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Rise of Rome: Pax Romana
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Date: 09/04/04 02:09
Game Type: Other
Labels:Famous Reporter(1), Civilization(1), Problem: Broken Images(1), Long(1), Strategy Focused(1), Tutorial(1), Series(1)
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Lifetime Rating for .Praetor: 8.2987
Many thanks to Ling, Mattz, Maareek, and all of the current nohunters crew for delaying this report with entertaining FFA games. Other wacky delays may or may not have been two Taiwanese women randomly staying at my apartment as they explore Sacramento, a group of lying liars partying in New York, actual work, and massive internal trama. Apologies for dropping off the 10 gold reports list. Thanks to JV and Brad the server guy for making this report possible. Click an ad that interests you so you can thank them too. Editorial note: I decided to switch to the Common Era (CE) - Before Common Era (BCE) notation in this report because I prefer that notation when I'm doing history. This replaces AD (After Death) and BC (Before Christ). Not that the designation Common Era really makes any more sense than historians discussing 1 AD as if it's an important date in China or South America. The State Of Rome (And Assorted Territories) If you'll recall, my Roman Republic has been flourishing, and it is now around 1200 CE. After a long war, peace has finally been negotiated with the Iroquois, and new ideas and technology are flooding the Republic. If you haven't read the first two parts of the Rise of Rome series, please review the Persian Wars and the Attack on the Iroquois so you don't get too confused. My immediate plans, as you can obviously see from the title of this report, consist of beginning an extended period of domestic growth and focusing on building city improvements. Picky readers might point out that Pax Romana (the Roman Peace) traditionally refers to a superpower situation where the superpower enforces peace among nations. It's 'hip' in foreign policy circles to debate whether or not we're currently in a sort of 'Pax Americana' or may soon enter into such a situation. Even if that sort of traditional use of Pax Romana doesn't really apply to this game yet, the name sounded too good to not use for the report. Before we get into the details, I want to give you yet another overview of the current domestic situation, to use as a base from which to consider my overall accomplishments in this installment. But first, two screenshots. The first screenshot shows my mainland, the second reveals my island expansions. My overall population is rather low. My population is only 90, with 21 citizens in 12 cities on islands and 69 citizens in 12 cities on the mainland. Growth in most cities is at a standstill, due to a lack of luxuries overseas and a lack of aqueducts on the mainland. I'm set for an extended period of growth, though, with granaries already in place and building aqueducts on the mainland. That growth should be matched on the islands as temples and a working road network brings these territories some semblance of civilization. My income is also somewhat low, largely because my population is also small. I'm making 349 commerce a turn, 298 from my cities plus 51 gold per turn in tribute from the Iroquois. My biggest cost, not surprisingly, is my military (84 a turn). Science is right up there, with spending at 83 a turn. 72 commerce is lost to corruption. 58 to building maintenance, 40 to entertainment, leaving me with only +12 gold per turn for the treasury. My reserves are a respectable 2005 gold. At this point in the game these kind of numbers would normally worry me. However, both military and science spending will probably be drastically cut soon. There are also still several courthouses under construction to reduce corruption, and most cities need marketplaces and banks (which will increase income but not science or luxury spending). So my financial outlook for the future is quite good (as it should be in a Republic). I also have access to two luxuries and all important military resources. Four workers and 36 slaves are on standby or working to improve my infrastructure. I'm reducing the military, of course, but to be complete I currently have 29 spearmen, 13 galleys, and 30 Legions. Culturally, I'm at about half the power of the Greeks, a little less than that relative to the Iroquois, and slightly ahead of the Egyptians and the Babylonians. The Aztecs and Zulu are, of course, non- factors. I'm currently researching Banking, with an eye to purchasing it when the AI starts to pass it around. A screenshot of the middle ages tech tree follows: The little circle with a slash through it indidcates that this tech is not necessary to advance to the next Age (took me forever to figure that out, heh). Note that Astronomy has finally been researched. The advent of caravels should mean that on this map, everyone can now trade with each other. Democracy is also important for allowing the government of the same name. Economics makes producing wealth from your cities worthwhile (and allows Adam Smith's Theory of Economics, a nice wonder). Magnetism will allow truly efficient sea transport and the advent of coastal bombardment (sigh). Military Tradition is sometimes the most important of the technologies to be researched, allowing the production of cavalry, a powerful fast attack unit. Unfortunately, I'll be pursing a strategy that keeps me behind my competitors in technology. Some readers may be thinking that all this sounds rather modest and small. However, they should remember the extreme environment on this world that drastically reduces total resources. This is reflected in the overall slow technology pace. The State Of The Rest Of The World Foreign relations and negotiations are a key part of any Civ3 game, so I'll