Alrighty. I'm back in my wheelhouse.
Sitting Bull paced about his modest Cahokia Palace. His eyes had been opened to the grandeur of the world, and what he saw was not altogether beautiful. The Peoples From Across The Sea were more sophisticated than the Native Americans or even the haughty Maya. He would need to summon all of his charisma and cunning in order to be accepted amongst the league of nations as an equal.
The round began with a Spy from Tenochtitlan casually swiping a book on the nature of the Gods from the Library in Mutal:
It was a minor victory, but a victory nevertheless. Polytheism would unlock valuable cultural technologies, in addition to opening the doors to a number of complex religious secrets. Animal Husbandry, meanwhile, would be useless until the Native American empire contained large mammals worth domesticating.
Sitting Bull also hit up Joao II, who was the well-liked if somewhat backwards cousin in the Eurasian community, for the completion of Civil Service:
Four turns of research is four turns of research, after all, and Sitting Bull did not have to deal away the comparatively invaluable Optics.
In 870 A.D., a mister Marco Polo came to prominence in the cutthroat markets of Tenochtitlan:
Sitting Bull was all set to plop his butt on the next Caravel to sail the Pacific, but Marco Polo, whose credentials suggested a great explorer, was apparently terrified of boats. He claimed that he could revolutionize cartography and commerce without ever leaving North America. Intrigued, Sitting Bull let him make his case and eventually relented. Paper, being rare even Across the Sea, would fetch much more than a few paltry thousand gold. And the ability to read the maps of the Eurasians was a priceless bonus.
With both Optics
and Paper as bargaining chips, Sitting Bull initiated a massive overseas trading program, bringing him largely to parity with the world and soaring up the Score chart:
Justinian's map, when combined with those of Native American cartographers, proved that the world was round. This information boosted the morale of our sailors, increasing the speed of our Caravels by 33%. Sitting Bull paid dearly for some necessary technologies, but the Eurasians were shrewd negotiators.
Settlers from Cahokia founded the long-delayed city of Hurricane in 890:
Once the Moai Statues were in place, Hurricane would be a valuable addition to the empire. But Sitting Bull was at a loss as to how to complete them in a timely manner. He would just have to wait for a lucky Engineer to show up, or for future technologies to increase the output of the Towns that were to spring up along the Florida peninsula. The Cuban villagers, left alone for millenia, were surprised to find that their island had been annexed a few turns later. They offered 40 gold in tribute, which satisfied Sitting Bull.
Suryavarman II, the dangerous zealot who controlled almost all of southeast Asia and the Pacific rim, came to Sitting Bull and politely requested that the Native American people Organize their worship of the Way of the Spirit:
It seemed to be an innocuous request, but Sitting Bull clearly heard the thinly veiled threat. In addition, he knew only too well the madness lurking behind the Khmer leader's eyes. Telling himself that he wasn't scared, that Organized Religion would benefit his people, the Native American king complied. The Palace courtiers were too expert in their discretion to snigger at their old lord's shaking hands as he made the pronouncement.
In 920 A.D., another religious fanatic, Charlemagne, further codified his faith and declared his intentions to form a worldwide Buddhist government:
A continent away, Sitting Bull was hardly intimidated by this, but it nevertheless merited close monitoring.
As the millenium approached, Islam was founded somewhere in the Old World and a young apprentice Scientist in Hawkeye provided a fairly major breakthrough in the quest for Education:
At this point, with Education in hand, Sitting Bull was ahead in the worldwide race for Liberalism. Any number of kings and petty tyrants offered Philosophy in exchange for Education, but, trusting in the brilliance of his sages and the sheer weight of his innumerable Cottages, he decided instead to research Philosophy on his own. He could only hope that he would get there first.
Back in Mutal, Native American Spies were making mischief in the Library again:
This time, it was a copy of
The Count of Maya Cristo, which started a tradition which gave the Liberal Arts majors of Cahokia and Green Wave something to dissect and argue over for centuries to come. Sitting Bull was less than thrilled with this, but it permitted the codification of National and Heroic Epics. So it wasn't all bad.
In Tenochtitlan, meanwhile, the Merchants returned to the Mines, quarrying enough Stone to build a great University where Priests would glean scientific insights from holy scriptures:
With the numerous Temples and Monasteries already dotting the continent, this improved Native American research significantly. As did the Merchants shaking off the dust of the fields and returning to their stalls in the Market.
