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GOTM 41 Reloaded - Persian Double Challenge

Ok guyz - first, reply time:

Coolio: thx! IMO, you definitely should try game 41. No matter it's been over for a while, if you seek knowledge, wisdom and self-improvement (say "yes, sensei" :p) GotMs are challenges that deserve to be taken. The level (Monarch) makes it good not only for the top-tier players. Actually, by playing game 41, i've learned that i almost SUCK when there's a lot of free land for expansion. I need little space and big difficulty to play my best.

Own: no, it would be quite boring. With the Ottomans and Celts out of the game, there is little left for the AS to do some significative research, and i'd like to see how i would have performed in playing a space race game. I'll explain now what i'm going to do:


Prelude to space race

I'm going to reload the game at the end of 330BC. I've just come out from the Ancient Age. I know all the AA techs except Literature (that i'm going to research now) and Republic (that i'll buy later in return for some medieval tech). MA tech known are Engineering and Feudalism.

Researching Literature now at max (4 turns at 2.8.0) would cost me a cheap price: 73 quids per turn, for a total of 292 quids. There's more than enough money to afford it.

In post #27, i've explained why the whole turn is good for the Space Race as well. In particular, i've refrained from giving Monarchy to the Ottomans in return of Feudalism. I've choosen to give Engineering instead. While keeping them in Despotism would hypotetically slow the tech pace, acting that way they are encouraged to go for Republic, and so they'll end up having a better research potential, so the tech race would be actually fastened.

Then, if they research Monarchy on they own and establish it, my "smart" plan would fail miserably, but hey! I hope not... :D

Production strategy would essentially remain the same. I'm going to build the Forbidden Palace in Sidon: those gold and gem tiles are too good to be wasted with corruption, and there are also several river tiles to take advantage of. The Great Lighthouse in Tarsus wouldn't be necessary anymore, since i'm going to research up to Navigation as soon as possible.

In the Domination timeline, i was going to research Invention at minimum. I need to speed up the tech race, exactly the opposite of what i'm used to do, and libraries will be important. I'll have to gift the AS with some tech too, no problem.

In the old timeline i was preparing a short war with Japan, to extort some territory. Then i went for Rome, then i went for the rest of Japan. This will happen here too, but probably at a little slower rate, since i'm cranking up research too.

Once claimed all the old world, the game should become quite peaceful. I'm going to revolt again to establish a republic, essential to boost research. About luxuries, i'm going to trade them, or obtain those i can't buy via a quick military campaign, limited to the objective of collecting luxuries. I need to keep the New World's AS intact and powerful whenever possible. They must do some research for me.

It will be an interesting challenge, since i'm forcing myself to play in an unusual way. I have no idea when i'll be able to launch the spaceship, really.

Here's a map of the Persian Kingdom at the start of the Space Race (330BC, end turn):

 
Not exactly. If i want to launch early (and i mean early) i need the AS to research some technologies to be later collected via trade deals. The more they are, the better is for me. And being quite ahead isn't a good thing, since they will research for sure techs i already have. The best thing would be to be slightly backward in order to research the right tech and own a few more via trade.

And, believe me, switching to Republic would be premature now. I need at least 4 luxuries and some marketplaces in the key cities, in order to take advantage of it. Now i'm preparing the wars with Japan and Rome, so a few turns of anarchy now aren't good. I intend to switch, but only after cleaning up the home continent.

EDIT: not counting that i still have to research it!
 
Back at it... cannot leave this log unfinished.

Actually, the 330BC situation isn't much exciting. I have seen it over and over, it's like a chess position studied for a long time - you lose interest on it. To make it more interesting, i won't resume the game as planned, but i'll restart from the beginning, with the precise intention to build a spaceship from the very start. It's kinda new for me, since the "Rising Sun" story was a spurious space race: the game was all-out warmonger style, turned into space race only in the very end because the military victory was almost too easy, while a space race was much more a challenge.

And since my skills have improved so far, the level of the challenge must be raised as well. No open class, but predator. The equalizers are:
  • enemies start with 2 offensive and 4 defensive extra units.
  • AS support level is raised to emperor level.
Rules stay the same: i won't reload unless a stupid mistake occur, like hitting the wrong key on the keyboard or a mouse misclick. The thing that could actually false the game is the prior knowledge of the map and the position of the opponents. I'll try to play as i would have ignored those things, but there's always the risk to be influenced in some way by it.

