776 AD landing

[solo]

Tried a new way to reach AC early as the Americans that worked great, arriving in 776 A.D., using 2.42, deity, raging hordes, standard size game-generated map, and all other standard options. Will post a log and details in a day or two when they are typed up. Also have a 4000 BC .sav, if anyone wants a copy.

(Note: This game made use a caravan rehoming, and is tainted because of this. In subsequent discussions, most players, including myself, voted against its use since attempts to use the tactic are prohibited outside of the city menu. This distinction is important when comparing this game to other early landings which did not employ rehoming. solo)

<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by solo (edited May 19, 2001).]</font>

[Archangel MasterBob]

I can get around 1200A.D. That is a nice job.

[Scouse Gits]

Congratulations Solo! You must have played a perfect game. I'm looking forward to reading the log. How long did it take to play?
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SG(2)

[La Fayette]

WoW
...and you tell us you did that with standard settings!
of course I am also anxious to read your log.
Congratulations, solo.

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aux bords mystérieux du monde occidental

[Scouse Gits]

Great going - congratulations ...

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Scouse Git[1]

"Staring at your screen in horror and disbelief when you open a saved game is one of the fun things of a succession game " - Hueij
"The Great Library must be built!"
"A short cut has to be challenging,
were it not so it would be 'the way'." - Paul Craven

[East Street Trader]

Congrats, indeed. One HELLUVA result.

I suppose you went undisturbed?

In the real world I have a deep mistrust of isolationism - but if the civ2 model is anything to go by the human race might conceivably advance faster and further if some folk adopted it.

Did you have a lucky start? I kinda hope so as I am still trying to get within shouting distance of arii's earlier fast finish efforts (and failing dismally ). Although that is on randomly generated maps (he says, clutching at straws).

Once again, great work.

[Guest]

Good work, Solo! Congratulations! I too am anxious to read your log!

[DaveV]

Very impressive, indeed. The world breathlessly awaits the details!

[Ming]

Yes... an impressive game!

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Ming
CivII Moderator & And soon to be ex-Off-Topic Forum Moderator
Ming@Apolyton.net
[This message has been edited by Ming (edited March 29, 2001).]

[arii]

Felicitation, cela a ete avec un monde de taille medium je suppose?

Congratulation! It was a medium map I guess. What strategy did you use?
Trade between 2 continents and SCC?

[Chris1111]

Dont know how you people do this geesh . Im playing a king level game currently and I have 12 cities at 100ad and my best military unit is a elephant and catapult with 200gold. I managed to only get the great library(and soon wall) after the AI swarmed on all the other early wonders . I couldnt possibly dream of having a space ship off the ground before a minimum of 1900ad.

[Ming]

Only ten cities by 100AD... That's probably one of your problems. Yeah, you can win with one city, but in a regular game, you should have FAR more than 10 cities at this point. EXPAND... EXPAND... EXPAND!

[Smash]

976 looks like an OCC landing date.A 15-1-1-1-1-1 launched 940ad.36 year flight time.I suspect an aggressive hut hunting OCC game.

[solo]

(Edited for typos and omissions. I have also added a few more notes.)

First, my apologies to all for the delay in producing this log.

With some sort of feeble hope of challenging arii’s 1075 AD landing record, I started a game using a normal size world, deity, 7 civilizations, raging hordes, and the standard rules. I selected the Americans, because they tend to start with more free techs, and believe it or not, I was given Alphabet, Bronze Working, Ceremonial Burial, Code of Laws, Masonry and Pottery! I could research Monarchy first! Beginner’s luck continued when I discovered later that there was a suitable seacoast site for a SSC that had 3 wheat (later to become silk) and 1 whale. The only bad terrain was one swamp, one hill, and one mountain. There were two good rivers to base some of my other cities on, and the specials available in my neighborhood were either wheat or whales. Wheat was especially good for early growth, and could be mined to silk later for excellent trade. Three other civilizations were on my continent, and two that became excellent trading partners were found later on nearby continents. The other civilization was farther away and less developed.

