Pics will be added when I recover my RB file space password. 
A fun game, and I'm interested to see how much variance there is in the play style. When the start was revealed, with all that Stone and Marble around, playing with Frederick as a philosopical leader, the strategy seemed apparent: lots of Great Wonders, lots of Great People Power. Ample food resources would also permit some massive cities.
I founded on the starting location.
With only six Civs, I thought I could get an early religion despite not being spiritual. Oops: Mysticism and Buddhism fell early (Buddhism 3680 BC, Hinduism 3560 BC). I knew that with some spiritual leaders out there, it also was unlikely that I would get Judaism. However, an early Stone-powered Stonehenge would permit the Great Person points necessary to get Christianity. Stonehenge is a fantastic wonder: get an idea of your place in the world early, border expansion everywhere (although not as needed for a Creative leader), and either an early shrine or free early religion. With the new patch retaining GPP for obsolete wonders, it's even better.
In 3000 BC I met Saladin. He was the Hindu founder, and I realized later that it would've been an interesting strategy to forgo the religion founding (instead using the early Prophet as a Super-Specialist) and simply join up with him as Hindu for the good relations. This concern grew as I discovered that I had neither Horses nor metals...but was reduced much later, upon discovering that nobody had metals. In any event, choosing the found-Christianity strategy meant that I would mean isolationism at best, rivalry and conflict at worst. (More on that later.)
The big issue in the beginning part of the game was where to locate the second city. Because of all the stone, anywhere in the south was likely to result in a monster city: but where eactly to place it? On a plains hill? On a river? On the coast? Within range of as many stone as possible? With or against the AI's suggestion? In the end, I went with one of the AI's suggestions, as it had a balance of food and stone:
(Pic to go here)
Hamburg started on a Barracks, and in addition to building a few wonders would eventually build almost my entire military during the game.
In 1760 BC, Berlin finished Stonehenge. After buildling an another Archer/Settler pair, it started the Pyramids in 1360 BC.
In 1240 BC, I founded Munich on the northern Coast. One nice thing about this game is that every city was generally a mix of both commerce and production. Berlin was mostly a GPP powerhouse, and a few later cities were dedicated commerce cities, but generally speaking every city contributed hammers and taxes for the empire. As Munich was a coastal city, it was used for a few work boats but otherwise my navy was nonexistent - which, given the lack of metals, I expect was a common feature of most games. The most I built were a few exploring Galleys and Caravels for transporting a few prophets in later millenia.
Moses, my first Great Person, was born in Berlin in 875 BC. He taught the Germans Theology, after which the Hamburgers began Christianity and the empire converted. Saladin didn't like us anymore, and he wouldn't for the rest of the game. In fact, over the course of the game, almost nothing occurred between Arabia and Germany...only one trade, no open borders. But, almost nothing isn't nothing...
Berlin finished the Pyramids in 700BC, followed by a broad revolution to Representation, Slavery and Organized Religion. As I imagine it was for others, Representation was huge.
In 600BC, my notes indicate that I am concerned about getting destroyed in a war with Saladin, as I have no horses or metals. I guess I wasn't aware of the theme of this game even then...and, I stayed concerned about that destruction for a little while longer. That same year, I contacted Isabella, who was also Buddhist. As for Izzy, I only made one trade with her the whole game.
In 450 BC, I founded Cologne. (Laters pics will show this, and other city-sites.)
In 350 BC, Germany was declared the second largest Civ, and noted as having half a million people. However, I was sixth in soldiers, which necessitated more military, as a deterrent, if nothing else. (And, it really was nothing else: no metals equals no offense.)
In 125 BC, Great Engineer Imhotep was born in Berlin.
He rushes the Parthenon in Berlin, which complets in 75BC, after which Berlin starts the Hanging Gardens.
The known world of 1AD:
(pic goes here)
A quick note on my research paths: I found myself taking unusual research paths, which I'd only realize several hundreds years later by realizing: "I haven't researched [XXX] yet?!" Unfortunately, I played this game quickly, without taking notes on my research decisions, other than indicating when each tech was discovered. Generally speaking, I targeted wonder techs first, general-education type techs second, with strategic/military techs as the lowest priority.
