AU 100-A DAR 6: The Industrial Era

[nbarclay]

This DAR covers events in AU 100-A as players play through the Industrial Era, ending when players enter the Modern Era Era.

[nbarclay]

The war with Spain went fairly smoothly thanks to America’s technological advantage. Once catapults battered down cities’ defenses, riflemen could take out the longbowmen that were still Spain’s best defenders relatively easily most of the time, and older units could mop up what was left. Barcelona fell, and then Seville (which proved to be the most costly city to capture), and finally Madrid. Germany re-entered the war shortly before the fall of Madrid, and it was probably they who razed the last Spanish city.

Long before the war was over, America shifted mostly back to a peacetime production status. Research continued, pushing through to Biology and Physics before going back for Nationalism and Constitution. Next came Corporation and the Assembly Line, which brought about massive construction of factories and coal plants. By the dawn of the Modern Era, America had Artillery, Democracy, the bottom techs through Combustion and, to enter the new era, Radio. With research proceeding rapidly, and with a lot of techs that give access to wonders becoming available around the dawn of the modern era, wonders have started to sprout all over the nation. Near the end of the Industrial Eera, America made what will probably be its final civics changes, adopting Universal Suffrage and Emancipation.

In the aftermath of the war with Spain, I found something else I really hate about Civ IV’s design. After I took Seville, Germany’s borders almost immediately expanded to largely encompass the city, and the city went through a series of riots that ended in its defecting to Germany. Having it be that easy for a city to flip to a third party in the aftermath of a war is neither fun nor realistic. It ought to take time for German culture to expand through the formerly Spanish territory to reach the city, time in which the new owner can build up culture in the city to defend against the encroachment.

America also started settling the islands to the southeast, with two cities on the larger island and one on the smaller one. Germany founded a city on the larger island as well, and the rest is enough of a frozen wasteland that America probably won’t bother with i - unless, perhaps, I decide to use it to put me a bit closer to the domination threshold.

The American Empire now has almost 45 percent of the world’s population and about a third of its land area (using F8 statistics), and F9 shows about three and a half times the GNP and more than eight times the manufactured goods of the average AI. America actually has significantly more manufacturing power than the rest of the world put together! With a large tech lead and that kind of production, I’m starting to think I may try for a domination victory.

The screenshot below is of what used to be Spain.

[teriakiburger]

In the Industrial Age the war caused by the Egyptians attacking us continues, who knows what they thought they could gain? Relations were positive, but they were jealous of American spendor.

The siege of the Pi-Ramses continues in 1645, with just 1 cannon doing the duty for now.

By 1655 I have railroads, and research begins on combustion.

In 1665, Pi-Ramses is burned to the ground.

Next stop for our forces will be Heliopolis. It too shall be burned.

In 1675, our forces are at the gates of Helioplis. Constituion research is underway for the Corporation.

In 1685 after the cannons bombared it down, the calvary and rifleman stormed the gates and burnt Helioplis to a crisp.

After burning 2 of her cities, peace is made for some gold. Finally I can build West Point where the Heroic Epic is.

In order to build up our weak navy, iron clads are ordered for the coast line.

Next we go for Democracy by 1720, and then the Assembly Line putting off Scientific Method for as long as possible. By 1735 we have Assemby Line, so since we dont need Facism go for Scientific Method.

In Chicago we start the Statue of Liberty in 1735.

In a fascinating find in 1745 we discover the barbarian city of Teohuacan, primitives with warriors, a verification of the evolution.

By 1765 we have Physics and go for Biology next. We change our government to Emancipation and Democracy for more output. After Biology in 1780, we go for electicity. Next up is Industrialism in 1820, which gives us Seal action and go for Plastics next.

In 1845 we enter the Modern Era.

[Fireb]

Prologue This DAR marks the end of the renaissance phase. I put it here as it sets the scene for the industrial DAR (below).

Recap In the past 300 years America has transformed from a backwards swamp into an economic powerhouse. Science is running at 90% (up from 50), and the era of colonisation is about to begin with America about to build the first galleons, a few turns ahead of the other civs.

1330 The devilish scheming pays off. Bismarck converts to judaism (american religion), whilst before he was confucianist (Mongol religion). This comes right after america switched to free religion. Still, America is pleased as this means that Bismarck and Genghis may no longer like each other, or at least they will both like America more than they like each other, which is the important thing when it comes to a diplomatic victory.

Relations with genghis are up to +11, in spite of the closed border bug.

The same year, the barbarian island city of Tartar is discovered. It is nicely developed, with lots of resources, and defended by warriors whilst in a few turns American galleons will disembark with knights, macemen and settlers.

1400 In a thrilling moment, Genghis declares war on Bismarck, and Saladin is at war with Hatty again. Great work guys, keep it up! Obviously Genghis didn't approve of Bismarck adopting judaism

1430 America is the first to arrive at the twin islands (excluding the barb warriors). Settlers and soldiers are dropped off.



Music and Engineering are obtained from trades. After Hatty spreading christianity, Lizzy is now spreading hindouism throughout jewish-free religionist America. Keep those foreign religions coming! They're also helping to dominate the egyptian colonies



1450 After a short and bloodless (foreign casualties are not recorded) fight, Tartar is taken, with crabs, clams, horses and pigs close by, and farms, villages and a worker already built.

1470 America trades some of its large surpluss of goods for 23 gold/turn.

1480 It looks like an egyptian colony is about to flip to America



1490America is the first to circumnavigate the world. This is surprising, as Lizzy had caravels out a long time before America. Still, it will help carry marines around later.

1500 - The barbarians strike back Whilst tartar was still revolting, 3 barbarians (2 archers and a warrior) sneaked in unnoticed, and they now appear all at once, right next to the city! This is the first time I've seen a coordinated barb raid. Still, the city is in no danger of falling.

1550 - The Mongols capture and burn the german city of Cordoba. Cordoba was previously an American city, and flipped over to Germany. America, of course, captured Cordoba from the Spanish (with mongol help). Rather ironic. Still, a lot of history for a small, unproductive and now burned out village.

Saladin and Hatty sign peace, no cities having changed hands. Egyptian real estate has once again been devastated, whilst American horse archers turned scouts turned map salesmen turned observers rub their hands in delight.

As Genghis is attacking Bismarck with Grenadiers, and Saladin has developed millitary tradition, this will mark the end of the renaissance era. Fortunately, America has a near monopoly on horses (apart from mongolia), and decides that it's archers prefer having to deal with camer riders than cavalry.

Hatty's other colony is now also likely to flip, though, surprisingly, it hasn't revolted yet.



Conclusion
At this point america has 30% of the worlds population, without having attacked anyone (excluding the fruitless spanish-american war). So both diplomatic and domination victories are plausible.

American millitary technology is somewhat backwards, with gunpowder still a mystery, but no one is unduly worried about this, buoyed by the healthy state of the economy.

Scores:
2436: America
1581: Hatty : +3 diplomatic relations
1543: Genghis : +10
1380: Bismarck: +4
1357: Lizzy: +2
1208: Saladin -6
345: Lizzy -11

Diplomatic relations have gone down since last time, mostly due to 'trading with my worst enemy' clauses.

The american world, below:

[Fireb]

After the tranquil expansion of the late renaissance, the industrial period marks another change for america, with the economy going supersonic, American wonders appearing like popcorn, and a few more sinister developments.

America is beelining for the UN, hoping to snatch an early diplomatic victory.

1590
Bismark captures old sarai from the Mongols! This was one of Genghis' bigger cities. It looks like the golden horde has finally been stopped at the gates by the teutonic knights. Could this mark the end of them?

1620
Giza is in open rebellion. Soon it should flip over to America. Byblos should soon follow, in fact I'm astonished it hasn't revolted yet:



1640
After a fierce and bloody struggle, Bismarck and Genghis make peace. Both sides are totally exhausted by the struggle. Genghis, though, has lost the most. His power has now reached it's peak and henceforth will recede, whilst Germany (once it has recovered), England and above all America rise. Hatty, being pacifist and closed in, doesn't stand much chance, in spite of being 2nd in score.

1645 America celebrates it's first golden age - the Taj mahal unfortunately being built in a foreign land a few turns before America could finish it.

Factories are still a long way away, and quite a few wonders are being built, so it seems like a good time for it.

1650 An english galleon carrying a settler is spotted near Tartar. A settler is rushed (500 gold) to deny them the uranium source.

1660 New Orleans is founded, preempting the dastardly English by just 1 turn, and further increasing America's growing voting population.



Speaking of which: Washington starts building the United Nations! It's a bit early, but everyone else is too busy recovering from their wars to complain. Broadway, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and some other wonders are also under construction in America.

An ever more powerfull America, which now has 5x more GNP, 4x more production, 3x more crops and population than the rival average. The American behemoth appears unstoppable.

1715
The statue of liberty is completed and the Kremlin is started to hurry up the UN.

1740
The first railroad is built in Washington, to speed up the UN. Quite a few priests are also helping speed up the production.

Forests are cut elsewhere, to make way for farms for that vital UN vote, and to speed up wonders.

1760
Neither Byblos nor Giza have flipped yet This is very surprising. Byblos hasn't even revolted!



1770 The UN is gold rushed, 9 turns from completion.

1775 Broadway and the UN are built. America votes for itself, the other candidate being Genghis.

Steel technology is gifted to Hatty and Bismarck, but this has absolutely no effect on relations. Never mind, eh.

1780 America gets 424 out of 595 votes for secretary general. A diplo victory looks increasingly likely.

1785 America curses the Egyptian and English suffragettes, and empancipes. Unhappiness doesn't help produce babies.

1795 Americas first action as secretary general is to order a diplo victory vote. How will it go?

1800 Everyone abstains!!! Those rascals! Marines are called in to suppress someone, fast.

1805 Byblos finally revolts.

1820 The first navy seal is recruited. Many more will follow. Barracks are started across America. The world is about to enter a new dark age.

1825 Byblos flips and joins America. It has a barracks and so immediately sets about producing a navy seal - in 35 turns.

War is declared on Spain (for the 4th time). They are still medieval, which is just fine as America hasn't yet built an army worth the name.

1835 Single currency and open trade are Americas next votes. Everyone agrees. As America has many more cities than the rest, this will help America most. Open trade will mean that America can start wars and still trade

Speaking of which, an American frigate decides that it would fun to bombard (spanish owned) Dortmund. The nearby galleons ferrying 2 infantry and 2 knights think this a silly idea, as (the capital) Santiago is defended by fewer longbows. The infantry get to work, and the knights wait a little before closing in for the kill.



1840 Operation Enduring Tyranny has begun in earnest. Santiago is taken by the sword. It will provide sugar to the people and rum to the seals.

1850 A war elephant is blasted to bits by a seal. The remaining catapult is taken out by a knight.

1854 America is re-elected secretary general.

1860 Now that the oil is hooked up, production of tanks and fighters are queued to support the marines. A few artillery and battleships are also started. Research is being set to composites.

