Epic 8 - Potluck gives Egypt

[Ug the Barbarian]

Start the suprise save and find I've inherited Egypt. Interesting starting position - I decide to settle on starting spot and send warriors exploring north and south. Initial focus on Hunting and start Barracks build. Emphasis growth turned on. Basically I want to grow to size 3 before building worker/settlers this time to see if it works any better than immediate worker.

Pop huts for gold and a map then Mysticism in 3850BC and swap tech to Polytheism to try for Hinduism. A bit of a risk but I feel an early religion could be a real help in this game.

Meet Mansu Mussa to the north in 3790BC - we'll have peace initially :-). I grab another map and some more gold from huts. One warrior has returned home for defence. Also met Saladin to the east as well.

Luckily Polytheism arrives in 3280BC and we get Hinduism before the AI can grab it. Return to Hunting then onto Animal Husbandry..

I swap Thebes to worker at size 3 and turn off emphasis growth. Buddhism FIDL in 3070BC. Might have had a shot at it if I'd pushed but one early religion is enough for me this game.

Animal Husbandry -> Mining in 2770BC. Worker completes same turn (planning :-)) but starts at newly discovered horses next to Thebes instead of moving to Cows.

Mining -> Archery and find Mao to the west. Also Tokugawa to the east a few turns later - he's founded Buddhism. Looks like no really religion hunters in this game :-)

Early production continues with Thebes: Barracks -> Scout -> Settler. Research from Archery -> Priesthood

With my scouting to this point its clear that I've got some good potential production but I'm going to need to work on getting the GNP up to compete in this game. Obvious key to this is use my civs abilities to the maximum. Egyptians are Creative so make those border expansions work for me. Also the War Chariots are good for some early conquering so as long as I stay within the rules. I'm obviously surrounded by opponents so I'll need to make some friends (via Hinduism spread) and eliminate the rest for their land before they hem me in completely.

With this in mind I pondered my second city site for a long time and finally sit a warrior on my proposed site - should be good for plenty of production, on a plains hill with fresh water and it blocks off Mao nicely. I didn't realise until later it was even better than I thought. Sometimes its good to be lucky :-)


We move from Priesthood onto Bronze Working and from Settler -> Archer. Memphis founded as planned in 1780BC

[Ug the Barbarian]

Scythian appears to my south, a barb city that will be useful and good early practice for my troops.


Bronze Working -> Pottery. Nearest copper appears within 'fat cross' of that Barb city...I feel the need for some War Chariots soon so Thebes completes Settler -> War Chariot

Heliopolis founded in 1360BC to cut off movement past me east-west as well as pick up four nice resources


Pottery -> Writing in 1240BC. Also find the Romans and Shangian, another barb city, to the west


Thebes completes second War Chariot and starts the Oracle. 1120BC sees Judism founded by the English.
I camp the War chariots outside Scythian waiting for an opening. Eventually one of the three defending archers moves off west and I attack & take the city over 2 turns, loosing one war chariot in the process.


That early risk to chase Polytheism starts to pay off as Mansu Musa converts to Hinduism in 820BC. Mao follows a turn later

Oracle completed in 790BC and I take Code of Laws, mainly for the courthouses. Founds Confucianism in Memphis


Shangian captured for the empire in 685BC but I don't like the location so Burn, baby, Burn :-)

Iron working comes in and I find 2 sources nearby - 1 in Memphis radius and 1 east of Thebes where I'm planning my next city. Looking good so far.
I also finally meet the Americans via a Warrior to my west.

Aggressively place my next city, Elephantine to the east. I'd already decided at this point that my initial military targets would be the English and Arabs as their shared religion would make them dangerous if left alone and they look like they are the only civs to my east so removing them cuts my border exposure significantly.

[Ug the Barbarian]

Declare war on Saladin in 550BC (note: properly after 1000BC rule). Saladin's warriors throw themselves into battle against Elephantine but to no avail.
Revolt to Organised Religion on the same turn. We'll soon start spreading our religion across the map.

Attack Medina in 490BC. One injured defending Archer left (War Chariot retreated) but reinforcements arrive ready to attack the following turn.
Medina falls the following turn without loss to me. Its not ideal placement but it will do to keep the English from those resources.


Found Alexandria to the west to complete my border on that side and put additional pressure on Mao's cities. Its not a great site and will always struggle for food but it gets the resources and denies them to Mao.


Najran falls in 220BC. Poor location in the desert south of Scythian so another one burns :-) Damascus then falls in 130BC and my missionary also spreads Hinduism to Rome. They convert between turns.

[Ug the Barbarian]

Alphabet complete in 115BC. Now lets see what trading can be done

Alphabet and Monotheism to Mansa Musa for Monarchy and Meditation.
Alphabet to Mao for Mathematics and Fishing.

Suicide settler party moves next to my army stack the following turn. Nice to see intelligent AI coming into play

The expected slaughter occurs and the new slave worker go towards helping build a road back to the empire
I also trade Polytheism to Caesar for Sailing to keep building that relationship.