One annoying tech-related thing was that the same turn I discovered Alphabet in 175, Izzy demanded Currency. Izzy was annoying the whole game, and if I only I had metal...
As it was, I ended it up ignoring many requests and demands throughout the game - this was probably the most isolationist game I've played.
In 300, Archimedes was born in Berlin. I swapped from the Library I was building to rush-build the Sistine Chapel. Frankfurt was founded the same year.
In 425, Hamburg - which by now had a higher production than Berlin - began Chichen Itza. This would be a nice wonder to have (not just for the GPP) but for the additional defense in case Saladin got the wrong idea.
450: Essen founded.
A quick pic from 500 AD. I am curious if this is what other's border with Arabia looked like. The distance between the Empires might have made things more peaceful. Eventually I would found a city in the desert south of the Spices, and there only then did a brief conflict with Arabia begin.
(Pic here.)
In 600, Heron (the third Great Engineer) was born in Berlin. As Berlin finished its Market that year, it was an easy choice to select and rush the Great Library. The following turn, selecting National Epic was an obvious choice. Hamburg completed Chichen Itza in 680.
Berlin finished the National Epic in 800, Taoism FIDAL in 760. Hamburg finished the Heroic Epic in 820. The necessarily experienced unit came from the string of Barbarian Archers from Bactrian in the east, which would be a bit of a pain for a thousand years.
This era also included a few Great Scientists: Hypatia built an Academy in Berlin in 800, Al-Kharzami built an Academy in Munich in 980, Nicolas Copernicus built an Academy in Hamburg in 1090.
Meanwhile, the turn of the millenium (sometime between 980 and 1080, my notes don't say which year I had stopped at) saw the release of the patch.
The Empire in 1010 AD:
(pic)
Dortmund was found in the desert near the Arab border in 1080.
Philosophy was learned in 1100, followed by a revolution to Bureacracy and Pacifism. With Pacifism enabled, Berlin was earning 90GPP per turn. I don't know what it's high for the game was, but I remember a few centuries later it was in the 130s per turn.
In 1190, Ananda (Great Prophet) was born in Berlin; the Church of the Nativity followed in 1200 AD.
1270: Thespis (Great Artist) in Berlin. I had no real need for culture - the borders with Arabia were fixed, and the victory condition made culture #s irrelevant - so I decided that this Artist would stick around for a Golden Age. That same year, Berlin finished Angkor Wat.
In 1290, the outside world was (finally!) contacted as Mao discovered me. I traded Theology to Mao for Compass+10g, and then signed Open Borders for good relations. Mao would be my only real friend the whole game, as we engaged in good trading relations. China was the only nation to which I was able to export Christianity. (Although I remember that 3 out of my first 4 missionaries failed. :mad: )
In 1300, I made contact with Huyana. Louis followed in 1340 AD. Itraded Philosphy to Louis for Machinery + 20g.
In 1360, Cai Lun (Great Engineer) was born in Berlin. This was the first real GP choice I had to make: I could rush Taj Mahal (which I had just started the prior turn), and effectively get a 1-GP Golden Age, or just make him a Super Specialist. I decided on the latter, as I was fairly certain that I could build TM naturally.
In 1460, Zhang Hang (GE) was born in Berlin, and I had him join Hamburg as an Engineer. 1470: Islam FIDAL. Berlin finished the Taj Mahal in 1480 AD, and my Golden Age started.
Right around the 1500s, I decided that I really wanted to do something about the blight that was Bactrian. It was taking up some good land, a spot for a fishing village, and the Archers and Longbows it was sending were harassing my workers. I wanted to try to eliminate it before Gunpowder, so as an experiment I was curious if a pure Catapult rush could take it. Um, it couldn't. Because of the embarassment, I couldn't bring myself to take a pic. Well, Gunpowder came in about this time anyway, so I just needed to rebuild the Cats and get some Muskets. (Hamburg was building 1-turn units this entire era, so I wasn't as concerned about the losses.)
In 1515, I acquired a WM, and this was the known world:
In 1530, Rene Descartes was born in Berlin, and he combined with the Artist that had been sitting around to start a post-Mahal Golden Age.
