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

[Hermann the Lombard]

555 AD – American Settler team is on the ice in the extreme north and will have to be dealt with upon declaration of war. Spear+Archer, not too bad. The force near Etruria is much more significant: War Elephant, Sword & Axe.

560 AD – Roos offers Theology for Guilds (again). Yeah, right. Negative. CMiss has cleared all darkness from mainland France and now spreads Conf to Paris. CMiss fails at Madras. (Rats.)

570 AD – America founds Houston on the ice at North Cape. The city would get Fish when the border expands, but there were two better sites, one with immediate Fish+Iron and the other with immediate Crabs. Once the city is mine I’ll raze it. Start mining the backup Iron. Recon: America has mostly Longbows, and the capital has 2 LB, 1 Spear, 1 Archer with a Sword outside. Boston has a Spear and 2 Archers. They don’t have good forces for a counterattack.

575 AD – Antium Mace, start another. 3rd Sugar comes online.

580 AD – Etruria Catapult (our first), start another. Neap Longbow, repeat. Recon Atlanta: LB, Spear, 2 Archer. Time for a Goal Review: Cleared Vel’s list some time ago, including Circumnavigation. Met my unspoken goal to reveal the map: all of America, India, and France as well as the coasts of Japan, Aztecka & Spain (as well as much of interior Spain). Our road net is in place for shifting defenders (and expediting attackers). Navy built but out of position to oppose hypothetical American ships. [My expectation was war with Spain first.]

Planned Order Of Battle: 4 Knights, 4 Macemen, 4 Praetorians, 4 Catapults, plus garrisons (especially for overwatch of Houston and border guards at Etruria). Now have 3 Chariots (planning upgrade), 1 Knight, 3 Mace, 4 Prae, 1 Cata. Consider adding a defensive escort for the main body such as Longbow or Crossbow, and Spear (counter units: we have 1, 1, & 1). [Thought: instead of watching Houston, burn it.]

585 AD – Rushed Cata in Cumae, start another. Recon: Seattle has Axe & Archer. My OOB is quite small, but so are the American defenses.

590 AD – Gandhi offers Drama+80gp for Philo (which Spain already has), but Drama is about 1/3 the cost of Philo, so we politely decline. It’s First Knight in Rome! Start another. We will complete 2 more Cats within 5 turns, Mace in 6, bring to the front, promote Chariots, and strike. Recon: SF has Axe+2 Archers.

595 AD – L.A. has 2 Spear+1 Archer…don’t attack that with Knights!

[Hermann the Lombard]

600 AD – Send Longbow to Etruria. Item: I want that American force out of my territory to the SOUTH not the North. I will need roughly 1 Knight, 2 Mace and a Prae to reliably kill it.

605 AD – Need cash for promos so after Paper (next turn) cut research to 10% or so. Cut it to 30% right now.

610 AD – Paper, start Education…but at 10%. Pisae Cat, start Spear (cheapest unit). Etruria Cat, start Spear. Neap LB start another. [I wonder if we could induce an attack on hilltop Neapolis…no, we’d never let hostiles get that deep into our territory. Actually they aren’t far away now.]

615 AD – Americans move into neutral territory along the coast. We could close the borders and temporarily trap them there. Promote Fogcutters II & III to Knight, leaving 101gp.

620 AD – Antium Mace, start another. Gather & strike.

625 AD – Gandhi tries to wheedle Construction, offering WM (World Map)+130gp for it. Negatory. Not tempting enough even though I could use the gold. Give 2gpt to keep him Pleased. Spanish have a bigger army or at least more concentrated: Barcelona has 2 Spear, 2 Archer & a Longbow. Roos just passed me on points (1178/1176). We will correct this.

635 AD – Neap LB start Spear (with elephant in mind). Promote Prae Primus to Maceman.

640 AD – Rome Knight…time to roll. “Home Team” = 3 Knights, 5 Mace, 2 Prae, 4 Cats, Axe, Spear, & 2 Archers. Will leave the Archers as garrison relying on the stream of new units to protect the city. The “Elephant Reserve” consists of Knight, Axe & 2 LB with Spear on the way. On the border we have 4th Prae & Woody II (newly reequipped with Mace).

Pre-war trade binge: trade Paper to Roos for Drama, WM & 20gp. The point is to be able to build Theaters in captured cities for cheap culture. Isabella won’t trade anything, and her only tech is Theo). Trade wine to India for 3gpt, then Construction for WM & 160gp. Calendar to Toku/Nap/Monty for 130/120/70gp (in each case, all the gold they had).

645 AD – See Spanish Catapult approaching the American border. Etruria Spear, start Cat.

[Hermann the Lombard]

IT’S WAR!!! My “liberators” are at the walls of Shangian with my Knights on the road beyond the city, potentially to ward off a relief column.