take this opportunity to flood you with screenshots and updates on the state of the world. First off (as usual) we have the main continent: The Greeks remain the powerhouse, and are probably the main engine driving AI research as well. Alexander's republic is currently making war against the Aztecs. I'm assuming he will absorb Montezuma's little despotic regime and further solidify his position on the continent, but I'm still holding out hope for peace. These maps are pretty current, and you see the Greek cities on the mainland are already at size 12 (the largest available before Sanitiation). The Babylonians actually control as much territory as the Greeks on the main continent, but you can see that both their population and their terrain improvements lag behind Greece. Their land is also not quite as productive. The Babylonians have only one overseas colony, Ellipi, and they almost certainly don't have the research capacity Greece does (in part because they've chosen a monarchy rather than a republic). Nevertheless, they should keep up through trades and buying tech cheap off of computer players. They're also scientific (as are the Greeks), and will get one tech (probably Nationalism) upon entering the Industrial Age. They're currently at war with the one-city Zulu kingdom. I expect this war will end when the Babylonians retake Ashur (just northeast of the screenshot). The Egyptians are doing just as well as I expected with their little three-city republic. They haven't managed to flip Heliopolis back to their control, which means it probably won't happen now. They should keep up technologically through purchase and the commerce generated by their river. The Aztecs (still a despotism) will last a little while longer if Alexander decides he wants peace. They are bloodthirsty little savages though, so they may actually have the military units to hold out until war weariness tips the Greeks' hand. Shaka's little Zulu outpost will probably be absorbed soon. Even if he manages to make peace with Babylon, Ashur will be swallowed up when Shaka inevitably gets pulled into the next war. The Iroquois have to be considered in a completely different light. They're not part of the main continent, and can only really expand by resettling lost territory, sniping island colonies, and expanding to the unclaimed landmass. Any serious attack on the main isle would be considered such a threat that I would have to get directly involved. But such an attack is highly unlikely. Their territory is once again laid out below: Niagra Falls (size 12 coastal city with two fish) is hidden under the minimap. Tondawana (size 4 coastal city with one forest game) is hidden under the buttons. Also notable in this screenshot is Owego and Ganogeh far to the north. They've been up there since before I made war on the Iroquois, but this is the first time I've fit them in a screenshot. I also had the minimap reveal the geography rather than the political map. Not that you can really tell anything from that. Hiawatha is still very much in the game. He's currently organized his people into a republic, and should soon rival or even surpass Greece for sheer science output. I'm not certain how quickly he will resettle the territory I laid waste. The development of that land and Hiawatha's aggressiveness expanding to unclaimed territory could determine how much of a threat the Iroquois nation represents in the late game. I should also note that once Magnetism is researched, Hiawatha might well have the power to tip the balance of power on the main continent. If he got dragged into a world war, naval pressure and bombardment could be a deciding distraction. Dirty Work While the global balance of power reorganizes itself and my people consider the many new opportunities in their own little lives, most of my attention is devoted to the details of disbanding my Legions and directing native labor gangs on my southern island. In 1220 CE the first convoy returns from the war and drops five Legions and three slaves off on the southern island. The very next turn four more Legions and two more slaves are also deposited near Hispalis. Ravenna completes its harbor and begins a temple. (Already? I do like the Forbidden Palace.) Also surprising me is a warning from my Legions still near Iroquois territory. Hiawatha has dropped off a spearman-settler combo near the ruins of Akwesane. A second spearman also appears via an overland route. I decide to be petty and order my Legions to organize in order to restrict Iroquois movements as much as possible. The settler-spearmen combo responds to my wall of Legions by moving northeast, staying within Iroquois territory. At home, six more Iroquois work gangs arrive on the southern isle. Neapolis completes a temple and starts work on a marketplace. Two spearmen, the last reinforcements intended for the war from the mainland, are dropped off on the south isle. My slave gangs are not idle, but spreading out across the southern isle. There is much work to do (and slaves don't work very hard), so improvements will take some time. Hiawatha decides to re-found St. Regis just northeast of the ruins of Akwesane. Sometime during the game I decided to experiment with smaller pictures, so here you can see the re-made St. Regis and the blockade I had set up in a futile attempt to delay resettlement. The galleys are part of the convoys bringing my troops back, and I quickly vacate Iroquois territory. Gewauga, fairly close to my Forbidden Palace, is the first city to receive a 'legacy' courthouse, produced when Legions are disbanded in the city. Rome completes its aqueduct on its own, and switches to marketplace. Three more Legions and a worker are dropped off on the south isle. The desert city of Chondate receives its own legacy courthouse, as my Legions make their way south, and begins producing a temple. Antium and Veii