Newbs first story (Viking Splash)

Wheee! This is my first story, so bear with me while I figure things out. I'm not sure how it'll go (knowing my luck, i'll get my butt kicked), but thats half the fun!

Anywho, heres the setup:

Map: Large, totally random, roaming
Civ: Scandinavia (WAAAAAAGHH!!)
Rivals: All Random
Difficulty: Monarch
Rules: Default, except Cult. Linked starts and Respawn AI
Game: PTW, totally stock (cept graphic mods)



===================



4000BC -- The Beginning



TADA! And out of thin air, I am created! Or rather, my three wee followers are created. Oi! They look like a good lot, don't they?

Now i've got a bunch of grassland, two rivers (YAY!), two mountains, and a hint of coastline one tile away. I think i'm gonna head north to grab the shore corner for my first city, since I prefer to have a coastal capital. My worker will start irrigating the land for more population, and my explorer will head south to see what he can see. Oh, and i'll get to researching bronze working.


3950BC -- Second Turn



My first city, Primus, has been built and has set to creating a second scout. It revealed some wheat just NW of it, which is cool. I should be able to put it to good use in a few turns after the first expansion. My scout, meanwhile, has found some shiny rocks in a hill to the SE. Thar be gold in them hills!


3850BC -- Daddy wants a new piano

My scout, still headed SE, has found a sizable chunk of prairie... and IVORY! A large, extravagant musical instrument would go PERFECT in my humble palace...
I also cranked my science this turn. I'm breaking even, but should have shiny yellow trinkets in 26 turns (dude... thats like, 1300 years from now!)


3750BC -- Bring out your dead!



Scout found a second source of ivory beside the first and then managed to stumble on a native tribe... who taught us how to dig holes in the ground to stick dead people in. Yeah, yeah, it sounds WEIRD... but i'm sure it'll catch on in a few hundred years.
On an unrelated note, my worker has finished irrigating, and has started on a road (MONEY!)


3650BC -- Mooo?

Primus finished its scout, and started on a third. The second scout headed north... which is looking like a dead end (or a land bridge). Meanwhile, my first scout has found large green patch in the desert that is apparently, inhabited by some odd, fat, four legged animals that go "Moo." Hey, don't look at me, i'm just reading what he wrote here!


3550BC -- Climate control

Scouts to the north say its freezing cold. Scouts to the south say they're finished the desert, and nearing a hot and humid jungle.
Who built this world?!


3500BC -- Me fail English? Thats onpossibul!



My southern scout stumbled upon yet another friendly native village, who gave us some maps scribbled on the backs of napkins. They revealed: Some jungle, some forest, some hills, lots of dirt... and an English border! ARGH! I hate the English. They're always so snotty and hard to deal with. Bah. Anyways, my scout is headed towards them now, since the natives maps revealed some ocean west of his position too, leading me to believe the jungle area is a dead end.
And speaking of dead ends, guess what my northern scout ran into? Oh well, maybe i'll get some oil or something out of that tundra later on (pshea right!)


3450BC -- T-10 turns to settler



Primus cranked out its third scout (should be enough), expanded it's borders (getting my wheat!), revealed some more wheat in the distance, and started on its first settler. 10 turns to pop 3, and 10 turns to settler #1. Originally it was 7 turns to pop and 15 for settler, but I pulled my second colonist off the wheat tile to the one my worker was currently irrigating.
By the way - 14 turns to bronze!


3400BC -- Mind if I call you Beth?

ACK! Bumped into the English' scout today, snooping around my territory. I said hi, and traded Warrior Code and Ceremonial Burial for Alphabet. Not the best deal, but hey, I want my alphabet soup, dammit! Plus, the English would have learned WC/CB from someone else eventually... might as well get something for it.


3350BC -- Aw crap, im behind already

Just a quick note: That english city I found to the south? Its called "York". And its got a pop of 2. Meaning I am sllloooow as hell compared to the AI. Crap crap crap! How do they do it?! Stupid cheating bastards. They'll pay for this - mark my words!


3250BC -- Eat your wheaties



Found a third goodie hut this turn, who taught us Mysticism. The natives are loco I tell you! I also found the other english border, which puts their two cities smack dab on either side of a readily-irrigatible (?) grassland just FILLED with wheat. Tonight I will spend the evening loving many beautiful women in an effort to resecure my confidence in my manhood.


3150BC -- Damn AI

Found another two sources of Ivory, but its kinda close to the English right now. Speaking of whom, I just learned have already discovered bronze working. I'm only 5 turns away from it though, so i'll save mysticism to trade for something else (I hope).


2950BC -- Movin out



Finished my settler today! Started work on a warrior, and thanks to my nearby wheat, will be back up to pop 2 in five turns. My settler will be headed down towards the ivory on the east coast.
My three scouts are still trucking around, though one of them is into some HEAVY jungle/mountain terrain. Hopefully the AI will go colonize that and leave me some nice open grassland. I wish.
Also, I was alerted recently to the most wealthiest nations on the planet:
Indian, Arab, Roman, Viking (thats me!), Ottoman, English, Mongol, and Spanish. Hey, i'm on the list!


2850BC -- Bronze!

Finished bronze working today, started on writing. One of my scouts found another goodie hut (map), which revealed some grassland, a bunch of forest, some more moo-moos, and some gold. Its much too far away to be of any use to me though.
Oh, and one of my scouts is thoroughly lost in a seriously frickin HUGE chunk of jungle with a massive river. Move over Amazon!