650 AD – The Elephant Men will likely loot my reserve iron mine before attacking. (My worker scurried away last turn). 4 Cats reduce Shangian from 75% to 30%.

655 AD – Sighted Japanese Caravel off Etruria. Pisae Spear, start Cat. Neap Spear, repeat. Yes, an American Swordsman pillages my reserve Iron. Cats reduce Shangian to 0%. Placed blocking force of “Woodsman”+Spear between Toledo and the mountains. First Knight leads the assault vs LB, Axe & Archer. F.K. kills LB, Prae Primus(Mace) kills LB, First Mace kills Archer and takes the city. We want this one as the Ivory City in varied terrain. Advanced east of the mountains intending to cross the pass to reach Seattle. If they block it I’ll have to circle around.

660 AD – Elephant Men now adjacent to Neap. We hope they attack with Elephant & Axe against 2 LB, Knight, Spear, Axe & Archer. Our main force advances with leading elements at the pass.

665 AD – Start crossing the pass to the jungle hill behind the river. Prae Secundus (with Woodsman II) scouts Atlanta finding LB, Spear & 2 Archers. This might be a better target than Seattle. Antium builds a Mace. Elephant pillages the road outside Neap.

670 AD – Elephant killed attacking my Longbow. Yay! Advance to the walls of Seattle with Cats one step behind. We need a road to Seattle west of the mountains…send one worker as bait. The elephant’s escorts (Sword & Axe) are now in the open outside Neap, so it’s time to counterattack. Swordsman has bonus vs horses, so dangerous to lead with the knight. Lead with Axe instead (has Combat I & Woodsman I). Lost the Axe, then our Knight kills their Axe and LB finishes off their Sword. Bye, bye Miss American Men. [OK, we’ve passed Roos in points.]

675 AD – Shangian comes online, start Theater…but might also be a good site for a Culture Bomb to fill in and to push the Spanish border. We could also put the Artwork in Seattle for pressure on remaining American cities. Trade Interlude: Open Borders with the Aztecs. Toku is PLEASED (my heart!) so we open borders with them too. [It would be nice to send a Missionary.]

So now it's Seattle's turn:

[Hermann the Lombard]

680 AD – Etruria Cat, start CMiss. Promote Fogcutter II to Knight with my eyes on Houston. Cats reduce Seattle from 75% to 30%.

685 AD – The Americans take the bait and my worker north of Seattle. Rome Knight, start another. Seattle’s defenses reduced. Two Knights overwhelm the defenders, thoug one barely survived), capturing the city and 2 workers. Those were my stated objectives for this limited war: capture 2 cities and sever American territory…but Roos won’t talk so I’ll prepare to capture Atlanta and destroy Houston. [I’m surprised I still have trade with Gandhi since the Spanish border is closed and the Americans are a bit peeved with me.] My Great Artist Homer (who is about 1500 years old) could grant Theology but I’d rather use a Great Work. Ptolemy can grant +5013 toward Education, my current project.

690 AD – Education goes from 45t to 9t at 50% and +31gpt. Pisae Catapult, start Spear for garrison duty. Pisae borders expand. Start cutting roads to Seattle (west of the mountains) and to Karachi.

695 AD – An ugly surprise: a chariot lands from an American galley and destroys my newly-captured Workers. I didn’t know that sort of amphibious operation was possible, even against non-combat units. Now there’s a Combat II chariot on that jungle hill behind the river, not easy to dislodge. So Fogcutter II crosses the pass and destroys it. My other units lost a turn each approaching Houston and Atlanta. Careless.

700 AD – Spain moved Elephant & Catapult to the border. Make my day. Neap Spear, start another. Roads now cut to Seattle and to Karachi.

710 AD – Antium Mace, start Knight. Cumae Cat, start CMiss. Etruria CMiss, start Harbor for health and trade. The Americans land War Elephant & Horse Archer on forested hill next to Seattle. Much better if THEY attack me, of course. [Hmm…just noticed that Seattle came equipped with Forge & Courthouse. Nice.] Switch Etruria to Caravel. Gave WM to to Isabella to delay the inevitable while simultaneously making it more dangerous. Cats reduce Atlanta to 30%.

715 AD – The War Elephant conveniently attacks Seattle and is easily dispatched by the Maceman. Now we can counterattack the Horse Archer on the grassland hill. Damn, my Knight lost! Only took the HA down to 3/6. 2nd Knight killed it. Cats reduce Atlanta to 0%. I’m going to try to soften Atlanta’s LB, Spear & 2 Archers by sacrificing a catapult. Worked well, with LB 1.8/6, Spear 3.1/4 and one Archer 2.6/3. Prae Primus kills Archer. First Knight kills Spear without loss. First Mace kills Archer. Woody II (Mace) kills the crippled LB and takes the city. At Houston, Fogcutter I is killed by defending LB (barely), but Fogcutter III kills the Spearman and my LB finishes their LB, destroying tiny Houston! Victory!

