Since I'm new to this place, I'd first of all like to say hi, and thanks for taking the effort to make people like me feel welcome, even though I haven't posted before now. Something about the attitude and the atmosphere...

It's almost a cliché to mention it at this point (I've read the announcement thread) but I came here through the Cuban Isolationists... like so many others. Great marketing there, S&S. I'm still hitting refresh on that thread every day to check out the new posts.

Anyway, on to my report. I've been a casual player since Civ1, so don't expect much. I'm just hoping to entertain in some fashion.

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Epic One: The Honorable French

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From the primordial ooze rise the glorious people of France. Feeling defiant, they refuse to accept the trite “standard” names for their cities, and enact a naming convention filled with the pride of a state standing at the dawn of time. Grand Justice (that’s with a French pronunciation!) is founded.

Discovering the futuristic “stone” resource outside of their capital, the people of France decide to learn how to harness it, envisioning great pyramids being built in their new home. Indeed, the people of France have visions of grandeur.

After spending 40 years going the wrong way due to their fickle god (imagine if Moses spent those years in the desert due to mouse-related mistake made by God!), the French warriors wander west and discover barbarians living in harmony with the land. Wanting none of that, the intrepid French burn the village to the ground and liberate 40 gold. (Other stories say they were simply given the gold by the barbarians, who then decided to go see what the fuss was about in Grand Justice… but I digress.)



Our warriors choose a northern path, curious to see what the horizon holds.

On their journey, the warriors encounter black-furred beasts who strike in the darkness of the jungle. After a harrowing battle, the men arrive at a place where pigs frolic in fields of rice. The French people rejoice, and resolve to one day master the secrets of Animal Husbandry and Agriculture in order to enrich their lives and bestow glory upon their god.



To the south, the French warriors are instructed in the ways of war by cunning barbarians. In this land, the proud fighters see a future for their people: A glorious homecoming that would one day lead to a bittersweet end… Admittedly, it is a place of many riches! The people of France decide to send settlers to this spot before long.



Having discovered the secret of Masonry, the warriors of France travel east and find a hill overlooking a river delta. Climbing the hill, they come into contact with the mysterious Indians, led by the equally enigmatic Gandhi! Though suspicious of each other, the warriors of these two people share a night of celebration, and party like it’s 2920 BC.



Having spotted something strange that glimmers to the north, the French warriors pursue the mirage of glory and stumble upon a settlement of a strangely green people—the Aztecs! The people of France extend their noble hand in friendship to Montezuma, leader of the people from across the rivers.



Hearing tales of wondrous lands filled with treasure from the people of Tenochtitlan, the French warriors travel north towards the icy cold. Crossing an isthmus, they step into unknown lands with fear and wonderment in their hearts.



Back in the known lands, the discovery of bananas is taken as a sign, and lo, the people of Mongolia did descend from the hills to meet with the gracious envoys of France. Though friendly, the Mongolians are inhospitable, and insist that the French warriors do not cross through their lands. What secrets do these people hide…?



The amazing discovery of Masonry inspires the people of France and revives the ancient dreams once dreamt by its people. Workers are trained in order to bring stone to the city, and great plans for the Pyramids are drafted. God-King RBCiv-Epic1 commands his people to raise a monument suitable to his deific majesty.



After a harrowing journey across uncharted lands, exploring the legends of the Aztecs, the expedition of French warriors and treasure hunters aims to carry their bags of riches back to the mainland, and their beloved home in Grand Justice. On the other side of the isthmus, they find a barbarian village. The warriors, eager to find rest, and relate their stories to other humans, enter with great friendship. Weep; grieve; for the barbarians did betray the weary wanderers. With clubs of wood and spears of bone, they broke both the flesh and hearts of these noble souls, stamping on the dreams of the French people.

It was a dark time. The legend, however, shall never die in the hearts of all who live in France.



St. Augustine, wise to numbers and the collection of glimmering artifacts, accounts for the wealth of the peoples in the world. Though supposedly a saint, he fails to account for the love within the bosom of the French people, and thus finds us sorely lacking.



The people of Grand Justice wave goodbye to a convoy of settlers in 1100 BC. They travel east, in order to settle where they have found rice and a strange metal known as “copper.” However, they soon find their path blocked by the borders of Mongolia—the Mongolian people have supplanted the fields of their dreams! Dejected, but filled with hope, the people turn back and journey towards the destined location south of Grand Justice, where their martial forefathers saw the future of their people.



Having rebuilt their hopes and dreams, the settlers keep moving… only to find that the spot they so craved has been taken by barbarians. It seems that the friendly people that taught their warrior tradition to the French people have turned to thoughts of conquest under the harsh rule of an ambitious new king. The settlers, and their escorts, find that they are not welcome, and barely escape with their lives. Enmity brews, as the barbarian king of Khazak declares war on the people of France.

Due to starting a week late, work keeping me from getting on 4 days last week, and my son having to type his senior paper (he passed business school! YES! ), I couldn't finish my game. I will post the details tomorrow or the next day, for now the abbreviated report is that I ran out of time in the mid-1700's; after trailing in 4th or 5th place for most of the game, I'd pulled ahead into a (distant) second behind Washington in the last 100 years or so . Not too shabby for not having played since the Civ2 days , I had a roaring good time fighting off Monte and Genghis, and learned a heck of a lot...

/gnarlo

Hi.

I am a new Civ player and this event was very fun for me. (Although it was a bit too time-consuming.)

I've just finished the game and the report is still in progress. (As the game progressed, I dropped the RP style and later even dropped the details, so while I have all my notes, I have a lot of editing to do.)

Part 1 of the report is here: http://www.geocities.com/zeviz2/RBEpic1/part1.html

I will update this thread when the rest of the report is done.

There is one thing that technically might have shadowed my game, although I've stayed to spirit of the rules: One time I forgot to hit save when closing the game and my latest save was from 2 turns before. I've exactly recreated all my actions in intervening turns (there was no fighting, just a couple builds starting), but technically it was an older save. I didn't even act on the information that I was beaten to Liberalism, recreating all research choices and builds as they were.

Aside from that one problem, I've never reloaded even when losing a highly experienced unit to a game UI oddity (go order into unexplored terrain was interpreted as an attack).

The outcome of the game was:
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The outcome of the game was Spaceship victory in 1855, which is earlier than I've launched the other time I've won a space race, so I've done pretty well, especially considering the bad start.

In 1908 the glorious cities of Paris, Orleans and Rheims achieve legendary culture, and the American and Greek civilzations concede victory to the Honorable French.

Here's the final world map and score graph from the replay:



Final Score: 24096
Game Score: 6706

Lessons learned: You can too neglect your military! Check out the power graph:




Power? Bah, who needs it? When you've got....

Culture!



How did I do it? Wonders of course! At the beginning of the game I took one solid look at Louis's Industrious trait and decided I would just go on a wonder-building rampage and then see where we ended up.

Well here's where Paris ended up:



Can you count 'em all?

Anyway, I apologize, I've never done this Epic-playing, report-writing thing before and I don't really know what people want to know... so... here's how it went down, roughly.

