BTS Roleplaying Challenge: Tokugawa

[slobberinbear]

BTS Roleplaying Challenge: Tokugawa

Greetings. Right off the bat, let us all bow down now and acknowledge the master of the ALC genre, Civilization bon vivant, my hero, Sisiutil.

The idea of the Roleplaying Challenge is to provide challenge not neccessarily by raising the difficulty level, but by giving ourselves a handicap by “roleplaying” the civilization in question. At the start I will identify the roleplaying particulars. I am open to suggestions on other handicaps. I will play this as a demo game a la the ALC series. For additional roleplaying flavor, I will add a short narrative at the beginning of each round.

I anticipate posting a round every day or two. I frankly lack the patience to wait more than a day to play, so this should be fairly fast. Get your comments in!

For this game, I have selected Japan. Our leader is Tokugawa, who is Aggressive and Protective, giving us half-cost barracks, drydocks, walls, and castles, along with free Combat I promotions for melee and gunpowder units and free City Garrison I and Drill I promotions for archery and gunpowder units. Our unique unit is the Samurai, a maceman replacement with two first strikes and the Drill promotion. Our unique building is the Shale Plant, a coal plant replacement that grants +10% production. We begin the game with The Wheel and Fishing.

Japan, as presented in the game, is a xenophobic, feudal nation. In some ways, that xenophobia continues to this day, though it is certainly less prevalent today than it was 60 years ago. Since Japan's cultural change is relatively recent, I will attempt to play Japan as it existed through the end of World War II, and make allowances for a possible late-game cultural shift from Feudal Japan to Modern Japan as appropriate.

A footnote:

Spoiler :

Note that "Feudal Japan," as I use that term, references pre-World War II Japanese ethics and values, not necessarily the technology of the times. The Japanase of the late 1800s through the end of World War II still exhibited most of the same cultural values as their medieval and renaissance predecessors. "Modern Japan," then, represents not merely modern technology but a relative openness to the rest of the world and a range of civil liberties and change in society that would have been shocking 150 years before.

I apologize in advance for offending anyone with my characterization of Japan. I freely admit that my perspective and proposed rules reflect an Americanized view of Japan, and welcome any feedback.

The rules:

• Japan is in “Feudal Japan” mode until it adopts Universal Suffrage, Free Speech, Emancipation, and Free Religion, when it permanently changes to “Modern Japan” mode. The “Modern Japan” civics must be taken as a bloc or not at all.
• Feudal Japan may use the Slavery civic until Serfdom or Caste System are discovered, at which point it must switch. Feudal Japan may freely switch between Serfdom, Caste System, and Nationhood.
• Feudal Japan must leave the Barbarism and Tribalism civics as soon as possible.
• Feudal Japan may never use the Free Market, State Property, or Environmentalism civics, and must use Mercantilism when discovered.
• Feudal Japan may not train gunpowder units while under the Vassalage civic. Once gunpowder units have been trained, Samurai may never be trained and must be deleted or upgraded to Riflemen as soon as possible.
• Feudal Japan may never use the Pacifism or Free Religion civics.
• Feudal Japan may never have open borders with a non-vassal civilization, may not win a Diplomatic or Space victory, and may not end a war unless the enemy capitulates or is conquered.
• Modern Japan may never leave Universal Suffrage, Free Speech, Emancipation, and Free Religion; additionally, it may not take the Decentralization or State Property Civics.
• Modern Japan must control the headquarters of Sid’s Sushi Co. and at least one other corporation when the game ends, or we lose.
• Japan will start the game with Tokugawa Ieyasu, a Great General attached to a Swordsman unit. During the Feudal Japan period, Tokugawa must fight in at least one battle during every war with a foreign civilization and must be part of any attack against an enemy capital. If Tokugawa dies during the Feudal Japan period, we lose. We may not move Tokugawa from Kyoto until we have learned Iron Working.​

While these rules impose some limitations, I do not believe they are enough to justify a reduced difficulty level. The Tokugawa unit also provides a significant initial advantage to partially offset the limitations. The selection of the Archipelago map also provides a slight advantage, as we begin the game with the Fishing technology and enjoy greater security from invasion than on a land-based map, especially in the early game.