2670BC -- More neighbors

Found a goldish border (Ottoman?), and a light blue border (Spanish?) today. Oh, my one scout also found the end to the jungle (ocean), so he headed north. Primus created a warrior and is on to a second settler. Meanwhile my worker is creating a road (part way) to my second city location, which is still waiting for my settler to arrive at.
So... when do we get airplanes again?


2630BC to 2590BC -- Hi thar

Ah, the gold ones are indeed the Ottomans. Traded the Alphabet to them for Masonry and 10 gold (all they had). No, i'm not a very good bargainer.


2590BC -- Say Buah?



Next turn, yup, the blue is the Spanish. Who suck! HAHA! I have FOUR techs over them (Masonry, Pottery, Warrior Code, Mysticism), and they have nothing to trade back. Darn. I'll have to check in with Izzy from time to time, to see if they ever get anything worth trading...
The other big news today, is I founded my second city, "Buah" (what? I like it). Unfortunately it can't produce a lot of food, so i'll just set to making a warrior for now.


2550BC -- I see purdy colours



Found some dyes today near the Ottomans. Hopefully I can trade some Ivory for them later on.


(CONT...)

2430BC -- Arabian Nights

Bumped into an Arabian scout near the Ottomans today! Said hi, and managed to get $89 for mysticism. I also traded Masonry to the Spanish for a worker. Not a great deal, but Masonry is pretty basic, and a second worker (even foreign) would be handy right now...


2390BC -- Run forest, run!



Here's a shot of that bigass jungle I was talking about. You doubted me, no? Well there it is. And in the top left, you can see Barcelona, and my scout (#1), who is busy running like hell from a Barbarian (not visible).
Meanwhile, Primus is 3 turns away from my second settler, and Buah made a warrior. They're still 15 (!) turns from pop 2 though, so I just set on making a temple (30 turns). My Spanish worker is gonna dig some roads around my capital to two other nice city locations i've planned out. My other two scouts are busy discovering that that "west ocean" I thought I discovered before might just be a really freaking big lake. Whudathunk?


2270BC -- HAH! Beat ya!



Beat this Arab scout here to the goodies! Nyah nyah!
Ok, so it was only a third (!) stupid map, but whatever.
Anywho, Primus completed the second settler, and is making a worker now. My other scout is STILL dodging barbarians, and the last just wandered into a desert where some friendly strangers taught him about these silly round things he calls "Wheels".
A quick check of the map reveals... two horses near me (yay!), and one near the other three civilizations (crap). This new tech inspired me to check with the English, who I traded Masonry and Mysticism too for Iron working! HUZZAH!
A second quick check of the map reveals Iron right next to Buah!
The Spanish also has some (though they don't know it yet), and the Ottoman have a supply or two (maybe 3, if they beat the English to it).


2190BC -- Jungle romp



My intrepid scouts have found a goodie hut in the jungle that gave us a warrior! He set out towards a barbarian camp and a roaming barbarian busy guarding his precious dyes. My guy is only a conscript though... i'm betting he goes down in flames for his efforts.


2150BC -- You are SO cut

"Down in flames" doesn't even describe what happened. It was more like "bent over and took it up the tailpipe". He didn't do a single point of damage. Meanwhile, my "intrepid scout" is running for his life again. *Sigh*
Oh, and I changed Primus' work queue from a worker to a Settler. I think I need settlers worse than pretty plowed fields.


2110BC -- Jadastrom



Founded my third city today, "Jadastrom". That sounds kinda Vikingish, doesn't it?
My second scout also found 4 Ivory kinda near the Ottomans today. So much for my trading plan.


2070BC -- Slave labour

Bumped into India today near where that Ivory is (yay!). I managed to trade Mysticism and 10 gold for another worker. ph33r my army of slaves!


1990BC -- Big lake



Yeah, it was a big lake. I guess big enough that its salt water (1 food).
Oh, also note the English jerks who built a city near some ivory south of my territory. Oh, and guess what? At the start of my next turn I get a "Most powerful nations of the world" memo. Guess who's at the top?
THE FREAKIN ENGLISH!
I forsee an Ottoman alliance in the distant future.
And for the record, the nations are: English, Zulu, Mongols, Babylonians, Romans, Indians, Vikings (me), and Arabs.
Yeah, these English are gonna be a very big problem.


1950BC -- Arabs

Quick note, found the Arabs territory (pink). They're pretty far away for now, shouldn't be much of a concern even though they're "annoyed" with me.
On an unrelated note, is my Science slider busted? I've been checking it every turn, but its not doing anything 10% research has the same ETA as 100%, WTH? Oh well, more money for me I guess. With $208 in the bank, im 4 times richer than anyone I know. Now if they only had something to trade!


1870BC -- Settler 3

Primus finished Settler 3, who is gonna run down my road to settle near the horses and gold. Primus, back at population 1, is working on a Granary so I can maybe crank out settlers a wee bit faster.
Otherwise, nothing exciting is happening.


1830BC -- Guerra



Made my fourth city, Guerra, and set it working on a Spearman.
My scouts are still wandering, though I doubt there are any goodie huts left in the world.


1750BC -- Err, I mean...

I take that back. I just learned horse riding from a hut! (Apparently stone age men are too stupid to understand the concept of "sit on it", but I guess thats why i'm their enlightened leader).
I also traded Iron Working today to the Indians and Arabs for $108 total. Hey, its all I could get for it!


