C3C 1.22
Level: Demigod
Civilization: Persians
Barbarians: No barbarians
Climate: Standard size map, normal, temperate, 4 billion
Landform: Random
AI Aggression: Normal
7 random Opponents
All other rules standard

I vowed to play the first start. Past that, it was every civ for itself. :)

The start:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/4000bc.JPG

In 4000 BC, the not-so-great city of Persepolis was founded next to two big herds of cattle. All Persian scouts could see to the north was hills and jungle, and the south seemed to narrow out into a landbridge.

3950 BC came around, and the lazy Persian people realized they would not get far if they did not work. "Alright men", the governor said. "We are tired of having just this city, so let's make a settler to go find another good place."

And so they began their work, training a local man in all the things he would need to explore the surrounding lands and survive in the wilderness.

It was around 3600 BC when the governor gave a new command. "Halt all production on the settler! We want to build a great big useless statue."

The man who was being trained was told this: "At least you have survival skills now."

The people were confused, but they wanted to build a great big useless statue too. They decided to call it the Colossus.

A scout from a tribe that called themselves the 'French' was spotted to the south in 3300 BC. The sight of a non-Persian was odd, and everyone was intrigued. A Persian scout made haste to catch him before he went away. The French scout was invited to Persepolis to speak with the governor. Unfortunately, there was nothing of interest to discuss, and the French scout was let along his way.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/3300bc.JPG

Eventually it was finished in 2470 BC. Everyone was happy and threw a party. But the governor was most displeased. "You must stop partying and get back to work! Remember that settler you were training? Go fetch him."

All the people went looking for the settler, and by 2310 BC the settler was at Persepolis. He was immediately sent to the southwest to found a city past the landbridge.

The people wanted to follow him, but the governor forbid them. "You must train another settler."

So they did, and due to their experience at training the last settler, this one only took until 2100 BC. But a little before this time, news was sent from the first settler that he had found a large plains with scattered forests, hills, and even mountains. He was to found a new city as soon as he decided on the perfect place for the Persian people to inhabit.

"This place sounds marvelous!" proclaimed the governor. "Send the next settler there immediately!". And so it was done.

The first settler founded a town he called 'Pasargadae', after his favorite uncle back in Persepolis. The settler, who became the new governor of Pasargadae, was worried for the safety of his town. "Build walls around the town using any stone you can find!"

As the walls were being built, the next settler came along to rest in Pasargadae. He asked the governor of Pasargadae where he should travel next.

"Down south, certainly. The ocean is to the east and north, and the west is simply more plains. Yet we recieve rumors of green lands to the south, like those at Persepolis!"

The settler thanked him for the advice, and went on his way.

Meanwhile, Persepolis had been working on a barracks. The governor of Persepolis had heard of the walls being constructed at Pasargadae, and resolved that he should not have an easily overrun town either.

In 1910 BC, Persepolis completed its barracks, and started to train the very first warrior.

In 1870 BC, the settler to the south found some more herds of cattle, and founded a city he called Arbela. Arbela was the name of a local herb that some thought had great healing powers. The settler (soon to be governor) believed strongly in these, and by turn gave the name to his city.

And so the Persian empire had three cities.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/1830bc.JPG

Over the years, the walls at Pasargadae were finished, and a new type of soldier started to be trained in the barracks at Persepolis. Pasargadae was not to be outdone. "We will construct a barracks too." said the governor.

The Persian people had been looking into a concept called 'Iron Working' that they had heard about from the French. They were dismayed to find they had no such iron in the lands. They instead focused their efforts on making pottery. Pottery was simple to master, and they showed their friends the French. The French, who were very religious, offered in return to teach the Persians about temple construction and various rites of the dead, such as burial.

This was important to the Persians, even more so than their barracks. They decided to build a temple of their own where the people could practice their religion. It was almost built in Pasagadae, but the people felt strongly against it, and overruled the governor's decision in a violent riot. The governor quickly backed down, and let the people have their way.

It was instead built in Arbela. After all, the magical herbs could be found there, so it was a mystical site...

