Playing as Augustus Caesar of Rome. (Bonus 25% production towards any building that already exist in the Capital.
Unique unites: Ballista (a pretty cool siege unit) and the Legion (a nice early combat unit that also builds roads)
Map Type: Continents
Size: Huge - (22 players and 28 city states. Default for Huge size map is 12 players and 24 city states)
Difficulty: King
Game Pace: Standard
Victory types available: Science, Domination, Cultural, Diplomatic
Additional settings: Policy Saving, Promotion Saving, Raging Barbarians, Abundant Resources
My goal: Expand as early as possible (6-8 cities), isolate self from war/defend if neccessary, build a large standing modern army, then conquer.
Turn 0 The Begining (4000 BC)
I don't know how I feel about this start. I'm surrounded by 3 gold deposits, a wheat resource, and sheep. The wheat and sheep will provide a nice bonus for food and the gold will be nice once I get a mint setup and running. I think the surrounding lakes will provide some protection for early to mid-game, but I'd prefer a usable resource rather than terrain defense. What I dread the most is seeing a lot of desert, and if I explore around that there will be more desert. Well, let's explore and see what happens in a couple of turns.
Turn 1 (3900 BC)
I send out my warriors to explore some ruins which gives me a map of the surrounding area. I see that to the north of me is Greece, possibly and outlet to the ocean, and more ruins. I think I want to wipe out Greece first because they can be jerks and get really powerful by abusing their bonus with city-states. I don't remember how well the AI takes advantage of this, but as playing as Greece before I've achieve a diplomatic victory this way. Plus city-state allies make a nice deterrent, if close enough, to invading civilizations.
Turn 3 (3860 BC)
I take a look at Rome and see what my lovely people are up to. I've focused on building a scout because they ignore terrain penalties and can be upgraded to move faster and have better line of sight. I've moved one workers from producing two food and one gold to producing one food and two hammers(productivity). This changes my city from 4 Production/Turn(PT) to 6 PT which changes its production time from 4 turns to 3 turns. Every turn counts.
Turn 5 (3820 BC)
I've discovered Venice, and being the first civilization they make contact with I receive a 30 gold tribute. Every civilization they meet afterwards will receive 15 gold. Looking at them, I see that they are a Maritime city-state(bonus to food in to my capitol when friends, bonus to food to all my cities when allies). They're neutral, so the requests they will make of me will be generic. Plus they have cotton. Also, since they are close, they make a nice buffer to whoever could be on the other side of them.
Turn 6 (3780 BC)
My scout is is ready! I think I'll have him explore the nearby area before I head towards Greece. I feel I'll be more likely to find ruins if I travel away from them. Also, I should get that ruin to th enorth before Greece gets it/I forget about it. I'll focus my city's efforts towards construction of a monument, which will add more culture, which expands my city's borders, and overall adds to my culture tab.
Turn 10 (3600 BC)
Greece has come in contact with me. I tell them not to settle new cities near me. Julias doesn't want to be friends with Alexander >
I also come in contact with Pachacuti of The Inca, and I tell him the same thing. Rome is going to be ruthless in this game.
Turn 12 (3520 BC)
I've come in contact with the City-State of Lhasa. They're a Culture CS, which friend or allie can speed up policy acquisition. Too bad they're hostile because they'll make some hostile requests, so I'll end up paying them gold to be their friend.
My reserach on Mining is complete. I think I'll research Animal Husbandry so I can recruit some Horseman to patrol the nearby area/harass Greek workers/settlers.
Rome's population grows. At the city overview, the new guy is set on a lake tile of 2 food and 1 gold. I want to set him on the 2 hammers 2 gold tile to the left of the city, but my people will starve and population will reduce. I'm not ready to stop the city's growth, so I'll leave him there for the time being.
Turn 14 (3440 BC)
I meet Tyre, who is Militaristic and Hostile. Not a good combination, IMHO, for a possible city-state allie at such a position. Maybe if Tyre was placed closer to an opposing civilization would they be any bit viable, but for now, I hope to take them out someday. If not that, I can at least friend or ally with them for advance military units [cannon fodder].
Turn 16 [3360 BC]
Finally, I can adopt a policy. I think choosing a liberty policy will be the best benefit for an early and rapid expansion. Honestly, I don't buy in to one of the starting three policies to better than the other unless you are playing a specific game. I think adopting Liberty and going the route of Collective Rule for a free settler, then Citizenship for a free Worker, and finally Representation for a boost in policy acquisition will be a good plan for building a big empire.
Turn 21 [3160 BC]
I've acquired Animal Husbandry. I take a look at the map around me and .... no horses
. I'll move on to researching Pottery so I can build a granery and end up with a food production boost and shuffle around Rome's citizens.