1700BC -- Uh oh



Aw crap. Crap crap crap.
The English are sending four Warriors my way. Damnit! I didn't want war yet!
Because of this, I had to switch spearman production at Guerra to a Warrior, and waste 20 shields at Buah to go from Temple to Spearman. GODDAMN ENGLISH!!
(On a more positive note, I finally found the Indians. They're south of the Arabs and Ottoman)


1650BC -- And the Viking said: HAHA!

YAY! My little troupe of warriors has fended off three of the four attackers! One of my warriors is now Elite because of it too! All right!
Once I get past this last attack, it'll be time to push towards Hastings and see how heavily defended it is.


1600BC -- Counter-Strike, anyone?

I'm surprised, this war is going much better than expected. My Elite warrior easily took care of the last enemy warrior, and just the next turn I get my Iron source hooked up! I wonder how tough the English will be when Swordsmen come knocking on their door! *Evil laughter*

1500BC -- Long eon, no see?



Wow, that sure didn't FEEL like an Eon, but here we are. Anyways, just to update, ive got 4 Warriors outside Hastings, which has a Spearmen (or more) inside and a warrior right next to it. Prima switched its construction from Granary to Swordsman, so one of those is on its way as well. Meanwhile my "wise men" have almost figured out how to write (I thought teaching them the alphabet and handing them paper was pretty self explanatory, but NOOO, I have to be surrounded by morons.)


1475BC -- Hulk SMASH!



Well, I figured discretion is the better part of valour, and held off the attack on Hastings for a turn. I sent my Elite Warrior back a square to heal, and left my 3 regulars where they were. They managed to smack down two enemy warriors, one of which was a vet! I hope that doesn't mean hastings has a barracks. Oh well, if they can hold on for a bit, i'll have my Elite back, plus a fresh warrior, and even a swordsman or two in a couple turns!
And now, for even better news... I found one last (well, probably) hut in the jungle! And lo an behold, the smart little buggers knew Mathematics! So I took their lunch money and broke their glasses until they tutored me! Haha!
I did my trading rounds too, and traded Mysticism to the dumb-as-rocks Spanish for $50 (what, I feel sorry for them).
Next up, boy oh boy, this turn just gets better! I decided to try a save and attack on Hastings with my 3 warriors. One of them had 1 health left, so I tossed him at the spearman. He gave him a chop, and then got a pole rammed up his arse. Good enough for me. Then I sent in my one regular warrior... he smacked that spearman silly, AND got a promotion to boot! We marched into Hastings, stole $6, and then burnt the place down!! Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it, Beth!


1400BC -- Gone to see the Oracle?

Minor update. My troops (1 reg, 2 vet, 1 elite warriors, 2 reg swordsmen) are headed towards York, since I couldn't get a very good deal from ol' Bethy for peace.
As for the rest of the world, apparently something is hawt about this "Oracle", cuz the Indians, Ottoman, Arab, and Spanish (LOL!) are building it!
Whatever, its not my shields. Oh, I figured out Writing last turn too, and have started on map making.


1325BC -- Goodbye, my friend

Today is a very sad day in our empire. My special little guy, my very first scout... was ambushed by some evil barbarians deep in his favorite jungle. Words cannot express my sorrows. R.I.P. little guy, and Godspeed!
I think i'll go take my anger out on York.


1275BC -- Stupid AI



Heh, the AI is dumb. I saw an Archer headed to Hastings to defend it, so I backed my warriors out a square in the hopes of drawing him out, and so I could meet with my first Swordsman. As you can see, it worked. Now my swordsman will have something to sharpen his weapon on before the assault! HAH!
Also in this picture you can see my fourth settler headed south towards the Ivory where Hastings used to be. Primus is only a couple turns away from my fifth settler too, which is nice. Oh, and you can also see (well, one), my tag-team pair of slave workers busy irrigating some land up by Guerra. I kinda like those two. Maybe i'll give them extra bread this week.
Oh, and as a curiosity, apparently the Spanish have contacted the Romans. Their price is steep though (Wheel + Mathematics), so I think i'll hold off talking to Caesar.


1225BC -- Vikings 2 : England 0



York is no more. It cost a heavy toll (two vet warriors), but the place is just a pile of rubble now. I did manage to get 2 workers, two upgrades (elite warrior, vet swordsman), and 8 gold out of it though.
That said, I don't really fancy continuing this war much longer. Some of the other cultures already have 6 or 7 cities, where I only have 4 (with 2 more on the way). I did what I wanted to - take the English down a peg. No sense stretching myself even further this early in the game. Time to sue for peace!
*10 seconds later*
Ah, she folded like Mary Poppins after a swift kick to the gut. Peace for one of her cities (Newcastle), and $80. Newcastle ain't great (pop 1, nothing built, in a jungle), but it gives me a forward base to both strike from and protect my territory with. And thats good enough for me!

Oh, and on an odd note.. apparently the Romans got contact with me from someone (Spanish?), cuz I can talk to them now, and I haven't seen a single unit of theirs. Good thing I didn't trade anything for something that was free after all!
Speaking of the Spanish, I think i'm done trading with them now. They're up to the same tech level as the Ottoman now. The English and Arabs are one tech behind, and me, the Indians, and Romans are all on the same page (for now).



1175BC -- Fassa



My 6th city is up now, "Fassa"
Its perched on a small hill.. nothing special, just adding to my territory. You can also see my other settler and captured english workers (bottom) headed to the next city site, which will be 1 tile above the workers. Oh, and a horseman is on his way to take care of the stupid barbarians.
Speaking of horsemen, its a good thing I ended the war when I did, cuz the English have horsemen now. Whew!
Anyways, now its time to get back on track. Production and expansion ho!


