[SG] Free for all!

[Verrucosus]

Here we go.

1370 AD
- Inaugurational tour of bases. As a sign of continuity only minor changes are made. A second scientist is created in Memphis in the hope that the city might one day spawn a Great Scientist to build an academy there. 100.000 people are whipped to death in Alexandria to finish the town's library in time for the visit of the new ruler.
- Our troops seize Nara which becomes Egypt's first overseas colony. The town will never produce anything, but it has two food specials in its radius and with liberal whipping we can get enough trade multipliers installed to make it pay for itself.
- The research goal is switched from Gunpowder to Optics. The idea is that if we want to do more conquering, we'll need Galleons anyway. More importantly, Caesar is still raking in the cash from is Colossus, so we need to obsolete it by researching the secrets of Astronomy as soon as possible.

1380 AD
- Alexandria finishes the library and starts on a lighthouse. (If we cannot repeat history by building the wonder there, it should at least have a small one to fool the the tourists.)
- Osaka finishes its axeman and starts to build a workboat for Nara.
- More troops arrive in Nara by sea to quell riots.
- Egyptian troops approach Kagoshima.

1390 AD
- Following phlucas' sage advice in the senate ("ceterum censeo Kagoshimam esse delendam"), the last Japanese city is destroyed. Hearing about the fall of their empire, Japanese settlers that have landed in the north don't really see why they should found a new one and vanish into the snow.
- We trade Music, Theology and Engineering for Caesar's Drama, Civil Service and Optics. Research of Astronomy starts. (We had already researched two turns towards Optics so this was a bit of a waste, but he didn't want to give up Civil Service for just two of our advances and when I added a third, he threw in Drama and Optics as well, so I made the deal.)
- Egypt introduces Bureaucracy.

1400 AD
- Troops return to Kyoto to heal, put down unrest and celebrate the victory over Japan.

1410 AD
- "Only third?" Pharaoh Makahlua asked with a tinge of reproach after the latest "Most Powerful Ruler" charts are published. I explain to him that it's only because we don't waste our gold on troop upgrades we don't need at the moment. He still looked sad, so I upgraded one battalion of war chariots to knights for him to use as a ceremonial escort. Can't we just have a republic and get rid of the old man?

1420 AD
- A barbarian galley appears near Nara.

1430 AD
- Our galley defeats the barbarian ship off the coast of Nara.
- Another galley, exploring the western coast of that island reports a strange line in the open sea to the west. Egyptian analysts are uncertain whether to interpret the vision as a sea boundary of an unknown empire or as the "international dateline" which is a puzzling concept in the even more crazy theory that the Earth is round. Given that our soon-to-be-built caravels will settle that issue once and for all, further debate is postponed.
- The Hagia Sophia is completed in the capital. Both Thebes and Osaka start building caravels.

1440 AD
- As a part of routine troop deployments, the troops assembled in Kyoto are divided into two separate forces and sent to Alexandria and Thebes. Any rumours about hostile intentions towards Rome are dismissed as "purely speculative" and "irresponsible".
- The first caravel is completed in Thebes and leaves for ... well, we don't really know ... let's say East.

1450 & 1460 AD
The Egyptian people enjoy the fruits of peace and the boredom it can bring.

1470 AD
- A Great Prophet is spawned in Vetulonia.
- A missionary trained in Thebes finds that he has missed his caravel and runs towards Elephantine hoping to catch it before it leaves our waters. The government's poor planning in this context becomes known as "Missionary-Gate" and forces Verrucosus' third resignation.

Thoughts for discussion:
- Memphis is turning into our science city. We should consider moving the capital there, so the Bureaucracy bonus can boost our science even more and, in due course help us to build Oxford there.
- Should we build the Forbidden Palace in the western half of our continent to cut costs or save it for future expansion?
- There was a lot of useful stuff to build during my turn and I have not reported about each build order. In hindsight, I feel I've neglected our missionary programme.

As always, the best wishes to my successor.

[Verrucosus]

Egypt, 1470 AD

[Verrucosus]

Caesar's gold income is still a cause for concern. I hope this will look better, once we turn off his Colossus.

[Verrucosus]

Finally, the file itself.

By the way, the statistics screen tells us that we've played for about 20 hours now. I had thought it might have been more.

[phlucas]

Nice work, and an entertaining tale!

Caesar's gold income is still a cause for concern. I hope this will look better, once we turn off his Colossus.

I think a wonder becomes obsolete in Civ4 only if the civilisation having the wonder gets the technology itself. See also http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...hreadid=141992.

