I think the release of my final spoiler is now authorized:
Middle Ages
I celebrate entering Middle Age by declaring war on Germany. Not for any reason at all. They have been good neighbors, but I want a military leader so I can build an army of Hussars. War is fun when you win! This one goes surprisingly well. My helmeted advisor says the Germans outnumber us, but I don’t see that on the field. I capture Hanover, Heidelburg, Bremen, Cologne, and Stuttgart, almost exclusively with ancient cavalry (thanks Lanzelot!), and I lose only one or two units. More importantly, I spawn the military leader I crave!
480 A.D. Once I have reached natural geographic borders with Germany I grant him peace and regroup. The cities I took from him were on land that really should have been settled by me anyway had I been expanding at a good pace. I settle my own Mansion on the Hill at the NNW choke point, send my leader back to Asbury Park for safekeeping, and regroup my forces.
550 A.D. War with France! I have built a few more towns NNE and I begin to see that the Incas have seriously encroached on France’s territory. With a little muscle I pick off a few French towns and get the border with Inca that will allow us to fight on equal footing. I don’t take much, lose nothing, and make peace quickly.
610 A.D. My galley has finally sailed into the unknown and I identify what I think is another continent. It was very close. I should have done this long ago, especially with the Great Library giving me the techs of known Civs.
My first contact is with Russia, but I am behind them in technology and have nothing to offer. Yet. At home I complete the Forbidden Palace. I build this next to my capital since distant placement does not count as much in C3C.
620 A.D. I don’t have medieval infantry yet, but the Incas have lots of them and I see them clustering on the border of Grenoble. This is the same Grenoble that I took from France, but it is far from my capital, near the Incas, and would probably not be a very viable town for me. I abandon it before it is attacked by the Incas. We will fight soon, but I am not ready yet.
700 A.D. Inca demands 30 gold. I pay him and continue to build my military. I agree to a right of passage with Germany and France.
790 A.D. Russia and France declare war on Inca. This might be an opportunity for me to declare war on Inca and join in the fun while they are occupied on several fronts. I marshal my forces.
800 A.D. Right of Passage with Russia.
840 A.D. I declare war on Inca. I have seen their troops moving out of the towns they have taken from France, and I attack Orleans and Besancon. Besancon falls without loss of life and I gain my second military leader, but the town is immediately retaken.
I destroy Orleans attacking it with a stack of 16 ancient cavalry and two horsemen. I lose one AC and gain a trebuchet. I attack Besancon to retake it but this time there is much blood. I lose four ancient cavs but occupy it with my foot troops. I also take Paris, but it is a small one point settlement.
My galleys are sinking, but one went west and met the Iroquois on the open sea. I offer to buy Theology or Chivalry, but 330 gold is not good enough. Maybe I’ll get it through my Great Library?
870 A.D. My galley meets India. I gain Theology and Chivalry, courtesy of the Great Library I presume. (
I don’t know it at the time, but I have finally made contact with the other continent, and Russia is part of my own land mass.)
880 A.D. I meet Spain. They have Gunpowder, which I am one turn from, and Education, which I don’t want yet. They are also rich: 660 gold.
890 A.D. I take Strasbourg and defend Paris. I have now taken all the French towns I can see that were pirated by the Incans. I offer peace at the cost of all his gold, 13 coins, and he accepts. I am back on peaceful setting, I have two military leaders stockpiled, and I am probably the most powerful nation on my continent. Probably.
I discover Gunpowder and am relieved to see saltpeter in my domain. Thanks Piu. Also, this technology is not known to everyone. I can’t get a good offer to sell it though. And I see a large, unoccupied continent to my south. I don’t have the means or desire to occupy it though. I think that would only be an issue for someone seeking a domination victory.
930 A.D. Right of Passage with Inca.
980 A.D. I declare war on Germany because their territory is bottlenecking the passage to the land I took from Inca. I take several cities then grant peace and right of passage. (
Maybe the latter was a mistake, because in the years to follow I see a swarm of settlers leave the German peninsula to head towards the northwest part of our continent. I had them locked in before.) Also, I get Education and the Great Library is rendered obsolete.
1040 A.D. Many galleys have sunk, but finally one crosses the deep and I meet the Ottomans. They give me their World Map for my Printing Press, and suddenly I can see so much of the world! It looks there are two continents. I can see all of the other and it holds Spain, the Netherlands, the Ottomans, India, and the Iroquois. Spain and the Netherlands have a slight tech lead with Music Theory and Astronomy, but nothing too radical.
Russia, I am disturbed to find, is on my own continent. When I thought the Russians were separated by sea I wasn’t as worried about them. Now I am sure we will eventually trade bullets. Time for my Hussar Armies to raise their heads.