complete their aqueducts, and start marketplaces. Viroconium produces a harbor and starts a marketplace. Three more Legions are dropped off on the south isle, completing my retreat from Iroquois territory. City improvements are coming fast and furious now, as the construction boom really starts to kick in. In 1280 CE Arbela and Cumae complete aqueducts and begin marketplaces. The next turn (1290 CE, after this turn it switches to 5 year increments) Persepolis produces a colosseum and starts a marketplace, Rome completes its marketplace and begins a cathedral, while Ravenna completes a temple and begins an aqueduct. Persepolis needed a colosseum to free up entertainers for real work, Rome was making a cathedral rather than a cheaper colosseum because it wasn't in a hurry and cathedrals are worth more culture. My embassy in Salamanca soon informs me that the Iroquois have completed Copernicus' Observatory (+50% base research for the host city only) in the Iroquois capitol. This doesn't bug me much, but it reinforces the importance of the war against the Iroquois stunting their growth and keeping their research down. Other embassies are busy too, as I look into trading possibilities with the Greeks. I'm surprised to find out they have three technologies that I don't have (Navigation, Music Theory, Banking). This isn't catastrophic - only Banking is required to advance to the next age. But it annoys me, as the AI doesn't normally research three technologies in thirteen turns (the time since I utilized the Great Library). The Iroquois, Greeks, and the Egyptians probably all finished different research paths at the same time and traded, darn them. Dickering The Egyptians and the Greeks will both sell me Banking for about 460 gold, Music Theory for 700 gold, and Navigation for 900 gold. Because they hate me, the Iroquois are setting prices about 10% higher. The Babylonians, oddly enough, don't have any of those three technologies, nor do they have Astronomy. Unfortunately, they don't have anything to trade to me for Astronomy. The Aztecs don't even have Republic or Monarchy, and I didn't even bother checking with the Zulu (they had no luxuries in their territory). In the process of negotiation, I also find out that my reputation or some errant earlier trade that got interrupted has destroyed my ability to negotiate techs (or cash, or other one time benefit) for resources or gold per turn. Egypt also lacks saltpeter and iron (which is odd, since they had musketmen guarding Thebes earlier). I can trade wines and ivory to anyone, since I have a monopoly on both, and I can receive various luxuries from other nations. I look into trading some luxuries around, since I'd like to reduce the percentage of my income devoted to keeping the people happy. Unfortunately, the Iroquois hate me and everyone else thinks their luxuries will help me much more than mine will help them. The computer calculates price based on happy faces you'll receive (or maybe just size, I dunno), so my number of cities hurts me in these negotiations. Eventually, I decide to buy Banking from Egypt for 420 gold (the AI can usually be bargained down). It was probably only that cheap since I had it half researched already. This drops my reserves from 2410 to 1951 gold. I also trade Egypt wine, ivory, iron, and saltpeter for a paltry sixteen gold per turn. It's not a good deal, but I want to make sure Egypt stays as strong as possible. Looking at research, I could keep my income per turn near zero and research Chemistry in sixteen turns. Instead I set my science allocation to 0% and hire a scientist to enable minimum Chemistry research (40 turns). I should point out that since I won't actually put the science into researching something with a scientist (+1 research a turn), I don't get some benefits of genuinely investing in science. For instance, when chemistry is 20 turns from completion, I won't get a discount from the AI when buying chemistry. Similarly, if I decide to increase my science allocation halfway through the minimum research period, I won't get done in fewer turns. Since I just confused a lot of people, I'll try to clarify that in the comment section. In any case, my income jumps from +62 per turn to +141 gold per turn. And that's a good thing. An Iroquois spearmen is still stranded in the south area of my southern isle. This is a minor annoyance, because it prevents me from improving the hills he's sitting on, and it could theoretically take a city if I'm cycling troops out for upgrades. But overall it's probably a good thing that he's there, because then I can demand his removal sometime when tensions are high with the Iroquois and make Hiawatha suffer the reputation hit of starting the war. Pretenses are a good thing. Word comes at the turn of the century (1300 CE) that Alexander and Montezuma have signed a peace treaty. I'm pleasantly surprised, as it means that the Greeks won't absorb the remaining three Aztec cities into their empire. Alexander must not have been trying very hard. Both Egpyt and Greece start Magellan's Voyage (+2 ship movement for the rest of the game), which isn't surprising, since they both recently obtained Navigation. Checking with my Foreign Advisor, he informs me that the whole world is at peace. Which is odd, since I didn't catch the end of the Babylonian - Zulu war. Normally this would annoy me, since wars between AI civilizations means more dead units I don't have to fight and a slower tech pace. But in this case I'm happy, because the geo-political situation favors me and peace prevents a consolidation of AI territory. The peace will probably last for some time, my instinct tells me. Right of Passage agreements have been signed by governments not recently at war. Trades are fairly low, despite the new global markets. Besides my selling of raw materials to Egypt, Greece has luxury trade