Looks like Roosevelt is ready to talk, and I’m ready to consolidate (and prepare for possible Spanish attack). Key question: where do I set off the Culture Bomb? Shangian looks like a poor choice since half of the area is already secure. Seattle would have the biggest AREA impact, but Atlanta may need help against the culture of Boston & Toledo. I think I’ll go for Seattle anyway. Negotiations: I don’t think I want another city just yet as I have three to digest. Pity he has no cash. Go for his only tech: Theology. Strange, he won’t give Theo even though he’s willing to trade for it (albeit for Guilds). Since I want peace I settle for WM+4gpt. Forestalling (or stalling) Isabella we grant Incense for a mere 2gpt.

720 AD – Peace. Combat decorations include: Combat I for Woody II, City Raider III for Praetorian Primus (Mace). My small squadron (Caravel + Galley) can’t get home together because America’s coastal waters are close (at Los Angeles). They put in to Seattle.

725 AD – Education, start Liberalism. Pisae Spear, start Courthouse as Maint now -5. Missionary exploring mainland Japan. Chop finishes Theater in Seattle. This is BEFORE the Culture Bomb, so maybe I didn’t need a theater. Homer creates his Great Work in Seattle, pushing borders out 4 tiles and pushing in the borders of Lahore and San Francisco, gaining Gold, 2 Dye and a Cow.

[Hermann the Lombard]

STATUS after Culture Bomb and First American War: GNP 3rd(79/100/70)—someone is huge—Prod 1st(101/77/51), Food 1st(138/123/103), Army 1st (304/256/232), Land 1st(209/126/105), Pop 1st (3164/1821/1432). So we’re double the average in Prod and Land and more than double in Pop. We’ve got a 20% advantage in Army…but we’re 21% down in GNP. That looks bad but it will probably be OK once our conquests are assimilated and courthouses go up. The mild irony is that all 3 captured cities came with existing courthouses, but the maintenance on my existing cities shot up. All the other categories are now FIRST which is a huge swing in the Army stat. Meanwhile the population and land leads are stunning. [Note that Atlanta is still in disorder with no land of its own…and a lousy location, now that I look more closely.] Research: 70% and +12gpt, Liberalism in 31t.

Rome is finishing a Knight, then can use University (now 92 beakers), Grocer (now 25 gp), or National Epic (now +11 GPP needing 740 for next GS). Antium can use Grocer (now 30 gp) or Courthouse (now -4…so obviously do the Grocer first!) We need to give Atlanta some our-time religion to feed culture and make it eligible for more temples. Just noticed that Spain has founded THREE religions (the greedy pigs): Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, with Taoism in Toledo, the nearest Spanish city. Pity. We need more missionaries overall, Taoism as well as Conf since we plan to own Toledo soon. [Yes, I know: “Holy Toledo!”]

745 AD – Miscellaneous units produced over the last few turns. Isabella demands conversion to Buddhism, we tell her to stick it. I’m tempted to cancel all our deals (they’re paying small gpt for two resources) to try to trigger a war right now, but that won’t help consolidate the new cities. Chopped Barracks for Neap, interrupting Temple which didn’t need that many shields. Now either in 3t. News Flash: “Bombay Captured by Spain!”

750 AD – Spread Conf to Kyoto after exploring all of mainland Japan.

755 AD – Ranked “Most Cultured”; why of course, dear boy! Seattle Granary, start LB, Neap CTemp, start Barracks. News Flash: “Japan Accepts Confucianism!”

760 AD – Etruria Caravel, start CMon(astery). Conf to Atlanta, our only city without it. [Memo: that goal is complete…until we bag another city!]

765 AD – Neap Barracks, start CMiss; Antium Knight, Grocer; Atlanta Theater, Library. News Flash: “Gandhi Completes Notre Dame!” [Memo: I didn’t think the game included the Fighting Irish.]

770 AD – Peace Treaty cancelled. Give Dye to Roos for 4gpt. Sell Feudal to Aztecs for 70gp.

780 AD – Indian Galley/Settler/Longbow sailing past Pisae, probably going after Iron and Fish. It’s not bad if they build a fishing village for me, if they would only put it in an intelligent spot! If only!!

