AU501 - DAR5: Flight

[Dominae]

This is the fifth DAR thread for AU501: The Power of Seafaring. Report here on your game between DAR4 (Steam Power) and the advent of Flight.

So, how do you plan to win this thing?

[ZargonX]

Ok, the short notes:

1355 - Maya sneak attack, again
1385 - Facism to England for Furs Ind TM 11g
1395 - Military Alliance against Maya with Netherlands for 11gpt 312g
1430 - The Coorp to Netherlands for Spices WM 36gpt 20g
1430 - The Coorps to England for WM 78gpt 100g
1430 - The Coorp to Maya for Peace
1465 - Realized the value of Privateers
1560 - Refining to England for Coal WM Rep Parts Ironclads 178g
1560 - Refining to Netherlands for Spices Esp 18gpt 183g
1560 - Refining to Maya for 81gpt 90g
1560 - Industr to Russia for Dyes 28gpt
1625 - Theory of Evolution
1635 - Atomic Theory to Netherlands for Communism WM 9gpt 1130g
1635 - Atomic Theory to Maya for Silks Wine 57gpt 130g
1635 - Atomic Theory to England for 94gpt 1120g
1675 - Electronics to Maya for WM 179gpt 760g
1675 - Electronics to England for Coal 11gpt 1250g
1680 - Maya sneak attack @(^&$(* again
1685 - Alliance against Maya with Eng for WM and 2400g
1685 - Alliance against Maya with France for Electricity
1700 - Bad-Tibra retaken!
1705 - Erech captured from Maya
1720 - Lazapa captured from Maya
1720 - Forbidden Palace in Haran
1730 - Kaminaljuyu captured from Maya
1735 - Maya build Hoover Dam... beat me by 5 turns :grrr:
1745 - Motor Trans to Dutch for Spices WM 57gpt 200g
1745 - Motor Trans to England for 1690g
1750 - Peace with Maya for 42g
1756 - Netherlands and England sign MPP
1756 - Maya destroy French
1758 - Amphib War to England for Flight WM 8gpt 40g

Screenshots and long notes to follow...

[ZargonX]

This first screen is the state of my empire in the 1400's. I've finished off the Hittites, and the Sumerians have been kicked from their homeland for the most part, and survive on various surrounding islands. The big players at this point are England, Netherlands, and the Maya. My relations with England and the Netherlands are good, with technology trading going back and forth pretty regularly, and them supplying me with some nice GPT deals. The Maya, on the other hand, are jerks. To this point in history, they have launched suprise attacks on me 3 times. The first time cost me my far western isle. The second two cost me one city, Bad-Tibra. Fortunately, I was able to keep the Dutch at war with the Maya fairly regularly, keeping the pressure of me.

[ZargonX]

This next picture is just a snapshot of what became the bulk of my military force through most of the industrial age: the guerilla. With no rubber, these were my go-to guys. This shot, in 1756, is after I've cleared the Maya from the near-west island, and am preparing to go harass them on the far west isle. I don't really want to dedicate enough troops to actually take it, but just enough to keep them occupied for a while and do some damage. The green circled city, Harran, in the last shot, became the home of my FP in 1720. It's not the best spot, by any stretch, but it was a solid city with some nice producers around it, so I just went for it.

My overall goal at this point was a space ship victory. I was pleased with my core lands, and my Sumerian and Japanese holdings were doing quite nicely. I built the ToE in 1620, giving me a good tech edge, though England and the Netherlands were never far behind. Mostly I traded with them for other techs and GPT, which allowed me to keep up a high research rate. Also, the constant Maya sneak attacks let me keep the 3 of them at war with each other for centuries on end, keeping them all slowed down slightly.

The real kicker is resource scarcity. With limited territorial holdings, I find myself missing the strat resources from coal onwards. Coal I get from England, after the Maya destroy my far-off coal port. But the real resource problems are yet to come...

[nbarclay]

Dominae, is the lack of rubber and the fact that the nearest coal is so far away your doing? Something smells a bit fishy here.

[nbarclay]

In 780 AD, right after I discovered Steam Power, the Dutch declared war, landing two crusaders and a longbowman in former Sumeria. The worst thing about the attack was that it cost a huge percentage of my foreign income, forcing me to be more careful with my finances than I would have liked. Losing my eighth luxury wasn't a whole lot of fun either; the happiness boost from being attacked made up for some of the loss, but not all.

I retaliated by enlisting the Mayans, English, and Russians in an alliance against the Dutch. I didn't do a whole lot of fighting, but my Dromons sank about three ships (one of them in port) As part of my negotiations with England, I supplied them with Iron and got Music Theory from them. Luxury sales to England helped replace some of my lost income from the Dutch.

In 850 AD, I got my first Scientific Great Leader of the game with the discovery of Electricity. I decided to use him to rush Bach's Cathedral on the former Hittite/Sumerian continent since cities there would need a happiness boost at size 12 and would often have a hard time coming up with the shields to build happiness improvements. I figured that would probably cost me Magellan's Voyage, which the Mayans were working on in a high-production city, but I was hoping I could still get Smith's (which no one had the tech for yet) by switching to it from Universal Suffrage.

The Grand Alliance against the Dutch ran its course in 980 AD, and I decided to make peace. The peace will not be permanent - repaying them for their barbaric attack offers too good an excuse to get rubber (which I'd found to my great annoyance was absent in spite of huge amounts of jungle) - but for the moment, the Byzantines are too busy building to have much interest in war. Trades with the Dutch brought them up to speed with my other major competitors and got back my eighth luxury along iwth a nice source fo foreign income.

At that point, I was up to seven industrial techs and the rest of the world was still in the medieval era. In a rare occurrence, I actually researched Nationalism and Communism myself. After Steam Power took five turns, I'd been on a four-turn tech pace, but I needed police stations to keep up that pace. And my tech lead was so large that waiting for the AIs to do the research for me would have taken too long.

Russia beat me to Smith's Trading Company by a single turn in 1000 AD, thanks to a cascade from Magellan's Voyage. I ended up having to trade to Russia for Free Artistry, enabling me to switch to Shakespeare's Theater (albeit at a cost of quite a few wasted shields). I'm not really using it - I ended up building it in my capital, which I'm not quite sure I want to grow past size 12 - but at least the AIs didn't get it. Losing Smith's was unpleasant, but my gpt income from other civs was strong enough that I could still do four-turn research and run a gold surplus.

In 1070 AD, the Russians and Mayans entered the Industrial Age as part of a tech-for-luxuries+gold deal. I'd been freezing Russia out of that market by obtaining my dyes from Egypt, but since Russia had recently taken Egypt's spare dye source away from them, that was no longer possible. Russia got Medicine as their free tech, so at least they couldn't start building railroads right away. I was up to nine industrial techs, and two turns away from completing the Theory of Evolution. When I got ToE, I took Atomic Theory and Electronics as my free techs. Even if I'd wanted to beeline to tanks, without rubber, I couldn't build the things.

