The revival of Golden Silence

[ThERat]

If you are new, you wouldn't know of one of the classic games sponsored by Gozpel, called Silence is Golden, which was a classic in my mind.
Go and find it in the SG section, it was a nailbiting game where we faced hardly any resources on deity combined with the Silence Rules.

The rules of the game are sort of semi-defiant.

1. I may never initiate discussions with AI or start trading. Only if the AI starts to open the dialog box, am I allowed to start trading and haggling.

2. I have the option to boot the AI off our territory, it is not a must, but can be used. However, this means strictly booting only without starting negotiations.

3. I am not allowed to purposely enter enemy territory to get booted in order to start negotiations. If I enter enemy territory and get the boot, I will NOT start negotiations

4. I will never give in to AI demands, but am allowed to make peace, even if it costs us some gold. Peace can solely be initiated by the AI.

5. I not allowed to use mapstat or open dialog box to check AI's resources etc. So, I will not know the AI's science progress or other information unless in the dialog box.

6. No embassies established by me, spies are wanted for steals later on

7. Alliances or RoP, trade embargos are allowed.


So, after failed attempts in my on hosted SG's, I will give this a try and revive this concept.

I decide to go for continents on a standard map with no barbarians on demigod. I chose the Dutch as they are hardly played, but they are agricultural.

So, here is the start, on the southern end of a continent, just nice for this setting that could turn into AW all too soon.

 

[ThERat]

I start to go for a min run on writing to accumulate some money for trading. It turns out that the area is extremely crowded, man...this can be a problem for early war.

My direct neighbors are the first to come knocking no my door

I better get what i can grab even if that costs me all my money. At least I can build archers now.

I sent out a few curraghs for more contacts as they are crucial for possible trades. Soon enough, Egypt wants to talk and I renegotiate the initial suggestion to this:

Then, one turn before I am done with writing, Byzantines sell us this, not a great deal, but what can you do...

Now, look at the horrible situation I am dealt with. I can lay down a mere 3 cities and am boxed in already. This can only mean one thing: An archer rush

In the screen shot you can see a Incan settler pair and I am going to get this guy and then try to take out one of their cities...

 

[ThERat]

I declare war and take two slaves

Then I assemble 4 archers and 1 spear and head east. Losing 1 archer I take my first city. This will ensure the Incan to settle for peace sooner. Remember I can't initiate peace talks.

True enough, the Incans come begging us for peace. I better get this as they wait for a second time could be endless.

Now, what do we get from them.

I choose 2 cities over any tech as we need more land. This means that I now have 6 cities compared to his 5. In addition, he doesn't have literature and I am on my min run towards it. It might give me more options later on.

This is how my land looks after the first Incan war. The land looks far more promising now. In fact I have so much cash, I decide to go for a sped up research and shorten the time to a few turns.

 

[vmxa]

After all those monster maps, this must look like an island.

 

[TheOverseer714]

With that tight a spacing expansion is only going to come 1 way, wars. Portugal looks like a good candidate...

 

[ThERat]

oh yes, the map feels small. But I do not feel confident to run a silent game on a bigger map yet.

Wars are not only a possibility, with no caving to demands, they are a given. I do hope I can manage them properly.

 

[ThERat]

Well, with a little more room, what to do next? As I have played the military game so far, no demands have been made although I have quite some cash. However, it gives me the option to buy techs once the AI feels like talking to me.

I decided to build more archers and go after Inca again as they have an empire that is split into 2. They also seem to have no iron, at least I have not seen any scary units.
In 975BC (the peace deal is up), it is time to attack again. I go for both western isolated cities of their emipre first.

My little stack approaching Olly

Well, that wasn't too difficult. I capture a few slaves as well, always nice to have free support. This will enable me to connect Huamanga (a pretty useless city to start with)

As you can see, I did not turn up research yet, but fill my coffers. I am still hoping to make a successful suicide run with one of my curraghs. I attempt several times and my 4th curragh succeeds

Welcome to the other big continent

And well, what do you know, the secret passage pays off big time. The Persians want to give me this:

Hmm, the rule says that I can't initiate negotiations, but can haggle for a better deal. Of course, I try my luck and get this great deal in the end. I need cats for a higher kill ratio, I need to know where iron and horses are. So...

Ok, if you have read the famous game sponsored by Gozpel, you would know that we had neither iron nor saltpeter. And we were within reach of iron only to get kept at bay by sipahis fighting with LB's.
Do you know what is happening here now?

I have no iron and no horses and I can't even see any of them anywhere near
This can't be true, it simply can't...but well, if we could succeed at that time, why can't I do that now. At least all the desert suggests that I might have saltpeter in future.

 

[ThERat]

Ok, so let's recap. I have made a lot of contacts

our own continent knows Inca, Portuguese, Byzantine and Egypt
the other continent has Persia and new found Rome

I started a first short war against Inca and gained 3 cities. I just started another war with them to get their western holdings

Most important though (this can be the game breaker), I do not have any resources

Ok, after the nice deal with Persia, Rome came to offer this:
Could I actually say no?

