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The Tale of King Tupac

tupaclives

Tupac Lives on!!
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Messages
1,150
Location
Australia
KING TUPAC'S INSANE VARIANT

Note: This variant is not for the faint hearted. It is rated extremely difficult and it is not suggested to be attempted above Monarch level...


This variant combines three of (what are generally regarded) as some of the hardest variants in the game.

Variant 1: The Supreme Nationalists

SimpleMonkey said:
How about a variant I've been pondering for a while: Supreme Nationalists. This is for the ultimately arrogant, dominating, aggressive civ.

Pretty similar to defiant:

1. No foreigners are tolerated within your borders. They must be told to leave as soon as they're spotted. Repeat until the offenders go or declare.

2. Peace treaties are allowed, but only if the other side is giving more than you are.

3. No giving in to extortion. Ever. All such demands must be refused.

4. All conquered cities are razed. No exceptions. They are inferior.

And here's the kicker:

5. Your civ is too proud to let its own citizens work. No workers may be built after the first foreign slave is taken. As soon as you start taking foreign slaves, you must rejoin any existing native workers back into your cities on a 2:1 basis (i.e. for every two slaves you take, you return 1 native worker to being a citizen). Soon the only labor in your empire will be slave labor.

Added to original model
In addition to alliances being forbidden, you may never sign RoP's, MPP's or Trade Embargo's with any civ.
- Foreign cities may not be demanded as peace concessions.
- In addition to one native worker being merged for every two slave workers, foreign workers may never be merged to cities for any reason. They may however be disbanded (worked the slaves to death seems to fit the nationalistic theme)
- If the AI razes one of your cities you must eliminate that city (no time frame, but if the civ is still in existence at the conclusion of the game you lose regardless of other VC's).
- If a city is captured by the AI it MUST be reclaimed (no time frame).
- If the AI razes one of your cities while in the possesion of another civ it must be eliminated.
- Abandoning cities is permitted.

This challenge has been undertaken, and succesfully completed by Tupacatha. However King Tupac does not regard his success as highly notable, therefore he shall prove that this variant is doable.

Variant 2: No-Optional Tech (NOT)

vossibeer in Arathorn's Comprehensive Guide to Variants said:
Definition: No Optional Tech (NOT) : You are not allowed to discover optional techs. Optional techs are those which are not needed to reach the next era, monarchy for example.

Well, doesn't sound like a challenge. But think over the complications. I list the most important features sorted by their importance:

a) The one and only one type of government will be despotism. With all the corruption and tile disadvantages included. Have fun.

b) You never can build a knight or cavalry. So this game is essential near an infantry game. Have fun. In other words, clean your own continent before the ai reaches military tradition, or you are possibly toasted. (Up from demi god, this can be a problem even for experienced players)

c) You can never build a library, since literature is prohibited. This means, you can never build a university, since libs are required to build them. In other words: Your own research capabilities will humble you, and still you must avoid a cultural victory of other civs.

d) You will never be able to get cities above size 12, since sanitation is an optional tech. More important, you are not able to build battlefield medicine. So have fun with it.

e) Stealing technology will be difficult, expensive and comes along with a high failure rate, because you cannot build the intelligency agency. And this means, you cannot plant spies.

f) You can never mobilize your economy, since nationalism is optional. This may really humble you up from demi-god level.

g) You can never build a marine to take out this damn last island city of your opponents. Ok, usually not that important, but it's like a course in my games. Nearly always there's one of these ugly one-tile cities, and combined with war weariness this can cause problems.

h) If you capture the great library, you must raze this city, because there's the danger that you receive optional techs from it, and your entire game is toast. So, you cannot use the GB to boost your research, which is annoying up from demi-god.

i) You have no access to some important wonders like Smith or JSB, except you capture them, of course.

