Epic 2: Part 2
My next session started off extremely well - I got my first real customer!
A few turns later in 155AD I have a small collection of successes:
Gems source 3 is hooked up (above) and I meet the fifth potential customer who is kind enough to become the second real customer:
In 170AD I found Bangalore, where I promptly start building a Theatre to expand its boundaries
Even though the variant rules only say that I have to capitulate when a real customer wants me to change religions and civics I'm scared enough of antagonising the Khan before I can sell him anything that I just convert when he wants me to in 185AD ;) It doesn't really last long, I converted back to no state religion once Hinudism got to be inconvenient.
In 275AD Catherine tried to trade with me for my spare Silks, but was easily persuaded she'd rather have my fine Gems instead :)
Last potential customer met in 305AD:
And in 335AD I find the 6th Gem source - later on I find that this is the last one, but at the time I wasn't aware of that. My research goals at the time were Optics for Caravels, so that it was easier to explore & check I'd found them all. Which meant that the discovery of the last gems wasn't a cause for celebration (yet) but more dispair - as it means I'm going to have to go to war with the Khan at some point *eek*!
I did try asking him but he seemed to be thinking something about dead bodies ... guess I shall have to oblige him with some later ;)
Meanwhile, Taoism was founded elsewhere 
freeing up more techs to research once I've got those Caravels. Once I got Gems #4 hooked up I tried trading them around and discovered more bad news on the gem front - looks like Mao has some hooked up somewhere as I can't trade them with him. Guess that means there are two wars in my future!
Nobody else would take the Gems either, so I need to start improving my relations with people. This is when (425AD) I revolt away from Hinduism - it makes Toku like me more, and the Khan doesn't get too upset. A few turns later my Galley with Settler & escort on board discovers the Chinese Gem source ... right on the island where I was about to put my city. Damnit :( And even worse there's also a city right on top of the gems :(
So. I need some more military and I need a Plan for attacking the Chinese (this looks like an easier target than Turfan, so I'll procrastinate on that one). Military is easy - I make a small handful of Axemen and ship them over there. I free up the Galley for transport by sending it off to another island and founding Calcutta there:
And the Plan is also easy - I'll capture & raze Chengdu, then plonk my own city down 1 tile to the south which is currently not within the cultural borders of Ghangzhou. If I'm unlucky Ghangzhou's borders will pop before I've got my forces in place, then I'll have to capture it as well :/ But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it ;)
While I'm setting all this in motion Cyrus dials me up to cancel the gems deal!
Thankfully I manage to renegotiate & and keep him as a customer. *whew*
And I manage to sell Gems to Toku:
So as of 560AD I'm not doing badly with the Gem deals. I've managed to trade Gems with everyone who doesn't have a source of their own, and sell all my Gems:
I managed to get Open Borders from the Chinese, so I could scout out the land I'm going to attack:
Seems that Chengdu only has the one Archer as Garrison, whereas Ghangzhou has an Archer and a Spearman, and its borders are un-popped. Looking good :) A few Axes should be sufficient.
I've not been ignoring everything else in favour of ramping up the war effort (which is why it's taking so long). I've got Workboats galore heading out to hook up seafood resources asap, for the 1500AD score point. And Delhi builds the Hanging Gardens in 995AD:
Once I discover Optics (in 1040AD) my next research goal is Civil Service, for the Macemen. I'll likely need them for Turfan, even if I don't need them for the Chinese War.
In 1100AD my preparations are finally ready, and I declare war on the Chinese.
Unfortunately I've been a bit slow and Ghangzhou's borders have popped. This means that if I just raze Chengdu then there's nowhere to put a city on that island except on top of the gems. Which is forbidden. So I'm going have to capture or raze Gangzhou as well. My plan is to raze it rather than capture it then I can put my city between the Bronze and the Gems, as I originally planned.
In 1118AD I capture and raze Ghangzhou:
And in 1160AD I capture and raze Chengdu:
And peace breaks out around the world :)
All that remains is to get a Settler over there to found a new and hook up the Gems, which I do in 1196AD and 1232AD respectively:
All that remains to complete the Chinese Gem War story is to sell Mao his Gems back, for a price, of course. That doesn't take long - the sucker agrees as soon as I offer in 1232AD
Of course, the next hurdle is the Battle for Turfan, which needs some power build-up before I attempt it ...