I was beat to Liberalism in 1540.
In 1590, Ling Lun (Artist) was born in Berlin. I decided that I nice use would be to make a Great Work in Bactrian once it was finally conquered, in order to get the surrounding tiles productive quickly.
1595: Trade Mao Gunpowder for Engineering+WM, and then my Pig for his Cow. The known world:
(pic)
The WM revealed an island I had, for some unknown reason, overlooked. I made a quick attempt to colonize the available land, but missed it. I wonder if other players who had successfully made the colony did significantly better? (One thing I noticed: it has rice, and later on in the game I did have some health problems...)
Also in 1595, I revolted to Free Speech and (per my isolationist style this game) Mercantilism.
Finally, in 1625, the Eastern Army of Catapults and Muskets conquered Bactrian. I decided to keep it where it was. The conquest sufficiently increased Germany's population to 5M in 1630, and completing a Great Work in 1635 increased the borders to their appropriate size. A Pic of the Army before the attack:
(Pic)
In 1640 St. Paul was born in Hamburg. He joined Hamburg as a Super Specialist. Thanks to my wonders+Representation, he was generating 2 hammers, 5 gold, 3 science, and 2 culture.
Benjamin Franklin was born in 1670, and I decided to keep him around for a Statute of Liberty rush. Bactrian finished the Forbiddeen Palace in 1720. Following the discovery of Democracy in 1730, I revolted to Emancipation and traded Democracy+30g to Mao for Chemistry+Divine Right. I swapped Hamburg to SoL, and Franklin rushed it halfway to completion.
At this point, my soon-to-built Grenadiers suggested I could rip up Saladin if I wanted to. But I decided to keep my eyes on the stars; the Monday-deadline also influenced me to take the quicker path.
Joseph Marie Jacquard was born in 1760 and he joined the capital as an Engineer.
In 1795, Saladin decided he wanted to get ripped to shreds, and he declared war on me. Although his incursion was able to destroy a plantation, I demolished his invading army. I started building some more units (other than just relying on Hamburg to build my defenses when it wasn't building something else; as Hamburg was working on SoL, I needed some other cities on the job) and in 1804 revolted to Theocracy. I began sieging Kufah, in the north, which was adjacent to my borders.
Hamburg finished SoL in 1810, and started some units for the attack. I decided that to attack Kufah would be problematic: it was on a hill and had a number of promoted Longbows. Najran, to the south, was on flat ground and its defenses had fewer promotions. This pic shows the Army which conquered Najran in 1826, with minimal losses (a few suicide Cats and a Rifle):
(pic)
Conquering Najran brought Saladin to the bargaining table. I could've pressed the assault further into Arabia, but again I was mindful of the game's goal and deadline. I accepted peace for 300G+WM. I revolted to Organized Religion, as there were some unbuilt buildlings and I felt that Pacifism's GP madness wasn't as necessary anymore.
Darwin was born in 1834; he built an Academy in Cologne.
In 1838, Arabia captured Pamplona. I hadn't even realized that Spain and Arabia were at war. This was generally peaceful, but I did fight the war with Arabia; there was the Spanish-Arab war; and a few conflicts in which cities exchanged hands on the Northeast Continent. I rejected all requests to join any of these fights.
At this point, the game became a matter of outbuildling, out-teching, and out-GPing the opposition. Other than selecting the right techs - getting Apollo Program done, beelining to Robotics for The Space Elevator - there wasn't much left that needed to be done.
In 1840, Berlin finished Oxford University. In 1842, Stuttgart finished Globe Theater. Earlier in the game, I had used the whip a lot in Stuttgart. It grew quickly from all the flood plains, but was usually too small to take advantage of the Representation happiness bonus. Globe Theater helped that problem.
Munich finished Hermitage in 1866. I hadn't really needed to build it anywhere, of course, but I thought if it was going to go anywhere it could go in a city on the border with Arabia. That year, Marie Curie was born in Frankfurt, and she founded an Academy in Stuttgart. Hamburg finished Wall Street in 1884. Heisenberg in 1896; kept around for a GA.
