The Aerostatic Nation

[Sebiche]

The Aerostatic Nation​

How to build a self-sufficient empire

The Theory:
A Nation that requires no other to survive is able to do whatever it pleases. There would be no finnancial losses because it would have no foreign trade. There would be minimal economic losses because resources are usually kept inside. A nation that produces only for itself maintains its wealth inside, ultimately generating more money, technologies, culture and great people than any other in the game.

Before you read:

"Aerostatic Nation" refers to a nation that requires no help or fuel to maintain itself afloat.

The Aerostatic nation is a strategy to build a small, yet powerful and neutral empire in civilization. If you like conquest, big empires and bossing people around, this is not for you. But if you like manipulating your allies and getting what your nation needs while not paying back, read on.

The Aerostatic Nation plan was tested three times as Japan in Earth18 map. (Once in Normal, then Marathon then Epic) During the entire duration, I never left the island and won a Diplomatic victory twice (in Marathon I won Space Race).

Chapter 1: Basic Structure

What it means to be an Aerostatic Nation is to keep to yourself yet survive. Think Switzerland. In the game, you may never choose a side, a religion, a war or an embargo, for these may endanger your neutrality. Well, atleast until your civilization gets running.

First you must plan ahead were your cities are too be placed. Try to build as many cities in the least space possible. In the Earth18 map, I built Japan out of 4 cities and still maximized my resources. Although you can trade resources with other nations, it is not recommended for the begining. Neither are Open Border agreements, Defensive Pacts or Permanent Alliances.

Harvest any resource at once. Also construct many cottages, for they will one day flourish and provide you nation with independant and unalterable wealth.

Always have all your specialists full. In a crowded and small nation, there is never too much production to be had in one city.

Choose a small remote location for your nation. Japan was perfect because it was isolated in its little island. Far away from war, religion and most importantly barbarians you are given more elbow room.

Choose technologies that affect your internal economics such as Animal Husbandry, Hunting, etc.

The game will be tough, and for quite a while you may run at the bottom of the chart. Just ignor and carry on.

Chapter 2: Choosing your civics

Your civics will have to focus in your empire's alone prevail without interfering with any other.

The Civics I found more effictive were:

-Representation
-Bureaucracy
-Caste System
-Mercantilism
-Free Religion

The Representation Civic gives you more than enough tech points to get by (a completely Aerostatic Nation will have alot of specialists to keep it going, and these specialists are harnessed by Representation causing an extreme amount of tech points)

Bureaucracy might be expensive, but it gives you capital both production and wealth. If your nation is a compact as it should be (recommended size: 4-8 cities) you will need all the production you can get. Generating this wealth and production in the capital allow you to work on other things in it, such as culture and science.

Caste System allows you to fully maximize you country's population capacity. So keep just the necesary fields worked so that your cities never stop growing and then add as many specialists as possible.

Mercantilism gives you free specialists which allow you to work the fields and get the benefits at once. Also, the forced national trade routes allow you to open you borders without trade risks.

Free Religion forces you to maintain a religious neutrality which will make the other nations stop asking you to join their religion. It also helps in tech points and culture. (And you can't have too many of either).

Chapter 3: Foreign Politics

The Aerostatic Nation once in the air has nothing to fear. No wars or embargos can damage its economy because its entirely nationalist policy freezes any possible effect

Until the Renaissance you should keep to yourself. But once you've cleared through the Renaissance and into the Industrial Era you are free to open your borders. Most importantly, don't sign Defensive Pacts. It happens way too offen that your allies run into war. If anyone declares it on you, you should be fairly popular around the other nations to dig up some forces.

Managing the World

This total and complete independance does give the player god-like powers. You can completely manipulate the trade around the world, the wars and at times religions without any effect.

However, you must be firm. If a nation starts giving you trouble, don't let it inflate. Call every nation leader and call for an embargo on that nation. If any leader opposes because of friendship or something, embargo them too. Their economies will be crippled so fast they'll never bother you again.