England declared war in 1150 AD, landing two warriors and a spearman outside an undefended city on West Island. Fortunately, I'd been watching the ship that landed the troops and doing some contingency planning, so I was able to move in a guerilla and an Ancient Cavalry. Not surprisingly, the attack failed.

Constantinople completed Longevity in 1170 AD; in this case, the AU Mod actually did persuade me to research Sanitation where I likely would have skipped it otherwise. I finally got around to researching Refining (which I'd put off in favor of other techs while waiting for the research time to come down from five turns to four) and discovered that the sole remaining Sumerian city has oil. That signed Sumeria's death warrant, but setting an execution date was still a bit of a problem because I didn't have a lot of spare troops available. Also, I didn't want the people in my Sumerian province to get mad, and with no one having researched Military Tradition and with a forest tile in the way, I didn't have any way to capture the city the same turn I declared war.

A decade later, I decided to sell Nationalism to the Russians and Mayas to make up the income lost when England attacked. (I think I got a little over 300 gpt total from the two of them.) I was a bit worried that they might sell it to England and create a situation where I would have to trade England another tech to re-establish my luxury trade once Elizibeth and I made peace, but that ended up not being a problem. In any case, with my lead up to twelve techs, I wasn't too worried.

The peace treaty with the Dutch was ready to expire, and since gold per turn was involved, they would have renegotiated if I didn't. Since I wasn't ready to attack the Dutch yet, I agreed to a straight-up renewal. Prospects for getting rubber before the modern era (which was less than five techs away) were starting to look ugly. But my lead was so big that I could almost certainly build TOW Infantry before the Dutch could build regular infantry. Mixing it up between my TOW Infantry and artillery and Dutch riflemen was starting to look like a good formula for rubber.

My military at that stage was tiny: 2 pikemen (one of them elite), 1 regular knight, 2 riflemen upgraded from pikemen, 8 artillery (2 of them from captured catapults) 8 galleons (upgraded from Dromons), 5 MedInfs (3 in an army and 2 elite), 10 guerillas (upgraded from MedInfs and an elite* swordsman), and 8 Ancient Cavalry (at least 1 elite). With those plus 29 workers, I was actually four units below my free unit support threshold in spite of the reduction in free unit support under Republic in the AU Mod.

England finally agreed to peace in 1230 AD - after having just landed a knight, three longbowmen, and two spearmen outside my coal city where only a single guerilla could be moved into position to defend. The English troops are still sitting there, but as long as all they do is sit, I can live with their presence. I'm really looking forward to when I have the tech and quantity of spare troops to park a TOW Infantry in each of those cities; maybe then the AIs won't keep thinking I'm a good target for invasion.

Universal Suffrage was finally completed in 1250 AD after having had a few starts building it switched to other things. Hoover Dam was completed in Sumer twenty years later; the former Hittite/Sumerian continent is both my biggest land mass and one where building power plants in each city would be rather difficult due to high levels of corruption. I'm also planning to build the Internet there.

In the meantime, in 1255 AD, I noticed that Egypt was down to four cities. To make it a little harder for Russia to finish them off, I sold them Metallurgy dirt cheap and gave them Theory of Gravity, Magnetism, and Nationalism.

The Dutch declared war agian in 1270 AD with a single crusader landed outside my capital. I responded by re-forming the Grand Alliance with Russia, England, and the Mayans (using luxuries as incentives for them to cooperate).

The year is now 1290 AD, and I've just discovered Flight. I've only just barely reached a point where I can research Radio in four turns, but I'll slow down a little in the modern age until I can get enough research labs up and running. I researched every single industrial tech that I have myself, and Steam Power was the only one that took longer than four turns. My closest technological competitor is England, which has only four industrial techs: Nationalism, Communism, Steam Power, and Medicine. So by the time the game is over, there is every possibility that I will be literally an entire era ahead in technology; I've come close to that before, but I don't think I've ever quite actually done it. I've decided to pursue a space race victory unless additional resource problems force me to conquer so much territory that I might as well go for domination while I'm at it. I'm also planning to stay in Republic for the rest of the game since I almost certainly couldn't get a big enough research advantage in some other government to be worth the anarchy.

Gilgamesh was finally stupid enough to order the forest that stands as the only barrier between him and death chopped down, so I'm moving in every fast-mover I have to (one knight, a MedInf army, and some Ancient Cavalry) to help claim "my" oil supply. That will let me upgrade galleons to transports and build destroyers to escort them, fulfilling the naval side of my needs to invade the Netherlands.

Regarding the land side, I'm not in a huge hurry since I have ample gold to build guerillas and upgrade to TOW Infantry. If I get Rocketry as my free tech, I'll probably strike as soon as I can build a couple destroyers to escort my transports. Otherwise, I'll probably pursue Computers and Miniaturization first. (Computers is pretty much always my first Modern tech target because I want research labs to help me research all the other modern techs.) Who knows, maybe I'll even get lucky and get Computers as my free tech?

[Dominae]

Originally posted by nbarclay
Dominae, is the lack of rubber and the fact that the nearest coal is so far away your doing? Something smells a bit fishy here.

There is no lack of Rubber, you just lack Rubber.

[ZargonX]

There is no lack of Rubber, you just lack Rubber.

Dom, you can't imagine how many times I cursed your name every time I would see the spread of the next strat resource

[Dominae]

This is the Seafaring game people, do you expect all the resources to be within stone's throw!?

(that's maniacal laughter, in case you're wondering)

[jim_steer]

Originally posted by ZargonX


Dom, you can't imagine how many times I cursed your name every time I would see the spread of the next strat resource

I am sure Dominae's ears have been burning a lot

[nbarclay]

Originally posted by Dominae
This is the Seafaring game people, do you expect all the resources to be within stone's throw!?

(that's maniacal laughter, in case you're wondering)

When I play Civ, I expect the terrain to be a reasonable predictor of what resources will be where. If I control about a quarter of the world's land and have lots of mountains and jungle, I figure coal probably won't be a problem. If I have lots of jungle, I figure rubber probably won't be a problem. And if I don't have a resource even though I control about a quarter of the world's land area, likely a bit more, I figure odds are low that scouting for islands so remote that no one can get to them safely before Navigation or Magnetism will make much of a difference.

Dominae, what you did was pervert the game so that what is normally good strategy became bad strategy and what is normally somewhat questionable strategy became good strategy. That would be no big deal if you gave a specific warning in the game's description that the resources are distributed in such a way that finding and settling remote islands is a lot more important than in a normal game. But in the absence of clear warning, I find having my knowledge of the game used against me like this rather annoying as a matter of principle.

[cracky]

AU 501 DAR 5

1320: Coal hooked up. RR’ing begun. Traded Medicine + map to the Dutch for Nationalism. Nobody else even had any cash to trade for Medicine.

1325: Dutch start Universal Suffrage. They also have Communism and Fascism.