1862 The second diplo vote fails, even with Lizzy now voting for America, creating a trans-atlantic alliance. War it shall be, then. As the mongols refused to vote for us, they'll be our first target.

1864 (Spanish) Dortmund is taken. Spain is no more.

Genghis declares war on Bismarck again! He even retakes Old Sarai the same turn. He obviously didn't get enough last time.

I had planned to attack Genghis, but since I'm still on +7 with him, whilst I'm down to +1 with Bismarck (-3 from attacking Spain so often, and -4 for trading with Genghis) I might just attack Bismarck instead, and let Genghis do the dirty work whilst my army builds itself sufficiently to attack both.

Well, with Tanks and fighters about to appear in American hands, and 35% of the worlds pop flying the flag, the industrial age is declared over. A new age is rising, a darker one, filled with blood and the screams of the innocent.

Scores
4194: America
2355: Lizzy, +8 diplo relations (traits no doubt helping her too)
2303: Hatty: +5
2092: Genghis: +7
1980: Bismarck: +1
1913: Saladin: -5 (without being his worst enemy)

Conclusion
With diplo relations scores, a diplomatic victory seems just out of reach. In any case, Americans feel snubbed by the two votes that have gone against it at the UN, and so have decided to go ballistic and seek a domination victory.

Any political connotations with current affairs are mostly coincidental

[Derelict]

INDEX

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

1845 A.D. I've made a fairly thorough round of upgrades to select units and in the more poorly defended cities (or ones with a likelyhood of greater risk for attack), generating a slew of riflemen but eating fairly well into my gold reserves. I'm still hanging with positive cash flow at 90% science and that will likely increase as I get the newer cities situated. I have a lot shorter military cycle to face now, which means my cities can turn to more productive concerns a lot sooner.

With that in mind, and a first current goal of railroads for speedy travel through the countryside (along with a handful of workers in addition), I'll likely slow my tech rate to 80% to again start building a comfortable reserve of cash as I make way through the industrial era. That won't happen, at least, until railroads are discovered however. I'm solidly estabished in first place for any ranking you might conjure up with the exception of trade. Over the next handful of turns I'll keep that in mind and try to complete a few resource trades, possibly resource for cash if it suits.

1850 A.D. starts with an unexpected call from Genghis. He wants me to join him in "destroying" Saladin. This presents an interesting opportunity since I'm certain of having a lead on Saladin in military terms, the diplomacy bump with Genghis is ever useful and, the only other country I'm concerned about diplomatically (as I want to improve relations) is England. Elizabeth doesn't seem on particularly good terms with Saladin though, quite curiously, Bismarck is despite their very recent war!

I won't worry about Bismarck just yet and will take up Genghis and his request. Genghis, ever my friendly pitbull, may be extremely useful to me in the coming years and this presents an opportunity to throw some aging but well trained units at Saladin in an attempt to weaken him. Capturing a city for myself from him is probably out of the question--it will cost more than its worth since his culture, and likely Bismarck's, will make it rough for any such city unless I get really serious and raze another city or two in the area. That's far more than I'm ready to do just yet. Too heavy of an incursion and war weariness and support costs will be gnawing at me--two issues I will avoid to any extreme.

Speaking of Elizabeth, I give her a buzz and make a deal for cows (to her) for a mere 6 gold. That should help relations a little and I have several cow sources that aren't doing much else for me as it is. Bismarck is going broke, running at -23 gpt and has no resources to offer me in trade. I'm happy enough to see him running in the red to not care otherwise.

1860 A.D. Abu Bakr (great prophet) is born in Madrid. Although it is getting a little late to do such a thing, I add him to Cordoba to help production there, a city just now starting to get its culture in order to maintain the borders and prevent revolt. With the specialist it should start to firm up even more and help offset the costs of being such a distant city.

1864 A.D. Unbelievably, Cordoba revolted again and slipped into German hands. I don't really understand it since the city was not surrounded by German culture, had access to several tiles for working and even established several culture sources of its own in counter. The sad thing is that I had only just added the priest specialist, now working for those damnable Germans. I'm not sure I like how the culture flips work in Civ4 since they can be difficult, if not impossible, to counter unless great artists are to some extent a forte in your strategy. Still, I'll avoid lending a rant to that sort of thing now and just look with demure at the city in German hands.

On other fronts, the Mongols have hit Saladin hard--taking both Bagdhad and now Damascus, razing the former it would appear and holding the latter. Ouch for Saladin! I hurt him further by capturing his iron tile, making matters only worse for him as Mongol grenadiers march with abandon across his land.

|

1868 A.D. Railroads have been discovered now, which is fantastic but a little late in coming overall. A few additional workers to help get them laid down and I'll feel much more comfortable about defense and opportunistic attacks on other civs, if it comes to such things. To get Assembly Line, I still need Constitution and Corporation and won't just yet dial down my research to increase cash reserves--I'll wait for Assembly Line to actually come up first.

1874 A.D. brings the discovery of Constitution. I do take a turn to switch to Representation--the added science per specialist can only help and the further bump in happiness for my top three cities can't hurt much either. To the north I'm actually making a fair penny pillaging what remains of Saladin's land. Genghis has attacked him so strongly that he has more or less turtled up and is presenting virtually no resistance to my sinster means of making some extra cash.

1876 A.D. Yet another city, razed by Genghis. Saladin looks to be on his way out of this game. I can't rightly imagine that Genghis will stop now, not with such momentum. Certainly his coffers aren't doing too badly from the massive city raiding and pillaging he's done. I do notice that Saladin has a stray Cavalry edging into Genghis' territory, but that certainly isn't enough for him to survive with now.



1878 A.D. Saladin is getting desparate, sending an extremely high risk settler and lowly longbowman out in the hopes of finding sanctuary somewhere. My troops swoop down to catpure them--that's one less worker I need to make now!

1886 A.D. Assembly Line is discovered and still Saladin survives, somehow, to the far north. My troops continue to piddle around, catching and killing stragglers or simply pillaging the very little bits left about. Industrialism is next on my tech target list.

With Assembly Line underfoot, however, it is time for a Golden age as cities across the land get factories up. With that, I select the great engineer Heron and start 8 turns of mass productivity. It makes for an excellent time to turn down the tech dial and build a fat bank account as well. I turn the switch to 70% and am earning 194 gold per turn--excellent stuff! That'll nearly equate to a free great merchant over the next 8 turns, minus a bit of science, but still will be very helpful not long ahead.

Finally, I also sue for peace with Saladin, deciding to let Genghis finish him or let him linger either way.

1898 A.D. And construction of the Pentagon is started in New York. If you recall, I also put the Heroic Epic there--double military unit construction. Combined with the Pentagon I'll have very fast unit production and experience from the Pentagon and the Barracks, not to mention any civics, if I so choose at whatever time. Expect this thing to be a SEAL team mass producer!

1902 A.D. and the Golden Age has passed--not without several factories being produced even faster than normal and, even with the lowered tech rate, I've arrived at Industrialism. I tune up the rate to 100% despite losing -51 gpt--I need a mere three turns at that rate to finish Industrialism and voila! SEAL Teams!

1908 A.D. Time suddenly feels very short with so much potential and so many options in an ever more powerful America. It seems like a good time to get a grasp on where the other countries are at.

Germany was earlier the world tech leader, or at least neck and neck with myself. Now the looming American science giant has rocketed well ahead even of him--no surprise to say the least. I notice that he doesn't even have Physics, at this point, leaving him at least a few steps shy of Industrialism and his Panzers. Just as well--it's quite likely that he'll have them just available as I start pouring SEAL teams out within the next several years.

Naturally the golden age and the comb-factory push has skyrocketed my production, which even before hand was well above anyone else in the world. America is truly a superpower at this point. On the downside, the slew of factories naturally made two particular negatives for me--pollution and thus a lower life/health factor and, secondly, a lower approval rating. High approval ratings naturally make it easier to carry on a war, without taking specific civics into the context. Of course, I also want giant, bulging populations in my cities, filled with happy people because my tech will soar even further, along with everything else. I guess we can't have it all, as they say...Still, I'll see what I can do on that front.

The northern cities are now also starting to have well developed, or at least better developed, tiles. They lag behind the rest of the country but not by so far, really. Once they too catch up, things will only be that much brighter.

The tech research of choice is Democracy--I want Emancipation early to make everyone elses happiness suffer if they don't go the same route, since they are quite likely trying to catch up on a military front with me out of pure fear of American military potential and may not have democracy at this point.

Democracy will also bring Universal Sufferage--yet another boost to the vast nation's productivity, already with a plentiful supply of towns and the further option to spend cash to finish production...essentially providing me with yet another means to accomplish any goal I set down.

As a final note for 1908, Oxford is started in Washington, with it's already soaring science, and Broadway is started in the nothern and previously Barbarian city of Saxon.

1914 A.D. brings Democracy, and thus the switch to Emancipation and Universal Sufferage.



1920 A.D. My feeble culture reveals itself again as the previously Spanish city of Salamanca joins the Mongols. I could see that coming and probably should have just gifted the city to Genghis for yet another diplomatic boost, but I won't worry on that now.

1926 A.D Genghis finally makes peace with Saladin. I simply can't believe Saladin is still on the map! The Kremlin is built...somewhere, but I didn't really intend to pursue it specifically. My first SEAL team units are hitting the ground and I've also started my first round of upgrades to infantry units via my cash roll.

1928 A.D. Santiago starts on the Hermitage so I can make sure my borders stay firm along that Mongol border. Philly begins work on Westpoint, providing yet another city capable of kicking out experienced units. James Clerk, a great scientist, is born in Washington. I really would've prefered an engineer at this point but I guess Clerk will have to do. I use him for 2028 beakers work on Fission. Washington has also reached size 23 now, with some discontent due to its size. I'll work on that shortly.

1930 A.D. My tech lead grows ever bigger vs. everyone else except, unsurprisingly, Elizabeth. She is making a ton of money and can finance, in whatever manner she is, her science. I'm still a fair shot ahead of her and will undoubtedly reach the next era in a handful of turns.

1939 A.D. I've put off moving to the next era in favor of getting some earlier techs I've bypassed out of the way and focus a little more on a modernization of my military, including the first production of tanks. I need additional workers I think, to top off my railroad system and ensure that most every city has well improved tiles.

1940 A.D. Brings the discovery of Flight and, hence, a move into the Modern era. I'll research rocketry first so I can get started on the building of the Apollo program--in line with my original goal. If my military looks prepared I may also consider an invasion...quite probably of Bismarck, to lock down a few more cities, establish a bit more on my score and put these SEAL teams to some good use!

