AU209 DAR1: 4000BC-2150BC

[Dominae]

This is the DAR ("during action report") thread for the first 40 turns of AU209 - No Gold For You!. Use this space to discuss early-game moves and plans for the future.

[PeaSoup]

Yay, I get to go first.

Allright, I'm playing on Diety because I love to get my ass kicked.

Founded my city on the gold hill because I wanted to take advantage of the gold bonus right away.

Started researching Alphabet at max science. Started building granary at Mowcow.

Worker irrigated & roaded 2 flood plains then mined the wheat to the north of Moscow.

3 goodie huts got me:
2x warrior
1x nothing

ugh.. the warriors were sent back to be used at MP for Moscow.

3400BC: contact with Carthage, they are up 4 techs, must make more contacts, but terrain is making scouts less useful.

2710BC: researched alphbat, starting writing at 10%

2350BC: made contact with Japan and got iron working for alphabet, 1gpt and 50gold. Good, we have iron close by.

by 2150BC, my 2nd city has been founded with 3rd on the way. My priorties are to hook up the firs and gems, then iron.

[TheArsenal]

I’ve just begun, looked around a bit, but haven’t played enough to give a report. I just wanted to make a single comment before I return to the game tonight: only a very evil mind forces you to play with an expansionist civ, yet cripples scout movement by placing you in such rugged terrain.

[TheArsenal]

Overview

4000 B.C Looked around at the starting terrain and I was not encouraged. I noted correctly that being in the northern portion of a landmass with a world setting of 3 billion years that I was going to be in for some rough, clustered mountainous terrain. This, of course, would nullify one of the few advantages an expansionist civ has – the two movement scout.

I settled on the gold immediately north and set the research toward warrior code, to be followed by iron works. I figured that civs with better starting positions (wherever they were on this continent) would be able to crank out settlers a little sooner and a little faster. If I wanted some living room I was going to have to take cities from someone to do it. I am also hoping to bully my way into some techs. Hopefully a decent army of archers and swordsmen would take care of both ends.

Founding Moscow opened, and gave me, a warrior from a goody hut, which I set to exploration. The second hut yielded a second warrior, the third ceremonial burial.

As rapidly as possible, I settled three more cities, (not in order) Kiev to the northwest on a deposit of iron and St. Petersburg and Smolensk. Each city was put to building barracks and spearman straight away until they can be linked to the source of iron. I will concern myself with developing culture much later.

2630: made contact with Carthage, traded masonry for the wheel.

Met the Japanese soon afterward. Their trade demand was unreasonable.

Covered a good piece of land with a single scout and warrior and am beginning to get a pretty good lay of the land. Unfortunately before uncovering what is out there completely, I had to turn my warrior around and send it back to garrison after one too many skirmishes with barbs. That said, I am encouraged by the large patch of jungle to my south which will keep foreign cities which sprout near me from growing too big too fast. The AI clears jungles slowly.

[Thrar]

I'm playing on Emperor, I usually win about 2 out of 3 games, so i hope to have a chance in this at least. Then things started to get wrong...compared to what you guys say, my start was really crappy

Founded Moscow on the floodplains in SW, to get the 2/2/2 (once irrigated) fur tile. Started researching Iron Working at 40 turns while the worker irrigated and roaded the tile he started on, then the floodplains towards the furs, finally roaded the furs, since i figured if i roaded first then cut the wood, it would be just in time after the first settler, to speed up a granary.
However, when my settler was almost completed and would finish the turn Moscow would grow to size 3, 1 citizen died to disease. BLEH! Ok, switched to granary, pop rushed once i was at pop 3 (working 2 floodplains) again, and then built the first settler - finally, aided by 10 shields from the fur forest.

I placed St Petersburg on the hill next to the wheat in the south, with all the lovely shielded grasslands. My scout went south and then west, i got almost all carthaginan and ottoman territory mapped now, but know nothing of the world north of me - and not a single iron source near me.

