Surrounded by Insanity

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The Parisiens were shocked to find they were not alone in the world, and that evidently the world was bigger than they had thought. Fortunately, the Gardiens de la Ville were there to protect them. And indeed, the Aztec warriors did not advance on the proud city. But it would only be a matter of time before hordes of Aztecs would come swarming in from across the mountains, and threaten Paris and its surrounding farm lands.

Platoon I continued to make its way home, to reinforce the city. In 3250BC, the people rejoiced upon their return. As news was delivered on the great strength of the Aztecs, the sages decided to increase their efforts to research bronze working.


[size=-2]Paris in 3250BC, about to reach 100,000 citizens and about to finish its barracks[/size]
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The city council decided to train another band of warriors before starting the construction of city walls. The city's population would grow soon again, and with more people to work, the walls could be completed faster at a later time.

During this period, more farm land had been irrigated. All the cattle had been domesticated now, and the French farmers thrived.


[size=-2]Paris in 3150BC. Valbovin had an extensive irrigation system already.[/size]
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A third unit of warriors was trained not long after that. The defenses of Paris were well stocked now.


[size=-2]The third band of warriors were a well trained, veteran corps. These warriors were to defend the rulers of the French.[/size]
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The city council frantically tried to increase production, city growth, and commercial output, all at the same time. Archeological evidence shows that the citizens of Paris were put to work in diverse places to achieve this, as illustrated in the next two pictures:


[size=-2]Overview of Paris and surroundings around 3050BC[/size]


[size=-2]Overview of Paris and surroundings around 3000BC[/size]
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The city walls were completed in 2950BC. They surrounded the city on three sides, the fourth side bordering the lake. Nothing remains of these walls now, as they were brought down completely in the year 150AD, to free up additional funds for the war.

Then, in 2900BC, contact was made by the Chinese people. As with the Aztecs, they behaved in an incomprehensible and insane manner, and the French people were in a state of war with them immediately.

During the same period, a company of Aztec archers approached the city from the south.


[size=-2]View of the French lands in 2900BC, with Aztec and Chinese units marked in green and light purple respectively[/size]
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An era of continuous battle was upon the French people...
 
You can rename units without having to create a leader with them? Didn't know that.
 
The situation in 2900BC was precarious indeed. Even though the Aztecs hadn't mustered a significant attack force yet, the French economic and military advisors were confronted with several problems.

The first problem was related to the city's economy. Ansar's troops had remained fortified on the high ground until then, but with their countrymen arriving, they were expected to attack at any moment. They would surely advance through les Champs d'Ansar, and were thus threatening the French peasants and their work. That region generated important trade income. There was genuine fear that if enemy troops would occupy the region, the city would be plunged into civil disorder. The council took special precautions however to make sure that any trade reduction would not come out of the entertainment allowance, but out of the treasury instead.


[size=-2]View of food and goods production and commercial output of Paris, in 2900BC. Loss of the trade generated in the Champs d'Ansar would have an adverse effect on the treasury only, and not on the city's happiness.[/size]
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The second was a military problem. The Parisii workers were scheduled to start work on a road directly south of Paris. Général Sablebois, head of the French military and advisor to the council, had no doubt that the Aztec archers would move straight north through les Louveteaux, and threaten the worker crew. Even the hardened French warriors would not be able to protect the workers on flat land. What's more, the unit of spearmen that was to be trained, wouldn't be ready in time to defend the city if the archers would press on.

Legend goes that it was then that Quentin le Petit suggested an unorthodox course of action. Here's his story as recounted throughout the ages.

Quentin le Petit was born in Paris around 2930BC. His father was a soldier with the Gardiens de la Ville, so it was only natural that he also enrolled himself in the army. He was trained together with the Gardiens du Despote. Quentin had a very small stature, hence the nickname he had received. But what he lacked in height, he made up for in wits. So much so that he was noted by the general, and assigned to him as his aide.

That's how Quentin came to be present at the council's meeting where the military options were being discussed. Standing in a corner of the room, Quentin heard how various options for defense were reviewed and then discarded. No matter how hard the strategists thought things through, they couldn't come up with a way to shore up defenses in time.