1330: Dutch finish Universal Suffrage. Damn SGL! Electricity finished.

1365: Scientific Method finished. Medicine to Hitties for Map + 40 gold + 25 gpt. Sanitation at 4 turn pace. ToE in 18 turns.

1385: Replacable Parts begun at a 6 turn pace. I swear this is the last tech I’m trading away for profit. Must regain tech lead! Sanitation and 33 gold to: the Dutch for Industrialization, the English for 58 gpt. Nobody else has any money. The Dutch have the Corporation already. Wonder how far ahead they are on that branch…

As for the Rubber situation, the only one I might be able to nab is on that tiny island waaaay in the bottom right of the mini-map. England has a city there without expanded borders and NOT covering the rubber. Maybe I can end up culture bombing the other city on that island…

1415: The damn Dutch already have Replaceable Parts! Going to trade Electricity to them for 67 gpt and the Corporation. After they made out like bandits trading sanitation to everyone else, I’m giving it to everyone even if I only get a map.

1425: Oh, I’m an idiot. Can’t get Replaceable Parts without Electricity… Is it worth the trade for 130ish gpt plus refining? Hmmm. No.

1445: Oh Calloo Callay! Steel, Atomic Theory, and Electronics in one turn (ToE)! The rest of the world that counts (England, France, Maya, Dutch) picked up steel. The Dutch are up Refining and 4 techs behind on the lower branch.

1450: Hoover’s started on Japan’s island, believe it or not. My only river city on the starting continent sucks. Sure it has +1 billion food, but its shield output is misery itself.

1475: Combustion begun at 6 turn pace. Nobody has Scientific Method or Replaceable parts yet. The Dutch do already have Combustion though and refuse a 1 for 1 trade. Oil? Oh, I have one source on another of those one city islands in the south Pacific. The Hittites also have one on their secondary isle. I can’t wait to see where Aluminum and Uranium are…

1490: Rubber is now available throughout the empire.

1500: Combustion done. The Dutch have flight already, but still no Scientific Method. Mass Production started at a 6 turn pace. I’m sticking to my guns. NO tech trades! Also, I’ve got about a 2 minute wait between turns here, and there are no wars on.

1565: Battlefield Medicine done in Constantinople. Just finished motorized transport. Must resist urge to build nothing but tanks from now on… England and the Dutch are down Atomic Theory, Electronics and Motorized Transport, and the Mayans and French are also down Combustion and Mass Production. Researching Flight at 7 turn pace.

1585: Hoover’s finished in Satsuma.

1595: Flight done. Now I’m up by Electronics and everything to radio which I’m working on.

Questions, Observations. Why did the Dutch procede as far as flight while not having Scientific Method or Replaceable parts? Why are they still so competitive in the tech race? They have communism, fascism, and espionage as well, which I don't. They must have traded for nearly all the luxuries or something. It looks like I'm headed for a space ship victory, but if this wait between turns gets too extreme I might go for the UN vote (without the massive tech give-away right before).

Despite having my FP in what used to be Sumeria, the Japanese home island is quite productive. Can you say Hoover's? This leaves me with three moderate to high production centers. After reading some of the other DARs I began regretting not putting my FP on the Japanese island. Putting it in Sumeria has worked out nicely in the long run, but I think I could have had a larger lead earlier on if I'd just plunked down the FP in Japan.

I don't have a screen shot for this DAR, after the last one I played straight through to the end of the game. In brief, the northern hemisphere looks pretty much like everyone elses. In the south, I own everything west of the home island, the three mini-islands in the far south, and the Hittite/Sumeria continent north of the isthmus.

[Dominae]

Dominae, what you did was pervert the game so that what is normally good strategy became bad strategy and what is normally somewhat questionable strategy became good strategy...

I suppose I should answer this. In formulating my answer, I've looked at the issue from two vantage points:

1. Strategic resource scarcity in AU501 is not conducive to the goals of AU.

I'm not really sure why the lack of resources around the starting location makes you "good" strategy of expansion somehow become "bad"; you've been on a 4-turn research pace throughout the Industrial era, so you must be doing something right. And I'm also not sure why it's "bad" strategy to claim islands, especially when they're prime locations for Strategic resources (for instance, the Tundra islands near the poles, or the numerous Jungle islands near the equator are highly likely to contain Oil/Aluminum and Coal, respectively; although Rubber does appear in Jungle, there's no guarantees that it will because it can also be present in Forest). The only "bad" strategy that I've noticed is expecting to have Strategic resources and not doing a thing about it (other than complain about the map) when this is not the case.

If you've played even just a handful of Conquests games you'll know that probably the biggest change to the epic game is resource distribution. The map for this scenario, although admittedly "cooked", is far from a "perversion" of what the map generator typically serves up in C3C. I can point you to numerous threads on how the resource distribution now "sucks", both in the Conquests and General forums. Since this is a big issue, I feel an AU game that brings it to the fore but without prior warning to the players is completely justified. And, as just stated above, this particular map is not at all far from what you could potentially get in a random map game.

2. Resource scarcity in AU501 is just plain not fun.

Of course, we're trying to enjoy ourselves here, not just learn about Civ3. However, different people have fun in different ways. Although many of us do enjoy UP-style games, it's simply not a good idea to enjoyment and educational purposes to make AU courses to be too easy. Therefore as a scenario creator I feel it's smart practice not to spoon-feed those players who want UP all the time, and this includes "easy" resource distribution. Of course I know how far you will be able to expand militarily, that's why I put some of the Strategic resources a bit further. There's no point in getting angry because you're learning what the course is meant to teach you (or being challenged in new/interesting ways).

For your case in particular, it seems pretty clear to me that you got bummed out when you realised you would have to do a bit of extra work to secure Rubber. I feel confident in saying this because you did not react negatively to the other "unrealistic" map features, such as the Coal that neatly feel within your expansion reach, or the perfect Sea lanes that made trading possible with every other civ. But when Rubber does not fall within your borders, whoa! that's a problem.

I'm sure you can find a way to leverage your impressive tech advantage into securement of a Rubber resource. Whether this is fun or not to you I take no responsibility for. Some (most?) people are actually enjoying the challenge:

As for the Rubber situation, the only one I might be able to nab is on that tiny island waaaay in the bottom right of the mini-map. England has a city there without expanded borders and NOT covering the rubber. Maybe I can end up culture bombing the other city on that island...
[...]
Oil? Oh, I have one source on another of those one city islands in the south Pacific. The Hittites also have one on their secondary isle. I can’t wait to see where Aluminum and Uranium are…
[...]
1490: Rubber is now available throughout the empire.

In any case, I'll probably not be making the map for the next AU, because I want to play it!


Dominae

[nbarclay]

I'm going to move this discussion to the post-game wrap-up thread, since at this point, not all the resources have been uncovered.

[Dominae]

Originally posted by nbarclay
I'm going to move this discussion to the post-game wrap-up thread, since at this point, not all the resources have been uncovered.

