Iron Rule - Rise of Mother Russia

[criminiminal]

ok...i don't know how this is going to work out but i felt like giving one of these stories/games a shot.

a little background on me since i'm new around here (in case anyone cares)

i'm an avid civ player who's been playing since civII. i play a lot but i'm not necessarily a good player but i have my moments, still i try to be great i came across this site years ago & you guys have helped me immensely. i'd consider myself a warmonger but will grab a peacefull win when i see one w/in reach.


getting on w/ things then...

this is...
Version: Civ III Conquests
Level: Monarch
Civ: Russia
Victory Conditions: Conquest, Domination, SS, Diplo,Cultural
Opponents: Random
Barbs: Restless
SGL: On
Land mass: Arch
Water: 60%
Map: Standard
Age: 4 Billion
Climate: Normal
Temp: Temperate

Spoiler :

4000BC
a quick scan of things reveals things aren't so bad - i've got wheat, grassland & some forrest.
but a little further east my scout finds some dyes. so i move my settler over. i figure i can keep the wheat w/in my current borders & the dyes will fall into my kingdom sooner rather than later anyway.
and...

Spoiler :

3900BC
Moscow is built. ive decided to research alpha & eventually try & get the GL since i want to focus on troop building. research slider is up up up and my worker is building roads from that wheat tile to the still unclaimed dyes. i've got the city producing another scout as well so i can pop as many goody huts as possible & basically between now and 3400BC i am able to grab some cash huts, a warrior, ceremonial burial...and in 3350 BC

Spoiler :

a scout pops st pete's not where i would have settled but not poor by any means.

by 3000BC i'm producing settlers & i can see that i've got lots of room...only a few warriors in core cities though...hoping my fledgling story doesn't get stopped short by a chinese rush or something!
then i learn...

even though i have only a few warriors i am still doing ok land wise, and now i know who i'm competing with.

2710BC
we are not alone...

Spoiler :

incans...on my land. this does not please me. the last thing i needed was the second largest nation somewhere on top of me. he's ahead of me in techs (mas+wr+35gold)
nothing i can do for now except build. more settlers, more workers & some spearmen for the cities in close proximity to those incan warmongers.

1500BC

Spoiler :

the americans...

by 1375 i waited too long to trade Alph to the yanks but luckily the incans were willing to deal

Spoiler :

not great...i should have traded a turn or two ago...but at least i can build some offensive units to deter the incans from walking over me.
luckily iron is close

Spoiler :

so the plan is to build as many swordmen as possible & go see the incans about a little tech swapping...or giving...
but first...

Spoiler :

again...should have attempted to trade it sooner...just didn't want them building ahead of me...
i'll give in for now as ive only got one sword on the ground...but in the future it shall be russia who makes the demands.

here are my battle plans (very roughly). once i have enough swords im going to walk into Huamanga & Machu...then on to their capital, while i send some troops towards Andahuaylas. im sure they're settling small towns all in there too.

thats it for tonight...i wanted to get alot more done but it's almost 2am & i have to be up in the morning for my son.
let me know what you think...any & all comments/criticisms/suggestions are welcome.​

 

[templar_x]

hi criminiminal, congratulations you got this going so soon.

one comment on your planned war: i think it´s way too early to use so much of your early shields on military. what is your goal of this war? sure not land, as there is enough land to plant at least 7-8 more cities down, not even counting those lands visible in the east. i would definitely grab whatever free land is available first. build a few swords in case the Incas have ideas (they shouldn´t, due to your signature), but imo your REX phase is not completed yet.
don´t be worried about the Incas to overrun you. it´s only a monarch AI and you should be able to take anything they could send against you easily.

 

[criminiminal]

im not going to war yet. those were just some 2am tinkerings. i was going to try & take at least two of their closer cities as part of my rex...but i am going to keep expanding & try to push up closer in the east and then make the jump to war. i want the incans to build more roads for me first. the problem is that they are ahead of me by a few techs so i don't want them getting too powerfull 7 keep demanding everything i have...
as soon as i get my son fed & napped i'll be playing more

(benefits of being a stay home dad=civ durring nap time!)

