So, I've got this sweet WolfRev game going as Mansa Musa (emperor, normal speed, small tectonics map, barbarian civ, barbarian world, tech diffusion, etc.), and I've hit a bit of an impasse in my decision making.
The basic problem is that Hammurabi, who is halfway across the globe, is shaping up to be a runaway AI. He has 3 vassals aleady, and it's only the late middle ages. He also has a balanced empire that I doubt will be troubled by much unrest.
(BTW, look at how, of the 5 strongest civs in the game right now, only 2 are initial starting civs (and 2 of the initial civs (Ragnar, and I think Hannibal) have been killed off). The barbarian world option really helps the barbarian civs be competitive, because if the barb cities are there when the game begins, by 2000 B.C. or so they are ready to turn into full-fledged civs, which is still pretty early).
Spain, Portugal, and Gilgamesh are Hammy's vassals, and between them all, Hammurabi has 22% of the world land area already...compared to my 8.9%.
Even though I've momentarily got an edge on him in population and tech, it still doesn't sit well with me.
He's also got a culture lead on me, as you can see. Reason is, I missed out on most of the early wonders, thanks in no small part to me having to TURN OVER MY EMPIRE TO THE AI AT CRUCIAL MOMENTS (twice for 16 turns a piece), JUST AS I'M ABOUT HALFWAY-FINISHED WITH A WONDER, AND THE AI STEWARD DECIDES THAT A COUPLE OF GALLEYS ARE NEEDED INSTEAD...
(I gotta say, whoever had the idea for that feature of RevDCM really did a superb job. I was perfectly balanced between deciding to just eat the unrest and fight off the rebels, and allow my incompetent twin brother, AI-Mansa Musa, to take over the throne. In the end, I decided upon the latter, but I guess it was worth it. I ended up being able to keep those cities that were threatening to declare independence).
(BTW, FYI, in my slightly modified version, it takes 100,000 culture for 2 cities to win culture). That said, I managed to snag Sistine Chapel, and I have a slight tech lead on everyone...
...so I could probably wonder-spam from here on out and sail to culture...
But still, I don't feel like I'm in control in this game yet. Maybe I'm just spoiled from my recent cuirassier-domination wins on monarch, but man, do I find it nervewracking to be trailing so far behind in land at this point. I just know that, once those AI bonus start really kicking in later in the game, it's gonna be tough.
Which brings me to my options:
*Turtle up, wonder-spam, and go culture.
*Tech to space.
*Take Hammy down a notch before he gets too big. The problem is, he is so far away, and it would have to be a purely punitive expedition, as I wouldn't dare keep any cities that far away at this point in the game. Would all of that work be worth it just to make sure Hammy doesn't run away with vassals? (Theoretically, he could easily add Pacal to his roster any day now. Shaka and Kublai are probably safe from the AP (which could stop the wars), and Hatty is probably safe just from sheer power. Toku might be vulnerable, but only if he vassals to Hammy. If Hammy were to try to conquer Toku's cities outright, there'd be revolts galore).
*Try for AP victory (not likely, I think. Kublai was kind enough to build a confucianist AP, and I have the most votes in it, but Kublai will always vote for himself, and Shaka likes Kublai more than me, so even if I spread confucianism to all of the other civs, I don't think it would work). BTW, here's the diplo situation:
I don't know how I got Shaka to pleased...although that "pleased" disposition is tenuous at best...And for Kublai, I'm running bureaucracy, which supplements my capital GP-farm wonder-spamming quite nicely.
Now, I'd try to bribe Shaka and/or Kublai into war with Hammy, but everyone is at war with the Chinese rebels, and so everyone has "enough on their hands right now," even though for most it is only a phony war.....hrrmmmpf!!!
And the fourth option:
*Expand. Beat Hammurabi at his own game.
Here's where my empire resides geographically:
(BTW, should I build another city on that 1-tile island up to the NW? It wouldn't have any resources or food tiles to work, and its only hammers would be one workshopped grassland and the hammers from AP buildings...but it would give my cities more intercontinental trade route bonuses, right? And after getting a lighthouse, it would be able to support itself with food and sea tiles will give 3 commerce, which isn't bad).
Also, BTW, I'm in a GA from the Taj Mahal right now, so my research rate is not exactly representative of what it usually is. Right now w/o the GA I'm running about 240 BPT.
Now, immediately to my east is my first expansion option, Napoleon III:
He's got maces and a crapload of longbowmen (upgraded from the archers he got when he spawned) in Paris, where you can't see right now. And he's confucian, so declaring on him would probably tick off Shaka and Kublai, which I don't want to do, as they are on my western and southern borders, respectively, but I could probably flip Nappy-triple over into Islam by sending him an Islamic missionary (so that he would have 2 islamic cities, and only 1 with confucianism).
My other near-term option for expansion:
Tokugawa. A little backwards, Buddhist (so I don't care about the diplo ramifications), and doesn't have any strategic resources (just longbows). His holdings are a little farther away, though, and I'm not sure when it would be safe (as far as revolutions and distance penalties are concerned) to take those cities.
