Pre-turn - 1394AD
First job is to get WW and starvation under control. Hopefully we will eventually aquire the Persian silk at Arbela but we cant afford to hang around for that right now and regretfully we trade Gems for Gandhis silk.
We also increase the culture slider to 10% removing all unhappy citizens in Moscow, Pi-Ramesses and Heliopolis. This frees up 5 MPs one of which arrives in Thebes. I MM cities to remove the engineers that the governor always put there when removing an unhappy citizen.
For now we have only 10 unhappy citizens in the Egyptian empire.
Looking at the recently captured prize of Persepolis in awe

. This really is a great prize with forge, lighthouse, mahabodhi, market and an academy! It also has a granary, 2 crab and 3 fish just outside the culture radius. This is going to make

s. I vote we build the Globe Theatre there so it can grow to the health limit. Backing my plan, I put a Theatre in the queue which will start when the resistance ends in 5 turns.
Memphis starts a missionary (due in 3) so we can spread Buddhism to Sidon to take full advantage of the Religion civics.
Thebes is switched from research to Theatre (63 hammers per turn due to creative trait and due in 2) for happy bonus from Gandhis dye and the culture slider.
Despite me posting about it a while back we still have a workboat sleeping off the coast of India that is costing us support. Gift it to Gandhi.
Land 2 healthy units and 1 slightly damaged ones from navy S of Pasargadae to hill as per plan. As healing is faster in city, transport a heavily wounded mace & cat to Persepolis to join 2 healing maces there. When healed will return to the hill.
Load 3 units at Sidon onto galleys in the strait so they can amphibiously assault Tarsus next turn if needed to kill wounded defenders.
Two workers look set to build a plantation we cant work N of Moscow, I know that once we learn astronomy well need a spare sugar plantation for trade but theres one already at Heliopolis that just needs hooking up to the road network. I want some workers in the N so send Rosicky there. Apprentice stays put but just builds a road on the N of Moscow sugar so when we need the plantation a worker team can use road movement to get there.
Spread the galleys off Pasargadae about to allow a bit of
ship chaining and hold a coupke of caravels nearby for protection. Send a caravel anti-clockwise round our continent to watch for any HC trouble off Giza. There are 2 other caravels out exploring.
Employ 2 artists at Moscow in an attempt to get another Great Artist.
Find we not only have Valmiki hiding in Calcutta but also a worker named Klose that makes a run for the N coast to be ferried home. The caravel with Valmiki loaded on board heads home on the S coast.
Cyrus has a knight in Gordium I hadnt seen before. We have a spearman in Arbella that could do with upgrading to a pike to deal with it. Cant do it while the city is in resistance though.
MM Alex for longbow in 1 so we can drop Vassalage next turn.
Turn 1 1400AD
Klose is killed by a Persian knight from Libyan

, I was sort of warned.
We learn
Liberalism so I press F4 but there are no deals on offer except Divine Right. Press exit and choose
Printing Press as our free tech. Ignore the Free Religion pop-up to ensure our Military built this turn get the Vassalage experience.
Alex Longbow>University
Sidon starts harbour. This will be chopped.
Select
Astronomy to put one turns worth of beakers into it to see if that makes Gandhi put it on the table.
Maceman C1 pillages mine NE of Libyan for 9g
Spotted something odd here. Macemen cant heal in Persepolis. Thats weird! Move them in Persepolis into neutral territory to heal instead. What! Catapult in the city can heal?
Ship a Mace out from Persepolis to disembark on the iron road next turn. Fortify existing iron "cutting" mace on the other road. This is a hill and delay any Persian forces attempting to capture Persepolis back.
Promote Mace in Arbela to Medic1.
Cyrus is upgrading to Pikes, he now has 2 longs, 1 archer and 1 pike in Tarsus. Need full strength reinforcements.
Tarsusian worker disembarks at Sidon and starts a chop. This chop will be interrupted before it completes so it can be used when we are running Organised Religion for +25% hammers.
Now thinking about Civics for this turn. Per my usual spiritual technique Im going to forgo both Vassalage & Theocracy right now for one revolution as there are not many units popping out in the near future as Knights are lining up in the build queues and will take a while as they are expensive.
We have about 11 towns while Thebes has a base commerce of 44 so the commerce effects of Bureaucracy and Free Speech are about the same at at 22

