Part 17: Baktun the Future!

Here we can see our Academy that was built by the Great Scientist, it's giving us enough science for 8 whole people. I'm trying to build a National College because that'll give us another huge boost to our city.

National Wonders are really awesome and can only be built once you have a prerequisite building in all other cities, plus their construction time goes up for every city in your empire. Nationals are the reason "building tall" is just as viable as going wide. There's a similar one for barracks and monuments and I really should get going on those too so I can further build up my army for a counterattack on Boudicca.

For these reasons I don't want to build too many new cities. We have no extra luxuries available around us and unlike last game, we are not best buds with a ton of city-states who will give us their luxuries. That's why I made sure our religion would boost our happiness.



This reveals something interesting.



There's iron right underneath my academy! Great Tile improvements also give you access to strategic resources (so you won't have to grit your teeth and dig up your Great Tiles to build a mine) so now we have Iron plus Science there, and a little extra production there too. I can now build iron swordsmen at will.



Man, whoever is doing this is putting out faith like a madman.



SHIT. Christianity already has Religious Texts, I wanted that! It looks like Buddhism has been founded by the Byzantine Empire, too. They're going for…Papal Primacy for a diplomatic win? Huh.

That does it. Next baktun, I'm generating a Great Prophet, no question about it. I want my religion enhanced now.



GAAAAAH



I've got a new settler and I'm moving him right where the computer is indicating, where there are two rivers. That will generate a lot of extra money and if I get a university there the science from the jungles won't be so bad either.



Lhasa wants me to make Hagia Sofia (wonder = free Great Prophet) and that's exactly what I'm going for. The last thing I want is for any of these other chuckleheads to generate more religion than me.



Though Lhasa is also really angry at me for my trespassing scout. Uh, sorry!



On turn 117, another Long Count clicks over. GREAT PROPHET GO!



We're going for itinerant preachers, because I want my religion to spread out farther, and Swords Into Plowshares for MORE GROWTH.

Now, let's take a look at our holy city to determine how much growth is stacking up.



10% Bonus in capital for Landed Elite
10% Bonus from Temple of Artemis
15% Bonus for first 4 cities for completing Tradition
10% Bonus for Fertility Rites
15% Bonus for Swords Into Plowshares

That's a 60% growth bonus in our capital. Once we research better farming our growth will truly shoot through the roof. There's building tall, and there's building tall.



…where the hell is this coming from, lady? I swear to the God of Countdown Club, you are one bipolar nutcase.

It would be nice to get her off our ass for the time being but declaring friendship with her when she's at war with Byzantium would tick off Byzantium a ton, and I don't feel ready to move against them yet. So I blow her off.



And say hello to the new city of Two Rivers! I would have put it next to a mountain for another Observatory but this way it'll reach more precious resources. Our happiness just took another hit, we need to be careful and start spreading the faith of Countdown Club as soon as possible.



Geez, everybody is competing with us religiously. Okay, if I spread Countdown Club around a ton, the extra range from Itinerant Preachers should create interlocking fields of pressure that will make our religion dominate this side of the continent. That will give us 7-9 happiness alone, if we're really lucky we might stretch farther.



Now that I've connected marble in Salt Pass, I'm going to try to build a wonder there too, specifically, the wonder that Guilds just gave us, Machu Pichu, which requires you to be near a mountain to build. It gives a big trade bonus.



New Policy time. Roads are expensive and this will make them less expensive. It's the next couple of policies in Commerce that will really pay off, though.



Alright! This pleases Lhasa and gives us another Great Prophet. Now, I could just spread it to our nearest cities…or I could be a total dick and send him off to our rival's Holy Cities and temporarily overwrite their religions. This would really piss them off but, uh…

Heh heh. Let's see if we can get away with it.



Elizabeth! Queen of the British Empire. She's got killer longbowmen, killer renissance-era frigates that blow everyone out of the water, and her special ability…

Anyone who remembers Captain Fargle's old thread or Vanilla Civ V knows that she gets +2 movement on water. The roadrunner of the seas! The developers thought this wasn't so cool so she got upgraded in Gods & Kings. She now also gets two spies during the Renaissance!



