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All your opponants know all ancient and classical technologies. Only a very evil sponsor would think about doing something like that.
But that is not the reason why I am worried about playing. If that is the only challange, then you can just practice playing the Incans in the 'Earth 1000AD' scenario, and try to pull yourself out of the hole. Also, even if you start with lots of technologies, if your unit-count is still ancient-era, there won't be any substantial differences until eveyrone is finished with their initial expansion and then they start manufacturing rifles when your men are still throwing spears. But actually, even a military disaster is the least of my worries.
Nope, I am worried because the medieval AI are also 'emperor' difficulty. This is an economic as well as a technological nightmare.
Or maybe I should rephrase the circumstances a little bit:
a) Expansion rate: initial stages will not be worse than a normal emperor game. This is basically the only good part though. But if I do get lucky, and I get metals near my area while the opponant does not have strategic resources, then I could rush them before they research feudalism. Since they all have alphabet, I can even start demanding techs.
b) AI will be able to take advantage of calendar resources. This means much larger cities once the initial expansion is over. If we get along, my coastal trade routes will be more lucretive too, because commerce yield is affected by the population size of the other cities.
c) With mathematics, the AI can chop viciously, snatching all the wonders. Consider this before starting one. On the other hand, that is more wonders for me to capture. Since AI's will be founding religions, if I do take a capital, it might even have a holy shrine.
d) With catapults, any highly aggressive neighbours will surely crush you. I am not even sure if it is worth trying to defend against one.
e) Lightbulbing for a tech and then trading it around is theoretically a good idea, but with such a hole and without philosophical, I doubt this would work.
f) Cultural is turned off. This is the only saving grace of this game, ensuring that the game will not end by the 17th century. Sulla's official words: "There's no option for a quick Cultural victory, so you'll have to find some other way to come out on top." My interpretation: "Thank goodness this option is taken away from the AI!" But now I will have to watch for space.
Once again, I refuse to win by AP victory, as usual. Now, on with the show!
4000BC: Settle in place. I would really like my capital to be coastal, but that will waste two-many turns for gems that I can work once I get iron working. No way - I need a boast now. I don't mind my capital being heavily forested either.
First tech to research: animal husbandry. I am firm believer of the idea that ultimately, food is the most important.
3880BC: Great artist and Christianity founded. Damnit... I forgot AI's can pop medieval techs from huts!!!
3840BC: Met Mansa Musa. He must be near. Open borders with him for now.
3800BC: Cultural borders expanded, and he's right next to me. So he will block me off and then hold those cities with skirmishers. Yuck.
3680BC: Met Catherine, also worst enemy of Mansa Musa. Due to religious differences, they will be worst enemies very quickly, but I am keeping my borders open anyway.
3480BC: Met Shaka. Eww... that's some difficult leaders to deal with! I also found horses near my capital - at least I don't have to worry about barbarians now. Started researching mining - and realized that my researching speed is faster than usual. Ah... I almost forgot this little detail.
2160BC: Catherine completed Oracle, found Taoism, but I am researching priesthood anyway.
1520BC: The Hyksos invasion and the battle of Timbuktu, with 15000 chariots. Two-thirds of the forests in my capital are gone, this better be worth it.
1400BC: The Malinese civilization fell. So skirmishers were not that difficult after all. Too bad I killed him before I was able to obtain more techs, but if I delayed any further, he would have whipped out a couple swordsman, which would end my invasion right there.
My next target: Catherine. Pacifism civic, Jewish holy shrine, no strategic resources... I am so going to get her, and quickly.
1080BC: Catherine completed the Great Lighthouse, I complete writing. Researching code of laws myself.
850BC: The Scythian invasion. Look at the screenshot carefully: the target city is 2 turns away from all 3 of my cities that did nothing but build chariots. This is also an effective multiplayer setup.
775BC: Slave revolt in Moscow. Not that it made much difference, as there were only 2 archers there to begin with.
725BC: The end of the Russian civilization.
525BC: Nothing special, finished fishing. Tech path: sailing, mathematics, calendar. Captured lots of workers, which I am using to cottage spam. Tediously micro-managing my cities for a while. I do not see any advantage to attacking Shaka right now, and I do not see other people in my continent. Isolation is scary, so once I setup my economic base, I will shoot for optics.
Actually one more thing: no great person born in my lands yet. I am waiting for my great engineer from Timbuktu, thanks to the forge left behind by the Malinese empire. Why he built the forge in the capital that early in the game is beyond me.
