The Australian Empire

[tupaclives]

This is my 2nd attempt at a story, unfortunately my previous attempt (Tokugowa Dynasty) died a death when I upgraded from 1.16 to 1.29 and so the save stopped working...

Anyway this is not a mod as the title might suggest as I am far from qualified to make any sort of mod, i wouldnt even no how to start! So I've simply selected that Americans as my civ, as of all the civs they bear the closest resemblance to Australia and changed names around If I could add an Anzac unit I would but I cant so I wont. My own self imposed restriction is that when I can I must research Amphibious warfare to unlock marines as they are the closest approximation.

So without further adieu lets get this thing started!

Vanilla 1.29

Large Pangea 70% water
Wet, Temperate, 4 billion years old
Raging Barbarians
12 Random Civs
Emperor

Part 1 - The Inheritance
We do not inherit the earth from our fathers... we borrow it from our children

It is the year 4000bc and John Curtin has risen up to rule the Industrius, Expansionistic Australians! After 5 decades of searching they have come to settle here! On one end of the Murray River system, the people of Australia settled down to found the city of Canberra! No-one knows from where or for what purpose they are here.

The people began to tend to their cattle and initiatives were put in place to expand the workforce soon. However it was not long before the people of Australia found they were not alone. A people who called themselves the Apache tribe were discovered to the south-west and were peaceful. Some restless spirits asked the envoys of Australia if they could go with them to settle their own city and John Curtin concurred, and these people headed east for new lands.

After a century of wanderings the Apache Australians came to a mountain range overlooking the southern mouth of the great Murray River system and settled a new city their naming it Sydney.

It wasnt long before the people of Australia once again encountered a foreign people. Like the apache the friendly tribe of the Teoihuacan's were keen to send some of their people out to join the Australians, these people vowed to Curtin that they would defend Australia with their lives.

After centuries of peaceful farming, and tending to their cattle a vocal group declared that Canberra must defend itself! And so to silence this restless people John Curtin decreed that a force of warriors be trained to protect the city. This was followed soon after by a second force of wariors. While in Sydney a group of the Apache had organised themselves into a local militia to protect their new home.

The explorers from Canberra continued their journey down the west coast of Australia and encountered another friendly tribe, the Incans. These people were great cartographers and offered to Australia detailed maps of the area however they refused to teach Australia how these maps were made.

The people were wasting much of their harvest during the summer months leading to mass hunger in the winter so John Curtin ordered the construction of a granary to store food for the winter and help prevent waste.

opinions so far? feedback?

edit* why doesnt the last picture work? link has been triple checked and the link is right
edit2* and yes i am aware that in those screenshots 'canberra' is called washington, that has been fixed now and i'm not quite sure how that happened seeing as how I NAMED it canberra

 

[stocktracker]

Keep posting on the story, I think it will get interesting as you meet more civs.

 

[Takeo]

Good start!

 

[tupaclives]

The Australian explorers continued southward and there they discovered a foreign people unlike any they had before encountered. These people were well organised and advanced. They called themselves the English and they were ruled by the despot Queen Elizabeth. These English had an air of superiority that irritated John Curtin and it was clear that he did little himself to please the English Queen. However during their meeting, on the plains south of Canberra a deal was struck. Elizabeth agreed to teach the Australian people their alphabet and language if in return Australian architects would show her people how to work stone effectively and if John Curtin was willing to supply her people with the sum of 23 pounds of gold.

Canberra's granary was finished and the people were able to store more food and the city began to grow as a result. However it was not long before the people of Canberra became restless and a number of adventurous souls asked for permission to leave the city. Curtin allowed these people to go and the travelled southwest toward toward the river where they founded the city of Melbourne.

Australian workers from Sydney who were busy building roads through the forests to the east were alarmed when foreign warriors from a land they called 'Egypt' surrounded them. Fortunately these Egyptians were friendly. Like the English they too were ruled by a despot Queen, named Cleopatra. John Curtin found her a much more agreeable person than Elizabeth and took an instant liking to her, she kindly offered to teach the Australians the Egyptian method of Cermonially burning the dead in exchange for a small fee and Curtin was only too happy to oblige.