This game’s settings: Monarch difficulty, archipelago map, standard size and settings, epic speed, ancient start. I use the Blue Marble mod for the maps, but it has no impact on gameplay.

I will post the first screenshot and initial strategy thoughts tonight.

 

[slobberinbear]

The decapitated head of his rival fell to the sand with a meaty thud. Tokugawa grimly surveyed the submissive men, women and children, all bowed down before him. Tokugawa's accomplice, Kondo, smiled nervously, having just betrayed his friend to the imposing man before him.

Tokugawa barked his command to the man. "Search the area! Find other locations suitable for settlement!"

"Hai!" Kondo fairly yelled, and quickly ran to the south.

Having dispatched another threat to his rule, Tokugawa considered the mass of folk.

"I am your Daimyo. Do not look at me. Do not speak to me unless I address you. Carry no weapon unless I arm you. Obey me without question as your lord. Do these things, and you will prosper! Do you understand?"

"Hai, Tokugawa-san!" they shouted in unison, their heads still bowed.

The settings:



And our initial start:

 

[Firewind]

A nice strong seafood start, which is good since you already have fishing. The capital is going to grow pretty fast, and with the hills and forests around it shouldn't hurt too much for production initially. The spices are good to have, as well. Plus, you even have fresh water to hand if you need farms (though with that seafood you shouldn't need them). Settling in place sounds like a very good idea to me.

 

[KMadCandy]

"• Feudal Japan may not train gunpowder units while under the Vassalage civic. Once gunpowder units have been trained, Samurai may never be trained and must be deleted or upgraded to Riflemen as soon as possible."

i do this thing some games where i don't learn rifling for a long long time. sometimes i wait until after ALine, so that i can mass-produce maces with CR promos. when i do that, riflemen are pre-obsolete before i can ever make 'em. you can't do the mass-producing CR-guys post-gunpowder of course. and you're RPing so you won't be get as nutty as i am. but sometimes the world works out so that riflemen are never possible and i couldn't resist the urge to point that out .

"• Japan will start the game with Tokugawa Ieyasu, a Great General attached to a Swordsman unit. During the Feudal Japan period, Tokugawa must fight in at least one battle during every war with a foreign civilization and must be part of any attack against an enemy capital. If Tokugawa dies during the Feudal Japan period, we lose. We may not move Tokugawa from Kyoto until we have learned Iron Working."

reading spirit of this one as "we can't use him until we can make swordsmen ourselves"...

i suggest that he can't move until we know IW and have iron hooked up (can make swords ourselves). so that we can't use him to gain control of a rival's iron if we end up with none.

the "must fight" requirements are muddled before he can legally move. i suggest you're exempt from following that rule if someone declares war on you before he can move. nah, in that case he should probably be required to move out of the capital to somewhere out of the way and not be allowed to help at all.

are you restricted from declaring war yourselves until he can legally move? or you can DoW, but he can't help (and again you're exempt from the "he must fight" rules)? as above, does he have to move out of the palace and not help if the enemy comes to visit and he can't legally move yet?

thinking more ... what's the purpose of "he can't legally move" ... he's in the story. but are we RPing that he can't fight, or even help his military forces, at all until the legal-move time? because his presence in the capital is an advantage even if no enemies/barbs are around at all, since he'd make the "we're afraid, we have no bodyguards" unhappiness faces not show up. so he lets you have more pop. is that okay?

if we're being very "he's the leader but doesn't know how to fight" yet, then we'll watch where we hide him for least effective fog-busting too .

 

[Firewind]

I think the point in him being there is that, at least initially, he's intended to be a great warrior and the Daimyo - he has to stay with his people and watch over them, both to ensure no rival arises and to protect them. Once others can be trained in his arts, he's more free to move and fight actively.

'course, I have a tremendous ability to bull**** to support my own views, and I might be entirely wrong anyway. It's Slobberin's call, I guess.

 

[KMadCandy]

'course, I have a tremendous ability to bull**** to support my own views, and I might be entirely wrong anyway. It's Slobberin's call, I guess.

i'm the Queen of Rationalization, or so hubby tells me. in this case, i used my evil powers to be ummmmmmm, an angel's advocate? i took it upon myself to point out that this advantage may give us more advantages than he originally thought about and is he okay with that? i would be okay with that, but i'm not in charge. there are several good reasons i'm not in charge . and maybe he thought about all this and more already.

