Rik's Civ IV Realms stories

[Rik Meleet]

Adventure 4 - Hatshepsut’s Hieroglyphics

Difficult: Monarch
Civilization: Egypt
Leader: Hatshepsut
World Size: Standard
Opponents: 7 (Kublai Khan, Isabella, Huayana Capac, Frederick, Qin Shi Huang, Roosevelt, and Asoka)
Number of Continents: 2
Sea Level: Normal
Climate: Temperate
Victory: Space (all enabled)
Version: Civ4 1.52

Scenario: Hatshepsut is in love with her hieroglyphic form of writing. It is all that the Egyptian people need.

This is the second game in our Extreme Adventures series.

Rules: You may never acquire Alphabet through any means. You may not research it; you may not trade for it; you may not get it from a wonder. NO INTERNET! Please have final save files available to verify that Alphabet is still available for research.

Scoring: Hatshepsut may not like an Alphabet, but she does like science. While all victory conditions are enabled, anything but a space ship launch is considered a loss. The goal is to prove the superiority of hieroglyphics over an icky alphabet -- not to prove Egypt's superiority of arms or diplomacy. Wins will be ranked on a basis of order finished, with earlier better, of course.

Closing Date: Monday, February 13, 2006. Reports due by the end of February 14, your local time.

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Since the start shows desert 2 tiles up, I move 1 SE. Good hills get visible. For defense purposes I want to move to the grassland hill, but I’ll first move my warrior NE. It spots a hut. Move the settler to the grassland hill and we see Ivory.

Now before we go on, let’s study the situation (this is one of my first games). We are Egypt, so we have The Wheel and Agriculture. I am Spiritual and Creative. So no anarchy and free culture. My rivals are

Kublai Khan: Aggressive (Free promotion) and Creative (free culture) and he has the techs The Wheel and Hunting
Isabella: Spiritual (no anarchy) and Expansive (free health), has Myst and Fishing
Huayana Capac: Aggressive (free promotion) and Finiancial (extra money), Myst and Agri.
Frederick: Philosophical (+100% Great people) + Creative( free culture), Hunting and Mining
Qin Shi Huang: Indus (+50% wonders) and Finan (+ extra money); Agri and mining
Roosevelt: Indus (+50% Wonder) and Organised (-50% Civic upkee) Fishing and Agri.
Asoka: Spiritual (NO anarchy) and organised (-50% civic upkeep), Myst and mining.

Early religion is out; too many civs with Myst.



I pop the hut first and get a scout. Build city, it starts on a worker. The city displays a second hut. Scout is send towards the hut. Research is set on Animal Husbandry, to benefit from the pigs.
The hut gives 34 gold. Another hut gives Hunting.



3640 BC: Buddhism founded in a DL. And our scout is eaten by a lion.
3600 BC: Hinduism. My warrior wins against an other lion.

I learn Animal Husbandry and continue with Mining. I pop Writing from a hut.



Worker is ready in 3360 BC, go on to scout.

3280 BC: Warrior eaten by panters and Mining learned. On to Bronze.
When scout is completed in I start on another.
The scout is send to explore the unknown south. He spots horses and bears.



Bronze comes in and we go on to Archery to get some good defenders. Switch to slavery. There is copper in Thebes’ fat X

My scout gets injured by lions and starts healing. I finish the second scout and put Thebes on a warrior. When it finsihes in 2520 BC, a settler is ordered.
I meet Hindu Huayna Capac the same turn and say hi.
Archery in 2480 BC. I can probably get a clams + fish site, so I’ll need fishing boats.

Huayna offers Open Borders. Sure.

After fishing I’m going to Myst. Judaism isn’t founded yet, so they aren’t that eager on religions. I might snatch one.

In 2120 BC I build Memphis. It will bring in Fish, horses and cows.

My 3rd city site is disturbed by a barbarian archer.
1440 BC I learn Polytheism. Try Monotheism. After Thebes finishes its library I shoot for the Pyramids.

1360 BC Judaims FIADL

I get both Barbarian and Incan units advancing to my cities. I don’t know enough of AI behaviour to know whether Inca is attackign me. I switch to some more defenders.

[Rik Meleet]

But I won’t get the Pyramids. While I’m still killing barbarians, China finishes the Pyramids. That is not nice to hear, but has 1 avantage; I get money. I’m still horrible in setting up a proper economy, so I won’t complain about losing the Pyramids.

As some concellation price I do manage to capture a good Barbarian city. Avar.



And in 200 BC – Success !!



I choose organised religion, to build quicker buildings and the ability to build missionaries without monastery. And what a brave units Missionaries are. This one got trapped by barbarians and.... lived !! Apparently barbarians don’t kill Missionaries... Strange and illogical. The 2nd shot is 2 turns after the first.



In the meantime; I build the Parthenon and The church of Nativity.

At 640 AD am I finally solve my economic problems by building the Church of the Nativity and sending out more Missionaries. Mostly to China as I want them as allies. I capture some Barbarian cities forcifully between my lands and China and reinforce my southern cities and northern cities. Mostly because I have nothing else to build.

I can trade techs in 860 AD. I make a trade, but the screenshot is lost. I do start on many forges and I don’t have Alphabet.

1020 AD enough Chinese cities have Christianity in it. But he won’t convert yet.

1040 AD, Thebes finishes Aquaduct; next target: hanging Gardens .

1070 AD centers the map. There is some large land to the West. I need a better economy, so I go for currency.

1120 AD – Hanging Gardens finishes.

I convert China to Christianity in 1190AD



1210 AD After learning Construction; I choose to research Divine right for the monopoly in trading. I revolt to Serfdom and Vassalage.

1290 AD. I’m going to try to convert Roosevelt to Christianity as well, as he has not founded a religion. But he’s quiet far away.


No thank you; Im on the virge of connecting banana’s myself. And I notice Islam is already founded, so Divine Right is not a monopoly. Remember; I haven’t played this game a lot yet.

[Rik Meleet]

1340 AD make big trades. Courthouses ordered up everywhere. Research towards Education. I am behind in techs and need research capabilities.



1350 AD meet Frederick. I sell him Divine right + 70 of my gold for Guilds.

1380 AD Paper researched.

1410 AD: Tactitus rates me 2nd (after Qin) in Culture.
In 1470AD I enter the Renaissance era by researching Education.

1510 AD first to Liberalism; pick Astronomy

1520 AD: A useless culture bomb ...



1550 AD : Isabella. She doesn’t like me. But for now it’s still researching quickly. Building buildings, missionaries and units. And trading. I trade my Chemistry to China for Exonomics + 550 gold.

1585 AD: roosevlet wants me to ally against China. Uhm no. I do buy his Deer for my Sugar.

And I know I’ll have to fight Germany. ...



1595 AD: Replacable parts. 1635 AD enter Industrial Era by getting SteamPower (or was it Sci Meth; I forgot)

1640 AD Huyana asks steam power. Not going to do it.
Fred as well. Nein And China needs my help against America. Nope.

1690 AD: Corporation learned -> Assembly line

Bede tells me I’m number 1 in Size.

1710 AD Fred demands Ivory. No way. I’m preparing for war with Frederick.

And war comes in 1770 AD:



She lands a stack in my NorthEast, directly next to a large stack I was building up to take the German city. Bad planning, Isabel. I destroy the landed units without any problem. I build some destroyers to keep my seas clean. I can’t prevent Isabel sinking some fishing boats.
I then take the battle to Isabel’s shores with my destroyers.

In 1826 I build The Pentagon. 1830 I enter the Modern Era and learn Rocketry. I also make peace with Isabel around that time.

In 1836 My great engineer and my Great Prophet join forces to start a Golden Age.

1838 AD I learn Electricity. Around 1848 I automate all workers.
1850 AD: with 1 more turn Golden Age, I discover Radio.
1852: Apollo project finished.

No Aluminium. Fortunately Kublai Khan has some on offer. He asks too much, so I’ll pass for now. I haven’t even discovered it yet. I didn’t realise I can buy stuff I can’t even see.
I do trade him pigs for hit Musicals.



1860: 1st SS casing done in Thebes. It will go for the UN now – just in case. Other cities go for units or spies. I also switch from Universal Suffrage to Representation. I’ve got sufficient production and my science is the bottle neck now. With hindsight; this UN-choice was a Civ 3 tactic, not a Civ 4. I forgot you couldn’t bury the vote in Civ 4....

I don’t know what happened, but I lost several trades in 1862. Noone wants my Ivory anymore. Probably went out of fashion. Industrialism researched.

1872 AD. Plastics learned.
1874 AD Isabella demands Assembly line. OK, I can’t use a war right now. She finally wants to trade fur, so I give her sugar for it. And Open borders is possible now.

Huayna comes bugging me about India. And my first tank finishes.
I build the UN in 1880 AD. And when Computers is learned in 1884; I order up all Laboratories.
The UN vote for Secretary General: I loose. !!



And China is also far with building SS thrusters. This is not going well, suddenly.
For what it’s worth; Eiffel tower build in 1894 AD. Robotics learned in 1896 AD.
The vote for Global Civic -> Universal Suffrage. Of course I voted no. I chose Representation for its science benefits. But it passes anyway ...  Start Space elevator and SS docking bay

I do what I can to slow China down.



Kublai quickly takes 2 Chinese border Metropolisses. And then the war comes to dug in fighting.

1900 AD Since we are in forced Universal Suffrage; It’s the 2nd vote that I lost. I’m going to make my loss into my gain and use it to cashrush the Space Elevator.

In 1904 Emancipation is forced on us, despite my NO. But the Good new is; Darwin is born in Thebes. He can help with Fiber Optics. Cool; I need that tech !!.

The Space elevator is cashrushed while my 2 spies see China being run over by Kublai.
Enviromentalism fails !!

In 1920 AD I get voted in as UN Secretary General. I’m going to experiment with the UN vote; putting an already passed bill on the table, hoping it fails. But first (in 1923) I vote for Single Currency -> success. In 1927 we forbid Nukes

1931 AD. I’m on course for victory. Try to revote on Universal Suffrage. I’m the only one against it, so I can’t recall the passing of the law.

[Rik Meleet]

1933 AD China demands Oil. I give it to him. War is not what I can use. And I finish SS Life Support.

Had a massive Micromanaging in 1934 AD. The last tech was nearly researched and thus I had to re-assign all specialists. Took more than 1 hour. But now I’m ready for quickly building SS parts.

In 1936 Isabel is elected Secretary General.

I am on the virge of victory now:



And I succeed !!