The Glorious French Empire

[jhigham]

The French, long a nomadic people, came together under the able leadership of Joanne D'Arc. They settled the fertile grasslands, and named their capitol Paris.
Joanne ordered her scientists to begin research into Bronze Working, which would allow France to build stronger defence against enemies.

Several groups of eager young citizens were trained in the arts of war, and sent out to explore the world, and bring back news to our people. They discovered several small tribes to the north, and learned about Ceremonial Burial and The Wheel (ever a handy discovery). The land was cut off from France by mountains, but would be settled in due time. Bigger concerns lay to the south.

Close to the south our warriors discovered the treacherous Egyptians. They seemed decent at initial contact, and we traded some discoveries that our scientists had made. Our warriors continued to explore the continent, and found the Germans and Indians, and later the Russions and English, as well as the Chinese.

These other nations had learned things that our great nation had not yet discovered, but we had experience that they did not. Our scientists spoke, and we each ended up stronger for the effort.

Our nation was growing, and several new cities were formed, closer to the Egyptians. However, the Egyptians came to us, and demanded that we provide them with our discovery, Writing. The proud french will not bow to any nation, and although our military was not strong, we were sure that we could defeat the Egyptians.

Our soldiers fended off the weak Egyptian attack (why did they even bother, the fools?!?), and our scientists made a discovery which was to be the deciding factor. They learned of Iron Working, which let us equip our soldiers with equipment far superior to that of the Egyptians. An iron deposit near our capitol of Paris was the goal, but first we must build roads and a settlement to mine the ore. We enlisted the aid of the Indians to keep the Egyptians occupied, and finally started mining the ore. We sent our young people off to war, with the best equipment that we could furnish.

We quickly took their northern most town, and quelled the rebellion that lay within. Our nation is not warlike, and we asked the Egyptians if they were willing to make amends and stop the war. They laughed at us, and our generals decided that we could take the Egyptian capitol to the south.

Our troops strode south unopposed, and took the capitol without a loss. This split the Egyptian country in two, and they were no longer a match for us. After a failed counterattack, their leader came crawling to the bargaining table. The treacherous Egyptians paid for their folly in gold, and lots of it.

With the war over, our nation turned back to developing its culture, producing temples and libraries to learn about the world and keep our citizens happy. Our communications with the other nations have been fruitful, and we have learn that we all coexist on one large contintent, although there may be small islands. The capitol city of Paris just produced a great wonder, called the pyramids, and our cities grow faster then ever. In Reims our citizens are working on a great library, that will bring knowledge from around the world to our cities. Other nations are attempting this as well, but our production capacity is unmatched.

4000BC - 0AD, more later...

 

[Baleog]

Our troops strode south unopposed, and took the capitol without a loss. This split the Egyptian country in two, and they were no longer a match for us.

Can you have a civil war when there is already 8 civs now that the limit is 16?

 

[jhigham]

No civil war, but I physically separated their empire and took their capitol, so they didn't have roads or culture.

All their cities that had been linked via the capitol culture, were now little 9 blocks, so they lost a bunch of production, and couldn't get resources around their empire.

It turns out that more of their cities were to one side, so I didn't really split it in two, but I cut off the earlier cities (which would be better producers) and the culture prevented them from accessing strategic or luxury resources.

Here is a shot of my core cities.

Here is the section of egypt I took (many years after the fact).

 

[jhigham]

Our enemies the Chinese completed the Great Library before us, and our workers were almost ready to go back to their regular work, despairing of producing another wonder as great as the Pyramids. My military advisor came before me, though, and recommended that I build a Great Wall to help defend us against invaders. Being at peace, I questioned the need, but decided that it was necessary for the morale of our people, and to show the other civilizations what the French are capable of.

At this time the Japanese came to us, and threatened to go to war if we did not turn over our knowledge to them. I consulted with my military advisor, and found that Japan was too far away to pose a threat to us. We told their envoy to leave, and he did. It was a bluff, apparently. However, they didn't wait long before contacting us again, and we again told them off. This time they declared war. I was worried that our citizens would have to fight another war; I cannot bear to send our young off to die on the battlefield, but my advisor assured me that the Japanese were too far away to pose any threat. This was indeed the case, as we never saw any invading forces, and they came to the bargaining table a few years later.