790 AD – Neap CMiss, Worker.

[Hermann the Lombard]

800 AD – Cumae CMiss, Forge.

805 AD – Etru Worker, CMon; Seattle LB, Lighthouse; Atlanta’s border grows. Headline: “Islam Founded in Chicago.” [Memo: that means that ALL religions have been founded on this continent, and none were founded by France, Japan, or Aztecka.] Chop finished Worker in Neap with 46h left over, hopefully for LB.

810 AD – Neap Worker, start LB. Shows 0/100 but also shows 77h so that must be where the surplus goes. [Yes, you the reader knew this, but I the writer didn’t!]

815 AD – CMiss in Tokyo finds 2xHA,1 Sp, 1 LB, 1 Caravel, 1 Galley. CMiss to Tokyo. India is going for the same dreadful city site that the Americans used for Houston.

820 AD – Shangian borders expand (close, but no bananas!)

825 AD – Roos offers Open Borders. (How quickly they forget!) Done! Pity he has neither resources nor gpt to offer. Spain is building Macemen and has 6 catapults in Madrid. Our tech edge is Knights, for the moment.

840 AD – Missionary visits Tenochtitlan: 11 combat units, mostly missile (HA, XBow, LB).

845 AD – Cmiss to Tenoch (joining Paris, Kyoto, Madrid, and Rome; Confucianism is a capital religion)

850 AD – Headline: “Montezuma Sees the Light of Confucius!” That’s the whole other hemisphere now. It pays to get there first when they don’t have religion! Seattle Lighthouse. Chop gives 135h to Seattle, now Lib in 9t. Neap CMiss, starts Settler.

860 AD – Etru CMon, CMiss. CMiss to Satsuma, 2nd Japanese city…in the easiest nation to reach.

865 AD – Rome University (our first), start National Epic.

870 AD – Liberalism. Now the choice is between Astro and Nationalism. Astro gives Observatories and Galleons, emphasizing Science, but a GS would probably grant Astro, and I just remarked that my only military tech advantage is Knights. How about heading for Cavalry? Take Nationalism and start researching Military Tradition…looking wistfully at Banking. Do I want Free Religion? The tradeoff is +10% research vs +25% building construction. We need too many buildings, so stay with Org.Religion. Also (for now) keep +50% h&c in Rome vs +100% culture & +2c from Towns. Pisae Worker, start CMiss for India. Chop for Neap.

875 AD – Neap Settler, CMiss (pump those suckers out!); Antium Grocer, Conf Academy.

880 AD – Build Ravenna NE Neap as fishing village to fill in the only valuable real estate (fish & iron) available to alien colonists. Dropped my gpt from +19 to +9. (I forgot the other reason to get Astro: trade routes to Nappy, Toku & Monty.)

[Hermann the Lombard]

885 AD – Gandhi asks us to declare war against Isabella. I’m sorely tempted by the two-front war—and continued good relations with India—but I haven’t finished consolidating and just unconsolidated by building Ravenna. Idea: take Toledo and then defend. Shangian builds Theater, start Catapult. Roman Army from Shangian crosses the Spanish border! It’s WAR!

890 AD – Etru CMiss start Cat. Changing my production to military or finish current and then switch. Army envelops Toledo: 3 Knights behind, 2 Prae on the left, 5 Mace+6 Cats on the right, and reinforcements coming up. Toledo has 2 LB, 1 Mace; Barcelona has 3 LB, 1 Spear, 1 Settler, 1 Galley…not a strong source for a counterattack.

895 AD – Cats reduce Toledo to 5%, but the assault is costly: lost 3 Knights and 2 Prae but took the city. Goddam town is on a HILL. Some dummy thought it was on grassland!

900 AD – CMiss Neap, Mace; Woody II (Mace) and Prae advance to jungle hill to see Big Trouble coming: by the coast are War Elephant and Cat, inland are another WE, Mace, 2 HA, 3 LB, Cat & Spear. Oh, oh.

[Hermann the Lombard]

905 AD – Toledo CMiss (rushed) start Cat. CMiss to Scythian. HA rides onto ridge outside Toledo. Knight does a spoiling attack, killing the HA but leaving himself exposed. Send Mace to defend, hoping to make them pay for that hill. Rush in Antium, Cumae, Etru, Shang, Seattle, Atlanta. Tote that barge! Lift that bale! Crack those whips! Gave Cow to Roos who is already annoyed. One at a time, kiddies!

910 AD – New builds: Cumae CMiss, Shang Cat, Sea War E, Rome Knight, Etru Mace. Antium was to continue Conf Acad but now starts Knight as Atlanta starts Spear. The Spanish did not attack my forward defenses, they just moved onto the open hill wit 2 WE, Mace, HA & 2 Cats. All those units have promotions. We sacrifice 2 Cats to soften the attackers, damaging all units.

