*Spoiler2* - Gotm21-Melee - End of Medieval Age

[Puzzlinon]

Those named non-automatable workers in the Conquest game were kind of fun. They kept cropping up with nothing to do amidst the sea of workers in modern times, so they kept getting special jobs like fine-tuning key production cities.

 

[Moonsinger]

Originally posted by alexman
A victorious Hoplite gave Greece their Golden Age in 10 A.D. with two empire cores set up. During the next three centuries, Greece produced a horde of almost 100 horsemen

Me too, me too! I produced mostly horsemans during my golden age too. My Sparta was able to build 1 horseman per turn. If I remember correctly, I also had two other cities that were producing more than 30 shields per turn during my golden age and they were both also building horsemans most of the time. And of course, a lot of cities pumping out horsemans in every 2 to 3 turns.

 

[ltccone]

Originally posted by Puzzlinon
Those named non-automatable workers in the Conquest game were kind of fun. They kept cropping up with nothing to do amidst the sea of workers in modern times, so they kept getting special jobs like fine-tuning key production cities.

I didn't see any Easter Eggs in the Open Class game. Did I miss them?

 

[Darkness]

I didn't notice any either....

 

[Yndy]

Conquest class players got some bonus workers (4). They must have had names. I know I named my units during QSC (did not give them real names this time, only A,B,C etc.).

I still have workers A, B and C as the only natives not joined back to cities (I'm in spoiler 3 right now can't say more about that).

 

[MadScot]

I saw a barbarian privateer, does that count? I don't recall seeing one before.

(It actually appeared during the timeline of my Indisustrial spoiler, but it should have been a Middle Ages unit, so I don't think it's out of place here)

 

[sourboy]

v1.21f, Open

Spoiler 1

Quick recap of Spoiler 1 for those who don't want to read a novel:

~ I've never played a difficulty setting harder then Warlord nor have I played a GOTM before.

~ Played a defensive start to grab land by planting cities in the chokes, but it burned my empire growth (never tried something like that before, shoulda played my normal game).

~ Been at war with the Minoans from the start, but haven't lost a city & was preparing for my first offensive at the end of the Ancient Era.

~ Lotsa tech trading kept me ballpark with the leaders, but financially & culturally I had nothing.

Spoiler 2~ My ill fate continues:

~ War with the Minoans ended in their extinction. It did take relatively the entire Middle Ages as I presumed, but otherwise was much easier then I had thought. Their Peltast units were decent in numbers, but individually were eaten alive by my ground forces. They also seemed to not build a single building in all their cities - maybe due to the fact that they were always at war with me since my Hoplites were turning them away consistantly.

~ Tech...I know nothing of technology, not compared to the rest. I am at least 5-6 techs back from the leader, even with the freebie to start the Industrial Age (Nationalism).

~ Financially & Culturally I am regrouping, and therefore picking up speed. This is allowing me to have enough of a deterant force to keep me at peace.

The Verdict: I'm not going to win.

The Plan: Try to survive. I'm a straight newbie to GOTM and Regent level.

EDIT: I see now it is Monarch. I'm glad I am doing as well as I am considering this is 2 levels of difficulty higher then I have ever played before & that I had probably my worst start ever, but I would have started out differently had I not thought this was Regent.

Anywho, that's why I decided to play GOTM21. To practice & get a taste of what to expect for GOTM22.

My visuals:

If the month wasn't over, I would replay this one - I know I could have won!

 

[Karasu]

Of course you can win it, Sourboy! BTW, welcome to the GOTM (if nobody hasn't already told you ).

Besides, You may still have a chance to win this very game you are playing. Look at the recaps of GOTM20, and see how Melifluous pulled out an extraordinary Diplomatic victory... and I bet there are many other creative ways to make it!

 

[sourboy]

Well thanks for the encouragement & the welcome.

I'm not about to quit, but I have some tough work to do to get a foot back in the door. The worst thing is that all the top Civs were Wonder building and kept changing so much that by the time I was only 2 turns from finishing up the economics tech, they built AS Trading Co.

The extra money woulda lept me back in the tech race with 2 ages to go...the only good thing is that I still have a leader. I'm just hoping to get to TOE first...

 

[OneFastWarrior]

Well, I finnaly (as of last night) am able to check out this thread and....


so, I did not keep track of too much, but just some of what I'm going through.