And FYI, I do have both iron and horses.
So, any advice on which route to take?
The basic problem is that Hammurabi, who is halfway across the globe, is shaping up to be a runaway AI. He has 3 vassals aleady, and it's only the late middle ages. He also has a balanced empire that I doubt will be troubled by much unrest.
(BTW, look at how, of the 5 strongest civs in the game right now, only 2 are initial starting civs (and 2 of the initial civs (Ragnar, and I think Hannibal) have been killed off). The barbarian world option really helps the barbarian civs be competitive, because if the barb cities are there when the game begins, by 2000 B.C. or so they are ready to turn into full-fledged civs, which is still pretty early).
Spain, Portugal, and Gilgamesh are Hammy's vassals, and between them all, Hammurabi has 22% of the world land area already...compared to my 8.9%.
Even though I've momentarily got an edge on him in population and tech, it still doesn't sit well with me.
He's also got a culture lead on me, as you can see. Reason is, I missed out on most of the early wonders, thanks in no small part to me having to TURN OVER MY EMPIRE TO THE AI AT CRUCIAL MOMENTS (twice for 16 turns a piece), JUST AS I'M ABOUT HALFWAY-FINISHED WITH A WONDER, AND THE AI STEWARD DECIDES THAT A COUPLE OF GALLEYS ARE NEEDED INSTEAD...
(I gotta say, whoever had the idea for that feature of RevDCM really did a superb job. I was perfectly balanced between deciding to just eat the unrest and fight off the rebels, and allow my incompetent twin brother, AI-Mansa Musa, to take over the throne. In the end, I decided upon the latter, but I guess it was worth it. I ended up being able to keep those cities that were threatening to declare independence). (BTW, FYI, in my slightly modified version, it takes 100,000 culture for 2 cities to win culture). That said, I managed to snag Sistine Chapel, and I have a slight tech lead on everyone...
...so I could probably wonder-spam from here on out and sail to culture...
But still, I don't feel like I'm in control in this game yet. Maybe I'm just spoiled from my recent cuirassier-domination wins on monarch, but man, do I find it nervewracking to be trailing so far behind in land at this point. I just know that, once those AI bonus start really kicking in later in the game, it's gonna be tough.
Which brings me to my options:
*Turtle up, wonder-spam, and go culture.
*Tech to space.
*Take Hammy down a notch before he gets too big. The problem is, he is so far away, and it would have to be a purely punitive expedition, as I wouldn't dare keep any cities that far away at this point in the game. Would all of that work be worth it just to make sure Hammy doesn't run away with vassals? (Theoretically, he could easily add Pacal to his roster any day now. Shaka and Kublai are probably safe from the AP (which could stop the wars), and Hatty is probably safe just from sheer power. Toku might be vulnerable, but only if he vassals to Hammy. If Hammy were to try to conquer Toku's cities outright, there'd be revolts galore).
*Try for AP victory (not likely, I think. Kublai was kind enough to build a confucianist AP, and I have the most votes in it, but Kublai will always vote for himself, and Shaka likes Kublai more than me, so even if I spread confucianism to all of the other civs, I don't think it would work). BTW, here's the diplo situation:
I don't know how I got Shaka to pleased...although that "pleased" disposition is tenuous at best...And for Kublai, I'm running bureaucracy, which supplements my capital GP-farm wonder-spamming quite nicely.
Now, I'd try to bribe Shaka and/or Kublai into war with Hammy, but everyone is at war with the Chinese rebels, and so everyone has "enough on their hands right now," even though for most it is only a phony war.....hrrmmmpf!!!
And the fourth option:
*Expand. Beat Hammurabi at his own game.
Here's where my empire resides geographically:
(BTW, should I build another city on that 1-tile island up to the NW? It wouldn't have any resources or food tiles to work, and its only hammers would be one workshopped grassland and the hammers from AP buildings...but it would give my cities more intercontinental trade route bonuses, right? And after getting a lighthouse, it would be able to support itself with food and sea tiles will give 3 commerce, which isn't bad).
Also, BTW, I'm in a GA from the Taj Mahal right now, so my research rate is not exactly representative of what it usually is. Right now w/o the GA I'm running about 240 BPT.
Now, immediately to my east is my first expansion option, Napoleon III:
He's got maces and a crapload of longbowmen (upgraded from the archers he got when he spawned) in Paris, where you can't see right now. And he's confucian, so declaring on him would probably tick off Shaka and Kublai, which I don't want to do, as they are on my western and southern borders, respectively, but I could probably flip Nappy-triple over into Islam by sending him an Islamic missionary (so that he would have 2 islamic cities, and only 1 with confucianism).
My other near-term option for expansion:
Tokugawa. A little backwards, Buddhist (so I don't care about the diplo ramifications), and doesn't have any strategic resources (just longbows). His holdings are a little farther away, though, and I'm not sure when it would be safe (as far as revolutions and distance penalties are concerned) to take those cities.
And FYI, I do have both iron and horses.
So, any advice on which route to take?