As soon as I ran into Genghis and Monty I knew that war was inevitable. Those two are haters. Still, I neglected my military, as usual, and concentrated on wonders, building the Pyramids in 960 BC and Stonehenge in 800 BC. In 300AD, I refused some unreasonable demand from Genghis, and he declared war, of course. Soon, Genghis swept through the south coast of the peninsula, burning down two cities of mine that I had captured from barbarians earlier. Jerk.


However, I was building up Chariots, Archers, and Spearmen, and managed to turn the war around, capturing Old Sarai, Beshbalik, and Ning-hsia before negotiating peace in 590. During this period, all of the civs were at war, Monty with Washington, and Ghandi with Alex, creating rivalries that would define the entire game.

All was well for a while. I was cheerfully building wonders and ignoring my military, when in 1020AD Monty declared war! Shocking, I know. Well, we fought border skirmishes with horsemen, swordsmen, and axemen, that I was cranking out using Just-in-Time manufacturing techniques, until in 1085 Genghis joined Monty against me! Well, for someone dedicated to ignoring their military this was just too much. I captured Teotihuacan, negotiated peace with Monty, and turned to focus my efforts on Genghis. In 1220 I had taken all of his cities on the continent, so I negotiated peace and left him with two on the northern islands. Here's the map:



For a while followed another period of wonder-building and military-ignoring. In 1550, Alex asked for my help in exterminating the quarrelsome GenghisI didn't have any military to speak of, but what the heck, I whipped some up quick and sailed them to the islands to mop up the last of the Mongols. As this was winding down, Washington asked for help in his war with Monty, so I said sure, two simultaneous wars ain't no problem for someone who ignores their military, and we carved up Monty's territory between us, vanquishing him in 1658.

At this point I began to weigh my victory options.



I was way ahead, and only needed to choose the method of my win. I dreamed of Conquest, with 2 out of 5 already defeated, or at least Domination, but to get either of those I would need wars with 2 out of the 3 of Ghandi, Washington, and Alex. Not likely, while remaining honorable. I had won space race before, but never cultural, so I decided to focus on that. This basically involved spreading as many religions as I could and building many temples so I could build all of the cathedral type buildings at +50% culture in my three target cities, as well as all the wonders I could eat.

Along the way I signed a defense pact with Ghandi, thinking that there might be strife between him and Washington, or at least Alex, so I could get my war on one last time, but of course, I was totally ignoring my military.

Then in 1840 Ghandi declared war on Alex, tearing up our defense pact in the process. Oh well. But then... in 1848, Alex pleads with me to intervene and save him from Ghandi's wrath. This was interesting. Ghandi's power was 3 times mine. He had mech infantry. I had mostly a bunch of archers. On the other hand, I was bored with sitting around waiting for culture to grow, and had a bunch of cities with nothing else to do. Besides, anyone who attacks poor helpless Greece deserves to be crushed!

So I joined in the war, building units as fast as I can, and aside from a lot of pillaging over my border, barely suffered for it. I eliminated Ghandi in 1889, and thought domination was mine... except, I couldn't quite get to 66%, at victory I had a measly 62.5%. Especially no thanks to these two cities, who just wouldn't flip.



Tenochtitlan is 23% American and Chicago 25% here. What does it take to flip a city, anyway? Sheesh. I felt bad because Chicago was once large and prosperous, but obviously chose American culture, Big Macs and starvation, rather than the plentiful baguettes, cheese and wine over in Frenchland.

Oh well, at least I still had the culture machines running.

Thanks for the awesome game.

Edit: fixed innacuracies relating to exactly when I vanquished Genghis

The good news: I played an honorable game. I finished the game. I have the savefile. It was my first Prince game and I can say I didn't suck.

The bad news: My report is going to be bad. Since this was my first report (ever), I naively assumed that I could capture the autolog somehow and make a report from there. So, I have very few notes; and since I've played the CivFanatics GOTM since then, I've forgotten much of this game. I captured a few screenshots, but made the mistake of using the Shift-PrintScreen for the first few, which leaves the dialog box open.

Lesson learned: Next time I will have an awesome report. Reading the examples of those already posted has given me many good ideas.

By the way, I enjoy any criticism, as long as it's well-worded. I know I made a lot of mistakes, but I like to learn from them. Civ4 has already changed my playing style a lot from Civ3 (and Civ2 and Civ), and I plan on continuing to change.

Without further adieu...

The Game Starts
I chose to settle in the starting position. I liked the idea of the close resources and the lake tiles. Religion should be an easy grab, right? Well, the Holy Hydra was not to be. I grabbed Buddhism, that's it. My main focus at this point was to scout out the territory and find the best place for my second city. I think this is often one of the most critical (and debatable) decisions. My scouting was helped greatly by my doubly-upgraded super-scout.



You can see at this point that I've discovered Monty's lands and scouted out my side of the continent. At this point, I've decided to make my second city near the narrow neck so that I can cut off expansion to my side. I've also made it a priority to build Stonehenge as I enjoy the free early Obelisks. And with the Stone, it's an easy one to build.

But, here's the biggest risk I've taken (in this game as well as any other). In my rush to explore and build infrastructure, I've left Paris completely undefended. And, once Stonehenge is built, I decide to build a barracks before an archer.



I'm interested to see what others think about this. Is it as risky as I make it out to be? Was I bonkers? Yes, I was getting various barbarian excursions, but my scouting warriors were knocking them out before they got to Paris. Anyway, eventually, I got the barracks built and an archer to defend my capital.



Here's a very typical shot for me. I always seem to focus on infrastructure and the various wonder which gives my a great cultural lead. On the plus side, culture is good. On the negative, I do this more often than I should and often neglect my military side. Civ4 punishes me for that too often.



The Middle Game

It is about this time that I discover the source of the barbarian excursions. There are TWO barbarian cities in the south of my side of the continent. I have not seen this before and I noticed that many others have reported the same thing. Is this hard-coded in a map at the start?



I originally view this as a great blessing as I will be able to get some free cities without spending shields on settler points. In hindsight, however, I handled this very poorly. While I scheme how to take the cities, I do FINALLY build my second city placed so that I can cover the neck (seen in this shot from 1 AD).



Here's also a shot of where I stand in 1 AD. I am sorely lagging in most categories, even the ones covered up by the silly dialog box. :mad:



My goal for the next bit is to expand quickly. I need to take out the barbarians and fill up the rest of my side. Unfortunately, this was easily the worst part of my game. Also unfortunately, it was about this time that I became so engrossed in the military campaign that I forgot to take screenshots.

Here are the mistakes I made during the barbarian military campaign. Over and over, I refused to bring enough troops. I would knock down all the defenders but one and then have to start over. I was smart enough to bring City Raider swordsmen, but would then waste them attacking barbarian pillagers, sometimes losing, but always having to waste time to heal. The military side of my skills has always been neglected, but Civ4 is refusing to let me neglect them any longer. I am slowly learning to become a warmonger. Unfortunately, too many lessons were learned to late in this game.