Berlin finished the Kremlin in 1914. My treasury was starting to increase, and I thought a swap to Universal Suffrage for a Space Elevator rush was a fine idea. Narak (Prophet) born in Munich in 1918, and I decided that he'd wait around to join with a third person for my third GA.
1922: Not relevant to victory, but Berlin gained Legendary culture.
1929: Bactrian finished Scotland Yard, but I never trained any spies. 20M Germans.
Vasco de Garma (Merchant) born in Bactrian in 1931; and the third Golden Age begins.
1940: Naranya Guru born in Berlin. He becomes a super-specialist in Hamburg.
In 1942 and 1943, Huyana and me - in that order - finished our Apollo Programs. The Race is On! Some other Programs were finished in later years...at first, it seemed like the Space Race would be close, but I quickly accelerated past the competition.
Columbus was born in 1949, and I sent him to Guangzhou (a size 17 Chinese city) for a trade mission. He finished that mission in 1957, for 2700 gold. That bonus took me to a treasury of nearly 10,000 gold. I finished the Eiffel Tower in Munich in 1960. When Robotics was learned in 1967, I revolted to Universal Suffrage. After the revolution, I rushed the Elevator and what needed to be finished on the Three Gorges Dam.
With those wonders complete, it was little more than a waiting game: I got a few more great people (including the Engineer from Fusion), popped a silver (the only time I ever popped anything this game), noticed that - for some reason - Louis had two Aluminums, built the Internet (just for fun...the techs - Flight, HBR, Mass Media, and Fascism - were irrelevant), and built the Life Support to finish the Spaceship in 2016!
This was a fun game, and really allowed for some serious wonder and great person power. It would've also been interesting if cultural victory had been enabled; it might have been interesting to try a cultural game having founded only one religion. (Possibly two, as I might've had Islam if I made it a priority.) Moreover, founding a religion in this game wasn't really a big deal - it did help out my finances, but not to ridiculous extremes. It also closed off some diplomatic options that might've been helpful, if I had waited to let religion spread to me.
The GP Scorecard:
Prophets: 6
Engineers: 8
Merchants: 3
Scientists: 7
Artists: 2
End Game Demographics:
(pic)
Final Score: 7058, Henry VIII.
A fun game, and I'm interested to see how much variance there is in the play style. When the start was revealed, with all that Stone and Marble around, playing with Frederick as a philosopical leader, the strategy seemed apparent: lots of Great Wonders, lots of Great People Power. Ample food resources would also permit some massive cities.
I founded on the starting location.
With only six Civs, I thought I could get an early religion despite not being spiritual. Oops: Mysticism and Buddhism fell early (Buddhism 3680 BC, Hinduism 3560 BC). I knew that with some spiritual leaders out there, it also was unlikely that I would get Judaism. However, an early Stone-powered Stonehenge would permit the Great Person points necessary to get Christianity. Stonehenge is a fantastic wonder: get an idea of your place in the world early, border expansion everywhere (although not as needed for a Creative leader), and either an early shrine or free early religion. With the new patch retaining GPP for obsolete wonders, it's even better.
In 3000 BC I met Saladin. He was the Hindu founder, and I realized later that it would've been an interesting strategy to forgo the religion founding (instead using the early Prophet as a Super-Specialist) and simply join up with him as Hindu for the good relations. This concern grew as I discovered that I had neither Horses nor metals...but was reduced much later, upon discovering that nobody had metals. In any event, choosing the found-Christianity strategy meant that I would mean isolationism at best, rivalry and conflict at worst. (More on that later.)
The big issue in the beginning part of the game was where to locate the second city. Because of all the stone, anywhere in the south was likely to result in a monster city: but where eactly to place it? On a plains hill? On a river? On the coast? Within range of as many stone as possible? With or against the AI's suggestion? In the end, I went with one of the AI's suggestions, as it had a balance of food and stone:
(Pic to go here)
Hamburg started on a Barracks, and in addition to building a few wonders would eventually build almost my entire military during the game.
In 1760 BC, Berlin finished Stonehenge. After buildling an another Archer/Settler pair, it started the Pyramids in 1360 BC.