agreements with the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Iroquois, but that's all. In 1300 CE, The Biggest Political Issue In Rome Is Urban Development. Future Obscure Historians Rejoice. Pasargarde builds an aqueduct and starts a marketplace. The next turn, Tarsus does the same thing, but Gordium bucks the trend and starts an aqueduct after finishing a marketplace. The last of my excess Legions are disbanded in 1310 CE. I also decide my former Iroquois cities no longer need extra garrisons, so I disband some spare spearmen as well. With this happy act I've completed my planned military reorganization. My defensive forces now consist of 28 spearmen (one per city plus some extra on my three small islands), 3 galleys (emergency transports soon to become galleons), and 10 Legions (7 rapid-response elites, and 3 garrison veterans on Tydenaga isle). I'm also supporting four workers. The industrial age and railroads will be here soon. This is a total of 46 gold per turn support. If I played less conservative, I could reduce that amount more, but I won't bother. People with the Civ3 Conquests expansion should note that in vanilla, republic unit support is exactly like democracy - one gold per turn per unit. In the expansion, republics get some free unit support based on the size of a civ's cities and anything over that is two gold per turn. This would have forced me into a monarchy during the height of my war with the Iroquois, but right now the old rules are a disadvantage for me. Sparta completes Magellan's Voyage, which won't be fun if I have to start chasing down ships bombarding my coast. They were probably able to do so quickly due to switching production from Copernicus' Observatory after the Iroquois completed that wonder. I feel like doing something after seeing that and noting I have 2562 gold in reserve. I decide to purchase courthouses wherever I don't already have them. This might be a bunch of wasteful spending, but I don't think I have any cities so far from my government centers that they are worthless yet, and it's good to develop outlying cities if they can contribute. Plus several of these courthouses have already felt the benefit of legacy production from disbanded Legions and galleys. It turns out that courthouses were only needed in the four most southern cities captured from the Iroquois and my small islands. So I bought courthouses in Kiohero, Gayagaahe, Kawauka, Golgouen, Bactra, Pisae, and Pompeii. It only cost me 792 gold, bringing my reserves to 1770. Rome finishes its marketplace and starts a bank. I wonder if finishing that one bank would bring in as much revenue per turn as all those courthouses. No matter. This is a banner turn and Hispalis also produces a marketplace, starting an aqueduct. Bactra starts a temple after its courthouse is purchases. Pisae and Pompeii start harbors. The southern cities start temples, but most of them are still producing near the minimum one production a turn, which irks me. About now I notice Akwesane has been re-founded near the old St. Regis. It is south of the southern-most wheat area in that region. This probably happened quite awhile ago, near when I vacated the area. Veii builds a marketplace and starts a bank. Banks are a high priority right new, and not just because they increase my cities' income. Once I get five I can get the Wall Street small wonder, which is always nice. Persepolis builds a marketplace and starts a bank. Antioch also finishes a marketplace, but somehow it doesn't have an aqueduct yet, so I switch to that. Athens produces J.S. Bach's cathedral (reduces unhappy people by two for each of the civ's cities on the same continent). I'm not very happy with this, since keeping the populace content is very important for the computer in war. They tend to rely on entertainers, which is not good for them. What I'm less happy about is the Iroquois switching production to Adam Smith's Trading Post (eliminates upkeep on all trade- related improvements in your civilization). This not only means the AI has Economics, but I don't want the Iroquois having access to more free commerce per turn. The good news is that I've finally connected the lower region of my southern isle via roads. The luxury resources now circulating the area should dramatically increase growth and happiness. In 1335 CE it has been twenty turns since the end of the Iroquois war, which ends the 51 gold per turn tribute I'd been receiving. This isn't as bad as it would have been earlier, as my domestic commerce is much higher. I also look at what technologies they have they I don't, and see that the list is now up to four: Navigation, Music Theory, Economics, and Chemistry. Only Chemistry is necessary for advancement to the next age. Economics would be nice, though. I get informed that the Egyptians have decided to compete for Adam Smith's Trading Post. Checking around the other civilizations, I also notice that the Babylonians have Music Theory but are still down Astronomy and Banking. Unfortunately for them I don't wand Music Theory. The Egyptians will sell me Chemistry for 1530 gold. Economics is going for 960 gold. Forget Economics... I don't want to trade two of my luxuries for one of Greece's, so no trading actually gets done this turn. I resolve to watch their city graphics carefully and catch up when everyone advances to the Industrial Age - though Greece will be especially dangerous then when it jumps ahead with its scientific bonus. Antium builds a marketplace and starts a bank. Soon after, Rome completes its cathedral and starts a bank. Susa completes a marketplace and starts an aqueduct. Greece also starts working on Adam Smith's Trading Company. Rioting surprises me in Veii, which grows fast due to the fertile cattle grazing areas nearby. I compensate with entertainers. Ravenna finishes an aqueduct and starts a courthouse. It didn't