So with this very lucky start, I tried to see how early I could land with a strategy similar to what arii had used to set his 1075 AD record. After setting up a SSC (Super Science City) and expanding to over 20 more cities with no improvements, I stopped building cities and focused exclusively on trade. This worked very well and I arrived at Space Flight by 1020 AD, the turn after arii had learned it in his game. Close, but no cigar! However, that game confirmed a few of my own assumptions and gave me some new ideas to try out, which worked better than expected when I gave it a second try in this game. I should now say that if arii got his result on a first try, I believe my game should not count as a new record and would still consider his early landing the greater achievement, and his date of 1075 AD as the best so far. Knowledge about a map gained in a first try confers a big advantage in successive attempts. Before listing the log, I will give a few details about the strategy I used.


I did everything I could think of to maximize trade and to speed up scientific research. One essential was to get to 1 turn advances as quickly as possible. Once my cities were producing enough science to do this unassisted, 2 advances per turn were possible if enough caravans (or freights) could be delivered to fulfill the beaker requirements of the first advance.

To attempt this, I tried 8 cities, using a SSC surrounded by 7 more size-8 cities, figuring that about 50 or more beakers were possible from each of the smaller cities, once they had scientific improvements. Even with an average SSC, this would be enough beakers for 1 turn advances. Not having all of the scientific beakers in one basket turned out to be a big advantage in many ways, especially when Colossus in the SSC was cancelled by the discovery of Flight.

With fewer cities, fewer settlers were needed to found extra cities, and more resources could be devoted to producing caravans and freights to maximize trade. Once my cities were established and had 3 citizens plus a temple in each, I built Michaelangelo’s Chapel as my first wonder, switched from Monarchy to Republic, and jacked up the luxuries to start “we love“, and in a few turns my little empire had more than doubled in size! I has always impressed at how much this speeds up a game in OCC. Why not multiply the effect with 8 cities? Isn’t it always the period around late Monarchy and early Republic where things slow down in the usual game? With some careful planning, I was able to go from a thriving Monarchy straight into a thriving Republic in just a few turns using simultaneous “we love“.


I adopted some other rules to go by in this game that worked very well:

1) Concentrate on trading partners on other continents, delivering commodities that are in demand. Delivery by ship is as just as fast to them as it is by land to less profitable trades on the same continent.

2) Repeat lucrative commodities by passing them through the SSC first. Switch support to the SSC and then send them overseas to get more gold and more beakers. Doing this over and over never ceases to be fun because it‘s kind of sneaky. Except for the SSC, 1 trade route for each city is probably best, to keep those lucrative commodities in constant supply.

3) Almost always be building caravans and freights, waiting to build necessary city improvements until there is enough gold to rush-buy them. City improvements cost more shields than caravans, but those shields only cost 2 gold apiece. It is more efficient to rush-buy improvements.

4) If extra gold is available, rather than rush-buy one caravan in one turn, rush-buy each one being built one row per turn. This conserves gold.

5) Concentrate on roads with settlers and use them to convert non-trade specials, such as wheat, into trade specials such as silk. Except in the SSC and in preparation for the simultaneous “we love“, irrigation has less priority. Mining hills and engineer transformations should be spare time activities. Focus on arrows first, then shields. More trade is the key.

6) The SSC should have Shakespeare’s Theater and should also have access to the ocean, so it can be used support triremes and caravels during early Democracy.

7) If possible, found the SSC after the other 7, since at the beginning of each turn, cities are processed in order from the youngest to the oldest. If a commodity has been delivered, beakers from your SSC are added first and you may need fewer than 7 of the smaller cities to trigger the next advance. When this happens, beakers from one or more of the other 7 are credited towards the next advance, a nice head start! If the SSC is founded first, the beakers of the smaller cities are usually not enough to trigger an advance by themselves, and some or all may end up being wasted. Why waste all of your SSC’s capacity just to finish off an advance nearly completed by the smaller cities?