. I think
Bureaucracy just has the edge at the moment so we can get a few more hammers in the capital as it is our premier commerce city and needs grocer, bank and observatory. Once the Persian holdings come out of resistance, Free Speech will be better for the lower maintenance and double culture effect.
Im sticking with
Serfdom for now as I want to get some chops going.
For now Im going with Free Religion for the extra :smilie: and +10%

. I'm adopting Mercantilism for the free specialists as we have no foreign trade routes at the moment.
Before
Research (50%) 161
Culture (10%) 137
Gold (40%) 103
Treasury 425 54/Turn
Government: Hereditary Rule
Legal: Vassalage > Bureaucracy
Labor: Serfdom
Economy: Decentralisation>Mercantilism
Religion: Paganism>Free Religion
After
Research (50%) 214
Culture (10%) 145
Gold (40%) 117
Treasury 425 55/Turn
Astronomy due in 21 (but well be able to trade for it soon).
Go round each city selecting
my choice of free specialist and not what the AI governor thinks best.
Start bombing Pasargadae.
Turn 2 - 1406AD
Gandhi offers DR & 160g for Liberalism.
We decline.
Cyrus kills our healing mace at Arbela with a cat. Im getting worried that his counterattacks will keep hurting us real bad like at Gordium. Ill try to ship chain some Longbows into Arbela and Persepolis plus build a few pikemen.
Now that Cyrus is down to one coastal city on the east coast we dont need to keep our galleys and caravels together for protection. Instead we can blockade Pasargadae and the strait in the south. This will allow the creation of a ship chain of galleys to speed troop movement to the front.
Land Mace on Cyrus iron road. Pillage other one
Our catapult at 0.5% odds destroys a long and does 3 CD at
Tarsus. Gains 8XP in one turn
We suicide another CD2 cat and then our maces and crossbow mop up the defenders. Another 130gold to the treasury and a worker. Send a chariot to sit on Cyruss horse pasture.
Ship chain Buddhist missionary all the way from Persepolis to within 1 turns movement of Pi-Ramesses (15 tiles total movement) using Caravel and Galley transport

.
Thebes Theatre>Grocer. Frees up 2 MPs that I send to Memphis & Giza.
Made a mistake at Sidon so switch production Harbor>Lighthouse.
Turn 3 1412AD
FDR has Astronomy so its cheaper for us and Gandhi will deal it but we dont have enough to offer (should be tradable for Liberalism once we have about 1000 beakers in). FDR doesnt have Astronomy on the table at the moment so I hang on to Liberalism and Printing Press.
Sell Rice to
FDR for Deer and Gems for Sheep.
FDR willing to war on HC for Printing Press but hold off until can make Astronomy deal ourselves.
War weariness now ballistic 8 unhappy faces in some cities up culture to 20%
Ship chain delivers 2 longbowmen to Arbela.
Caravel finds an uncolonised island with deer and fur SE of PI-Ramesses
Start an explorer for use as rapid medic force

.
Turn 4 1418AD
Spread Buddhism to Pi-Ramesses & Sidon.
Gandhi is sending a settler to the deer fur island.
We need galleons!
Gandhi has economics.
Caravel meets
Cyrus caravel in the ice NW of India near 2 tile whale island. 2 more maces arrive at the gates of Pasargadae and defenses dowm to 24%
Persepolis and Arbela come on stream and are starving > theatres. Arbela under culture pressure from Cyrus. Need slavery!! Persepolis unconnected need Astronomy.
Now allowed to upgrade spearman in Arbela to Pikeman C2. Feel a bit safer now especially as Cyruss 2 knights are visible in Gordium.
Sidon border expands bringing clams & incense inside our borders.
Turn 5 1424AD
Delay some unit builds as we are not running vassalage/theocracy just now but can revolt from next turn! Heliopolis builds a knight by mistake never mind.
Bombard force arrives outside Bactra.
Rice at Alex now irrigated.
Turn 6 1430AD
Borders of Persepolis expand
Revolt to
Vassalage, Organised Religion & Slavery
Whip theatres in Persepolis and Arbela which eliminates starvation.
Look around for forests to chop on buildings/wonders to make the most of Organised Religion.
Employ 2 artists at Moscow in an attempt to get another Great Artist (thinking to myself that we need the National Epic).
FDR has Astronomy so we sell him sugar for 9 gpt.
We have not got too much excess unhealthiness and need cash so cancel pig for rice deal with Gandhi and sell him rice instead for 10gpt.
Move the stack outside Bactra onto hill instead of bombarding from plains for added protection.
Ship chain 2 waves of assault force from Tarsus and Persepolis into position outside Pasargadae. Will unload next turn to join bombardment force already there.
Turn 7 1436AD
Arbela Theatre>Temple
Persepolis Theatre> Globe Theatre
Tarsus on stream>Theatre
3 Military units built.
Chop forest for 112 hammers