1125BC -- From Warmonger to Philosophist?

Just busy building my little corner of the world, and wanted to say that I bought Philosophy off the Indians for $150. Not too bad, considering I still have $380 left. Otherwise im just waiting for my cities to pop up a bit so I can actually BUILD stuff. Another 6 turns and i'll get 3 more pop though, so hopefully things will get done faster by then.
(Next turn) Aww! My people love me! I chose a nice shiny black palace. Yum!


1075BC -- Take Fiav



Welcome my new city, "Fiav"! Why Fiav? Well, because its almost 'five' o clock (am!) here, and I should have gone to bed about 3 hours ago. Haha! So I should really go to bed. Anyways, ive taken 24 shots, and 24 is my lucky number... it could be a sign! Or, maybe i'm just overtired. Either way, its bed time for me.

So, quick wrap up for the night:
7 cities (mostly producing granaries and temples)
5 workers (4 of them slaves, LOL)
Offensive army of 2 Elite warriors, 2 swordsmen, and a Horseman. Defensive army of two spearmen (Barbarians haven't attacked me yet, thank god).
Tech is going good, i'm about even with the other advanced races.
My advisers tell me my culture is weak, but looking at the histograph tells me that everyones culture is still equal anyways.

My stats:
Scandinavia - Despotism (1.9.0 - whats that mean anyways?)
1075BC, 379 Gold (-1 turn)
Map making (13 turns)

The Score:
England 215
Rome 205
Ottomans 189
India 180
Arabia 179
Scandinavia 173
Spain 169


Yeah, I have some catching up to do.

Anywho, drop some thoughts/ideas/complaints/marriage proposals/spam in this thread, and i'll get back to it tomorrow.


G'nite everyone!

(PS: Someone remind me to build some embassies soon)

Good start MD mate!

Just a few notes;
There's no need to irrigate grassland when you're in Despotism. Instead, build mines at Grassland tiles, and irrigate Plains/Desert.
The reason is that Despotism can't utilize the extra food a Grassland Irrigation will produce.
Later on in the game, when you change government, you can go back and irrigate some of the tiles to promote growth.

Also, sending that second Settler so far away is risky, as you lose so many turns in the very important expansion phase. However, you slained the English progression towards your lands, so it seems you're doing ok!

Exciting story, I'll keep reading for sure


EDIT:

Originally posted by MachDelta

My stats:
Scandinavia - Despotism (1.9.0 - whats that mean anyways?)

Click to expand...

The numbers represent your setting of the tax sliders. IIRC it's Luxury-Science-Tax.

Great story, and fun to read!

You should mine those bonus grasslands and let your cities grow to size 4-6 before building settlers. That way you can increase production. But it seems you're doing pretty well anyway.

Good start MD.

For some reason the screen shots are not loading for me so I'll check back later.

Originally posted by GR8Madmax
For some reason the screen shots are not loading for me so I'll check back later.

Click to expand...

Same with me.(edit: nevermind I can see them now.)

But anyways good start and story

-lenny

Great story so far!

I like this!

(Looks like you found the Amazon! )

What?! Why are you irrigating grassland, especially in despotism?! It is a waist of potential shield and other worker functions! Because you are in despotism, you can't do more than 2 anyway!

Because i'm a newbie and this is only my fourth game, silly!

Story in a sec.

1075BC (still) -- Diplomatic Immunity



In an effort to rebuild relations with the English, I built an embassy in London for $33. I also discovered that they're 49 turns from building The Oracle, and, as you can see, don't really have much else going on in their capitol.
Anyways, one of the REAL reasons I made an Embassy was to see how expensive stealing technology was... but I can't? For whatever reason, it won't let me even try it. Excuse the minor rant, but the Espionage screen is one of the weakest parts of Civ 3. Its VERY unintuitive, and consequently quite frustrating for a newbie like myself. But I digress.
I also made a Roman embassy for $45, just because I wanted to know where their territory was. Turns out they're way north of the Spanish, about the same latitude as my capitol. This continent is quite a lot bigger than I thought! As for Rome itself, its pretty crappy. Its a pop 1 with no improvements, and only one spearman and an idle settler defending it. They DO have a lot of grassland, a little tundra, and some dyes within their tiles though. But that is of little concern to me at the moment.


975BC -- Oracle built

Well, the Babylonians built their Oracle. Yay for them, wherever they are. I really don't care about any of the Stone Age level wonders myself. The Colossus isn't that great, the Pyramids are OK but nothing special, the Oracle is nice but not amazing, the Great Lib is an overpriced crutch (IMO), the Hanging Gardens are short lived, and the Great Wall is next to useless. Sometimes i'll build the Great Lighthouse, since the extra movement and far reaching Galleys can be a huge help (especially on island maps). But this isn't looking like much of an Island map, so I think i'll leave it for now.

Nothing exciting to report otherwise. I'm just hunkered down and trying to build up some population now. Oh, and of course now that the Oracle is done, everyone and their dog has switched to building the Pyramids. Part of me would like to see the English get it, so I could pry it from their cold, dead fingers down the road... but the rest of me would rather see the English not build ANYTHING for the next 2000 years. Heh, I wish.


950BC -- Damn Them

Aw crap, you know that Iron deposit between the Ottoman and the English? The English got it (or put a Colony on it). That means they can get Swordsmen too now. Bah I say, Bah!