During this campaign, a most peculiar thing happened. I had sent a big stack of swordsmen south to the barbarian cities when suddenly a barbarian pillager appeared to the west of Paris and advanced directly over my only source of Iron and right next to Paris. I only had one defender in Paris as I was focusing my military down south. I had a choice to make - stand fast and lose the iron or send the defender in a risky mission to take out the pillager. I debated this for a while and went with the more risky "No Pain, No Gain". I could not lose that Iron. I had a slight combat edge (I forget the combatants). Everything would work out, right?

WRONG! The Fighting Pansies lost horribly to the barbarian and suddenly I was faced with losing my iron AND my capital. At this point, I figured my game was over and I was trying to figure out to lose quickly so that I could fade into oblivion. Here's the surprise. I had an open borders with the Mongols. On the turn that I lost my defender in Paris, he moved in THREE UNITS to Paris. Because we were not at war, I kept my city and the barbarian died the next turn. I quickly built multiple defenders and the Mongols moved out. Why did he do this? Pure chance? Looking out for me? I have no idea, but it saved my whole game. As the saying goes, "Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good."

The best part about having open borders with the Mongols was what I just described. It also strengthened our relationship so that I was able to maintain peace for a while. However, in the long run, this really hurt me. Not only did he establish a few cities on my little side, he also took one of the barbarian cities (after I knocked it down to nothing). At the end of the expansion phase, instead of having my little empire with one border to the east, I had 3-4 Mongolian cities dotting my side. I took one through culture, but the rest haunted me to the end.

In hindsight, this phase was the worst for me and it's where I lost the game. I started out near the top in tech and ended at the bottom. My military ineptitude and open border policy with the Mongolians was the cause of all of this.

End Game

At this point, I was fighting a losing battle. I badly needed to catch up in tech and I needed to prepare myself better for war. I was doing ok in infrastructure, but with fewer cities than I expected, research was too slow. I also knew it was only a matter of time before I had an AI war.

I founded a few more cities and used some Great Artists to quickly expand some borders, flipping one city and stealing some critical resources. With the closeness of borders, the Mongols quickly became annoyed with me and eventually declared war. I was slightly more prepared this time and was able to ward off the offensive, suffering only pillaging losses. Still learning militarily, I conquered a few of the cities on my little neck of the woods, before finally having to settle for peace. My wars are inefficient and stretch on too long so that I am forced to make peace before I fall behind in other areas.

After this, I kept up my efforts to catch up in tech. I was eventually able to jump up from last place all the way to third based on these efforts. During this time I was stuck in a hate triangle with Monty and the Mongols. Each one would take turns threatining me and then asking for my help against the other. Based on the closeness of borders, I decided to start helping the Mongols and rejecting Monty. Soon, the Mongols and I were back to open borders and Monty had declared war. I either joined the war as he declared on me, or as the Mongols invited me. Can't remember which. I had a small tech lead over both of them, so my units won most of the battles. I was even able to retake a fallen Mongol city and regift it to him. Never done that before, so that was fun.

Although I was constantly at war with Monty, I was never able to make much of it. I took a few cities, but never developed them and they were separated from my others by Mongol territory. I was now solidly in third place, trailing only Gandhi by a little, but Washington by a lot. Being way behind on tech, I knew a spaceship victory was impossible. Cultural was going to be hard as only Paris was close to legendary. Somehow I was going to have to pull out a military victory. In an honorable game. With my weak military skills.

With this goal in mind now, I played closer attention to my wars with Monty. Unfortunately, every time I started to make headway, I would lose a stack of units in a dumb attack. Suddenly, Alexander, who had always been threatening, made good on his threats, declaring war, and shuffling galleys of units over behind my lines. Being poorly protected, I lost one of my main coastal cities to razing. I was able to wipe out the rest of his forces, but this was yet another lesson learned.

Soon after, Washington completed the spaceship. Yes, I lost, but I had fun. My first game on Prince and I ended up 3rd. Some good moves, some gutsy but dumb moves, and some dumb moves.

Obviously, I need to hone up on my military manuevers. I need to pay closer attention to what is going on in each city. I lost out a wonder once by one turn. I should have focused that city on production. I need to keep more defense at home. That hurt me a few times. I need to be more careful about my Open Borders agreements and make I sure get my good settlements earlier. (I didn't have my second city until about 500 BC!)

Great fun and I'll be back for more.

<Almost forgot> 1971 AD, Spaceship loss (to Washington), 3312 points.

In the Beginning

Despot Bruindane surveys the land and decides the Pyramids be his to build. The hilly plains near the silk forest prove a boon to early production and research. The French found Paris with a clear view over a salty sea with cows, wheat, silk, and stone in its domain.

The jungle trek to found Orleans as a second seaside Paris with dairy nearby.



Build orders prior to 1000 BC
Paris (Worker, Barracks, Archer, Archer, Settler, Pyramids, Granary)
Orleans (Barracks)

Research Path prior to 1000 BC
1. Pasture & Defense (Hunting, Animal Husbandry, Archery)
2. Pyramids (Mining, Mysticism, Masonry)
3. Growth (Fishing, Pottery)
4: Offense (Bronze Working)

Tribal Hut Lottery
1. Scout (Got mauled by a bear the next turn!)

Pyramids complete in 1125 BC!

1000 BC - 650 AD Barbarian Wars

700 - 1050 Genghis Khan's Blunder

We reject open border requests and laugh at Genghis Khan’s repeated demands. Humiliated, Genghis declares war in 700 AD while embattled with Gandhi and Montezuma. Within a century the barbarian-blooded French troops knock at the gates of Karakorum. By 1050 France claim the pictured cities and New Sari further to the East.



1055-1420 The Aztec Attack

New Sari is burnt to the ground! Rheims, Turfan, Krakorum impress spearmen (Slavery Civic) to hold on while the Aztecs pillage right to French capital. Genghis accepts our hastily offered peace-- revenge being second to survival. French axmen and spearmen battle Aztec Horsemen and Jaguars, but it is not until the Americans join the war against Montezuma that the French make their advance. Four Aztec cities including Tenochitilan and Teotihuacan are claimed.

Peace is made with Montezuma as his territory is better served as a cultural barrier to America and India. The Mongols hold onto the lands south between France and India.

1440-1900 The Great Religious and Culture Spread
1786 French Emancipation

Prime Minister Bruindane decides to exploit France's wealth of five religions to build legendary cities out of the ruins of Karakorum, Tenochitilan, and Teotihuacan. An emotional decision in part from the shock of being culturally assaulted by the defeated Mongols and Aztecs.


(Interesting to note that I kept my trade route even while surrounded by Montezuma's closed borders.)

The capital is relocated to Tenochitlan while much coin is spent to spread Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Taoism with associated temple building. The results are impressive, and defense pacts are signed in 1879 with America and India (Greece, Mongols, Aztecs being irrelevant) to start securing a cultural win. There would be no more French wars fought beyond the first two.

1900-1967 French Panic and Space Race

Washington starts building spaceship components while India's creation of the Space Elevator occurs before France researches rocketry. Panic ensues as France joins the space race late. India quickly overtakes Washington for the space lead while the might of French industry and thought go to pursue the space option.