in Pi-Ramesses (Temple(x2) + Organised religion) overflow goes towards Knight.
WW and the civics are being a pain, research only 30% and culture 10% for +7gpt.
Spot a Cyrus galley loaded with Knight and Horse archer NW of Tarsus. Send caravel to intercept. We lose at 90% odds!!!!!!
Bombardment of Bactra started.
Turn 8 1442 AD
Persian crossbow leaves Pasargadae and kills our pike that just left Arbela. Fair exchange I say!
2 more military produced under Vassalage.
Thebes Grocer>Bank
Elephantine Explorer>Temple
Giza Theatre>University
Arbela border expands but only into the sea! Rush the temple.
Persian galley did not unload it was headed for our chariot zzzing on Cyruss horses. We sink it along with a horse archer and knight The fool!
Battle for Pasargadae.
6 Mace + 4 catapult (2 wounded) vs 3 Long, 1 Pike, 1 catapult. Sacrifice the 2 healthy cats. Mace now have 78% chance against CD2 long. Here we go. Use the CA2 maces in approx reverse order of XP as firtst stike can be a pain and the most XP is least damaged.
All survive 0.4/8 3.7/8, 0.3/8, 8/8, 7/8. Move C2 mace and remaining cat into city. 169 gold captured so increase science to 40%.
Arbella now has some land to work including wines, Persepolis can work all its sea resources, is growing at +20 food per turn and is connected along the coast. This place is really going to grow quick at +20 excess food per turn and will need a worker. As this is the Globe Theatre city only the odd plains hill forest should be chopped leaving +2 health from the remaining 4.
Quickly check in with our AI friends. Gandhi is now running free market so in 3 turns we might want to drop merchantilism to get thos lucrative foreign trade routes.
Sell incense to FDR for fur.
Cyruss knights are sitting tight in Gordium. They will be no match for our pikemen.
Ship chain now shortened to allow ferry service from Sidon to Arbela and onward by road to Pasargadae. Pasargadae-Persepolis service remains as the cyrus Longbow on the iron blocks the road. No need to remove it as we have loads of galleys.
Turn 9 - 1448AD
Cyruss crossbow kills our C2 mace in Pasargadae.
Heliopolis Lighthouse>University
Arbela Temple>Temple
Cyrus converts to Judaism.
Ship chain reinforcements to Arbela
Gandhi now has Liberalism. But luckily
FDR will now trade Astronomy and
HC has it!!!!!! Need to prepare defenses in the North.
FDR will trade DR + Astronomy, his WM and 30 gold for PP and Liberalism.
I remove Devine Right and get him to DoW on HC instead. Forcing him to adopt Vassalage for good measure.
Start on Sci Method.
Turn 10 1454AD
Sell cow to Saladin for 5gpt and fish for corn.
We have excess health at the moment do cancel Wheat/Sugar deal with Gandhi.
Cyrus cat & cross bow attack Pasargade and kill a Mace but out knight kills the Crossbow then moves in to defend Pasargadae.
One of his knights moves towards our force at bactra but reinforcements are on the way
Start Galleon at Pi-Ramesses. No way can we afford to upgrade our galleys and they will still be useful. Can be changed.
Borders of Tarsus expand.