German Expansion

900 BC, Writing comes in, and the 40 turn min sci run on Philosophy begins.

A century later, I've got two more cities, and Rome decides that Montezuma is his friend, and that Shaka really isn't. And since Caesar's got Legions, this is going to get really interesting here, really fast. Meanwhile, barbarians are uprising in the north near my future wine supplies. Shaka's got a galley up there that I think has settlers in it. If they land and die, I will be highly grateful to whichever barbarian chief it is.

Whoops. The plot, it thickens really freaking fast. Right after Rome declares on Shaka, he does this:

Go to check out the tech race, and both Caesar and Shaka are in the Middle Ages, and I'm WAY behind everyone. Nevertheless. Caesar will take 7gpt and 8 gold, plus my map, in exchange for Code of Laws.

And I, uh, lost the race. <censored>

Perhaps, everyone wonders, through the incense fog, if the settlers maybe could've been sent in a few different spots, like, say, right where Ngome is? Argh.

And then, suddenly, Rome and the Iroquois begin fighting. Yikes! Too bad I can't go for diplomatic victory, here. I can, however, buy Mathematics off Shaka for 70 gold and 1gpt.

In the end, that's just about the right move, for a turn later:

Meanwhile, the German Explorer Corps had been resolutely exploring the world, braving the wrath of Caesar on a few occasions...

570 BC, a cascade takes the Pyramids and the Great Lighthouse in the same turn. Good thing I wasn't working on anything, eh? A turn later, Greece nabs the Great Wall. Yikes.

Braving the Cuman barbarians and the wrath of Shaka, Nuremburg is founded in 510 BC. Given that Shaka's all about my culture, hopefully I can flip Ngome if I'm smart about it.

Meanwhile, 70 gold, 5 gpt, and my map will get me currency from Shaka. Money, here I come. Talking to Caesar, 45 gold, 4 gpt, and my map will get me Polytheism and make him happy with me, despite the miser price.

As all this is going on, in the 400s BC, the GEC is up near Iroquois lands watching the AI burn up troops even worse than Epic 14. Warriors vs. Legions, Archers vs. Swords... It's sad.

And then there's always things like this:

Very suddenly, in 230 BC, colonization comes to a rather rapid end up in the end of the world with the founding of Viroconium. My settler turns around and goes home.

And very suddenly, Greece is the only one in the world with Literature. I can afford it, sort of. 55 gold, 10 gpt, and my map for Literature. Rome gives up Philosophy, 36 gold, and his territory map. Shaka will give me Map Making for Literature, my map, 4 gold, and 2 gpt. Everyone else is almost too poor to afford it, so I'll see what can be done next turn. And of course over the turn everyone else gets money and buys it. Go figure.

Time passes, and lo, it's 70 AD, and Shaka wants me to give him 100 gold and my map for his map. No. I will, however, give up 130 gold and 5 gpt for Construction, which suddenly catapults me into the Middle Ages and we're suddenly some highly monotheistic Germans. We suddenly note that Shaka doesn't have Monotheism, either. Hey... Shaka wants to have some monotheistic Zulus, it seems, and offers to teach me Monarchy for Monotheism and 20 gold. Considering the rest of the world already HAS Monotheism, I'm there. The next turn...

Suddenly, we realize that had I waited 3 more turns or so, I'd be out from under the horrible gpt deals I'm in. BAD me. BAD. Yes self, really do need to watch these things. End result of that entertainment is that I'm at 0 for all of the anarchy period, and everyone in the world is pissed at me. But boy, it's worth it. Once I'm out of anarchy in 250 AD, I'm suddenly making 3 times the money and doing much, much better in general. What's more, I can do my own research, albeit following the AI up the tech tree. It's not Republic, but it'll do. Feudalism at 15 turns is about what it would take to get it anyway with cash, so off we go.

And the world is, uh, peevish at me. 3 tribute hits by 360 AD. The pain, the pain. But I will continue to pay, because honestly, I can't hope to fight them. So instead I'll build a few more spears, work on infrastructure, and follow everyone up the research path.

400 AD, I finally get hooked up to the Zulus. Incense is traded, and the Zulu map is acquired, revealing:

Meanwhile, the rest of the world was seriously going at it. Rome began slowly taking out Shaka, and then in 430, Monty declared on Caesar. I was about the only civ not having giant wars.

530 AD, my second dyes come online, and those, 250 gold, and 5 gpt will get me Invention. So I do.

And this is Germany in 560 AD.

Note that I am in fact King Culture for this game, something that's compounded by the gigantic wars going on all over the place. I expect places like Ngome to flip RSN. Also note that Rome is doing well for itself - beating up Zulu and Aztec alike. I imagine they'll be scary later on.

Sure enough...