Fun game. As the title suggests, the overall summary was:
"Great Start, Good Middle, Disappointing Finish"
My finish was still decent, but I thought it would be faster given how good my start and middle game were.
[START]
Build queue: Scout -> Monument -> Shrine -> Granary -> GL -> NC -> HG -> Petra, all went off without a hitch.
Technology: Pottery -> Writing -> Philosophy -> Mathematics -> Optics -> Currency
One minor mistake was ignoring Mining (until after Astronomy). Although my workers had plenty to do, the mines would have helped a bunch once Petra was built.
SP: Tradition opener -> Liberty opener -> Citizenship -> Republic -> Collective Rule -> Aristocracy
Settled my second city around T60 (had to wait until Collective Rule was achieved & NC completed).
Germany decided to go Liberty city spamming so I knew he'd be a problem. However, China, Japan and the Aztecs all built towards each other and between their territorial conflicts were stuck at 2 cities each.
[MIDDLE]
Build: Oracle (unfortunately) -> Great Mosque -> Chichen Itza -> Hagia Sophia -> Pyramids -> Terracotta Army -> Alhambra -> Great Wall -> Machu Picchu -> Notre Dame -> Ironworks -> PT
I would have liked to save the Oracle for Rationalism, but unfortunately I got unlucky because someone else was building it (despite the other civs not being very interested in wonders) so I had to build it early (finishing around T90). It was a major pain.
Plus, it compounded later on because I waited till around T150-160 to settle my third and fourth cities (needed to wait to time my SP's in order to get Scientific Revolution in time for my RA's). Oracle for Rationalism would have helped tremendously and let me settle cities a lot earlier.
Another early mistake which didn't become an issue until later was neglecting the National Epic, which I will get into later. Alternatively, if I had built the Hermitage, I probably could have squeezed out an extra SP which would have let me finish Liberty for the free Great Person. Of course I didn't realize the impact these two National Wonders would have, back when I was still in the middle game
I was surprised that the Pyramids was still around. I narrowly beat Russia to Alhambra. Every turn was a nail biter, and I dreaded seeing the computer process Russia's turn.
I settled 5 Academies during this time. (2 natural Scientists + PT + LT + 1 faith Scientist).
In the early game, Russia build Stonehenge. In the middle game, Russia built Angkor Wat, Japan built the Colossus, and Bismarck built the Great Lighthouse
Technology: Education (T101) -> Astronomy (T113) -> Mining (doh!) -> Construction/Iron Working -> Scientific Theory (T151)
SP: Patronage opener -> Philanthropy (w/ Oracle) -> Scholasticism -> Rationalism through Scientific Revolution (finishing right before T160)
Religion: Desert Folklore + Ceremonial Burial + Cathedrals + Religious Community + Itinerant Preachers
Although Ceremonial Burial was helpful due to my warmongering, like Attaturk I wonder if Tithe would have been better.
While I do normally prefer to play peaceful games, with Rome's Ballista and Legion, I couldn't resist a warmonger approach. Attacked Bismarck early and took Cologne. However, China denounced me and started moving a massive army towards my capital. Since Bismarck had just entered Medieval and I didn't want to deal with Landsknechts, I took some gold in a peace deal.
China's army was massive but weak (warriors, spearmen, archers and chariot archers) against my 20 strength capital. While her army was occupied she left her capital undefended so I counterattacked and took it. After beating China, I then took on Japan and took his capital. I started my campaign against the Aztecs, got DoF's and RA's from China and Japan, Denounced by Germany, and met the other continent.
[FINISH]
Build: LT -> Sistine Chapel -> Taj Mahal -> Big Ben -> National Epic -> prebuilding + Oxford
Unfortunately, Russia was a PITA by trying to sneak in Pisa, so I had to build it earlier than I wanted to. This delayed my triple GA/GS/GE pop by about 10 turns. If I had built the National Epic earlier, I would have gotten the great people before LT. Alternatively, even though I got Industrialization early, it took awhile to get coal (eventually burning a GG on coal near Kyoto) which would have let me get a Factory and extra engineer specialists (GE was the bottleneck).
Meanwhile, I let Russia get some wonders including Forbidden Palace, Himeji Castle, Kremlin, and Brandenburg.
Technology: Plastics (T178) -> Rocketry -> Satellites (w/ Oxford) -> Advanced Ballistics -> Robotics -> Telecomm & Mobile Tactics -> Rationalism Finisher for Particle Physics & Nanotech
Although I got Plastics early, it was deceptive. I immediately bought a Research Lab only in my capital and then later followed by my second city. But it took awhile for my underdeveloped third and fourth cities to get Public Schools and Research Labs.