At this time our nation had become interested in the arts, and was not expanding as it used to. We were shocked when our nation suddenly became host to many settlers from other nations, looking to claim the land to our north. We organized several groups to go and found cities, and did so, but we could not compete with the enemy. I contemplated going to war with them (or at least threatening them to get their settlers off our land), but my advisors recommended against it. Even though we had production with which to fight if necessary, the enemy was not aware of this, and would take it as a sign of weakness that we did not maintain a standing army.

One of the group of egyptian settlers eventually decided to join our great nation, but the rest of the cities maintained their own presence. They will come over to us eventually (even if we have to 'assist' them).

At this time England declared war on us. They had one small town to our north that sent over a few obselete troops. The rest of the world was appalled by their action, and I was able to convince the Japanese and the Russians (Englands neighbors) to declare war along with me. I later asked the Indians, and apparently England had already been heavy handed, for they were willing to pay me some gold for the pretext of 'assisting' me. For such a peaceful folk they sure seemed bloodthirsty at that time.

Our troops to the north took the English city of Leeds. A small corrupt city, we probably should have razed it, but our troops are not villanous. Shortly after this the English came to the bargaining table. During this battle a great leader, Napoleon, emerged. He is a great motivator, and I am as yet undecided about whether to have him create an army (his tactical ability allows him to bring large forces to bear against the enemy) or peacefully assist our citizens in producing a wonder.

Meanwhile, our people had produced several more wonderous works. The citizens of Lyons produced a great statue that drew people from around the world. Despite being a peaceful nation, my military advisors continually recommended that we keep our military knowledge fresh, so that we would be prepared to handle any future difficulties. To this end I financed a great military mind to create a manual for all of our warriors to train by. Sun Tzu's Art of War, he called it (Chinese did not respect his genius enough, methinks), and it dictated the theories by which we train our soldiers to this day. Our artists are second to none, and when the glorious Sistene Chapel was constructed it created joy and happiness throughout our kingdom. Our greatest musician, JS Back, produced wonderful arrangements, that were played for our citizens.

Our commercial might is great as well, and our first incorporation was Smith's Trading Company. Smith had a great understand of economics, and we learned how best to build our economy to the powerhouse that it is today.

After consulting with my advisors, and several of our learned men and women in Paris, I declared universal sufferage. Every person is equal in the great nation of Paris (and happy, to boot).

At this time my military advisor commented that the Chinese were massing forces at our border. I scoffed at this, for their nation is on the other side of the world, and their troops would have to travel for years just to reach us. However, a few short years later they attacked. We lost the Third Division of the Army Corp of Engineers, taken into bondage, and I will never forget that. I quickly mobilized our troops to the north (handy from the battle with the English) and took the lone Chinese settlement.

The Chinese put a good fight in at Heliopolis, but were not able to defeat our defense (although they did come close). My generals rushed severall battalions of Knights out, and they quickly defeated the Chinese incursion. The chinese brought forth one more feable attempt, then sued for peace.

Our scientist lead the world in discoveries, and we recently discovered steam power. To our chagrin, there is very little coal in this world, and we were forced to trade with the Indians for it (which wouldn't be so bad, but they understand the value of coal, and charge accordingly). After consulting with my advisors, I determined that I could attack the English, and they had a city near the coast that had coal. I began to construct my navel fleet, and noticed that Germany was rolling over the English (their war against me had caused them much pain, I believe). I took the English border town, but was not able to reach their capitol before the Germans took it, and the coal resources. I must resort to paying the Indians, for now. However, my military advisors inform me that our scientist are near some important discoveries, that could make combat very different.

With this edge I may decide to claim a few German cities that should be mine by rights any way (the citizens are in awe of us, but the german police and military refuse to let them turn to the French.