I had a horrible QSC, even though I was/am playing conquest level.

Early on ancient times I had an early war with the Germans, I told them to leave and well. Same with the Minoans. had MA with Russia vs germany (these 2 fought long after I signed peace, weakening them both for good). I wiped out the Minoans in a second war. Eventually I went to war with russia twice.

Story of wars, shortened. Minoans gone(me) . Germans left with 1 city(me) Russia gone(celts).

I built the Great Library, Sun Tzus, Hanging Gardens and JS Bachs, All in Athens, which is #1 city in world

I am right up there in the lead of Techs, making some risky but very rewarding(money ) Trades. I am raking in most of my money from Babylon, Persia and Spain.

I switched to Democracy at the end of middle ages and signed peace with Germany during Anarchy.

I really believe I can win this game!! After losing my 1st 4 gotm's I am having a blast and hope I can finish the game

I will have all weekend to do just that. Space race is what I want, but any victory will do. I Had 37 Cavalry last time I checked and that is just if someone wants to make trouble

and Oh yeah, I only have about 11 of my own workers and about 70 from wars and trades

Great game, Huge map. wish me luck on finishing with my 1st gotm win!!
:jump:
I would not be doing this good without all that I have learned from reading the masters posts and also played an SG game on Monarch level last month which also taught me alot.

Thanks to all

 

[Kemal]

PTW1.21f

For the first spoiler concerning the ancient age read here.

As mentioned in the previous spoiler I entered the medieval age around 825 BC and was disappointed to find out that my free tech had been feudalism, since this tech is almost always tradeable with the AI later on, and this forced me to discover one additional medieval tech (monotheism) without the help of universities, as I try to make my way to education as fast as possible.

However, even though I wasn't happy with it, Greece's military commanders rejoiced as they would now have the medieval infantry available instead of the expected swordsman to battle the evil Germans, and it wasn't long before a force of about 12 vet. med. infs was dispatched to make its way to the German lands in the north. As they didn't seem to be very powerful, and my military advisor told me I was average even though I had little defenders in my cities myself, hopes were high of a Greek victory in the north. When I finally declared war I decided to bribe the Minoans in, mainly because of the fact that I had little defenders left in Greece, and was afraid that, even though they were backwards, Germany could buy them in against me.

The Grecian-German war started well as I managed to (auto)raze their iron city and already got two promotions to elite in the first turn. However, as I progressed further north, the iron mountains on the way to Hamburg unfortunately became the scene of a Greek tragedy.
German resistance proved to be much greater than expected, as several Greek med. infs. were skewered by german archers despite taking cover on hills and mountains, but things really turned to the worse when German vet. swordsmen/horsemen arrived on the scene. After some heavy fighting most of the german armies were destroyed but they had taken 5 med infs. with them, including an elite.
More bad news was that the Minoans arrived near German territory with the bulk of their armies much earlier than expected and with the German armies busy entertaining the Greeks, autorazed most of the size 1 cities I had wanted to obtain from Germany in a peace deal.

So I decided to change my strategy a bit and stopped any assault on German core cities, and instead went for their wines to the west. I left most of the Germans behind me to slug it out against hordes of peltasts, and captured Salzburg easily. It was then that I made peace, still getting a few cities out of it, and the first German- Grecian war ended.

While this war didn't go entirely as planned, it certainly wasn't a disastrous campaign, the lands north of Greece lay open now all the way up to Hamburg, and as Minoan-German warfare continued most of it was occupied by me, so I still got some territorial gains from it. Also, I had now secured a 2nd luxury (the cotton was seized by the Minoans very early) in the form of wines.

On the domestic front, things were also going along nicely. After forming a Republic after only 3 turns of anarchy, research started on Monotheism, and since literature had now been discovered by the AI libraries were in place in most cities. Sparta had completed the FP so even though I was forced to play at 10% luxuries research rates were ok, and after Atlantis had completed a harbour (I had contacted all civs by now) I was able to trade some luxes, allowing me to up the reseach rate to 100% getting theology at 6 and education at 5, even though the route was disconnected from time to time by barbarian squids/galleys.

