Welcome, Nergal and Snowstar! 
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The wind blew into Mao's face as he stood on the hill. He looked over his empire. Everthing looked good. All of his cities had good, solid Chinese names . . . all but Ur. "Send a runner," he told his manservant. "Tell the people of Ur that their city shall no longer be called 'Ur.' Those people are now Chinese. From now on, it will be called 'Vim Xa."
In the fall of 800 BC, Mao's wisemen, studying in their Great Library, discovered how to make maps, to ride the horses that could be found near Aabraxa, and they learned of religions that worshipped many gods. The Incas began their Statue of Zeus. "Hmm. Popular guy," mused Mao.
One of Mao's wisemen rushed in, panting. "Sire . . ." pant, pant "Sire, we . . we can build a machine. . . " pant, pant "that will let us throw rocks at our enemies." Mao strolled out of his lodge. There, standing in the street, was the ungainliest thing Mao had ever laid eyes on. "Throw rocks?," he asked, "that doesn't seem very sportsmanlike." Then it dawned on him. If he could pelt his enemies with rocks, they would be weakened before he needed to attack. Mao simply stated, "Build more."
For centuries, Mao's wars continued, with neither side seeing the upper hand. Aztec troops and a handful of Mayans marched in from the north, Dutch from the west, Sumerians from the south and Incans from the east. Mao's empire stood firm, but failed to grow very much.
The Sixth Century was a very busy time for the Chinese people. In 570 AD, the Incas completed their Statue of Zeus. Mao had heard that this Statue would help the Incas to get very powerful, very fast horsemen , so he decided to that he must have it for his very own. It was that same year that a great general appeared on the field of battle. His name was K'uang-yin, and he taught Mao the ways to coordinate his soldiers' attacks. The First Sword Army was born.
A short twenty years later, the Celts completed something they called the Temple of Artemis. When Mao heard this, he snorted. "Pah! A temple." It might be nice to have, but he wasn't going to risk many troops to capture it.
In 510 BC, another general, Sun Tzu, wandered into the battlefield. Unfortunately, he did not know how to build an army, so Mao put him to work composing a great epic poem to praise the Chinese troops. The rest of the Sixth Century BC hummed along, with neither great gains, nor great losses for the Chinese empire. The rock-throwers that been built at Mao's direction kept healthy units away from Chinese cities, and the First Sword Army marched into Incan territory.
Yet a third general, Qianglong, offered his services to Mao in 470 BC, but Mao was not yet ready for another army, so he forced this general to build a library in Aabraxa. Apparently, this suited the general not one whit, for he vanished as soon as the library was completed.
By 390 BC, Mao's forces were beginning to gain momentum. By 350 BC, the First Sword Army was stationed outside Cuzco, where the Statue of Zeus was housed, and Chengdu was founded. In 330 BC, the First Sword Army succeeded in taking Cuzco!
As soon as its population was predominantly Chinese, Mao decided, it would be renamed. Mao continued his march against the Incas, capturing Tiwanaku in 270 BC, destroying the Incas.
"Well, I guess we'll see just how immortal they really are. . . " chuckled Mao. That same year, his forces to the south captured the new Sumerian capitol at Lagash. It sat right next to an iron deposit, and Mao kept it. It, too, would get a new name as soon as its people were properly Chinese.
In the winter of 270 BC, one of Mao's wismen asked for an audience, which Mao granted. "Perhaps we should build a second palace," he said, "we could call it the Forbidden Palace." Mao agreed that it would be built, but not until the time was right.
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Game notes:
First of all, yes, I've redone my terrain graphics. I was tired of the wooden mine towers.
570 BC - Incas complete SoZ, first MGL generated (Kuang-Yin) by eSword
550 BC - ToA completed by Celts
510 BC - Sun Tzu MGL generated by eSpear Not enough cities, so HE built
490 BC - Great Wall completed by Maya
470 BC - eArcher generates Qianglong MGL still not enough cities, so I rush a Lib at Aabraxa
270 BC - Incas destroyed with the capture of Tiwanaku.
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Chapter 2: Early days of the Empire
The wind blew into Mao's face as he stood on the hill. He looked over his empire. Everthing looked good. All of his cities had good, solid Chinese names . . . all but Ur. "Send a runner," he told his manservant. "Tell the people of Ur that their city shall no longer be called 'Ur.' Those people are now Chinese. From now on, it will be called 'Vim Xa."
