AU 100-A DAR 2: 1480 BC Until Start of Classical Era

[nbarclay]

This DAR covers events in AU 100-A from the time of the first DAR until the player enters the Classical Era (and perhaps the first two or three turns of the Classical Era, especially if interesting technology trades are involved). As examples of things that could be interesting to include, consider the following questions. What research path did you take reaching the classical era, and what kind of tech trading (if any) did you do with the AIs? How did you balance expansion, growth, and production? How are your relationships with the other civs progressing? Did anything else interesting happen? And did you learn anything of signiicance, or have anything happen that reinforced a lesson you'd already learned?

[nbarclay]

Since I hadn't decided that a DAR at this point was needed until I'd played long past it, I'm not in a position to deliver as organized a DAR for this part of the game as I would otherwise, and I don't have a screenshot to share.

Lord Nathan's American Empire continued to focus almost entirely on expansion, fueled in large part by the many flood plains around the capital and to a lesser extent by New York's pigs. Additional cities were founded as the empire researched Mining and then Alphabet.

With the discovery of Alphabet in 675 BC, America embarked on a series of negotiations to pick up technologies it had previously passed over. By the time the second-stage agreements were competed in 650, Hatshepsut (with Monarchy and Priesthood) and Isabella (with Priesthood) were the only ones that had technologies that America did not, and America had advantages over both of them in other areas. Unfortunately, neither was willing to trade. Seattle, America’s seventh city, was founded a quarter century later.

[V3nom]

ok well this DAR is short and sweet, lasting the whole of14 turns.

At the end of last DAR I had just completed priesthood and I immediately start on Code of laws, my two scientist capital fueling the research to go much faster than it normally would.

Boston has its warrior finished and I que up an oblisk and then the pyramids there. Meanwhile new york starts on the oracle, designed to build asap after code of laws is complete and catapult me to Civil service. in 1120bc Merit Ptah the great scientist is born and is immediately commissioned to build an academy in my capital, cutting a further 2 turns off code of laws.

in 950bc, or turn 77, the American people gain a code of laws and the spirtially adept in Boston found Confucianism.
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I didnt take any new screenshot as I hadnt bothered to found any new cities, so instead I refer you to my first DARs screenshot:

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Notes and thoughts for the next period:
-with the Oracle nearing completion my next DAR is likely to be even shorter than this one, so instead I will use it to contemplate the path I should take once this 'establishing' phase is done.
-I think I'll JUST scrape the Oracle but probably miss the pyramids but I've gotta give them a shot... I'll be doing heavy chopping/pop rushing for both just because I'm paranoid.
-pop rushing seems to have catapulted me into a VERY strong situation here
- even though I am still #1 in land area I need to expand and build a military fast or the AI is going to eat me alive.

[teriakiburger]

Taking stock at hand, after animal husbandry finishes in 4 turns, decide we need to take military action as 2 boneheaded warriors have fallen to barbarians, so bows must be the answer the raiders.

In 1400, Washington completes the settler for my 3rd city, but must wait for warrior escort, due in 4 turns due to barbarian myschief. And we meet some guy who strokes his beard too much, Saladin the fool.

In 1360, our most brillant rednecks figure how to get the 4 legs to rut with Animal Husbandry. In celebration, we agree to pursue Hunting.

Our settler sets out unescorted, as our lone exploring warrior will meet them at the outskits of our borders.

And cheers as the Oracle is completed in New York in 1320BC. The classical era has begun, with the gods blessing us with Code of Laws, and Confucianism founded in New York.

The gamble is doubtful if we can still grab the Pyramids in New York, but it will be made.

Scorewise leading at 305 points, but dropped a bit with GNP #3, Mfg. #7, Crop Yield #3, soldiers #7, land #3, population #5.

[Fireb]

Goal -
Diplo victory. A 'peaceful rise', the Chinese way. Lets see how long it will remain peaceful. Looks like I'll have a nice big piece of territory for myself, so no need for war, even though I'm surrounded by schizophrenic megalomaniacs. The plan is to spam judaism, spam cottages, and spam cities, use the income from judaism (as soon as I get a prophet) to pay for upkeep, and with cottages for research, I'm in with a fighting chance. Err, perhaps fighting is the wrong word

Start
Either my people don't like my cities, or else they're procreating like rabbits. Whatever the reason, settlers are poping up at a frenzied rate. It doesn't bode well for my upkeep, though I'm counting on that organised trait to bear fruit.

So, 2 more cities are founded between washington and the mongol hordes, whom I really didn't want as an immediate neighbour, but never mind. I'm very surprised that the AI didn't build cities close to me as soon as possible, that's their normal favourite strategy...

I formally adopt judaism as soon as the settlers are built, then switch to organised religion 2 turns later.

Meanwhile, the barbarians are making regular appearances, with lots of warriors popping up, particularaly from the south, and a few from the west, too. Sure enough, a few turns later, I discover a barb city in the tundra. Washington itself is attacked! My archer makes short shrift of the warrior, but it doesn't bode well. Yikes, they're going to be a pain until I can raze or take that barb city.

Classical era arives
650 BC. Wow! That was quick, I hardly had any turns! Alphabet is researched, heralding a new (and hopefully prosperous) future. I start trading straight away, and to my great surprise I'm the only one with alphabet.

The stonehenge and the oracle are built in faraway lands. So much for an early great prophet. It will take me about 100 turns for the other 2 wonders available, I decide not to bother.

I trade:
Monotheism for Bronzeworking (Hatty)
Polytheism for meditation (Saladin)
Polytheism for priesthood (Genghis)

I decide to keep alphabet for as long as possible. I'll need every trick I can think of at this level, including tech. whorring.

