Adventures of the Vietnamese (I)

[12tn2]

Hello (again), everybody! If you don't remember, I'm the guy who started a thread about the mad Scimonger and his tech-loving people not long ago. Unfortunately I couldn't continue that journey But now I'm back with a brand new mod (here it is: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=459995 ) and a brand new story to tell you all - the story of the Vietnamese.
This first episode is about An Dương Vương. He united the two ancient Việt tribes and stop the marching to the south of Qin Shi Huang's army. His general Cao Lỗ invented the weapon Nỏ liên châu, the multi-arrow crossbow that helped driving the Chinese troops away (it's the precursor of the Chinese Chokonu!!) In the game, we'll (once again) face Qin in a 1v1 match

As you can see in the pregame screen, the difficulty is Warlord (it'll guarantee a first win in the adventure series, i guess ). Highland map represents the position of Vietnamese tribes of that time, haven't reached the sea yet (though will be soon enough). Duel size, quick speed for a quick kill (am I a bit over-confident? ). The mountain and water settings also express the geography of north & northwest Vietnam. The options include Raging barbarians; Aggressive AI & No technology trading, which are all self-explanatory.
So, are you ready for the epic? It'll start soon

 

[strijder20]

Yes, I definitely remember that story (Archimedes ). Good luck with playing Vietnam and your mod!

 

[hoplitejoe]

I feel this could be a short story

 

[12tn2]

Good luck with playing Vietnam and your mod!

Tks ^^

I feel this could be a short story

Yeah I have the same feeling Maybe Qin is not happy with this
Ok now let's see what we have got for the start:

Ooh, irrigated corn! Moving right is not a good idea since it grants us some desert tile and we lose some forests. Moving in other directions will cost us one turn, and it's a big waste in this quick speed. Stay is not bad at all, since we'll have at least two resources, a heap of hills (they're a bit overcrowded on Highlands maps ) and some good lake tiles. Moreover, we'll get that tribal village in the next three turns, so no need to move our scout over there (in the last game being the Scimonger, I get a Settler with culture expanding).
Thus An Duong Vuong settled his capital and start producing a worker. Since we have already had Agriculture, I decided to select Mining & then Bronze working to see if there's copper around. The Scout head for another village that is revealed with Hà Nội's first ring (I'll let you see the picture in the next post )

 

[12tn2]

Moreover, we'll get that tribal village in the next three turns, so no need to move our scout over there (in the last game being the Scimonger, I get a Settler with culture expanding).

Speaking of the devil...

Once again just the same! It seems that village results from culture expanding in Warlord difficulty is hardcoded to settlers An Duong Vuong was smiling and wondering what Qin would think of this
Moreover, Hanoi's culture revealed that we're on the left side of the map & there's another village in the south There're three already in the nearby regions of our capital, and with his peaceful units An will make use of them all Our scout Son Tinh is already up in the north, so he'll continue his trip toward Qin in the east and grab whatever he can before that nasty aggressive fatty beardy guy put his hands on it; and our new settler will take over the role of exploring the southern villages.
Oh, and you can see there's 91 gold in our treasure. Man, these villages are really rich and generous! Also Bronze working will come in six turns, so An is planning to wait and settle near the copper (hope it'll be revealed). We'll see...

 

[strijder20]

I think I have an idea of who of you two will win this game...

 

[12tn2]

I think I have an idea of who of you two will win this game..

Yeah, but don't be too certain, Qin is a dangerous foxy guy, you know
Well, unlike expected, An Duong Vuong has no copper in range when Bronze working arrived :

We've visited three more villages, and the results are all nice, but not the best. One gave An's people 44 gold, good, however we're rich already. Another taught us Fishing, but there's absolutely no fish on this highland map. Mysticism could be much better. The last one granted the Vietnamese the knowledge of Masonry, however they'll not be able to take the best out of it because their empire don't have stone or marble for now. Sigh... a little ironical .
With no copper in the revealed tile, An decided to settle next turn anyway, since there's a good spot north-east of Lac Long Quan the settler, with cow, river (that spot will cover most of the river tiles, and rivers are rare on highland!), floodplains and of course hills. Besides, animals tend to appear in the next few turns if not already, and Lac Long Quan may be in danger if still continue his wandering. Prepare to see Vietnam's powerful second city the next turn! An also chose Animal husbandry as the next goal, for he'll have cows & hope to have some horses. We could also pursue a religion, but considering that Qin doesn't start with Mysticism, let's do what's more needed first.

 

[hoplitejoe]

inb4 iron.

 

[12tn2]

During some uneventful turns, this is the map that our scout Son Tinh provided:

See that lion over there? It appears near our Lac Long Quan (now he has become Hồ Chí Minh city ) just a turn after the turn when An Duong Vuong decided to settle his second city to avoid the risk of wild animals! To the south-east of Vietnamese empire is a large desert (this is weird, since it should be a fertile delta if everything follows real life). Gold is out there, however no one will be able to reach it. Son Tinh also found another river and a marble tile (finally, Masonry! ), but it's too far for us now. Also if you have sharp eyes, you'll notice that Hanoi has started a second worker. It's because with two cities, we lack some labor right now, and the capital will have farmed corn in the next few turns. Hochiminh city is free to grow, building our very first warrior to defend against all of those raging barbarians.
Now it's time to talk about how An and the Vietnamese approach this match with Qin Shi Huang. Since the Chinese leader is a frenzied bloodthirsty tyranny, no way of peace is considered. With our redoubtable UU, we'll definitely research to Machinery and swamp the Chinese cities with Nỏ liên châu (that's if we have Iron). Then there's little we can make use of An's traits of Industrious and Spiritual, but we have to live with it. (bonus: wonder why his traits are like that? An Dương Vương associated the two big tribes in ancient Vietnam without opposition from both, that's “no anarchy” in Civ term! After his first win against Qin, he built the rampart of Cổ Loa – a great citadel that has three layers with connected moat systems and stuffs – and use it to repel two other attempts from the north (of course with the help of the ultimate No lien chau); that's so matched with the Industrious trait, right? )

 

[12tn2]

It's now turn 19, and Son Tinh has helped us scout nearly a half of the map, yet the location of Qin Shi Huang is still unknown:

Maybe he has been too frightened of our two cities, after all. In the center of the map is another river, and a corn tile – uhm, good spot, but too far away... We may have already won before we can reach that distant. Right now An Duong Vuong is researching Iron working. That's because there's no horse in the revealed tiles of the map , just as copper. How unlucky we are ... You can see that after Animal husbandry, the Vietnamese have learnt Mysticism, and then Pottery. Seems a bit strange An didn't choose a religion right after Mysticism, eh? That's actually just a precautious move of his to be able to grab at least a religion in case Qin go for it. If he ever sees an announce of Buddhism founding, he can go for Hinduism, and vice versa. And a religion will ensure Hochiminh city to expand into its big fat cross and beyond – that will also help preventing barbs to spawn near our cities in a Raging barbarians game like this.
Oh, and did you notice that our Son Tinh has already got 1 XP? He has won a battle with a lion without a scratch, just accurate to history (according to Vietnamese legends, Son Tinh was a mountain god and led all the land animals – what a stupid foreign lion to challenge him). Then he brought us 41 more gold from another village – now we're swimming in money!

 

[12tn2]

Ha! Finally found you, Qin Shi Huang!

That warrior came from the north east, so it's very likely Beijing is located somewhere in that direction. What's more interesting, Son Tinh has just grabbed a village right under the noses of Qin's troops and a bear!! And look at what he got, it's Writing!! Heroic actions brought great results, you could say The story of this deed is long, but I'll try to express it. Our scout has found both the Chinese and the tribal village in the same turn. They raced for it, and of course Son Tinh with his double agility took the lead. But between turns, a bear appeared right next to the village, so the great scout had to play hide and seek with it (hey, don't think he was afraid of the bear, Son Tinh is the mountain god, remember? He just didn't want to kill it , moreover he didn't want to scare the innocent people in that lovely hut). Meanwhile, that warrior was narrowing the distance, but Son Tinh made it in time. Those people must have been very very grateful to him for luring the beast away, they gave him the knowledge of Writing!! Haha, really nice it is (the very next turn, Qin killed the bear. What a savage guy )
Hochiminh city has built a warrior, he'll be our defense for a (hopefully) long time. Meanwhile Hanoi also completed a worker, and both started Granaries. With Writing done, we have an option to start a library next in Hanoi (this city has enough food even without any more farms) and then get a Great scientist for an Academy boost. Things are going just right for the Vietnamese...

 

[hoplitejoe]

Wait, you got a Great scientist already? Or you are going to get one?

 

[12tn2]

Wait, you got a Great scientist already? Or you are going to get one?

No, how can we get a Great scientist this early? That's only An's mumbling when he prepares for future plans
Back to the match, in the same turn we both found Qin's whereabouts and get Iron working done, and here's what we got:

Oh my god Nowhere near our hands. Yes there's one on the right, under the nose of Qin – how bad can this be It will only help his aggression, sh!t. An Duong Vuong was disappointed enough when he found out that he has no copper AND horse. Now this is quite a critical blow In a mood of depression, he even considered using his newly granted settler (long live Son Tinh!) to found the third city right next to the Chinese to steal that metal. But being a wise leader, An gave it a second thought. With Qin Shi Huang confirmed to be aggressive, there's little chance he can protect the city until its border expands and its produced worker rush there to make a mine (not to mention it'll have to build plenty of defenders, AND those troops will only be archers!). Moreover, even if he somehow manages to hold it, only that city will be able to use the iron since connecting it with Hanoi and Hochiminh city is a logistics nightmare. So, no chance for us here
Now An Duong Vuong and the Vietnamese are forced to make a change to their plan. They'll have to send more units to the neighboring lands in the hope of finding a metal. If they still can't find it (this is pretty likely, darn it! ), they'll have to use other things to settle with Qin Shi Huang – guess it'll be only catapults. But now An will focus on more peaceful stuffs – happiness for example. He ordered Meditation to be researched next, and is planning to get Calendar for the two resources in his cities in the far future. Things are going... not quite right, for now
After all, this may not be an easy game at all

 

[12tn2]

Some turns ago, Hanoi's border has expanded to level 3, and it revealed a village left of us, on the edge of the map. Since Son Tinh was on another side of the world, and the Vietnamese are short of military units, we decided to send our nearby worker to get it. That's a good move, since workers, like scout, will receive better results from tribal vill-

EEKK !1! What the hell ?!? How can that happen! In my previous games I have used workers and settlers to visit tribal villages for times and times, and they all returned so good! I THOUGHT they're the same class with scouts since they're all not military, or aren't they ?? Damn (Moral: don't risk your precious workers and settlers doing uncertain things, test it a thousand times in Worldbuilder first. Guess my tests were not enough ). Now our worker will meet his doom, it can be helped (sigh). And we'll have to face at least three barbs attacking Hanoi in the next few turns (one is lurking off the right of the screen). The Vietnamese capital is in danger !
However, An is a calm and lucid guy. He marched his first archer from Hochiminh city toward Hanoi, and started building others. They would be trained in time for the early war. Actually, An has begun Archery right after his sad discovery of Iron lacking, and produced an archer right when that tech is finished. Those moves will save the Vietnamese, let's believe it.
Next turn we'll fall back to only one worker, so we'll be short of labor again. That has to be fixed soon. You may have also noticed that we'll get Buddhism next turn (losing it to Qin is unlikely), and Hochiminh city will benefit from being the Holy one. Or will it? In my previous games, when I got two cities and founded a religion, it went for the second city all the times...

 

[12tn2]

Ok let me inform you the consequences from the barb disaster. We lost no archer, but all slightly wounded. Achieved that result, the Vietnamese people have to say thanks to the contribution of the holy city named after Hồ Chí Minh:

Yay, a size 5 city producing a worker in one turn! (actually it's because of a massive overflow I managed to get) It is indeed the holy city of Buddhism (from that worker incident, I became suspicious of every seemed-to-be-certain things I've learned from the past civving ). With a temple built, this city now can literally surpass Hanoi in term of population! In the last few turns, An Duong Vuong even had to stop it from growing too fast. When Calendar is researched (it'll be soon), Hochiminh city will be able to contribute one more happiness to the civilization with a dye.
You may wonder if our capital has the same level of improved tiles. No, with barbs' continuous invasions since the disaster, our worker haven't been able to do it (right now Hanoi is facing another wave of barbarians). And it's kind of weird when Hochiminh city hasn't had to received any threat! Now An's next plan can be to spread Buddhism to his palace so his people can also enjoy the trust from religion. Or he'll make more archers to explore for metal and cover those FOW tiles. His guts tell him that sooner or later, other waves of aggressive warriors and archers will visit the holy city. When they evolve to axemen, it'll be a real headache to cope with. So the Vietnamese have to think ahead...

 

[hoplitejoe]

It is only warlord, I think you will escape waves of aggressive warriors and archers

 

[strijder20]

Who needs copper, iron or horse when you have lol-o-phants On top of that, you are researching Maths, which leads to construction, IIRC.

