I played until 800AD to even out the turns and with the exception of the afore mentioned balls up, played pretty well.
A very quick overview shows us still at peace with everyone, in Democracy and in the Industrial Age.
Inherited Turn
As jumbo2002 said we have the opportunity to try a 2fer deal on Physics for Metallurgy. We have our Spices for Dyes, Incense & Furs expiring next turn.
Trade China: WM + 57gpt + 314g for Physics
Trade Vikings: Physics + WM + 12gpt + 4g for Metallurgy
Change Barcelona from Palace to Bank
Change Toledo from Knight to Courthouse
Change Vitoria from Knight to Granary. Its one turn from growth so I will be switching it from grassland to coast to keep it from growing until the Granary finishes in 5 turns.
Change Murcia from Barracks to Granary
Change Zaragoza from Knight to Aqueduct
Change Gibraltar from Barracks to Granary
MM Valencia for more shields. It is stuck at 6 and had a 3 food surplus. I moved the worker to a Desert gaining 1 more shield. This allows me to MM Pamplona to use the grassland and a hill instead of 2 coast tiles dropping the Bank build time from 11 to 8.
Fire the Scientist in Barcelona, hes worth more working a coastal tile.
Change the Taxman in Brighton to a Scientist and MM for 0 growth.
Its not worth it to push on with Economics hoping that nobody gets it within 20 turns, knowing we have no chance at Smiths. Its only benefit is to improve Wealth but I dont think well be running on Wealth anytime soon. Switch research to Magnetism.
Pikemen are 30 shields to Muskets 60 shields, so I decided to pillage the Saltpeter so we can build Pikemen. We can also upgrade Spears to Pikes for 20g instead of Muskets for 80g. We can also build twice as quickly. Our Swordsmen are obselete and costing us money so I disband them and the Catapults.
1 Sword in Vitoria dropping the Granary to 5 to 4
1 Sword + 1 Catapult in Zaragoza dropping the Aqueduct from 8 to 7
1 Catapult in Gibraltar dropping the Granary from 7 to 6
1 Sword in Pamplona dropping the Bank from 8 to 7
I Our Spices for Dyes & Incense deal with China expires. They wont do a straight swap
Our Spices for Furs + 6gpt deal with Rome expires. They wont do a straight swap.
The Romans build Newtons University in Rome
680 Barcelona Bank=>Library
Santiago Courthouse=>Library
Barcelona is size 12 so I am mining the Cows to get 15spt
We dont have a single Library!!! We have no alternative to buying techs. We are going to need to get some research capacity soon. 40 turn gambits arent going to work in the Industrial Age.
Madrid goes into disorder. I flip through to prevent others from doing so
I knew this would happen but it was cheaper to let Madrid riot than to raise Lux to 30% to keep it happy until I could deal this turn. The Chinese shopped their Dyes & Incense to the Iroquois
The Romans still have Furs.
Trade Rome: Spices for Furs + 2gpt + 2g. WTF???
Trade Iroquois: Spices + 2gpt + 10g for Silks
Renewing between turns saw us paying 2gpt for Furs and 4gpt for Dyes so Im glad I waited.
We did lose a lot of WLTKD and that has cost us some income and shields.
Flip through and reset workers
Disband a Warrior in Zaragoza to drop Aqueduct build by 1
Disband 2 Swords by Syracuse to drop Courthouse build by 7
Disband Warrior in Seville to drop Bank build by 1
690 Madrid is size 12 so I am mining the Deer to get 15spt
700 Madrid Knight=>Library
Valencia Marketplace=>Aqueduct
Upgrade 5 Spears to Pikes
Disband 4 Warriors in Murcia to drop the Granary build by 3
Disband 2 Warriors in Valencia to drop the Aqueduct build by 1
710
Upgrade Galley to Caravel
Upgrade Spear to Pike
720 Vitoria Granary=>Harbor
Drop off 2 Pikes by Syracuse and pick up the 2 Workers.
Upgrade Galley to Caravel
Upgrade Spear to Pike
Persia has been stuck at Chemistry for a while but they have Democracy which would be good to have. They wont trade it for Chemistry, wanting us to chip in 56gpt, not today. We have 2 techs after Chemistry, lets see if they like those better.
Trade Persia: Chemistry for Monarchy + WM + 4g
Trade Persia: Physics + Metallurgy for Democracy + 3g
Persia came out ahead but we had no chance of recouping anything else for our techs, Persia and the Zulu are and have been dead broke.
It will take us 3 turns to save enough money for 1 turn of anarchy, then Ill revolt to Democracy.
Hmmm it looks like Persia is at War with the Zulu. Ulundi is now a Persian city.
I Holy Cow. Rome starts Universal Suffrage.
730 Barcelona Library=>Pike
If we had enough money there is a chance for a 2fer deal with Theory of Gravity and the English.
