I'm new, but I figured I'd make this lil' post so I could keep track of what I was doing and what works and what doesn't.

Quick recap. I'm at about 1500 AD on an easy difficulty. I've got the Americans, with Russia, Germany, China, England, Japan, France, and the Romans on a continental map.

I expanded as quickly as possible this game, not worrying too much about connecting my cities or losing them too much. The map had two continents, east and west. The western continent is shaped like a giant "U", and the East looks more like a South-America lookin' thing. From the start I figured I had started on the northside of the western continent. Turns out I was on the west side of the U. I expanded south as fast as possible in hopes of cutting off the expansion of whoever was next to me. Turns out I run into the Germans to my southwest and Russians to my southeast. Nevertheless, I built up a lot of cities to the south and eventually had a large area to work with.

As it turns out, the Chinese were on the other tip of the U, and had sent some settlers around the U and made some cities in my territory. Looks like they have 3 cities on the easternmost part of my "Territory". The Germans snuck a city in my territory as well. I wasn't worried about either of these, though, assuming if I could build up some culture they would eventually defect, being as they were surrounded by American cities.

I continued my expansion in hopes of a domination victory, although anything was possible. The years passed and as my territory filled out, I got the cities of New Berlin (Germans) to my west to defenct, and New Naking to the east (Chinese) to defect as well.

As I expanded and evolved to the shipping age, I found a resource-rich island to my North. Unfortunately, the English and Germans had beaten me to it. I decided to build a city on the last open corner of the island. I'll likely lose it in the future and it won't expand, but it's worth a chance.

I continue to expand and research as quickly as possible. By now I've got a lot of technologies and I have loads of resources inside my borders. I'm trading these like crazy and it's putting me in real good shape to rocket up the scoreboard. It looks like I have one of the two largest empires, possibly a little behind the Japanese.

Bismark of the Germans comes along and demands some tribute one day. I figured I was quite a bit more advanced than his empire so I decline and tell him to bugger off. He does, as I expected. I blow it off and continue to upgrade my average military forces.

It looks like my scientific advancement is going well, as I hit democracy by around 1200 AD. I figure I am light years ahead of the AI, but the Russians just to my south come for a visit one day. Their leader, Catherine, demands I give them technologies and resources "or else". Figuring this was a Bismark-esque stunt, I tell her to go fly a kite, and not a moment later they declare war.

I've got my musketmen flying toward my southern cities, hoping to see an army of warriors or spearmen charge. I've got Houston, Miami, New Berlin, and Dallas, all in need of defense. They have a couple small cities just across my borders and I think they may be easy to take.

What I saw could have been worse, but it certainly wasn't good. An army of Knights came towards my territories. I thought, hey, we've got guns, and things, this should be simple. I make some cavalry to add to my musketmen. I begin fortifying my most southern cities, preparing for what I figured would be domination by my troops followed by a swift counterattack.

Little did I know their knights would shred through my cavalry and militiamen, and before long I had lost Houston to the Russians. By this time I had loaded Miami (immediately to the East), with troops, so I figured I could stop it there.
Not so fast.

The Russian Knights completely ignore Miami and head to the North toward Chicago. Bad news. I wasn't expecting that. Chicago's army just got decimated in Houston.

My response to this change in direction had to be quick. I had a little time because there was a bit of distance between Houston and Chicago, but not a lot. On my northern coastal cities I began to make Frigates to hopefully bombard some Russian cities on the coast. In my central cities, I began to make upgraded Rifleman, hoping to win the battles with sheer numbers.

...to be continued...

The AI has an uncanny ability to sense weakness in your cities. Always expect it to attack the city with the fewest troops.

So how does history repeat itself?

Last time...

...My response to this change in direction had to be quick. I had a little time because there was a bit of distance between Houston and Chicago, but not a lot. On my northern coastal cities I began to make Frigates to hopefully bombard some Russian cities on the coast. In my central cities, I began to make upgraded Rifleman, hoping to win the battles with sheer numbers...

I rush production of my riflemen and send them all to the front in Chicago, where it looks like we've got 5 or so Russian unique cavalry. After briefly losing control of the city, my mass of riflemen arrive, and eventually win Chicago back.

In the meantime, I begin to fortify the cities in a radius around the Russian border, being sure that I won't leave another city undefended. As the Russians gear up for another cavalry based attack, I bring my troops down to the two northernmost Russian cities: Houston and Kiev. I begin an invasion and am elated to find out that Houston is poorly defended and I quickly win it back. I run into some unique Cavalry on the way to Kiev and lose most of my army, but elect to push on anyway in an attempt to take the city. Again, I find a poorly defended fortress and take that. New St. Petersburg lies just to the south of Kiev, so after a turn or so of movement and reinforcement, I decide to try and take that. And succeed once again.

In the meanwhile, I move my Frigates to the Russian coast and begin to bombard their cities. It turns out to be painfully worthless, but I continue to do it anyway.

By the time I take New St. Petersburg, the Russians, Germans, and Chinese, my 3 co-inhabitants of the Western continent, sign a trade embargo against me. Wonderful. It could be worse, I suppose.

I consider pushing on for another Russian city, hoping to break their morale and end the war, but elect to fortify my new cities instead. Either way, I find a load of new Cossacks coming north intending to retake New St. Petersburg. I load up the city with my riflemen, and after a long, drawn out battle, lose the city anyway. I fortify the new Russian-American border with troops and begin to fend off the Cossacks with sheer numbers. Neither of the armies can get anywhere and are faced with a battle of attrition along the front which rages for nearly 20 years. I thought about a peace treaty, but since Russia were the agressors, I decided I was willing to take losses as high as necessary until they asked for ceasefire.

After almost 100 years after the declaration of war, Catherine of the Russians asks for peace. The final count had large losses on both sides. The Americans temporarily lost Chicago, and to a larger extent, Houston, whereas the Russians lost New St. Petersburg temporarily and Kiev for the time being. Nevertheless, this was a solution both sides were looking for and the final agreement was even.

Now we are at 1300 A.D., and trade embargos between Russia, Germany, and China against America still exist. Fortunately, a large landmass helps America to compensate for lost trade resources. Strangely enough, as America moved into the industrial age, no coal was within it's borders. Germany and China both had excess, but no trade was to occur there. Caesar of the Romans came to the rescue and was willing to trade his excess coal for a large sum of gold and some American silks.

So the industrialization begins, with America building a new rail system and seemingly advancing at a blazing pace.

Present day is 1760 A.D., and the Americans are still setting trends as far as research goes. Their large amounts of natural resources gives us a great amount of leverage when trading for technologies and cash to fund our projects. At this point, there are not any more technologies to trade for, as we are either even or ahead of any other civilization in research.

We begin to hit the age of mechanized infantry and iron-based ships. Foreign ironclads are seen off of the coast with regularity now, and we elect to begin to build a navy of modern ships. Our next goal is to make a solid air force and hope to utilize the F-15 and F-117 Stealth Bombers before other nations realize such technology.

We hit the Modern age ahead of pace but face a setback on the way to our goals. In our giant mass of controlled territory, not one source of aluminum is available. We see that the Japanese, Chinese, Russians, and English all have excess aluminum, but have not quite discovered the technologies necessary to trade it to us.

We have two options. We can wait for them to discover the technologies and trade for it peacefully, at the same time completely wasting our technological lead on these nations, or, we can choose to invade a nation, and take over the necessary city(ies) in order to acquire it, thereby preserving our technological lead, but squandering our hopeful reputation as more of a peaceful civilization.

Should we wait, we probably face a very ugly situation on our continent. The Germans and Russians both still have very hard feelings toward the Americans and would likely go to war again given the chance. The Chinese have also been known to side with them, and in all likelihood, would not break tradition. If all three of these civilizations were able to gang up on a not-so-advanced America, the outlook would be bleak. Even if we could secure alliances with our overseas friends, viable help would be years away, in a best-case scenario.

If we decided to go for a hostile takeover of the resources, we've still got some of the same problems. If we invade Russia or China, we are almost certainly going to face the dreaded 1 on 3 situation discussed earlier. The difference being, if we did it now, then we would be more advanced than our three neighbors and would have a better chance of winning, or rather surviving the ensuing war.

We could also attack one of our overseas friends, the Japanese or the English, but that would ruin what look to be as of now, very solid trading and defense-based relationships. Aside from that, the English are clearly the second closest civilization in power next to us.

Decisions, decisions.

This dilemma would hang over the heads of the American commander in chief for years, and he is yet to come up with a viable solution, if one exists.

By the way, any input, advice, and ideas are welcome.. El Presidente could use an advisor, lol.

Originally posted by alex994
So how does history repeat itself?

Well by history, a few things happened regarding these civilizations...

ie: The true Roman Empire was destroyed in ~400 AD.. Revolutionary war, the French/Americans vs. English, WWI, Axis vs. Allies, WWII, Japan/Germany vs. Americans, English, etc., Cold War and the Space Race between America and USSR, basically, I put some of the most relevant historical civilizations together and decided to see what would happen. Would I expect any of this to unfold, not necessarily, but it would be interesting to note if America/France declared war on England around the late 18th century, ya know?

Anyway, I'm kind of at a stand still wondering what to do about the aluminum deficiency. I think now that expansion has ended I can start getting more detail, but I think I will wait for more experienced players' input on what to do about the aluminum before I jump into anything..

bad situation. i have never came across it as i have never reached the modern age. also, i am usually behind the AI in technology. but, i have had problems with saltpeter simalier, where i have to go to war becuase the AI is very picky about trading reasorces.

Here is a view of part of my territory and most importantly the world map as of 1762 AD. Maybe this will be helpful/interesting.

http://stuwww.tcu.edu/~rtdahlquist/1762ad.jpg

This post will conclude chapter one, which is basically background information to get everyone caught up with where I am. I will implement characters into the rest of my posts (as in, other posters can become characters.. ie: giving me advice in this post may get you in the story as an advisor to the president, or whatever, I/we will work with it and make it cool :).

Chapter 2 will begin at the year 1763 AD.

After what I see you may be able throught a fast attack to take out your one and one. You can eailiy defend at the russian border until Germany is passified, then you turn on Russia and take their source of Aliminium. You shall try to mass up a large force before declaring war so that you have the upper hand from the start.

PS: China will not be a mayor problem do to the bad attacks AI does over sea......
PPS: Does anyone else have Tanks?

No one else has tanks to my knowledge (on my continent, although the Romans or English may), although I would have to assume that isn't going to be true for long.

Chapter 2: 1763 AD
[Enter the Oval Office in Washington. President Lincoln lounges back in his chair, staring outside the window. Winter has just ended and the first day of spring is sunny and warm.]

President Lincoln sits in the Oval Office, looking out his window to the vast lawn of the White House. He spots two birds flying around.

He thought to himself, "Look at them two.. bluejays? Maybe. No... Hummingbirds? Those aren't hummingbirds. Hell, I don't know. Whatever they are, they haven't got a care in the world."

President Lincoln earlier that day had requested a meeting with the Secretary of Defense, retired General Heine, in order to discuss some problems facing America and its future.

Lincoln flinched from his relaxed state as his conference phone shattered the silence. "President Lincoln," the phone announced, "The General is here to see you."

"Oh, uh, yes. Of course. Send him in," replied Lincoln.

General Heine was from a long line of war heroes. His pedigree went as far back as the 1200s, when his ancestors commanded the American armies in the border wars against Russia. He went into the service at age 18, and gave 35 good years of service. He eventually worked his way up the ranks to General, where he commanded the American army for an uneventful 7 years.

He didn't mind the retired life, and the pension was great, but he eventually grew bored. He made his interest known to Lincoln concerning the Secretary of Defense position one year, and he got the job with ease.

You see, a man of Heine's intelligence and savvy is hard to come by. Although it was true Lincoln was the President of one of the most vast and successful civilizations in all of the world, he was honored to recieve the assistance of such a decorated citizen.

"President Lincoln, you requested to see me?" Heine inquired.

"Absolutely. Have a seat, Heine. Anything to drink?" Lincoln inquired.

"No sir, thanks," Heine replied.

Lincoln readjusted his chair and made good eye contact with his guest. "As I'm sure you know we have a number of problems facing us, General. You know of the Aluminum deficiency. I'm sure you're also aware of our difficulty in trading for it, as well." General Heine nodded as Lincoln continued, "I need some advice on this one. If we wait too long and do not obtain aluminum, it is very possible that we will no longer be in the drivers seat in the world and we may be once again put at the mercy of a country like Russia."

President Lincoln got up from his chair, began to pace over to the window, and continued, "Heine, I realize that we need this aluminum. The CIA is on me every day about how much closer everyone else is getting to beating us to this technology. I'm advised to consider going to war over the aluminum containing territories daily. Heine, I'm looking for an opinion, because despite all of the people who want us to go to sacrifice lives and invade a country over this, at this point I'm personally not willing to give up the integrity and peacemaking reputation of this country."

President Lincoln stared out the window, contemplating. "Well?" He asked Heine.

The General replied, "Well Mr. President, we do have quite a dilemma. Me, being the Secretary of Defense, naturally tends to view the world from a force on force perspective. So that's what I'll give you."

"Lincoln," He continued, "I understand we had problems with the Russians in the past. I also realize that both the Germans and Chinese are not very trustworthy. However, I would reiterate that this is a new age and we are clearly dominant compared to these countries. I think that we could make a quick strike to the Russian territory and try for their Aluminum stores. We have a city in South Russia by the name of Smolensk, as I'm sure you know. Although this city is unproductive, it would serve as an excellent launching point only a few hundred miles from Russia's aluminum stores. There is no question in my mind that we could take the aluminum by utilizing this city, all the while defending our southern borders with our superior forces."

Lincoln paced back to his chair and sat down, "General Heine, I realize that we can win a war against Russia. That is not the question. The question is of risk and reward. We will risk our necks as a peacekeeping nation by being agressive like this, and we will face horrible war weariness nationwide. You do realize our jobs are on the line as we make a decision like this, do you not?"

Heine interjected, "I realize that this will be a tradeoff. But being the military man that I am, it is obvious to me what great things we will be able to do with these resources. Our military will be obsolete in a matter of years if we do not make this advance, and if we wait that long, we may not get the chance." Heine paused for a minute, and took a deep breath, "With all due respect, Mr. President, if we do not go after this Aluminum, we may not be around to play your peacekeeping role."

Lincoln took in what the General said. After a minute, Heine broke the silence, "Is that all, Mr. President?"

Lincoln picked up a pen, and began to flip it around with his fingers. "General Heine," he continued, "Today I recieved word that the Pentagon has the necessary technology to begin research on a devastating weapon. One which can destroy entire cities and countries. The project is codenamed the Manhattan Project."

General Heine interjected, "I know already, Lincoln.. Sounds great, don't it!"

Lincoln interrupted, "No, it doesn't sound great. And the reason it doesn't sound great is because if we research this technology, we have reason to believe that all nations of the world will also have their hands on it, thereby creating massive problems for ourselves on the back end."

Lincoln continued, "I want you to tell the Pentagon that I am not about to authorize the continuation of this research. My policy on these weapons is that America will not be held responsible for opening such a Pandora's box. And if anyone has a problem with that, they can answer to me."

General Heine was shocked. "With all due resp--"

"ENOUGH!" Shouted Lincoln, slamming his pen down on the desk. "There will be no other way, there will be no debate, there will be no argument, there will be no discussion. That is that, and that is the end of it."

At this, a mortified General Heine stood up and declared, "Very well. It'll your own neck when someone beats us to it." With that, he walked out of the office, not waiting for a reply.

Lincoln got back up, and paced back over to the window, looking for the birds he watched earlier. They were gone.