France builds the United Nations getting Indian support over America for Sec-General. By the first vote Gandhi’s population surpasses Washington prompting an uneasy France to pass global emancipation and other resolutions. America supports France over India for the Sec-General re-nomination, supporting France fully for a diplomatic victory… 5 votes short… then 10...then 12 votes short. India is gaining population as its Eiffel Tower powerfully expands its borders. French culture came back swinging as the Mongol town of Tiflis joins the French, still 4 votes short. The voting continues until Gandhi requires only the Stasis Chamber for launch- while France struggles to learn Fission.

In 1965 the Aztec ice town of Calixtlahuata decides to defect. This with an engineered French baby boom gives France a 1967 Diplomatic Victory thanks to American support!

Post-Game

Looking in the World Builder I discovered that India was one turn away from Space Victory. I am thrilled that the diplomatic victory rescued me from the “I’m the biggest, so I can now build everything” disease that afflicted me after the Aztec conquest. Also,

I should not have switched focus to the space race, but I did panic. At the end of my diplomatic victory I had the top 5 cities with cultures of 64779, 55224, 52026, 48261, 31172 with a 6th at 30758 and a great artist in hand-- but I did benefit from two city flips!

STATS

1967 Diplomatic Victory
5179 Game Score
11326 Score : Winston Churchill

This will be my first epic. Although I lost interest to write after realizing that I broke one of the rules by razing a city. Anyway I lost this game by space to Washinghton.


Exploration of the World

4000 BC, we are French. The start location looks very good with cow and stone. I settled right on the spot. It takes 19 turns to research animal husbandry, 11 + 24 turns for mysticism and polytheism. I thought for about 15 minutes to select which one to research. In a normal game I would have gone with mysticism and polytheism. But in epic, with high research costs I decided to go with Animal Husbandry. It takes 17 turns for city to grow to size 2, which I think is same as normal game. I moved my warrior on to the hill on the NE side. I am planning to move him in that side. Hopefully nobody takes the goody hut on the west side of Paris (not visible in the screen shot). Behold the glorious Paris:


In 3860BC I met Montezuma of Aztecs. Oh man, so much for my strategy of going low on military, if we don't have the same religion, there would definitely be a war. Hope it doesn’t come to that; But for now there shall be peace in our time.



After some time I am able to locate the birth place Aztec civilization:



In 3430 BC Buddhism is founded by a distant civilization.
I also met Genghis Khan and Washinghton.
I hope we all live in peace and harmony.
In 3200 BC research on Animal Husbandry is complete and research on Mysticism is complete. I am still optimistic about getting polytheism first or else at least monotheism.
I built 5 glorious warriors and popped 4 or 5 goody huts, which gave a total of approximately 250 gold. I also lost a warrior to a barbarian archer, but killed lot of wild animals including 3 Bears. I got 3 warriors promoted to woodsman 1, 2 to woodsman 2. I started building a worker as soon as my city reached size 3.
Mongolian Lands:



Hinduism founded in my lands:



The Second French city Orleans is founded in 1425BC. This city will have 1 coastal tile and a lot jungle to work with. I built it here, so that I can claim all the land to the west of this city.



Also I built the Stonehenge in 620BC. It is completed in 7 turns. Rheims is founded on 260BC. Actually this is my fourth city. Oh the Archer in the was my first Archer. By this time I only have 2 archers and bunch of warriors.



I thought I am doing ok with 4 cities and a religion of my own. But if everything goes according to the plan, why will I play this game. At first small things seem to go wrong. I tried to build Pyramids in Paris, but Indians built it just four turns before Paris completed it. While building pyramids I revolted and changed my state religion to Hinduism. I thought I would revolt my civics after building pyramids, but since Gandhi already built it, I revolted civics for slavery and Organized religion. I got lot of money for losing pyramids (560) and Oracle (160). After seeing so much money what do I do, screw up the nice start. I built 4 settlers, thinking I can take on the maintenance costs, as I got money. But the money quickly ran out and I can not research at all.
In 780AD I captured the barb city Sakae and decided to keep it. I lost an Axeman in capturing the city.

Thanks to Sirian for sponsoring the game. It was my first attempt at Prince difficulty and I learnt a lot from it.

Result: Resignation in 1888 AD

My notes below are very rambling and disjointed and I was planning to write a longer report but I took too long to finish the game and at the moment I wouldn't have a chance to write a full report for several weeks, but I will post a summary here.

I think my early expansion plans were fairly good- although I should have kept a closer watch on my backlines to stop barbarian cities coming up in horrible locations (Visigoth was 1 tile off the coast). As often happens in my games, I place cities down quite rapidly and the bottom falls out of my economy for a while- but once I recover I have gained the land that I want, and overall I think I can research more than if I had just placed cities as my economy could handle.

In my game India was wiped out by a coalition of civs, America was nearly annhilated by Montezuma quite early on (the really bad thing was Montezuma capturing the Pyramids from America). Greece and Mongolia were of about equal power, and the Aztecs were the most powerful military civ, and aside from me, the most powerful technological civ. I built a lot of wonders in the game but I wish that I had managed to grab one of the very early wonders- and I could have grabbed an early religion as well if I had known the AI's would be so slow about researching them.

My mistakes in the game:
Not focusing enough on military- for the entire game my military vastly inferior in quantity to the Greeks, Mongols and Aztecs.
Converting to Taoism too early- although I could not spread it to Washington due to him being in Theocracy I should have tried for Greece or the Aztecs. As soon as I converted my state religion I lost all deals with the other nations. I could have won the game by spending the whole time in Hinduism- as my GDP became far larger than Montezuma's.

These mistakes put together forced me to join with the Mongols to fight off the Aztecs, as if the Mongols fell, Montezuma would be enormous and close to a domination victory. I discovered how having a small military of superior units (I had a bit of a technological lead over all civs) is worthless if other civs have 4 times as many units as you do.

The huge mistake I made was building the UN. I completely forgot that Montezuma might be elected. He could not win the overall vote initially, but he could pass votes for civics he did not have the technology for, and if he expanded much more he would win the overall vote. The reason why I resigned (not mentioned in my notes below as I gave up recording the last few turns) is that I had foolishly left my backline unprotected and Montezuma had dropped off some troops and captured a city. Now I could have recaptured it as he only guarded it with one unit, but there were about 5 outside the city, and I am sure the city would have been razed when he recaptured it. Additionally the Mongols were falling apart, having lost Old Sarai a few turns ago, and Montezuma would have had enough votes to win a diplomatic victory.

-Alea

Here are the notes I took when playing in game- they are a very boring read.

Settle in spot, Paris starts on warrior, starting warrior begins to explore to the NE. Start research on animal husbandry. Meet Genghis Khan's scout to the E of Paris in 3800 BC.
In 3640 BC pop a hut (SE) and get mining. In 3560 BC meet Montezuma, whose scout moves near my warrior E of Paris. Paris starts on a worker. Buddhism is founded in 3480 BC. The hut to the west of Paris
gives me a map. In 3440 BC see the first barbarian animals (lions) who lose to my S warrior.