After the discovery of education, universities were rushed in most cities giving a great boost to the empire's scientific output, and astronomy meant the end of broken trade routes with Atlantis/Rome as sea trade became possible.
The AI had discovered engineering so I traded for that, but unfortunately they hadn't been able to get Invention yet, so I had to research that myself. However, around 70 BC they did get chivalry, and as I knew Greece had to expand to maintain the 4 turns/tech rate in the industrial ages, I had been training horsemen in most cities after universities were rushed, and another upgrade meant the start of the 2nd Grecian-German war...

Germany still wasn't recovered from the first wars so I felt confident that they could be subdued easily. Hamburg fell easily to the Greeks, as it was still only defended with spearmen, but Berlin turned out to be a completely different story. As it had already grown past size 6, and was defended with pikes rather than spears, I didn't want to take any chances and used twelve vet. knights at once, but some bad rng luck meant several were killed and wounded, and Berlin survived the initial onslaught with an elite pike with one hit left in Berlin.
Fortunately for me, the militaristic Germans had not yet built barracks in Berlin , so I got it the next turn attacking with some wounded knights. I rushed my own barracks in hamburg to allow for some healing, and with about 10 knights left and some fresh ones en route, the fate of Germany was more or less sealed.

During these wars, research had been progressing well, I managed to trade 2 more medieval techs, Banking and Metallurgy, the last one discovered by the GA'ed Celts, whom I had set up against Egypt, in an impressive 7 turns.

With the industrial age looming, it became more and more clear that Greek research had to be boosted again, and even though several hoplites had been moved in position to start a GA, a palace jump seemed inevitable as no leader had emerged yet when the Medieval age ended at 330 AD.

 

[civ_steve]

v1.21f

My free tech for the Middle Ages was Engineering; I entered the Middle Ages in 590 BC, and had the complete map and contacts in 430 BC. I left the MA in 700 AD.

I'd started a wonder pre-build (initially intending to build the Great Lighthouse) which became the Great Library. This might have actually slowed my research down; I went to minimal research (one lonely scientist in a tower somewhere) and saved my money, but staying active in research and trading aggresively may have saved me time and gained me more moolah. Anyway, I gained Monarchy, Monotheism, Feudalism, Chivalry, Invention, Theology and Education (of course!) from the GL. (Also, I might not have wished to learn Chivalry, since I'd have to disconnect Saltpeter AND Iron to build Horsemen for upgrade to Cavalry, once I had MilTrad; with the GL I had no choice. OTOH, having built it got me closer to triggering a GA with Wonders, if needed.)

Warfare: I started a war with the Minoans just before the AD's. Several reasons: more space, more Luxuries (for use and trade), the Great Lighthouse,... what more reason do you need?? I was finally able to coax one of their MedInf to attack my Hoplites, triggering a GA somewhere around 100 AD, which I used to build cash, build improvements (Library, Marketplace, Temple) and build Horsemen. The staunch Peltast defenders threw back my first attempt on Knossos (mostly Swordsmen); I regrouped and with mostly Horsemen took Knossos, and the rest of their original peninsula was mine. Towards the end of the Era, after I'd learned MilTrad, I removed the rest of their culture from my immediate land mass; the Atlanteans finished off the 2 cities they had founded on another island. I also started a war with the Ottomans near the end of the Era; I'd founded Ephesus near the Wine to the West, but nearby Ottoman cities cultures expanded and pushed my culture back; so I had several reasons to start the War: regain my luxury (and more), rich fertile Ottoman land, Pyramids in Sogut, no Sipahi in sight yet to counter my cavalry, ... what more reason do you need?? I used Theory of Gravity to get everyone else in on the War!! Needless to say, they didn't make it far into the IA. Among the other civs: Spain and Carthage have been at war for as long as I've known about them! (I've traded my excess Horses to Carthage, and my excess Iron to Spain!) Other than that, nothing but an occasional border skirmish.

Techs and Trading: Once the Great Library was made obsolete, I started ramping up the research again. I'd partially researched Astronomy, when it was discovered - bought it, and traded for Gunpowder with someone else who was missing Astronomy. Researched Banking first, and sold it around for lots of money. Started becoming a true Tech Broker (4 turn research, then sell it off); I've enclosed a compilation of my F1 screens at various times to show how profitable this can be! I started giving away Techs at the end of the Age so that I might be able to get some AI research done in the IA; like I noted above, I used Theory of Gravity (once I'd built Newton's) to get everyone at war with the Ottomans, but Magnetism was a freebie to all!

I've typically gotten Luxuries by trading Technology; I've been using my excess Luxuries and resources to get the other civs into 20 turn deals with me, usually for small amounts of gpt; I give them a good deal, so if they decide to go to war with me, they immediately lose out. So far, everyone is Polite with me, and has been for centuries (except for the Minoans and Ottomans, of course.)

I planned to build my Forbidden Palace in Pharsolos from before I founded it. Since I'd like to achieve a SpaceShip victory, I wanted to build high productive cities. I founded Pharsolos in the middle of the city sites I'd staked out for good production. Here is my 430 BC map of the empire:

I decided to use the Minoan lands for my new Palace location. This area is not as fertile as the Ottoman or German lands, but there are several sites where good productive cities can be established, along with some good Commercial Dock sites (eventually), and it's conveniently close, and they had the Lighthouse (which I thought would be more useful). I picked a spot a little south of Knossos, and even leveled a Minoan town that was in the way, and not quite in the right spot. I got 1 leader from the Minoan war, which I used to build the Palace in 350 AD. Here's a close-up map shot:

This has been a great trading game! (15 AI civs provide lots of opportunities.) I think I'll be able to finish and submit, and I'm aiming for a Spaceship victory. This has been fun!

Oh yeah, one more thing, regarding the Peltest. Their defensive bombard really helps them against attacking swordsmen; on my second attempt against Knossos, I used regular Horsemen to draw out the defensive bombardment (giving me a count of the defenders), and then followed up with Vet horsemen and swordsmen to finish the job. The bombard (and ZOC; one of them bombarded me as I passed him) is an interesting touch, but I generally think UU's that extend the base purpose of the unit are more valuable and powerful than a UU that adds another base capability to the unit. The Immortal is a powerful Swordsman, the Hoplite is a powerful spearman, but the Peltast is an archer with a spearman's defense and a minimal bombardment capability. I don't usually build archers, and if I were the Minoans, I'd most likely only build a few Peltasts. (Might be interesting to attack a civ with a stack of Swordsmen and Peltasts; the Minoans never really went on the offensive.)

 

[DaviddesJ]

Originally posted by civ_steve
I generally think UU's that extend the base purpose of the unit are more valuable and powerful than a UU that adds another base capability to the unit. The Immortal is a powerful Swordsman, the Hoplite is a powerful spearman, but the Peltast is an archer with a spearman's defense and a minimal bombardment capability. I don't usually build archers, and if I were the Minoans, I'd most likely only build a few Peltasts. (Might be interesting to attack a civ with a stack of Swordsmen and Peltasts; the Minoans never really went on the offensive.)

I think the units that are valuable for the human player are pretty different from those that are valuable for the AI. Offensive units are of little value to the AI, since it doesn't really know how to attack. On the other hand, it does have some idea that when the human starts coming, it should bunker down with fortified defensive units in its cities, and this is when the peltast's power kicks in. I think it's best to view the peltast as a spearman alternative rather than as an archer alternative. Similar to the hoplite, in that regard, even though it fits in a different spot in the tech tree. The 2 offense is less important than the defensive bombardment (for the AI), but it does give it a bit of flexibility.

 

[forged]

1.21 -- Open

So before I continue with where I left off ... I must apologize ... I have not had enough time yet to read all of this spoiler. I only qualified for it during this past weekend [I think ... time is bluring on me] and was busy trying to get this game to some sort of conclusion.

Summary first and then onto some of Cracker's discussion suggestions ....
---
My free tech was Monotheism, which I used to get Republic. Unlike the ancient age where I costed with minimum tech research, in the Middle Ages I put research on overdrive (help funded occasionally by the generous AIs). While things may not have indicated it in my summary, I felt like I was pulling away from the pack in this age as far as research goes. On other fronts, things got interesting though....