800BC -- Still Here



I blitzed through a couple turns here because I was waiting for some construction and population. Primus and Jadastrom finished their Granaries (yay!) and have started on a worker and another settler. My other cities are almost done their projects (except Fiav), and my workers are busy building roads and mining things up (thanks for the tip, BTW). So hopefully I can get some semblance of an industrial machine up and running right quick here, before I lag too far behind the AIs.


710BC -- Damn Them Again



Ack, the stupid English have rebuilt York. Except now its called Liverpool.
Meanwhile i'm getting the feeling that i'm just not building anything as fast as the (dirty cheating) AI. Gah. Score wise i'm only third last, which is OK I guess... but I just can't shake this feeling that things aren't as they should be...


690BC -- The Roman Empire



Well, I spent this turn trading Territory maps with everyone I know, just to see how the world looked. As you can see, the Romans have a nice little Empire going here. Hopefully the Spanish will slow them down a bit. Romans on a rampage is the last thing I'd need!


630BC -- Seafaring Civ



Yay! My first Galley is off! I'll let it wander around for a bit while I keep building stuff. In the meantime, i'm still behind... in everything actually. My military is now considered weak, my culture hasn't moved, and I don't have that many cities. The only thing i'm decent at is spare change... about $400 on hand now. Not that I can actually SPEND it on anything, but hey. I'm starting to think that a dash to Monarchy would be good right about now.


530BC -- Sonajk



Welcome back, 100 years later. I just founded another city, "Sonajk", north of my Capital. Its some pretty good land, but I think its high time I started looking towards southern territory before the AI snaps it all up.
Also seen in this picture is my new Elite spearman off to kill some Barbarians, and a bunch of new workers I cranked out who are busy mucking about.
I'm also bringing my 2 elite warriors back north so I can upgrade them into swordsmen. It might be time for another war soon, so I want to be at least somewhat prepared.


490BC -- Dunce Civ

Crap! While I wasn't looking, the other AIs researched a bunch of techs and traded them with each other! Ack! Now everyone has Construction, Code of Laws, and Literature but ME! I guess I do have $400 though, so i'll see what I can trade for it...
Ah! My Indian friends came through. My World map and $270 got me Code of Laws and Literature. Not an entirely bad trade if I say so myself. Construction I won't worry about till later, since any city that is size 6 would be cranking settlers now anyways.
Like I said before... I hope i'm not falling too far behind here.


430BC -- War Again

Oh wonderful. The stupid Romans tried to blackmail me out of my world map (no biggy) and 70 gold. So I told them where they could stick their offer, and they declared war on me! Oh well, i'm not worried. Unless they have a huge navy, they wont be able to land any sizable force on my land - and if they plan on hoofing it, their foot soldiers should arrive in about 800 years . Thank the map for that huge jungle!


350BC -- Wunderbar

Yeesh. Four turns, four wonders completed! The Spanish got the Great Wall, the Indians got the Pyramids, the Mongols got the Colossus, and the Ottomans got the Great Library.
Meanwhile i'm busy rushing my sorry ass towards Monarchy (and i'm hemorrhaging money to do it too). Honestly i'm not sure if its the right choice - I could go for republic just as easilly. The thing is, i've never tried Monarchy yet, and it doesn't sound so bad. Corruption is a pain in the ass, but not having units cost cash every turn would be great. So what the heck, i'll give it a whirl.
Oh, i'm also starting to crank out some more settlers now. I've got one on the move, and three due within 4 turns. Now I just need the military to defend them all, haha!
And no, I haven't seen any Romans yet.


310BC -- This Game Officially Sucks



Well.. i'd rant and rave and whine, but you guys probably don't want to hear it, so i'll give it to you straight:
Rome was at war with me, right? Yeah well now they drug the Ottomen AND India into it too!! Now i've got to say... what the F*CKING HELL!? How does the AI manage these things?? I'd never done anything to make the Ottomen angry, yet here they are. And the Indians... the Indians! Lead by the great Pacifist himself! And the ONE nation that was actually being POLITE with me!! HOW?!? WHY?!? WTH?!?!!
I just don't get it. I couldn't convince any other nation to attack someone if I sold them my first born, but the damned Romans just pay someone (two someones!) off like that. Like the title says, this game officially sucks right now.
Oh, and just because misery loves company, there's supposed to be a "massive barbarian uprising" near Newcastle (the southern city by the lake I got from the English). Yeah, whatever. Thats the least of my freaking problems.

*Sigh*

Anyways, its 3am, i'm tired (was a long day at work), and I really don't feel like dealing with this BS right now. Maybe some of you will have some brilliant ideas as to how I can spin this (maybe I can go back a turn and pay off the Ottomen? Not likely if the Indians were so easily bribed). Or maybe you'll just sit back and have a good laugh while I get my newbie ass stomped.


Bah humbug.



Oh yeah, and the nightly stats:
Scandinavia - Despotism (0.10.0)
310BC, 32 Gold (-9 turn)
Monarchy (23 turns)

The Score:
Rome: 324
Ottomans: 307
England: 292
India: 279
Scandinavia: 271
Arabia: 268
Spain: 266

Great story so far

You should NOT go back a turn and pay off the Ottomans; reloading isn't the way to go if you want to get better at Civ!
Of course it's your game and you can do what you want, but you shouldn't do it - especially not in a Story Game.

