The Devel's Workshop 1a - Beyond the Veil (After the Slingshot)

[Hermann the Lombard]

Headline: "Tech Trade Time!" America needs Meditation, Pottery & Writing, and has Hunting, Masonry & Animal Husbandry...but won't trade. Humph. Spain gives Hunting & Masonry for Pottery & Writing. India gives Polytheism for Writing. Not bad.

1110 BC - Barb archer crosses border NE Rome.

1100 BC - Isabella declares on Gandhi. Spain trades Archery for Code of Laws. America trades Animal Husbandry for Meditation & Polytheism (highway robbery, but there are Horses NE of Antium!) Switch Rome to Archer and pop rush.

1090 BC - Completed 1st Archer in Rome, awarded City Garrison I.

1080 BC - Barb archer pillages mine. Boo, hiss! Dangle bait: 1st Archer.

1070 BC - Barb ignores bait and pillages road.

1060 BC - 1st Archer defeats attacking Barb Archer and earns City Garrison II.

1040 BC - Cumae gets farm.

1010 BC - 2nd Archer. Let's look at Vel's list of 1040 BC: like Vel we have Alphabet & tech trading. Unlike Vel, our religion has spread to all our cities, plus Madrid, and we have founded a coastal city. Unlike Vel we have neither IW nor a source of iron, more importantly we don't yet have copper!

990 BC - We have our first (cow) pasture. Now we can make cow pies.

980 BC - Iron Working, start Math.

960 BC - Start horse pasture.

930 BC - Finish Monastery in Rome, start Temple while growing to Pop 6. Assign Priest in Antium toward eventual GP.

900 BC - We have Horses...and the road to Bronze is done.

890 BC - Cumae and Rome grow. Start chop for Cumae. Pop rush for Rome.

880 BC - Temple in Rome, start Chariot (and plan another Settler once it grows).

870 BC - Spain and India now at peace.

850 BC - Replaced pillaged road and refused Gandhi's demand for Alphabet.

840 BC - Antium finishes Granary, starts Worker.

820 BC - Rome's first Chariot (with Flanking I)! Start Settler. Cumae grows, gets chop.

810 BC - Math, start Currency.

800 BC - Start mines for Copper and Iron.

790 BC - Looking at Vel's goals, we're ahead on Horses (and have a chariot in our army) but behind on Copper and Iron. We do have a couple of archers.

740 BC - We meet Isabella's demand and cancel trade with Gandhi, ostensibly because we're conscious of lacking copper & iron.

730 BC - The iron mine opens.

670 BC - Settler in Rome, start another.

660 BC - Barb Archer approaching from the SW, so 1st Archer fortifies in woods behind river.

650 BC - 1st Archer wins. Bronze mine opens. Gold road opens.

640 BC - Neapolis founded for marble and sheep. Will have lots of production limited by lack of food. Antium finishes Worker, starts another.

630 BC - CoL to India for Monotheism.

570 BC - Currency, start Sailing (for coastal trade). Road to Neapolis completed.

[Hermann the Lombard]

Looking at potential city sites: 1) East Coast for Marble, Rice & Fish, 2) Take Shangian for Ivory, 3) NE Tundra for Fish & Iron,

[Hermann the Lombard]

4) Southern jungle for Corn, Cow & 2 Dye. There is pressure for sites from both barbs and the AI civs.

[Hermann the Lombard]

Number 1 is the best and we can (reluctantly) wait for a border bump to pick up the Iron. I half-way wonder now why I didn't put Neapolis on the coast east of the actual location to get Iron, Wheat & Sheep: more food and faster Iron, but less production.

Meanwhile, I seem to be trailing Vel esp. in military where he has Axemen and is training Praetorians while I have Archers and a Chariot. My goals include Vel's and I actually have completed 6 of Vel's 12, which is one more than Vel. My remaining goals are:

2) Great Prophet in Antium for Kong Mio
3) Religion to all controlled cities (I'm only missing brand-new Neapolis but I also have Madrid)
4) Upgrade 3 warriors to axemen. (I have zero.)
6) Train at least two Praetorians. (Zero)
7) Convert to Confucianism & Org.Religion after Mono.
10) Open the Marble quarry (needs border bump, road, and quarry)
11) Open the Stone quarry (planned for City #5)

13) NEW: Build 5th City on east coast for Stone, Rice & Fish
14) Build Great Library
15) Get Sailing for coastal trade (only Roosevelt has it and he won't trade it).

530 BC - I'll have Sailing in one turn and Isabella offers Sailing & 140 gp for Iron Working. I need cash for upgrades, but I give them 10gp instead to go away. Completed Settler, 1st Praetorian.

