Conquest of the World

Part Seven - Diplomacy, War, and the Iron Fist

1350 Anno Domini -- The game resumes. Don't let the title fool you, there's still plenty of war going on during Part Seven. But diplomacy will be taking on a more important and precarious role during these times as well. In addition, Greece will have to wield an iron fist to establish her rule for good. Fortunately the iron first will not be dealt in the form of changing the government to Despotism!

If you recall from the last post, Greece is currently fighting a two-front war, and their crazy leader is quite excited about it. On one front, the Greeks fight the French, and are currently laying siege to Orleans. On the other front, Greece is allied with the Romans and Celts against world superpower and score leader India. The French front has been going quite well; while Greece itself has made headway on the Indian front, its Roman allies are still working to recover lost territory. Greece has a bit more leeway in the war with India than its allies thanks to a Portuguese buffer zone.

The next target for Greece will be the Indian city of Dacca. Dacca was built on the island of Java following the destruction of the Dutch city there by the Russians. It is located on a hill, and, depending on the technological means of the defenders, could be quite difficult to crack. Right next to the city, on a mountain, are gems. This gem of a city isn't going to be Indian much longer.

1355 - The first Greek troops land on Java. Only spearmen defend it. With luck, this battle will be short.

During the AI's turn, I witness a War Elephant befall a Pikeman defending Gergovia and a Celtic Knight fail to defeat a pikeman invading Celtic territory, though a Celtic Longbowman succeeds. Augustodurum's primary guard is a 5-of-6 HP Elite War Elephant. India's UU is helping quite a bit.

1360 AD - I break with siege on Orleans and launch an attack. Starving out a city takes a LONG time. I lose 1 Medieval Infantry but take out both Pikemen who are defending. Without any iron, France is now in somewhat dire defensive straits.

Update on the city of Middelburg, location Kyushu. A worker has been trained, and is working to build mines. City improvements are to follow.



1365 AD - Some very bad news recently. Very bad indeed. Deserving of a sad smilie.

Let's start with the first news. Terrible news came to us via a Celtic envoy today. The Celtic front has suffered a grievous loss. The city of Gergovia, population 820,000, has fallen to the enemy. An Ancient Cavalry defeated the only pikeman stationed there, and the last Spearman, though fighting heroically, eventually succumbed to an Elite War Elephant. The Holy Land is lost. The Celts ask for a reaffirmation of Greek commitment to the war, to which I do not hesitate to agree. The current situation in the Eastern Mediterranean looks as follows:



The other major event is the defection of Paris back to the French. We are, to say the least, devastated. We lose not only the city itself, but the nearby wines, a few French workers, and, still very important, The Oracle. Happiness plummets across the Empire as the bonus content face for temples is lost. The wines had not been connected to the main empire yet, but the newly taken territories in Australia become less happy.

On the other side of the equation, Orleans is now down to size 6. We'll finish it off and then hurry back to retake the City of Light.

Indeed, Orleans now falls quickly. Paris is the next objective.

1370 AD - REALLY bad luck lately. Really bad. Now Kolhapur has defected to India. They aren't getting off as easy as the Parisians, though. I have three Knights and a Medieval Infantry right outside the gates. We're going to raze this city and set an example for any more cities thinking of doing this.

As promised, the first order of business is a full and merciless charge on Kolhapur. They have a Regular Musketman to defend it, with size 8 city, but we don't care if their technology is better. A medieval infantry falls dead, but an Elite Knight finishes off the musketmen and then finishes off the rest of the town. Fires rage for weeks afterwards. Vengeance is ours. Take that, revolters!



The citizens of Paris shudder at the news. They're lucky they have the Oracle to offer us.

Eindhoven will complete a Settler next turn to repopulate the area of Kolhapur with.

Slightly placated thus far, it nonetheless pleases me that we have the perfect opportunity to wreak even more havoc on India. And thus, without further ado, my troops lunge forth at Dacca.



Though on a hill, it falls. I'm tempted to give it the torch as well, but do not. I really don't need Russia colonizing Java. My troops and ships now head north, to give at the mainland of India.

One other note worth mentioning. A Roman Galley has appeared from the west near Groningen. This indicates the Indian navy is weak. Good news there.

1375 AD - I complete my 50-turn research on Engineering. Looking at my scientific options, I notice that Printing Press is the technology required to trade communications. Oh, no. I've been offered communications in trading for I-don't-even-know how long. We're seriously behind in this tech race thing. I tell my guys to invent Invention within 11 turns. That'll put us at a 32 GPT defecit, but with 711 gold I'm OK with that. With some serious luck, we can hurry Leonardo's Workshop with a thus-far-unborn Great Leader.

The Mongols offer me contact with the Americans. I tell them to quit showing off their technological superiority.

1380 AD - Pyrrhus retakes Paris easily, and a nearby Hoplite recaptures some French workers I had unfortunately left unguarded outside Marseilles, only to have captured after Paris was lost. By Marseilles, the same Spearman that captured the workers is threatening to destroy a gem mine. My only options are to destroy France this turn or make peace; no way I'm trying to destroy a spearman on a mountain with a Hoplite. The last French city, Rheims, has too many spearmen to destroy this turn, though I take down one. I decide to bite the bullet and say goodbye to the gems. My people will suffer, but survive. In the past three turns our happiness has shot from 52% and 23rd overall to 79% and first overall, so what's a bit more fluctuation?