Also - as you say this is your fourth game, and you're playing on Monarch!? No wonder you feel that you're struggling - I've played this game for years, and still struggle with Monarch!
You should go through one level at a time, and try each level with different world settings/opponents

Maybe you should try to get an ally? You say that nobody wants to even discuss that with you, and I guess you've done something to ruin your reputation. Remember, reputation and relations to another civ is 2 different things! I.e. someone can be Gracious towards you, but still don't want to agree to any deals as you've messed up your reputation.
Only thing I can think of that you might've done to piss the AI off, is when you attacked England. Did you declare war BEFORE you moved units inside his border? If you have units within someones border before you declare war, you will take a serious reputation hit!

Anyway, keep it up, it's an interesting read! Looking forward to see how the wars will go!

It doesn't look like a big deal to me. Just build up your military (as much as you can as soon as you can) and get peace with the coalition members. It's going to take them a while to get mobilized. If you have any offensive troops, stick them in the jungle for picket duty, maybe. The only nation I'd be worried about is England, see if you can get her on your side.

The only problem is that now you can't trade with most of the civs you know...

Berren: England attacked me! I haven't done anything to aggravate the AI so far (other than the occasional border infringement with a scout). I've traded with all of them too. I think they're just being cranky as usual :\

Maybe i'll just crank out some spearmen and keep building up like Coffee said here. England is kind of cranky with me, but i'll see what I can do to butter her up.

*Sigh* Nope. Nope nope nope. I just mucked about with a few saves and a few turns to see if I can worm my way out of things with diplomacy, but its not working.
Basically my two options are:

1) Go back to the end of last turn (right before the alliances were declared), and ally with England against the Romans. This seems to cause them to freak out and not call in any allies of their own.

2) Continue on as normal, unable to trade anything with the AI (it seems that, over that single AI turn, the AI traded about 3-4 techs amongst themselves). Then I get to watch as, over the next ~5 turns, every single nation forms alliances and declare war on me.

So i'm either a cheater, or i'm f*cked.



Thanks for watching guys.

Try not reloading. You can probably survive if you fight hard, and build spearmen like no tommorow. You'll probably only be in an active war with three civs even if they all declare war on you.

I still think if you build up troops rapidly, by time that they get to your borders, they'll be willing to talk - and then you can STEAL their goodies! (For some reason, tech-stealing seems a lot easier in C3C. Not sure if it's me, but I've gotten it three out of four times...two of which were "immediate" steals, in monarchy.)

230BC -- A New Hope?



Geez. I wasn't keeping a log of my progress so far because I figured it was fairly hopeless, what with the Ottomen, Indian, and Roman empires all at war with me, and others soon to follow. But, out of morbid curiosity if nothing else, I pushed on to see what I could make of the situation. Now do forgive me if I miss some details, but i'll quickly summarize the last few turns:
-One Ottoman warrior was beat senseless by a spearman
-Another Ottoman warrior was spotted by one of my horsemen. The next turn I saw a huge horde of Barbarians (remember that uprising?) chasing after him! HAHA! I assume he's dead now, since I haven't seen him in a few turns.
-I built two more cities, "Arsuun" in the south (by the cows), and "Ryysk" just north of Fiav. Don't ask me why I chose the double vowels.
-After building my two cities, I immediately switched everything over to military production. I scrapped a few shields here and there, but i've got a couple more spearmen and swordsmen sitting around. The interesting thing now though, is that my "future predictions" didn't come true. When I built nothing and just fast forwarded through a few turns, the English, Indians, and Spanish all declared war on me. But a couple more units, it seems, has made all the difference!
-While checking my diplomatic options (which are: none) I discovered that Spain is also at war with the Romans now. So I hit up old Izzy-green-eyes and traded a RoP, an Alliance vs the Romans (whom i'm already at war at), and Currency. So basically I got a tech (and an ally) for free! YAY!
-India, the bastards, tried to bully Polytheism out of me. I told them to shove it, but later went back and (on a hunch) traded Polytheism for their World map and $30. My hunch played out - the Indians had everyones maps (including the Romans)! So now at least I know my way around the place. It was a bit of an expensive trade, yes, but hopefully it keeps the Indians off my back. We'll see.


210BC - Misery DOES love company

Joy. The Ottomen somehow convinced the English to declare war on me. Since the English are right close, this could be a very bad thing. However, if I can rush the English fast enough, and burn Liverpool to the ground, I may be able to sue for peace before they can bring their forces to bear. Hmm.


170BC -- Attacks

Enemy death toll so far: 2 warriors, 1 archer. I haven't lost any units yet, but I see the English are bringing some swordsmen my way real soon.
I did find that wandering Warrior too - he somehow managed to survive, and is an Elite! I'll see if I can run him down with my horseman some time.


150BC -- Burn, Baby



In boring news: The Babylonians finished the Great Lighthouse.
Concerning the more pressing matters, i'm still cranking spearmen and hoping there isn't a huge enemy attack right around the corner. But I did have some success today. For one, I managed to kill that wandering Elite Warrior. He almost took out my Swordsman, who's now a Veteran (and rightfully so!) But in even better news, I burnt down Liverpool! HAHA! Of course, it (and the counter attack) cost me two spearmen. But I took out two of their own, plus a Swordsman in the process (oh, right, and a whole friggin TOWN too, heehee). The English aren't talking to me yet, but I suspect that when they do, they'll be a little more willing to negotiate.


