The terrain-unwise Romans

choxorn

Watermelon Headcrab
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Okay, so I was playing a game as the Dutch. Same old, same old, war, peace, war, kill, etc., launch spaceship. It wasn't exactly an exciting game, although I found something interesting about the terrain: No volcanoes, no floodplains, only one desert tile! So it gave me an idea for this variant. The varaint: My people do not know what volcanoes and flood plains are, for now at least. They think volcanoes are mountains and flood plains are desert (which isn't much of a handicap- I can't tell the difference between FP's and desert anyway :lol:), at least for now. They will know what volcanoes are when one of them erupts in my territory and causes damage, and they will know what flood plains are if one of them causes disease, or I research Engineering (chosen just because I wanted it to be Engineering :crazyeye:), whichever comes first. I'm going to make sure I build at least one city that could be affected by this.

So, after I thought of the variant, I needed a civ to play it with. I soon thought of the Romans, which I think is historically accurate due to their knack of building cities next to volcanoes. Plus, they have the city name "Pompeii", which will be reserved for being built next to a volcano.

Settings:
To make things especially interesting, the world is Arid, Warm, and 3 billion years old. The other settings are as follows:
Land Mass: Continents
Water Coverage: 70%
Size: Large
Barbs: Roaming
AI: 11 Random opponents
Difficulty: Regent

Rules:
Default, minus Respawn AI and culture linked starts.

Preferred VC:
None. I can win by any VC, although I would prefer not to win by score.

Now, time to play the game and write the story!

Oh, and here is an index. If there was only one post for the chapter, there will be a link to that post on the name. If there was more than one post for the chapter, the name will be normal text and "Part One" will link to the first post, "Part Two" will link to the second, etc, although the max is currently 3.

EDIT FROM 2019:

So, if you're reading this now, you're probably going to notice that there's a bunch of images that don't work anymore. The reason for this is that when I first wrote the story back in 2007, I uploaded all my images past chapter 6 at this lovely ( :sarcasm: ) website called ImageShack, which was a great place for image-hosting back in the day before they decided to stop allowing people to actually upload images to their website without creating an account, and then they became bad, and then they deleted all their anonymously uploaded images a few years later.

Luckily, between them banning image uploading and deleting all past images, I was able to save most of them- I say most, because it turned out there were a significant number that had mysteriously vanished in the years between me originally posting them here and me deciding to back them up, and most of them were images I hadn't saved anywhere else- so they're now gone forever. *grumbles*

I recently re-uploaded all the images that vanished when ImageShack deleted them all, and along the way, made some changes here and there to the story to try to describe what was happening in the missing images. Mostly, the changes were minor and you won't notice them much- but there's a few places where the image was very descriptive, and the narration wasn't, so I have a lengthier explanation, annotated "NOTE FROM THE FUTURE" that explains, as best as I can, what was in the original image- frequently there's some guessing on my part, but what can ya do. *grumbles at ImageShack again, the... :gripe:[pissed]:wallbash:*