915 AD – Spanish attacks: 2 Cats hit Toledo, causing collateral damage. BOTH withdraw from combat with my Longbow. WE attacks hill, is killed by Woody II. Sacrificed 3rd Cat so all Spanish < 66%. First Knight bravely destroys the Maceman. We wiped the Spanish off the ridge losing 2 units and getting several damaged. My force is spent.

920 AD – Spanish HA pillages cottage. Jungle grows near Rome where I wanted forest. Loyal Confucians report HA&WE&Cat advancing past Madrid. Toledo now a hospital for battered units. Scratch forces defend the ridge.

925 AD – HA pillages plantation…not now in the open next to my WE which kills it. Completed Windmill for Seattle. Another HA bypassing Toledo and threatening workers. Use spearmen to cover the workers, send Knight to challenge HA.

930 AD – Roos cancels Open Borders, we give Sugar as sweetener to delay war. Nappy promptly demands that we cancel deals with the Americans. The French! Rome refuses…but gives 30gp. HA pillages banana plantation but is destroyed by our Knight. Missionary finishes exploring Nippon/French island. Spanish HA near Atlanta.

935 AD – Swap WMs with Gandhi, then give him Ivory for use against Spain. Toledo comes online with Pop=9. No buildings survived, start theater, city is starving. HA pillages corn outside Atl, is killed by Mace. Unfortunately the ridge outside Toledo remains inside the Spanish border due to Barcelona. Ship of the West drops CMiss in Delhi, CMiss to Delhi (that’s 2 Indian cities, 2 French, 2 American, 4 Jpn, 1 Spanish, 1 Aztec…and most of Rome’s. CMiss to Kagoshima, for 5 cities.

940 AD – Neap Mace, Spear; Atl Spear, repeat. We’re strong enough to defend Toledo, are we strong enough to take—and hold—Barcelona? Now 3 LB + Spear, so we’re strong enough to take it, but Madrid lies 6 tiles beyond with WE, HA, XBow, 3xLB, 7 Cats, 1 Spear. Yikes. My forces around Toledo: 4 Kn, 6 Mc, 1 XB, 2 LB, 5 Cat, 3 Sp. Now Vel’s rule of thumb suggests that we need at least 64 points to attack the city…and just the Knights and Macemen total 98…but that doesn’t take counterattack into account. More Cats would be good.

945 AD – Pisae Cat, CMiss; Neap Sp, CMiss; Tol Theater (rushed), Cat. Now Monty wants me to cancel “with the vile American.” Seems that I ought to buy Roosevelt some breath mints or something. We decline but grease the wheels a tiny bit.

950 AD – The love feast continues as Roos demands that we cancel with the French. Still declining. Rome builds Knight, repeat (we want Peace to finish National Epic).

955 AD – Sea WarE, repeat; Neap CMiss, Knight.

960 AD – Etr Mace, Ant Kn, Kn.

965 AD – Isabella offers 440 gp for peace but won’t add Theology (or Barcelona). On to Barcelona!

[Hermann the Lombard]

970 AD – Advance to the gates of Barcelona.

975 AD – Spanish counter as WE+Cat approach hills by Toledo recently cleared by advancing units. Move spears (and WE) onto hills, as our WE is likely to lose to theirs. Cats reduce city to 4% but we defer attack until we’ve softened up the units. CMiss to Toledo.

980 AD – WE vs my spear on the hill=dead meat. Cat tries to bypass, Knight dispatches it. Pisae CMiss, Cat; Toledo’s borders grow, but not across that ridge. Sac 2 Cats doing considerable harm. Led by Prae Primus and First Knight, Barcelona falls! Now the Toledo Hills are ours. Captured a worker, captured an Academy. Excellent, now dig in.

985 AD – Consolidating. Knight killed HA. 9 of 12 cities are producing military, including 3 Knights and 4 Cats. Given American “annoyance” this may be good, but it’s an economic strain when already -10gpt @ 70%. Ample treasury (1144) though…or maybe not so ample for promoting Knights to Cavalry! MilTrad in 12t. Peace with Spain for 430gp…and she STILL wouldn’t part with Theology! [ Force *Isabella* to give up her Theology?? What was I thinking??]

990 AD – Rome finishes Knight and resumes National Epic. Cumae CMiss, start Lighthouse.

1000 AD – India offers Theo+130gp for Paper. I’ll trade it, but on my turn. FIVE MILLION ROMANS! STATUS: GNP 6th!!(47/142!!!!/81), so we have just over half of the average. Prod 1st (127/193/58), Food 1st (185/130/107), Army 1st (368/340/284), Land 1st (244/128/103), Pop 1st (5.0/2.9/2.0M). Our GNP is 1/3 of the leader’s. Awful. 1st in everything else, so we need to restore the economy. Key items seem to be City Maint=42, Unit Cost=30, and Inflation=30. Most conquered cities have Forge & Courthouse. The latest need them, including recently-built Ravenna. Sea WE, JMiss (start propagating Judaism a bit so that I have a base of temples for a Synagogue), Atl Cat,TMiss (get Taoism spreading, too, since we now control the Holy City). Toledo Cat, Forge.