520 BC - Sailing, start Literature. Goal #15 completed. Now we have trade routes with Spain & India but that produced no change in Rome's +1gp trade routes. Need 145gp to upgrade a warrior, I have 44. Slash research to 0%/+35gpt for 3 turns? No, changed my mind and pedalled IW to Spain for 150gp and to America for 200gp. Gandhi must already have it and I won't sell Alphabet when I'm the only one who has it. Now 394gp, enough to upgrade two Warriors, so restore research to 70%/+5gpt. Looks like building a 5th city would be a mistake.

[Hermann the Lombard]

510 BC - Well, I went ahead anyway: Pisae built on grass for Rice, Stone, Fish & coast. Finished 1st chop for Neapolis Lib.

490 BC - Promoted Warrior 6 with Combat I to Axeman. Completed road to Pisae.

480 BC - Promoted Woody II to Axeman, started rice farm, research still 70% but now +9gpt. Barb archer approaching SW.

470 BC - 2nd chop for Neapolis, Lib in 6t.

460 BC - Worker in Antium, now decide between Prae in 12t and Barracks in 25t. Went with the untrained Praetorian. Eyeing barb cities: Shangian has Ivory (will be 3 Ivory), but acts as buffer against the AI. SW city is coastal and will have Cows and 3 Silk.

450 BC - Started irrigating a farm for Antium, started sheep road for Neap in expectation of border bump...but marble will have a higher priority.

430 BC - First Praetorian (granted City Raider I)! Started another. Will take 7t but Literature in 4t (and potential start of Great Lib), still finish Prae first.

420 BC - Completed sheep road, start marble road.

410 BC - Neapolis finished Lib, started Granary as food would be tight. [NOTE trade routes to Spain in place so trade income has doubled.] Antium borders grow all the way to the coast and to the diagonal corner of barb territory.

400 BC - Denied Gandhi's demand to cancel deals w/Spain. He had 2 clams and I had 5 tradeable resources...but only 1 of each. Note that Gandhi has Iron. Gave him 10gp to go away, and he implied "or else!" There will come a reckoning. Finished rice farm, now link it by road.

390 BC – Literature, start Music though tempted by Calendar. Barb archer appears from Shangian; Woody II moves to oppose.

380 BC – Barb archer foolishly attacks Axeman Woody II in forest, KIA.

370 BC – Rice-a-Roadi complete, move to start Stone Road.

360 BC – Rome grows to pop 7 and finishes 2nd Praetorian, start Great Library. Conf spreads to Neapolis so once again one city behind. Still have 4 of my cities and 1 Spanish, so goal is effectively complete. Praetorian Secundus gets Woody I.

350 BC – Rome’s border grows joining Pisae and bringing Stone inside the border. The Marble Road is complete but the necessary border bump is 6 turns away. Rats.

340 BC – Praetorian Tertius finished in Antium, start Barracks…and GP in 45t. Planning to send all three Prae toward Southwest Barbs.

330 BC – We have Stone! Prep chop for Pisae Lib. 3 Prae + 1 Warrior start toward Southwest Barbs.

300 BC – Accept Open Borders with India (which may piss off the Spanish). Presently all three AIs are “Pleased.” That will change. Upgrade Warrior 3 to Axe (with Prae). Irrigated river farm for Antium.

[Hermann the Lombard]

290 BC – Neap borders grow bringing in Marble and Sheep. 2 Workers need 1 turn for hill mine and solo worker can move to the Sheep, so start the pasture. There is a single barb archer in the jungle next to the Army of the Southwest, should I see if he’ll attack? No, attack now because he might retreat to the jungle hill. Praetorian Primus gets the kill and is now 5.6/8 and ready for promotion.

280 BC – Primus gets City Raider II and will heal in 2t. Secundus and Tertius move to the jungle hill above Etruscan (how appropriate for Romans!). City has only 2 archers and 1 worker, but it is on a hill. Finish hill mine, start marble quarry. Chop for Pisae Lib. Keep remaining forests (one for Pisae, one for barb defense 2 SW of Pisae).

270 BC – Start Stone Quarry (forgot to last turn).

260 BC – Cumae Library, start Galley. Whole Army of the SW is overlooking Etruscan. Woody II moves to defensive forest to confront barb archer.

250 BC – Barb archer foolishly attacks and dies, taking Woody II down to 2.6/5. Now we’re poised to assault Etruscan.

[Hermann the Lombard]

Army of the SW assaults Etruscan, leading with Primus (City Raider II). Primus wins but has only 0.3/8 left. Yikes! Send Axeman in next expecting to lose, but then expecting to promote Secundus. This worked as planned. Captured and kept Etruscan but renamed to Etruria, and also captured the worker. Will start a Library and will start a road leading to Rome. (Where else?)