Elizabeth is still my closest competitor tech wise and undoubtedly she'll be trying for a space race victory as well, so I need to be sure I don't lose focus on that since it is unlikely I'll pursue another victory type at this point. Diplomacy is not in a solid option unless I increase my population further through the capture of additional cities which is not out of my prospects for the future. There are still 110 years left in the game and if I'm diligent, there should be plenty of time for both a speedy space race victory or, perhaps even sooner, a diplomatic win through sheer numbers. I figure Genghis must be good for 15% of the world population, and I have some 35% now and still growing. The addition of a handful of cities should combine to give me a 60% overall vote needed to win, assuming Genghis goes my way and I have every reason to think he will.

Alright, I'll see you in the next era!

[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

This is short, as I got bored with the game, and it got very easy with the tech I was generating and my beelines for space victory to breeze through this era.

I start the Industrial era 1 and a half times the score of my closest competitor. I am shooting for a space race victory, hopefully soon. I will speculate, very early, that I will finish in the 1800's.

1525 AD: I get Physics and a free great scientist. I'll continue to use my scientists for academies as long as I have cities they'll make a good impact in.

1565 AD: I finish the Taj Mahal in Boston. This will be my first GA in this game.

1590 AD: I become the first to circumnavigate the globe. I also get a great prophet I will use for a taoist shrine.

1635 AD: I enter the modern era with rocketry. I will start immediately on the Apollo Program, and hope to get the space ship launched as soon as possible.

I am still first in all the categories, and now I am even further ahead in score. On to building the space ship as quickly as possible. I am worried it will take a while though, because I only have a couple of high production cities, and I lack aluminum, a key resource for the space ship. In a more difficult game, I might have to go to war for aluminum, but here I am not worried.

[Cort Haus]

DAR 1 - Opening
DAR 2 - Rest of Ancient Era
DAR 3 - Classical Era
DAR 4 - Medieval Era
DAR 5 - Renaissance Era
DAR 7 - Modern Era


The Industrial Era starts with Steam Power and Assembly Line. While researching Steel, in 1765, Hatshepsut declared war on Spain, and I start to muster troops and upgrade them to Infantry on my North-East frontier, ready for a slice of the action. With more than half an eye on a UN win, eliminating my most hated enemy, and grabbing some of her population would seem to be good move. Steel brings cannons too, which will make a lot of difference. During the previous war long, long ago I choked Spain with pillaging. That set her back a long way and despite a suspicious technological surge at one point, she's weak and ready for the taking - even without the SEALS.

Of course with Assembly Line come Factories, and I'd like to get most of these up before going to war. Railroad & Biology are researched, while Hattie pillages merrily around her nearest Spanish cities. While researching Physics (which Saladin had successfully beelined - congrats to him), in 1830 Hattie asks me to join her crusade against the evil Spanish and I happily oblige, getting Bismark in on the action too.



Before I even get to Barcelona, a Spanish city has fallen to the Germans, and on arrival the defences don't last long against the cannon barrage, and the Rifleman fall easily to my Infantry. I kept the city, as I'm anticipating the Spanish culture won't be around for very long.



Then South towards the 'Holy' city of Madrid. Again, resistance is minimal and it falls without much fuss. By now Artillery and Electricity are complete, with Industrialism and the UU being researched, even though I may not be needing SEALS.



Two mainland Spanish Cities left, and en-route I manage a little naval battle outside Toledo, trying out my ironclads against Spanish Frigates.



I was then able to bring some Artillery to the party, and attacked Marine-style from the transport. That was fun, especially as the Artillery made a right mess of the Rifle / Grenadier defenders. War-weariness was beginning to bite now, with -7 happiness for WW in some cities. When Seville fell, Spains last mainland city, I called it a day and made peace. Thankfully Bismark went to the trouble of mopping up the island colonies. I didn't bother with the little islands, thinking that I should have enough land thank-you.

I accepted Lizzie's offer of Combustion for Physics + ~250g when it came, and after Industrialism I went for Radio and the route to the UN, while starting Broadway in a border city. Radio brought me into the Modern Era with a little Rock'n Roll, which I started in another border city.



Somewhere along the line I realise that Salidin has got all the aluminium. Better hope the UN works out.

[Morrissey]

DAR1
DAR2
DAR3
DAR4
DAR5
DAR6
DAR7


Now THIS is going to be a sparse DAR.

Entered the industrial era in 1565. Built up my cities and relations (going for UN victory) and built a few units to put potential invaders off. Genghis is now at war with both Isabella and Hats and as he's not in a great position, fear this is going to be the end of him, bless.

1775, enter the modern era.

Told you it was sparse.

[Arrian]

DAR6 - Industrial Era

1625 – Industrial Era begins.

1695 – Isabella declares war! Wench, come get some!

1775 – After having destroyed numerous Spanish troops in the field, razing one city and capturing another, I make peace with Isabella for her world map and 520 gold. Infantry + Cavalry + frigates/cannon vs. riflemen & grenadiers = death, destruction & mayhem.

1800 – Way ahead now. Have switched over to Free Religion. Researching Plastics. Three civs are pleased w/me: England, Egypt and Germany. A couple are cautious (Mongols and Arabs – who are fighting. The Arabs will be either wiped out or reduced to irrelevance). Spain hates me, and that’s just fine.

1825 - Plastics discovered, Modern Era begins.

Screenshots:

THE EAST:



THE CORE:



THE SOUTH:



THE COLONIES:



And Detroit, all alone because no one would sit next to it



-Arrian

[Arrian]

Cort, looking at your screenshots vs. mine, we pretty clearly went with different city-spacing/expansion. Mine is CivIII-esq (it would probably have been called wide spacing by experts, though), whereas your looks like the old "OCP."

If I had it to do over again, I would only changes two things:

1) I'd have made grabbing the ivory (Barcelona in my game, Boston in yours) a priority. I didn't realize the danger of losing that spot b/c my starting warrior was slaughtered right around that spot by bears very early, so I didn't have any clear idea where Spain was.

2) I'd shift my Philadelphia northwest 1 tile, and then move Seattle 1 tile due north.

Other than that, I think my city placement worked great. Having played this far, how do you feel about yours?

-Arrian

[Fluffybunnyfeet]

Progress

With a large number of cities well established, my focus is culture. Military creation is reserved for my soldier specialist town. All cities are proselytized to have the state religion. I stay with the high upkeep of Organised Religion for now, though Pacifism is tempting.

Suddenly there are a lot of civics available which will help with science, most cities have two religions, some have three. Staying away from Theocracy puts my civ in good stead for Free Religion by allowing the spread. Now I can get to work on this era's focus, and build masses of temples and monasteries!

The Egyptians lead the runners-up in this game - despite having many more technologies than I, they demand Steel! I can only guess that my competent military will keep them from attacking. Seeing as they're not even on my world map yet, this is probably a good thing. I trade democracy will all nations, knowing that it'll make them more placid and easier to dominate if I need to attack them.

Rifling suddenly makes the military landscape a lot more dangerous. I change my science to allow 127 gold per turn to be freed up for upgrades. Half of that goes to the newly conquered cities to pay for their cultural buildings, to secure the border.

Saladin runs over the mongol empire and in a few turns, the mongols are gone. The culture I have pumped into the mongol border now goes from being defensive to offensive, as Saladin's newly captured cities are swamped with Americanism.

I'm surprised to find that Saladin also has TWICE the army that I have. I take a risk and hope that he doesn't want to try something.

I'm astonished the next turn when the Spanish attack. They have far inferior technology, they're not being culturally threatened, their army is the same Power as mine. Makes no sense, guess i'd better make an example of Isabella. The first casualties are Spanish Warriors and a Horse Archer. Maybe there's an attribute for Insanity in these world leaders.

I manage to build The Kremlin, and the Statue of Liberty, before turning those cities over to military production.

After taking the Spanish very lightly for many rounds, they use 12 units to take a nice city of mine. I decide to wipe the spanish from the planet. Police State, Theocracy, Vassalage.

Various empires decide that they don't like me any more and cancel all their trade.

I begin my attack... and i've reached the next era

Most towns now have many temples and my cultural output nearly doubled.

Outlook

This next era will be bloody. The Spanish sacked a large city, seemingly the only reason being that it was a cultural centre. My first goal will be to destroy the spanish utterly. Now that the largest military power is a close neighbour (Saladin), I will also want to match him militarily, in case he attacks. Right now, I could take over the world, but Washington isn't *like* that

[Fosse]

INDUTRIAL ERA

1625
I enter the Industrial Era. I'm at 80% research, still making money. New America is well on its way to making GPP. England has dropped a few settlers on the main island... I really don't want to fihgt any wars but I might decide to take any cities they plant on New America... we'll see. They are unpopular among the world's players, so it shouldn't cost me any diplomatic trouble.

Genghis canceled all of our trade deals, but hasn't declared war yet. If he does it will be the end of him. I will do all I can to quickly take his two remaining cities, and indeed have been building up for such a moment since the last war ended. I have been on top of the score chart for many turns now, which is satisfying after such a rocky start... barbarian trouble, land grab flops, the first Mongolian war. I plan to keep Oregon producing Great merchants to send to Egypt until the game ends.

I'm settling down to head to victory now. All thoughts of war with Spain are gone. I'll never take those two annoying cities, though I'll keep the culture up, but I don't want them enough to fight for them. ISabella's land isn't too tempting. I may war with England over colonial land, but I don't intend to send forces to her mainland (unless just for pillaging action).

Victory... for me it's nearly always a choice between space and diplomatic. I doubt I have the votes for the UN though. I don't have a spotless record with anybody, Egypt will be the other candidate and is huge. It would probably have to be everyone voting for me. No votes for Egypt (except Hatty) and no abstentions. If I war with England, forget that. But even if I don't, there is no way Spain with big minus for borders, England who has been lukewarm at best, and Arabia who is often cautious and a little cranky in this game, are all going to vote my way.

I should have little trouble with winning space race. Egypt will be my main contender, but I have decided to focus now on getting to the stars. My tech paths will reflect that, and I should be able to begin trading for military techs as I need them. My rifles and grenadiers will be enough to stop Genghis from causing trouble for me.


1625
SESSION III (IV?)

1680
Peaceful building. Mongolia finally gets to buy iron from me. Now that my gunpowder army is building up that won't be a bother. I might not have to fight him again after all.

Spain, England, and Egypt each have one city in New America. Damn. But I spawn a Great Artist, left over points from when I thought I could take Spain's cities. :eyeroll: Still... that's great. I found Miami on the southern part of the island and drop my artist. Boom. A real culture bomb this time. Those cities will be mine!

And... I spawn another Great Artist while the first is on the way. I can also put total pressure on teh Spanish city. This is great!

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Arrian
Cort, looking at your screenshots vs. mine, we pretty clearly went with different city-spacing/expansion. Mine is CivIII-esq (it would probably have been called wide spacing by experts, though), whereas your looks like the old "OCP."