 

[jhigham]

Evil villians!

The Indians were not satisfied with bleeding my nation dry in exchange for their excess coal, and declared war on me. The Egyptians quickly joined in, and apparently the Russians believed the Indian propoganda, for they too joined in the battle against me. The Germans were not interested in war, but I was able to convince the Chinese the value of my cause, and they declared war on India.

Being a peaceful nation we did not have a large army, but our units were skilled and well equipped. The Indian, Russian, and Egyptian cities to our north quickly fell to our armies (they were happier with us anyway), but this left us weak to the south. Our generals were training new troops as quickly as possible, and many Infantry and Calvary divisions were brought to the front.

The Egyptians are a very backwards nation, and their troops were no match for ours. Their chariots and longbow could not stand the tide. The Egyptian city of Pi-Ramses fell to our troops, and the Egyptians could not field any troops that could stand against us.

At that point the Russian Cossacks came against us, as well as the Indian War Elephants. These once fierce units were well past their prime, and we had very few casulties while fending off their attack.

My advisors recommended that I use the war to my advantage, and seize some of the Indian coal. I had my coastal cities produce a fleet of transports, and loaded my artillary, calvary, and infantry. I quickly took the Indian city and quelled the resistance.

The war slowly petered off, and I began looking towards improvements again. The Egyptians continued to bother me occasionally, but they do not have the advanced units necessary to be a true threat to our nation.

The Hoover Dam was built in Orleans, and the electricity is sent to all our cities to provide for our citizens. We also brought all the nations together in an attempt to produce world peace, but our United Nations is only marginally successful, for the other nations are too warlike.

When we discovered thhe secrets of the atom, and Fission, my trade advisor indicated that we did not have an Uranium available to make use of this discovery. None of our neighbors knew anything about this resource, so they would not trade it to us. However, the Egyptian city right next to our nation had some of this resource. Given their treacherous past, I had no qualms about claiming it for our own.

This was the first aggressive action by our nation, and our citizens and generals proved themselves. Our Tank and Mechanized Infantry rolled over the Egyptian opposition.

With Uranium in our grasp, our scientists worked on a secret project, the Manhattan Project, to produce weapons of mass destruction. They indicate that these weapons are so terrible that they should only ever be used as a last resort.

I had not given up on military at this point though, only peaked my bloodlust. The Japanese had been holding us over a barrel for their wines for quite some time. Their capitol of Kyoto had an abundance, yet the price they asked was exorbitant (and they continually cut off the supply).

People often mistook the wonder of Shakespear's Theatre as greatness, and proclaimed Kyoto as the greatest city in all the world. This would not do. Our coastal cities produced Battleships, and Transports that were loaded with our Modern Armor and Artillery. The troops landed at Kyoto and the Japanese panicked. They warned us off their land, or the consequences 'will be on YOUR head'. Since I was well aware of this I declared war. Our artillery was not very successful against their troops (although it did destroy some city improvements, but our Modern Armor performed exceptionally well, and we took the city minimal losses.

The Japanese sent a token force against Kyoto, but failed to dent our army. They did send many Knights and Samurai to bring against my position to the south (where I had attempted to get the English supply of coal), so many that the numbers threatened to overwhelm my defenses. I had prepared for this eventuality, though, and had an airport in that city. I airlifted in several reserve units, and the cities held.

The Russians proved to be malleable, and I was able to convince them to attack the Japanese, and this in turn brought the Indians and Egyptians in on my side, for once. I fear that the Japanese nation will not survive this war.

I myself am no longer as bloodthirsty as I once was, and am content to go back to peace, but for now the Japanese refuse to talk to me.

There have been rumblings that the Germans are the greatest nation, ignoring our spectacular wonders, and wonderful culture. Germany has not been involved in any of this war (for almost 400 years, since they defeated the English), and their production has instead been devoted to science and cities. Our scientists are ahead of the Germans, but not by much, and their citizens are happier then mine. I may have to sooth my ego by bringing the Germans to heel, but for now I will maintain focus on the Japanese.