Spoiler Links to all chapters :
Prologue
Chapter 1: The journey of 540 turns... begins with a single click
Chapter 2: The Cherokee's Insanity
Chapter 3: Perplexing discoveries
Chapter 4: A Long, Not-So-Perilous journey
Chapter 5: An unexpected turn of events
Chapter 6: Government and Law
Chapter 7: Rome vs. Anarchy (and lots of Barbarians)
Chapter 8: A new age Part One Part Two Part Three
Chapter 9: War returns to the Mediterannean
Chapter 10: Rome's Golden Age
Chapter 11: The already-won race to Sun Tzu
Chapter 12: The need for Ivory
Chapter 13: The road to somewhere
Chapter 14: The Ivory War Begins
Chapter 15: Stalemate
Chapter 16: The Age of Discovery Part One Part Two
Chapter 17: Clear Victors
Chapter 18: Betrayal
Chapter 19: World War I
Chapter 20: (Really) Dumb Diplomacy
Chapter 21: The rapidly-morphing war
Chapter 22: The war slowly ends Part One Part Two
Chapter 23: Babylon's Wars
Chapter 24: Red vs. (Light) Blue Part One Part Two
Chapter 25: The Rampaging Romans Part One Part Two
Chapter 26: The American War Continues
Chapter 27: A Decade of (mostly) Diplomacy
Chapter 28: America's Downfall
Chapter 29: The next target
Chapter 30: New Technology- and More War
Chapter 31: The Walls of Constantinople
Chapter 32: Welcome to the 20th Century
Chapter 33: Five Down...
Chapter 34: The Blitz
Chapter 35: The Russian Mountain Battles
Chapter 36: Escalation
Chapter 37: World War II
Chapter 38: The Fall of Egypt
Chapter 39: Another Two Bite the Dust
Chapter 40: A 2-Second World Peace
Chapter 41: Nuclear Secrets
Chapter 42: Advancing down the West Coast
Chapter 43: Conquest of the Carthaginian Island
Chapter 44: Scipio
Chapter 45: The Mayan Blitz
Chapter 46: Slowly Advancing
Chapter 47: Madness? THIS... IS...
Chapter 48: Scorched (and Nuked) Earth
Chapter 49: The Beginning of the End
Chapter 50: Yet Another Blitz
Chapter 51: Return of the Barbarians
Chapter 52: Into China
Chapter 53: Nuclear Summer
Chapter 54: And Here It Ends...
Some Endgame Pics
 
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Prologue

Caesar walked out of his tent after eating his lunch and looked around at the campsite. Not an easy task when you have to endure glare of the hot desert sun. The year was 4000 BC. His tent looked almost identical to the other tents people nearby were sleeping in, only bigger and more colorful, due to the fact that he had been made leader of the tribe. Although you couldn't really call it that anymore, since they had decided to settle down here, and become a civilization. The object he had been given by an advisor pretty much told all about this:



His people, who have yet to come up with a n
ame, has been moving around, here and there, for a while, and finally found this location to settle down in. Building a city here would be an excellent idea, because of the river. They think that this would be a good location. Caeser, however, disagrees. Settling down here would not allow the wheats that somehow managed to grow to be used to their full extent. Thus, he decided to follow the river far enough to the Northwest as to not interfere with the wheat. He also decided to name the river. It was given the name "Tiber River". Meanwhile, the people who chose not to settle, but to help improve the land to make it more productive, the workers, were set to work. They started to build a road from the location they were currently at to the site of the future city.

50 years later, in 3950 BC, the construction on the city had ended, and it was given the name "Rome". The people now decided to name their civilization after this city, calling themselves the Romans.



Caeser toured the city and told his people to get to work. "Rome won't be built in a day, you know!" He told them. The people, secretly laughing at this, followed his orders and went to farm the wheat. Most of them. Some have begun training to be in Rome's army. Others have become scientists to advance Rome technologically. In 3900 BC (Player Note: I forgot to set research to something before then :cringe:), they got to work researching something called "Pottery", which they say will allow food to be stored for later use.



And Thus, the story of the Roman Empire begins.
 
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lurker's comment: First lurker! :mwaha:

Still blurry about the variant, Choxorn. How are you going to implement the variant? Are you going to ignore the said terrain in your judgement and decisions or what?

I'm going to pretend that volcanoes are mountains. So yes, I will ignore ths said terrain. And like I said, I (usually) can't tell the difference between Flood Plains and desert anyway.

Congrats on first lurker. :goodjob:
 
I'm going to pretend that volcanoes are mountains. So yes, I will ignore ths said terrain. And like I said, I (usually) can't tell the difference between Flood Plains and desert anyway.

Congrats on first lurker. :goodjob:

lurker's comment: Oh, alright then. Should be fun to read ;)

It consoles me after losing the spot to a lot of people in eldar's 5CCICS :ack:
 
Chapter 1: The journey of 540 turns... begins with a single click

Caeser was getting bored. But hey, in an Ancient Age empire of one city, there isn't really that much excitement. Nothing to do but watch things happen. But he calmed himself. He knew that, in time, he would have a large enough empire for actual exciting things to happen.

In 3850 BC, The workers finished building the road. Caeser ordered them to irrigate the farmland, a task they finished in 3650 BC. Who knew 200 years was that short? Nothing else of interest happened in that time, with the exception of one thing: Rome grew in size. More laborers left the city to work the hills. Caeser ordered the workers to road and mine these hills.