500 AD Greece creates Sun Tzu’s Art of War in Corinth.

590 AD Greece creates Sistine Chapel in Sparta. Germany creates Leonardo’s Workshop in Berlin beating us to it by 1 turn. Since they cost the same amount, I may have very well lost both if I delayed Sistine and everyone was building it. It is one of those things that I’m going to ponder for a while. [Germany suddenly at lot more attractive of a target]

600 AD Greece creates JS Bach’s Cathedral in Athens (thanks to trading and slingshoting). Carthage gets Copernicus’ Observatory in Leptis Magna. Hindsight says I probably should have slingshot to Copernicus’ instead of JS Bach’s, but I did have it building somewhere already and must not have been thinking about the implications for a space race.

I am wondering if I could have done the prebuilds differently to work that out. When I missed Leonardo's I traded to get the tech needed for JS Bach's. I was prebuilding Copernicus, but I wonder if I could have gotten away with switching the city that was building Leonardo's to Copernicus and switched the city that was 18 or so turns away from Copernicus to JS Bachs. Of course, I also wonder if there was a way to get more than 2 out of the 4 wonders in that group. Any comments on what, if anything, I should have done differently here?

I get a little fuzzy here. I received my first two demands near the same time. First the Minoans demanded Iron. I being militarily inferior, but having iron, laughed and said no. They remained polite after being rejected. I was floored they didn't go to war.

Then, a turn or two later, Persia made a demand for either a luxury or a tech (I think it was a tech). I said no, and they declared war. I looked at the map for a while, and my gold supply, and then proceeded to contact every other rival in the game and convince them to ally with me against them. Most needed to be paid, but the Atlantians paid me for the privilege. Not that I planned to fight.

[For the record, in my game, Rome never looked like it went to war with Atlantians. So they seemed like they were in reasonable shape. There were only a handful (under 6 probably) of AIs keeping even reasonably close in the tech race.]

The Persian war probably started circa 800 AD.

830 AD Greece creates Smith’s Trading Company in Athens.

880 AD Greece creates Newton’s University in Thermopylae and enters their Golden Age. Hazzah! [dance]

910 AD Germany creates Magellan’s Voyage in Leipzig. I find out much later that they entered a Golden Age because of this. (Normally, I wouldn't include something like this, but it will become important soon.)

980 AD a round with many mistakes. The 20 turn alliances have all expired. (Some I had to contact the civs and end them myself.) Peace talks were finally held with Persia and they bribed me for peace with 2 minor cities of my chosing. It is a very nice reward for a person who only convinced every other empire to fight with Persia. I could have chosen two cities to complete an island far to the south, but no, I had to choose one city on that island and one city on the neighboring island that had room to expand but a German Knight next to it. This wouldn’t have been a problem, except that I declared war on Germany that turn (after having done a 50 something horsemen upgrade (I had way more to upgrade but ran out of money). I proceed to take 4 German cities, and Germany in response razes one of the cities I got from Persia.

In the grand scheme of things, those 2 cities from Persia were worthless, but it was principal. (Meanwhile, Russia, Ottomans, and Minoans join me in the conquest of Germany -- I figured why not distract the AI some?)

990 AD capture 2 more German cities.
1000 AD I find out later that Germany gets a leader, however, I capture Berlin … gaining me the Pyramids and Leonardo’s Workshop. I think I got the better of the trade.
1010 AD I capture 4 more cities, including Leipzig that has Magellan’s Voyage. Leader dies by German stack getting taken out. //snicker// [I just didn't realize until later that Germany got it the turn before.]

Based on what is next in my fragmented notes, I clearly crossed into Industrial age during this fighting. However, I continued fighting the German war with cavalry.

-----
A few other comments to round things out.... I wasn't going to be able to perform a palace jump, however, I was thinking that roughly around the Berlin area would be a good place to put the palace. I was clearly thinking about Minoans and Russians might be good options to take out later depending on time issues and motives. Russia didn't have their unique unit, and Minoans had sealed their fate by demanding iron earlier on. (I apparently hold grudges. )

The foreign palace at Sparta was well established and more or less the center of the Greek's territory. (I couldn't bring myself to play with RCP though. A patience thing I'm sure.)

I didn't have much of an impression of the Peltast at this point. I didn't actually see them in action until further on in the game. I remember thinking that oddly the computer seemed reasonably peaceful save for what I had dragged them into. But given the large number of opponents and no one getting eliminated to this point, I didn't have all the AIs on the screen to see what was going on between them and who knows what messages I missed prior to making contact with them.

