What a game this was. This is the groups first time getting nine players together for a game, so everyone was excited to see the Celts in action. And action we saw. What follows is the account of possibly the most violent game of Civ I've ever played, from start to finish the world was ravaged by warfare. Grand fleets sailed across the mediterranean to invade distant shores, and waves of barbarians streamed down from the north. In the centre of all this sat I, the Minoan empire, doing my best to project naval power while in constant fear of my neighbours. I had not a single moment of rest, every turn was a struggle. But we'll get to that in time, first we need to meet todays players.
The stone age went fairly normally. I hadn't played Minoa, or thought about it, in a very long time, so I forgot the perfect optimal moves - but I didn't really mess anything up too much. T5 I had to choose between building 2 cities and starving a pop, or building 3 cities. I opted for 3 cities, this may have been a mistake, I'm unsure. Hellas started the game by pushing south very hard, which was a problem for me, and also let the Celts expand across the entire north side of the board. This slight imbalance put me on the back foot for quite some time, as I struggled to get any land.
In most of the world, everything seemed normal. I built up a couple more cities, everyone else was on 5. Except in the Levant, [Egypt] began their classic diplomatic strategy earlier than ever before, and sacced and Assyrian city - starting a feud that would last centuries. The only calamity this turn is a Treachery, letting Hellas appear in the Levant.
Egypt and Assyria go to war. Trade is hectic, but to end with [Iberia] grabbing themselves a very early Trade Empire, hoping to leverage it's very powerful ability to boost their economy and propel them to victory. I buy nothing. I don't think anything else is purchased.
Calamities:
Tempest, Volcano, Squandered Wealth, City Riots, Superstition.
None of these were notably impactful
The Levantine war continues. I push a bit against Hellas, desperate for just a little bit or farmland.
The world is stricken by calamities:
Treachery, Famine, Slave Revolt, Squandered Wealth, Superstition, City Riots, Flood, Barbarian Hordes, Epidemic.
Notably, the Barbarian Hordes hit Egypt, which is already weak due to the war with Assyria.
Most importantly, the Primary victim of Epidemic is [Iberia], who just bought Trade Empire. [Iberia] had been playing a very tight game with population up until that point, so losing 20 was absolutely devastating.
We begin turn and make it through movement, but end before trade.
At his point, [Egypt] and [Assyria] decide to make peace. [Assyria] has picked up metalworking, so [Egypt] will struggle to do anything - especially with barbarians running rampant through their land. Together, but mostly [Egypt], they start to send threats at the rest of the world - promising that invasions are imminent if tribute is not paid.
We close out for the day a bit earlier than planned, as something came up for one of the players.
I had decided at some point that my best way forwards was to implement the Pirate build, the combination of Astronavigation, Naval Warfare, and Engineering allowing for the ability to opportunistically take cities across the world. Initially, my intended targets were to be [Egypt] and [Assyria], due to them being weak from the constant fighting, and also the most likely to beat me. Of course, their peace deal together was that they were going to join forces and do the exact same thing. So instead, the three of us agreed to be a menace to the rest of the world.
Overall, spirits were high, and the game was looking good. [Iberia] was vastly ahead on tech, but had a very weak board state. Me, [Assyria], and [Egypt] were behind, but we had a plan. [Rome], [Celts], and [Hatti] were playing solidly with not much to comment on.
Our new players were looking good. [Carthage] just got to sit around and do their own thing, building cities and losing a bit to calamities every turn. [Hellas] had a solid position, having pressured me hard early on, and was trading and politicing with the best of them.
It looked like Day 2 was shaping up to be exciting.