In 1240 BC, I founded Munich on the northern Coast. One nice thing about this game is that every city was generally a mix of both commerce and production. Berlin was mostly a GPP powerhouse, and a few later cities were dedicated commerce cities, but generally speaking every city contributed hammers and taxes for the empire. As Munich was a coastal city, it was used for a few work boats but otherwise my navy was nonexistent - which, given the lack of metals, I expect was a common feature of most games. The most I built were a few exploring Galleys and Caravels for transporting a few prophets in later millenia.
Moses, my first Great Person, was born in Berlin in 875 BC. He taught the Germans Theology, after which the Hamburgers began Christianity and the empire converted. Saladin didn't like us anymore, and he wouldn't for the rest of the game. In fact, over the course of the game, almost nothing occurred between Arabia and Germany...only one trade, no open borders. But, almost nothing isn't nothing...
Berlin finished the Pyramids in 700BC, followed by a broad revolution to Representation, Slavery and Organized Religion. As I imagine it was for others, Representation was huge.
In 600BC, my notes indicate that I am concerned about getting destroyed in a war with Saladin, as I have no horses or metals. I guess I wasn't aware of the theme of this game even then...and, I stayed concerned about that destruction for a little while longer. That same year, I contacted Isabella, who was also Buddhist. As for Izzy, I only made one trade with her the whole game.
In 450 BC, I founded Cologne. (Laters pics will show this, and other city-sites.)
In 350 BC, Germany was declared the second largest Civ, and noted as having half a million people. However, I was sixth in soldiers, which necessitated more military, as a deterrent, if nothing else. (And, it really was nothing else: no metals equals no offense.)
In 125 BC, Great Engineer Imhotep was born in Berlin.
He rushes the Parthenon in Berlin, which complets in 75BC, after which Berlin starts the Hanging Gardens.
The known world of 1AD:
(pic goes here)
A quick note on my research paths: I found myself taking unusual research paths, which I'd only realize several hundreds years later by realizing: "I haven't researched [XXX] yet?!" Unfortunately, I played this game quickly, without taking notes on my research decisions, other than indicating when each tech was discovered. Generally speaking, I targeted wonder techs first, general-education type techs second, with strategic/military techs as the lowest priority.
One annoying tech-related thing was that the same turn I discovered Alphabet in 175, Izzy demanded Currency. Izzy was annoying the whole game, and if I only I had metal...
As it was, I ended it up ignoring many requests and demands throughout the game - this was probably the most isolationist game I've played.In 300, Archimedes was born in Berlin. I swapped from the Library I was building to rush-build the Sistine Chapel. Frankfurt was founded the same year.
In 425, Hamburg - which by now had a higher production than Berlin - began Chichen Itza. This would be a nice wonder to have (not just for the GPP) but for the additional defense in case Saladin got the wrong idea.
450: Essen founded.
A quick pic from 500 AD. I am curious if this is what other's border with Arabia looked like. The distance between the Empires might have made things more peaceful. Eventually I would found a city in the desert south of the Spices, and there only then did a brief conflict with Arabia begin.
(Pic here.)
In 600, Heron (the third Great Engineer) was born in Berlin. As Berlin finished its Market that year, it was an easy choice to select and rush the Great Library. The following turn, selecting National Epic was an obvious choice. Hamburg completed Chichen Itza in 680.
Berlin finished the National Epic in 800, Taoism FIDAL in 760. Hamburg finished the Heroic Epic in 820. The necessarily experienced unit came from the string of Barbarian Archers from Bactrian in the east, which would be a bit of a pain for a thousand years.
This era also included a few Great Scientists: Hypatia built an Academy in Berlin in 800, Al-Kharzami built an Academy in Munich in 980, Nicolas Copernicus built an Academy in Hamburg in 1090.
Meanwhile, the turn of the millenium (sometime between 980 and 1080, my notes don't say which year I had stopped at) saw the release of the patch.
The Empire in 1010 AD:
(pic)
Dortmund was found in the desert near the Arab border in 1080.
Philosophy was learned in 1100, followed by a revolution to Bureacracy and Pacifism. With Pacifism enabled, Berlin was earning 90GPP per turn. I don't know what it's high for the game was, but I remember a few centuries later it was in the 130s per turn.
In 1190, Ananda (Great Prophet) was born in Berlin; the Church of the Nativity followed in 1200 AD.