Copper appears right next to philadelphia. Wow! That's the only copper I've got in my huge heartland. Good thing I was able to put a city there before genghis. I start mining the copper right away, need to get rid of that barb city before they start spamming me with swordmen and horse archers. And even if it comes to that, with copper I'll be able to fend them off. I'll definately need spearmen if Genghis decides I look like a ripe fruit.

625 BC.
Trade monotheism for animal husbandry (saladin).
Looks like hatty just got alphabet. Too bad. At least I was able to get it first and catch up in techs. I can still trade alphabet for ironworking with either genghis or Saladin, but I decide to wait a little.

Diplomacy -3 with the spanish (+1 peace, -4 religion), +1 with everyone else. The mongols have built a city between me and the spanish. If I can convert them (the mongols), and get them to hate the spanish, I might survive for a bit longer

I suspect I'll be attacked by the spanish (if the mongols let them in...the big question). As soon as they cancel the open borders I know I can expect an attack within 2-3 turns (at least that's the way I've found it to work on easier settings - a good reason to have open borders with a potentially hostile nation )

Future plans
Currently researching monotheism (every religion I found will make it easier to spread judaism about), then monarchy (wine + needed for islam) then islam (spiral minaret. And then - straight for the UN! (unless war occurs of course). Pretty soon I'll found 2-3 more cities in my hinterland, then swithch to spamming missionaries and growing cotages into towns. That's the plan, anyway.

[Swissy]

Noble Level:

Since I was working on Iron Working, to see my metal situation, which is a Classical Era entry tech; I held off posting this until I finished out the Ancient Era techs.

Hinduism spreads to New York, life is good.
1400 BC Stonehedge is built in Washington
1280 Bc meet Hatsheput of the Egyptians
Judaism spreads to Philly, Hinduism to Boston.
Somebody builds the Oracle

Washington size 8 Barracks 5
New York size 4 Hindu Temple 5
Boston size 2 Hindu Temple 24
Philadelphia size 2 Granary 7


F9 Stats: GNP 1, Mfg 1, Crops 1, Soldiers 3, Land 1, Pop 1, Approval 6, Life 6, In/Ex 7

!0% of the world area and 21% of the population


Tech Progress: Iron Working, Archery, Preisthood, Writing, Meditation, Sailing, Monarchy (in 9)

With Stonehedge I can now go claim territory. Finding two sources of iron is a plus, especially the one at New York which was sorely in need of hammers. I just got open borders with Mongols so I'll send some religion to them. The challenge now is to expand rapidly without crippling my economy and inviting war (the AI will pounce on any weakness in military). With horses and iron I am able to consider a late Middle Ages offensive where I would be able to put my traits to good use. With ORG/FIN I will be able to field a large force running the best warmongering civics and not be crippled in tech research.

Northern Empire


Southern Empire

[Aeson]

Well, this DAR lasted me 2 turns. I founded Confucianism with Code of Laws in 1440BC.

[Cort Haus]

DAR 1 - Opening
DAR 3 - Classical Era
DAR 4 - Medieval Era
DAR 5 - Renaissance Era
DAR 6 - Industrial Era
DAR 7 - Modern Era



1440 BC, and Merit Ptah has been born in Washington! He does his little gurgly routine and turns into an Academy. Code of Laws & Oracle in 12 turns. New York is founded in 1400 and orders Warrior, Barracks. This city will churn out units in a bit to keep the barbarians (and the AI) from the gates while the capital focuses on settlers to catch up in expansion. Hattie is Pleased! Maybe she knew I stuck up for her against Genghis.

Judaism is founded in 1200, and Genghis converts - so far Saladin is Hindu and Isabella Buddist. Barbs start to approach our borders, where we have a couple of pickets but more would be nice. I decided to get a barracks in New York after just the one warrior, so it's 'squeaky bum time' until it starts pumping archers

In 1000 BC Code of Laws completes, the Oracle is built, Civil Service taken as the free tech, and in one bound we leap straight through the classical Era and into the Medieval, adopting Bureaucracy and Caste System.

[polarnomad]

So I sent my scout off to the south west and in 1360 discover the barbarian city of Bactrian (pop 1 at the time). It happens to be sat right on pretty prime real-estate (well almost, but it will do), and as such is a good candidate for a take-over once I can muster up the troops.



New York builds a lighthouse, and Washington builds the Stonehenge. Washington is now size 8 and stagnating with me having no way yet of alleviating the social unrest.

Ironworking discovered in 1120BC. I begin researching Horseback Riding.

[chriseay]

DAR 1: 4000 BC - 1520 BC
DAR 2: 1480 BC - Beginning of Classical Era
DAR 3: Classical Era
DAR 4: Medieval Era
DAR 5: Renaissance Era
DAR 6: Industrial Era
DAR 7: Modern Era

Position in 1520 BC is ripe for expansion, but I still need some rudimentary techs. I need to focus on expansion, military needs and infrastructure. I should expand to the north as much as possible, as I should have pretty much free reign on the land to the south.

1280 BC: Discover Sailing, start work on Priesthood. I need the happiness from temples, and the oracle could be a big boost if I can get it.

1160 BC: Atlanta is founded on a hill almost directly north of Washington. I meet Bismark.

1120 BC: Research is finished on Priesthood and started on Archery. I am behind on military, at least tech wise. I also meet Saladin.

1000 BC: I finish research on Archery and start on Writing. I want this to go on to Alphabet, so I can trade for some of the techs that I have been neglecting. I also plan to reinforce my cities with archers and move all settlers with them, instead of warriors.

950 BC: I realize that I have enough happiness and health to expand in Washington, but I had forgotten to turn off the no growth option. I had been waiting for it to grow to rush a temple, so this is a mistake I must not continue to make.

