Before starting:
I set Stockholm to barracks
Oslo to worker
Bergen -> MM to get 1 more shield per turn, swith to GL
Reykjavik can be micromanaged to produce an archer in 3 instead of 4 but it would slow down growth so I leave it as it is. Squeeze 1 more gpt out of it though
Likewise with Aarhus
Arabic warrior attacks our archer, takes 2hp, and...dies!
1225BC: Reduce science by 1, still make HBR in 2 turns, get 5 extra gpt
WOunder archer fortifies. Moving the others towards it to form a stack in preparation for attacking Medina.
Our settler needs an escort, so I move the warrior out of Copenhagen and switch that city to make another.
Chariot moves to Birka.
1 worker moves to the furs in the forest near Aarhus - that lux will be useful.
1 worker moves towards Bergen - it is wonder-building and is going to need improvements.
1 worker starts mining a bonus grassland near Reykjavik
IBT: nothing
1200BC: Reduce science again, still make HBR in 1, make +13 gpt now
Our exploring warrior is bored and has seen everything in his neck of the woods. I'm bringing him home for some action. Nothing else happens.
IBT: An arab warrior comes out of Medina to say hello.
1175BC: We know Horseback Riding!
Copenhagen produces a warrior for defense and MP. I start it on a horseman.
Our warrior can attack the arab one but it's 50-50 so I fortify the warrior where he is and move our healed archer plus a recently arrived friend to join him.
Our chariot heads towards Stockholm where he will be upgraded when the barracks are complete. Should have sent him there right away :-S
Warrior/Settler pair head towards the iron.
Worker moves into the hills beside Bergen where he will build a mine. We may need the extra shields by the time he finishes and Oslo will be making another worker soon so he won't be missed too much.
Stockholm is now connected by road to the rest of our empire. It is short of food so I set the worker to irrigate the plains where he stands.
Science back up to 60% gives us Map Making in 15 turns and +2gpt. I chose Map Making over Mathematics for a couple of reasons. Catapults would be nice but with Map Making we can build galleys, harbors and even the Great Lighthouse, which would be VERY useful to us in this game. Being as we are a seafaring civ I think it makes more sense that we choose to explore the watery world rather than sit at home studying equations..
At the rate we can research on Regent we may not even need the GL and might be able to switch to another wonder. That decision will come a lot later though.
IBT: The arab warrio strolls past our stack and stays within firing range of our archers. Is he insane? Is he taunting us?
Trondheim produces a settler. I set it to wealth. Only kidding! I start another settler, of course.
Reykjavik produces an archer. He wants to fight but unfortunately the people are too unhappy when he experimentally leaves the city, so he returns to keep the peace. I set Reykjavik to produce a worker. We need at least twice as many workers as we have now so that our expansion can keep up with our settler factory...
Vet archer takes out the foolish Arab warrior without losing a hp.
The other archers and the warrior fortify and wait for the straggling companions to arrive. They will fight as a team or not at all! Besides, if we attack Medina now it will be destroyed. You never know, if we wait an extra turn it might grow and we would get to keep it.
We are going to take the risk of moving our new settler unescorted as the land appears to be free of barbarians and also because we can't spare the troops
IBT: nothing
1125BC: Oslo produces a worker. I set it to Barracks.
There are 2 archers still to arrive but our troops are restless! They want blood! So I send a stack of 3 vet archers and a warrior into the territory around Medina. The warrior goes first and sees a Spearman! :-( Undaunted, the others follow.
The worker in Oslo is going to mine the BG between it and Bergen. This way Bergen can grab it if we get into a race for the GL (which seems unlikely, I admit, but it never hurts to be prepared...)
Bergen grows to size 5 but loses the extra shield to corruption
I could set a citizen to work the forest and get an extra shield but I think it's more important to grow so I leave it as it is.
We can see Ugarit near the Arabic border, but nothing in the Diplo window yet. Is Ugarit the Hittites? I can't remember.
Science slider up 1, Map Making in 12, 0gpt per turn
IBT: nothing. The people of Medina are hunkering down in anticipation.
1100BC: The attack begins!
1st vet archer loses 2hp, takes out reg Spearman, and promotes! We see another spearman
2nd vet archer loses 1hp, takes out reg Spearman...and promotes!! Medina is destroyed. Not bad...
