Immortal Progress China Photojournal (of an amateur)

[Minh Le]

Its totally worth it to raze and resettle. The bonus apply for every cities you have so the larger your empire, the bigger the bonus. I dont think at this early stage of the game those conquered cities would retain many buildings.

 

[amateurgamer88]

Its totally worth it to raze and resettle. The bonus apply for every cities you have so the larger your empire, the bigger the bonus. I dont think at this early stage of the game those conquered cities would retain many buildings.

Ah okay, I'll know for the next time. As for the decrease in bonuses when entering a new era, it says random numbers like -x culture and stuff. Does x ever exceed what you gained from gaining cities and getting Great Works from the era before?

 

[YukiN]

Ah okay, I'll know for the next time. As for the decrease in bonuses when entering a new era, it says random numbers like -x culture and stuff. Does x ever exceed what you gained from gaining cities and getting Great Works from the era before?

I asked about this on the QQQA thread, and supposedly it's half the bonus in each city rounded down.

 

[amateurgamer88]

Chapter 6: Finishing the War

Spoiler I. No Wonder Japan has no Army :

I didn't notice Izumo at the time but it's a reason why Japan isn't putting up that much of a fight. He's too busy getting Settlers to settle all those cities while I got the Terracotta Army to give my military a pretty big boost. Now, I don't think I want Izumo but, in hindsight, I should've captured it to raze it since I get extra bonus from my UA. At the time, I didn't want to have a city that vulnerable because that city is quite easy to take regardless what direction you approach it.

Spoiler II. More Experience Too :

It's always wonderful when the CS also help you further along by gifting you free experience that aren't easy to come by on Marathon. I do feel like you need a very long time to get promotions but it makes sense since it's at slower speed. There's another quest that also gives experience but that targeted city is just north of the Iroquois so I don't think I'll be taking that anytime soon.

Spoiler III. Demographics :

According to the demographics, it seems like the Iroquois and not Morocco is my biggest competitor. My population is pretty bad despite my UA which just shows the bonuses AI gets on Immortal difficulty. My crop yield isn't that bad but it might be boosted over time so my population doesn't reflect it. I should lead in land once I capture a few more Japanese cities and my military production basically stopped after I got my Terracotta Army.

Spoiler IV. Birth of Tianjin :

At this point, I'm doing what I can to secure the land in this area and try to fit as many cities as I can. I don't think I'll be working every single tile in the region so that should be fine. These cities can always work specialists if they run out of tiles. I have a Settler arriving and another one that's also completed. I won't be settling those cities until I get into the new era because I want those bonuses to last longer.

Spoiler V. Going Statecraft :

I feel like I'm the weakest when it comes to diplomacy so I went Statecraft. Overall, I want to get a feel of how it is to play Random Victory because it definitely forces you to play differently instead of having a victory condition decided at the start or, depending on the situation, change accordingly. Artistry seems very powerful for China but I feel like I can experiment with Statecraft and see how that will go.

Spoiler VI. Spain Encroaching Closer :

Spain is very likely going to be a threat in the near future. Since she has a corner of the Pangaea to herself, she isn't surrounded by a bunch of neighbors. With the cities she settled, Poland and I are the most obvious targets. However, Byzantium will eventually be her immediate neighbor too so we can add her to the list. I have a defensive position so I'm not too worried. However, I can't say the same about Poland who will likely suffer like Japan.

Spoiler VII. Capturing Nagoya :

If I got to do this again, I'd raze the city and quickly settle the city as its location is decent. The location has lots of resources around it making production and gold quite powerful. One slight improvement might be moving it one tile to the northeast so hostile melee units have to cross the river to attack the city. Since I already made the decision, I will annex the city once I get the chance and develop it into a fortress. I'm thinking a Red Fort here might be decent.

Spoiler VIII. More Science and Culture :

The Oracle is quite nice as it speeds up my tech and policies. I think the bigger acquisition is the temple since I might go quite aggressive in spreading my religion. Japan will soon be my best friend by following my religion (and I didn't take his capital) while the Iroquois can be a nice candidate to spread my religion to. I don't know how he'll defend the religion against Morocco but that's not my concern. I just want to reform my religion.

