Neo-Mobius Returns... New Campaign


I understand if you are concerned right now. I seem to have developed a fetish for starting new stories, yes? I'm still working on German and American AoI stories, have plans to do a British one on a modified map, and I'm even working on a Brandenburg AAR in the All Other Games forum. However, since nobody cares for the AARs I do in All Other Games for the most part, that won't be a problem.

After modifying Rhye's awesome map, I have chosen to start up this story again. I have tweaked it so it fits me perfectly. Everything will fall into place.

Given how stagnant the last game was in the beginning due to effing flood plains, I have chosen a far more potent civ to start as... China.

Before we begin, six Civs besides myself have been chosen as the "Great Powers." These countries will be randomly selected, and I will not know who they are until I play. Great Powers are endowed by the Gods, and thus all of them have one of six extra techs to start... the techs being: Writing, Mathematics, Iron Working, Sailing, Currency, and Construction. They also each get an extra worker.

China itself is marked as a great power because it's controlled by the human. My benefit is not techs. Instead, I get 3 workers to start, rather than 1 or 2. I also get an extra warrior. I will have to work for the Great Power technologies.

A little disadvantageous to my position is that I've added more roads to Europe along historic trade routes. This makes Europeans more mobile and more lethal in their quest for land. Furthermore, alongside the Great Power variant, there will also be the fact Europeans start with their capital already settled, allowing for two cities very early. The Americans share in this in that, being a European-descended country and frontier country to boot, they get their capital settled at the start and 1 extra settlers, allowing them to have THREE cities within the first few turns. Finally, the historical Great Powers(Portugal, Spain, France, England and Holland) all get Astronomy as a free tech.

The time for worker jobs have been halved; I do not want it taking forever to develop an economy.

I have no choice but to complete this story for personal reasons.




---

Chapter I: The Dawn of Erizo

Thousands of years ago, the great city of Shadking was little more than a collection of huts distributed across a vast region. They traded with eachother, and even fought eachother. But nothing came of this for a while.

Until of course, the Legendary Chieftan Marius came into the picture. Spreading the word of his god, Shadou, he rallied an army of followers and gradually swallowed up the whole region. A small monument to Shadou until a better, proper temple could be constructed. Until then, Marius now was King of a united capital province, and he intended to expand to every corner of the world.

Shadou granted Marius a gift as part of his success, a powerful, green gem called a Chaos Emerald. With the powers of the gem, Marius' citizens were infused with skills and strength, swelling the ranks of his soldiers and hard laborers. Shadou was quick to withdraw from the scene after this, saying he would return to check on Marius' progress.

On a side note, the Chaos Emerald also granted it's holder immortality, as it was crafted from the divine essence of the gods.

---

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/4000BCShadkingFounded.jpg

Behold Shadking, the first city of Marius' new state, which he calls "Erizo." Shadou sighs at his subordinate's pun.

Marius' first order is for his workers to move out and build a road in the north; that is where our lone laborer now works the fields. Our spare warrior band of 500 soldiers is sent west along a strange route we've discovered. Shadou mentions this will become a prominent link for Erizo's greatness in the future.

Shadking builds a second warrior in 3850 BC. Our old warrior band moving West is now more expendable. As well, we can protect our workers better in the fields should any less-than-savory neighbors come knocking.


http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/3850BCSilks.jpg

3850 BC also marks the year where a source of silks is linked up to Shadking, making the populace far more obedient. Marius divides his workers at Shadou's urging; one band heads to connect the second source of Silks, while another heads further west - accompanied by a guard - to irrigate and bring water to the city limits of Shadking.


3700 BC, our warrior band arrived at a strange land in the South, as we could see border outposts. This was done while evading a horde of men riding horses further West.


3650 BC, contact is established; this new neighbor is India. They are relatively benign, not having much of an armed force to threaten us. However, they are one tech ahead.


http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/3500BCCultureExpands.jpg

3500 BC, our culture expands! The glory of Shadou spreads to more lands, and as a result our line-of-sight and security is greatly increased.


We meet the Koreans in 3450 BC. Marius sees both have technologies we lack, but with the proper maneuvers, we can nab one and use it as leeway to nab the other.

The Yayoi Tribe southwest of India gives us map information, showing us the borders of another country nearby.


In 3350 BC, with gold stockpiled, Marius goes to India to learn the secrets of their Mystic Arts.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/3350BCGandhiTrade.jpg

...He accepts! With this deal sealed, Marius can now plan to seize the art of Pottery from Korea.


In 3250 BC, we meet the Persians, who's leader is an ass to us from the start. Good thing he's on the other side of the continent...


In 3050 BC, the Mongols in the North are finally met by us. They lag a bit behind, not possessing Mysticism, yet our advisor mentions they are technologically advanced... could they be one of the Six Great Powers?


http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/2950BCWealthiestCountries.jpg

With 2950 BC, a St. Augustine publishes a list of the wealthiest countries in the world:

With the population of Shadking now at level 3, Marius authorises the first wave of expansionism to the Southeast. He has already crafted a road to his intended colony, as can be seen in the above picture.

Knowing Korea cannot expand without a navy if their peninsula is blocked, Marius also dispatches three warriors to manipulate the terrain so that the Koreans cannot expand until they have shipping lanes.


2850 BC, our warrior in the West is surrounded by barbarians shortly after discovering Babylon. Feeling our explorations are sufficient for now, Marius cuts off supplies to the group and says they will need to fall back to Erizo proper if they want any supplies.


2600 BC, we negotiate with the Mongols for some money in exchange for Mysticism:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/2600BCMongolsDeal.jpg


2500 BC, our first Settler band is trained, and sent to the Southeast. Erizo will soon wield two cities.


http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/2450BCSondao.jpg
2450 BC, we found Sondao. This is in honor of the newly-introduced God of the Air, Sonikku. The city will be important, as it is closer to Korea and also serves as another harbor. It is ordered to build a temple so as to strengthen Erizoan influence in the city.


2350 BC, with only 8 turns remaining before we discover Warrior Code, we outright go to Gandhi and ask him for it:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/2350BCWarriorCodeGandhi.jpg

With our new city, research times can be cut from 40 turns to 21 while still making a profit.


2200 BC, Shadou smiles upon us:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/2200BCWheelDiscovered.jpg

Marius does, however, growl at his master for deliberately placing the aptly-named tribe near him; Marius himself is distinguished by having blonde hair and blue eyes. Of course, only Marius and Shadou get the joke.


2150 BC, we erect the first Temple to Shadou:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/2100BCTempleinShadking.png


2100 BC, we erect the first Erizo Barracks in Shadking. We convert to producing another Settler.


http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/2050BCBabylonTrade.jpg

2050 BC, we go to Babylon and negotiate a transfer of the art of Masonry to Erizo.


1975 BC, we trade with Korea:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1975BCKoreaTrade.jpg

Now with 2 more technologies under our belt, Erizo is well on it's way to greatness.


http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1800BCSukajuria.jpg

1800 BC, we found Sukajuria after another recently-arrived deity, Sukaju, known in English as "Scourge." We now have another source of silks as a bonus.


1775 BC, one of our scouts to the far south is massacred by the barbarians. Alas, we at least discovered all of our coastline.


With 1700 BC, another temple has been raised in Sondao, while we also discover...

Bronze working! We can now move on to Iron Working, which will yield swordsmen. From there, we can launch a massive assault against the Koreans.

...We soon learn our own northern neighbor is one of the "Great" Powers:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1700BCIronWorking.jpg

No wonder they were running around with Swordsmen, even though they don't have any of the prerequisite techs! It seems they have the powerful iron resource, which we can now indulge in. This is thanks to their stupidity in sharing it with us; we will return to Mongolia in due time not to negotiate, but to demand.

Sure enough, Shadou smiles on us:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1700IronnHorses.jpg

There are sources of iron and horses just west of Shadking! We will hack down the forests in the area and build a grand new settlement to exploit these resources. Once under our control, they can be used to equip hordes of soldiers, who will then march on Seoul.

With that, Chapter I ends.

Chapter II: The Birth of the Erizoan Empire

1650 BC, it becomes apparent that we can construct Sun Tzu's Art of War, the codename for a massive militarisation program, in Shadking after we finish it's granary. We decide to build an archer to protect our workers in the West, then begin enacting the military reforms. Once those are finished, we can expand again. Meanwhile, the forest on top of our future city will be cleared.

1625 BC, The Mongols demand Masonry from us; they're obviously concerned about our signs of expansionism. But we refuse to give it. Perhaps we can sell it instead?

1625 BC, the cultural influence of Sondao becomes apparent and spreads.

1550 BC, the influence of Korea expands, and we are forced to withdraw our temporary blockade. However, there is a benefit: Korea's expansion takes our small claim on Southwestern Korea away from us, giving us a casus belli.

1400 BC, the forest is finally cleared! Our imperial ambitions will be realised within a century.

1250 BC, Nakking is founded, named after the new deity Nakkuruzu, known to some as Knuckles:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1250BCNuking.jpg

Notice the Mongol Horde moving South. We are doing our best to hinder it's advance into rightfully Erizoan territory.

1225 BC, we purchase Literature from the Babylonians.

1075 BC, a city called Paris, under the "French", completes the Great Library.

1000 BC, we complete the Colossus:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1000BCColossus.jpg

The Great Statue increases our income significantly by attracting many merchants from around the Eastern seas. These include merchants from recently-discovered Japan.




----





975 BC, the advent of Code of Laws allows us to establish embassies in foreign capitals. We do this with Japan and Mongolia, who could be key partners in the regional picture.

850 BC, we found Mailuzian, named after the deity Mairusu, also called Miles or Tails:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/850BCMailuzian.jpg

Notice the city's central strategic location, and the fact that once it and Nakking's borders expand, a fair share of the Silk Road will fall under Erizoan influence.

700 BC, the power of Mathematics is harnessed by our scientists. We will now pursue Marius' greatest idea: a common currency.

690 BC, a loosely-organised municipality comes to exist in the mountains along the Silk Road. When our men demolish a vein of the silk road outside the city, it becomes necessary for travellers to come through this group of villages in order to reach Erizo, and the municipality is hence called...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/690BCGatesofErizo.jpg

The Gates of Erizo.

690 BC is also the year where Mailuzian is connected with Erizo proper, and a flow of dyes from the region hits markets countrywide. With another resource under our belt, Erizo's power and influence is swelling.

680 BC heralds the announcement of the world's most advanced countries:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/670BCAdvancedCountries.jpg

Babylon, which is more advanced than us, is all the way at the bottom. We can only imagine what the other, mysterious countries are like.

610 BC, a scouting party discovers the Israelis, who have set up a colony northeast of Persia.

590 BC, our troops enter Persia, which is far more developed than the last time we had men there. However, we take note at the Babylonians, who somehow have stockpiled FIVE THOUSAND gold bars, while at the same time, they have reached the Middle Ages!

---



First Erizo-Korean War(550 BC - 380 BC)

550 BC, with a large amount of troops ready, Marius orders an all-out attack on Korea. We do not desire to destroy the Koreans, but we do desire to take their capital, Seoul, and thus banish them to the history books in terms of significance.

510 BC, Seoul falls:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/510BCSeoul.jpg

No losses were incurred, amazingly. The locals choose to embrace the rule of Erizo, and mass conversions to the faith of Shadou commence; many people had already converted before the invasion, in terms of religion, Erizo and Korea were borderline one country.

Seoul is rechristened Douseoul. Our troops that are leftover move West, catching up to a Korean settler band. We will exterminate them so as to hasten the decline of Korea.

Speaking of the West, we also meet the Ottomans, and the land of "Europe" slowly begins to be drawn by cartographers.

490 BC, a band of Korean spearmen is slain. If we can kill another spearmen and a swordsmen, we will capture a band of Korean settlers.

Sure enough, the Settler band fell with no losses, and two new bands of slaves emerged. They were sent south to oversee the clearing of a new forest. The lumber from said forest would be used to build another port city.

490 BC also heralds the meeting of the Byzantines, who while hostile towards the Turks, still are in the Ancient Age with us. We can probably use them as a launchpad... That in mind, we negotiate to learn the art of Sailing.

480 BC, we implement a new currency policy. By being able to construct more advanced, more efficient marketplaces, the commerce of the empire is expected to skyrocket.

470 BC, we discover the Greeks, relatives of the Byzantines who live further South. Using our Silk Empire once again as a bludgeon, we convince them to part with the secrets of Mounted Combat.

450 BC, it is revealed the Greeks and Byzantines are at war. Marius deems it the "Greek Civil War."

440 BC, Barbarians pillage a segment of the Silk Road in Turkey. This causes the three civilisations there to no longer trust us. Ah well, we acquired technology!

380 BC, the war with Korea finally ends with their submission:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/380BCKoreaPeace.jpg

---





350 BC, we complete the Great Lighthouse, adding a third architectural masterpiece to the streets of Shadking:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/350BCGreatLighthouse.jpg

Now, even more merchants can find Shadking's guiding light. As well, more shipping architects move to Erizo with our growing naval assets, allowing any ships we construct to be stronger and faster, especially the latter.

350 BC also has us acquire another technology from the Babylonians. Once we have Construction in 6 turns, we can enter the Middle Ages.

---

This chapter closes with Erizo well on it's way to prominence. With vast economic resources and a steadily accelerating network of technologies, economic growth will not be difficult.

Below you can see the Empire as of 350 BC, with the two future port cities circled:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/350BCEmpire.jpg

In terms of statistics, we control 1% of the world and 6% of it's population. So far, our greatest rival is Mongolia, with 1% of the world and 3% of it's population...

To give an idea of how things are, here's the Power Bar:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/350BCPowerBar.jpg

Until next time, my readers! May Shadou watch over you all!

However, since nobody cares for the AARs I do in All Other Games for the most part

Hardly...

What is Scourge god of anyway? Mirrors or somesuch perhaps?...

Hardly...

What is Scourge god of anyway? Mirrors or somesuch perhaps?...

Point taken, I'll start putting a disclaimer saying "except IronMan2055" after every time I say that. :lol:

I may as well list all the Gods and their qualities while I'm here.


Shadow: God of Spirit/Soul; he is also considered the master of the Sun, Night, Day, and Time usually. Patron of bureucrats and nobles. Pretty much the patron of all forms of authority and power. Adding onto that, he is usually considered the head of the Erizoan Pantheon.

Sonic: God of Water. Patron of travelers and merchants. Also the God of individuality, kindness(mercy, charity, etc.), and freedom.