 

[Aabraxan]

Good luck, criminiminal!

 

[criminiminal]

by 1025BC i manage to get philosophy...i would have liked to make it the last tech i discovered of the era but i wasn't sure how the incans were gonna play it. i take Lit as my freebie & begin researching maps. the GL is started in moscow.
850BC
built embassies in Cusco & Washington. wanted to see if they had anything building...the incans had 2 spearmen, 126 gold & were building a settler.
i consider gathering everything i've got & making an assault on their lands. i decide against it as i dont have extra settlers built & i wanted to focus on my builds for the moment. i wonder if i could have annihilated them this early...i hope my decision to hold of on war is a smart one...
as for the americans...the are busy wasting aways shields on the ToA which will be done for them in another 40 or so turns and again...2 spear.
they are on another piece of land however so for now i'll keep my efforts towards containing the incans.
570BC
one of my ships has made contact w/ eqypt & france

i decide to make some trades.

i trade Philos to the incans for wheel, mapmaking+ 50 gold
writing to france for a tech i can't remember+20gold
and writing to egypt for 124 gold (since they had contact w/ france & i know they would have traded)
i keep Lit until im comfortable w/ the shields ive built in moscow. in 490BC here's what i get for it

incans give me:
math+150g

americans: poly+horse+199g (i had to give up math for the extra tech)

nobody else had anything worthwhile.
since i now had almost everything i wanted i began researching monarchy.

430BC
the carthaginians think they should build carthage on my n/w border...i let them stay for now. might as well let them work the land for me.
310BC
GL built in moscow.

ok. the map looks like the last pic i posted.
i building galleys to take my settlers east to new lands.
i've began amassing swords on my western front & the east is no slouch. my plan is to take huamanga & chuito in one and move towards the capital. it looks like i'll need a western AND eastern front so i want to be carefull not to stretch myself too thin anywhere.

 

[criminiminal]

Spoiler :

i got monarchy from the GL in 270BC but were not ready for a revolution. i have a galley in 3 turns & settlers waiting to embark on a new life to the east.
around 230BC i get my galley & set out to claim land. i run into the egyptians when i get there & because i am worried they are settling close by i hastily build a city in some hill/mntainous areas. at least ive got two new towns there, so if anyone else is here they are going to have to prepare to re-evaluate their borders.
170BC
the carths DOW the americans. the japs & yanks sign a treaty vs the carth and the next go 'round we have our first russian revolution. anarchy reigns until a monarch is established in 90BC
as you may be able to see from the pic above (cheesy i know...but i amuse myself...) i have amassed swordsmen & some cats in my border towns & we are nearly ready to execute our land grab. i know i can get them...the question is will i be able to hold them?
im going to try to post a few more proper pics...gotta run now.

edit: here's the kingdom & a mini map

 

[502nd PIR]

Very enjoyable read man. I'll be keeping up

 

[criminiminal]

so after what seems like a century...i finally get around to DOWing the incans at 130AD. pachacuti only had something like 35 gold when i demanded (he stubbornly refused me) so i'm not worried about his finances, and we're even in techs. i have yet to see anything stronger than a warrior unit before the DOW & i'm wondering if he's got swords too...
should have investigated prior to the war..my trigger finger gets itchy sometimes.
anyway, i manage to take atico, joli & chuito w/out much fight as per my battle plan but fail in taking huamunga which is a little better defended. i only get two slaves, disappointing to say the least.
i have swords & horses in production but i lost some valuable swordsmen in battle (to warriors no less...). my offense is doing well but my swordsmen (whom i need for an offensive push towards their capital) are acting in defense against their coming rush. what i feared most was about to happen. turns out they do have swords..and their scouts. i had taken 3 of my 4 initial targets but i was now spread so thin that any oncoming incan units could easily take back what was now so rightfully mine.
nope. couldn't have that. i have another wave of horses & swords in production but they aren't finished yet. also ive just ushered in a bright new era w/ a trade of dyes/construction to france for a worker/currency+100gold.