I don’t have a good map of the home continent, only the other continent. I will use my right of passage agreements to send my horse roaming. I should have done this ages ago.
1130 A.D. France eliminated by Russia. They were down to one town and I couldn’t even find it on the map.
Au revoir.
1200 A.D. I build peacefully for a time, focusing on libraries and universities. I suppose this will help me with research and that will help me build a spaceship, but I really an essentially clueless about the deep inner workings of the game.
Things are going along well and peaceful until Isabella demands tribute. She might be strong, but she’s on the wrong continent so I deny her request and she declares war. Soon three conquistadores land on my shores but a cadre of my ancient cavalry, elites all, destroy the invaders without loss of life. The conquistadores make a neat jingle-jangle sound as they ride. I have never seen them before.
At this time Russia ends our right of passage agreement and I’ve found that often signals war. This is more serious since we share a continent. I develop Metallurgy rendering the SoZ obsolete. I have seen my last Ancient Cavalry. They will soon die on the battlefield I’m sure. And in 13 turns I can get Military Tradition and build Hussars. Right now I’m in between.
To distract the Spaniards I contact India and the Netherlands looking for military allies. I give the Indians Chemistry for a military alliance against Spain. I trade Chemistry with Russia for Music Theory and Spices, then I give the Music to the Netherlands with Chemistry for Astronomy and an alliance against Spain. That was better than I hoped. The #4 and #3 nations on the Beta Continent are now my allies against big, bad Spain and I am caught up technologically.
1285 A.D. The Germans cancelled our right of passage agreement, but continue to traipse over my lands. I demand they stop or declare war, so they declare war. Perhaps that was rash on my part. I ask Isabella for peace and she pays me 17 gold for it. Good deal, but I am building a Caravel for retaliation in the future.
I capture Nuremberg, but lose Mansion on the Hill. Then I take Munich and agree to peace on even terms.
1325 A.D. I’m building banks, universities, and Hussars. I have loaded up an army of Hussars, and I am ready if Russia attacks me. That army is fast! I separate my ancient cavalry from my knights, and I begin upgrading some of my knights to Hussars.
1350 A.D. Heidelburg flips over to the Germans. Widespread rioting throughout the empire. I have only one luxury, Ivory. Russia won’t trade me spices, and nothing else is available. I turn the luxury slider up to 30% and make some entertainers. I need to find a way to get some luxuries for my restless citizens.
1385 A.D. I’m running out of money so I turn the luxury slider down to 20%. Three cities immediately riot so I put it back to 30% and turn down science. The unrest will be worse if and when I attack Germany, especially amongst the cities with German heritage, but I am now equipped with two Hussar armies and I’m itching to use them. My troops are massed on the German border, their lances are sharp and their powder dry. We are only waiting for a representative from the House of Hapsburg to arrive and blow the ceremonial horn.
1390 A.D. I declare war on Germany. I retake Heidelburg immediately and send my troops over the mountains into the northern peninsula. Immediate civil unrest in my German towns, but I expect that. My army wins a battle, a golden age is triggered, and I begin production of the Heroic Epic and a Military Academy.
My armies enter the northern peninsula and wreak havoc, destroying improvements and killing occasional troops. I retake Mansion on the Hill, the defensive town I founded years ago. The citizenry there is happy I hope.
In the far east Fire is attacked and another military leader is spawned during the defense. I send him scurrying back to my capital. Overall the German war doesn’t go as well as I hoped. Isabella demands tribute during the fracas and I pay up to avoid a two-front war. Meanwhile my armies are doing well but my free-standing troops are getting slaughtered in the field.
1435 A.D. Fire is not growing, it is riddled with corruption, and it is too far away. It made a settler, but can’t grow past size 1. I read in the forums that in that instance if you abandon the town the settler stays in place and can be relocated. The maneuver works, so I move the settler back towards my home center to fill in a gap.
Munich flips to the enemy a second time. I retake it and raze it. The citizenry will be farmed out to labor camps. By now I want peace but the Germans will not recognize my envoys. Ever. Furious at their intransigence I begin razing every German city I conquer and some that have recently been taken. This will be total warfare until the Kaiser accepts peace. My people are in open revolt! War weariness is extreme.
1450 A.D. Finally, after years of truly senseless destruction, Bismark entertains my envoy and accepts peace. I get his four gold coins and his empire is ruined but I failed if I thought I could eliminate him. My armies are intact, but my support troops are few in number. I will focus on building new towns in the fertile lands now emptied of German cities, and putting up temples to placate my angry, unruly people.