While all this was being done, civilian workers were constructing a road to make travel faster amongst the cities of the Persian empire.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/road.JPG

A short while after they made their barracks, the people of Pasagadae saw the splendor of the temple that was nearing completion at Arbela. They hurried to start on their own. The people of Persepolis had also trained another settler, who agreed to brave the jungles up north. He found more fertile land and settled the city of Antioch.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/1425bc.JPG

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/1425bc2.JPG

One major innovation to the empire was the concept of a shared military. The govenors got together for a conference in Persepolis. There, they decided that all troops produced would help to defend all city. In return, Arbela had to produce a barracks to assist with the effort. Persepolis had to produce a temple as a gesture towards the religious beliefs of Pasagadae and Arbela. Because he had a new city to oversee, the governor of Antioch did not attend, although the other governors agreed to include Antioch in their accord.

There was a brief conflict, as Persepolis nearly violated the agreement by training another settler. But they made a temple, and all was well again.

The settler traveled up north and founded another city: Gordium, a word roughly meaning 'north coast'.

The Persians had figured out how to make their own alphabet and thus were able to record information on scrolls. Using these scrolls, the people could compare information, and by consulting with the French, they borrowed some diagrams involving the construction of a 'curragh'. Antioch started making one of these.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/1200bc.JPG

The temples built throughout the Persian empire evidentally had an effect on the lands. The ideas generated by these temples spread the boundaries of Persian culture a little further. Another herd of cattle was soon under their control in the south.

A team of Persian workers also slaved night and day to connect the Persian empire to the French empire. It was hard work in the hot sun of the plains, but it was done quickly due to the Pasargadae governor's persistance.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/1100bc.JPG

The people of Antioch heard about the curragh project at Gordium, and endevoured to build their own. They had more forests around their city, and thus more materials to complete the project faster. As the year neared 1000 BC, the race was on to see which city could complete their curragh faster.

Another important discovery was made by the craftsmen at the Persepolis barracks near 1000 BC. Using supple pieces of wood and stringing a cord to it, they were able to shoot sharp objects anywhere they wanted. They called the wood and cord a 'bow' and the sharp objects 'arrows'. The barracks nation-wide started to train soldier in the use of bows and arrows. They called such troops 'Archers'.

Persian scientists had an alphabet, but they were still unable to effectively communicate ideas. Diagrams were interesting, but some thought that the real importance was when individual letters were put together. It was decided that a method of grouping letters together to express thoughts was necessary, and work began on this.

By 1000 BC, the Persian Empire was prospering, but it had no more room to expand, with the ocean on one side, and the French on the other side. To the Persian governors, there was only one way out and it would not be pretty...

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/1000bc.JPG

ooooooh your stuck on a penensula... just hope you get iron! :hammer:

Does France have iron? It might be hard to bash them if they've got swords...

France does have iron (the pink borders you see to the SE), but their iron city is luckily close.

To the Persian governors, there was only one way out and it would not be pretty...

One city culture victory? :)

Looks like you've got a tough battle at hand. I'd be hard-pressed to take a city in this situation on Emperor, and Demigod would be impossible for me; good luck with the expansion.

In 900 BC, the people of Gordium got very unhappy and threw a riot, when they realized that the Antiochians would complete the first curragh. They were also upset with this 'preparing for war' idea. As they recruited archers from the various cities, those of Gordium said "Heck no, we won't go!", and refused to make a barracks.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/900bc.JPG

The governor of Persepolis came to Gordium to console them, and by 875 BC, all was right again. They agreed that they would produce a barracks and assist with the upcoming war.

Both Antioch and Gordium soon completed their curraghs and sent them out on exploring missions in the northeast waters. They discovered an interesting island, but there was not enough room on any curragh to store enough supplies to set up a colony.

As time went on, the curraghs had scouted the whole island, and set off through the ocean to explore east. They did not realize the dangers of the oceans, and both sank. Yet word came to the governors that before the curragh from Gordium sank, it had gained contact with an island empire: The English. The English were rather uninterested in any trading, and the curragh was forced to turn back, at which point it was swallowed up by a storm.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/curragh.JPG

Preparations for war continued, and Arbela built walls of its own, like those at Pasargadae.