 

[slobberinbear]

You both have the right flavor. It's fun to flesh it out.

i suggest that he can't move until we know IW and have iron hooked up (can make swords ourselves). so that we can't use him to gain control of a rival's iron if we end up with none.

Yep, that's the spirit of it. I suppose I just didn't see Tokugawa running around the land fog-busting. That's what Kondo and his future minions are for. Also, I wanted him to be powerful. But he's just one unit. I will allow one exception in the pre-Iron period ... he can attack barbarians that enter cultural borders. Other than that, no movement and yes, he can't fight unless/until we have iron hooked up, which overrides his normal "war participation" rule. The RP reason for him not moving? He's consolidating his rule, trusting no one ...

Now then:

Where to settle? I'm thinking of settling in place, as Firewind suggests. Kind of a no brainer, with the seafood, fresh water, and the tantalizingly unforested plains hill tile.

Initial Builds: I'm wanting to get out at least three fishing boats right away (two for making fisheries, one for exploration), then probably a worker, a warrior, a settler, and a final workboat, in that order. The third workboat is a bit of a luxury, used to regrow quickly after whipping and when our happy caps get bigger.

Initial Techs: On the short list are Sailing, Mining, Bronze Working, Hunting, Archery, Pottery, Writing, and Iron Working. Because we need a way to raise the happy caps, we should try to get to Monarchy fairly soon, probably via Meditation & Priesthood.

I'm thinking:

Mining
Bronze Working
Pottery
Sailing
Writing
Hunting
Archery
Iron Working
Mysticism
Meditation
Priesthood
Monarchy
Feudalism​

Exploration: Kondo's going to move around and fogbust on our Island. On most Archipelago maps, the starting island is big enough for 2 or 3 cities, so he'll probably run out of room pretty fast.

Promotions for Toku: We don't have to decide right away, but it's fun to think about. I'm thinking of Leadership (more XP), Morale (good speed to join the fray or get out of Dodge), Tactics (withdrawal chance = better chance of not dying), and Combat II.

Wonders: I don't see Toku being a wonder-fiend and wonder if it may just slow us down. Stonehenge would be handy, though. I suppose the coastal wonders (Lighthouse, Colossus) should always be considered on this map, particularly since our RP rules will inhibit us from making money on foreign trade routes with non-vassals.

 

[KMadCandy]

Promotions for Toku: We don't have to decide right away, but it's fun to think about. I'm thinking of Leadership (more XP), Morale (good speed to join the fray or get out of Dodge), Tactics (withdrawal chance = better chance of not dying), and Combat II.

Wonders: I don't see Toku being a wonder-fiend and wonder if it may just slow us down. Stonehenge would be handy, though. I suppose the coastal wonders (Lighthouse, Colossus) should always be considered on this map, particularly since our RP rules will inhibit us from making money on foreign trade routes with non-vassals.

promos: i've never used tactics but i think i would here. and definitely leadership; we're required to use him in some fights and if he dies game over. so might as well increase his chance of survival, and get him max exp for further promos. i love morale but i dunno about early on, when most of your army can move just one. it would let him pillage and still stay with 'em, or fight and get back to the stack for protection (see cannot die thing). maybe even let him move to another stack that could better protect him, if he'd be the strongest in the current stack but he's wounded and not strong enough, so he's at risk of dying if he gets picked as best defender there. there's my "oh my precious Medic3, must protect my precious" thinking showing up. so yeah, morale's good i think.

the combat promos help in any situation, and they lead to amph which might actually get used on this map, altho not real soon i'd bet *giggle*.

wonders: i like the coastal ones on water maps of course. see if you have the production, you're right he doesn't feel like the "i shall focus on wonders, they are shiny" type. even the +2 trade routes one (i think GLHouse) i find helpful even when restricted to internal trade routes due to isolation on a continent. might be dramatic here with cities counting as "overseas trade". so, see how things look when you get the techs.

if the game goes that long (knowing you i doubt it), i say don't build cristo redentor unless we have a ton of time and hammers to blow in a city. i find it the most beautiful shiny thing ever in all of history and the universe, but here it might not be that useful for us except to deny it to others *gigglefest*

 

[madscientist]

I think it's a great, well thought out RPC game. Very few comment son the rules, but

1) The gunpowder thing, I am not sure but I think both could coexist for a while. Not building anymore samuri once you get gunpowder is fine, but you should be able to keep your noble Samuri.
2) Sid's corp and 1 other may be tough. Doable but tough. Store at least 2 GP fairly early.