Now shop Alphabet around as I think the AI will soon research it. India gives 150, Spain 60 and America 80 (not much but all each of them had). Now 519 in the treasury and still 2+ techs ahead. All the AIs are pleased again. We’ll have Music in 19t @80% and -2gpt; Vel got Music this turn. We now have 6 cities, 5 built and 1 by conquest. Army=3 Prae, 2 Axe, 4 Warr, 1 Chariot, 2 Archer, 6 workers.

Goal Status:

2) Kong Mio: expecting Great Prophet in 36 turns.
3) Religion: in all but one city, as is customary.
4) Promoted to Axemen. DONE
6) Built Praetorians DONE
7) Could convert now as I think we’re done with tech trading for a while; DONE.
10) Marble Quarry: due in 6 turns.
11) Stone Quarry: DONE
13) Build 5th city on the east coast: DONE
14) Build Great Library: in progress awaiting marble and chops
15) Establish coastal trade: DONE and doubled my trade revenue

16) NEW Research Music expecting Great Artist
17) NEW Get galleys in the water
18) NEW Build 2 Caravels to circumnavigate and to meet the other AI civs.

I stole that last from Vel as I never think to build the two ships to meet each other! Now I will!

STATUS: GNP 1st (40/36, a tight race) Vel had 72! This may be because he didn’t have the maintenance burden of 6 cities, but only 4. Mfg 2nd (34/36 & gaining). Vel was 6th (27/48) so I’m +7 hammers, likely ALSO because of 6 cities, or maybe I’m just emphasizing hammers more than commerce. Food 5th (47/80), similar to Vel. Pop 5th (314/556) vs Vel’s 409/576. Are my totals lower because of building an extra settler and doing more pop rushing? Land 1st (122/100) so I have a 20% lead; Vel had 99/111 and 3rd place, so I’m doing better there if it matters. Seems OK overall.

[Hermann the Lombard]

240 BC – Barb galley appears in the north. Secundus gets Woodsman II and will do some armed recon in the jungle. Primus needs 7 turns to heal. Ouch.

230 BC – Woody II (Axe) starts 3t healing.

220 BC – Slow the work on the GL in order to work a cottage (now 55t and city will grow in 8t). Antium working a hybrid mix with tiles of 4/2/0+3/0/1+2/1/1 (city) with 1 Priest and growth in 5t. Has tiles of 1/3/1 and 2/0/4 (hamlet) available. Once city grows drop the 3/0/1 and work both of those tiles. Cumae needs to grow (80t, Galley in 17t) working 2/1/1 (city) 3/0/1, 2/0/1 and two 1/2/0. Neapolis will get granary before growth (8/10 t). Pisae growing rapidly (+3, 15t) and will then use the stone quarry to finish the library.

200 BC – Secundus finds Seattle, a coastal city that will have an iron mine and a cow pasture.

190 BC – Marble Quarry comes online to help build the Great Library, now send 2 workers back to chop as presently GL in 30t. We should also have a Great Prophet in 30t.

170 BC – Workers ready to start 2 chops for GL. Sheep pasture done. OOPS! Neapolis would grow *before* granary, so juggle tiles a bit. [I forgot that I could just click “No Growth.”] Secundus does recon of Shangian finding 2 archers…an easy target but lousy for the economy. We would pick up an Ivory immediately with 2 more Ivory and 1 Banana later, but city has little commerce and would grow slowly.

160 BC – Gandhi demands canceling deals with Spain, we refuse. Gandhi has clams and gems available but I have 1 each of 7 resources, and no trade surpluses. We’ll have 3 more resources after researching Calendar: Incense x 2, Sugar x 3, and Spices, plus 3 Wine after Monarchy.

150 BC – Neapolis Granary, start Archer. Stone Quarry ready at Pisae. Could prep for hunting camp for Ivory 2 tiles west of Shangian, but workers would be too vulnerable that close to Shangian.

140 BC – Start cottage on flood plain for Rome.

130 BC – Great Library in 20t, Great Prophet in 25t.

110 BC – Shangian captured by America, forestalling Rome and putting themselves right on my border.

90 BC – 2 Chops at Rome leave GL in 2t (GP in 21t). In tech, we lead with Lit, CS & Curr over all AIs. Spain won’t trade Philo, and America won’t trade Calendar (and we have Mono & CoL on them, not just CS).

