I played a standard Sid 60% pangea game with Sumeria with the Greeks, the Germans, the Ottomans, Persia, Babylon, Korea, and the Byzantines with sedentary barbs to help pick up the tech pace. I thought I'd leave Russia out, since they probably wouldn't do much after the ancient age. I decided to play a map with a large domination limit (1611) from what I got from MapFinder. I didn't remember
Bartleby's list, but it looks like that anything above 1600 comes as a fairly big domination limit. The thinking went, the larger the domination limit, the more territory for everyone, thus the more beakers everyone would have. Here's the start (I settled on the hill on the river:
http://s370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/?action=view¤t=1262646668.jpg
I didn't notice a terribly fast ancient age, but the Byzantines ended up with over 1000 gold before we hit the middle ages. I researched The Wheel first. No one near me had extra horses. So, then I researched Iron Working so that I could start to catch up in tech making strategic use of Moonsinger's Green Rule from the HoF rulebook pillaging at my border (Lord_Emsworth and I have discussed this
elsewhere). I don't believe I even partially bought either tech.
I "bought" (read used Moonsinger's Green Rule) the rest of the ancient age... even Ceremonial Burial... starting with trading for Germany's iron to get the techs. I think this started the turn after I learned Iron Working. Then I think traded with the Ottomans who had an extra luxury, as Germany lagged behind them, then also the Byzantines with an extra luxury. I decided to keep control of the luxuries as much as possible (though I passed on controlling resources), so I made the effort to get two enkidus and 6 workers at the border:
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1262646671.jpg
I had 11 core cities with a twelth city in the jungle which had spices nearby. Scouting a little pays off:
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1262646669.jpg
I didn't get a second-level middle age tech, I think because I deteremined I didn't have the gpt or cash at the time. I entered the middle ages in 1200 BC with my empire looking like this:
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1262646665.jpg
After a bit it seemed no one wanted to research Literature, so I did that myself and then quickly got it away to the AIs. I hadn't started by 1000 BC, but I did have 1430 gold in the bank, all commerce going to taxes, wines coming from the Ottomans, silks from the Greeks, and some nice deals with Theodora:
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1262646672.jpg
How do you do that? Well, *first* make a trade with you giving them your lump sum for their gpt (the order here ensures you won't take more gpt than they have). Then make another deal where you include gpt for their luxury/resource and the lump sum you gave them. Then disconnect the trade route. It can work quite well until they go broke (read go and war, and revolt to Monarchy/Fascism/Communism). My 510 BC has me 287 gpt from other tribes and 259 gpt from my cities.
When Gunpowder came out, no one knew Theology. So, I started research on Chemistry. I got beat to Chemistry, so I "bought" it. I know I "bought" Theology and Education, and then reserached Banking, from which point I think I roaded my border squares, trading instead of "buying" techs, except for once when I remember pillaging my borders. I did have a bunch of units standing bye ready to pillage if needed:
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1262646667.jpg
I felt a Cope's pre-build tricky to execute, so I decided not to build it, but I did manage to get Newton's University via pre-building. In a game with Egypt without any sci opponents, I "bought" the last medieval tech in about 50 BC. In this game, I learned the last medieval tech in 310 AD, slightly getting beat to it. I bought all three first level industrial techs and then got Sanitation as my free tech. Techs on Sid cost a lot:
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1262646666.jpg
Shortly after that I declared war on Germany and took some of their cities. I wanted them around to the modern era and didn't want war weariness, so I made peace as soon as I could, after taking 3 or 4 of their cities. They must have had some war going on, as they didn't pose any real problem. 1 or 2 of the captured cities flipped back before the 20 turn period expired and I basically got the rest of Germany's cities on the second run, except for 1 which I kept around. Babylon had fought with them at this time also.
2 of their cities flipped back before I got to the modern age, and with like 2 turns left on Motorized Transportation (and with Persia knowing Flight already, I just needed to trade for it, which I did 1 turn before learning MT with some gpt and Mass Production), Babylon took out Germany's last city. Oh well.