need one earlier, but will gain a small benefit from one now. Arbela produces a marketplace and stats a bank. I also see a Greek galley sailing past the southern coast of my mainland, which confuses me. Where the heck is a Greek galley going? Oh well. Gewauga finishes a temple and starts a harbor. I'm pleasantly surprised to learn that Thebes finishes Adam Smith's Trading Company before anyone else. This is excellent. Having the fewest cities and thus the fewest trading structures (harbor, marketplace, and later airport), Egpyt gains the least benefit and keeps the great wonder out of the hands of my main competitors. It also solidify's Thebes' place as number one kick ass city. A worrying suspicion starts to sneak into my thoughts though. It wasn't too long ago that I lost again I thought I'd finally won - after a long comeback against difficult odds, I'd finally regained the initiative and was going to complete a spaceship first. Only to have the Persians (large in territory but finally defeated in war and forced to disadvantageous peace by yours truly) suddenly win. Hunh? It had been a 100,000-point culture victory. My sneaking suspicion now was that either Thebes or Athens could conceivably had their respective civilizations a 20,000-point single- city culture victory. I've never seen the AI manage such a feat, but then, I'd never seen a cultural victory by the AI at all before the ill-fated game now uppermost in my memory. My initial fears were soon calmed, however, as I check the wonder screen. Thebes has constructed the Hanging Gardens, the Great Wall, Sun Tzu's Art of War, and Adam Smith's Trading Company. Only the Hanging Gardens is a significant cultural Wonder. Athens has completed the Pyramids, Sistene Chapel, and J.S. Bach's Cathedral. All three are major cultural wonders, but just three probably won't do it. I figure that it's safe to consider Thebes and Athens as premier cities by any measurement, but only Athens has the sheer cultural power to even make a run at 20,000 culture, and it was unlikely the game would last long enough for such a possibility to come into play. Well with that little spasm of concern over, I can settle back and watch Cumae finish its marketplace and switch to a bank. The next turn, I decide it's time to get Wall Street, and pay to complete banks in all the cities that are producing them. This is a lot more expensive than I'd thought it would be. I spend over half of my reserves, dropping my gold from 3832 to 1720. On the upside, this ends up increasing my income by just over 100 gold per turn, giving me a surplus of 255 gold per turn. After the banking system is up and running, Persepolis starts making a Cathedral, since it is still having population happiness problems. As my best producing city, Rome stats Wall Street, which will finish in fifteen turns. Arbela, Veii, Antium, and Cumae all start building colosseums. Finally, Hispalis had completed its aqueduct and started a temple. The next turn, in 1380 CE, Babylon declared war on the Aztecs. This is highly odd. I doubt it's because of Montezuma turning down a tribute demand - Montezuma has nothing to demand and others would be doing the same thing. It is a known strategy for a militarily-strong civilization that feels like it is falling behind in tech or other respects to declare war on a nearby enemy. (Like the Zulu do all the time.) Even so I was surprised because the Babylonians are not a very aggressive civilization. Of course, they're usually not a military powerhouse either. Back at home, the next few turns keep things hopping. Tarsus completes a marketplace and starts a granary. Viroconium also completes a marketplace, it goes on to start an aqueduct. Chondate starts a temple and begins work on a harbor that it needed twenty turns ago. Pasaragarde completes a marketplace and starts a colosseum. Ravenna completes its courhouse and stats a marketplace. Pisae finishes its harbor and also starts its marketplace. The next turn, Gordium finishes an aqueduct and starts a granary. Gayagaahe finishes its temple and starts a marketplace. Other aspects of my development are also going well. My gold reserves have quickly climbed back to ~3000 gold. The Foreigners All Want Something In 1405 CE, Montezuma sends an emissary asking me to join the Aztec armies in their war against the Babylonians. Perhaps he will deign to hear my counter-proposal? The counter-proposal is NO. Cleopatra wants seventy gold for her world map, which indicates she's explored a bit. I'm on good terms with Cleopatra now, so I consent without renegotiating. Hispalis also builds a temple and starts a granary. A less pleasant 'negotiation' occurs next year. Alexander sends a missive demanding wines from me or else. The problem is, he'd do it too. I'm not upgraded at all yet, so I look temptingly weak from a military standpoint. I let loose several expletives and give him the wines. I'll remember that. One concrete improvement comes out of all of this. I decide to begin modernizing my forces to reduce this sort of thing in the future. My initial upgrade transforms seven spearmen into musketmen, and costs me 560 gold. Ouch, 80 gold a unit. Spearmen on my main island that didn't have a barracks in their local city begin moving towards the nearest barracks to complete the upgrades on my mainland. Currently there's no barracks on Ravenna Isle, the small islands, or my southern island. Oh well. Pompeii begins a marketplace after completing a harbor. Hiawatha sends me his offer. He wants me to pay fifteen gold per turn for furs. This might be a net gain for me if I can reduce my luxury allocation, but I tell him to go Cheney himself.