[SPOILERS] In the beginning...

[NobleHelium]

Uh...that's probably a bug. The game should be reloaded to before the bug if that is the case.

[superjm]

Wait, bug in what way?

Perhaps you can ask Archduke somehow what's going on? Did he intend to revolt or no?

[NobleHelium]

Archduke cannot actually revolt to Bureaucracy, someone else revolted (i.e. Catwalk) and the bug triggered and caused a fake revolt with corresponding anarchy for him. This happened in 23 and 29, and maybe some other games.

I doubt anyone can ask Archduke anything without waiting at least two weeks for a response.

[superjm]

Wait, what I'm hearing isn't making any sense. Catwalk changed civics after triggering his golden age in 40AD (so turn 76), but the log mentions Archduke revolting in 1AD, the turn before. I'm the only person in Bureaucracy according to the F4 screen as of 120AD/T78

Could you be more specific as to what actually happens here? You'd think if Archduke got a turn of anarchy without warning that he wouldn't have continued playing the turn.

EDIT - Looking at my previous save files from that time period, it doesn't look like anything untoward happened to him at all. His GNP/Production never went up like it should have after adopting a powerful civic like that, but I also have research visibility on him and it appears his research towards Monarchy continued without interruption so I don't think he ever dealt with anarchy.

[NobleHelium]

I would think so too, but this is the only explanation for him revolting to Bureaucracy and yet still being in Barbarism. [strike]Unless he had the Pyramids and lost them this turn.[/strike] Whoops, Pyramids is not a possible explanation, wrong civic column.

The exact mechanics of the bug aren't really known. Like I said, the bug occurred in 23 and 29. You can check the tech threads for those games. I'm too lazy to do that at the moment.

Edit: that's 29v mind you.

[superjm]

Will probably report in another turn or so. Just teching to Machinery and expanding quickly. Maybe not quickly enough given how fast Catwalk has been growing, but I'm going to try and get as many cities out as possible.

Potential military plans are still somewhat up in the air at this point.

[superjm]

Well with Archduke bowing out and Sareln taking his place, I'm going to have to keep an eye on how he plays things from here on out.

I do find it funny though, since he might end up getting attacked first (whether by me or someone else) relatively soon. If that happens, would this count as a Sareln rush? :P

[Commodore]

Well with Archduke bowing out and Sareln taking his place, I'm going to have to keep an eye on how he plays things from here on out.

I do find it funny though, since he might end up getting attacked first (whether by me or someone else) relatively soon. If that happens, would this count as a Sareln rush? :P

I approve of embracing the meme. Yeah, we'd count it.

[superjm]

T85

Been a while since a proper update, unfortunately since I'm somewhat busy today no pictures again (I kinda suck at this, don't I!)

* Managed to secure NAPs with Catwalk and Azza in addition to waterbat. Hopefully that'll allow me to expand the way I want to over the next ten or so turns. Also have an NAP with Arch-- erm, Sareln until T98, which should be just in time to have an attack on him ready. Depends on how quickly I can get IW/Horseback/Feudalism/Guilds done.
* Speaking of which, I have a choice to make once I reach Guilds. I can either tech Engineering directly afterwards and whip out an army of Knights or run 100% gold and upgrade chariots while building Knights. I have about a dozen chariots about but they're mostly stationed in cities. I'll probably need to get a wave of archers up before I finish Feudalism so I can free up those chariots for upgrading and attacking.
* Found my 10th city a turn ago and will found number 11 north of Kirby next turn. Azza still hasn't expanded towards my direction so I'm confident that I can secure at least my side of the path between us. That would be swell as the land towards Azza is incredibly fertile for commerce.
* Catwalk is starting to scare me. His golden age is finished but he's just been wonder-whoring along with no obstacles (what is waterbat doing?!). He actually finished Hagia Sophia this turn, which is just going to make him grow faster. My hope is that all the hammers expended into these wonders and to his military are enough of a cost to offset the fact that I've been ignoring wonders completely. One thing to keep in mind: I must prevent him from getting Taj Mahal if it comes to it. I'm hoping the forests near Kirby can help along with that, since I've been leaving them alone for a potential wonder in the future.
* Azza and Catwalk both revolted to Bureaucracy last turn (with no anarchy of course...) so my advantage in that area has ended. Azza doesn't have Monarchy yet, although I suspect he'll be going that direction soon. He DID finish Alphabet this turn, which lets me look at his tech situation for the first time. And, despite the free 335 beakers from Code of Laws, he's only ahead of me in total beakers by roughly 100 or so (4263 to 4169, not including potential overflow) and I have a better potential economy and will reach city parity with him next turn. Now if only I could get a better idea of Catwalk's tech situation...

Pics and such whenever I get a chance.

[superjm]

T88

Well okay then

Maybe I should have started researching Iron Working a long time ago!

This will make a few tasks I have planned for the capital a bit faster though, which is good.

Catwalk founded another city in the island south of my capital, which is slightly alarming. I'm thinking I really should get a navy going to at least protect my food sources, though since Catwalk has the circumnavigation bonus there isn't much I could do to counter a naval assault should he choose to do so without getting to Optics. One possible route down the line is to tech all the way to Astronomy and use Galleons, but that's a lot of beakers out of the way. I should have tech visibility on him in two more turns.

Speaking of which, Azza is going to get music next turn, which means a Great Artist. He had just used a scientist to bulb Philosophy, so I was initially worried he could bulb nationalism next, but looking at the bulb order he still has at least four techs to go through before an artist would go for Nationalism. He could always use it to trigger a golden age, but that seems like a pretty big waste of a completely free culture bomb, if he were planning to attack someone that is.

I'll discuss it with treskies to be sure, but I feel like I'm still committed to beelining Guilds and massing Knights. Sareln is going to take a while to really get up to speed with the rest of us. His GNP is only greater than Xenon's and most of that is put into culture, and his food, mfg, and power are much lower than everyone else's. I have the techs now to mass CKNs, maces, and cats for a slow assault but I think speed is of the essence here, especially since I can't attack Sareln for ten more turns anyway. Additionally, Guilds is only one step away from Banking and Gunpowder, and being able to defend with Muskets should secure me from any offensive land assault not involving zillions of cats until Cavalry come into play. And if Sareln is ready for a Knight assault somehow, there's always Xenon...

I COULD continue turtling and expanding normally while beelining other techs, but I don't have a ton more room to work with after I get to 14 cities and I'm behind Azza and Catwalk in all but GNP. If I'm going to expand to a position where I can win the game I need to take the land of one of my neighbors. Guilds will be coming in on T98 thanks to improving land + judicious use of wealth building (I get the feeling wealth/research building is extremely powerful if used properly.) with Alphabet in a turn afterwards. I'm not completely sure yet how long it'll take to mass an invasion army, I'll figure that out sometime within the next few days.

To finish off, here's a view of my current empire (apologies for random signs and such)