On my inherited turn, I looked the situation over, determined that we had plenty of military for the task at hand, and switched every city in the empire over to infrastructure, mostly banks, some universities, a couple harbors or cathedrals. Then I went to check on how much luxury spending we actually needed, found that we needed none. Only had to make one entertain in one city, plus starve the newly captured Zulu cities (would have done that anyway), so luxuries were dropped to zero. This allowed me to speed research to 4 turns for Economics, and get a positive cash flow. Luxuries make happy people and that helps the score, but we don't care about the score here, do we? So... zero luxury it is.
The city on wealth (which offers a woefully useless one gold per eight shields early, and one for four after banking?) was switched to a harbor. I used to like Wealth (Capitalization) in Civ2, but they have dumbed it down too far in Civ3. I see it as a waste. Better to run deficits sometimes, and slow research if the treasury threatens to go broke, I believe. That requires keeping an eye on the science and luxury rates, but that's not a problem for me. Since it would cost 4 gold per shield to rushbuild, Wealth offers a 1/32nd to 1/16th cash value for each shield, that's pretty ugly.
Pggar's Right of Passage betrayal has pissed everyone off. No one will sign a RoP with us anymore without us offering a fortune. Was a sneak attack really worth that much? Well, I'll have to deal with it. First time I've ever been in this situation, as I do not do RoP betrayals in my own games. The penalties for such are unrealistically mild -- even more so than I thought, as I would soon discover. The AI's ought not to trust the player ever again after such a move. Like the ability to endless whip size 1 cities, the RoP betrayal needs some reworking in a future patch. I don't think it should be taken off the table, but it ought not to be a "no brainer" in terms of the cost-benefit ratio like it is now.
Pggar has twice now left me with a grandly strong military in a warmongering position. This time the war was actually ongoing, as he had taken two cities and moved into position to get the enemy capital. All I had to do to win that battle on the next turn was... to attack.
1305: One enemy longbow killed a Babylon unit. I didn't even get to see what took place, so I went in to preferences and turned on Animate Battles. Zimbabwe razed to the ground. (City flips are somewhat based on how much enemy culture there was before capture, so a palace capture this late in the game is pretty much auto-raze for me. Because of the Palace culture, and old temples/libraries, capitals are always in the 1000s of culture by now, way too much revolt risk for my taste). We picked up about seven or eight slave workers and some catapults. Rest of military position consolidated. We had plenty enough military to get this job done, if I did two things: not scatter the forces trying to take too much at once, and not have to leave behind a large chunk of units on garrison. Thus another reason Zimbabwe had to be destroyed.
1310: wounded units all over the place fortified so they could heal up. Muskets fortified on key roads to prevent effective counterattack on the flanks while I moved the bulk of our units into position to attack Hlobane -- the next largest Zulu city, which would also be razed.
1315: Hlobane razed. Moved a force of four knights into position to attack Mpondo, moved the Stack of everything else toward the city southwest of former Zimbabwe.
1320: Economics researched, Babylon switched from bank to Smith's. Mpondo captured. Stack moves next to other city. Renewed the spice deal with Aztecs at increased cost to them.
1325: Resistance in Mpondo ended. Other city captured. Moved half a dozen knights into position to attack final city, backed by a few slower units moving up behind them in case of minor chance of knights failing. The English were wiped out.
1330: Isandlwhana captured. Zulus pushed off our continent for good as their last major city falls. Zulu capital moved to town on French continent, ensuring that minor Zulu colonies on isle to northeast will be taken in the Peace negotiation soon to come.
1335-45: Some banks completed, Ur switched to Palace in preparation to build Smith's. Astronomy researched, Babylon switched to Copernicus (worth more culture and will be done sooner), Ur switched to Smith's, Kish switched to Palace in preparation for building Magellan. Two Caravels queued up at Ninevah just in case we do have to land troops on the Zulu island. Settlers built to fill in gaps left by razings. Zulu cities starved down to size 1, then regrown. (Reducing foreign nationals, in combination with strong garrisons, ensures little to no loss of captured cities in revolt).
1350: Zulus finally talk, give us their colonies and all their maps and gold for peace. Neither colony has a harbor, so the units we get for free are only spearmen. I move our first ship in that direction, intending to reinforce some stronger troops to the island. Ten rounds of zero luxury and max efficiency on adjusting the science rate each turn, so we get discoveries every four turns but minimal waste on the last turn, have left us with nearly 1000 gold in the treasury. I ran through and upgraded a bucketload of spearmen to musket. Still a lot of upgrading left to be done, but more can wait, as it's better to stay on top of pulling out to the biggest tech lead possible. Decided to talk to the Americans, who are now willing to pay us 20 gold for peace. Babylon is now at peace.