925 BC: I finally meet Isabella, and like it seems in most everyone's game, she has founded Buddhism. She is the only other civ with a state religion, so I may be able to spread mine.

875 BC: Discover Writing and start on Alphabet. This will take me 14 turns, so I hope I can get something out of it from the AI's. Also, I find that there is a barbarian city in the south, so I will have to start colonizing that area.

600 BC: Finish Alphabet, start on Monarchy. I need Monarchy and Calendar for many of the luxury resources I have. I trade Horseback Riding to Saladin for Meditation and Iron Working. This is my free tech (goody hut) for two techs I can use, but hadn't had time to research yet. This is an excellent deal for me. Iron working also reveals iron in the radius of New York.

This is a quick set of turns, just working on founding more cities. In future sets I will have to be watchful for barbarians and make sure to destroy them before they can start founding cities, as that is not something that I want to deal with. I'll continue to expand as far to the north as I can, and then backfill to the south. I also am in need of more military. This is something I always have too little of, and I must learn to build more. I am better this game, being in the top half in the troops category, but I still am not happy with my defenses, let alone the capability for an offensive should the time come.

I've learned through this set of turns that pop rushing can be a very good strategy, especially in high food cities. It has been my main method of building so far in Washington, interspersed with settler/worker building to allow the unhappiness to go down without growth.

This is the closest I could get on a screenshot, as I forgot to take one immediately at the start of the classical era:



Oh, and I know I'm missing something obvious, but how do es one upload a screenshot directly to the forums? I cannot figure it out.

[monkspider]

Prince Difficulty

Things continue to progress, albeit not always well. The crowning moment of this period was founding Confucianism, which awarded me three out of the four religions discovered so far. I converted to Confucianism since I got the free missionary, but, such as has been my luck in this game, Ghenghis Kahn converted to Judiaism, another relgion I founded, the turn after I converted! Argh!

One thing I have noticed is that the later the religion is discovered, the faster it spreads. Once I discovered Islam as my first religion, and it spread like wildfire. Covering my cities, and some of my neighbors cities in just a few turns. Has anyone else noticed this? If this is true, there may be some advantages to converting to using a later-founded religion as a state religion, even if you discovered some of the older ones.

I have had some bad luck with barbs, an axman destroyed Philadelphia, and others continue to harass me. I have had to crank out dozens of archers simply to hold my ground.

Overall, this has not been my best-played game. But I am content to play the ball where it lies, and continue on.

Score-wise, i'm not in bad shape. But my military is weak, and being right next door to Ghenghis Kahn with a weak military is a very dangerous proposition.

One other curiosity, is that I have not built any wonders so far, and only made a short run at Stonehenge.

[Sirid]

Well, things haven't been going too hot since last time. As it turns out, Stonehenge was built in a far away land just TWO TURNS before I finished it. Ah well, them's the breaks. This kinda crap never really happened to me in Civ 3, but I guess that's just something we'll all have to get used to in 4.

Anyway, among other things I discover a barbarian city named Zhou a short distance to the east. Deciding that my warriors are far too weak to attempt to take it right now, I send my Combat II warrior back to Washington to hopefully upgrade later, and I keep my other unit stationed near Zhou both as a recon unit and to soak up some experience from the barb city next door (over the next few turns they'll send units to attack me, but since I'm fortified in a forest across the river, this is just easy exp for me).

A series of diplomatic requests cross my doorstep during this period; mostly Open Borders requests from Germany, Egypt, and Spain. I turn them all down because until I fill up the area south of me I don't want to give them the ability to traipse through my territory with settlers at their whim.

For once something goes right and my gamble with Code of Laws pays off - Boston becomes the founding city of Confucianism in 900 BC. With the discovery of Code of Laws and the founding of religion, the Ancient Era ends and the Classical Age begins. I send the free missionary towards Washington, begin research on Masonry (to connect that Stone near New York), and continue along.

[lockstep]

In 1440 BC I finish Stonehenge after having finally roaded the stone quarry. Great prophet is due in 50 or so turns - let's hope there's a potential shrine to be built by him then.

Speaking of religions: I'm beginning to hope for some spread of a foreign one, although I hate the thought of providing line-of sight for an opponent. Anyhow, I will make a beeline for Confucianism, which means researching writing - priesthood - code of laws and neglecting other tech areas, especially military ones. (I'm still stuck with warriors and the potential to build chariots - makes me uneasy with Genghis Khan somewhere out there.)

Around 1120 BC I spot a barbarian city in the far northwest - I really gotta build some chariots to take it before someone else does.

In 975 BC Isabella founds Seville to the North of New York - hmm, I would have liked to plant a city there myself eventually, but at least there's enough room for more cities in the west and south. Anyhow, New York (with Stonehenge) will need a bigger garrison.

Diplomacy status: I have open borders with all known civs - with the exception of Spain, I haven't even seen the border of an AI city, and are still hoping to make some long-term friends. At the moment, Isabella and Saladin are annoyed, Bismarck and Genghis Khan cautious.

In 925 BC, with stone and a lot of forest chops, the Pyramids are finished, and I switch to representation (more happiness for my five largest cities, which is somewhat ironic as I have only three at this point) and slavery (if only to rush some chariots if the Khan decides to attack me). Yep, there's actually anarchy if you're not religious.

Still without any religion, Washington's new happiness cap is at 9, which it should reach in short time due to irrigated floodplains and a corn farm. Natural solution (as it is time to expand): build some settlers. Philadelphia (to the southwest of Washington, stone/pigs) is founded in 775 BC, Atlanta (to the north, horses/corn/wine) in 675 BC.

