A simple enough round.
I began by checking out the ruins of Berlin:
As you can see by the wounded, shocked soldiers milling about, the city must have fallen on the turn I ended the last round. They, of course, eventually wandered off to join their comrades in the fight against Suleiman. Ottomans vs. Otto-man... There can only be one!
I also got roped into a fake war against Gandhi (again, he was getting to be more trouble than he was worth, diplomatically). I think this triggered hostilities from Korea:
Nothing ever really came of it, though.
With Plastics researched, I immediately began on a Hydro Dam. Unfortunately, I was in for a rude surprise regarding Standard Ethanol:
Huh. I guess we need something to turn
into Oil. And nobody will trade me any of them! I even tried making nice with Tokugawa, but he merely sneered at me.
We did get our first colony, as Mao split off his Australian holdings:
Which was confusing on two fronts. First, they were the English, which conflicted with our pissed-off Elizabeth over there on the British Isles. Secondly, the color used was Tokugawa red, which wouldn't be so big of an issue.... If they didn't share a border with a couple of Japanese island cities! And it's not even like there's a red-on-red border. Nope. It just bleeds over! Weird, huh?
In 1840, we finally got that Drydocks Experienced Captain event...
But he'll only build an Academy, which we already have
Oh, well. I guess +2
per turn it is!
In 1843, Tokugawa was finally willing to play ball:
So I immediately founded Standard Ethanol, upgraded my navy, and pumped out a few Tanks. Who knows how long that deal will last for?
We also were able to buy a Great Spy at a great price thanks to our buddy Bismarck:
He's getting torn apart by Suleiman, and he's sending spies MY way? For shame!
Germany wasn't the only nation having a bad day, though. Korea was getting carved up like Thanksgiving turkey, to the point where Wang Kon was willing to PAY for peace:
He vassalized to Mao shortly thereafter.
In 1850, I earned another Scientist, who quickly settled at Oxford with the rest of them:
As you can see, the Space Race has begun! Oh, and yes, I'm building the Internet. At this point, Fission, Rocketry, and Mass Media are all out there to be had. If I can grab even one of those via Production, I'm gonna do it.
Of course, Mass Media being out there wasn't entirely a good thing:
Hmm, let's see... Person I hate, or person I hate. Such a difficult choice! Ramesses won with a LOT of votes. He's a real threat for a Diplomatic Victory.
Then, in 1857, everything went to hell:
... Okay. A Modern stack showing up was inevitable. I was one turn away from the Internet, so I figured I'd finish it. It would be a near thing, but I felt that I had enough garrisons to knock that stack back.
... Oh.
*sigh* Well, nothin' worth having is easy.
I immediately switched to Wartime Civics and started pumping out reinforcements as quickly as I could:
I hate to two-pop draft a 30+ size city, but those stacks leave me no choice...
With a deft combination of fortification and sallying forth, I shattered Darius' army and brought him to the bargaining table:
That was one threat down, one to go.
Unfortunately, Ethiopia's stack was, if anything, even bigger than Persia's, and my forces were already tired and weary. Zara refused to offer peace at any price. I sent every able-bodied man and woman capable of firing a gun to the front lines, kissed my children, and took my post at the walls to postpone the inevitable for as long as I could:
We fought bravely, we fought well, but it was all for naught.
The Shining City had fallen into ruin...
... So that's that. Two major empires at the same time was a bit too much to handle. I think it was my hamfisted diplomacy that doomed us, even more than our less-than-huge standing army. This was my first time playing an OCC, and it presents a lot of unique challenges. One of the bigger ones is the fact that you will NEVER be able to handle diplomatic negotiations from a position of strength.
I think Paris falling to Zara Yaqob is a fitting end to this game, but if the hue and cry is loud enough, I suppose I could try for an "alternate history" before moving on. What do you all think?
![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
Anyway that is irrelevant without knowing the base prod anyway.
