Napoleonic Charm

[krc]

It has been a while since I posted my first story (Raze-less fury) and Civ5 has been patched and updated in the meantime. I decided to return to Civ5 after an absence and try out the latest set of changes with a new story line.

One of the things I've noticed previously is that there tends to be a period during mid-game (around the Renaissance) where my production appears to bog down. The slowdown may occur because I expand too rapidly and get into negative happiness, or it may simply be because I haven't paid close enough attention. With changes having been made to lots of building costs and social policies since I last played, the goal with this game is to try to expand to a decent size while paying more attention to production.

I started as Napoleon, playing as King at Standard speed on a Standard size Continents map:

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The starting location looks quite promising. There are spices, silver, and cows next to a river, with nearby forests and hills. What more could you ask for?

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This seems an ideal setting to try to go for a high production city, so I settle in place. I then start researching mining first to quickly take advantage of the nearby silver, and begin production on a scout.

 

[krc]

Three turns in (with nothing yet produced and nothing researched), I meet a neighbor.

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While he claims to be fair and neutral, those are not friendly campfires in the distance. And that pointy stick that he's carrying is clearly intended to be intimidating.

I don't particularly like neighbors that are this close. Having found Askia this quickly, I need to make some rapid decisions about appropriate social policies, research tracks, and build queues. Being a firm believer that (in Civ5 at least), more is more (and probably better), I decide that I'm going to follow the Liberty track. The change that gives you a free settler looks mighty attractive. Fortunately, the same move that brought me into contact with Askia also gave me culture points from an ancient ruin, so I can start down the Liberty road immediately. I plan to expand in his direction as quickly as possible to limit his access to lands that are (of course) rightfully mine. I know this won't make him happy, but with a neighbor this close, there is probably nothing I could do to keep him happy for very long.

 

[krc]

Things proceed as expected. After producing a scout, Paris constructs a monument. With the French unique ability that gives them 2 culture per city (up until Steam Power), I decided to double down and make monuments the first building in each of my cities to get even more culture. After the monument, I start production on a settler.
The high rate of cultural advances quickly gives a second social policy, which I use for Collective Rule to get the free settler. I send him south-by-southeast toward the Songhai to found the city of Orleans.

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Naturally, the guy with the pointy stick doesn't like my choice of real estate:

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I'm not overly fond of it myself. It doesn't have riverfront property, and it doesn't bring me any luxuries that I don't already have in my capitol. But it is strategically placed to block expansion by Askia toward my territory. Which may be why he's so unhappy that I turned a deaf ear to his whining.

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[krc]

The year 2840 BC was quite eventful. After completing construction of its monument, Paris had raised a settler who was looking for a scenic spot to found a third French city. While they wandered, Paris was busy training a worker to improve the countryside.

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In addition, Napoleon's charm had inspired the cultural development of his civilization, and another social policy was available. I selected Citizenship to get the free worker and improve the general ability of all my present and future workers. In the future, I fully expected that this ability to work better and faster than my rivals would allow everyone in my civilization to work 35-hour weeks with long summer vacations.

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The settlers had a long discussion about the merits of different kinds of scenery. One half wanted to stop where they were, because they really liked trees. The other half preferred the hills to the southwest, where they could overlook the nearby city-state of Genoa while also having an elevated perch to watch for the approach of Askia's pointy-sticked minions. The two sides nearly came to blows when the first group said that the only mignons they were interested in were fileted. Rumor has it that a Songhai scout went racing back to their capitol carrying this news, which only increased the feeling of ill will between our two peoples. The group arguing on behalf of filets finally pointed out that the rag-tag group of barbarians would filet everyone if they didn't stop wasting time and start building a ring of rude huts from which they could fling stones at the surrounding countryside. And, in this spirit of harmony, the city of Lyon was born and immediately killed their first barbarian neighbors.

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[krc]

The Liberty tree seems even more appealing (to my Napoleonic expansionist soul) after the changes. Having already been cheered by a free settler and a free worker, I use my fourth social policy for Meritocracy, which gives me a free Great Engineer.

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I fully intended to use my Great Engineer to construct Stonehenge for its cultural prestige. However, the same year (1960 BC) brought news that my western neighbor, Hiawatha, had already constructed the great stone circle.

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The Iroquois had taken the path of Tradition, obviously wanting the extra cultural production from their capitol and the 20% reduced cost when constructing wonders. Then they appear to have built Stonehenge the old-fashioned way, with the sweat of peasants instead of the miracles of great engineers.

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[Ian7]

Nice story, keep it up!

 

[Sparthage]

lurker's comment: Subscribed.

 

[krc]

I just had visits from two of my three neighbors. They seem really friendly. They have already declared an undying friendship for each other, and they would both like to be friends with me. That sounds really pleasant. We could take turns inviting everyone over to our palaces. We could drink champagne and eat caviar. After a feast, we could retire to the drawing room to sip brandy, smoke big cigars, and nibble on chocolate bon-bons.