Having researched priesthood, I make an imprudent bid for the Oracle in Boston, only to be notified a few turns later that a "far away land" has built it . 32 gold pieces are added to the treasury, and Boston switches to the mass-production of chariots (three, actually) to take out Assyrian in the far northwest. I start the Great Lighthouse in New York (I'm financial after all) and vow to myself to chop-rush the damned thing.

In 700 BC, Hinduism spreads in New York as a present (or maybe a Trojan horse) from Isabella. Thank you, and I'll need some respite (which means, I'm still in the race for Confucianism). Around this time, Hatshepsut contacts me - the continent must be rather crowded in the northeast.

550 BC, code of laws, Classical age and I found Confucianism! It is immediately adopted as state religion (yep, yet another turn of anarchy) so that I can enjoy the organized religion bonus in the near future. (After hitting the conversion button I realized that New York was only about 7 turns away from finishing the Great Lighthouse .)

The general situation in 525 BC: 5 cities with 16 pop points, Stonehenge, Pyramids. Average F9 rank is 2.2.

[Velociryx]

Barbarian Wars (Monarch)

Well, the second phase of this game has been nip and tuck. Last segment, we had a few skirmishes with Barbarians....this segment, it escalated into a full-on war.

1480 - In our last segment, brave warriors from NY (Woodsman I promotion, courtesy of the barracks there), set out in search of some barbarians we had spotted north of NY. Well, in 1480, we found them, lured them into attacking us in the woods, and handily defeated them, netting us a second promotion (Woodsman II). Spied the Mongolian border to the north of the site we've scoped out for our next city (next to copper and cows), and so these stalwarts are assigned to troll around the area and provide escort for the soon to be finished settlers. Meanwhile, all our cities shift production to maximize coin output, and we fluxuate between 90-100% research (as we can afford it), to speed the time to learn Code of Laws.

1360 - Egypt encountered, and we give agree to a policy of Open Borders. Contact the Germans and make the same arrangement with them. We now have open borders with four of our neighbors.

1280 - The Scout we gained from a goody hut in the last part of the last segment is killed south of Washington by a barbarian warrior (stragglers from that band reported two marauding groups to the south of us). That makes one group spotted west of Washington, two spotted south, and one spotted briefly, east of NY. We appear to be surrounded. Double Plus Ungood.

In any event, it was a productive year for us. The Grainary in Washington is poprushed to completion, getting rid of two unhappy, slacker citizens, and freeing Washington's production queue up for training another warrior, although with such a heavy coin focus, that city's production is scant (just the one shield from the city square....so be it).

Meanwhile, our ComI promoted warriors move to the bend of the river north-west of Washington (sort of west, and in-between Wash and NY), and prepare to give battle to the barbarians encroaching on us from that direction.

1240 - Our warriors survive the battle with the barbarians from the west, and move back into our borders to heal (gained another promotion, and we build on their first one, giving them Com II).

1200 - Spend some time flitting around the edges of the Mongolian border with our Wood II warriors before heading back to the plains/hill we plan to found our next city on (this will mark our northern periphery).

1080 - NY finishes her settler and begins construction of the Oracle (29 turns, but we plan to chop two forests from hills to speed this along).

1040 - Com II unit is ambushed by barbs, 4 tiles west of washington. Fortunately, they're in the woods, and defeat the miscreants with no damage to themselves. Onward!

1000 BC - Chop 30 hammers toward the Oracle on one of the forested hills north of NY (Oracle 14 turns to completion, Code of Laws in 8).

975 BC - The Spaniards want us to cancel all deals with the Mongols. No way, Jose....we're staying on everybody's good side for as long as we can. Boston established right where we planned for her, and she begins building a barracks. With soon-to-be connected copper, maybe we can start building something besides warriors!

950 - More Barbarian troubles....Com II Warriors are exploring southward, end their turn in the woods, and stumble across two groups of warriors (the same two that waylaid our scout), are heading northward, intent on either ransacking Washington, or pillaging our rich farmland. (spy the edges of a barbarian city in the south....ugh...that'll have to be dealt with!)

925 - Our brave sons defeat both groups, but suffer horrific damage, and as the last battle ends, a THIRD group of warriors appears from the mist. Time to beat feet out of there! Meanwhile, in NY, our two workers have double teamed some more forests, and chopped again to speed the Oracle along. Oracle is now 7 turns from completion, Code of Laws in 4.

875 - Our brave (Com II) warriors encounter ANOTHER group of warriors in the south (while trying to dodge the ones that were marching to reinforce the two groups we already defeated), and are too weak to mount a good defense. They are killed, much to our sorrow. To make matters worse, two warriors appear east of NY and begin making a beeline for our city that's working on the Oracle....times are looking rather dark for the fledgling American Empire.

850 - Oracle is pop rushed to completion (Code of Laws due to complete next turn), and New York braces for impact as the two barbarian warriors are set to attack next turn.

825 BC - A savage, brutal year. The Washington garrison attacks barbarian warriors who have invaded our territory and are intent on pillaging the fertile corn farm. They defeat this force in a closely fought engagement (new warrior coming up next turn).

In the center, the New York garrison narrowly defeats the two bands of warriors intent on crushing the life out of us.

With the battle raging at the gates of New York, we master Code of Laws, enter the classical age, found Confucianism (but don't switch yet), send our Missionary off to scout Mongol lands (he moves faster than anything else I've got, and Mongol territory should be pretty safe), and then the Oracle completes, and we get Civil Service as our free tech, completely by-pass the middle ages, and jump straight into the Renaissance.

End of an exhausting segment!