8) Later in the game when your cities are getting 1 turn advances, it is necessary to add a 9th pint-sized city. It’s tiny beaker count will finish off an advance generated by beakers from delivering commodities, freeing up your SSC and the other 7 to gain another advance in the same turn! It is tremendous fun to see this happen.

9) Focus on essential wonders, only. In this category were Michaelangelo’s Chapel, Shakespeare’s Theater, Colossus, Copernicus’s Observatory, Isaac Newton’s College, Leonardo’s Workshop, and Apollo Program. The extra trade garnished from caravans and freights saved by doing this produces more gold and beakers needed to build improvements and speed up research.

10) Get off to a lucky start.

My log follows and contains a lot of comments describing all the small mistakes I made during the game. I have saved the 4000 BC starting position and this may make a fun comparison game. I’m sure my landing date can be beaten by many of the other players here who will not try to repeat some of the blunders I made in my game!

3900 hut: horseman
3850 hut: chariot; Washington
3700 New York

New York was founded on a gold mountain, an idea I borrowed from a post by Smash. This gave a free food and a easy road and the boost in trade arrows made the first few discoveries come very quickly, making it seem like a Chieftain game.

3650 Monarchy, revolution, government to Monarchy
huts: advanced tribes, Boston and Philadelphia

Boston was just right, but Philadelphia wasn’t, but both were free.

3600 Romans: peace, give tech, alliance
3550 Currency
3450 Philadelphia: warrior; New York: warrior; hut: 50g
3400 Map Making; Boston: warrior
3350 hut: 25g; French: peace, trade for Horseback Riding, share maps
3300 Washington: settlers
3200 Trade; Washington: warrior
Romans: Too busy to join them in war vs. Mongols
3100 Mongols: peace, share maps; Atlanta
3000 Boston: settlers; Romans: trade for Warrior Code, share maps
2900 Philadelphia: settlers
2850 New York: trireme; Chicago; Romans: give tech, 25g gift
2800 Mysticism
2700 Chicago: warrior
2650 barbarian leader, 150g; hut: barbarians; Romans: give tech
Mongols: give tech, insist they withdraw

The barbarian leader was kind enough to retreat right in front of my chariot after attacking Karakorum. The Mongols kept trespassing in Philadelphia and asking them to withdraw became a ritual continuing for the next 1000 years or so. I will not note every time this happened!

2600 Washington: wine
2550 Writing
2500 Boston: settlers; hut: legion
2450 Atlanta: settlers
2400 Philadelphia: copper; hut: barbarians
2300 San Francisco
2200 Literacy; Boston: diplomat; Chicago: trireme; hut:50g
2150 Washington: beads; All AI: give tech
2100 New York: hides
2050 Aztecs: peace, give tech, share maps
2000 Atlanta: beads; hut: wandering nomads; Romans: give tech, 25g gift
Mongols: give tech, withdraw from Philadelphia again
French: give tech; copper(d) to Paris, 40g
1950 Philosophy, Polytheism; Philadelphia: cloth; Washington: temple
hut: Mathematics; wine(d) to Tenochtitlan, 180g
1900 Republic; Chicago: temple; hut: Monotheism
All AI: give tech, 50g tribute from French
1850 Carthaginians: give tech, share maps, bribe warrior
1800 Boston: temple; Buffalo; hut: 50g

Last of my 8 cities, and best place for the SSC. The location was along the coast, northwest of my starting position in the game.