More time passed, but then, in 3600 BC (Player note: Things that happen in the IBT will be said to have happened in the turn after it, e.g. the 3650-3600 BC IBT is treated as being in 3600 BC), another thing of interest happened. The first Roman warriors were now fully trained and ready to fight. For now, they have been assigned to defend Rome from any possible attack that might occur.



Once again, there was nothing of interest for quite a while. Then, in 3450 BC, Rome grew in size again, and its cultural influence expanded. People living at the edge of the new Southern border saw a small village of huts. The warrior in Rome was sent to greet them. However, what Caeser overlooked was that these Warriors were holding back a riot, and the riot ensued when he left. Caeser asked why Rome had decided to riot, and they answered that it was too crowded. He found this highly amusing- the city was pretty small. Nevertheless, he solved that problem by hiring some of the citizens as scientists. They worked outside the city, and Rome no longer minded the overpopulation. However, Caeser resolved to keep an eye on this in the future.

Speaking of Science, in 3350 BC, Rome's scientists finished their research and have invented pottery. Impressed, Caeser continued funding them generously and told them to invent a ceremony for burying the dead, which would be much better than just picking random spots to bury bodies.



Soon after, the Band of warriors reached the village spotted earlier. They found it to be deserted, apparently destroyed by the desert. However, their efforts weren't wasted as they found 25 gold lying around. They then headed back to Rome to tell of this tale. They arrived in 3200 BC. The scientists Caeser previously hired were now fired, as the Warriors could now keep the riot in check.

In 3100 BC, Rome's Army grew again as more soldiers were trained, skilled with the use of the bow. They were sent to explore the surrounding area, and hopefully do some good stuff. Caeser then remembered the "too crowded" words of his citizens, and decided to go around and find a signifigant amount of people who wanted to leave the city and settle elsewhere.

The scientists finished their invention of a ceremonial burial in 2950 BC. Thsi was put into immediate use, as one fo the scientists died of old age shortly after its invention. Caeser, no longer knowing what would be a good thing to invent, just asked them to be creative until further notice. They decided to build a block of wood that can roll and carry things, although the use of this is not yet known.



The exploring Archers sent back to Rome an angry letter at the harshness of the desert, and a description of what they've seen. It supposedly looks something like this.



Caeser has replied with a letter saying that they can now head Northwest, hopefully out of the desert.


---Temporary pause---
Okay, I have to leave for a while now, but this isn't the end of Ch. 1. The rest will come when I'm back.
Okay, nevermind. I just used that as an excuse to watch a TV show, which apparently isn't on for another half-hour (Lol).
---Temporary pause over---

So head Northwest they did, and they found something this time. In 2800 BC, they ran into a group of unarmed scouts from a civilization called "America".



They made contact and arranged a meeting between Caeser and their leader, who goes by the name of Abraham Lincoln. "Greetings," said Lincoln when they met. Caeser then wondered if there was any possible trade that could be conducted between them. It was soon revealed that there were quite a few differences. Rome was a lot richer than America, although counter-balancing this, America had two cities, called Washington and New York. They also had technologic differences- They both had knowledge of Pottery and Cermonial Burial, but Rome had two things America didn't: an Alphabet and a Warrior Code. Simililarly, America had two things Rome lacked: A knowledge of Working with Bronze, and Masons. Caeser asked if these technologies could be traded, but America put a hefty price on Bronze Working. Lincoln could not be coaxed into giving up both Bronze Working and Masonry, even for everything Rome had, including Caeser's kitchen sink. However, this trade was worked out that both sides thought was fair:



After that, boredom once again ensued for a while, but then something mildly interesting happened in 2710 BC: The workers finally finished their road/mine job. Then, in 2630 BC, Caeser finally found enough people to form a group of Settlers to go out and build a new city. The only question was location. Fortunately, the band of archers came across a good location to the west, and in 2470 BC, the city of Veii was founded at that location.



