Osman the Monarch

[Gdek]

World Setup: Large
Barbarians: Roaming
Continents – 60% water
Normal: Climate, Temperature, and 4 Billion yrs
12 Opponents
Took Ottomans

Okay, this is my first game at Monarch. After years of playing Civ, Civ2 and now Civ3, I finally decided to make the jump. We’ll see how it goes. I chose the Ottomans as I’m most familiar with them, and like their characteristics (Ind and Sci). I also love the Siphai. Not a bad start I guess, though I’m towards the bottom right of the mini map. I’ll have to expand north to be sure.

I wasn’t sure where to settle. I don’t like moving much, but by sending my worker west to the mountain I saw some better land, or at least something that looked a little better. I prefer to have my first city on a river if I can. Not sure why, I just don’t like hitting the wall at pop 6.

I moved directly west twice before settling. Hopefully this won’t set me too far back.

I’ll be able to bring the gems in with the first cultural growth. My plan is to build 2 warriors for exploring, then hopefully a settler. I don’t know if I can set up a settler factory or not, but I’d like to get at least a dozen cities on the ground before I run out of space.

3850 BC – Going to try to make a run for Philosophy. Hopefully my neighbours will research the rest of the important stuff for me. Set science to 20% for now. Earning 3 gpt.

3500 BC – The glorious first Warrior group is formed in Istanbul. They are ordered to explore westward, down the mighty Aries River. Our worker has also completed a road and a mine NE of Istanbul.

3250 BC – On his westward exploration, the first Warrior group encounters a village of savage Hurrians. They form war parties to attach us. In the interim, the second Warrior group has started moving eastward. They may be recalled to help defend the capital should the first Warrior group fall.

 

[Nate128]

When are you going to post again? This seems like it could be pretty good.

 

[rbis4rbb]

Nice story. And I like your sig. Isn't it from TV funhouse or something?

 

[El Loco]

hope to hear more...

 

[Gdek]

Just curious as to how one can place a (or several) graphics within a post. I've got more ready to post, but it gets more graphic intensive, and I'd like to be able to peg them to specific spots within the text, similar to StevieJay.

Any ideas on the syntax?

Gdek

 

[Gdek]

To answer some of the questions...

Hoping to post again tonight... my note taking got a little sloppy, so I may gloss over some of the more dull parts.

Sig is just something that came to me one day... not sure if I'd heard it somewhere else before or not.

And other than that, c'est tout!

 

[Gdek]

I may settle my second city on the coast, on the west side of the mouth of the river. 38 turns to Alphabet, making 4 gpt.

2950 BC – Well, the Hurrian’s wouldn’t attack me, so the first Warrior group attacked! We destroyed the first one, survived the second’s counterattack. We’ll try to face down the third, once it heals up.

2630 BC – Second city settled, working on a warrior. Istanbul is building another warrior as well. There are now 3 in the field scouting around. The worker is building a road towards Edrine. Alphabet in 25, 6 gpt.

2390 BC – The second Warrior group having wandered very far to the north west encounters the Vikings! Ragnar is annoyed with us, though perhaps some trading might improve his mood. The Vikings have 2 cities in total. Ragnar has Alphabet and Warrior Code. He’s willing to part with WC and 10g for Masonry. I’ll go for that. At the very least, it improves his mood to cautious.

2310 BC – Another village gives us a conscript warrior. Fantastic! We now have 5 in the field and one guarding Edrine. The goal will be to settle on all the red dots, to prevent the Vikings from expanding towards me too much. It’ll also allow me to gain Ivory, which could lead to Ancient Cavalry.

1990 BC – Well now, this isn’t good. We’re not even on the list! We’ll have to rectify this as soon as possible. Of course, we only know the Vikings, so maybe there’s another continent where people are running up the tech tree. Maybe a suicide caravel as quick as possible?

Edit: Hmm... bloody pics aren't coming out right. Anyone have any ideas?
Edit2: Never mind... remembered how to read, and I figured it out.