Believe it or not, but all the feature together, the difficulty of a level moves up around 2, so a simple monarch game usually becomes humbling as demi-god.
Personally, i still had no success with it above emperor, and with normal settings and luck i'm meanwhile able to beat deity on huge continent maps, so i guess, i'm a experienced player.

So check it out, it's quite annoying and evil :-)

with kind regards
a fanatic

If this unplaytested variant lives up to its billing it will indeed serve to prove King Tupac's rightful position as head of the council of Tupacs.

Variant 3: Naked

Taken from RBE6 - 'The Naked Vikings' said:
(thanks to Sima Qian for agreeing to mod this particular variant)

The human civilization has no civ-specific traits (commercial, industrious, religious etc.) or Unique Units.
The human Golden Age will be triggered upon completion of their first wonder.
All AI civilizations have their regular Civ-specific traits and Unique Units.

This variant is included for a mild addition to the difficult and to demonstrate that King Tupac is not reliant on any specific trait or Unique Unit for success. Its one attempt also netted a place in the Archive of Legendary Games, confirming that this is not a variant to be considered lightly.

The combined added difficulty for these three variants amounts to 3.5 difficulty levels by Arathorn's reckoning. That would take a humble Monarch game to just shy of Sid level in Conquests, and a vanilla deity game into dangerous waters.

As such King Tupac will play this game on a Large World, against 11 opponents on Deity.

And so it was that the challenge had been issued, and as it was said, so it would be done.
King Tupac was out to prove to Montupac he deserved to be the head of the council, going where no Tupac had gone before. He had to admit he was feeling a little rusty, his grasp of Civilzations had slipped due to inactivity in recent months, would he be able to handle such a difficult return?

Sima Qian, the Grand Historian had completed the modifications King Tupac had requested for this game and had done so with style and finesse, even going beyond what King Tupac had requested.

King Tupac chose his world to be

Size: Large
Landmass: Continents
Water: 70%
Wet
Temperate
Random Barbarians

picture33bi5.jpg


The start was a promising one.

picture36ft4.jpg


King Tupac took a deep breath and stepped forward to lead the Zulu in place of Chief Shaktupac... took a deep breath and stepped forward toward the greatest challenge of his life...

Tupac Shakur said:
The Only Thing That Comes to A Sleeping Man is Dreams
 
So if a civ razes one of your cities and has a 1-tile island town you will lose by definition, right? :)

Good luck anyway, this will be tough!
 
Of course, Twonky. He loses. (But I'm not quite sure. Can you bomber the town to death and then airdrop something inside? Then again, maybe both Amphibious War AND Advanced Flight aren't allowed.)

Though nobody in their right minds would lose a town by having it razed.
 
tupaclives said:
The combined added difficulty for these three variants amounts to 3.5 difficulty levels by Arathorn's reckoning. That would take a humble Monarch game to just shy of Sid level in Conquests, and a vanilla deity game into dangerous waters.

As such King Tupac will play this game on a Large World, against 11 opponents on Deity.

It's Sid Squared Difficulty! :lol:
 
Chapter 2 - Settling Down, Moving Out

Tupac Shakur said:
My mamma always used to tell me, if you can't find something to live for... you best find something to die for

-------------------------------------------------------------------​
Tupac surveyed his surrounds. It all seemed promising, there was a great river to the south from which his people could draw fresh water, and there were the cattle, which would please his Zulu followers. He ordered the workers who accompanied him to climb to the top of the nearby mountain to report what they saw. They returned with tales of a great valley along the river further south in which there were fields of emerald grass and the unmistakeable sight of wheatfields. Such a place would make a fine home for the children of Tupac. So he set forth towards this great valley and though it was a century before his people reached their new home, it was well worth the wait.

1capitalrk8.jpg


King Tupac ordered first that a band of warriors be trained to help protect the new city and to explore the countryside. Tupac was well aware of the need for rapid growth and contacts and so decided an early granary would be of great assistance, especially in such a food-rich area. However to his immense displeasure, he found that not only could he not build scouts for rapid contact, he could neither construct his desired granary. It seems even being naked can have its disadvantages.