Spoiler IX. Birth of Macau :

I entered a new era and settled another city. I have another Settler incoming so I will another city southwest of Macau. In addition, I also need two settlers northeast of Nagoya to prevent any AI cities from settling in the area. I will have firm control over the region and that should go quite well. What's amazing is the yields in my capital I'll get for converting all of these new cities to my religion.

Spoiler X. Time to Raze This! :

Nagasaki fell very easily since it only had a Swordsman garrisoning it and even he decided to rout to the west where that barbarian Hand-ax finished him off. I'm going to raze it and settle a city just west of where this city is at. I also plan on settling another city one tile above the coastal sheep tile. It will prevent any other cities from being settled here and it won't be terrible. It won't be great but we can't expect all our cities to be spectacular.

Well, that's it for our update! What will happen after our war with Japan?

 

[amateurgamer88]

Chapter 7: Peaceful Times

Spoiler I. No Point Continuing This :

I think it's very obvious who is the victor in this conflict. Japan has spread himself far too thin and I completely took advantage of it. Now I have a few puppets and can settle a few more cities without anyone getting in my way. If anyone dare to challenge me, then they will face the same fate as Japan. I hope to enjoy some peace but, seeing my history with this game, it's obvious that I can't stand passive play for too long, at least not on Marathon.

Spoiler II. Birth of Shandong :

I settled my new city after razing a Japanese city and moved it slightly to the left to grab a few more resources. I can now have a fish resource and an extra deer resource. I will see if this will pay off since I'm adding a new city which adds more tech/policy costs. I still don't know the proper playstyle of China but I hope this game will shed more light for me. I'm still in the process of learning the ins and outs of these civs.

Spoiler III. New Wonder :

Parthenon does seem to suit me just fine as it seems to suit China quite well if I went Artistry. The free Great Work is certainly nice as it triggers the UA again. At this point, I don't really have any civ challenging me for Wonders since I'm so ahead in techs. I'm also reaching a stage where my UA will be largely triggered by city captures or Great Works and no longer settled cities.

Spoiler IV. Birth of Kaifeng :

Kaifeng is primarily settled to prevent any AI from settling there. We have seen the crazy settling pattern by Japan and I wouldn't be surprised if he finds a way to get a settler here as well. The city won't be great but it won't be awful. I think the two fish tiles and two sheep tiles will provide it with some acceptable yields overall. To be honest, I don't even know if the body of water bordering Kaifeng connects to the ocean so I need more exploration to see if building ships here is worthwhile.

Spoiler V. Birth of Ningbo :

I know I'm settling a lot right now but there are so many locations to settle and so little time. I also have such a massive lead in tech and policies (okay, maybe not so much for policies) so I can afford to do so. I still remembered my Mongolia Photojournal where I settled a few extra cities due to Venice being my closest neighbors and not settling a lot of territory. That put me quite behind and, at some point, I was threatened by a much more advanced civ.

Spoiler VI. New Wonder :

At this point, I think I'll just put New Wonder in the spoiler because I'm not that creative with these titles. Hagia Sophia is taken for the Great Prophet as I'm focusing on getting missionaries to spread my religion as far away as possible. There are a couple of civs without religion like Japan, the Iroquois and Indonesia. If I can convert them over to my religion, I will get more yields in my capital while actually getting some friends (or so I thought).

Spoiler VII. Enhancing Religion :

I got my building with the Synagogues but I hesitate to take a second building as I just don't have enough faith to get both. I have yet to invest in any Synagogues because I'm focusing on nothing but Missionaries at this point. As for the Enhancer, I took Iconography because it's very OP and it helps me when I tech faster than I'm getting policies. That Ignore All Policy Requirements alone can make this belief extremely powerful.

Spoiler VIII. Annexing Nagoya :

I could've razed this city at the time but I had a feeling that Spain might be eyeing this location and I don't have enough production to build Settlers very quickly. I liked the location enough and annexing it felt like less work. When you look at the Jades and Stones around this city, I expect a lot of production for this city and, given that it will serve as a frontier against Spain, I like that just fine.

Spoiler IX. Japan Not Learning? :

Nagasaki is quite an annoying location for Japan to settle. I was actually sending my Settler in this direction but was a few turn off. You can see my Settler just below my Tech panel so I was literally 3 turns away from securing it. I'm annoyed but I won't let this get to me too much. While the desert makes logistics on land very difficult, I can see this city quite vulnerable to ships with all those coastal tiles adjacent to the city. I will need a navy for that.