1830 BC – Meet a Hittite scout. Mursilis has 3 cities total, and is up The Wheel, CB, Pottery and Alphabet (which’ll be mine in 7 turns). Offer him 271 g and 3 gpt for Alphabet and Pottery. I’m starting to think my Philosophy gambit is not going to pay off. Maybe Math instead and try to pull in the Statue of Zeus. Ancient Cav may help to push me ahead if I can wipe out some neighbours early.

Ragnar has IW now, but not Pottery. He’s not willing to swap, even if I throw in 4 gpt. Screw him then.

Everyone switches over to Granary. Found Iznik to the NW of Istanbul, near the Ivory. Will found another city next turn. The Hittite’s came from the north, so I’ll have to focus on expanding in that direction as well.

1750 BC – Run into Theodora, located to the East. Looks like I may be boxed in. I’m going to have to start thinking about who to go after first. Ragnar looks to be the most likely candidate, but it’s still early. Maybe I’ll just wait and see who ticks me off first. Of course, everyone has IW but me, so that’s not a good start.

1650 BC – Find two Hittite cities on the same turn. They seem to be spread across the northern reaches of this continent. They’re already quite close to the Byzantines, so I’m worried it’s going to get crowded soon. I’ve got to get some of these granaries built so I can get some more settlers out there.

1350 BC – Off to a decent start. I’ve got 4 cities, 2 more on the way and 2 have granaries. I’m behind in tech, but making good money, so I should be able to turn down science, and hope like hell I can get Mathematics and Ancient Calvary. The Vikings don’t have much in the way of good land to expand into, so they should start stagnating soon; either that or they’ll come after me.

I’ve been finding the Hittites all over the place, so I get the feeling they don’t have much in the way of workable land either. For some reason I’ve got a bad feeling about the Byzantines.


Gdek

 

[Gdek]

1275 BC – I’ve got a couple of Curragh’s in the water, one of which just ran into the Maya on what looks to be a small island to the west south west of the continent I’m on. Smoke-Jaguar doesn’t have Alphabet, but is willing to turn over CB and the Wheel, along with 30 gold for it. That will help pull me closer to tech parity with the rest of the civs on my continent. It’s a good trade I think.

Have a quick look at the techs available… Hittite’s have Mysticism, HBR, and IW. Byzantine’s have Mysticism, IW and Writing, and the Vikings have IW and HBR. Mayans have Mysticism. Let’s see what deals we can cut.

81 g and 4 gpt to Maya for Mysticism.
Mysticism for 127 g from the Vikings.
No one else will deal with me. I’m only 11 turns from Math… hopefully I can use that to leverage myself back into tech parity. I’ve started a SToZ prebuild with the Pyramids in Istanbul.

1050 BC – Finally got Mathematics! Let’s see what we can trade around for. No one seems to have picked anything new up, though the Vikings, Hittites, and Byzantines traded everything around, so they all have IW, HBR and Writing.

Math to Maya for 147 g
Math to Byzantines for Writing, IW and 64 g
Math to Vikings for HBR and 299 g
Hittites were only offering 2 gold, so they’re going to be on the outside for a while.

StoZ in 21 turns.

800 BC – Completed my run to Philosophy to no avail. No free tech. Well, at least I’m at parity with those closest to me. I’m going to have to start building a serious military to stave off the inevitable onslaught of demands. I’ve still got a bunch of land to expand into, and have just located a source of furs to my north. I should be able to secure Iron and Horses, which will be a big help.

30 AD – It seems as though some of the records were lost (oops!) in the writing of this history, so I’ll do an update as of the turn of the millennium.

11 Cities - total population 48.
7 Workers
11 Warriors
10 Spearmen
2 Galleys
5 Ancient Cavalry
1 Curragh

There are at least 4 other civilizations on this continent. (Civ, Mil Str vs., Cities, # of techs ahead of)
Byzantines – Average Mil. – 14 cities – up 1 tech
Babylon – Strong Mil. – 11 cities – up 3 techs
Hittites – Average Mil. – 11 cities – up 2 techs
Vikings – Strong Mil. – 11 cities - even

Plus the Maya off on their own island – Strong Mil – 8 cities – up 1 tech

I’ve got Ivory and Gems connected, Furs within my reach.
I’ve also got Iron, and horses within easy reach.