Memphis is turning into our science city. We should consider moving the capital there, so the Bureaucracy bonus can boost our science even more and, in due course help us to build Oxford there.

Good advice.

[Verrucosus]

Thank you for pointing out my mistake about obsoleting wonders. I'm so used to the old Civ2 rule that I never even considered that it might have been changed. In my own games, I have even avoided Astronomy when I had the Colossus (and lots of coastal cities) myself. I still hope that Astronomy is beneficial for trading once we establish contact with other empires, but switching off Caesar's cash cow would have been a nice bonus. I don't propose gifting Astronomy to him (as suggested for Stonehenge/Calendar in the thread you referred to) because the that advance is probably too valuable in itself to share.

[phlucas]

10 turns...

1470:
* Removed priest from Vetulonia, hurried library in Toyko and lighthouse in Alexandria: Tokyo has so much food for specialists, we need to assign them, and Alexandria has hardly any hammers.
* The GP is going to Tokyo to settle there and pump out a few gold. There are hardly any cool techs to be researched by GPs in this age. http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=140952

1480:
* Tokyo assigns two scientists.
* Islam is founded in Napolis!
* Most cities are now fully developed, so a few workers are made to chop forests in unreachable places. The area between Thebes/Vetulonia/Heliopolis is spared, because we might want to found a new city at Heliopolis->3222.

1500:
* Julius Caesar converts to Islam!
* I give wine to Alexander for 5 gpt.

1505: Two missionaries are landed in Roman land.

1510:
* We enter the Renaissance by researching Astronomy.
* Technology: I go for Banking to get the banks.

1525:
* Banking is researched. I go for Philosophy. The idea is then to go straight to Liberalism and take Nationalism.
* Alexander builds Mycenae at the old spot of Kagoshima. He is just asking for trouble.

1535: Notre Dame has been built in a far away land! 1 turn before Vetulonia finishes it!


Short summary:

• Buildingwise, mainly harbors, aqueducts and observatories have been built/are in queues.
• I have spread Confucianism to three Roman cities, two missionaries are in Roman land, and one is currently built. Please have a very careful look at the garrisons in his cities.
• Also, I forgot to switch to Mercantilism after researching banks; this should be done next.
• The gold from Notre Dame means that we can research full steam ahead to Liberalism, at least...

[phlucas]

Saved game...

http://apolyton.net/upload/view.php?file=72927_MakahluaAD-1535.zip

[Addled Platypus]

so where do we go from here?

peace with the rest of the world as we race on to victory?

what is your two cents?

[phlucas]

Originally posted by Platypus Rex
so where do we go from here?

We certainly cannot afford a war right now. If I were playing the game, I would: explore the oceans, trying to find new land and also get the circumnavigation bonus; spread more missionaries to the southern continent, to convert Julius and get on good terms with him; beeline to liberalism and take nationalism to be prepared for a new war; and allthewhile equip all our cities with groceries, markets and banks.

Also, Tokyo could do with a merchant specialist; together with the free specialist of mercantilism, we could get a Great Merchant in a short time, send him to Alexander or Julius and cash him in.

The idea to relocate the palace to Memphis is good. A possible problem is the Greek city on the Western island: It might fall to us by the culture from Nara(?), and then we have a completely useless city; but we will have to live with that, I guess.

[Verrucosus]

Do you think we can manage to reconvert Caesar to Confucianism? After all, he changed just after founding Islam despite having adopted Confucianism earlier and phlucas having spread it to three more cities. It seems difficult even to prevent someone from adopting a religion founded by him and, once he has, I've never seen him change back (unless losing the Holy City of course). However, we should be able to keep Alexander in the Confucian camp. In any event, spreading Confucianism is a good idea because of the income and intelligence benefits.

In the medium term at least, we should go for trade now to strengthen our economy. We have numerous coastal cities, some with very poor production, but a good trade potential. (I haven't looked at the file, but that might even apply to the Greek city near Nara.)

The next war seems to be a long time away from here, because whoever wants to start it will first need a significant navy to ship enough troops overseas to pose a significant threat. If we want to do that a few centuries down the road (or at least keep the option), the only thing we can do now is to raise (and save) a few Great Artists so we can deal with the culture problems when the time comes.

Of course, it's always for the current player to decide, but, personally, I'd seek a peaceful victory in the long run. A UN victory would be a challenge (particularly if we stick with Confucianism), but the Romans are quite strong, so even a space race could be interesting. To make an informed choice we should first find out what is going on the other continent, but since Platypus Rex raised the issue, I'd put it this way:

"Peace, not war, shall be our boast,
But, should foes asssail our coast,
Make us then a mighty host ..."