All right, here's again the start position






Initial strategy

I intend to build my core cities in a RCP 4 position. They will need to grow a lot in the late game, and losing a few productive tiles in the early part seems a good tradeoff for the later advantage. I intend to avoid a despotic golden age, so immortals won't be used until a republic is established. Wars will be slow, since i need to go leader-farming at least in some stages. Libraries and temples will be needed in the core, to boost happiness and increase the research potential. We'll also need some help in research from the AS, so they must be kept intact as long as they don't settle into a space where i can put productive cities. Wonders will be needed as well, expecially those providing extra happiness or research. We may go for the Oracle or the Hanging Gardens in the ancients. A Colossus seems out of question, and so the Pyramids: too early to be built, better hope to capture them.

In the space race screen, we may see what our opponents are, and report their starting techs:
[pre]Persia : (sci/ind) Masonry, Bronze Working;
Rome : (mil/com) Alphabet, Warrior Code;
Japan : (rel/mil) Ceremonial Burial, Wheel;
Iroquois: (exp/rel) Ceremonial Burial, Pottery;
England : (exp/com) Alphabet, Pottery;
Spain : (com/rel) Alphabet, Ceremonial Burial;
Ottomans: (sci/ind) Masonry, Bronze Working;
Celts : (mil/rel) Warrior Code, Ceremonial Burial;[/pre]
The least frequent tech we don't know is the Wheel (1), followed by Pottery (2). As we want to maximize our chances to trade for prerequisite techs, the Wheel would be the best choice, but it's also the most useless one. Pottery, with the ability to build granaries and research toward Map Making, is the best compromise.


Initial expansion

As we noticed in the past, settling SW seems the best choice. Rich tile, luxury hooked from the very start. The worker goes E to improve the floodplain. Persepolis is founded in 3950BC. The city trains a warrior (5), while the worker irrigates the floodplain. Research is set on Pottery at max (14 turns).

The worker irrigates the floodplain, then roads it, then moves E to work another FP tile. The 1st warrior is sent exploring NE, and a 2nd one is trained. Thanks to the pop growth, the 2nd warrior is complete in 3550BC. A settler is now being trained. The 2nd warrior is sent exploring W, while the 1st is recalled.

In 3450BC, Pottery is complete, and we start Alphabet at max speed. The warriors are exploring through the eastern chain of mountains and hills that seems to cross our lands from north to south. We should meet someone very early. Some micromanagement is done to time the completition of the settler with Persepolis reaching size 3.

In 3200BC, we meet the Romans. They already know Bronze Working, but are lacking Pottery and Masonry. We can get Alphabet and Warrior Code, but an even trade is impossible. So we lower research to zero, then get their 2 techs for our 2 techs plus 2 gpt. By paying them gold per turn, we should deter them from attacking with their initial free units. Perhaps.

What to research now? Considering what we have and who we met, the tech that we're more likely to gain with trades is now Ceremonial Burial. We go for Writing then. 40 turns at 3.7.0 (can't do better), but with the increase in population we should save a good number of turns.

We step back with the 1st warrior, to explore the area south of Persepolis and find the best position for a city. Ok, i know already what lies there, but i'm supposed to ignore it hehehe.

In 3150BC, the Romans found the city of Veii. Our settler is complete now, and moves to the location for city 2. Persepolis starts another warrior. The 1st one continues to explore north, through the chain of mountains and hills.

In 3050BC, Pasagardae is founded, on a hill 4 tiles NW of Persepolis. The city starts a worker.

In 2900BC, the warrior is complete, and Persepolis starts a granary. Some MM is done to gain a few shields, at the expense of 1 turn delay in population increase.

In 2850BC, we meet the Japanese. We sell Alphabet and Masonry for Ceremonial Burial, the Wheel and 10 quids. All the possible prerequisite techs are known now. We sell the Wheel to Rome for all their treasury (24 quids). Since they're likely to meet quite soon, it's better to trade everything possible.

The 2nd worker is ready in 2670AD. It moves south to prepare the tiles for city 3. Pasagardae starts a temple, but the production will probably be changed. With the increased income, we can raise science spending to 80% and Writing is done in 19 turns.