80 BC – Hoping that a forest will grow near Rome do I can chop again.

70 BC – Music! Now what: Calendar or Compass? The first is good for resources, the second for overseas contacts. Go for Contacts and Compasses. Completed Great Library and a Great Artist is born. The GA could grant Drama but hold him in reserve for now. Start Confucian Missionary (CMiss) for intel value. Rome now has 72 beakers. An American jungle city crowds my southern border.

20 BC – Isabella demands 170 gp, we tell her to stuff it. Rome builds CMiss, starts Prae. Belatedly start a revolt to Org. Religion to get the 25% discount. Big mistake to overlook this for so long.

[Hermann the Lombard]

1 AD - Spain has Archer/Spear/Settler team on my border near Pisae. I don't see anything REALLY unpleasant that she can do with it. CMiss finds Sword in Shangian and Archer adjacent. Could send CMiss on deep recon but instead of risking barbs and delay, spread Conf to Shang.

5 AD - Spanish settler team heads south past Shang. We are reportedly the most cultured civ, followed by Isabella, with Gandhi #4, and Roosevelt dead last. Antium Barracks, start Archer for garrison. Rush a second galley in Cumae. Promote 2 warriors to axe, leaving two unpromoted warriors in the north.

10 AD - Gandhi offers Calendar + 80gp for Currency. I'll take it to get plantations, then shop it around: 60 from Spain, 130 from America. [Spain has--and won't trade--Philo.]

25 AD - Etruria Lib (rushed), start Granary. Rome Prae (City Raider I), start Market.

30 AD - Start first plantation, for Incense.

35 AD - Sighting barb galleys off both coasts.

40 AD - Antium Archer, start Lib, GP in 5t.

45 AD - Barb Axe 3 SE Etruria.

50 AD - Barb Axe menaces road builder on cows.

55 AD - Compass...and I want Forges, so start Metal Casting. Pisae Lib (rushed), start Granary. Barb Axe menaces Etruria¡¦s garrison: a lone archer. Prae Quattro hurrying over. Exchanged one Roman galley for one Barb galley; our remaining galley salutes its sunken comrade.

60 AD - Barb Axe did not attack Etruria! Etruria¡¦s border grows but right now I can¡¦t develop the cow pasture. Axe on jungle hill is as powerful as Prae due to 75% defense bonus. Prae joins the Archer defending the city.

65 AD - So *now* the barb attacks Etruria, but defending Archer kills him without damage. Mahavira born in Antium, and we immediately convert the GP into the Kong Miao (as opposed to scoring free Theology). Instant +7gpt. Prae goes halfway back to Rome, able to move either way toward threats. A city allocation decision in Antium: working 4/2/0, 1/3/1, 3/0/1, 2/0/2, 2/0/4 plus 2/1/1 city, so emphasizing growth and commerce, especially by working cottage instead of hill/grass mine. Grow 12t/Lib 35t/19gpt vs Grow 16t/Lib 22t/17gpt. The balance is tipped by the chance to grow the cottage to a hamlet¡Kand in 12t send the new guy to the mine.

70 AD - There's another Barb Galley on the east coast and my galley will likely lose on the attack. I was loafing on research to accumulate gold, now back to 80% at -2gpt, Metal Casting in 15t. Treasury has 651gp.

75 AD - Courthouse in Neapolis, rushed, start Archer. Court eliminated the gpt deficit. Built farm for Cumae, focusing on growth over hammers. Start cottage in tile shared between Rome and Antium. Galley awaits barb attack.

80 AD - By defending our Galley is victorious with 0.3 left ("Bail, boys, bail!"). Second Incense plantation complete, so start a road to make it tradeable.

85 AD - Conf spreads to Boston by itself!

95 AD - One-half million Romans. GNP 1st(61/50/33) [3rd number is the average]; Prod 5th (31/52/33); Food 5th (64/82/67); Army 6th (107/203/142); Pop 3rd (608/691/498), Land 1st (133/119/96). Another barb galley appears, this one south of Etruria.

[Hermann the Lombard]

100 AD - Chop 157h for Rome (now Mkt in 3t). Finished cow pasture road outside Etruria, start the pasture itself. Also start road to the corn 4 south of Rome.

105 AD - Gandhi offers Clams for Incense, but I hold out for Gems (going for Happy in lieu of Healthy). Techs: nobody will trade. America has Monarchy, Spain Philo, India Drama. I have a lead of 3 or 4 techs on each.

110 AD - Cumae Courthouse (rushed), now choose either 3/0/1 or 0/4/0 for Growth/Galley in 17/94t vs 67/19t. Since Lighthouse and Market will do little here, go with hammers. Rome Market, start Archer.