After animal husbandry i go for Masonry (Quarry for the stone and Pyramids). One of my warriors defeats 2 animals and get Woodsman 1 promotion (accidentally gave it City Raider 1). Washington
moves a scout near Paris. [Screenshot 2760 BC] I have a fair bit of space in my backline, so I will aim to block up the entrance and refuse to sign any ROP, until I
have settled the land.

End of 1st Session.

After the worker finishes, Paris produces 3 warriors then starts on a Settler. My research path is Masonry, Hunting, Fishing, Archery. Monte founds
Hinduism in 1950 Bc. Somewhere along the line I met Alex. In 1900 BC I meet the final AI, Gandhi. Interesting mix of passive and agressive AI's.
Archery comes in 1700 BC and I start on Bronze working. In the same year my settler completes and I move it southwards, Paris starts on an archer.

I will try and reach forward for a few cities before filling in my backline. I need to utilise the creative trait to full advantage, and hopefully
I can start chasing some wonders soon. In 1575 Bc Orleans is founded and I start on a workboat (worker next). In a few turns my culture blockade will be
complete. My next city will go NE of Paris.

And the Mongols founded a town nearby. My settler will go where the archer is fortified, and I presume I will have superior culture so keeping the Pig tile
won't be a problem (there is another one in my backlines anyway). Orleans's cultural borders expand just in time to kick out Washington's scout (and
keep him away from my backlines).

On second thoughts, although I could chase the Pyramids and Stonehenge, at this stage I think it's important to grab as much land as possible (even if my
costs do spiral out of control- that can be fixed later, while land can't easily be taken under the honourable variation. (Cannot be the aggressor in war).

I stop my 2nd session in 1325 BC.

In 1175 BC Lyons is founded 3 NE of paris. It starts on a worker. The first barbarians were seen a few turns ago and Paris starts on archers. Bronze working
comes in, and the nearest copper is by the 2nd Mongol city. In 1125 Bc a barbarian city spawns in my backlines W of Orleans. My warrior investigating the
barbarian city beats an archer who attacks him, and I take the Woodsman I promotion (hopefully I can fortify in the forest and absorb some of the barbarian units)

The barbarian city is in a horrible location, and if it grows unfortunately I will have to keep it. Pottery comes in in 920 BC and I start on Writing (probably
a bad choice).

I end my 2nd session in 880 BC.

I move the archer from Orleans over to 'Visigoth' to try and soak up some of the barbarians. Another barbarian city is seen E of Orleans, and I will again
use an archer to try and soak up some of the barbarians. I am 5th in the most powerful civilisations list (Mongols first, Gandhi last).

In between turns my archer killed an attacking archer at 'Visigoth'. Writing comes in, and I start on Iron Working in 30!!. In 580 BC Rheims is founded.
Not much is happening at this stage... I'm unable to easily dislodge the barbarian archers fortified without catapults or better units. I just need to
claim as much land as I can, and start clearing it (hence Iron Working, should have started on it earlier).

One of the barbarian archers at 'Khoisan' stepped out of the town to kill a Mongol scout, and was badly wounded, so I finished it off with my archer.

Paris starts on the Pyramids in 340 BC. Unfortunately both the barbarian towns have grown, and if I capture 'Visigoth' I will have to keep it. In 240
BC I found Tours, which is sick at size 1. And in 120 BC America has built the Pyramids (at least I get some cash now).

When Iron Working comes in (thankfully!) there is Iron next to Paris.

After sailing comes in I start on Alphabet so I can begin to trade (I get the feeling I am a long way behind in technology). My first swordsman are being built,
and I hope I can capture 'Khoisan' before the Mongols do. In 180 Ad the mongols attack 'Khoisan' with 2 axemen, but only win 1 fight (the defender is down
to 1.8/3.0) Time for me to move in. I lose 1 of the 2 archers in doing so. The mongols demand 'Cow' and I give in, not wanting to have angry powerful
neighbours at this stage.

The next turn Alexander (bottom score) declares war on Gandhi (top score).

From checking diplomacy the two camps seem to be Gandhi/Washington and Alexander/Montezuma/Genghis Khan. According to Thucydides I am the wealthiest civ
in the world. After Khoisan comes out of revolt I start it on a worker.

In 250 AD 'Visigoth' gets captured (somewhere along the line it dropped back to size 1, not sure why, but the game kept it). It's in an awful spot, so
I'll just have to manage it as best I can. Buddhism has spread into Khoisan but since none of my neighbours are Buddhist, it's not worth adopting.

I now sign open borders with every civ, and put a few units on autoexplore. It's frustrating to have a huge abundance of health resources, but having the only
happiness resources requiring Calendar. After building a lighthouse in Orleans I start on the Great Lighthouse- given the number of coastal cities I will have
this should bring in a lot of cash for me (25 turns to build).

In 340 AD I found Marseilles. In 360 AD Alphabet comes in and the only tech I can trade is Mysticism (2 civs have Maths but won't trade it) and I can't
get an even trade for it. It's only 2 turns to research so I start on that. In 380 AD Gandhi asks me to ally with him against Greece but I decline. I begin
research on Metal Casting. I trade Gandhi (only civ that will trade techs with me) Alphabet for Mysticism and Polytheism. I really need Hinduism to
spread to my cities so I can adopt that as my state religion. For the first time in a while I have the top score.

A more serious problem is my sciences. After spending all of my money at 100% research, I find I can only run 30% research and make a profit. I need to get more
cottages into action to boost that, but I have severe happiness problems at this point. I trade Montezuma Meditation for Priesthood, and then I trade
Gandhi Iron Working for Monotheism. I start building the Parthenon in Paris (25 turns).

Once Mathematics is somewhat traded around I get Mathematics from Alex for Alphabet.

Finally in 490 AD Hinduism spreads in my lands (in Visigoth?! over the other side of my lands). In 520 AD Genghis Khan declares on Gandhi.)

I decide to turn my back on Gandhi (I think I can cancel deals under the honourable variant like this?) when Monte asks me to cancel deals with him.

And Washington beats me to the Great Lighthouse by 7 turns .

In 570 AD Hinduism spreads in Lyons- thankfully now I can easily start spreading it to other cities.

I end my 3rd session in 570 AD.

By 660 AD my finances are so bad I can only run 20% science... I need to get more cottages down, and I will be able to with Hinduism, plus hopefully
trading for Calendar soon. I am the 3rd most cultured civ in the world behind Montezuma and Gandhi.

I trade wine for rice with Washington, who also converts to Hinduism. In 710 AD I am able to trade Washington Alphabet and Polytheism for Calendar .

In 750 AD Alex converts to Judaism, and cancels our open borders deal.

In 800 AD Alex demands Monotheism, and I cave. I change my civics to Slavery and Organised Religion. I trade Gold for Cattle with Washington.

