Thus did the historical record of England begin, with the ascension of King Thunderhawk to the throne. His first royal decree was for the archers to defeat the barbarian menace. Upon the execution of that order...
Nah, writing this report in-character is more effort than it's worth.
First order of business, clean up the barbs. Second order of business, whip the settler in London (it's got ten shields in the box), since we'll be revolting before the settler would get built, and I want the settler to be able to move during the anarchy. We'll lose the expensive size 7-12 growths to produce settlers from London, but we've got to get the settlers somehow and London can do it very fast.
I send all the workers north, for I've got a plan. Hey, there were two workers fortified on the hill outside York, and one in Nottingham. I wonder if anyone will miss seeing them? Not how I would have left them in setting up the epic....
We're one turn away from researching Monarchy. We could trade Polytheism to China right now, but I'll wait until after I get Monarchy so I can do a massive round of trading then. China then got Polytheism from somewhere else when I hit End Turn, doh.
In which is recorded the end of England's isolationist period and the rise of her new government.
Monarchy comes in, but I don't revolt. I want to see if anyone's managed to research Republic, and if so, if I can trade for it.
First trade is Monarchy + 16 gold to the Iroquois for all four contacts plus Writing. The contacts are definitely the first thing to get, since having them lowers the cost for all the rest of the techs. And Writing advances towards Republic, of course.
Next, I want to use up all my Polytheism trades. Polytheism + 7g to Russia to get Code of Laws (going towards Republic) and Masonry (as a throw-in.)
Polytheism to Babylon for Philosophy and Bronze Working plus 8g.
Good - someone does have The Republic! Bad - only one civ has it, China! Good - we still have Monarchy to trade to China. Bad - Monarchy isn't nearly enough to pay 2nd-civ monopoly cost for Republic.
Persia is the last civ to lack Polytheism. I trade it to them for Mathematics and The Wheel. I picked those two techs because they give me access to more ancient techs, Currency and Horseback Riding, to best evaluate further trading options.
Monarchy to Greece at 3nd-civ for the surprising price of Iron Working + Horseback + Literature + 132 gold + TM.
I see that Russia lacks Currency, so I make sure to get that to trade to them. Monarchy + 2g to Persia for Currency, Construction, TM.
Currency + TM to Russia for Map Making, TM, 10g.
That's the Middle Ages, so now I can see the Middle Ages techs. Good, the scientific civs got Monotheism, so I can buy it cheap and include it in the big offer to China.
Monarchy + WM + 65g to Babylon for Monotheism.
We now have: Monarchy, Monotheism, WM, 344 gold to offer China for Republic. We're "close to a deal."
I sell Monotheism to the Iroquois for their WM + 130 gold, and broker world maps to everybody for every penny I can get.
We now have: Monarchy, Monotheism, WM, 520 gold to offer China for Republic. Still "close to a deal."
So now the only way I can get Republic is to disband military until we have positive gold-per-turn to offer. And success! China will take Monarchy, Monotheism, 515 gold, 1 gold/turn for The Republic!
I consider waiting a turn to see if China will trade it around and lower the price for me, but decide I can't take the risk on China acquiring Monarchy and Monotheism without giving up Republic, leaving me unable to trade for it. I make the trade. (I could revolt now even without Republic in the hopes of acquiring it before the END of the anarchy, but decide not to.)
Then my final trade is Republic to Babylon for 47 gold so as not to go broke during anarchy. Nobody else has anything to offer for Republic. We revolt. Only 2 turns of anarchy, very nice!
In disbanding military, London actually got a total of 30 shields worth, completing its next settler even during anarchy. So I have three settlers (we started with one in London) able to move and found cities during our short anarchy.
Thus ends the longest first turn of a game ever.