I was still pondering the melee aspect of the game, although I was starting to get some clues as to what that might be about. Russia not having Saltpeter, for example, seemed like a good indication that not all strategic resources were going to be found in certain areas of the map. A player would go to war to get them if they were critical enough ... but what about the AI?

I suspect that the computer AIs already knows where the resources would be. So it would be at an advantage to go to war for Saltpeter before it would reasonably expect to have that knowledge. However, as soon as it truly discovers that Saltpeter is not in its territory by getting Gunpowder, would it not then, start planning a conquest to get it so it could get its unique unit?

Another example of the AI at work. I had seen earlier in the game by investigating some cities, that it truly seems to picks cities to build wonders based on who is available at the time. Which actually gives more chances to build a wonder at a handicap than one would expect.

[Keep in mind this is me speculating, and I have not read anything more than roughly half of this spoiler at this time. So I have no idea on what spoilers 3 and beyond hold for me.]

I didn't get to see much of the naval action because after I realized that suicide galleys weren't going to pay off quickly enough and gave up for a while. I did found one remote city by galleys, but apart from that, I left seafare to others until much after this spoiler.

With that said, it dawned on me much later, that if you had taken the Minoans early on in the game, there was a lot of reason to try with suicide galleys. But that is said with a lot of hindsight and staring at the world map for many an hour as the game progressed -- and finally dawning on me how little water separated some of the Minoan land from other land masses. D'oh!

This seems like another case where I pay a price for not being prepared to wage early wars.

forged

 

[civ_steve]

Originally posted by DaviddesJ


... I think it's best to view the peltast as a spearman alternative rather than as an archer alternative. Similar to the hoplite, in that regard, even though it fits in a different spot in the tech tree. The 2 offense is less important than the defensive bombardment (for the AI), but it does give it a bit of flexibility.

If the Peltast had the upgrade path of the Spearman, I'd be more impressed with them. I can think of some interesting ways to use the Peltast, but I'd need to be careful not to trigger a GA at an in-opportune time.

Originally posted by forged

I proceed to take 4 German cities, and Germany in response razes one of the cities I got from Persia.

I'd sell, trade or give away that at-risk city, rather than let the Germans sack it, take some of my gold and cause me more war-weariness.

 

[forged]

A very good point ... thanks for mentioning it civ_steve.

forged

 

[Snaga]

1.21

Ancient age summary

Germany was the obvious location for 2nd core. Attack with 28 veteran swordsmen. In 390BC Capture Berlin and the Pyramids. Mistakenly decide to research Monarchy, realising too late that I probably only want a single government change straight to Republic. Germany are the only ones with Republic and we are at war. While still at war start revolution in 330BC figuring on at least 4 years of anarchy, plus the possibility that someone else will gain republic

In 290AD Pyrrhus emerges in battle for Heidelburg. Had already planted a settler near Berlin to jump my palace to, decide to take the safe option and rush the new palace instead.

Lose nerve and trade peace with Germany in 270BC in exchange for republic. Anarchy doesn't end till 190BC (7 turns)

In 150AD Discover Feudalism after 16 years of research (9 anarchy free). Upgrade 31 swordsmen to medieval infantry. Invention takes another 5, and the rest of techs to Military Tradition are comfortably researched in 4 turns each.

Declare war on Minoans in 90AD, destroying them in 210BC. Deliberately start golden age in 70BC by attacking a redlined peltast with a hoplite brought along for the purpose

In 130AD Celts sneak attack, capturing a border town, soon reach 2nd tier war weariness

Around this time, on three occasions, I established deals to trade luxuries with Rome and/or Atlantis. On each occasion the trade route to their continent was lost at the start of a Greek turn, only to be re-available before the end of the turn, without me making any moves that should effect the route. Looked like a bug. Badly effected my happiness and reputation.

Discover Military Tradition in 260AD, only have 20 horsemen at this stage having spent most of Greek production on infrastructure: marketplaces, aqueducts, libraries, harbors and barracks in all core cities. Well set to ramp up production though. Use saltpeter disconnects to continue to build horsemen and upgrade to cavalry. Stop researching and refuse to sell any techs, want to slow research to prevent rivals getting to riflemen and to delay the onset of Gunpowder.

