New England: A Vanilla Story

[MedicInDisquise]

Civilization 4: Colonization is an underrated gem in the Civ series. Even if people still play Civilization IV, they still skip right over Colonization. When I got Civilization 4 for myself, I got the complete package which came with Colonization as well, and despite sinking far more time into BTS, Colonization still hooks me in today.

I want to share my love for the game by sharing a simple Vanilla AAR with you guys. I don't promise to win or even really complete the game, but I want to show off Colonization. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, so lets just get into the game. And hey, if I make any mistakes, that means that you guys can just yell at me in the thread.

To fit with the theme of Simply Vanilla™, it seems prudent to chose England's George Washington. England's bonuses to crowns (Civlization traits are a WTP only thing.. sorry! What you see in the image is what you get.), and George's bonus to crosses, are passive and help the entire game. Alongside the disciplined bonus, I'll focus on creating a good military and productive starting colony early on. But that's for later in this thread!


I choose a "New World" generation setting. This generates a continent that spans the globe, and a few islands around it. While Caribbean can be fun (as an analogue to Archipelago in vanilla Civ 4), I think it removes the value of wagon trains. If I could make map scripts, I'd make a script that makes an Archipelago on both sides of the map and a New-World esque continent going down the middle, just to give the Pacific more character. As it is right now, in Vanilla, there's no real reason to settle down the west coast or even circumnavigate the globe.

As for difficulty and game speed, I leave them on the default settings. Explorer is analogous to Noble, in that no bonuses are given to the player or the AI. And I keep it on Normal because, frankly, I don't have the patience for longer game speeds. And with a simple Play Now, we're off, sailing for new lands.

What will Governor George Washington find in the New World? Find out in the next post...

 

[MedicInDisquise]

1492: The Beginning Of A New Age
The Age Of Exploration was an age of overseas exploration and expansion. While the European world knew that that the Earth was globular, and while there are old stories of Vikings settling in far-away lands, the dream of another world; a new world was simply a dream.
Until it was discovered. When another continent was found by Christopher Columbus (who mistakenly believed it was India), it began a rush by all colonial powers to establish new colonies in this new world. One such power was England.
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In the year 1493, George Washington arrived on the coast of America. He was given a colonial charter by the King to create colonies to stand the test of time. However, when they landed on the coast and began making a simple basecamp, they discovered a tribe of natives nearly next door to their planned site. They called themselves the Tupi, and was led by a man known as Cunhambebe.

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While the natives were understandably angry that the colonists had chosen such a spot to settle, they seemed to not mind, stating that since they were merely nomads, they were free to utilize the land. The English were not going to correct this wrong assumption. As construction continued, George Washington had sailed up the coast, when they saw what seemed to be another colony north. Indeed, the next year, they had exchanged "pleasantries" with their new neighbors:

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Sir Bolivar seemed irritated to see us, perhaps because of the proximity of their chosen colony spots. Nevertheless, they agreed to a cautious peace. Washington noted to himself, as a esteemed general himself, to keep a wary eye on Bolivar. He decided that weaponry were to be a priority once he had the ducats.

Jamestown, named after who else but King James, was thriving in this new land. The colonists, filled with fervor, had expanded their reach on the land. They had focused on carpentry instead of any real industry, hoping to gain their food from the sea until they had enough people to utilize the hills and mountains all over the coast.

Exploration of the New World continued on a steady pace. Treasures and artifacts were retrieved from numerous ruins and tribes around the continent, and had filled Washington's pockets quite steadily. On top of that, they made more contacts with the natives that seemed to dot the land. Most were peaceful enough to the English people.

In Europe, it was well known that English explorers were mapping out swathes of the New World faster than any other country out there. Such rumors had attracted the service of one Pedro to the courts of England. While he was nominally Portuguese, he offered his services to Washington in mapping a new route to the New World that would take merely a year of travel. Washington gladly accepted.
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Meanwhile, on the northern parts of the continent, English explorers reported that yet another Colonial power was making parts of the jungle their own. Indeed, Washington soon had an audience with the dutch Governor Stuyvesant. Apart from these simple pleasantries, Washington paid little mind to the Dutch.

