Interesting Times - The AI Side of RFC

[CFCoasters]

Ahhh... It's good to be back. I apologize for the long wait (again), but I am back (again), so you know what time it is... Interesting Times time! Hopefully I will be able to actually finish this story soon!

We come back to our adventure on turn 328, year 1811. As the turn begins, a messenger arrives, giving me the following news:

The third Congress, huh? Well, of course I'll accept! Maybe I'll take Xi-an from Mongolia in the process.

Meanwhile, we get an offer from Ragnar...

I take a single rifleman to the outskirts of Mongol Xi'an to see what kind of forces the Mongols have:

Fair sized army, but backwards. Nothing I can't handle.

Also, Great General Belisarius arrives in is born in Keijo! I construct a Military Academy there to further improve military production there.

Turn 329: See this?

Wondering why my galley is at 1/3 health? It just fought a battle against an independent Frigate... and won. The captain deserves a medal!

In foreign news, the Russians have settled Kurgan:

Meanwhile, I noticed that the Mongol army in Xi'an is largely gone. After some exploring:

Well, it was nice knowing you, Tibet! Assuming no complete collapse, this will be the 4th owner of Lhasa - China, India, (Independent) Tibet, and Mongolia.

To make this more interesting, I noticed an news report that said that Mongolia has signed a Defensive Pact with the Ottomans... oh boy. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to get a screenshot of the update.

And that's it for the first part of this update! Next one (the second half) features a lot of action, as Congress #3 commences, I finally get Assembly Line (and Infantry ), and much hilarity ensues. Until next time, stay tuned!

 

[CaterpillarKing]

Nice nice!

 

[mrrandomplayer]

Yes, IT'S BACK!!!!!

 

[GreekAnalyzer]

Yes, IT'S BACK!!!!!

This.

 

[CFCoasters]

Hello, civvers, and welcome back to Interesting Times!

Last time, the Russians settled Kurgan, the Mongols began moving on Tibet, they signed a Defensive Pact with the Ottomans, and most importantly, the world began to prepare for the Third International Congress. And now, let's get on with it!

We start on Turn 330 (Year 1817), as the leaders of the top nations of the world gather in the major French city of Bordeaux to discuss the state of the world, it's current balance of power, and who gets to screw over who.

As it turns out, Japan is slated to go first! We get some interesting options to choose from, but of the five, four are Mongol:

Baotou is almost useless, I don't remember where Haerbin is, and I'm not interested in any Khmer cities, which leaves Xi'an and Shenyang. Shenyang is a better city, but I'm most interested in gaining a city I can defend from the Mongols if it comes to war, and Shenyang is in an awkward spot to defend from, so I chose Xi'an. The result:

In the end, the vote is 3-4 against me. Oh well. We also see who is in the Congress. Obviously there is Japan, but there is also Greece , France, England, Russia, The Netherlands, Portugal, Mongolia, and the Ottomans. Russia and Greece took my side, while Britain, France, Mongolia, and Turkey voted against me. I guess the idea of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" applies here.

Next up, Alexander of Greece. His choice: the Ottoman city of Takht-e-Jamshid (Former Parsa, the Persian capitol). The results:

Alexander is making a living of screwing over the Ottomans!

Up next are the Ottomans themselves, looking for some compensation. They go after their own ally, the Mongols, by asking for Sanchu. I abstain (My biggest enemy vs the world's biggest enemy... how to choose?) and the results:

Denied! Maybe choose a city other than one of your only friend in this Congress next time. Up next is Kublai Khan of Mongolia. Thankfully, he doesn't ask for one of my cities, instead of going into Central Asia. The city of Shash was independent at the time of the Congress (I don't remember if it was Ottoman and revolted, or was independent the whole time), and the results:

The Mongols get the city, but it isn't exactly going to be useful.

Fifth up: Joao of Portugal, who seeks out the last non-Portuguese city in Mexico, Teotihuacan. And:

Joao almost gets his dream, but the vote ends in a tie. Portugal is denied. Sixth on the list: The Dutch, who wants Spalatum in "Croatia". And he will not be denied:

The Dutch are creating quite the empire in Europe, huh? Anyway, up next is Catherine of Russia who wants... Spalatum. The results:

So much for that. We have two left in the Congress. First up: Victoria of England, who wants Sioux Falls, the American city currently occupied by Native Americans (Sioux, perhaps? ). In the end, England falls short:

Finally, we have the French, who wants to take back the old colonial city of Savannah, currently an American city. The results:

Deep game by Napoleon there, allowing the US to take Savannah upon independence without war, and then take it back at the next Congress. Good job, my man. I salute you.

With that, the Congress of Bordeaux comes to an end, as will this update. Two last pieces of information for you: the Mongols have captured Lhasa, bringing an end to independent Tibet (again) and I finally have Infantry! Once I upgrade my troops, my road to the UHV is almost assured. And with that, so long! As always, stay tuned!

 

[TheGryphonPrince]

Let's not worry of the Dutchmen's ambitions. Long live the Austrian Empire!