Never accept Vassal States. Mercantilism doesn't work with outside nations. Remember that your nation only produces enough to cover your expenses and enrich you treasury. If you add another variable, the economy will spiral out of control.

Spying is encouraged. It allows you to see the other nation's move in advance and if necesary, find those with an economy weak enough to cripple with a simple embargo.

You must build the United Nations. Failling to do so is an unecesary risk that cause you to go astray.

Finally, when its time before the elections use some of the massive wealth you have. Give some away and get as many friends as possible. You will surely win.

Once your in the big seat, only change policies that benefit you. I chose:

-Universal Currency
-Free Religion
-Open Borders for All

I chose no more because the other civics didn't apease me. For the no-nuclear poliferation you are allowed, just make sure you have enough. Holding a massive nuclear arsenal scares the other nations. Don't forget to leave a spy in every stash.

Chapter 4: On the Offensive

The most important law of war is:
No Economy = No War, therefore the smartest way to win is to defend long enough and pull some political strings

Your country's army should not be too big. Thats expensive. But you should count with a couple of "Friendly" leaders that will blindly take a bullet for you. When presented with war, do this:

-Get every person possible in to help you

-All those that won't declare war, atleast get them to embargo

-All the nations that will do neither are potentially hostile: eliminate them immidiately. How to do this?

Pull your political strings and get every nation that has a deal with them to cancel it. Infiltrate them with spies and destroy all their resources nodes and remember this:

The Aerostatic Nation does not fight blindly. It outsmarts and outmanovours its enemies into submission

Be cunning, not brutal. Be shrewd and decisive. He who hesitates is lost.

 

[InvisibleStalke]

I am struggling to see the benefit of this approach. Is it a challenge to make the game harder?

Sitting aloof from diplomacy doesn't generate the tons of gold you are referring to. And if you don't pick some friends to trade with and fight beside, you won't be the one the world loves - everyone will be lukewarm at best and hating you at worst.

You will get asked to help in wars. Refuse and you will lose diplomatic points. You will also lose them for engineering trade embargos (if you can) and trading with worst enemies (once you open borders with all).

If you are going for a diplomatic win, I don't see how this strategy helps much. Going for a diplomatic win to me means getting very strong friends who you trade extensively with and very strong enemies - polarizing the world into the ones that love you and the ones that hate you. They won't vote for you unless they love you - which means very few negative modifiers and lots of positive ones.

 

[Sebiche]

you won't be lukewarm or nothing, but i works. The approach is to be completely independant. In most games, declaring war causes your economy to stumble, in here nothing happens.

As for diplomatic issues, did you miss reading the "spread your new-found wealth" part?

The thing is, I discovered that a small mercantilist civ can produce more wealth, research, culture and hammers than a regular one. Its not a joke.

That is the basis. That the mercantilist civ can outproduce therefore beat the other dependant civs. Its not how you win that matters, its the fact that there is a benefit and advantage. Perhaps you want to do something different than wait for diplomatic or space race. The point is, that the mercantilist civ can be at war with everybody and survive. You work out your own strategy.

By the way, there are tons of riches. By the modern era I was getting +107 gold every turn with research to 100% percent. And there was no foreign income.

That is the basic point. If you want to change your strategy, knock yourself out, the thing is that this makes economic survival a zinch. (Specially when in war)

The embargos and war offen lead to your enemy capitulizing and that happens most of the time with one of your friends and the opinion rubs off.

If you don't think diplomatic works, then do it another way. Diplomatic worked twice, and the third time I finished building the last shuttle peice before it was done. The Aerostatic Nation is very efficient in fighting wars or gaining cultural prestige.

 

[InvisibleStalke]

I have no trouble believing diplomatic works - see my article on Diplomacy wins for an isolated start. And if you do want a diplomatic win, then you do want to be very careful on trading and probably not start trading until the diplomatic situation is settled and you know who hates who.

Its the source of the "new found wealth" that I can't see from your post. Where is it coming from? Cities don't earn more just because you don't allow them foreign trade routes.

I know there are lots of ways in which you could be making +107 gold - shrine income or tons of merchants for example. But from your game description I don't think you are doing that.

