I decide to move one space west before founding, mostly just not to waste the bonus grassland. In retrospect, I should have moved one space SOUTH onto the hills, but didn't think of it. Research to Pottery of course. I decide to try Sirian's one-warrior-then-granary plan in the low-food start of Epic Two.

The nearby goody hut gives Masonry. IMO, having a goody hut right by the start is pretty lousy for an Epic - anyone that got a settler (now that we know the rules on how to allow them) or even a warrior (on this tiny conquest map) got a big advantage.

No way in heck am I going to use those dang Aztec city names. Instead, my capital is named Coneria. Those of you who know the reference understand its appropriateness - we'll have few cities, and we can't get anywhere with boats; we'll need airships.

We meet Greece, trade Masonry + 7 gold for Alphabet, set to Writing at minimum.

We meet India, trade Masonry + 2 for Bronze Working.

In 2670 BC, we contact England. Heh, everybody's on our landmass! Can we possibly conquer everyone before they get off our continent?

Did Sirian choose these opponents? England was useless, but the others were two of the more powerful possible opponents. Greek Hoplites would make early conquest much harder, and India's no-horse Knights could also be very important with the scarcity of resources. About the only worse opponent would be Persia, or maybe Rome.

Buy Mysticism from India for 24g, trade it plus 1/turn to England for The Wheel, and shut off my own research.

I park a jaguar on the isthmus between Greece and India. No compelling reason; just figured I'd like to have control of the isthmus. This is dastardly, but not exploitive, according to the Epic rules. It wasn't resource denial - I got off it before the iron went into anyone's cultural borders.

This was a pretty important move, I think: I cleared the furs forest over by the second city. The fur-forest is useless in despotism, while if it's cleared, it's equal to a bonus grassland that can be mined. Plus the 10 shield bonus helped build something.

2150 BC: I get lucky with another two-for-one tech deal. 30 gold + 1/turn to Greece for Iron Working. Iron Working to England for Writing + 5 gold. Set to Polytheism at min science.

Dotmapping got totally thrown to the winds. Every settler I could make would have to be grabbing resources, considerations of terrain, layout, or overlap be damned. With our third city, we grab that horse. Good - we'll need that. It's also founded on a hill at a chokepoint, so we should be safe to build for a while yet.

I notice there's Iron in sight north of the incense! Must rush there! ... We get our fourth city on the hill square that can claim both the iron and the horses.

My fifth city would be founded on the desert peninsula south of Coneria. That's all the cities I would found. I toyed with the idea of cramming in another on the coast between Elfland and Melmond - there's three land tiles unused there - but didn't want to waste a low-corruption city slot (you don't have many on a tiny map) on a fishing village. Besides, I almost couldn't spare the resources to build a settler.

Holy crap - England got Map Making already in 1725 BC. We won't conquer everybody before they manage to colonize islands. Oh well, I doubt any player will manage that. Good, Greece starts the Oracle - that's 160 shields less of military they can build. You KNOW we're going to war against Greece soon.

Another good tech deal presents itself. Buy Map Making from England for WM, 35 gold, 2/turn. Sell to India for his map + 28. Trade to Greece for his WM + 7, and trade Greece's map back to India for his 19 gold. There's another continent only one square away from England's core. They'll settle there before we can possibly conquer them. Greece demands TM + 21 gold; I have to pay.

Yet another two-for-one tech deal! 34g to India for Philosophy; Phil + 22g to Greece for Code of Laws. I really stayed on top of tech through the ancient age. It required a lot of luck in having the two-for-one deals available, though.

Crescent Lake is founded south of Coneria, next to a barb camp to disperse it - but the warrior remains after the camp is gone! Our jag attacks it, and loses 2 HP before retreating; the barb warrior counterattacks, and freaking wins. Grr. 8 gold looted.

Buy Horseback Riding for only 24 gold. Whip a granary in Pravoka, and temple in Elfland. Aaugh - England gets Polytheism ONE TURN BEFORE WE DO at minimum science.

I build a bunch of workers: 7 by 925 BC. We'll need quite a few to get a road built to that iron. We hook up Gems and can trade to Greece. We trade them Gems for Mathematics + 20 gold. He goes to Gracious! Good, nobody has any tech beyond Mathematics.

710 BC: Greece builds Oracle. India demands money. They can't hurt me, so I refuse. But they don't declare war. 490 BC: India builds Colossus.

35 + 2/turn to England for Currency. We NEED some marketplaces, since this is about the sorriest economy I've ever seen. Breaking Even at 90% cash!

Yay, India built a harbor. Trade them Gems + 12 gold for Construction. Middle Ages in 430 BC. Meanwhile, we've been building lots of warriors, and finally got that Iron hooked up. You know what comes when that happens...