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It's Clobberin' Time!

In 1700 BC, I have 3 Mounties ready to go. Who's the first target? France. Joanie is behind on tech and so won't be buying any alliances, and I want to get that grassland square back for Salamanca.

In 1675 BC, the first MW obliterates Orleans without a scratch, and that's a Golden Age! I celebrate by declaring war on India.

1650: Capture two workers, whack a warrior - but a MW got left next to an Indian warrior. But the Indian warrior is guarding a settler, so it leaves the MW alone and retreats onto a mountain.

1625: Our MW kills that settler pair. We have 5 slave workers! Salamanca is cranking Mounties every three turns in Golden Age.

I've got a very nice tactical advantage here. India keeps moving stacks of warriors into the two squares SE and SW of where the worker is in the above picture. That means a Mountie can walk two squares along the road (to where that worker is), kill a warrior (which is stacked, so the MW doesn't advance into the square), then retreat one to safety. Next turn, it can advance one square along the road, kill a warrior without advancing, and retreat all the way into the city to heal. I dispatch seven Indian warriors and one spear this way.

Hey, look at the historical parallel! It's the "French and Indian War" - and the "French and Indians" are not opponents, and it's being fought in Iroquois land!

1550 BC: Whack another settler pair and get our first Elite. Also, France will now talk, but has nothing to offer for peace.

1525: A spearman causes our first MW loss, but Bombay is captured. I don't understand why it had an archer that India never attacked with, though? This situation would actually happen several times... more discussion at the end of the report.

Hey - Memphis now somehow belongs to India! Did they go to war, or did it culturally flip? I'll never know.

1500: Five MWs hide in the forests outside Delhi, and 25 years later rush out attacking. Among them is the Great Leader Shenandoah!

I've never had a leader before 500 BC before! What shall I do with him? It's too early for an Army - can't spend 200 shields for a Heroic Epic now. I'd love to plunk down a Forbidden Palace, but we need more cities before it's available. So, take the default early GL move: the Pyramids.

Salamanca then builds a settler to replace Orleans. Now, how about research? Hmm.. I could research something in about 25 turns, but that isn't correct - that number is inflated by Golden Age production. I decide to take a flyer on minimum research on Polytheism, and see if we can get into Monarchy early.

India is down to Memphis as their last city. I park two MWs next to it, and wait for it to expand borders (it's the capital) so I get to keep the city instead of autorazing it. Meanwhile, in 1300 BC, I declare war on Egypt.

Thebes would look very nice as a Forbidden Palace location. So in 1150 BC, we capture it.

Wow. Bow wow. Now what do I do with this Leader? Still too early for an Army to be of any use. I'd like to save him for the Great Lighthouse, but that's a ways off, and I don't want to prevent yet another Leader from becoming available in the meantime. Or I could plunk down the Oracle right now in Salamanca and go for a unbeatable 20k cultural win... but I just did 20k in both my last two games and don't feel like it again. So what I do with the leader is complete the Forbidden Palace in Thebes in 1150 BC.

I toss out the six turns of minimum research on Polytheism, and start max research on Map Making. Should've done this earlier. I've absolutely got to get the Great Lighthouse. I start wonders in both Salamanca and Thebes. Salamanca can get the Great Lighthouse sooner, but there's a chance both the Oracle and Colossus will get built in the meantime. Thebes can use the Palace to keep building if that does happen.

Oh, and in 1100 BC, Paris falls, and this continent is ours. I'm still wondering what England and Rome are up to, but I think I'm doing okay: F11 shows me first in every single demographic except Military Service, and both of their capitals are only size 2 or 3.

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