New techs since last time:

Code of Laws
Civil Service

Forces at our disposal:
2 Workers
3 Warriors
3 Cities

Builds
Washington (Warrior)
New York (Confucian Temple)
Boston (Barracks)

Next segment will probably either be very long (as I will undoubtedly spend quite some time in the Renaissance era), or very short (all my rivals crush me like a beer can)

I'm now researching Masonry, and I'm gonna make a play for the Pyramids, to build on what I've got so far, after the one turn of anarchy for switching to Bureaucracy.

F9 Summary screen

3rd in Gold
7th in Production
6th in Food
4th in Land
7th in Population

Overall Score: Ranked 4th of the 5 I've met.

So...we're behind, but there's still time to make up the lost ground. If I can catch a break from the @$#$ barbarians, maybe I'll be able to do something other than fend them off! I think the copper will greatly help that tho.

We shall see....

-=Vel=-

[chriseay]

Wrong thread, mods please delete if possible.

[Velociryx]

Well....looks like Vel gets to start over. Got double teamed by the Spaniards and the Mongols....could have prolly held one of them off, but both turned out to be a bit overwhelming.

Will try again, with a bit more focus this time....LOVE it!



Analysis of Mistakes in this game

Only one big one...I had enough room to expand in my little corner of the continent...should NOT have done such "in your face" expansion, KNOWING that I would be at a tech disadvantage.

Will also do more pop rushing next time, and freakin' remember to assign my science specialists on the same turn that the library is built.

So...I'll try the same basic approach, slightly modified.

-=Vel=-

[DeepO]

Monarch difficulty, game 32 (+ multiples for test games)

Read the last part here.

As you might recall, I'm on my way to CS, so this will be short.

my worker, after having improved the wheat near NY, moves down to farm the wheat near Wash. Commerce is now less important: I could use another mine. But I need to work the wheat before I can support it... otherwise I'm going to lose the scientist.

This will also speed the Oracle, and the 2 GPp it will produce... hmmm... I really want a scientist! After the Oracle, I'm going to run with 2 scientists to minimize the chance of a prophet.


1200 BC... NY completes its barracks, and starts on warriors. You can never have enough warriors in a CS beeline, it seems

Further, the first desert mine completes. These are not so bad: they give hammers plus commerce. For the moment, I'm going to keep my scientist, though.

My worker hesitates. I need another tech, fast, and preferably another city too the only tech that will benefit me right now is the wheel: it will connect the wheat to NY, allowing it to grow one size larger. NY will get Confucianism as well, and by switching to it I can run stable size 5 cities. I need to bridge a gap of a couple of turns, though, so send my worker to farm a plains near NY. From there, it can start the road on the wheat the moment the moment the wheel arrives.


in 1120 BC, I discover CoL. NY gets confucianism like expected. I move my missionary towards Wash: I need to switch to a state religion to get the happy bonus in NY, so I might as well make my capital profit from it as well. Normally, I would go for an AI, though. Without a heavy focus on missionaries, this move almost certainly means war.

The same turn, I encounter Isabella. Definately war

build queues
Washington
still building the Oracle, 3 more turns remain

NY
- barracks
- warrior
- currently starting on a warrior. It will soon become a 2-turn warrior pump

I'm dropping in the ranks: area #4 (but very close to Bismarck being first), production #3. But that's okay

Next part will be for tomorrow or so, I still need to play it first.

DeepO

[Bobtoad]

Summary...
This is a short phase but an important one nonetheless. My hopes of founding Confucianism are realized. This enables many things: happiness, culture, buildings to increase important things (science, culture, etc.), maybe even more money if I seek that. The death of my starting warrior hurt my exploration badly. I'm a slow explorer as it is, and to lose units really stings. Hopefully this doesn't haunt me too much.

Chronology...
1360 BC - Judaism founded elsewhere.
1120 BC - Discovered Code of Laws and founded Confucianism.
1080 BC - Religious conversion over.

Thoughts: With my goal of Pottery and Code of Laws met, it's now time to shore up the areas I've neglected (i.e. defense). Archery is my first task. I have an eery sense I need defense very soon and don't want a gamble of whether I'll have copper. So [the cheaper tech] archery it is. Since my treasury is still high I shall soon begin more expansion.

The Saga (DAR Links)
4000 BC - 1520 BC
1480 BC - Start of Classica Era
The Classical Era
The Medieval Era
The Renaissance Era

[Fluffybunnyfeet]

Progress

Things went extremely well. Plenty of workers were made, with plans to keep at least one per city at all times. A soldier-producing specialist city was founded in a nice spot.

One archer was built to fend off barbarians, but it proved insufficient. In all, there were eight encounters with barbarians in the 20 turns of this DAR. Thankfully the worst effect was a ripping up of some roads/pasture, no units were lost and unit experience was gained

First barbarian city was spotted. With no iron/copper, I will have to leave this alone for now.

Religion was the main goal for this period, and it was achieved, with the Code of Laws. With no Alphabet, tech trading was still impossible.


Outlook

Getting tech trading started has to be the first thing to do.

To the further future, military will still be kept worryingly low, and expansion maximised. Unless I get a city with very high production, I will concentrate on ordinary buildings. The first close neighbours will shape my policy, i'm sure.

Relevants statistics : First in GNP and Food
Last in Soldiers and Manufacturing (goods)

[Derelict]

INDEX

Early Ancient
Late Ancient -- Brief!!
Classical
Medieval: Parts 1 & 2
Medieval: Part 3
Renaissance: Part 1
Renaissance: Part 2
Industrial
Modern

1,240 B.C. and Hatshepsut gives me a ring on the stone phone asking for me to cancel my deals with Genghis. I decline her just to see her catty frown (not really, but...)

That's it! I've entered the Classical! Surely doesn't make for an interesting late ancient period, but the Classical is sure to be a bit more pronounced and interesting!