In 860 AD I build the Hanging Gardens in Paris. It really helps my economy with the extra citizen in every city, and in a few turns I'm able to run 40% science. I start research on currency due in 23.
Washington founds Christianity in Boston, and then a turn later completes the Sistene Chapel. Montezuma declares war on Washington. I need to being building
up my military again very soon. I start on the Collossus in Lyons.

I end my 4th session in 970 AD.

I continue on a building phase in the game, but I start to work on my military as well. With my great artist, I discovered Literature, and I traded for
Horseback Riding and Currency (while researching it). I then started to research drama, to then head for Taoism with Philosophy.

Gandhi demands that I convert to Buddhism, and I refuse. I complete the Great Library in 1090 AD and start on the National Epic in Paris. Some other cities
start building up military units (mainly axemen).

Now I am the 2nd most cultured civ after Montezuma. In 1120 AD I found Taoism.

I end my 5th session in 1170 AD.

Hinduism spreads in Khoisan. After Genghis Khan discovers Music, I switch my research to Feudalism (had only a few beakers into Music). In 1140 AD Plato
is born and I send him to 'Visigoth' to build the academy. Genghis Khan declares war on Gandhi- hopefully they will both fight to a stalemate.

In 1175 AD I get another great scientist and I build an academy in Lyons. In 1180 AD when Feudalism comes in, I start research on Code of Laws (I don't switch
to Serfdom as I have almost finished improving all my terrain.

In 1200 AD Montezuma captures Washington. In 1235 AD I build the Angkor Wat in Paris. I trade Gandhi Philosophy for Music and 130 gold. I start research on
Paper after Civil Service comes in and switch to Bureaucracy. I begin building Notre Dame in Rheims (for denial purposes).

I end my 6th session in 1260 AD.

In 1265 AD New York falls to the Aztecs. America won't be around for much longer. In 1270 get another great scientist and build an academy in Paris.
In 1280 AD Lahore falls to the Mongols. India won't be around for much longer either. After Paper comes in I start on Machinery. In 1285 AD Gandhi makes
peace with Alex so hopefully the Mongol/India fight will be more even. Genghis Khan asks me to join him against the Indians but I decline. Then in 1305
AD Montezuma makes peace with Washington. In 1310 AD I build Chichen Itza in Paris. After Machinery comes in I start on Printing Press to get
extra gold from the numerous cottages I have built. In 1315 Madras falls to the Mongols. Then in 1335 AD Montezuma declares war on Gandhi. In 1340 AD
I found Chatres, and it's sole purpose will be to work more cottages and pull in huge amounts of gold. In 1345 AD Bangalore falls to the Aztecs.

In 1360 AD I finally get what I have been waiting for- a great Prophet. My plan is:
1. Build the Dai Miao in Tours (Done in 1365 AD)
2. Spread Taoism to all of my cities (Done in 1445 AD)
3. Spread Taoism to Genghis Khan and then convert to Taoism myself. (1570 AD)
4. Spread Taoism to every other city on the map

In 1365 AD I enter the Renaissance era and start research on Nationalism (Taj Mahal!). I can now sustain 70% research at a profit. In 1370 AD I complete
Notre Dame in Rheims (not much point but at least it stops an AI from getting the wonder). I start on the Forbidden Palace in Rheims (probably not the best location
but I need to build it ASAP).

I end my 7th session in 1440 AD.

In 1470 AD I get another great scientist and he offers Optics as the tech to auto-research. I trade Genghis Khan Philosophy for Optics and the new choice
is 2677 for Astronomy which I take.

In 1490 AD I get Liberalism first, take Representation with it (the most expensive technology) then I start/finish the research on Astronomy. I revolt
into Free Speech to get more culture and gold. After going into Free Speech I can now run 80% science at a profit. I start research on Democracy after
Astronomy comes in.

In 1540 AD Washington gets Engineering and I trade him Printing Press for Engineering, WM and 170 gold. I switch into Universal Suffrage and Emancipation.
Alexander cancels all deals with me because of my civics changes.In 1565 I enter my 10 turns of Golden Age as I complete the Taj Mahal- and I begin building
the Statue of Liberty in Paris- one of the best wonders in the game IMO. In 1570 AD Genghis Khan converts to Taoism, and I immediately follow suit.

In 1380 AD Gandhi is down to just Delhi. In 1390 AD Gandhi is no more. I trade Washington Paper for Compass and 410 gold. After Nationalism comes in
I start on Education. In 1435 AD I trade Genghis Khan Paper for Theology and about 330 gold.

I now being spreading Taoism to Washington. Since Montezuma has gone down to Cautious with me- I will immediately work on building up my military.

I end my 8th session in 1580 AD

In the IBT of 1590 AD Montezuma cancels all the deals I have with him. This is an even bigger warning that he will come for me soon... and I start on some
serious military training in the limitations of what I can do with being honourable (eg no civic changes). I have to spread Taoism to Washington before he
cancels Open Boarders with me. After Chemistry comes in I start on Military Tradition so that I am able to build cavalry. I stupidly forget to check
Washington's civics and he is in Theocracy so I cannot spread Taoism to him.

The most powerful Civ's in order are are Monte, Genghis, Alex, me, and Washington. I need a lot more military to move up the 'power' ladder.
Straight after that message Washington cancels open borders with me .

In 1605 AD I end my 9th session.

Finally in 1620 AD Islam gets founded by Mongolia. The last of my deals with Alex and Washington are cancelled by them, so it is just Ghengis who will talk
to me. Once my Golden Age ends my finances get worse, but in about 30-40 turns I will give myself another Golden Age using great people.

Then in 1625 AD Washington demands I convert to Hinduism. I refuse :P. In 1630 AD Alex gets Guilds, so I am able to get it from Genghis along with 50 gold
for Printing Press.

In 1652 AD when Genghis demands I cancel my deals with Washington I accept. I have oil near Paris. I then start research on Banking to switch into Mercantilism.
After that I begin researching Replaceable Parts. In 1664 AD Alexander declares war on Washington. They both hate me so I will stay away from it. In 1666 AD
I trade Genghis Khan Education for Divine Right and 30 gold. After Replaceable Parts comes in I start research on Physics to get the free Great Scientist.

After Physics and Rifling I start on Steam Power. I get a Golden age using a Great Scientist and a newly created Great Artist. In 1702 AD the Statue of Liberty
finally completes.

Unfortunately I have no coal. When Railroads completes I start Biology and use the Great Scientist to partly research the technology.

In 1708 AD I end my 10th session.

I am desperately trying to get a defensive pact with Genghis but he still doesn't like me enough. In 1710 AD Alex asks for help against America but I decline.
Then in 1710 AD Montezuma declares war on Genghis Khan. I hope Genghis Khan requests my help as I will be happy to join him. I move 2 musketeers into
two of Ghengis's cities on the frontline (Ning-hsia and Turfan). After Biology comes in I start research on electricity. In 1714 AD Genghis asks me for help
and I accept (insert screenshot). In 1722 AD Ning-Hsia is under serious threat. This is the biggest gathering of a single force on a town I have seen in Civ 4.
I move about 5 units over toward the town, unfortunately they will all take at least 2 turns to reach it. In 1724 AD Ning-Hsia is razed by the Aztecs.

