Our time will come... (or maybe not)

In Civ II and SMAC I would play on the hardest level and more often than not smoke the AI. I'd almost always be the most advanced civ by a longshot and by early in the modern era the game would usually have turned into a route.
Whether or not the AI is cheating, its much more formidable now.
I've jumped into the game at Emperor level and bailed out of about 10 games within the first 2000 years, as things obviously weren't going my way. Old tactics didn't work anymore and no longer was I the biggest baddest boy in town.
Which sets up my current game, played on a 'huge' map at Emperor Level as the English with raging hoards of barbarians that will in time be civilized by us. It takes us about 15 tries to get an opening situation that seems reasonable. If we had crap resources in the opening city, restart. If we had decent resources, but exploring for a few turns reveals the surrounds are lacking (poor resources, no villages, close other civ) restart. Finally we (The English) end up with an acceptable map (as far as we can tell from just a few turns of play) and we restart the game, this time for real.
Our settler is in a good (not great) location and builds London immediately. Our first move is to build another scout to compliment the one we started with and we immediately start exploring. We've heard tales of villages predisposed to be friendly towards our civilization. As this is one of our strengths we deem it essential to find as many villages as possible...this goes well. Villages are receptive and give us tech advances and warriors--and while we are given no settlers, neither do we find deserted villages or unpleasant surprises. As the map starts to undarken we find that we are over 10 squares from the nearest ocean...not ideal as we are a seafaring nation, with a seafaring special unit. Our first 500 years we take a chance (which we get away with) and leave our city(s) undefended so we can rush out settlers and workers to build cities in the fine lands are Scouts are discovering. We feel optimistic that London will be the Cultural Capital of the World...as it should be. It is our destiny to rule the world and spread civilization to its backwaters.
After a few 100 years we make our first contact..a French warrior has the audacity to wander into lands we have already explored. And shortly thereafter a russian warrior intrudes. Our Scouts redouble their efforts and report back to us that the French Capital lies several days to our north, separated from us by a mountain range. To the far south, several weeks journey away lies Moscow tucked away at the bottom of _our_ continent. Alas, one of our Scouts is ambushed by barbarians and our northern ear falls silent. Resources are too scarce and the journey too far and dangerous to send another scout. For now we must try to build up our cities and keep a close watch on the resources within our reach...we MUST get to them before the damned French or Russians. Despite all our exploring, most of the world is dark and unknown to us, we don't even know the boundaries of our continent but it seems vast. What other forces lurk out there? We know not.
Time passes. We peacefully coexist with the French and Russians. 1000...2000 years go by and shockingly we are still in despotism. Monarchy or The Republic seem impossibly unreachable, although we've made it a prioritity to get to The Republic as quickly as we can. We've spent little money on our military..dangerous but we have little option. Founding and growing cities and building infrastructure takes money and our citizens are demanding, quick to voice their discontent if not kept warm, fed and occupied. Our eyes and ears report back that the Russians and French are growing faster than us. We can only assume..and hope that they are not building the infrastructure that we are. Surely their more numerous cities must be dreary places full of smelly, uncouth barbarians. They also seem to have many more warriors than we do...so it seems impossible that they could also have a solid infrastructure. Yes...this is our hope and our strategy to take us to world domination...patiently bide our time. Stay out of wars unless a key opportunity arises...and focus on research and infrastructure. In a 1000 or 2000 years it will pay off surely and we will unleash our strength against hordes of inferior troops and civilizations.
Alas, we soon realize our scientific progess is sloooww. Regardless of how much we invest in science, progress continues at the same rate...so we start devoting less time to science (though in all our previous incarnations we ALWAYS dominated in science) which results in a hefty increase in revenue. If we are not destined to be a scientific power in the B.C. era, then we will at least be rich.... And we are. Somehow those damned French and Russians are outresearching us. Ah, but we find we can buy their inventions much quicker and cheaper than we can discover ourselves. So be it...we will become a nation of merchants, and through economic strength we will build our infrastructure, buy our inventions...and bide our time until we are ready to build up and unleash the most modern and lethal military the world has ever seen.
In the year 1000 B.C. we make contact with a 3rd civilization, the Germans. One of their warriors arrives in our lands. We don't know where he came from but assume he must have landed on this continent from another..although we have yet to discover the entire continent on which we live. This worries our strategists...do the Germans already have seagoing ability? This is still a distant dream for our nation. The Russians and French continue to have more warriors, more cities and yet have more technologies (which we happily buy)...they _must_ be skimping on infrastructure. Our civilization has grown to about 5 cities, with temples and granaries. We build roads and mines and irrigate extensively. Our strategists assure me that if we can stay out of wars while building up or cities and strategically expanding that in time our production capacity will exceed all others..and then the game will change. After all its not which civilization is dominant in the year 1000 B.C. thats important...its who rules the world 1000s of years from now.

to be continued...

