My first game of Beyond the Sword and my first Realms Beyond game all in one! Checking the rules gives us:
Aim: The aim of this game is fun! To that end, I have hidden a vast array of items in the game that you need to discover. Well, 'need' is a bit strong, you don't 'need' to do anything (except have fun). How about … there are these things hidden in this game that you might want to possibly consider maybe looking for … yeah, that's the ticket. To help you, all of the hidden things center around the number 2. You will need to supply evidence for any item that you claim is a 2 related item.
Scoring:The results will be listed in the order of the players self confessed score based on the number of items relating to '2' that the player finds.
Anything with a 2, eh? This is my first game on Beyond the Sword, no 2 there. But I think I can claim that this is expansion number 2 of Civ4 that I'm playing.
Hehe, I'll keep my eye open for more 2s as time goes on.
Anyway, lets have a look at what we have with the preview:
Well, that doesn't give a lot away, but I can start claiming some 2's from this screenshot alone:
I get +2 health, I get x2 production speed of granary, harbor and forge (Claiming 3 seperate 2s here!).
My bonuses mean I get 2 times faster bonus building wonders than workers (50% as opposed to 25%)
I start with 2 technologies. The save game starts with Berlin already founded, so I start with 2 things under my control (Berlin and scout) on turn 2
Initially the furtherest tile I can see from either entity is 2 tiles away. Deer are 2 tiles away from my city.
I have a river on 2 sides of my city. My scout unit is made up of 2 scouts and the unit has a movement of 2.
OK, that's enough 2s for now. I move the NE then SE and this is my immediate surroundings:
What do I think of my start? Well, there's 2 deer resources nearby. I prefer cows, for the extra little bit of production, but deer will mean a healthy amount of food for Berlin. The +1 health they give will help in the long run too.
With +2 health from my trait, fresh water, deer and in the middle of a forest, health should not be an issue for a while.
Of course, all that forest is just crying out to be chopped to help produce wonders.....
Being industrious means that I get faster wonders, so I really have to target them to get the most out of this trait.
There's a few I really like to get, but I'll aim for some that I only sort of like too.
There's a turn of research into the Wheel, so I decide to stick with that. From what I know of resources, I can expect a few in the radius of the city. So far I can see 2 deer in range, so I'm guessing it's a good bet that there's something else hiding out there. Bronze or iron would be nice!
There was also a turn of production in a scout, so I keep with that for now. There's 2 patches of grassland in my city radius which we know give 2 food :)
I head for the hut, which gives me another Scout so now I have 2 Scout units.
In 3800 my northern scout finds a 2nd hut and pop it for 51 gold. I pop 3 more huts in total, gaining 2 maps and some experience. 5 huts and no free skills, that's not good My southern scout sees:
Moving on, I meet Mansa. Or is it???
Hmmmm, graphical bug with my installation? He's got the same picture as me. Still, I'll claim that as being 2 Bismark's in the game.
In 3640BC, The Wheel comes in. Coincidentally, Buddhism is FIADL. I decided early that I wasn't going to pursue a religion. Not starting with Mysticism and having no idea of my opponents, I don't want to risk going for hinduism or buddhism.
If I miss out, I'd be sitting with no religion and 2 religious techs which don't help expansion.
Was probably a good decision when Hinduism was FIADL in 3320 BC. I don't think it's possible for me to beat that without a Mysticism start.
I do intend to go for Stonehenge (which is a favorite for me when using non-Creative characters) and hopefully the Oracle.
They should give me a few Great Prophets as time goes on, I can maybe use them to lightbulb a religion or two a little later.
Other early Wonders I like are Great Lighthouse (maybe if I actually see a coastline) and Pyramids (though that can be tough as the other civs seem to prioritise that one).
I'll play it by ear for those later.
I normally have the worst luck with my scouts meeting animals. So this was a sight I'm not used to seeing:
My plan after the Wheel was Bronze Working to chop and especially to
Things are quiet as I scout and tech up.
Bronze Working in 3080 BC, then Agriculture comes in in 2400BC.
2360BC and I'm building Stonehenge in Berlin. I have 2 city sites mapped out that I really want to get:
The first will claim silver, marble AND pigs for food. It'll also be on a hill for defense.
It looks like a fantastic site for a city.
The second gets the only source of bronze anywhere near to me, so that's a no-brainer.
I originally considered the second city being one square to the right to try and claim silver and deer.
But I was afraid that the culture I see of Brennus' is actually his capital, and claiming those tiles might provoke him a bit too much.
I'll settle for just taking the spices, which will be useful in the future.
I have an idea of other sites for the future, but I've more scouting to do before I commit.