Tech-wise, I’m missing Currency, Republic, and Monarchy from the Ancient age. Republic is due in 21 turns at 60%. I have 340 gold, making 4 gpt.

This is the world as of 30 AD

250 AD
Nothing too significant happened during the last two hundred or so years. The Byzantines beat me soundly to the GL, forcing me to build a Coliseum instead. My fault for not checking. Of course, that means they are just as likely to be attacked as anything. I’ve found a small island off to the coast from the Vikings, which I had hoped would be the other continent. No such luck I guess.

Got my Iron hooked up, so I’m starting to assemble AC and Swordsmen. Not sure who I’m going to go after first. The Vikings could be the most likely, followed by a limited war against Theodora. The Vikings hold the Pyramids, which would be a nice addition. Theo’s got the MoM and the GL.

320 AD
Ottoman scribes discover the secret of Republic! We decide to revolt immediately. If we are far behind the tech pace on the other continent, Republic will only help us catch up. It may hamper our war efforts, but the increased production and decreased corruption should mean that we can produce more troops more quickly, and thus end the wars more quickly.

340 AD
Well, that should teach me to not check in with my neighbours often. The Vikings, Byzantines and Hittites have advanced to the Medieval age while I was napping. Going to try and trade Republic around and see if I can pick up Monarchy and Currency.

Republic to the Hittites for Currency and 50 gold.

No one else will trade with me, unless I give up Engineering which I drew as my free tech. Whichever one of them is Scientific (Byzantines I think), must have drawn Monotheism and traded it around. Hmmm… and they all appear to have instantly upgraded to Monarchy. Neat trick, as I’m pretty sure it was only the Vikings that had it last turn. I could be wrong though.

Gdek

 

[MSTK]

This is a great story

Though, personally, I am more fond of stories that don't have a timeline/turnlog style.

 

[El Loco]

I like the timeline style tough. One question, all those wonders being built on Instabul, did you actually finish them all or the ai beat you to them. Good update, look like a promising story

 

[Gdek]

I like the timeline style tough. One question, all those wonders being built on Instabul, did you actually finish them all or the ai beat you to them. Good update, look like a promising story

I only actually got the Statue of Zeus, Byzantines beat me to the GL and the Vikes got Pyramids. I was only using the Pyramids as a TSoZ prebuild in any case.

 

[Gdek]

350 AD
Finally in Republic. Ack! Forgot about the no unit support. It’s going to make running a military campaign interesting until I can get some Marketplaces up and running.

360 AD
Okay, 10% Science for now, until I can get some Marketplaces out. I need to field an army to go on the offensive soon, otherwise I’m going to be stuck. I’ve already waited a little too long I think, but I got distracted by some barbarians.

Against my better judgement, I trade Engineering to the Hittites for Monarchy, 3 gpt and 150 gold. I figure at Republic I should be able to maintain a tech lead. Eng. to Theodora for Monotheism and 25 gold.

370 AD
After casually asking Ragnar to get his grimy settlers out of my territory, he had the gall to declare war. I guess I’m a little more misunderstood than I thought. Here’s my plan of attack.

I send a lone swordsman to Aarhus (on the bottom left) hoping to taking it out. He will be reinforced by his fellows coming from the south after dispersing a huge barbarian uprising. My primary force located just outside Molde will take it, then move on to Bergen. I do not want a protracted war, and hopefully losing these cities will force Ragnar to sue for peace. I don’t think the Vikings have Iron, so they shouldn’t be able to mount much of a counter offensive against my Swords and AC.

My primary force consists of 3 AC and 4 Swordsmen.

The attack on Molde went poorly. We defeated the 2 defending spearmen, but at a cost of 1 AC and 1 sword. However, Molde was burned to the ground in retaliation for the losses. The lone Sword defeated a spear at Aarhus, showing another and an archer as well. A roving AC defeated a Viking horseman who’d captured one of my workers.

I braced for the counterattack. It was basically non-existent. We were still rated strong against the Viking military.

420 AD
After a number of turns of consolidating my forces, and repulsing inept Viking attacks, I was prepared to make my next move. I would proceed towards Bergen. I’d replaced my forces around Aarhus where the lone swordsman had been slain by an archer.