[Hermann the Lombard]

1002 AD – Rome is ranked the wealthiest (followed by Aztecka & America). We just have lousy GNP! CMiss to Rheims (3rd French city).

1004 AD – Neap Knight, CMiss (still pumping!); Antium Kni, Conf Acad. Oops! Lost Atlanta’s adjacent corn field to American culture. Abominable! Puts a bite on the food supply. Start adding Monasteries for culture, starting with Taoist. CMiss to Osaka (6/10 Japanese cities), along with 3/9 French, 2/6 Indian, 1/6 Spanish, 2/8 American, 1/7 Aztec, and 10/12 Roman. [Note: 12 cities, no wonder my GNP stinks.]

1006 AD – Etru Mace, Harbor. Barcelona comes online working on Theater and on Starving. Rush Theater and switch from village to rice farm for growth.

1008 AD – Shang Cat, Granary; Barc Theater, Forge; Banana plantation rebuilt for Toledo but Shangian wants it.

1010 AD – Pisae Taoist Missionary (TMiss). Pity we don’t have any prospect of a Prophet to build the Taoist Shrine. Conf to Ravenna on its own, nicely.

1012 AD – Ravenna Work Boat, Forge. Boo! The TMiss *fails* in Rome (which only has 1 religion and isn’t a holy city).

1014 AD – Neap CMiss, CMiss.

1016 AD – Izzy cancels peace treaty. Be it on her head. Seat CMiss, JMiss.

1018 AD – The State of the World: Peace! No wars. 4/6 are pleased with Rome. Isabella is furious and Roos is cautious. 4 Open Borders. Need Astro to connect 3 for oceanic trade. Otherwise Izzy has silk and won’t trade. Techs avail: Roos will trade Theo & Engr, Gandhi Theo, Monty Engr, Izzy has both and won’t trade (what a surprise!). Toku won’t trade Engr. A round of trading: Paper to Gandhi for Theo, WM & 250gp. Yay! Paper to Nappy & Monty for 20gp each, which is 40gp better than nothing. Roos has Paper, and I don’t want to trade Nationalism or Liberalism for Engineering.

[Hermann the Lombard]

1020 AD – Military Tradition. Choices are Banking (12t), Engineering(15) and Astro(40). Hoping for a Great Scientist and needing cash, go with Banking. [Aside: back in 870 AD I wrote: “How about heading for Cavalry?” Well, 150 years later we have Military Tradition. Um, what’s wrong with this picture?] Meanwhile, CMiss fails in Barcelona.

1022 AD – Rome completes the National Epic, our first National Wonder. [Oh, good, our GNP dropped to 7th and last…but while climbing from 47 to 59.] Will have GS or GE in 3t. So what should Rome build? A Grocer would be good for the city and for GNP…but how about the Taj Mahal? Any chance to get it? Well, two chances: we may be the only civ with Nationalism, and we might get a GE. Go for it! Sea JMiss, CMiss; Atl TMiss,TMon.

1024 AD – Neap CMiss, CMiss. CMiss to Orleans.

1026 AD – Toku demands canceling Roos, give token gift. Pisae TMiss, TMon; Cumae Lighthouse, CMon; Etr Harbor, Uni. Atl expands but didn’t get the adjacent cornfield back (must be due to those Boston beans). TMiss to Rome (it worked!)

1028 AD – Alhazen (GS) born in Rome. Rats, no GE. Barcelona expands and is now growing fast with good commerce and lousy production. Grow some more and then apply the whip. GS will give +5301 toward Printing Press, not toward Astro. Damn. Still, +1c for Vill & Town is not to be sneezed at. It’s better than a super specialist and could follow Banking to help recover our GNP. DONE. That dropped the turns for P.P. from 28 to 8. JMiss to Etruria (and deliberately not to Rome to minimize intel for Spain).

1030 AD – TMiss to Antium

1032 AD – Roos offers Engr+280gp for Nationalism. Negative, and not for Liberalism either, but we grant Open Borders to the Americans. CMiss fails *again* in Barc (which has 3 religions).

1034 AD – Sea CMiss, repeat due to failure in Barc.

1038 AD – Chop for Neap Uni. 3rd Time Charm as CMiss to Barc so now all Roman cities have Conf. Barc also has Tao, Budd, Jud. Atl & Tol have Tao, Conf, Budd.