So far so good, paid some money for getting to tech parity with carth and ottomans again, japan close behind, and would get iron working soon. The turn i got iron working, i immediately tried to sell it - only to find out it was too late. DAMN THIS! Someone must have gotten it a turn or 2 earlier, and already traded it to EVERYONE.
So i paid some more gold for alphabet, traded it to the tech-wise backwards japanese for masonry, and was on parity again - but with only 3 cities, 2 workers, 1 warrior and 1 scout far behind everyone else in terms of units and overall power. It's 1790BC now, ottomans and carth just got writing, i'm going 40 turn for mathematics, i hope i may be lucky this time. No iron, southwards there may be 2 or 3 more decent spots for cities, i'll build another scout and send it up north, hopefully there'll be some more space for me.

Pros: Granary in Moscow and growth every 3 turns, furs hooked up, (almost) tech parity.
Cons: Little space to build, less cities than anyone, no iron to conquer some carthaginan cities for more room, no military.
Plans: Scouting the northern parts, more cities, hopefully some iron and war against Carthage.

[Theseus]

4000 BC:

Built Moscow on the start... YEEHAA!! A Warrior and Ceremonial Burial.

Building a Granary, and researching IW at 20%.

3500 BC:

Down to 10% research.

3450 BC:

Warrior Code from the third GH.

3400 BC:

Meet Carthage. Get Alphabet for Pottery, Warrior Code, 7g, and 2gpt.

3100 BC:

F*CK!! Disease hits Moscow, down to 1 damn pop.

Meet Japan. Get The Wheel for Alphabet and 15g.

2230 BC:

Granary complete... watch me go! Forget RCP, gotta follow the terrain.

2150 BC:

Research IW. Thank god, iron to the north. Damn, both Carthage and Japan have it. Buy contact with the Ottomans for 55g. Get Masonry from them for Pottery and Alphabet.

Carthage has Writing, otherwise I'm at parity.

Researching Math at 3.7.0, 16 turn rate. Two Warrior MPs in Moscow.
________________________

This is not pretty. Still at one city and 2 Warriors.

[Rhothaerill]

Oh what a fun and challenging game this is shaping up to be. I’m playing on emperor level and I have never before played with the Russians. I’m not overly keen on the trait combo since it has my two least favorite traits, but I’m up for a challenge.

4,000bc:
The dawn of mankind…or at least Russiankind. What an unforgiving world we live in. Mountains and deserts as far as the eye can see. At least there is a river running through the land or the Russian civilization would never grow. Our trusty Russian scout spots a fledgling group living in rude huts and promply makes their acquaintance. They give us their maps, and we are dismayed at the sheer amount of mountain ranges are fair civilization will eventually be forced to cross. Our solitary tribe decides the land around us is fair enough and settles the rough town of Moscow. Soon after another small tribe teaches us the secrets of ceremonial burial. Our prophets tell us of a warrior code we can use to expand our fair nation with a proper military.

After seeing the maps of the area from the goody hut I decide it’s not really a good idea to go wandering in search of a better capitol spot. This is about as good as it will be. I thought about moving SE one tile to have the forest fur in my city radius right off the bat, but decided against it. By the time I’d be able to use it I’d have another city in the area, and it would have made it more difficult to settle on the coastline near the fish. I start building a warrior more for military police than out of any desire to use it offensively. My first thoughts are to use an early archer rush. That idea eventually morphs into something else.

3,350bc:
Ho there, we are not alone in this world. Our hardy scout has come upon another civilization known as the Carthaginians. Their leader offers to parlay. We propose a trade of knowledge, but Hannibal flatly rejects it. The scum. The motherland will not forget this slight on our honor.

Carthage possessed alphabet and masonry, while I possessed my starting two techs and ceremonial burial. But he would not even accept a trade of one of his techs for all three of my techs, all my gold, and any gold for the next 20 turns. Ah, the joys of emperor level. Two wheat flood plains in the Carthage radius and not a single one in mine? Ergh!

3,300bc:
Our prophets have completed their study of warrior code. Their new prophecies state that there is an even greater military advantage if we knew how to work iron.