Roosevelt converts to Hinduism in 55BC

Mecca falls in 35AD - nice spot I think I'll keep :-)


As Saladin is down to his last city and I'm not yet ready to attack, I accept peace in exchange for Calendar in 80AD

Time for a look at my cities

In the northern half of the empire we see the capital, Thebes. This is currently production heavy but will also generate a fair amount of commerce once the land is developed fully.
Heliopolis is being developed as a commerce city, possibly a future location for Wall Street.
Alexandria will mainly be military production city but won't develop properly until we can spread irrigation (Civil Service)
Elephantine will be a decent commerce city in the future


In the south we see some of the better cities.


Memphis will be a production powerhouse and is already building Heroic Epic in preparation for its military build role. Ironworks is a possibility here with the iron resource (Edit: eventually started but incomplete at game end)
Scythian will be one of the main commerce / GP centres and is already being prepared for Great Library & National Epic with chops.
Mecca, as the old Arab capital is a really good location and should develop into a real commerce centre and possible location for Forbidden Palace.
Damascus is an average location so will probably be a mixed city.
Medina has the potential for good commerce and GP production but struggles a little as it competes for space with Elephantine.

More cities should be added shortly when I add the English lands to my empire :-)

[Ug the Barbarian]

First GP, a Great Prophet is born in 320AD. The Hindu shrine will go down nicely to boost the treasury which has slumped a little with swallowing Saladin's territory.

I boost it further by trading Alphabet and Code of Laws to Roosevelt for Currency

War on the english is declared in 335AD and my stacks move onto their soil for the first time.

Hastings falls in 350AD


Great Library completed in Scythian as planned in 365AD


Elizabeth lands troops behind the lines to disrupt my advance threatening both Mecca (1 archer defending) and Hastings (no defender)

Emergency Axe is whipped in Mecca to counter this
Luckily the defending Archer kills off the first Axeman without loss so the second pillages instead. As the whip will produce 2 Axemen in back to back turns this should end the threat

It does and now I have small stacks sitting next to 3 nearest English cities. Unfortunately I'll have to wait a few turns for catapults to be built and brought up to finish them off.

[Ug the Barbarian]

Nottingham, founding city of both Judaism and Taoism, finally falls after a prolonged siege


Music discovered in 725AD and Great Artist used to discover Drama.

Trade Drama and Literature to Mao the following turn for Metal Casting. Great Scientist pops up in Scythian and used to found an Academy there.

Thebes completes the Parthenon in 820AD and London finally falls in 800AD

I sell Literature to Caesar for 350g to fuel defecit research.

York falls in 905AD and Civil Service comes in the next turn so we revolt to Bueracracy.

Canterbury falls in 950AD although I loose 2 Swordsmen at 94% and 88% to win chances doing it :-(
Coventry falls in 1055AD and the English are no more. More of an Egyptian conquest than the historical Norman one around this time ;-)
City burnt as a poor location and I don't need more costs right now on the race to Liberalism.


Thebes completes Notre Dame in 1112AD and moves onto Angor Wat

In 1136AD, after growing concerned with the Americans accelerating tech lead (3 techs already) and their swap to Islam, I pay Caesar Philosophy, Paper and Civil Service for Feudalism and war with Roosevelt
I also swap to Serfdom to get more from my workers and declare on Saladin to finish him off

Memphis contructs the Hanging Gardens in 1154AD. Pretty late for a Monarch level game really
Baghdad falls the same year and Saladin is gone as well

[Ug the Barbarian]

Mao joins in the war vs Roosevelt in 1160AD. Should keep them tied up for a while..
Also join great artist to Scythian that year as super specialist

Caesar asks me to join the war against Roosevelt in 1172AD and I accept.

Thebes completes Angkor Wat in 1178AD. Education also complete so start on Liberalism

First to Liberalism in 1244AD

& take Printing Press as the free tech. Slightly unusual but I wanted the extra income more than the early Nationalism jump.
A quick look at the Demograpics at this point show I've gone to last position in GNP to first in just a few hundred years. Amazing what integrating those conquests can do for you


Mao invites me into a war with Tokugawa in 1256AD. I agree as, unlike the Roosevelt-Caesar fight where I'm happy to them chew each other up, I might exercise my troops on this one.
Tokyo falls in 1334AD and catches fire immediately

Up until now, I'd played the game in two long sessions. I then had a break to think through which way I wanted to go.

With my superior production, I can pump out units and overwhelm AI civs one by one, especially as mutual religion will keep others out of the fray while I pick them off.
For conquest, I'd continue eliminating Tokugawa (only four cities left) then move onto Mansa and Mao leaving Rome until last.
Domination would be similar although I'd probably finish the war with Tokugawa quickly and move on America. Probably wouldn't need to go after Rome at all if I can get the land elsewhere.
Diplomacy looks a possibility for once due to the common religion and mutual war bonuses but it would depend on who I faced. Rome for example would negate these bonuses and they are currently no.2 in population and territory to me.
Cultural tends to mean turtling once you're ready to start the real push on culture and I don't think I'd enjoy that in this game.
Finally space win looks quite possible but would be a bit boring from current position.