It is the year 1000 B.C. We have 5 cities, growing as fast as possible given the conditions. Across a mountain range to our north are the French. An even greater distance to the south are the Russians. Exploration of the north has proven difficult due to extensive mountains, jungle and hostile savages who viciously ambushed and killed our peaceful scout. Our Southern explorations have been more successful. The Russians are at the bottom of our continent on a large bulge connected to the continent by a rather narrow Isthmus...a fact our strategists file away for later use. The Southern lands between Russia and ourselves are mostly barren plains and are not our top priorities to colonize. However further south, just north of the Russian sphere of influence are many rich gold deposits. Our strategists are divided. One faction wants to rush a settler to the far south and establish a glorious English city in that backward, gold filled region. This, they say, will keep the gold from the primitive Russians..and perhaps restrict their spread out of their pennisula.
But majority opinion is that the journey is too long, a city can be established closer and grow significantly before this one could even be established...that we won't be able to defend it so far away and so close to the Russian bear. To our West, 10 clicks away is the ocean. A heroic exploratory mission has pushed east, deep into the darkness and at last arrived at the ocean over 20 clicks distant. We begin to learn our boundaries. Our civiliaztion seems to be in the middle of a vast continent that is longer north/south than east/west. After much debate we establish a growth strategum for the English Civilization: We shall start expanding our influence eastward towards the distant ocean. In time we envision a sphere of influence that shall extent east to west and split the continent in two. When we are finished expanding, this will restrict travel by the French and Russians...they'll have to request our permission to travel north/south.
Centuries pass. There are now 8 glorious British cities, with happy citizens and productive workers. The damned French and Russians are travelling extensively through our regions, in the gaps between our cities, where our culture has yet to fully expand. Their movements seem to be mostly troops...thankfully no settlers. We wonder if the French and Russians are at war, or planning a war on each other but our primitive spy network is useless and cannot answer our questions. We hope for a war between the French and Russians...let them expend their resources. Perhaps it will slow their exponential growth....And perhaps they will weaken themselves and our English troops will move in to provide stability and guidance to their starving cities.
Meanwhile, our Scouts have spotted 2 German cities to the East of the French. Are the Germans colonizing our continent from a nearby land? Can they already travel the oceans? Are they a threat? My diplomats tell me the Germans have no respect for our culture... Hmmph! The French and Russians have at least some respect for us.
It is the year 800 B.C. Our cultural influence is spreading and finally overlapping in our central region. My advisors assure me this will close off the quickest north/south routes and curtail the French and Russian explorations.
Whats this!? The damnable French and Russians are ignoring our borders and just marching through our lands! OUTRAGEOUS!
I will crush them, smash them into the ground! Demand that they leave my lands immediately! But my advisors recommend otherwise. Our prized Seer tells me that he has has visions...visions where we demanded the Russians leave our lands but the Russians declare war on us and throw massive armies against us. So...we shan't go that path. We look at some of their troop movements and individual armies have more soldiers than our entire civilization. So we will let them use our lands for now...but we won't forget this insult. Our memory is very very long--as they will one day learn.
We now think the French and Russians are indeed at war. And that the Russians have the upper hand, although huge French armies still march southward...so we can't be sure.
Damn those Russian dogs! They summoned me, ME! to an audience and demanded money and technology from us. I sorely wanted to tell them to go bugger themselves but our Seer told me he had a vision where our civilization followed that path and was promptly invaded by the Russian hordes...We'll give them what they want...but the day will come when they grovel before our throne.
The French aren't much better. Arrogant lot. Not impressed by our culture hmm? We think they are losing the war with Russia..and are perhaps vulnerable. We debate sending in a small army and siezing a city or two in their weakened state. Their people deserve better government. Alas, our damned Seer again tells me of a vision where we do this, and even in their weakened state the French overwhelm us, costing us to needlessly expend valuable resources.
The 100 years to 700 B.C. bring ominous signs. The Russians are definintely winning the war with the French. We smile and keep them happy...for now. A French city has fallen to the Russians..and the Russians are expanding rapidly from the South...leapfrogging past vast open stretches to put some cities on our Southern borders. THE ARROGANCE!! Their troops swarm across our borders without even asking permission. Obviously they have no respect for us... We grow fonder of the French. Weakened they are less arrogant. They sell as technology at a considerably reduced rate than the Germans or Russians. Now that our civilization has grown I instruct my scientists to see if their progress is now faster...but it is immediatly clear that technological advances are MUCH cheaper and faster to acquire if we buy them.
So be it. Meanwhile we will grow stronger, buying technology and building up our infrastructure. Roads connect all our cities and our people have abundant food. New buildings grow like grass. The day will come when the Russians realize a Lion is in their midst.
Our Seer see's dark signs in the future. Great dangers. We hear stories of 3 great wonders built elsewhere in the world..two by the germans, one by unknown forces. Alas, we English can not even dream of building a wonder. I ask my advisors how the French and Russians can continue to churn out warriors, new cities and still be scientifically ahead of us...but they provide no answers. We can only guess that they are sharing technological advances..and excluding us. The French, Germans and Russians always have the same technology--they must be cooperating? And they have to be ignoring their infrastructure..that is our great hope. Their many cities must be empty shells.
For if not...the very survival of the English peoples is in doubt. The Russians seem a great power to our South...but our Seer has dark dreams of even deadlier forces who have yet to reveal themselves.

to be continued.

Please continue when you can. This story is perfect.

Cheers, makes waiting for civ3 (one more day to go) that much easier.

It is the year 700 B.C. We English have 8 cities. The Russians barbarians to the South breed like rabbits and have 18 cities. The French have 5 cities that we know about. The German homeland we haven't yet identified, but we know they have at least two cities north of us and east of the French. Our glorious capital of London is building a colliseum and has been working on it for 100s of years. Building is a slow process. Our central cities are all linked by road and we are rapidly building roads to our outer cities. We are slowly expanding towards the Eastern ocean, so far away. We wish to establish a city on the Eastern ocean so our future navies have a port on that ocean and so we stretch all the way across our continent, effectively cutting it in two. Our advisors estimate it will take two more cities to achieve this goal. A vast jungle to the South of where we wish to establish our Easternmost port will hopefully keep the Russians at bay and from getting there first. And to the North is a mountain range that the Germans east of the French seem reluctant to cross.
Meanwhile, the French and Russians have been fighting for over 1000 years. The French have won back their captured city of Dijon, and despite the endless Russian armies marching across our lands the French still send armies South. We think the Russians are winning, athough in 1000 years of fighting they have little to show for it.
Growing our Empire is a slow process. Even modest buildings take centuries to complete. How the Russians can field such vast armies and still grow to 18 cities mystifies our sages. A 1000 years ago we decided our time lies in the future. That for now we must patiently delay militarizing and concentrate on infrastructure. Still...perhaps we can mount a limited campaign?? We eye the two German cities to our Northeast. We think these are from colonists across the ocean. We suspect the Germans are a powerful nation, but if the main body of their strength is across an ocean...perhaps those cities are vulnerable. We will send Scouts to gather more information. If not the Germans, perhaps the French? They must be somewhat weakened by the Russians. They have two cities within striking distance, closer by far than the German cities. On the other hand, the French give us the best price on technology. Might be best to keep that pipeline open for now. As for the Russians? We don't want the attention of their armies turned our ways, though their city on our Southern border annoys me to no end. Yet my advisors tell me that the Russian's boldness may cost them. Building a city so close to London and so far from Moscow is risky. As the citizens of this city see the glorly of London, they may wish to join our civilization. Time will tell. In any event, when the War with the Russians breaks out...as it must one day, the cities closest to our lands will fall first. So carry on little Russians...unbeknowingistly building those cities for us.
100s of years pass. Our Scouts have limited success probing the German cities. We now know at least 4 German cities grow to our Northeast. The Germans don't like our visits, making continued exploring of the dark regions to the north impossible for now.
It is the year 150 B.C. We are still in Despotism, which infuriates me! Our scientists have realized that all research takes 32 cycles, whether we devote 90% or 10% of our budget to science. They were only 7 cycles from the republic they told me. So we decided not to buy the republic and instead save our money for when we have the republic and can then pay for rushed completion of various buildings. Perhaps this was a mistake. Perhaps I should have bought the secrets of the Republic 300 years ago... Time will tell. I also question our growth policy. Should we have established more cities a 1000 years ago? The cost of settlers though greatly slows down growth of existing cities costing valuable population. Should we have rushed more projects to completion despite the fact our citizens would have become unhappy and some would have emmigrated? Difficult decisions these. Our judgement has been that fewer high quality cities are superior to numerous squalid cities. Time will tell.
50 B.C. Disaster! Hordes of savages are attacking us in three different cities. Aberdeen has a golden horde comprised of over 20 horsemen descending south towards it! And two other similar barbarian hordes approach other cities.
We barely escape ruin. At great cost Aberdeen rushed a wall to completion and we rushed another spearman to it. 2 spearmen and a warrior held out against the endless stream of attacking horsemen. Another barbarian horde to the south split, sending half its forces against the Russians, and though two of our precious warriors were lost, our city survived the seige. On our distant eastern and most vulnerable border a heroic sacrifice by a scout seems to have saved the day. The Scout taunted the rampaging barbarian horde and they chased him down into the jungle..away from our city. Our Scout led them far into the jungle before before he was eventually cornered and slaughtered. He brought the horde to a russian city which the barbarians then plundered... This 75 year barbarian uprising has made it clear just how tenously we English exist on the edge of darkeness. There are forces out there that can crush us like fleas. It will take all of our skill to survive.
It is the year 500 A.D. We have been a Rupublic for some time now and our production and revenues have soared. We are now 10 cities and stretch from coast to coast across the continent. The Russians have 21 cities and after 2000 years of fighting have once again captured Dijon from the French--and this time they have held onto it for over 200 years. This validates our earlier decision to lay low and avoid war. After 2000 years of fighting, the Russians have only one captured city to show for it. We saw endless streams of russian soliders pouring across our territories. We could not have begun to field such armies, yet they only conquered one city in all that time. Clearly, if we had attacked the French we would have expended all of our resources and had nothing to show for it. We made the right choice...
550 A.D. A sad day my friends. We have heard that a civilization has been destroyed, razed to the ground. A people we have never met or heard of, the Japanese are no more. Who killed them, we know not. What the dreams and aspirations of these peoples were? We shall never know.
We suspect it may have been the Chinese...a people we havent yet contacted but have seen on the edges of our lands. We have also heard of the Persians. With our increasing English sophistication we are close to establishing and financing embassies in other lands..hopefully within a few years.
600 A.D. Good news and alarming news my friends. A French city, just south of Paris and north of Nottingham has asked to join our republic. Obviously they recognized the superiority of British culture...so we welcome the poor backward wretches into the British empire. On the other hand...at considerable expense we established an embassy with the Germans. To our horror we now know that Berlin is on our continent! It is in the dark north of our continent, a region we've never been able to explore. Our continent is even vaster than we guessed...and the dangerous Germans share it with us. Our traders and spys tell us that We, the French and Persians are more or less equals...the Russians are considerably stronger than us and the Germans a bit stronger than the Russians. The Germans have built 3 Wonders, the Russians 2. The Chinese also have two, including the Great Library, a Wonder our sages had told us to try and get at all costs. Alas, Wonders remain beyond our reach. We are never the first to discover technolgies and thus start building them. And even if we could, others can probably build them much faster than we could anyway. Even though we build libraries and London is building a University, scientifically we cannot begin to compete with these foreigners. Devoting our entire budget to science might help, but then we would be absolutely bankrupt, a debtor nation.
Where to go from here? Keep building our infrastructure. It is still our hope that one day soon it will pay off. We suspect we could take a French city or two now...but they still are our source of cheap technology. And now we need them as a buffer between us and the Germans...if the Germans are even stronger than the Russians..Dangerous times my friends. We swim amongst sharks. A meeting of our top minds has developed our latest strategy. Turn our attention to the Russians..keep the Germans happy. Keep the Russians happy. Slowly start to build up our military on our Southern border with Russia. If the French or Germans ever have a key technology that the Russians dont have, buy it. The minute we gain a superior military unit the Russians dont have...mobilize for war....
Interesting times ahead. Dangerous times. Nations vastly more powerful than ourselves flank us on the North and South. And the civilization killing Chinese are somewhere out there....in the darkness we have yet to penetrate.

to be continued.

so...uh...has your time come (or not) yet?

Quite a fascinating tale. We ( me and my ego, majestis pluralis ) look forward to reading about the fate of the British nation, a nation among enemies...

Ah-h-h yes, indeed, we do look forward...

When we last spoke we had entered the year 600 A.D. with hints that our patience was paying off. The French city of Besancon and its 500,000 residents petitioned for entrance into the British Empire. Can those irritating Russian pigholes on our southern border, mere clicks from London be far behind? We are a civilization that stretches along an East-West axis, cutting the continent in two--and also built along a line of the richest resources in our area. On our southern border the Russians have planted many mediocre cities. 2000 years ago we made the decision not to compete with the Russians for the lands to our South, in large part because it’s a poor terrain and we prioritized expanding East/West. 2000 years ago when we watched the Russian settlers coming we calculated that these squalid cities build so close to glorious London would either revolt and join us...or we would seize them for their temerity..When the time suits us.

Perhaps the time now suits us? We are still rushing to build a solid infrastructure, but now for the first time we will build an army capable of a lightening strike and seizing a Russian city or three--if they don't revolt first. The Russians are still fighting with the French, so they are distracted. The damned Germans are sitting on the north of our continent, apparently threatened by nobody...and so growing damned fast. To catch up with them we need more cities, more lands...which we intend to take from the Russians. Though 1000s of years in the past we have never forgotten their insults. They will learn the English Lion is ruthless when angered.

Thus, we build up our military--this may take a couple 100 years for even a modest mobilization. We'll need sufficient troops to defend our cities from any counter-attack. Once we get a superior military unit that the Russians don't have...it will be war.

725 A.D. Our poor French friends are no more. The Russian barbaric hordes finally overwhelmed Paris. We remember the Paris of 2000 years ago when it was one of the great cities in the World. We watched Paris's growth slow...and eventually reverse. And now the light is extinguished. We though of seizing one or two of the French cities as the French civilization collapsed. We decided not to though because the French were faithful to us for millennia, providing us with technology at fair prices. And we wish to stay focused on the Russians. Of the 7 or so French cities, the Russians got about 4 and the Germans 3 that were on their mutual border. We don't know if the German vultures rushed in as France was collapsing and seized them, or if the French citizens sought protection from the Germans and joined voluntarily.

1000 A.D. Wars are not undertaken lightly...particularly when sharks surround you and a misstep will result in your civilization being torn to shreds. We've been poised to seize a handful of Russian cities for centuries...but the moment has never been quite right...always just tantalizingly out of our grasp. The Russians appear to fear us now, for their troops no longer set foot in our lands. Our advisors tell us the Russians have a much larger military and over twice the number of cities that we do. Our Generals tell us the Russians have a formidable new soldier--the Cossack. I fired my chief General in disgust over this fiasco. Where is our military breaththrough I demanded? Where is our special unit? For so long the military promised me that one day they would have a special man0war that would eclipse all else in the seas. Oh is that so I said. And I pointed out of the Palace window where in the distance German ironclads could be seen steaming. Incompetent bastard! Should have had him beheaded instead of retired. He can't even build this alleged superior wooden ship and already the age has passed us by...Sad...sad my friends. We wait for the moment to launch our war on Russian, but meanwhile the Germans grow stronger and stronger and build wonder after wonder. We maintain good relations with them. Conflict with them now would be lethal. But we MUST! catch up with them.
The Chinese seem to be in a neck and neck race with the Germans, as they also crank out wonder after wonder. In the last 1000 years only the Germans or Chinese have built wonders. The Chinese are gracious towards us. Since the demise of the French we have been buying all our technology through them--they give us better prices than anyone else. They have a continent about 1/4 of the size of ours all to themselves--having committed civilizide against the Japanese long long ago.

1300 A.D.
The Germans and Chinese are the dominant civilization in the world--both communists. We English are now a glorious democracy but rank ahead only of the Persians..and of course the dead Japanese and French. In the middle of the pack are the Russians and Zulu. Nobody seems to like the Zulus. For the first time differences are cropping up in technology amongst the different civilizations. Up until now if one civilization had an advance, by the next year all the nations had the technology--except for us English who had to pay dearly for every scrap of information. We've always taken a perverse pride in that--the other civilizations in the world must be wary of us to work against us so. The Russians haven't set foot on English soil in centuries. Under communism they must have their citizens brainwashed because none of their cities have ever petitioned to join us. Instead the cities have grown and become irritants--cutting into our supply lines, cutting off our road and emerging rail network. The time has come for us to make our move. We have bought the secret of flight and build bombers and fighters. Those primitive Russians haven't yet mastered flight. We will build up our armies and seize all the Russian cities near our borders--and the cities they stole from the French. Our merchants and Generals tell me the Russians are much stronger than we are but I don't think they take into account my own brilliance *cough* excuse the immodesty. We have a strong infrastructure and a coast-to-coast rail network. We have the production capacity to fight a war.

My plan? Build a few more bombers and artillery pieces--then quickly take about 10 Russian cities and then sue for peace. At that point we will have pulled the fangs from the Russian wolf and will be able to turn our attention to our real threats--the Chinese and Germans. We will need our newly expanded lands and resources to catch up with those two. And the Russians? For them there is no hope. Though they know it not, they have been doomed since they demanded a tribute from me 3500 years ago.

So our soldiers mass in our border cities and the English Lion prepares to roar. Though we are greatly outnumbered the Russian's days are numbered. Or so think I.

To be continued.

The time for WAR has come. For 1000s of years we have been waiting for this moment. Before we have mobilized for war only to have to call off our attack because more urgent priorities would inevitably emerge. The time has come for Russia to realize the price of its 1000s of years of barbarism and arrogance. We shall see whose strategy and long range planning for their civilization was superior. The Russians have over twice as many cities as we do, and their army is much bigger.

1450 A.D. Our forces are ready. We have riflemen, bombers, cavalry and artillery in abundance. We could use more time to build up our forces even more, but the situation demands otherwise. The Germans and Chinese seemingly face no threats and are advancing like tornados. They dwarf all the rest of us in their culture, science and military. After them come the Russians, and after the Russians, we British, persians and zulu's. I must remove the threat from the Russians and in doing so, expand so that we can try to catch the Germans and Chinese.
The Russian cities on my borders are a thorn in my side. They sent more settlers in over the last 1000 years and built cities in the less desirable regions between some of my cities--all very near London. We had hoped their citizens would revolt, but they are harshly repressed under communism and havent. Right as we were to launch our attacks two of these cities expanded their borders and cut off the rail network reaching my 4 westernmost cities. At the same time it cut off my one supply of iron. Damn pests! Fortunately our many workers quickly rerouted our railroads over the mountains, restablishing rail contact within the bulk of our empire--except for our most southwestern city with the iron--that supply line can only be reopened through combat.

1470 A.D. The situation is always fluid. Once again our attempts to launch a war are damn nearly thwarted! Right as we are ready to attack, the Russians sign a mutual defense treaty with the chinese. The political and military ramifications of this are enormous. Although the chinese are on another continent, they do have a few cities on our continent, one small city is within striking distance of my easternmost city and port of Liverpool. Clearly I cannot be at war with both Russia and China, while Germany continues to grow unimpeded!!! So I also formed a mutual defense back with the Chinese who are Gracious towards us (after buying their technology for the last 800 years). Who will the Chinese side with in the war? We think since we have such good relations they would choose us...but no. Our Seer tells us they will side with whoever is attacked. Hmmmm. So we also form a mutual alliance with the Germans. We cannot fight the germans. Their many cities lie to our North and they could storm across the mountains and push us to the brink. The Chinese, being on another continent, would not be such a threat to us.

1480 A.D.
We must get the Germans and Chinese involved in a war...preferably against each other. We cannot allow them to continue growing so fast. We have no idea how far their scientists have progressed. They have more technology than we have money to buy. And the prices are soaring, with every purchase now costing 1000-2500 gold pieces. Even so it is still cheaper for me to buy than research ourselves. Our strategists have come up with a plan to get the Chinese and Germans to go to war. We engage the Chinese in negotations. As always they are Gracious...but we make unreasonable demands until they grow furious with us. But they won't declare war on us....Damn...So we send a spy in, who as we hoped gets caught. The Chinese declare war on us. Now will the Germans come to our aid? And so it begins.

1490 A.D.
We launch our strikes on the Russians. In the opening hours of the war we capture many of their workers and then lay seige to the border cities, softening them up with bombers and artillery. The cost of storming the cities directly is too great, so we must wait for the bombing and artillery. As expected the Russian counterattack is fierce. Somehow *cough* they know whereever any weakness is in my defenses and move towards it. We can make no mistakes, leave nothing weakly defended behind our offensive. The Russian cossacks are fearful, covering astonishing distances quickly and penetrating deeper and faster than anticipated putting some of my workers at risk. But we are able, barely... to contain these operations behind the front lines and keep pushing our offensive. The Russians come within a hair of cutting off our rail network. They move sizeable armies towards our cities near the front lines, putting our offensive at risk. Our own armies stand in the way and we consolidate our forces. We have no room for error.

WAR

The Germans declare war on the Chinese! I was becoming worried they would ignore our mutual defense treaty. The Chinese send waves of bombers--15 or so planes past Liverpool to strike at german targets. Amazing. Just one small Chinese city near Liverpool, but they've got it packed with forces and now apparently several battleships and aircraft carriers have moved in to support them. I anticipated the bombers and stacked the cities out in the eastern marches with fighters....but the battleships take a fierce toll on my improvements. And then so do the bombers. My fighters seem to keep the bombers out of the city but the bombers instead go after my mines, irrigationa and transportation. When the wave attack is over, Liverpool, my only port on the eastern ocean is no longer on the rail network--and before long won't be on the road network either. The damn germans better get involved and quickly! Meanwhile, back in the center of civilization the war with the Russians hangs in the balance. We are targetting two cities, both with populations greater than a million, one just west of london, one just south. The Russians have mobilized tons of forces and they march to relieve the seige of their cities--or perhaps to attack our own cities. Who knows? We cannot afford heavy casualties, our forces must be conserved. Each piece of territory we capture must be garrisoned, so it is critical we conserve our forces.

The Persians declared war on me in an alliance with the Chinese...so we promptly seized two small persian cities on the edge of my empire. You backed the wrong horses poor little Persians. I am glad to have these cities, but they have to be defended--which eats into my reserves.

The German Juggernaut joins the war--and they have devastating Panzers! The Russians and ourselves are on horseback, but the Germans have massive tanks with deadly firepower. My Generals look knowingly at each other---that is why we've cultivated friendly relations with the Germans at all costs. We MUST have that technology!! Alas, our scientists tell us it will be decades and tens of 10000s of gold pieces before we can build such weapons. We can only hope the Germans and Chinese bleed each other dry.

We desperately need iron. We need to rebuild railroads lost to bombing and incursions--it is critical that we be able to ship new troops immediately to the front lines. Our cities are turning out high quality troops each year, but without rail transport to the front lines our offensive will grind to a halt--garrisoning captured cities eats up resources. It is also essential we build a modern army--without Iron we are back to horsemen!! It will be some years before we can reopen the supply lines to our own iron source. Thus we are forced to buy Iron from the Germans at a steep price.

The Russian counterattack has stretched me thin. The German involvement is welcome. Most of the fighting is near glasgow, my souce of Iron to the Southwest of London. The Germans have two small cities to the west of Glasgow (the bulk of the German empire is to the far north), behind a persian city and the 5 trespassing Russian cities to the West of London. A startling amount of German troops pour out of those two cities, including the aforementioned Panzer. This helps keep the Russians occupied. But now I race the Germans for control of the Russian cities. Damn!

The war goes well. We moved faster than the Germans and seized 3 Russian cities around London, including a rich source of ivory.

1520 A.D. Right after we trade our extra unit of saltpeter to the Zulus our own supply runs out! I pull out my hair in frustration. No more gunpowder units. I try to cancel the trade with the Zulus but no go.

1530 A.D.

DISASTER!
The Germans have begun building their spaceship. Even as our war with the Russians goes well we are being left in the dust by the Germans.

We make peace with the Chinese. Let the Chinese turn their attention to Germany--as we had planned all along.

to be continued

1580 A.D.

We have now seized 10 Russian cities and our economy is churning out top military units. We captured a new saltpeter source and our Generals are happy again. Moscow lies far to the South. It is mine if I want it. I have no doubt that if I push south, the Russian cities will fall one by one. It will take a long time...more than a 100 years and we simply don't have the time for that. Our economy needs to get back to infrastructure, not militerization, else the Germans will be uncatchable--if they aren't already.

It is time to bring the Russian war to a close. We have consolidated the area around London. OUr borders and supply lines are secure now. The German outposts to our West are contained behind our borders--they have no place to grow, so the German empire will not flourish there. To the far east, in the jungles south of liverpool, the Germans are attacking the Russians. My people watch in awe as unending lines of Panzers roll across our eastern lands, south towards the Eastern Front with Russia. For days on end, score after score of German Panzer rolls south and the dust from their passing stretches from horizon to horizon. We have accomplished what we wanted with the Russians...we will seek peace, thus letting them fight the Germans without worrying about our mighty onslaught. I even give the Russians some free technology to help them better keep the Germans occupied.

As I sign the peace treaty in front of the grovelling Russians I reflect on our accmplishments. My advisors tell me that but for their war with the French, the Russians likely would have been the dominant civilization--not the Germans and Chinese. Yet, it was I who put the Russians at the throat of the poor French. We were the people bordering the Russians..yet convinced them to bypass us and look elsewhere for their conquests. The French bordered us to our North--and were arrogant in their power, ignoring our borders whenever it suited them. SHowing off their much larger armies. Yet nobody even remembers the French anymore--only myself. And the Russians. For 3500 years we eluded their iron fist. We watched as their mighty armies rolled across our continent. Yet we British survived. Patient we were. Slowly building. Biding our time. Masking our strength. A risky game it was--a war with Russia is a war we would have lost. But now the Lion has awoken. For all its strength, Russia lies at our feet--spared from utter destruction only because we now turn our attention to the Germans and Chinese.

My people build me a magnificent palace, appreciative that the two mighty sharks that threatened to devour us--the French and Russians, will never threaten them again.

continued
1610 A.D.

I am surrounded by incompetents! The Chinese and Germans have signed a peace treaty. Those idiot Chinese! I manipulated them into a war with the Germans--a war in their own best interest, for if Germany gets to the stars first it is all over for them too. The Chinese are the only ones in a position to slow the Germans down, and what do they do? Sign a damnable peace treaty!


1650 A.D.

A race against the clock. The Germans keep adding modules to their spaceship--and we British are at least a century away from even starting our own spaceship. The Germans and Chinese are the only ones with advanced technology to our own, and both refuse to sell key parts--and after we get those key parts, even more key parts will be needed. Our civilization grows rapidly now and our production capacity is considerable. We keep an army of workers on hand to battle the incessant pollution which continually takes prime mines out of production. We finally are able to make tanks..and we do. Now we know that even the Germans will be challenged if they turn on us. Though they vastly outnumber us. Indeed my scouts tell me that stacks of german armies (armies, not individual units) marched south to the Russian jungle front.

But with every year our power soars. Our seer tells us that he can see the day approaching when we finally catch and surpass the Germans. When I ask? Not for 100 to 200 years says he. Alas, I don't know if we have that long before the Germans launch their ship. Those damned Chinese. They are building their own ship now but I don't think they will catch the Germans without a war. Years pass and the Chinese fail to attack the Germans. FOOLS! FOOLS! The Chinese Emperor in failing to attack the Germans in condeming his people to obsolesence. The Chinese have a mighty army yet fail to use it. In a 100 years perhaps I can stop the German project...but it will be too late by then.

1685.

Our civilization is maturing, coming into its own. Some research we do on our own, others we are rich enough to buy, even at the exorbitant prices demanded. We have decided that we must destroy Berlin and Beijing and put a stop to the space program of the communists. Both countries have added many modules to their spaceships...how many remain we know not. If we destroy their capitals, then they will have to restart the space race. To let these repressive regimes escape to the stars would be a tragedy...we must stop them, no matter what it costs.

We shall look to cruise missles...helicopters...even atomics. Berline and Beijing must be destroyed by any means necessary. If we can survive just a 100 more years we can catch and surpass the Germans and Chinese.

How long do we have? Their starships could blast off any day...if we cannot stop their launches all is lost and the British Empire will be no more.

To be continued:

Hurtling Towards Endgame.

I enjoyed this read immensly! Will have to come back for the conclusion, wouldnt miss it.

1690

We British have come into our own. Our infrastructure is glorious and stretches across the continent. Though the Germans and Chinese dwarf us in military size and culture, even now we think we could surivive an invasion by them--though perhaps we overestimate ourselves? What all my adivisors agree on however, is that in 100 years the English Lion will rule the seas..and the land...and the air. Time! Time! We need time! For 5700 years we have maneuvered to reach this moment in time--the dawning of our invincible Empire, which straddles the world and brings civilization to all the worlds backwaters. It is now in our grasp---within a 100 years, a mere eyeblink given the millenia spent getting here. We have survived in a sea of sharks--and the day when we have to kowtow to anybody is over. From here on out, Kings will bow at our feet and rule at our sufferance--IF IF IF we can get 100 more years.