What I need to dull the senses of my people are luxuries. Where are they? How can I find them? CivAssist doesn’t show anything available for trade, and the map only shows me Dyes to the north and the Ivory and Silk I already have. I must be missing something because Spain has multiple luxuries, but none for trade.
1485 A.D. I start building temples everywhere to keep the people happy.
1495 A.D. I have a Galleon built now. I load one of my Hussar Armies onto it and set sail for the Beta Continent. When Spain or one of the others attack me I will have a counter-attack available to make peace an option. I know now that if I am only on defense the Ai is never interested in ending the war. Soon I have two more and my armies are mobile.
1500 A.D. Holy Mother Russia declares war on me in an effort to assert her dominance over the continent. I redirect my convoyed armies home to the southern hemisphere and send a Hussar Army marching through Russian territory. One of the CivFanatics Forum members told me an army is “virtually untouchable in the field” and so it turns out to be. Especially these very mobile hussars. I destroy the Russian infrastructure and rest between turns on a hill. Soon Catherine asks for peace. I decline for now, but I will soon agree. I have lost a few formerly French towns to Russia, but I don’t really mind. Even with the losses I have 42 towns or cities! That’s far too many for me to manage, and I have the governor taking care of most of them. I know that is considered poor management.
1575 A.D. Peace with Russia and RoP. I need to find out if I have rubber in my territory and I need to get ready for the modern age. The enemy has riflemen and I do not, but I hope to skip right to infantry.
1590 A.D. I buy Industrialization from the Netherlands for Medicine, 950 gold, and world map.
1670 A.D. I’ve spent the last 90 years laying track and finally all of my cities are connected by rail. It would have taken a bit longer buy my most distant city defected to the Germans! I don’t see what is so attractive about their culture, but mine is obviously deficient. I am building temples, cathedrals, libraries, etc… but it hasn’t helped much.
Tragedy at Sea: the army that I had sequestered off the coast of Spain in a galleon is sunk by a privateer with loss of all souls aboard! I guess that wasn’t such a great idea, but I will recover. I have the Pentagon and I have built one army leader already for future infantry and another is building.
This part of the game is deadly boring. I’m basically waiting to start building my space ship, making infantry for defense, and hoping no one attacks me.
1700 A.D. The Iroquois land two medieval troops on my territory and then declare war when I demand they leave. They are down to one island town. Why are they wasting their scant resources in this way? One of my armies destroys their invasion force easily, and I load up another army on a galleon to mete out justice on their island.
Smelling blood the Inca declare war on me! Two peripheral towns drop to them immediately. I’m not too worried about this. I am five turns from replaceable parts and have the cash to upgrade many units to infantry. Still, the Inca are a force and are on my continent. They will require serious attention.
I give Germany a tech to join me in war against the Inca. I send my hussars against Lyons, an Incan town I have long coveted, but they are entrenched with guerillas and I am easily beaten back.
I AM STILL WAY BEHIND IN TECH. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?
1715 A.D. I discover replaceable parts but am dismayed to find out that I have no rubber, and even if I did I could not upgrade to infantry without nationalism since the route is through rifleman. Someone on my cabinet will be shot for this lack of proper planning. There is rubber outside of Lyons.
It must be mine. But can I get it? I think I must stake everything on the campaign for rubber:
Operation Latex
I send my armies to Lyons and an all-out assault succeeds in taking the town. I lose two larger towns on the edge of my empire that were defended with musketmen and ACs, but at least for now I have the vital resource I need. Meanwhile I have abandoned my center core and I am lying open to the enemy. This was a desperate roll of the dice:
1750 A.D. Pachacuti finally talks to my envoys and I get peace on even terms. I put a new settler as close to the rubber as possible and abandon Lyons. I don’t want the city to flip back to the Incans. My people are oscillating wildly between rebellion and I Love the Chancellor. I don’t understand them and I can’t risk losing rubber.
Meanwhile, I set every available city to build infantrymen and am quickly defensible:
1784 A.D. Holland declares war on me when I won’t give them coal. I need to winnow some of my older troops anyway.
1786 A.D. Unexpectedly the Ottomans build the U.N. and Osman is elected Secretary-General.
I am defeated.
Time Spent: 20 hours, 51 minutes
Asbury Park was the #1 city of the world at 9,263. (Istanbul was 2nd at 7,159)
World Ranking score: 2,047
I am satisfied with how I did. Perhaps I would have done better continuing to strive for a 20k victory, but lack of ceremonial burial as a starting tech seems to make that notion dead in the water.
Thanks to Piu Freddo for creating an interesting world. I’m glad that iron and rubber were within reach, and it was fun to be the Austrians. I like the Hussars for sure.