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This charming reverie was snapped rudely back to reality. My people had no access to a source of wine, so champagne was out. My lazy scientists had not discovered sailing, so I couldn't catch the fish I needed in order to obtain caviar. And brandy, tobacco, and chocolate weren't even recognized as luxuries! I clearly had a long way to go to bring my people to the pinnacle of cultural achievement where they rightly belonged.

I then recalled some events from the early days of my rule. My scouts had discovered ancient ruins, from which they brought back the cultural artifacts that started us on the road to liberty. My scientists had studied the artifacts and the ruins in great detail. One ruin they found was a great pointy-topped monument -- the same one that I used as the model for the monuments I have decreed must be built in all of my cities. They told me this was a monument to the god of pointy-sticks. Since I have long believed that I would need more pointy sticks to take care of Askia, the finding of this monument has played an important part in my rule. My researchers also explained that the pointy-topped monument had been built by a great ancient ruler named Gorge-Washing-Stones. (I thought this was a rather unusual name for a great ruler, but I have always tried to keep an open mind about the customs and leaders of primitive civilizations.) They translated the hieroglyphic runes from a great proclamation he had made, called the Second Inaugural Address. (I don't know what an Inaugural is, since we haven't discovered that yet.) But he advised strongly against foreign entanglements. I decided that anyone who knew as much about pointy sticks as the great Gorge-Washing-Stones was worth listening to, so I told both of my neighbors that I preferred to go it alone, thank you very much. Besides, that Gandhi guy doesn't look like he'd be much fun to party with.

 

[krc]

The whole pointy-stick thing also led to a big squabble between the Great Engineer and my scientists. The engineer was eager to build something, but with Stonehenge snapped up by Hiawatha, he had nothing to do. So he tried to persuade the scientists to research writing. He promised that as soon as they finished, he would build them a Great Library -- the greatest the world had ever known.
The scientists, who had not yet discovered writing, had no idea what he was talking about. They didn't know what a book was, or what a library was. They were also offended, since in the mere 2000 years since the founding of Paris, they had discovered agriculture, mining, pottery, archery, animal husbandry, calendar, trapping, and bronze working. They thought they had been making terrific progress, and were ready to take a vacation.

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Moreover, they were busily at work on another research project. Mysterious stories had filtered out of Gao about the pointy stick that Askia kept waving about. We could never get the full details, because he had a strict "closed borders" policy. Every time I sent an emissary to try to negotiate open borders, he spit on him and had him thrown down the steps of the palace. Askia was not a nice man. In any event, the story was that he had pulled that pointy stick out of a stone, that there was some prophecy about the pointy stick and rightful rulers or world domination or some such, and that it had something to do with "iron", or "an iron", or "the iron".

 

[krc]

Jacques Le Tailleur announced a tremendous breakthrough. He found a smooth, flat stone and managed to attach a handle to it. He heated the stone over a fire. He then used the hot stone to remove the wrinkles from cloth! All of my scientists took a week off to celebrate the discovery of ironing.
I was pretty certain that smooth stones weren't going to help me get the pointy sticks I needed to deal with the Askia problem. I asked Guillaume, one of my most trusted advisers, to make an example of Jacques so my scientists would get back to work with a little extra motivation. Guillaume, who came from a little French town called Tignes that wasn't big enough to be a city, made a beautiful bronze axe and used it to cut off Jacques' head. I had the axe mounted in the main square inscribed with its maker's name, Guil. au Tignes. This display did indeed motivate the scientists, who scrambled back to their labs to try to discover iron working. (Jacques' family, by the way, went on to found the fashion industry.)
The scientists also told the Engineer, who was still pushing for them to discover writing, that he could submit thirty copies of a grant proposal and they would consider it. He pointed out that (1) without writing, he obviously could not write a grant proposal and (2) since they also hadn't yet discovered mathematics, no one could count to 30 anyway. In a huff, he went off to the countryside and spent the next 5 years perfecting the pocket protector. He then realized that this project took so long because no one had discovered the pocket. I hope he's better at building things than at inventing things.

 

[Commie]

Seems good so far, keep it up.

 

[krc]

My scientists finally managed to discover iron working.

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Apparently the extra motivation provided by Guillaume's activity worked, since they also discovered several sources of iron nearby. The Parisians started recruiting settlers to go work near the iron mines, and the scientists started figuring out how to write.

 

[krc]

Great news! My scientists have discovered writing, and Paris has started construction on the Great Library.

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The Great Engineer was as good as his word, and hurried along its production.

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When the Great Library was completed, the engineer, who had only been hanging around the cafes for 280 years, decided it was time to retire to the countryside. He said that he planned to spend the rest of his days inventing a "computing machine" that would eventually make those newfangled books obsolete. Since we still haven't discovered mathematics, I have no idea what he's talking about, but I wish him well.