In 610 BC...the Persians felt ready to take on the French. They devised a strategy:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/610battle.JPG

The troops in Pasargadae would stay and defend the Persian border from French attacks. Meanwhile, the troops from Arbela would head southeast towards Both groups consisted of a mix of archers and spearmen. Re-enforcements from the north would help with fronts that weren't going so well.

The force in Arbela:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/arbela610.JPG

The force in Pasargadae:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/pasa610.JPG

But before they attacked, they wanted to trade once more with the unsuspecting French. French and Persian diplomats arranged this deal:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/trade1.JPG

In 590 BC, Persia declared war on France. France started to scramble its troops, but Persia made a bold move towards the city of Lyons, and by consequence, the French iron.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/590war.JPG

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/attack590.JPG

Persia did not know yet the horrors swordsmen could inflict, and did not either understand how poor archers could fare in a siege.

France did not give Persia a chance to do anything. Persia tried to fight back, but as they lost half of their attacking force, they saw no choice but to abandon the siege of Lyons. The archers moved to the iron, figuring that they should at least pillage the French iron mines before attempting to retreat, or die trying.

Meanwhile, French forces threatened the Persians from the south and west, but both were dealt with by the Pasargadae force.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/570battle.JPG

As more scattered French groups appeared, Persian supply lines tried to get more archers and spearmen down the roads to help fight back. The assault force of archers on Lyons was wiped out by French swordsmen, but not before the iron was pillaged.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/battle1.JPG
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/battle2.JPG
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/battle3.JPG

In 490 BC, Persian generals took a risk by sending the Pasagadae force to capture Lyons, which they deemed to be even more important than ever. Some spearmen patrolled the borders, continuing to fend off minor raids of French warriors.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/490bc.JPG

This was not successful, and the fierce swordsmen wiped out half of this force too. The remainder of the attack force hastily retreated to help at Arbela.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/battle4.JPG

From this point on, neither side was very successful, and the war was a deadlock. The French were unable to capture any Persian cities, but the Persians were equally unable.

The Persepolis governor proclaimed this in 450 BC:

"Every Persepolian warrior should be proud of his service. Without their bravery and outstanding archery, Pasargadae might be a French city as we speak."

Meanwhile, the governor of Arbela said:

"We are working as always to capture Lyons. But it is simply too great of a risk at the moment to send out a third force to fight the French swordsmen presence at Lyons, while we have other French forces to worry about from the west and south. And no! I cannot make promises with regard to the war situation, while the French still threaten our very welfare."

In 410 BC, a rumor spread throughout the known world:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/hittites.JPG

More and more started to call for the resignation of the Arbelian governor. Eventually, he resigned in 390 BC out of disgrace. Just before he left office however, as a 'last act' as governor, he sent the retreating Persians to go secure the iron.

The combined force of a spearman batallion and an archer regiment was able to hold the mountain for awhile.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/battle5.JPG

With the brilliance of commanders up north, the front was soon fairly quiet. The Persians were devastated by their total inability to either capture Lyons or secure any iron for themselves, and a diplomat was sent to Paris to discuss peace terms. The diplomat found that the French people were also tired of war. Peace was signed in 370 BC.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/peace370bc.JPG

The Persians had not given up on their dreams of war. They realized that the only way the Persian Empire would ever find greatness was through the utter destruction of France. Thus, they continued to train troops for another effort against the French.

One thing that helped was the scientific advancements. Through trade, and also their own efforts, the Persians learned of wonderous things like 'Philosophy', 'Polytheism', 'Mathematics', and even 'Map Making'.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/30bctechs.JPG

The most important to the Persian generals was mathematics. They built great weapons of bombardment that they called 'catapults'. Many of these were produced, and even greater numbers of archers were trained than in the last war.