In 1736 AD Genghis Khan makes peace with Montezuma, and I follow suit. I have to pay 10gpt and 74 gold for peace but I will take it. I need to continue to
build up my military a lot. I start research on Fission to get access to Nuclear Power Plants (I have no coal). I realise that I need Assembly Line for
factories, but I can get that tech path (Economics-Corporation-Assembly Line) straight afterwards.

In 1742 AD I end my 11th session.

In 1748 AD Alex makes peace with Washington. In 1762 AD I am able to sustain 90% research at a slight profit.

In AD 1780 AD I end my 12th session.

When Assembly Line comes in I start research on Industrialism. After that I start on Radio. Not much happens during these turns- I work on Factories and
Nuclear Power Plants, and build a few more troops. In 1802 Monty demands Astronomy and I tell him to stuff it. I start on the Pentagon in Paris after the
Nuclear power plant completes. Then in 1808 Washington demands I convert to Hinduism and I reject him. Once Mass Media comes in I switch Paris to the UN (will
finish the Pentagon later). In 1826 Montezuma demands Dyes and I turn him down. Now he is Furious with me. In 1830 AD I get a Great Merchant and I send him
to Sparta to conduct a trade mission.

The announcement comes that I am the wealthiest civ in the world. I make the trade mission and get 2850 gold (Sparta is size 20). I use the gold to upgrade
as many units as I can. The money gives me quite a few infantry units from my very out of date units.

In 1848 I build the United Nations. I have started research on Rocketry- as I figure space is the easiest way to come out with a win. I just need to ensure
I have the military to hold off any attacks. In 1851 the first election comes up- between me and Montezuma. Unfortunately Monte is the leading candidate as
he gets votes from him and Alex, and I get votes from Genghis. Washington abstains. I just realised building the UN might have been a very stupid move, but I don't
think I will lost the election. The first vote to come up is Single Currency and I vote Yes. Once the Pentagon is built I start Paris on the Apollo Program,
aiming to get off this planet as fast as possible. The next vote is for a global civic of Free Speech and I vote yes for that. The next is for Open Markets,
and I vote no but it passes.

In 1865 AD I end my 13th session.

In 1868 AD Montezuma wins the election for the UN (Mongols vote for me, Alex votes for Monte). After Refrigeration comes in I start research on Computers
(laboratories as the Apollo Program will complete very soon). In 1871 AD there is the vote for the Environmentalism Global Civic- I vote NO. Washington
IBT offers me Wine for Rice, but I decline, no need for happiness and he has no health resources. The environmental civic fails as only Monte and Washington
vote in favour of it. In 1875 there is a vote on Global civic Universal Suffrage, and I vote No, no need to help Monte get in one. It fails again with only
Monte and Washington voting Yes. In 1877 IBT Alex demands Hit Movies and I cave- as I want to avoid a war if at all possible. When the Apollo program completes
in 1877 I start building some of the parts- the only way I will lose the space race is if Montezuma or Alex wipes me out, I am well ahead of them technologically.
Looking at Monte he is still down Rocketry.

The next vote is for Global Civic- Universal Suffrage, and I vote Yes (had a mental freeze, I should have voted no). After Computers comes in I start research
on genetics- due in 14, but that should fall a bit once labs complete. Also Montezuma declares war on Genghis Khan. This means I have to go and protect
him, although I need to wait for him to ask for my help. Monte asks me for help but I reject him. Then Genghis asks me for help and I accept. Monte razes
Ulaanbaatar IBT. I clean up quite a few of his troops, but there are many more around. I have sent several tanks up north to try and hold Old Sarai.

Old Sarai falls the turn before I can get my tanks up but I recapture it and return control to the Mongols. I notice a huge stack of Mongol units heading
for Old Sarai, and I try and get as many units into the city as possible.

In 1884 Monte is elected for the Un and alarmingly Washington votes for him. Extremely unluckily, the turn I thought my tanks could reach Old Sarai, there was
a French revolt in Tabriz and the Aztecs got control of one of the tiles along the way to Old Sarai, so I decided to move all units out of the city. In
1885 Old Sarai gets razed by the Aztecs.

I will try to get an full report up later. Here is the executive summary


My first impression can be summed with - GACK.
The highest level I have beaten so far is warlord, although a couple of incomplete noble games looked good. Seeing no visible river means lousy starting income, and getting a religion will be very difficult. Add that together with all that jungle requiring a push on worker techs, even a single religion will be a challenge. This means my first competition game is effectively 2 levels above what I am use to. This doesn't bode well for a good finish in a competition.
I was originally going for a cultural win with Paris, New Orleans and a barb city. Yes, my third city was captured from barbs along the coast with rice and pigs. This was eventually abandoned as an idea when I never got more then 2 religions. You really need those 50% culture boasting religious buildings to win a cultural victory IMHO.
My economy all but collapsed with my science rate hitting a record low of 20%. I suspect I took the 2 barbs cities in the lower SW to soon. It was so bad that I over whipped some cities to get courthouse ASAP. I knew winning is impossible if I fell to far behind in tech. The shields were becoming useless at that time, as I was running out of things worth building.
Most of the game was a struggle to try and catch up in tech. Seeing America with tanks chewing up my Aztecs friends wasn't fun when I still lacked them. It was really frustrating as if I could have helped the Aztecs, I would have won diplomatically. This game was very odd in the fact the both the Aztecs and Mongols *never* attacked me. When I voted for diplomatic win the Mongols and Greece voted for me. The Aztecs were neutral, and probably just 1 diplomatic modifier from a yes. If I just could have joined the war vs. the USA, I have no question the Aztecs would have voted for me. That would have been a crazy win just for the fact all the whacko civs would have given me the game.
I barely won by space 1981 AD. Washington only had two parts to go, and I was getting constant messages that Gandhi was well on his way.
I failed to found a single religion. The only reason I had an early one was when Hinduism spread to me from my neighbors.

Epic 1 - The Honorable French

This is my first report and some of the details of the devastating defeat are unclear but I will try my best. This was the first time I had tried the Prince difficulty level and I found it very challenging.

The Beginning

The start location looked fairly resource rich but due to the tropical climate we were surrounded by dense jungle. There was a large fresh water lake and also another slightly smaller lake. We had cows and stone in close proximity. On moving the warrior north we revealed the coast. After careful consideration we decided to settle in place which allowed us to take advantage of the cows and stone.

Paris was founded and started work on a warrior to allow time to grow. The warrior is due to complete in 11 turns. Due to the cow resource we started studying Animal Husbandry. For the next few turns we explored the surrounding area and came across pigs and bananas. In 3800 BC our warriors came across a tribal village but decided not to risk it, we aren't ready to deal with barbarians just yet.

We discover dyes to the south east of Paris and come across Genghis Khans scouts who for the time been present the hand of peace. On checking our progress animal husandry will complete in 12 turns the warrior completes in 3 turns and it is 9 turns till Paris grows to size 1. This epic speed sure takes time.

