1999 AD - The Hittites have made the big mistake of continuing to target the Inca rather than going after me - and now they'll have to pay. Ugarit will be the first city we take.
Four Bombers from our Aircraft Carrier and several more from mainland South America deal a good amount of damage to the defenders, and then the Modern Armor head in.
So far, so good. Tarsus, at the mouth of the Amazon, is next.
The first Infantry falls with ease, and the second is weakened by a Bomber and an Ironclad. But despite this, it forces my Modern Armor to retreat. A Spy tells me there are two defenders in the city, so I don't press the attack this turn.
Elsewhere in the world, we continue our advance against Korea. Three Modern Armor land in Scotland, and Ulysess continues his attack on Vilcabamba.
That's one less base for Korea. We'll send Ulysess north to finish off England, Persia, and Korea now.
Our Scottish bombing campaign goes slightly less well for us, but at least we have the satisfaction of witnessing a fantastic explosion (unfortunately of our own plane):
In Asia, the stage is set for one last showdown. Our Modern Armor begins it at Warwick.
OK, so it's debatable how much of a showdown this will be. But it's started out the right way, that's for sure! Another Modern Armor heads to Barcelona.
Looks like it'll be an easy war. Barcelona survived this turn solely because it had many defenders. Once we get a few more Modern Armor, the pace ought to really pick up. But that's all we have for now. We hit the enter key, and hope the Y2K bug doesn't strike...
1999 IBT - Persia and Korea make peace, and Persia allies against England. Not sure what the strategy is in that, but there's probably gold involved.
America lands troops by Barcelona, evidently hoping to take Magellan's as their own. There's just a turn or two late - we're taking it next year.
2000 AD -
We're in the Space Age! Slightly later than in the real world, but it's better late than never. Our people want to go the the Moon, and it sounds great to me! We'll build the Apollo Program even if it won't give us victory.
But it's not all celebrations and fireworks to ring in 2000. The residents of Sidon, for example, have their own type of fireworks.
Our first priority will be reclaiming Sidon, which we likely will keep rather than raze due to its development. But first, let's take a look at the 2000 Census.
The population of 80,966,000 is fourteen million above what it was a decade ago, a 21.5% increase. That's fairly high growth, but expansion certainly contributed a good portion of the growth. Regardless, it's enough to put us fifteenth in real-world population, ahead of Ethiopia and trailing Germany.
World population tallies in at 106,534,211 - a 5.5% increase compared to ten years ago. Compared to the decreases of recent decades, we'll certainly take that increase.
GNP has increased by almost exactly 1 billion drachmas in the past decade, a 22% increase. Manufacturing has increased by approximately 800 megatons, a 24.1% increase. Land area is higher by about 90,000 square miles, a 25.9% increase. That means population density is falling - not surprising given all the tundra we captured. Productivity per citizen, however, is increasing.
Literacy has fallen 3% to 83%, as expansion outstrips our ability to build new libraries and universities. Life expectancy, however, continues to increase, having risen from 68 to 71 years. We're still not all that great in this area, but hey, at least it's increasing.
The pollution increase of 17 tons, 19.1%, is still not good, but compared to what it was in the 1980's it's certainly an improvement. The percent of polluted tiles decreased, and almost all of the increase occured during the first part of the decade.
Our Score has increased by 319 points over the decade, to 2546. Still not stellar, but the growth is impressive. Even at this rate of growth, however, this game won't be able to beat my highest scoring games.
Our land area has reached 61% of the total, and our population is at 76%. We are at war with 30% of the land and 17% of the population. Only America is at peace with us.
Our Culture is over 93,000, with Athens leading the way with 5901 culture points. Maintenance costs are 1576 gold per turn. Our power graph looks as follows:
And our technology, of course, is unparalleled. Thus concludes the 2000 Census. Now, on to combat!
Sidon falls easily. We are merciful and spare the city. The citizens just better not revolt again.
Barcelona comes next. We want Magellan's!
Only one Wonder left out of our control - The Temple of Artemis in Hattusas.
We'll advance towards that at once. Tarsus is the next city to take. Once again our Ironclad proves quite helpful in bombardment.
That was easier than we expected. Tyrana, not Hattusas, is next.
Again our Modern Armor dominate. The Hittites can't really afford to lose too much more land - pretty soon they're going to have to actually fight us.