"Passons à l'attaque!" As the general and other members of the council looked up and turned toward him, Quentin realised he had spoken his thoughts out loud. The council members started muttering at the insolence of the lowly lieutenant, but the general stopped them. He wanted to hear what Quentin had to say.

"We should attack the Aztec archers, or at least prevent them from retaining the high ground. We stand no chance if we allow the enemy to approach us on their terms. But if we move against them while they do not expect it, and use the cover that the mountains will provide us, our veteran warriors will prevail."

At first, the majority of the council would not hear of this plan, but the general took a positive stance to it. Quentin had obviously given this some thought. The unit would move quickly along the eastern road, then move due south into the Louvetaux. They would travel during the night, to avoid detection by Ansar's troops, and then wait in the mountains to ambush the archers.

Quentin was put in charge of the Gardiens du Despote. The plan was set in motion and executed almost to perfection. The Aztec archers walked straight into the trap set by the French warriors. Before they had time to react, a third of their forces had been decimated. The Aztecs regrouped and counterattacked. Even though the surprise effect was now lost, Quentin was able to direct his men to stay safe from the volleys of arrows as much as possible. In the end, about half of Quentin's men were killed, but the entire unit of Aztec archers was wiped out.


[size=-2]Depiction of the first skirmish with the Aztec forces[/size]
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Bronze working was researched in 2900BC. Training of a new military unit had already been underway for some time, and with the new bronze weapons in production, it wouldn't be long before the first unit of spearmen would be fielded.


​
 
lurker's comment: Oooh... I am signing in to read this one. Looking good so far!
 
Mumpulus, what about mining all three cows, instead of irrigation? You would have a 10 shield town to crank out units faster. Not sure you will need to have a big +food as growth and expansion will require lots of force, which tales time.

Good luck, nice story so far.
 
I must admit that I hadn't even considered that. With these surroundings, I go for high food almost automatically. I am considering it now, but I don't think I will do it though. Even if settler/worker production is low, it's always nice to get back to size quickly. And I'm hoping to get some more towns for military production. In this set-up, I'll also be sharing a cow with a town on the spices. Maybe the eastern cow will be shared too, not sure yet.
 
Even with them minded, you still will be +2 food. I find that it is no real value to me to grow fast in these spots as I will be under siege for some time. It will be hard to even have those tiles as they tend to get pillaged, without spears.

Did you come to select France out of three choices? I figure that no Military or Science trait due to the variation of no spear or archer. No Seafare, Religious or Expansionist as they suck in this game, most games for my money.

Leaving Industrial, Commercial or Ag. In that case you have just Iroq, France or Maya to use. I like Maya in that case as it has Mason for walls and just needs one tech to get what is a spear and an archer in one, the JT.

The super early GA, it is less than optimum, but you face that with Iroq and you have to have Horses. At least the JT requires no resources. Those JW will be a real pain as they can filed them so cheaply.

I guess you could use the whip with that +5 food otherwise it will be an issue with content/discontent.
 
Oh yes -- to quote a hokey song from the mid-80's

Whip it good!

Good story so far, Mumps. I'm personally a fan of the French civ. Well timed GA in many cases, loads of cash once you get up and running, and (at least in vanilla) industrious is probably my favorite trait.. good luck against the early hordes though. French definitely don't have much of an edge in the AA.
 
I've replayed the same start and followed vmxa's advice. Mining the plains cow doesn't make sense because of the despotism penalty, but I did mine the grassland cows. I end up in pretty much the same situation at the point where I got to in the story. Paris is smaller, but makes up for it in production, to finish the barracks a turn earlier. It's easy to manage for 10spt and +5fpt, and spit out a worker or settler upon growth to size 6 or 7 respectively.

However, commerce is lower with less citizens. Working the lake with an extra citizen makes a lot of difference. I'm also expecting less flexibility to swap with other towns with tiles mined. Also, irrigation goes faster in terms of worker turns, which in turn allows for earlier roads and thus more early commerce. Finally, in this case, with the volcano and its 2spt, you pick up quite a few shields upon growth every 3rd turn. So for the opening play, I would follow the same plan again.