115 AD - Neap Archer, start Conf Monastery (vs Settler).

120 AD - Isabella again demands trade break with India. She ¡s cautious while the others are Pleased. Awkward to fight her because she is beyond American cities (hard for her to reach me, too). Refused, she's now annoyed. Give her a trickle of gold in appeasement (1gpt). An American worker crosses the border next to the corn field.

125 AD - Spanish end Open Borders (may cut coastal trade with India). Give her 20gp.

130 AD - Rome Archer, start Axe. Pisae expands. Cow pasture ready at Etruria, so start a Sugar plantation.

140 AD - Pisae Granary, rushed. City is now +2 unhappy. Roos demands Compass and gets 20gp instead.

145 AD - Metal Casting, start Machinery, finished corn farm.

155 AD - Rome Axe, start Forge; Etruria Granary, start Axe. Start road in prep for 2nd Sugar plantation. Barb Sword threatens our copper mine and will probably loot it. Could oppose with single Axe (at 7.5 vs their 8). Wait for Sword then can attack with 2 Axe. Promoted the last 2 warriors to Axe.

160 AD - Axe makes short work of Barb Sword.

170 AD - Roos offers Monarchy+70gp for Compass; go for it. Road done, start removing jungle from 2nd sugar site. Somebody somewhere just founded Christianity in a distant land.

175 AD - Our loyal Confucians inform us that Madrid has 1 Axe, 3 Archers and a Christian Missionary, so the land wasn't so distant after all. Recon of the Americans shows nothing more potent than Archers.

180 AD - Another Barb Sword threatens the copper mine. I need to station someone up there as a "fog dispeller."

185 AD - Decline Indian request for Metal Casting, gut swap our Cows for their Clams. Start road at the elephant site. Our Axe barely survives the Barb Sword (0.8 this time).

190 AD - Axe receives Shock along with existing Combat I.

195 AD - Barb Sword threatens sheep near Neap; move Axe & Chariot to oppose.

200 AD - Antium Lib, start Chariot as fog dispeller. First Sugar plantation starts operation. Barb now threatens both sheep and horses, so can't just fortify on sheep.

205 AD - Neap CMiss, start Chariot. Barb goes for the horses, probably because those are a strategic resource, but our Axeman wins big, only dropping to 4.2/5. It seems there are *3* foggy spots in the north. We haven't heard from the top center one yet; no doubt we will.

210 AD - Promote Axeman with Combat I since we¡¦re being forced to attack rather than to defend, or forced to defend resources in the open. American settler team (2 spears) is on the border SE of Etruria. We could push the border to claim another sugar. Rush Forge in Rome (1 pop ->157h). Cumae has expended 66 hammers toward a Galley which really isn't needed on this coast, given expectation of war with Spain, so bring it around North Cape (whose sea-based resources will just have to wait since I don't need the maintenance hit of fishing villages).

[Hermann the Lombard]

215 AD – Rome finishes Forge, so now what? I have almost all the available buildings, lacking Walls, Aqueduct & Courthouse…and Conf Academy, but that requires another C Temple somewhere. I could pump units to go trim someone, or I can pump units waiting for Spain to inevitably declare war. I can also take Vel’s route and build Aqueduct when I normally wouldn’t even think of it with +5 health. He had his eye on Hanging Gardens when I’ve had recent games with neither marble nor stone where I had a low probability of completing Wonders. I’ll go with the Aqueduct and see what happens…as two of my health resources come by coastal trade from India (which I’m still getting despite loss of Open Borders with Spain, so the trade is going along the American coast in the south). Start an Ivory camp. Chariot parks to clear NW fog. Start first Winery…which reminds me to belatedly switch to Hereditary Rule to offset my pop rushing. Second sugar plantation operational, but don’t start 3rd since we could lose 2nd and 3rd to expected American city.

220 AD – Anarchy over. Start clearing jungle from Etrurian Hill to get some hammers at the cost of giving up the extra defense. Send a pair of workers back toward Rome.

230 AD – Antium Chariot, start Forge.

240 AD – Rome Aqueduct (pop rushed), start Hanging Gardens (rather optimistically). Rome apparently *likes* slavery as they just celebrated consecutive WLTMDs. A barb warrior appears SW of Shangian next to my proto-Ivory camp, so my worker runs away (bravely).

245 AD – Etruria Axe, start Lighthouse. Cumae’s borders grow. Three chariots now in place to dispel barbarian hiding places: Fogcutters I, II, and III. Our first fishing boat starts work off Cumae with a long galley guarding it. America builds a town 4 S Etruria so it didn’t push my border back off the 2nd sugar plantation. Barb gone from sight near Shangian; did the Americans kill it? Worker starts back toward the work site while Prae Secundus moves to be in position to cover.