so in 230AD i decide to keep my winnings and walk away from the table...
Pachacuti accepts my peace declaration & throws in

Spoiler :

vilcaca

i've got a little room to move east and pikes & MIs wont be far off.
i will begin building some settlers to move east and i want to kick up the science. up until now i have kept up w/ the Glib but i would like to have MIs sooner rather than later. i can push all of my outdated units at the incans. this will kill off my older units or produce elites/armies/GLs (i hope) - all while cleansing my land.
i need more galleys. i now frequently see the americans floating by the few i have more & more frequently. they are well ahead of me in techs but are dirt poor. i will need to deal w/ their growing influence soon enough. they are aligned w/ japan who i havent met yet.

i am now researching feudalism but im wondering if i shouldn't clear my homeland of the incans & go for an SS victory. i want to see what my resource situation is. for now i must concentrate on a final push on the incans who still have many towns...but they are all on the small side & don't pose much risk to a better organized army.
as a funny side note, the egyptians demanded Lit from me during my war. i told that harlot to go to hell. i won't forget to have my troops burn her capital to the ground if/when they ever come across it.

..as for vilcas, i renamed it vilcaca & plan on gifting it right away to the most pathetic civ in the game...i'll sort that out tomorrow.

here's the empire (i outlined my borders in red for easy viewing) & mini (the box in the mini is over rome & aztec lands btw. both equally useless. way behind in tech & no money.)

Spoiler :

 

[criminiminal]

so after keeping the game screen up all morning & running in to play for a minute here & a minute there...i go to put my son down for a nap only to come back & find that my screen saver had kicked in. when i went to play the civ screen was minimized for some reason. when i maxed it i got this:

Spoiler :

i wasn't very pleased, especially since i didn't remember saving...
a check reveals that I DID save & only about 4-5 turns prior (thankfully)

so, here's where we are...
in 340AD i find the Mayans & give them Lit for 170gold.
ive been building troops again & getting them ready for the push for my continent.
i head over to settle a town above Atico when surprise surprise...the Carths try to beat me to my location. the Incans arrive almost ahead of me too with a stack of swordmen. i beat them to the hilltop & low and behold there is a barb village. i take care of it with one swordsman. i find this humorous because i figure the Incans sent those SM over that way to clear the land before they too send a settler.

Spoiler :

anyway, i build T'ver along the coast in 360AD & keep going about my business. Don't those sneaky Carths build almost right next to me...those bastards! they are becoming an annoyance and i debate a DOW against them but i will wait. Things like this used to peeve me off & i would take these pesky little towns that popped up in my zone of control & raze them to the ground. but today i am wiser. i let them stay and work the land. let them toil the ground while i take care of big boy tasks against the incans. their time isn't far off...
here's where i get mad... i'm not paying close enough attention and i GIFT Egypt Dyes & Lit!!!! i hit the wrong button w/ the mouse...i was so angry i had to walk away from the pc for a while
i also trade CoL to the Egyptians for Insence + 220 gold. I got sidetracked and had forgotten to give away Vilcaca...well i figured since i knew I was in Egypts good books mischief & they wouldn't likely be a problem durring their brief stay on my land...and they were of sufficient size to both fight Incans if need be & easily be defeated afterwords...i gifted them Vilcaca before it could flip on me.

some trivial goings on are:
-Japan has now DOW'd the Americans (so much for that alliance)
-i have made contact w/ Rome, Iroquois, China - all weak & useless at the moment.
-I have learned Feudalism from the GLib

So remember that town i settled by beating the others to the spot(T'ver)?...remember that stack of Incan SM i told you about about? Well for some reason they thought they could just stay & kick it in my borders...and when i told them to beat it...
they DOW me whilst within my cultural sphere of influence...dumb asses.
i was prepared for this BEFORE i told them to leave. I had a feeling they were still steamed about taking their 3 towns earlier, so i took the liberty of placing most of my troops w/in one or two moves from several towns.