Warrior comes across a panther and defeats it and on checking healing will take 8 turns so I decide to risk it and continue exploring hope I don't regret it. The warrior in Paris completes in 3600 BC and we decide to work on a barracks until Paris grows in 6 turns. Fortify warrior in Paris just in case. Genghis is ahead on score by 9 points.

My exploring warrior discovers rice and another tribal village. It looks like Genghis has scouts heading towards it. In 3520 BC Buddhism is founded in a distant land. Decide to risk popping the village with my weakened warrior not sure it's a good idea but I like to live dangerously sometimes. We end up been lucky and learn pottery from the tribe. Suddenly out of the jungle we come across a pride of lions who decide my warrior tastes good at least we got the pottery before the untimely demise. We are still 8 points behind Genghis.

In 3400 BC we start work on another warrior to replace the one we lost Paris grows in 2 turns and I manage to tweak it so the warrior completes in 5 turns without starving my populace. Finally in 3240 BC we discover animal husbandry and begin researching mining which wil allow us to get masonry so we can build a quarry on the stone resource. Genghis is now only 5 points ahead of me.

Paris finishes the warrior and we continue with the barracks not sure if this is an error but I feel we need to grow to size 3 before we start on a settler or worker. Send the warrior exploring to the west. Check the top 5 cities and Paris is second pretty impressive I think. Warrior comes across a tribal village which we pop and get a second warrior for our trouble. We spot horses far to the west.

There are plenty of resources in the surrounding area if only we could take advantage of them we'd be sorted warriors discover the coast to the west. There are still 14 turns till Paris grows to size 3. Genghis is now only 2 points ahead. Decide to head north with one warrior and south with the other. Mining completes in 3 turns.

Mining completes and we start on sailing since Paris is by a lake I'm hoping to increase food output to help improve growth. 8 turns to city growth and 17 turns till barracks completes. With all the jungle it's not easy deciding where to build my next city.

In 2480 BC the borders of Paris expand and we are now 27 points ahead of Genghis and 2 turns off fishing. Finally in 2440 BC Paris grows to size 3 and starts work on a worker which is due to complete in 15 turns. Warrior discovers the Mongolian territory to the east the city of Karakorum is defended by 2 warriors.

In 2000 BC the worker is due to complete in 5 and we are still second in the top 5 cities we are also the largest civ at this stage due to a poll which is surprising since we only have one city. At this point we make contact with Washington who is 1 point below Genghis.

On exploring the Mongolian territory we spot a farm and see that his capital is now size 4 we are only size 3 at the moment. In 1900 BC we finish work on the worker who we send to start work on a pasture also we find gold in the north east hills. Paris is due to grow to size 4 in 18 turns.

We have made contact with the Aztecs in the far north east he has workers too. Tenochtitlan is only size 2 but is guarded by 2 warriors and he has a settler ready. It's 4 turns till our pasture completes.

Expansion

In 1775 BC we learn archery and Hinduism is founded in a distant land also a turn later we complete the barracks in Paris. Unfortunately we lose a warrior to a panther. These big cats are causing us problems. After further exploration of the Aztecs we discover Monty has 2 cities and is currently in second place with 153 points. Worker starts constructing farms around Paris so we can speed up growth also notice some of Washingtons warriors nosing around the outskirts of Paris.

In 1575 BC Washington takes the lead by 5 points and Paris finishes an archer for defensive duties. Finally in 1500 BC we begin work on a settler and we meet Gandhi who is in the lead which doesn't bode well for him. We learn all about masonry in 1425 BC and begin studying towards alphabet. In 1350 BC we drop to last place and things take a turn for the worse.

Paris completes the settler in 1150 BC and Judaism is founded in a distant land. We decide to found our second city on the coast to the south west it will take 7 turns to travel there. Quarry completes in 1075 BC and we quickly link it up by road we also find the coast to the east.

Washington is guarded by an archer and an axeman which means he has access to copper. We now have access to stone and Paris is due to grow in 5 turns which will take us to the happiness cap.

We found Orleans in 960 BC and guess what where right next door to a barbarian city oh joy!!! Paris completes the granary and starts work on another worker. We start work on a road south from Paris to Orleans. To improve our research we start work on a library in Paris in 740 BC and to keep on the right side of Washington we agree open borders. Unfortunately we lose a worker to barbarians on the outskirts of Orleans.

Monty asks for open borders and we agree again just to keep people on friendly terms. We spot a barbarian raiding party to the south of Paris so we start constructing walls for greater protection.

In 480 BC Paris starts on another settler and due to the annoying barbarians we move our workers into Orleans for protection. Also we complete bronze working and start on mysticism. 340 BC and Orleans has grown to size 3 and begins work on an archer and our warriors start to clear the barbarians from our lands.

We use the next turns to strengthen our military and improve the defences of our cities and in 140 BC the city of Lyons is founded and begins work on a work boat. Upto this point we have neglected wonders so we decide to go for Pyramids in Paris in 60 BC. Barbarians continue to be a problem and they capture Lyons in 200 AD but we get it back in 240 AD and again spend some time improving the defenses.

We fail to get the Pyramids but manage to complete The Great Lighthouse in Orleans in 430 AD. We found our fourth city Rheims in 540 AD and capture the barbarian city Zhou in 820 AD this has been a thorn in our side and now we should see less barbarian raiding parties.

War Is Declared

Sometime around 920 AD Monty declares war and shortly after so does Genghis we manage to fend off the attacks and take only minor casualties. By 1175 AD all the religions had been founded. At about this time we had some peaceful turns and tried to catch up but it was obvious we where falling behind and Genghis seemed to know this when in 1355 AD he came in force with keshiks and catapults intent on causing us serious misery. The war raged for several turns and Genghis refused to talk with me there were no cities lost but I was certainly impressed with his military might. Some time during this war we met up with Alexander.

By 1550 AD we had knights and again we were attacked this time Monty was the culprit. Our knights stood up well and again we repelled the attack but I was unsure how long I could keep this up as each war pushed me further behind in other areas. As before it wasn't long before Genghis wanted a piece of me too and a war on two fronts is not good we pushed Genghis back and by some miracle we captured Ning-Hsia in 1670 AD shortly after we managed to get peace again.

At this stage something strange happened both Monty and Genghis decided to leave me alone and between them they wiped Gandhi out. City by city he fell and this was even more impressive given the fact that he was above both Monty and Genghis on score.

Well it was now 1852 AD and things had been peaceful for a good while when Genghis decided to take Ning-Hsia back with a large stack of cavalry, riflemen and catapults. Ning-Hsia was lost and this paved the way for a massive assault which took each of my cities one by one and also Monty joined in the stacks were incredible and I just wasn't ready for it. The lesson I learned is don't underestimate the AI it seems almost human at times and Genghis and Monty in close proximity are a serious threat.

I lost this game in 1868 AD when Lyons my final city fell the score was abysmal but even though I lost it was a fun game and I now look forward to my revenge on both Genghis and Monty in the near future. Also from what I remember Monty and Genghis never declared war on each other.

Well thats it thanks for reading and if you can give me some constructive criticism please do.