's Fair can help me through the important social policies anyway, so I'd probably just miss the Rationalism closer by skipping labs.

But I still want some early warfare. I was planning to bomb William's Dur-Kurigalzu from Medina, but now I see the Suleiman is razing it. So, my Great War Bombers will need range to reach Amsterdam. Guess they'll warm up on The Hague, and to help speed it along, Brandenburg Gate would help.

I'm worried about holding captured cities, though. All I have are a rifleman and gatling gun. I could upgrade some camels. I'm also worried about upsetting Elizabeth to the point that she launches against Rio. I'll need backup air units (including air sweep Great War Planes) to help repel any such attack.

T197-215 (Session 11)

Spoiler :

T197 - William is friends with both Dido and Ghandi, so I'd like to setup some diplomatic relations by having him backstab prior to my denouncement and attack. Over the end turn (196-197), Dido takes Delhi. So, looks like I'll try to pay for William to declare on Dido.

T201 - After switching my tech priority for aluminum, I finish Electricity. Looks like I have two 8-aluminum tiles (one farmed, one trading posted). Don't think I'll need recycling centers, so skipping labs is still an option.

T203 - Brandenburg Gate in Mecca, and World's Fair passes. Reassessing my science, I think I'll be able to push out five more Great Scientists. I already have four including Porcelain, so that seems like enough to tech the lower half of the tree. I can also faith purchase at least one scientist and more likely two. I should have plenty of culture for the important policies - probably even have enough to finish either Rationalism or Commerce if I want. Decision done - I'm skipping labs which saves two techs (Radio, Plastics) plus I don't have to build the labs. Can focus more on units.

Next few turns are fairly uneventful. Suleiman' RA comes through on T204 (worth about 6.5 turns!) putting us both in Modern - me on Flight and Suleiman on Replaceable Parts. Dido kills Ghandi on T205 (so maybe I won't even need to pay William for the backstab?) To regain a city state ally, I pledge to protect Antananarivo on T209 which might upset Harald and Dido (Harald bullied them earlier prompting the quest and Dido overtook me in influence). To keep Harold's eyes focused somewhere other than me, I pay a ridiculously low 2 gold/turn and 2 coal to declare on Gajah Mada.

T210 - fairly comfortable World's Fair win, but I'm behind on units (haven't even started on an aircraft unit). Rationalism 3 (Humanism) for the free policy to help speed up Great Scientists. Checking for backstabs, I can no longer afford to pay William to declare on Dido. Would have preferred it that way, but it's cheap to have her backstab him, so might as well (4 gold/turn and a lux).

T211 - Declaration of Friendship between Harald and William. Damn. William won't backstab (he was willing to backstab both Ghandi and Dido earlier). Harald will declare on William, but it's expensive, so I pass.
Also T211 - Rationalism 4 (Free Thought) which help the science and great scientist bulbs.
Still T211 - Move a faith-purchased engineer to Damascus (forgot Prora had to be in a coastal city). Still a 2-turn build after using the engineer.

T212 - First Great Scientist from Damascus (5th in empire). Plan to bulb scientists and a couple of writers on T220. Vote Gajah as the next World Congress host.
T213 - Prora completes for Commerce 3 (Mercantilism). Dido goes Order.

At this point, I have officially changed my plan - Suleiman is my first target. Less diplomatic hit, and he's having a good game, so ...

T214 - First bomber completes. Rebase to LaVenta. Buy five more (390 gold each). Then of course ...
T215 - Declaration of Friendship between Harald and Suleiman. Of course, but oh well. Rebase to La Venta, DENOUNCE SULEIMAN, and War next turn!: La Venta vs. Nippur.

T215 Screenshot

Spoiler :

Upon Further Reflection

Spoiler :

Umm... you mean Great War bombers only have range 6? I thought this whole time they had range 8 (and the range promotion took them to 10). Literally, only the first plan would have worked - attack Dur-Kurigalzu from Medina. But, that city no longer exists. I could try to draw Suleiman's military closer (he has the world's largest army). I can't take back my denouncement of Suleiman, but I could go back to William and warm-up on The Hague. But, there is another option. Starting the next session momentarily (so no proofreading this post), and I'm starting to think this third option is the way to go ...