-Arrian

I was happy enough with the way it was, but it might have been better to have had more cities. I probably should have had one where your Los Angeles is for starters, but I was more concerned with grabbing the land than working all the tiles earlier. OCP isn't as punishing here as Civ 3, because distance corruption doesn't slow the city down for ever, but Aeson pointed out how a size 20 city with specialists may only need 12 tiles, so I expect OCP is sub-optimal. I like not having to fiddle with shared tiles, though.

The fact that you entered the Modern Era in 1800, against my 1872 might suggest that your road was quicker, tech-wise, though I might have been fighting more wars on the way.

I'd probably get punished for the OCP at higher levels, and with a less spacious start I might have built closer. It's true that working more tiles earlier must be better, but in its favour a looser build does deny tiles to the AI for the whole game.

[Arrian]

Yeah, the question is between maximizing the tiles you work vs. denial of land to the AI. Both have their advantages and drawbacks, which is good.

You definitely did more fighting early than I did - although I did some catching up late. I ended up fighting a total of 3 (real) wars:

1) Spain. They attacked me and lost 2 cities for their trouble. I kept 1 & razed the other.
2) Egypt. I invaded and conquered them (7 cities, 6 of which I kept, 1 razed).
3) Arabs. I polished off their shattered remnants (2 cities, both retained).

-Arrian

[N35t0r]

I'm noticing few people use the culture slider... I love it... running 20 or so turns at 20% after building a lot of culture-boosting improvements in my border cities mean that when I go to war, those foreign border cities I capture will have some backup to resist the cultural onslaught, and even those that are placed further inland can get a steady stream of culture after the revolts end, helped by a first build of a theatre (which is hands-down my favourite improvement, as it also helps much with the unhappyness, due to the culture)

I've yet had a city I conquered flip to an enemy, and I play with conquered cities being flippable...

[Caligula 37 AD]

DAR4: The Industrial era of Caligula's Financial Havens

Yet again these are short notes as am beginning to get a bit bored by the game, and just wants to finish it.
I am curious though about a few game mechanics, like the true value of the Great Lighthouse, and the effect of Golden Ages.

It is a full week since I played these turns, so I can't really remember the reasons for doing what I did. I'll have
to rely on the few screenshots I made (lot of town shots from my Golden Age though).

1525 swiched to Free Market and Speech to exploit the towns I have.
1565 Taj Mahal triggers a GA. I hoped to do some calculus of the effects, but my screenshots are to few. I make another
from two GPs a little further down the lane.
1600 As the first GA ends, my experienced Explorer finds a warrior on a desolate island SE of the main continent. A few turns
later it finds a worker on another slightly better looking island. I will make a city there, so I use the worker to
lay some rails around the prefered spot. I will culture bomb it to secure the island for the americans later
(in the modern era, it turns out)

1650 Trigged another GA from a GA and a GS IIRC.
1685 I am at good terms with everybody save Lissy, I doubt there will be any wars this game. I will not trigger one as it just
prolonges the gaming time. Hattie +3, Bismarck +4, Izzy +5, Salad +6, Gjenghis +4 with heavy border tensions (I have
flipped one of his cities and are pushing some of the others), Lissy is at -2 due to me trading with her worst enemy.
I feel it is a little much to get a -4 just for trading.

1690 My second Golden Age ends. Some math of my last Golden Age, by compairing the last turn before it ended vs the
first one after. I was running 90% science, 10% gold. I had 11 cities working 112 tiles of which 20 were coast and
23 specials with commerce bonus including towns/hamlets:
Hammers: GA increased production by 31,3% (246 vs 358)
Commerce: GA increased by 18% (I worked exactly the same tiles. 404 vs 492)
Science: GA increased by 18% (Estimate, as I built Oxford in that turn twisting the calculus a bit. I've tried to subtract its effect)
Trade routes: Next to NO effect. Only 2 trade routes were +1cpt higher in the last GA turn than the one after.

To summarize: GA gave me about 850 extra hammers, 640 extra beakers and some 60 extra gold.
Was that worth it? No IMO. I could have an extra 2500beaker tech for the GS, and a super entertainer for the GA.
But they were fun turns.
Another observation: Golden Ages and Fin trait are not cummulative, i.e. plains normaly giving 1cpt, gives 2 under GA (not 3)

1695 The German furtown Essen South of Capitol flips to me. Bismarck is still "happy and smile" at +5. Essen has semi crap
location so I don't blame him.

1715 I discover flight and enters the Modern era

There are no real financial havens on my shores, and there probably wont be as the era of the Great Lighthouse is soon over.
I will finish the game by space race I guess, somewhere around 1900 is my prediction.

The pic is of Capitol Hill one turn after the last Golden Age. Should I have even more specialists?

[Artuero]

DAR 6: The Industrial Era (1655 – 1884) (Noble)

Recap: Artuero’s American empire consists of only six cities but covers a large amount of space as I am concentrating on building culture in order to keep the possibility of a culture win open. The Americans have founded 6 of the 7 world religions and seized the Spanish capital of Madrid, which birthed the remaining religion.

America’s northern neighbor, Mongolia, has gone to war twice against it. America has not lost any cities to it, but has been pillaged and lost units, and has failed to take the war to Mongolia in the least. Relations with other leaders are generally friendly, especially with Elizabeth and Hatshepsut. Bismark is cautious and Saladin varies between cautious and annoyed. The Americans eliminated the Spaniards early.

Report:

We enter the industrial age to find Genghis Khan at the door asking for a tech and threatening to go to war. Granting his request does not deter the invasion and his forces proceed to pillage and draw near Madrid. Fortunately by this time I had created a few cavalry forces that were effective at delaying his assault enough for me to get new cavalry forces. I also lowered science for some time in order to upgrade my garrison units in threatened cities and his Keshik-dominated invasion forces started to have more difficulty than usual. I also bring in Hatshepsut and her Egypitans against him in the hopes that he will have to divert troops from invading me.

The battle for Madrid turned out to be the critical turning point. It lasted a number of years before being decided in 1720 when our cavalry force routed Khan’s invading army. Of course, with cavalry and a handful (2-3) of cannon, we quickly turn northwards and begin to finally go on the offensive. With some effort but little loss of life we take the three nearest Mongol towns, coincidently bringing our total number of cities to the magic nine (good for cultural victories as I can get cathedrals in three cities).

The dilemma is whether to continue to press the attack as his remaining cities are mostly far inland and well-defended in terms of numbers of guards. Our calvary screen determines, however, that aside from a few grenadiers, most of his garrison units are longbowmen which will not hold out against the American cavalry.

The Americans continue scientific and economic development. In 1730, Michael Faraday is born in Boston and used to create an academy in Madrid.

1820 – Louis Pasteur is born upon the discovery of Physics. Pasteur founds an academy in Boston.

1830 – American cavalry assault takes Ning-Hsia in 1930. We raze the city, leaving Khan with only two remaining cities. The Ning-Hsia assault took some time as our three cannon carefully pared back his defenses. If we decide to press on for Karakorum and Bashbalik we will have to be similarly careful.
1840 – American city Angle builds the Statue of Liberty. In addition, Niels Boher is born in Washington. Our forces take an initial stab at Karakorum but are required to retreat after suffering too much damage. They regroup in New Sarai.

1866 – American forces threaten Karakorum again and skirmish with the defenders. This lessens the numbers of defenders but leaves us with casualties making it unclear whether we can take the city. I should have waited for the cannon to further diminish the defenses.

1868 – Cannon bring the defenses of Karakorum to zero, but we have to let the cavalry rest from their 1866 strikes, so we do not mount an assault on the city garrison, which now consists of five longbowmen.

1870 – Saladin builds the Taj Mahal, putting the Arabians into a golden age and mooting Philadelphia’s efforts at the same time. We should not have been trying for this wonder as it is not that good and we did not have access to marble.

We do manage to take Karakorum. Again our forces are badly damaged though not destroyed. They will have to wait before marching on Khan’s sole remaining city, Beshbalik. Our scouts find that the city is guarded by a grenadier, a musketman, 2 longbowmen, 2 catapults and a Keshik.

1884 – Hatshepsut declares war on Saladin. Americans invent the radio and enter the modern era.

In 1884 Hat declared war on Saladin and we entered the modern area by inventing the radio.

Of course, the thing that is most on my mind is finishing off Khan who has been a problem since the beginning. Our forces are resting and know what their target will be. As long as I am patient I am sure we will prevail in the final battle.

I know that I do not want to get drawn into a war with Saladin at this time as I need to build up my garrisons and would prefer to focus on building improvements and railroads. The techs are coming too quickly for me to want to focus on improving my military, and with Khan nearly eliminated I am likely safe for a time.

My relations with Saladin are poor but as he is fighting Hatshepsut and does not share significant borders with me (other than newly-conquered lands and one lonely city to the south of our empire) I am not overly worried. More worrisome is the quiet, cautious Bismark who has been steadily gaining in score on the rest of the world except me, and now has a sizable empire to the American’s northeast. When our expected conquest of Mongolia is complete, we will likely have a very large border with Germany.

I am used to playing epic on huge maps and thus the modern era has come very fast for me. Goals for the modern era would of course be to win the game. I still have a shot at a culture victory but will need to spread religions better and focus on building temples so I can get cathedrals in my three prime cities (Washington, Madrid and Angle). I will also want to construct Holywood, Broadway and Rock-N-Roll but not before building some factories in various towns.

I have actually not built any national wonders yet, which is somewhat of a mistake. However there always seems to be something more rewarding to build. Following the war, pollution caps growth more than unhappiness so it will be important to research or trade for health improvements.

[joncnunn]

Jon's Dar AU 101 : Noble. Version 1.09

Dar VI The Industrial Era 1660 AD to 1840 AD

1665 AD Borders of Washington expand
War unhappiness ends in all cities
Trade worldmaps with all.
Arabs found Basra one tile west of the ruins of Old Sphia.
Use Taoist missorny to found Taoism in Seattle

1670 AD Borders of Turfane expand
Use Jewish Missonary to spread Judism to New Banana

1675 AD Borders of San Francisco expand

1680 AD Use Jewish Missonary to spread Judism to Beshbalik

1685 AD Discover Physics, start reseraching Chemistry
Use the free great scientist to found an academy in Boston
Uranium discovered near Los Angles and New Banana

1690 AD Borders of New Banana expand
Bashalik comes out of resistanance and starts starving
One Dye near Turland connected

1695 AD Borders of Bashalik expand, ending the starvation

1700 AD Discover Chemisty, start reseraching Steam Power
Second Dye near TUrfan connected

1705 AD Tacitus declares us the most advanced culturaly.
Heroic Epic completed in Atlanta
Kerokorim comes out of resitance and instantly expands
Use Jewish missonary to spread Judism to Houston
A Great Scientist is born in Washington.