Spoiler X. New Wonder :

It's not often that I can play the religious game like this but I certainly don't mind it at all. Borobudur will give all my Missionaries additional uses and that can be huge once I research Civil Service. I actually learned recently from the Peaceful India Photojournal that open borders stops the attrition of your religious units. Soon, my Missionaries can move around everywhere to spread my religion without me micromanaging their paths without stepping into any borders.

Well, that's it for our update! Will we enjoy some peaceful updates for the next few?

 

[Minh Le]

Wow youre warring, epanding and building wonders at the same time... Its impressive.

 

[YukiN]

I think Iconography is a waste since you went Statecraft and you are China. You aren't going to be behind on policies and Statecraft gives policy reduction on wonders once you complete it anyway.

Still, that looks like an excellent game. Council of Elders really is a more powerful snowballing belief than I gave it credit for.

Hagia Sophia also buffs missionaries, so your missionaries are almost twice as effective as usual.

 

[amateurgamer88]

Wow youre warring, epanding and building wonders at the same time... Its impressive.

China is just outright OP at Immortal or lower difficulty. I'm not sure how they fare in Deity but I expect them to be do quite well unless you have really bad start.

I think Iconography is a waste since you went Statecraft and you are China. You aren't going to be behind on policies and Statecraft gives policy reduction on wonders once you complete it anyway.

Still, that looks like an excellent game. Council of Elders really is a more powerful snowballing belief than I gave it credit for.

Hagia Sophia also buffs missionaries, so your missionaries are almost twice as effective as usual.

Unless I've mistaken, Iconography also gives you more Great People points? That will speed up my Great Writers, Artists and Musicians so I can get Great Works faster. And while it doesn't seem that useful in terms of requirements, I was actually able to build the Borobudur right after Hagia Sophis since the former Wonder needs an extra policy which I didn't have at the time.

Council of Elders seems amazing for those expanding very rapidly or have a neighbor without a religion with plenty of cities. The production I got is massive and speeds up the Wonders that would otherwise be impossible to be completed at this rate. If you ever play with a religious civ and you're willing to aggressive spread your religion, you'd see a lot of yields.

Hagia Sophia's buff for Missionaries is certainly huge. They help me convert easier so three charges and Open Border with civs make many cities converted very quickly. I get to time those conversions for my Wonders so it's a huge win.

 

[amateurgamer88]

Chapter 8: Wonder Spamming Minigame

Spoiler I. Birth of Baoding :

Well, I had to do something with that Settler I was sending to where Nagasaki is so I decided to settle Baoding. This location is mostly a frontier city meant to help me defend against any possible Japanese aggression. The rough terrain will make it tough for Japanese troops to attack it and, since it's not coastal, I won't have to worry about it falling to ships. I even started a Shrine first to help speed up the rate I'm getting Missionaries because I'm not worried yet.

Spoiler II. New Policy :

I can slow down influence decay drastically with this new policy, though many of the TR are going to be quite vulnerable to being pillaged by other civs. I will need to focus on getting as many Envoys as possible soon because I find them to be more worthwhile to get than Diplomats given the hammers to make them and the influence you get. I'm not delaying Envoys since I need Open Borders from Civil Service.

Spoiler III. Reformation Belief :

After some thought, I chose to go for Global Commandments for my Reformation. It seems to give me the most yields overall and I know I can remain host for quite awhile. Morocco might be an issue if he keeps getting more CS allies and I have to do something about that. In the meantime, I will make use of the benefits by grabbing additional Wonders because I can get away with it. My capital doesn't have to build anything else now that my other cities are in decent shape.

Spoiler IV. Spain a Growing Threat? :

Spain is doing quite well with her religion and has succeeded in getting Jesuit Education which can be massive. She will have surplus of faith so she can actually buy Universities and such with ease while she's spamming her Missionaries everywhere else. She's behind in technology at the moment but this Reformation can make a big difference if she's allowed to get these in all her cities. Time will tell if she'll have a chance to snowball.

Spoiler V. War on the Horizon? :

I'm getting very annoyed by Spain sending her missionaries in my direction and, when I kindly ask her to stop, she decides that she can't accept no as an answer. I guess this means that I have to use a different diplomacy to change her mind. Maybe drastically weakening her will slow down her Missionaries from trying to convert my cities every few turns. I want to emphasize that Spain asked for this and I have my own interests to defend against.