I thought about going after the Wheel, but decided instead to chase iron working at a 40 turn pace. During this time I have completed two warriors and sent one to start examining the north area. I was hoping that there would be some good terrain north of me since my scout had found mostly mountains, hills, and jungle before finding Carthage. A few bonus grassland and some gems were about the only truly good tiles I’d found close to me so far. My luck wasn’t going to change as I found only mostly plains and more mountains…enough for one good city and one moderate city. I eventually popped the hut that lay up there and received a warrior. Joy. To this point my expansionist trait has netted me a warrior, maps of my starting area, and the easiest tech to research other than pottery which I already had.

3,100bc:
We have encountered more civilized people of the world. Alas these Japanese are no more friendly than those people of Carthage. They possess knowledge of a wheel, but like Carthage before them, Japan wants the world.

So I haven’t been able to make a single tech trade yet. Japan already possessed all the techs I know and wouldn’t trade the Wheel for any amount of gold. Carthage must have contacted them either the turn before me or the same turn as I didn’t even have contact to trade. And speaking of Carthage, they still wouldn’t trade me anything and the list of techs I knew that they didn’t know grew to none. The Japanese don’t like me in their borders so I turn my roving scout north to explore around the edge of Carthage territory.

2,550bc:
Great news. Our people have outgrown the confines of Moscow and have settled the strapping fishing and fur trapping village of St. Petersburg.

Because of the flood plains quick city growth wasn’t a major problem in Moscow so I decided not to build a granary like I’m wont to do in many games. St. Petersburg is already connected to Moscow via a road network from my first worker, but I need a new one now to keep up with the demand for improved tiles. Ah, where’s my industrious trait when I need it? As these two cities start to grow, I realize that there is a definite need not only for good tile improvement, but good citizen management. There is a dearth of growth tiles for me to be able to work a large amount of hill and mountain tiles. So as the turns progress I spend quite a bit of time min/maxing my best outputs between these two cities. The largest amount of citizen management occurs in DAR3, but it’s worth it to note that I started it early rather than late.

2,150bc:
Nothing overly much has happened this turn, other than it being the end of the first DAR. My second worker started building a road on the furs for a happiness increase. Since it was the only forest around I didn’t want to chop it too soon as it’s the only non-mined tile that produces two shields. My continent spanning empire is up to two cities, both of which are producing barracks the hard way. I’m a big sucker for veteran units and decided to hold off on an early archer rush, but that’s a story for another DAR. As it stands techwise, I haven’t been able to wangle a trade yet and I’m several techs behind both other civs I’ve met so far.

More to come later…

[Thrar]

I'm starting the game a second time now, i lost the save of my first go (somewhere in late industrial), when my harddisk died last weekend. I'll try not to take advantage of the knowledge i have of the map, and just begin again with a detailed report, on Emperor again:

4000BC: Moved my scout 1-4 and decided to move the settler 1 tile SW, to take advantage of the 2-2-2 fur tile (once roaded&irrigated in despotism). I dont want to move NE since i dont know if there is anything but desert in that direction, and with all the floodplains i expect to work the gold hill soon enough. The worker starts irrigating the starting tile.

3950BC: the two goody huts give me 25g and Ceremonial Burial. Started researching Mysticism at 1 gold, Moscow builds another scout, to bring news of the northern parts, while the original one goes southwards.

3750BC: the hill NE from the wheat looks like a good place for the second city, switched to settler in Moscow. Not sure yet if i should build a granary first.

3650BC: my scout found someone's borders SW of me. I cant see who yet, there are hills in the way.

3500BV: finally made contact with the Carthaginans. They want both bronze working and pottery plus all my gold (66) and 3gpt in exchange for masonry or alphabet - i decide to scout past their borders, and maybe find someone else for cheaper trades. Adjusted lux to 10% a turn ago, when Moscow grew.

