Also, I couldn't resist peeking in the hut to the northwest. That warrior died, and then the NEXT warrior that attacked one of the barbarians also died.Well, no way am I going to waste the only flood plain in view by founding on it. The worker starts irrigating the flood plain on the first turn, while the settler moves a square south. I would've gone southeast, to get what would likely be less desert within the city borders, if founding there wouldn't have wasted the only other two-food square visible. Likewise, I would've gone east if that square had been on the river.
The founded city reveals no further food bonuses.
Yikes, 20 turns to Pottery? And that's with a river start, even? I guess it's been a while since I've played on Deity tech costs and on a map as large as standard.
I get maps from the hut, and this was the most important and fateful issuing of maps I've ever had in Civ 3, with immense positive and negative effects. It shows me that eastern location with tremendous food bonuses - the first settler will doubtless beeline here. But, it also allows barbarian camps to spawn in a much wider area. As far as I know, camps don't spawn in tiles that haven't been uncovered by any civilization. These maps would unleash a flood of barbarians on my fledgling civilization.
Within five turns of that happening, I had barbarian camps in both the east and south pouring units at my poor city.
Also, I couldn't resist peeking in the hut to the northwest. That warrior died, and then the NEXT warrior that attacked one of the barbarians also died.
Not only did all THAT happen, but so did a bout of disease. One lousy flood plain in the city's radius and I get disease!
At least Rome miraculously held on long enough - by a single hit-point in a single warrior - to finish the granary early, which would prove critical.
I apologize for a lack of detail for a little while here, but I needed every bit of my concentration to deal with the swarm of barbarians. Immediately after the granary was finished, Rome whipped two consecutive archers (that last picture shows the first of them.) Spearmen were the unit of choice to defend against barbarians in Civ 3, but here in PTW with the roam-around barbarian AI you need archers to attack them.
Those archers were able to handle barbarian units as they came in, and eventually I finally tried to send a unit out to clear a camp.
A barbarian HORSEMAN, in 2470 BC? Ye gods, that's way too early!
Those horses turned the tide back against me in short order. One jumped out of fog and mauled my worker. And you can also see in that picture a barbarian horseman that I attacked but lost yet another unit to.
Am I ever going to manage to get out of this? Or are the barbarians going to outproduce me?! Am I stuck with my one city until AIs start building cities here to disperse the camps for me, which could take until freaking Navigation if my island is isolated enough?!
Well, my only choice was to turn to the whip yet again. Yes, in that picture, I need FIFTY PERCENT luxuries to keep my size TWO city happy. That granary made all the difference, providing double the population for me to whip and turn into archers.
A glorious victory for Rome occurs in 1550 BC, when one archer finally manages to penetrate into the jungle, and pulverize ONE of the three barbarian camps that's been plaguing me for over thirty turns, having sent at least ten units at me.
And ooh, a goody hut! Naturally, I haven't learned my lesson.
FINALLY, though, I get a stroke of luck, with that archer winning. Then that archer planted itself on those mountains, and stayed there for the next 1500 years to at least keep one front clear of barbarian camps.
Finally, somehow, Rome finds the resources to build a settler and sends out its only archer and warrior to protect it as it ventures to the promised land to the east. Its warrior escort dies to a barbarian on the way, but in 1375 BC, Rome witnesses another glorious victory.
The previous pictures showed the progress of my one-beaker run on Writing, and the only thing I could do after that was begin a one-beaker run on Code of Laws to continue the pathetically weak crawl towards Republic. And I also still need 50% luxuries to pacify my terribly whipped size three city.
Rome manages to squeeze out another settler with barely enough protection, and I finally get a third city founded as well.
In 950 BC, with me at a pathetic three cities, rival civilizations have already found my island and begun to expand onto it.