For my own personal preference, I'd like to do either Diplomacy or Domination because I think they're harder to achieve, particularly Diplomacy with the current game restrictions. So we'll head towards these and see how it goes.
Also I want to avoid backstabbing fellow Hindus if possible. Mansa founded Christianity and seems to be spreading it so if he swaps at some point he'll move to head of my target list.

First to Economics in 1352AD and refocus on Gunpowder. Great Merchant goes on a trip to the Romans to raise some money

Mansu Musa swaps to Christianity. Right...on with the Domination plan. Finish the siege at Osaka and return expeditionary force for upgrades as well as military build up.

Osaka taken & burned in 1370AD
Make peace for Tokugawa for all his money (120g + 3g/turn) and his map. Not much but it gets me out of that war ready for Mansa.

Swap to Theocracy and start more military builds

Military Tradition completes in 1460AD. Mass upgrades of Knights to Cavalry. Start Golden Age with 2 stored GPs.

[Ug the Barbarian]

All units in position in 1478AD so we declare on Musa.
Kumbi Saleh falls immediately and Gao is next. Cavalry vs longbows is really unfair :-)


Minor hiccup when smaller stack attacking across the eastern peninsula border runs into what looks like Mansa's main battle stack.
A couple of Cavalry, a mace and a 'pult are lost valiantly defending a hill from 'pults, 'phants, pikes, xbows and horse archers. My surviving 'pult pulls back next turn

However the next AI move is crazy. Instead of re-inforcing Djenne which has already lost all its defensive bonuses from 'pults and is about to be over-run despite lots of hilltop longbow defenders, the remains of Mansa's main stack (total of 4 units) tries a return invasion chasing workers building roads on the border !

Djenne falls easily without their aid for the cost of 1 'pult and the 'wandering' stack is wiped out to a man by cavalry on the open plains.

Taj Mahal completes in Thebes just in time to extend Golden Age another 10 turns :-)
Niani on the northern ice burns the same turn (crappy city site)

Timbuktu falls the following turn...along with its 4 wonders (Pyramids, Chichen Itza, Hagia Sophia and Sistine Chapel). That'll do nicely thank you.


Awdaghost burns in 1535AD and Walata falls the following turn...only one more city to go
Ghuzz is captured next turn and Mansa is gone in 1538AD...all troops begin the move to the western borders

Surprised by a Barbarian Longbow materialising in the middle of newly conquered territory. He grabs a worker before I can subdue this rebellion.

[Ug the Barbarian]

A quick view of the victory conditions before I declare on Tokugawa in 1568AD.....his land and Roosevelts should be enough to push me over the land threshold


Edo falls in 1571AD
Thebes builds West Point in 1574AD to aid further war production. I swap to Universal Sufferage and Free Speech.
Nara follows the next turn and Satsuma the turn after that.

Kyoto is next just leaving one island city under Japanese control

While the most injured units wait healing for transport, the main body north towards the American border

Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston and New York fall in rapid succession.

Kagoshima falls in 1625AD and spells the end of the Japanese empire

Chicago taken the same turn

Washington falls in 1634AD but its not the end of America. Must be an island city hiding somewhere

Buying Caesars map for mine plus 40g yields the location...Seattle settled on a tundra island to the northwest.

Seattle falls in 1643AD and with it, the Americans.

[Ug the Barbarian]

At this point I'm 4.75% short of the land needed for Domination. I'll make up some of this with city border expansions as they come out of revolt, especially with the help of rushed Theatres. However I'm likely to be left a couple of percent short so the army starts moving towards Chinese borders just in case they are needed. Swap to Pacifism saving about 40g per turn and increasing chance of GPs. Micromanage a few cities to encourage Great Artists. I'll set the economy to culture to push the borders once I've completed Biology. Currently relations with Caesar and Mao are both at +13.

Hangzhou revolts to join my empire in 1658AD. Finally got rid of that horrible Chinese blemish on my southern coast.


After Biology comes in, I move to 60% culture and we start closing on the Domination land threshold. By 1676AD I'm only 0.44% away.
Domination victory finally achieved in 1685AD


Early settlement and later development views



A view to show my poor GNP for much of the early game. Note the prolonged Golden Age effect ;-)


In conclusion I think the early grab of Hinduism and helping to spread it to Rome really helped my game. It meant I could concentrate on picking off 'religious enemies' one by one up to domination. I was never really threatened in the game once I'd reduced Saladin's first couple of cities and got an edge on the other civs.

I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone else does on this. I'm sure my finish date will be beaten by many people as I kept a good economy going all game and developed cities properly rather than pushing the envelope but thats just my playing style. Egypt was quite an easy pick from the selection. I suspect others - Mansa and Saladin especially will be more difficult.