SP: Order opener -> Planned Economy -> Representation (extend my Golden Age and to delay the Rationalism finisher) -> Humanism -> Sovereignty
Took the Aztec capital, made Friends and RA's with them. Befriended and RA'ed with Russia and the Songhai.
Unfortunately, Greece was not too friendly (didn't help that they disliked Russia and Songhai, both of whom I was friends with). A shame. Extra RA's with Greece would have really helped.
Meanwhile, I waged a long war against Germany. I took his capital (yay for the Great Lighthouse!) pretty easily with +1 range Trebuchets/Cannons. But he had spammed cities all over so it took a long while to take out his various cities.
[END GAME]
I delayed Hubble to time it so that I could generate one final GS naturally (which I needed). I then blew up 6 scientists (2 faith + 2 hubble +2 natural) to get ridiculous amounts of science. For 8 turns, I had pumped up my science to 1390 a turn, so I got 8783 from each of the 6 scientists (52,698 beakers). Due to tech limits, I was sitting at 26,739 over the 3,410 requirement for Refridgeration!
The bad news is that I started building spaceship parts really late. The good news is that I got them done very quickly.
My capital and second city did all the work and started at the same time (the turn I super bulbed).
Capital: 3 turns + 3 turns + 2 turns
Second City: 3 turns + 3 turns + 3 turns
So I did all my spaceship building with 2 cities over 9 turns.
After reading Attaturk's report, I feel like one potential mistake is not having enough close cities. (My second city was close. But my third and fourth cities were far, at Sri Pada and Karakatoa). Being so far away means they can't really contribute spaceship parts.
Then again, since technology was the main limiting factor, I don't think having extra production capacity would have helped significantly.
By the end of the game, I was now Friends with every single civ (including the recalcitrant Germany and Greece, though it came too late to sign RA's with them). Over the course of the game, I signed 10 RA's (2 each with China, Japan, Russia, Songhai, and Aztecs).
Main things that could have sped up the game:
1. If I could have saved Oracle till the Renaissance (stupid AI's!)
2. If I could have saved LT for a few turns later (stupid Russia!)
3. If I had built National Epic earlier or the Hermitage at all
4. If I could have managed RA's with Germany and/or Greece
Other than that, I was quite satisfied with my game!
"Great Start, Good Middle, Disappointing Finish"
My finish was still decent, but I thought it would be faster given how good my start and middle game were.
[START]
Build queue: Scout -> Monument -> Shrine -> Granary -> GL -> NC -> HG -> Petra, all went off without a hitch.
Technology: Pottery -> Writing -> Philosophy -> Mathematics -> Optics -> Currency
One minor mistake was ignoring Mining (until after Astronomy). Although my workers had plenty to do, the mines would have helped a bunch once Petra was built.
SP: Tradition opener -> Liberty opener -> Citizenship -> Republic -> Collective Rule -> Aristocracy
Settled my second city around T60 (had to wait until Collective Rule was achieved & NC completed).
Germany decided to go Liberty city spamming so I knew he'd be a problem. However, China, Japan and the Aztecs all built towards each other and between their territorial conflicts were stuck at 2 cities each.
[MIDDLE]
Build: Oracle (unfortunately) -> Great Mosque -> Chichen Itza -> Hagia Sophia -> Pyramids -> Terracotta Army -> Alhambra -> Great Wall -> Machu Picchu -> Notre Dame -> Ironworks -> PT
I would have liked to save the Oracle for Rationalism, but unfortunately I got unlucky because someone else was building it (despite the other civs not being very interested in wonders) so I had to build it early (finishing around T90). It was a major pain.
Plus, it compounded later on because I waited till around T150-160 to settle my third and fourth cities (needed to wait to time my SP's in order to get Scientific Revolution in time for my RA's). Oracle for Rationalism would have helped tremendously and let me settle cities a lot earlier.
Another early mistake which didn't become an issue until later was neglecting the National Epic, which I will get into later. Alternatively, if I had built the Hermitage, I probably could have squeezed out an extra SP which would have let me finish Liberty for the free Great Person. Of course I didn't realize the impact these two National Wonders would have, back when I was still in the middle game
I was surprised that the Pyramids was still around. I narrowly beat Russia to Alhambra. Every turn was a nail biter, and I dreaded seeing the computer process Russia's turn.
I settled 5 Academies during this time. (2 natural Scientists + PT + LT + 1 faith Scientist).