Everything seems to go fine (except for the resources) and then Henry is asking for an abysmal amount of money, yet enough for him to declare war

The war against Inca has to continue and it will take a substantially longer time now as this is the second war.
I get lucky though with a heroic archer. Tasman might have been known to be a great sailor, in this game he needs to show his skills leading an archer army though. Fragile as archer armies are (due to the minimal defense), without any other means of military we need that badly.

This army gives me the edge and I manage to take out the last western Inca holding

Unfortunately the pressure in the west is too big due to the Portuguese units, they do have horses. Inca has horses too. However, with an army, we manage to turn back east and take yet another of their cities. The game now has real AW feel being at war with both nearest foes.

The fighting continues and we do not get the upper hand until Willem the savior appears.

I do not really like archer armies, thus Willem is the creator of the Heroic Epic. However, my combined forces, while holding off Portugal to the west, are able to take the Incan capital

Now, will Inca come back to use to surrender and sign peace? Will Portugal give up fighting us? What about the rest of the pack? What about resources, that are so badly needed?

 

[Aabraxan]

Just stopping in to wish you luck, ThERat!

 

[ThERat]

Thanks for the wishes, I think I really need them. This won't be a steamroller by no means without any iron. This also means I won't get my UU

Ok, time to pick up the pieces and fight both enemies left and right.

Well, talking the Inca's capital softens them enough and they beg us for peace. That's how this is supposed to be. The deal is great as I get 2 techs and one city plus all their cash

This is how the empire looks like in 430BC after the second Incan war. Inca are OCC and Portugal lies to the west, easier to target. I don't see any resource anywhere though. Must be hidden under the fog as Inca had horses for sure.

By the way, I go for a min run to republic but forgot that WW might be a killer in this game. Maybe I get some trading value for it, but I doubt it very much as I have a feeling the AI is quite ahead in techs.

In order to fight Portugal, units are shifted west and I get Hartog, commander of the second archer army

The Portuguese seem to misunderstand and think we are supposed to fight in the east. What's up, Henry, don't dare to take me head on?

Well, too bad for him as this gives me the time to take his cities in the east

Byzantines want to trade and I get this deal, finally some resource, even if it is not iron. Some horsemen will do me good.

While defending I get yet another leader Hudson This fellow is supposed to be Dutch? Interesting
Anyway, he will lead my first horse army, just as fragile but at least faster than archer armies

This are going pretty well at the moment other than the wrong research path to republic

And by the way, can you see what I can see . There are horses waiting for me to be claimed

 

[TheOverseer714]

Use the Horses to conquer far enough to find some Iron. With no Iron, your best units for a long time will be Longbows You could try for Knights Templar or try to grab it right after someone builds it for you, but that has a poor chance of success. You might even risk some horses on an iron hunt, there must be some somewhere. Horses are half the early power equation though, so you have a better chance now.

 

[ThinkTank]

While defending I get yet another leader Hudson This fellow is supposed to be Dutch? Interesting

Being Dutch myself I was quite surprised too that Hudson was supposed to be Dutch. I'm fairly sure that many Dutch are not aware of this. In fact he was not Dutch, he was an English explorer. While exploring the Americas he was employed by a Dutch company (Dutch East India Company).

In order to fight Portugal, units are shifted west and I get Hartog, commander of the second archer army

Now at least Hartog is a Dutch name but I never heard of this guy either before playing civ. According to Wikipedia, first European to see the west coast of Australia. I guess I should have known this one ...

 

[invector]

So many leaders In Demigod level, you are doing good. You should rush for an iron to get your UU though Good luck.

 

[ThERat]

Thanks guys for the heads up. And for the interesting background story of the Dutch leaders.
Whenever I hear Hartog, I actually think of Captain Haddock of Tintin (don't know whether he has that name in the original version, at least in German he is called Haddock).

Getting iron might not be so easy. Portugal doesn't seem to have it and I can't afford to attack Byzantines at the moment with my lousy attackers. I am already stretching myself to the max.

We'll see what happens next.

 

[ThERat]

Progress is good on the Portuguese front as I have repelled their eastern side track attack and are now going south to take out that part of their land.

However, things turn a bit worse, when X-man comes with this request and we all know what this means.

Yes, war it is. I sure hope he won't pull in others as that does not only give no added war happiness, but also less trading opportunities and more danger generally.

At least in Portugal I am making progress thanks to my armies.

I plant a new town with the appropriate name to claim that first resource.

I know that horses are no swords, but it's better than nothing and I am failry confident that i have access to saltpeter due to all the desert. This would mean at least that I can build cavalry.

Then, I take out another city in the south to make way for the horses to be grabbed.

When things are going well, there is always a nasty surprise in a silent game for sure. And, who would have guessed that it is the Incas that have gone mad. Not only did I beat the crap out of them once, but twice and yet, they do not have enough.