Oops, I should have thought of that!

[jshelr]

Originally posted by nbarclay
Dominae, what you did was pervert the game so that what is normally good strategy became bad strategy and what is normally somewhat questionable strategy became good strategy.

Perhaps that was a bit harsh, especially since Nbarclay's game, as usual, was impressive in the extreme. I knew before starting that Dom would do everything in his power to make seafaring the core of game strategy. Meantime, I'm cheerfully willling to do without rubber for awhile. It's even fun to have to go get needed supplies rather than simply roll over the opposition.

By the way, there is a 5-way war going on in our game with us allied with the Dutch against the Uk, Maya, and Russ. Of course, the Dutch have all the "easy" oil to capture.

We, being lazy, will likely play this game from here buying rubber from the Dutch since we are now light years faster than anyone in research. Got a SGL from refining and built Hoovers, which is worth less than usual because of islands. We have one unconnected oil resource and might be able to grab rubber from the Russ, although we have few units at this point and it might not be worth the risk.

On AI behaviour, the smart Maya blockaded our coal resource and the relatively smart Russians knocked out the roads in the choke point on our Eastern land mass. Not bad moves.

[nbarclay]

Originally posted by jshelr

It's even fun to have to go get needed supplies rather than simply roll over the opposition.

At thjs point in my game, my only interest in rolling over the opposition militarily was to acquire any resources I might be lacking. Otherwise, the other civs (at least the major ones) were worth a lot more to me as trading partners than as conquered territory. The fact that Dominae's manipulations had a serious impact on whether and how much I would need to fight to acquire resources is a large part of the reason I resent those manipulations.

[jshelr]

Moving right along, we extracted ourselves from war in 1350AD for a measly amount of gpt. AI's like to think they won and a bit of tribute makes them go away.

We traded old junk tech for Nationalism, Communism, and espionage, receiving enought lux to start some wltqds

Dromons plus a little shore-based arty were able to sink everything up to ironclads. We will take a shot at destroyers in due course.

It may be worth noting that we didn't finish improving the tiles in the core island and three neighboring/ o islands until 1400 ad or when researching mass production -- very slow performance and buildings are also lagging the tech pace.

Rubber was readily available on the market for lux plus gold or for an old tech. Not to worry.

We are going to head toward modern armor and choose SS or domination when the time comes. Since we were on the opposite side of a three-way alliance lately, we had better build the UN or risk being voted out!

[Catt]

Stock rules; demi-god.

My last DAR was from circa 750 ad, having lost Smith’s to the Mayans due to an SGL (later confirmed in the after-game replay).

With the conclusion of my second war with the Dutch – having retaken / rebuilt my possessions on the far west isle and taken the lone Dutch city there, the only thing left was bombarding interloping ships – I focused on: (1) research; (2) clearing jungle and improving terrain; and (3) developing my new FP “core.” By taking the sole Dutch possession on the island I secured for myself a source of coal. It did take a half dozen turns to get workers to the right tile, and then a half dozen more to clear and road it. Because of the delay in connecting the coal, and my beeline to Electricity and Replaceable Parts, my workforce had just gotten underway in RRing the empire when the worker bonus of RP kicked in.

Surprise! No rubber; though I expected at much at this point. Ironically, the most accessible rubber appears in a small island south east of Russia that I probably could have settled if I had pushed hard for it. I didn’t, and a lazily exploring dromon alighted on the island for the second time to see a Russian settler land – I could have had a settler there first. The lack of rubber doesn’t hurt much – my land-based military consisted of 3 pikeman, a half-dozen cavalry, a half dozen ancient cavalry, and a dozen or so newly upgraded guerillas. I didn’t have anything to upgrade to infantry, and I didn’t have the production power to produce infantry in numbers – my near-term unit builds would be primarily artillery. The bulk of my unit count (and upkeep cost) was in workers and dromons, with another half dozen galleons to ferry troops among the three main islands in any turn.

With the discovery of RP, the clearing, irrigating, and Rring of the far west isle began in earnest. Also with RP, civil engineers became available for those far-flung cities – I used CE’s to build libraries for border expansion, aqueducts, markets, and, later, hospitals. After researching RP I dropped back for Medicine – running at a 5 or 6 turn pace, undiscovered by any at this point. I traded Electricity around (principally to the Dutch, Russians, England, and Mayans) for lots of gpt – taking all free gpt from all, totaling about 500 per turn, IIRC.

I didn’t have any available pre-builds for ToE or Hoover except for the palace, and without factories (no industrialization yet) I didn’t have much production power either. I started a palace build in my east for Hoover, and timed a bank build to coincide with Scientific Method – upon the discovery of SM, the ToE still had 16 turns to go. I took the opportunity to research Atomic Theory in 9 turns, and then Sanitation in 5 turns, with 2 turns of 0% on the way to a free Electronics and Radio.

But before all of this, sometime just before the ToE, it was time to renew the gpt deals I traded Scientific Method for a renewed gpt stream, a source of rubber, and a variety of luxuries. I elected to take gpt from the Dutch rather than Industrialization. I did not trade to the Mayans who had broken deals in the past and who were sending a stream of 3 galleons, all escorted by frigates, towards Constantinople. I wasn’t sure if they were coming for me, going for Japan, or going further on towards the Hittites or even the Russians. They were going for me, and landed a good force of cavalry, rifles, and a few longbows. My diplomatic response was not difficult (though I parted with some gpt to get it done) – I had to pay protection money on my large gpt payments streaming in from the Dutch and Russians (I didn’t necessarily need any help, but I didn’t want to lose my income stream).

(BTW – I had been “at war” with the Hittites since the early middle ages – they couldn’t hurt me and they didn’t have anything to offer, so I retained the war happiness provided by the long-running “war” in a exploit).

Catt

[Catt]

Dromons are effective against Frigates and even ironclads! Stacks of my ancient age horrors were successfully bombarding escorted Mayan invasion forces and turning them back before they could reach shore. The Mayans managed only one other landing (on the far west isle) after their initial “sneak” attack before the 20 turns of war were up. I canceled the alliances but let the war continue (war happiness again) until the Mayans had made peace with the Dutch and the Russians.

Not much to tell (since I didn’t take careful notes) – although I am saving some thoughts for the post-game thread rather than trying to weave in questions and observations into this brief AAR. I played a “sim-style” game for a time: building, trading, fiddling with CEs, policeman, taxmen, and scientists in the far west. The Dutch had made some real headway on the upper branch as I worked through Radio. After sucking all the gpt available out in the last 20-turn round, I traded Sanitation and Atomic Theory (and perhaps Refining / Steel for the other) for techs like Industrialization, Refining, Steel, Nationalism, Communism, Fascism, and Espionage. My closest competitor was the Dutch who were roughly one to two techs behind overall. I researched Combustion rather than trade to the Dutch for it to discover that they hadn’t progressed further along. I was always able to include luxuries and a supply of rubber in my tech trades, and had been trading ancient and then middle age techs to Sumeria and Japan for gems and ivory. I usually had between 6 and 8 luxuries all told.