1750 Atlanta: temple; hut: Iron Working; Romans: give tech, 25g gift
French & Aztecs: give tech; Mongols: give tech, 25g tribute
1700 hut: barbarians
1650 beads(d) to Rome, 48g
1600 Chicago: silk; Washington: dye
1550 Philadelphia: food; Boston: food; hut: Medicine
1500 San Francisco: food; All AI: give tech, share maps, 75g total tribute
1450 Construction; New York: temple
1400 Buffalo: temple; Atlanta: dye; hut: 50g
Mongols: 50g tribute for trespassing
1300 Buffalo: Michaelangelo’s Chapel
Philadelphia: diplomat; hides(d) to Carthage, 128g
revolution; All AI: demand tribute, 25g from Aztecs
1250 government to Republic
1200 Washington: dye; hut: wandering nomads

(Note to Scouse Gits: I found two nomads during the game, both on the same overseas continent. Thought this would be of interest to you. In the previous game, I found one on my home continent.)

1150 hides(d) to Carthage, 216g
1100 Bridge Building; Chicago: copper; Philadelphia: diplomat; Boston: wine
New York: dye; hut: Seafaring
1050 Buffalo: granary; Atlanta: dye

Building a granary now in Buffalo was dumb. A marketplace would have been a much better idea. On the next turn the simultaneous “we love” begins by jacking up luxuries to 70%. All my cities except Philadelphia are size 3, so I begin. I made a few mistakes preparing for this. I mined a wheat near Boston into silk too early, and Boston ran out of food needed for celebration later. I should have also irrigated some around hapless Philadelphia earlier to grow it faster, too, but my allies the Romans had built roads to Philadelphia, and I was hoping they my help out by irrigating, too! They didn’t. Chicago, to the west was too far from my capital to celebrate long and a connecting road beforehand might have helped, but it was in a great location with 2 wheat and 1 spice, and had access to the ocean on the west side of the continent. So the simultaneous growth by celebration, though dramatic, could have been planned for a little better.

1000 WLTSD starts; All AI: give tech, 25g gift from Romans
975 San Francisco: temple; hut: 100g
950 hut: University, hut: Wheel

I was getting a little embarrassed now, by my good luck in hut technology. This probably saved me about 10 turns in the game. However, in a typical game I usually can trade with the AI for about 7 to 10 techs and usually pick up 4 or 5 from huts. In this game it was the reverse, so maybe the net effect was about the same. Even so, I would prefer to have just even luck, because great luck in the honor system that we use can’t help but create some doubt and suspicion.

925 Japanese: give tech, share maps; dye(d) to Kyoto, 352g

The big trade payoffs begin. Japan, in the east, became my favorite overseas trading partner. The Carthaginians, to the southwest, became the other. The bulk of my early beakers came from caravans, and not from my cities.

900 Banking; Washington: beads; settler joins Philadelphia

Boston was short on food, and Philadelphia needed a boost to size three. The Boston settler accomplished both jobs.

850 Japanese: expel diplomat; Buffalo: beads; Chicago: silk
Atlanta: wine; Philadelphia: cloth; Boston: dye; New York: wine
825 WLTSD ends; Buffalo: Colossus; San Francisco: gems

Now I had 3 cities at size 8, 2 at size 7, and 1 each at sizes 6, 5 and 4. Beakers had gone from 60 to 100, and discoveries from every 8 turns down to every 6. With a temple in each city and with Michaelangelo’s, 20% luxuries kept every city quite happy, and science could be set at the 80% maximum. Trade from commodities was taking care of income and shortening research times for techs.

775 dye(d) to Karakorum, 136g; Romans: give tech, no gift
750 Engineering; Buffalo: marketplace; Washington: settlers
silk(d) to Orleans, 72g
725 Romans: give tech, 25g gift
700 Boston: settlers; Romans: give tech, 25g gift
copper(d) to Orleans, 144g
675 Carthaginians: trade for Astronomy, share maps
French & Aztecs: give tech, share maps
650 Sanitation; Buffalo: harbor; San Francisco: beads
Atlanta: wine; New York: gems; Washington: harbor
dye(d) to Carthage, 328g; All AI: give tech
600 Chemistry; Buffalo: library; San Francisco: harbor
Philadelphia: cloth; wine(d) to Carthage, 468g
575 Chicago: cloth
550 Invention; dye(d) to Rome, 68g

See the difference between local Rome and overseas Carthage!

