The peaceful Americans (a la Charis)

I think it was Charis who played and won a game without building a single military unit. I am a chronic warmonger. So, I thought it would be a challenge to play a game at the other extreme. So here is my attempt at a peaceful game.

To select a civ, here is the logic I followed. I have to be expansionist because I cannot build warriors to scout. So, the other trait can be religious, commercial or industrious. Religious is nice (can help me go for a cultural victory), I find commercial useless. But staying on long enough to get a cultural victory will be tough since I am not sure I will be able to stop the AIs from launching the SS. So I decide on Expansionist and Industrious.

And finally, since I have no need for a UU I select the Americans, someone I have never played as before.


Difficulty - Emperor (I know Charis did it on deity. but I have so far won only 2 games on Deity and am far from trying a difficult variant)
Barbs - Sedentary. Hey! no military so how can I fight barbs?
Everything else random.
PTW latest patch.


Let's see how far I can go! Wish me luck.

A long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away....

There was this man named Abe. He was the lone remnant (aside from his help and a messenger scout, of course) of a bloody internecine war that had wiped out the two great civilizations that existed there. So as the last man standing, he wept. And
standing on the broken bones and the soil moist with the blood of his brothers he made a solemn vow never to wage war again, and to rebuild the empire to its earlier glory.

To this end he set forth. Licoln, planned to build the empire right from where he started. No time to waste. A long journey to overcome.

I had planned to restart the game till I found a river and a cow. However, I did not need a restart. The first position that came up was pretty good .

Abe, found the place a great spot for the capital of his empire. There were bisons (cow!) in the fields. There were wooly mammoths in the distance (ivory!). There was also a river flowing by. He named the river the Potomac. Otherwise there was fertile grassland for his citizens to work on.

Abe immediately ordered the training of a scout. We need to find out more about this land where we are in. Much has changed since the earlier times when we waged war over here. The existing scout went out in search of new horizons. We found good lands to the north, jungles to the east where we saw lots of beaver which can provide us with furs. The scout also sees a village in the distance.

Per Abe's instructions the scout makes contact with the village. And the villagers greets the scout with lot of hospitality and gives us a WARRIOR!

A warrior? What is the peaceful Abe to do with a warrior? But so as not to hurt the tribes feelings, We will accept him into our culture.

Since I had no control on this I decided to keep him. what else can I do?

In the meantime, Abe decided that since he is never going to build any military he will have lots of cash to spend. So he wisely decided that he will put all his money to learning and science. He knew his long lost ancestors knew of great arts such and working with metals and drawing sounds (writing!). He asked his scientists to discover these secrets and funded them generously to that end.

Typically, I always trade the techs in ancient age. But over here I am aiming for the GL. I need to get to Literature fast. Hey, this is a variant in extreme situation. And extreme situations call for extreme measures!

The science advisor tells us we know Masonry and Pottery already. So we start to study on such arts as the Wheel. The military advisor tells Abe that we can learn Bronze Working and once we learn it we can build spearnmen to defend our cities. Abe, banishes him from court for the next thousand years letting him know that he will bring peace to all lands and there will be no neccesity for any defense. But he asks his seers to continue the study of all things. Abe, the wise, knows that all knowledge can be put for doing good as much as for doing evil.

I started the wheel since the AI considers this an expensive tech. Masonry is also an expensive tech as far as the AI is concerned. So using this I calculated that I may be able to trade Alphabet if I met a scientific civ soon enough.

meanwhile our scouts kept scouting lands. We had two scouts in the field now and the friendly warrior we obtained from the village. The warrior saw smoke in the horizon. When we came near he heard the sound of children playing and women singing. Soon he entred the village and brought the offerings of peace to the navajo tribe. In return they taught us how

to build temples in praise of the Gods!

A similar thing happened a few centuries later. The warrior once again entered a Illinois tribe and learned BW (yes, the art for which the military advisor was banned. Since then he has been reinstated and has learned to keep his trap shut in court.)