India is the first civ to reach a score of 666. We will not surrender.

The bloody Celts surrendered and made peace with India! All because they have a score of 666! OK, that's probably not the only reason, but it's just not cool to make peace with someone with a score of 666! We'll deal with this later; right now all my foreign advisor will let me do is click the "O" button. I'd rather march over to the Celts and ask them what in the world they're thinking bailing out on Rome and I.

The French ask for mercy. I do not grant it. We must conquer. In retribution, their spearman destroys the gem mine. Hmph. I don't really care.

Russia offers me Theology for Chivalry and 210 gold. I'd look really smart taking that deal. Give my next-door-neighbor Knights and cancel out the content bonus from the Oracle at the same time. I don't think so, Catherine.

Then Russia lands a Spearman and Settler right next to Amsterdam. I'm thinking, "What???" Time to go say, "Your forces are within our territory. They MUST be withdrawn NOW!" At the same time, I can't help but think they're trying to get us to declare war, so I'm going to tread carefully to make sure I don't fall into their trap.



What are they thinking?

1385 - Sparta completes the Heroic Epic.

During the events of the AI's previous turn, I noticed Persian ships ferrying troops to the Holy Land. Previously I'd seen an Immortal land near Constantinople, and thought they might be fighting the Byzantines, but my foreign advisor told me otherwise. I decide to establish an embassy and get to the bottom of this. Persepolis is well-developed, well-defended, and...suffering war weariness! Just as I'd suspected. I check with my foreign advisor and...yes! Just as I suspected, Persia is at war with India! I send an envoy to Persepolis immediately. A map of Persia is provided below to give a sense of where they are.



At the negotiating table, Xerxes refers to me as "backwards", but I don't mind much. Instead, I propose an Alliance versus the Indians and a Right of Passage. My foreign advisor warns me that Xerxes has betrayed the Zulu, but they're so far away they'd have a hard time seriously hurting me even if they did break the treaty. It turns out they want me to stay in the war quite a bit, and are willing to introduce me to the Chinese, Hittites, Inca, Ottomans, and Sumerians if I sign the alliance. We shake hands and walk away, both happy.

I send envoys to meet the new acquaintances. I won't bore you with the long version, but it's worth mentioning that the Hittites are fairly powerful, the Chinese languish in the Ancient Age, and the rest are somewhere in between but in the Middle Ages.

Okay, enough diplomacy for now. I head back to the battlefield, and attack Rheims. It's a quick change from diplomatic niceties to the harshness of war. Two quick battles later, France is defeated.



Frankly, they weren't that challenging of a fight. We quit sending reinforcements more than a hundred years ago. Oh well, at least the Parisians had enough of a spirit to revolt. Now it's up to us to rebuild France to withstand a Russian attack that may come sooner rather than later.

My settler from Eindhoven builds a city, Herakleia, on the site of Kolhapur. The Portuguese were half a step too late in building a city.



1390 AD - The Russians spearman-settler combo has decided to camp out by Amsterdam. It's my turn. Do I demand they leave? Well, I could. But I'm betting it's a trick to get me to declare war. And I don't want another war in the Land Down Under right now, even if I'm up by Knights. I'll let the blokes keep on camping by Amsterdam for now.

The Celts want 520 gold to go to war with India again. I have 523 and am losing 13 per turn. Considering that, as my advisor says, "Brennus is a known liar and cheat", I decide to wait and see. The Indians are still fighting Rome and Persia. Still, it looks like they gained another victory awhile back on Madagascar. I'm pretty sure the central city of Frankfurt used to be a Roman settlement.

1395 - Persia captures Augustodorum! I didn't even know they were my allies until two turns ago! The situation in the Eastern Mediterranean is shaping up much more nicely now:



1400 AD - Only a few turns now before the invasion of India. My plan is to strike at the very heart of their empire - Delhi itself. I plan to land ten troops at the initial landing and reinforce quickly after that. Needless to say, Rome ought to notice a sudden lack of Indian troops heading west after my landing

The battle plan is below. Purple indicates galleys coming in to aid in the transport, blue indicates the transport route, and orange indicates land troop movements.



Just as the battle lines are being formed, however, Part Seven ends. By now Greece has reached first in the world in manufacturing, and approval is an amazing 86%, thanks to Gems being hooked up near Herakleia (formerly Kolhapur). Our score is still not even in the top half, but our power is imposing.



I attribute this feat more to number of cities than brute military force, but I nevertheless am impressed to be this powerful already. Equally important is that India's power seems to be in steady decline.

Finally, although there is no World Map in this post (it hasn't changed that much), there is this fine map of Australia. Along with the images above of Augustodurum and Kolhapur/Herakleia, it pretty well sums up the changes.

Several things, half of which I already forgot by the time I finished reading you rlong update

First off, my bad, my bad, I play only - and only - Civ 3 Vanilla, so I didn't k now you couldn't trade world maps till that late, and I was used to people exchanging them as soon as they got Map Making.

Second off, I highly like your attack plan for India, taking the naval route to what seems to be one of their grandest cities, and a great point from which to strike the rest of their nation.

Third off, it's my reccomendation that you un-ally the Celts in this war. Why? Simple, have they made any large contributions to the war effort yet? I'm pretty sure that unless you didn't get some vital info, the Persians who you didn't yet know until a few turns ago have done more than the Celts who you paid to ally. Also, I am almost FULLY certain that if you cancel the war agreement vs. India w/ the Celts, the Celts will also do their best to regain peace with the Indians as to avoid losing more land.

Because if you think about it, the Celts are doing more harm than good if they can't defend their own towns, let alone gain Indian towns. Sooo, by being allied w/ the Celts vs the Indians, you're actually helping the Indians, by giving them a larger empire with more towns.

Ow, my fingers hurt...

edit: also, it'd make your story a complete 5/5 instead of a 4.9/5 if you copy/pasted the maps every now and then in your small pics, because for instance I forgot where Decca was and had to look back to page 1 and wait 5 mins for all the pics to load .

subscription post

is nice.
makes me wish I knew where my C3C CD was.

This is great. But I want a map please!

OK, I see everbody likes maps I'll try to include them more often. Right now I'm always really close to the 15 image+smilie per post limit, so I might have to start doing two posts per Part. I'll also look into the minimaps.

In Conquests it's either Magnetism or Navigation that allows map trading - I checked and it's not Astronomy. The longer wait makes exploration more important than in vanilla, but doesn't make as much logical sense.

The Celts made peace with India a few turns ago. As of right now, I don't plan to bring them back in the war, unless it starts going horribly wrong. Their major contribution so far has been helping stem the tide of Indian units when Rome was in major trouble. They did lose at least one city, but if they hadn't gotten involved, Rome might be gone. Either way, I haven't payed them a cent. By now India's power is in steady decline (their Golden Age must be over), so I shouldn't need the Celts.

Thanks for the complement on the invasion plan. It'll either work brilliantly, or I'll be swamped by Indian troops and won't be able to gain a foothold, but I'm hoping for the first result. If it succeeds, I'll be close to Madras and the Statue of Zeus, another benefit of hitting Delhi rather than Bombay to the north.

The World Map is coming - I just have to start up Conquests!

Navigation.

and if you look at a certain subforum, updates can take 3 posts, so theres nothing wrong with 2.

^Thanks.

Here's the world map. I kept getting distracted - eating, searching Windows back to 3.1 for Helvetica, installing a game I hadn't played for years. But here it is. I've labeled India's cities in the hope that they prove important in the next part, as well as the locations of the different civs. The New World is still omitted as we still don't know hardly anything about it, but rest assured, Leiden is still safely Greek in northern Canada. Athens is indicated by the big blue star.

Part Eight - The Battle of Delhi

Okay, I had a lot of fun writing this section as events were happening, hopefully it's as much fun to read. It starts off with basic diplomacy, but you'll reach the title battle soon enough

1400 AD - Persia and India sign a peace treaty. This is good and bad, but mostly bad. On the good side of the coin, Augustodurum is safely out of Indian hands for the time. On the bad side, Rome is now my only ally in the West, and Persia was about to launch a pretty good attack on Gergovia. And Persia broke their treaty with me.

Scandinavia doesn't want to continue the incense-for-silks trade. As it stands, I'm running a pretty good deficit, and my reputation is still a mite poor, so I can't renew it right away. Then, just messing around to see what they will agree to, they mention that for just 80 gold and silks they will join the crusade against India. First I'll check with my foreign advisor to make sure they can make it there, then I might agree.

Rome wants to cancel the Alliance versus the Indians deal, which also supplies me with Horses. Turns out the killer for them was the 1 GPT. They were bankrupt I renegotiate the deal, renewing the alliance (major!!) and getting horses in exchange for silks and 120 gold. The right of passage is also renewed. If we want the deal with the Vikings, we can trade our last silks. Even after that we'd have adequate happiness.

The Celtic city of Lugdunum completes the Sistine Chapel. We've still got a (very) outside chance at Leonardo's Workshop.

1415 AD - The invasion of India is set to begin. Eight medieval infantry, a hoplite, and a knight are set to land in the first wave.

The first galley to cross finds the landing square unoccupied. Delhi is guarded by Musketmen and is size twelve. I might have to lay siege. The troops land and we wait.

The Indians counterattack with just one War Elephant, who retreats from my hoplite defense.

1420 AD - My sages invented invention! What a wonderful invention!

I finish off the Indian War Elephant, and send my ships back to pick up more guys.

1425 - I lost a Medieval Infantry to an Indian Longbowman but defeated an Ancient Cavalry. My Knight in India sees another elephant coming, and I decide it's about time to attack. My ships have ferried over reinforcements, and we bunker down.

The War Elephant my Knight saw coming destroys one of my medieval infantries and then retreats into Delhi.

1430 AD - The stage for the Battle of Delhi is set. Greece has eleven top-notch attackers in the plains and grasslands outside the city; India has an unknown number of musketmen and other troops inside. Both sides pray for the results to favor them. The king of India himself will be commanding the troops defending the capital. On the other side, one of Greece's finest generals readies his troops for war. No one knows for sure who will win, but both sides know it will be a grand, important, and bloody battle.



The first infantry attack from the plains south of Delhi. They go no where. India was fully ready for this attack, and the musketmen did not waver. The king congratulates his troops. The Greek general orders the next wave to attack. He is frustrated by the lack of progress, but is not yet concerned.