Spoiler VI. New Wonder :

Forbidden Palace is such a great Wonder for my empire where I have only a handful of puppets and just lots of cities needing plenty of help moving forward. I have delayed this quite a bit to get Hagia Sophia and Borobudur but I think that was a good decision overall. I can still build Wonders in the meantime while my Missionaries are making progress spreading my religion to Japan and the Iroquois. Soon I'll be working on Indonesia as well.

Spoiler VII. New Policy :

I'm making good progress but Morocco is somehow still only 2 policies behind me. This is quite worrying but I guess a 2 policy lead is enormous given how much harder it is to catch up in turns of policies compared to techs. Still, I was hoping to run further away with the game but Morocco is making things interesting. Maybe I'll leave him alone for awhile and see how he does. In the meantime, I think Spain needs to be taught a proper lesson.

Spoiler VIII. New Wonder :

Those extra yields are very powerful from the Golden Age for the Notre Dame. When you look at all the cities that will benefit from this, this Wonder easily pays for itself and then some. I'm working hard to grab all the Wonders before the AI even have access to them. For now, I'm 8 techs ahead of Morocco who's second in techs. It was 10 techs earlier but he's somehow closing the gap there.

Spoiler IX. New Wonder :

Why did I grab the Cathedral of St. Basil when I got my Reformation already? I want to deny it from an AI so it has to work for it. I also want that Order in my capital because we have wars to win and stronger units are always great. It also provides some extra faith to get more Missionaries produced. At this point, I need 5 or 6 turns to get a Missionaries which is basically equivalent of 2 per turn on Standard.

Spoiler X. New Wonder :

Since Beijing isn't coastal, I have to build the Colossus in Shanghai and I got it no problem. At this point, I have a couple of cities with enough production to build Wonders so not all of them has to be built in Beijing. Nanjing will build all those Wonders that require Mountains within its borders so, once we get into Industrial Age, it will be back to Wonder building again. At least Beijing has a river so it can build most Wonders. Let me reemphasize that Council of Elders make these Wonder building so much easier. At this point, I'm getting around 500 production in my capital for each city converted. If I have three Missionaries converting three cities at the same turn, that's 1500 Production which is massive.

Well, that's it for our update! Will Spain annoy me enough for me to declare war on her next?

 

[amateurgamer88]

Chapter 9: Spamming Missionaries

Spoiler I. New Wonder :

The Machu Picchu was delayed since I had so little competition for it. I guess I could've went for it earlier to obtain more gold overall to help speed up more buildings and such. However, I don't have regrets with my focus on religion as it's certainly yielding a lot of results. I feel like I'm getting techs very quickly with the Elders of Council and, while this is hurting me by moving me through the eras much faster, I prefer to have a solid tech lead against all my foes.

Spoiler II. The Iroquois Converted :

It certainly wasn't an easy task given that the Iroquois had 16 cities in total with a couple north of Morocco. I had to focus on the Iroquois capital and those cores cities immediately around it. Then, I had to convert those Iroquois city separate. Luckily, three charges and stronger conversion strength along with Open Borders made it possible eventually. Hiawatha isn't making the conversion of his empire easy, that's for sure.

Spoiler III. Poor Poland :

Poland has the same problem as Japan with his cities stretched out in a line and being quite difficult to defend. I don't see this ending well for Poland, especially when Byzantium seems to have invested a lot more with her military. My Explorer spotted the small but very powerful Byzantium force approaching Lublin. Without walls, that city is going to fall so quickly. It was nice knowing you, Poland.

Spoiler IV. Byzantium in Trouble? :

Both Spain and Indonesia have declared war on Byzantium which makes me wonder how the wars will go. Byzantium is certainly investing a lot of resources on taking Polish cities but so many Polish cities simply lack walls and can't offer much resistance. In the meantime, Morocco is sprading his religion to the Iroquois so that's quite annoying overall. I just don't think Hiawatha can win a religion battle against Morocco without my help.

Spoiler V. WC Founded :

I finally got the Printing Press (the tech, not the National Wonder) and started this off. I have a decent lead in votes due to my Religious Authority. With the Wonders I've grabbed and the future ones I intend to take as well, I can see Cultural Heritage Site adding a lot of yields for me over the long run. At this point, I'm still spamming Missionaries like mad because I can and it works. I didn't take a screenshot but Japan is also following my religion at this point.