In 2630BC, disease strikes Persepolis. Crap. But we are losing only 1 pop unit. Pasagardae turns production to settler. Persepolis sticks with the granary.

In 2470BC, Persepolis is back to size 2 and Writing is done in only 11 turns. No new tech has been acquired by our competitors. Production is readjusted to have the granary complete before reaching size 3. Next turn, Japan masters Horseback Riding. They don't accept at all an even trade with Bronze Working, and we don't have the necessary money to toss in, so no trade for the moment.

In 2390BC, disease hits Pasagardae too. What else can be happen at this point? The Romans sneak-attacking? :mad:

In 2150BC, we raise science spending again, and Writing is due in 4 turns. Persepolis has completed the granary and now is training a settler. Japan and Rome know Horseback Riding and Iron Working.

In 2070BC, Rome found Neapolis in a place that seems absolutely perfect to bork my RCP 4 scheme. Why a city so far apart? Well, actually i know. The iron source. Without the 2 diseases, i would have beat them.

Writing is finally complete in 1990BC. No one has contacts to sell. Considering the free units happily wandering around, it is a strong evidence that no one else should be present in our landmass. We need to expand to the coast and make contacts oversea.

A trade round is called. Japan offers Iron Working and Horseback Riding for Writing, and i happily accept the deal. I sell the tech to Rome too for 26 quids. Research is set to Literature (21 turns at 1.9.0). A few turns later, the settler are complete. Pasagardae starts a warrior and Persepolis starts barracks.

City 3 (Susa) is founded in 1830BC. City 4 (Arbela) is founded in 1790BC, in the location planned to keep the RCP 4, and to hell with Neapolis! I'll try to build culture before them, poprushing if necessary, and so secure at least the rank 1 tiles. Both the new cities are building a temple, although production in Susa is likely to change later.

In 1750AD, the Romans demand money. We bow to their demands and they become polite. It will be necessary to swallow our pride for a while, three regular warriors are all our army.

A shot of the territory at the start of 1725BC turn:



Our future plans are pretty much explained by the picture. City 5 will be needed to hook up the 2nd luxury, and possibly steal the supply of iron with a cultural expansion. City 6 will continue the RCP 4 ring. Then, we'll probably build city 7 and 8 westward and city 9 on the SE coast.

We're now 13 turns short of completing Literature, and Rome is building the Pyramids. The income per turn is zero, and we have a reserve of 44 quids, not that much. After the 1st ring is complete, we could build up some military and wait for Republic to incorporate the Roman territory. Meanwhile, if Rome builds a pair of wonders for us it wouldn't hurt

Next playing session NOW. Next update tomorrow. Seeya soon guyz!
 
Another fine installment by Tr1cky!!!Go Space Race,can we hope for a nuclear armageddon before the spaceship launch,to make it more fitting for AC story? :D
 
Hi dudez! And thanx for your endless and enthusiastic support! Since this log won't be so much exciting as those who preceeded it, i wonder if you would like a more storylike approach. I'm quite far away from writing something like Pax Romana, and it would be too time-consuming anyway, but i could make it in the form of short historical reports. Here's what i have in mind:

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History of Persia
from the words of our ancestors
-- Tome 2 --​


1700BC: The ancient age of Persia was essentially peaceful so far. Our wise rulers had put a great effort in keeping peaceful relations to our neighbours, the Japanese and the Romans. When the arrogant Romans showed up and demanded gold, Persia simply gave them what they wanted. Embarassed, the Roman emissary went back to Rome and since then the Romans had kept a friendly attitude toward us.

It was seen by some as a loss of pride, but it was actually the best thing Persia could do at the moment. In such a scenario, a war would have been quite an hazard: the Persian army was weak, and most of the nation's resources were spent of expansion and development rather than in the military buildup. But since then, the Persian rulers vowed to make Rome regret for its arrogance. At proper times, Persian immortals would have knocked at Rome's door.

Meanwhile, the development goes on undisturbed. Turn after turn, the eastern worker team is building the road to connect city 5 with the road network between our existing cities. Although quite far away, city 5 will be quite important strategically, since it will hook up a spice source necessary for our people's happiness.

The 2nd worker team is currently employed in improving the terrain around what will become the 6th persian city. Roads are built, and the terrain near the river is irrigated. When colonist will reach the place to found the city, they will find a rich and developed land ready to be populated.

A third team is currently under training in Pasagardae.

Our proud capital, Persepolis, has just experienced a substantial increase in population. Attracted by its wealth and food surplus, many people are struggling to reach the city to find a better life than in the wilderness. The production and money potential of the city has benefitted much of this. The tasks of building a barracks and researching Literature will be complete earlier than expected.


1625BC: According to the city log of Pasagardae, the 3rd worker team is finally ready to operate. Our wise governors send them to help team 2 in developing land for city 6. The city of Pasagardae starts assembling a team of colonist to build another city. Our nation needs to grow and expand, before the other tribes outpace us.


1550BC: The rulers of Persepolis cheers at the completition of the 1st military structure of Persia: a training ground for soldiers, commonly named "barracks". Contrary to the expectations of some, the city authority announces that the military buildup won't start right now. A further settler team will be trained instead.

But, in the same years, our explorers bring some worrisome news: the Romans have founded the city of Pisae just outside the Persian borders near Susa. Obviously, Rome is an arrogant and ruthless nation: seeing in us a benevolent attitude toward the foreigners, they try to upset us by limiting our expansion space. Their hope to lull us into declaring war, so to have a pretext for an invasion, is quite evident. But once again our governors refrain from doing a foolish act. The only Persian response is to train a unit in Persepolis and send it to garrison in Susa. The Romans must know that our cities are not left undefended.

After the warrior team is assembled and dispatched, Persepolis resume its plan to train the planned settler team.


1500BC: Our scientists announce us that we have finally reached a complete understanding on Literature. We can finally abandon our rudimental writing style for a more sophisticated form of written expression. The Persian culture is expected to grow much, and so our ability to learn more and better. In consequence of that, research will have a boost, once a sufficient amount of people will be able to read and study our new form of writing.

The half-built temples of Arbela and Susa are converted to libraries. Those new types of buildings will be set up with the precise task of collecting books and make them available to a broader audience. We start researching the art of Map Making. The benefits of this area of research are multiple: we'll be able to draw precise maps of our regions and exchange it with our neighbours. We'll also be able to build naval units so to explore the sea, and possibly make contacts with populations living oversea. Although we don't have any evidence of them, our shamans assure us that they exist somewhere on our world, and their word isn't disputed by anyone.

A few years later (next turn, ndt) we have words that our neighbours have been busy to research as well. Rome has mastered Map Making, our current field of research. And Japan has developed a system of theories and beliefs on the supernatural that goes way beyond our use to bury the dead so to have them rest in peace and have their soul reach the World of the Spirits, where they can rejoin with our ancestors. They call it "Mysticism". It is said by them that this Mysticism can lead some people to make predictions on the future, and strenghten the religious beliefs of common people once a temple is built.

Our rulers recognize the importance of those 2 new areas of knowledge and attempt to trade for them. Although Japan is willing to exchange knowledge, the greedy Romans value Map Making too much to accept an even trade with our Literature. After much debate, our rulers decide to refrain from trading for the moment. Persia will continue to research Map Making by itself, and attempt to trade later when a partial knowledge of the matters involved will hopefully convince Rome to ask a fairer price for it.

----------------

No shots this time, there's nothing new on the map. Like this style? Some feedback will be appreciated, so i can decide what's the best way to continue this gamelog. I'm resuming the game right now, so expect a further update quite soon!
 
Not bad,go on with that style.
 
@Cleric: thanx! To answer your previous question, it's unlikely that you'll see a nuclear holocaust before the spaceship launch. It's in my best interest to keep at least some AS alive and healthy, so to have a chance they will research something for me even in the modern ages.

-----------------------


History of Persia
from the words of our ancestors
-- Tome 3 --​


Arbela, museum of ancient history, unknown source, ca. 1450 BC.

After some fierce debate, the local council of Arbela has decided to speed up the completition of the library as much as possible. Efforts are doubled, then tripled. Every able citizen of Arbela is put into some forced work turn. Those who tries to escape the duty are chased, and if caught they are sent to work in chains as slaves. In every moment of the day and the night, a frantic activity can be seen around the construction site.