1710 AD Use the Great Scientist to found an academy in Seatle

1715 AD Discover Steam Power, start reseraching Biology to help our semi-desert cities.
Coal discovered near Seattle and Houston

1720 AD Uranium near New Banana connected
Use Jewish Missonary to spread Judism to San Francisco

1725 AD Cows near Beshbalik connected
Uranium near Los Angles connected

1735 AD Discover Biology, start reseraching Assembly Line for factories.
Borders of Karakorum expand
Use Jewish Missonary to spread Judism to Los Angeles.

1740 AD Coal near Seattle connected
Use Jewish Missonary to spread Judism to Seattle
The entire empire is now under the influence of Judism
Coal near Houston connected

1745 AD Germany cancels open borders
Borders of Los Angeles expands
Borders of Begnikey expands
Liz converts to Budism

1750 AD Bismark adopts Merchantism
3rd dye near Turfun connected

1755 AD Discover Asembly line. Start reseraching Steel
Factories placed in most "core" cities queues.
Liz golden Age begins
The Taj Mahal built in a far away land; I'm guessing England

1760 AD Dye near Karakorum connected
Horses near Karakorum connected

1765 AD Borders of Houston expand
2 rifles upgraded to Infs

1770 AD Steel discovered. Start resarching the railroad.
Oxford started in Boston.
Add Iron Works to the queue of Seatle.
I was going to add Wall Street to queue of New York but discover I'm one bank short.
Add Bank to Los Angeles queue.

1775 AD Great Prophet born in New York

1780 AD Bismark's GA begins
second dye near Karakorum connected.
Use the Great Prophet to build Dai Maino in Boston.
All three of the religions which we own the holy cities for now have their special buildings.
Judism has now displaced Christanity as the worlds most influencial religion.

1785 AD Egypt and Spain adopt Free Markets.
Discover we're now the Spainish and German players worst enemy.

1790 AD Discover the Railroad. Start reseraching Artierly.
Buy maps from Egypt and the Arabs and sell to Liz; effectively geting a free update.

1795 AD Liz GA ends
Arabs adopt Free Market
Washington begins construction of the Statue of Liberty

1800 AD American empire now holds 20 million soulds
Seatle starts construction of Iron Works

1805 AD Artilery discovered. Start reseraching Electricity
Borders of New Banana expand
2 Maces upgrades to Infs
1 Rifle upgraded to Inf

1810 AD 6th Bank completed

1815 AD New York starts construction of Wall Street
Bismark's GA ends
Great Enginner born in Chicago and contributes 880 shields towards the Statue of Liberty in Washington

1820 AD Borders of Kordmen expand
The advisor thinks that Phildephia is a scientific center at 14 beakers! What's he been taking???

1825 AD Discover Electricity
Start reseraching Radio
Atlanta starts construction of West Point
1 Mace upgraded to Inf

1840 AD Enter the modern era
Discover the Radio and start researching Combustion
2 Maces upgraded to Inf

End of Dar VI

At this point, we have just about doubled up the closest player in score.

Our intention is to win via Space Race or Culture, but if the Germans or especially the Spanish want a fight,
we'll be happy to send them the way of the Mongols.

[Shaka II]

DAR 1
DAR 2
DAR 3
DAR 4
DAR 5
DAR 6
DAR 7

1510AD The German campaign is now under full swing as I’ve just captured Berlin, after taking Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg. Asoka’s culture borders are closing in, so I have to end this war quickly and try to keep the border towns from flipping to him. I’m researching printing press to keep up with the tech leaders who have now left me behind. Luckily Capac on my East likes me. His army is about 50% bigger than mine.



1672AD I have just emerged from anarchy to emancipation. My other civics are representation, free speech, free market, and organized religion still. I made a mistake in going for scientific method to trade techs. I was beaten out by Capac and Asoka who traded techs. I’m now faced with the prospect of an annoyed Asoka who will soon have infantry and tanks on my border. To reduce the risk, I make a defensive pact with Capac after switching to Hinuism to get him to the friendly category.

1744AD Asoka declares war on me. I neglected to make an effort to avoid this and let him get annoyed with me as our cultural borders clashed. Luckily, my defensive pact partner Capac has been activated. I have two turns before I can build infantry and then it’s on to industrialism, which Asoka and Capac already have.

1760AD I reach the modern era as I discover industrialism. Now, it’s time to roll out the tanks.

[DrSpike]

http://apolyton.net/forums//showthre...29#post4220029

Business continued as normal, and I got Rocketry in 1650AD. The ironworks was just about to go up in my production city so it wouldn't take too long.

I did not have aluminium.

I'm also building Broadway in the screenshot, which proved quite useful as various happy resources obseleted.

Civic wise my last switch was to emancipation and free religion. OR was costing 25gpt by the time I switched. It was worth it though.

[DrSpike]

DAR 6

[DrSpike]

Final Part:

http://apolyton.net/forums//showthre...55#post4220055

[xxFlukexx]

Huge DAR incoming. Mainly because I shot through Renaissance so fast. To remind any readers I have been building lots of troops and just started my domination plans, first target is Izzy, then Genghis, then everyone else.

DAR Record, links work:
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...71#post4219771
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...74#post4219774
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...79#post4219779
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...86#post4219786
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...92#post4221092
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...25#post4221125
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...60#post4221160

1540 A.D. Printing Press done, going for Replaceable parts in 8 turns. Can crank up research up to 80% and losing money because of all the plunder.

1555 A.D. Barcelona is now mine. Barely any resistance, haven't even used catapults as suiciders yet. Traded Printing press to Elizabeth for Philosophy and Music and 140 gold. I am #1 in score, looks bad for everyone else.



1570 A.D. I notice some cities are unhappy, time to make some theatres. Might bump up some culture spending or switch religions, for some reason they don't like killing their brothers and sisters of the faith, pfffft. Gold pops up in Philly, yay.

1585 A.D. Izzy makes an annoying city where newly capture cities borders don't reach yet. I take it out, 109 gold for me, yay. Replaceable Parts is done and onto Nationalism (6 turns) I also take Seville, hmmm I decide to keep it even though I bet it will culture flip to the Mongols, but I'll check it out, maybe it has a wonder. Nope, lol not even a single building in it oh well.

1610 A.D. Cordoba was going to be a tough nut to crack, being on hills and all, but like an idiot, the AI wasted a few longbowmen attack my grenadier next to the city, now my army is in place, bye bye Cordoba, come to daddy. I notice that Bismarck has rifling. I'm not really scared about that, my army is designed to take out large amounts of riflemen, Infantry will mean it's time to stop attacking, I hope to finish Izzy off before then. I'm #1 in soldiers and land area, #2 in GNP, production and food, #3 in population and #2 barely in score below Genghis. Is there something wrong with the AI, I mean #1 in soldiers, wtf that never happens to me on Emperor. This seems way easy, I want to open up the world builder and check out what bonuses the AI is getting, but alas, I will play on.



1615 A.D. Cordoba taken, lost 2 grenadiers, but still have plenty. War weariness starting to really bite, -6 happys in Washington, some other cities suffering as well, but Izzy is close to dead, hopefully she has no island cities so I can just take her out. Nationalism finished, now some trading.
Gunpowder and 230 gold to Hatty for Divine Right (normally I never research this tech but I captured The Spiral Minaret from Izzy so I need Divine Right to activate it)
Replaceable Parts + World Map + 270 gold to Elizabeth for Education
Corn to Elizabeth for 7 gpt
Fur to Genghis for 8 gpt
Wine to Bismarck for 6 gpt
I am cooking now, 27 net income from foreign trades, yeeehaw. I wouldíve like to trade for more happy resources but they don't have any, booo.
Starting Constitution (8 turns) Currently running 70% science with +33 gpt and ~ 150 gold in the bank.

1630 A.D. Army marches towards Madrid (which is the Buddy and Jewish holy city) Hatty finishes the Taj Mahal and starts a Golden Age, Genghis finishes a Golden Age on the same turn, those AIs love their Golden Ages.



1640 A.D. Haha, bad time to pop a Great Scientist in Madrid. I take Madrid. Izzy is so nice, she built both the Jewish and Buddy holy shrines for a total of 40 gold. I can see two more Spanish cities left, I will take Toledo then demand that Izzy gives me everything she has, then raze her last city, weeeee.

1645 A.D. Big news, big news. Genghis declared war on Bismarck! Finally, man Genghis, I was making you look like wussy-peace boy, about time you join in the party. You would think that Genghis would win due to his higher score, but I think Bismarck will win, I mean he has Rifles and Genghis is attacking with Keshiks and catapults and macemen. Constitution will be done next turn, will go for Democracy and thatíll take about 14 turns. A Great Scientist is born in Madrid, it has been 4 straight Great Scientists for me. I could save him for +1803 beakers for Scientific Method, but I instead make him into a super specialist in Washington.

1670 A.D. My Caravel on a coast tile takes out a Izzy caravel and galley, pretty lucky good job, I had another caravel built on this turn just in case but heís not needed now I guess. Peace to Izzy for Economics and her world map. Izzy has Rifling but won't trade it for peace. A little late for Rifling now, Izzy, not that it wouldíve mattered. Attacking Bismarck is an idea, heís already weak from fighting Genghis and he has the Pyramids in Berlin to the north, although the Pyramids are losing their usefulness as I can go to representation without them and bah I like Hereditary Rule. After checking out my happy situation, I decided to change civics: Theocracy to Organized Religion, Free Market and Hereditary Rule to Representation for 1 turn of anarchy.

1675 A.D. Clam to Genghis for Bananas. Running 80% science with +43 gpt and 4 turns left on Democracy. Genghis sending War elephants at Bismarck now, Bismarck has a small injured army near Beshbalik, but I think the defenses will hold. I could attack either Genghis or Bismarck, I think attacking Genghis would be better as I have 2 cities taken from Izzy that are in danger of flipping but then again I donít want Bismarck to take cities from Genghis and gain power. I think I'll build some Universities and Jails then attack Genghis.

1690 A.D. Washington builds a University and blows the door off the 250 mark, making 288 science a turn and nearly 50 gold per turn. And we donít even have Oxford up there yet, only 2/6 Universities up so far. Washington starts a grocer then a Jail. Other cities follow suit.



1695 A.D. Democracy is finished. Did some trading:
Chemistry to hatty for Corporation + World Map + 170 gold
I wanted to trade Chemistry to Elizabeth for Astronomy but she wants my map + 1070 gold, eeek no deal, I thought it would be around 500ish gold. I have ~1300 gold but I need those for some catapult to cannon and Knight to Cavalry upgrades(whenever I get military tradition)
I start Military tradition (4 turns)
Genghis Khan all of a sudden has Riflemen everywhere. I'll need some more troops to fight Genghis, need to delay my war plans a bit while I pump out some more Grenadiers.

1715 A.D. Military Tradition finished, now starting Rifling (4 turns) Due to my extensive Buddy network and owning the Buddy holy city I can see every Mongol city and he has a lot of Riflemen. Gonna need a lot of Grenadiers, a lot. New York (Heroic Epic) is on infinite queue on Grenadiers, should make one every 2 turns and set the way point .