250 AD – Start mine on cleared Etrurian Hill; the city is growing like a weed. Latest Cumae border bump brings Clams inside the border. We’re now importing those from India. A concern is the known barb galley south beyond Etruria. Here’s a short-term goal: send a missionary to Barcelona for early warning & intel. [I didn’t notice the problem with this plan.]

255 AD – Our power is hailed as “Pathetic” vs Fine Roos, Puny Isabella, and Hopeless Gandhi. Plan to produce a Galley in Cumae and then rush another. DO rush in Pisae, don’t rush Lighthouse in Etruria. Want commerce for next new pop, but if we rush then the next pop will use current commerce. We can wait 18t…but meanwhile start a cottage.

260 AD – Machinery, start Optics. Pisae Galley (rushed), start Lighthouse though it will have tiny production for a while).

275 AD – First Winery.

280 AD – Gandhi offers Horseback Riding for Metal Casting; no, or at least not on India’s turn. Roos also has Riding. Isabella won’t trade Philo or Construction. Trade sugar to India for 2gpt. Roos has nothing to offer for corn. Finished Etrurian mine, start a cottage.

285 AD – Isabella switches to Theocracy; so much for the Missionary *and* the border is closed. Humph. I could send the CMiss to Pisae, my only city without Conf, though it has Taoism. Alternatively I could send it to America. Start windmill for Antium. Camp now supplies Ivory, until it gets pillaged.

290 AD – 2nd Winery, start Watermill for Antium. Neap CMiss, start Crossbow. Get 3gpt from Spain for Corn. Start cottage for Pisae.

295 AD – Galley in Cumae, start another (to be followed by a Clam Boat). American settler team (archer & spear) headed north between Rome and Pisae. No damaging sites so let’s let Roos build a fishing village for me.

300 AD – STATUS: GNP 1st (67/59/44), Prod 2nd (45/60!!/41), Food 4th (79/103!/83), Army 5th (142/182/159), Land 1st (149/147/107), Pop 3rd (644/964!/680). So GNP is good but someone is HUGE in Prod & Food & Pop. Still below avg in Food, Army & Pop, just average in Production. Idea: interrupt Galley build in Cumae to spit out the Work Boat; if the barb galley approaches the work boat will hide awaiting the outcome.

[Hermann the Lombard]

305 AD – Colossus built in a galaxy—er, land—far, far away. Missionary investigates San Francisco, south of Rome, finding 2 archers and a worker. Could expend the CMiss or could do more recon. Go deeper as border cities may get religion anyway. [Hoping for HG before war, with HG in 23t and GS in 46t.]

310 AD – Seattle has axe & archer…and now has Conf. to go with Judaism.

315 AD – Conf spreads to Calcutta, almost half a world away and a tiny window on the world. City has Pop 2, Spear, Archer, and no other religion, also undeveloped horses and hasn’t expanded to a reachable whale. Back at home, where DID that American settler team go? Ah, they’re IN Antium (I’m still not used to that sort of cohabitation). Cottage for Etruria, will work the tile after growth in 2t. Antium waiting to rush the forge when it will only cost 1 pop, as I don’t think it can spare 2. Working 2/1/0 city, 4/0/2, 1/3/1, 1/3/0, 2/1/4 (Winery)x2, 2/0/4 village, 2/0/3 hamlet. Slow Cumae’s growth from 13t to 19t to work river cottage instead of river farm. Rush XBow to clear queue for forge in Neap. This may be a mistake due to loss of production until growth in 13t.

320 AD – A jungle has grown near Rome! (Damn. Must have used the wrong pack of seeds.) Odd…the American settler team moved SW from Antium and there is no unclaimed land in that direction. Roos will trade Construction and I’m on the verge of Optics, so I can shop Metal Casting around. Roos wants Music for Construction…and he gave 200gp too. Sent 220gp right back to get him to convert to Confucianism (just to annoy Isabella). So I’ll hang on to Metal Casting since I have little to gain except Horseback Riding. It seems that Isabella lacks Compass (moral or otherwise), but the others have it, so get 210gp from her for it, giving me 556gp for upgrades. Research now 80% at +2gpt with Optics in 5t.

325 AD – Lighthouse in Etruria, start Forge. Finished Windmill for Antium, will build one for Cumae. Americans head NW which makes more sense, but why did they step off the road? Start distant chop for Rome’s HG, reportedly will be +225h.

330 AD – Americans are now in Cumae apparently heading for the single open tile in the NW. That will give access to crabs and will push borders giving 1 plains forest and 1 desert. If they could push twice they’d get my copper and marble. They won’t.