Early strats and gameplay

Settle in place. Build workboats

With no open borders, leverage an advantage. THE GREAT LIGHTHOUSE!!! Man you need that one on this board especially with the isolationist attitude. Tech sailing/Mining/BW then chop chop chop the lighthouse out. I mean do this before you even get another city, it will pay for itself in the long run. You will also start on GM points, store away your first GM for sids.

If you find marble beeline for the oracle, slingshot to metal casting, ge the colossus. I bet you can hold your first island with warriors, but you'll have to see how the maps plays out. Get archery if you need to.

Good job, I like this idea even better than the tree hugging Cawacs!!!

 

[slobberinbear]

Round 1: First Contact: 4000 BC to 2550 BC

sea in the spring;
tide always shifting,
brings sudden wind

He set down his quill and looked to the sea. It was ever-constant, ever-changing. The tide had brought him here, and the tide would carry his people to domination of the Earth.



Kyoto was founded. To speed the production of our first workboat, we started working the plains/forest/hill tile. We started researching Mining.

Kondo explored first to the west, then to the East. It became clear that the island was larger than we had expected. He met one of the animal denizens of the land:



Meanwhile, Kyoto finished its boat and worked the fish tile. While the clams would have yielded more commerce, I wanted the extra food to assist in growth of the capital, especially since I had stagnated the growth of the city while getting the first boat out.

Once Kyoto hit size 2, I added back in the plains/forest/hill tile to build the second boat faster. The fish tile enabled us to have good production, growth, and a little extra commerce.



Kondo then made a startling discovery:



It had to be China, didn't it. How fitting.

It turns out we share the island; Beijing is on the south end.

The falcon flew directly to Tokugawa. He stood regally, his arm extended, as the bird of prey alighted on him. A message was scrawled on a parchment note wrapped just above its left talon. Kondo's jagged script danced across the small page.

"Honorable Tokugawa Ieyasu: I have met another tribe to south. They were friendly. We have made peace ..."

Tokugawa stopped reading and crushed the parchment in his hands, tossing it on the pebbles of his garden. An unthinking servant hastily moved to pick it up and was instantly beheaded with one clean stroke of the Daimyo's katana.

He would have to find another gardener. But he was preoccupied with the news, and in preparing for war ...



We switched to slavery to ramp up production. No copper was to be found anywhere, though, not even near Qin.

In an odd juxtaposition with our warlike news, we then discovered truffles (+1 food, +1 commerce) in a forest tile in Kyoto's BFC. Toku munched on a few whilst working his people to the bone. He was determined to settle another city nearby to aid in the ultimate defeat of the gaijin southerners.

After the sages finished learning the secrets of Pottery (granaries will be helpful for Slavery), Tokugawa aimed to learn the secrets of warfare, to gain an advantage over Qin:



After building an escorting warrior, we whipped a settler to completion and immediately regrew to size 3. Here's Kyoto at the end of the round:



And the maps of the northern and southern parts of the continent:





And some projected dotmaps, without the benefit of knowing where iron is:

 

[slobberinbear]

City Placement: For Tokyo (second city), I'm leaning towards yellow dot -- great production city once I get Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, which I can shoot for right after Iron Working.

Kyoto: GP farm, hybrid, or production (especially with Moai Statues -- 13 water tiles in BFC!)
Yellow Dot: production
Orange Dot: hybrid or production
Pink Dot: cottaged commerce
Blue Dot: cottaged commerce
Green Dot: GP farm, hybrid, or production

Resource-wise, the island includes these visible resources, for a total of +5 health and +2 happy:

1 fish
4 clams
3 rice
2 pigs
2 bananas
2 spice
3 dye
? iron
? horses

We're going to need civics and religion to help with happiness.

Dealing with Qin: Yes, he's protective, but I'm seriously considering sword-rushing him. I just hope he doesn't settle on hills, get an early religion, or settle an "emergency retreat base" on another island before I have galleys. I figure Kyoto and Tokyo should be sufficient to produce 8+ swords and a couple of axes quickly and I don't think I'll want to take the time to settle a third city unless I have to in order to get Iron. It's a fairly long march to Beijing, so we may want to load up a few more troops just to be safe, to make sure we're numerous enough to handle Qin's forces when we arrive.