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It was enough to do Tupac's head in.

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For hundred's of years Tupac's people lived their lives without event. Three bands of warriors were to be trained, to protect and police the city and to explore the world. In 3200BC the exploration yielded its first results.

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Unfortunately, the English were far more civilised and advanced than King Tupac, as he had nothing to trade the english scouts continued on their way, as did Tupac's people.

In 2850BC, 1050 years after the founding of 2pacalypseNow, the first great invention was completed by Tupac's people. The pot. The pot was very important to King Tupac's plans. He had identified his location as being ideal for a 'settler factory' and a granary was necessary for this concept to be put into place.

5thepotbo7.jpg


In 2710 King Tupac's warrior-scouts came across the lands of America under the guidance of Abraham Lincoln. Like the English the American's felt Tupac had little to offer them and so no trades were conducted, however it was important for Tupac to be known internationally, in as many nations as possible.

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Finally Tupac's granary was completed and with such a large population in 2pacalypseNow, Tupac opted to employ a greater number of workers to help work on the infrastructure of the city and surrounding countryside. When the workers were trained there were still too many people in the city. So King Tupac commissioned an expedition to find a new home, and a large group of people set out from 2pacalypseNow to settle a new city. They headed west past the wheatfields, across the great plains to the Forests of the Silk Worms where they made their home. Living in the woods, many small bandit groups began to develop and the city, with its wealth from the vital silk trade and its housing of bandits, came to be known as Thug Life.

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His warrior-scouts continued to travel south and brought the knowledge of Tupac to the lands of China

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and Italy

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However like the American's and English before them, the Chinese and Italians felt that Tupac had nothing to offer them... yet.

The population of 2PacalypseNow continued to grow rapidly (there was maybe too much love in the city...) and more and more groups of people set out to find new homes. In the south, at a strategic location, a new city was founded and King Tupac named it for his feelings.

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The lands who had accepted Tupac had expanded, but King Tupac recognised that his position was tenuous. Nonetheless, he had critisced Tupacatha for showing a lack of ambition in his task, so King Tupac would not fall prey to the same cry. He would not be stopped by anything or anyone. Come what may, he would be ready.
 
Congratulations on starting a new game, Tupac! now you have us at the edge of our seats watiting for updates... ;) :p

Very freaky variant, so good luck. :thumbsup: and keep up the updates! :)
 
Wow, one update and I'm already at five stars :lol: :crazyeye: :king:

another update coming in the next hour or so
 
Chapter 3 – Writing? What’s that?

Tupac Shakur said:
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real

Tupac might have been ready for anything that would come his way. but his people still as hell weren't. They were still using stone tools and weapons, having yet to graduate to metal ones. Tupac didn't facny waiting 40 turns for Bronze Working to be discovered by his people... in real time that was like 1500 years! So he sent an emissary to Lizzie of the English and thanks to Tupac's vast stores of money he was able to 'acquire' the secret of bronze working for his people a little faster.

England: 115gp for Bronze Working

Shortly after this acquisition he recieved word that the Babylonian city of Ur had completed work on a gigantic bronze statue, a collosus, of their leader. Tupac was nonplussed, by the time his reign was over there would be many statues to him...

A band of the people who left 2PacalypseNow came to a site which was... well astoundingly good, in terms of nearby resources. If it had a river nearby it would be simply amazing. It was good enough for them though

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That same year a scout from a far away king, (the self-proclaimed God-King) Montezuma. He was polite toward King Tupac but King Tupac was not interested in this petty man. He was just a lesser version of his own servant Montupac.

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A few decades later a band of 2PacalypseNow citizens founded a city on the border of England, it was the first coastal city of the Zulu under Tupac.
Tupac decided he needed to start building military forces to protect his people and to maybe bring a bit of the ol' ghetto gospel to tha bruthas. To this end he asked Mao of China to teach his people about iron. It wasn't cheap but Tupac had loads of cash and he needed this.

