Age of Discovery - AAR

Christopher Columbus lands in the New World

Dale said:

Age Of Discovery Scenario for Civ4:

The date is 1492 and Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus has just discovered Cuba. The Hundred Years war between England and France has been over for a few years now, and the only English presence on the mainland is Calais. The War of the Roses is over in England, with the Tudor line now on the throne. Portugal has explored down the African west coast, and Genoa is the major trading port in Western Europe. The Arabs have conquored most of North Africa, except for Morocco. Burgandy has broken apart and their lands taken by Saxony, France and the Duchy of Holland.

Europe is on the brink of social, economic and religious reform as it leaves the Middle Ages and enters the Renaisance. Scientists are making major discoveries in all fields and the people are feeling the effects of new social freedoms with the end of serfdom. History is yours for the making.

Play as one of the major nations of the era, colonizing the New World, expanding your trade Empire, and using your new found wealth to teach your enemies in Europe a lesson. Can you re-write history in your favour?

Map: Western Europe + North Africa + Eastern/Central North America + Carribean. [Size: 108*81]
Coloniser nations: England, Holland, France, Spain, Portugal
Minor nations: Scotland, Saxony, Genoa, Ottomans, Aztec, Maya, Natives

Click to expand...

This an AAR of Dale's scenario, Age of Discovery, which you can find here:

Clicky

I chose to play as the Spanish, noble difficulty. I have also never played this scenario before, so I don't know what to expect...it may end in a glorious Spanish conquest of the New World, or it may end with me hanging by my neck in the Tower of London...we shall see.

Extra note: This is with AoD 1.0, not 1.12 which Dale released a while after I started this

List of Updates:
Part 1 - Discovery (this post)
Part 2 - Colonization and Conquest
Part 3 - More Conquest, a Bit More Colonization
Part 4 - 1572-1590
Part 5 - War With Portugal
Part 6 - War With Holland
Part 7 - Conflict In The Colonies
Part 8 - European Invasion
Part 9 - The Fall of France
Part 10 - Peace and Plotting
Part 11 - War with the Ottomans (final update)

Stats from end of game
Quick review of the scen

Part 1 - Discovery
In 1492, funded the Spanish, Christopher Columbus set out from Spain with the intention of sailing to Asia, and indeed, when he first arrived in the Carribean, he believed that he was in Asia.

News of this overjoyed the Spanish crown, and in 1492 the Spanish King Darth ordered that new colonys be established in the new-found Carribean Islands, as outposts to allow Spain to develope new trade routes with China and India via the Atlantic. So it was that in 1494, the first European settlement in the New World was established - New Spain in Cuba:


New Spain, roughly in the location of the real city, Puerto Principe

However, soon after New Spain was founded, it became clear that the landmass that Columbus had found was not Asia - further exploration carried out both by the Spanish and later the French revealed that Columbus had in fact discovered a new continent - The New World!

Although King Darth was disapointed that he had not opened a new sea-route to Asia, he was filled with wonder at the prospect of exploring an entirely new land - and building a Spanish Empire in it.


European explorers meet the Carribean natives for the first time

Early encounters with the Natives of this New World were favourable for the Europeans - it appeared that the indiginous civilizations of the Americas were primitive and backwards in comparison to the Europeans, and King Darth began planning to conquer these people and claim their land for Spain.

However, Spain was not the only European country to begin establishing outposts in the New World - in 1505 Spanish Caravels found that the Portugese too had an outpost in the New World, Porto Seguro on the northern coast of South America:


Porto Seguro

To be continued...

yay! sid's pirates!

Cool.

Good luck with the colonisation.

Dale

I definetly will be following this!

Don't kill the natives this time.

Thanks for the replies all

@unscratchedfoot: I think it's a bit late for that.

Now onwards to glory!

Part 2 - Colonization and Conquest

In the years following the discovery of the Americas, their was a frenzy of exploration and colonization carried out by the European powers, all keen to take a lion's share of the New World. By the 1530s, Spain and Portugal had settled many areas of the Carribean, while the English built a chain of colonies along the coast of North America. France, Scotland and Holland also had colonies.


Port CFC, one of many Spainish settlements in the Carribean

During this period, relations between the European powers improved, as it became clear that, for the time being at least, they were more interested in exploring the Americas than starting new wars in the Old World. Nonetheless, King Darth made sure that the Spanish army in Europe was large and well equiped - this was no time for complacency.

In 1529, King Darth decided that the time was right to launch a campaign of conquest into the American mainland, and the descision was made to begin by attacking the native Mayans, who lived in what is now an eastern area of Mexico.

