T73.
Hannibal is plotting. Not sure what were the odds of him plotting on us instead of on SB, but in any case it's better to play safe (esp. after reading Pangaea's post lol). There is a hill 2S3W of Carthage that cannot have Carthaginian culture:
So I immediately 3whip the Settler in Mecca (into a barracks, forget about the Madrassa for now -- Hannibal is a very easy HA rush target as all his cities are on flatland). The idea is to gift Hannibal a city and beg something (ideally not ivory because it's expensive and he might not want to give it away, but that's the only extra res he has for now, so that will have to do). Then we get 10 turns of peace and can easily HA rush him.
Research is set to Archery (2T), and a worker is started in Medina (2whip into an Archer + chop another one). Damascus stops building a Settler and starts on a Granary (much more useful for now). Chariots that were on the other side of the world are moved back (takes time). The one that was in SB's land immediately moves back to Carthage -- we want to know what he's doing. I also considered disbanding the scouting wb (it costs maintenance and doesn't bring much for now), but we have so much gold that I decided to keep scouting.
T74. Settler is out, not much to notify except that Hannibal doesn't have any units on SB's borders (he doesn't even share borders with him apparently, which is not good news for us).
T75. Hannibal's troops are on my border, and more seem to be coming -
I have no time to gift him a newly-settled-crappy city, so I decide to gift him Medina (considered gifting him Damascus instead, but he could still take Medina next turn if the beg fails, so I don't like it). First I 1pop whip a warrior there (just so it's at size 1 -- don't want to advance Hannibal)
Then I gift him Medina, he's immediately pleased (+4 trade relations). I don't beg Ivory immediately as I can beg a bigger amount of cash every turn, so waiting increases my chances of being able to beg Ivory, and he won't declare on the next turn (has to reinforce Medina first).
It's much better to gift him a city than "losing" a city -- no war success for him, and you don't lose a warrior.
Workers are now all pre-chopping forests in Mecca and Damascus, waiting for HBR. Damascus gets a barracks ready @18/50 so I can 2pop whip it with 28 overflow into a HA when I reach HBR.
Then I keep the chariot in Hannibal's land to check for any movement and wait to see his troops on my borders (Mecca can get a quick burst of CG2 Archers if needed).
The settler is ofc sent back to the southern horse+plainscow spot
T80-81.
I meet this guy with the wb -
He's at war with Ragnar. Later I get demands from him to join the war and from SB to cancel deals with Raggy. I decline both (DoW'ing Raggy would help with diplo points with Pacal, but I think it would make it harder to get a ceasefire with Hannibal when the time comes).
Mansa gets Alpha -- after HBR I put a few turns into it and trade (could go straight for maths - Construction but Alpha gives a lot of flexibility)
Not sure when Raggy got Alpha, didn't pay attention (he won't trade anything at cautious anyway).
T83. HBR. Start whipping/chopping HAs in Mecca & Damascus (barracks but no stables), other cities are useless for now.
T86. Trade for Alpha with Mansa.
T88. Finally some movement from Hannibal's side :
I have 4 HAs and 2 chariots ready, so I let him DoW. He has a few more units coming as reinforcements. New HAs still flowing from Mecca and Damascus.
T89.
He's got 2 stacks of 4 units, but only one spear and 2 axes in Medina. I have one Archer coming on this turn in Baghdad. So I take Medina and let him take Baghdad. I win a lucky 40% fight against a spearman, then the 2 Axemen are both 80% fights (chariot & HA).
One of my HAs that were on the hill kills the adjacent swordsman and the other one goes in Medina to reinforce it -- the less units in Baghdad, the easier it will be to take it later).
T90.
Hannibal takes Baghdad (loses one unit on my Archer, protective trait ftw
). Only 2 Numidian cavalries in Baghdad now. I lose 2 or 3 HAs (don't remember) in counter attack, but I can now wipe him out (Mecca doing 1HA/turn with chops).
T91.
Hannibal most likely has no stack left. We have a super-medic-3-movement chariot. As soon as he'll talk I think he'll take a ceasefire (we have a lot of war success)
All these moves weren't 100% safe, but taking a few risks can be very rewarding
Research set on maths to go for Construction & Elephants, then kill Shaka (not many beakers have been spent, so you can change if you want to play a more peaceful game)