Hello again, fine Stories & Tales people! You know what this means! After a month and a half of dilly-dallying and general sloth, it's time for another Gruekiller AAR! I chose to play as the Russians in Lokolus' 1600 scenario, which places the Russians in a unique situation, ready to expand both west into Europe and east, across Siberia and towards America. A while back I opened up a silly little non-poll in which I allowed the S&T community to weigh in on the direction I should take this AAR. It was decided that I should maintain two primary goals:
A.) Establish for myself a colonial empire in America and the Pacific, particularly in Alaska and along the west coast of the US and Canada, and
B.) Conquer and Christianize the Ottoman Empire, and reinstate a 'Roman' monarch on the throne in Constantinople - essentially, a revival of the Byzantine Empire under Russian... 'protection'.
European Russia in 1600, during the reign of Boris Godunov
Thus is my starting situation - I have two cities past the Urals which are outside the scope of the screenshot, which will function as a sort of springboard for colonization into Siberia, as well as the conquest of the barbarian cities of Eurasia. I am at peace with all of my neighbors, with rather frosty relations with the Ottomans, neutral (at best) with Poland-Lithuania, and a slightly more cordial standing with the Swedes (I shan't bother myself with the Baltic in this campaign). I traded a couple of unimportant techs back and forth on turn zero, and now have open borders with Poland and (I think) Sweden.
I cheated just a tiny bit by making the territories I plan to colonize (gasp) actually hospitable to colonization. (Spoiler'd for big-ass pictures.)
I enlarged Alaska very slightly in the northwest to more accurately represent it, as it actually looks on a map. Much of the useless ice terrain was turned into tundra, and some of the tundra was turned to plains and grassland. A few food and mineral resources were added here and there to ensure that cities built there can actually grow and build things. The ice on the lakes in the Yukon and Northwest of Canada was cleared away for the slight but beneficial food boost they bring. Additionally, the Northwest Passage has been opened just far enough to allow ships to sail north around Alaska all the way to Greenland and Europe.
The west coast received some minor adjustments as well. Some desert tiles were turned to plains, mostly so that cities in the region could grab the resources there without having to have too many crummy squares in their BFC. Some of the resources on the coast were moved slightly to comfortably hold three cities along its length - one near real-life Vancouver, one near San Fran, and one near Los Angeles.
Baja California too received a slight facelift, with one or two tiles of desert being turned to plains. Finally, Hawaii was enlarged and given some more resources.
These changes (hopefully not -too- overpowered
) should make it worth my time and resources to claim these areas, all of which (with the exception of Baja California) were at one point, claimed or settled by Russia, or were home to Russian-controlled forts.
With these changes made, I will, in the next couple of days, play the first turnset and prepare for
Please, voice any comments or criticisms you may have! I live to please the S&Ters!
A.) Establish for myself a colonial empire in America and the Pacific, particularly in Alaska and along the west coast of the US and Canada, and
B.) Conquer and Christianize the Ottoman Empire, and reinstate a 'Roman' monarch on the throne in Constantinople - essentially, a revival of the Byzantine Empire under Russian... 'protection'.
European Russia in 1600, during the reign of Boris Godunov
Thus is my starting situation - I have two cities past the Urals which are outside the scope of the screenshot, which will function as a sort of springboard for colonization into Siberia, as well as the conquest of the barbarian cities of Eurasia. I am at peace with all of my neighbors, with rather frosty relations with the Ottomans, neutral (at best) with Poland-Lithuania, and a slightly more cordial standing with the Swedes (I shan't bother myself with the Baltic in this campaign). I traded a couple of unimportant techs back and forth on turn zero, and now have open borders with Poland and (I think) Sweden.
I cheated just a tiny bit by making the territories I plan to colonize (gasp) actually hospitable to colonization. (Spoiler'd for big-ass pictures.)
Spoiler :
I enlarged Alaska very slightly in the northwest to more accurately represent it, as it actually looks on a map. Much of the useless ice terrain was turned into tundra, and some of the tundra was turned to plains and grassland. A few food and mineral resources were added here and there to ensure that cities built there can actually grow and build things. The ice on the lakes in the Yukon and Northwest of Canada was cleared away for the slight but beneficial food boost they bring. Additionally, the Northwest Passage has been opened just far enough to allow ships to sail north around Alaska all the way to Greenland and Europe.
Spoiler :
The west coast received some minor adjustments as well. Some desert tiles were turned to plains, mostly so that cities in the region could grab the resources there without having to have too many crummy squares in their BFC. Some of the resources on the coast were moved slightly to comfortably hold three cities along its length - one near real-life Vancouver, one near San Fran, and one near Los Angeles.
Spoiler :
Baja California too received a slight facelift, with one or two tiles of desert being turned to plains. Finally, Hawaii was enlarged and given some more resources.
These changes (hopefully not -too- overpowered
) should make it worth my time and resources to claim these areas, all of which (with the exception of Baja California) were at one point, claimed or settled by Russia, or were home to Russian-controlled forts.With these changes made, I will, in the next couple of days, play the first turnset and prepare for
Bozhe, Tsarya Khrani! - The Line of Boris Godunov
Please, voice any comments or criticisms you may have! I live to please the S&Ters!