China: 195gp for Iron Working.

Unfortunately there was not a skerric of iron anywhere in his territory. In fact none anywhere nearby. The nearest source was in New York in America. Tupac might soon find himself hitting the town...

Some place called Kyoto supposably had a man who could see into the future and communicate with the gods. He was called the Oracle but Tupac was skeptical, after all he had dreams too...
More and more cities were founded by Tupac's followers and the nation grew ever larger. A large number of foreign nations had made contact with a tribe of people called the Iroquois. Tupac wanted to spread his message to all people and so he paid some people in America to get him some contacts within the Iroquois. It cost a pretty penny but it would be worth it in the long run.

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Tupac immediately acquired Ceromonial Burial from them as a sort of goodwill thing...

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Tupac's settlers had finally reached the east coast and now Tupac's nation stretched from just shy of the continents West Coast all the way to its east. He was well aware of the dangers this presented by tresppasers but he was willing to take the risk. Without risk there is no reward. Write that one down.
Tupac knew that if he was going to take that Iron from New York he would need more than pointy rocks and spears. He would need archers so he contacted Mao once again and with a little bit of cash, he was able to acquire not only Warrior Code but Mao's territory Map as well.

China: 115gold for Warrior Code + territory Map.

Tupac's next two settlements were a little risky, both on the border with America, one to provide a second source of silks, the other to allow for the rapid connection of the iron once New York was taken. Tupac wanted his spears and archers fighting swords as little as possible.

That petty little man Montezuma did something quite generous, establishing an embassy in 2PacalypseNow and providing Tupac with one in Tenotchtitlan free of charge. Yay!

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Tupac had plenty of cash again and so went on a crazy buying spree getting territory maps from everyone, he spent more than 140 gold but at the end his world map looked like this

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Caesar then followed Montezuma's lead, establishing an embassy in 2PacalypseNow and providing Tupac with one in Rome. How nice! Especially nice as Tupac still didn't know how to write...

19romembou1.jpg


With these new Embassy's Tupac heard word that Rome had signed America and the Aztecs into a Military Alliance against the Iroquois... ha! As if you'd want someone else interferring in YOUR war! Tupac was disgusted, some people just have no NATIONAL PRIDE!
Tupac wanted walls for his border cities once the war with America came (he had 15 archers ready for an attack on New York) and oddly enough Abe was offering the knowledge of Masonry the cheapest. Haha! Soon he would soon find his attacks dissapating against the very walls they would help us to build!

America: 118gold for Masonry.

However Tupac noticed something interesting during the trades... Abe had 2 sources of iron. Tupac knew this because one was available for trading. Tupac had silks he could do without for a little while (and it would be for a while as the 2nd silks were still yet to be online more than 300 years later!)
So he offered silks and 7gpt for America's second iron. Know Tupac could train swords for the attack on New York! 20 turns wait was nothing, Tupac would be more than ready in 20 turns time!

20americatradeew1.jpg


That ignorant fool Montezuma had gall to demand that Tupac give him wines in tribute! HA! Tupac does not give in to any man! Let alone such an ugly one! He told Montezuma to go boil his head.

Suprisingly Monty wasn't that miffed.

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Tupac saw English warriors massing on his borders, when one of them strayed across the line he sent an angry letter (kindly written for him by Abe, as Tupac still couldn't write) to Lizzie tell her to get her troops out of Zululand. She said she would get round to it eventually. Tupac had never had foreign troops befouling his lands before. And he didn't like it one bit.
Knowing that you couldn't trust a woman like her Tupac, being every wiley, maxed out his nations possible commerce and then made a lucrative deal which saw him pay 41gpt and wines to acquire writing, maths, philosophy, the wheel and mysticism.