1735 A.D. Rifling complete, went to 90% science with +5 gpt and starting Steam Power (6 turns) Saladin wanted a defensive pact and I laughed at him, Genghis keeps asking for me to join in vs. Bismarck, I always decline. Elizabeth changed to Theocracy, Emancipation, Vassalage, and Representation. Thems fighting civics, wonder who she will attack Elizabeth is the one all alone on that island, I hope she doesnít attack me.

1765 A.D. Steam Power finished. On to Assembly Line (8 turns) Coal found near Philadelphia. Oh yeah and Bismarck made peace with Genghis in 1755. I have a small army forming near Genghis.

1790 A.D. Great Engineer is born in New York. I could try to use him and go for the Statue of Liberty but can you believe I don't have copper? Oh well I'm going to save him and go for the Pentagon..

1795 A.D. Switching to Theocracy, Emancipation, and Universal Suffrage, man Genghis has a lot of troops. Starting to move troops into positions.

1802 A.D. Upgrades bankrupt me to 402 gold. Getting close to war time, yippie.

1804 A.D. Saladin takes a city from Hatty, geez didnít even know they were at war, Saladin just went into a Golden Age 2 turns ago, he's doing well as his score is much lower than Hatty's.

1806 A.D. Assembly Line is finished, starting on Fascism (4 turns). New york switching to infinite queu on Infantry. Will attack Genghis soon, troops are in position and standing by.

1814 A.D. War on Genghis. Time for some really nasty fighting. Small army #1 is in the south cleaning up two of Genghis's cities, army #2 will push towards Old Sarai and get reinforcements and push further, Army #3 will play defense around Izzy's old cities, killing any stacks that pop up.



1816 A.D. Razed City of Tiflis, lost 5 Grenadiers, man bad luck all turn losing a lot of battles I should be winning.

1818 A.D. Old Sarai taken, Infantry just plain jack Riflemen up. Dangerous stack of mostly cavalry near Seville, dangerous because I have mostly Grenadiers there. 2 Grenadiers upgraded to Infantry for 290 gold.



1824 A.D. Why do my Infantry keep dying to cavalry? I mean come on 70% win chance, 4 infantry dead, grrr. Defensive army moving towards Ning-hsia.

1826 A.D. Main army takes Tabriz with ease. Genghis sending a trickle of reinforcements, but nothing I canít handle, my Infantry reinforcements are trickling in as well.

1830 A.D. Big Tactical Error on Genghis Khans part. He tries to counter my stack on a hill next to Ning-hsia. Now all there is left is 3 catapults guarding (they all luckily withdrew) Ning-hsia. It was his riflemen vs. my grenadiers with pinch on a hill, I was the favorite, got a bit lucky as 1 of my units went unscathed, but he would've won anyways. Bad AI, bad, now you will pay. I raze Ning-hsia because I determine it is too close to Bismarck's borders.

1832 A.D. I raze Otrar and that ends the Mongol threat in the south. My borders encompass almost all the tiles down there now so I shouldnít have to worry about enemy cities down there ever again.

1834 A.D. Railroad is done, oh boy my workers were just getting bored. Traded a really bad deal:
Steam Power to Elizabeth for Scientific Method + 380 gold.
Starting Astronomy (5 turns)

1836 A.D. Is there no end to the Mongols luck? I lose a Combat III Infantry to a Combat I Cavalry, come on I swear, why don't I ever win those battles.

1840 A.D. Samarqand is taken, nothing in it but an Observatory now, ugh. War Weariness is having a huge toll, put 10% to culture and still feeling it. Making a Factory in New York and Globe Theater in Washington, hopefully that'll help. 3 Mongol cities left.

1844 A.D. Astronomy Finished, now working on Physics (11 turns) Army at Samarqand split into two and going for both Mongol cities, 3rd army is already at the other Mongol cities, I hope we can end this real quick, unhappy problem is getting huge.

1848 A.D. Beshbalik is taken, it has an academy and 3 workers, sweet. Bismarck completes the Statue of Liberty, good for you.

1850 A.D. Turfan is taken, one last Mongol city left, Karakorum, it has some good riflemen in there 3x City defense II and Combat I and one with Combat III and City Defense I.



1854 A.D. Karakorum falls. The Mongols are dead, yay, everyone rejoices in the American cities, we are now so happy! Now get back to work! Karakorum is nice, has the Oracle, Hagia Sophia and an academy, sweet.



1862 A.D. Toledo revolted and joined Bismarck, grrrrr. Physics done, I have 4 sources of uranium around my land, nice. Starting on Electricity (8 turns) New York Started The Pentagon two turns ago, I don't expect him to finish it, I do have a +780 hammer Great Engineer standing by if New York can get close enough.

1870 A.D. Starting Oxford University in Washington. Pentagon almost done in New York (If I add in the engineer)

1878 A.D. Electricity is done, yay, soon my happy citizens will get computers and play their own civ games.
Lots of tech choices now:
Biology (4)
Combustion (4)
Fission (7)
Artillery (4)
Industrialism (8)
Radio (7)
Liberalism (1)

I choose Industrialism. We can mass our UU and then follow that up with combustion and tanks.
Leonardo Da Vinci rushes the Pentagon (had 15 turns left, but I want to make sure I get it)
Washington starts Broadway (11 turns)

1890 A.D. Traded Electricity to Hatty for Combustion and world map and 170 gold. Saladin and Izzy are now in a defensive pact, hehe.

1894 A.D. Indy is finished, now working on Flight (7 turns) Oil well done soon. A Great Scientist is born in Washington and now settles in Washington, he couldíve added 2000 beakers to Fission, but Fission sucks.

1898 A.D. Miss Broadway by 2 turns, get 726 gold though so that's good. New York has one turn left on West Point, then Washington and New York are on tank production.

1908 A.D. Flight is done and brings me to tha Modern Age, onto Radio for bombers

[Fribur]

DAR 6

1650: Still on slavery after all these years, I pop rush the theatre in Karakorum to get some culture going. I am losing people nearly every day due to lack of food anyway, so why not? They are just sitting around not working, with scowls on their face.

1655: Pop rushed a Courthouse in Karakorum. Looking to get a Forbidden Palace there as soon as possible.

1660: Elizabeth just went Free Religion. There is only Isabella now, and even without the +9 bonus to diplomacy, I am still +9 with her. It’s time to pursue neighbor luvin’ somehow differently. I need to wait two more turns because of my recent switch to Free Speech, however.

In other news, Beshbalik is now mine!

1670: I can’t resist. With the various civics I have chosen, war weariness seems to be at bay. So—let’s wipe out Genghis! Troops start heading toward his last city.

1675: Free Religion adopted. My relationship with Isabella goes from Friendly to Pleased.

1705: I’m still third in tech according to “Herodotus,” behind Bismarck and Isabella. I know it’s because I left behind a lot of tech, and they won’t trade me for what I have. I shall have to grab Nationhood next to open up everything else.

Speaking of such things, I just offered open borders to Elizabeth, and in return she is allowing me to trade Nationhood. I take it, giving up Chemistry in return.

I also lumbered up to Genghis’ last city and found it better protected than I previously thought, with gunpowder units. At the same time, Isabella declared war on Saladin. Not really having the military left over to take Genghis’ city, I offer peace and switch to building up for an eventual Saladin invasion. This lessons my war weariness, and gives me time to rebuild units that I lost taking the last two cities. I am also going to whip out a few more settlers and fill out my last two city sites.

1730: Physics is finally done! Since no one will trade me Replaceable Parts right now, and I need it to lock all kinds of other tech I’ve skipped, it’s next, in five turns. I’ll likely take a detour to Military Tradition after this one is done, so I have some cavalry for my next war.

The Great Scientist heads over to San Francisco to become a super specialist.

1735: Washington produces a Great Artist. Wanting to speed up the reacquisition of tiles, I send him to Karak to do another culture bomb.

I’m alarmed to see that Bismark is catching up to me in score! He recently took Baghdad from Saladin; I had better go to war soon, or there won’t be any Saladin left to take. Sadly, I’m not prepared for one.

1740: Bumped my tech up to 80%. Surplus gold went from 75 to 16.

1745: Founded Portland, between my capital and the two cities to the southwest. Finally all of my cities are connected under a single cultural border. With some resources around it already worked, it should grow quickly. It is lacking, however, in production.

1750: Replaceable Parts is done. Starting research on Military Tradition, for the cavalry. Next will likely be Biology, for the farm boost, allowing me to build a few needed farms and upping population in some of my cities.

1775: Military Tradition researched, and immediately traded for Constitution with Isabella. Bismark asks me to go to war with Saladin, and I go ahead and go for it, even though my invasion force isn’t quite ready. I think I’m the only one *not* fighting Saladin right now, aside from Egypt.

I start research on Biology. I really want that extra farm production, to fill out a few of my production cities.

1780: St. Louis is founded in my last city site. It turns out, there’s oil down there too, so that’s nice. A worker is already there, ready to start working the tiles. For the first time in a long time, because of the maintenance costs, I’m back down to breaking even on gold, with 80% tech.

1785: The Forbidden Palace finishes in Karakorum, netting me 17 gold from last turn. Continuing the push for culture here, I start construction on the Hermitage, hoping to push back the borders of Genghis’ last city.

Unfortunately, my friend Isabella managed to capture Saladin’s city that bordered my civ before I could get there to try to grab it. This could set me up surrounded by friends, forcing me to make some difficult choices. Since I know both Isabella and Bismark are trying to kill Saladin, I continue toward the capital, hoping to sneak in and grab it before they do.

1804: Discovered Biology. With the impending doom of Saladin at hand via Bismark (and me standing nearby hoping to slip in and steal the city), my attention will turn to the last city of Genghis’. After that, everyone left on the board really likes me, and so I will switch to working toward the Space Race taking advantage of the lead I have.

I think.

Therefore, continuing in the tech tree where I have an advantage, I start up Electricity.

In other news, I managed to grab Mecca and finish off Saladin’s capital after Bismark weakened the defenses! Saladin now dead, my units head back over to Genghis. I bet he’s feeling mighty nervous right now!

1806: Hatshepsut is not liking me as much as she used to, down to merely cautious. Since she is a full 1000 points behind me, I give her the Scientific Method and all of a sudden she loves me.

1808: Wow—Mecca looks to be tough to hold, and may not be worth it. I don’t want Bismark to have it, since he’s advanced militarily. I think I may give it to Hatshepsut. I have 6 turns of rioting to think about it…

1810: yep. I’ve decided I will give it away to Hap. One turn after it stops rioting, I’ll pull the troops out and hand it over. She will love me forever.

She better.

