1205AD: Washington invites my military cooperation. Since we are trading partners and on friendly terms, I agree to help.

Notice that Paris's market is about to complete.

1210AD: My first tech trade, as planned. (The tech is of no immediate use, but it helps to catch me up.)

So... Yes, I'm a wee bit behind Sulla's Epic One result in the "Getting Forges Going" category. I'm sure many will find this entertaining in various ways.

Currency is, was, and always has been the Economic Tipping Point(R) of Civ4. On first contact with it, my remarks went something like this: "Currency, wow. WOW CURRENCY. Currency, wow." The game is way WAY the heck more polished than it was at that point, but Currency is still the top of the hill. Cross the peak and you'll soon be accelerating and on a roll. (That's why Currency is the only tech that gets its own "Launch Tips" advice entry.)

This game is no exception. From 0% sustainable research pre-Currency to 50% sustainable post-Currency, in a relatively short amount of time.

My two pillages have split up and are on a fog-busting mission in the two nations with whom I have Open Borders. When that Axeman runs out of space to explore, I may send him at Alexander, if we are still at war then.

The world as I know it in 1225AD:

Ning-Hsia will become my Forbidden Palace site.

Things are relatively quiet for a while. My land is slowly being improved.

Compass allows me to make my second trade. I was initially going to skip the entire line from Polytheism to Divine Right (it's all optional, if you haven't noticed before) but I forgot that skipping Polytheism means also skipping Literature. And with all these wonders in Paris, skipping the National Epic was not a good idea. So...

If you're in to tech trading territory, you're in the game. It's (usually) that simple.

My warrior that had been trapped on a niche in Greek Lands finally got free a number of turns ago, when their borders expanded and pushed my unit across the gulf to American territory. Now he was there to witness the Americans burning down a Greek resource colony up by Furs and Silver.

Notice both the Colossus and Lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay. How in the heck did Washington MISS the Colossus in Sulla's game and still run away with the tech race? Amazing. My world was in and out of wars all game long, between all civs, and despite my slow teching start, I will end up the tech leader before we are done here.

You can see I'm researching Literature. Wowee, two turns for a tech. That is just a world apart from where I was not all that long ago!

Drama comes next, and with that I am able to pull the trigger again on a trade, this time one that will actually be useful to me some day.

(You need to have learned Horseback Riding before you can train Knights or Cavalry.)

1300AD: French Forward Axemen engage enemy forces in GREEK territory.

I made good on my promise to help Washington fight Alexander. We even killed one of their Longbows, before a Phalanx finished us off. We French honor our diplomatic commitments!

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