Epic 13 - pawelo and unfinished Babylon try

[pawelo]

As I said, you will find only a short report in here.

I hope you'll stay by, it's been a great pleasure to play it ( though I couldn't have finished it - formatting pc... ). Looking forward for the next one

Here is the report :


So, here we are. My first epic – long time lurking, it took me a while before attending one myself. But the potluck appeal was simply too strong to resist . Monarch game, one level beyond my usual prince, plus Beyond the Sword, which I only played once before this game, it should be an interesting one ( if I survive long enough to speak about it )

The dice roll tossed us Hammurabi, coming with Aggressive and Organize traits. Both are not among my favorites – I’m rather a financial/industrious Huyana fan . Aggressive means extra military power ( double speed barracks and drydocks, combat I promotion for all melee/gunpowder units ), organized is great for expansion ( double speed of lighthouse, factory and courthouse, -50% civic upkeep ). All of this anticipates an aggressive expansion, though we cannot declare war on anyone before 1000BC. UU – bowmen – is a combat version of archer getting, beware, 1 first strike, +50% city defense, +25% hills defense, +50% vs melee units AND Combat I ( thanks to aggressive trait ). Babylonian UB – Garden – replaces Colosseum – adds +2 Health for an extra growth to the usual happy face bonus.
This civ credo should be : “Gimme land fast, and I shall make money from it! Much land!”.

But let’s take a look at our starting position. We have a pretty nice starting location with pigs and fishes for growth, three hills ( one plain and two grasslands ), six river tiles, pretty much coastal space. Could have been much worse. We will settle on the starting location. With pigs nearby, our first goal will be AH and worker. Both warriors go scouting.



Got some money from two huts and a scout while exploring NW and SE. I met Joao II from the Portuguese, who seem to be isolated on his small sub-continent, and the khmer ruler, Suryavarman II, to the west. BFINDL, while a stone resource was found nearby ( in the Portuguese neighborhood – I know where to settle ASAP ). The scout got a stroke of luck popping Fishing from one of the huts – which is nice because we have some seafood in Babylon. AH finished and revealed horses right to the north of Babylon. Can’t wait to see where Bronze is to see what to do about the expansion. Worker finished and went for pigs, while I decided to put some shields on a workboat for the fish resource. In 3375BC Sura found Hinduism – first religion among our known friends. Next turn, we met Willem and Justinian, who turned to be the DL where Buddhist got found. Meanwhile, one of our popped scouts got eaten by a wild beast?

In 3075BC I got a quest to carry on – some chariots to build. It looks easy – with horses above it should do the trick. And try to take off Joao’s people. Yes, it might be a plan…



In 2950BC workboat finished, and work went on a settler to get near these nice stones. BW is on the way to chop/whip some stuff. Maybe to get some axes going…
A few years later, Herodotus found my army pathetic ( what ? a warrior and a scout are pathetic ??? ) ) In 2675BC bronze revealed south ( yes! ) complicating a little bit my plans ( now I have three great spots… ), and Babylonians went for slavery. Settler was finished on the next year, while a second settler was on his way in Babylon ( to close Joao and get the bronze ). Tech chosen – Masonry – to get the stone going asap.

Akkad found near stone, which will have to wait as the worker chops the second settler ( I ‘m somehow wary that BtS AI is pretty aggressive in settling and prefer to secure the bronze before going for Stonehenge ).



Sura went on founding Judaism on the next turn, as our scout reached the outskirts of the Mayan empire. Second settler finished in Babylon ( started the second worker with some chopping overflow ( will whip asap ) – went on to settle near bronze. Some Portuguese scouts appeared nearby – time to move.

Dur-Kurigalzu founded in 2350BC – next to the bronze. Babylon is to pop culture soon, so the Portuguese will be closed. Plan is to hook the bronze, stone and get Stonehenge. And some military!



Yep, Babylon popped in 2100BC, but the Stonehenge was already BIDL ( IN 2075 or something ???!!!)… Too late. Will go for the Great Wall instead. Started Pottery for some cottaging.

Bronze was hooked in 2000BC and Babylon started GW just after finishing a worker. Some chopping went on for the next few years. Hunting, than Archery. Our workforce was improved by a worker in Akkad, and both secondary cities were going for monuments. After that, Dur went for barracks ( our military city ), while Akkad started a workboat. Babylon was still getting his GW chopped. Willem won the Great Wall race, so Babylon started Pyramids – this time with stone hooked. Workers went on chopping/cottaging the landscape, and some axes started to appear in Dur.

Sailing discovered ( for Moai in Babylon or Akkad ), research went on Meditation. Pyramids still on the way ( I hope I will get this one ). Tacitus finds me the wealthiest civ ( thanks to Willem and the Great Wall race – grrr ).

Some nice news arrived in 1300BC :



In 1250BC I converted to Judaism ( for happiness purposes ) and started Writing.

Without a surprise, Pyramids arrived in 1175BC. Babylon went on an axe – to take the barb city to the north – before going for settler, to grab the cows in the south.



In 1050BC, the Babylonian empire acquired a barb city losing one ax, and as the 1000BC deadline approached, I wondered about going for Portuguese lands in the south. He has axes and archers mostly, so I will beeline math before doing the invasion. Land is power!



Willem joins Pacal and Justinian in the Buddhist team – I consider joining them as soon as the religion spreads to one of my cities. And I’m the best in score ( it won’t last I fear ).

After a good night of sleep, I figured out that I HAVEN’T CHANGED CIVICS AFTER GETTING PYRAMIDS. Wtf! Well, it’s still time to change this, and as for now, I have a choice between Rep and Police State. I still plan an early invasion, by I think by taking out Sura, with his two religions and before he gets Elephants ( he seem to have Ivory ). Still, I’m not sure he has already hooked them up. Also, some nice land lays to the west, with gold…

Sura seem to have all ivory and gold within his territory, so he becomes our next target. I am weighting my options between an axe spam with or without cat’s support.

To grab some nice remaining land, Nippur is founded in 825BC :



Nothing more out of interest for some time, axes are fogbusting the NE jungle, waiting for two more settlers to arrive. In 550BC, Confucianism is FIDL. When Alpha got in, we were only able to trade Meditation for Priesthood with Pacal. I noticed a general hostility toward our people, and that IW was available to our closest neighbors… Well, Math is on and Construction should follow. Objective Sura. Justinian settled on the rice to the north, limiting our expansion.

Next turns were for build up and land improvements. Nippur got monument, Babylon granary and went for Moai Statues. Portugal came and asked for Alphabet, which I generously refused ( I’m playing with fire – everyone, except me and Sura, is Buddhist, and I can’t get the main religion spread in my cities. However, our friend Justinian adopted OR, so there might be a missionary or two coming by soon… Hopefully…

A turn later, Just asked for Open Borders ( you’re welcome! ). A settler was finished in Dur, and will try to squeeze a city between Just and Sura, on a plain hill next to the corn, and Math checked in.

Also, some great people appeared here and there – a spy for Willem’s Great Wall, and a Prophet somewhere. I started Construction. A second settler arrived, which I will try to get to the gold/horses/rice tile in the NW.

...

Here stopped my epic 13... You can't imagine how sorry I was to lose my try.
However, I look forward to play the next one, and maybe get myself some exp on an adventure...

I hope you have enjoyed this small story. Criticize at wish

Cheers,

Pawelo