90BC -- Leeds Them To Death



Hah, the stupid English re-built their colony for a third time (lol), and called it "Leeds". All its fortified with right now is an Archer, so I think I might just go in and smash it AGAIN!
As you can also see in this shot, two swordsmen are headed towards Newcastle. Hopefully my own Swordsmen, a Warrior, my Horseman, and a rushed Spearman will be able to defend it.


70BC -- Beer in the fridge, bathroom upstairs...

The Arabians have declared war on me now too. [sarcasm] Oh no! What ever will I do! [/sarcasm] But I guess as long as we're having a party, everyone is invited! Beer is in the fridge, the bathroom is upstairs, and if you head downstairs, you'll notice that Leeds has been burnt to the f*cking ground. *Evil Laughter*
I founded a new city today too and called it "Myne" in honour of keeping that territory from the English. Plus its built on a hill... so whatever.


50BC -- Roman casualties, English Peace!

Heh, the first roman casualty by my hand this year. It was only a Galley, but i'm telling you, MY galley kicked HIS galleys ASS!
Meanwhile, the English lost 3 more swordsmen by wandering them around aimlessly for my Horsemen to pick off. Afterwards I went and had a chat with ol' Beth. She agreed to give me $60 for peace. I don't know how long it will last, but whatever.
The bad news is a small Ottoman attack force is headed towards Newcastle. I should have a large contingent of spearmen there by then though. My only worry is that my workers wont have roads up fast enough, and i'll be outmaneuvered by their forces. Hopefully not though.

Oh, and just as a question... will the AI EVER lend a player money? I've never seen it happen, and i've never seen it as an option to loan the AI money. Whats the deal with that?


10AD -- No friend of mine

Big news this turn is that the Spanish declared war on me, thanks to the stupid Ottomen. I'd sign more treaties with these guys, but the only thing I can offer them is a city, which is NOT happening as long as i've still got troops guarding it (Newcastle).


30AD -- Ottomen attack



Here you can see the Ottomen finally on the offensive. They've got 2 horsemen, an archer, and a swordsman. Newcastle has 3 spearmen, 3 swordsmen, and my scouting horseman. Plus reinforcements from the north, if need be. You can also see my warrior scout off to the east, who will be probing the Ottomans eastern flank. They've got a few new cities down that way that probably aren't very well defended (and don't have roads to them yet). If I can hold off long enough to sneak a bunch of swordsmen down there, I might be able to scare the Ottomen into a peace treaty.
I still don't have plans for the Indians, Arabians, or Spanish though. Not that any of them really worry me since they're all so far away. I haven't seen any Arabians, and only one Indian warrior. As for the Spanish, i'm kind of confused. I was going to say "I'll just let the romans beat them up", but when I checked my diplo screen, the two weren't at war. But the odd thing is, they weren't at peace either! There are no lines between the two anymore -- What the heck does that mean??


50AD -- More than I thought

Darn. I guess my Scout wasn't seeing the whole picture. The Indians have one warrior nearby, but the Ottoman force has increased to: 4 horsemen, 2 archers, and 1 swordsman. I wonder who else is hiding int the jungle?
I think they're headed towards Newcastle, so a little preemptive strike of mine has managed to kill the swordsman and an archer, and wound a Horseman.


90AD -- Newcastle siege



Yup, they were after Newcastle. The good news is, despite them getting even more reinforcements (and another Indian warrior showing up), I didn't loose a single unit in the attack, whereas he lost a couple (I wasn't keeping track, sorry).
Also in the good news department, my military strength has grown manyfold. Whereas it used to be "weak" by almost everyones standards, its now on par with the Ottomen, Arabian, and Indian. I'm even stronger than the English and Spanish, yet still weaker than the Romans.
I also finish Monarchy tomorrow, but i'm not sure if I should try switching governments in the middle of a war...


110AD -- Anarchy

What the hell, why not switch governments now? I've got a decent military force to the south already, and anything I try and build now won't be ready in time to help anyways. So here I go!
Oh, and on the non military front, i'm getting set up to establish 3 (!) new towns. Yeah, I built settlers when you weren't looking


150AD -- Indians Attack

Yup, here come the Indians. Here's a quick sum up of the forces involved:
Ottomen: 3 Horsemen, 1 Archer
Indian (that I can see): 5 Archers, 1 Warrior
Me: Group A: 6 Spearmen, 1 Swordsman
Group B: 6 Spearmen, 4 Swordsmen
Plus a Horseman roaming around (I had two, but one died), another swordsman on the way, and three Spearmen guarding a rear city.

I'd say things aren't looking as bad as I thought!


170AD -- PEACE!!!



Spanish: Peace, Construction, and $80 for Peace and Monarchy
Indian: Peace and $180 (!) for Peace and Monarchy
Ottoman: Peace for Peace and $120
Arabian: Peace for Peace and $100
Roman: Peace and WMap for Peace, WMap, and $90
So I lost around 100 bones, but to get everyone off my back AND kick me into the next age is well worth it!
PS: Note the Spanish and Romans are back at war again? Weird.


190AD -- Mournlock

Heh, the English declared war on the Spanish this turn. Seems everyone wants to fight, eh?
Anyways, I founded a new town today: "Mournlock". And guess where its built. Thats right: Right ontop of the ruins of Leeds/Liverpool/Whatever ! Hah! But yes, I chose the name to honour all the deaths of the warriors (and English citizens) of that last war.


