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Note: I'm away from home for the reporting time period, so I've asked Sullla to open a thread at RB to link to this report; I hope I don't screw it up this time.
I decided to emphasize the "luck" part of potluck, so I rolled a random BtS start and got Mansa. I also rolled a die to see what kind of victory to go for. I got a bit lucky in that the random victory I "selected" was a Space Victory. Lucky in the sense that Mansa is a good leader for research and the space race is really a technology race. Not having tried a space race since Vanilla, this will be a good opportunity to see how the BtS end-game plays out.
I settled at the starting location and researched Agriculture then Animal Husbandry while building a Worker. Despite the lack of nearby Horses, I decided to go for Pottery next so as to capitalize on my Mali financial trait.
I found Kublai quite close in the east, so I decided to settle in that direction first. After Pottery, I went for Bronzeworking, then Writing, Mysticism, Meditation, Priesthood, Code Of Laws (founded Confucianism), Masonry, and Mathematics.
I'd actually delayed settling my third city--which grabbed copper and marble--until founding Confucianism so that my more commerce-friendly city would be the Confucian holy city. About this time, I had a nice little corner empire on our fine continent:
Spiritual is great because you can switch over to Caste briefly, run an artist to pop borders or a scientist to get a GP faster or other little tricks.
Al Razi was my first Scientist, born in 1400BC, and I think the first Great Person in the game. He set up an Academy in Timbuktu.
Some prechopped forests finish on the first turn after Mathematics is in so that there's no delay for:
Ah the classic early research booster.
Tech path from there: Monarchy, Ironworking, Polytheism, Aesthetics, Literature (Timbuktu's Great Library finished in 600BC), Construction, Metalcasting, Machinery, Hunting, Currency.
Our second Scientist--Neils Bohr--was born in 245BC. He bulbed Philosophy and founded Taoism for us in one of the cities we settled north of the capital. Paper was next.
Now Kublai next door had stone, so he was kind enough to build the Great Wall and the Pyramids. Not wanting to be cramped for lack of space, we decided to liberate his people so they were free to help us reach for the stars:
I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that Catapults, Elephants and Macemen pretty much trounce archers, swords and axes. After a great many turns, we took Kublai's last city, one which he himself had taken from the barbarians:
Of course, progress doesn't necessarily stop during war, so during the nearly 400-year (155BC-235AD) war, we researched Paper and Printing Press (had to print flyers celebrating our glorious victory, after all!). That set us up for Education after which we forgot we didn't know anything about the water and so we backtracked for Fishing and Sailing. Nationalism and Constitution followed, so that in 870AD, we could grab another free tech:
You may notice in that last screenshot that the other Mansa in the game is not doing so well. He's been getting dogpiled by everyone in the game, including me though I never sent any troops his way. I thought he was a goner so I figured I may as well pick up some diplo bonus points. To my surprise, he survived.
However, we western Mali were feeling a little cramped for space. And so, not trusting our crazy neighbor, who was busy beating up eastern Mali, in 940AD the trumpets of war sounds once more:
By then, we'd already researched Guilds and Banking and saved some cash for a run at Economics (I saved the free Merchant for a future corporation). Here's an overview of the empire's food situation halfway through the Aztec campaign:
About 200 years after the campaign against the Aztecs started, while our people are moments from discovering Astronomy and the glory that awaits them in the skies, all that remains of the beligerent Aztec civilization (pot calling the kettle black here) are a few city names:
At this point, I was nearing the domination limit. So the goal from here on out was not to go to war any more. Since we were by far the most populous, powerful and advanced civilization on the map, I don't think anyone was ever really tempted to threaten us.
The mid-late tech path was Rep Parts, Gunpowder, Scientific Method, Biology, Physics, Electricity, Refrigeration, Steel, Steam Power, Assembly Line, Railroad, Superconductors.
I like the new corporations, so I founded:
...Cereal Mills because I had more grains than sushi resources. Food is nice. I also tried hard to get a Great Engineer:
Bi Sheng was finally birthed in 1600AD:
And the Timbuktu-based Bi Sheng Mining Corporation was founded.
Now, where were we on the tech path. We got to Rocketry via Rifling and Artillery, then Industrialism, Combustion, Plastics (built the Three Gorges Dam in Timbuktu), and did I mention that I like corporate food?:
Mmmm...cereal....
Anyway, we're in a tech "race." Radio, Satellites, Composites, Fission, Computers, Fiber Optics, Fusion, Medicine, Genetics, Ecology, Robotics, Flight.
Flight? Did I mention that I didn't research Flight until the turn that we launched our two-engine rocket?:
Anyway, you'd think from here on out, there'd be no drama for the Malinese. But you'd be wrong! Hannibal decided to invade Mali lands and conquered and razed until the Mali only had one city left. Fortunately, the Mali held out to see the great victory announcement:
Of course, those of us over in west Mali had never had any fear of anyone!
Fun epic, especially micromanaging the tech path and the build queues to get that spaceship launched early. I think 1798AD is a pretty good date to reach Alpha Centauri on Monarch, but we'll see how it holds up against the competition.
Till the next event....