The lands were the first meeting took place, the Eastern Forests soon became something of a tourist attraction for those wishing to learn something of Australia's recent past and it wasnt long before a group of entrepeneurs created a camp site for tourists to stay, this small campsite however quickly grew into a small village, named Brisbane for the supervising workman who first encounterd the Egyptian warriors.

In 2230BC a strange, elderly man entered the government house of Australia. John Curtin and his advisors were intruiged by this strange fellow.
'Greetings Prime Minister Curtin, my name is Herodotus, I have travelled the world from tribe to tribe learning about them and their history. I have finished the first volume of what I call 'The Great History of the world', this volume is 'The Wealthiest Nations of the World.' Would you care to take a look?'
John Curtin hesitantly took the heavy book from the old man and opened it. His people knew the English alphabet well but this book was simply a blur to Curtin, he could not understand it.
'Ahem, maybe I should just read it to you shall I?' offered Herodotus.
'The Wealthiest Nations of the World...' began Herodotus.
'Why dont you just tell us who they are?' asked Peter Costello the treasurer.
Herodotus sighed, some people had no appreciation for the hard work he had put in.
'Very well, first is yourselves, the Glorious Australians! You're people are the richest I have ever seen and your empire boasts a wealth that other nations only dream of.'
As the list was read out John Curtin heard the names of tribes he knew nothing about, although he was delighted to hear that the English did not even earn a mention in the list.

It was not long before more people in Canberra grew weary of the city life and yearned for adventure. Another group left the city and made their way north west to the coast were they settled the town of Adelaide. That same year members of the Apache tribe who lived in Sydney desired to return home and many of them left the city to journey back to their home lands. Their on the banks of the Darling river, which flowed from the Darling Downs mountain range, the decendants of the Apache tribe founded the city of Perth.

Clearly the wealth of Australia was attracting jealousy from all people, the barbarian tribe the Chehalis attacked the city of Melbourne seeking to pillage but the brave Australian warriors held their ground defiantly and the attack was repelled.

People were now leaving Canberra almost as fast as the city was growing, one group travelled west from Adelaide where they rested for a time, to the Kimberly hills overlooking the western ocean and there they founded the city of Darwin. The people of Darwin set off to utilise their new land and in doing so discovered the Saxon tribe who were deeply religious and they taught the Australians the secrets of Mysticism, of communicating with the gods.

 

[tupaclives]

However the wealth of Australia was still attracting enemies, barbarians attacked the city of Perth but the brave members of the Apache tribe defeated the barbarians with ease.

Another group of explorers from Canberra journeyed further south from Perth along the Darling River system and came to a fertile land with lovely forests, many wild game and where numerous cattle grazed and they decided to make this land their home. They named their city Hobart and so the Empire of Australia continued to expand.

However, danger, was just around the corner...

 

[tupaclives]

And so for centuries more Australia continued to expand and grow. In this time many new cities were founded ranging from Hervey Bay on the south-west corner of the continent all the way to Cairns in the North-east.

 

[tupaclives]

But though it was a time of great expansion and adventure it was also an era of an ever improving quality of life...

...But also of more peril as more violent tribes came seeking to steal the wealth of Australia.
And sometimes these barbarians were succesful...

...and had to be punished...

 

[tupaclives]

It was during these years that Australia came into contact with many other tribes, some like the Anasazi were crude and primitive others however were not. Some of the tribes that the Australians met in this time were great sprawling civilizations who rivaled Australia. However it was not always so obvious whether these people were friend or foe. Some situations which seemed desperate...

turned out to be meetings of great importance.

The new civilizations Australia encountered were very diverse, along with the Egyptians who valued hardwork and spirituality above all else and greedy English who wanted simply money and territory, there were

the warlike, yet spiritual Aztecs.

the greedy and aggresive Romans

and the peaceful religious traders of the Indians

they all offered to teach the Australians secrets which had so far elluded Australia's scientists and thinkers.

Others like the fierce warrior-priests of the Japanese had little to offer but maps

and they were all particularly keen to get their hands on maps of Australia.

