1675AD: Nationalism done. We have entered the Renaissance Era!
Research Paper next, due in 3 turns @ 50% sci, 545/+7. Bumping up to 70% will finish Paper in 2 (545/-33) but, for some odd reason, that would add a turn to building the Spiral Minaret. Sometimes the machinations of this game baffle me...anyhow, I leave it as it is.
Notice one more dye needs plantationing, but as we can chop the SM in one turn (if need be), I don't move the worker yet. Hold breath, hit ENTER...
1680AD: Watch as various "such and such builds such and such, so-and-so converts to what-is-called" messages appear, wait for the dreaded "Spiral Minaret built in distant land" message...it doesn't come. Whew! One worker team can now be dispatched to hook up the final dye plantation:
Tarsus finishes its forge. We have a number of options here...however, one of them is NOT the Forbidden Palace. We're missing a Courthouse! (Need 6, only have 5 built.) Look around the other cities to see who can build one fastest, but they're all busy doing other stuff. So let's look at other options:
Hermitage (12) -- pretty much only useful for culture, and now that Hangzhou's flipped at last (and it doesn't look like we'll be going for a Cultural Win after all) I'd rather put it somewhere else more useful. Perhaps on a border city, like Gordium or Pasargadae. Versailles (30) -- see no reason to build this at all, it's just a unique Forbidden Palace and takes for freakin' EVER to build. And finally, Taj Mahal (26). Now, this city could use some Wonders in it. Pers & Susa can build it faster, though. Decide to make no decision until next turn...
According to Lord McAuley, we are the #1 wealthiest civilization in the world! "An Unknown Civilization" is #7 -- which means Hatty. What is UP with Hatty in this game? We haven't even met her yet!
1685AD: Well, fiddlesticks...
Like I said before, Monty's been a Wonder Freak this game! Highly unusual. And also unusual that he built it so damn fast...he must have GE'd it!
Mao (now Pleased) asks for Open Borders, I politely say no. I do renegotiate the Ivory trade and get 7gp per turn now. Techwise, he still says WFYABTA.
Speaking of trades...totally forgot to shop Nationalism around. Peter's the only one who will still trade and doesn't have it, and when I open his dialogue window he says something very peculiar:
Ya know, if that's all I had to brag about, I'd keep my mouth shut. Anyhow, I ask him what he wants for Nationalism, and...OH BABY!!!
Actually, adding up the beakers shows that *he's* the one getting the sweet deal here. No matter...I happily accept ("Cha-CHING!" he says) and we are now at tech parity with ALL the other civs! Except for Guilds, but we'll get that soon enough!
National Epic completes in Susa. Start catching up on basic infrastructure (Harbor, Market, etc.)
SPIRAL MINARET DUE NEXT TURN!! NO CHOPPING REQUIRED!!!
1690AD: Ok, last turn of this report. And it's a busy one. First, You-Know-What completes in You-Know-Where:
Susa also gets a 17gp refund for NOT completing it.
Persepolis is now unhealthy (toldja we needed the forest) so queue up Harbor (1) / Theatre (1) / Hindu Monastery (2) / Jewish Monastery (2) -- that's it, as far as infrastructure goes. They'll have to start on military next. Switch city governor to "Max Beakers", which slows growth a bit (17 turns) and adds 2 scientists & a priest as specialists, but doesn't slow down the build time at all. (Ain't Bureaucracy grand?)
Paper done, start researching Guilds -- bump science to 60%, we're now nearly in the green @ 691/-1, very nice! Due in 4 turns.
Here's what cottage-spammed Arbela & Sidon now look like:
Think I'll leave the remaining jungles, merely for aesthetic purposes.
We can't work some of those jungle tiles, anyway.
Since we have Optics now, Susa queues a Caravel (2) followed by Harbor (2), Jewish Monastery (2) -- mess with the buttons, but nothing comes of it, so I leave it alone. (We gotta focus on getting those Monasteries done...Scientific Method is just around the corner, and we're about ready to switch out of OR pretty soon.)
The forever unworkable fish near Sidon are now within our borders, so 2 Work Boats are ordered up.
And, finally...start trading MAPS.
Only Mao & Peter will trade, the rest don't like us enough. Mao wants 100gp (guess he knows a straight trade won't suit him) so I pay it. Peter wants our own map + 110gp, and I accept. At long last, we can see where we are in relation to everyone else in the world:
As expected, Saladin really got shafted on the land. In fact, it's worse than I thought. I mean...Jesus.
Some interesting items to note:
Monty is right off our SE coast. If an invasion happens, it'll be from there. He's just as close with Hatty, though. He might invade her instead. Hatty always gets invaded sooner or later...if not by me, then by someone else!
We also get a glimpse of what the war between Peter & Nappy may have been about:
Checking resources, we see that Hatty has Copper & Marble, which explains why she beat us to The Sistine Chapel, but doesn't explain why she's built so few Wonders this game. (Especially compared to Monty!) She also is the one who founded Islam -- again, very unusual for her first religion to be so late. (Of course, it was Sally who grabbed the Buddhist ring first, and then those pesky non-Spiritual Persians hogged HinJewism...) Nappy owns both Confucianism and Taoism, which actually is typical for him.
Mecca (Sally) is directly to the north of Pasargadae -- no wonder it's been feeling cultural pressure. Sally also has copper & marble, and lots and lots of tundra. (If this weren't a pacifist game...) I don't see Stone ANYWHERE.
Number of military units built this session = zero.
Graphs & summation in next post...
Monty is down Theo now, dunno why that didn't appear before! Everyone has Civil Service but us.
![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