In 1320 AD, with only Flight and Motorized Transportation left in the Industrial Age, the Russians became the first to discover Printing Press.

I forgot to take a screenshot at Flight, but below is a compilation of the minimap and infobox at 1370 AD – either 2 or 3 turns after I acquired Flight.

Catt

[Catt]

The next turn, Joan of Arc lost her sense and unloaded a horseman next to an undefended city. I moved an infantry and another unit into the city and my capital (in the unlikely event that the horsie beat an infantry). I also moved my worker stacks south and out of range of the horsie. When I called Joan on the hotline, I didn’t even have the opportunity to force a “leave or declare” option. After promising to leave, the French horsie moved south towards my workers – upon my demand she declared war and promptly lost a horsie and a caravel.

Catt

[Dominae]

Originally posted by jshelr
Moving right along...

[lockstep]

AAR, part 5

1150 AD: Sumeria has Econ
1180 AD: Dem to Sumeria for Econ, 14gpt, 900g
1210 AD: Egypt destroyed by Russia
1220 AD: Industrialization
1240 AD: Coal connected; Arnhem (Dutch) finishes Magellan's Voyage
1250 AD: Military Tradition; Scientific Great Leader

Finally! I checked the F7 screen and investigated: Kish (Sumer), Harran (Hittites) and Haarlem (Dutch) all were building Smith's, but none of them would finish it in less than 16t. Constantinople had only 8t left, so I decided to save the SGL for another wonder (Shakespeare's?). In the end, I would get Smith's, but at the same time screw up badly.

1260 AD: Sumeria has FA
1285 AD: MT to Sumeria for FA, 49gpt, 610g; MT to Hittites for 50gpt, 20g
1295 AD: Constantinople finishes Smith's Trading Company; Kish (Sumer) finishes Shakespeare's Theater

My worst mistake so far. I should have switched Constantinople to Shakespeare's, finish it and rush Smith's on the next turn. I had completely forgotten that Shakespeare's was cheaper than Smith's (450 shields vs. 600 shields) and that Kish would be able to switch to Shakespeare's. So much for +8 culture pt in Constantinople. After a lot of cursing I moved on.

1300 AD: Electricity; Constantinople rushes Universal Suffrage
1305 AD: Sumeria, Hittites have San; Constantinople rushes factory
1310 AD: Kyoto finishes Forbidden Palace; Constantinople rushes coal plant

Constantinople now was at 70 shields pt. I wanted to be very clear about who would build Longevity.

1320 AD: Sanitation
1330 AD: Sumeria has Nat
1340 AD: Nationalism
1360 AD: Ironclads
1370 AD: Constantinople finishes Longevity
1380 AD: Sumeria has Comm; StP to Sumeria for 180gpt, 1350g; Scientific Method

I did trade away Steam Power because my gold reserves were draining off. At least I had deliberately researched every tech after StP to deny the AI the chance to get a SGL.

1385 AD: Constantinople finishes Heroic Epic
1400 AD: The Corporation
1430 AD: Replacable Parts; no rubber; Constantinople finishes Theory of Evolution; Atomic Theory (free tech); Electronics (free tech)

I should have guessed about the rubber. OTOH, who needs rubber (or oil, aluminium and uranium) for a 20k cultural victory? BTW, as there was no Great Wonder available anymore (for now), I started to build the remaining small ones.

1450 AD: Espionage
1455 AD: Sumeria has Fasc
1460 AD: Constantinople finishes Military Academy
1475 AD: Refining; no oil
1480 AD: Esp to Sumeria for Comm, 460g
1485 AD: Constantinople finishes Wall Street
1490 AD: Steel
1515 AD: Constantinople finishes Intelligence Agency
1520 AD: Combustion
1525 AD: Ircl to Sumeria for 33gpt, 3440g; Ircl to Hittites for 40gpt, 50g; gift Ircl to Dutch, England, Mayas, Russia

After taking away the Sumerian's entire gold reserve for Ironclads, I decided to boost my popularity.

1545 AD: Fascism; Chalcedon finishes Hoover Dam (-> sell existing coal plants); 8-tech-lead
1550 AD: Constantinople has 10007 culture, 87 culture pt
1575 AD: Constantinople finishes Battlefield Medicine
1580 AD: Motorized Transportation
1605 AD: Radio
1630 AD: Flight (-> Modern Age); Computers (free tech); 12-tech-lead

Plans for the future:
a) Be Mr. Nice Guy,
b) Preserve the tech lead,
c) Research every modern tech that enables Great Wonders, and build those wonders,
d) Research Rocketry and build a bunch of ToW infantry, just in case the AI's get jealous,
e) Enjoy a 20k cultural victory.

[ducki]

Research Electricity in 8 at 80% with 26gpt deficit. Arg.
Oh, yeah. I had been pretty aggressive with "my" western islands, so I just have to get the coal connected. heh.
-------------------------------------------------------

Well, it's probably a mistake, but I need the money, so I'm going to trade Steam around.
Next turn.
890AD - I'm #1 in Wealth!

Sumeria: 115gpt, 260g, Medicine, WMap
Dutch : 33gpt, 60g, Medicine, WMap
Russia : 0gpt, 7g, Medicine, WMap

Leave out Russia. Trade Medicine to Egypt for 16g and WMap.
940 AD - Medicine to England for 4gpt, 30g, WMap
England and Netherlands make peace.
950 AD - Egypt wants me to rejoin her in the Hittite War(yes, she's still at it.). Instead, I trade her Steam for 16gpt, 19g, WMap
960 AD - Coal hooked up! Whooooo!
Wow, there was more odd stuff on the world maps I've been getting. A little island just beyond Old Japan shows up. I get there one turn after the Maya, or Sumeria, but since I land so close, they move off the square they landed on. I settle on the SE corner.

Electricity comes in. Sci-Meth at 90% - 6 turns. 80% is same time, but maybe I can cut it.

Furs contract runs out. Give Liz Steam for Furs, WMap, and 20g.
Magnetism to Maya for 4gpt, 30g, WMap - Wow, he looks cool Industrial!
Iron to Russia for 5gpt, 20g, WMap.

Argh.
1000AD - Dutch demand Electricity, which I was going to sell around this turn. I have almost no military aside from garrisons. Damn. /sigh.
1-2 turns from SciMeth. 2-3 turns from Newton's Univ.
I cave. Can't do a war right now. Not with Knights(Noone researched MilTrad) and Crusaders, and less than half a dozen of each. Damn.

Dutch complete Smith's. Arg.
English complete Newton's. Now I'm going to lose all those shields, dammit. And so close to ToE. Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1010AD -
Switch Smith's to Palace. Leave Newton's. Maybe research for SciMeth will come in before the reassignment at the beginning of next turn. I can dream, can't I?

