Hard Time

I decide to start out as the Chinese, under the rule of Qin Shi Quang. From previous game play I have discovered that it is absolutely necessary to acquire an iron mine. Death by barbarians who have one unit of axe that plows through 4 units of clubers is enough to make anyone throw their computer against the wall. My capital was right next to an iron source and I immediately began pumping out axeman, spear men, and swordsmen. Ghengis Khan is above me and we make peace. 15 minutes into the game he declared war on me. As my first times playing as the Chinese I sort of expected to be attacked eventually by the Mongolians, but I wasn't expecting it to be that fast. A few thousand years before his time, Ghengis Khan still had the drive to take me over. My starting location was about the same location as the Jin Dynasty in China in about 1200. Way before his time I attempted to battle Ghengis Khan for control of my land with steel weapons backed by slave labor.
Anyway, I had already taken on an relatively expansionist role in this game and I had my warriors pretty stretched out. After warding off a few attacks I finally fell under the constant pressure applied by Khan. But I didn't stop there. I played again with the same parameters and this time I built fewer settlements, attained the iron mine, and began making axemen and spearmen. I waited and just like before Khan befriended me and then attacked me. I thought I was ready but then in comes a whole bunch of long bowmen from Khan's territory and I quickly learned the value of archers. I lost this game too. Frustrated, I decided to play as the Mongols in the next (but that is another post).
Back in the 13th Century BC Ghengis Khan set out to take over the Jin Dynasty first (as he did in both my games). The Jin Dynasty is in Northern China and was therefore the first nation to oppose him. The defeat of the Jin Dynasty only occurred because they did not attack when they had their first opportunity. Instead they waited and attempted to resolve their differences peacefully (sounds like a peace treaty to me, o wait, i had one of those too). Needless to say, once the Mongols were ready and positioned properly they slaughtered the Jin armies and sacked their capitol (present day Beijing).
For future game play I will be sure to make many, many units of archers and long bowmen. I need to find the right balance between cities and units. Waiting for a city to increase its influence in the surrounding areas can take too long and other empires can take resources that I want.