CHRONICLES

RBCiv Epic TewntyNine

The Ottomans, denied their prize site, turned around and headed for a consolation site on the coast, five tiles southeast of Baghdad. At that point, they still had only two cities. Within a few turns, they settled three more times: Uskadar south of Damascus, Izmit squeezed in near Cumae, and their sorry consolation prize, Bursa.

My barbarian woes were not yet over. Two camps popped up in the jungle. One horseman had a chance to sack Najran before I could get military there, but it opted to wander around instead on that turn. The following turn, in 1225BC, my military arrived and I breathed a sigh of relief. Another barb came at Damascus. I had a warrior there and training another. I had two warriors at Medina. My min sci on Poly came in, and I traded that @2nd to Osman for Mathematics @2nd plus some cash. I traded Math @3rd to Caesar for Writing @4th. I established my embassies, then traded Math @4th and Poly @3rd to Cleo for Mapmaking, Horseback Riding and a worker, giving me a second slave. I started max research on Literature.

Between turns, the horse came at Najran. My odds were better on attack so I attacked... and lost three-to-zip. Blah. The game shows me mercy in sparing me for a turn so my military can arrive, only to pull one of these streak stunts and kill my unit off anyway. If the barbarian destroys the recently built temple that will be a HUGE blow to my final score, this being my fifth and weakest city.

I clicked Next Turn...

WOOHOO! I disturbed the neighbors, I yelled so loudly! Thank you merciful gods of pseudo-luck. After two crushing bouts of disease, the hassles with my settler in the desert, and now the improbably military defeat vs barbarian hoodlums, I finally caught a real break from the game. My temple was spared! 75 gold seemed a small price to pay for that mercy. That's one area where PTW has made a huge leap forward: barbarians. Not just the AI, but the danger of them burning down buildings. That makes them more than just a nuisance. This time, my luck held.

I made darn sure to get my first vet spear down there before the next barbarian came at me.

The next crisis arose over the Romans. They made a play for my iron with an aggressive settlement!

The Egyptians also made a play for my horses, but I could live with that since it was not impinging on my native 21 tiles, and my city would be 100% certain to be ahead in culture, with my game plan. But these Romans... there was simply no way I could tolerate that city in that location. I needed the three tiles it poached from me just to have twelve good tiles to work. Stealing one of my wheat, no less!

There goes my honorable ancient age bonus points. That city must burn! And with any dastardly act, I also lose bonus points for a completely honorable game. Well, too bad. As I wrote earlier, I did not expect to be able to play an honorable game anyway. Remotely possible, but unlikely. Well, this just sealed my fate. Pompeii must burn.

Note that I have a library under construction. Literature came in, and I have monopoly on it. I have begun libraries in Mecca and Medina also. Damascus has started on the Great Library, while Najran has started the Colossus. I have begun Monarchy at min sci, since I will want access to the Hanging Gardens, and the government swap would also help, even as a temporary pit stop on the way to Republic. The Ottoman capital is on the coast, but they will end up getting the Lighthouse over the Colossus. The Pyramids should hit soonish, forcing the cascade. If that takes place before the AI's get Literature, I should have the Great Library locked up! :)

I got about a dozen low-intensity turns. A Roman settler pair moved past Najran, south onto the peninsula. I used a couple of military units to deny them certain tiles, forcing them to settle in a spot that would prohibit any other AI's from settling there, so long as I kept a blockade on three tiles not yet covered by my borders, but which would be covered eventually.

Everything else was building libraries, wonders or infrastructure, with the capital cranking a couple of workers and more troops.

On the turn that Baghdad's borders expanded, Bursa flipped to me. I could have abandoned it, but there was no point. That was the least intrusive location for an AI city to exist. If I razed it, the AI's might resettle in a worse spot! I did accept the flip, though, for the free spear unit, and to kill the Ottoman's spear unit there, and to empty the food box and kill whatever project they had been working on. Then I kindly gave it back to Osman for the diplomatic boost. :)

The following turn, Pompeii flipped.

I burnt that POS to the ground!

Yeah, there goes 200 bonus points. Bye. Don't let the door hit you in the behind on your way out. Caesar now permanently furious with me for razing some of his citizens? Too bad. That's what he deserves for impinging on my land.

You can see my free spear leaving the Bursa area. Now I have another. Also see the Roman and Turkish warriors in the desert heading east, and my archer? A barb camp had popped up in that one little tile, a few turns ago. Now that Baghdad's border has expanded, that is no longer possible. Camps cannot pop up directly adjacent to civilized borders. There must be at least one tile of separation. So now I form a blockade of units in the desert to stop any more settlements between Mecca and Baghdad.

Oh, and I whipped Baghdad twice, from 3 to 2, then 2 to 1, to complete its library in 650BC. Medina and Mecca have also built their libraries.

Najran has gotten up to 4spt but still has 31 turns left to go on the Colossus in 470BC. It is sitting at 79 shields. The Cascade complete the Pyramids in Paris, the Oracle in Thebes, and the Great Wall in Rome. Istanbul swapped to the Lighthouse as I predicted. Sadly, the Egyptians have started the Colossus in Elephantine, and that turns out to be their city with all the food bonuses I mentioned possibly pursuing as a backup region. They appear to have more than 4spt going there, and it seems likely they can beat my Najran to the wonder.

With heavy heart, I spend the cash to investigate.

You can see my three units blockading possible settler sites on my west coast, pending border expansions to cover these tiles. (The AI will never settle inside your borders). Also note that I have traded with Rome for Construction. Mecca, Medina, and Baghdad are all working on colesseums.

Doh!

At 6spt, and ahead of me in shields in its box, needing fewer to complete the project, the Egyptians will finish in less than half the time it would take me. I have spared myself much misery. Najran is swapped to library with no shields lost, the building to complete this turn. After that it will begin on colesseum, with me using cash to rushbuy part of it as soon as I can afford to do so. If the city can't get the Colossus, and considering the shape it is in, I will likely have to try for Magellan here, and then it will need Shakespeare's too. That, assuming I can get the Great Library in Damascus, the Sistine Chapel in Mecca, and then get a great wonder apiece at Baghdad and Medina -- perhaps Hanging Gardens and Copernicus? Leo and SunTzu seem unlikely, as both Baghdad and Medina will need aqueducts, and they also both need courthouses. I may have to do Cop or Bach at Medina, Magellan at Baghdad, and only get one wonder at Najran: Shakespeare's. Can I even get the Hanging Gardens at all if I build them outside Mecca? Should Mecca go for the Gardens and me try for Sistine in Medina or Baghdad? Very iffy. Gosh, this is going to be interesting without the Colossus.

I probably could have gotten the Colossus at Damascus if I had built on the game tile as I first thought. But no, then I wouldn't get the Great Library, which is so much more valuable culturally. What an interesting pickle T-hawk has handed us. I am enjoying the strategic challenges.

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