R:I. My personal spin-off

[TheBirdMan]

Next post will be about my changes for sailing units.

Freshwater Lakes greater than size 1 (the new terrain-feature Walter helped me with by making the NIF-file - see https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/realism-invictus.411799/page-676 posts from Jun 6, 2025) are in my spinn-off from size 2 to size 49. From size 50 those lakes becomes "Open Sea".

Ships "normally" demand waterbodies of size 8 (most ships have this limit <iMinAreaSize>8</iMinAreaSize> ) but some have size 20 (fx. submarines have this <iMinAreaSize>20</iMinAreaSize>). However I mostly believe that this is an "unfinished task". In my spinn-off, I have tried to adjust this to "suit my taste". Have I made ajustments to all ship types? Maybe not yet - but this will be corrected if/when I find errors or shortcomings. Of course the number of Sea-tiles reflects that my maps are as big as they are. But the default values are - in my opinion - clearly too low. Even for the smaller maps.

Besides this, I have added some serious demands for all shiptypes except the Sailboat (and different type of workboats as this type isn't relevant here). I'm not going to show details for all type - but I'll post some of the earliest here to show what changes I have made or will make.

Spoiler Ships in my Spinn-Off :

<iMinAreaSize>6</iMinAreaSize>
This type is the only one (except the workboats), that do not demand anything but a tech.

<iMinAreaSize>200</iMinAreaSize>
As you can see, the demands here are somewhat extensive........
Available resources: Treelogs, Naval Supplies (Canvas for sails, Ropes, Boards and Planks) Woodtar, Bronze or Wrought Iron.
Buildings in the city, where the ship is build: A Harbor or a Naval Workshop (tech Sailing).
Buildings present elsewhere in the empire. Lumberyard (tech Woodworking - for Treelogs), Local Workhouse (tech Weaving - for Sails and Ropes), CharcoalBurnersHut (tech Mining - for Charcoal and Woodtar).
And either BronzeBloomery (should I rename it to CopperBloomery???) or IronBloomery.

Those settings limit the number of cities, where there sailing units can be build. And more advanced shiptypes demands more resources and other buildings. So you need to consider even more carefully than you are used to, where to build what buildings.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Tang Taizong has declared war on you Completely without warning. Gather the tribes - and attack the enemy.

Spoiler Screenshots from the war :

Enemies at the palisade.

And their reinforcements. More screenshots to be added.....
And here they come.

My city defense is down. The chinese have merged their armies.
Later:

My enemy do what they often do - hesitate. Guess reinforce will arrive - hopefully too later.

Because I'm planning an attack on them now. 1st Ram is comming from NorthEast and I have 3 more Rams in the buildingqueqe. Sometime tomorrow morning I should be ready to strike.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Continued

Spoiler Situation report Jun 21, 25 at 06:25 UTC +2 :

And what do we have here? An upcomming enemy or????

An upcomming enemy for sure. Guess the leader from Northern China and Korea had shared a few cup of tea while discussing their next more.

But now I shall teach those Chineese something - I'm going to whip their backs until they bleed and then cut off their heads and put them on poles.

Sorry to write this - but the AI never seems to learn. It is not very wise to declare war on a neighbor when you have not ensured proper defense of your own vulnerable cities.

The Koreans are moving on - wonder what they are up to.....
Update: Nothing - not yet that is.......

What to write now? Well, I can repeat myself: It is not very wise to declare war on a neighbor when you have not ensured proper defense of your own vulnerable cities.....

Easy come - easy go. 65 gold to get him off my back - that's cheap.

 

[TheBirdMan]

End of that war with the Northern China. It became too costly (read: It would take too long time for me to get re-inforcements down to continue the war).

Spoiler Peace considerations and result :

After bombarding the citydefense to zero, I used my 4 chariots to weaken the defenders. Not sure I should have continued......

Lost 2 axes to get 1 archer. I recon I can't do it. So lets see what TT will offer for a peace.

260 gold - that's ok. And now for some new settlements (east and north) plus expand my control over the conquered cities/areas.

Spoiler Too late my not so good friend :

 

[TheBirdMan]

Spoiler Nice try Ivan :

Ivan - that wasn't a nice move. A russian settlement in my backyard????? Guess this is somewhat we have to discuss

No - you do not need to change clothes to participate in this Mongolian ritual: Put a head (yours) on the tip (of a pole).

Let's start the war.

Order restored.

No more sneaking 'round here Ivan. Time to make peace (if you like).

Now you are talking.... 225 gold in exchange - very nice. And you have 15 Cities I see - good to know and something to remember.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Now with less than 2 years to change BC to AD - its time to change from Autocracy and Paganism to a little more "civilized" government.

Spoiler Civic and religion changes :

1st: Change of religion to SolarCult. Reason: I already have 3 cities with that religion. I can't see where it came from, so there's a chance it's still "un-owned". Time will tell.

Change of Government to Monarchy. I have too many cities for Republic and I do not think the Confederation is the "one" for me.

Ohhh - my dear neighbors don't like me anymore - just because I believe in slightly different gods (no one mentioned and no one forgotten) than they do?!?!?!

 

[TheBirdMan]

My gametime yesterday was a long "walk" with war from nearly 1st turn and all turns after. The wars - with a "s" - continues soon. But 1st some screenshots from yesterday.

Spoiler War, war and more even more war. Seems like the AI doesn't like me at all :

-->

Ivan declares war.

And the Russians hit hard.

Korea joins the war - not that I do think the Russians asked them, because they do not like each other much. It's more likely, that they "just" took the oppotunity. But you never know........

The Russians did divide their invasionarmy into 2 - that was a big mistake.

Now the Koreans took a city.......

2nd Russian invasion. In above screenshots you can see the consequence of my changes, where resources play a crucial role in which buildings are "active". Without resources - no production/activity..... (guess those 2 screenshots could be posted in the R:I mainforum too).

As usual (that actually is the way I wage war - flexible) I seldom attack an enemy directly where the enemy is strongest. Instead I try to circle 'round and attack "elsewhere - somewhere - anywhere" I think I can get any kind of a victory.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Spoiler More screenshots from yesterdays gaming :

The 2nd Russian invasion was barely beaten back. The last defender was a badly wounded spearman.

After reading in the mainforum...... now I do not care about this errormessage anymore

2nd Korean city taken.

Northern Dynasty (China) joins my enemies.

And the Russians (still) demands too much for a peacetreaty. With "still" you should understand, that this isn't the 1st time I have asked for a peace - but I have not been "ready" to pay what Ivan demands.

3rd Korean city taken. And that was last turn yesterday.