Scourge: God of Fire and War. Patron of soldiers. Also the God of Death and all kinds of destruction. True to his firey, energetic nature however, he also represents parties and living on the wild - and dangerous - side. A god of destruction and chaos, while also the god of celebration and fun(usually dirty rather than clean). Go figure.

Miles/Tails: God of Air. Patron of scientists and skilled workers. God of invention and knowledge.

Knuckles: God of Earth. Patron of laborers, farmers and the poor. Also the lord of physical strength, agriculture and weapons.

Chapter III: A Medi-Evil Empire

350 BC, word reaches us that the "French" have constructed a massive structure called the Hanging Gardens. The Babylonians then start work on the Great Wall; this is only possible because we are trading them our Silks.

290 BC, we found Shonghai:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/290BCShonghai.jpg

250 BC, an Oracle awakens in Shadking:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/250BCOracle.jpg

230 BC, with our mastery of construction...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/240BCMiddleAges.jpg

We have entered the Middle Ages!

210 BC, the Arabs are encountered. Their scholars have mastered the ideals of Republicanism and Theocracy, but Marius does not care for these secondary technologies.

190 BC, Greece and a "Spain" sign a peace treaty; it seems the Greeks are at war with quite a few people! Then a "Germany" does as well!

170 BC, we make contact with the Egyptians!

130 BC, we receive word the "Germans" have been destroyed. It would appear the continent of Europa is rife with conflict if it's residents are being slaughtered!

70 BC, Marius' laborers finish a mass fortification effort in the northern borders of the Empire, meant to keep the Mongols out:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/70BCGreatWall.jpg



---

30 BC, the "Dutch" city of "Rotterdam" completes Magellan's Voyage. 30 BC is also the year where we meet the Portuguese, who seem to be the little man surrounded by advanced powers.

Most notably about 30 BC...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/30BCNewWorldDiscovered.jpg

Our ships have careened off course while travelling north, and have uncovered a previously-unknown landmass! What few men managed to return from the voyage told Marius of it's riches, but as of 30 BC, only tundra and ice had been discovered.

Glorifying 30 BC even further is the foundation of Tailzhou further south:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/30BCTailzhouFounded.jpg

0 AD, a man named Jesus is born in Judea/Palestine, and will soon found a religion impacting all Europe.




---

10 AD, we encounter the Carthaginians to the West of Egypt.

30 AD, Shonghai completes a Temple. This will trigger another cultural expansion in a few decades, bringing more territory under Imperial Rule.

50 AD, the Turks go to war with the Byzantines.

70 AD, the Romans are contacted thanks to a colony of theirs in Asia, located just East of a Mountain Range called the Urals.

130 AD, we met the Russians. Given their position, it was important to set up an embassy and diplomatic relations.

Most notable is contact with the Americans. Sitting on a throne of gold bars, their leader is contacted by us to negotiate a few trades:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/130ADAmericaTrade.jpg

We then move to Portugal, seizing Monarchy:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/130ADPortugalTrade.jpg

After that, the ruler of Greece is contacted, and sells us the secrets of Fortification.

150 AD, we meet the Iroquois, who are competing with the Americans for land on the West Coast of their landmass.

170 AD, Naknan, near the island of Hainan, is founded:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/170ADNaknan.jpg

You can clearly notice the Barbarian hordes to the West, not to mention the borders of an Indian settlement. Luckily, the barbarians, jungles, and our eventual defensive barrier should prevent India from entering Erizo's rightful territory. With Naknan's founding, we have colonised nearly the entire rich land west of the Himalayas.




---

170 AD also heralds our first contact with the Aztecs.

190 AD, a negotiation with the Americans brings them into the Middle Ages. We fear for their Aztec and Iroquois neighbors.

230 AD, we finally meet the fabled Austrians. They are extremely advanced, having every tech we can research.

250 AD, we make contact with the Dutch. For 260 gold, they give us a detailed paper inscription of all Europe... or a map of it. From this new map, we determine the Austrians to be the supreme hegemon of Europa, controlling 9 cities. Russia and France are close seconds for the position... it seems Europe is a powder keg ready to go off. We can abuse this in the future.

270 AD, we make contact with the Mayans of Central America.

290 AD, we meet the French ruler. With the French encountered, our link of contacts is Europe is quite solid.

290 AD, we also encounter the Inca of South America.

350 AD, we encounter the English.



--- The Golden Decades: 360-380(370) AD ---

370 AD, the French occupy Madrid, destroying the Kingdom of Castile/Spain. The Portuguese claim the crowns of Grenada and Aragon.

We also discover Feudalism, ending our 2-settler rampage. We now must use 3-citizen settlers.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/370ADLeaningTower.jpg

In Shadking, architects from Roman Pisa complete the Leaning Tower in Shadking. The fact these defectors bestowed a monument upon Erizo convinces the Romans to open up their hearts and mind, and, rallying national sentiment, they re-style themselves the Italian Empire.

A whopping 3 cities are settled in one turn. Sukanming is settled in the far South, and once it's borders expand, will give us the long border necessary to block rivals from entering inner Erizo. Shaddong is settled in central Erizo. Sonfeng is settled a little further northwest of that.

Now with so many accomplishments, Marius sets to make more. He goes to the Dutch, seizing the tech of Invention by trading them the techniques of fighting sieges.

Parting with 1, 425 units of gold, we acquire Chivalry and the secrets of a public education system from the Greeks.

855 gold makes the Romans grant us the secrets of Alchemy.

...A quick check with Austria reveals they have no more technologies to trade! We have officially caught up with the Europeans, and hopefully, this progress can be maintained.

Marius deems the years from 360 AD to 380 AD the "Golden Decades", due to the vast number of accomplishments, discoveries, and expansions achieved.

This chapter ends with a vastly expanded Erizoan Empire:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/370ADEmpire.jpg

Ooooo, settle Sweet Potato Island! (Taiwan);)

@ Auralia: You'll notice I have a settler outside Tailzhou. ;) Once I get a navy established down there, I will move on Taiwan. And I need a navy, believe me. There's effing pirates to the South.

....So when are you going to come up with one of your excellent world maps? :D

Ooooo, settle Sweet Potato Island! (Taiwan);)

Hahahahahaha, I wonder where you got that from! (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=7963894&postcount=14)

:D

@ Hikaro: Soon enough, Hikaro, soon enough!

Chapter IV: The Boring Centuries

390 AD is the end of an era; the Ottomans capture Constantinople. Europeans begin to cast a weary on the Turks, who now have control of much of the Black Sea and are ready to push into Europe; it doesn't help they are training schools for Islamic religious fanatics.

390 AD, a great military reform causes all Archers to become Firelancers, and all Spearmen to become Pikemen. Our military potency is greatly increased, and Marius plans to unleash it upon the Mongols.

450 AD, we complete our Intelligence Agency. Marius has troops moved to defend Sonfeng, which Mongol Mungadai are drawing closer to. He fears they may press an attack. Though he also knows that when push comes to shove, it is likely Erizo's capabilities far outweigh Mongolia's.

470 AD, the Mongols move deeper into our territory rather than attacking. What could they be up to?

510 AD, our explorers finally manage to sail around the southern tip of South America. America is named after the foreign-born explorer who worked for the Erizoans, Amerigo Vespucci.

510 AD is also the year where we teach the secrets of Republicanism to the United States(they promptly go into anarchy) for a hefty fee, and then we use that money to purchase the secrets of Magnetism from the Italians. With that, we are free to buy Astronomy for the lowest price from Europe's colonial powers. For 390 gold and Siegecraft, the Portuguese part with the secrets of Astronomy. They are also the weakest of the Colonial Powers besides England.

With those secrets, we purchase the maps of India, Arabia and America, not to mention the Inca and Egyptians. Much of Africa, the Americas and even our home continent of Asia is revealed.

550 AD, Tailzhou completes a temple district, and soon, the town's borders will expand, securing our hold on the coastline.

610 AD, the Turks simulatenously finish the Black Stone and Holy War. They claim the title of the Islamic Caliphate following the arrival of Muhammad of Arabia to lead them. (Coincidentally, the real Muhammad received his first revelations in about 610!)

610 AD is also the year where we deposit a band of settlers on Formosa/Taiwan. Within a few decades, the island will be solidly Erizoan. Speaking of the area, two of our galleasses then turn their attention to the local pirates, and two pirate junks are sunk. Thanks to the battles, we discover an island southeast of Erizo proper, east of Southeast Asia. Marius marks this on his list of potential colonies.

630 AD, we found Tailpei:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/630AD.jpg

710 AD, the borders of our southern towns fully expand, creating a solid border to help keep foreigners out of inner Erizo.

730 AD, in the face of a decling technological rate with the European leaders, Marius opens his reserves and takes out a potent weapon: his world map. With it, we manage to acquire Firearms, Metallurgy, and Mercantilism. This is also a byproduct of using gold proceeds from selling the map abroad.

As a consequence of the above transactions, the Great Wall is rendered obsolete and walls vanish across the empire. But now, we have powerful artillery and gunpowder, minimising the usefulness of fortifications.

790, two new cities are founded:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/790ADNakksa.jpg

Nakksa in Tibet. The Tibetans have formed a guerilla camp that can be noticed not too far from the city. However, most Tibetans welcome the new Erizoan occupiers. Once Nakksa's borders expand, there will a be great surge in Erizoan territory; we will even cut into the Babylonian territory to the West.

Further east, the city of Hejjihoggu, founded by emigrants of diverse backgrounds and cultures, is founded:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/790ADHejjihoggu.jpg

Hejjihoggu is the first city in the Americas founded by the empire, and by the Old World countries. Marius already has plans, however, for an Operation: New World Order.

830 AD, Marius manages to monopolise the African slave trade:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/830ADSlaveTrade.jpg

While he views slavery as being somewhat unfavorable(i.e. immoral), he views it as strategically necessary. Slaves will help fill Erizo's slight labor shortage. As well, they are generally taken on the condition they are not worshippers of the Erizoan faith. This means that to escape slavery - which is primarily an Erizoan trade at the moment - one merely need convert to the faith. This will help to spread the faith throughout Africa, expanding Erizoan influence.

Chapter V: Operation: New World Order

Marius saw plenty of virgin, untamed land and resources in the New World. With the exception of the Americans - who the Erizoans had pulled out of the dark ages - all the countries there were savages. They were primitive and weak. And now with a growing navy and growing army, Marius came to one conclusion: he had to conquer the New World and tap into it's resources. His first target would be the Aztecs, a country declining and at risk of being gobbled up by the Americans.

910 AD, we discover Military Tradition. By selling this across the board, we gain thousands of units of gold from our European rivals. To give an idea, the treasury jumps from a few hundred gold to nearly 6,000 gold.

930 AD:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/930ADLeosWorkshop.jpg

More Italian defectors have come to work in glorious Shadking, and Leonardo da Vinci forms his workshop there.

950 AD, as a consequence of the constant warfare tearing Europe and Central Asia apart, the Mongols finally conquer the Koreans. Our old enemy has been finished off by an old rival.

970, we encounter the Ethiopians, who are small and backwards.

990, we found Dou Viet in Vietnam:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/990DouViet.jpg

1000 AD, the Zulu are encountered. It can be safely said that all the major powers of the world now have contact with Erizo.

1010 AD, Marius launches Operation: New World Order. The Aztec army numbers about only 18 units, and 17 Erizoan units are deployed outside one of the Aztec cities. Marius decrees that the war will not end until the Aztecs have been banished from the face of the Earth.

After deploying our soldiers, our naval vessels return to Erizo proper, where they will load up with more reinforcements to fight the Aztec menace.

1020 AD, our philosophers develop the idea of Absolute Monarchy. While it sounds nice, Marius does not want anarchy when at war, and any change in governance will have to wait until the Aztecs are purged. This secret is sold to France, the Turks and Italy for over 8,000 units of gold.

With no losses, we capture Tlaxcala:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1020ADTlaxcala.jpg

We do however, kill one of our redlined units and all captured workers so as to hurry the construction of a Harbor. Once a harbor and therefore a connection with the motherland is established, we will be able to easily crush the Aztecs by using their own cities as training centers for our feared firelancers and lancers. We move our entire army into the city, though 2 redlined units stay behind. Given the AI tactic of cheap shots, we expect them to die the coming decade.

Sure enough, the Aztecs attack our wounded Swordsmen, killing both units and enslaving one of them.

1030 AD, we avenge the losses of our comrades by slaying both transgressing forces with no losses. We may now march on Tenochtitlan.

With no losses, 2 Aztec units in the capital are slain, and we enter a Golden Age! We then kill 4 or so more Aztec units with no losses. Unfortunately, the Aztecs still have enough units to repel us.

1040 AD, we lose one unit to kill an Aztec unit. We then begin to kill off the Aztec defenders, until...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1040Tenochtitlan.jpg

Tenochtitlan is ours! We capture several nobles and the Aztec Emperor, and Marius orders the execution of them all for resisting the Erizoan invasion. A few nobles do escape, and manage to install a transitional emperor in Texcoco to the North. Marius responds by finding the infant son of the Emperor, putting him on the throne to assert the Erizoans' legitimacy; Marius naturally has himself named regent.

1060 AD, while we lose one or two units, we capture Tlatelolco:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1060ADTlatelolco.jpg

1070 AD, the Portuguese are defeated in their war after centuries of holding back nearly the entire weight of Europe and Africa. The Italians claim Portugal proper, while the French claim Grenada, and merge all of their Iberian territories into Spain. Spain itself is ruled in personal union with France.

1070 AD is also a year where somehow, several of the European powers jump into the Industrial Age! How do they keep getting so high in technology?!

1070 AD, we capture a recently-formed Aztec settlement, burning it to the ground. Leftover troops load into galleons bound for the new Aztec capital.

1080 AD...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1080ADIndustrialAge.jpg

We enter the Industrial Age! Marius imprisons the new intellectuals that start to question the power of the Erizoan Gods.

1090 AD, we capture Teotihuacan:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1090ADTeotihuacan.jpg

This leaves the Aztecs with only one city, Texcoco. Once that falls, we can begin the absorption of the Aztecs into the empire.

We take Texococo:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1090ADTexcoco.jpg

But the Aztecs live! The Emperor, a personal guard, and a selection of citizens have all fled north, and can be seen in the picture. But Marius has plenty of men left, and orders them to pursue the Emperor and slay him.

We have confirmation! We finish the goal with no losses:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1090AztecsDestroyed.jpg

With this turn, this chapter ends. After 80 years, the Erizoan Empire has defeated the Aztecs, and programs of assimilation are undertook. Mandarin is taught within the confines of the growing Aztec education system, while temples to the Erizoan pantheon also begin to be erected. The whole territory is re-organised into the Viceroyalty of Mexico(after Marius, as regent of the Aztec Emperor, approves the treaty of annexation), named after what the Aztecs called themselves; the Mexica. Settlers begin to move to the vastly-depopulated region, mating with the locals and creating a mixed-blood population mostly loyal to Shadking.

With the absorption of the Aztecs, we rule 5% of the world's area and 10% of it's population. America, our largest competitor, has 3% of the land and 7% of it's population.

The power bar with the fall of the Aztec Empire:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1090PowerBar.jpg

And of course, the millenia-awaited world map:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1090ADWorldMapGame.png

You wrote that fast O.o

You wrote that fast O.o

:p

I record all my logs on a separate document and then copy/paste here with pictures. I WISH I could type that fast! :lol:

Chapter VI: The Enlightened Despot of the East

Marius decides it's time to reform the government so as to be a match for Europe and the world. Marius knows that the more bureaucracy there is, the less efficient and profitable things tend to get. As such, he agrees to slowly let go of his hold on power.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1120ADEnlightenedDespotism.jpg

1120 AD, the Reform is complete! While a strong police presence remains evident, and political freedoms are few and far between, economic freedom explodes, with more loans being given to entrepeneurs while the power of the elite is hacked into(this also has the benefit of allowing Marius to become more powerful himself; he empowers the little man while also destroying the rich man). Taxes are simplified and lowered, allowing more money to flow throughout the hands of the common people while also cutting down on government bureaucracy(and therefore the costs needed to maintain that bureaucracy, and therefore taxes, and more bureaucracy, etc. A vicious cycle). The greatest reform is allowing more and more private businesses to start and take over most economic tasks, and thanks to competition, production surges.

Now as an Enlightened Despot, Marius wields absolute authority, but claims the mandate to power not only because of the Gods, but also because of the fact he rules with the peoples' interests at heart. And with that, he claims the interest of both the people and the state - land and wealth - is in Central America, ruled by the Mayans. Already, Marius' hordes are gathering to take the entire region, therefore establishing another bastion of Erizoan power.

In the same region, Marius finally officially renames all the cities of Mexico.

1130 AD, we buy Steam Power from Russia even though we're 2 turns away. This is because Marius wants to harnass the power of mass transport immediately.

1140 AD sees the Italians conquer Adrianople and much of the central Balkans from the Greek Empire.

1150 AD, a source of coal is finally linked up with the empire. We can now proceed with the construction of a national railway system. Before a decade has even passed, 4 tiles have railroads, and Mailuzian and Sonfeng have the honor of being the first Erizoan cities linked by rail.

1160 AD, Spanish refugees - who have defected to Erizo, of course - found the city of Isla del Norte de Shado - or "Northern Island of Shadow" southeast of Tailswan:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1160ADIsladeShadow.jpg

Naturally, these refugees have forsaken Catholicism and have converted to our faith, so as to facilitate this imperial grant of territory. Their first order of business is of course a harbor to link up with their benefactor's homeland; the Emperor(Marius of course) threatened to send the army if they did not get back into contact within 10 years.

1160 AD is also the year where the railway is extended all the way to Shadking. Our goal is to extend it to the frontier city of Nakking, and then back East along the coastline.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1170ADIsladeShadowSur.jpg

1170 AD, we found Isla del Sur de Shadow - or "Southern Island of Shadow" - in the south of the island chain that the Isla del Norte de Shadow is located in. Some crazy Spaniards wanted to name this chain the "Philippines" after their last King, Philip, but they were quickly "silenced" by their fellow Spaniards lest they offend the Emperor.

Also, Nakking and Sondao join the railway network. And the refugees on Isla del Norte sure enough barely manage to meet their deadline; they construct a harbor and immediately go about erecting shrines in honor of their new gods.

1180 AD, Shonghai is added to the railway. The same goes for Douseoul and Sukajuria. Other than that, a quiet turn.

1190 AD, Egypt and France sign a pact of mutual protection. This is the first true alliance of the Industrial Age.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1190ADIndustrialisation.jpg

We also discover Industrialisation, giving us more technological opportunities. As well, the flow of so much wealth into the hands of the common laborers opens up the possibility of giving them some power... Marius decides to embark on a campaign of Universal Suffrage. Said suffrage, however, will be really limited it's power; voters will be able to elect local and municipal administrators(though candidacy has to be approved by the Emperor himself!) as well as the power to elect representatives to the Advisory Council, a symbolic organ of government tasked with carrying the people and interest groups' concerns to the Emperor.

Most notably about 1190 AD, we FINISH the coastal railway! Every city along the Erizoan coast now is connected, and the Emperor prepares the epic task of creating railways that wind through the hills and mountains of inner Erizo. Shortly after he begins, Shaddong is connected to the network.

1200 AD, in Mexico, a railway extends all the way from the northwest to the southeast, connecting three cities. The two other cities will be built into it in the future, but the "Spine of Mexico" will help to carry regional reinforcements to the front against the Maya when war comes.

1210 AD, Nakksa in Tibet is linked with Erizo. The only homeland city no longer connected is the Gates of Erizo.

To Sonistralia! :mischief:

Chapter VII: "Operation: Without a Trace..." and (the Captivity of) the Babylonians...

At the end of 1210 AD, Erizo's vast New World army - some 32 units, mostly offensive mixed with defense, mostly veterans mixed with elites - were given the order to invade the Mayan Realm as part of a military campaign called "Operation: Without a Trace." The Mayans themselves only had an army of some 50 units, most of which were horribly trained and equipped compared to the Imperial forces.

1220 AD, the foolish Mayans lose 2 units trying to kill our invasion force; we suffer no losses. They also send the massive bulk of their army towards our southermost Mexican settlement.

1220 AD also brings the completion of the transition to universal suffrage:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1220ADSuffrage.jpg

With this new program, the people's loyalty can be bought more easily. Meaning, they won't be as anti-war in particular.

Now, for the action!

The first move is to attack Chichen Itza, the capital and epicenter of the Mayan Empire. In the first battles, Lancers kill 2 Slingers without being injured.

Shortly after, 4 Lancers kill 3 Javelin Throwers, while one is forced to retreat after damaging a Javelin Thrower.

Then, a third battle for the city begins. 3 Lancers kill 2 Javelin Throwers; we lose one Lancer, the first loss in the battle for the city.

The next set of battles, 2 Lancers kill 1 Javelin Thrower; 1 of the Lancers is slain. The end result of these battles is that Slingers take up the defense!

In another round, 4 Lancers kill 1 Slinger and 3 Javelin Throwers. SWORDSMEN take up the defense.

One last Rider unit goes into combat, slaying the final Swordsmen:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1220ADChichenItza.jpg

The city is ours! Just like his Aztec cousins, the ruler of the Mayan Empire is executed, as are all members of the nobility who have ties to the monarch or who participated in the defense of Chichen Itza. The remaining nobles are integrated into Erizoan society, and some even choose to join our forces in battle as commanders.

Having lost what must have been at least 1/4 of it's army, the Mayan Empire has another 25 units or so are within striking distance of our border regions. Once these pests are slain, conquest of the Mayan realm should not be difficult.

A spy planted in the new Mayan capital - Copan, set up by nobles and royal family members in the area - reveals the currently-remaining Mayan troops to number 50. This means that we just eliminated only 1/5 of their pre-war force.

At no losses, 4 of the invading Mayan units are slain, clearing a path back into Mexico. This means the Mayans have lost 19 out of 65 military units. With that done, Marius boldly orders an assault on the Mayan army in the hills. With no losses, we kill 10 units. The Mayans now have lost 29 out of 65 units, nearly half their forces! To put it into perspective, the Erizoan Army has only lost a mere 2 units.

Topping the triumph in Latin America is the fact the Gates of Erizo are linked up to the railway! All of mainland Erizo now is linked by rail.

1230 AD, America signs a protection pact with France, probably scared about Marius one day getting hungry for some more land to the north.

10 units from the Mayan Empire now lay within our borders. Marius plans to kill every last one; a group has even burrowed into the jungle.

The Elite leader of the band is slain; he is revealed to be one of the highest nobles of the Mayan Empire. His unit is the first loss.

The enemy has lost 1 of it's 10 unit invasion force. That soon becomes 2. Then 3. And while we redline another unit, we do lose one Rider. But a small defeat yields a greater victory; we resume killing another with no losses. We then lose another of course, but we redline a Slinger. But then the Mayans lose 2, while we lose none. Then we kill 2 more, while freeing enslaved soldiers. 8 of the 10 Mayan units now lie dead.

Our data reports indicate that the Mayans still employ 30 units. With no losses, that drops to 28.

In infrastructure news, Chichen Itza is linked up the Mexican railway system. As well, a recent cultural expansion closes the last pocket of non-Erizo territory within the mainland, solidifying our rule after 5,000 years of struggle.



---

1240 AD, the Golden Age of Erizo finally ends. Alas, it was a good time.

1240 AD also brings another expansion of the empire.

People of European descent - primarily northern, and primary English - established two towns on a new island far to the South. Many Europeans had migrated to Erizo to escape ethnic/religious(Scandinavians, Spaniards, and Portuguese in particular) persecution, but many people of English descent came for a different reason: war. England had been fighting wars with continental Europe for so many centuries it had lost count, and while Britannia maintained it's independence, much of it had been pillaged and ravaged by enemy armies every few years. The carnage was so great in fact, that continental forces actually took over Ireland and burned the English settlement there. And so, many Anglos looked for a way out... most of Europe hated them just because of their origin, most of the world outside Europe was backwards... so that left only one area where they could still get a touch of European-esque civilisation: Erizo. The land of the East was a land of mystery, wealth and opportunity. It was an America(the Americans, after seeing how successful Erizo was with using immigrants to build up it's glory and strength, had copied the tactic) of the East.

Led by an English captain, the settlers finally arrived at a new land. It was uncharted by nearly every power, and the closest enemy settlement was a crappy Indian town far to the north, near the Straits of Malacca. Seeing the barren, horrid conditions of much of the inner continent, the colonists deduced this land must have been the domain of Scourge, who's primary domain was suffering, death, destruction, etc. Plus, the burning heat helped make them think of the Green Devil. Settling near the coastline(the coast of the continent seemed to be the ONLY area hospitable to life), they decreed the entire continent Scourgestralia, and claimed it for Erizo.

Two towns were founded: The first was called Hopetown, as the mostly-Anglophone migrants HOPED that they would have a better life, free from the carnage of England, half a world away. The second was called Scourgemouth, named after the deity in question. The -mouth, while being a normal ending for a town name, also was a pun: the desert of the Green Devil could easily swallow the settlers if they did not respect it, live within their means, and above all, respect Scourge himself.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1240ADAustralia.jpg

--

On to the battles!

Losing 2 units, we kill 3 Mayans. The most devestating battle of the war! :lol:

The Mayans are left with a mere 26 units. We boldly invade the Mayans' own territory afterwards and kill 1 more unit, bringing total enemy armed forces to 25.

After registering the enemy only has 9 units in Copan, we decide to attack the city.

We kill 3 units with no losses. Then we lose a cavalry, but he does manage to do some damage before going down. Then, another Mayan dies. Then another, bringing total enemy losses to 5. Then to 6. 7..8..9!

Copan is ours:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1240ADCopan.jpg

However, the new Mayan ruler is far more wise than the last, and he managed to retreat south just in time to avoid capture and execution.

Strangely, despite having 16 units, only 3 are discovered in Copan! Since it would take only 1 movement point to attack, Marius orders an assault.

Sure enough, the city of Palenque falls:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1240ADPalenque.jpg

For some reason, the idiots chose to station all their men in forts further south. With the fall of their last settlement, the groups disband into guerillas, who are taken care of within a decade.

But alas, the Mayans have been defeated; their leaders and their independence have all been sent to the depths of Scourge's belly!

With the Mayans fully defeated, Marius makes plans to disband Palenque as a political unit, and replace it with two new settlements; one further northwest, and one further south that will function as a canal. Once accomplished, full renaming of cities will begin.

----

In a short campaign of 30 years, the Erizoan Empire's American dominions have extended all the way to the thin isthmus connecting the two Western continents. All these territories are added to the Viceroyalty of Mexico.

A map of the post-Mayan world:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1240ADWorldMapGame.png

As well, we now control 7% of the world's land and 11% of it's population. The Americans have 4% of the land, while the Austrians have 8% of it's population.

---

However, the turns passed have been too short to end here. We must pursue action elsewhere... can you say... the Babylon Club?

With some of the best units and an expensive railway network, we can begin to absorb our neighbors. Babylon is an excellent candidate; it is an empire fragmented all over the map with two small cities bordering Western Erizo. Since we first met, Marius has always had his eyes set on taking parts of Babylon; they have occupied the historic Silk Road for millenia.

But first, we must build up our homeland forces before we even consider any invasions. Galleons are sent East to pick up as many troops as possible, while we also begin mass construction of new military units.

1250 AD, Babylon goes to war with Italy. This may pull troops away in due time, and thus leave the flanks exposed to a hungry neighbor.

1250 brings bad news:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1250ADBlackDeath.jpg

Marius' only words are: "Oh god, not again..."

1250, we discover that Forest Hills, if chopped down, create grasslands. Ohhhhh the exploits to be had in Siberia!

We drain some marshland to the north, and the exhausted laborers there honor their patron by settling the area and calling it Nakkaruzu:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1250ADNakkaruzu.jpg

With Nakkaruzu settled, plans are made to expand further northwest into the northern wastes. Most importantly, expansion will acquire gold and furs for our empire.

Knowing chances are Hopetown will soon be ravaged by a massive barbarian horde(therefore costing us much of our treasury), Marius decides he must purchase what he can from the European powers.

Parting with 1150, we gain Enlightenment from the Italians. 2,760 gains us Nationalism from the French. 1,350 nabs Chemistry from the Russians. 2,507 also gains Democracy from the Russians.

The amount of gold in the treasury plummets from 11,000+ to a mere 3,300+. However, Erizo now has gained all the technologies it needed from Europe. It will also minimise losses from the coming barbarian invasion.

1260 AD, the Ottomans go to war with Greece. This will be a pretty war.

Sure enough, the savages manage to pillage Hopetown. We lose over 1,000 gold. Oh well, that's better than a projected 6,000+ loss.

---

1270 brings a war between the Arabs and Babylon. While Babylon occupies itself with it's southern neighbors, we should press our attacks.

Marius knows the country's becoming tight on finances, and negotiates with France to raise the 17 gpt for Silks and Dyes to 31 gpt.

1270 also brings the completion of a massive financial district(Wall Street) in Shadking. This gives us an addition 50 gpt. In just one turn, financial prosperity has returned to Erizo.

A quick search of Babylonian territory reveals about 40+ units are scattered throughout their Asiatic possessions. There's also about 10 more units running amock in Siberia.

1280 AD has Marius proclaim a Constitution of sorts in Shadking. This makes citizens happier, of course, to know that Marius is willing to guarantee the rights and priveleges of the citizenry on paper as well as in practice.

1280 AD, the Black Death hits Sukajuria.




--- The Babylonian Captivity ---

As well, Marius deduces it's time to attack. He has several companies of powerful riflemen to escort his units into the mountains of the west, and a large army of cavalry to do the talking. War is declared on the Babylonian Confederacy.

1290 AD, the Babylonians get the _Zulu_ to declare war on us. What fools. They want to play the military alliance game, mm? In response, we get the Mongols as allies.

As well, the Italians take Sparta in southern Greece.

1290 AD is also the year we receive the technology of Steel. While this gives us the power to create the Eiffel Tower and therefore have all commercial improvements automatically paid for, it renders Sun Tzu's Art of War obsolete.

...The Black Death spreads to Mailuzian. @#$%!

Marius orders the construction of barracks in several of the cities; the dumb obsoletion has rendered all but Douseoul and Shadking naked in terms of barracks.

---

We attack Ashur. We kill 1 enemy unit with no losses; the next battle has us lose a unit while damaging the enemy. Then another of our cavalry dies, after several enemies have been injured. But then the joke is on the Babs, we kill 1 of their men. Then we lose a 3rd unit of ours. And in a classic tug-of-war, we kill the next Bab without loss.

After the back-and-forth continues, we finally capture Ashur:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1290ADAshur.jpg

Estimated losses are 5 units or so. But the losses were worth it; Babylon now has one less base from which to harass us.

Marius dispatches laborers to extend the railway at Nakksa to Ashur, so as to integrate it into our defense strategy as well as our economy.

Having enough spare troops, Marius orders all free cavalry and a few bands of riflemen to the borders of Nineveh.

Before ending this turn, Marius is sure to get the Egyptians as allies by bribing them with some Silks. This also serves to cut off the Babylonian iron colonies. We also get the Indians, so as to attack the Babylonian colony to the south of the Indian Empire. Babylonia's forces should be distracted now, allowing us to focus on taking their colonies. Even the Turks and Israelis agree to pitch in, causing the whole of the Babylonian Confederacy to be under threat. We would bribe Persia, but we don't want them getting ambitious and going after Nineveh.

---

1300 AD, France's pact with Egypt activates, and the French declare war on Babylon. The Egyptians, meanwhile, torch the Babylonian iron colony.

...The Black Death hits Mailuzian.

We start by using our new lethal artillery barrages. We destroy the walls of Nineveh, thanks to the artillery's two-tile striking range.

While we lose two cavalry, Nineveh falls, taking Babylon's source of camels with it:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1300ADNineveh.jpg

Thanks to the massive population/production booms east, and the conquest of the city, we now control 8% of the world and 13% of the population. Our closest competitor in population is Austria, with 8%.

Our workers move fast, building a railway all the way from Ashur to Nineveh. Troops can directly access the front lines.

---

We lose a Rider and a Cavalry, but we manage to eliminate the two Babylonian Pikemen blocking the way to Babylon.

Marius, after seeing a massive Babylonian Army heading through Persia, decides to get the Persians as allies.

1310 AD:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1310ADEiffelTower.jpg

French immigrants complete the Eiffel Tower! The Europeans surely must by now know the price of constant warfare; the greatest minds all immigrate to Erizo to apply their skills there, rather than risk being drafted or having their livelihood destroyed by war. The tower's completion also attracts many businessmen, who begin to take over(i.e. this wonder pays for them) our banks and financial assets(harbors especially), running them far more efficiently than the government. The result is a decreased strain on the imperial budget, and a sharp increase in tax revenue(about 70 gpt).

We plant a spy in Babylon. We learn they have about 66 units total in their employ. We guess about 10 of these are wandering around near Siberia, so the Mongols should make short work of those.

As we go about building a railway through Persia so as to have easy access to Babylon, we discover about 18 Babylonian units are on the outskirts of Persia. Feeling we should lend our allies a hand, we order all free cavalry to the desert to kill some Mesopotamian fools.

We lose a cavalry, but kill off 2 Bab spearmen.

Before we proceed to attack the others, we build a fortress, and then a barricade, on the outskirts of Persia to protect workers building a railway there. It is garrisoned with 5 Riflemen, and we hope the Babs take the bait. For interest, we send some Riders and Fusiliers; the Riders kill off the remaining 3 Babylonian units in that tile and retreat to the fortress.

1320 AD, the Zulus align with France against Babylon, shattering the once-unified alliance.

We begin this turn by slaying two Babylonian units with no losses. They have been reduced to 44 units. This soon drops to 41 with no losses. Then to 39, with the loss of one cavalry.

With the way to the city cleared, 23 units enter Babylonia Proper's territory. If it falls, the Confederacy is sure to dissolve. It is composed of 4 riflemen, 1 fusilier, 1 Rider, and the rest are all Cavalry. Babylon itself is defended by 12 units, 2 of which are swordsmen. Within reinforcement distance are 5 units, 1 of which is redlined. It is hoped that the Babylonians will massacre several of their troops against our powerful riflemen.


---


1330 AD, the Egyptians come to us for a mutual protection pact. As nice as that would be, we do not want an entangling alliance that could harm our trade status. We reject their offer.

1330, RUSSIA joins the anti-Babylon dogpile. France seizes Athens, evicting Greece from Eurasia. They even take Knossos in South America. The last Greek-controlled city on Earth is Thermopylae in Cape Verde.

Once more, the Black Death hits. It strikes Dou Viet and Scoxcoco.

The Assault on Babylon begins!

The first unit in softens up the Babylonians, while being killed themselves. Then we lose another, softening them up again. The next unit retreats after halving an enemy unit's strength. The next one retreats... The next unit brings the first kill! Another unit retreats after redlining the enemy.

Babylonian Pikemen now take up the defense. 1 Pikeman is gunned down. Another cavalry dies after weakening the enemy. Then we kill another without loss...

Now, all enemy units showing up are damaged. The first unit to try and defend against us is killed. Then 4 more enemies die. Then we lose another cavalry...

After numerous simulations with suicidal teenage volunteers, Marius decides that the attack should not be pursued anymore. We can try it again in 10 years when we have more men, but until now, Babylon remains independent. We expect our allies to be vile bastards and take the 3- or 4-unit defended city, profiting of our sweat and blood.

1330 AD is also the year where the Russians and French compete to host a new international event: the Olympic games. Wanting in on the pie, Marius buys the prerequisite techs and prepares to host the games in Shadking, even while at war with the Babylonians.

Russia parts with the secrets of radio communication for 1300+ gold. With this new technology, we can host the Olympics. Good, considering the Greeks are in no position to do it themselves.




1340 AD, we discover Combustion! A new resource known as oil now appears to us, and we can build advanced troop transports now, not to mention DREADNOUGHTS. We also gain a scientific leader.

Somehow, Babylon does not fall; one unit is left breathing.

...2 more cities are hit by the Black Death.



The battle of Babylon resumes. We kill their new crossbowmen unit with no losses.

The last unit dies without loss:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1340ADBabylonTaken.jpg

Babylon is ours! Observe the hordes of allied units around the city. ...Also observe the fecking Black Death has spread there as well.

The Confederacy collapses, with Ellipi and Akkad, in south India and West Africa respectively, becoming even more autonomous than before. They agree to form the Ellipi-Akkad Confederacy instead.

Marius personally visits Babylon to try and win the locals over. He comments how the city feels "familiar", and shortly renames it Shadolon. He also notices Babylon's wines; we are now freed from another imported good.


With an appetite for oil, Marius has workers dispatched to link up two new sources of it with the empire.

The scientific leader in Shadking, codenamed "Confucius", initiates an Age of Science.

Plans are made to invade Ellipi. The total combined enemy forces are.... TEN units. This battle should be easy.



---

1350 AD, the Persians - knowing Marius has his eyes on Persia's oil supplies - try to get us to sign a pact of mutual protection. We politely decline.

The Olympic games are hosted for the first time in 1350 AD:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1350ADOlympics.jpg

Marius decrees the Olympic games shall be held every 4 years...

.... ALWAYS in Erizo. He is not a fan of "sharing" such an event with his rivals. They will come to Erizo and acknowledge it's superiority!

Our first Dreadnought is launched! It is christened the EIS(Erizo Imperial Ship) Shadou.

...Empire wide, the plague abates! We attribute this to Shadou pulling the necessary divine strings as thanks for conquering Babylon and naming it after his greatness.

Ancient Palenque in central America meets it's end. It is time to settle elsewhere.

The Mayans who were forced to leave Copan and Palenque honor Sonikku by naming the city Sonikpan:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1350ADSonikpan.jpg

Intel reports say that the Akkadians and Ellipians have been reduced to a total force of 6 units. We reduce that to 5.

1360 AD, India and Russia align themselves in a mutual protection pact.

As if to signal the end of their existence, Austria declares war on Akkad-Ellipi.

We recieve word that Akkad in the west has fallen. Ellipi stands alone.

No losses are sustained, and...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1360EllipiFalls.jpg

Ellipi falls! The last vestige of the Babylonian Confederacy is ours, and we proceed to rename cities.

Ellipi becomes Talipi, Ashur becomes Askur, and Nineveh becomes Nakaveh.


...The foolish Zulus refuse to accept our diplomats, despite the fact their ally just got WTFPWN'ed.

---

With the conquest of the Babylonians, this chapter ends.

The state of the Great Five Furs now rules over 9% of the land and 13% of the population. Settler bands are already being prepared for a voyage to Scourgestralia, where the Romans and other interlopers are starting to show up. We intend to colonise the Spice Islands as well. And after that, Siberia.

But our next expansion won't be wholly peaceful, in fact, word is that Marius has planned something called "Operation: Zion."

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1360ADWorldMap.png

The map of the world, children. I had to post it separately because of that darn no more than 15 pictures per post limit... This is the world after the Babs got WTFpwned by us.

Chapter VIII: "Operation: Zion" ... or Not. More like World War I.

1370 AD...

Russia and Ethiopia sign a MPP. WTF.

1380 AD...

Irony aside, Egypt and Israel sign a mutual protection pact. This means Operation: Zion CANNOT commence. We'll have to pick somebody else.

Marius sighs, but decides we should attack the savages that block our expansion into Indochina instead. Once defeated, we can settle their land.

The total size of the Barbarian force Marius orders his troops to engage is 19 units.

Without a single loss - and in most cases, without losing a single hitpoint - all 19 Barbarians are slaughtered and their camp disbanded. A settler is rushed; they will be deployed to the region to colonise it. Colonising south Indochina will end the constant galley piracy from there that has harassed our shipping and transports to Scourgestralia for millenia.

In Scourgestralia, we finally get a source of gems. Besides furs and wines, we have every luxury within our territory.

1390 AD, Russia declares war on the Italians! This is sure to be an interesting fight, as alliances and mutual protection pacts work their magic...

Though the Mongol Keshiks block our route to the new city site in Indochina, we manage to use a transport to get a Settler there. Take that, cheap bastards.

We have the fortune of killing the last band of barbarians in all Indochina! We claim their hilltop village as our own, preventing the Indians from reaching the new territory via land routes.

As settlers begin to penetrate Indochina, three bands are landing in and around Australia.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1390ADAustraliaColonies.jpg

The massive Australian expedition is financed by the more wealthy aspects of society, eager to expand their financial assets. As such, they are close followers of Shadou, patron of the elite. Their first city on the continent is named "Dohai." This is derived from the second syllable for Shadou's name, and the word Hai, or "Sea", in reference to it's coastal location.

Marius finally makes peace with the Zulu savages.


1400 AD, we discover Mass Production! Since the productivity per capita for our workers has greatly increased, Marius outlaws the Slave Trade at last(obsoletion).

The Champa barbarians to the south of Dou Viet accept our hegemony, renaming themselves the Sonichampa, and federating into the Empire:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1400ADSonichampa.jpg

1408 AD, Marius begins to hatch plans for his next expansionist rampage. He notes our treaty of access in India expires in 5 turns. Once it expires, we can invade India. This will trigger a war with Russia; Marius can then use his money and resources to pull all major powers into a war with Russia. The end result? A conquered/reduced India, and a reduced Russia, leading to a much-weaker technological rival.

A new report reveals we now control 10% of the world's land! Not to mention 13% of it's population.

With our goals set, we set up a spy network in Delhi. Estimated forces of India as of 1408: 41 units.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1408ADTierradiVenezia.jpg

In Scourgestralia, an Italian-dominated group founds Terra di Venezia("Land of Venice"); this is named after a minor god they worship, a silver hedgehog called Venice/Silver depending on who's asked. These Italians are primarily immigrant laborers employed at rock-bottom wages by the rich businessmen in Dohai.

Further south, in an area that some Anglos call "New Zealand", we found Songdu:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1408ADSongdu.jpg

1416 AD, Japanese immigrants found Sonzai in Siberia:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1416ADSonzai.jpg

In particular, the city is named after Sonikku; the Japanese had traveled quite a long way, and thus wanted to thank him for the safe journey.

1416 is also the year we get our first bit of pollution. Wheeee.

Our share of the world's population rises to 14% in 1416 AD.

1440 AD, we found Scurjin north of Mongolia:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1440ADScurjin.jpg

This new city, once expanded and developed, shall yield gold, game and furs.

Our share of the world's land increases to 11%. We notice India's army increases about 1 unit a turn; they now possess 47 units.

1448 AD, we cancel our right of passage with India. We will be free to attack them next turn; as usual, the Mongols have blocked our attack route to Delhi.

Chapter VIII Part 2: This Is the Picture Limit's Fault!

--- Operation: Rio de Sangre(River of Blood) ---

1456 AD, we launch our assault. The Indian Army has swollen to 56 units! We must attack now or never.




Citing India's refusal to turn over all railways in their territory - those dating back to the Babylonian War - Marius invades India.

The first targets are Delhi and Lahore, both of which are the gateways to India's realm and each with only 5 defenders.

Sure enough, the Russians declare war on us when we attack their little satellite. They're all damned fools.

Our army against Lahore is led by several commanders of Spanish descent; many of the military types from the former Spain have come to Erizo every decade. These "conquistadores" boldly proclaim this about the Indians: "¡Beberémos su sangre!" or, "We will drink their blood!"

