Anyway, Iron presently goes to France for Espionage + Sanitation + cash. Wow, is Iron ever worth a lot in the railroad era...
1000 AD also rolls around, and I count a total of six gold mines, for 1200 points. Only one was actually acquired in the war, at Cumae. Two are just outside the borders of former Indian cities that have unexpanded borders, and two more are just within Spanish borders.
Stupid France does fall into Communism in 1060 AD. A city investigation shows them still running 100% science, though, and they do have a monopoly on Electricity.
I wonder if it would be worthwhile to help them eliminate England? Hmm. Maybe once Replaceable Parts is here and I've got production capacity to spare, but not yet.
For a while in here, I decided to try the REVERSE of the "World Dominating Banker" (ahem) strategy. Every time France had a lump sum of gold available, I took it and paid them gold-per-turn for it. The idea was to PREVENT Joanie from using the cash to rush things, and get her to use the per-turn cash to keep researching at 100%.
Then I realized two things - one, France was in communism and couldn't cash rush anyway, and two, she was already researching at 100%, and had 500/turn income coming in from other civs. So I stopped doing that.
But now I also noticed that now my reputation was apparently clean. Brokerage #20 was: Wines, Saltpeter, Spices, 19/turn to Spain for The Corporation. Corporation, Wines, Spices, 5/turn to Greece for Communism. Both of those civs aren't at war with England, but would let me pay in per-turn goods for a tech. Did I make that happen with all my gold/turn payments to France? Does paying out enough gold/turn and honoring the deals fix a reputation stain?
Corporation also to France for 1180 gold. France has been holding a monopoly on Electricity for some time. I've still got that last Leader in reserve to rush Theory of Evolution if necessary.
I claim Stock Exchange constructed in 1090 AD.
Several turns later, France's monopoly on Electricity is finally broken. I pay 124/turn for it, choosing Greece because France is already running 100% research with several grand in her treasury and I want to get Greece to do the same.
France has researched Replaceable Parts meanwhile, and I decide to pay monopoly price for it right away, because of how useful a tech it is. 296 gold/turn gets me Rep Parts, which I then resell to Greece for most of what I paid them for Electricity. :) Alex also lacks Rubber, and he'll pay me 39/turn for some.
And now I've got the Ultra Workers! They take but a single worker turn to lay rails, mine, or irrigate on flatland. Also, I give Replaceable Parts to Korea and Spain for whatever little cash they have, to make sure they're not wasting effort researching already-known technology.
A turn later, I notice that France lacks rubber too. I've got only one source left, but as always, I want all the cash I can get. :) I upgrade my existing rifles to infantry, then sell my last rubber to France for 1220 gold. Then I noticed I do have one more source of rubber, on Northeast Island and not connected yet.
I actually forgot about Wall Street for a few turns, but five stock exchanges later, it completes in Carthage in 1160 AD.
France has made quite some gains against England - London finally fell in the last turn or two, and Korea also joined in and started taking English cities on the back lines. Hopefully France will manage to finish the deal soon and get back into Democracy. Greece and Spain are still at peace and in Democracy.
Someone researches Scientific Method and trades it around, and I trade more Iron to France for the tech plus 1500 gold (wow again!) I decide to take my saved Leader and build Theory of Evolution now, and make my current wonder prebuild into the Hoover Dam.
I trade Atomic Theory all around, France paying me full monopoly value for it. I'll hold on to Electronics for a few turns, on the off chance someone pulls a Great Leader and swipes Hoover.
In 1260 AD, Joanie has researched Steel (first time I ever saw an AI research that before Refining), and I swap Electronics for that tech, both at monopoly price. I sell the techs to everyone else for all they can offer, totaling about 100 gold/turn.
Then at the end of that turn, Leptis Magna finishes the Hoover Dam, and that's going to launch me on one heck of a Golden Age.
Instantly my income soars from 1,955/turn to 2,706. I also start seriously rushing lots of buildings now; mostly factories, some marketplaces and banks. I blew about 6,000 gold this turn rushing buildings.
Also this turn Refining was researched and traded around! I gotta say I'm still quite happy with the pace that tech is running. I buy it from France for 115 gold/turn. England was finally eliminated this turn, putting the world back at peace. France revolts back into Democracy a couple turns later; that's excellent with me!
The AIs research Radio and Combustion next in about five turns each. I'm still quite satisfied. Meanwhile, my Golden Age is cruising along in Eternal Infrastructure Christmas. Most cities got a factory rushed; then they built everything: marketplaces, banks, stock exchanges, courthouses, police stations, cathedrals, the works.
Well, that, and building up a fair pile of military in cities that are finished building. My intent now is to support France; to quickly wipe out any opponents in any war she might declare, to make sure she stays in a productive representative government. Of course, I'm hoping she doesn't go to war at all, too.
On the last turn of my Golden Age, my income is 3,291/turn, and when the GA ends, drops to 2,422. That's a good boost in city strength and commerce-producing infrastructure; the Golden Age income itself produced about 20,000 raw cash, and left me with 500/turn more income than when it started.
It takes another ten turns after the previous techs, but Mass Production and Flight show up together. I buy the former and trade it to Greece for the latter. That's Brokerage #21. My first Commercial Dock completes in 1405 AD.
In 1450 AD, the AIs have gotten Motorized Transport, and I buy it to enter the Modern Age. Unfortunately for speeding to a space win, both of the scientific civs got Ecology for free. Even after buying both those techs (both with per-turn money to encourage the AIs to keep researching more), I've still got 161,000 in the treasury and income of 2,273 per turn.
Rocketry comes around in 1515 AD, and I pay 350/turn to France for it. Yes, that's more than twice the cost of stealing it safely, but I don't mind giving money to the AIs to keep them 1) peaceful and 2) researching.
After 130 infantry, 70 tanks, 50 each bombers and artillery, and a total of 50 ships to support them (carriers, transports, destroyers, and battleships), I finally turn off the military spigot. This is costing me 400/turn to maintain; I'm considering it paying the premium on an insurance policy. If any AI decides to attack any other AI, I'm going to intervene on one side or the other to make sure one of them gets wiped out quickly and the other stays in Democracy and researching.
I also make a long-overdue glue factory, disbanding all my old non-elite cavalry to speed the last few commercial docks and stock exchanges.
1535 AD brings Fission, which I also pay 330/turn for. Good, two of the AIs researched Rocketry and that in tandem. Antium swaps its ongoing army prebuild to the United Nations. My treasury passes 200,000 this year, and even with the two huge tech payouts I'm still making 2,258/turn. Spain lacks both uranium and aluminum, so I sold both to them. Spain hasn't been getting any of my per-turn tech payouts, so they're already not a research leader.
1545 AD brings a Greek ship landing troops on my northwest peninsula. Alex doesn't have anything for which I can pay per-turn. So I demand he withdraw...