40 years later, the citizens of Rome, glad at the news of this, planted some grass around Caeser's Palace. It now looks like this:



The archers came across a lot of Jungle to the Northwest, which they set out to explore. They ran into a small village similar to the one found in the desert all those years ago. They entered the village to find it filled with warriors. Impressed with the Roman bow, they pledged alleigance to Rome. They were sent to explore in the west.

2270 BC was an eventful year for once. First, research on the Wheel has been completed. Caeser has now asked the scientists to develop a system of Writing.



Second, the Americans were now called upon again. As Caeser suspected, they lacked the Wheel. But now they don't- This trade was made:



Third, the archers ran into a band of scouts that called themselves the Inca, led by Pachacuti. They have the cities of Cuzco and Tiwanaku. Trade was arranged again:



Rome rioted again due to Caeser's inattentiveness in 2190 BC. He really needs to pay more attention.

In 2150 BC, the warriors ran into bands of warriors who called themselves the Cherokee. Unfortunately, these people are highly hostile. Caeser worries for the warriors. He also has figured out the following information about the world:



This is not going to be easy.
 
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Caeser has decided to employ some people to keep a watch on things like this. They are in a program called "CRpMapStat". :lol:
 
Just to say some things. First, I have decided that if I am attacked by an enemy unit on the IBT, all battles will have happened on the turn before, unlike the other things, which happen the turn after. Second, Can someone tell me how to get to the .ini file so I can fix the goddamn barbs? AARGH. :mad:

Chapter 2 coming soon.
 
Chapter 2: The Cherokee's Insanity

You may wonder what caused the Cherokee's hostility. It is a mystery not known to this day. However, it is believed that they were insane, or at least their leader was. Caeser witnessed this "madness" first-hand when they first met. Caeser asked a simple question, and the Cherokee leader suddenly babbled about something stupid and ordered his warriors to attack Caeser. Luckily, he escaped. However, Caeser was not sure if his warriors would escape, as they were outnumbered.

But it seemed as if he was proved wrong. Probably proving their leader's insanity, the warriors on the hill west of his warriors did not attack. They fortified themselves on the hill, defending. Caeser, bewildered, ordered them attacked and killed. In 2110 BC, his warriors had killed the first group of warriors, and the second and final group was destroyed in 2070 BC. The warriors did not suffer any casualties at all, and Caeser questioned the Cherokee's intelligence.

Also in 2110 BC, it was learned that the Inca had discovered how to work a metal called "Iron". Caeser asked Pachacuti if he would trade this knowledge to him. However, Pachacuti would not give it up for everything Caeser had.

Previous reports had said that only one group of warriors defended the Cherokee camp. However, it seemed those reports were wrong, as two groups now appeared:



Also, tales were heard of another civilized nation to the South.

Thinking the Cherokee would still be as weak as before, the Roman warriors charged into the camp, axes sharpened and raised. However, they were wrong. They managed to kill half of one of the first Cherokee warrior group, but then fell victim to a surprise attack. No Roman survived the battle.

Angered at this news, Caeser swore revenge. His chance came when a group of Archers finished their training in Veii. He told them to head West and wipe out the Cherokee, whilst mapping the terrain as they went, and maybe contact the civilized nation the warriors had heard of.

The first bit of Roman infrastructure was completed in 1910 BC, when the city of Rome finished construction on a Granary. People now store food there, and will need that food for a settling trip that will commence when Caeser finds enough Settlers.

In 1700 BC, The archers spotted Cherokee fortifications on a hill Due South of the Cherokee Camp:



They prepared for battle. They knew this would be something like the warriors that had fought at the hill just to the North of here. And they were right: It was an exact copy. They killed the two groups of warriors without casualty by 1650 BC. However, this time the complete loss for the Cherokee is cotnributed to the fact that they had no knowledge whatsoever of the bow, rather than to stupidity.

The same year, they ran into the civilized nation the warriors had heard of. They now know it to be called Russia. Caeser arranged a meeting with their leader, Catherine.



However, She had nothing to trade to Rome, and this time, no trade was made.

But speaking of trade, a different trade was made in 1625 BC with America. It seemed that he had also learned the knowledge of Iron Working. Caeser, learning this, arranged a meeting with Lincoln.

"Greetings," said Lincoln, "What is it you wish to discuss?"