Amended tech path

Mining
Bronze Working
Pottery
Iron Working -- finishes in 13 turns
Mysticism -- for Tokyo border pop
Agriculture -- for Tokyo growth
Animal Husbandry -- for Tokyo growth
Hunting -- for spearmen
Writing
Sailing -- to settle other islands and chase Qin, if necessary
Meditation
Priesthood
Monarchy -- happy caps!
Feudalism -- serfdom & vassalage
Archery -- protective longbows!
Mathematics
Calendar -- happy resources!​

Am I better off getting Calendar before Monarchy?

Pre-Iron builds: My plan is to finish the barracks in Kyoto, but should I try to get a workboat explorer out first instead? I should be able to get both completed before I know where Iron is. If the Iron requires me to settle a third city, I could then build a settler. If the Iron is within our cultural borders, I could build a worker to help chop and improve the tiles. Getting a road driven to Qin will be critical, I'm thinking.

Either way, I'm not going to be able to get to Qin with a good stack of Swordsmen until 500 BC or so.

 

[tboner23]

I am looking foreward to this RP challenge. I would have jumped on the bandwagon too, but for lack of BtS...

About the Samurai-Gunpowder limitation... The Samurai were the nobles of Feudal Japan, and as such were extremely proud. Once Gunpowder is researched there should be no more Samurai made, and what Samurai are left should not be upgraded, instead they continue to die the glorious death in battle. (I also think that Tokugawa should never cease to be a Samurai, but that would sooooo not work if you ever have to fight tanks.) It's your call, but not deleting or upgrading would give you those wonderful banzai rushes by your noble and proud Samurai.

I am also waiting for Kondo to anger his master and be killed.

 

[shyuhe]

Nationhood is actually not a part of feudal Japan. It came shortly after the feudal period once Tokugawa had unified the country. Feudal Japan generally refers to the warring states period in which there was no single nation to speak of.

Free market is also not necessarily an accurate description of feudal Japan either since some of the daimyos were very willing to trade with foreigners (it's how gunpowder was introduced into Japan, along with Christianity). The advanced technology of the westerns played a pretty significant role in developing the wars that took place during feudal Japan. Mercantilism was more a tool used by the Tokugawa shogunate (Edo period) to limit foreign contact.

And gunpowder (the rough equivalent of musketeers) were on the battlefield at the same time as samurai. Although part of the difference between powerful daimyos and weaker ones was the % of gunpowder troops in their ranks.

That's probably enough nitpicking of the settings for feudal Japan from me Enjoy the game!

 

[slobberinbear]

Nationhood is actually not a part of feudal Japan. It came shortly after the feudal period once Tokugawa had unified the country. Feudal Japan generally refers to the warring states period in which there was no single nation to speak of.

Free market is also not necessarily an accurate description of feudal Japan either since some of the daimyos were very willing to trade with foreigners (it's how gunpowder was introduced into Japan, along with Christianity). The advanced technology of the westerns played a pretty significant role in developing the wars that took place during feudal Japan. Mercantilism was more a tool used by the Tokugawa shogunate (Edo period) to limit foreign contact.

And gunpowder (the rough equivalent of musketeers) were on the battlefield at the same time as samurai. Although part of the difference between powerful daimyos and weaker ones was the % of gunpowder troops in their ranks.

That's probably enough nitpicking of the settings for feudal Japan from me Enjoy the game!

I don't disagree with your comments, but you may have missed my definition of "Feudal Japan" -- a statement of the culture and values of Japan from birth through the end of World War II. I am not limiting the term to a specific reign or techological era. Rather, I am trying to capture/preserve the overall flavor of the society and translate it into game terms while having fun. No doubt there are many generalizations in my characterization.

The "no open borders" and adoption of Mercantilism rules I have suggested are meant to capture the isolationist feel of Feudal Japan. As you have pointed out, exceptions did occur. One cannot deny, however, that Japan has remained one of the most homogenous nations in the world largely due to its island geography and isolationist atttidues that have only recently changed.

Ashigaru (peasant) soldiers were traditionally armed with spears and other simple weapons (as only nobles were permitted to wear swords), but after the introduction of gunpowder, peasant musketeers did share the battlefield with samurai for a period. Samurai protests about the "cowardly peasant weapon" resulted in the banning of muskets within Japan for a number of years. This is one of the rare historical instances where a cultural preference led to the suppression of a superior military technology, and it's why in my proposed rules I suggested that gunpowder and samurai, while technologically contemporaneous, are not culturally compatible over the long run. The reintroduction of gunpowder in 19th century Japanese warfare effectively ended the military superiority and political power of the samurai, much as it had limited the strength of the European knight centuries earlier.

 

[madscientist]

I am having a little trouble following the city placement, obviously the map is cut a bit and I cannot open the game as I away from teh home computer.

Wait until you get IW teched then place the city to collect it.

I agree about Qin, sword rushing a protective leader is not that difficult

He serves absolutely no purpose for you alive, you cannot open borders with him (can you trade techs??), he is nothing but a threat to your mainland. Plus your Toku general is going to be VERY vulnerable to those Cho-Nuks later. The Japanese want their privacy, so go Bonsai.

One suggestion, your going to be bringing your warlord with you and if I understand correctly he must take the city assaulted (all cities or just Capitals). He needs some support, make sure you have 1 shock promoted Axe and preferable a medic unit that always follow AFTER the warlord and never enter battle. You do not want Toku to take a city with noone following to hold it down, as he would vey vulnerable to even a modest counter attack.

 

[madscientist]

Now that I think about it, Toke needs a three unit escort. a shock promoted melee unit, a medic promoted spear (for chariots), and a CG II archer.

 

[shyuhe]

The characteristics that you've chosen for feudal Japan are probably describe that of the Edo period (when Japan made first contact with the west).

You'll also have to refresh my Japanese history here. When did they voluntarily ban muskets? I'm aware of the musket/katana hunts that they did during the Edo period but I'm not aware of any banning of the use of muskets on the battlefield before or after that period...

Edit: sorry, not meant to be annoying. I'm genuinely curious since my Japanese history seems to be getting rusty these days.

 

[slobberinbear]

Round 2: Banzai!
2550 BC to 395 BC

western storm
water becomes warm;
lark cries

Tokugawa Ieyasu contemplated the sunset, masked by gold and red clouds. He did not need to meet the gaijin Qin to know him. Thanks to the fool Kondo, Tokugawa knew the foreigner’s order of battle; it was all he needed to know.

Arrows. Arrows against Katanas. He nearly laughed.

The peasants fairly dove to the ground in obeisance as he left the small Shinto shrine.

----

The first order of business: the settlement of Tokyo. The game suggested this spot:



And I had to agree. Getting the extra hammer from the plains hill tile would help in the short run and give us access to the rice and pigs right away. It was done.

Iron Working was finally discovered. And where was the precious, hard metal that would slingshot the infant Japanese civilization to greatness?

Um …



Why, within the BFC of the original city location I’d wanted! This is what I get for being seduced by the little blue circle. The little blue circle was so smart in Warlords; alas, it rides the short bus in BtS.

There was also some iron on the far side of the island, but it was uncomfortably close to Qin:



Kondo’s falcon landed once more on the Daimyo’s gauntlet. The news of the discovery of Iron spread throughout Kyoto. Tokugawa’s retainers gathered up all unnecessary families and sent them packing with two days’ rice ration and some basic tools.

The streets of the capital seemed more deserted, but iron katanas were soon being hammered in the forges …

Kondo remained on lookout to the south. It was a matter of time before Qin started to expand. I was actually surprised to find that I had settled a city before he had. I found out why a little later.

Eventually, though, he did settle near my orange dot site:



I also learned that we were dead last in tech. :eep:



This has happened in other, offline games I’ve played as Japan. With no economic bonuses whatsoever, we will have to be very careful with our cash flow and boost our economy through heavy cottaging, harbors, calendar resources.

Qin quickly settled a third city, too. It was time to end his expansion before he claimed the iron tile to his east.



The men were all from higher families. Each had been trained for years in swordplay, the arts, and traditional social graces. When they took to the field, the number of fighters was relatively small, but the assembled army was large, owing to the large supply train. Each man had four or five servants, it seemed. Peasants with spears (and in some cases, agricultural implements) accompanied the swordsmen.