[Dubhghlas]

Late Ancient Period

To recap: The Scots settled along the Dubhghlas river some 2500 years ago. Through these years, they have prospered, founding two additional cities and contacting many other peoples. They are masters of the concept of writing, know how to tame the wild horse, and can carve stone into shapes with which to build. They have not fought any organized peoples; only the barbarians from the wilds have bothered them at all.

The Scots pride themselves on their fair and just society. They have treated other peoples with respect, and with the exception of the rather standoffish Spaniards, ruled by the Itchybelly dynasty, others have responded in kind. The Spanish are too far towards the rising sun to bother the Scots much; the Germans turn out to be well to the same direction, but much further in the direction of warmer climes.

The Dubhghlasses intend to lead the Scots to enlightenment and a pre-eminant position in the world. So far, the trick of an easily reproduceable and readable set of figures eludes the shamen of the clan; all efforts end up failing to record information reliably. But when the day comes, the leaders know that it will benefit the Clan; things one person knows will be easily taught to many others, and messages in detail can be sent to other peoples. The day WILL come.

Another Expansion

It is now some 300 years further along the path to the future. Warriors have scouted out and found the capital city of the German people, which is many days of journey to the direction of the rising sun. It is a large city by comparison to their own capital city of Washington, much more populated (Author's Note: interestingly, Madrid, Thebes, Karakorum and Berlin are all at least size 5!!; Washington is still size 3). The warriors find that they are now getting colder as they continue in that direction, so they begin to head the other way, along the coast of a sea in that land. They reckon that somewhere ahead lie the Spanish and their capital city.

The clan has trained new workers to mine precious metal from the rocks around Boston. The workers will also be building pastures for cows near the same city. Washington will recruit settlers to settle down river, where there is a great bend in the Dubhghlas River; the lands there are fertile, but have more hills around them which the clan hopes can be mined for metal. When New York finishes its library, more settlers will be recruited from those drawn to the city and sent to the coast somewhere warmer and towards the setting sun.

A New Era Dawns

The Clan celebrates! Fully 3150 years (Author's Note: 850 BC) after the founding of their first city, the Scots have perfected the art of using letters to represent sounds, allowing them to write words, not pictures. The Dubhghlasses bask in the glory of this achievement; they know that no other people uses such letters. They cannot help but believe they will be able to outstrip any other peoples when it comes to learning knew things, now. In celebration, settlers head off down the Dubhghlas River, intending to found a new city, a city of Brotherly Love. Rumors of barbarians roaming the wastelands in that direction result in an order for a large company of warriors currently laying around idle in New York to join them in this new city.

The Dubhghlasses immediately announce their accomplishment to the other peoples they have met. With the ability to write down what they observe in words, the Scottish scouts and emissaries quickly make a list of knowledge used by other tribes. None of the other civilizations knows how to tame and ride horses, nor the trick of using letters. The Mongols and the Germans don't even use pictographs to write with, yet. The Spanish Itchybellies don't even know what to do with the herds of cattle and pigs and sheep that roam the lands.

However, all other peoples work a wonderous new metal they call bronze; it takes copper and makes it stronger. In addition, the Mongols and the Germans use clay pots of quite good quality, the Egyptians and the Spanish understand the value of meditation to calm the souls of the people. All but the Germans worship many gods, with temples and idols. The Scots have not bothered to organize their beliefs about the gods and spirits in any way, yet; the leaders prefer it that way, but they know that the people will clamour for this when they hear about what others offer from far away lands.

The Dubhghlasses make a choice. They already know that the Mongols and the Spanish will someday be less friendly; behind the smiles are calculating looks from those leaders. It is Hatsheptsut who deals fairly with the Scots. They accept her offer to teach the Scots how to work bronze, how to use it to make arrowheads and the art of archery, and how to set up temples and shrines to the many gods of the world. In return they only ask for the secret of riding horses. The Dubhghlasses agree, though they know that someday this could mean facing mounted warriors. If the Egyptians can be made friends, though, they might in the future be a help when it comes to dealing with the half barbarian Genghis, who styles himself Khan of Khans.

The Scots have reason to feel good. But even as they preen themselves, rumors of a city of barbarians across the great desert reach them. As the workers begin building a library in Washington, they can't help but wonder when they will see the black flags of raiders riding over the hills in that direction.


Author's Notes:

This was a short period; likely it didn't need to be separated out from the first “era.” Probably better would be to divide the game up into discrete blocks of roughly equal numbers of expected turns; say every 75 turns a report. I doubt many would be going past turn 375 in that case, or the end of the 5th “era.”

To this point, my plans have gone about as expected. I have three good cities, with quality siting for them, though I still haven't taught myself to take advantage of the fact settlers can move one square AND settle on turn one; the better position for Washington is one square to the East, putting the hills in the fat cross and making the next city to the west have more room. Boston is likely to be my key city; I anticipate that there are most if not all of the civs somewhere past it, and they will be handicapped by the existence of the jungle North of Boston. I still aim to cut off easy expansion to the SW by anyone else.

As always, the research path drives the production choices. Writing followed by Alphabet take forever this early; without the ability yet to make cottages or to build harbors, I have no ability to maximize revenue for funding science. And the libraries are not a quick build, either; New York and Boston spend a long time building them, but especially for Boston, it's quite necessary, because I have to get my cultural borders growing there fast, and an obelisk isn't in the picture because of the fact I have spurned all the religion techs.

Why, then, drive straight for Alphabet? Simple; I hope to maximize my leverage as the only civ able to trade techs. Imagine, then, my dissapointment when just two turns after this narrative ends I find out that the same tech shows up for three of the AI civs on the same turn! Guess they don't NEED to find out how to use an Alphabet once I have discovered it; they just go ahead and trade, I suspect. Too freaky a coinkydink to believe it isn't a trade result.