This time i am successful at taking Huamanga, Machu Pichu & Ica.

I am now at Cuzco's doorstep. pachacuti is willing to have peace & offers to give me another ragtag town in his deepest region... no thanks, i think i'll take his Capital w/ whatever useless Wonder that they built. I'm going to do some re evaluating of my military & see if it would be better to take Cuzco & Arequipa or move further North East to start in w/ those small hamlets before they are able to get off some Pikemen/MI's. I haven't gotten their Iron source yet but i see it & I'm going to send some horses to pillage. I have also pillaged everything in/around the Capital.

I am considering moving my Palace and I am taking serious consideration to abandoning Bryansk which is slow slow slow to get going & is infested w/ barbs &the french. with the war going on i haven't been able to send workers or troops over there & there are so many barbs that i keep getting sacked for 14 gold...when i did manage to get a spearman in there he was taken out the very next turn.
interesting find...i didn't know that barbs will travel from the other side of an Island to attack one warrior that stumbled upon their camp. the entire stack that was next to my undefended town left and raced across to get my one tiny reg warrior (i took the camp for the gold then the stack killed me before returning to my city )
here's a map of my current lands

Spoiler :

and here's the incan lands:

Spoiler :

this is where i have saved until

 

[criminiminal]

540AD
during a battle in the Incan town of Andahuaylas we recieved our first MGL (Ivan the Terrible) when an elite sword defeats an Incan Pike. its about time...haven't decided what to do w/ him yet. sent him back to Moscow for the time being as i have no elite MI and i do not wish to make an army of swords.

550A
Cuzco falls into Russian hands.

Spoiler :

With it we have the MoM.
i was expecting more of a battle here but instead their capital was defended w/ one Pike & a few Spear (wish i had know that as i could have used the units to the east)...normally i play regicide & this would often signal the end of their civ...but not this time. so for now i continue pillaging resources & taking towns (haven't made it to the iron yet. i know it should be a priority and this war is taking twice as long to complete because of it!).
Andahuaylas, Arequipa & Corihuayrachina all fall under Russian control by 385AD
Pachacuti (who by now i'm sure regrets his DOW) will give me Tiwanaku (which i am poised to take anyway on my next turn) & Vilcaca (they must have flipped the AI because they aren't at war), he has no gold.
still it is tempting. they have a lot of towns & it is taking me longer than usual to dispatch them from my land. i could use the 20 turns of peace to regather again before a 3rd assault. I have most of the good land & with thanks to the Glib i am ahead of most in tech...obviously even w/ others (americans are up Theo & Chiv & will not trade for anything i have).
i have instinctively began researching invention to go for Met. and i may use my MGL for Leo's Wonder.
if i do i'm going to just go for the Conquest win as i am head & shoulders ahead of most of the civs. I'll need to weaken the americans though first. ...maybe i can prop up one or two other nations to keep them busy/weaken them for me while i get my ships/troops in order.i'll deal w/ that when the time comes.

let's review shall we?

-i am first in gold, land & pop but 3rd in cities w/ 23. the iroqouis & the americans each have 29.
-i am way ahead of most civs in tech however the yanks are ahead by at least 2.
-i have 6 swords, 4 MI, 6 horsmen, 5 trebs, 2 cats, 2 warriors (i will have to find them & turn them into shields) 11 Pike & 7 Spears...
my city defenses however are stretched and i need to start concentrating some units in the south. i don't trust the americans.

oh yeah, and ive got 10 workers & 9 slaves. i would like to have many more workers out there, but during war i don't like to have too many on the field. they tend to get captured when i forget to move them. so an increase in my work force would also be prudent.

i have to quickly decide if i am going to make peace, if the Carthaginian's are going to get DOW'd sooner or later to get them off my land (i had held out hope for a flip but no luck), and what to do about those americans.

Spoiler :

 

[Optional]

This is very readable, Mr. Criminiminal! I like what you're doing with the pictures.