430 AD
A first for Ottoman forces! We successfully capture Aarhus, and rather than burning it to the ground, decide to keep it. It is not an especially strategic settlement, but it’s location on the coast, and it’s proximity to Mayan lands could make it useful in the future.

We move closer to the Viking city of Bergen. By taking this city, we should be cutting the Vikings from their only supply of horses. Without horses or iron, they will be no match for us.

460 AD
A year of great rejoicing! The assembled might of the Primary attack force overruns the Viking city of Bergen. We defeat two battalions of spearmen and one group of archers at the cost of a single Ancient Cavalry. 10 years prior we had lost a number of defenders at Ankara, and it looked as though the city would be lost. It is holding now, and reinforcements are on the way. Perhaps the loss of Bergen will force the Vikings to accept peace.

The Vikings will accept peace and give 14 g and 1 gpt. Osman has no desire to punish the Vikings further, though we will hold off on peace for now, until we can found a city near where Molde had once been.

520 AD
Osman decides to take a risk and attempt to capture Stockholm. We are nearly ready to found a city near where Molde had once been, and we’ve assembled enough forces to attack Stockholm. After this, we will grant the Vikings peace.

530 AD
It appears that war will not end quickly. The evil Hittites demanded 45 gold in tribute. Osman would not accept such a slight, and sent the messenger back to Mursilis, less ten pounds of ugly fat. Our generals immediately informed us that the Hittites declared war.

We successfully capture Stockholm. It appears that the Viking will to fight has been sapped. Osman demands Odense in return for peace, and Ragnar reluctantly accepts. The first Viking War is over; the Ottomans gained four cities, and secured another horse. The Vikings suffered many military losses, in addition to the cities; it will be many years before the consider attacking us again.

Now on to the Hittites. We are strong compared to them, so it is unlikely they will be able to defeat us.

Gdek

 

[El Loco]

Those AC sure give u the military upper hand.

 

[Gdek]

Those AC sure give u the military upper hand.

That they do. If I can get them, I'm a big fan of AC. For the cost of TSoZ, you can weasel a pile of AC out of it. In my mind, it's more or less another production centre on the board, albeit one that can only produce one unit. They're quick, and you don't need horses for them. IIRC you can't upgrade them though.

On the other hand, I'm notorious for neglecting military until well into the middle ages, so it's helpful to have at least something around. I just have trouble assembling them in large numbers, as I tend to have them wandering all over the map.

Gdek

 

[El Loco]

One qq, the vikings dead by now?

 

[Gdek]

One qq, the vikings dead by now?

Not yet. They're on the list though.

 

[Gdek]

610 AD
We have faced three waves of Hittites, and temporarily lost control of our sole Iron resource. Quick action by a brave legion of Ancient Cavalry rescued our captured workers, who quickly reconnected the source. We do not feel that the Hittites will attack us again (realistically though, they were using their UU, so they should be in a Golden Age now. I should still be able to hold them off though.)

620 AD – Repelled a couple of 3 man Chariots. While I’m at war with the Hittites I may as well try to expand a little. I’d like to dominate the inland lake, for no other reason than I don’t like to share. If I take Harran from them, perhaps I can browbeat them into giving me Feudalism in return for peace.

660 AD – Captured Harran. I’m a little concerned about culture flip, but the goal is to get Feudalism from the Hittites as part of the peace process. No such luck. I’d like to take the Vikes out sooner rather than later, so I go for Peace with the Hittites for 8 gold.

So… Theology to the Byzantines for Feudalism, 40 gold and 4 gpt.

It’s now time to start building up a force to take out the Vikings. I’m going to need to build some more workers as well to develop some of the newer cities. Also going to try and get Sistine’s. We’ll see how that goes.

780 AD – Been building infrastructure and rearranging my forces for the attack on the Vikings. The Egyptians beat us all to Sun Tzu’s. No luck getting contact with whatever other continent is out there. Hopefully this won’t create a cascade which will screw me out of Sistine’s and Leo’s.

 

[Gdek]

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this game is going. This is my first story, so I'm struggling with not getting too far ahead of my notes.