 

[ForkOfSpite]

It ends with a Turn 267 Domination Victory - both objectives complete! I'll start with a summary and some thoughts before going into some details from the last two sessions (was just a matter of time after the first). But first, the Victory Screen! Of course, thank you to Nizef for sharing the game and providing the plot twist objective. Was certainly enjoyable.

T217 - Domination Victory Screen

Spoiler :

Summary and Thoughts

Spoiler :

Yeah, stealth/xcom works well (and camels do, too). As long as you don't let your aircraft bases get captured, there's no stopping them other than insane city combat strength or nukes. In my game, no AI built Manhattan, so no worries. But to go up against an AI that has nukes, it might be a good idea to keep air units not on the front line (and not your capital). Perhaps it would make your air bases less attractive targets while still keeping them in range of your target. Speaking of range, 6? Really?? Tough for modern age air combat.

Sub-spoilers are just to save space while viewing.

Some thoughts on AI diplomacy

Spoiler :

Pertaining more directly to this game and the plot-twist objective: diplomacy. Somehow, I managed to keep excellent relations with everyone (except Pedro, of course). Even moving on to the next two targets, I maintained normal trade with the rest. Having an AI declare on everyone else before you declare is certainly an exploit, but it seemed to work. Maintaining relations can be crucial for both gold and happiness (science too via research agreements - I had over 20 turns worth via six RAs), and in my game, it was gold galore. Bazaars certainly helped with that too, of course.

Some thoughts on gold

Spoiler :

I probably didn't use my gold too wisely in this game (finished the game with over 20k on hand). For this game, I probably could have been more aggressive with city states in the mid-game, but then again, doing so might have cost me diplomatically. When I know I'm going to war, I try to prioritize city states that are nearby, so I don't have to worry about my land. It just so happens that the two closest city states in this game were also useful (non-hostile culture and mercantile). It's generally good to take cultural allies (or friends with multiple if the AI aggressively pursues them), and mercantile was good for this game since it took forever for AIs to get duplicate luxuries online.

Some thoughts on happiness

Spoiler :

Obviously, gold and good diplomatic relations help with happiness (and science). Nevertheless, I feel like I got lucky. Like most of my games, I had extremely low tourism (although that did pick up late), so I'm generally suffering ideology pressure. With my standard style (science turtle), I can handle the unhappiness hit. The first couple of stages aren't bad, and I can find the happiness by the time the higher levels arrive. In this game though, the first level provided 15 unhappiness which brought me to around 5 excess happiness overall. The war was just starting, too. Pedro was long dead, but I had only captured (puppet) one additional city beyond the La Venta and Brazilian captures (8 cities total). So many more ideological pressure levels to go and so many more cities to capture, so how could I handle it? Fortunately, those providing the pressure didn't have crazy tourism (at least, not yet). I was still benefiting from the World Fair win's culture boost, and I became unknown to them, too.

I feel like that was lucky. First, I didn't even propose the World's Fair (never had a chance to propose anything). Second, I had relatively high total culture output already (two filler policies pre-renaissance). Relying on something like that doesn't seem like a repeatable strategy. I guess, it might be okay to just ignore it and take the combat penalty hit. Protect your strategic resources and keep a few units behind to handle rebel uprisings. Overall, I'm certainly not comfortable handling the happiness issues associated with domination.

Game Breakdown (i.e. wonders)

Spoiler :

Social Policies: Tradition 6, Commerce 6, Rationalism 6, Autocracy 6
Demographics: first in everything (including happiness)

Hard-Built Wonders: Petra!, Porcelain, Brandenburg
Faith Engineers: Prora, Pentagon
Spawned Engineers: Big Ben, Neuschwanstein
Captured Wonders: numerous, of course (missed Notre Dame, though) - Great Wall was a notable midgame capture to alleviate worries after Harald captured Salvador

T216-241 (Session 12)

Spoiler :

So, where'd I leave off?

T216:
-- Harold disapproves my denunciation of Suleiman - Get over it! But, that certainly confirmed what I had already decided.
-- Elizabeth approves my denunciation of Suleiman and proceeds to denounce Harald.
-- Good idea, Liz! I follow suit and denounce Harald myself.
-- Take a turn to rebase in Rio, and WAR NEXT TURN! (Didn't I already say that already, though?)

T217:
-- Elizabeth approves my denunciation again and proceeds to go Freedom! Huzzah! (Oh wait, I went Autocracy, didn't I?)
-- Gajah also approves and offers a Declaration of Friendship - declined.
-- William disapproves, and Suleiman and Harald both denounce me. I guess Suleiman was okay with me denouncing him, but denouncing Harald? That's a step too far!