1042 AD – Banking. Net foreign income is only 7gpt; adopt Mercantilism. Keep Bureaucracy in hopes of Taj. Keep Slavery to help develop conquered cities. Keep Org Rel for buildings vs Free Religion for +10% research.

1044 AD – Drama, Theo & Music to Nappy for Engr (best deal among 3 civs willing to trade Engr, and the rest have those 3 techs).

1046 AD – Sea CMiss, JMon

1050 AD – Ant Confucian Academy (nice), start Bank. Shang Granary, Lib.

1054 AD – Pisae TMonastery, CMiss

1058 AD – Printing Press. Now what? Econ or Astro? Go for Astro. [AFAIK Hermann *still* didn’t realize that something was amiss regarding the casually-stated goal of cavalry.] Neap Uni, CMiss; Toledo Forge(rushed), Court

1060 AD – Roos demands conversion to Buddhism. You and what army? Rice to Spain for 5gpt. Cow to America for 2gpt. Now -2gpt@70%, so almost breaking even at a reasonable research pace…though Astro is still slow. Printing Press was crucial to the improvement, and will only get better. Expecting Lahore to revolt because of the cultural pressure from Seattle, but meanwhile Boston is still a cultural powerhouse.

1062 AD – Toledo expands. My loyal Confucians abroad report in: Tenochtitlan has 5 LB, 3 Mace, 5 HA, 1 XB, 1 Pike, 3 Worker, Galley & Settler. Paris has only Mace, 2LB, Cat & Spear. Madrid has 2 HA, XB, 4 LB, Pike, 7 Cats. Delhi has 2 Mace, HA, 7 LB, Pike, Cat, Settler & Galley. Japan’s troops are scattered b ut still lots in and around Tokyo & Osaka.

1064 AD – Atl TMon, BMon. Sea JMon, CMon. CMiss to Texcoco. I’m on a monastery building program because I want at least one monastery of each religion before I get Scientific Method.

1066 AD – [Rumor: Hermann Feels Hasty This Year] Neap CMiss, CMiss; Pisae CMiss,TMiss.

1070 AD – Cumae CMon, Bank. Peace obtains. Most of the poor relations can’t reach each other across oceans. Gandhi & Izzy are merely Annoyed with each other. Izzy is Furious with Rome, but Roos is merely Cautious, and the other 4 are Pleased. None have techs or resources to trade, and my techs are too valuable to sell for the limited available gold (the highest other treasury is America at 300gp).

[Hermann the Lombard]

1072 AD – Ravenna expands.

1074 AD – Intel update: Paris had few units, but Lyons has at least 19! We know this because we just planted Conf there, the 5th French city to see the light. Breaking even:+1gpt@70%.

1076 AD – Neap CMiss,CMiss [Each CMiss represents roughly +0.8gpt AND potential intel.]

1078 AD – Cmiss to Madras.

1080 AD – Pisae TMiss,TMiss

1082 AD – Sea CMon, Bank. CMiss to Marseilles

1084 AD – Neap CMiss, CMiss. TMiss to Neap (7th Roman city with Tao)

1086 AD – Roos offers WM swap; OK. Shang expands. Toledo Court, Gran. WM to India for 20gp. Theo to Monty for 190gp; WM to Nap for 30gp.

1092 AD – Roos demands cancel w/French. Denied, and no gift for Roos…though I will happily accept Boston myself. Pisae TMiss,TMiss. CMiss to Nagoya (that’s 7/10 Nipponese cities)

1094 AD – Neap CMiss,CMiss; Atl BMon, CMon (pushing culture). Yay! Atlanta got the cornfield back by culture.

1096 AD – Tmiss to Etruria

1100 AD – Ant Bank, Court(now -5); Tol Gran, Lib (that granary chop rushed to allow irrigation to reach Shangian). Now +30gpt@70% with Astro in 11t. Could be -1@80 with Astro in 9t. Switch to 80%. STATUS: GNP 2nd (101/155/96); Prod 1st (158/101/66), Food 1st (240/174/140), Army 3rd (398/428/345), Land 1st (248/140/106), Pop 1st (6.97/4.16/3.23). Nice to have GNP up to 2nd, but still only 2/3 of the best! Army is now average, but that’s fine.

1102 AD – Pliny says we are Gloriously Large (is that a tactful way to say we’re overfed?). The Toad in Washington just demanded Liberalism. Hah! Neap continues pumping CMiss. Ravenna Forge, Granary. [See, I really *did* build a forge before a granary in a marginal city!] The Toad in Washington enters his Golden Age. He should enjoy it while he can. CMiss to Izumo.

1104 AD – Pisa TMiss,TMiss; Etr Uni,Grocer; Barcelona “expands” but not much in the faces of Madrid & Santiago.

1106 AD – Cmiss to Edo. Diplo: still no tensions among those who can reach each other except for mutual annoyance between Spain & India.

