Sponsor: T-hawk
Opening Date: Monday, May 3, 2010
Duration: Four Weeks
Map Script: Ring
Climate: Tropical
Game Speed: Normal

Difficulty: Immortal (see below)
Civilization: Carthage
Leader: Hannibal
World Size: Standard
Opponents: Six
Victory: Any
Restrictions: See below

Hannibal has long envied the wondrous achievements of his neighbors. The pyramids of Egypt, gardens of Babylon, and chapels of Rome and Byzantium all represent splendor unknown by Carthage. Now the gods have heard Hannibal's prayers, just as a Muse once appeared to Chairman Mao.

Scenario: You may choose any two wonders to begin the game in Carthage.

- National wonders are OK. Shrines and corporate HQs are not. The Internet is not a wonder, it's a project.
- The United Nations is OK. Diplomatic wins choosing the UN in this way will be scored separately from both conventional UN and AP religious wins.
- The Apostolic Palace may not be chosen since you do not have a state religion at game start.
- For the Oracle, tell the sponsor what free tech you want (only from those available normally at game start.)
- The Hanging Gardens will start your capital at size 2.
- Versailles and Forbidden Palace are OK, even though they normally can't be built in your Palace city.
- Please don't choose the Taj Mahal since there's no easy way to start the Golden Age in the worldbuilder. It's not very good on turn 0 anyway. :)

VARIANT RULE: There are some restrictions on early Great People usage. This is to encourage you to choose your wonders for the wonders you want, not their type of Great Person Points, by leveling the playing field between different Great People. (We're not trying to play The Greatest Person over again.)

1. Your first Great Person must settle or start a Golden Age.
2. You may not rush a wonder with a Great Engineer from Carthage until after 1 AD.

If you forget on this rule, we won't invalidate your game for scoring, but will assess a 50-turn addition to your finish date. Any Great Engineer from another city is unrestricted.

SCORING: By fastest victory of each type. Losses and retirements ranked by game date, later is better. Your wonder choice is the first step of this strategy, so do not reveal it to other players until reporting day!

Don't be scared by Immortal difficulty; two wonders are a great advantage, and a Ring map has easily defensible borders.

SIGNUPS:

To receive your save game, please send a PM or e-mail (preferred) to T-hawk. To qualify, you must have a valid email address so that your start file may be sent directly to you. If you do not receive your file on opening day, or within 48 hours after a late sign up, please check in with T-hawk to ensure that your file was sent to the right location. All email messages should include the following three pieces of information:

- Your name (Internet nicknames are fine)
- The email address where you want to receive the save file
- Your desired starting wonders

Closing Day: Monday, May 31. Reporting extended to the end of Weds June 2, your local time, for the holiday weekend in the US.