The French didn't suspect a thing, and had not made nearly as much of an effort to rebuild their army as the Persians had, although the iron was reconnected at Lyons. The same plan as before was set, but the generals were confident the increased numbers, and their secret weapon, catapults, would allow victory. Fewer troops stayed at home to defend, because the catapult bombardment weakened enemies so much, they could not hold a decent siege on any Persian city.

One Persian general wasn't as optimistic in his report on the current state of the army:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/30bcarmy.JPG

Some of the brightest Persian minds gathered at this time and using the Map Making they had learned, drew what they knew of the world:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/104555/30bcmap.JPG

It was time for Persia to triumph.

Great story so far! Hope you get that iron.

:eek: A French military victory (or at least not a loss), and the Hittites already destroyed. This hasn't been a romp, not surprisingly with the starting situation. Good luck with the second offensive - it's most fortunate the French don't appear to be very advanced.

Nice plotline! :thumbsup:

Looks like France isn't going down without a fight! :ar15:

dude continue the story plz i realy like it

Hey, I noticed the graphics in this story are not of the usual C3C or Vanilla graphics I've seen. Is it because some of the graphics have been switched out?

He's using one of the different variatons that came with Play the World.

I often thought it was superior to the originals.

Hey, is this actually going to have another post, or is the thread dead?

Or am I just doing this to get a thirtieth post?

Give it another month and pass judgement.

Sadly, I won't be continuing this story.

I had tremendous success for a long while wiping out France easily, then I found a killer AI: the Ottomans. I tried to attack this killer AI to catch up in tech with them, but my large landing force with immortals and catapults was overwhelmed by superior units. I tried hard to make progress on their land, but I was unable, and my force was largely wiped out.

Could you at least post what you played and/or a save for others to play?

And couldn't you research until you had modern armor or something?

So maybe wasting all those shields on the collosus was a stupid Idea, huh?

Never thought of using imageshack?

So maybe wasting all those shields on the collosus was a stupid Idea, huh?

Have you no sense of decency? I gave the first of these the benefit of the doubt last night, figuring it may well be a hurried response that ended up a bit curt from the difficulties of expressing oneself perfectly over the Internet, but the second shows it wasn't just a hurried choice of words. I've half a mind to report the latter one for flaming, but that's not really a great welcome to a forum.

Sure it's the great big Internet and you aren't talking to your teacher or grandmother, but that doesn't mean it's not a person. And while you might not mind someone calling your Civ strategies stupid, that doesn't mean no one minds. I'm sure Elear knows The Colossus probably wasn't the most efficient way to expand his civilization, but sometimes you make decisions to make a game interesting or add to the story rather than purely what is best for your civilization.

It's far better to post diplomatically, disagreeing at times of course, but always being polite. Over time forum members gain reputations, and you want yours to be positive. Short, rude replies aren't going to get you that.

Let me correct these posts for you:

Have you tried using ImageShack?

You should've built more military units early on instead of The Colossus.

A bit more diplomacy will go a long way in helping other's perception of you, and likely your enjoyment of CFC as well. Now stop banging your head so much and enjoy a nice game of Civ! You do have one of the most interesting nicknames in a long time! :wallbash:

So maybe wasting all those shields on the collosus was a stupid Idea, huh?

I loved it. Best opening move I've seen in a long time.

He is on demigod, going for a single city cultural win, stuck on a penninsula, with high corruption.

The french killed him, not the colossus.

The colossus gave him a return on his investment every turn. Its one of the cheapest wonders to build if not *the* cheapest. The earlier he built it, the bigger the return. Throwing tons of units at the french gave him zero return, which left him weak for the Ottomans.

As has been shown in other posts, even on Deity a strong military is not needed to win.

I admired the strategy. Nice game. :)

I'm sure Elear knows The Colossus probably wasn't the most efficient way to expand his civilization, but sometimes you make decisions to make a game interesting or add to the story rather than purely what is best for your civilization.


I could be mistaken, but I believe he wins on Sid regularly.

Theoretically, you only need one city to win a single city cultural victory.

Anyone tried demigod with one city?

[edit]: going to try it tonight.