The Germans and Chinese race for the stars. Well into building their spaceships, whereas we havent even begun our own. Having had no experience with spaceships our spies are unable to tell us how much longer we have before the Germans or Chinese reach the stars. If they succeed we are lost--and communism and tyranny will stalk the stars.

Drastic measures are necessary. Berlin and Beijing must be destroyed at all costs in order to halt the communist's space drive.
My northern border is within striking distance of Berlin, thus I have the base to strike northward. We build a fierce battlegroup of submarines and ships to launch an assault on Beijing. But we lack time! Our scientists race to discover the secrets of missles, and helicoptors and parachutists. We plan to launch waves of missles and bombers, followed by a lightening helicopter incursion and destroy Berlin. This will enable us to leapfrog the formidable German frontlines and save TIME.

So, as we approach the year 1700 our fate lies in the hands of our scientists and time. Tick tick tick...how much do we have???




1710

Is nothing ever simple? We have spent enormous resources to find the secrets of cruise missles and helicopters and parachutes. But each of these have proven to be disappointing and not as formidable as my advisors had thought they would be. Helicopters in particular fall short of our expectations and will, after all, be of little or no help in a lightening strike on Berlin or Beijing. We don't have the military size and above all don't have the time to fight a conventional war all the way to Berlin and Beijing before they reach the stars.

1720

Our only hope now lies with atomics. We have made certain breakthroughs. Our engineers have found us a source of Uranium...but we can't yet build atomics. Our Scientists RACE towards this capabilitiy--if we can develop it we will destory the communist's oppressive capitals with atomics then launch a massive invasion with conventional sources.

However our spies tell us we are rapidly running out of time.

The English Lion now races the clock for its survival. The fate of humanity lies in the balance--will humanity go forth to the stars as a democracy, or as oppressive communists? Have I ruled my people for 5000 years, bringing them to the brink of world dominance only to fall short right on the cusp of our success? Are we destined to be like the Japanese and French, forgotten in the sands of time? Or will the English Lion's Roar be heard amongst the stars?

I watch the clock obsessively. Tick...tick...tick. The Future is unreadable.

Loving this ...

Nice to read a civ story where victory is far from certain!

I am thoroughly captured by the story. 'tis truly a marvel to read about, and as before, we longingly await the end of the magnificently told biography of the British empire. Indeed, we are fascinated, and would know the eventual outcome.

Death to the communists..!

* hides his Japanese Communism save file *

1720

We build up mighty armies while our scientists race to give us the secret of atomics. A tension has overcome our entire civilization as we race to stop the Germans and Chinese from reaching the stars. With every passing year I take a deep breath of relief that the German starships haven't departed--and that with each year our scientists are that much closer to atomics.

1730

Nobody will sell us the secrets that we need, so our scientists work around the clock. We devote virtually the entire resources of our Empire towards facilitating our scientific research. Our cities build complex projects--with the intent of being able to switch over to atomics on a moments notice, thereby having a huge step towards building our atomic missles. One contingent wants to attack Germany and China immediately and try to disrupt their rail and road network, isolating them from their resources. But we decide to wait until we have atomics and can engage in an all-out war. If we start a war with small raids, the German response will tie us down completely and bring our research to a halt. We know for a fact that they have 100s of tanks ready to wreak havoc on our own infrastructure. Our Generals monitor the horizon, fearing the appearance of a soaring spaceship at any minute.

We are so close to having our own atomic weapons. We ready to unleash the largest war the world has ever seen--if we have time. Damn those Germans! And even more damn the incompetent Chinese for letting the Germans operate unmolested all these years.

Tick...tick...tick... I watch the sunset each day, not knowing if I will ever see it rise again.

1735.

The Germans launched their Spaceship. All hope is lost. My people are shattered and have lost their will to live. For myself there can be no excuse. I have failed my people and ruined our civilization. I leave now to walk into the ocean and be released from the torment of a 1000 regrets and what ifs.

In the end? The English Lion was not meant to be.

Farewell my friends. I will write no more, forever.

Chief Joseph

Alas, we grieve over the loss of the mighty English civilization. We laud the talents and accomplishments of the great Chief Joseph! It is our hope to see Joseph take the helm of another civilization, one which will break through and win the day in the name of freedom and democracy! We therefore urge Chief Joseph to take up the banner of freedom and march forward through history to become the most powerful civilization.

Oh woe..! The mighty English lion defeated by measly Germans..? Truly, this cannot be. What horror, what sorrow... Truly it was only foul play and the pure evil of the AI Civilizations that wrought this havoc upon the righteous, no?

*plays a sorrowful hymn and watches the endless legions of mourners stroll past, all in dressed in black*

Truly this is a day which will live forever in the memory of man...



Indeed. We hope you will have just victory in your next attempts, for with en epic story such as this behind you you do deserve it.

Great read. Thanks.

Better luck next time!

- Stravaig

Very, very nice!

Next time play as the Germans.

Sorry, great story though!