The Americas as of the early 1500's. The Dutch Colonies are further north. ​

 

[MedicInDisquise]

The Early 1500's: A New World
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Washington was surprised one morning by a local native party making it's way by the colonies. While, due to proximity, it wasn't exactly uncommon, it was a rather large party then usual. When he saw Cunhambebe himself, Washington quickly made his way down to the caravan. The native made an offer: an offer of a defensive pact. George Washington, knowing the value of allies, quickly agreed. They were not anticipating to go on the offensive any time soon, so this cost nothing to Washington.

Peace of mind was something he needed, as it seemed Royalty back in England was constantly claiming the riches of the New World for themselves, imposing taxes for the very first time and charging exuberant fees for transporting large treasures to the Old World. Washington had to grit his teeth, as pissing off Europe was not a good idea without an ace up his sleeve.

(OOC: While I would normally not mind doing parties this early in the game, doing a gun party would be a horrible idea this early. If it was the 1700's and I had a colony geared towards making nothing but weapons, I might've chosen differently!)​

Explorers had meanwhile mapped out plenty of what the Europeans had called "South America". A small thin area of land (which Washington had immediately sent a group of colonists to construct a canal) connected South America to another large continent named North America. It had seemed that George Washington had landed on the very tip of the South America, and had to explore from the very south of the New World.

However, it seemed like another Colonial Power had landed elsewhere, having free reign of North America. Local natives had stated that similar white men was found across the bay, and explorers had confirmed that Britain's worse enemies were also here: The !#$@ING FRENCH. They had also met what seemed to be the final natives on this New World.

Washington had more pressing matters on this mind. On a recent trip to Europe, Washington had brought a sizeable amount of muskets and swords. He had intended to strike two birds with one stone. While the majority of the weapons would be given to the colonists to defend Jamestown with (boosting the garrison from one regiment to three), he had taken the leftovers and made a controversial decision. Loading it into a wagon, he had taken it to the tribe nearby and struck a deal.

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English Explorers reported the discovery of what seems to be glaciers in the northern coast. It appears they had finally mapped the entire eastern coast of America.

In only a year, the New World had been mapped out. The first colonies were made by four powers, and they begun to exploit the natural resources of America. Natives had been welcoming so far, but once the Europeans had taken more land, it was obvious conflict would brew.

South America, Jamestown, and the Spanish Colonies.

Untamed Wilderness.

The Dutch Colonies and Plymouth, a city providing a naval path through the continent.

Central America.

The Bay of Montreal.

The frozen tundra of North America.

(OOC: It's rather surprising how accurate this world is to America. There's a recognizable South America with a thin tape, a bay and peninsula, a small strip of land connecting South and North America... this is probably the most accurate world I've seen. Sorry for not doing an indepth review of my colonies, but trust me you are not missing much. I've built a church, warehouse, and village hall in Jamestown... so basically the three basic buildings. I'll see you next time.)​

 

[DKVM]

This should be fun. Good luck!

 

[raystuttgart]

@MedicInDisquise
You are really playing Vanilla?

I can understand that you do not want to get a "giant and complex" mod (like WTP) that changes the gameplay too much.
But still even if you want to keep complexity low and not change the gameplay too much:

Do yourself a favour and play at least with the mod TAC.
("The Authentic Cololnization" - it has fixed and improved so many of the flaws of Vanilla)

 

[MedicInDisquise]

This should be fun. Good luck!

Unfortunately, I have lost my savefile for this game a while ago, so completing this is likely not going to happen. Still, thanks for the support!

@MedicInDisquise
You are really playing Vanilla?

I can understand that you do not want to get a "giant and complex" mod (like WTP) that changes the gameplay too much.
But still even if you want to keep complexity low and not change the gameplay too much:

Do yourself a favour and play at least with the mod TAC.
("The Authentic Cololnization" - it has fixed and improved so many of the flaws of Vanilla)

I think there's value in playing the vanilla version. Mods are fun (and neccessary for Civ 4 Col IMO), but showing off the odd quirks and flaws with the original game was the end-goal of this playthrough. Still, thanks for the reccomendation!

 

[raystuttgart]

I think there's value in playing the vanilla version ... but showing off the odd quirks and flaws with the original game was the end-goal of this playthrough

If playing Vanilla is what you intended that is perfectly fine.
Simply could not imagine somebody purposely playing Vanilla if there are mods around ...

 

[DKVM]

Unfortunately, I have lost my savefile for this game a while ago, so completing this is likely not going to happen. Still, thanks for the support!

Ah well, it happens. Thanks for trying!