Also, silly Russia with musketmen, no wonder how they nearly got beaten in WWI and WWII

 

[CFCoasters]

I was wondering if someone would notice that. At least Austria doesn't have pesky Germany or Hungary to screw them over this time. No, this time it's the Dutch.

And as long as Russia can keep the Mongols (and Ottomans) busy, I don't care what weapons they use; they're good enough for me.

 

[TheNoob]

Long live Greece!

 

[CFCoasters]

Good to see Alexander has his priorities straight.

 

[CaterpillarKing]

This is why the Turks can't have nice things

 

[trexeric]

I thought Turks couldn't have nice things because of Pilgrims?

No wait, those are Turkeys.

 

[DKVM]

This is why the Turks can't have nice things

DOWN WITH TURKS! Up with the Basileia ton Rhōmaiōn! Let the Romaioi reclaim their rightful place as Roman Emperors!

 

[Manuss]

Good to see Alexander has his priorities straight.

That's what she said.

 

[Elm0]

Nice french CSA you have here.

 

[Matthias I]

Alexander is reconstructing his empire!

 

[CFCoasters]

Alexander is reconstructing his empire!

Considering the tough times that the Turks are going through, just think of what could happen if they wind up collapsing...

I see a possibility that the Greek AI might be able to pull off Alexander's empire if that happens.

In fact, I may wind up extending the story past the 1850 mark just to see if that happens. We'll just have to wait and see!

 

[CFCoasters]

Welcome back, fellow civvers! Welcome back to Interesting Times, as we begin to begin the countdown to 1850 (we're only 30 years, or 10 turns away now from completing the final UHV goal and becoming victorious). Last time featured the Congress of Bordeaux and saw the Greeks screwing over the Ottomans (again ), the French messing with America, and the Mongols screwing over the Ottomans... sort of. And now, it's time to begin the countdown to victory!

We begin on turn 331, or Year 1820, as we get a notice that the Dutch have made peace with the Vikings (and love American tea ), thus bringing the Second World War ever closer to its conclusion.

Meanwhile, we take a trip over to Australia (currently owned by the British on account that they have the only city there), where we see this:

After seeing the Dutch-Viking War end, I realized that there hasn't been a Foreign Advisor check in months, so here you go:

As you can see, there are only two remaining wars in the world, one between Mongolia and Russia (and Russia's vassal Carthage) and the other between Spain and the Ottomans (along with their Malinese vassal).

Moving on to Turn 332 (Year 1823), Saladin of the Arabs approaches me with an offer:

I refused, mostly because I thought that they were still the Ottoman's vassals (I didn't look at the Foreign Advisor report very hard ), but I still wouldn't have gone for it had I known otherwise.

As for the Americans, they seem to have finally given up on their independence after getting screwed over repeatedly in the last hundred years:

And so Britain regains (indirect) control of her lost colonies...

Moving back into Asia, we see the Mongols get a little taste of their own medicine:

I love that Independents have better tech and units than the Mongols.

Meanwhile, the Russian Empire seems to have a new leader, who promptly makes me an offer:

I accept the deal, but I can't help but laugh at the fact that Stalin is the leader of a non-communist, imperial, Christian theocratic Russian Empire.

So we move to Turn 333, Year 1826, and see that the Dutch continue to expand their own empire by settling Stabroek in northern South America:

Back to the (former) United States, the Americans have settled Santa Fe near the border with French Louisiana:

Stalin asks me to declare war on the Mongols, and tell him to go buzz off. I'm so close to victory, and the last thing I need is to go to war now, especially since I just saw a SOD just outside of my borders.

We move on to Turn 334, Year 1829, and it is time for the main event! What is it you say? Well, if you took the time to look at the name of the update, you'd have a pretty good idea right about now:

And there it goes. The Ottoman Empire, the Sublime Porte, the terror of the entire world, is gone. Having torched countless cities, conquered countless civilizations, and struck terror throughout the world from Austria to India, the last few decades were not kind to the world's most powerful empire, and it has collapsed from the inside out. Halab, As-Sur, and Chogha Zambil have been annexed by the Arabs, while the rest of the empire collapsed into so many separate states it took two images to see it all. Can you say, free-for-all! This is going to get ugly, quick, as the Arabs, Greeks, and Mongols (and possibly more) look to expand their long-suppressed empires, while ethnic Egyptians, Ethiopians, Babylonians, Persians, and Indians all look to gain their own independence. The final road to victory just got very complicated, and I can't wait to find out what happens next!

And with that, this rather epic update comes to an end. Come back next time to see how the now chaotic Middle East is divvied up, and as we get ever closer to the UHV. Stay tuned!

 

[mrrandomplayer]

Not-so-Sublime Porte anymore...

 

[CFCoasters]

Before I move onto the next update (sometime later this week, most likely), anyone have any guesses on how the Ex-Ottoman lands will be divvied up? Make any guesses you want; I'm interested to see what you all think.

Oh, and hi.

 

[Manuss]

I think greece will take a bit, arabia a good part, carthage will take some, and probably russia.