Fairly early on it was apparent that real estate would come at a premium on the map for this challenge; with the Poles to the east and the Indonesians and Assyrians to the west, I had to act quickly to carve out three nice cities.
My base of operations - 50AD |
As my economy ramped up I took an early lead in all of the important growth indicators (Technology, GDP, Crops), but something changed around the year 1200AD, and the Indonesians started pulling ahead.
Worried that I'd be in jeopardy later on if I didn't act quickly, I amassed a fleet of two Frigates, a Galleas, and a Privateer and sprung a sneak attack on Indonesia just as they were ferrying ground units west. I easily dispatched the vulnerable embarked units, and then took control of the enemy navy using the Ottomans' crazily overpowered Barbary Cosairs civilization perk. My beefed up navy then proceeded to lay waste to Jakarta, which fell quickly.
Capital #1 - Jakarta - 1310AD |
At this point I realized that I had a significant advantage over the remaining Civilizations if I acted rapidly, and a domination victory wouldn't be difficult if I could find enough Iron on the map to build more Frigates. To this end I invested heavily in the City States that had Iron to offer, and built up a fleet of eight Frigates and two Privateers.
Navy in hand, it was time to do my dirty work. First on my list was the Assyrians:
Capital #2 - Assur - 1460AD |
Next came the Polish:
Capital #3 - Warsaw - 1550AD |
The poor English:
Capital #4 - London (plus York) - 1585AD |
And last but not least, the Celts:
Capital #5 - Edinburgh - 1610AD |
For posterity, here is the final score that I wracked up at the end of my reign of terror.
Final score: 3419 |
Apparently it pays to turn the seas red with blood!