On the other hand, I got a leader in the German war. It also turned out that one of Germany's cities that flipped to them and then got captured by Babylon had both Uranium and Aluminum within one step of it. It became a Byzantine city and then a Babylonian city at some point:
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1262646673.jpg
The Ottomans got pushed off the mainland and ended up with an OCC from the early industrial ages on. I went Electricity-Sci Method-wait 4 or 5 turns for TOE to finish-Atomic Theory-Electronics-Steel-Combustion-Mass Production-Motorized Transportation and managed to trade for Refining, Industrialization, Replacable Parts, The Corporation, and Flight (did I miss any?). I didn't have coal for a long time in the industrial age.
I had 1 source of ivory native (no SoZ), and spices once I built harbors, and managed to trade for only 3 other luxuries much of the game. So, temples, cathedrals, and even colosseums got built. I barely managed Hoover's Dam in time, as Persia decided to actually research Atomic Theory at some point (thus they could see Electronics). I had planned on a modern age GA, but it ended up starting with me reseraching Mass Production. I did gift up in the modern age with 3 tribes drawing Rocketry, 2 Computers, Persia Fission, and I got Nuclear Power as my free tech. Then I reserached The Laser. I nailed SETI, but didn't build (or even try for) the U. N. No one ever held an election.
Most of the AIs played this game in "bloodbath" mode constantly finding someone to war with. I declared on Greece after entering the modern age, as I only lacked aluminum, and they had a source. They had a war going on with Korea at the time, so even though I killed three mech infantry first by redlining them with artillery, then using 3-cavalry armies to finish them off, though posed little of a problem. I kept their cities for a turn, sold all their improvements, and then abandoned them, replacing them with my own settlers.
I had an extra supply of uranium, which eventually depleted. I did sell some luxuries and resources in the industrial age, but stopped in the modern age, as I thought I might end up in trouble if I traded techs. So, I decided I'd pillage out the capital and "buy" any tech I needed, but the AIs beat me to. I had traded for coal, but lost it at some point. After the Laser I researched Space Flight, as I thought the AIs would research Miniaturization first. The Persians had extra oil and beat me to Space Flight by 5 or 6 turns, having a monopoly on it. So, I pillaged out the 8 tiles directly adjacent to my capital... and didn't have enough gpt even after changing all my specialists to tax collectors and using tax collectors in the new cities which didn't have markets. I had watered everything, so that's not just a few tax collectors either, but I didn't have any stock exchanges, and probably not enough banks. So, I traded Persia the Laser for Space Flight and lived with the 8 tiles around my capital only having roads for the rest of the game.
I managed to trade for more luxuries around here, which helped, as some of the old German cities used a lot of tiles. But, a bunch of tribes dogpiled the Byzantines who supplied me with 2 or 3 luxuries, and eventually I got riots in cities losing luxuries unexpected. Eventually I realized I could build a colony or plop a settler down in those spots to get my luxuries back, but that didn't happen right away. I even had my first run in with a nuclear meltdown. After picking up Space Flight I think I went for Ecology, so that I could trade it away and the AIs could get it for me. I think I traded for all of Miniaturization, though maybe I researched part of it.
Next came The Superconductor, which I held as a monopoly until the final turn (unless Robotics came next). Then came Robotics, which Persia beat me to by a few turns. Then came Satellites, which Babylon to by a few turns. I had expected the AI would go for Synthetic Fibers earlier, but I guess I had a strange game. Maybe I traded them Ecology late though. I researched Synthetic Fibers and sure enough got beat to it as my last tech by Persia. I didn't have to trade make it so that everyone had all required techs to pick it up, Persia lacked Satellites (and resources), and Babylon lacked the Superconductor and Syntehtic Fibers with them both at war with each other. So, I switched two pre-builds (one a Palace pre-build which I deliberately started a ways back so that I could get a lot of shields in for the Exterior Casing) to the last two parts, turned the luxury slider up to 100%, traded for the last luxury, and finally launched in 1370 AD:
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1262646670.jpg
With a faster middle ages, a faster launch surely comes as possible. That and maybe the AIs not playing in "bloodbath" mode quite so much.