(My country has been drowned in anthems during the last few weeks. I recently read about this one and couldn't resist to put it in context. FeMme, why don't you take over (the game)?)

[Addled Platypus]

wow, gona be in a game where the palace is moved


in all my years, not once

[phlucas]

Originally posted by Verrucosus
In the medium term at least, we should go for trade now to strengthen our economy. We have numerous coastal cities, some with very poor production, but a good trade potential.

Yes. Also, a few Great Merchants cashed in can fuel our research rates.

Of course, it's always for the current player to decide, but, personally, I'd seek a peaceful victory in the long run. A UN victory would be a challenge (particularly if we stick with Confucianism), but the Romans are quite strong, so even a space race could be interesting.

We should explore the other continents before finally deciding on this. I have only once won with a True Diplomatic Victory (where I did not just vote myself Supreme Ruler), and I would like to try it with Alexander and Julius against a likely Hinduism or Buddhism block somewhere else.


Also, I remind all readers that new players are always welcome! You can take over Egypt in a period of peace and consolidation.

[FeMme]

Originally posted by Verrucosus
"Peace, not war, shall be our boast,
But, should foes asssail our coast,
Make us then a mighty host ..."

(My country has been drowned in anthems during the last few weeks. I recently read about this one and couldn't resist to put it in context. FeMme, why don't you take over (the game)?)

Ok, you've twisted my arm!

I'll take over the office for 10 turns. I'll be back later today to fill you in....

[FeMme]

1535AD - FeMme is appointed as the Pharoah's advisor

- After careful consideration I decide against my predecessor's decison to adopt Mercantilism and instead go for the Caste Sysytem. This is mainly due to the large number of foreign trade routes we currently have in place that I want to protect
- A few minor adjustments are made and there is a nationwide redistribution of troops now that the war is over

1540AD

- Due to the unfortunate event of another nation building Notre Dame 1 year ahead of us Vetulonia now starts on a more humble aqueduct to alleviate the increasing unhealtiness of its townsfolk
- Our treasury receives 636 gold in compensation which goes some way to calming our fearsome Pharoah but I make myself scarce for a few months just to be on the safe side

1545AD

- Our scientists having discovered the knowledge of Philosophy now begin experimenting with a form of parchment that will be extremely useful for keeping record of all the goings on in government and indeed in the world at large
- In other news, one of our many Confusian missionaries having seen the sites of Greece spreads our glorious religion to the city of Athens

1550AD

- Thebes begins training a settler as there is some arable land to the West of our capital that has yet to be tilled

1555AD

- Having solved the problem of Paper our wise men attempt to use this knowledge to create a writen theory of teaching and learning that will eventually result in the education of the nation
- A missionary arrives in Kyoto and enlightens the populace
- Alexandria sends a pikeman to accompany a worker to our rice paddy on the far shores of our neighbouring continent
- Another successful confusian conversion is made in Sparta

1560AD

- Pi-FeMmesses is founded and starts building a granary while a multitude of workers improve the land
- On our far eastern shores the citizens of Elephantine, joined by government officials and a brief appearance by the Pharaoh himself wave farewell to our Galleon as it leaves our shores on a mission to circumnavigate the globe

1565AD

- The head of the Confusian order wastes no time in sending a missionary to the new town of Pi-FeMmesses

1570AD

- One of our galleys heads across the ditch to Nara with yet another missionary - it is hoped that our unswerving belief will spread to our very close neighbours in the Greek town of Argos

1575AD

- A Great Scientist named Ptolemy is commissioned in Memphis and undertakes the great task of building an Academy there. The scientific community is well represented at the grand opening and everyone agrees that Egyptian wisemen are indeed the creme de la creme!


1580AD

- Confusianism spreads to Nara and with the help of 2 artists the culture of this town soars. Government officials hope that this will help attract the citizens of Argos and the neighbouring Roman city of Arpinum to join our fair and wonderous nation
- Our Galleon has spotted land ahoy but due to a lack of foresight on my behalf no units are present with which to explore this new world!


So it will come to no surprise that I have been unceremoniously booted out of the Temple of Luxor and my position as right hand woman to the Pharoah is terminated. It is with great regret that I end my 45 years in office on such a low note! Time to move over and let some fresh blood in.

I leave with a few words of advice:
- It was my intention to research Liberalism after Education as this will give us a free tech (provided we are the first nation to research it of course)
- I have just dropped off a Missionary near Ravenna who is headed for the Islamic holy city of Thermopylae to try and spread Confusianism there