Alphabet has other positives, mostly the fact you are then one step away from Literature and can build the Great Library, and just three steps from Music, which gets you the first Great Artist. Since I perceive I'm going to be in some sort of culture war, I'm heading there ASAP. Of course, this means I'll be behind in the economic techs, but I'm not positioned to be an economic powerhouse until later, since I don't have any seaside cities, yet, and won't until I get a settler off to the NW and to the SW.

I will, I suspect, pay for my dilly-dallying when it comes to military unit production, but so long as the barbarians can't take my cities, I'll accept a delay there. I've discovered from earlier games goofing around that taking cities in this game is damn hard; you don't just roll up with a few swordsmen or mounted units and hack away for a turn or two. So I don't see any advantage to trying to “roll up” the opposition early; and I'm not being pressed by anyone, yet. Itchybelly doesn't like me (I didn't join her religion!), and cancelled our open borders treaty, but the others are being decent so far, even Genghis. I expect to make good friends out of HatchySoupy, and use her to beat up the Mongols as needed.

If there was one lesson the end of the period hammers home, it is that the trading of early techs has much less value when you can't trade for gold, yet! Once I got what I wanted from the Egyptians, the Germans and Mongols had nothing I could use; so I can't leverage a new tech like I could in Civ III, trading it to everyone the same turn for whatever gold or luxury goods I could get back.

[Morrissey]

DAR1
DAR2
DAR3
DAR4
DAR5
DAR6
DAR7


Nothing much to add from my previous DAR as I went for IW more or less straight away (even before discovering pottery!). Only thing of note is that there were three seperate attacks on three of my warriors by barbarians in the same turn. I won two out of three, so won't complain.
Starting to realise I need more workers and military units wandering about as my infrastructure is quite poor and I've got a feeling someone's going to come for me.

[vovan]

DAR 1

In 1400BC, New York builds an archer to improve its defences. Starts on a Granary to promote growth.

In 1320BC, we enter Classical Era, by discovering Iron Working.

This here is my (admittedly rather small so far) nation:



And this is the demographics. Not doing too great so far, I guess, but could be worse.

[joncnunn]

Jon's Dar AU 101 : Noble. Version 1.09

Dar II 1520 BC to the beginning of the classic era

1440 BC: Culture expands in New York

1400 BC: Start reseraching Pottery

1320 BC: Finish a worker in Washington. Start building a warrior
Finish a warrior in Boston and start a warrior.
Connect cows near New York to New York

1200 BC: Start reseraching Mining

1120 BC: Settlers started in Washington and New York

1080 BC: While defending, kill a barb warrior with a warrior

1040 BC: Corn connected to Washington. Start reseaching Bronze Working.
Isabella adopts Organized Religion

1000 BC: Horses connected to New York

925 BC: Stonehidge built in a far away land

875 BC: Alphabet started. The Oracle built in a far away land
Barb state discovered in "my territory"

850 BC: Start building Granery in New York

825 BC: Granery started in Washington

800 BC: Philadephia founded

775 BC: Washington connected to New York. Atlanta founded.

600 BC: Atlanta connected

575 BC: Oblisek constructed in Atlanta. (Cultural war). Boston road connected. (Had been river connected since it's founding)

475 BC: Alphabet discovered. Trade Pristhood for Hunting with Bismark.
Judism spreads to Washington.
Trade Polythism for Mediation with Salian

Overall, I'm third in techs.

The most troublesome thing is that one of my neighbors founded Hinduism while the other founded Budism. And one of them is highly agressive as well. To make it worse, one of them is currently on top of the tech board.

While there is no competion from other players expanding southwest, the Libyans have moved into a fur location.

[clarkcd]

DAR1

This time period was an odd time for the Americans. We found out we weren't doing as well as we thought while being forced to slow our expansion by a sluggish economy. Hopefully the upcoming Classical Age will see an invigorated economy and a renewed expansion effort.

1360 BC - Met Isabella

No matter what I do I've never had her as a friend in any of my games. Religious zealot...

1320 BC - Met Hatshepsut

The American feeling of superiority was rocked on that day. Quickly regrouping...

1320 BC - Founded Boston

...we found the City of Boston to the Southeast of Washington to lay claim to the cows and a second supply of horses. This also helped catapult us into a virtual tie for first place with the Egyptians. Over the next 1000 years we will trade first place back and forth with them.

700 BC - Founded Philadelphia

Spying some much needed copper as well as a supply of gems to the north of New York caused our third settler to head up there to found our fourth city. It also serves to hopefully cut off expansion by my neighbors to the south and west.

700 BC - Met Bismarck

He's fairly far away and with a modern era UU I hope I don't have much to worry about from him... for now...

350 BC - Classical Era Reached

With the discovery of Iron Working the Americans have reached the Classical Era. I happen to be in the lead on that turn but with the Egyptians that close and my economy hindering my expansion plans I'm not feeling very comfortable with how things are going right now. I plan on placing some warriors to the south and west to help cut down on the barbarian intrusions. Hopefully we can nip a barbarian city in the bud or at the very least contain it.

Bold techs are recent advancements.
L1 Techs: Fishing, The Wheel, Agriculture, Hunting, Mysticism, Mining
L2 Techs: Sailing, Pottery, Animal Husbandry, Archery, Meditation, Polytheism, Masonry
L3 Techs: Priesthood, Monotheism, Bronzeworking
L4 Techs: Writing, Ironworking
Currently Researching: Monarchy 0/10 turns

[vulture]

Prince difficulty

I'm going slightly beyond the start of the classical period here...