75BC: My large empire is dragging me down, and I am about to expand it further. Finished mathematics and masonry, started calendar. Everything is happening more slowly than I thought, especially since this is like playing a no-tech-trading game... except the AI's can trade techs.
Yup, I am pretty sure the AI's can trade techs freely - someone went around the globe once already. There are three possibilities: optics, paper or connected islands. Any of those options have scary implications.
Oh but what am I going to DO with the great engineer I got earlier? Lemme guess... build the pyramids?
75AD: Met Darius. He's got a lot of cities too, but strangely, I'm score leader. Maybe the score system places more emphasis on land, I don't know.
125AD: Calendar finished, the barbarian horde event shows up. Goths... axeman! Thank goodness chariots can deal with them. But with that event, my next tech is obvious: iron working. I know iron is within my territory, otherwise the Malinese would not have had swordsman.
200AD: Okay I will admit it - I rarely build the pyramids, and hence, I do not really know how to manage it. One of the problems I am having right now is to balance working cottages for the future versus running scientist specialists now for the 6 beakers. My temporary solution is to run one scientist in each city that is not new, and more in my GP farm. Researching currency, in anticipation for my next wave of expansion.
400AD: State of my empire:
I knew the pyramids was the right choice. I would not have a similar beaker/flask output using a purely cottage economy at this point of the game, and I do not even have courthouses in my new cities yet, as they are still growing.
My power graph is a little more telling: my empire is twice the average, but still only on par with the Zulus and below Darius. As I predicted, I am still in a tech-hole, but the good news is that Darius is a very peaceful leader.
But where are the rest?
500AD: Shaka declared war on me... with maceman. My empire is still pretty defenseless, and he's got crossbows too. I'll research... archery. Bowmen might not hold off against them in the long run, but it'll surely give them some problems.
540AD: Oh hey look, it's Genghis! I also made the first trade of the game: philosophy for feudalism. Bowmen are nice, longbows are better.
640AD: I've pondered this question for a while - do all "extreme adventures" end up with war? I actually wanted to try something else, but seeing as Shaka forced the issue, I might as well wipe him off the map. He's got medieval units, I've got classical ones, but I can out-produce him, and that is way more than enough.
The only disappointment is not being able to bulb my way into liberalism. I guess I will need machinery after all. I know I got a higher research output thus far, but a representation-aided boast won't last until the end of the game. Shaka and Darius are already researching banking too.
980AD: Darius researching liberalism. Fine you can have it. As for the master smith event... nah. I'm almost out of the medieval period anyway.
1070AD: Great year for our great people. We took a Zulu city, and a great engineer was born. I used it to build the Notre Dame. The war continues - but now I am teching up towards curaissers. What I really need is a stack protector that does not rely on terrain features once I capture a city, as Shaka seems to be fond of defending his lands with CR maceman.
Actually, the real reason why I'm not simply razing cities is because they started ahead of me in tech, and therefore I'm sure I can find useful buildings. My usual habit is actually to raze cities so I can move my stack quickly, or simply raze as many cities as I can and leave a trail of destruction in whichever nation is the most advanced.
The reason for keeping cities, on the other hand, are more subtle. Sure, you can place them in a better spot, but I want the benefit of having more cities NOW. The effect builds up.
1220AD: I ended the war with Shaka earlier, for banking plus money. Not that I'll let up my offense - we all know that the continent is mine. But now I got a great artist... how should I use him?
I actually wanted to save him for war, but then, maybe a golden age is in order. Mmm... representation and mercantilism, I haven't actually tried that.
1280AD: Taj Mahal completed and, oh look, another golden age!
1410AD: Zulus are gone.
I'm around 600 beakers right now, but I could shoot for an even higher science output via representation and mercantilism, but I want those hammers from universal sufferage instead. My next target will be the Mongols.
1590AD: Genghis Khan declares war on me. Again, like the Zulus, whoever attacks us, will die.
1600AD: I'm a little tired of the slow rate in which my galleons are being constructed. Communism researched, so I'm just going to switch off my research and rush-build my galleons and frigates. The Mongols will now die very quickly.
1705AD: Mongolian empire gone. I just need a little bit more land for domination: Persia will be my next target.
1720AD: The US and the Persians sign a defensive pact. That... complicates things a little. As in, how do I attack Persia fast enough so that the US does not have time to intervene?
1755AD: Persia is smaller and more advanced, but I am declaring war on them anyway. My frigates could easily hold off the American galleons on the other side.
1826AD: My landgrabbing situation:
Moving troops around islands definitely delayed my victory significantly. I was hoping to end this quickly, not letting it last to tanks.
1844AD: Domination victory.