Spoiler VI. New Policy :

Getting extra spies is nice in that I can get more of them rigging the elections of CS and securing my alliances without spending too much in term of gold or production. There's no one to spy as I'm so ahead in everything unless I get a quest to do so. At this point of the game, I'm actually doing quite well with my policies and hope to keep it going. Entering a new era hurts me a bit but I think I've reached a point where I'm snowballing a fair bit.

Spoiler VII. New Wonder :

I don't know how many specialists I'm working because I'm just too lazy to manually change everything. Eventually, I'll have to in my Deity games where every small change can make enormous impact on the rest of the game. For now, I assume that my cities are doing quite well since my UA is adding quite a bit of food so my cities are reasonable size, though they still pale against Marrakech which is growing quite rapidly with all those good yields.

Spoiler VIII. Indonesia Converted :

Indonesia is further away from my territory but, with Open Borders, my Missionaries can get there no problem. Unlike the Iroquois, Indonesia has fewer cities and they are all connected by roads. It was a rather easy task to convert most of his cities once I get enough Missionaries over, though 2 Missionaries with 6 charges can already do wonders as it is. That's three civs following my religion now.

Spoiler IX. New Wonder :

Leaning Tower of Pisa will work nicely with Iconography as my Great People generation will be reasonable considering that I didn't take Artistry. Speaking of Artistry, that's the Medieval Policy Tree Morocco took. I guess he won't be as big of a threat in terms of diplomacy and I'm totally fine with that. However, I can see him closing the gap between our policies with the boost to culture he'll get with Artistry. It will be interesting to see.

Spoiler X. Poland Divided Up! :

Polish cities are being divided up between Byzantium and the Iroquois. This isn't going to end well for Poland but there's little that can be done about them. Warsaw is now completely isolated from the other Polish cities but, at this rate, Poland will only have a single city. Overall, this will likely bring Byzantium in conflict with the Iroquois and that can go poorly for Byzantium given that she's already antagonized both Spain and Indonesia.

Well, that's it for our update! Will we have another boring and peaceful update next?

 

[chicorbeef]

Wonder after Wonder. Impressive. I've lost count.

Cultural Heritage Sites is an excellent choice, but...why not World Religion? Iroquois/Japan will vote for that, right, so there is a good chance it will get passed and you can basically lock down the Congress from that point. It synergizes well with the Reformation you chose. Heritage Sites is easy to pass anyway in my experience. You could even use Diplomats to bribe away from voting against you if possible.

This game just looks more or less perfect to me tbh. Any advice I can give would just be nitpicking Good job!

 

[amateurgamer88]

Wonder after Wonder. Impressive. I've lost count.

Cultural Heritage Sites is an excellent choice, but...why not World Religion? Iroquois/Japan will vote for that, right, so there is a good chance it will get passed and you can basically lock down the Congress from that point. It synergizes well with the Reformation you chose. Heritage Sites is easy to pass anyway in my experience. You could even use Diplomats to bribe away from voting against you if possible.

This game just looks more or less perfect to me tbh. Any advice I can give would just be nitpicking Good job!

I've lost count too but I'm grabbing every single one I can at this rate. As for World Religion, I haven't converted Indonesia yet and I wasn't sure how contest his cities are given how close he is to Byzantium. Even then, I'm trying to stay friendly with all the civs so I want to keep that trend going until everyone already hates me.

This game looks great because China is OP with how the map developed and the difficulty I'm play on. Deity is a whole different ball park.

 

[Minh Le]

Youre literally building all the wonders ..

 

[amateurgamer88]

Youre literally building all the wonders ..

That's the plan! If I'm really ambitious, I'll capture the ones I didn't build.

 

[Minh Le]

Yes sound like a cool challenge, owning all the world wonders

 

[YukiN]

I like peaceful. Means you can build buildings and wonders.

 

[amateurgamer88]

I like peaceful. Means you can build buildings and wonders.

I like peaceful until it gets boring. Then the warlike part of me comes out and tells me that a few cities need "protection."