Hey, the Dutch didn't trade Electricity to the Sumeria, so I can still trade it for some cash and Nationalism! Yay!
Elec. to Sumeria for Nationalism, 370g, WMap
Oops, nope. That was an old deal. Now he'll give 2320g, 1gpt, WMap.
Skip that for now.

Elec. to Russia for MilTrad, 43gpt, 40g, WMap
MilTrad + Elec to Sumeria for 41gpt, 2320g, WMap

Somehow, Maya are all caught up with me, but also lack Nationalism.
Spend about 1000g rushing buildings around the empire.

A while back, I decided instead of entering the Egypt-Hittite war, I'd make a single Privateer and go mess with the Hittites, just to help out a bit. Just killed my first galley, enslaving a second Privateer. Argh! Avast ye, scurvy dogs!
My enslaved Privateer had enough movement points to attack and enslave another.
Which attacked and enslaved another. Now I have 4 Privateers. Just call me

Russia takes out one of my Privateers with a Frigae, then declares war on Egypt. Eeeeexcellent.
Lost supply of Saltpeter, Dyes. Egypt won't reup the deal. Argh. There goes my happiness, and with it, my research rate. Garg.

SciMeth comes in. Switch Duckst. to ToE, due in 8. Will try to research Industrial before then.

Magnetism to France for 20g and WMap
Trade my only horses to Dutch for Spices and WMap. And cross my fingers.

1020 AD - Russia sinks another Privateer and a Privateer sinks my Dromon that was keeping tabs on the Egyptian town that used to be the Hittites that used to be mine.

Wow, I actually won the race to the Tundra Forest Island. I wonder if there's anything really there or if the AI just was filling space...
1070 AD - Nabbed another tundra island, just ahead of Egypt, who is being beaten on by Russia.

Sumeria is the current powerhouse. 4 techs on me.

Industrialisation done. Research Atomic Theory at 0%. ToE in 2.
Change Adrian from Palace to Suffrage, done in 9.
Change a lot of towns to Factories.
1080 AD - ToE complete. Take Atomic Theory and Electronics.
SciMeth to Russia for Sanitation, 94gpt, 10g, WMap.
to Dutch for 82gpt, 12g, WMap
to Sumeria for 24gpt, 650g, WMap
Sanitation, SciMeth, Industrialisation(Sumeria has it too) to England for Nationalism.
Nationalism to Egypt for 15gpt, 19g, WMap
Nationalism to France for 4gpt, 20g
Research Replaceable Parts 90% - 7 turns.

1090AD - Start Hoover, done in 29.
1140 AD - For no apparent reason, Maya declares war on us.
Gaaaah! I got beaten to Replaceable Parts! Argh!
Science to 0%, Scientists will stil finish in 1. Grrrr!
Universal Suffrage in 1, then I should be able to trade Atomic Theory for some good stuff and money.

Atomic THeory to Sumeria for Alliance v. Maya, Ironclad, Fascism, 71gpt, 300g
Atomic Theory to Dutch for Alliance v. Maya, Espionage, 69gpt, 60g
1210 Furs from England for Atomic Theory

Atomic THeory to Russia for 52gpt, 40g
Sumeria brings France into Maya dogpile.

England is wandering around one of the islands I'm hoping has oil, and while I am looking closer, I realise - I have rubber!!!
What was I thinking?!? Must rush worker, then rush harbor. Heeelllll Yyyeaaaahhhh! I wonder how many turns I "wasted" making guerillas?

1220AD - Horses again to the Dutch. For Spices, 1gpt, 20g, WMap
1240AD - Sumeria drags Egypt into Dogpile on the Maya. Stupid, as Russia is swallowing Egypt whole. She's gonna be a bear(hehe) when I get to her.

1250AD - Radio comes in, but the only way I can trade for Corporation is to trade away Electronics, and since I still have 7 to go on Hoover and there's several AI's building Longevity...

Rubber connected now. Yummy!
Ivory to England for 14gpt, 40g
Oh balls! I just realized I have 10 turns to go on my alliances. Pants!

1260 - Sumeria makes peace with Maya.
Sumeria begins Hoover - dammit, I knew that was going to happen, but I really didn't want to fight the Maya for real.
Hoover's in 3 - unless a Longevity failure steals it.

Decide on a plan of attack against Maya(hehe, finally.) After peace, build up Infy/Arty or Tanks, lots of Transports and escorts. 2 Trasports of nothing but settler/garrison pairs. Raze everything, including the capitol and it's wonders. Seems a shame, but they are my biggest culture rival. They must go.

1265AD - Espionage to Russia for 72gpt
Radio to SUmeria for Corporation(1 turn away), Communism, 209gpt, 230g
Gift Communism to Russia, France; Fascism+Communism to Egypt
Research refining at 90% - 7turns.

English complete Longevity in London. God I hope I don't lose Hoover.

1270AD
Gift Fascism, Ironclads to France
Russia and Egypt make peace -Egypt is down to half a dozen cities, so no more 20-turn deals for her.

I think Sumeria is feeling froggy - there's suddenly a Rifleman on my coal-town border. Reinforcements now a priority there and my rubber island. Hope for peace soon.

1275 - Hoover's! Capitol is now 74spt. I can get 80 if I ditch the scientist, but it doesn't affect this build, so I'll wait til the build is done. Another city is at 60spt, but losing 4 to waste.
I should probably MM things around so it's more evenly distributed with everyone making a multiple of 10 where possible.

1285 - Industrialisation to France for chump change.
Electronics to Dutch for 81gpt, 30g
Electronics to Russia for Dyes and change.

1290 - Radio to Russia for 21gpt, 70g.
1295 - Refining comes in. Steel in 5.
Ahhh, oil on the little island the Maya tried to steal from me.
1300 - Sumeria has Steel. Refining for Steel - no gpt so I can go to war in 13 turns if I want.
Steel to Russia for 12gpt plus change.
Electronics to England for 31gpt + change
Gift Electricity to France.
Combustion in 6. Don't feel like MMing for science - 6 will have to do.

1305 - Iron to France for 28gpt
Gift France & Egypt with Replaceable Parts. Want them to be helpful.

Radio to Dutch for 14gpt, 70g
1310 - Peace with Maya, finally. Then, trade Communism for Silks, Wines, 10gpt

1325 - Sardica flips from Egypt to me. Finally!

52gpt to England for Furs. Damn.
Iron to Russia for Horses, 54gpt, 40g. Yay!
7 more turns on deal with Sumeria, then it's time to gut his empire.
building up Infy/Arty, upgrading Transports/Destroyers, building a couple of Cruisers. Will have to coordinate 4 separate attacks due to overseas towns, but fortunately, I neighbor all of them.

1335 - Fascism to Maya for 12g(teehee!)
Ivory and only Horses(again) to Dutch for spice.

1345 - England and Sumeria sign MPP. Damn. Still, I want to destroy Sumeria, as they are engulfing Hittites. Can't let that happen.