So we need to be double careful of her.



Wait a minute, are those just regular archers she's got, hasn't even upgraded to compound bowmen yet? Maybe we don't need to be as careful as I thought.



Time for another Long Count! I'm going with a Great Artist to speed up our culture a bit by building a great monument. After that, Great Engineer for a manufactory…and everything else after that will be gravy.



Quebec also wanted us to build a Great Artist too, so, good for us!

As you can see our happiness is already starting to tank after building a third city. This is why I wanted our religion to spread happiness instead of science--with the Observatories we'll get LOTS of science.



Theodora gives us a wink and asks if we want to declare war on Spain. Hmm, maybe…in ten turns. I want to give my prophet time to screw with their religion.



FUCK! Why did she do that?! Boudicca, the number of allotted religions has already been filled, that wonder is completely useless to you! NNNNGGGGH. MUST KILL YOU.

I was one turn away from making the Great Mosque, too! Dammit. That makes me so mad I want to destroy Hinduism!



Say goodbye, Hinduism! Great Prophets completely erase other religions (though Holy Cities can re-establish themselves…which hopefully will take Madrid quite some time). This will increase pressure from our religion on the surroundings, spreading it further and further. Good.



Isabella doesn't like it when other people trample over her beliefs. Well, sorry, sorry, but, uh…I'm going to keep spreading it. I'm probably declaring co-war with you with Byzantium in a few turns (though in reality Byzantium will do all the fighting) and you're going to hate me anyway.



You're one to talk!



Alright. Once universities have been built, science will really take off. Universities also give you two extra science points for a jungle tile, presumably because the professors are examining all the cool jungle life forms or something. I happen to have several jungle tiles around my capital and Two Rivers.



Cape Town has a quest for us to spread Countdown Club to them. Sure thing, buddy!



Uh-oh, we've done it now. I hope we don't get the whole world hating us like we did last game.



Strategy: I am building a trireme and putting it here, off the Celtic Coast, to spy on Boudicca's forces and see if she tries building anything to conquer me. She still has a leftover catapult from the old war.



Gorgeous! Truly, amazing. Too bad somebody else beat us to building Chichen Itza.



Aaaand it's back to the insults. Great, return to status quo.



Hey, La Venta! Join the Countdown Club, we're going to party like it's 1999!



Hey, Seville! Join the Countdown Club, the world's ending tomorrow but that still leaves us all night long!



This might not be a bad idea. Sometimes enemies request this so they can scout you out before they invade, but we can do the same. As far as I can tell she doesn't even have an army any more other than that one catapult.



Sure, why not. My Prophet's work is almost done, and my city-state neighbors will shield me from invaders. You'll be doing all the fighting. Getting your allies to fight your rivals for you is a pretty good strategy. Meanwhile, I'm going to tech to trebuchets and see if I can't wipe out Boudicca once and for all so she stops hogging all the cool wonders.



Damn. She just teched up Trebuchets too. And built a second one! I need to upgrade my arsenal immediately.



New policy. In an emergency, like the upcoming war, I can just buy soldiers cheaply now. Perfect! The extra science from monetary buildings is also a bonus.



Quebec City joins the Countdown Club, and Two Rivers converts naturally due to pressure, as I knew it would (low-population cities convert faster). We are doing well now! I think I can spend my next 200 Faith Points on a Pagoda.



Crud, Cape Town was allied with Spain when we went to war with them. That will make things tricky. Unless they've got a huge army, city-states are not likely to invade other cities, but it means we've got an unfriendly neighbor. My strategy has a hole in it!



I… I was going to build that too.

…

*deep breath*

Does anyone else think we need to annihilate our redheaded neighbor, like, right now?

I am building up an army for the first time in a long time. Our armies are matched, but I'm going to try to use superior tactics.

State of the World: