'One sea food earned is better than three sea food stolen.' That was Honest Abe's motto, but three seafood is better than one. Honest Abe settled his first settler in place and ordered the three sea food resources be harvested. Workboats were built and warrior was sent out to check the land out and meet the neighbours.
Asoka was encountered shortly.
Honest Abe liked the guy. He said something about peace and spirituality and what not and sounded like a good person to trade with. Based on the reports of his scouts, Honest Abe ordered the training of another settler and a city well worthy of being a future capital was settled with easy access to two gold resources and surrounded by flood plains.
Based on what he saw, Honest Abe figured they were up against the coast and decided to imbue his people with the spirit of exploration by settling lots of coastal cities rich in trade. The Great Lighthouse was commissioned to make this even more profitable. Until, this gentleman showed up and his joking comment about rich and unprotected coastal cities made Honest Abe nervous.
(He was joking right? Right?)
Just the same, Honest Abe pursued his goal with a grim determination and Washington finished the Great Lighthouse to the specifications he requested.
But it was not an age of peace. Asoka and Ragnar immediately took a disliking to each other and war was brewing. In 150 BC Ragnar sent an embassy demanding Honest Abe help the Vikings in their upcoming war against Asoka.
The diplomat was skillfully and gently turned away by Honest Abe who was always charismatic and had a way with words. Still, there was unease about the whole affair and soon enough, Vikings and Indians were at war. Honest Abe feared for Asoka's survival, but there was nothing he could do. The American people continued to found coastal cities, new islands were discovered and they were colonised to bring in even more wealth. A new form of governance called 'Bureaucracy became available and was adopted with New York as the new capital.
In 600 AD, the Vikings having made no advances decided to call a ceasefire with the Indians. Although Honest Abe welcomed peace in the region, he was nervous about Ragnar's notorious short temper. Boston was ordered to build Macemen, Spearmen and archers on infinite loop as a deterrent to any who might be jealous of America's prosperity. And prosperous it was! A booming ten cities, 8 coastal, two on an island for intercontinental trade.
(I got VERY lucky here. I fully expected Ragnar to roll over Asoka and then come for me. Not having metal until I settled a city way north to capture Copper was worrisome too. Ragnar could have easily settled to the coast and blocked me out completely from the North, meaning no copper and even Iron)
Optics was researched and a few brave souls who didn't hold truck with the superstition that earth was flat and any who venture too far close to the edge will fall off, set out to see what was really out there.
In 860 AD, diplomats to the Vikings returned with worrisome news. Ragnar was once again mobilising for war. Honest Abe consulted his advisors and all but one agreed that he was most likely going back for more with the Indians. Just the same, the number of cities building troops was increased from one to three as a deterrent.
Sure enough, Ragnar declares.
He came huffing and puffing into Honest Abe's tastefully decorated and tranquil office and yelled at the top of his lungs about how he was upset at not being able to defeat the blatantly pacifist Asoka and so will now beat up on Honest Abe to show he was tough. Honest Abe's reasoned arguments about how this was merely bullying and doesn't actually prove Ragnar's toughness were ignored as Ragnar stomped off. The first strike was a complete disaster for the Vikings as they attacked fortified Macemen and Spearmen with Axes and Chariots.
Honest Abe, though shocked by being the target of Ragnar's fury, quickly recovered and all cities were put into war mode. The main military centers switched from defensive archers and spearmen to aggressive War Elephants and Trebuchets. Ragnar may be strong, but he was still technologically behind. Honest Abe wanted a quick end to the war and that meant taking the fight to the Vikings. After two cities were captured by a large force of Trebs, Maces and Elephants, Ragnar agreed to cede a third city and signed a treaty to become a vassal state.
New friends on the other continent were met and open borders were signed with all of them. To enable actual trade between the two continents, Honest Abe's people pursued the philosophy of Liberalism and this gave them the free knowledge of how to trade across oceans.
Strange thing this science business is. One moment people argue over existential questions and philosophy and the next moment, some young hipster in the crowd jumps up and announces he just figured out how to get ships to travel large distances to enable trade over oceans. At least he wasn't running down the street naked screaming "Eureka".
Honest Abe now hoped that reining in the local warmonger would signify lasting peace and a booming commerce through trade. He wanted to pursue the course of science and explore the universe. But alas, Asoka built the Sistine Chapel and was aggressively contesting the border between their empires. Honest Abe wasn't willing to resort to hostilities, hoping instead to resolve the matter by running artists, but when a farm that was feeding the now booming metropolis of Boston was occupied by Indian culture, starving many, Honest Abe said enough is enough and a large force of Cannons with escort descended upon Asoka and made quick work of him, taking 6 cities for America. Ragnar chipped in by picking up the seventh and final Indian city, eliminating Asoka.
(Gameplay and story segregation : Asoka was dead on arrival and Sistine Chapel just expedited it. The only problem was he had Chicen Itza and Statue of Zeus. I had no Iron for cannons, so the attack was delayed while I settled a marginal iceball to capture some.
Ragnar had one source but he breaks away and declares if I demand it and wanted a King's ransom to trade it. I also got everyone on the other continent fighting to keep Asoka from creating peace vassal hassles during the war.
Shaka was already at war with Nappy and had vassaled Willem by this point.)
The War with Asoka brought massive swaths of land under the American rule. Honest Abe was now the leader of 44% of the world's population.
America was a true powerhouse at this point.
Honest Abe had the option to assault the other continent and bring true, lasting peace by sword. But that didn't appeal to him and he instead chose to focus his people's attention towards colonising new worlds. Pacifism was actually adopted as a state policy to reflect the attitude of live and let live Honest Abe preached.
This was a period of cultural boom and several Great People were born who fueled Golden Ages. Glorious monuments were built to display the power of peace and prosperity it brings with it to the other continent, which forever seemed to be embroiled in war.
(I have to make a special note here about the Three Gorges Dam. Ever since my first forum game with Asoka, I have been a fan of this thing. I had 20 + cities on one continent and it provided power to them all in one stroke. My production jumped as much as it would in a golden age and that's before I built factories in all cities.
When pursuing Space Race, this wonder is amazing as it bumps several production heavy cities without causing coal plant unhealthiness.)
Honest Abe was elected as the Secretary General of UN.
He proposed resolutions to improve trade, hoping more prosperity would produce less unrest in the other continent and bring lasting peace. But alas, it wasn't to be. Shaka declared on Suryavaraman II and soon vassalised him. Honest Abe had to step in as the UN General Secretary to stop yet another Shaka started war against Napoleon to keep the peace. (More like prolong the existence of a chew toy for Shaka while I got the heck out of Dodge on my space ship)
Ultimately, Honest Abe's efforts didn't do much. Some people like Shaka would never accept peace. The only language they understand is the one spoken by the edge of a sword. Honest Abe understood this and with a heavy heart, he green lighted the Manhattan Project and a large fleet of ICBMs were deployed.
Before the world came to war though, Honest Abe fulfilled his lifelong dream of finally colonising another planet. Even if this Earth was to be plunged into chaos and Fallout and war, the human species will live on and hopefully learn and follow the values of peace on Alpha Centauri.
With that hope, Honest Abe stepped out of the Space Command center in Houston.
(I hoped Shaka would declare on me. I had ICBMs building up while no one else had the technology and wanted to carpet bomb Shaka, just for kicks. But I won before it came to that and I am happy I didn't have to resort to nukes in the end as I did play this game trying to be as much a pacifist as possible. I would have won much earlier. I set up my cities to be Great People factories. The plan was to chain golden ages to boost research and space ship. But the game glitched out and I couldn't start any golden ages after the third one.)