210AD -- Romans suck



Ugh. Those goddamn Romans demanded a tribute from me again! This time all they wanted though was a Territory map and $26, so I gave it to them. Hopefully they'll shut up and stick to killing Spaniards for a while now.
In other news, i'm into a Monarchy government now, which is nice. I've never tried a Monarchy before, so i'll see how it goes.
Anyways... back to building! And building I am. I founded yet another town on my very northern tundra tip, called "Icedann". Its not a great spot, but i'll set to building a temple so it can become a fishing town. With a little luck later on in the game though, that tundra will turn out to be filled with something other than ice.


250AD -- Sunk my battleship

Sad news today. My sole Galley was sunk just off the Roman coast by some Barbarians. Oh well, i'll just build another one later.


270AD -- Mendsurt



My third settler finally got moved in, to a place called "Mendsurt". Its a nice little spot, right on the edge of the jungle by some horses. Also worth noting in this picture: My warrior scout to the south just saw an Indian spearman/settler combo roll into town! I guess land is hard to find near the Indians (check the map). Also, an English Spearman/Settler combo is invading my territory up by Myne. I really don't like it when the AI does that - walks through your borders to settle a city. So I think i'll ***** - but i'm not sure I want war with the English again so soon.


290AD -- Spanish in trouble

Heh, the Spanish contacted me today asking for an alliance vs the English. Unfortunately they have nothing to offer me (besides a RoP), so I declined.
Just looking at the map though, tells me they are getting mopped up by the Romans and English. They used to have 7 or 8 cities, but they're down to four now. I fear they might not last much longer, and that the Romans will be free to expand into that huge chunk of land uncontested. But there isn't a whole lot I can do about them right now, is there?
In other news, the Indians founded a city (Dacca) just north of my Warrior. Its actually not a bad spot... next time i'm at war with the Indians, i'll be sure to take it.


(CONT...)

310AD -- Do I smell something?

Well to start out on a somewhat happy note, the Babs finished the Hanging gardens (these guys are grabbing ALL the wonders - where are they?). Oh, and the Spanish signed a treaty with the English (though it might not matter much).
Back in reality, the Indians have just blatantly (4 troops) invaded my friggin territory. Do I call them on it? I could easilly defend myself, i'm just worried about another "lets gang up on the player" fest. But what the heck: India! GET OUT!
... Well, Ghandi said "My sincere regrets" which is kind of surprising actually. But yay, it worked!


320AD -- Or not...

Ok, the frikkin ******** AI that had his troops auto-moved by me last turn... JUST MOVED THEM BACK! Meanwhile i've seen Ottoman forces wandering around the nearby jungle. They'd better not be here for me again, or i'm gonna be PISSED. And this time they won't get off scott free. But i'll let the Indians go this time... maybe they're just trying to get back home (walk AROUND my territory next time, idiots).


330AD -- Whew...

Yeah, the idiots are just trying to get to Dacca (their new city). So whatever. And the Ottomen are leaving the jungle now, so whatever. My biggest problem at the moment is dealing with a single Barbarian horseman, and worrying about falling behind the AI again. As it stands, i'm the third last ranked (known) player. Which isn't saying much, considering the English aren't very impressive right now, and the Spanish have been all but crushed.
Oh, and I rebuilt a Galley this year. I'll send it around the other side of the continent this time.


350AD -- Reading



The English put down roots off my south coast near Mendsurt, in a little place called Reading. I'll be sure to burn that too when we next go to war
One thing i'm noticing is that a lot of room is running out now. The Indians have two far flung colonies, the Arabians are starting to expand into "The Amazon", and all the prime spots are pretty much taken. All I really have left is a stupid useless desert, but I guess I better jump on it pretty quick here.
Oh, and one quick thing that sucks: The Indians and Romans are building Sun Tzu's. Thats a wonder I actually like, especially as a militaristic civ Oh well.


420AD -- Lodo

Wow, its been a long time eh?
Well basically i've just been trying to build stuff like mad, but i'm still pretty far behind. I founded a new city, "Lodo", in the middle of that big desert. Its not that exciting, so no screenshot.
In international news, Madrid has recently fallen to the Romans. The Spanish have two cities left... so I think they're pretty much toast. Again, the amount of territory the Romans control makes me worry very much. But i'm really not sure what I can do about it. No one is in any sort of position to attack them, and they're the most advanced civ (on this continent).


450AD -- Farewell, Isabella

Yup, the Romans trashed the Spanish good.
Not much else exciting, though I signed a ROP with the English, and i'm trying to tech up to Invention so I can get Berserkers. I LOVE Berserkers >



530AD -- Dreary Night



Well, its bed time for me, so this is where I stop. This is a nice big shot of my territory, unimpressive as it may be.
As for the 'dreary' part, well thats just because i'm still behind, and not sure how I can catch up. The AI is a tech or two ahead of me, but I don't have anything to trade with them (no trade routes yet!). The romans are STILL growing unchecked (see minimap). They've got a pathetic Culture score (hence all the gaps), but their power is insane. If they ever go to war with India or England, its definitely going to take an alliance to stop them, much less retaliate.

Anyways, in closing i'd just like to say thanks to everyone for the encouragement, even when I was sure i'd be dead (experience is great... I just need some!). And, if you'd please, drop some tips as to what my next move should be. I don't know how long I can play the waiting game and just hope that the AI starts squabbling amongst itself (without dragging me in this time).

Thanks again guys, and g'nite


Nightly stats:
Scandinavia - Monarchy (5.4.1)
530AD 20 Gold (+3 per turn)
Engineering (30 turns)

Score:
Rome: 587
Ottomans: 520
India: 486
Scandinavia: 484
Arabia: 471
England: 450:
Spain (dead): 286