 

[12tn2]

It is only warlord, I think you will escape waves of aggressive warriors and archers

Yes I do think so. It's kind of lucky that the Vietnamese haven't had to face any archer. It's rather late that barb archers haven't appeared in the 1500s BC

Who needs copper, iron or horse when you have lol-o-phants On top of that, you are researching Maths, which leads to construction, IIRC.

That big mammal you mentioned is far inferior comparing to a metal or horse It allows only one unit and can be easily countered, while the others offer wider choices. Besides, this ivory tile is a little out of Hanoi's range If An Duong Vuong is to build a city to grab it, he'll have to get the corn in BFC too. But that corn is now for another purpose, because it turned out that the Vietnamese do have iron within their reach , after (again) Son Tinh's discoveries :

Not one, but two irons! We have missed them from the first place, that's because the huts led us away from the resources Now even with irons in sight, they're not in very good spots: the north one is a little too “north” and mixed up with tundra, the east one is quite “east” and need at least a city to fill the gap. Facing two options, An Duong Vuong decided to take the 'pink' one. The 'orange' plan is too expensive and risky: it'll spread our empire to an extend of being vulnerable to barb attacks (right now you can see that Cao Lo, despite being wounded from the last fight, had to move to his new location to intercept another warrior). We'll have to build a settler and some more workers to connect the resource to all cities. All those works takes time, and we may miss the window of No lien chau's dominating era. Plus the maintenance cost will be significant. The advantages of this choice are that we will get ivory and expand closer to Qin, but those are so minor when comparing with the cons.
The 'pink' plan is better in a way that we can make use of the settler whom Son Tinh has escorted all the way back home instantly (this settler is now on the same tile with the worker. There's a barb off-screen right next to pink spot so he can't rush there immediately). An will control his people's researching of Polytheism to match with the founding of Vietnam's third city, so it can expand border on the turn after that Being a spiritual leader really helps here – the Vietnamese will give up their faith in Buddha for five turns and then switch back – how convenient it is

 

[12tn2]

Finally we can get our hands on a metal tile! Last turn Đà Nẵng was founded (and defended by a wounded archer – man, those barbs ARE indeed raging ) and this turn has become the city of Hinduism:

Everything is according to plan Our newly holy city was immediately put in danger by a barb warrior (anyone see that black flag? ), but its defender has one promotion left, and will be more than ready to welcome this unwanted guy. Nevertheless, An Duong Vuong, being a prudent leader, decided to rush build a warrior in Danang, just in case. These turns saw a real rage from the barbs, their warriors appear everywhere! (weirdly enough, Hochiminh city still seems to be out of their destruction list) Hope we'll be able to get our workers onto the iron tile and improve it without continuous evacuations. You can clearly see from the notification lines that our No lien chau maker – Cao Lo – has already defeated two consecutive attacks in between the turns (and still alive and well – I was not wrong when named him after the legendary general ). Without his interference, Danang would have to defend against FOUR barbs from the start !!
Now that Polytheism is completed, the Vietnamese will change their goal back to Calendar – which will come next turn – and help themselves with two happiness from the dye and silk. Then our population will see a sharp rise, and from that to Machinery is not a far way. But the first goal for now is to connect the iron and produce some effective axemen – under heavy barbarian pressure like this, it's not easy at all. Let's see if the Vietnamese can do that or not...

 

[12tn2]

Now we want to show you the first Great scientist of the Vietnamese, during his brief appearance in the empire before sacrificing himself:

The options of settling a super scientist and discovering a tech are both good, but An Duong Vuong wanted to have an Academy in his capital for the long term benifit, so gone Le Van Huu the historian It's nice having that building this early – turn 51, which is roughly equivalent to turn 77 in normal speed! But even the Academy may not be so important now – we're on our way to Metal casting, and Hochiminh city will start the Oracle soon, so Vietnam will possess the technology of Machinery in the near future anyway – it just helps things to go faster.
The barbarian king keeps unleashing his seem-to-be-numberless warriors toward our cities – you can see that all of Vietnamese's remote border archer forces are wounded. Unfortunately for us, Danang's defense is very thin right now, and we don't have reserve men at the moment, so our workers can't reach the iron yet (that iron tile will be visited next turn by a barb off-screen). They even had to evacuate from the unimproved corn tile last turn. Difficult times are still waiting An and his people.
Meanwhile, our remaining workers are doing hard to bring happiness to their people. Silk and dye will be provided soon enough to boost Hanoi and Hochiminh city to 7 or 8 pop. When Qin has already founded his second city long ago, this jump of population will keep us ahead for quite some time ...