When the library is finally over, the tradeoffs of the poprushing policy are evident. Many died in working accidents, many other fled to avoid the forced labor. Almost a half of Arbela's population has been lost, and those who remained (and survived) are less than happy. We had words that the governor of Susa wanted to start a similar programme to speed up the library in his city, but after seeing the damages caused by such a ruthless policy, he decided to back down and have the citizenry complete the task at its natural speed.


Persepolis, museum of ancient history, City Governor's log, ca. 1400 BC.

Our partial mastering of the art of drawing maps has finally convinced the greedy Romans that we cannot be fooled into paying an unreasonable price for that precious knowledge. Our foreign trade authority has been able to strike a deal without putting a heavy burden into our economy for the time being.

The terms of the agreement are onerous anyway: we taught Rome our Literature, shared with them all our current knowledge of our territory, and we paid them 9 gold units immediately, plus a yearly tribute of 6 gold units over a period of 20 years. But the art of Map Making is finally ours.

Another important success has been obtained in those very same days. We got from Japan the knowledge of Mysticism. In return, we taught them the arts of Literature and Map Making. We also obtained their world maps by giving them a yearly tribute of 2 gold units.

A further deal is then signed with the Romans: they give us their complete world map in return for our updated world map, the knowledge of Mysticism and 3 gold units. It's impressive how the Romans and the Japanese were able to explore this land, a task in which we obviously lagged behind. Now Persia has an almost complete knowledge of the continent we share with them. No other population appears on the map, not even barbarian villages.

Our scientists are now studying a new science called Mathematics. It's still unclear what benefits should it bring to our society. Those involved in the research talk about war machines that can toss huge rocks at long distance with good precision, and possible ways to improve our monetary system currently based on raw gold. There is nothing wrong with gold, it serves its purposes quite well, and those "war machines" seem more a visionary's dream than something that can be effectively made real. But our rulers put a lot of faith into this project, and there's no one who dares to openly speak against it. Time will tell if it's been a wise decision or not.


Persepolis, museum of ancient history, unknown source, ca. 1400 BC.

Our newly assembled colonist team is ready to leave Persepolis to found a city in the distant eastern regions, still mainly unexplored. The city will be built next to a source of rare spices. Given the huge distance, it's difficult that the new city will give any significant benefit to our economy, but the supply of spices will be quite important in keeping the Persian citizenry happy and under control.

In the past years Persepolis has experienced a continuous rise in population, to the point that our capital became overpopulated. The citizens are often constrained in narrow and unhealty spaces, and unhappiness has become quite a concern. Nothing better than a new settler team to weed out the undesirables and put Persepolis back to a lower, more controllable population.

Although a road already exists, it will take many years for the colonist team to reach its final destination. A warrior company will escort the team, so to avoid dangerous encounters. Good luck, you brave colonists, and may our ancient fathers look upon you!

--------

Geez! It takes way more time to write the log in that style than playing the game! Any other feedback?!? I would like to continue that way as much as possible, my impression that a simple log of events will become quite boring over time. There will be some warfare in the early medievals, but nothing comparable to a warmonger-style game.
 
Own: thx! Yes, surprisingly i got the "virtual" spaceship award with the Rising Sun. I hope to repeat myself with this game, although winning some "real" awards would be better. :crazyeye:

I'm trying to create a good balance between storytelling and event reports, without adding too much fiction that could strain the turnlog fans without impressing the fiction fans. Hope to continue well. For the moment, 2 positive feedbacks are encouraging to go on with this thing.

------------------

Arbela, museum of ancient history, carthographer's scrolls, ca. 1400 BC

The maps of the known world handed to Persia by the Romans and the Japanese have finally been sent to our library. For the first time we are able to draw a world map where the words "Lands of the unknown" no longer take place. It's still under dispute if more tribes exist in the so-called "land oversea". Some argue that the known world is simply too small to be the only land mass present, but there's no proof to support such a view. Anyway, our duty is to create comprehensive maps of the known and not to argue about the unknown.

With pride, we present to our vast and rich community the first Atlas ever made by persian hands. It's remarkable to note how our belongings, despite being the smallest ones, are already connected by a good network of roads. It's also notable that the lands where the vast majority of our population lives and works are for the most part irrigated and rich of food.