And so it was that in the winter of 1533, a Spanish army of 6 men at arms and 4 knights landed in the Maya heartland, in Yucatan. In a descisive and ultimatley one-sided campaign, the Spanish army quickly broke the back of the Mayan defence with the capture of the Mayan capital, Chichen Itza, in 1535.


The Spanish approach a Maya city

King Darth's army systematically attacked and occupied the Maya cities, until in 1542, 50 years after Columbus first arrived in America, the Mayan civilization was completely destroyed. Although the Spanish conquisadors found less gold than they were hoping for, the campaign was considered a great victory for Spain.


Huaya Capac, ruler of the ill-fated Mayans, who believed that every time you took a screenshot of him, you took a little piece of his soul

During the Mayan campaign, the Spanish army lost only one knight and one men at arms, and encouraged by this outstanding success, King Darth turned his eyes towards the Aztecs, whose lands were to the west of the Maya. However, before such a campaign could begin, King Darth was persuaded by one of his more conservative advisors to wait, consolidate and re-inforce the Mayan conquest before launching another war, lest the Spaniards become overstretched and lose all that they had gained on the American mainland. The Aztec invasion would have to come later...


Spanish holdings in the New World, 1542 - after conquest of the Maya

You'll have to ignore all the lines and place names, it's the best map I could find.

More to come...

keep it coming

I love it.... keep it coming. And excellent use of "Pirates" graphics to add to the feel of it all!

After reading your report, I am going to download this mod now and play it myself!

Thanks Edicus, I'm flattered!

I have played up to 1554 now, but I will wait for a more natural break in the story before I post another update...that may be later tonight, or more likely it will be tommorow.

By the way, that is not a mistake on the Huayna Capac screenshot above: in the scen he does lead the Mayans, whereas in Civ4 he leads the Incans...I did some very quick googling, and I couldn't find anything about specific Mayan leaders (doesn't help that Mayan society was apparently based around individual city-states)...I guess Huayna is just standing in due to the absence of a better candidate - how kind of him

Part 3 - More Conquest, a bit more colonization!

Throughout the 1540s, King Darth consolidated the Spanish position on the Yucatan penninsula, while (along with the rest of Europe) continuing to establish new colonies in the Americas. By the 1550s, the older European settlements in the New World were starting to become more established.

In 1553, with the Yucatan penninsula firmly under his control, King Darth turned his eyes westwards once again - to the lands of the Aztec Empire in central Mexico.

The time had come to launch Spain's war against the Aztecs!


Montezuma, ruler of the Aztecs, in an unusually good mood

In the winter of 1553, fresh Spanish troops arrived in Yucatan, under the command of the noble-man conquistador El Pollo de Silva. Combining his troops with veterans from the Mayan campaign, de Silva led the Spanish army into Mexico in 1554, to begin the conquest of the Aztecs. The invading army was made up of 6 knights, 2 men at arms, 2 crossbowmen and 1 bombard cannon.

It would prove to be a long, grueling campaign - but one that the Spanish would eventually win.



In red are areas of Mexico controlled by the Spanish in 1554 (Mayan lands)
In blue are areas controlled by 1558
In yellow are areas controlled by 1565
In green are areas controlled by 1569

There was quite alot of fighting around El Tajin in the blue area of the map, where the Aztecs attempted a counter-attack in 1560.

Although the result of the war was never in doubt - the Spaniards won almost every single engagement fought during the war - the Aztec warriors battled feircely to defend their homeland, and the last Aztec city did not fall until 1572 (not shown on the map, it was quite some way down south).

The simple fact of matter was that Spain's army in Mexico was too small - and as a result they found it difficult to both occupy conquered cities, as well a capture new ones. It was for this reason that the war to conquer the Aztecs slogged on for 18 years. All of Spain was relieved when in 1572, the last Aztec city, in modern-day Honduras, was captured, and the war ended.


Tenochitlan - captured by the Spanish in 1558, using fearsome bombards, which terrified the native defenders

Although King Darth was surprised at how long the Aztec war dragged on for, he was pleased to see that the Spanish army took minimal casulties during the war - and that he had once again successfully expanded Spain's empire in the New World. Once again the time had come to rest, pause and consolidate.

Some stats:



As you can see Spain is top dog.