525 Buffalo: university; Boston: dye; wine(d) to Kyoto, 355g
500 Gunpowder; San Francisco: settlers; gems(d) to Kyoto, 426 g

With explosives 2 turns away, ask me why I built a settler in San Francisco now? Dumb. Smarter is the way I’m picking up techs, though. With 80% science I have 186 beakers, good enough for advances every 4 turns, but commodity deliveries are cutting down the average to every 2 or 3 turns, and gold from trade is financing needed city improvements.

475 Buffalo: bank, “we love” resumes at size 8
450 Explosives; Buffalo: aqueduct; Atlanta: dye; New York: gold
425 Philadelphia: coal; Washington: beads
400 Chicago: coal; Boston: hides; gems(d) to Orleans, 144g
350 Democracy; Buffalo: sewer system
dye(d) to Bokhara, 38g; All AI: give tech, share maps
325 Buffalo: Shakespeare’s Theater; San Francisco: engineers
275 Romans: 50g gift
250 Economics; Atlanta: engineers; Washington: copper
wine(d) to Malaca, 512g
225 Navigation; Buffalo: trireme; San Francisco: beads
Chicago: engineers; Philadelphia: cloth; Boston: hides; New York: gems
Carthaginians: embassy; French & Mongols: give tech
150 Japanese: give tech, share maps
125 Physics; dye(d) to Edo, 244g; Romans: give tech, share maps
100 Buffalo: coal; Atlanta: wine; Boston: marketplace
New York: gold; beads(d) to Osaka, 416g, St. Louis

St. Louis is the pint-sized city I will use to trigger the first advance in turns having two advances. It would have been better to put a library in Boston now, or just build another caravan there, instead of the marketplace.

75 Theory of Gravity; Buffalo: Copernicus’s Observatory
Philadelphia: silver; Washington: beads

Buffalo is size 21 now. Beakers required are now 910 and my cities now produce 379, more than 1/3 of what’s needed.

50 Atlanta: marketplace
25 Magnetism; Buffalo: caravel; All AI: give tech, beakers needed: 864

AD years

1 San Francisco: cloth; Chicago: gold; New York: food
20 Atomic Theory; copper(d) to Kyoto, 508g
40 Metallurgy; beads(d) to Osaka, 144g; revolution
60 government to Democracy

You may be asking why I waited so long to do this. I was waiting for a trireme belonging to Chicago to return to Buffalo so I could switch support. It would have been smarter to disband it and just build another, but I’m kind of frugal.

80 St. Louis: gold; Buffalo: cloth; Atlanta: wine
Philadelphia: silver; Boston: wine; Washington: food
100 Steam Engine; San Francisco: coal; Chicago: cloth
New York: wine; All AI: give tech, share maps
120 Electricity; Buffalo: Sir Isaac Newton’s College
gold(d) to Edo, 640g

Things are picking up now! Beakers required are now 960 and at 100% science my cities are producing 868, with 702 coming from Buffalo, and a healthy 166 from my other cities. One turn advances are not far away.

140 Feudalism; Atlanta: courthouse; New York: courthouse

Two dumb idea courthouses in a row. I’ve never tried them before, and probably never will again! Colosseums were probably a better idea to get ready to stick science at 100%.

180 Refrigeration; New York: library

I should have skipped refrigeration. For the rest of the game, I kept science pretty much at 100%, so could not celebrate Buffalo much higher. I ended up sending it food caravans to gain a few extra citizens. Shame on me!

200 St. Louis: coal; Buffalo: gems; San Francisco: cloth
Chicago: coal; Boston: wine; Washington: copper; All AI: give tech
220 Railroad; Philadelphia: silver
gems(d) to Washington, 96g; Romans: 100g gift

Now it’s almost always one turn advances or better for the rest of the game.

