Phew, finished with minutes to spare!

[Dreylin]

Just finished this game at 11:45pm CST, am I still in time?

I'll post a proper report tomorrow, but finish date was 1929AD. I've not read any reports to be able to compare, but the key moment in my game was "Popping Another One™" - Aluminium in 1840AD!

I'll add a couple of placemarker posts & compile the report tomorrow (w/Screenies).

Phew!

[Dreylin]

OK, so here we go. I had cruised through Adventure1 as my first RB experience, but had missed out on 3&4 due to moving job, home & in with my Fiancee so had been eagerly awaiting my next chance for Adventure or Epic glory (or disaster).

Not a lot of information given out at the start, and my initial thoughts ran something like; Prince - a nice level, and I've been quite comfortable there for a while; Space Race Victory - haven't had one for a while, OK; Frederick (Creative, Philosophical) - nice, haven't played as him before and my only experience as Germany has been on RB13.

Creative is always nice and I haven't played it for a while, and Philosophical is a trait I first took real note of while playing my first Monarch game; as Alex ... well fine, it was my second Monarch game, but we won't talk about the first, OK? Anyway, the accelerated GP generation really opens up a lot of options for the game.

Then I saw the start ... River, Grasslands, and Stone! definitely some early Wondering going on I think. So I found on the spot and start a Worker. Research is set to Agriculture and Scout starts scouting moving NE ... is that the coast up there? (Yes.)

The first border pop triggers the SE hut and the villagers give me the Wheel - nice, I always hate to have to research that tech! This turn also coincides with a forset growing near Berlin - this would prove to be the first of about a half dozen which grow around this area and to the south - I did leave a fair amount of open space though, so there were lots of unworked tiles.

A turn or two later my Scouts are now heading NW and the pop a hut for Masonry!

<Image2>

I also saw that I would have Marble to go with the two Stone so this would indeed be Wondertastic. I decided that a lunge for Monotheism & Judaism would be in my furture, but not just yet - Bronze Working first to chop forests.

My Scout follows the Northern coast across to the West but then has a mishap involving some Lions and I'm down to my Worker for offensive units! Lots of Enter is pressed to move the game forward, but jn 3440BC we meet Saladin - he appears from the West, so when my second Scout comes I send him East to plunder unpopped huts. Meanwhile the Worker Farms the Corn & then heads up the Mountain for Gold.

In 3160BC I get the first inkling of what's in store when I discover Bronze Working and there's none in sight - however I really haven't scouted far yet so I think nothing of it. I decide that safety dictates Archers, so research that way next.

About this time Berlin's borders expand again and I see the true magnitude of the Silliness of Stone in the immediate vicinity!

<Image4>

Archery moves to Aminal Husbandry as I spot Sheeps & Pigs nearby and I finally start to train some defensive units! My Scout hits a Hut for experience, but the gets eaten by a bear. My scouting was unsuccessful this game to say the least!

AH reveals no horses (but I'm next to Saladin who doesn't need them for his UU) and since Judaism hasn't fallen yet I beeline for Monotheism next.

Hamburg is founded in 2160BC to the SW of Berlin on the Grassland between the two Sheep - I don't have a screenie from that time, and I'm still not certain where it should have gone ... I also hadn't seen the Fish just offshore in that area which went unused all game. Hamburg becomes the Jewish Holy City in 1920BC, but we hold off the revolution for a turn because Berlin is about to finish: Stonehenge

<Insert generic Stonehenge .gif here>

My computer has had a problem with the movies later in the game, so I just keep them turned off now - hopefully v1.61 or the low-res versions will enable me to capture those Wonder piccies everyone likes!

OK, so I have this, which also shows how Berlin's developing nicely:

<Image6>

Anyway, we revolt to Judaism and the Org Rel over the next turns and set research to Iron Working (via Pottery).

1240BC Munich is founded to the SE to pick up both Marble & the river Grasslands, but leaves an awkward-sized gap between itself and Hamburg. In retrospect, I should have plonked a city down there in the middle ... especially once I saw the Fish offshore. Oh well.