As they hacked through the jungle, the hilltop Chinese city loomed before them.

“ Banzai!!!” Tokugawa screamed.

With a shout, they charged the entrenched Chinese bowmen.

 

[slobberinbear]

Round 2: Banzai! Part 2
2550 BC to 395 BC

The first two attackers were given the City Raider promotion, and had horrible odds against the protective, fortified archers in a hill city:



It only then occurred to me that Cover was a better choice, as Qin apparently had only archers for his cities' defense. I still had the lurking paranoia that Qin had copper near Beijing that I could not see, but so far, no axemen appeared.

Tokugawa himself cleaved a few heads in that first assault. The city was razed due to my concerns about maintenance and our current inability to improve the local Calendar resources.

The stack moved southwest to Shanghai, gathering up a few reinforcements.

Here we see the difference in using Combat I / Cover swordsmen against protective archers not on a hill city. Amazing.





I decided to keep Shanghai. It would get both of the nearby resources and would serve in the short run as a place to heal our wounded troops more quickly.

It was time to end the miserable existence of the Chinese.



The ashigaru axemen (with Cover promotion) were sent in first. We were facing CG II, Drill I archers fortified on a hill capital, after all! The results, while grimly predictable, were encouraging in that one of the archers was severely wounded. Tokugawa personally led the swordsmen after the initial wave.

By the way, notice in the fog of war the shapes on Qin’s coastal tile next to Beijing. Yep, he had already built a lighthouse, three fishing boats, and the Moai Statues. No wonder he hadn’t built more cities.





(With a tip of the cap to Sisiutil’s Princes of the Universe …)

Tokugawa strode through the smoke of the burning palace. His men flanked him, engaging any Chinese who dared attack.

He heard the thrum of the bowstring and pivoted towards it, bringing his katana down savagely. The arrow was cut in two. Qin, enraged, dropped his curved bow and charged. Tokugawa’s cohorts sealed the entrances to the chamber and observed in respectful awe.

Sparks flew from the clash of weapons. The Daimyo was calm, blocking each of his foe’s strokes cleanly. Qin’s frustration grew as his strength waned. Suddenly, the Chinese sword fell to the floor, Qin’s hand still gripping it. The former lord of Beijing fell to his knees, white with shock, and began to speak.

His words were ended, becoming nothing more than a wet whistle of air through his severed neck.



The war was over. Tokugawa’s chamberlain was busy nervously tallying the koku, realizing he would have to inform his lord that the economy was poor, though bolstered by the Chinese plunder. Uninterested, Tokugawa told him to take care of the problem and set about to assess Beijing and arrange for travel home to Kyoto.



The immediate solution was to disband three warriors, who were replaced by returning swordsmen. As we would soon have our own protective archers as garrison troops, the warriors were an economic nuisance. Near the end of the round we finished Sailing and started to deficit research Mathematics, in hopes of reaching Calendar and Currency to bolster the Shogun’s coffers.

A barbarian city appeared on the island immediately to the northwest of Kyoto:



A galley was started in Kyoto to ferry over some veteran swordsmen to dispatch the gaijin.

Our explorer workboat did yeoman’s work this round, uncovering five settlement-ready islands, though it appears that the has nowhere else to explore. We may have to send him along the Arctic icecap to try to find more land.

Here’s a tour of the islands near Japan:









And an overview of the Japanese mainland:



Finally, a look at the wonder screen. We have a Buddhist builder out there that must be dealt with:



The wounded falcon landed once more, but no message was tied to its leg. Tokugawa gingerly inspected the bird’s wing; it had been pierced clean through.

The traitor Kondo was dead. The Shogun allowed himself a grim laugh, and returned to his contemplation of the cherry blossom tree in his courtyard.

 

[tboner23]

Was Kondo 'deleted' for 'maintenance reasons' or simply because I spoke a desire... Though that would make me the power behind the throne.... Interesting.

Onto the game though...

The great lighthouse in Beijing would really help to bolster your economy. the +2 trade routes would basically make all your cities trade with all your cities. Yay for taxes!!!

That's about all I have to say... and to ask how you have ethnic units other than the UU. Is that a BtS addition, or some mods? Keep up the good work!