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1456ADLahore.jpg

Lahore falls with only one unit lost. The city's people welcome us as liberators; Lahore's isolation and it's economy being dependent on Erizo can be tied to this.

Mesopotamian Commanders lead the assault on Delhi.

We lose 1 unit, but we manage to kill 1 enemy Pikemen while also redlining another. We then lose 2 more cavalry while weakening 2 enemy pikemen. For this failure, he executes the Babylonian commanders and replaces them with Spanish ones.

We then kill 1 of their Elephants. Then 1 more unit. Then the Pikemen.

A brave group of Riders then move in, massacring the remaining Crossbowmen:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1456ADDelhi.jpg

Half of Delhi's citizenry protest the Marian administration; Marius unfortunately executes the most vocal of these rebels.

With Delhi's fall, the capital and 2nd largest city of India is now ours. However, the Indian ruler quickly flees to Bombay, the largest city.

Marius then decides to commit blasphemy: we shall invade Calcutta, home to the Dalai Lama living in Potala Palace. The city itself has only 3 guards, and should be easy pickings.

After losing 1 unit, we kill 1 enemy. ...We then lose 2 cavalry before killing another enemy. After that, however, luck runs out for the Calculttans.

The city is ours:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1456Calcutta.jpg

The Dalai Lama is shipped into the center of Erizo, where he shall be a valuable pawn for controlling Buddhist segments of society. The Indian ruler has fled to Madras in the south.

With Calcutta's fall, we now control 12% of the world's land and 16% of the world's population.

Reports show Bombay has 7 defenders. If it falls, India's chances of survival essentially are gone. But first, of course, we deal with an enemy Knight blocking one of the ways into India.

We assault Bombay, killing the resident Elephant Archers with ease. Then we lose 1 unit, only to all remaining units afterwards without loss.

Bombay is ours:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1456Bombay.jpg

3/4 of the citizens rebel! This will be fun. The fall of Bombay causes us to now possess 17% of the world's population.

Bombay is linked up with the national railway network; Delhi had been already thanks to rails built during the Babylonian War.

The total Indian forces have been reduced to 33. Several of these units are outside India itself and can be picked off by our Homeland Defense forces.

Marius orders an attack on Madras; it has only TWO defenders.

Madras falls without any losses:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1456Madras.jpg

The city falls; 2/3 of the citizenry resist our rule. The Indian Ruler flees west to Bangalore now.

With Madras linked up to the railway system, plans are made to attack Bangalore and evict the Indian government from India proper.

Sure enough, Bangalore only has 3 defenders. Troops enter the territory.

With the loss of only 1 unit, we take Bangalore:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1456Bangalore.jpg

The Indian King can't escape this time, and he is executed, along with many of his nobles. Anarchy reigns in his eastern possessions without the iron grip of Delhi to maintain order.

---

Germans in Europe and Erizo alike are awed at the military prowess of Erizo. India was conquered with such speed and force the Germans dub the tactics the blitzkrieg, or "lightning war." India now resides in it's 3 colony cities further east, and those are likely to fall one by one.

Intel reports there are 27 units remaining. Half their army is now gone.

That soon drops to 25 when we eliminate two of them hanging around our border.

---

With our war effort successful and our forces needing some time to attack the remaining Indian territories, we shift to other news.

In Scourgestralia, a road is completed linking the Western colonies with Terra di Venezia.

Shifting back to military news, Marius began to go around looking for allies.

Most important was the neutralisation of Russia. This would be accomplished by rallying Austria, France, and Mongolia against them.

The Austrians are quick to join; they require only Rubber and Spices to declare war on our two foes. The French are no different. The Mongols, once more, are the same. They are just a bit more tight-assed; they apparently wanted more luxuries.

A benefit of this massive war is it will divert attention away from the Italians, who have been getting hammered by all Europe.

We then get the Ottomans, Egyptians, Americans and Incans on our side...

1464 AD, a diplomatic crisis occurs: Ethiopia declares war on India! Now if only they'd attack eachother, Russia's alliance would fall apart.

As well, alliances spring up all over the place as predicted, total chaos ensues.

What's even more delicious is... France declares war on AUSTRIA. All three powers of Europe are now engaged in a battle royale for the title of hegemon.


Our first move is using our Colonial Infantry units to capture Jaipur from the sea itself. We were forced to burn it due to the minimal population inside:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1464ADJaipureDestroyed.jpg

Seeing the effectiveness of this assault, Marius orders the training of more Colonial Infantry. With enough numbers, we should be able to conquer all of India next turn.

---

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1464PrisonBane.jpg

A penal colony is formed in Scourgestralia; Marius took British suggestions that he turn Scourgestralia into a giant labor camp for all the world's exiles and prisoners. The elite of Dohai are all in favor of free labor for obvious reasons. The primary groups of prisoners are English exiles and Erizoan intellectuals(mainly those who tried to disprove the Gods or Marius' divine right of rule), and the city is named "Prisonbane", because it is the BANE of anybody in PRISON.

1472, we attack Kolhapur from the sea. We lose only one unit, but we capture the city!

We then attack Karachi by using a former Indian port against it. We manage to weaken the defenders, though 3 units are lost. It would look like the Indians could survive, but we have plenty of backup for a second wave.

We take Karachi in a second wave with no losses, destroying the Indians:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1464IndiaDestroyed.jpg

Operation: Rio De Sangre is a smashing success! Another country has been absorbed into Erizo.

---

With the war against India over, and Russia far away, Marius is content to sit out the war and let the Euros destroy eachother. He orders mass construction of airports around the empire to facilitate transportation worldwide.


1480, the Turks and Dutch know that anarchy is gripping Europe, and sign a mutual protection pact.

Persia's right of passage with us is cancelled; they're next.

Mongolia goes to war with Austria! Same with Arabia and the Ottomans. Europeans are all over the place now in terms of relations; their scientific rate is likely to plunge in the face of massive pillaging and destruction.

Furthermore, given the involvement of countries on every continent, and the massive empires of several of these countries, what began as a simple Erizoan invasion of India can be classed as the First World War.

With airports constructed en masse, Marius orders the construction of a new air fleet for the Empire. Though composed of biplanes, this will be the foundation for control of the skies in later years. As well, anti-air divisions start to be commissioned.

1480, we attack a Russian port, causing the Ethiopians to declare war. Luckily, they don't have much to offer others to go to war with us.

Chapter IX: "Operation: Alexander" and "Operation: Zion" ... for real this time!

We make plans for Operation: Alexander, investigating all the Persian cities.

Persepolis has 8 units.

Antioch has 4. Arbela 12. Pasargadae 3. Gordium 2. Total defenders/attackers present in cities? 39.

By contrast, we have 50+ cavalry.


--- Operation: Alexander ---

Marius was confident he could conquer all of Persia within 8 years.

But rather than attack, he chose to wait another 8 years. The reason? A flawed railway system made it possible for Gordium in South India to escape domination.

...And Marius would have to wait another 8 years; the Arabs blocked the quick route to Arbela. Instead, he just said "Screw it." and went ahead with invasion in 1488.

Marius demands Persia turn over all railways constructed during the Babylonian War. Since this would split Persia in half, Persia refuses. Marius smiles and returns the favor with an assault on Gordium!

We lose 2 cavalry while assaulting Gordium. After destroying their walls with a well-placed artillery shell, however, the units inside all die, and the city is ours:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1488ADGordium.jpg

We then move on Pasargadae. We kill the first unit without casualty.

No losses, we capture Pasargadae and the last sections of the Indian subcontinent:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1488ADPasargadae.jpg

Then on to Antioch. The first cavalry in barely does any damage before getting massacred. The next enemy goes down easily, and Persia's elephants take up the defense. The Elephants manage to kill 1 more cavalry, but they are greatly weakened. In retribution, an artillery barrage destroys the city's walls. We lose only one unit afterwards in the following battles, and capture the city:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1488ADAntioch.jpg

Antioch's fall allows us to transport units by rail to Shadolon. More importantly, it splits Persia in half. The city nabs us two Persian workers, who are sold into slavery(Marius' decree abolished slavery WITHIN Erizo; people could still be sold into it in foreign transactions) abroad to Israel and France.

Marius decides it's time to bring the guillotine down - literally - on the Persian Shahanshah. He orders an assault on Persepolis itself.

The first unit in suffers not a single casualty and defeats the Crossbowmen inside. When the next unit is repelled, Marius decides to show the Persians what REAL artillery - the Persians had used a Trebuchet to try and damage one cavalry unit as it rushed in - means. The effects are devestating; all units are reduced to half-strength.

We then massacre 4 units without loss, including an Elephant Archer band. We then kill the rest of the garrison with no losses and take the city:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1488ADPersepolis.jpg


---

While we find the Shahanshah, most of the government has escaped and left him to die. But it is not the Persian overlord that Marius is after, in reality. He started this war not with a quest for land or more money - amazingly. He started it because the Persians, since time immemorial, had one of the legendary Seven Chaos Emeralds. The nobility had taken all the crown jewels, including the emerald. So far away from his precious emerald, the Shahanshah's immortality had been stripped from him, and Cyrus the Great - as he was known - was locked up until Marius himself arrived.

Marius arrived in Persepolis by airplane. With him, he carried his infamous black-colored sword, Terrabane. Striding through the palace in black-and-red armor(despite being in the industrial age, Marius kept the armor on almost all the time, for both nostalgia and security purposes), wielding a powerful blade - allegedly crafted by Shadou himself - he looked like a Grimreaper in knightly/kingly form. Upon encountering Cyrus, the two had a discussion about politics, the war, and their societies. It was almost as if two friends were conversing.

But Marius cut the conversation short. He motioned for one of his men to hand him a ceremonial sword; this was the royal blade used for execution. Cyrus was ordered to bow down at gunpoint, and kneel before the Erizoan Emperor in a Caotao(where the head touches the floor) position. Cyrus was sure Marius would execute him, as he was famous for doing to defeated rulers. However, as Marius slowly brought his sword down, Cyrus was ordered to slowly lift his head back up. Pleased with his submission, Marius then put his sword on Cyrus' shoulder, and decreed him the satrap(the Persian term for governors with near-complete autonomy from the Persian ruler; they only had to provide troops and taxes to the ruler and could do as they wished besides that) of all the provinces of former Persia. On Cyrus' death(Cyrus having been rendered mortal without his emerald to give him immortality), the satrapies would pass to new rulers, appointed by Marius.

Marius' reasons for sparing Cyrus were numerous. Cyrus was extremely popular thanks to his benevolent - albeit absolute - rule of his people; he could win over the conquered Persians. Cyrus and Marius also had much in common in terms of political beliefs. Cyrus himself was a generous, humane ruler, having decreed at the beginning of his reign that there would be no slavery or religious persecution in Persia. These decrees were recorded in the Cyrus scroll, the first human rights document, and Marius took the scroll back with him to Shadking, where it was stored alongside Marius' decrees of religious freedom and the abolition of slavery.

---

Less hopeful and joyous, however, was the continued war effort. All those who did not bow to Marius and Cyrus would suffer the consequences. All Persian workers and soldiers within occupied territories were massacred or enslaved. (People within the empire who took up arms against the Emperor were stripped of citizenship, and thus were not entitled to slavery protections, and thus could be sold abroad. Prisoner laborers were still citizens, and thus there children would be citizens, and thus they were not really slaves.)

Now, we must wait another 8 years before we can claim Arbela.



1496, we press our attack on Arbela. The Walls are destroyed by artillery. Artillery then hammers the entire city, reducing nearly every unit inside to half-strength.

... We defeat ALL the units WITHOUT any losses! The city is ours, and the Persians are destroyed:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1496ArbelaPersiaConquered.jpg

With the fall of Arbela, all Persia is formally annexed by Erizo. Marius' dream of an empire stretching across Eurasia is nearly complete. On top of that, he now has 2 Chaos Emeralds to use for his own ends.

Territory added to the empire thanks to the Perso-Erizoan War(circled in red):

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1496ADPersiaConquests.jpg

With the conquest of Persia, we now possess 15% of the world's land and 19% of it's population. Our closest competitors in land and population are America and Austria, respectively. America has 5% of the land while Austria has 8% of it's population.

---


With our power base in Asia now secure, Marius feels ambitious enough to attack the Hebrews and then face down with Egypt after they're gone. The Israeli military remains pitifully small at 33 units even after all this time. Many of these aren't even home; they've gone to war against Russia. ...That said, Marius informs his commanders that the Hebrews, though tiny and outnumbered, should not have their military strength underestimated. The generals tilt their heads; they know not the reference of such a statement.

We acquire Sanitation from the Romans; we try to boycott purchasing technology from France, which has over 30,000 gold.

All cities with population issues are ordered to build hospitals to service these populations. This includes cities in the former India.

1496 ends; we hope we have enough force to conquer Israel in the near future.

...The Russians bring the Zulu in against us once again. Fools. Word also reaches us the French have taken Russian Krasnoyarsk in South America.

1504 AD, Marius orders investigations of all 3 Israeli cities.

Jerusalem has 4 units inside. Samaria has 5. Hebron has 4. The majority of the Hebrews' military is not inside their cities! This victory should be easy.




--- Operation: Zion ---

Confident in his empire's military capabilities, Marius delivers a declaration of war to the Hebrews.

The first move is a bold attack on Jerusalem itself. Egypt predictably declares war on Erizo. We redline the enemy unit before our first unit in is forced to retreat.

Marius has the walls of Jerusalem destroyed by artillery. The result is 1/3 of the enemy's HP being depleted. After another unit retreats, we manage to kill 1 enemy pikemen without loss. We then lose 1 more cavalry, who doesn't even scratch his foe.

Jerusalem falls eventually:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1504ADJerusalem.jpg

Marius makes use of a neat exploit by rallying several powerful countries against the Egyptians AND Israelis. The exploit is that once one of the enemies is killed, all pacts become invalid, all trade of goods ceases, and Marius becomes free to make peace as he wishes - WITHOUT a rep hit. Neat eh?

The end result of all this diplomacy, is the entire world being against Egypt and Israel.


The assault on Samaria begins. The first enemy unit engaged is killed easily. Same goes for the 2nd and 3rd. And 4th...

As Samaria is the largest city, we choose to leave it alone after redlining it's last defender. We shall return once Hebron is ours.

We lose only one unit, and ancient Hebron falls to our armies:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1504ADHebron.jpg

Marius does not move straight on Samaria, however. First he captures all Hebrew workers; these are the numerous workers that he captured from other countries and sold to Israel just a few turns ago!

We finish off the Hebrews by taking Samaria:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1504ADHebrewsDestroyed.jpg

The Hebrews were defeated with such speed that the Egyptians did not have enough time to react and prevent the fall of their ally.

--

All our former pacts are invalidated, but Egypt remains an international pariah.

With the demise of the Hebrew state, we now control 16% of the world's land and 20% of it's population. We also now control just about every inch of the old Silk Road, and we also have access to a Mediterranean port.

A map with territory gained from Israel:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1504ADTerritoryGained.jpg

...And on another note, Israel is the first country completely destroyed by Erizo's armies in a single turn.



But, back to war! We manage to plant spies in the Egyptian Empire, and they will hopefully destroy it from within.

Egypt's total forces are approximately:

19 Machinegunners, 1 Musketmen, 9 Riflemen, 11 Cavalry, 9 Trench Infantry, 2 Elephant Archers, 4 Fusiliers, 1 Partisan, and 1 Colonial Infantry. This makes a total of 56 units across their entire empire. By virtue of machine guns, however, we cannot hope to breach Egypt's defenses.

That in mind, Marius decides we'll make peace ASAP rather than pursue territory in Africa. He orders numerous machinegunners to the border, and workers as well to construct forts and barricades. The Suez strip, as it is called, will make an excellent defensive boundary that will slay any Egyptian trying to cross into Erizo.

We also kill the Egyptians in our territory without loss: 1 cavalry and 1 Trench Infantry.

The "Suez Line", at it's peak during this turn, has 5 machinegunners and 1 cavalry in each of it's forts:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1504ADSuezLine.jpg

Note the river to the west of the forts, and the fact the forts themselves have been upgraded to barricades.



---

1512 AD, France and Japan declare themselves mutually-protective allies. This is probably due to Japan having 200+ units stashed inside it's cities.

The Russian colony in Scourgestralia is destroyed! Russia's time as a major colonial power will end as soon as St. Petersburg - their only home port - is taken.

We complete a military reform that attaches medics(Battlefield Medicine) to all units. Our soldiers may now heal behind enemy lines.

France displaces Austria in 2nd place for world population; they have 9%.



--- Operation: In Da Nile ---

We choose to invade Egypt after all, or at least harass it. Every single piece of artillery under our command - a solid 26 units - is ordered to the Sinai peninsula. From there, they have the range to bomb across the Red Sea and hit Memphis. If Memphis gets softened up enough, we can consider a direct assault.

As well, plans are made to do the impossible: Send a settler to the border, settle there, and therefore dig a canal that will enable Mediterranean and Indian/Pacific Ocean Fleets to interact.


1520, the Americans finish the Statue of Liberty, enabling them to finally achieve Major Power status; the Statue and Ellis Island's opening attracted huge numbers of immigrants from Europe(once more, to escape the carnage), and these immigrants brought so much skills and knowledge that the USA was on par with France and Russia in technology.

Our spies inform us the total forces in Memphis have dropped to 4, there's only ONE Machinegunner in it. They are immediately redlined by an artillery barrage.

We lose an elite cavalry, and another cavalry is redlined, but... the Machinegunners are killed! After that, we kill all units inside with no losses, taking Memphis:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1520MemphisFalls.jpg

Part of Egypt's core - the Nile Delta itself - now lies within our grasp. As our artillery pool grows, we will likely be able to claim one or two more of Egypt's cities.

Amazingly, only half the citizens inside chose to revolt. Maybe the Egyptian people have wised up to who rules the world?

The fall of Memphis makes our share of the world's population jump to 21%.

--

The Suez line loses it's strategic significance; Marshland and territory will prevent the enemy from reaching it. 6 Machinegunners are deployed to protect Memphis.



With one city down, we check the Egyptians' Army size. They now have 54 units, several of which are low in defense or out of date(Pikemen). An investigation soon deduces that, while it has 7 units guarding it, Alexandria has NO machinegunners guarding it. Knowing he must take opportunity or lose it, Marius orders an assault.

Artillery do their worst and seriously damage the Riflemen and Flak companies. No losses, we kill the Flak unit and 1 other unit. Then we lose a cavalry in a fight against a Lancer. We then lose a Lancer of our own, but redline an enemy. Then we kill 1 of the Lancer bastards. Then the Riflemen unit goes down.

A few battles later, and Alexandria is ours:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1520Alexandria.jpg

The elderly Cyrus farther East takes note that this was the part of Egypt he had long since wanted, for it would give Persia access to the sea. He is glad that Marius succeeded where he failed.

Suez is founded in the bowels of one of the forts in the Suez Line:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1520ADSuezCanal.jpg

We end this turn by making peace with Russia. Since they're confident in the stalemate, they demand some compensation. We agree to part with 3 gpt. The reason we pay gpt is to not only prevent them from mass-rushing any troops, but also to make it so that we get our money back if they choose to go to war with us in the near future.

=== Intermission: State of the Empire ===

It can be observed from the posts aboved that Erizo has come a long way in 4500 years. Once a country barely managing to get by, it now has bases on 4 continents and has absorbed countless nations into itself. Now, for an internal analysis of the empire before we get to the landmark Chapter X.

First, the power bar to show just how much stuff has changed:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/IntermissionPowerBar.jpg

We've come a long way, hmm?

Now, our rankings:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/IntermissionRankings.jpg

You can observe we monopolise first place in the majority of positions. Only a loose network of machineguns and sometimes alliances can keep Erizo in check now. And once we have nukes/tanks... hohoho!

Let's take a look at Erizo proper and see how it's doing:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/IntermissionErizoProper.jpg

You will notice how already cities are starting to go above level 10 thanks to our Hospitals... some cities are shrunken because of Settlers being produced recently.




And ending that, we have something you ALL love! Geography!

Here's an in-game map of the world(territory circled in red for easier sight):

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/IntermissionWorldMapInGame.png

Now here's a long-overdue present:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/IntermissionWorldMapReal.png

Erizo's armies really are blizting your enimies. You took down Persia and India in one turn, the Hebrews in one turn, and two of Egypt's major cities in one turn. Soon no one will be able to stop your army from steamrolling their cities.

Erizo's armies really are blizting your enimies. You took down Persia and India in one turn, the Hebrews in one turn, and two of Egypt's major cities in one turn. Soon no one will be able to stop your army from steamrolling their cities.

Blitzkriegs are excellent! My artillery softened up the Egyptian machinegunners, I send in the cavalry - who have 6 attack to the machineguns' 12 defense - and with a little bit of luck, manage to get that last blow in. That's the price of Egypt not keeping more troops in it's cities. ;)

I took over Persia and India in 2 turns each, actually. India got lucky because their effing jungle and island colonies prevented rapid annexation. Persia got lucky because the dang units milling about due to wars all over the world resulted in me being unable to strike their last city in one turn(there was only one set of hills around Arbela, and my units could not reach it due to some damned Turks blocking it!). You're spot on with Israel, though!

The point is, yes, I am blitzing my enemies nicely. It'll be true especially next chapter after you see the massive transformation of East Africa. :D Plus, I now have tanks and I'm researching Fission. :nuke: I should be able to get the UN before anyone else, and thus prevent any damnable AI from holding Secretary General elections and dethroning me. (The UN victory is kind of silly anyway, considering the UN's powerless, but... anything to please trade/diplomacy players, I suppose)

I hope to have my next update soon!

IMNSHO, The "Diplomatic" victory is the lamest (or I should say l4m3$t, since it's so far beyond lame that it's l4m3) way to win or lose in this game:

In higher difficulty levels (as in above warlord), by the time you can get the wonder or SW that allows the diplo victory, no matter what you do, EVERYBODY is going to be pissed off at you and/or vote against you.

That means that either (a) you lose, or (b) if you've got at least 50% of the population (which I'm close to getting in my AoI game), you win by the mere fact that you have a larger population than everyone else put together.....

I.e. anticlimactic either way. That's why I permanently disabled the diplo victory in the FF mod, and In future AoI games, I'll disable it there as well. ;)

@ Hikaro:

Worry not my fellow time traveller/dictator/leader/messiah! :D

I managed to build the UN and Manhattan Project, and I refuse to hold elections each time. Good, considering a 2nd World War has erupted, 1/2 the countries of the world have Anarchy as their government, and I'm dropping nukes on every enemy in my way(America, Turkey, and Mongolia in particular).

You'll appreciate the irony that America was the first country to ever get nuked in this timeline!

Chapter X: From the Sahara and Ethiopia to Korea (1528 - 1586)

1528 AD, the great age of Scientific Discovery that Erizo had so long enjoyed finally ended.

Marius was a wise leader, and he soon purchased the secrets of motorised transportation from the Italians in the West. This was to avoid purchasing it from the Russians. Immediately after, the plans for the Russian T-34 were stolen by a few Russian emigrants, and these were modified into an Erizo-friendly design. Marius boldly proclaimed that within 10 years, he would have motorised beasts to run over the Egyptian Machinegunners. Their coloquial name? Tanks.

---

While the factories of Erizo worked hard to assemble these new war machines, Erizo's armies remained concentrated in the north of Egypt. The French, being allies of the Erizoans, had taught Marius the secrets of the "Grand Battery" maneuver, where massive amounts of artillery fired on one target, decimating it. Intelligence reports revealed to the Emperor that the capital of Egypt possessed only 8 divisions inside, one of which had been greatly weakened. While half of all soldiers were machinegunners, Marius shortly ordered all artillery within range.



Hot, screaming death rained over the city of Thebes. In the first wave of artillery, 4/5 of the Machinegunners - or 16,000 soldiers - were killed or injured. While casualties were tended to, the dead buried, and leaders tried to rally the troops, cavalry had to take up the defense. Those too suffered huge casualties, and they were eventually pulled back in favor of machinegunners when word was received the Eastern enemy's cavalry were charging.

Egyptian cannons responded in kind to the assault, managing to slay a few of the charging enemy by firing directly into them. However, the machinegunners were war weary and did barely any work before being cut down. Many had even tried to run; much of Egypt's army was becoming draftees and forced soldiers thanks to the anarchy of the South - where all the wealth, such as the gem mines, were located.

The common people desperately tried to escape the city, obstructing the paths of what soldiers actually managed to do their jobs. As enemies rushed in, machineguns opened fire, killing friend and foe alike. In fact, more Egyptians were killed by the defensive machineguns than the Erizoan cavalry!

As the Egyptian Pharoah subtly made his escape up the Nile amidst the anarchy of Thebes, machinegunners did their worst. Their ruthless tactics of shooting through their own citizenry allowed them to slay an elite band of 7,000 Erizoan Cavalry without a single casualty. Their numbers swelled by 1,000 to 2,000 men, but half were killed immediately after by another ruthless barrage by Erizoan artillery. The next unit was heavily disheartened by seeing so many bodies - civilian, friend, and foe - that they were cut down by the Erizoan cavalry forces.

Their replacements were hardcore patriots, unwavering in the enemy cavalry charge and slaying 6,000 Erizoan cavalrymen. Marius huffed at this loss; numbers like that were drops in the bucket to the MASSIVE population of Erizo's empire. He then ordered another artillery barrage, damaging all the soldiers inside and reducing them all to around 1,000 men a piece. But Marius's blood had boiled at the loss of men - even if he didn't seem to mind throwing them into a meat grinder - and the refusal of the Egyptians to surrender. He ordered the artillery fire to continue, and artillery shells blew the mosques of Thebes to pieces.

More artillery hit high-rises in the city, killing 1/10 of it's population. The Erizoan Emperor craved blood, but enough conscientious soldiers convinced the emperor to stop his assault; they appealed to the fact that while the Emperor was immortal and ruthless to his enemies, he did have a humane side. Could any humane person continue to drop artillery shells on people running about in the street, desperate for shelter? Could any humane person blow up civil institutions and murder those who lacked the means to escape? No. The artillery barrage stopped shortly after, and the skies of Thebes could be seen again and the fresh air inhaled, rather than the darkness of smoke and shrapnel, and the smell of burning flesh and wood.

In the next assault, another band of machinegunners was slain, though the Marian force sustained 3,000 casualties. But they were replaced with patriots, of course, and these patriots managed to kill 7,000 cavalrymen.

That band, however, was Thebes' last. Marius' brilliant generals knew headon tactics could not work, and they managed to capture another entrance to Thebes. From there, they entered the city proper, while another unit of cavalrymen charged into the machinegunners. But before the machinegunners could even get through their magazines, they were all struck from behind. The Erizoan military maneuver had surrounded them; machineguns could only fire in one direction, after all. And unfortunately for the now-dead Egyptians, they had all been pointing forward.

With the machinegunners dealt with, Marius decreed an all-out assault on Thebes. Egyptian partisans - 1,000 in strength - were cut down by Erizo's forces without casualties. 3,000 Egyptian Lancers then met their deaths after they futilely tried to charge against their gunpowder-equipped foes. The last of the blows was dealt by Erizo's world-famous Riders, known for often fighting the last battles against enemies. The Riders themselves had declined to only handful of regiments, but they were good for propoganda.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1528ADThebes.jpg

Thebes was now under Imperial rule, and while much of the population rebelled, the Pharoah acknowledged his homeland's loss. Pharoah Tutenkhamen - an ancient leader, being in possession of a Chaos Emerald - had fled to Hieraconpolis all the way in Central Africa along the Niger.

---

Anarchy soon reigned in Heliopolis. Erizo's intelligence network had detected that not a single machinegun was within Heliopolis' confines. Heliopolis was the last Egyptian city on the Nile, and if it fell, the Egyptian Empire would lose the first half of it's name.

The artillery cannons had mostly been used on the former Egyptian capital, but Marius still had spares. All spare ammunition was loaded on trains bound for Heliopolis, before opening fire on the river-bound city. Heliopolis' best defenders were so demoralised and reduced in number common cavalry had to take up the defense of Heliopolis.

While the first band of cavalry was easily defeated by Erizo's superior cavalry, the commander of Heliopolis quickly wised up to his enemy. He called out the Trench Infantry, who dug their namesake trenches near the river. Erizo's cavalry were slaughtered one by one, but 1,000 of the force managed to retreat.

Marius responded by sending spare artillery from Erizo itself to the front. These artillery proved effective, slicing the Trench Infantry and Riflemen units in half, from 4,000 soldiers to 2,000.

Partisans soon took up the defense, and the hardcore Egyptian patriots proved effective. They managed to take 5,000 cavalrymen out of action, but the last 1,000 able-bodied cavalry used superior tactics to slaughter the 4,000 Partisans. Humorously, 5,000 Egyptians were forced into service and then forced to use outdated pikes to fight the Marian forces. Marius' cavalry naturally prevailed, slaying all the Pikemen without casualty. Riflemen, once again, had to take up the defense.