1355: resumed building knights at one per four turns north of Babylon, muskets at one per four or five turns in a couple of cities. Settled some of the gaps, need one more settler, and the Aztecs are rushing a galley in that direction, surely hoping to grab a piece of land.
1360: Navigation. Worldwide trade now possible for us. Time for the planet to dine on fine Babylonian spices. Traded spices to Iroquois for Furs and a bucket of cash per turn (them paying, they have a HUGE empire). Sold spices to every western nation who could afford them, GAVE them to the Greeks and Persians, who were broke, for 20 turns, to improve relations. However, next time, if they can't pay up, no more free lunch. Traded Iron to the French for Incense and some gold per turn. Musket reinforcements carried to Sirian's Isle. Some temples rushed in captured Zulu cities and new settlements. Traded Music Theory and some cash to somebody (forget who) for Printing Press, started researching Democracy. Kish switched to Magellan's. Sent a musket onboard a ship eastward into the ocean, intending to sail clockwise around Germany, all the way south to grab that goody hut before borders expand and swallow it up.
1365-75: Our workers had long ago finished all worthwhile improvements in the heart of our land. I moved about a dozen of them north to the tundra, irrigated a temporary path through Uruk to get water to that lone grassland for Igloo, then rebuilt one destroyed mine. Planted forests all around Igloo, and now I started chopping some of them down for the shields, to hurry along that much needed harbor. When that was done, replanted the forests a second time (for keeps), so don't bother lumberjacking up there, it's already been done. I also planted a few forests around Ur to speed construction of the wonder.
1380: Democracy. Held off on the revolt, even though it would be only one turn of anarchy, as I wanted to complete research into Free Artisistry, and start construction on Shakespeare's on my turn. The theater, at 8 culture per turn, is a must-get to hurry along our victory. Whether we will also be able to grab Newton and its 6 per turn, in Babylon, remains to be seen. If not, we can get Suffrage, though, so there should be at least two more wonders in a row built after my turn.
1385: On the way to the goody hut, spotted shallow waters out in the middle of nowhere, gave on the hut and went to have a look at these uncharted islands. Started construction of Wall Street in Akkad.
1390: Copernicus built in Babylon. Spotted iron and horses on small islands, decided to rush a settler from Igloo to grab at least one of these sites. We could trade the Iron to somebody for a luxury, maybe, although the island with the horses looks more attractive as a colony site. Still, the island with the Iron has only two squares, and if we build a city on one and fortify a unit on the other, the island would be impregnable to capture until marines come along -- although a harbor would remain vulnerable to naval bombardment. Which island to grab will be left up to the next player.
1400: Free Artistry. Traded Music Theory and 20 gold per turn to somebody for Chemistry. Sold Spices to the French for a modest fee. Loaded a Settlement Kit onto our Caravel near Uruk (settler, worker, military), so that one of those islands with resources could be grabbed. Set research to Physics for four turns at a minor deficit. Set Shurrupak to food deficit to speed Forbidden Palace by three turns. Set Babylon to food deficit to speed Shakespeare by a turn. Babylon can be switched back to break-even food after seven more turns, so keep an eye on it.
I urge micromanagement of science bar each turn to keep each breakthrough at 4 turns per with minimal wasted, at least through end of middle ages. It's going to take longer in the next era per breakthrough, but that can wait until the next era. Get to Theory of Gravity soon, and if people start to build Newton's before Babylon finishes the Theater, swap Akkad to Newton's to prevent anybody else from getting it, and let Babylon build Wall Street or Suffrage next. There's absolutely no reason we should let anybody else ever build another Great Wonder. Get Steam Power before Military Tradition, as we've already won our war and have nothing useful to gain by more aggression unless it turns out that there's no coal anywhere on our continent. In fact, let the AI's research Cavalry for us, and trade them gold or obsolete techs for it later, as we press on toward Theory of Evolution and Hoover Dam. I also see no need to upgrade every last troop we have unless somebody declares war on us and really comes after us, bringing fleetfuls of troops to our shores. Defending over land vs the AI is a task, but if they have to cross water to get to you, it's MUCH easier to beat them back. Save our cash, and keep the science going. If we really NEED to upgrade units because we are being attacked, we can run 10% science or even zero with a scientist specialist, for a few turns, to raise a tub of cash in a hurry.
In 1460, renegotiate all our spice deals with the west, except perhaps with the Iroquois -- let them pay us at that rate as long as they are willing to continue doing so. On my turn, I finished the war, secured our continent, built all kinds of banks and other improvements, researched five techs and acquired two more, built a wonder and secured three more, improved relations with everyone in the world, and discovered what is likely the last of the unknown islands, to our east.
I urge completion of Magellan's before the change to Democracy, but don't wait much longer after that. We're going to need the increased worker efficiency to speed rail building. Once the FP is built, a whole lot of cities will need to be re-examined, and our economy will take off like a rocket.
Best Wishes.
- Sirian