England: 16gpt + Wines for Writing + Mathematics
England: 25gpt for Currency

Then one of Lizzie's troops strayed too far again, and this time silly Lizzie decided to declare war on Tupac rather than discipline her troops. Tupac just got 41gpt + Wines worth of techs for free, war happiness and the chance to put the hurt on one of his neighbours.

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Lizzie... Big mistake...
 
For some reason, your trades don't seem to be chained to any other trades; you never 2fer or xfer. So if you don't do that, how do you think you'll win?

Does this mean you're REALLY behind and can only pay for techs everyone has?

Destroy those English. (Then get destroyed by everybody else.)
 
The reason my trades aren't chained to any others is because everyone else is in the Middle Ages, I didn't even have writing when those trades were conducted.
Destroy the english? Why? They have nothing to offer me short of a small bit of fertile land around my northern border. My plan is to put some hurt on them, then get techs for peace and then see if I can't pull off the same trick again when they decide to go to war with someone else (they'll have to go through my lands again).

(Then get destroyed by everybody else.)

Geez you have a lot of confidence don't you :lol:
 
Chapter 4 - The Battle of Britain

Tupac Shakur said:
A coward dies a thousand deaths; A soldier dies but once.

Tupac had amassed a force of 8 swords and 2 archers on his northern border with England in readiness for such a declaration. The 2 archer groups were ordered into combat with the English forces in the forests north of Thug Life. Although both groups were successful, one of the English horsemen was able to escape. Tupac recognised the necessity in a speedy reaction in this war, before England could bring her larger numbers to bear. To this end the swordsmen left Thug Life and travelled North through the hills and past Mount Down to the English city of Newcastle. The battle for Newcastle lasted for many days and it took all of Tupac's swordsmen to achieve victory in what was later known as the Battle of Six Spears. Tupac arrived at the site of the battle a few days after its conclusion with the purpose of assessing Newcastle. He had hoped to find a city ready to be moulded by his hand, but instead found a city that reeked of Englishness. Such a thing was an affront to Tupac's pride and he ordered the city's total destruction.

1newcastleob6.jpg


Although this move brought much condemnation from the international community, Tupac was nonplussed. Tupac didn't care what other people thought. What did concern him was that with the destruction of Newcastle his people took four groups of slaves. This meant that his own people no longer felt they were required to work, and in fact two whole worker groups went on strike and later joined the urban population of 'Me against the world'

2meagainsttheworldla3.jpg


In an effort to improve diplomatic relations with some of his neighbours, Tupac ordered his people to reciprocate the moves of Aztecland and Rome for the Chinese and American people, offering freely, and embassy in 2PacalypseNow. From his embassies Tupac was able to paint a picture of global diplomacy. It looked something like this.

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The next step was to found a new city in the vicinity of Newcastle. Showing respect for the dead, Tupac chose not to build on the ruins of the old city, but instead chose a more tactical location a couple of miles to the southwest. This new site would, in time, allow for the movement of Naval forces from one side of the English Peninsula to the other, without the need to sail all the way around the point, hundreds of miles to the North.

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Tupac's forces at the new city then counter-attacked a force of 17 English Warriors who had moved within range of an attack on Ghetto Gospel. The 8 swords, coupled with 5 archers and the two newly arrived spears, succeeded in killing 14 of them, with on of the newly arrived spear groups dying in battle. This counter attack meant that England was now weak compared to Tupac and so he decided to offer them peace. However, he wouldn't let them have it cheap...

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However Lizzie was clearly an old fool, barely months after the treaty of Hastings was signed, Tupac noticed English forces again traipsing through his lands… so Tupac, wily as ever, decided to pull the same trick yet again.

This time he noticed that there was something quite valuable to gain from this trade.

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And what was it that sparked this second war? One lousy English spearman who forgot to leave after the first war.

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That contact was to prove most useful and Tupac decided to take the opportunity to trade it around before England could.