2,000 Erizoan cavalry found themselves injured and incapacitated, but the Riflemen were slain.

The infamous Trench Infantry then used explosives to turn the inner city's roads and buildings into hills and trenches. No backup from Hieraconopolis was coming, so the Egyptian soldiers figured they may as well destroy as much of the city as possible, and then dig in to fight the enemy in a glorious battle to the death.

Initially, the Trench Infantry were successful. As a unit of 7,000 elites charged them, they fired from the trenches without losing any of their own 1,000 men. 6,000 horses and riders promptly were incapacitated. But the 1,000 remaining were smart, and dismounted their horses. Under Marius' guidance, they immediately camoflouged themselves by smearing the rubble and debris around the city on themselves. Ever so slowly, they maneuvered towards the enemy, crouched on the ground. At the same time, men still alive from the 6,000 crippled cavalry stealthily managed to make their way to the rivers along the city's borders. The trenches ran DANGEROUSLY close to the river, and finding shovels amongst the dead enemy, they began to chip away. Soon enough, water flooded all the trenches, drowning numerous enemy trench infantry. The survivors found themselves incapacitated due to water among other things, and they were cut down slowly but surely.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1528ADHeliopolis.jpg

---



Marius' next issue was not only draining and rebuilding the flooded ruins of Heliopolis, but controlling the newly-acquired near-million people. This was worsened by the fact many of these were the citizens who had fled to the suburbs of Heliopolis, and promptly returned when Marius' troops occupied the city. Even better? About 5/8 of them dared to resist the Emperor, even as he tried to repair the city, which had been left in horrible condition by Egypt's troops. But alas, he had bigger fish to fry.

---

Marius was surprised to find 5 machinegunners and 2 settler bands were located west of Heliopolis in the desert. It was imagined they were units that had retreated from Heliopolis. Marius made plans to eliminate them all once he had more artillery ammunition manufactured.

But the Emperor also looked south. His borders finally touched the ancient Ethiopian Kingdom. They had been at war for quite some time, due to the consequences of the Erizo-Indian(and Russian) War. Plans were made to invade Ethiopia, or at least parts of it.

With any new moves against the Egyptians not possible, Marius checked the Egyptian military's resources.

The Egyptians, as of 1528, had 3 Flak cannon units, 13 Machinegunners, 6 Riflemen, 2 Cavalry, 4 Trench Infantry, 2 Fusiliers, 5 Partisans and 1 Colonial Infantry. All these units, together, made up a force of 36 units. The Egyptians used to have nearly 60 units, to put it in perspective.

With the fall of Egypt proper, the Empire of Erizo now ruled 17% of the world's surface, and 23% of it's population. By contrast, America had 5% of the land while France wielded 9% of the population.



---

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1536InvasionofScourgestralia.jpg

1536 AD, the Egyptians dared to invade Scourgestralia, landing a variety of military units outside the city. But this was a blessing in disguise; more units overseas meant fewer units at home.

Marius immediately ordered several airlifts of thousands of troops to Scourgestralia. The tied down Egyptians there would make the advance into Egypt's territories that much easier.

The damnable Ottomans blocked our only route to crush the Egyptian machinegunners outside Heliopolis. Marius decided it mattered not; he now had tanks.

---

Marius set up a spy network in Aksum, giving him the intel on the entire Ethiopian Army: 17 units.

Marius ordered a tank assault on the Ethiopian city of Adulis along the further down the Nile. Guarded by crossbowmen, Marius expected an easy victory.

The Crossbowmen of Adulis were confused just what the hell they were fighting against. They were all massacred not only by tank fire, but artillery fire. Spearmen took up the defense as a result; Marius told his tank drivers to be careful, to which they tilted their heads.

Not a single loss, the Tanks of Erizo managed to seize the city of Adulis:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1536ADAdulis.jpg

The collapse of Adulis was the final sign of the decline of the Axumite Empire. All full-strength cavalry were ordered to invade Ethiopia, and with 10 years, it was expected that all of central Ethiopia would fall to Erizo's soldiers.

As a taste of what was to come, Erizo's biplanes were ordered to bomb Aksum. The primitive Aksumites refered to the airplanes as dragons summoned by the Erizoan Emperor's magic. 1,000 Ethiopian soldiers were incapacitated by the airborne bombs.



---

1544 AD, artillery shells rained down on Aksum, destroying it's ancient walls. Cavalry of the Erizoan Army then advanced on the city.

Without any units lost, the cavalry marched victoriously into the city, cutting down Crossbowmen and Spearmen.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1544ADAksumFalls.jpg

The capital of Ethiopia fell, and it became apparent the ancient Aksumites were drawing their last breaths. Their total army size had been reduced to a mere 12 units.

The new capital at Gondar fared far better. They managed to kill 2 Erizoan Cavalry units with minimal damage done. But the Emperor of Erizo was ambitious and continued the assault. 2 Crossbowmen were killed, but then they killed more Erizoan cavalry.

A total of 5 Erizoan Cavalry had been slain before Ethiopian Swordsmen were forced to take up the defense.

After killing the last bands of Swordsmen, the Imperial forces emerged triumphant:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1544ADGondar.jpg

---

The bloodbath of Gondar remained fresh in the memories of Marius' soldiers, who refused to go farther for the time being. Marius was fine with that, and deployed workers to build roads to the new Ethiopian possessions. He hoped that within a decade, he could occupy the last Ethiopian city. Ethiopia only had 3 Crossbowmen remaining within it's ranks... it's time as an independent country was coming to an end.

With the fall of most of the Aksumite Empire, Marius now ruled over 18% of the world's surface and and 24% of it's population.

Marius was not done yet in Africa, however. While he made preparations for the invasion of the last bastion of the Aksumites, his artillery took up positions in Cyrenaica and rained artillery fire down on Elephantine. The city itself was already in turmoil thanks to constant Carthaginian invasions weakening the soldiers stationed there. Adding to that was the artillery of the Erizoans, who then sent in the cavalry to steal the siege from the Carthaginians.

The machinegunners of the city barely put up any fight. Most committed suicide rather than have to embrace the cloud of death that the Marian forces always brought. Shortly after, the Partisans of this city proved to not be as effective as those in other cities, being cut down with ease.

Then, Flak Cannons had to be improvised for ground combat. While they were quite effective, they were nonetheless cut down by the sheer numbers of the Erizoan cavalry. A second group of Flak cannons was soon defeated, and the city fell to the Marian forces...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1544ADElephantine.jpg

The people welcomed Marius's troops as liberators, and as thanks, he paid for the harbor to be reconstructed so more fisheries could nourish the people of Elephantine.

After killing another band of machinegunners with the awesome powers of his tanks, Marius had an intel report sent to him, revealing Egypt now possessed a mere 36 land units - the same they did not too long ago.

All free artillery pieces, tanks, and cavalry were ordered into the Egyptian desert, where they would slowly but surely move towards Pi-Ramesses and conquer it. Once the city fell, Egypt would be gone from North Africa forever.

Marius ordered an assault on the Egyptian fleet near Abydos in Java. While the Erizoan Navy lost 2 Cruisers, the Egyptians suffered the same fate. The Battle of Abydos was declared an indecisive battle.


---

1552 AD brought the sinking of an Egyptian Dreadnought.

More importantly, it brought the Battle of Lalibela. Cavalrymen and tanks charged into the ranks of Ethiopian Crossbowmen, easily slaughtering half of them. While a unit of tanks was nearly defeated by some spiritual chemical(put on the tips of the crossbows' ammunition so that God would guide them) the Ethiopians used - which was corrosive to armor - no units were lost.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1552EthiopiaDefeated.jpg

Tanks victoriously rolled into the last city of Ethiopia, and many Ethiopians began to cheer at the prospects of being part of a wealthy, advanced nation rather than a backwards, poverty-stricken hellhole.

With the Aksumites crushed at last, Marius victoriously reported that the Empire now ruled 25% of the world's population and 18% of it's land. The question in many of his countrymen's minds was, "Could anybody defeat Erizo?"


--- The Political Landscape ---

It was soon discovered that some of the world(in particular, the overstretched French and Turks), under the constant stresses of war and the lack of confidence in centralised governments that followed, had reverted back to a system of Feudal Monarchy as a result of growing regional autonomy. Said autonomy was a compromise between the homelands and their colonies: autonomy in exchange for troops and continued loyalty. Enlightened Despotism had collapsed in most states, who reverted back to theocratic or feudal monarchies, once more as the result of increasing decentralisation. However, Egypt, Arabia, the Netherlands, England, America, the Inca, and most importantly, Erizo itself, remained Enlightened Absolute Monarchies. The only country in the whole world without a monarchy was the Iroquois Confederacy, which operated under an oligarchic Republican system - once again, as a result of being spread so far apart, and due to the desire for local autonomy.






1560, the Egyptians used two machinegunners to block our path to Pi-Ramesses. We engaged them, and somehow, a tank was lost in the struggle. However, our forces soon rallied and crushed the Machinegunners. The Attack Force in the region was expected to be within range of Pi-Ramesses within 16 years.

1568, a Franco-Dutch War erupted for unknown reasons. It would certainly make things interesting, however; the Dutch had a global spanning empire despite their small size.

1568, more importantly, was the year where the Erizoan scientists mastered the art of splitting the atom. Marius immediately made plans to exploit such a development.

Reports stated that Egypt had been reduced to 30 units. Erizo's ships off the coast of Akkad noted that the city was weak and might soon fall to the Italian Army.

After a decent barrage of artillery and bombs, all Cavalry were ordered to attack Pi-Ramesses. The Riflemen guarding the city initially did quite well, but the Cavalry managed to muster enough force to take them down. Puny Flak cannons stood up next, but they were easily shredded.

After only two battles against Riflemen and Flak, the city of Pi-Ramesses fell.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1568PiRamesses.jpg

After that, an Egyptian cavalry and Partisan force outside the city was massacred. This event reduced the total size of Egypt's armed forces to 26 units.

The capture of the vast desert area around Pi-Ramesses enabled Erizo to finally control 19% of the world's land and 26% of it's population.

At the end of 1568, Marius arranged for a peace treaty with the Zulus. After so long, the Zulus and Erizoans finally were at peace once more.

---


1576, The Carthaginians finally made peace with the Egyptians; they saw no possible profit in continuing the war effort. Most importantly, the Americans declared war on the French, threatening the whole French Empire in the New World. In a chain of events, the Arabs soon went to war on America's side against the French, while the Japanese sided with France and declared war on the Americans.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1576UnitedNations.jpg

Most important about the year's beginning was Marius' announcement of the creation of the United Nations, an organisation devoted to international aid, security, peace, and humanitarianism. It would make laws and regulations for the world(that the world would ignore). All states immediately joined, thinking Marius had turned a new, peaceful leaf. Marius then announced the creation of an international police force, and the Army of Erizo would be it's primary component.

Egypt's armed forces remained at a stagnant 26 men, though now ELEPHANTS and SPEARMEN were being built instead of modern units. Soon, that count dropped to 25, after Tanks finally destroyed the machinegunners in Scourgestralia.

As the battle for Byblos began, the Egyptian Army amazingly managed to repel 1 Tank and destroy another. But the tables turned soon enough, and before long, a mix of Tanks and Cavalry were victoriously marching through the city.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1576Byblos.jpg

With Byblos conquered, the way to Hieraconopolis was secure. With only 18 units left, Egypt's empire was in it's death throes.

But news soon reached Marius that the Pharoah had been overthrown. A new ruler had taken the throne, stolen the Pharoah's chaos emerald, had the now-mortal Pharoah executed, and proclaimed himself Emperor of Mali; he claimed all the formerly-Egyptian possessions. With such a liability in power, Marius had no choice but to depose the new ruler.

The Mali Emperor would not be an easy target, however. He surrounded himself with machinegunners loyal to him, and 8 units alone guarded Hieraconopolis. But Marius was just as determined to take the city and kill a potential threat.

While all free tanks attacked Hieraconopolis, victory did not come. Only 1/4 of the city's defenders were wiped out, while 1 Tank unit was destroyed. Conquest of the "Mali Empire" would have to wait.

---

1584 AD, the Americans and Ottomans signed an ambitious mutual protection pact. Marius had designs on some or all of the Ottoman realm, and now knew he'd have to fight the Americans too if he wanted any of it. His response to such an alliance, however, was, "Less work to do in the future."

The Mali Empire sent Elephants against Erizo's tanks, but that unit was promptly slaughtered for such foolishness.

Most importantly...

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1584ManhattanProject.jpg

The Douseoul Project was completed in 1585. The secrets to creating a nuclear weapon were finally in Erizo's grasp, and Douseoul would build the first, to be deployed against Japan if necessary. Production empire-wide was switched to the construction and deployment of these weapons of mass destruction, which would be used against all of Erizo's enemies from that point on.

The Ottomans and France went to war in 1586. By fighting eachother, an Erizoan invasion of Turkey would be that much easier.

In a much better position thanks to open supply lines to the empire and hordes of artillery now within range, Erizo's army pressed a second attack of Hierconpolis. All units inside were softened up by artillery that left thousands dead. Without losing any tanks, all credible fighting forces were massacred by the mobile armored divisions of the Great East. Mali partisans took up positions to try and defend their re-constituted country, but their efforts were futile, and they were ruthlessly cut down. The Mali Cavalry only fought for a few seconds before trying to retreat out of the city, tank and artillery fire cutting them down to nothing.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1584Hieraconpolis.jpg

Only a few months after the fall of Hieraconpolis in mid-1586, the Emperor ordered a blitzkrieg against El-Armana, where the Mali Emperor had made his new capital after the fall of Hieraconpolis.

The assault was mixed. The first tanks in were destroyed by improvised tactics and weaponry by the Mali machinegunners. The second wave of tanks had a smashing success in killing the enemy. Then Flak Cannons showed equal ingenuity, destroying another division of tanks. After that, however, luck ran out. The Mali forces were torn through one by one, until they were eradicated and the city fell. The Mali Emperor had managed to escape, but he had left in such a hurry and so stealthily that he had forgotten one thing:

His chaos emerald!

With the conquest of El-Armana, Marius' forces soon annihilated the 2 bands of Partisan guerilla forces outside Hieraconpolis. This left Mali itself with only 6 units, half Partisans and half Riflemen.


Another Revolution broke out in the former Egyptian Empire. In fact, Erizo's Military Advisory Council reported the country's government type was now listed as "anarchy." How did this happen?