The next wave comes from the grasslands to the southwest of Delhi. The musketmen are caught off guard, and the Greek troops gain a decisive upper hand. Finally reorganizing, the Indian troops slow the charge of Greeks, but ultimately are not able to hold them off. The scorecard evens, but it is worse for India. The King's finest defenders and only musketeers have fallen.

The Greek general orders the next attack to come from the same direction. Skilled pikemen now defend Delhi. This battle is brutal, but in the end the Indians come out on top. Still, the king is nervous. This was a very narrow victory, and he needs more decisive ones. He calls on some regular pikemen to defend.

Greece's next attack comes from the south. Again, India's defenders barely hold on to win. More pikemen come to the front of the city to defend; Greece sends more troops from the south.



This line of Greek troops makes no headway. The Greek general is concerned. Now four units have died attacking. Still, he feels confident he can turn the tide. He orders an attack from the southwest.

These Greeks succeed in penetrating the Indian line, but cannot finish the job. This line of pikemen are now veterans. India's king is proud of the defence yet far, but fears it may not be enough. India no longer has any fresh pikemen to fill the lines. The half-strength defenders are ordered to go back to the front and pull off another victory. The King promises them large amounts of gold if they succeed.

Greece's commanding general is tired of mediocre success. He needs a victory. To meet that need, he orders a group of Knights to go around to the north of the city and attack there. He hopes it will catch India off guard.

The Knights charge the city from the farms to the north. They are met by a scattered line of pikes, and lose their momentum. Rather than retreat in the face of danger, they stand their ground. They know that if they do not defeat these pikemen, the battle may well be lost. Defending their honor, they redouble their efforts and defeat the Indian pikemen.



By now the Indian defenders are spread thin. The King has no trump cards left, and his other cards are weak. He hopes that the city can be held long enough for reinforcements to arrive. In the mean time, he hopes for another victory. The outlook is not good, but it is not impossible. He heads to the local temple to pray for victory, and then returns to the front lines.

Again Greek troops charge from the south. The Indian king's wish is delivered. Badly injured pikemen hold the line. The Greek general curses. Half his troops are now dead; only two Indian regiments have fallen. It's time to play his trump card. Elite Greek Knights ready for battle in the south.

The Elite Knights are battle-hardened veterans, victors at Kolhapur. They have fought the Indians, and are more than ready to avenge the loss of other Greeks. They charge towards Delhi mercilessly.

No less determined are the Indian defenders. These pikemen have held off two lines of Greeks, are qualified veterans, and would not think of surrender. Though the initial hit of the Greek horsemen knocks a few off their feet, they recover. But they cannot hold off the Elite Knights forever, and the knights narrowly defeat them. The Knights return to the Greek base badly bruised but victorious again.

By this point, both sides have suffered enormous casualties. Eight regiments have fallen, and neither side has many more. But neither side will surrender. Another regiment of Greek infantry storms the city.

At last it seems the Indian pikemen have run out of luck. The Greek infantry are only mildly scratched in the battle, and most return safely.

India's king now calls on the only Elephant Brigade in the city to step forth. These troops were badly injured earlier as they fought troops outside the city, and no more elephants have yet been trained. But they must defend the city. A high priest blesses them, and they go off to war.



Only one regiment of Greek troops has not fought yet. Greece's general gives them the signal to attack. They charge the city, and are temporarily disoriented by the elephants. Recovering, they are able to defeat the few that made it to Delhi. But the battle is not won. India still has one regiment of Longbowmen in the city. Delhi still stands.

The Greek general has not given up on the battle yet. Searching the camp, he finds two more regiments who will attack the city. One is a hoplite unit, which, though injured earlier by elephants, is the only one that can really defend the camp. The other is the medieval infantry regiment that earlier defeated a charge of Ancient Cavalry. Now elite, they are only at 40% strength, but are the best hope. The general orders them in.

Inside the city, the Indian king is surprised to see more Greek troops attacking. Although his scouts' figures indicated there should be more Greek troops, there certainly wouldn't be many, and he expected they would keep some for defending their camp should they need to retreat back across the bay. But none of that mattered now. The fact was, the Greeks had more troops, and they were sending them in. The King had little choice now. He headed to the front lines and loaded a musket. The longbowmen must hold the city, and he would personally help them.

As the Greek troops near the city, the longbowmen fire mercilessly. Here and there, their arrows hit their targets. But many infantry survive, and they go into a sprint as they get close to the city. Desperation abounds on both sides. The longbowmen drop their bows and hastily pick up whatever weapons lay nearby. The king draws his sword from the hilt. In the background, city leaders struggle to clear the streets of desperate civilians as the royal family struggles to evacuate. The Greeks have won. The longbows stand no chance in hand-to-hand combat. The King slays multiple soldiers as they converge on him, but ultimately is surrounded and forced to surrender at swordpoint. Delhi has fallen.

Woohoo!

Where do you plan to expand next?

Because if you go North all of Asia might feel threatened by you and form a super-alliance to get rid of you

^Good point. I should remember the old adge "Never fight a land war in Asia" Unfortunately, it's the only place I really can expand to now, so I guess I'll have to. But I won't be heading north for awhile. There's still quite a bit of work to be done in the Indian subcontinent.