Have you not got 'autosave' on in the preference settings? Then the turns get saved automatically and you're not dependent on the last manual save incase something goes wrong.

 

[criminiminal]

thanks. no i don't usually save unless i'm running a long game - my wife is cool & when i sit down to play she'll let me have a go for the whole night until the games done (w/out complaining too i might add...what a woman i've got )

probably no update today. wife took the day off work & we're going to the Beres Hammond concert tonight

 

[criminiminal]

wifey went to get her hair done...the boy is asleep. it's time to get my civ on!

...so i thought long & hard about giving peace to the Incans. it was on my mind well into the night (err..morning...). Being that this is my first game-story i would hate to suffer a defeat "out in the open" because i didn't have enough troops to keep the land i just jingo'd out of Ol' Pachacuti...that would be humiliating so i decided to give them peace for 20turns & rebuild again w/ a stronger defensive position in the South. It was decided. in the morning i would offer peace (for a modest price of course) and spend more attention to organizing for the bigger picture.

...but when i awoke...

Spoiler :

I decided that my troops had a little more in them. The incans weren't putting up too much of a fight at this point. so i kept pushing. I took their second Capital and their hooked Iron source. Andahuaylas flipped on me & had to be recaptured. I almost started to raze towns I was capturing after that, but decided that i should try to keep them If they did flip they could easily be taken back; and besides, i didn't have any settlers to claim the land. I knew the Carths would love to get their hands on some of it. No other town has flipped since.
Incans are pretty much begging for peace & are willing to throw in 3 towns (Vicaca, Chuqulapo & Huares)

Spoiler :

...again i am tempted. The Americans are up Chiv & Ed (my GLib is useless to me) and they have demanded 47 gold. I have plenty so i do not see a reason to say no right now. I don't know their troop strength yet & my southern tip is weak. I feel like they are getting a tad froggish. 20 turns of rebuild have been put off again & again but it is now almost certain that i will need them. not for the Incans...but for the upcoming war w/ the americans.

 

[502nd PIR]

Take them out man! I'm really enjoying this.

And way to go, sounds like you have a great family

 

[Cahuenga]

Good story

I was wondering the water coverage % you have set?

 

[criminiminal]

760AD
Peace is declared between the mighty Russians & the Incans. As promised, Pachacuti delivered three towns & the remainder of the gold in his coffers (8).

I immediately begin consolidating my the majority of my troop strength around Ollyantaynbo. not in the town mind you, just around it. I am still concerned that the towns will flip. Now that peace has been declared I wouldn't even be able to take them back for another 20 turns.

My Lux slider is a whopping 60%! Still I am making a tidy profit & have over 600g in reserve. Most of the citizens in the towns/cities in the farthest parts of my kingdom are now tax collectors. The Corruption is too high to allow them to work the tiles right now. Courts are being produced to try corrupted city officials. I plan on having them executed in a mass public shooting.

We are researching Invention & i hope to get Leo's.

Any additional troops lingering in the Southern region have been sent to my Southernmost (almost city) town (Krasnoyarsk).

Production for the time being has been switched from MI's, Horses & Trebs to Markets, Courts & Libraries. The few I had build prior to the war had helped keep me afloat (that & the GLib which is now obsolete).

We need resources, badly. We are way over-stocked w/ dyes but nobody has anything worth trading them for (and anyone who does hasn't built a harbor yet...of course )
Here's the borders:

Spoiler :

810AD
Vilcababa flips on me. When she does it produces three times as much border as we had and eats up my second source of Iron. Thankfully we didn't trade it.

We also finally come into contact w/ the Japanese. They have nothing of value.

We trade the Iroquois Dyes & Mono for Spices, Ivory & Incense. I know they will take it all away after the 20 turns (because they have been dicks at the trade table all game so far); but I really need to take my Lux slider down. I had hoped it would keep my new towns from flipping...maybe it did... The Lux is scaled back to a reasonable 30%. Oddly enough when I make the switch several cities cease their WLTKD the very next turn...however they offer to upgrade my palace anyway.