Only a little later Henry betrays the Incas and wants to make peace with me.

Should I make peace or not? I have not finished my campaign I feel and cleared the entire southern peninsula. I feel their units are terribly weak with spears and horses. I decide to ignore him and press on

Just so that you get an idea how far behing I am. I researched republic for naught and am now on the way to the MA. Someone finished KT already and I am glad it is not an AI on my continent.

After moving the horse army across the land stretch of my empire, I get it in position to take out Inca. By the way, it has to be noted, that the AI won't attack a perfectly health archer or horse army. Not with their attack 2 units at least.

Where are the horses I wonder, I thought they had a source themselves

I pull in another horse and the inevitable happens

One enemy down, this leaves Portugal/Byzantines/ Egypt on my continent and Rome/Persia/Ottoman on the other continent.

To finish off an interesting set of turns, I turn my attention south again and gain yet another leader, Willem Jantszoon. Interesting, who is this guy? I think he must have been a famous architect as he rushes the Forbidden Palace in Horsies. Might not be the optimal location, but honestly, I plan to go for communism later on anyway. And I need a productive city in this part of the world.

 

[ThERat]

Since I refused to accept peace with Portugal, I might want to use the time and take as much of their land as possible.

I complete the conquest of the southern peninsula taking Coimbra, that I keep. Flip risk is not that high as Portugal had hardly any time to build up culture

However, the nations overseas do not like me and Ottoman joins Persia fighting me over a mere 20g, why so fussy?

If I did not have enough reasons to fight Portugal yet, here it is. This is perfect as the Portuguese capital already has 2 wonders (Colossus and Great Lighthouse)

I can't afford to take that city yet, I need to take all the surrounding cities to eliminate flip risk and make defense easier.

Now, in case you all have no idea how backwards I am, here is the proof.
I only just entered the MA and am still in despotism (not confident to revolt with so many wars)

I assemble my armies to take out the cities of Portugal's western tip

Now, what did I say and fear, Ottomans drag Rome into the war, I surely hope they do not ask Byzantines to follow or I am done with

The horse deal with Byzantines expires and we get a much better deal this time round

In 270AD, just before I get monarchy and am ready to revolt, the land in the west looks like this. We should have no problem taking the remaining Portuguese cities there and then return north. Portugal so far only features spears and LB's.

 

[Spoonwood]

If they start attacking the horse/archer army stacks even with them at full health, maybe cover it with spears. Or maybe even cover it with a spear army. Do you have The Pentagon up yet?

 

[ThERat]

To answer the questions first. I do not want to use spears during the campaign against Portugal as they only have slow units now and the armies are much faster. Later on, those 3 armies will be pretty useless to take towns anyway. Imagine using attack 2 armies to take cities defended by muskets. Quite a feat.

And I do not have the pentagon yet.

 

[ThERat]

Now, that the southern Portuguese peninsula is taken, I can concentrate on their western peninsula before ultimately going after their 3-wonder capital.

I take 3 cities in quick sucession. Apparently my followers do not know what to call me, note the different titles I am given, Master, Revolutionary, Leader

This was easy, if the rest of Potugal can be taken that fast, I can make a huge step towards catching up with the AI. While taking those cities, I revolt to become a monarchy. I will now research all the way to gunpowder and cavalries as I still have no iron (thus chivalry would be a waste of time).


In the interturn that I become a monarchy, Ottoman land 3 units next to one of my new cities. This ain't good news.

After thinking for a while, I employ a new strategy. In order to get Ottoman finally back on the table for peace negotiations and in order to decrease price of peace, I kill only 2 of their units allowing them to take one city (it’s size 4 and thus won’t be razed). Thus, as you can see, one unit is left alone.

Even better, while Ottoman take the city, X-man wants to talk to us for peace.

The peace deal isn’t too bad really. A few coins only and I have one foe less. Too bad I can’t get any techs, they would just bankrupt me and I think I can do self research faster at the moment.

I take back Ottoman's city and get a very nice side effect
As I am not allowed to spy on our enemies via diplo screen, I do not have any idea how rich the enemy is. Thus, I didn't know about the Ottoman treasury, else one might see this as exploitative.

This concludes the campaign in the west. Our holdings there are fine with little flip risk. I can recall my armies and go for Portugals core.

 

[Spoonwood]

Imagine using attack 2 armies to take cities defended by muskets. Quite a feat.

hmmm... well if you had artillery accompaning them, I feel sure the armies could take out the muskets. Actually, that doesn't sound too bad, as I've read and done it a few times myself... the Maya only need a few javelin throwers to take out a wounded musket (via trebuchets or cannons) in the middle ages. I'd *guess* a fully 3-unit healthy 2 attack army could take out a musket without losing fairly consistently. Then again, you can only have so many armies, and armies disband for 100 shields, so admittedly it's probably better to put those armies towards cavalry armies at some point.