** Veii builds a colosseum (allowing me to get rid of its entertainer) and starts a cathedral. Gewauga produces a harbor and starts a marketplace. I also notice that there are several locations on my main isle near my northern cities where I should have already planted forests to improve my tundra reasons. Whoops! I immediately dispatch idle workers to do so. ** -15 bonus points to any American 18 or over who doesn't get this. A few short turns later, and my main island military upgrade program is complete. Hammurabi contacts me, now the Babylonians want my aid against the Aztecs. He offers Music Theory, I tell him no - Music Theory isn't worth any possible complications. I offer to trade Banking for Printing Press (a prerequisite to Democracy), but he won't do that so nothing gets done. Persepolis completes a cathedral and starts a university. This would be my first university, since it's my lowest-priority building. Universities are expensive, and with my science set to 0%, the only benefit they would give me is culture. Hispalis completes a granary and starts a barracks. Barracks are cheap, and this one will allow me to start a military upgrade program on my overseas territories. Kiohero builds a temple and starts a harbor. I decide to buy temples in Golgouen and Kewauga in order to expand the cultural borders of those cities. Hiawatha sends another emissary. He's demanding my troops near Akwesane withdraw. What? Did some drunken galley captain leave port and... oh. The cultural borders of the very southern Akwesane and Centralia have finally reached each other and merged over part of Tydenaga Isle. Hiawatha will finally be able to force me off that island. It happened sooner than expected, due to the location of the new Akwesane, but no big loss. Golgouen and Kewauga start marketplaces after completing temples. Boy, Hiawatha is ready to resettle Tydenaga Isle fast. A musketman-settler combo is landed the turn after I vacate the eastern end of the island. Arbela also riots. Whoops. An entertainer is hired in the city. The military modernization on the islands is begun when Hispalis builds a barracks. Hispalis then starts a colosseum. Ravenna finishes a marketplace and starts its own colosseum. Hints Of A New Age The Egyptians have started building Shakespeare's Theater (eight citizens in the city made happier). Shakespeare's Theater isn't that important of a Wonder, but this tells me that the AI now have both Democracy and Free Artistry. Soon, civilizations will have no choice but to research technologies that bring the Industrial Age on. The Iroquois are also expanding. They've rebuilt a city on Tydenaga Isle, but they're calling it the new Gandestaigon after the first city I razed to the ground. More irksome is seeing that Hiawatha has put two cities on the large unoccupied land mass, securing even more sources of iron and saltpeter for them. The Greeks have also taken an island in the middle of nowhere with one habitable square and a mountain with iron in it. I suppose that explains the galley I spotted earlier. Cumae riots, forcing me to assign another entertainer. The good news is that all these cities that are briefly rioting are already building happiness improvements, so at least I'm not badly mismanaging them. Hiawatha jumps into the race for Shakespeare's Theater. He doesn't have a chance of beating Cleopatra. I finally disband the Legions near the new Gandestaigon. But the big news is that Rome has completed Wall Street and started on a coloseeum. Wall Street pays you 5% interest on your gold reserves, with a maximum benefit. From now on, as long as I keep my gold reserves above 1000, I'll get a free +50 gold per turn. My economy is booming, as I produce a surplus of 372 gold per turn with ~5000 in reserve. I'd be tempted to spend on improvements with that much of a reserve, but I know I'll be giving out a lot of gold to reach the Industrial Age soon enough. Arbela finishes a colosseum and begins a cathedral. Antioch finishes an aqueduct and starts a colosseum. The next turn Tarsus builds a granary and starts a colosseum. Ravenna riots, it was building a colosseum. Argh. Antium continues the Republic-wide production of happiness improvements, producing a colosseum and starting a cathedral. These buildings are all becoming necessary at roughly the same time as aqueducts built long ago have allowed the slow growth of cities to near the maximum of 12 without a hospital. Next turn, Cumae builds a colosseum and starts a cathedral, freeing up an entertainer. Bactra builds a temple and starts a marketplace. Chondate and Kiohero both build a harbor and start a marketplace. Iroquois starts building Newton's University (+100% base science in the city where it's built) - which is a big uh-oh. To build Newton's University you need to have researched Theory of Gravity, which is one of the last technologies needed before the Industrial Age. Or in some cases, the last technology before the Industrial Age. The next turn, Greek and Iroquois cities are both sporting a new look with smoke stacks and black soot rising into the air. Heh, it amuses me that graphic comes before Industrialization (which allows factories). My plan was to immediately join them in the Industrial Age, but Greece is demanding ~1500 gold for Chemistry. Forget it. Minimum research will get me Chemistry in four turns. Four turns is worth 1500 gold right now. Rome builds a colosseum and starts a university. Gayagaahe finishes a marketplace and starts an aqueduct. The next turn Susa builds an aqueduct and starts a colosseum. Veii builds another cathedral and starts a university. I'll soon have to decide what to do with cities that have no more production to build. This isn't the worst decision to have to make, but I don't have Economics (which makes wealth worthwhile) and it's not yet time for a military build-up. Hispalis builds a colosseum and starts a bank. Thebes finishes Shakespeare's Theater. That is one top-notch city. Athens continues to compete as well, switching production to Newton's University. A New Age Of Industry In 