With two cities now to keep the Empire ticking over, Berlin starts the marathon task of building the Pyramids - even with Stone or Industrious, they still seem to take forever! Anyway, research path goes past Iron Working (hmmm, no Iron in sight either), Priesthood (with intentions of The Oracle) and on to Writing.

Oracle was BIDAL in 725BC, and the winner took CoL & Confucianism. I had started late partly due to connecting Marble slowly and partly from ensuring I had sufficient Military to offset my lack of Metals or Horses. Anyway, the cash boost was nice. I was also getting around to planning the next phase of expansion when I noticed that the Barbs had built Numidian right where I had planned my next city. Now how best to take it without metal???

Not long later the citizens of Berlin completed their greatest achievement (to date) and completed the Pyramids. It was time to pause for contemplation.

[Dreylin]

So here I am in a corner of the World with no Metals or Horses and next to a neighbour who, as the founder of Hinduism, was getting increasingly annoyed with my religious choices and whom - as a result of my inept Scouting - I had no idea what resources were available to him. I tried getting Open Borders when Writing arrived, but our philosophies were too different to reconcile.

So at the next convenient moment (2t after Pyramids when Maths & a Settler came in), I revolted to No State Religion, and then used Pyramids to get Representation to counter the loss of Religious happiness. Of course I also went back to Paganism as OrgRel is hardly useful with no Religion!

Saladin immediately accepts Open Borders.

400BC and Cologne is founded to the Northeast to grab Pigs, Gold & Silk. Meanwhile at Numidian in the East, my scouting Archer has fortified on the Hill outside and is watching the Warriors inside waiting for reinforcements. However Mr. Barb is not prepared to wait and throws two Warriors at him in one turn, and then another a turn later ... It is now defended by an Archer, but my interference is now Guerilla II.

I start work on Construction for Catapults & bridges (an oft-overlooked benefit to movement) and lose out on the half-built Parthenon ... again a nice wad of cash to boost research. I trade with Salad for his spare Furs, but get nervous when he settles Najran right on my borders - I'm always irritated when an AI does this and over the next few years they're guaranteed to get pissed off by the Close Borders and you just want to shake tham and yell that it's all their own fault so they should just live with it or bring it! Aaaaannnd Relax.

So a few years go by and Numidian has built it's garrison again so it's time to ... suicide a pair of Archers onto my Hill-dweller. Their odds ran 0.7% & 9.3% respectively ... we gain 2exp.

50BC and Imhotep (not the Mummy) is born in Berlin. He can give us Metal Casting or rush the lighthouse immediately, waits for me to build an Aquaduct and then give us Hanging Gardens, or sit around while we research Alphabet & Lit and then build the Great Library. I decide on the later and he goes to wait outside Munich for the Scientist to learn to eat books (or something).

Alphabet in 75AD reveals that Saladin has Calendar & Meditation to my Construction and won't trade either - which I take as a sign that he's not met anyone else yet. I also not he is still boasting of his fearsome Archers, so he has no metals either. I smell a rat here....

In 150AD Literature comes in and Imhotep builds the Great Library in Munich. This also coincides with another Archer lunging out of Numidian to die on the top Archer of my stack of three. There is now only one remaining in the city, but with one injured Archer & two green ones, I don't want to take the risk ... besides, there's a Catapult on it's way.

225AD and we attack Numidian: Cat suicides effectively on the fortified Archer, but there's a fresh recruit on the scene who kills my first Archer. The other two, however defeat their injured opponents and take the city. The final blows are dealt by the Guerilla II archer to reach 10xp and he promotes to allow the Heroic Epic to be built later in Hamburg.

This would prove to be our only offensive action of the game, and the this Archer would survive as the highest promoted Unit in our Army.

[Dreylin]

After the capture of Numidian we go back into Techy-Wonder mode.

Saladin shows up in 350AD and offers us Calendar for Metal Casting ... interesting, he must have met someone else. Time for exploration, so a Galley & Archer set forth through Saladin's lands and soon discover Isabella on a continent to the North. She already hates us for Trading with her worst enemy (must be Saladin), but she also tells us to "Fear my Archer" so we know she has no metals either. I butter her up when she demands Construction which gets her friendly enough to accept Open Borders for further exploration.