240 Conscription; Buffalo: supermarket; Atlanta: gems
Washington: library; wine(d) to Edo, 470g
260 Industrialization; New York: university; silver(d) to Carthage, 487g

Now the first of my helper cities, New York, was putting out 52 beakers.

280 Corporation; Buffalo: stock exchange; Atlanta: library
gold(d) to Osaka, 532g
300 Refining; St. Louis: cloth; San Francisco: salt
Chicago: food; Boston: coal; Washington: university
320 Atlanta: university; Philadelphia: cloth; gold(d) to Edo, 564g
340 Steel, Buffalo: food; San Francisco: library
Boston: library; Washington: marketplace; wine(d) to Kyoto, 514g
All AI: give tech, 200g gift from Romans
360 Combustion; Buffalo: Leonardo’s Workshop
New York: gold; coal(d) to Rome, 175g

Leonardo’s was vital to upgrade each lonely warrior to a musketeer, each settler to an engineer, and to upgrade my ships. At this time, I was also just on the verge of being able to get 2 advances in one turn, and was so preoccupied with this that I forgot that “Automobile cancels the effect of Leonardo‘s Workshop“! Now that’s dumb! At least I got some of the vital upgrades I needed.

380 Automobile; San Francisco: university
Boston: courthouse; wine(d) to Kyoto, 770g

The 770 fills up beakers needed for Mass Production. Next turn I am able to get 2 advances! This is a real rush! I was able to do this again two more times in the game.

400 Mass Production; Nuclear Fission; St. Louis: gold
Buffalo: superhighways; Chicago: gold; Atlanta: superhighways;
Philadelphia: food; food to Buffalo; gems(d) to Rome, 390g
420 Electronics; San Francisco: superhighways; Washington: food;
Detroit; silver(d) to Carthage, 918g; cloth(d) to Bokhara, 322g

Things are moving so fast, I have to start get some new cities in place to help build my rocket ship. I also want some buffer cities between Buffalo and the Mongols, so they have something to capture instead of Buffalo, after I launch. Another turn with 2 advances is next.

440 Chivalry; Nuclear Power; St. Louis: coal; Buffalo: mass transit
Chicago: library; Atlanta: wine; Philadelphia: silver
Boston: university; New York: gold; New Orleans & Baltimore
All AI: give tech
460 Laser; copper(d) to Malaca, 896g
480 Leadership; Buffalo: wine; San Francisco: oil; Philadelphia: temple;
Boston: superhighways; Baltimore: rifleman; gold(d) to Edo, 912g
coal(d) to Edo, 531g

The third and final turn with 2 advances.

500 Recycling; Tactics; New Orleans: dye; St. Louis: food
Chicago: university; Atlanta: colosseum
New York: wine; Washington: copper; Detroit: rifleman

At this time my cities were putting out 1511 beakers, with 1044 coming from Buffalo, so I was getting about 1/3 of my science from other cities. Not bad. I had no qualms going straight to Flight when it was the only usable choice for the next tech, even though Flight cancels Colossus.

520 Flight; Baltimore: copper; Buffalo: food; San Francisco: food
Philadelphia: food; Boston: colosseum; gold(d) to Edo, 828g
540 Machine Tools; Baltimore: silver; Chicago: superhighways
gold(d) to Osaka, 780g
560 Radio; New Orleans: spice; Detroit: coal; St. Louis: cloth
Buffalo: food; Atlanta: gems; Boston: wine; Washington: wine
gold(d) to Karakorum, 230g; silver to Kyoto, 308g

Silver was the first undemanded commodity delivered in the game.