In the early game, Russia build Stonehenge. In the middle game, Russia built Angkor Wat, Japan built the Colossus, and Bismarck built the Great Lighthouse
Technology: Education (T101) -> Astronomy (T113) -> Mining (doh!) -> Construction/Iron Working -> Scientific Theory (T151)
SP: Patronage opener -> Philanthropy (w/ Oracle) -> Scholasticism -> Rationalism through Scientific Revolution (finishing right before T160)
Religion: Desert Folklore + Ceremonial Burial + Cathedrals + Religious Community + Itinerant Preachers
Although Ceremonial Burial was helpful due to my warmongering, like Attaturk I wonder if Tithe would have been better.
While I do normally prefer to play peaceful games, with Rome's Ballista and Legion, I couldn't resist a warmonger approach. Attacked Bismarck early and took Cologne. However, China denounced me and started moving a massive army towards my capital. Since Bismarck had just entered Medieval and I didn't want to deal with Landsknechts, I took some gold in a peace deal.
China's army was massive but weak (warriors, spearmen, archers and chariot archers) against my 20 strength capital. While her army was occupied she left her capital undefended so I counterattacked and took it. After beating China, I then took on Japan and took his capital. I started my campaign against the Aztecs, got DoF's and RA's from China and Japan, Denounced by Germany, and met the other continent.
[FINISH]
Build: LT -> Sistine Chapel -> Taj Mahal -> Big Ben -> National Epic -> prebuilding + Oxford
Unfortunately, Russia was a PITA by trying to sneak in Pisa, so I had to build it earlier than I wanted to. This delayed my triple GA/GS/GE pop by about 10 turns. If I had built the National Epic earlier, I would have gotten the great people before LT. Alternatively, even though I got Industrialization early, it took awhile to get coal (eventually burning a GG on coal near Kyoto) which would have let me get a Factory and extra engineer specialists (GE was the bottleneck).
Meanwhile, I let Russia get some wonders including Forbidden Palace, Himeji Castle, Kremlin, and Brandenburg.
Technology: Plastics (T178) -> Rocketry -> Satellites (w/ Oxford) -> Advanced Ballistics -> Robotics -> Telecomm & Mobile Tactics -> Rationalism Finisher for Particle Physics & Nanotech
Although I got Plastics early, it was deceptive. I immediately bought a Research Lab only in my capital and then later followed by my second city. But it took awhile for my underdeveloped third and fourth cities to get Public Schools and Research Labs.
SP: Order opener -> Planned Economy -> Representation (extend my Golden Age and to delay the Rationalism finisher) -> Humanism -> Sovereignty
Took the Aztec capital, made Friends and RA's with them. Befriended and RA'ed with Russia and the Songhai.
Unfortunately, Greece was not too friendly (didn't help that they disliked Russia and Songhai, both of whom I was friends with). A shame. Extra RA's with Greece would have really helped.
Meanwhile, I waged a long war against Germany. I took his capital (yay for the Great Lighthouse!) pretty easily with +1 range Trebuchets/Cannons. But he had spammed cities all over so it took a long while to take out his various cities.
[END GAME]
I delayed Hubble to time it so that I could generate one final GS naturally (which I needed). I then blew up 6 scientists (2 faith + 2 hubble +2 natural) to get ridiculous amounts of science. For 8 turns, I had pumped up my science to 1390 a turn, so I got 8783 from each of the 6 scientists (52,698 beakers). Due to tech limits, I was sitting at 26,739 over the 3,410 requirement for Refridgeration!

The bad news is that I started building spaceship parts really late. The good news is that I got them done very quickly.
My capital and second city did all the work and started at the same time (the turn I super bulbed).
Capital: 3 turns + 3 turns + 2 turns
Second City: 3 turns + 3 turns + 3 turns
So I did all my spaceship building with 2 cities over 9 turns.
After reading Attaturk's report, I feel like one potential mistake is not having enough close cities. (My second city was close. But my third and fourth cities were far, at Sri Pada and Karakatoa). Being so far away means they can't really contribute spaceship parts.
Then again, since technology was the main limiting factor, I don't think having extra production capacity would have helped significantly.
By the end of the game, I was now Friends with every single civ (including the recalcitrant Germany and Greece, though it came too late to sign RA's with them). Over the course of the game, I signed 10 RA's (2 each with China, Japan, Russia, Songhai, and Aztecs).
Main things that could have sped up the game:
1. If I could have saved Oracle till the Renaissance (stupid AI's!)
2. If I could have saved LT for a few turns later (stupid Russia!)
3. If I had built National Epic earlier or the Hermitage at all
4. If I could have managed RA's with Germany and/or Greece
Other than that, I was quite satisfied with my game!