CHRONICLES

RBCiv Epic ThirtyTwo

Since that was my UU attacking, this kicked off my golden age. In despotism? Blah.

Although I had gathered the start of an army on the southern part of my continent, I still thought it would be prudent to distract the Americans with a second opponent. Hello, Monty!

I got the chance to trade for Monarchy about a third of the way in to my GA. Being religious, only one turn was lost in the government swap. I also knew that I would never be leaving Monarchy government. My intent was to wage war on as many fronts as I could support and never worry about weariness. All I would need to do was pop one leader in the fighting, to rush an FP in America, and I would be set. Yes, of course I've been on a SEVERE leader drought the last five Epics, but surely that could not continue forever. ... Right?

I spent the two-thirds of my golden age under Monarchy building key infrastructure back home in my core, especially aqueducts, since I had only the one fresh water city, at my capital. This actually slowed my war effort slightly, in the form of few additional reinforcements, but I had amassed plenty of firepower to overwhelm the Middle Isle, take Houston, and land a solid, secure beachhead on the American continent. I played cautiously because my supply lines were so long, theirs so short, and my reinforcements dried up briefly so my cities could continue to grow: aqueducts and harbors, mainly. Some markets, one library in the capital.

The Zulu showed up on the radar somewhere in there. They lost most of the island-grabbing race to the Babs, though. Here's how far I got by the end of my golden age, when I picked back up with heavy unit training once again.

Knowing that the Great Library was in Washington, I did no more research or trading. I did not even have feudalism yet. I did have several catapults with my army, though. I'm up to about a dozen elite victories so far, no leaders yet, but it's still early. Surely by the time I reach Washington, via Philadelphia, one will pop. I'm due for a break, for once. ... Right?

Twenty turns later, I've gassed the Americans, taken Philly and SanFran in the southeast, now finally Washington falls and I score the Great Library. I've got over two dozen elite victories now, still no leader. The Aztecs have taken Boston. There are but three American cities left. Surely my leader will pop any turn now. Right? I'm starting to sweat this bad luck thing. Can I get an exorcist in here or something, to shoo out whatever demons have taken over my Civ3 PRNG? Can I call the Orkin Man to spray for gremlins in the machinery? Good grief.

At least now I have Feudalism. My army is also picking up steam, as production back home has increased with larger cities, and more of my core now dedicated to troop production.

I finish off the rest of Abe's clan within ten more turns. I've wiped out an entire major civilization, won nearly three dozen elite victories, and no leader. Un-freakin-believable.

The Great Library has let me run all cash for a long time now, but the lack of FP has blown all my savings and then some, lost to corruption. Blah. Now I need a new target. I've GOT to score a leader for my FP. No way I can wait 200 turns on it. Since the bulk of my army is in America, the only logical target is the Aztecs. I'm not quite ready to take them on, though. I need to consolidate my gains and reinforce, take advantage of my new techs for better troops, etc etc. I start working on it, though.

I did get to gunpowder out of the library. When Education came in, the free ride ended, and it was time to take on the Aztecs.

I had waited for my deals to cancel. The Aztecs were already at war with Carthage, so I netted some payments for myself by allying with Hannibal.

I took Boston from them, scoring three more leaderless elite victories. I'm now over three dozen.

Then there was nothing to do but sit back, let them land troops, and try to clean them out with my cats and elites. The turns dragged on with my economy in the drink, FP-less. Anybody who pops some leaders will surely outperform me in the end. Blah, I am losing dozens of turns here, down the drain.

How many Epics in a row can I have unbelievably bad leader luck? I've been cursed since Epic 27! Epic 21 is the last Epic I played where I popped a healthy number of leaders in the early or middle game. I got one for my FP in Epic 22. Dry spell ever since. I don't want to become infamous for this! Good grief.

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