Diplomacy exploit time
** Pay to have Harald backstab William. Super expensive? Who cares!
** In fact, why not pay Harald to declare on Dido, too? Done!
** Elizabeth declines my offer to join me in war against Harald, but I take that decision out of her hand by paying Harald to DoW her.
** Finally, I declare which cancels all of these gold per turn, luxury, and resource bribes leaving Harald at war with everyone except Suleiman (was already at war with Gajah from earlier - sorry about that!)

Six GWB bombardments later, Salvator is at zero health. Doesn't look like there are any units around, so I capture that turn (taking an archaeologist in the process). Puppet and take a look. I guess Salvador is the home of the Theater of Arabian Literature (themed Globe Theater).

T218:
-- Gajah Mada follows me in Autocracy!
-- I had declined open borders over the end turn, so I immediately give him my borders for free. This might help Gajah get Autocracy pressure over me to cancel out Freedom pressure from Liz (-15 at Dissidents level).
-- Looking around for more of Harald's units, I only find another archaeologist, but I find a barb camp within range of Salvador, so might as well rebase.

T219 - DoF from Dido (declined, but looks like the exploit is working). William goes Freedom (Dissidents again). Commerce 4 (Wagon Trains).
T220 - Start bulbing Great Scientists (1x 6914) and Great Writers (1x 2366). Stop scientists for overflow. Stop writers because still going up and not needed right then.
T221 - Rationalism 5 (Sovereignty). That's why I stopped bulbing writers - not ready for Rationalism finisher and don't need Autocracy 6 yet.
T222 - Accidentally forgot to stop Oxford, so that goes for Radar (Bombers!) Bulb more scientists (2x 6979). Stop again for overflow, so wait two turns to finish Rocketry. Upgrade to bombers for 110 gold each.
T223 - Setting up for Suleiman. Move city specialist bombers to Medina (can reach Nippur and Malacca). Move land unit specialist bombers to La Venta to help clear units from around Nippur.
T224 - Harald gives 90 gold/turn and junk for peace. Fine, was moving west anyway. Bulb remaining scientists (2x 7006, 4 turns left on Computers, GS soon). Declare on Suleiman.
T226 - Take and puppet Nippur. Would like to recall Neb to life, but I need the base.

T227:
-- Great Scientist from Mecca (Mecca's 3rd, Empire's 6th including Porcelain). Bulb at 7074 for Computers into Robotics.
-- Bulb writers (2x 2429) for Rationalism 6 (taking Lasers) and Autocracy 6 (Clausewitz's Legacy)
-- Buy Modern Armor in Medina and La Venta (480 gold each). Sell later when I need the aluminum.
-- Faith purchase Great Engineer and two Great Scientists. I really should have bought those scientists earlier - could have used Rationalism finisher for Nanotechnology, probably.

T228 - Liberate Malacca (meeting them for 15 gold!). Bulb scientists (2x 7108). Four turns remain on Nanotechnology. Stealth not touched, but another scientist in 9 (Arts Funding pushes it back a turn).
T229 - Engineered Pentagon in Mecca. Suleiman's units finally start showing up.
T232 - Nanotechnology. Upgrade paratroopers to xcoms. Take and puppet Haarlem for another air base.
T235 - Liberate Zanzibar. (Was my ally when Suleiman took it - that's where his units were.)
T237 - Capture Babylon!

T238:
-- Great Scientist from La Venta (La Venta's first, Empire's 9th I think - notes say 10th, though). Bulb at 7514 for Stealth. Tech complete, so let's go for labs!
-- Bomber upgrades only cost 70 gold each.
-- Commerce 5 (Entrepreneurship)

T239 - Start attacking Istanbul and its Red Fort
T241 - Capture Istanbul! (Himeji, Kremlin, Leaning Tower, Pyramids, Red Fort - no Notre Dame, though.) Peace for 4000 gold which was a generous offer, I guess.

T241 Screenshot (Counting tiles to Delhi and Carthage)

Spoiler :

Will need to append Session 13 to this post later. Page is being highly unresponsive.

(Later, arrives ...)
T242-267 (Session 13 for the Win!)