What level did you test the strategy at?

 

[Kiershar]

Try to build as many cities in the least space possible.

bad, very bad. You don't want many cities with regular squares around them, you want few cities with high yield tiles.


War doesn't break your economy if its successful. Your army that cost 15 gold per turn in supplies gets a neat refund when capturing a cities. think of your army as an investment. Wars that may break your economy are long, high casualties wars wich occurs pretty much only at multiplayer and immortal/deity.


You got one thing right though :

Building cottages.


Thats probably what makes you think being isolationist help. What are you gonna do if some other civ makes more GNP than you? Staying in your corner wont do you any good.


The Aerostatic Nation does not fight blindly. It outsmarts and outmanovours its enemies into submission

I'd say any nation that fight blindly is doomed. Thats not a new concept and i think Sun Tzu already elaborated on this.


Anyway in conclusion my point is that there is no advantage in being isolationist unless you have more good land than everyone else(Wich means the game was sealed from the begining). You want to conquer the good land and exploit it. if other civs gets the good land (And they manage their empire decently, say monarch and + or a decent multiplayer) then you will lose the lead and suffer.

 

[Sebiche]

i played this on Emperor. dude if you don't like it, thats great. Its just a posibility.

It was just an experiment I tried to see if a nation could be succesful and independant. I never said it was the best, but it sure was fun.

Oh, and the "no religion" thing, includes shrines and stuff. I ended the game with Catherine, Julius, Qui, Moctezuma, Genghis, Elizabeth, Roosevelt, Mansa Musa and Huanya Capa on Friendly, (well, Lizzie kept swinging from pleased to friendly. So did Roosevelt ad Genghis)

I only had one cautious and that was Isabella (damn it, I won't take your religion!)

everybody else swung from pleased to cautious.

Its not a very good victory solution

BUT, it gives you a high point without dependance. It was an experiment, and it worked. I thought that a mercantilist extremist would fall back economically and die. But it didn't and thats all that really matters.

Oh, and the Japanese Island in the Earth18 map has EXCELLENT LAND. Iron, copper, two rice, gold, incense, dye, coal, silver and pig in a very small bit.

 

[InvisibleStalke]

With a small empire, mercantilism would be a hindrance rather than a help. One specialist is not going to compare with the income you could get from foreign trade routes. But I guess that makes the game more challenging and interesting. Being on an island is probably a requirement also - on the mainland I think you would be too tempting a target early on.

 

[DaveMcW]

Staying neutral is the fastest way to make everyone annoyed with you.

If you refuse to choose a side, you will be ganged up on by those who do.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

Testing it out on Japan on the Earth map isn't particularly a useful test. Japan on that map can do whatever it likes and it isn't going to get any serious comeback as it has an excellent defensive position. In such circumstances Japan should be looking to gain Chinese lands to compliment their own not merely stagnating.

The true test of something is not to give it an idyllic start, but to put it to the test somewhere tricky...like in the midst of the action, not on the sidelines. THAT is the success of Switzerland, to be in the centre of a continent and despite being smaller than the rest and to a certain extent desireable having avoided conflict and calamity.

 

[Whitefire]

The true test of something is not to give it an idyllic start, but to put it to the test somewhere tricky...like in the midst of the action, not on the sidelines. THAT is the success of Switzerland, to be in the centre of a continent and despite being smaller than the rest and to a certain extent desireable having avoided conflict and calamity.

Like Japan, the Swiss have geographical features that helped them out.

 

[sunrise089]

Kudos for the OP to win with this on Emperor, but like others I cannot say this seems like a viable strategy until it is tested under more variable conditions. Other than a sort of abstract appeal in real-life poly-sci terms, I don't see how this strategy is better than expansion or active diplo seeking as far as Civ goes.

 

[thecommonnate]

I would really like to see how this works more. I tend to not expand as much as I should, and I have a tendency to make crappy in-between SE/CEs. If I could harness this and make it better it looks like this approach could be useful.

Perhaps you could post some screens of a quick game?