Gobbled up Hittites, taking advantage of their backwardness and not wanting Sumeria to get too big. Sumeria too the top two cities, I took the rest.

Started SETI with freebie tech(Computers?).

[Aqualung71]

DAR5 Play - Emperor level, AU Mod

I’ve now caught up with my reports and will take notes as I play. I’ve just got off a plane having read the other DAR4 posts and am inspired to put in place a winning strategy!

1050AD: The Byzantines are the first Industrial civ in the world (and very glad there are no Turks in this game!)

1060AD: Japan with their 2 remaining cities of pop 5 and 1, declared war on the Dutch – the most powerful civ. Their single Archer attacked and died and their Galley ran away. I wonder what drama will unfold next turn! The Maya are also at war with the Dutch. I don’t like that – the Dutch may become a KAI if they take out the Mayans.

1070AD: The Dutch responded to the Japanese Kamikaze mission by sending a Warrior out of their nearby town (defended by a Rifleman) to attack the Jap’s Spearman defended town. I mean…really! What riveting stuff! Oh, the Warrior lost in case anyone's interested.

1120AD: Electricity completed. Scientific Method in 6. Would love to get an SGL right about now.

1130AD: Coal connected….workers spewing forth from 3 camps every couple of turns. Now watch my support cost go through the roof and my income go down as pop drops. My strategy is wavering – Constantinople only has 13 turns to go for US, and switching to Coal Plant will kill 240 shields. I’ll stick to US and bring a 3rd city online with a plant so ToE and Hoovers are still covered.

1140AD: Sold Industrialisation to the Maya for 52gpt + 88 gold. Dutch and Sumerians both now have Fascism and Ironclads…a straight swap I would guess. Wary about giving up Electricity, but I need the money and Sumeria was prepared to pay 152gpt + 150 gold + Ironclads so how could I say no? Gave Gilgamesh a 50g donation which made him polite again – don’t want him to cancel that deal! Anyway, I'll steal it back later.

1150AD: Traded Nationalism to Lizzie for 24gpt + 110 gold and Navigation to Cleo for Dyes…that was handy.

1160AD: Netherlands and Maya came to their senses and made peace. Hope they don’t gang up on me now! First Courthouse built!

1170AD: Scientific Method completed. Gilgamesh asks for an MPP…you gotta be joking buddy! AND WOO-HOO, YES, THE GLORIOUS BYZANTINES HAVE GENERATED AN SGL……mad cheering, excitement and jumping for joy!!! Oh, what timing! Thriller kisses his laptop around about where the RNG may reside

After recovering, I carefully considered my options and decided that this will put me so far ahead I can afford to change my plans somewhat. I will continue and finish US in Constantinople (9 turns…although I can get Smiths in 4 I prefer US for my pending wars), use the SGL for ToE (duh!), and select Atomic Theory and Replaceable Parts (instead of Electronics) for the free techs. That way I’ll get the modded charged-up Infantry and just as importantly greater worker productivity for my RR’s, while still being far enough ahead to get Hoovers in Kyoto, my 2nd best productive city which fortunately has a river. What’s more, I can build ToE anywhere and not waste shields. Then I will build M.Academy and H.Epic and attack both Mursilis and Gilgamesh (after his gpt expires) with Infantry armies! Well that’s the plan anyway….now I wonder where that Rubber is!

Oh, what a bonus! Empedocles of Acragas was moved south to Trebizond, who rushed their Coal Plant and moved to ToE next turn.

Here’s a screenie of the learned gentleman before he disappeared up Darwin’s fully evolved right nostril:

[Aqualung71]

DAR5 Play (Continued) - Emperor Level, AU Mod

1180AD: Lizzie offered 42gpt and 64 gold for Steam, and in my current mood I couldn’t say no to the daft old bat. Protestants indeed! ToE started in Trebizond. Damn, I waited too long and now William already has Electricity – he would have paid 35gpt plus cash last turn. Now he wants to give me Espionage for Scientific Method, but no dice! Gilgamesh will do the same plus 94gpt, but no more deals for him from now on. Slider set to zero for a 650 gpt turn. Hmmm, Frigates are around and I don’t have Saltpeter. That’s a worry. Even more reason to hit the Hittites.

1190AD: ToE finished in Trebizond. Took AT and RP. Electronics in 10 – my empire is still way too small. But wow, don’t those workers RR fast now!

And what would you know….we’ve got no rubber. Another huge surprise…not! Egypt’s got some, so has Russia, the Dutch have 2, Maya has one and there’s one on that tiny island way out to the south-east. Sumeria has a town there, but haven’t expanded culture to take the Rubber. 6 in total if I’m not mistaken. Hmmm, interesting decision now!

Ok, too much excitement for one day…..it’s 4am and the Empress of the civilized world is going to bed.

Hopefully to be continued tomorrow……though I’ve got a bunch of work to do on the weekend thanks to this game. Looking forward to finishing this section and reading all your posts!

Cheers and goodnight!

[Mountain Sage]

1110AD – The Year of the Odd Smell
“Ah, the fresh breeze of industrial plants…” Theodora dixit.
[We got industrialization]

1190AD – The Year of The Quick War
“One war, one ciy, one turn” Theodora dixit.
[The Hittites were ‘annexed’]

1260AD – The Year of Another Quick War
“A beachhead is still better than your as* in the cold water” Theodora dixit.
[We declared war on Sumeria]

1280AD – The Year of Discovery
“Those pretty useful scientist…” Theodora dixit.
[We researched ToE and beelined for Electronics]

1300AD – The Year of other Useful Spies
“See, MS, I told you that our official diplomatic spies would prove useful, after all” Theodora dixit.
[Peace with Sumeria for Atomic Theory vs. Replaceable Parts and The Corporation]

1305AD – The Year of Frustration
“Ah, no rubber, then get it, quickly” Theodora dixit.
[A military expedition is organized to get it from Egypt]

1345AD – The Year of the Seven Sisters
[Ah, soon Refining, and where are the Seven Vultures?” Theodora dixit.
[Refining in 8 turns, + 189 gold/turn at 100%]

1335AD – The Year of Commerce
“Ah, the sound of gold…”Theodora dixit.
[We traded Refining along for 1’752 gold]

1370AD – The War of Latex
“Rubber is a very flexible material, which can be…” Theodora dixit.
[We declared war to Egypt for some rubber]

1385AD – The Year of the Hero
“At last! At last! Give him a golden ring” Theodora dixit.
[We got our first Leader, at last]

1410AD – The Year of the Summer Palace
“Ah, to be able to take some vacation…” Theodora dixit.
[The Forbidden Palace was, finally, built in Harran]

1450AD – The Year of the Suicide Civ
“Ah well, I cannot stop them doing seppuku” Theodora dixit.
[Japan declared war on us]

1495AD – The Year of the Hummingbird
“Volare, oho…” Theodora dixit.
[We discovered Flight]

[Mountain Sage]

1495AD: our economy: still number 1 in techs and gold, but the Mayan and the Dutch reasearch faster now. Our gold will be used for spying.