Anyway, years passed. Lots of water flowed under the bridges of Potomac. New cities like New York were founded. Rich luxuries like furs and ivory were brought in. Temples were created in our cities so that people can offer their prayers. Granaries were built to store the grain.

Finally, our scouts bought news that they have met three other civilizations. Osman the wise of the Ottomans, Hammi the magnificient of the Babylonians and mighty Carthage. For whatever reasons they were not very pleased to see us (annoyed!). However, the charm of Abe and some lucre to grease the machinery of friendship took care of that and they all became polite towards Abe.

Abe also learnt the art of Warrior Code from Carthage and taught the Wheel in return. The military advisor in Abe's court itched for a moment when word of Warrior Code came in (presumably because of the fact that we now could build archers) but in his wisdom he kept quiet. Abe noted this and sent a white dove and olive leaf as present to his wife.

By this time I was researching Iron Working and half way thru it. Another tech considered very expensive by the AI

Here is a map from a period slightly before this. A little later I came to know this was a large island with only 4 of us. And I was thanking my stars that I have to maintain my good relationship with only three civs at least till Astronomy unless there are nearby Islands. How little did I know....

The Pyramids and the Great Library

After a few cities have been found Abe ordered the construction of a great wonder in Washington. It was called the Pyramids. He gave the plans to his engineers. Unknown to the engineers Abe's plan allowed the building flexibility to change in character. Only Abe knew the true intent of the building. It was meant to hold knowledge, not grain.

Once again, I am doing something I never do. A prebuild for a wonder; I am habituated to leader rush almost all wonders.

The scientists learnt the science of Polytheism. This was taught to Osman and in return he taught was Alphabet. The Carthaginians taught us how to draw sounds (writing) in return for us teaching them how to worship many gods (poly).

Now that writing has been learnt, Abe asked all his seers to work full speed on Litreature.

People had to cut back on their luxuries a bit, to fund the seers but Abe convinced the citizens that it is for the long term good.

However, Abe bit his nail hard till they ceased to exist. He had heard news that all three of his neighbours are working on the Pyramids. What if the Pyramids were made before his seers discovered literature. Then all that work would go to waste.

Then it happened. News came that the Pyramids have been constructed in the great city of Babylon. Abe tore his hair (now he wears a wig). But before he went completely crazy his scientists came and told him that they had just discovered Lit. Abe, breathed a sigh of relief and ordered that the Pyramids be changed into the Great Library.

In retrospect this was the most nail-biting part of the game. I knew I had to self research Lit instead of waiting on other's to discover it; and I had to do before anyone finished the Pyramids since I had nothing else to bleed the shields to. I did not have money to establish embassies and check their progress since I was broke running the research. The fact that I did it just in the nick of time goes to show how lucky I was.

And in the year of our Lord 750 BC the great wonder was created.


Following this Abe asked all research for all science to be stopped. The treasury accumulated. Using this money he established embassies in teh capitals of all his neighbours. His neighbours became a mite happier with him owing to that.

Exploration and Persia

In due course the GL obtained knowledge of Map Making. Abe, the adventurer thought it was time to explore the seas. He ordered the creation of galleys in his coastal towns. The galleys looked miserably weak and small beside the towering waves. But the intrepid explorers of the American empire sailed into the sun one fine morning.

In the beginning they tested their sea legs by travelling down the coast. Since Abe already had a right of passage agreement with all three of his neighbours they waved along.

This continued till one day in the horizon the explorers saw land. To get to this land they had to sail thru a bit of treacherous seas but as long they did not stop in it all should be fine. They threw caution to the winds and sailed.

Xerses of Persia was contacted.

An embassy was established in his capital and a RoP was signed. Abe found Xerses truly backward. Out of the just pure magnaminity he gave Xerses Map Making. All he wanted in return was his world map. Xerses was delighted.

But Xerses also lamented of not having iron. He told Abe of sad stories of how they could not create great warriors called Immortals owing to their lack of iron. Abe told him that it was all for his own good and asked him to follow a path of peace.

All through this time Abe was repeatedly helping his neighbours by giving them 50 gold every now and then. He was always renewing his Rop treaties even while gifting even 100 Gold along
with the Rop. Soon they all became Gracious towards Abe.



In the beginning, from time to time, Babylon and Brennus demanded a tech or some gold. Abe always obliged. All he did was give his neighbours a sermon on peacefull co-existence. And in time they learned and this extortion and threat stopped .

From here on these four civs were always gracious towards me. I made sure that there attitude towards me never dropped to even Polite.

Originally posted by betazed
Difficulty - Emperor (I know Charis did it on deity. but I have so far won only 2 games on Deity and am far from trying a difficult variant)

Click to expand...

Actually, Charis was also playing an Emperor game; I know this because I was playing the same start file as he was. While your starting position is quite a bit better than the one that Cryocharis Kudea had to work with, this remains a very difficult (and highly dependent on chance) variant. Good luck!

@Sulla: Thanks. As you will see I did have some luck, before it ran out misrably.

The high seas.

After all the nearby coastal waters were charted, Abe asked for volunteers to chart the high seas. This was a dangerous task since a certain percentage of mortality was expected. Yet, three volunteers came forward. These three volunteers started to chart out the high seas.

The first one went some distance and died. Eulogies were written in his name.

The second one went and died even before he could reach where the first reached. Legend goes that he encountered the Perfect Storm. So, eulogies were written in his name too.

The third galley was successful in navigating the trecherous waters. And the French were contacted.

To estimate the bravery of these sailors see the following pic.



Also notice the small island the Persians are stuck in. They have no iron. But they had spices which I traded later for Iron which I did not need, not till the Industrial ages at least.

Contacts and the world mapped
Thus Abe met Joan. ANd fell in love with her instantly.

Abe met Gandhi of India with its glorious culture (who, as Abe as delighted to know, also believed in world peace). Abe also met Toku of Japan, seeped in oriental philosophy, and Abe listened to him while basking in the spiritual delight of the cherry blossoms beside Mt. Fuji in the Nara prefecture. Isabella of Spain, Wang Kong of Korea and Ceasar of Rome also greeted him.

I was slightly relived to see no mongols or Arabia over here. What with their aggressive characteristics it would have been extremely difficult keeping them happy. As it seemed the only aggresive civ the carthaginians were just beside me.

Abe instantly established embassies in all their capitals. Once that was done he traded the world maps to know where everything was in the world.

Here is the world map after all contacts and maps were traded along with a picture of the empire. Notice the lone conscript warrior in Washington. Our mighty military.

Peaceful advancement

So the years passed. Many new technologies were learnt all by the help of the great library. Construction led to the building of aqueducts; code of laws led to the building of courthouses, currency to markets.

Finally, a seer told Abe that although he was a benevolent dictator, his citizens wanted to have a say in the form of their goverment. To this end they have learned of a new form of goverment called the Republic. Abe concurred and called his ministers to this effect. There was much wrangling and haggling as to who should have what powers for 60 long years, during which there was anarchy . No work was done. However, finally around the time a great messiah was known to be born (somewhere around 0 AD) the American empire became a Republic.

Everyone was happy and we moved into a new age of technology and progress. Abe also learned Monotheism. Once again Abe ordered the building of a palace in New York. And as before has had other plans for it.

Here is how the score looked from a period a little after this. I was way ahead since all my people were happy. And I was a decently sized empire. Larger than most, although not the largest.

Cultural Accomplishment

In due course The Great Library taught Abe's people Theology. The palace in New York was changed to The Sistine Chapel by the senate (we are a republic now remember!). Meanwhile, Education came in, and the seers told the senate that we have to build universities now since the Great Library has rather ancient texts by now and modern research can only be done in universities. No problem.There is 5000 in gold (saved over all these years). So lots of universities are made researching is done with great gusto even while running a budget deficit. We learn of gunpowder and Invention and other such things.

And then in the year of our Lord 640 AD a great wonder was finished.



