Ruff_Hi's Antics

All Happiness is the Release of Internal Pressure

Game Report: Epic 17 - Gourmet Menu (1/3)

A sort of pot luck but you get to pick your ingrediants (full details here at Realms Beyond). Everyone played the same map, opponents etc but you got to elect which leader you played as. I selected Zara Yaqob of the Ethiopean Empire as it has been a while since I played a cultural victory and I thought this leader would play nicely towards such a victory.

I settled in place and started a warrior. No point in building a worker as I currently have no worker techs and wasn't planning to get any for a short while as I was chasing a religion ... btw, Mysticism also unlocks my Unique Building ...

Our UB

So, on Turn 23, I found Hinduism and I can start researching some worker techs, met some neighbours and popped some huts. Just to the North was Qin, the East was Ceasar and further North was Monty. This was shaping up as a game that would play well no matter which leader you selected. I wonder who the other AIs are.

Regarding huts, I popped a 2 maps (see pic below), gained some experience (Woodie II Scout thank you very much) and picked up some techs ... Fishing on turn 16 and Animal Husbandry on turn 26. I also picked up a warrior that turned out to be very useful. While my scout went further afield, looking for huts and meeting AIs, my warrior did a quick circumnavigation of the capital to highlight possible city cites. It turned out that Monty's scout ended a turn right near him. Did someone say OPPORTUNITY! I declare war and kill the scout in 3475BC (turn 21) thus saving the North West huts for me.

I find a hut right next to Monty's borders in 3200BC (turn 32) and pop that warrior I mentioned earlier. He went to camp out on a forested hill above Monty's capital, effectively killing Monty as a rival.

No more Monty

My Eastern Scout met the other AIs ... Hannibal, Alex and Mansa Musa. Thus we have 4 war primed nut cases of various nuttiness, a tech crazed wrangler and Qin (wonder lust? or just early victim ... wonder why Sullla selected Qin).

Here are the lands 1 turn before copper comes in ...

The Land

Did I say Qin? Of course it isn't Qin, its Kublai Khan - I wish they hadn't mucked about with the leader head.