On the other hand, the Roman and Japanese cities are for the most part unconnected and undeveloped. Our wise rulers have always valued quality over quantity, and they have always been right. Over time, our decisive lead in land improvement will bring us additional money and productivity, so to make possible to build more libraries and reach further advancements in science.

 
Persepolis, museum of ancient history, worker's guild scrolls, ca. 1375 BC.

Two of our coordinated teams have completed the irrigation of the floodplain area SE of Persepolis. Their next task is to move to the forest west of the capital, chop the trees and then road and irrigate the zone. Although the deforestation will cause the area to lose productivity in the long run, it will provide a nice production bonus that will speed up the completation of the next structure, probably a library. But most importantly, it will provide a way for the irrigation channels to reach the western plains. Those lands have no direct access to a fresh water source, and without proper irrigation they simply cannot rise enough food to sustain a good population growth.

Our 3rd team has just started a road to connect the known spice source to our existing road network. Since it's in the middle of a jungle, completing the road will take much more time than doing a similar work on an open terrain. We regret to report that the road won't be complete when the colonist team will be in place to found the planned city.

We are also putting the issue on the recent expansion of the city of Arbela. As reported by the local authorities, the library is already giving a cultural benefit on the surrounding population. Rural villages are being attracted from the thriving Persian culture, to the point that the small area disputed between Arbela and the Roman city of Neapolis has recently turned allegiance to Persia. The terrain in question is a small forest with direct access to fresh water. It's opinion of our Guild Masters that, once worked, that land will provide a good production potential and a good income as well.

In regard to this new event and to the subsequent evaluation of our Guild Masters, we are suggesting a new worker team to be trained in Arbela. It will be useful to improve properly that small portion of territory that is still undeveloped.
 
Wow your on a island,conquer the romans.Story good as always.
 
lurker's comment:: Awwww! But Rome 0wnz0rz! (looks at sig)

Eh. As long as it's not me, I'm fine. This is pretty inventive, cool, usual tR1cKy!
 
Cleric: don't worry, the fate of Rome is already sealed. Caesar is a dead man walking. It's only a matter of time :evil:

Dachspmg: Rome ROX in the hands of a human for how much it SUX in the hands of an AS. And as a proud Roman, it's my precise duty to bring the people of Rome to a destiny of glory and greatness. This means that i'll have to declare war, but hey! That's how the game works... :lol:

---------

Persepolis, museum of ancient history, unknown source, ca. 1325 BC.

Note: this collection of papers contains notes about some important facts that happened in Ancient Persia approximately in the same period. Considering the writing stile, it is supposed that they form a collection of reports sent to the central government from various sources. For the 1st time, the central authority is referred as "Great One". It's a clear proof of a transtition from a government based on tribal councils to a more centralized state, possibly ruled by a single despot. Sadly, nothing else is known about this first "Great One" of Persia. His name and his accomplishments are long forgotten.


"The population of Persepolis has grown again, to the point that unhappiness has become a problem. Unless some men in arms are put into the capital to keep the population under control, a riot is likely to happen. The civil office suggests a warrior company, currently stationed into Arbela, to be sent back immediately and garrisoned into Persepolis, until the archer company currently under training in the local barracks is ready to take service."

--------------

"Great One, the council of Arbela is proud to report an increased influence of our city over the surrounding areas. As our culture grows, more and more people are aware of the Persian way of life and tend to prefer it over a more rough life in the wilderness. A good portion of land, previously unclaimed, may now be considered under Persian control.

Some of our sages are suggesting that our influence may extend to the point that it will possibly incorporate the near Roman city of Neapolis. Given the aggressive nature of the Roman nation, we should consider how they would react to this possible expansion at their expense. With this problem in mind, and considering the relocation of part of our military garrison in the capital, we suggest more armed companies to be trained and sent here to discourage the Romans to attempt any form of military retaliation against us."

--------------

"Great One, we are glad to inform you that the library of Susa has been completed as planned. Given the beneficial effect already seen in Arbela, we should expect our influence on the sorrounding area to grow up and incorporate new territory in the near future.

As happening in Persepolis, more and more people from the wilderness are attracted to our beatiful city. Although this is an obvious success, it will, in the long term, plague us with the same unhappiness problems already seen in our capital. Considering this issue, we are asking for a further military company to be trained in the barracks or Persepolis and sent to reinforce our city garrison.