1820: Electricity discovered. Windmills everywhere rejoice. Medicine is next… I want to switch to the Environmentalist civic to get rid of unhealthiness in my capital- which is at max size. Soon it is going to be a specialist monster.

Also, I’m writing this as I play, and so it should have been obvious by now that sometimes I think about doing something, only to switch and do another thing later. This is one of those times. Mecca I’m going to keep. I’ll gift it to Hap if I need to later to keep her happy. Otherwise, no reason to give it. Instead, I’m going to use it and Korak as a cultural squeeze of Isabella in the middle, and perhaps grab that city in that manner. We’ll see how it goes.

1828: Another great artist is born. I send him off to Mecca to secure it’s boundaries a little better, and to begin the fight for the Spanish city between it and my own civilization… Medina.

1832: Medicine researched, and environmentalism is in my grasp! This is the first game I’ve played where I actually wanted this—the extra health will allow my now population 25 city capital to stay healthy. I’ve never in a game had a city get to this level… I wonder if there is a max? Every new citizen at this point becomes a specialist.

Still stuck on slavery, I decide it’s finally time to research democracy and give my slaves some hope.

1840: Yay, a great engineer! I quickly use him in Philly to finish Broadway.

1842: Democracy has been researched, and I will now switch to Emancipation civic, and likely stay this way for the rest of the game. I’m already ahead in tech, but with huge holes in the industrial era. Interestingly, I have found that I can get to the Internet in just seven more techs if I beeline, with only one of those techs taking more than 10 turns. The thought of doing this excites me, so I’m going to give it a shot. If I can get the Internet finished up, Everything else I’m missing will fall into place thanks to my friendly neighborhood civs.

Now I have Broadway, and I immediately regret it. If I had stopped and thought for just a minute, I would have sent the engineer to San Fran and finished up Wall Street for a bonus I could use much better. Oh well—next up is the Statue of Liberty.

1844: It’s time, Genghis must die. I declare war, and move in from two sides toward his last city with 16 units. I can see the city now, and see that it’s 7 units. As I have several catapults, this seems doable. Genghis panics as I take out his copper in the first turn.

1850: Genghis is dead, with units to spare. And now, this is where I come to the point of decision: do I go for dominion or space race? If dominion, the next to kill would be Isabella, who certainly has a sizeable military, but a large production disadvantage.

Or, I can turn completely peaceful and keep working on my infrastructure, and preparing several cities to produce the spaceship.

I prefer the latter.

1856: Adopt Universal suffrage to help out production in my capital. Going to try to get the Great University there now, since it is available again after I destroyed Genghis.

1858: Radio discovered, and I’m now in the modern era. Still pushing toward the Internet, computers is up next, in 9 turns.

I’m now far, far ahead of my neighbors in tech, but I’m depending on my friendly relations to keep me alive. My military is fairly extensive, but I’ve skipped nearly all the military techs to move ahead of the others. Once I get the Internet (if my plan works) most of those missing techs will be filled in, but until then I lay low and hope I’m not noticed. Of course, with an 1100 point difference in score from my nearest competitor, I’m sure I’m being noticed.

This turn, Toledo finally turned to my side. Since it is completely useless in its spot, I disbanded it.

At this point, because my DARs are so long and so late, I am assuming that no one is reading them. Since it takes a lot of time to add pics and to redo the links to my previous DARs, I'm simply not going to. Instead, I'm going to finish my game .

If someone wants more information about my specific game, you are welcome to reply and let me know, and I'll fill you in. In the meantime, with the lead in tech and score, I expect to win this one in the modern area, by about 1950.

I'm not signing off-- I'll still do the next DAR. I've found that even without anyone reading them, by typing these out I am analyzing my positions much better than I did before I did this, so there is clear value to this process for me.

[rrs_racer]

I'm going to zip through this fairly quickly, as it's not all that interesting - finishing this game was a bit of a chore once I'd got into a decisive position.

DAR6 - Industrial era (1655-1836)

1655 - We entered the industrial era with the discovery of Scientific Method.
1660 - Kong Miao built with a GP from Washington.
Currently spreading Christianity through Germany - possibly a bit late to get them to convert but it helps with money anyway.
1685 - Steam Power discovered - Biology taken (6 turns)
1710 - Biology discovered - Steel taken (5)
1735 - Great Artist produces Great Work in Karakorum - Steel discovered - Railroad taken for Assembly Line later on
1740 - Population is now over 20 million.
1755 - Railroad taken, Assembly Line next.
1770 - Great Merchant in Washington.
1785 - Trade mission to Munich yields 1900 gold, which rush-builds the Statue of Liberty.
1790 - Assembly Line -> Physics.
1802 - Physics -> Medicine.
1810 - zzzzzzzzzz
1812 - Medicine -> Electricity
1822 - Electricity -> Artillery
Kremlin built - we're now at least 3 techs ahead of everyone.
1828 - Artillery -> Rocketry.
1834 - Pentagon completes.
1836 - Rocketry -> Combustion. Discovery of Rocketry and we're in the Modern Era.

Not very exciting all told. Modern Era is likely to be similar.

[Thrar]

DAR1
DAR3
DAR4
DAR5
DAR7


1806AD: Change in plans: We'll go after Germany first, then Saladin later. The advantage is that we have a common border, and they have two colonies in 'our' territory. The disadvantage is just the same thing. A large amount of troops goes to San Francisco, some reinforcements to Chinook and Seattle, bordering their colonies.
In 4 turns the troops arrive at their destinations, but we'll need more cannons. ETA for war: 8-10 turns. They have machine guns already.

1810AD: Bismarck comes calling, demands fur. Ok, I give in, for a couple of turns. Better than getting into a war without being well prepared. Some more missionaries fail to do their job.

1826AD: Time for war! Preparations are finished, both colonies can be attacked in 1 turn with a mix of cannons, rifles, grenadiers, and cavalry. Barcelona right next to San Francisco's borders should fall this turn. War is declared!
4 cannons bombard Barcelona to 8%, then I lose 3 grenadiers in a very lousy fight against 2 rifles. After that, the Holy City of Judaism is mine.

1828AD: made the most stupid mistake I could make: I forgot to reinforce Barcelona. That lonely grenadier goes down to a cavalry, then my cannons follow.
Barcelona becomes a death trap for 10 german cavalries, slaughtered by rifles and cavalry. 1 loss, 10 kills. Not so bad after all...
8 more enemy cavalry coming in, this could be come a little bit ugly. Deadly, so to say, for my injured cavs.
Both colonies are getting bombed down, but not yet ready for assault. I could ask Genghis to join the fun I guess, but then he'll take a big bite out of Germany, and leave nothing to me, I'm afraid.

1830AD: lose Barcelona again, as expected.
Capture Essen in the south, losing 2 cannon and a cavalry to a machine gun and 3 rifles.
Capture Frankfurt in the west, losing 1 grenadier and a cannon against 4 rifles.
Barcelona is now defended by a machine gun. I'm running low on troops in this area, too, so no chance to pick off the wounded. Leaving my cannons exposed really hurt.
Finally a missionary manages to convert Karakorum. All of Mongolia now has Islam. So let's see...you don't want to convert? What if I give you money? No? Ok, here's the deal: Astronomy for 220g, Conversion, and you adopt Bureaucracy so we get along a bit better. Ok? Deal!

IBT - lose a grenadier and a cavalry on defense in SF. Kill a cavalry.

1832AD:
kill 3 cavalries on my territory. Culture up to 50% (!) to shut down WW. All available troops move to SF, but there might be peace before they arrive from the west and south.

1842AD: Germans drop 5 cavs and 3 catapults in our territory. It was visible the turn before, so there are 5 cavalries and 2 rifles awaiting them. 1 cavalry retreats against a cannon (!), the rest wins. Pretty good luck here, cavalry vs cavalry was almost even. 2 cannons are left for next turn, one heavily damaged.
Bismarck now has artillery. He accepts talks, but wants me to pay for peace. 400g finally buy me 10 turns to research artillery myself. Physics in 3.

1844AD: Genghis declares on Bismarck! That's the very worst moment. I think I should have waited 1 turn anyway, to kick out his troops and pay less. Not good. Bismarck has a clear tech advantage, but Genghis has a shitload of troops. Will be interesting, but I expect Genghis to make it.
The common border:



1848AD: Genghis' troops are going down to Bismarck's artillery. He is still on the attack, though.

1850AD: Probably I was wrong. The Mongols capture a city in northern Germany. And I can't declare!!!

1862AD: Artillery! Upgrades from cannon...175g a piece! I'll have to run 0% research for a while, then go for Steam Power. The 10 turns of peace are almost over, and Genghis hasn't made any significant progress, other than reducing the forces of Bismarck. Perfect.
Oh, I haven't mentioned it in a while: nobody trades with me.
I rush the FP in SF, could have done that a while ago I guess.

1864AD: Peace runs out. 3 artillery ready, 3 more upgraded just now. Next turn I think I'll go to war again.

1866AD:
Preparations: I take a look at the power graph: Over the last 10 turns, both Genghis and Bismarck have lost about 1/4 of their power. I'm 5th in soldiers, ahead only of Isabella who was reduced to OCC by Genghis earlier. However, I'm only slightly below average, and those two are still occupying each other.
Barcelona is defended only by two artilleries. I have more than 20 cavalries and 6 artilleries ready to strike. Also 10 or so cannons and a few rifles and grenadiers. Should be a cakewalk, since artillery doesn't get defensive bonuses.
War is declared! WW comes back instantly, we'll need some culture investment. I'll worry about that later.
Looks like cavalry really only gets a bonus vs cannons, not against artillery. Ok, that's what I have city raider artillery for. Theirs are unpromoted.
Two easy battles later, Barcelona is mine again!!! This time, no more stupid mistakes! I leave 15 or so cavalries in Barcelona, with a rifleman, 2 artilleries and 2 grenadiers. That'll be enough!
Luxury up to 30% is enough to make everyone everywhere happy. Fine, we'll do that.

IBT - no counterattack. None at all.

1868AD: troops are rolling towards Munich - München. There are at least 3 artilleries which could strike at me next turn. I have a medic with me, and can promote another if necessary. 6 artillery, 15-20 cavalry, 2 rifles, and a grenadier on attack. Only 3 more cannons left to upgrade, then I can turn on research again.

1870AD: Out of those 3 artilleries, exactly zero strike at me. SOD arrives at the gates of Munich. Defenses: 2 SAM, 1 rifleman. 2 more SAMs and 3 artillery running around close by.
2 more cannons get upgraded, that leaves one. Turn culture down to 20% and research back up to 50%. +111, that'll be enough to upgrade that last one.

1872AD: Saladin finishes both Pentagon and Broadway. Yummy. No attacks from Bismarck, as usual. Munich is now defended by 2 SAM, 1 artillery and 1 rifleman. One of the SAM is city defense II, so I send a CR II artillery in, chances at 30%. It dies, but injures that annoying defender to about 2/3 health. SAM count as gunpowder, so I get some pinch cavalry to take care of them. The artillery gets destroyed flawlessly by another cavalry with bonus against siege units, and Munich is ours!