In the long term, mining is definitely better I think. So what I'll do is to mine one or both the grassland cows when worker turns allow it. I'll make sure to find a good name for the advisor who comes up with that plan in the story. ;)
 
Paris reached a population of 200,000 by the year 2850BC. 17% of the world's population lived under French rule. Unrest was beginning to stir, and a prohibitively large portion of the city's income had to be diverted to entertainment. It was time to send off some of the population to found new cities.

Before that could happen, a strong military was necessary. The sages predicted that they could create even better weapons by researching iron working, but that would take a long time. Instead, they decided to develop archery first.

During the time required to make preparations for expansion, the city council did everything possible to keep the citizens working, while dedicating as many resources as possible to the sages' work.


[size=-2]View of Paris in 2850BC. There is evidence that the city council made very precise budget calculations
based on projected revenue, so that as much commerce as possible could be put into research.[/size]


[size=-2]View of Paris in 2800BC. With the ever growing population there was also a steady increase in production.[/size]
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The training of spearmen continued at a fast pace. It seemed defenses would be ready just in time. In 2670BC, a new enemy was met: the Persians. Around this period, the Persians were not very well developed. They had two cities, and didn't even possess the knowledge of an alphabet.


[size=-2]View of France in 2670BC. The Aztec warriors had been moving around at
the borders indecisively. New reinforcements were now underway.[/size]
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The Aztecs continued forward this time, and began the first siege of Paris.


​

Prelude

By 2630BC, the enemy had finally reached the gates of Paris. Under the leadership of Quentin le Petit, the French troops had continued to harass the approaching troops, forcing them to move around so they would not be able to disrupt French trade. The Aztecs finally settled in les Champs de Mars, the fields of the god of war.

Les Champs de Mars were at that time of no commercial importance to the French. The lands were not cultivated, and there weren't even roads. There were important roads south and east of Paris, which allowed the French to move quickly. It was decided the French would defend against the main attack at the walls of Paris this time.

Battle

Quentin le Petit wanted to make sure the Aztecs would continue to approach following the same route. His warrior group made a preemptive strike against the arriving troops, before they could fortify. Because the Aztec troops in the Champs de Mars were much weakened after this battle, their reinforcements had no choice but to continue to the same area, and not make a detour to pillage the French lands. About 3000 Aztec warriors were slaughtered before Quentin's troops became too depleted to press on. There were about 2000 casualties on French side.


[size=-2]French troop movements and counterattack at the start of the First Siege[/size]
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The spearman divisions that had been guarding the cultivated lands moved back to Paris, to further strengthen defenses. To the east, the Persian spearman division that had made first contact, did start to move in the direction of Paris, bent on disrupting the French peasants' activity. They were still some distance away though, and would not be a factor in the battle.


[size=-2]Aztec troops are in position to attack Paris. The Persians are approaching from the northeast.[/size]
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In 2590BC, the Aztecs made their attack. They were hopelessly outnumbered, and had inferior troops. A single unit of spearmen, led by Colonel Contrepied, defeated the attacks of two warrior units that attacked the center of the French defenses. The Aztecs lost 6000 warriors at the walls of Paris, among them the great warrior Ansar. The Aztec contingent of archers didn't attack at all. The French incurred practically no losses. Contrepied's unit became the elite spearman unit of the French army.


[size=-2]The Aztec archers are completely surrounded. The Persians find their pillaging target protected by French troops.[/size]
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Aftermath

The siege had taken very much out of the Aztec army. Prior to the battle, the sizes of the French and Aztec armies were comparable, but after the desperate attack the French were markedly stronger. The people offered Joan an expansion to her palace.


[size=-2]Painting of Joan's palace around 2550BC, after the First Siege of Paris[/size]
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eep! Hope the Persians lack iron, or are too tied up elsewhere to come at you! :scared: Congrats to your victory in battle! Perhaps I missed something else though.. do you have UUs turned off? I woulda thought the aztec would be tossing Jaguar warriors at you... in that case, I guess the Persians won't be of much trouble?