1270: Thespis (Great Artist) in Berlin. I had no real need for culture - the borders with Arabia were fixed, and the victory condition made culture #s irrelevant - so I decided that this Artist would stick around for a Golden Age. That same year, Berlin finished Angkor Wat.
In 1290, the outside world was (finally!) contacted as Mao discovered me. I traded Theology to Mao for Compass+10g, and then signed Open Borders for good relations. Mao would be my only real friend the whole game, as we engaged in good trading relations. China was the only nation to which I was able to export Christianity. (Although I remember that 3 out of my first 4 missionaries failed. :mad: )
In 1300, I made contact with Huyana. Louis followed in 1340 AD. Itraded Philosphy to Louis for Machinery + 20g.
In 1360, Cai Lun (Great Engineer) was born in Berlin. This was the first real GP choice I had to make: I could rush Taj Mahal (which I had just started the prior turn), and effectively get a 1-GP Golden Age, or just make him a Super Specialist. I decided on the latter, as I was fairly certain that I could build TM naturally.
In 1460, Zhang Hang (GE) was born in Berlin, and I had him join Hamburg as an Engineer. 1470: Islam FIDAL. Berlin finished the Taj Mahal in 1480 AD, and my Golden Age started.
Right around the 1500s, I decided that I really wanted to do something about the blight that was Bactrian. It was taking up some good land, a spot for a fishing village, and the Archers and Longbows it was sending were harassing my workers. I wanted to try to eliminate it before Gunpowder, so as an experiment I was curious if a pure Catapult rush could take it. Um, it couldn't.
Because of the embarassment, I couldn't bring myself to take a pic. Well, Gunpowder came in about this time anyway, so I just needed to rebuild the Cats and get some Muskets. (Hamburg was building 1-turn units this entire era, so I wasn't as concerned about the losses.)In 1515, I acquired a WM, and this was the known world:
In 1530, Rene Descartes was born in Berlin, and he combined with the Artist that had been sitting around to start a post-Mahal Golden Age.
I was beat to Liberalism in 1540.
In 1590, Ling Lun (Artist) was born in Berlin. I decided that I nice use would be to make a Great Work in Bactrian once it was finally conquered, in order to get the surrounding tiles productive quickly.
1595: Trade Mao Gunpowder for Engineering+WM, and then my Pig for his Cow. The known world:
(pic)
The WM revealed an island I had, for some unknown reason, overlooked. I made a quick attempt to colonize the available land, but missed it. I wonder if other players who had successfully made the colony did significantly better? (One thing I noticed: it has rice, and later on in the game I did have some health problems...)
Also in 1595, I revolted to Free Speech and (per my isolationist style this game) Mercantilism.
Finally, in 1625, the Eastern Army of Catapults and Muskets conquered Bactrian. I decided to keep it where it was. The conquest sufficiently increased Germany's population to 5M in 1630, and completing a Great Work in 1635 increased the borders to their appropriate size. A Pic of the Army before the attack:
(Pic)
In 1640 St. Paul was born in Hamburg. He joined Hamburg as a Super Specialist. Thanks to my wonders+Representation, he was generating 2 hammers, 5 gold, 3 science, and 2 culture.
Benjamin Franklin was born in 1670, and I decided to keep him around for a Statute of Liberty rush. Bactrian finished the Forbiddeen Palace in 1720. Following the discovery of Democracy in 1730, I revolted to Emancipation and traded Democracy+30g to Mao for Chemistry+Divine Right. I swapped Hamburg to SoL, and Franklin rushed it halfway to completion.
At this point, my soon-to-built Grenadiers suggested I could rip up Saladin if I wanted to. But I decided to keep my eyes on the stars; the Monday-deadline also influenced me to take the quicker path.
Joseph Marie Jacquard was born in 1760 and he joined the capital as an Engineer.
In 1795, Saladin decided he wanted to get ripped to shreds, and he declared war on me. Although his incursion was able to destroy a plantation, I demolished his invading army. I started building some more units (other than just relying on Hamburg to build my defenses when it wasn't building something else; as Hamburg was working on SoL, I needed some other cities on the job) and in 1804 revolted to Theocracy. I began sieging Kufah, in the north, which was adjacent to my borders.