 

[tupaclives]

These new tribes began to form relationships with Australia, some, like that with the Egyptians, Aztecs and Indians, were amicable. Others, like those with the Romans or English had a lot of tension. As the lands of Australia began to develop and as cities grew the people of Australia began to look enviously at their foreign neighbours. Word reached Australia of great accomplishments.

Stories from the east told of gigantic stone tombs for the dead, and the word was that a man had risen in England who spoke the will of the gods who was the divine incarnation of the gods on earth, a great prophet.

And word came from far away of two mysterious lands known as France and as Germany, where, rumour had it, there was a great statue of Bronze, 50 feet high, and even more impressively; tales of a Great Library wherein all the knowledge of the world was kept.

But John Curtin was not impressed by these rumours.
'What good is a 50 foot statue? What is so wonderful about tombs for the dead? We are a secular state, what do we care about the gods of other countries?' he told his advisors.
'Make Australia a wonder of the world. Let us be known not for the glory of a single structure but for the magnificence of our empire, the strength of our armies, and the power of our economy. The English call us weak, they look at us with contempt. Let us show them that Australia is not weak, let us show them that Australia is not inferior to them. Let Elizabeth stare in contempt at us when our armies stand on the threshold of her palace. Then let us see what the world makes at us.'

Curtin turned away from his advisors. 'Make it happen, make us great.'

 

[tupaclives]

Part 2 - Born in fire and bloodshed
No poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country... he did it by making the other poor bastard die for his...

Curtin's advisors followed his orders and before long a fine army had been trained. Curtin ordered their deployment to the border city of Albury in preperation for war. The army was majestic to behold, the glittering ranks of spearmen, warriors, archers, swordsmen and the great wheeled monsters, catapults, were vastly superior to the English army.

It was then merely a matter of time and soon enouh the orders filtered through from Curtin himself.
'War has been declared. You are to advance on Nottingham and Canterbury immediately.'

The army divided there, the warriors and spearmen were left behind as a reserve and to secure conquered territory while the 7 archer divisions headed southwest toward canterbury and the 12 swordsman divisions and their supporting catapults moved southeast in the direction of Nottingham.
The battle of Nottingham was a foregorn conclusion, the English defenders were easily defeated and the city was captured without any substantial damage to the Australian forces. And to the west the city of Canterbury fell with barely a flicker of resistance.

Once the city of Nottingham had been secured, reinforcements from Sydney and Melbourne arrived and were deployed to Oxford where in a fierce battle the city was captured, however with the English army advancing from the south it would be difficult to hold the city... and so Curtin gave the order...

The main body of troops who had assembled at Nottingham marched southward on London. The English army was broken and scattered and so although there were a few half-hearted counterattacks by the English these were easily repelled. The fighting around London was fierce and 2 whole divisions of swordsmen were killed in the battle...

...however in the end there could only be one result. London was captured and John Curtin made a point to visit the famous Oracle of London. He was not impressed by what he found, the 'oracle' did all the things one would expect him to for a conquering ruler, he told him he would rule the world, he told him he would preside over a prosperous people, he told him that his name would be remembered forever, but in the end, Curtin cared not for this man's prophecies.

While Australia's attention was diverted, Japan, in her greed, made demands of Australia.

Curtin would not bow to such things and declared to Shogun Tokugawa 'No Australian will give to Japan so much as a gram of gold or a crumb of bread or a drop of water, Japan dares to make such demands of Australia, and we treat your demands as we shall now treat you... with contempt!'
Needless to say Curtin's proclamation did not go down well in Kyoto...

 

[tupaclives]

Curtin was nobody's fool. He had brought England to her knees by making sure he had the advantage at all times. He had picked where, when and how the battles would be fought but now that Japan had entered the war Australia had lost some initiative. Curtin knew that, though Australia was proud and confident and determined, she was not yet ready to fight wars against two great powers at once. And so Curtin went looking for allies. First he posted an ambassador in Egypt and Cleopatra was, as always, grateful to receive envoys from Curtin.

Curtin had to use every ounce of diplomatice muscle he had to persuade Egypt to enter the war on Australia's side against Japan but a deal was struck and Australia had regained the initiative, her flank was now secure.