Part Nine - A Long, Hard Campaign

1430 AD - After the Battle of Delhi, my hoplite brigade moves into Delhi in an attempt to defend it. The Elite Knights retreat to safety on the boats offshore. Again it is a waiting game.

1435 AD - Indian longbowmen appear outside the Delhi city limits to both the north and south, but none come near the city itself. It looks like the Greek hold will be secure. The troops hurry inside to recover.

1440 AD - Delhi has deposed the Greek leadership! All the Greek troops are lost. Already Indian troops were converging. It could be a long war.

Adrianople, in the Byzantine Empire, completes Leonardo's Workshop.

1445 AD - Seven Greek troops land outside Delhi. This is now a war of vengeance.

India attacks the newly landed troops with longbows and ancient cavalry. The first fail, but the latter succeed.

The Spanish city of Barcelona, on Kamchatka, completes Magellan's voyage. Wow. They are uber-advanced to have that already!

1450 AD - Greek troops again storm Delhi. Two medieval infantry fall to musket volleys, but a Knight then succeeds in the attack. The city is razed to the ground.



No more revolts from this city. A settler is already being trained in Malaysia to rebuild the city as Greek. The Indian workers in what used to be Delhi are escorted into galleys, from whence they will be brought to Greece to bolster our workforce.

1455 AD - India lands a large number of troops, including War Elephants, near Herakleia. If they think that'll convince us to make peace, they're sorely mistaken. They also send a settler south from Bombay (see map above - north of Delhi) in an attempt to found a new city. Yeah, right.

Arnhem completes the first library in the empire. Yay! At last we have a repository for our scrolls!

The total tonnage of troops India has landed is quite high, led by two groups of War Elephants and including Ancient Cavalry, longbowmen, and pikemen. I have two hoplites and a Trebuchet fortified inside Herakleia. A medieval infantry of mine attacks the first elephant. He makes little progress, and a Knight makes little more against the second. Looks like we're playing defense. Pretty soon, though, our reinforcements will overwhelm the Indian troops.

Back in India, the Indian effort to rebuild Delhi as thier own fails miserably. Two more workers are loaded onto our galleys.

1460 AD - Herakleia has fallen. One ancient cavalry was turned back, but the defense ultimately failed. It shall not remain Indian for long, however.

Persia demands Gems. I refuse. If they want to come halfway across the world to fight me, be my guest.

They don't start a march halfway across the world.

We finish researching Theology, and the people become unhappy as The Oracle becomes obsolete. Sorry, guys, I had to research it sometime!

1465 AD - I bought the Byzantine territory map for 35 gold and contact with the Japanese. They have a few cities way far out, but the map below shows the heartland of their empire:



The Aztecs complete JS Bach's Cathedral in their city of Tlacopan, and Copernicus's Observatory is finished in Seoul, Korea. Looks like I'm about out of wonders for this age.

In India, my Knights have finished pillaging roads so as to cut off southern India from northern India. It looks much better now, don't you think?



My attack to retake Herakleia begins this turn with a complete defeat, but continues with a medieval infantry defeating a pikemen. I have no further troops ready to attack now, but will be out in force next turn!

1470 AD - Good news from the western front. Roman Legions and Knights are charging towards Gergovia in the Holy Land. It is well-guarded with muskets, but eventually Rome ought to succeed.

A medieval infantry of mine retakes Herakleia, along with the trebuchet and two workers that India took when they occupied the city. Rome has just landed a pikeman by the city to help out, but the help is no longer needed. Oh well.

I sink an Indian ship that was near Groningen (in Malaysia). I suspect they were trying to sneak-attack me with a war elephant and ancient cavalry, because those units went missing near Herakleia.

Already the pillaging of roads is paying off. Indian troops have already entered the wastelands. Another settler is captured before he can create a city. Soon we'll have hundreds of Indian workers!

1475 AD - I'm running dangerously low on troops in India. Fortunately, we're able to land reinforcements this turn.

1480 AD - Excellent news from the west! Gergovia has revolted and joined the Celts! India is now almost certainly in decline, and Roman troops will soon be arriving in native Indian land, where they have not been for centuries.

1485 AD - Again I see an Indian settler moving in to reclaim the land around Delhi. This time, however, I have a settler there! I build a city on the former city of Delhi, and christen it Ephesus.



1490 AD - Reinforcements arrive just in time again for Ephesus. I had been down to one Knight .

Near Utrecht, a worker has finally finished a Fortress and Barricade to help my Hoplite turn back the tide of any especailly sucessful invasion. The screenshot below highlights the barricade and shows the reinforcement train of troops heading north.



1495 - India again attacks Ephesus and is repelled. I decide to hurry walls in order to bolster the defence.

I meet America for the first time, and we agree to exchange territory maps. America controls most of the eastern United States as well as a good chunk of modern-day eastern Canada.

Rome brings Zululand into the war against India in a military alliance. I'm not sure they'll arrive in time to help, but more allies is good. Then they bring Germany into the war. Germany is definitely close enough to help - they're on the front lines. However, they are militarily weak. They do not yet have Feudalism, and lack iron. I suspect their hope is to gain a city or two from the war, as well as favor from Rome, while India is in free fall. The shot below illustrates how close to India Germany is.



