Why do I need a border pop ... I'm glad you asked. Its 2000Bc and here is the status of my work of art ... my Empire. My second city (foreground) went South West of London and will get wheat / cow / stone in its borders with a border pop. That stone is important as it will enable me to build ... the Pyramids. The beauty of this building is something to behold ... an elegant structure with sides facing North, South, East and West. I've just completed my second settler who is heading out for the horse / clam site (Nottingham to the West). The horses will be used for Chariots who will act as Barb suppression units. In my typical single player game, I turn barbarians off (I hate them ... see here). So, my barb control is a little be rusty. As you can see, I am also running a very skinny defense at the moment ... only 1 warrior in London, the others are out scouting ... I should be ok.
Mysticism is discovered and York starts on the obelisk for the eventual border pop ... boy do I miss the cultural trait, stonehenge or founding a religion for its help with border pops. I start research on bronze working ... for the making of pretty jewelery. Several turns later ... I get some very very bad news. A barbarian archer ... and in the worst possible place. My warrior in London is dispatched to York but he will not get there in time ... and even if he does, it would be a toss up.
Oh dear. No York, no border pop, no stone quarry, no double speed Pyramids. Is this the end of this game? We'll just have to wait and see. My horse city has been founded by this stage and the horses have been rounded up and tamed. Chariot construction has commenced but I have also learnt Bronze working and London has copper in its borders. We also swap to slavery.
|
More Barbarians from the North East ... there must be a city up there. I have two incoming and one is already threatening London's cows. Luckily, my first chariot has just rolled off the assemble line and can take control of that archer.
|
|
The second archer walks right past London without even a friendly wave ... it is heading to the new Barbarian strong hold of York. Several chariots and axes later, I am able to recapture York, but the question remains, can I pop borders and get the stone quarry on line quick enough to help with my Pyramid build The funny thing about taking back York is that I decided to rename it 'New York' as it is new to me. However, the game will not let me ... does that mean that there is already a New York in this game? If so, one of the AIs is America. Is this a bug that allows the user to workout the AIs before meeting them? I'll do some testing and see. In 1000BC, London is 24 turns from completing the wonder, York has started its Obelisk (again) and is currently due to complete it in 30 turns (that will come down as York grows). I have also founded my fourth city (Hastings - South East of London) near the cows and wheat (again). |
|
On the Tech front, I discover writing and sign Open Borders with Napoleon. I have a warrior there who starts to scout his lands. Later, with the discovery of Alphabet, I find that he is up sailing, archery and iron working but doesn't have mysticism, pottery or Alphabet. My scouting warrior found Paris (drool - what a nice capital). If my memory serves me correctly, Napolean is industrious. He also has a stone quarry. My Pyramid work of art is looking very bad indeed.
Its 675BC, Pyramids due in 6 turns in London. York will pop its borders in 5 turns, but I will need a few turns to build the quarry thus no stone increase for the London. The next few turns will be full of worry ... I dread hitting ENTER.