Our next task is to train a new settler team and send it to the nearby coast to build a new city. The coastal location will allow our country to finally have a navy to explore the surrounding coasts, and possibly make contacts with other tribes, before the Romans of the Japanese have a chance to beat us."

---------------

"Sir, as the first Governor of the newfound city of Antioch, i bring you the salute of all its population. A library has been started immediately and, if we complete it fast enough, we'll be able to expand our influence on the surrounding area and take control of the source of iron that lies between our city and the Roman settlement of Neapolis.

Our production is still at the bare minimum, but we expect to ramp it up after some of the near forest has been chopped. We all know the strategic value of having that source of iron under Persian control, and we're proud to have such an important task to complete for the overall greatness of our proud nation. Be assured that we'll work as hard as possible to have our project completed in a short time."

 
Ansarking: thx! :thumbsup: But it's difficult to write the story this way... it's taking much more time that posting the turnlogs, even in a creative way :D Expect not-too-fast updates :(

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Persepolis, Royal Collection, ancient Governor's report, ca. 1300 BC

"Sir, the first archer company of Persia has just been trained and is ready to take service. In according to your previous orders, we are dispatching the company to the city of Arbela, where it will reinforce the garrisoned troops.

In what i see as my duty of governor, i'm asking to reconsider your decision to build a library in the capital. We need to solve urgently the unhappiness problem in Persepolis, and this problem is expected to worsen in the long run, especially if we make use of forced labor to speed up the construction as suggested by some of your less concerned aides.

To solve this problem at least for a while, i'm suggesting to assemble and train a new colonist group immediately, and send it to build the planned coastal city in place of the team currently under training in Susa. The additional resources provided by the deforestation west of Persepolis will allow us to have the new settler team ready and equipped much earlier than normally expected. Once fulfilled this task, we could complete a library and train another military company before being forced to limit again the population of Persepolis.

Lord, i sincerely hope that you will consider with the necessary attention the issues i'm glad to inform you about, and i'm confident that our Ancient Fathers will assist you with their wisdom in taking your final decision."

Note: this is an interesting writing. We note how the local governor is freely expressing his dissent with the actual Lord of Persia without apparent fear to be removed or punished in any way. A hint that, at least in that period, the ancient despotism of Persia wasn't the bloodthirsty government that we are used to think about, but a government in which illuminate leadership, rather than fear and oppression, was the leading force of it.


Arbela, National Trade Union, historical archive, worker's guild scrolls, ca 1300 BC (transcribed)

With the team that has just been trained in our town, we have 4 worker units currently operating in our territory. This isn't far from the optimum that is considered to be 1 worker team per town. However, our governor is reluctant to have further units immediately trained, and we must admit that the drop in population would hamper the production potential of our city.

Given the fact of our main cities are currently training settler teams, we don't expect new units to be available in the near future. This could lead Persia into a period of shortage, in which no sufficient workforce will available to improve the new lands. We are sending reports to our Lord in Persepolis and to the local governors of Persepolis, Susa and Pasagardae, warning them of the possible shortage and asking for new units to be trained as soon as possible.

The new team won't work the surrounding forest. Among the lands that has recently fallen under Persian control, we have located a promising grassland area. The zone in question is also rich of resources and can be conveniently mined. We are sending the new team to accomplish this task, then we'll send it to join the team operating north of Antioch, once the spice road will be complete.

The 2 teams will give their aid to speed up the library in Antioch, by chopping some forest and improving the terrain around the city.

Note: another interesting writing. The different powers of the era, although submitted to the Lord of Persepolis, are entitled with some sort of autonomy and are used to take some decisions on their own. It is surprising that the Lord of that period wasn't shy of leaving some matters in the hands of some trusted entities, even if they weren't directly expressed by the central government!

This tendency to delegate part of the power is the main cause of the little golden age that Persia experienced in the following years. This form of regional autonomy lead to a general increase in efficience. It is easy to imagine that those trusted bodies could handle some matters better and faster than the central government.

Ironically, it's the very same tendency that lead, many centuries later, to the ultimate abolition of the Lordship and the consequent adoption of a representative form of government that has survived till today with nothing more than minor tweaks and changes.
 
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