A very short DAR - carried on researching alphabet until discovering it in 1120 BC. My 4th settler is also finished in the same year, and heads north to found a city on the coast to complete my blockade of the Mongols. Had to drop my science to 90% with the 4th city to break even. One more city to go to seal off the peninsula.

With alphabet in hand, I could start trading techs. Discovered that you can only advance one step along the tech tree per turn - if I trade for mysticism, meditation doesn't show up as tradeable until the following turn.

1120 BC trades:
trade writing to Arabs for bronze working
trade pottery to Germans for masonry
trade pottery to Spain for mysticism.

At this point, the only tech I can 'see' out there is sailing, which the Germans have and won't trade. But since the Spanish founded Judaism, they have at least two post-mysticism techs. As expected, the following turn more techs turn up as tradeable (or 'refusing to trade' more accurately )

1080 BC trades:
trade alphabet to Arabs for iron working.

Didn't really want to trade alphabet, but there are no other available trades at this point. I'm hoping that by giving the Arabs the ability to trade, they can make deals for e.g. polytheism and then trade them to me. It might work. And if not, I've still got IW, which reveals a nice source of iron just outside Washington.

Tech state of other civs:
Mongols lack writing.
Spain lacks writing and animal husbandry. refuse to trade polytheism and meditation.
Germany lacks alphabet. Refuse to trade polytheism and sailing
Arabs lack pottery.
Egypt lacks writing and animal husbandry.

Tech strategy is now to beeline for code of laws to get confucianism as our religion.

The alphabet tech trading gambit has paid off reasonably well. Two civs have techs that we lack, but we have alphabet which costs more than those techs combined. In terms of 'total beaker value of all techs known', we are probably in the lead at this point (although the last civ out there appears to have founded both Hinduism and Buddhism, so they're probably not doing too bad on the research front).

Two new forests have grown near Washington, so we can start chopping these soon. We started with 5, which gives +2 health, and 7 isn't an improvement over that, so I've got 2 to chop without any worries, which will help get a library in the low production capital.

Future plans
Tech-wise, go for Code of Laws to get confuciansim. Should have a few civics to play with by then as well, so we can have a quick revolution. I'm still hoping for a few more tech trades to help me fill in useful techs that I'm ignoring on my CoL quest.

Get my fourth city built, The four border cities are building variously barracks, obelisks and archers. It's a little late to build obelisks maybe, but all I need is one border expansion in each to seal off the peninsula, so the strategic benefits justify the cost. I want two city defense archers in each border town before worrying about any other builds.

New cities will be founded at a more or less continual rate as and when I can afford them. But Washington will probably focus on workers for a while - there are a lot of roads to build and resources to connect.

I expect a few barbarian cities to crop up in the FoW about now, so getting some axe and sword units out in the field will be important once the border is secure. Plus, it's a good way of training units.

[ZargonX]

A History of America, Pt. II
Prince Difficulty

It is a thrilling time as, a mere few years after recording the first part of this History, George enters what he dubs the "Classical Era" with the discovery of Iron Working. Iron, it turns out, is quite plentiful, and George immediately sets about adding some bits of it to his throne.

Seeing the unhappy state of his people, his inability to harvest the luxuries around him, and the hit his budget is taking, George decides to take a gamble and have his wisemen make a beeline for Code of Laws.

In his bed that night, George realizes he is rather haphazard with his research goals, but he thinks that makes him lovable.

[Arrian]

DAR II:

This one's short. As I noted at the end of DAR I, my notes trail off between 1600 bc and 900 bc. Not much happened, apparently.

Anyway:

960 bc – Philly founded 4447 of Wash (desert hill in midst of floodplains).

800 – CoL discovered, Confucism founded in Boston. Oracle complete, Civil Service taken. Revolution to Bur + Caste. Masonry next.

This meant that I flashed through the Classical Era straight into the Medieval Era.

-Arrian

[Rhothaerill]

[size=large]Rhoth's DAR 2 - Prince Difficulty[/size]

There is no DAR 2 for me for this game as I hit the classical era in my first DAR by discovering iron working.

Please head on to my next DAR.

[Fosse]

1240

I've sent three warriors to the forests SW of my start to fight barbs there. My thought is they'd give me warning as they approach, and the forest would protect my units. The first one died when he popped a hut of three. The second arrived in the forest, saw a barb next to him, and was killed in the attack. The third one fights off one, then two arrive while he's injured. I send him home... but Stupid me lets autopathing set him up right next to the two barbs. The first one kills him. So... my settler finishes now and it's another warrior.

I send him east to the stone. New York is getting along nicely on the Pyramids. Iron is dscovered htis turn, and hooray it's right next to where I plotted my Stone city. Things look good... But my expansion is going to be horribly slowed by my constant loss of military units. So much empty space to fill. This is not going as well as it could.

1120
Found Boston, builds warrior. I discovery Archery... I'll go take out that Barb city with soem archers and send the warriors I build out to keep fog lifted. The road to the stone is underway, and soon New York will get a nice boost for the Pyramids. Republic, here I come! I start writing, so I can get to Code of Laws first.


450
Alphabet!

I pray that the NW territory is not yet settled. I finally have a chariot and a settler almost ready to go. I founded Philly nearby because I couldn't escort the settler so far with my military being destroyed.

There is a barb city to the norht, near where I wanted mine. It isn't in a great enough spot for me... I think I'll raze it when I have a settler ready to take the territory. It's just warriors though, so for now I'll use them as experience generators now that I have horses and spears coming out of my cities. New York has sa barracks, and is going to build just units until Forges come along.

Tech swapping time!

I sell Alphabet, the only tech I have on him, to Saladin for Meditation and Sailing. Not the best. NObody else will trade anything after that. Oh well. I start Priesthood, with COL queued up after that.