335 AD – More AI weirdness: the settler team moves back SE as if to go for the eastern Wheat. That’s a much better site with grass and freshwater plains. If they got a border bump they would get my sheep and horses. They won’t.

340 AD – Isabella tries to politely demand CS. Forget it, but give her a token 20gp. Americans might be going for my untapped reserve iron. That site also has fish.

345 AD – Optics! Others already have Theology (Christianity) and Philo, so I’ll follow Vel’s lead through Feudalism toward Guilds and Knights. Chop does indeed give +225h to Rome, so now HG in 7t.

350 AD – Isabella declares war on Gandhi, again. Cottage for Pisae, plan Windmill. Just noticed that the Indians have planted a city on the south coast past San Fran, apparently to grab gold. Note: Etruria needs culture after the Forge. I could use a Culture Bomb but that would be such a waste!

Meanwhile…Confucianism spreads to distant Calcutta, giving a Window on the World:

[Hermann the Lombard]

355 AD – Still odd: Americans were in Neap but now head SOUTH. Nothing changed up there. Pisae: Windmill or Mine? On desert that’s 1/1/1 vs 0/3/0 until Mills improve, so go mining.

360 AD – Americans now going SW? I guess they could wrap around back to the extreme NW.

365 AD – One Million Romans. The silly Americans go right back NE…maybe they’re gypsies or a traveling carnival…or spies.

370 AD – Pisae Lighthouse, start Caravel; Antium Forge, start Market. Cumae suspends Work Boat in favor of Caravel. Will rush both. Would finish the Work Boat but the clams aren’t in the city radius and we already get them by trade, so no strong need.

375 AD – Americans just bounce around in the Antium/Neapolis/Cumae triangle. Roos converts to Buddhism, the ungrateful rat. 220 gp only bought 55 years of loyalty to Confucius, then he went right back to Isabella’s religion. Windmill for Cumae, where the plan is to grow to Pop 4 and then work Mine, rushing when able. Now +2 f,+4h, growth in 7t, Caravel in 39t (12/120h). During growth, city will produce 28h leaving 92, then 8h gives Caravel in 19t without rushing. Pisae is already Caravel in 19t without rushing.

380 AD – Hanging Gardens! Start Maceman (our first). Rearrange new pop.

385 AD – Trade CS+260gp to Roos for Philo. CS to Gandhi for Horseback Riding+160gp. CS to Isabella for a mere 90gp as she won’t trade Theo, and neither will Roos.

390 AD – All 3 AI adopt Bureaucracy, but surely someone would soon have researched CS. Oops, just lost gems from Gandhi for incense; maybe Isa took them.

395 AD – I’m using up the HG pop as I did 3 rushes.

400 AD – Caravel in Pisae (rushed), start Forge; Forge in Etruria, start CMiss; Caravel in Cumae (rushed), start Work Boat.

405 AD – A new caravel, The Ship of the West sights land with a red border to the SW.

410 AD – Isabella invites me to join her war against India. Negative. Back in the west, how nice, it’s Tokugawa, my favorite trading partner! I’m up at least SEVEN techs on Japan, and he has no religion. Now I want a 3rd Caravel and more Missionaries! Needless to say, Toku does not immediately consider Open Borders. The Ship of the East sights an Indian settler galley (with Archer) in Spanish waters near Madrid. That’s bold. Start clearing “new” jungle near Rome.

415 AD – Cumae’s winery is complete.

420 AD – Rome & Cumae grow. Work Boat is done, start Galley in Cumae…I mean start a Caravel! Ugly little tactical error: I have no Granary in Cumae so after the rush it will take 28t to grow. Forget building a caravel here and go for a granary instead. A tiny tactical note: Pisae needs a successful Missionary to reap the 25% building discount.

425 AD – First Maceman in Rome, start CMiss. CMiss in Etruria, start Courthouse but consider Caravel. OK, Caravel and then Courthouse.

430 AD – Napoleon! Another fine neighbor…and another civ that is technologically backward and poor. Using all starting civics except Slavery. I’ll offer Open Borders.

435 AD – Feudalism, start Guilds. Pisae now Pop 6. Found a lone Spanish catapult outside Bombay (which has only Spear, Archer, Archer). Meanwhile, what a dummy I am! I should have held the Caravels until I had missionaries or scouts or both. Found Delhi with 3 Sword, 1 Spear, 6 Archers.


THE KNOWN WORLD

[Hermann the Lombard]

440 AD – CMiss to Pisae, dropping turns for forge from 34 to 28. American Sword&Axe move onto my Ivory camp. Roos is still “Pleased” but it’s still unsettling. Meanwhile their Settler team continues wandering aimlessly…while the Indian Galley team sails purposefully by.