Plus, it'll take so long to get the first two cities there's no point in planning that far in advance.
There's no doubt that someone else will be staking a claim by then, so I'll plan my next cities closer to the time.
I've also noticed that I'm on the edge of the map, with bleak nothingness to my west.
I'm not used to this, as I generally play ordinary planet maps (can't remember the proper name).
It's a good thing that there's no circumnavigation bonus available, seeing as how I can't even see a coastline, chances are I wouldn't have got that one anyway :)
It's also a good thing, because it means that enemies can only come at me from 3 directions.
One bad thing is that I can only expand in 3 directions and that my Palace won't be in the middle of my Empire if I do expand a bit. I know I can move it later, but I like my capital to be my capital for the whole game. I don't like moving it just to save 20G in city maintenance later.
I meet Mehmed II of Ottoman in 2360, followed by Gilgamesh of Sumeria in 2280.
These must be new, I don't know them or their personality.
The 2 of them both have the Bismark look and I finally notice they have the same bonuses that I do.
So it's not a graphical bug then, it's actually setup as an even game.
I wondered if the different characters would take Bismark's personality or keep their own. It's still too early to tell that.
By the way, it was a long long time before I finally twigged that this was why the game was called Doppelganger.....
2200BC comes along and Stonehenge finishes. I start on a settler to expand, and get a worker to start building a road up to my first new city site.
I've now met 7 other leaders (all who look like Bismark). They are:
I know Churchill and Mansa are usually financial, and will usually quite happy to rocket through the tech tree.
Not having the financial trait might hinder them though. I imagine Asoka is like Gandhi and be generally peaceful.
I don't know any of the others, so I'll learn as I go.
2040BC and I get pottery. 1960BC and St Augustine declares that the Germans are quite backward technologically:
Too early in the game to treat that seriously though. 1840BC, I see the Great Wall built in a far away land. I hadn't made that one any kind of a priority.
My scouts see the edge of it in Brennus' borders. I found Hamburg in city site 1 around 1750-1700 BC. City number 2 is Munich, which follows in site 2 around 1200-1100 BC (didn't detail notes at this stage).
In 1080BC Mehmed converts to Brennus' Buddhism. I will avoid converting to any religion for a while to avoid tensions.
I prefer to build up peacefully for a while, and an armed conflict isn't in my interest just yet.
I now have Meditation and Priesthood, I'm teching for Iron Working and building the Oracle. Sure enough, in 1000BC:
Yep, Code of Laws with the Oracle to found Confuciasm. It was a tricky choice, as Metal Casting for my cheap forges (especially since I had silver) was very tempting.
However, I thought it might be prudent to have my own religion available to me for the future. Plus my city maintenance means I'm no longer on 100% science.
A courthouse or two is what's needed here. The free missionary is sent to Berlin and spreads the religion there.
By the way, yes I know that I've forgotten to actually hook up the bronze at Munich. That's the kind of thing I tend to forget...
By 775BC I've hooked up that bronze. I've also founded Cologne just north of Munich. My first Great Prophet is born.
As Judaism got founded in 1000BC, the same turn as Confuciasm, there's no point in lightbulbing Monotheism.
Since I'm now down to 50% science, I decide that the 5GP/turn is more useful than anything and I merge him into Berlin.
700BC and Iron Working comes in. I have some in Hamburg!!! Man, that city rocks. Even with peaks/jungle - it almost looks better than my capital.
I start Alphabet, as it must be time for some tech trading. At this point, I've had scouts most of the way around the map. At least the landmass we're on.
I'm near the left edge of the map. I've Brennus to my right. Mansa above me, Justinian below. Asoka to my far south east.
Everyone else is way way east of me and not really anything to worry about.
In 575BC, I hear that dreadful sound. The horns of war. The peaceful building phase has ended and tensions have built to the point of aggression.
.
I've read reports and see the benefits of slavery. With 2 deer for food, the people will grow back quickly.
I wanted to go for Pottery for granaries and cottages. When I selected it, I had to do fishing first.
Having not seen any water bigger than a pond, I was quite glad to find that I could select to pursue agriculture instead of Fishing as the pre-requisite.
I'd have probably picked to go with agriculture quite soon anyway to get a few farms on the go.
After pottery, I'd go towards religious techs as I'd be getting a Great Prophet soon and it would be nice to get Christianity or Confuciasm.
Brennus (Celtic) Justinian I (Byzantine) Gilgamesh (Sumeria) Mehmed II (Ottoman) Churchill (England) Mansa Musa (Mali) Asoka (India) 
Number of self confessed 2's so far = 24