[Mountain Sage]

1495AD: our military. Better, we are catching up with Alexman's

[Aqualung71]

DAR5 Game Play (Part 3)

1200AD: First, a correction from last night. I realise I’ve traded for Ironclads so I can build them now instead of Frigates to accompany my Galleons. So Saltpeter isn’t so crucial just yet. Stopped building workers now their productivity has improved – the unit cost is killing me and I’ve got military to build. 87 units (32 workers) at 114 support cost. I need Banks – haven’t built any yet, big mistake! Too many wonders and happiness buildings.

Maya built Smiths. Decided not to pre-build Hoovers in Kyoto because only 6 cities on that island so it would be somewhat wasted. Selected a river city on my main island to rush factory and then build Hoovers.

Investigated the Sumerian island town of Zabalam – Library built and cultural growth imminent, so no-go for that Rubber since I’m not ready to fight Gil yet. Looks like it will have to be Cleopatra at Pi-Ramses, defended by 4 Spears and an Archer, and conveniently separated from the rest of her empire by the Russians. I’ll lose her Dyes, but luckily there’s one just outside Pi-Ramses. Looks like I’ll have to make peace with Cathy after about 2200 years of war.

RR’ing combined with terra-forming in 2 main cities (the loggers have moved in, no environmentalists yet thankfully!). Hmmm, now that could be an idea for Civ4

1210AD: 3 Galleons (unaccompanied….sloppy!) filled with my MI army, 5 Crusaders, 2 Riflemen and a Knight set sail to wrest Rubber from the Egyptians. Overkill perhaps, but vital!

1220AD: 3 Galleons filled with MI army.......retreat back to harbour at Nagova after spotting a Privateer (which luckily attacked the adjacent Hittite Galley instead)….2 Ironclads suddenly find themselves on my build-lists! Military building plans have been put back pending securing the Rubber resource.

1240AD: Made peace with Russia for 36 gold + 3gpt. Gifted her back 3gpt and improved to cautious.
Gilgamesh has started Longevity, having researched Sanitation. I hadn’t realized that had changed in the mod, and at this stage the double pop growth would be very useful for me given my low number of cities. By the way, my plans to increase city numbers on the 2 main islands have so far netted only 1 town. It’s so hard to break old habits. M.Academy completed in Kyoto and Army strength has become daunting!

1250AD: Trade round. Sold Electricity to Maya for 29gpt + 72g. Traded SM to Gil for Sanitation, 190g + 118gpt as I now won’t be attacking him for at least 20 turns. Gave William SM + 21gpt for Corporation. Still have AT and RP over the Dutch and Sumeria, and they have Espionage and Fascism (whoopy doo!). Gave Russia Metallurgy and now Cathy’s polite.

Where to start Longevity? Taking a gamble - Building a couple of Hospitals then will start. Hope nobody else has scored an SGL recently.

1255AD: H.Epic completed in Nicaea. The moron Mursilis declared war again – bugger, I’m not ready. Only 10 crappy units on my 9 city homeland and his Caravel within striking distance. I need one extra turn to finish some vital buildings (yes I know...strange concept in the face of an invasion, buti I'm a builder!). Moved a Galleon and a couple of workers to block his landing and buy myself a turn. Is it my imagination, or is the AI playing smarter? Last turn he didn’t even have Military Tradition. Oh well, this may make me stick to my faltering military strategy. Guerilla’s hit my build-lists with the objective of amassing an early strike force. 6 Hittite chariots hit a town on the southern island where I had foolishly let them sit for years, but my valiant defenders hold on against all odds. They will be toasted next turn by my Crusaders!

1260AD: Removed the Hittite threat from the southern island.

1265AD: 3 Hospitals and 3 Guerilla’s built. Guerilla’s in position for Hittite invasion. Electronics researched. Finally someone has researched FA and 5 AI’s started building Shakespeare. How’s that for tech-whoring?

Another mistake – my plans for Hoover were foiled as it didn’t appear on the build list for my intended city. Seems the river must at least run along a city border rather than just hit a corner. Moved to a smaller riskier city and sent all my workers there to RR and terraform. Fingers crossed!

3 Galleons accompanied by 2 Ironclads finally leave Nagova to wrest Rubber from Egypt at Pi-Ramses.

1270AD: 7 AI’s building Shakespeare now. This does not look good vis-à-vis cascade to Hoovers down the track.

Mursilis lives up to expectations by depositing 3 chariots in a corner with no retreat. They are easily dispatched by my Guerillas.

1275AD: Money problems. Not making enough to rush Factories. When will I build banks? My mate Gil will give me 460gpt for AT, but I can’t risk it with Hoovers still so far away and a possible cascade.

1280AD: Traded Steam to England for FA, but I’m not going to bother with Shakespeare.

1285AD: Various AI MPP’s are now in place – the world is getting complicated. The Dutch are moving in to finish off the Japs, so I loaded a Galleon with 4 Guerilla’s (strange sight that one!) to finish the job before them and claim the whole of that western isle for myself.

3 more Hittite chariots slip through and land undetected on my under-defended homeland. I scrape together enough forces to defeat them, losing a horse in the process, again using workers to block their retreat.

1290AD: Caved in and sold AT to Sumeria for 415gpt, the Dutch for 215gpt and the Maya for 89gpt + cash, throwing a little back at them to make them all polite. Gave England Electricity for Espionage – the IA may come in handy for military analysis during the upcoming world wars. Gave Russia Medicine for 35gpt + cash. Gave France Nationalism for 15gpt + gold, hopefully to restore some power balance up north. The Empress has reclaimed her pawned jewellery!

1310AD: Landed an MI Army, 5 Crusaders, 2 Riflemen and a Knight outside Pi-Ramses and declared war when Cleopatra asked me to leave.

1315AD: Took Pi-Ramses without much resistance. Fortified some units on the Rubber resource and started building Infantry. Crusaders building fortress on Rubber. Nice little tweak that one! Electricity to Russia for 25gpt + gold.

Refining researched and my second SGL generated. Immediately thought about rushing Shakespeare for the culture if nothing else, but then was advised Maya built it. Probably a stroke of luck. I considered keeping him for the UN, but wanted to maximize his utility immediately. With Shakespeare being built by all 8 AI civs and completed by Maya this very turn, the risk of cascade was there so I used my SGL to finish Longevity, even though it had only 6 turns to go. I’m not sure of the exact game mechanics, but I guess it was possible for another AI to switch to Longevity immediately and complete it before my SGL usage could be effective. Still, I took the risk anyway.

Even less Oil than Coal and Rubber. Only Maya, Russia, Sumeria and England have one source each. I’ll have to take Sumeria’s one town island to my south-west. This will be a tough war as they have Rubber for infantry. But my Infantry Armies should suffice.

Screen shot of my second SGL (which has now doubled the number of SGL's I've generated since I bought Conquests 3 months ago!):