An updated listing of the World's Most Cultured left Sitting Bull with a sour taste in his mouth:
Fourth? Well, Culture is a fool's game, anyway. Land is power, and songs and paintings can only win you so much of it.
No, most of the world's land is won by Settlement or Conquest:
The arrogant Maya had sullied Central America for long enough. Pacal's Technological advantage had disappeared, and his cities were woefully underdefended. The Maya would learn humility. They were not our equals. They would be our slaves!
Flush with excitement over fighting the first real war in Native American history, the people decided to channel that bloodlust into something that future Corporations could endorse for eons to come:
The Sports League quest is the furthest thing from a priority right now, especially given that the Statue of Zeus is off in the Old World, but it's good to know that it's available. And it's kind of fitting, given our city names. The ragtag band of troops which made up Sitting Bull's offensive force, meanwhile, approached the lightly-garrisoned but heavily-fortified city of Mutal.
A quick sweep eastward across the river, followed by a northward attack as the Spy brought down the City Walls, resulted in an easy victory:
Mutal had finally fallen! The sophisticated urbanites that made up the city's poulation offered little resistance against even the outdated Dog Soldiers that patrolled the streets.
The bulk of Sitting Bull's army, meanwhile, continued eastward to Pacal's Panama, Lakamha:
The Maya, mollified by centuries of peace and shared religion, had grown lax along their northern borders and concentrated their forces on pacifying the southern jungles. Now, faced with aggression from Sitting Bull, their cities folded like houses of cards.
Jovial in his defeat, and seeing that his game was lost, anyway, Pacal cheerfully offered to kiss the ring and subject his people as a Vassal State to Sitting Bull:
Such submission was shameful, but Sitting Bull accepted Pacal's surrender. Perhaps, upon conquering the Amazon, the Maya would outgrow their servitude and would make a bid for freedom. That suited Sitting Bull just fine. He would simply crush them again, and would take more developed territory along with them.
So, with that, I decided to call the round. Pacal is that precious rarity, a first-turn Friendly Vassal who still has enough land to contribute meaningfully as a sidekick. Needless to say, I stopped dedicating my Espionage Production to him after his Capitulation. I'm nine turns from Liberalism. Assuming I win the race, it's my intention to take Astronomy, to kick my Trade Routes into high gear.
Without further ado, here's a look at the world:
Beneath that 1-pop city of Pacal's, it's pretty much all Barbarian darkness, so I zoomed in a little in the Americas. In Eurasia, it would appear that the Ottomans didn't fare so well. And the Khmer and Koreans are real beasts. Maybe, with their paucity of allies, I should go west to Asia instead of East to Europe. Start at the tip of Malaysia and work my way northwards. England is split between the Dutch and the Celts. Babylon, having claimed the traditional lands of Arabia, Persia,
and India, will likely be a major late-game threat.
How's the Diplomacy Screen look?
We still don't have the Ottomans online, but, again, they're kind of inconsequential on this map. Our trading, along with our refusal to pick sides in Eurasia's brushfire wars, has knocked our sterling reputation down a few pegs, but I think we're still doing all right.
The Tech screen:
The Byzantines and Babyonians are our major competitors for Liberalism. I'm honestly not counting on winning the race, but Free Speech (and, if I'm willing to jettison the UoS so soon, Free Religion) are worth pursuing, anyway. Other than those two, we're pretty much at a position of parity. Boudica is willing to trade Printing Press, 160 Gold, and Horseback Riding or Drama for the Education/Philosophy package. I'm tempted to take the deal with Horseback Riding. It's not like she can beat everyone to Liberalism at this point, anyway. And Hannibal traded us some Elephants for some Copper. Though the Age of the Jumbo may well have passed...
Finally, a look at Victory Conditions:
It looks like old Gilgamesh, hemmed in as he is, might be making a push for a Cultural Victory. Of course, that's a ways off, so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
So, anyway, here we are. I'm starting to build an army in anticipation of some Reverse Colonization, while also pushing for Liberalism. Any advice? Accolades? Boos? The game is finally afoot, so let's hear some ideas.
The save:
not my style, but you got good value for it.
bonus from religious buildings, and its only for all Confucian buildings