"I come offering a trade that will be benificial both of us. I will teach you the magic of Mysticism in return for the knowledge of Iron and how to Work it. I will also require some gold," Caeser replied.

"Name your price," said Lincoln.

And after much haggling, this deal was finally agreed upon:



Both sides left with their new knowledge, although Caeser was instantly saddened that there was no Iron anywhere that he knew of. For that matter, there weren't any horses, either. Oh, and speaking of leaving, Caeser had managed to create a big enough group of Settlers to create a new city. However, they were not yet sure where they wanted to go, and thus waited in Rome for a while. They made up their mind in 1600 BC: They would venture South into the desert and built a city on the coast. Although Caeser questioned why anyone would want to live in the middle of the desert without a freshwater source, like the Tiber River, he was pleased to have a port city, as they could built boats built for the sea, or at least Coastal waters, and sent them off.

Meanwhile, the Archers sent to kill the Cherokee reached their camp in 1600 BC. This time, there was only one group of warriors defending. And when faced with the Roman bow, they crumbled like paper. The Cherokee's camp was reduced to rubble, and all their people killed. The archers also took all the gold they found in the rubble and sent it back to Rome.

Caeser had long sense realized the importance of a system of roads to connect his empire. Although this was currently only two cities, connecting them was still of prime importance to him. This project was finished in 1575 BC:



He eventually hopes that roads will connect the whole world, but that is a far-off dream without much hope of being realized in the near future.

As for the near future, not much will actually happen, but some things will. In 1525 BC, the Roman settlers reached their destination and founded the city of Antium:



Although it could send boats out, its primary concern is defense, for now.

But boats will be needed soon. In 1500 BC, The Archers that destroyed the Cherokee reported that Russia was on a separate landmass, a strait running between Russia and the landmass Rome, America, and the Inca occupy.

And another seperate landmass has been discovered by the other group of Archers:



Although some think this landmass may be nothing more than a small island, it is definately worth checking out. As soon as possible, boats, called "curraghs" by the people that build them, will be constructed in Antium to explore the seas.

From the reports his archers have given him, Caeser currently thinks the world looks something like this:



He has painted this on a mural in the palace, but he does not yet know what to call it. After all, at this point in history, no one knows what a "Map" is.
:lol:
 
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But would not the mural itself be a 'map'? :D
 
Yes, but Caeser doesn't know that. "Maps" Haven't been invented yet. This is just a painting. And I only used this pic for the purpose of this thread. Caeser's Mural is highly inaccurate.
 
Actually, there aren't any strategic or luxury resources discovered yet. I find some Iron and Horses in the next chapter (which will be here soon), but still no luxuries. Obviously, I can't use Republic for this game because it needs luxuries to be happy.
 
I can't use Republic for this game because it needs luxuries to be happy.
Uhh, says who? Luxury resources certainly help, but they are by no means required. Specialists and the lux slider are all you'll ever need.
 
Well, having 80% Lux tax and 50+ Taxmen is not something Caeser wants.
Monarchy, Monarchy! Well, at least that's what I currently want. I might change my mind.
 
Chapter 3: Perplexing discoveries

Caeser felt a lot of things, but one of them he usually didn't feel was shocking surprise. However, he felt a fair amount of it now. In 1475 BC, Scientists finally finished developing a written language:



Although this was not surprising, what came to follow was. He could now create embassies and conduct diplomatic agreements with other nations, although those agreements currently only included military alliances. This was not too surprising, either, but soon he would get some surprise when he established the embassies, first in Washington, America:



Then in Cuzco, Incaland:



And finally, in Moscow, Russia:



The surprising details: None of the cities had any infrastructure built in them, for one, but also, there were unique details about each. He noticed Iron just to the south of Washington, but the Americans had made no effort to use the iron. He noticed that Cuzco was very far away from anything he'd explored, and in a desert quite similiar to the one Rome was in. And in Moscow, he saw that it was directly on the strait that seperated Russia from the mainland, now called the strait of Moscow, and he noticedthe faint outline of coast, which seemed to surround the land Moscow was on. But how could that be? If Moscow was on an island, Russia couldn't have expanded off of the island! Why? They had not yet invented boats. Although Caeser now believes it was a trick of the eye, and a thin isthmus connects Moscow to something else, it is something that nevertheless needs to be looked into.