 

[Ian7]

You should have researched philosaphy first and rushed civil service.

 

[krc]

It's 1240 BC. I settled my fourth city, Troyes, on a source of iron and used a worker to mine a second source of iron nearby. The monument in Troyes is well under way, and should be completed soon.

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The situation along my southern border with Gao is tense. But Askia has placed both warrior units within range of bombardment from my cities, and I have paid to upgrade a pair of warriors to swordsman. It might be time to shift from diplomatic skirmishes to something a little more active.

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The diplomatic activity has been intense. Askia rejected all my reasonable requests and complained, calling them "demands". Denouncements have been flying back and forth between our capitols. It's time to go ahead and declare war.

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The Songhai warriors melted away almost instantaneously.

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[krc]

The war with the Songhai lasted longer than I expected. With the rate at which cities heal, two swordsmen and two archers are not quite enough to conquer a foreign capital. After the first (unsuccessful) assault, I withdrew to allow my swordsmen time to heal. The delay allowed Lyon to produce a warrior (immediately upgraded to another swordsman) and Orleans to complete a chariot archer. The fact that Askia threw two spearmen and an archer at me piecemeal did nothing to bolster his defense. Finally, after a mere 400 years of war, Gao was mine...

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... and the Songhai were no more.

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[krc]

You should have researched philosophy first and rushed civil service.

Since I didn't yet have writing, I couldn't get philosophy. Instead, I used the Great Engineer for the Great Library, and took philosophy as the resulting free tech.

 

[krc]

In this year of 800BC, being the 3200th year of the reign of Napoleon the Charming, it is time to take stock of the world situation. Our glorious empire has grown to five cities with the addition of the puppet-run city of Gao.

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We have met eight city-states: four maritime, three cultured,and one militaristic. We are currently allied with Stockholm. We'd still like some caviar, and we have heard that the people of Stockholm know lots about fish. However, our scientists haven't discovered sailing, so we'll have to wait a little longer before getting our caviar. We have not yet explored the entire continent, but we suspect that we have probably met all of our neighbors on this land mass.

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Hiawatha remains friendly, but Gandhi now thinks that we are a warmongering menace. Didn't I tell you that he wasn't going to be fun to party with?

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Paris has completed a monument and a library (in addition to the Great Library), and is working on a colosseum. Orleans has built a monument and a granary, and is at work on its own library. Lyons finished its monument and then concentrated on producing troops for the glorious war against the Songhai; they are still raising one more troop of archers. Troyes has built a monument and is also constructing a library. Gao is still in resistance, and contains a granary produced by its previous ruler.

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We lead the world in land, soldiers, production, and crop yields. The combined efforts of our scientists and the Great Engineer have also given us the lead in literacy, with a magnificent 22% literacy rate! I'm sure that the approval polls are mistaken, because my charming leadership simply has to result in a better approval rate than the one shown here. My one concern is with the slums of Delhi, which are teeming with a population half-again as large as all five cities in my extensive empire. It may someday become necessary for me to relieve those poor suffering people from their plight under the fun-destroying rule of Gandhi.

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Our research is proceeding apace; when we finish discovering currency, we will enter the Medieval era (about a millennium ahead of schedule).
It's major decision time. Do we settle for growing our existing cities in relative peace? The drawback here is that everything except Paris was placed with a view to (1) limiting Askia's room to expand and (2) claiming sources of iron so we could have the resources needed to wipe out Askia. Fortunately, that plan was successful, and we thus have lots of free space to plant more cities in (preferably) better and more productive locations. And the Liberty choices we've made so far are designed to promote that kind of expansion.
The other pending question is what to do with the all the troops that we have under our command. If we leave them to do nothing, they'll get fat and lazy and cause resentment among the civilians who have to support them. There aren't enough barbarians around to even provide decent military exercises. I suppose I could disband some of them... but do I really trust my neighbors enough to do that?

 

[krc]

As the years passed, I gradually moved all of my troops down to the border with Gandhiji. In addition to the veterans of the war against the Songhai, I had recruited a unit of catapults in Paris.

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Gandhi did not like their presence along his border, and sent me an insulting message. The man simply has no sense of humor.

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I reacted in the obvious manner, and told him to prepare for war.

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My disciplined troops advanced quickly on Delhi...

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...which fell almost instantly, liberating the peasants who had been crammed into the city's slums.

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Next, I moved toward Mumbai.

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With his last city about to fall, Gandhi asked for peace. But he had nothing to offer, and he remained humorless up to the very end.

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[Ian7]

I hope you were merciful, you could not keep posting the story as a dung beetle, but maybe.......... (looks up dung beetle intelligence) nope, not a chance.
BE MERCIFUL, Krc!