 

[amateurgamer88]

Chapter 10: Empires Carving Territories

Spoiler I. Ugly Borders :

I blame it on the Poland AI for settling cities like those because they just look so bad and made worse when both Byzantium and the Iroquois are vying for them. I think it might eventually fall on me to clean these borders up but I will play mostly peaceful for now. With my capture of Japanese cities, I expect to have some territorial disputes with other civs. Poland won't say much but we all know Hiawatha start wars over the smallest matters.

Spoiler II. New Policy :

I can certainly see CV as an option if it gets decided that way when we reach Atomic Era. With multiple TR active, I will get a fair bit of tourism over the long terms. Grabbing most of the Wonders certainly helps with that, especially once I get Hotels and such. For the time being, I'm just going to use all of my TR to help me secure CS alliances, though Morocco can be very annoying if one of their units happens to end its turns on a Caravan.

Spoiler III. New Wonder :

With Chichen Itza, I should be able to get Golden Ages that will last forever. I know that's going to be changed in one of the newer updates but I'll enjoy it while I still can. For my capital, the WLTED is certainly going to last the rest of the game if I continue getting Great Works and conquering a few more enemy cities. This is what makes China just such a powerful foe to deal with as she can snowball quite quickly.

Spoiler IV. Byzantium Overextended? :

I'm sure everyone saw this coming when Poland territory started getting gobbled up by the Iroquois and Byzantium. Now that they share a larger border, Hiawatha is of course going to take advantage of the situation to attack Byzantium. With the Iroquois, I'm a bit conflicted. If he grows stronger, then there will be more cities following my faith since Hiawatha will convert all his newly conquered cities and I get so many yields from those. Of course, there's also a powerful Iroquois that will be annoying to crush later on due to the size of his empire.

Spoiler V. Byzantium Growing Weaker? :

Indonesia and Byzantium have concluded their war (this screenshot is a few turns after their war concluded) and Indonesia came out victorious with three cities taken. Now that the Iroquois is also attacking Byzantium, you have to wonder if Byzantium will share the same fate as Poland and will be carved out by her neighbors. Surprisingly, Spain has made little progress in her war with Byzantium so I guess it's not all bad news for Theodora. Byzantium is safe now, right?

Spoiler VI. Deja Vu? :

Indonesia senses weakness in Byzantium and, if I was the AI, I'd do the same thing. After all, she's busy fighting the Iroquois who has a fairly large army as well. You'd expect the western front of Byzantium to be quite vulnerable at this point, right? Well, there's one thing we have to remember and that Byzantium is at her strongest right now. I might be in Renaissance right now but Byzantium is probably halfway through Medieval. Her Cataphracts are going to be a huge threat for sure.

Spoiler VII. New Wonder :

Before, I always felt that Himeji Castle's bonus to city defenses seems quite small. However, I only just realized that Fealty (I rarely take it since it feels less specialized than the other two Medieval trees) synergizes quite nicely with this Wonder. You get 3 defense for each city for each policy unlocked in Fealty. When you complete it, that's a total of 18 defense which Himeji Castle gives an additional 1.8. This doesn't seem like much but it's extra 19.8 defense to cities. Now, if we stack that with Red Fort at a choke point...

Spoiler VIII. Completing Statecraft :

You know your culture output is ridiculously high when you can compare this to another one of your games. With my Denmark game, my culture output required for the Industrial Era tree is 114 turns. With China, it's taking about half the time and that's pretty ridiculous. I guess it's a good thing Denmark has Runestone or there's no way for that civ to catch up in policies or get a huge lead.

Spoiler IX. Rise of Poland? :

I sure didn't see Poland doing much with his declaration of war on Byzantium. I was pleasantly surprised to see Poland retaking one of his cities but I still have doubts about a badly losing AI being able to rebound in a game. Maybe other people with lots of hours have seen it but, for me personally, even retaking one of its old cities is a miracle in itself and that doesn't necessarily mean the civ can go back to competing for the victory of the game.

Spoiler X. Japan Doesn't Learn :

Japan first settled on what I see as my territory and he gets a big thrashing. Now, he decides to settle three cities in between all those Spanish cities. Now, he must be a gluttony for punishment but there's little I can do about it. After all, Japan will have to be beaten into a pulp at this rate before he learns. He better not anger me or he'll feel my wrath. Though, now is a good time because I haven't been expanding my military yet.

Well, that's it for our update! Maybe we'll see more action from China because I'm playing like a slumbering dragon right now?