In the fall of 800 BC, Mao's wisemen, studying in their Great Library, discovered how to make maps, to ride the horses that could be found near Aabraxa, and they learned of religions that worshipped many gods. The Incas began their Statue of Zeus. "Hmm. Popular guy," mused Mao.
One of Mao's wisemen rushed in, panting. "Sire . . ." pant, pant "Sire, we . . we can build a machine. . . " pant, pant "that will let us throw rocks at our enemies." Mao strolled out of his lodge. There, standing in the street, was the ungainliest thing Mao had ever laid eyes on. "Throw rocks?," he asked, "that doesn't seem very sportsmanlike." Then it dawned on him. If he could pelt his enemies with rocks, they would be weakened before he needed to attack. Mao simply stated, "Build more."
For centuries, Mao's wars continued, with neither side seeing the upper hand. Aztec troops and a handful of Mayans marched in from the north, Dutch from the west, Sumerians from the south and Incans from the east. Mao's empire stood firm, but failed to grow very much.
The Sixth Century was a very busy time for the Chinese people. In 570 AD, the Incas completed their Statue of Zeus. Mao had heard that this Statue would help the Incas to get very powerful, very fast horsemen , so he decided to that he must have it for his very own. It was that same year that a great general appeared on the field of battle. His name was K'uang-yin, and he taught Mao the ways to coordinate his soldiers' attacks. The First Sword Army was born.
A short twenty years later, the Celts completed something they called the Temple of Artemis. When Mao heard this, he snorted. "Pah! A temple." It might be nice to have, but he wasn't going to risk many troops to capture it.
In 510 BC, another general, Sun Tzu, wandered into the battlefield. Unfortunately, he did not know how to build an army, so Mao put him to work composing a great epic poem to praise the Chinese troops. The rest of the Sixth Century BC hummed along, with neither great gains, nor great losses for the Chinese empire. The rock-throwers that been built at Mao's direction kept healthy units away from Chinese cities, and the First Sword Army marched into Incan territory.
Yet a third general, Qianglong, offered his services to Mao in 470 BC, but Mao was not yet ready for another army, so he forced this general to build a library in Aabraxa. Apparently, this suited the general not one whit, for he vanished as soon as the library was completed.
By 390 BC, Mao's forces were beginning to gain momentum. By 350 BC, the First Sword Army was stationed outside Cuzco, where the Statue of Zeus was housed, and Chengdu was founded. In 330 BC, the First Sword Army succeeded in taking Cuzco!
As soon as its population was predominantly Chinese, Mao decided, it would be renamed. Mao continued his march against the Incas, capturing Tiwanaku in 270 BC, destroying the Incas.
"Well, I guess we'll see just how immortal they really are. . . " chuckled Mao. That same year, his forces to the south captured the new Sumerian capitol at Lagash. It sat right next to an iron deposit, and Mao kept it. It, too, would get a new name as soon as its people were properly Chinese.
In the winter of 270 BC, one of Mao's wismen asked for an audience, which Mao granted. "Perhaps we should build a second palace," he said, "we could call it the Forbidden Palace." Mao agreed that it would be built, but not until the time was right.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game notes:
First of all, yes, I've redone my terrain graphics. I was tired of the wooden mine towers.
570 BC - Incas complete SoZ, first MGL generated (Kuang-Yin) by eSword
550 BC - ToA completed by Celts
510 BC - Sun Tzu MGL generated by eSpear Not enough cities, so HE built
490 BC - Great Wall completed by Maya
470 BC - eArcher generates Qianglong MGL still not enough cities, so I rush a Lib at Aabraxa
270 BC - Incas destroyed with the capture of Tiwanaku.