Hamburg finished SoL in 1810, and started some units for the attack. I decided that to attack Kufah would be problematic: it was on a hill and had a number of promoted Longbows. Najran, to the south, was on flat ground and its defenses had fewer promotions. This pic shows the Army which conquered Najran in 1826, with minimal losses (a few suicide Cats and a Rifle):
(pic)
Conquering Najran brought Saladin to the bargaining table. I could've pressed the assault further into Arabia, but again I was mindful of the game's goal and deadline. I accepted peace for 300G+WM. I revolted to Organized Religion, as there were some unbuilt buildlings and I felt that Pacifism's GP madness wasn't as necessary anymore.
Darwin was born in 1834; he built an Academy in Cologne.
In 1838, Arabia captured Pamplona. I hadn't even realized that Spain and Arabia were at war. This was generally peaceful, but I did fight the war with Arabia; there was the Spanish-Arab war; and a few conflicts in which cities exchanged hands on the Northeast Continent. I rejected all requests to join any of these fights.
At this point, the game became a matter of outbuildling, out-teching, and out-GPing the opposition. Other than selecting the right techs - getting Apollo Program done, beelining to Robotics for The Space Elevator - there wasn't much left that needed to be done.
In 1840, Berlin finished Oxford University. In 1842, Stuttgart finished Globe Theater. Earlier in the game, I had used the whip a lot in Stuttgart. It grew quickly from all the flood plains, but was usually too small to take advantage of the Representation happiness bonus. Globe Theater helped that problem.
Munich finished Hermitage in 1866. I hadn't really needed to build it anywhere, of course, but I thought if it was going to go anywhere it could go in a city on the border with Arabia. That year, Marie Curie was born in Frankfurt, and she founded an Academy in Stuttgart. Hamburg finished Wall Street in 1884. Heisenberg in 1896; kept around for a GA.
Berlin finished the Kremlin in 1914. My treasury was starting to increase, and I thought a swap to Universal Suffrage for a Space Elevator rush was a fine idea. Narak (Prophet) born in Munich in 1918, and I decided that he'd wait around to join with a third person for my third GA.
1922: Not relevant to victory, but Berlin gained Legendary culture.
1929: Bactrian finished Scotland Yard, but I never trained any spies. 20M Germans.
Vasco de Garma (Merchant) born in Bactrian in 1931; and the third Golden Age begins.
1940: Naranya Guru born in Berlin. He becomes a super-specialist in Hamburg.
In 1942 and 1943, Huyana and me - in that order - finished our Apollo Programs. The Race is On! Some other Programs were finished in later years...at first, it seemed like the Space Race would be close, but I quickly accelerated past the competition.
Columbus was born in 1949, and I sent him to Guangzhou (a size 17 Chinese city) for a trade mission. He finished that mission in 1957, for 2700 gold. That bonus took me to a treasury of nearly 10,000 gold. I finished the Eiffel Tower in Munich in 1960. When Robotics was learned in 1967, I revolted to Universal Suffrage. After the revolution, I rushed the Elevator and what needed to be finished on the Three Gorges Dam.
With those wonders complete, it was little more than a waiting game: I got a few more great people (including the Engineer from Fusion), popped a silver (the only time I ever popped anything this game), noticed that - for some reason - Louis had two Aluminums, built the Internet (just for fun...the techs - Flight, HBR, Mass Media, and Fascism - were irrelevant), and built the Life Support to finish the Spaceship in 2016!
This was a fun game, and really allowed for some serious wonder and great person power. It would've also been interesting if cultural victory had been enabled; it might have been interesting to try a cultural game having founded only one religion. (Possibly two, as I might've had Islam if I made it a priority.) Moreover, founding a religion in this game wasn't really a big deal - it did help out my finances, but not to ridiculous extremes. It also closed off some diplomatic options that might've been helpful, if I had waited to let religion spread to me.
The GP Scorecard:
Prophets: 6
Engineers: 8
Merchants: 3
Scientists: 7
Artists: 2
End Game Demographics:
(pic)
Final Score: 7058, Henry VIII.