I also meet Darius, leader of Persia, nemesis of my last game where I played Japan. I don't think we're going to get along this round.
Turn 22 [3120 BC]
My warriors attack a roaming band of barbarians. Major victory! I've decimated 9/10th of their warriors while I incur minimal losses and obtained valuable experience for an upcoming promotion.
Turn 23 [3080 BC]
I had my warriors finish off the barbarians, and my scout move to the west to look for possible new lands to settle. I think a spot directly to the west look pretty good for a new city. I see some gold and gems which will be valuable sources of happiness, cows and a river for food bonuses, and horses!
Turn 24 [3040 BC]
Fighting that barbarian horde did prove valuable and now I can rename my unit and give it a promotion. I think I'll name this first unit after me, and hold off on promotion until he encounters his next enemy. Since he is injured, I'll have him sit around and heal up.
Turn 25 [3000 BC]
Some guy named Ibn Battuta has come up with this list of the World's Most Well Fed People. While sounding kinda weird the list is very interesting. I'm at 17 out of 22 nations with 1 which means I have a food surplus of 1 as compared to a rival nation like Persia who is at 6th place with a food surplus of 4. Some lucky guy at number one must be surrounded by a ton of food bonuses.
A few turns ago, I did acquire a new policy which cut PT requirements for a settler by half and gave me a free settler whose currently on his way to establish a new city. Looking at Rome, I decide to refocus the workers on harvesting more food as I don't need as many hammers at the moment. I'm in no rush to build anything ATM.
Turn 27 [2960 BC]
I establish Antium to the west. I start building a monument there and switch the worker from a 3 Food tile to a 2 Food and 1 Hammer tile. This halves the monument production goal from 32 to 16 turns, and changes city population growth from 5 to 8 turns. IMHO, a worthy tradeoff.
At the end of this turn I end up meeting Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, President Washington of America, and Sejong of Korea. I don't see they're cities nearby, so I rule them out as an immediate threat. Though, if I expand fast enough I'll see them as problem soon enough.
One of Korea's warriors is defeated by two barbarian hordes, taking out one, and leaving one incredibly wounded. I take this to my advantage to send out my warriors and get some more easy experience, and after slaughtering them I discover an unguarded Barbarian camp to the north. This is where barbarians spawn, and if captured gives a small reward of 25 gold.
Turn 29 [2840 BC]
Pottery reserached. I'm not sure what to research next. I could focus on the early tile/resource improvement technologies (fur trapping/calendar/masonry/bronze working), but I think to build a strong empire I need a smart empire. I'll go with Writing and build a library once finished. I switch Rome's production from a Warrior to a Granary, and I shift the workers around to boost the city's hammers.
I look at my surroundings to see the next spot viable for a city. I think there might be something northwest near Greece, or maybe farther west above the Incan empire. Let's see what my scout finds.
Turn 32 [2720 BC]
I think I found a nice spot for a large populous city - cows, rivers, forest, greenland, foxes, sheep, et al. If I can only get there before Greece takes it. I debate on switching Rome's production from a Granary to Settler. I'll stick with a Granary.
Also to note, I've met China. Since I haven't seen their civilization I'm not too worried about them.
Also, Rome's population grows. I shift this worker from a 2 Food/2 Gold tile to a 2 Hammers/2 Gold tile. I don't want my city to grow to large because it will decrease happiness and thus increase my time before my civilization enters a Golden Age. I want to enter a Golden Age as soon as possible because they'll boost gold and productivity, and thats something I need to build and maintain a strong empire.
And finally, I meet Lord Hiawatha of The Iroquois.
Turn 35 [2600 BC]
The area I looked at earlier looks good, but I need to get a settler and a warrior their fast. America and Greece are right there, so they could both be looking at that land.
The population grows in Antium. I have one worker on a 2Food/1 Hammer tile, and the new worker on a 3 Food tile. I switch the 2Food/1 Hammer to a 2 Hammer, which boosts overall hammers from 2.5 to 3.75, and slows down city growth from 8 turns to 23 turns. Like I said, I don't want a big population because of the penalties they incur and the lack of ability I have to offset those penalties. In case you didn't know, Civilization games can be a great micromanaging opportunity! The benefit of all this is that my monument will be built in 6 turns as opposed to 8, which will give my city +2 culture which in turn will make its borders expand faster, and give me more culture for policy acquisition.
I think now is a good time to stop.
Looking over everything, I feel like I'm off to a shaky start, but better overall as compared to my Japanese game. To be honest, I was rushing through that game and not paying attention to what I was doing. I'm going to be managing my units a little better. Anyways, soon I'll have a city settled where my scout is placed, and tensions will build up between me and America and Greece. I'm not too worried about them because I'll be building a powerful nation pretty soon.
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