In other events, Hamburg completes the Great Lighthouse in 350AD; Socrates in born in 520AD and builds an Academy in Berlin; and Plato is born in Munich in 640AD. He's offering Compass - which I can get in 4t so I research that next and then use him to grab Optics and start searching for my friends overseas. Homer is born from Music in 700AD and goes to sleep to wait for a Golden Age.

In 920AD I meet the Chinese to the East, but keep on trucking by to get Magellan. I also take the opportunity to Pimp out Music and clean up my missing techs:

<Image to follow of
Mao - Monarchy, Horseback Riding, 10g
Izzy - CoL, 100g
Salad - Theology, 50g>

1000AD I found Dortmund on the Eastern tip of the continent, and Zu Chingzhi is born in Munich and IU decide to trigger an early Golden Age.

I meet HC to the East of Mao. I also come out of a fog and notice an island to the north with Salad already on his way....

<Image019>

He stays ahead of the Barbs and founds towards the SE of the Island.

A couple more Wonders fall during this time; Hanging Gardens in Berlin in 1010AD, and in 1040AD the Colossus joins the Lighthouse in Hamburg. I also score circumnav bonus in 1070AD, so when Paper also comes in that turn I trade maps with Mao ... aha, there's France! I also notice that there's still a lot of uncleared jungle throughout China.

My Settling parties arrive on North Island and I found Stuttgart to the SW (between the river and lake) and Dusseldorf on the North Coast. I also realise that there's an even-further-North Island unreachable at the moment.

1120AD, Archimedes is born in Berlin and is used to help Versaille on it's way in Numidian.

Aside: I very rarely build the Forbidden Palace very early in the game and usually end up trying to get Versaille first. I just think it gives so much more flexibility if your empire starts expaning later in the game....<End Aside>

In 1240AD Louis comes calling and asks me to trade World Maps straight up. I agree - eager to see the working of France's interior - and as a result get a +4 Fair Trade Relations bonus! Wow, I hadn't realised that the AI valued the World Map so much!?

13th Century is eventful as Copernicus is born in Munich and constructs and Academy there, while we Pop our first One - Gems between Numidian and Dortmund. Turn of the century and we get Liberalism to grab Astronomy and head for Northerner Island.

We grab the Hagia Sophia (for GE points) in Berlin in 1350AD, and Hanno is the free GM from Economics in 1390AD ... he sleeps for a GA.

By 1480AD I finish researching Replaceable Parts and consider going for Rifling and trying to wipe Salad Green from the World, however I realise that I'm running out of time and the only way I'll finish before the reporting deadline is with a peaceful game.

[Dreylin]

So when last we met the German people, they had decided to forgoe Warring and concentrate on the peaceful techy path to Space. So what to research first, well methinks Railroad would be useful, so set the beeline for that through Chemistry and on to Steam Power ... errr, no Coal. Hmmmm, I had wondered about the lack of early metals, but it hadn't dawned on me that there may be no Strategic Resources! OK, how about Oil (SciMeth) ...nope. Not much chance of Uranium(Physics) then ... of course not.

Whilst the county's Scientists had been conducting their fruitless search for resources, the German people had been busy; the Taj Mahal was constructed in Munich in 1520AD, Thespis was birthed in Hamburg (sleep for GA) and Anthony von Leeuwenhoek from Berlin built an Academy in the burgeoning research centre of Essen - which also started work on a great university called Oxford. Eventually in Berlin's Greatest Scientist, frustrated with the fruitless research, throws down his equipment and vows to join Thespis & Hanno when there's a project worthy of his attention. Research determines that should be a giant Copper Lady (Constitution/Democracy) which will be constructed in Hamburg.

1630AD; and the start of our Golden Age coincides with the birth of John Dalton(GS) in Munich. The Forbidden Palace is completed in Dusseldorf on North Island in 1650AD. The time is also punctuated by visits from our neghbours requesting help or demanding we side with them in their petty disputes. We try to keep them all happy, but relations with several deteriorate.

