Difficulty: Noble
Civilization: Russia
Leader: Catherine
World Size: Normal
Map Script: Ice Age
Scenario:
You are Catherine the Great. So, like, go out and do some great things.
Closing Day: Monday, September 11. Reports due by Sept 12.
Pre-game analysis
This looks like an easier game: Epic 7 was really tough for me! God bless Gentle Adventures . So, Cathy is Financial and Creative, which means fast expansion backed by a good early economy. Organized would have been better, but such a civ doesn't exist in the game, guess why. Ice Age will provide some challenge in squeezing the most food out of our cities, but as Russia, we have an advantage over everyone else . Not much else to plan until I see the start location, as the game settings are quite standard.
The game part 1: Opening
I found where the settler is, we have sheep, so I go for Animal Husbandry and worker first. The start location looks quite bad in my opinion, only one resource, 7 plains tiles, 3 plains hills which won't probably have much food support, and few commerce-producing tiles. This means I have to find quickly a better economical center.
I pop a map, which strangely is useful, as it reveals the north, which has 2 resources and another hut. When I discover AH, someone founds Hinduism (!). I go for Bronze Working as there are so many forests around here and I want to speed up things a bit. Find Napoleon... He has been badly defeated once by Russia, so you know what's gonna happen this time!
In the same turn, I discover BW and I'm happy to say that I have no copper! While Napoleon, as an Industrious leader, gets stone. *silently complains about the map generator* What to pursue now? Go for iron and hope we have some, or concentrate on the economy, or pick archery? Well Iron working is a gamble, and I don't really need archery for now, so I set this tech path: 1. fishing 2. sailing 3. wheel 4. pottery. It's a shame, however, that financial Cathy has to research three techs before being able to build cottages. However, the best commerce tiles of the capital will be the coastal ones, so lighthouses come first. Moscow goes warrior-warrior after the worker, then I'll build the first settler. We find Hatty, and promise eternal peace. Find Egypt's homeland, and meet Roosevelt. The most annoying thing now is a bear which doesn't go away from the location of my second city grrr.
In 2200 BC I found St. Petersburg in an advanced position to grab and secure from pillaging the Wheat, and find out I'm one tile off the crabs! However, this city starts a lighthouse as the worker is busy elsewhere ATM. The scientists put their offerts on agriculture for the wheat, then for iron. If I have iron, I'll rush Napoleon, if not, I'll try to box him in. In 1520 BC, iron working is discovered and iron is already connected: it's inside my capital's radius! I'm finishing the settler I have now, then barracks and many soldiers... I found Novgorod south of St. Peter, grabbing some good land. There is really little food on this map, so I must stick to the sea. Production is not an option if there aren't food resources, but I have to make use of my traits, right?
My research looks very fast, I have beelined CS now, and already discovered writing, masonry, mysticism, meditation... normal game speed looks a bit fast now! Find Gandhi, who's the only hindu so far, and make a little stop at the CS slingshot. Let's see how powerful will I grow now! I don't know how much this is an exploit, but having never actually played it, I think it could be a good idea to try before speaking about it. Before having tried, it didn't look so exploitative, but...
. Not much else to plan until I see the start location, as the game settings are quite standard.