There was immediately WLAD (We love Abe Day) celebrated in many parts of the empire. Our culture grew tremendously.

From here on I knew there was no stopping me. I was way ahead in tech. A little later I was researching Theory of Gravity (that pic will be below) and Newton's was in reach (I had started a prebuild much earlier). The AI did not even have physics. Everybody was gracious towards me. And the world was still divided into two groups with one group not having contact with the other and the only person having contact with everyone is me. The other island being a larger land mass and having many civs was having quite a few wars, with surprisingly India and France (the two most peaceful civs) being engaged in most of them. If the AI does not attack me then there is no way they can stop me from getting the UN now (also, I was looking forward to not researching Nationalism for once and thus having one less tech to research to get to Fission). Which is precisely the reason for....

Final fall

And so it went till 830 AD. The western continent of Abe was at peace and war ravaged the eastern continent. No wonder the rulers of the western continent raced ahead in tech and leading them all was Abe. Abe was researching ToG and a guy called Newton was in his court discussing the building of a great university. Everyone was hopeful that it can be built within a few decades.

Abe contacted Hammi in 830 AD just to find out how he is. Here is how he was greeted. Although Abe did not like himself called a barbarian he did not say or do anything to offend Hammi.



Notice the date and the fact that Hammi is gracious.

However, suddenly that same year treacherous Hammi attacked Abe (with no more than a lone warrior; but that's all it took to take down the peaceful Abe).



Notice the date again. It is the same year! See the lone warrior outside memphis in the north. He had been stationed there for quite some time now. And he used the RoP to come into my territory over my roads and then attacked me I know this is not exactly RoP rape in the strictest use of the term, but it hurt as much.

Abe, was dumbfounded. Why? Why? Hammi will not listen to Abe's desperate call. Mediaval infantries kept taking Abe's towns and Abe wept. As if this was not enough, King Brennus from the southern border declared war on Abe too. He too was gracious towards Abe.

What was most saddening to Abe was that his messengers told him that Hammi and Brennus had nothing against him and are still gracious towards him. It is as if they have declared war just for murderous fun.



Note the face of Hammi in the picture. He is not unhappy with me. This is what I found most surprising. These civs who have declared war against me were still happy with me. Yet they went to war. I reloaded the game. I went back a few turns. I gave them everything. Gold, techs, even whole cities, but nothing, absolutely nothing would stop them from declaring war on me.

And so it went. The graceful, peaceful empire of Abe was reduced to smithereens. The armies of Babylon and Carthage did not stop till the last of Abe's cities were conquered or razed.

And after thousands of years history repeated itself. At the very same spot where Abe's ancestors were buried, Abe too was returned to dust.

Abe's magnificient army which was vanquished by the Babylonians and the carthaginians.

Originally posted by betazed
I think I have been a victim of my early success. Charis was playing vanilla civ3. I was playing PTW. PTW AI is significantly better than vannilla civ. Here the AI probably figured out that there was just no way it could win without going to war. Hence, I was a real threat gamewise although I never provoked the AI. So it had to attack me.

Click to expand...

Not to nitpick, but you've made another mistake betazed. Charis was playing as the Mongols in his game. That should tip you off as to which version of Civ3 he was playing. (hello? maybe you should read a little more closely ) Your analysis on not being a threat was probably on the right track, but who can say when it comes to the AI-decision making routine. Many of their crucial decisions have been shown to come down to rolls of the dice. If Hammurabi had rolled a 7 instead of a 3; he doesn't attack you, for example. Sometimes you've got to be lucky as well as good.

And that's why you won't see me trying this variant anytime soon. Base the success or failure of my game on AI coin flips? Not my idea of fun.

This may sound odd, but I think one reason they may have declared war on you was not because you had no military, but because you had one warrior. Ive seen in games where a strong AI will never declare war on an AI down to one city and no units in that city. It may be that and AI may only declare war on anothe rplayer unless they atleast have one military unit. But then again, I could be wrong...just a possibility.