445 AD – Isabella demands Metal Casting in a threatening tone, we diplomatically tell her to stick it.

450 AD – Rome CMiss, start another.

460 AD – Ship of the West has explored the west coast of the Japanese/French island. CMiss spreads ( to ) Conf to Los Angeles, south of Etruria. India founds Karachi *on* Wheat on coast east of Neapolis. Would have been much better on adjacent desert! [This is a fishing village without the fish!] Now no need for Fogcutter III there, so bring back to the road net. Meanwhile American Sword+Axe is south of Karachi while their settler team is over where the famous Bronze Hut was. Maybe Rome should found a fishing village after all, Northeast of Neap. Are we developing or stagnating?

465 AD – Barb galley lurks off L.A.

470 AD – Ship of the East sights a green border west of Japan.

475 AD – It’s Montezuma! The other hemisphere is ruled by Moe, Larry & Curly, our favorite peaceful neighbors and trade partners. The Aztecs are at least NINE techs behind and have no money.

480 AD – Circumnavigation! Meanwhile, Fogcutter II is off exploring, finding Atlanta. Running out of tile improvements that I want, especially if I want a few forests to regrow.

485 AD – Forge in Neap, start Missionary.

490 AD – Fogcutter II finds Washington, defended by 1 Spear and 3 Archers). Ptolemy born in Rome. Would give Paper, which is no biggie (14t). Could build Academy in Antium (27 beakers, now), could join Rome, could trigger Golden Age along with Old Homer. My inclination is to hold him in reserve until he can give something better than Paper. I suppose this is early enough that a super-specialist would pay off. Defer the decision. CMiss arrives off Japanese short…only to realize we don’t have Open Borders and Toku ain’t having any. OK, where’s the nearest French town? Besancon on the southern island.

500 AD – Antium Market, start CMiss. Conf to Karachi (the bogus town on the Wheat) on its own. Ship of the Center drops CMiss in Besancon, and CMiss to Besancon. Fogcutter II finds the city of Vandal east of Chicago.

505 AD – McCauley calls us Gloriously Cultured, with Roosevelt last…but 2nd in points. News Flash: “Surprise! Napoleon converts to Confucianism!” Caravel sights Tenochtitlan.

510 AD – Fogcutter II leaves America for India, finding Madras.

515 AD – Neap CMiss, start 3rd Conf Temple in order to permit Conf Academy. Two Million Romans! Still, we seem to be slipping: STATUS GNP 2nd (85/91), Prod 2nd (68/73), Food 4th (106/117), Army 6th (188/224), Land 2nd (152/168), Pop 1st (2027/1109). Well, if population is power then we’re in great shape! Only the Army is way behind, mostly because I don’t want to pay for a large standing army until I’m ready to use it. Meanwhile Etruria expands which should solidify cultural control of Sugar.

[Hermann the Lombard]

520 AD – Caravel picks up next CMiss. Hmm…there are a lot of Americans visiting our lands. Bloody tourists. A war elephant just crossed the border, the axe&spear are outside Rome, and the settler team is outside Cumae.

525 AD – Rome Maceman, start Horse Archer…no, make that a Spearman which I can build in the 4 turns before Guilds (and Knights) are ready. We have Indian longbows wandering around too.

540 AD – Antium CMonastery (rushed), start Maceman. Pisae Forge (rushed), start Catapult.

545 AD – Gandhi offers Gems for Incense, a good deal! Guilds! Start Paper. Rome Spear, start Knight; Cumae Granary, start Catapult. [Not surprisingly, the lower-production cities are producing Catapults while the higher-production cities build heavier hitters.]

550 AD – Etruria Courthouse, start Catapult. Neap: suspend CTemp in favor of defensive units: longbows. Slightly starve for -2f/-2 commerce/+4 hammers. Now all cities are producing military.

It looks like no one will have the decency to declare war against me, so I guess I’ll have to do it myself. I’d like to hit Spain but an American city is in the way, and America is #2 behind me in points. I’m concerned because I expect them to have the largest army and we have no apparent tech lead at all. I’m also a bit sad to attack when we have had excellent relations while Isabella has been obnoxious and annoyed all game. Second concern: since Isabella *is* annoyed, I might get double-teamed.

Operational strategy: get 4 catapults for reducing defenses (3 now under construction). Concentrate at Rome. (Done.) Split off Western America by seizing Seattle and possibly Atlanta, taking Shangian to create a shoulder for the salient and as a buffer vs Spain. Force peace, consolidate, prepare to trim Spain.