Biology allows the German people to finally feed their Northern cities to encourage further growth:

<Image023>

In 1695AD Germany learns to propell Rockets into the sky (Steel/Artillery/Rocketry) and start on a grand program in Munich named after the Greek God of the Sun. Seeing how long that will take the Scientist immediately start researching greater production techniques (Corporation/Electricity/AssLine /Industrialism - no Aluminium, of course).

Sinan is born in 1730AD and heads across to Hamburg to finish off the Copper Lady in 1785AD.

The 19th Century dawns with Factories springing up across the nation. One city even goes so far as to build a mechanism for turning a theoretical "Fossil Fuel" into Power, however they are laughed at so much that their Mayor is exiled to the farthest Northern Settlement. Being backwater hicks, he even manages to pursade them of the merits of another theoretical fuel source and commences the construction of another folly before a visiting official recognises him and the population runs him further north into the Icy Pole.

Berlin is having Health problems generating so many Great People, so they learn to keep their food cool (Refrigeration). Blaise Pascal is born there and waits for a suitable project ... the researchers have a concept to lift something into Space, and their research tends to that direction (Railroad/Combustion/Plastics/Radio/Computers). Berlin begins work on a massive Dam which scientists believe will be able to provide enough power for the entire continent ... naturally, Munich are sceptical after their previous incident, but they humour the Berliners.

In 1840AD the event which will long be remembered in history:

<Image024>

Popped Another One™; Aluminium outside Stuttgart - which has become our Northern powerhouse and the planned location of the Space Elevator. It's at this point I think to check the rest of the World and notice the Louis has two(!?) sources of Aluminium and ... what is this strange beast; a Horse ... what am I supposed to do with that!?!?!?!?

[So did Sirian make a mistake and leave one in (I assume they can't be Popped (Bred?)) or was it deliberate to give Louis a chance against Huyana & Mao's Elephants (not that they're much good or anything, but....]

Back to Germany, and Computer research gives way to Robotics and then targets an alternate power source(Fission/Fiber Optics/Fusion). Ben Franklin is born in Dortmund and joins the pile of Great People waiting for Godot. Deciding he'll never arrive, he then departs for Stuttgart and the Elevator, while Pascal wakes and accelerates the Dam in Berlin. 1864AD sees the completion of Apollo, 1872AD the 3Gorges Dam, and 1878AD Broadway in Numidian. Louis completes a large office building (Pentagon), and we examine our defenses ... A round of Mechanised Infantry while you're at the Bar please! 1890AD and the Eiffel Tower is built in Hamburg.

Fusion births Brunel in Berlin and Salad get Rock 'n Roll in 1892AD and the Space Elevator is completed in 1896. The production cities of the World immediately start assembling the parts of a Spaceship. Waiting for an Artist or a Prophet to trigger a Space-Race GA, but Rosalind Franklin is a Scientist(1902AD), William T. G. Morton(1914AD) is an Engineer and Richard Whittington(1927) is a Merchant - and far too late anyway. [Drat! Proves I need to work on Specialist generation]

By 1912AD HC, Mao & Louis have all completed their own Apollo Program (can't they get a more original name; I had Apollo first!), but Brunal joins Munich in 1920 to accelaerate the final part by a turn. Researchers are just partying and looking into anything they feel like it now; alternate forms of Government (Communism/Fascism), transmitting pictures using waves (Mass Media), healing the sick (Medicine) and aiming somewhere between the Earth and the Heavens (Flight). Just as they discover how to balance the two and are wondering what to research next, the engineers in three cities complete their tasks and the grand Phallic Frederick is Launched from Stuttgart towards the Stars;

Space Race victory in 1929AD:

<Image027>

The German Empire we left behind:

<Image031>

[Dreylin]

Going to have to pull a Sirian here and put off finishing the report for another day - my Fiancee thinks it's time for bed....

[Sirian]

Going to have to pull a Sirian here and put off finishing the report for another day - my Fiancee thinks it's time for bed....

Oh no. I've become synonymous with tardiness.



*Looks around for somebody to blame.*

"You there! Yes, you." (Looking at the guy in the mirror.)


- Sirian

[Dreylin]

Well with 2 events under my belt and both finished on the last day, I'm not off to a great start!

[Dreylin]

But it's finished now; just the images to sort out....