Our remaining troops wait for the 2 straggling archers to join up before advancing on the next (as yet nameless) city...
IBT: nothing
1075BC: Reykjavik produces a worker. I set it to work on Horseman.
Stockholm produces Barracks. I set it to work on a warrior (for defense)
Birka produces warrior. I set it to worker.
Upgrade our sole chariot to Horseman.
Reykjavik's new worker starts mining a BG. The other worker moves out in the direction of our borders to start building a road towards the iron. This could take a while...
Hard decision - does the worker at Stockholm irrigate another needed square for food, or start roading out towards the iron too? I decide to pay attention to Stockholm.
We are now making -2gpt but we have plenty of cash so I keep us on track to get Map Making in 9 turns.
IBT: nothing
Trondheim produces a settler. I set it to build another.
Our attacking force is finally united! Even though their bloodlust is high they unanimously agree to wait 1 more turn before moving towards the next Arabic city until a recently promoted elite archer is fully healed.
Our settler/warrior pair is 3 moves away from the coastal grassland spot beside the iron. Our other travelling settler is 3 turns from his planned destination (a coastal square beside the forest and a BG, and 4 land moves away from the iron city). The newly produced settler is going to walk up to a point 3 squares distant from Oslo, Bergen and Birka. Then the city chain will be sorted and our workers will have to get busy roading up...
We connect up our furs! This allows us to drop lux tax by 10% and start making 2gpt profit again. I send that worker to mine a BG near Aarhus.
Our exploring curragh sees purple borders! Iroquois, Indians? They are so far away that another civ to be at war with probably doesn't matter so I think I will zoom up and try to make contact and see what tech they have.
It's the Inca! They have Map Making and Mysticism. We have Lit and Philosophy. No way am I giving them Literature so we will have to take what we can get for Philosophy and our treasury...
:-( We are "close to a deal" for both but no cigar, and the rules forbid gpt trades. I can get Map Making for Philosophy and 32 gold, so I go for that. We are now researching Mathematics and will get it in 9 turns. Mysticism is nothing to us (we can get it in 4 turns any time if we want) so there is absolutely no point giving the Inca or anyone else the chance to build the GL before they deserve it. We trade. I declare war. Pachahuti is probably confused.
IBT: An arab warrior wanders out 2 squares from our fearsome horde.
1025BC: We have a horseman heading in his direction so our archers will ignore him and charge towards the Arab city borders.
Worker moves to start a road on a mined BG near Bergen which someone left unroaded...naughty naughty!
Nothing else happens except movement.
IBT: The brave arab warrior keeps on heading towards Birka.
1000BC: He is on a hill and our horseman is in range. There is another hill he will get to next turn onto next turn and our horseman is in range now so no point in waiting.
Vet horseman loses 2hp but kills reg warrior.
Stack of 5 archers and 1 warrior moves into Arab lands again! We still don't see a city.
Our curragh sees Macchu Picchu, size 1.
Our travelling-alone settler reaches his final destination and meets up with our returning exploring warrior!
Our warrior/settler pair ALSO reach their final destination beside the iron.
Our third settler is 1 step away from where I was going to put him but he could be just as happy 1 square further along the coast leaving our core cities more breathing space so I will leave that decision to another.
And...that's all! I think the plans should be clear. We have 2 settler/warrior pairs who I was planning to have build cities right where they are and 1 settler 1 or 2 squares away from his destination - we need more workers and we need to start roading up the iron. Once that is hooked up we are going to be practically unstoppable even before getting Berserkers. We have a modest but experienced (3 elites!) stack of troops heading into Arab lands looking for a city to pillage.
Thanks - this was my first SG turn and I was having fun so sorry if I have written a minor novel - I will probably get briefer as the novelty wears off ;-)
IMPORTANT: I just noticed after posting the save that Trondheim will riot next turn unless lux tax is turned up again. I am not sure why this is, maybe because we have troops in enemy lands? It was happy at size 6 before. So whoever picks this up, don't forget to up the lux before pressing GO!
2nd Update: Now that I think about it, the settler/warrior pair near the iron could go on the other hill, or even on the iron hill itself? That way they have the grassland for food. A decision for someone else again...
the arabs!