The Mali Emperor had been executed by guerillas en route to the city of Akkad - the empire's last province in all Africa. Akkadians took over the city and proclaimed their country free. The city of Abydos on Java decided to form a Confederation with the Akkadians and form a new country, Abydos-Akkad. Marius predicted that this new Confederation would end just like the one between Ellipi and Akkad(where both cities had been part of the former Babylonian Confederacy and joined forces in the aftermath of it's collapse) so many decades ago, but he agreed to meet with the new country's leaders to discuss peace.

Sure enough, Marius managed to bribe the Akkadians, and the resulting peace splintered the Confederation:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1584EgyptPeace.jpg

With the loss of Akkad, Abydos flat out renamed itself "Egyptian Abydos", due to it's heavily-Egyptian population, and the fact it still more-or-less considered itself Egypt reborn.

A War that lasted 84 years had finally concluded. But the world now lost their patience with Marius, as he refused to hold UN elections, no longer was aligned with them against the Egyptian Empire and it's successor states, and most importantly, he now was ready to wield the most horrific weapon ever developed by man.

Turn on your Command and Conquer tracks, kids! The next World War is coming next update, and it WILL be epic! :D I suggest playing one of the 3 versions of Hell March, but any Command and Conquer track is good for war.

=== Chapter XI: The Basic Buildings Blocks of Life... and Death. OR World War II. ===

Part I (1592-1599(One Turn))


But Marius's thirst for blood was never easily quenched. He managed to set up a spy network in the American capital of Washington, D.C. As the United States blasted it's way through Iroquois cities, Marius made plans to do the same to America's cities.

The total size of America's armed forces, at the time of late 1586, was:

3 Swordsmen, 41 Pikemen, 18 Musketmen, 32 Trench Infantry, 2 Tanks, 2 Urban Militia, 1 Flak, 10 Fusiliers, 8 Cavalry, 2 Partisans, _52_ Machinegunners, 3 Armored cars, 13 Lancers, 5 Colonial Infantry, and 3 Spearmen. This was a total of 192 units.

An agent was also successfully planted in Ottoman Sogut.

They had:

21 Tanks, 1 Sipahi, 5 Janissaries, 37 Machine Guns, 3 Armored Cars, 1 Musketmen, 6 Trench Infantry, and 1 Partisan. A total of 85 units.

So altogether, our potential enemies possessed 277 land units.

Erizo, by contrast, had 468 total units, though the exact land amount was unknown. However, 80 tanks were part of Erizo's military. Not to mention 83 machineguns, 27 Trench Infantry, 58 Cavalry, 32 Colonial Infantry, and a whole variety of units.

To relieve any pressure the American front might have in the event of war, Marius airlifted and transported nearly 30 units across the Pacific. Most of these were tanks, but there were machineguns added for defensive purposes.

1592, the first atomic bombs began to come off the Assembly lines. Before using it for war, however, Marius wanted a demonstration. He ordered it's use on a horde of barbarians in the Northern Shadow Islands:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592ShadowIslandsBarbs.jpg

The Barbarians numbered 90,000 the day the Bomb was dropped on them.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592ShadowIslandsAfterBomb.jpg

As death rained down on them, they were reduced to a mere 12,000 people. Marius gloated in pure malice in his throne back in Shadking. With the use of the bomb, NOBODY could hope to stand against him.

Many people in the North Shadow islands were concerned about the bomb being deployed so carelessly, so close to their own cities. Marius promised it was the last time Erizo would test bombs on it's own territory. Workers would have to clean up the radiation that now littered the Northern Shadow islands. Before that, however, he sent out the cavalry to massacre 1/6 of the Barbarians.



--- Preparations for Invasion ---

Confident the Americans and Ottomans had likely put all their eggs - or troops - in one basket, he ordered his agents to discover the locations of all troops in both countries.

The Ottoman Empire:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592OttomanTroopLocations.jpg

Sogut and Constantinople held many of their forces(6 MGs in Sogut, 4 MGs in Constantinople), and both could be struck by bombs. We would invade the border cities, which were poorly defended, with standard invasion tactics. Then bombs would be deployed against other cities. The best part was that once the bombs were deployed, all 3 sources of their oil would be cut off and their tank production would grind to a halt.

The United States:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592AmericanArmy.jpg

The Americans possessed quite a bit of forces, but large amounts were in the wilderness of the North. But, forces were heavily concentrated in the West, and that's where Marius would send his bombs.

---

But before beginning any war, Marius moved to secure new technologies and ideas. He acquired from the French the secrets of Totalitarianism, which much of the world seemed to be heading into; nearly all major powers now were in anarchy. Marius soon traded the art of splitting the Atom to the Americans in exchange for American advisors telling Erizo's pilots how to build better planes. Erizo had to part with the technology because American spies and immigrants acquired any technology any other two civilisations possessed. But Marius did not panic, no. For he knew that the Americans would soon lose their only source of uranium in a nuclear explosion.

---

Observing good conditions, Marius gave the go-ahead for war.

The first moves were in the Sahara. With the loss of only 1 Tank, Erizo's forces decimated 2 Ottoman Machinegunners and 1 Trench Infantry.

Then the frontlines shifted to around Akkad, where 3 Ottoman Tanks and 1 Machine Gun division awaited. WIthout losses, the Erizoan Army successfully crushed 2 Tanks and the Machinegunners.

1593, after those blows had been dealt, the American President sent an ultimatum to the Erizoan Emperor: Cease all attacks on the Ottoman Empire or face war.

Marius responded with censored profanity, and sent tanks to attack the Ottoman Empire's Janissaries along the border.

A tank was lost, but 2 Janissary Corps were massacred.

---

To teach the American leader a lesson, Marius sent his own ultimatum: "Surrender or face death." When the President refused, Marius deployed a bomb against the city of Oil Springs, which was under military occupation. 157,000 American soldiers inhabited the city so as to secure it for integration into the Union.

This new war caused the Greeks to declare war on us; they were allied to the Americans apparently. The same went for the Dutch.

But the assault was a smashing success nonetheless! 115,000 American soldiers were killed, and half of those who remained alive were injured by radiation poisoning.

Most notably, such an incident made America the first country ever to be attacked by a nuclear weapon in wartime. Marius laughed at the irony of that. Once more, only he got the joke.

--

Now, the Turkish bastards had to pay. An atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Aydin, and Marius was sure to shout "TRY BLOCKING _THIS_, MOTHER EFFERS!" as it happened, in reference to the Ottoman tendency to block Erizo's campaign paths.

This promptly caused the Arabs, English, Mongols, and Scandinavians to declare war on Erizo. Such fools. But Marius now knew he had to play more conservatively with his toys.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592AydinConquered.jpg

Aydin fell in short order, regardless. But now Marius had a worldwide conflict to take care of. He was now at war with the Scandinavians, British, Americans, Mongols, Arabs, Ottomans, Dutch, and Greeks.

Luckily, most of those countries were still fighting with muskets and lances. Marius decided Arabia should taste Erizo's blade first, and he invaded the city of Basra near Lake Chad.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592Basra.jpg

At no losses, the city's defenders folded.

Marius concluded he could capture much of Arabic Africa in a single swoop if he tried hard enough with enough force. He ordered troops south against Fustat.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592Fustat.jpg

While a few cavalry were lost, far more were lost on the Arab side. They also lost another one of their colonies, and the jungle and marshes of the South would provide an excellent buffer against enemy invasions. As a slight bonus, an Arab cannon was captured, and converted into an artillery unit in Byblos.

At the fall of Fustat, Erizo controlled 21% of the world's land and 29% of it's population.

--

Though he desired to strike deeper into the Arab colonies, Marius knew that he needed to focus on juicier targets. First, he had to destroy all Arab units wandering about Erizo's African territory. With the loss of only 1 unit, 4 Arab units were massacred.

He decided to leave other Arab units alone for the moment, and ordered an assault on Baghdad. If all went well, he could even seize the Arab capital of Mecca.

No units were lost, and the Arabs learned the price of defending a central city with only 2 units. Then, Marius decided to boldly advance on Mecca to secure the new conquests in Arabia.

As we neared the complete annihilation of Mecca's garrison, a leader emerged to command the troops, Kuang Yin.

Somehow, the Arabs managed to defeat all of our cavalry. However, we were victorious, as a Rider was available to finish off the last garrison, and thus claim Islam's Holy City for our cause.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592ArabiaConquest.jpg

With so many new positions gained, Marius ordered a halt to all operations in Africa and Arabia until more troops were trained. Bigger fish had to be fried.

--

Said fish were the Ottomans and Americans. The Ottoman city of Bilecik was attacked first. It's machinegunners and tanks were weakened by attacks, and 1 tank was destroyed; Erizo lost a tank itself. Kuang Yin formed an army, and 3 tank groups piled into it to besiege the city of Bilecik.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592Bilecik.jpg

The city fell rather easily, obviously.

After that, Erizo's forces were ordered to attack Antalya in the Caucasus, so as to secure some of the Turks' oil.

While some units retreated, and about 1 or 2 Tank units were destroyed, Antalya fell.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592Antalya.jpg

Marius soon ordered a halt to the Turkish campaign for the time being. Now, Marius said, Uncle Sam was going to get his just desserts.

Erizo's army attacked St. Louis. Without much in the way of artillery, the tanks stood alone.

Several tanks were destroyed or forced to retreat in the face of such a well-fortified enemy. However, circumstances eventually changed, and Erizo's army managed to occupy the city. 80% of the citizenry, however, soon revolted against the Emperor.

The Erizoan Empire now controlled 22% of the world's land, while also taming 31% of it's population.

---

Before deciding whether to continue or not, Marius knew it was imperative to find allies to beat down the Great 8.

First, he secured the Inca, so as to make sure the American positions of the Erizoan Empire remained secure. Then the Austrians to apply pressure to the Ottoman front. Then, solidarity was shown even with the Egyptians. And Carthage. Even the former Evil Empire of Russia joined our side with glee with a little Iron to sweeten the deal. Then even the Italians joined our side. And so on.

The end result was two alliances:

The Axis - The United States, Ottoman Turkey, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Britain, Arabia

The Allies - Erizo, Egypt, Italy, Austria, France, Russia, Zululand, Iroquois, Japan, Carthage, Inca Empire

These two coalitions were not set in stone, however. Several of the members of each side were at war with eachother, but the alliances were based on Erizo's diplomatic perspective of the world. The whole point of the alliance, as well, was to create global chaos and thus prevent Erizo's enemies from focusing solely on it. America would be the only true threat, due to it's isolated position.

---

Since the whole peaceful world now loved Marius for his commitment to their cause and his gravy train of resources, the Emperor was sure he could do as he wished with his nuclear devices.

Soon, the city of Atlanta was bombed, halving it's population while also killing all soldiers inside. Cavalry easily captured it.

Then the city of Buffalo was targeted. But Marius had gotten wise, and rather than bomb the city proper, he hit the outskirts, killing all the units inside while leaving valuable infrastructure intact.

Another nuke detonated further West outside New Orleans, destroying most of the garrison. While a few cavalry were lost, the machinegunners eventually died and another city fell into Erizo's hands.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592Americanconquests.jpg

--


With the American front extended, Marius boldly decided to invade Mongolia, the ancient target of Erizo. A nuke was dropped on the easternmost city of Kazan. Even with that, a large amount of forces remained present. Unfortunately, Marius had a large amount of nuclear bombs at his disposal, and ordered a second one be dropped.

Sure enough, a second one was all it took to destroy all forces in Kazan.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592Kazan.jpg

With that city completely and utterly owned, Marius turned his attention West again. He declared the Ottoman front to be open once more.

Two nukes were detonated outside Yenisehir. The forces inside were greatly reduced, and the city soon fell. Then, bombs were dropped on Bursa further northeast. A tank was lost while traversing the radioactive wasteland, but sure enough, the city fell and the Turks lost their last source of oil. Their own tank forces would be crippled without fuel. They also lost their chief source of uranium, preventing them from ever building nuclear weapons themselves.

Then, in Central Asia, the Turks lost yet another city to nuclear warfare. And that quickly became two; the Turks were banished from Central Asia.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592OttomanConquests.jpg

The Ottoman capital was shielded by merit of having mountains around it. However, the Turks had lost quite a bit of their empire, and much of that former empire was covered in radioactive crap.

Marius turned his attention back to Arabia. With some spare tanks and several atomic bombs, he was sure he could easily occupy most, if not all, of the country.

Medina fell without any casualties due to being substantially weakened. Najran's garrison was completely wiped out by a bomb, leaving the city open to the invaders.

Then Kufah, leaving Damascus as the last free Arab city in Arabia proper. That city, too, fell with no losses on Erizo's side. An entire front had been sealed.

At the end of all those grand offensives, was a surprise attack on the Viking city of Odense.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h50/Taniciusfox/1592VikingsDestroyed.jpg

No units were lost, and the city fell, knocking one of the eight Axis Powers out of commission. As well, all the treaties we signed were discontinued as the terms involving the Scandinavians no longer applied.

---

With the collapse of so many provinces into Erizo's hands, the Emperor now commanded a whopping 26% of the land and 36% of the population! Short of American and it's allies developing atomic bombs, there was not much hope for Erizo's enemies.


Marius made plans to turn Odense into a key base in Europe. It would field numerous atomic bombs against the English homeland, destroying it. Then, victorious Colonial Infantry and other units would march from the city - after being airlifted - to the island, conquering them for Erizo.

In little more than a year, the destructive power of Erizo's new weapon had enabled the Empire to capture ungodly amounts of territory on so many fronts.

At this rate and with enough atom bombs it should only takes a few more turns for the rest of the Axis nations to fall to Erizo.

We're actually 2 more turns in the future, and I'll say large chunks of America, Mongolia, and all of the Ottoman Empire in Asia/Europe/Africa is now ours. :D

Dude, you should change the name of the game from Civ 3 Conquests to Civ 3 Pwn the World. :lol:

Dude, you should change the name of the game from Civ 3 Conquests to Civ 3 Pwn the World. :lol:

Indeed! But unfortunately, the PtW abbreviation has been taken... maybe next time in Civ V if we beg enough! :D

Great story!

@ 7Ronin:

Thank you!

To everyone else, I'll have a few updates coming soon. Let's just say diplomacy has officially gone out the window...

What's your definition of 'soon'?

What's your definition of 'soon'?

:lol:

My apologies, I have switched to a different computer... all my old saves are on that computer, and until I get the correct data transfer up and running, it'll be a while before I can finish any of my Civ 3 stories... sorry. :(

I've ben following this story for a while now.