However, ol' Caesar decides to Choose Unwisely.
Well, I had already been planning to go after them first. The computer builds far fewer Legions than Hoplites, so they'll be easier to take on. I ask Greece to ally against Rome - they'll actually pay me two workers to do so. Well, it's no use for Greece to have their workers sit idle in the capital during a war, so I borrow them for a while.
Eventually, some German units do appear.
But the AI's tactical incompetence carries the day, as always. If Otto had only been able to stack up those five units and attack my city at once, I would've lost it. But over a span of three turns, those units are all easy pickings for counterattacking Mounted Warriors.
And counterattacking with Mounted Warriors triggers a Golden Age, of course. I'd been hoping to postpone it until I got into Republic, but I had to use the MWs now, in 775 BC. Still, I'll get into Republic for the last five turns of the GA; better than none. And the commerce boost isn't wasted at all in despotism for cities that aren't on rivers.
The Golden Age proceeds, while we crank out swarms of Mounted Warriors, and eventually get into Republic in 510 BC doing the half-turn-anarchy thing. The Aztecs did get Republic before me, but I can trade it to Greece for Literature, Construction, and his treasury; and to the Zulu for Currency and 116 gold.
The piling-on continues! I'm now in FOUR wars!
My stack of Mounted Warriors, a good dozen strong by now, reaches their first major objective.
Well, my alliance with Greece has expired, Rome hasn't got anything else I need to take, and they'll concede Veii (northeast of Rome) for peace, so we do that. Rome's down to one city.
Oops, a Zulu archer (where'd that come from?) gets next to Veii before I can get a defender there, so I have to abandon the city (the Zulu are still not talking.)
I also returned Greece's two workers now that their territory wouldn't be in danger.
You can see I'm running all cash, not even making an attempt at minimum science. Once somebody got Polytheism and I bought it from Rome (how'd they get it?), I did start a minimum science run on Engineering.
Meanwhile, I had intentionally left a barbarian camp near Oil Springs on the southern peninsula, to use the barbarian units to attempt training elite Mounted Warriors. Stupid me forgot this would happen:
There was enough time for the city there to rush walls, so I didn't lose anything except for one worker that I left in the wrong spot.
My first Great Leader pops a bit later.
There's only one option with him.
It will, of course, take a little while for me to get any productive cities in this area. But once they're there, I'll have two completely separate cores, and outproduce the AIs by a ton. Tech is going slowly with everyone at war; maybe I can win the game with Mounted Warriors alone?