Spoiler :

So, plan for Dido (Dehli and Carthage)? Stealth bombers have 20 range (and a couple have the range promotion now, so those have 22 range). XCOM paradrop range is effectively limitless (40 tiles but starting from your land). Looks like I can use Babylon and Nippur to take and puppet Gades. Then use Babylon and Gades for Dehli and Carthage.

T242 - Declare on Dido. XCOM to Dehli spy for vision on Gades - it has units. I can just buy more XCOM if needed.
T243 - Not needed. Capture and puppet Gades. Starting to feel happiness issues - I'm down to 11 excess happiness which depends on trades with Gajah Mada. Long way to go still.
T246 - Capture Dehli! (Alhambra, Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu)

Dido isn't willing to peace yet, and I can't hold Carthage due to the coast. So I just start working on the units and city health as best I can waiting to paradrop until I know we can peace immediately. Since I'm waiting anyway ...

T248:
-- Liberate Mumbai to Recall Ghandi to life! Dido willing to peace, so paradrop to Carthage.
-- Too bad I have all of Pedro's cities, but "nao".
-- Declare war on William now so I won't have to wait as long for peace deal. Still no reaction from Elizabeth, and Gadah loves it, of course.

T248-249 End Turn - Lost a camel. Medal of honor for capturing the Dutch general that could have stolen our land.

T249:
-- Capture Carthage! (Terracotta Army). Peace Dido for 2000 gold. (I under asked again.)
-- Steal The Hague's land. General to the north and general to the south.
-- Capture and RAZE THE HAGUE!!! (I find out later that I didn't keep the land I stole.)

T250 - Capture Amsterdam! (Great Library, Great Mosque). William won't peace yet. Declare on Harald anyway.
T254 - Peace with William (nothing to offer) and Sofia immediately declares on me! William has 2 more influence points (slower decay rate), and processing order led to Sofia declaring. Make peace and let William keep the ally.
T255 - Puppet Harald's Hedby (future air base).
T256 - Puppet Harald's Ribe (future air base). That one has a single coastal weak point - I should have brought missile cruisers from Damascus over to help hold, but Harald couldn't quite exploit the weakness.
T257 - Great Engineer from Medina. Used for 1-turn Neuschwanstein in Mecca. Put everyone on walls and castles. Good timing for the happiness issues! (There wasn't any more available from city states.)

T259:
-- Great Writer saves one turn on Commerce 6. Suddenly up to 52 excess happiness (46 point jump from the Commerce happiness policy).
-- Capture Copenhagen! (Eiffel, Parthenon, Zeus)
-- Peace for 200 gold and 55 gold per turn (all he had).

T260:
-- Suleiman goes Info via Satellites. I should steal that tech from him. Guessing Krakatoa or Sri Pada is somewhere in that ocean. Suleiman has already built Apollo.
-- Declare War on Elizabeth. Elizabeth accuses me of preying on the weak but will defend.
-- Declare War on Gajah Mada. He's filled with sadness.

Attack Jakarta from Hedby and Ribe. Attack London via missile cruisers and stealth bombers from Salvador, Rio, and La Venta. London was at 150 strength, so it took a bit.

T267:
-- Capture London!
-- Capture Jakarta!

Missions accomplished. Domination victory after taking a city state under an AI's protection.

Recapping the war path:
** Camels for Rio
** Bombers to break into Ottoman land and take Babylon
** Stealth/XCOM the rest (Instanbul, Dehli, Carthage, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, and Jakarta).

Fifty turns after declaring on Harald with Great War Bombers for Salvador, and 29 turns after Stealth, game complete.

Thanks again to Nizef! I'm sure I'll be taking a look at another Quest for Glory in the near future.

 

[consentient]

T120 retired Dom push

Liberty-Commerce (a few turns away from Commerce finisher to stabilise happiness)
4 city NC (very late NC after beelining Currency and building libraries very late)

Spoiler :

Rio fell T62
Amsterdam 74
Babylon 96
Chivalry hit 99
Istanbul fell 106
Delhi 120 (had to eliminate India as they for some reason never settled their second city - settler was just walking around clueless, kinda bizarre)

Abandoned run cuz the remaining capitals were totally unsuitable for land domination and I dislike Naval capture, even if I switched tech tree push to Navigation
Thanks for the last couple of maps I've played. I'm content just to pop my head up once every couple of years and add a few more hours to the 7000+ I've now logged :S