1495 CE, Pasargardae completes a colosseum and starts a bank. Gordium also builds a granary and starts a colosseum. But most importantly, Chemistry is finally researched at minimum commitment. Now it's time to open up my gold vaults and purchase the secrets learned overseas. Egypt has caught up with Greece and the Iroquois, so I go to them since I like them better. Their prices are also about the same as Alexander's. I need Metallurgy, Physics, Theory of Gravity, and Magnetism. I start by buying Magnetism for 1650 gold. With my reputation and trading pieces, it's pretty much straight up gold for tech right now. Theory of Gravity is purchased for 1600. When I'm buying technologies like this, I purchase them one by one. Technologies become less expensive as civilizations become more and more advanced. This is most striking when you're far behind and it's actually fairly cheap to catch up. But prices will decrease for you slightly if you buy one by one. One of those little things. Physics is purchased for 1500 gold. Metallurgy is slightly more expensive, because it allows me to also build cannons. Strangely, Cleopatra only needs me to add my world map and I purchase Metallurgy for that worthless piece of paper and 1500 gold. By the end of the trading session my gold reserves dropped from 8003 to 1753 and I entered the Industrial Age. Observe the fabulous research paths that open up for me. Greece, of course, already has Nationalism. My plan is to shoot for Scientific Method and build the Theory of Evolution (two free technologies immediately). I view Theory of Evolution as a game-breaker. If I get it, I should win. If I don't, I'm in trouble. This is both because of its innate power and what producing Theory of Evolution indicates. If I make it, I have the science and production power to leverage anything that's necessary in the future. Plus, the two expensive free technologies most people get after making Theory of Evolution generally allow you to catch up on all technologies you're missing and gain a massive financial advantage to propel native research through the end of the Industrial Age (all through brokering Atomic Theory, Electronics, and a researched Radio). In most games, it also allows you to produce Hoover Dam (Hydroelectric power plant benefit in every city). I wouldn't have that option this game because I didn't control a major river, but I hope you can see why I view Theory of Evolution as a benchmark. The Babylonians are still behind, so I take advantage of the situation. I give them Chemistry for Dyes, Printing Press, and their World Map. This is cheap for them, but I wanted Printing Press and Dyes, and it's essentially free for me. Unfortunately, they don't have Democracy. I do manage to grab Economics and 17 gold, giving the Babylonians another cheap technology in Metallurgy. According to their maps, Babylonian territory still hasn't fully recovered from their war with the Zulu. Much of their territory is unimproved and they've made little if any progress in cutting down the jungle. This didn't speak well of their national power in a potential war with Greece. The choice of peace or war in the next Age comes up for a bit when Persepolis completes its university. I decide to have the city produce cannons rather than wealth. This doesn't commit me. I like to have a few artillery sitting around important land masses to discourage coastal bombardment. I can produce several cannons from Persepolis before building Industrial Age improvements and upgrade them to artillery units later. Ravenna finishes a colosseum and starts a granary. The next turn brings us to 1500 CE, and I just entered the industrial age, so it's great time for a Republic-wide update. I still have the same twenty-four cities, twelve on the mainland and twelve on the islands. My total population has soared to 162. The gap between the mainland and the islands has also narrowed. Instead of about a 3:1 ratio, 106 of my population is on my mainland and 56 citizens reside on the isles. Ready to begin the inevitable massive railroading program are four native workers and thirty-six captured work gangs. If you care, twelve of these are Persian and twenty-four are Iroquois. My financial situation is fantastic. I have an income of +697 commerce from cities and +16 gold per turn from Egypt. That old trade agreement is still active, heh. My highest cost is now building maintenance, costing me 148 gold per turn. Corruption comes in second, a relatively sedate 108 commerce per turn. 79 commerce is dedicated to entertainment, while unit costs have been reduced to 42 gold per turn. For those of you paying attention, you'll notice that my luxury commitment has been set to 20% throughout this report. 79 isn't quite 20% of 697 commerce. The reason why is the engine considers bonuses from marketplaces, libraries, banks, etc. as part of commerce production for statistic purposes. So about 20% of base commerce is going to luxuries, but it doesn't show up like that in the statistics because there's no building that increases luxury production like marketplaces and banks increase tax production. There's also a variance in that each city applies the percentages individually, so 20% is just a rough allocation. In any case, it all adds up to a robust +386 gold per turn and a 2157 gold reserve. I have all the military resources (and probably will all game with the varied terrain under my control). I still have my monopoly on wines and ivory, but I'm trading ivory and wines to Egypt and wines to Greece (grrr...). The Babylonians are temporarily sending me dyes, but hopefully I can renew that agreement with another technology trade when it ends. My military is being upgraded, but currently consists of 11 spearmen, 17 muskepmen, 3 caravels, and 7 legions. The international situation is rather stable. The Iroquois and the Greeks are growing