Short term, I'm going to try and increase the research rate on my continent... if the Byzantines can continue to pick up techs and build wonders, I'll be able to take them from them later, and it will save me from having to build them.

I desparately need to make contact with the other continent.

Gdek

 

[Gdek]

810 AD – Nothing too exciting… just building, preparing for an all out assault to eliminate the Vikings. Can’t trade maps which is starting to frustrate me… I can’t remember which tech it is I need to trade them.

900 AD – Well, well, well. I decided to make a run directly for Military Tradition. Siphai will allow me to conquer this continent fairly quickly, so it’s worth bypassing everything else. However, when I discovered Gunpowder, I noticed that there were only two sources of Saltpetre… both very very far away. I may have to rethink how I’m going to overrun this continent.

930 AD – Had enough of waiting around. I think I’ve fallen into my usual trap of just watching the turns pass by, and not being aggressive enough. I’ve attacked the Vikings, and taken the first city – Oslo. I’ve got a force of 7 AC and 4 Knights, with reinforcements on the way. Oslo fell with no losses, though the defenders redlined a couple of my AC. I’ve got some elites, so I’m hoping for some leaders.

Here’s the plan of attack

First, I’ll head to Birka… I’ve got a line of Pikes coming in who can reinforce as I advance. Then to Reykjavik, Copenhagen and then on to Trondheim. I’ve got a group of reinforcements to the south west of Trondheim. It’s composed of 1 knight and 4 swords. I’ll add to that as the campaign moves along.

940 AD – Birka fell without a struggle. There was only one Spearman in place, so an AC easily defeated it. Began the strike against Reykjavik with an elite AC and vet Knight that had just arrived on the scene, and took out two spearmen. Repelled a sad counter attack with one archer that had landed outside of Oslo. It’s paramount that I make sure the Vikings don’t get iron.

950 AD – Miracle of miracles!

I so rarely get great leaders; probably because I’m lazy and don’t use my elites as much as I should. Anyhow, I think I sense a knight army in the very near future. I don’t have many (if any) elite knights, but I think the value of an army will overcome that. I may be able to make a run across the continent for saltpetre after all.

Reykjavik also fell, at the cost of one knight, the first casualty of the second Viking Ottoman war.

970 AD – Well I’ll be damned. An elite sword generated another leader! I just wish military leaders could still rush wonders! Still, a second army won’t hurt.

Copenhagen fell also, defended by a single spearman. I lost one AC trying to take out a spearman wandering about with a settler. Oddly enough, I’ve got probably close to half a dozen Viking settler spear combos coming into my territory, even after I declared war.

My forces are closing in on Trondheim.

1000 AD – Forces have been shuffling around, mainly in order to fill my armies. I’ve lost a couple of galleys, but I should be able to replace them easily. Anyhow, I was surveying my lands, and what did I notice?

Well damn! I knew I didn’t really want the Byzantines to settle that close to me, but they are depriving me of both a source of iron and now a source of saltpetre has popped up. Of course, it will be a good long time before Istanbul’s culture grows again! I may have to go to war with the Byzantines earlier than expected. If I save a great deal of gold, and have a pile of knight around, I could do a huge upgrade as soon as I take that city.

1010 AD – Damn again. Spanish finished Sistine’s and someone else (I missed who) finished JS Bach’s. I’m going to lose a ton of shields on Sistine’s though I should be guaranteed Leo’s workshop. Plus, the Vikings just got Invention, so they have Beserk’s now. As long as I stay on the offensive, I should be okay.

Traded Chemistry to the Byzantines for Education.
Traded Currency to the Maya for Silk.

Captured Trondheim, no losses. Secured the Pyramids.
Captured Hareid, no losses.
Captured Stavanger, no losses.

That leaves the Vikings with only a few cities on the continent, most of which are in swamps, and of no real import. So, peace with the Vikings, while I try and figure out where the other continent is, and how to gain tech parity again. Armies are awesome, especially knight and cavalry armies.

Peace to the Vikings for Peace and Alesund, a city they have in the swamps near some gems.

 

[rbis4rbb]

Great story

EDIT: Ooops put sad face my bad