A Short Egyptian AAR

[Lone Wolf]

This is a brief story of a light Civ4 Monarch game as Hatshepsut of Egypt. I used the latest version of Better BTS AI, which is more "vanilla-like" than K-mod. Standard map, 1 more AI than the suggested amount.

The Nile Peninsula was a reasonably fertile land, with large natural reserves of stone. For this reason, Thebes, a city in its north, thrived, with its rulers ordering the construction of large pyramids to glorify themselves. Soon, they expanded their holdings in the direction of the main continent, creating the Kingdom of Egypt. Meanwhile, in the far east of the continent, a certain preacher was executed in the mighty Babylonian empire, but those who killed him couldn't silence his followers...



Soon, the whole continent followed this preacher, named Jesus. But, contrary to the hopes of his initial followers, this religious unity failed to prevent bloody wars between two of the Three Great Kingdoms. Russia and Babylon fiercely fought in the northern wastes, with Babylon's famed archers resisting the onslaught of the greater Russian hosts. A new religion arose, even stricter in its monotheism than Christianity, called Islam. However, after the initial tension, followers of both faiths managed to reach a modus viviendi, with Christianity remaining dominant.



In the west, things were much more peaceful, with Russian merchant caravans visiting Egypt.

Caravans and trade routes have quite a history in Civ, with manual caravan shuffling in Civ1, a complex supply-demand system added in Civ2, them being removed altogether in Civ3 (apparently, diplomatic resource exchange was considered to be an adequate replacement), and revived in Civ4 as automatic trade routes + manual Great Merchants.



For quite a long while, the people of the Three Kingdoms considered themselves to be the only human inhabitants of the planet. However, strange people began to arrive at the west coast of Egypt, people who followed new and strange faiths. Soon, the Three Kingdoms realized that their continent is only one of the three.



The strongest nation on the planet turned out to be the Native American Alliance, formed in fertile plains with an abundance of corn and gemstones.

I improved the Protective trait by giving it half-cost granaries. Contrary to what some people at Realms Beyond Civ say, I think it's quite a thematic bonus (protect the food from rodents, and ensure that it's always available in case of a siege). Perhaps this is an additional reason for the dominance of normally quite underwhelming Sitting Bull in this game.



As the Hindus and the Jews were holding speeches and demonstrations among the Hanging Gardens of Thebes, the Russians finally broke the Babylonian resolve, capturing Babylon. Even the Roman punitive expedition to Russia (seen here in the NE), that razed Vladivostok, failed to change the course of this war.



The conquered people of Hsung-Nu proved to be the first adopters of Taoism in Egypt. Their inevitable migration south from their hostile tundra resulted in pockets of Taoists in the large southern Egyptian cities, as well.





Egyptian ruling circles strengthened royal ties with Russia, to prevent a possible Russian attack.



The southern continent saw an eternal struggle between Byzantium and China, a country whose elite came from another ethnicity, called the Mongols. Egyptian-Byzantine trade and contacts proved to be fruitful.

Taking a leaf from Civ6, I made Kublai Khan a valid leader for both Mongolia and China.



Pirates in the Nile Bay caused a lot of suffering and disruption until they were defeated by three Galleon squadrons. Unfortunately, the identity of these pirates would remain a mystery.



The spread of so many different faiths in Thebes, Memphis and Heliopolis led the Egyptian monarchy to proclaim an Edict of Religious Liberty to diffuse tentions. The Edict was announced in the Shwendagon Paya of Heliopolis to great acclaim.

While this damaged Egyptian links to Russia, it increased trade between Egypt and the other continents. In particular, Egyptian wine became a luxury item in Native American Federation.



Perhaps the good cheer spread by Egyptian wine was responsible for peace between the Native Americans and the Romans.





The best Egyptian engineers built the Versailles Palace in Heliopolis, for its nobles to escape the bustling, rebellious city.



But these nobles soon faced the challenges of democratic ideas from English enlightenment philosophers spreading through the population.



The City of Constantinople was captured and razed in an, ironically, Roman assault. This triggered another round of fighting between Byzantium and the Chinese Yuan Empire.



While other continents saw so many wars, Egypt prospered in a peaceful exploration of electricity and radio waves. The last Pharaoh peacefully abdicated, and a system of universal suffrage was instituted.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Who would be so monstrous as to poison the water supply of a metropolis? Sadly, there would be no certain answer forthcoming...



Gold and Fish from China helped relieve the urban sprawl of the Three Egyptian Metropoli.



The universal suffrage was not without its drawbacks, as can be seen in this event.



Demands from the Native American Federation for free-of-charge musicals of the Memphis Broadway were met calmly. The Egyptian parliament decided that spreading its cultural influence over the planet can only be good for the nation.





Soon, the planet would be introduced to even more Egyptian cultural production.



Freedom! It motivates some people to paint themselves blue, wear kilts, and hurl themselves at the invaders. It motivated other people be better electricians.



Finally, Egypt was the target of a war declaration. Fortunately, Stalin has chosen cold, northern tundra as his main direction of attack.



Egypt quickly instituted draft. The recruits were armed with rifles of the most advanced design.



Even the landing next to Elephantine was eventually repelled.



Pagodas where wise teachers taught The Way were sponsored by international technology exchange programs.



Despite the barbaric razing of Constantinople, Byzantium was still able to share technological knowledge.



This time, a marriage between a prominent Egyptian and a Russian didn't go so smoothly, suggesting that the era of "royal marriages" is at end.



This was a fairy incompetent effort by Russian generals to avenge the marriage.





Egypt had to capture Yakutsk in order for peace to reign again.



Cahokia, the capital of the world's superpower, was thriving...



But the Three Egyptian Metropoli were even more prosperous.

This is actually the only Great Artist I generated in-game. Most of my GP's were Great Engineers, with some less welcome Prophets.



As the flames of war rekindled on the eastern continent, Egypt was recognized by the whole world as a leader in culture:



Worldbuilder investigation reveals that Native Americans were far from completing their spaceship, despite being technologically very advanced: