Epic 10 - The early sinking Sun..

[TheArchduke]

Despite playing very cautiously, I vastly underestimated how insanely stronger the AI starts off and gets rolling on deity. And too late, I recognized that I needed to cozy up with Julius and Mao. Thus my game was over very, very soon.
Early on I researched Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, followed by Bronze Working and after an intial warrior as it is deity after all, I go for a worker.

In 3430 B.C. Mao funds Buddhism, and judging from other games this was VERY peculiar. How I still managed to be dowed by JC, is beyond me, everything went golden so far.
And soon later I encounter Julius, and ah well, the chinese scout gets the only goodie hut in the game, that I could have reached in that game.

And whilst the barb archers are incoming and I am not sure if I survive, the barbarian state snatches the fishing site southeast of Kyoto.



4 archers die and one warrior of me, by barricading myself in Kyoto. I got lucky there. After some quick fogbusting, I open up Osaka in a strategic location with a 2 warrior escort.



At 1810 B.C. Mao has 561 points on me, I need to become buddhist, and I need to fast. OB signed with Mao. Writing? He has it already. I am researching archery ffs.
Mao tries to take Aryan and fails, killing one warrior, I panic-whip axes. All of Maos units die and my axe kills one archer and together with my reinforcements:



At about 900 B.C. just when someone founds Christianity, I see the first Legionaries. Who happen to be on the way to kill me. He dows in 895 B.C.

JC overruns Tokyo, my newfound city, and goes to Osaka, I manage to get 4 axes and 2 warriors in place for the first round.. And too late, I switch to Masonry from Alphabet.. City walls anyone??



Although I manage to smash 3 praets, Osaka is taken. And Mao is bribed into war by JC, oh the joy.

I abandon Aryan for a laststand at Kyoto, but to no avail:





I had easier games in my time. Although I had some lucky things happen to me, I am not sure when JC decide to come for me and what I could have done against that. In any case, thanks to our sponsor for the variant and I hope next time the difficulty is monarch or emperor for a killer game. The AI steamrolled me here.

[KMad]

"After some quick fogbusting, I open up Osaka in a strategic location with a 2 warrior escort."

a very brilliant strategic location, and quite pretty scenery too! of course i would say that, i put mine in the exact same place .

"I see the first Legionaries. Who happen to be on the way to kill me."

hubby was reading over my shoulder and laughed at this line. i gave him a dirty look, but he assured me that he sympathized with your pain, and was enjoying the humor in your writing style, not laughing at your suffering. so i forgave him.

in some other threads (sullla's and compromise's i think?) there's some discussion about future events, and they definitely won't all be on deity. so hopefully we won't get steamrolled quite so early!

[TheArchduke]

The scenario certainly showed me my limits, especially on higher difficulty settings. I guess if I had sucked up a lot earlier and a lot more to JC and Mao, I could have survived, but I fear that luck plays a big factor as well. If JC decides to use legionairies on you, you are toast.