A bit more diplomacy will go a long way in helping other's perception of you, and likely your enjoyment of CFC as well. Now stop banging your head so much and enjoy a nice game of Civ! You do have one of the most interesting nicknames in a long time! :wallbash :

The collosus jab was a hurried post at about 3am.

I'm just going to say, even playing on warlord, building a wonder that early is a suicide move. This I learned the hard way.

And I don't see how my suggestion for using imageshack was rude. :(

However, building a wonder that early isn't necessarily a stupid move.

As people have pointed out, the Colossus is a cheap and useful wonder. It might not be the best move, but it was certainly interesting and not "stupid"

Suggesting Imageshack in itself isn't rude, but the way you phrased it made it seem like criticism. When you say "Never thought of..." it appears as if you are criticizing somebody for not thinking of a good idea. Very rude.

Well, I made the attempt. Two attempts actually.

Playing on standard map, 7 random opponents, archis, demigod. One city: Athens. First attempt the vikings built the colossus first. Second attempt was much better, I built the colossus, great library, mausaleum, and knights templar. But I still only have about 5k culture with about 250 turns left, nettting around 45 culture a turn. Probably not even worth continuing to play. I've already built temple, library, university, cathedral, and colloseum.

I ALWAYS build the pyramids. If I don't build the pyramids, I restart the game. Then again I play on warlord (though I might move up to regent soon), so who knows?

Keep in mind I have only one city. So the pyramids give me only one granary in addition to the culture. I believe they are 1 culture point per 100 shields, pretty costly. Colossus is 200/3, pretty darn cheap. The GL is 6 culture. With one city on demigod, its hard to get the GL and Pyramids.

I went Colossus > Temple > GL > Library > Mausoleum (tried for Pyramids) > Colosseum > Templars > University > Cathedral.

Athens got stuck behind the leaders in tech, and there is nobody to trade with. Fours civs have everything, three civs have nothing. I have enough gold to buy one tech. I can research at about 20-22 turns earning 30 gpt, or drop the slider and max out gold.

If I continue the game, my best chance is to give away all my techs to the weaker tribes, buy a tech from the more advanced tribes, drop my slider, and hope to make deals with the weaker tribes in the future. The mongol capital was just moved, which pretty much leaves me with two potential trade partners.

Just can't see Athens building any more wonders. I'll try again. If I manage a win, I'll post it.

To clear something up, for awhile I didn't think I would be able to fight France. I built the Colossus out of boredom. Remember how little unit support I had, but yes, I should have focused on troops if I knew I had a chance at winning.

Anyway, the Ottomans were on a huge island and were also advanced by trading with the Babylonians (another advanced civ).

Fighting France had almost nothing to do with my war against the Ottomans. I landed about 40 immortals and 16 catapults on the Ottoman lands in stacks, but the terrain was horrible. Their units were desperate at retaking cities, stuck to mountains negating my attack, and attacked me when I got in their way, killing me (2 defense + hill or mountain is still vulnerable to 4 and 5 attack units). They bombarded and attacked my immortal armies (they will do this when their attack is 100 percent more than the armies core defense value). I didn't technically lose this game, but after that, I lost interest in writing the story. It may be interesting to see if I could find the save file and still win somehow. We will have to see.

p.s. - the colossus is great for when you need every bit of $$$

To clear something up, for awhile I didn't think I would be able to fight France. I built the Colossus out of boredom.

The story makes it seem like you built nothing else before you started the colossus... is that not the case? That was the approach I took with Athens.

I ALWAYS build the pyramids. If I don't build the pyramids, I restart the game. Then again I play on warlord (though I might move up to regent soon), so who knows?

Thats isn't a good thing. I usually never build large wonders, except maybe Smith's trading co.

Usually by then I have things well under control.

Checks back... yes, Elear started a settler immediately in 3950BC, but changed to the Colossus in 3600BC. The Colossus certainly was the first thing he built! Perhaps a dubious move, but it has certainly got people talking.

IIRC, I don't think Elear ever actually said he was going for 20k victory.