Epic Thirty-Six: Pax Americana

This is my report for the Realms Beyond Civilization Epic Thirty-Six. Here are a few of the specifics for this no-kidding Epic.

Difficulty: Emperor
Civilization: America
World Size: Huge
Opponents: Ten
Terrain: Continents, 60% water
Climate: Hot, Wet, Rugged
Barbarians: None
Rules: Standard. Cultural Link inactive.
Victory: All Conditions DISABLED. Histogram only!
Version: PTW 1.27f

Did that say DISABLED??!!  Oh yeah, 540 turns of mayhem on a huge map!  As if that were not enough, there are varient rules such as no joining of settlers or workers to cities EVER, no alliances (one exception) or mutual protection pacts, no abandoning cities, and automatic disqualification if the average number of tiles controlled per city is less than 18 at game's end!

Oh yeah, AND severe penalties for invading any other civ except for a blood enemy, who has to commit a war crime to qualify?  For the details on this game visit Epic Thirty-Six.  There is too much to repeat here!

For a scoring summary of the game look here.

Nerfed Expansionist?

Here we are at the start of this 540 turn marathon.  I noted that this game has no barbs, so one of the expansionist traits is nerfed right off the start.  Ah well, at least the scout can locate the prime spots for cities.  I sent the worker to the wheat and the scout SE then South.  Yep, no reason to move the settler.

Build order will be scout, scout, granery--got to start churning those settlers.  I start a minimum science run on the wheel.  A hundred years later, roving cattle are spotted to the northeast.  Further North, our scouts spot some lovely silkworm trees...

After further scouting, it looks as though this map will be interesting, to say the least.  Look at all those hills and mountains to the West.  I am going to have to get some settlements past those mountains ASAP.

Washington grows the next turn, also completing the 2nd scout.  The granery starts.  I spare the whip on the granery; it would have saved six turns at the cost of two citizens.  More luxuries are spotted by the scouts (ivory), and in 3100BC, we make first contact.

No dice with Lizzie for alphabet--she will not take masonry and 78g.  The English get their second city online in 3000BC, and Washington's granery completes in 2900 BC.  The first settler pops out 4 turns later in 2710BC.  Just a few turns before, our settlers make another discovery--finding the western edge of the continent.  The northern boundary is located in 2590BC (you can see that scout's path on the minimap below).  My strategy on the scouts was to send the free and first built out to locate other civilizations, and to use the second built to scout good city locations.

Settlers, HO!

Our intrepid setter makes his way to his new home and founds our second city.

The same year New York is founded, another settler completes.  He heads northwest, to found Boston, and that same year, we are fortunate to find another new friend.

This allows us to make the first trade, masonry to the iroquois for ceremonial burial, bronze working, and 10g.  I note that masonry is even less attractive to England now, so England and the Iroquois have contact.  Washington stays on settler duty for a few more until I take a run at the Pyramids.  Another scouting discovery...

The Aztecs offer up warrior code and 10g for Masonry.  The 40-turn gambit on the Wheel comes up empty in 2150--the Aztecs have it, and I cannot get anything useful out of Lizzie or Hi.  Next research target is horseback riding at 70%--with only Aztecs and me with the wheel, there is a good chance for a monopoly if I step on the gas a bit.  The fourth city ends up as the first beyond the mountains.

The second century of American life ends without us on the power curve.

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