Near Ephesus, I defeat the War Elephant and Ancient Cavalry outside the city the city with trebuchets, a Knight, and an offensive hoplite. Reinforcements land amphibiously and cannot attack, but give a much-needed increase of numbers. In the Bay of Bengal, I sink an Indian galley after losing one myself.

1500 AD - We discover Education. I will now focus our research on Banking.

Ephesus has completed its walls. Barracks will come next, and then it will be fit to be the base for all our Indian operations.

Carthage declares war on me! They mean to take Leiden!



All I can really do is hope my hoplite holds out. Alas, it kills just one knight. Leiden is lost.

Rome cancels the alliance and horses for silks deal, though they stay in the war. Not too many more Knights for me.

1510 AD - Ephesus completes its barracks. Troops are loading onto ships by Herakleia. I might FINALLY be close to advancing in this war.

1520 AD - What do you know! Sure enough, the Germans somehow managed to pull off the capture of Bangalore with Archers. It's a sweet day for them, and with Bangalore they now have horses. If they ever get some technology, their Middle East nation could become powerful.

Once again, Greece is on the offensive in India. Nine Greek troops stand ready to assault the city of - suprise! - Lahore, after being dropped off by galleys. Lahore will be easier to capture than Madras, as it is not on hills. It also will completely isolate Madras for when we do attack it.



1525 AD - The Battle of Lahore begins. No muskets defend this city. A Greek Medieval Infantry defeats a Pikeman before I even remember I can bombard with my Trebuchet. It successfully bombards, and a Longbowman then attacks and defeats the last of the city guard. This wasn't a very hard battle. The city is burned to a crisp. No more revolts. The settler I brought along founds the city of Thessalonica to the northwest of Lahore, allowing the Wheat resource below Lahore to be used. Four Indian workers begin reconnecting the Wheat, while my Knights head north towards Madras. They will be joined by troops heading south from Ephesus.

1535 AD - India and Zululand make peace. I doubt any Zulu troops actually made it to India.

1540 AD - We finish researching Banking. Our scientists begin work on Economics.

As the noose tightens on Madras, a Musketman leaves the city. We are puzzled.

1545 AD - Madras comes under attack. First come volleys from four trebuchets, raining down on the city. The defenders avoid most of the barrage. Then comes an infantry charge. It fails. Miserably. We don't even send in the cavalry. Rather, we switch to Siege mode. We will starve the city out.

The musketman who left Madras tries to attack an injured Hoplite, and fails. At least we have a victory there.

1550 AD - Orleans (see map at end of this part for location) completes our first university. Australia is really helping our science and economy a lot.

Good news. Madras is already starving. Four more turns to go in the siege.



1555 - I find the Sumerian homeland on the isle of Greenland. Hey, we've got 31 players here, someone has to start there!

1565 - The siege is now in full operation.



1570 AD - Again the attack on Madras begins. It has been starved down to size 6, and could be further if we wanted to. I suspect India has Metallurgy, as there have been no Ancient Cavalry attacking, but we'll see. They offer me Gunpowder for piece, but I've waited too long for this city. Charge!

My trebuchets do little damage, but it's a start. An Elite Longbowman leads the charge, against an Elite Musketman. The longbowman pulls off a narrow victory, and already we're doing better than in the previous attack. A Medieval Infantry then attacks from the east. He does not do much damage. Another longbowman picks up the attack, now facing pikemen. Again a narrow victory is achieved. A Knight charges from the southeast to finish the job. He fails. Then a Knight from the northeast is forced to retreat. Finally, a Knight from the north defeats the last musketmen. Madras falls. This city I will keep. The Statue of Zeus is valuable to me. The city resembles, and is, a war zone, but will recover, probably quickly.

At this point, we call in our cartographers and statisticians. It is time to analyze the state of the Greek world. The Old World map below shows the extent of our empire:



We also now have some knowledge of the New World. However, as is indicated below, there is still much we do not know.



The Greek population is now the second-highest in the world, at 6,460,000. Our land area has reached 61,300 square miles (about 160,000 square kilometers), and our manufacturing is the highest in the world at over 200 megatons. Our GNP, just shy of 400 million, ranks fourth in the world, still a big improvement over where we used to be. Literacy has soared to 20% from the 3% it was 140 years ago, although that still puts us 24th of 29 nations. Perhaps most exciting, we are for the first time in the top half of the score card.

The weary Greek troops turn north. There are more cities to conquer.

Also, updates will not be occuring as frequently from now on. Spring break in over . I ought to be able to keep at least one a week up, but every day is a thing of the past for now.

That's ok man, your updates are cool as hell...wait...gah never mind, that made no sense.

Anyways, you're wrong when you say you have nowhere else to go.

After India you always can quickly whipe out Russia, and erase all doubt of attack from the South, and then you have the choice of transporting your units navaly onto Egypt, Zulu, OR even Rome since by then you'll no longer be allies of the anti-Indian war, and conquer Afirca, which would you give you an insane tactical advantage in terms of land are, and naval power.

^I don't know why I forgot about conquering Russia. They will be conquered someday, don't worry. It's just a matter of when. Don't expect them to be the last survivors, either.

Invasions by sea will occur at some point. Not immediately, but at some point.