1110 AD – Shang Lib, CMon. TMiss to Cumae

1112 AD – Neap CMiss,CMiss

1114 AD – Monty got grumpy. Demanded canceling with Roos last turn, and demanded Nationalism this turn. Stick it.

1116 AD – Astronomy, start Gunpowder rather than Econ as things are likely to heat up soon. [Whaddaya know, he figured it out!] Ant Court, Uni; Rav Gran, Lighthouse. Oceanic trade! Sugar to Toku for 8gpt; Sugar to Nap for Furs, Wine to Nap for 7gpt, Sugar to Monty for 5gpt. That’s +26gpt@80%. Drop back to 70% and +56gpt in prep for Cavalry & Muskets.

1118 AD – Neap CMiss, CMiss; Pis TMiss,TMiss. TMiss to Ravenna, CMiss to Washington

[Hermann the Lombard]

1122 AD – TAJ MAHAL and a Golden Age begins. Rome starts Observatory; Atl CMon,Gran. +50gpt@80% with Gunpowder in 7t.

1124 AD – Tol Lib,Uni

1126 AD – Neap CMiss,CMiss; Pis TMiss,Unit; CMiss to New York

1128 AD – Ravenna Light, Court

1130 AD – TMiss to Seattle

1132 AD – Gandhi wants Astro. That’s nice. Neap CMiss,CMiss; Atl Gran, TTemp; Sea Bank,Uni.

GOALS?

1) Finish Golden Age in “building infra” mode.
2) Once we have Gunpowder(now 2t), prepare for next war. Finish short-term infra projects but start producing or promoting gunpowder units.
3) Next target: Spain or America? It’s America’s “turn” but Spain is more bellicose. In either case, attacking one leaves my flank open to the other. America has more points and more tech (Econ & Divine Right). Idea: build gunpowder army then try to extort Econ.
4) Find a good spot for the Forbidden Palace.

1134 AD – Those were kinda sketchy goals, weren’t they…and the first two conflict. Oh well. Shang CMon,TMiss. Zoroaster born in Rome! This Great Prophet can grant +3360 toward Divine Right or can build the Taoist Shrine. No contest.

1136 AD – Gunpowder. I’m inclined to drive for Steel (Cannon, with Gren & Frigates along the way). Try to extort Econ or get it as war reparations. CMiss fails in Phila. Zoroaster builds the Dai Miao in Toledo, bringing us instantly from +53 to +65gpt.

1140 AD – Neap CMiss,CMiss. CMiss to Chicago

1142 AD – Rome Observatory, Bank. Question: what might be the optimum use of the 14 population?

(See message #205 for the saved game of this position.)

[Hermann the Lombard]

And here's the map view of Rome:

[Hermann the Lombard]

1144 AD – Etr Grocer, Cavalry (at last!); Shang TMiss, TMiss…no, make that a Musket. All but one Roman cities have Taoism (though only one foreign city does). We now have enough gold to promote all 9 Knights to Cavalry. That seems like enough force to attack once Cats do some softening up…though of course that limits my advance to the speed of the Cats.

1146 AD – Cumae Bank, Cavalry; Neap CMiss, Cavalry. [Note: my loyal Confucians report that Japan has Knights, the first I’ve seen.]

1148 AD – Roos offers Divine Right+340gp for Liberalism. That’s not a bad deal, but maybe do it on my turn and sell DR on the other continent. TMiss to Ravenna, the last Roman city without. The Dai Miao now brings in 13gpt, and the Kong Miao brings in 39gpt. Really helps the cash flow!

1150 AD – Now Gandhi offers DR+330 for Education. I’ll take it (not for very logical reasons since I didn’t trade on my turn last time). Atl TTemp, Musket. CMiss fails again in Phila. Sell Edu: Toku 40, Nap 30, Monty 60, Isabella 250 (that’s all the gold each of them had). Liberalism to Roos for 360+WM.

1152 AD – Ant Uni, TMon; Rav Court, Lib. Switch Antium to Cav, chop speeds Cav.

1154 AD – Golden Age ends, alas. So now it’s time to kill. Switch Tol, Uni to Cav. Only half of my cities are producing military, and none in fewer than 5t. Slow. Promote Sp to Pike in Atl.

1156 AD – Aztec Caravel sails through Barcelona into the lake, which looks odd. CMiss to Vandal, giving up on Phila for now. It’s time. This could be interesting since Isabella is furious with me and friendly with Roos and now even Gandhi is Cautious with me and Pleased with Roos. Let’s try a Big Time Gift to Gandhi: Liberalism, since I sold it to Roos.