And oppurtunity came knocking in 1400 BC, when Antium finished training its defensive warrior. It was now free to build boats, which could explore not only the mysterious landmass, but also Russia.

In 1350 BC, Roman Archers "trespassed" into American territory. Lincoln insisted on their immdieate departure:



Caeser replied that they were merely exploring the world, and needed to go through America to do so. They would be leaving shortly. "Fine," said Lincoln, "But leave soon!" And they did. Caeser was hassled by Lincoln again in 1250 BC, but they were at the edge of America anyway, so it didn't really matter.

Meanwhile, word reached Rome that other civilizations were working on "Great Wonders" that would give them a boost, but take a long time to make. America began construction of something called "The Oracle" in 1400 BC, and Russia started "The Collosus" in 1300 BC. Caeser consulted his adivsors to find out about these Wonders and asked whether they were worth building, but they all agreed that it would be better to focus on other things for the time being.

Expansion was one of those things, and in 1200 BC, another group of settlers founded the city of Cumae to the North of Rome:



Also in 1200 BC, the people of Antium finished their work on the Curragh. It was promptly sent South to explore the "Mystery Landmass".

But Interesting things would happen even before it got there. In 1175 BC, A group of warriors calling themselves the Thracians appeared to the West of Cumae. Caeser only had to look at them to know they were evil. They were berzerk wildmen, attacking anything they saw. But for reasons no one understands, the Thracians didn't head East to attack Cumae. Instead, they headed Southeast towards the archers Southwest of Cumae. In 1150 BC, The Archers charged towards them and wiped them out, but suffered some casualties. They are staying put while they recover from that battle.

Also in 1150 BC, a book reached Caeser, written by a man named Livy that listed the most technologically advanced nations in the world:



He was curious about this. He was not at all surprised by the knowledge that the Inca were more advanced than him, since they knew how to ride Horses, and he didn't, but that knowledge was useless to him since he had no Horses. what intrigued him was that he had come third, behind Inca and Arabia. He surely wanted to meet this advanced nation called the Arabs. Although there was just the possibility that they had the same technology as the Inca, it still intrigued him. Other than that, he did not really worry about the nations less advanced than him, nor the ones that didn't even make the list, like Russia.

Speaking of tech, he soon learned that America had a new technology. In 1125 BC, they developed something called "Mathematics". Caeser asked Lincoln to teach him this knowledge.

"Okay," said Lincoln, "But you have to teach me how to Write and give me some gold."

"Deal," said Caeser:



In 1100 BC, the Archers that had fought Thrace in battle 50 years earlier found their camp:



In 1075 BC, the archers attacked the camp, raining arrows upon arrows down on it. It was soon dismantled, nothing remaining besides some gold.

Also in 1075 BC, The curragh found the borders of a city called Alexandria, in the Egyptian nation. Their leader is Cleopatra.

After establishing an embassy in the Egyptian capital, Thebes...



Caeser met Cleopatra. "Hello," said Caeser, "Might I teach your technologically backwards nation something?"

"Smart, eh?" said Cleopatra, "Good, I was hoping you were more than a pretty face."

"Um, yes, well, OH MY GOD!! WHAT IS THAT THING BEHIND YOU!!?" Cleopatra turned around and said "Where?" but Caeser had just escaped the conversation.

Caeser would soon learn that Egypt was not so isolated, after all. In 1000 BC, Curraghs discovered Russians on the same island:



This hinted that this island was pretty big, big enough to hold both Russia and Egypt.

And speaking of big, that is precisely what Caeser's mural is getting to be:

(Spoilered because it is so big)

Spoiler :


He notices a strange substance on some of the mountains in the far north.
"What is that?" He asked his exploring Archers.
"We don't know," said the Archers, "all we know is that it is dangerous. But we don't know how it got there,"

Nevertheless, Caeser was sending settling parties up there. He had circled on his map Iron sources Red, Horses Blue. If he could get a city up there, he could get both. So that's where his next settlers were going. He just hoped he would get there first.
 
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