After getting the two oceanic wonders, I have to get back to science and rush to Longbow at full speed. So I decided not to spawn any additional cities so I can build the National College in London as soon as possible.
1141. I timed the completion of Philosophy with two vanilla archers. Along with the Scout-promoted Archer and two Warriors already up there, they should find some EXP-gaining oppurtunities around Hanoi, and eventually I will need to take Hanoi as a stepping stone to Egypt.
Songhai completed the Chichen Itza at Turn 63 - insane!
1142. French scout reported that Egypt is massing a Chariot army close to the Spanish border. Egypt and Spain is at war.
1143. Signed an RA with France. I was too trigger-happy with unit buying with France since there are too many barbarians. This RA is signed a little late for Napoleon. There is a danger that Napoleon will miss the Porcelain Tower by just one or two turns. But for England, the timing is great. I want to minimize the RAs signed for Elizabeth since she needs all the cash she can get to upgrade to Longbows (170 gold each).
1147. The scout-promoted Archer has been training with a Hanoi Warrior for a while - the Archer gained 3 levels of Open Terrain, the Warrior gained 3 levels of Rough Terrain. If it levels up again, I am afraid that the warrior will pick up Blitz, making it a little too deadly. I want to take it out - but it is campiing on the Hill.
Knowing that AIs LOVE to capture Workers, I moved a Worker unit, which was probably captured from Hanoi, into the Marsh tile just SW of the Hanoi Warrior. The Hanoi Warrior took the bait! Three Archer units rained death on the Warrior, which gets no bonus in the Marsh. No more tough Warrior.
1148. There is another tough Archer stationed in the city - took it out with the same trick! The AIs can't learn from mistakes - they follow rules. This rule says: capture a Worker if you can.
1152. Spain and Egypt are enemies - good news for England. Spain took a defensive approach (Great Wall), so Isabella could be eyeing for a Science victory more than Conquest. Egypt opened the game with the Tradition policy, and has not been expanding much beyond the original 3 cities. I wonder whether the AI "malfunctions" here? On a large map and after patch 332, each additional city only costs 10% extra culture points to open the next policy. I'd say any city that harvests 2 luxurious resource is a worthy spawn.
1153. Sent a scout west to discover more Civs - finally met Alexander, who gets the entire Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain) to develop. Met Alexander during the end-turn, and he immediately denounced Elizabeth after the greeting! I didn't even say a word!
Alexa is angry because Elizabeth robbed the oceanic wonders from him. With a whooping 50% World Wonder building bonus and still lost the race - loser! Ha-ha.
1154. After completing the National College, which didn't take long given London's strong production power, England's science finally returns to an acceptable level. Full speed to Machinery! But first I want to settle a few cities for resources to make more money later. I won't miss any nearby site that offers the access of 2 luxurious resources - 3 such sites are available nearby.
But my priority is to settle on strategic choke points. Hanoi, which is located right in the middle of Egypt and Spain, is to be conquered! And I need a base close to Hanoi so I can upgrade the Warriors to Swordsman quickly.
1155. Got mocked by Alexander, who thinks my empire is too small. Yes, I am working on expansion right now.
1157. Marble to Egypt expired. I was hoping to sell it to Ramey again, but Ramey can't afford it probably due to his puny Empire's puny economy strength. In my previous run, Egypt spawned a large number of cities and had almost 1000 gold in the bank at one point. Too bad - sold the Marble to the always-rich Askia instead.
1159. I used the Worker to clear the Marsh tiles around Hanoi to provide safer standing grounds for my units later. A just-graduated Archer from Hanoi robbed my Worker, which as you know dual-functions as a death trap. The third Hanoi units killed this way! That's just too sweet!
1161. Nottinghan is found just SW of Hanoi, making it a perfect base of invasion. English Warriors can be upgraded to Swordsman by just stepping to the side.
An alternative site of Nottingham is to sit on the Gold directly. I will get 1 extra hammer to start, get access to the Sheeps, but delay the access to the Fish, and lose the (much later) access to the Pearl. It is a hard call. In my previous run I went sat on the Gold. Now I simply want to try something different.
Crossgate2003 in our succession game was building a Machu Pichu on Nottingham, which was founded on the Gold tile. This wonder is a great moneymaker, which is usually ignored given that the player can make a lot of money anyway.
Not the case for England here. Not many Civs have access to high mountains in this game. Machu Pichu is pretty much left for the human players to build. Now I can't build Machu Pichu in Nottingham. I hope to build the Machu Pichu in England's 4th city, which will be found close to a mountain.
1165. All preparations are ready - the full-force assault starts with 3 Swordsman and 4 Archers! I plan to get 5 Archers for the assault on Egypt.
1168. Mocked by Alexander again - this time for my weak army. Indeed, even with 3 Swordsman, 4 Archers, and 3 Triremes, England's army is the smallest in the world. If Alex thinks Elizabeth is weak, why don't he mass an army here? By the time the Greek army gets here all the way from Iberia, England will already have Artillery. Welcome to Mediterranean!
1169. Took Hanoi! With all its defenders lured out and killed and the Marsh tiles drained, the attacking units remained safe throughout the short siege that lasted 4 turns.
1170. The infrastructure of Hanoi is pretty complete, but there is absolutely no improvement on the tiles thanks to constant Worker kidnapping from England and probably also barbarians. After harvesting and reparing the Sugar and Horses, I need to get some trading posts on the Hill and plans to slow down the population growth.
1173. There is an RA between England and France due in 10 turns, which could accelerate Machinery by about 4 turns. So the projected completion of Longbow is likely Turn 104 or so.
Alternatively, I can use the Liberty tree finisher, which will be available in Turn 94 or so, to get a free Great Scientist to rush Machinery to save about 10 turns. That sounds like a neat idea - it could make the difference between success and fail - if 5 Longbows get to Egypt before Ramey gets Mustketman, it is over for Ramey. However, that will delay more progress for Scholastism by about 20 turns.
I prefer to wait a bit longer while popping a city very close to Ramey (I have a good site in mind), and move my army to that location before hand. This way, as soon as the tech is completed, I can upgrade the Archers right beside Ramey and launch the invasion immediately. In the end, I will not lose as many as 10 turns, and will be able to declare war with a convenient base of operation. That new city will be good for resource harvesting and other purposes later.
1172. Strangely, although England has fewer techs than France, the demograph claims that England has a higher literacy rate. Songhai has become a little too powerful - Elizabeth and Napoleon must suppress Askia together in the future.
1176. Conquering Hanoi also fulfilled nearby Military CS Budapest's request. Free Marble and Gems - a great addition for Elizabeth's economy - now she can afford to sell away a few more of her existing resources. It will be even better if Elizabeth gets 2 Iron ready and the City State decides to give free Catapults!
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