A great scientist is born in New York, he'll build an academy in W.

1876AD: Lizzie completed the Apollo Program. Not good, I might have to pay her a visit some day.

1882AD: Our troops conquer Hamburg. Nothing bad happened.

1884AD: Genghis' troops raze what I wanted to conquer next; Stuttgart in the southeast. Interestingly, Hatty (of all people!) has a settler in the area. I think she'll get the spot, but I'll build a settler anyway, might be useful later.
The American troops get sent to Cologne, and Berlin. Both should fall in 3 or 4 turns, unless the mongol hordes are faster.

1886AD: Hatty grabbed the open spot indeed. Bonus for extra bad location.



1888AD: Lizzie completes the first 2 SS casings.

1890AD: Lizzie builds another casing. An artillery attacks a small stack of mine near Berlin.
Berlin's defenses get bombed down, 3 city raider artilleries soften up the defense (1 retreat, 1 win, 1 loss), then the cavalry walks in, along with the rest of the artillery. Berlin is ours!
Shortly after, Cologne has to face the same fate. Bismarck is driven off the main continent! Let's see...peace. He offers Philosophy, WM and 100g. No chance for the more expensive techs, so I take it. One of his 3 cities is on an iceberg, the other two on 2-tile islands. He's done.
Now - what do we do with our troops...?



The power graph suggests that Genghis is only slightly ahead of me in power now - his navy appears to be strong, but on land the best he has are artillery and machine guns, with cavalries on the attack. Visible to me (military advisor): 17 artillery, 17 machine gun, 22 rifles, 27 cavalry. Against that I can offer 24 artillery, 23 cavalry, and a few rifles. Tech-wise: he has railroad (3 turns left for me) and combustion apparently, rest is equal.
Build some railroads, in the meantime military buildup, in 20 turns at most I could be ready for war. It would be a good idea to attack while we're on tech parity, maybe later we're not. The downside is that he's my best friend.
Strategic considerations: I can't trade techs with anyone but Lizzie. I'm wondering if I have done anything to the civs on our continent which stops them from trading, and Lizzie didn't notice because I got contact later. Anyway, this means that I basically have to research everything on my own, since Lizzie is ahead every tech I can research. For that, I need cities. Many cities. Now I'm at 20, some of them germans still in resistance. One more fits in into what was Germany.



1896AD: Railroads! The route Washington-Boston is completed instantly, some more are started. Next tech would be Assembly Line, but I need lots more prerequisites. So those are next.^

1904AD: What a surprise! Hello Lizzie! Cologne comes out of resistance, next turn Hamburg, then Berlin.



1916AD: Genghis declares war on Saladin! He should win this, and relatively fast too, but he'll move his forces to his northern territory, leaving Western Mongolia with its 3 cities and Madrid in the southeast without much guard. This might be helpful later...
3 turns left to Assembly Line, then 3 or 4 turns of upgrades, and we could roll again.
Ok Genghis...you have money, I don't. You don't have Constitution. I give you some insight into that, if you could cover my expenses with your 810 gold. Ah right, and we all want to be islamic, don't we? That's nice of you. Maybe adopt Bureaucracy, makes you less dangerous? Good boy!

1920AD: Damascus has fallen. 3 cities left for Saladin. Our forces are going in position; Assembly Line due next turn.
Hatty askes for open borders, which I accept. We need more missionaries.

1922AD: Lizzie completes the Eiffel Tower. Genghis' and my power graphs almost touch (Screenshot didn't work). War on my best friend is declared!
Losing 1 artillery, we capture Tiflis in Western Mongolia. I don't have many units around to defend it, it might fall if he makes an attack.
With the loss of 1 infantry, Yue-Chi in Mongolia (main part) falls.
Troops move to Tabriz (west) and Madrid.
I'm already running out of upgrade-worthy rifles (all far away from battle), having 21 infantry. Research goes back up to 80%, for Electricity in 6.

IBT - counter from Genghis. A worker team was captured, and some troop movement. No damage. Hatty also completes Apollo Program.

1923AD: 2 city raider III artilleries and a city raider II infantry (! upgraded from maceman) along with some weaklings capture Madrid. Lose 1 weakling artillery. Stupid river.
Tabriz in the west falls without losses to CR II artillery.

IBT - lose 1 infantry to an artillery. Another worker team gets captured somewhere, and some troop movement. Negligible losses.

1924AD: some kills, no captures.

1925AD: Genghis is kinda gone. Saladin is marching into his own territory, although Damascus is not yet recaptured. Our forces gather at Sarmatian, the last western city, and Ning-Hsia, the westernmost city of his main territory. Both should fall next turn.

1926AD: Saladin offers open borders. Ok, why not. A bunch of city raider artillery captures Sarmatian. Western Mongolia now belongs to America. More city raiders and some infantry capture Ning-Hsia.
Our situation:



IBT - the counterattack is void. A plantation gets pillaged.

1927AD: Quiet turn. A small task force (4 artillery, 1 cavalry) rolls towards Otrar in NE Mongolia. Defended only by 2 artillery.

1928AD: the task force got counterattacked. No losses, but some injuries. Otrar will stay in mongol hands for another turn. The main army made up of tons of artillery, 4 infantry and some supply cavalry (scout, medic) moves towards Karakorum.

1929AD: reinforced, that task force captures and razes Otrar. A settler stationed in Berlin founds L.A. nearby. The army is at the gates of Karakorum. There's a river, but that shouldn't be much of a problem.

[b]1930AD: losing a single artillery (CR III), Karakorum is ours! Some left over troops (10 or so artillery with a few infantry and cav) move on to Damascus, which is still mongol. There are quite a few troops in there, 5 cavalries and 3 artillery.

IBT - some troops from Damascus attack Karakorum and around.

1931AD: Damascus is captured. No losses. That capture opens up a nice railway corridor through Saladin's territory, which allows instant capture of Samarqand!



1933AD: Capture Turfan, Holy City to Confucianism and Taoism. Lose 1 artillery. A peace treaty would give Liberalism, but none of the more recent techs. It's not so important, and we have no time to lose if we want to get to Domination before Lizzie builds the spaceship!
Beshbalik, the last known Mongol city, should fall next turn.

1934AD: As expected, Beshbalik falls, and Genghis is eliminated.

1936AD: Industrialisation is finished! All over the continent, cities start building tanks, as a special gift for Saladin.
From now on, the game should be kind of over. Speed is still a concern, thanks to Lizzie's spaceship plans, but taking Saladin's cities and a chunk of Hatty should be doable in time. Currently at 48.71% land area, but some mongol cities are still in resistance. I expect 55-60% when Mongolia is assimilated.

1938AD: We sacrifice a great prophet and a newly born great scientist for a golden age. More than 2400 beakers/turn now, that's at a -211 deficit though. Several cities produce tanks in 1 or 2 turns.

[Thrar]

1943AD: Saladin doesn't have Liberalism! That's 450 gold more for us... Now that we've done that:
Military check on Saladin: we see (in all of his cities) 3 cavalry, 2 tanks and a ton of defender units. We have about 15 tanks ready for invasion, along with some 20 artillery. Go!

IBT - Saladin sacrifices a ton of infantry on our incoming tanks.

1944AD: For some weird reason I don't have oil any more. It used to come from a well built by the mongols - our glorious americans don't know Combustion themselves... ^_^
Ask Lizzie, she provides it for Uranium, Corn, and Stone. Steep price. Now I see...for some reason, the well has disappeared. Sux.

1945AD: Killed off an 8-unit naval invasion from Saladin. 1 Tank, 3 marines, infantry and cavalry. Not bad. As a result, however, his cities are now quite empty. Two out of three should fall next turn.



1946AD: Both cities captured as planned.

1947AD: Combustion is researched. We'll soon get our own oil. Finally revolt to State Property, I expect a huge drop in maintenance cost.

1949AD: Arabia is no more.
We'll need a chunk of Hatty for Domination, though. We have LOS in all her cities but one, and see 2 tanks, 17 artillery, 25 SAM infantry, 16 infantry, and some minor stuff. We have 27 tanks, 22 artillery by now.
Some regrouping and healing would be useful. However, there is one reason to strike right now: Her borders have not yet expanded into formerly arabian territory, so we could take Elephantine next turn, provided that our forces survive the counterattack.



There are 15 artillery ready that could move next to Elephantine NOW. In addition 15 undamaged tanks, up to 3 infantry (while leaving garrisons), and a bunch of cavalry.
My scout cavalry (still from way back when) moves next to the border, allowing me to look across the hills surrounding Elephantine. It is guarded heavily. 7 artillery, 5 SAM, 1 infantry, a ton of cavalry, and more that I can't see. If we declare now, we can fight on her soil. Otherwise, it will be on ours. War!
Troops move, there are now 14 tanks and 16 artillery threatening Elephantine. Only combat action is the killing of a SAM near Giza in our backyard.

IBT - our 3 stacks near Elephantine have been completely obliterated, mostly by artillery. Slight losses on Hatty's side only.

1950AD: Giza in the south is captured. Some troop movements, to hopefully avoid any city losses after that offensive disaster. A Great Artist was born, who will join two other great guys I still have sitting around for another Golden Age. Mass Tank production!
sidenote: even without the GA Washington builds 10XP tanks every turn, thanks to West Point and Heroic Epic. Now at 283 hammers!!! Something is giving us +2 experience in all cities, and it's not coming from civics. Any idea?
We just voted for ourselves in the governor election. We have enough votes by far. Land area is at 59.60% after most of Mongolia is culturally settled, for 64% it looks like we need at least 1 egyptian city.

1953AD: Medicine. We prolly should have researched something more useful. :-/

1954AD: hardly any egyptian attacks. We're recovering from our disastrous first attack. However, land area is already at 61.50%, we might not need another city. Some more border expansions are due soon. Get Hit Movies from Lizzie for Spices.

1955AD: First UN vote. We lack 20 votes for Diplo victory, besides, we want to get Domination. I choose Single Currency, for extra income.
We sink a bunch of outdated ships and destroyers. Our navy (4 battleships) is now ruling the western seas. The north is egyptian, rest uncontested.

1956AD: Wow, that's clever! Hatty is using a spy to destroy my oil wells! We're out of oil now actually! Not much of a problem, I just shifted production focus to artillery anyway. We have enough tanks (33, but were down to 4 artillery after the lost attack). 7 battleships, that should easily rule the western ocean. We build a transport, might come in handy. But domination should arrive shortly: 63.08%.

1957AD: Discovery of Flight makes us enter the modern era. Hatty left 5 artillery exposed, easy kills for us.
And: we capture Heliopolis! Lost 2 barrage II tanks, because I didn't want to wait for the artillery.