 

[amateurgamer88]

Chapter 11: Little Change of Pace

Spoiler I. She Asked for It! :

Well, Spain did refuse outright to stop sending Missionaries towards me when I ask her very nicely. There's a limit to how much I'm willing to tolerant with other civs spreading their religion that I don't want in my empire at all. Now that Spain had a chance to expand relatively peacefully with a few wars to add more cities, I think she should be taught that opposing China is going to have consequences.

Spoiler II. Quick Overview :

So far, I'm grabbing Wonders steadily because Council of Elders is extremely powerful and I have a couple of secondary cities that have lots of production to help with everything else. I need an army? Those secondary cities can build them. Diplomatic units? They can do so as well. Oddly enough, my style is similar to Tradition where my secondary cities support the capital so I can build whatever. The only difference is that my secondary cities will remain powerful entering the late game since I went Progress. Now, Statecraft is also giving me a large income which, when combined with a Golden Age, aids my snowball further.

Spoiler III. Broken Quest :

I know the quests can be very random and you have no control. Sometimes, the quests comes too late to take advantage of. For example, I've had the Circumnavigation quest come up a few turns before the leading civ completes it. Here, I had three CS giving me the quests in time for me to complete them and get not one or two but actually three Admirals. I think a powerful army is all I need for this game with a small navy for defense so I won't have too many uses for those Admirals.

Spoiler IV. Well, This Became Obsolete :

Let me explain why I I'm saying this has become obsolete. I built Red Fort in the city of Nagoya expecting that to remain on the front line for my future wars. Now that I'm warring against Spain, I will very likely be pushing my front line further so the Red Fort won't be as effective unless much later in the game when Paratroopers show up and decide to land anywhere close to Nagoya. At least I get more supply cap from this to protect my large border better.

Spoiler V. One City Taken :

Zaragoza has very little units defending it so it was quite easy to take. My Lancers were already giving it trouble so my Cannon, Musketman and Cuirassier just helped sped up the process. Let's just say Lancers are quite OP even when you are in the same age as your enemies, let alone against a foe that's still fielding Swordsmen and Composite Bowmen. I think I'll restrain myself from conquering all the Spanish cities so we can see some interesting developments taking place this game.

Spoiler VI. Spain Distracted :

I was wondering why Spain had so few units standing in my way before I noticed these former Polish cities. However, I'm not sure if Spain took those from Poland or if she took the city from Byzantium who was responsible to taking those cities first. Regardless, I find the AI to struggle with a large front. Even on higher difficulties, I discover that the AI doesn't have enough units to have solid defense everywhere and, as a human, I just need to find their weakspots and hit them very hard there.

Spoiler VII. RIP Poland :

For a moment, you'd think that Poland might have a chance to establish a small empire that will be gone in 200 turns or so. Byzantium is merciless and finished Poland off completely by taking Warsaw. There had been other wars in the past but Warsaw held its ground somehow. I do believe that, with the appearance of Trebuchet and Cataphracts, Poland's days were numbered. At this point, I do wonder which unit is stronger, Cataphracts or Conquistador?

Spoiler VIII. Getting Toledo :

By aggressively pushing forward against Spain, my units have lower health but they made tremendous gains in the process. I just had to open the area up so my Cannons and Musketmen can get in range to drop the city. I don't have enough melee units to attack the cities without being punished by the Spanish Conquistadors. Luckily, I don't have to given the strength of Cannons at this point of the game.

Spoiler IX. Cordoba Falls :

I do think that most of the Spanish army is preoccupied with Byzantium forces so I'm encountering relatively few resistance. While they are duking it out on some minor cities, I grabbed three Spanish cities with two of them being fairly developed. As a result, I expect Spain to be slowed down a bit. Now, Spain isn't out yet and I do want to see if my conquests does result in her downfall or not. Meanwhile, Izumo is really annoying me with its location.

Spoiler X. Let's End This! :

I will be merciful and hope that this will teach Spain a lesson. I also used the opportunity to start getting Inquisitors in all of my cities starting from those closest to Spain. Soon, her Missionaries wouldn't be a problem to be and, if they remain so, I guess I'll just continue where I left off here. Spain really asked for it as I wouldn't have attacked her if she agreed to stop sending Missionaries my way. I doubt the AI will learn though.

Well, that's it for our update! Time to return to Wonder spamming?