580 Miniaturization; Baltimore: cloth; New York: oil
San Francisco: cloth; coal(d) to Malaca, 730g; wine(d) to Malaca, 730g
600 Computers; New Orleans: cloth; St. Louis: food; Chicago: coal
Philadelphia: cloth; Boston: gold; Washington: cloth
Detroit: transport; wine(d) to Malaca, 730g; wine(d) to Edo, 220g
620 Advanced Flight; Baltimore: silver; Buffalo: research lab
Atlanta: gold; copper(d) to Kyoto, 616g

Beakers hit their peak here at 1612, with 1128 coming from Buffalo. I did not build the SETI program, because I needed to accumulate gold and freights for Apollo and to build my rocket ship. I wanted to try and do this in 2 turns, but it ended up taking three. I had enough science for 1 turn advances, as it was. So I avoided a dumb move by not building SETI, or for that matter, Darwin’s Voyage!

640 Rocketry; New Orleans: spice; St. Louis: food, San Francisco: salt
Boston: oil; Washington: food. spice(d) to Samarkand, 254g
Denver & Cincinnati; wine(d) to Malaca, 345g
silver(d) to Bokhara, 17g (what’s with this!)

660 Space Flight; Baltimore: copper; Buffalo: wine; Chicago: copper
Atlanta: wine; Philadelphia: food; New York: food
Copper(d) to Carthage, 584g; barbarian leader, 150g; Dallas
Romans: 150g gift

I nailed that leader on the Japanese coast with a caravel! Maybe Flight canceling Leonardo’s early was actually a brilliant move! It goes to show how the luck went my way in this game! Everything just seemed to click.

680 Plastics; Apollo Program; Boston: food
dye(d) to Satsuma, 512g; All AI: give Space Flight

I gave each of them Space Flight, so they would build structurals instead of weapons to attack me.

700 Dallas: S#1; Cincinnati: S#2; Denver: S#3; New Orleans: S#4
Detroit: S#5; St. Louis: S#6; Buffalo: C#1; San Francisco: oil
Washington: S#7; dye(d) to Satsuma, 512g; Romans: 200g gift
720 Semiconductor; Baltimore: S#8; New Orleans: S#9; Detroit: S#10
Buffalo: C#2; silver(d) to Orleans, 177g; wine(d) to Kyoto, 187g
Mongols & French: war
740 Fusion Power; Mongols take Baltimore; Dallas: S#11; Detroit: S#12
Buffalo: palace; San Francisco: S#13; Chicago: M#1; Atlanta: M#2
Philadelphia: S#14; Boston: S#15; New York: M#3, Launch 15-1-1-1-1-1

At this time I’m completely out of gold and have disbanded many city defenders in order to complete a minimum space ship. No more engines could be added in 760, so I go ahead and launch. From here on out I just hunkered down waiting for my space ship to land. The log is long enough already.

776 Arrival on Alpha Centauri

When I began the game, I was hoping for an arrival somewhere in the 900’s. I credit the difference between that and 776 was due to some very good luck, the benefits of a second try, and a policy of making TRADE my #1 priority. 51 cargos were delivered between the years 2000 BC and 720 AD, for a total of 20,299 gold (and beakers). That averaged out to 211 gold (beakers) per turn.
[This message has been edited by solo (edited April 03, 2001).]

[La Fayette]

solo
You are an (b)honorable(/b) man.
Not only do you achieve impressive results, but you also turn down your face towards us apprentice players and give so good advice that perhaps one of us will be able to beat your record some day.
Thank you solo.
1) Pieces of advice #1 to #6 I have in use in most of my games, and I am happy to notice that one might get such brilliant results following them.
2) Pieces of advice #7 and #8 are completely new to me and I suppose that following them will help me improve my technique (and I need it badly since you are so far ahead
3) I love your piece of advice #9, since it does (b)not(/b) say' build this or don't build that', but it says 'choose'. Perhaps someone will beat your record using other WoWs than those you chose, but I am convinced no one will beat it building 20 wonders.

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aux bords mystérieux du monde occidental