We have deals for 1 Spices and 95gpt expiring in 2 turns, with another Spices and 3gpt the turn after. Fingers crossed, feet off floor, touch wood, salt over shoulder
.
War it is, Ulundi is Zulu again
740
Dammit, shouldnt have said anything, England has Theory of Gravity.
Disband 2 Warriors in Vitoria to drop Harbor build by 1
I The Vikings and English start Shakespeares Theatre
750 Barcelona Pike=>Pike
Seville Bank=>Library
Santiago Library=>Bank
Pamplona Bank=>Granary
With the 2 new Banks and some deals expiring our income jumps to 166gpt!!
But first a little revolt. I MM all the cities for max growth as food is not affected by anarchy
IRome declares War on the Vikings
The Chinese and Iroquois start Shakespeares
760 Spanish Democracy is alive and kicking.
Our income is a not too shabby 183gpt
We only have Embassies with Rome and the Vikings.
For future purposes I establish an Embassy in Salamanca for 88g. They look like our best alliance shot on that continent.
Size 12, 6xfpt, 18spt, building Shakespeares due in 14
Garrison: 2 Vet & 5 Reg Muskets, 1 Catapult, 1 Vet Cavalry
Improvements: all possible plus Sun Tzu and Sistine Chapel
Horses, Iron and Saltpeter in Strategic box
Wines, Furs, Dyes, Incense, Spices and Silks in Luxury box
We have a spare Spices floating about and China has some techs we want, so lets press the flesh.
Trade China: Spices + WM + 122gpt + 30g for Magnetism + Theory of Gravity
Bring on the Industrial Age
Research set for Nationalism. I chose this over Steam Power because there is a good chance we won't have Rubber on our dirt patch and we need a better defender than Pikemen. We also might not have any Coal
Persia is just backwards enough for us. They have Military Tradition, Music Theory and Free Artistry but no Magnetism. Lucky for us they dont research what they actually need.
Trade Persia: Magnetism + WM + 3gpt + 8g for Military Tradition
Everybody else is showing Music Theory and Free Artistry except the Romans who also have Nationalism and Steam Power, and obviously Industrialization. Nobody has Medicine but we are short a couple of hundred gpt to even begin research.
We have 0 gold but an income of 58gpt, which Ill use to upgrade our Horses as fast as I can
I Shaka demands Banking but does nothing when I tell him no
Rome is sending an escorted Galley west past Brighton
We get a lawn for the Palace
770 Madrid Library=>Pike
Zaragoza Aqueduct=>Granary
Drop off 2 Pikes by Brighton and pick up the Sword and Horse to take back to the mainland.
I Rome captures Viking town of Bodo
780 Barcelona Pike=>Pike
Upgrade Horse to Knight
Disband 2 Warriors & 1 Sword in Gibraltar to reduce Marketplace build by 2
I Zulus start JS Bach
Iroquois start Universal Suffrage
790 Madrid Pike=>Pike
Murcia Granary=>Library
Upgrade Horse to Knight
IChina and Rome have signed a MA against the Vikings.
Persians start JS Bachs
800 Barcelona Pike=>Pike
Buy TM for 2g from Rome & China
Buy TM for 1g from Iroquois, Zulu, Persia, England & Vikings
Hlobane is once again Zulu.
Notes
Our military is still small but is improving quickly. Barcelona and Madrid are between them building a Pikemen a turn. I think they should keep on doing it for a while just to get our numbers up. We can upgrade a Horse to Knight every other turn. I kept the Saltpeter offline so we could still build Pikes quickly. The Workers on the Saltpeter can have it roaded in 1 turn if/when its needed.
Barcelona and Madrid both pull 16spt so they can build a Cavalry or Riflemen in an even 5 turns. Seville had to give up the Forest to do this but it doesnt matter so much, it took forever to build something anyway. Toledo is set for fast growth, it only costs 1 turn on the Library build time but saves 14 turns to grow.
Watch Zaragoza and make sure its Granary finishes before it grows.
I also think we need to squeeze in a few more Librarys to have some basic self-research capabilities. The extra culture wont hurt our chances of keeping any cities we take either.
I dont think we should build Barracks in towns that cant pull at least 10spt. They are never going to be able to build units fast enough. Just let them plod along on other improvements.
There is a good chance the Vikings will start to cave under the combined pressure of China & Rome. I wasnt happy to see that alliance, their power bar is already starting to thin.
Some good news is that the Zulu and Persians are at war. I think we should aim at getting in on that action against the Zulu with Ulundi and Hlobane as the targets. If we raze Zimbabwe then the Zulu capital should jump up north to Intombe. Hlobane and those 6 Gems are worth a fortune. We are about equal with the Zulu in Power but should get ahead of them when our Cavalry come online.
SAVE