AU 601: Theseus' Greek (duh) DAR 1

[Theseus]

Fair enough.

OK, I completed Philosophy... in a happy recovery from my boneheadedness, it still has very significant trade value.

Philo to Persia for HBR, Mapmaking, and 90g.
Philo and Mapmaking to Babs for IW and 320g.
Mapmaking gifted to Egypt, turns polite.

[Theseus]

In 1025 BC, I established embassies with all known civs...

OH NATHAAAAN, I SEE YOU!!!

[Theseus]

Babs are 17 turns from TofA.
Egypt is 11 turns from Pyramids.
Persia is 11 turns from Pyramids.

I am soon to meet the Germanics, methinks.

[Theseus]

1000 BC, met the Germanic peoples... they are losers.

Finished the granary in Athens... torn between pumping out Workers, pumping out vet Warriors for when I hook to the NW iron, or going for the Mausolleum in 20 turns or so.

Any thoughts?

[vmxa1]

Well I am not too sure I would want to spend a lot of turns on the Mausolleum. Either of the other choices seem better.

[Theseus]

Thanks for the input, v.

I don't have a definitive plan, but I guess I was thinking that having Athens at 11- or 12 pop and very happy could be useful/powerful.

Agreed, as it's my only barracks city, getting a bunch of vet Warriors ready for upgrade is a more tangible function.

I'm torn.

Do you see a meaningful and valid role for a big Athens?

[vmxa1]

To be truthful I do not know how to proceed. I would figure that it is better to be prepared to grab land when it can be gotten.
This means workers and settlers and troops to defend those new lands.

I am going on the premise you guys can't take cities from the AI or only have some limit to attacking them.

If that is my tactic, then most cities will not get very large in the ancient age. I forget what level you guys are on, but I see diamonds and spices and if you have ivory (can't recall), then you could try to grow it to 12 to build a wonder at some point.

I just do not want the other human to get them, more than I want them.

[Theseus]

The Persians attacked me, kicking off my GA... Athens can build the Mausoelum in 12 turns, so I am going for it. I am the only one currently building it, although there is a risk that I will lose out in a cascade.

Not too worried about Persia... as far as I know, they still do not have IW, so are attacking with Archers and Warriors. Thus, through Barbs and them, I already have two elite Hoplites.

Nathan will see the effects of the GA in the F11 stats, where I have skyrocketed. Although I would have preferred it in Monarchy, this is a not-so-bad despotic GA, as I am up to 10 towns. It bums me out a little that I still really want to finish a bit of my strategic REX to get resources... each Settler built means less tiles worked, and thus foregone shields. C'est la vie.

[Theseus]

So... the lessons of AU 503 are applied.

[Edit: Those are horses underneath the Hoplites. ]

[Theseus]

My guess is that Nathan upgraded to Legions somewhere around or just before 1000BC... and that he is over-REXing.

He prolly thought he had my ass KICKED for a few turns there, and is now wondering how I got back into the game in terms of tech, pop (2), GNP (1), Mfg. Goods (1), Literacy (1), and Productivity (1),

/me snickers.

[Theseus]

Oops, forgot to attach the pic:

[Theseus]

BTW, for newer players, I'd like to point something out...

I don;t micromanage nearly as much as many of the better players do, even early in the game.

I mean, OF COURSE, I do not automate Workers, but, if you scroll up to the first post on this page, you will see that I usually have the governor on for most of my towns/cities, set to manage happiness.

That means I don;t really closely manage the work force (i.e., not Workers, but inside your city view which tiles get worked). Instead, one of the things I really focus on is tile improvement... prioritize as cracker advises (see CFC), but I add another layer, which is the number of towns/cities that can access a given tile. This is especially important when adhering to tighter CP patterns.

So, in this case, if a tile can be accessed by three towns... bang, it is one of my top priorities. This is where I will first make the investment to clear jungle. Next priority, high value tiles that serves two towns. And etcetera.

Works for me.

[Theseus]

775 BC: I complete Monarchy. After trading, I believe I am either at parity or the outright leader, including Nathan.

Switch Athens to Hanging Gardens in 11 turns. There is a GW cascade going on, and I might lose all the shields accumulated in Athens... Que sera sera.

I will not enter anarchy, of course, until my GA is done. Circling back for Math, which evidently no one has researched, in 4 turns at 0.9.1.

Did I make a mistake in researching Monarchy? I forgot about being SCI, and thus gaining the free tech on entering the new age... should I have only been researching mandatories? Like Philo, not the end of the world, as Monarchy is highly valued. Still, I feel like I am not performing optimally.

Where the heck are the Celts and Carthagos?

[Theseus]

I cannot COMMUNICATE how much I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the next save from Nathan. The big issue is the GW in Athens, but I have little projects all over the place that are CRITICAL.

"One more turn..." indeed!

[Theseus]

750 BC: F*ck, got burned on the cascade. Stupid to even try in a capitol. Wasted 70 shields, and will now have a Courthouse in Athens. Should've built Warriors.

Peace with Persia... got 80g and ROP (I want to keep heading east, and their troops are nowhere near me) for it.