3450BC: met a Japanese warrior south of the carthaginan border. Unfortunately they must have contacted each other right before, the Carth have pottery now, too. I'm still the only one who has BW though. Got Masonry from Japan for BW+35g, Wheel from Carthage for BW, 20g and 3gpt.
Moscow expanded it's borders, now working an irrigated&roaded floodplain and the fur forest.Tthe worker is going to chop the forest now, to speed up whatever is produced after the current settler. I'll have to expand southwards fast, to stop the Carth from expanding too far towards me, but still that hill NE of the wheat is a lovely site for the second city. Since the Japanese warrior came from the south, i'll scout north of Carthage now.

3100BC: met an Ottoman spearman, they did not find Carthage yet it seems. Got Warrior Code for Wheel and 15g. Got 45g from Japan and 20g from Carth for WC, no way to get Alphabet from Carth though. The Ottomans have Mysticism already, but won't sell it to me.

2950BC: founded St.Petersburg on the aforementioned hill. I'll build a second scout there, then a worker. Not sure what to do with Moscow now, granary i think.

2750BC: I'd have the money to buy Myst from the Ottomans now, but Alphabet from Carth is still beyond reach. They did not trade with each other so far. Since I'll research Myst in 16 turns myself, i'll keep the money and will try to buy Alphabet before the Ottomans do. The forest is chopped, the fur roaded, now i only have to get water there. Next thing in Moscow will be the granary.

2510BC: Alphabet from Carth for 115g, 5gpt. Ottomans have Horsebackriding, i'll research Myst in 10. Got Horsebackriding from Ottomans for almost everything I had left - 2gpt and Alphabet, now i have 3g and get +1 per turn. Time to get some money back: Horsebackriding to Carth for 160g, 1gpt, to Japan for 60g (all they had ) I'm at par with Carth, Japan lacks Alphabet, and Ottomans have Myst in Addition. And thanks to Carth i have a lot of money .

2470BC: rushed granary in Moscow for 1pop (20 shields left, would have taken 7 turns). Lost my second scout to barbs.

2150BC: everyone but me has IW, Myst in 1 turn for me, will sell it to japan for IW and Carth for more money. I wonder how everyone got IW without Carth getting Myst - maybe Japan researched it and traded it immediately to both others?

[Mountain Sage]

DAR 1 4000 BC – 2150 BC

Russia – Emperor

It all started with a small mining settlement (gold was readily available) founded in 3950 Before Catherine (became Supreme Leader). Our scientists (the term did not exist then, of course) had already discovered the basics of Bronze Working and Pottery, so they headed for Alphabet, in order to fix this knowledge in stone or paper. Two nearby settlements gave us 25 gold and Ceremonial Burial. Our Scout team was sent south, along the eastern coast.

By 3450 BC, our first Worker team was created; its task was to canalize the nearby river (the Don) and irrigate the fertile plain.
2750 BC brought us the discovery of Alphabet, and our sages started to look into Warrior Code. The first Worker team bas busy irrigating and roading the Don plains, heading towards a meadow full of furry animals. In the meantime, a second Worker team had started a north-west road. As our town was becoming crowded, Catherine ordered to prepare a caravan of Settlers.
The same year our Scout team came back, having, well, scouted part of the surrounding lands. They brought word of another tribe, called the Carthaginians, further south. They had Warrior Code and Masonry, but no trade was possible.
2470 BC: our Scout team found some clay tablets containing the ‘Mysticism’ lore. This time, we traded it for Warrior Code (still not researched) for 40 gold. Now our Sages started to research Polytheism.
In 2150 our 1st Worker team finished the road to the furry spot, and our Settler team decided to build our second city, called Roxane, near it, by the Don estuary. An obscure writer, Herodotus, informed Catherine that in his history of the largest nations of the world, Russia came last. She was not pleased.

MS notes:
As son as I got a clear view of the map, I ‘knew’ this would be a difficult game. First of all, the location north of a long peninsula. That meant a southernly expansion only, and a tight packing of cities (C-T-T-C) to pack a maximum number of cities in what would probably become a small place. Then, flood plains are fine for wheat, but not for shields. That meant mines on desert tiles (I was not going to mine mountains in 18 rounds!), but later I would have to irrigate these desert tiles to compensate for the lack of sufficient wheat tiles. And, of course, no industrious workers…

The below screenshot shows the status in 2150 BC