I'll bet the Persian jerk goes after that other cow, or tries to nab your workers. I'm kinda surprised the chinese didn't try it already. Now that there is two of them, though...
 
vmxa said:
Did you come to select France out of three choices?
Click to expand...
That's pretty much how it happened. I didn't want an early UU, and I didn't want an agricultural civ because that would have made it easier. :)
capnvonbaron said:
do you have UUs turned off?
Click to expand...
No, they're on, and I've encountered the first Jag (that'll be in the next update).

I'll bet the Persian jerk goes after that other cow, or tries to nab your workers. I'm kinda surprised the chinese didn't try it already. Now that there is two of them, though...
Click to expand...
Holding off the Chinese and Persians will be tricky indeed. That will also be dealt with in the next update. Stay tuned. :)
 
Platoon I, led by Septime le Sachant, had remained in Paris ever since they had returned from their long journey. Like many of the citoyens, Septime grew weary with all the problems that existed within the confines of the city walls. Even though the recent siege had been dealt with so easily, and everyone had rejoiced in victory, the people weren't really happy. The city was too crowded, and it was dangerous to wander outside of the walls because of the constant threat posed by the Aztecs, the Chinese and the Persians.


[size=-2]View of Paris in 2550BC[/size]
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Septime yearned to go back to the forest where he was born. He spoke with the councilors, and they agreed that a settling party should be formed forthwith. The city had more than 300,000 inhabitants now, and continued to grow very quickly. In fact, there were more than enough people who would volunteer to go and settle a new town, but there was a lack of production capacity to manufacture the provisions the settlers would need. Septime saw this, and that is why he made a difficult decision.


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Septime told his soldiers to go and help the settlers prepare. Instead of warriors, they would become lumberjacks and blacksmiths. And even though the platoon was only a small group of men, their help was significant.


[size=-2]View of Paris in 2510BC[/size]
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It was fortunate that the first siege of Paris had been terminated so easily, because a new threat was approaching. Chinese warriors were intent on storming Paris, and would destroy anything found on their path. French troops had to be deployed all along the border to protect the farmers.


[size=-2]View of Paris in 2470BC[/size]
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In 2430BC, the settler party was ready to go. Septime lead them quickly along the roads that had been put in place just in time by the Parisii. The Gardiens de la Ville were sent with them to protect them from the Chinese, who were still trying to find a way to push through to Paris.


[size=-2]View of France in 2430BC[/size]
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Even though Septime had moved so quickly, the Chinese warriors had spotted them moving into the forest. They saw an opportunity, and turned around to attack the settlers. The Gardiens de la Ville had never seen any real combat, so the outcome of the battle would have been uncertain, were it not that Septime himself took command of the unit. With his intimate knowledge of the forest, he had a significant advantage over the enemy. The Chinese stood no chance at all. As they moved into the forest, they were surrounded and trapped. Not a single French warrior was lost, but the Chinese all perished. The Gardiens de la Ville had proven to be worthy for combat, and were now veterans of war.


[size=-2]View of France in 2390BC[/size]
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And so, in 2390BC, a new French town was founded by Septime le Sachant and his settlers. Old members of Platoon I made a clearing in the forest, and uncovered the spices that Septime had told them about. The new town was named for these spices.


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Almost instantly, the benefit of Épices was felt throughout the realm. The spices were harvested and sent back to Paris. The people of Paris were appeased for now.


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Also from an economic point of view, a new town was very beneficial. The inhabitants had seen the importance of a strong military, and were willing to contribute to the upkeep of the French military, taking over much of the financial burden from Paris. There were more spices in the forests surrounding Épices, and merchants thrived. There was much trade between Paris and Épices, and France once again became one of the stronger economies in the world at that time. Épices would grow slowly at the outset, but arrangements were being made for Paris to give up some farmland to help out.


[size=-2]View of Épices in 2390BC[/size]
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