Diplomacy:



Portugal is collecting alot of defensive pacts, probably scared that King Darth will start empire-building back in Europe

I think it would be possible to persuade Portugal to attack the Ottomans, which would automatically break all their defensive pacts (IIRC) and let me attack them without bringing France down on me, but that feels a bit cheesy and 'gamey' so I won't do that, especially seeing as this is more of a story-orientated AAR rather than a 'watch me win' AAR.

Part 4, 1572-1590

By the time the Aztec war ended in 1572, the European colonies in the New World were growing larger and more established, and European cities in the Old World were benifitting from the plentiful supplies of corn, fish and bananas, as well as gold and silver, that could only be found in the Americas.


New Madrid, a large Spanish colony on the island of Hispaniola

However, the number of settlements that Spain had to support throughout Mexico and the Carribbean was growing, and the cost of maintaining the colonies was getting more and more unwieldy and expensive. The Spanish crown was forced to reduce spending on science and research to compensate. This worried King Darth - if Spain fell behind Old World, all it's gains in the New World would have been for nothing.

During this period Spanish also began sending officially-commisioned missionaries to the New World, to convert the native peoples to Christianity


A Christian missionary in Chichen Itza, the former Mayan capital

The natives took surprisingly well to Christianity and by 1580s Catholicism had been spread into Yucatan, and some Carribbean islands.

In 1586, the French under King Loius XIV declared war on the Native Indians of North America, in order to expand their American empire. In response to this, the Spanish under King Darth sent an emmisary to the Indians, offering to supply them with iron and horses to aid them in their fight against the French. Although they disliked the Spanish, the Indians agreed. France was Spain's closest rival in the Old World, and King Darth wanted to make life difficult for them in their war with the Indians.


Loius XIV, the King of France - Spain's closest rival in Europe

France's declaration of war also canceled the terms of their defensive pact with Portugal. Now that the Portugese could not count on French protection, King Darth sensed an opportunity...

World map, 1590:



To be continued...

This is definitely a fun scenario....... I tried playing as the Scots, but got off to a slow start and tried to develop my colonies in the new world before attacking the natives and ended up at war with the Dutch. It ended with the Scots in control of Amsterdam(!) as well as the (formerly) Dutch North American colonies. The Dutch Empire was reduced to two colonies in North America, and the Native Americans under Hiawatha had grown strong..... very strong.

War came and slowly but surely, the Natives started driving the Scots out of North America. Disgrace for the upstart Scots...... ugh.

I am going to play again and try to make nice with the Europeans so I can concentrate on "liberating" the natives.....

keep the reports coming Darth!

Sounds fun

making nice with europe while attacking the natives is what I have done here (though I think europe is a bit too cozy for the period, probably becuase they are all Catholic)

I was tempted to gift all my techs to the native Americans, just to see what would happen but I decided against that since I'm trying to keep a vaguely historical feel to this

I may try it on another run-through of this scen though.

I'm assuming those pictures are from Anno 1701?

They are from Sid Meier's Pirates

I will post another update in a little while...

Part 5, War with Portugal

Ever since the Muslim Moors had been ejected from Spain in 1492, shortly before King Darth came to power, he had dreamed of uniting Iberia under one flag - a Spanish flag. Amidst the colonisation of the New World however, the goal had been put aside. But in 1586, an opportunity presented itself...

When the French attacked the North American Indians in 1586, they cancelled their defensive pact with Portugal. This severely weakened Portugal's postion in Europe, and made them a much more tempting target. Although they did still have defensive pacts with the Dutchy of Saxony, Scotland and the Netherlands, they were minor powers and could not offer the deterant that France had done.

Spotting a chance to unite Iberia, King Darth decided to attack Portugal. In 1590, the Spanish were massed in three armies along the Portugal-Spain border, and thrust into Portugal.


Lisbon was captured in 1592

The campaign was an outstanding success. Although the Portugese army was equiped with modern rifled fire-arms, it was very small, and Portugal was descively beaten in less than 3 years. King Darth was overjoyed at the success of the campaign - in contrast with the Aztec conquest, Portugal had been taken in one swift knock-out blow.


The Portugese moved their capital to Fes, in North Africa

Although the Portugese still controlled parts of North Africa and the Carribbean, the loss of their homelands was a mighty blow.

Although the cost of maintaning the colonies was still dangerously high, King Darth was very happy in 1593. Spain held more of the New World than any other European country, had the largest standing army in the Old World, and had just captured Portugal. King Darth was very happy indeed, for the future looked bright for Spain...golden, in fact!

More epic tales of gold and glory to come...

War in Europe, 1593



Spain is at war with Portugal, Scotland, Holland and Saxony.

Sound interesting.
I like this Pirates! screenshots.