 

[amateurgamer88]

Chapter 12: So Much for Peace

Spoiler I. Picking Industry! :

I've never went Industry before because I thought it wasn't that strong overall. However, I finally got a chance to stop and look at it and noticed that it's actually very powerful. This seems like it works very well with Progress where you are focusing highly on your infrastructure. The discount in purchases are enormous and I can see how this helps you with upgrades since less gold is needed for your buildings. Overall, I'm excited to try this tree out because I've found Imperialism to be very powerful while Rationalism seems pretty average, at least on Marathon speed.

Spoiler II. Oh....? :

That was my reaction when the Iroquois declared war. I certainly didn't expect him to go aggressive towards me given that our borders don't quite touch each other. I shouldn't be shocked but the Iroquois has so many other neighbors he can potentially attack. I'm not too afraid of him as I have the necessary defenses against his attacks. At this point, I feel like he's more of an annoyance than anything.

Spoiler III. The Last Stand...and Spain :

I only just realized that I showed the last stand of this Mohawk Warrior. He was the unfortunate unit selected by the Iroquois to explore the world and now he is trying to outrun a Lancer. I can assure you that his death was swift. In the meantime, Spain has attack Japan but that hsouldn't come as a surprise. After all, those Japanese cities are clearly Japan's way of testing the patience of Spain. When will Japan learn?

Spoiler IV. New Wonder :

As I'm securing more alliances with CS, I will need more Chanceries to provide me with additional yields. I didn't realize it before but Chanceries can be a solid building even if you don't get Summer Palace. The Wonder just makes them essentially maintenance free which is always useful. At this point, the extra culture to Chanceries might not be so relevant given my high culture output. China UA is pretty broken, in my opinion.

Spoiler V. Spain Getting it Done! :

Spain didn't hesitate at all when it comes to invading and capturing those Japanese cities. They weren't well defended at all and all reinforcements are effectively cut off. While it's true that I share an Open Border with Japan, those units have to cover a lot of ground to reach Spain. I guess the only upside for Japan is Izumo which's somewhat safe behind my lines. I think I will need to deal with it eventually.

Spoiler VI. New Wonder :

I believe I entered a new era as I see a noticeable dip in my culture output. It's not big enough to have a huge impact but I do start noticing these things when I write my photojournals. Sistine Chapel does seems to alleviate the problem slightly by providing some extra culture to my overall output. At this point, I question if I'll ever fill all of my slots for Great Works. I've done it with my OCC China but that game saw only a single city and there's only so many slots you can grab.

Spoiler VII. Warmongering Iroquois :

First, the Iroquois is no longer following my religion. He just lacks the capabilities of halting Islam from Morocco and Orthodoxy from Byzantium from reach and dominating his cities. At this point, the religious situation for the Iroquois looks like a huge mess and he's probably cursing me for not getting Pagodas for one of my follower beliefs. Secondly, Iroquois is basically fighting all of his immediate neighbors right now which does explain why I've seen very few of his units attacking me.

Spoiler VIII. New Wonder :

I'm working to get more culture in my city as I think the amount I'm missing out due to not taking Artistry is probably very noticeable. When I went Artistry in my OCC China game, I felt like my lead with policies grows quite strong and I had a huge lead ahead of all my enemies. Here, I have a lead but Immortal AIs sometimes get enough bonuses to catch up. In terms of techs, my lead against Morocco is steadily disappearing. I'm still 6 or 7 techs ahead but this number was above 10 earlier.

Spoiler IX. New Wonder :

When I look at Industry, the tree seems to have some solid yields in terms of culture and science. The +x% in culture and science for some buildings I normally go for can be quite powerful. At this point, I have to focus on my science, Porcelain Tower being one of them, because I don't like the idea of Morocco being on par with me in techs. I'm starting to wonder if I'm making a mistake and let Morocco grow strong without any interference. I might actually have a tough foe in the late game.

Spoiler X. World Religion :

Before, I was hesitant to propose this because I want to befriend everyone if possible. Sadly, that isn't happening with all these wars so I decide to choose what benefits me the most. Japan and Indonesia are still following my religion so they might support me. Most importantly, I know I have enough votes by myself and I don't expect all the other civs to participate in this vote. I'm glad I was right and this is passed. However, I doubt that the Iroquois will fix his religion situation.

Well, that's it for our update! Who will attack China next?