The war with England continued unabated. Queen Elizabeth marshalled the bulk of her remaining armies in York and ordered a strike at the Australian fortified camp of New Oxford. Curtin took a risk and sent a small taskforce of swordsmen to attack the weakened garrison at York while the bulk of his eastern army clashed with the English army outside New Oxford.

The strike force reached York and attacked with venom, knowing that their strike was an all or nothing gamble for the Australian nation. Luckily for them the garrison at York proved even weaker then anticipated and the city was captured.

Perhaps distracted by the loss of their home the English army faltered at New Oxford and was defeated, it was here in the fires of battle that Edmund Barton rose to fame, the swordsman slew many English and rallied the Australian forces there. Curtin promoted him to General after the battle and put him in command of the 1st Australian Sword Army.

England stood on the brink of destruction, her capital lost and her armies scattered, her people had lost the faith. There was not so much as a ripple of resistance when Australian forces marched into Brighton.

Curtin sent envoys to Elizabeth telling her he was willing to negotiate peace.
During the war England had not neglected her trade links with the rest of the world, her people were vastly more advanced. The first envoys who returned, to say that Elizabeth was willing to discuss peace terms, said that on the streets of Warwick they saw incredible things. Courthouses where criminals were tried by judges, represented by lawyers, where there were precedents and huge volumes of law. Cartography shops where people designed maps of the known world. It was the arts first seen in the lands of the Incans but on a much greater scale. They told tale of marketplaces where traders from across England and from the rest of the world gathered to trade wares in exchange for small, individual pieces of gold. Of great construction works, such as the aqueducts that moved water from fresh water lakes and rivers to supply towns with water. They told of military forces who rode on horses, not pulled in chariots but actually rode on the horses themselves!

Curtin saw an opportunity there, he sent his envoys back with his demands.
'Australia will hereby cease all hostilities with England and provide England with reparations amounting to 190 pounds of gold, if England is, in return willing to provide the following.

Elizabeth read over the list of demands and sighed 'Do I really have a choice?'
The envoy looked at Queen Elizabeth with a vicious look that should never be given to royalty. 'No your majesty, you don't.'

 

[tupaclives]

Let me know what you think everyone, as well as giving any suggestions for story style, changes to the format or even game ideas. I'll be away in Bangladesh for 2 weeks as of tomorrow so I won't be able to update till I get back but in the mean time please let me know your opinions!

 

[Mirc]

Very good story, although I wouldn't ever choose the Americans in an Emperor game.

Could you please (when you come back) post a world map and some zoomed out pics? I can't understand anything because since the last map in post #5 there where a lot of new cities and of captured ones.

 

[tupaclives]

Well I dnt leave for another 4 hours so here we go!

The heartland of the Australian Empire

The former english core

the world map (following expansion phase and english conquests)

and the demographics

Strategy: Will take a 20 turn breath for infrastructure then when peace runs out will redeclare on england take them down to 1 city and then grab The republic and any MA techs I can for peace.

@Mirc: They arnt the Americans tho, they're the Australians
But why wouldnt you pick the Americans for an Emperor game?

 

[dnassman]

I like this. Keep it up.

 

[Mirc]

First, their UU is a joke. It's way too late and unuseful. You can't use it for GA, because you usually get your GA before F-15.

The traits are not too good, and, another reason, but an unimportant one, I hate their color!

But looks like you can win with them.
I like this story too.

 

[zerksees]

The story is good but I would add more dates.

I would say the free techs and extra settlers from expansionist were pretty good, and the extra productivity from industrious is not bad either. I agree the UU is not very good, but at emperor I think just about any civ should work if played properly.

 

[Stumpy123]

I like this story. I read the Tokugawa Dynasty, and that was pretty solid too.

You're doing good and have a good number of cities, but I think you should fill in that empty land to the south before someone starts sending settlers through your land or England resettles. Otherwise, good job on whomping the English, and have fun on your trip

 

[tupaclives]

Thanks to all those who posted I'm back from my trip (though I never got where we were meant to cos of them pesky suicide bombers so it was pretty much free-form improvisation for 2 weeks )
Will hopefully have an update in a few hours

 

[potatokiosk]

Burn down Egypt next. =o