Part Ten - Conquest in India

1570 AD - The Greek troops have just conquered the city of Madras in southwestern India, and with it, the Statue of Zeus. The Greeks are painfully aware of the consequences of city revolts, and thus decide the two longbow units should remain outside the city, ready to rain down a storm of arrows on any revolters. Meanwhile, troops head northwest towards the city of Calcutta.



It is a coastal city with wheat, and like all the cities in India, a gem to control. In all likelihood, a siege will be necessary here as well.

The city of Lyons, in Australia near present-day Canberra, begins building Forbidden Palace as a pre-start for Smith's Trading Company. It is the most productive city in the Empire, and with only seven civilizations having started the wonder, we have a very low chance of completing it.

1580 AD - We're losing money again. Too many troops. Fortunately, there's a sure-fire way to save money: switch to Despotism. It would save us the 52 GPT in army support cost. But it'd significantly decrement productivity in Australia, where we need banks quickly to sustain us. Blasted double-edged swords. It's the anarchy that's the real killer...who wants 7 turns of anarchy, even if Despotism would be better?

My troops nearing Calcutta see a Roman Knight to the north of the city, with the ground pillaged. Allies have come.

Our ships move into position off the coast. The naval siege is in full effect, and the land one soon will be. Calcutta won't last too much longer. A settler is heading over already.

Rome's Knight attacks, and does 2 damage to the musketman. He then retreats. At least I am able to see there is just one musketman in the city.

1585 AD - We discover Economics. I direct research towards Astronomy. We'd rather not have Gunpowder for awhile. Cheap hoplites for the win!

Calcutta is starving. Five more turns and it'll be time to attack.



1590 - Remember that war with Carthage that cost us Leiden? Well, a Carthaginian galley just appear near Middelburg, our city on Japan. It is much more well-equipped to withstand a siege than Leiden, having two hoplites (one veteran), and a wall. But, as Carthage is willing to make peace now, we agree to it. They'll receive payback for taking Leiden some day.

My trebuchets enjoy an unusually high rate of success bombarding Calcutta, which tempts me to attack it now. I refrain. It would probably result in more misery. If Rome wants to attack, go for it, but we'll desist. Our besieging force is growing stronger every turn, no point in rushing to a foolish attack early.

Seeing as how I have a few extra hoplites arriving in Ephesus, I send some north to begin an early siege on Bombay. See? I told you loads of cheap hoplites were better than a few expensive and marginally more effective musketmen.

1595 - Rome has weakened the garrison in Calcutta. As my trebuchets continue to hit every time, I decide to attack before the siege is complete. The decision pays off, as I only lose one regiment in the assault. The city is razed, and my settler moves in. A new Greek city will be founded next turn.

I notice that I'm not getting any gold from these cities. India is broke. Pity, as I'm low on gold myself.

My Knight scouting in the north spots a previously unknown city, Karachi, in the hills to in far northwestern India.



I'm not going to bother trying to capture it for awhile. Jaipur and Bombay are worth trying for, but Karachi...not now. Let Rome or Germany try it if they want.

An Indian archer successfully defends against a Roman Knight. I think somebody told them they're a defensive unit in CivIV...

1600 AD - Civil disorder has intensified in Ephesus, and the mob has destroyed the walls. Whoops. I think what keeps happening is that military units unload there at the beginning of every turn, so it looks like it'll be happy when I check, but then they leave and the city is unhappy. This time I check at the beginning of my turn, and the citizens do look unhappy.

Still no cavalry from the Statue of Zeus, and I've had it for six turns. I'm starting to think there might be a bug? It could be that it doesn't produce units when there's resistance, in which case I should get one soon. I'm suspecting, though, that unit production got switched off permanently when India researched Metallurgy, and now I won't get any .

The city of Rhodes is built on the site of Calcutta. The Colossus will not be moved.

We've already got a pretty good siege going on Jaipur. Population ought to start falling next turn.

1605 AD - Zululand rejoins our alliance. Maybe they can take the city of Indus on Madagascar? I check and notice the German city of Frankfurt by Indus has fallen. Perhaps Zululand really will be of help.



1610 AD - Still the same population in Jaipur. Their granary must've been filled to the brim. In any case, 10 years of siege certainly breaks any records I'm aware of!

Excess hoplites are already beginning a siege on Bombay to the east. We currently have 61 hoplites, 32 medieval infantry, and 17 galleys in our army, which totals 138 units.

1615 AD - The siege at Jaipur is finally showing results.

1620 AD - I do some massive map trading. I get the Celtic, American, Russian, Scandinavian, Aztec, English, Spanish, Egyptian, Persian, and Maya territory maps - in summary, everyone who has Navigation. The Maya even teach me the last turn worth of Astronomy in their deal. Persia takes the award for most spread-out empire - they have at least four seperate areas of two or more cities, all on the Eurasian landmass. One of these consists of three cities that used to be Indian. There is no doubt now that Perisa was my most effective ally in this war.

I then turn around and sell everyone the completed map, so that I have a small profit from all the trades. Essentially, I've given everyone the territory map of everyone who has Navigation. Espionage departments would be fuming right now if they'd been invented.