America: Contact with Egypt, Horses, World Map + 30gp for Code of Laws
China: Contact with Egypt + World Map for World Map + 68gp
Aztecs: Contact with Egypt + Wines + World Map for Polytheism + 3gp

A few years later the long running silks for iron trade with America came to a close, Tupac was prepared to take the iron source from New York only to realise he had just traded horses to America, locking him into 20 more turns of peace… BUGGER! A furious Tupac had no choice but to renew the deal.

To vent a bit of his fury he massed his forces who had destroyed Newcastle and sent them north toward the large English city of Hastings. Hastings was an old English city, built on the site of 4 natural wheat sources, Tupac’s men suffered heavy losses in taking the city, with 5 of the 8 swords and 1 of the archer groups all dying in battle, however the city was taken and 6 more slaves were taken, in addition to a catapult. The city’s people were far too English for Tupac’s liking and so he ordered the city be destroyed.

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Unfortunately with 6 more slave groups taken, 3 native worker groups went on strike, refusing to do the physical labour that ‘should be a slave’s prerogative’ and all 3 groups headed to nearby cities and joined the urban populations there.

An elite force of 5 swords had been massing at ‘Still I Rise’ and finally they received their orders to march northward to Oxford. Oxford was a lightly defended city, but by benefit of its harbour, had sent several groups of horsemen south into Tupac’s lands and had terrorised his people. The Elite force was to put a stop to these raids by destroying the harbour city and ending English occupation of the northern point. The Elite force was successful, destroying the city without loss and capturing 2 more slave groups. However another worker group refused to do the work of slaves and joined urban populations.

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With these 2 cities destroyed and no reprisals from England, Tupac felt like it was time to offer them the chance of peace.

He spied yet another crucial option in his peace talks…

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This put Tupac’s people into a state later referred to as ‘the Middle Ages’. It made Tupac feel like a new man.

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The Babylonians were quite advanced, lacking only currency in order to become a Middle Ages nation. Tupac traded to them Currency in exchange for contact with the other, more primitive peoples of Babylon’s homeland.

Babylon: Currency for World Map + Contact with India + Contact with Japan + 48gp

Unfortunately Japan and India were too primitive to offer anything to Tupac. However Babylon now was the only nation of the world to have Monotheism, with several other Middle Ages nations possessing Feudalism. Unfortunately all the money and contacts in the world couldn’t prise Monotheism from the Babylonians. However contact with the Babylonians seemed attractive to the other nations of the world, and Tupac decided to trade it around before England got the chance.

America: Contact with Babylon + Contact with India + Contact with Japan + World Map + 300gp + 13gpt for Feudalism
China: Contact with Babylon + Contact with India + Contact with Japan + World Map for Dyes + 30gp + 5gpt + World Map
Aztecs: World Map + Contact with India for World Map + 143gp
Rome: Contact with Babylon + Contact with India for World Map + Ivory

Babylon remained steadfastly opposed to teaching others about Monotheism, so Tupac would have to wait, however aside from lacking that one tech, he had attained technological parity with the world’s major powers. The American’s built the Great Library in their capital city of Washington, but Tupac didn’t care. He couldn’t have it anyway. He already had achieved his goals by this stage. He was on his way…
But he knew that the real challenge was still to come… he had to survive an era of knights, the cavalry, then rifles and the best he would have would be longbows and muskets and even then not for a while….

What’s a man to do?
 
Excellent job. And you seem to also be about the same size as everyone else. (with extra towns) Too bad you're stuck with mostly slaves now. That does mean you can't build extra native workers, right?

And I just realized, you'll be stuck in Despotism unless you switch to Feudalism now. I suppose you will be doing that?
 
Yep, I'm roughly the same size as most of the other nations, a little smaller than the major powers America and China though. And you're correct that I can't build any more workers, I can only capture them now. I can still build settlers obviously though. And no I won't be switching to Feudalism because
a) its worse than despotism anyway
and
b) this is vanilla :lol:
 
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