A galley that went sailing north with a settler beats a rival to a spot once again. I'm curious to see if beating the AI to a spot they wanted also counts as aggressive settlement, provoking sneak attacks later.Recording the deeds of the glorious Republic of England, in which England's people become the most advanced nation on earth.
Also in 350 AD, a galley that I had sent north discovers the Forgotten Civilization of Germany. I sell Otto Code of Laws and Mathematics (both at 2nd-civ for him) for his WM + 281 gold, and trade the contact around to everyone else for some pocket change.
Sometime around here I got Theology and Feudalism in a two-for-one tech deal. It then occurred to me that I should have let Theology wait a while longer so as not to expire the Oracle, but oh well.
Needless to say, I always acquiesed to any tribute demands for the entire game.
After a while of accumulating cash, I partial-rush the cathedral in London (by rushing a colosseum and letting London build the last 40 shields of the cathedral on its own) so that the great English composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, might have a place to play. However, Bach has not yet been born, so we appoint Sun Tzu as temporary chairman of the project. I will probably get Bach's, although it's possible for the cascade to fall through and take it.
Babylon built the Great Lighthouse and so we can trade resources. I wait a few turns, and then my opening appears: Furs + 630 gold to Babylon for Invention. Invention back to China for Education and to Greece for (whee) Chivalry.
I continue building infrastructure in all the cities. Most start cathedrals after their aqueducts and sometimes harbors. I do hate paying for expensive cathedrals with non-religious civs before Factories come around, but it can't be helped; they're the only way to keep happiness here without a 30% luxury tax. All get workers merged in to the max population they can handle both before and after their cathedrals.
A galley that went sailing north with a settler beats a rival to a spot once again. I'm curious to see if beating the AI to a spot they wanted also counts as aggressive settlement, provoking sneak attacks later.
York completes its cathedral and begins prebuilding for Magellan's Voyage. I want that wonder, both for its effects and because it will kick off an instant Golden Age.
Awhile later, another two-for-one tech deal presents itself: 770 + WM to Iroquois for Gunpowder. Gunpowder to Babylon for Music Theory and some pocket change. London swaps to Bach's for real.
Then we get yet more free tech! China got Astronomy but never got Gunpowder. Gunpowder + Furs to them for Astronomy. Astronomy to Iroquois for Spices.
And now something dawns on me that I've seen before, but of which I'll get hit with the full brunt in this game: luxury availability. Most of the luxuries in the game seem to exist in quantities smaller than the number of civs. And all the luxuries already seem to be tied up in deals, and the AIs almost always renew deals the instant they expire without the player getting a chance to bid for the luxuries. I was lucky enough that in trading Astronomy to the Iroquois, I got to trade for their spices before anyone else could. Those Spices, the German Gems, and my own Furs are all the luxuries I'm going to be able to get for quite a while - and I have to renew the deals immediately every time they comes up for fear of losing access to the luxury forever. I got burned in Epic Fifteen by that.
Oxford finally completes the Forbidden Palace in 740 AD, quite a bit later than I expected, but it is in a very good location.
I buy Banking - at full price without a bargain deal, quite a rarity for me - in 790 AD and swap cities to banks to get Wall Street going. Also, now that every city is at the full population it can handle, Canterbury stops cranking workers to go become a real city. It will go back to size 6 and worker cranking when rails come, but for now it wants to get a marketplace, bank, and library going.
Doh! Oh well. I guess I deserve that for being so slow to rush a temple there. :)
Then, this catches me TOTALLY out of the blue:
Greece destroyed! Wow! I hadn't even been aware anyone in the world was at war. I hadn't been watching any territory in the world besides my own. And China's color is close enough to Greece's on the world map that I never noticed. All I had noticed was Greece falling behind in tech. That costs me in the final scoring - I could've gifted Greece a city to keep them alive if I'd noticed. Dangit. I guiltily establish the embassies with everyone, to verify that there isn't any more war taking place anywhere.
Russia demands Astronomy, I let her have it.
But in the midst of all this bad news, we get some good: London completes JS Bach's, and Kaifeng flips to me.
I had started Printing Press at minimum science as soon as it was available, and it completes before anyone else researches it, as often happens. I sell it to Persia for a ridiculous 36/turn and to Babylon for 15/turn.
Now, I swap to full research on Navigation because York is at 295 shields and will have enough for Magellan's soon. I had briefly considered getting the Golden Age with Copernicus and Smith's - which would be late enough to extend into the Factory and Hospital building era - but Cop's fell in the cascade as usual. I could take Smith's now, and the next Expansionist wonder is Suffrage, but such a GA would happen a bit later than I'd like. So Magellan's it is.
Nottingham is prebuilding for Wall Street in that picture, which would complete two turns after Warwick and Newcastle finished their banks.