Back on the war front, my trebuchets have been enjoying success bombarding Jaipur. I thus order an attack. A medieval infantry leads the charge well against pikemen, and already the feel of victory is in the air. A group of longbows achieves similar success. A medieval infantry attacks successfully after that, but then a longbowman falls to the musketmen. They soon fall, however, and the city is ours - or the site of it, anyways. I'm not usually a razer, but India has revolted too often.

Germany is attacking a musketman defending a size eight city on a hill with horsemen. I know that's all the better they have, but they might as well be trying to knock down a wall with a feather.

1625 AD - Eretria is founded on the site of Jaipur.

1630 AD - I buy the Scandinavian world map for 497 gold. Wow. A lot of new information. Most importantly, Hawaii is half-Spanish, half-Aztec. That actually is relevant, because it tells us who is advanced in maritime technology. There aren't really a whole lot of surprises. South America is pretty evenly divided up. In North America, it looks like the Maya, Americans, and Carthaginians all ganged up on the Arabs. The map also includes Portugal, my immediate neighbor. Wonder why I might be interested in that map?

In Madagascar, Zululand has taken Frankfurt from the Indians. An even bigger blow is soon to be dealt to India in Bombay. We are going to attack. The city falls fairly easily, and this one we keep. Karachi is now the only Indian city remaining on the subcontinent. I now send Knights charging towards Karachi, and send in an emissary. At this point, we can still exert a lot of influence on them, and get a lot from the peace treaty. The final deal consists of us giving India 14 gold per turn and one gold lump sum, and them giving us Printing Press, Music Theory, Navigation, and their World Map. It's a fair deal. I could have gotten their city of Punjab on a 1 by 1 island, but no technologies, instead, but I figured eventually I'll be able to blow it away with Marines anyway, so this one was better.

Now that we have a very up-to-date and complete world map, it's time to show the current state of the world. The map will be divided into two images. The first is the New World. National capitals are indicated with stars. Much of it has not been seen before, and will now be uncovered for the first time:



And now the Old World...



Our conquest of India is now complete. The Zulu will take Indus on Madagascar, the Romans and Germans will struggle to take Karachi, the new capital, in India, and Punjab will last until someone gets Marines or the Vikings decide to take it. India has no real hope of regaining their power and prestige.

For us, this means peace, for the first time in 1250 years. It is a bit of a foreign concept to us. Conquest has become a time-honored tradition. And it has worked well. Peace treaties keep us from falling too far behind technologically. But therein lays the problem. We still are behind technologically. We are not seriously competing for wonders. Our economy is weak for our size. We have to figure that after Nationalism, wars are going to start and spread faster than wildfire, and someone else will become powerful. It is time to take the steps needed to ensure we can compete economically and technologically with the most advanced and developed civilizations in the world.

No doubt the weakness is partially due to your start- your empire is very spread out, and there is a whole lot of water. Water is not good for production. :/

With no corruption, civs with a whole lot of land will do better than those with a whole lot of water.

Not sure if this is a good idea or not, but have you thought about moving your capital over several islands to the west, since it's on the eastern border of your empire?

Yes, production was very low at the beginning. The Australian cities are still the only ones with great production. Being spread out, well, it comes with the territory. But we now have enough land to be first in production.

Moving the capital would have no benefit whatsoever, thanks to there being no corruption. Thus, Athens will remain the capital forever unless I decide to change it for symbolic purposes.

Part Eleven - The Gauntlet

1630 AD - Greece is at peace!

The first switch to be made is to switch production away from myriad military units to libraries, marketplaces, aqueducts, and the like. Literacy is an unimpressive 23%, 23rd in the word, and our GNP is fourth though our population is first. Life expectancy is just 33 years. Only a few formerly French cities and Bombay have a population over 230,000 (size 6). We have a lot of development to do. We thus set out to become the most developed civilization as well as the most militarily powerful.

Research on Gunpowder will also now begin, centuries after other civilizations began discovering it. Democracy just isn't worth researching. We'll get it as spoils of war sometime. The time has come to have guns.

Culture, improvement, and economics will be immensely more important. Military will no longer be as dominant, but will benefit in the long term.

The Spartan Age is over.

1635 AD - Aww, GREAT!!! Persia just invaded with Cavalry and Knights and declared war on us.



So much for bloody peace!

The first action is to eliminate the Persian horsemen in our lands. That is accomplished without too much difficulty. I then begin moving troops to the western borders of our lands in India, to defend. But the next stage is to mount an attack. That will be difficult. Why? Rights of passage. My reputation still hasn't recovered.

Another potentially major problem exists. During this past turn, Persia, Spain, and the Aztecs became the first civilizations to reach the Industrial Age. Being scientific, Persia may well have Nationalism and thus Riflemen. Their attack makes perfect sense. They know we are the most powerful civilization, and they're going to strike at us while they have a great technological advantage.

This war is going to be on their terms. It will be 15-20 turns before we get Military Tradition, but even that won't help much - we don't have horses. It'll take another 15 turns after that to get Nationalism, assuming we get it as our free tech. In the mean time, victory is theirs to be claimed.

We may have defeated India when they had us out-teched by Musketmen, but Persia is gambling that we can't win while out-teched by Riflemen and Cavalry.

Persia has thrown down the gauntlet.

That was a great read!

Also could you tell me how you got it so that theres no corruption and 31 cives?

The editor.

Oh great! Good luck! You will need it...