Celts ally France against us. France allies Egypt against us. Babylonians land a couple of warriors and declare war as well. Given I wanted to invade either Russia or Ottomans this was not ideal. Pay Celts 500g for peace, hoping to pursuade them to attack Ottomans, as their troops are in Ottoman territory. They refuse my offer of an alliance though. Just when I'd decided Russia were the best candidate for attack, Ottomans enter our territory with a stack of Azaps in 320AD and declare war. By 400AD Ottomans have only a single city left on volcano island.

Start up Eastern front against Russia in 380AD, and Egyptian front in 430AD. Northern continent secured in 570AD with defeat of Celts. Celts were the toughest opponent having a number of Knights, and seemed determined to outflank us by driving East through the mountain range on the top edge of the map.

Take the fight overseas. Attack Hittites in 530AD, Carthage in 580AD, Atlantans in 590AD, Persia in 620AD, Rome in 630AD, Babylon and Zimbabwe in 660AD. Come up against first musketmen attacking Atlantans. Secure Leonardo's Workshop from the Hittites in 560AD, had to hand build a few cavalry before this, as couldn't afford to solely upgrade from horsemen.

In 740AD we are at war with all remaining civs, with first cavalry landing in Spain

In 780AD Persians have no cities, but land a settler in empty territory and build a city. 7 spearmen, 4 longbowmen and another settler emerge. Looks suspiciously like a respawn

In 800AD 12th and final leader emerges as Ajax completes the collection of reincarnated leaders

Destroy final rival city in 820AD (or so I thought). Zulu, Atlantans and Hittites still survive though, start hunting for life rafts. By 840AD, after sinking a few ships, only the elusive Atlantis remains.

By 860AD there is still no sign of any Atlantans anywhere, despite having filled the seas with Caravels. Give up in disgust. As an afterthought I check the domination limit: only 300 tiles to go. Start filling in territory with settlers.

Domination completed in 890AD, still no sign of Atlantis, perhaps it sunk?

Jason score 10k+. Ran desperately short of time this month so played the last few hundred years in a rushed, sleep-deprived state. I think there was just a tad too much land in this GOTM. Peaked at just under 200 cavalry. Must have built at least twice that number. Also ended up with about 50 caravel.

After checking my save the next day, found the missing Atlantan city. Realised I could have secured conquest in 840AD by simply moving a cavalry a couple of tiles. Oh well, that's what happens when playing without sleep. As you can see from the screen shot the city is on the Southern edge of the map so doesn't show up on the minimap.

The modified naval movement in this game was definitely an advatage, especially when combined with the Great Lighthouse. I could cross 6 tile stretches of ocean with impunity, which made the insane task of moving around all those cavalry a little more bearable.

 

[Dynamic]

Greate game, Snaga!
I havn't words...
May be high science reseach speed (AI) is the best bonus for Predator level players.

 

[AlanH]

@Snaga: Great game. Congratulations.

Originally posted by Snaga
Around this time, on three occasions, I established deals to trade luxuries with Rome and/or Atlantis. On each occasion the trade route to their continent was lost at the start of a Greek turn, only to be re-available before the end of the turn, without me making any moves that should effect the route. Looked like a bug. Badly effected my happiness and reputation.

I had this problem with Atlantis as well. I gave them Republic and cash in 10 BC for ivory. In 50 AD I lost ivory and paid them big bucks up front for it again. In 90 AD ivory disappeared again. I looked at the Trade Advisor screen and Atlantis wasn't even on either of the lists of people we could or couldn't trade with. They reappeared in the trading list in 130 AD, I waited until 190 AD to see if they were here to stay, then bought ivory AGAIN, for gpt. In 270 AD ivory disappeared again, and this time I decided I would learn to live without it. My tanks finally acquired it from them much later in exchange for hot metal.

I record Trade Advisor alerts in my IBT notes, and all my notes about ivory are in my actual turn notes. So I'm pretty sure that, on all these occasions, I didn't receive the usual alert, and only noticed the problem when I was checking city screens.

I think you're right about a bug. I also wondered whether squid were getting in the way of the long thin coastal trading routes. Can barbs blockade trade routes?

If anyone wants to investigate I have all the autosave files. (1.29b2 Open)

 

[LKendter]

I believe barbs DO blockade trade routes. I avoided a lot of early trading for the fear of this happening.

I watched Atlantis go off and on the possible trade partner screen multiple times.