910AD
There are about 8/9 turns left of peace w/ the Incans. I have a stack very close by their Capital (w/in my borders) and several other small pockets of horsemen & MI's.

I am a little disappointed that there has been no other major wars. I had hoped someone would have taken on the Americans by now. Instead they are getting stronger by the turn. I would be lying if I said it didn't concern me. My ships have been cruising through foreign lands for an eternity (we still have a currah "exploring somewhere") and I have yet to see even one foreign troop engage in any sort of battle/skirmish.
There are still many weak nations to be picked off for land/resources & national pride. I am very excited that there are so many large nations out there that are so far behind. I need to make up lost time w/ these Incan wars. I hope to take vast amounts of foreign land, quickly; in upcoming wars. At the very least the Yanks aren't beating me to the punch in that regard. If they continue to make peace w/ other nations I will declare war on them one by one until my lands engulf theirs. Then perhaps we will set our sights on American territories.

 

[criminiminal]

Thanks guys

Good story

I was wondering the water coverage % you have set?

it's set @ 60%

 

[criminiminal]

​

I begin tonight in 960AD, there is only one turn of peace left w/ the Incans & i am sure they should be expecting an invasion. I have troops everywhere on the front lines. They have made attempt at contact - the ai is frustratingly stubborn and wouldn't help save itself it was drowning in a glass of water.

970AD - I demand cities from the Incans, they refuse, I declare war.
The war goes well at first. We easily take Riobamba & their latest Capital Vitcos. Then things start to go downhill for me for a while. Cities flip all over the place. I am now wishing I had taken the time to pre-build settlers to follow in my stacks. New cities, old cities, they all start flipping and have to be recaptured one at a time, stretching me out again. I am very frustrated w/ all this. Future towns & cities shall be burned to the ground and rebuilt w/ solely Russian bloodlines.

i wish i had taken some more screen shots but I got really caught up in managing my thin army & didn't bother.
on another note...the MGL i had been saving in Moscow was not able to build Leonardo's Workshop...I was not aware that there was a time limit or turn limit rather to use his hurry production function i was caught off guard by this & the fact that the americans & Iroquois already had Invention

-who knew? (...i'll tell you who knew...my CAII knew...and i was ignoring it...doh!) So I should have built an Army & traded tech long ago...
oh well...i traded some things around and was able to acquire Chiv & Gunpowder. I'm finally on pretty much even footing w/ the Americans and expect to be free of the Incans very soon.
Also, I was prebuilding my Palace in Novgorod for some time now & decided to use the shields for the KnightsTemp. Crusaders every 5 turns seems like it would sure help me concentrate on over-taking the Americans in tech.

I earn another GL during a battle in Vilcamba & build an army right away. I haven't filled it yet though. So now I'm sitting on two empty armies...and the war is almost over.

1090AD
The Incans have been pushed from my land mass...
but go figure, the AI was smart enough to put a settler on a galley

Well i have some Galleys in area and I'm going to try to catch it before it disappears into the great unknown...either way, i have the land i need to start being a real threat in this game and my tech in still better than most.I know nearly everyone's locations and civs are still trading w/ me for the most part (what little they have).
I think the Americans are up to something...they won't trade w/ me at all. They have stayed out of my land thus far.
On another note, the Carthaginians have started sending settlers up from their towns as i predicted. I razed two towns on my newest Northmost border...Incans were on their undefended doorstep, so they were "abandoned" last minute. now there is some free space that the carths are going to try & fill. Too bad for them I'm about to rush a few settlers in closer cities.
...edit*
oh yeah...and great news...we have saltpeter. This game is about to get interesting.

I will now sit down w/ my closest military advisers too discuss our next move...
​

 

[darski]

This is a great story and a good read. I love your use of photos. colour me signed in

 

[criminiminal]

Thanks Darski. I see you too are from Ont, Can...
represent represent!!
Toronto here.