slowly, placing distant overseas colonies in decent and not-so-decent places. The Babylonians are still at war with the Aztecs, the Aztecs should be dead soon. This is probably another reason the Babylonians are behind in technology. The Zulu still hold court in Ashur, but they lost their power to make a difference long ago. My culture remains about half that of Greece and the Iroquois and slightly higher than that of Egypt and Babylon. My power and score ratings are about even with Greece and the Iroquois. All This Development Is Rather Important I'm a little irked that it's the Iroquois and the Greeks that are expanding to the unclaimed landmasses still available. I suppose it's to be expected, but I'm not looking forward to possibly having to go to war with the Iroquois again. Oh well. Viroconium builds a granary and then starts a temple. I built a granary before a temple? Hunh? I trust my instincts and experience to rapidly grow cities (for the curious, I emphasize production, keep growth and happiness fairly constant, and fit in benefits like marketplaces and libraries when I can), but it's still odd to complete a granary before a temple. My choices leave me a little weaker as I develop my cities, but I think my priorities optimize fully productive metropolises. Ravenna builds a granary and then starts a bank. I might second-guess the decision to build a granary there, Ravenna is nearly at full population, but granaries are cheap and every working citizen is more production and trade. Rome finishes a university and begins to build a coastal fortress. I suppose if I things were tight and I needed a 100% efficient game I wouldn't spend a turn or two on coastal fortresses. But even if they's never used (and they rarely are), coastal fortresses cost no upkeep. Persepolis builds a cannon and switches to palace. I'll have to watch that closely (to make sure it doesn't actually finish), but this early build of an expensive building may allow me to switch production to Universal Suffrage (reduces war weariness effects in your civilization) and snake it before anyone else completes the great wonder. Rome builds a coastal fortress and starts a privateer for kicks. Privateers suck, but they have two attack, which theoretically give them a 50-50 chance of sinking a frigate. And best of all, you don't get blamed for attacking someone with them! Neapolis builds an aqueduct and starts a colosseum. The next turn, Gayagaahe focuses on growth, building an aqueduct and starting a granary. In 1545 CE, the world is informed that the Aztecs are no more. The Babylonians have finally absorbed all three remaining Aztec cities into their empire. No one sheds a tear. I spot Iroquois and Greek ships sailing past my shores. I wonder where they're going and decide they're probably reinforcing their colonies. Shaka wants to trade me world maps. Sure, why not. I celebrate the Zulu ambassador in style. Arbela builds a cathedral and starts a university. Veii builds a university and starts a coastal fortress. Rome has produced a privateer, I come to my senses and cancel the next one, starting a cannon. Hispalis proceeds with its excellent development, producing a bank and starting a cathedral. Gewauga completes a marketplace and starts an aqueduct. I'm starting to get optimistic regarding my second core. It might really help out. AI forces are streaming towards my privateer from all sides. I forget that the AI treats privateers like barbarians - giving them free vision of its location and sending them after it on a berserk rampage. I attack a Greek frigate with it, wounding the frigate. Privateers are pretty bad. I actually killed a four-ship convoy with privateers once, building up about eight of them in a city and unleashing them en masse, but they're never really worth building. Veii builds a coastal fortress and also starts producing cannons for lack of something better to do. Antium builds a cathedral and starts a university. Kiohero builds a marketplace and starts a granary. I Can Travel From Kewauga To Hispalis How Fast? My military upgrade program is finally complete. All of my spearmen have become musketmen, and all galleys have upgraded to caravels and from there to galleons. At the same time I check up on AI progress. Some obsessive people claim to open the diplomatic windows every turn, but I just do so every 5-10 turns, depending on whether things seem to be 'happening'. And things are happening now. Egypt, Greece, and Iroquois have only just obtained Steam Power (which allows railroads to be built, is a prerequisite to Industrialization, makes the Hanging Gardens obsolete, and reveals coal). I decide to first give Babylon 700 gold and Magnetism for Democracy. I will want to switch to democracy eventually (it has less corruption and slightly faster workers than republic does, though democracies experience more extreme war weariness), and at 700 gold, this is fairly cheap. Babylon also receives Nationalism upon entering the Industrial Age. I then turn to Egypt, and bite the bullet. I do this to keep from uttering unprintable things as I pay Cleopatra 2650 gold for steam power. Hammurabi decides to be an ungrateful little cur and isn't even close to trading me Nationalism when I offer Steam Power and 1000 gold. Like new government types, the AI highly values the ability to sign mutual protection pacts and trade embargoes that come with Nationalism. The new defensive unit (rifleman) doesn't help either. I decide to give Steam Power to Babylon anyway, since one of the AI civs would probably practically give it away. I get 715 gold (700 of which I just gave them), Music Theory, Navigation, Free Artistry (none of which I actually need), and Hammurabi's maps. After the end of trading, my gold reserves are down to a lean ~1700 gold. I was expecting at least one source of coal, and I had three. One is on my mainland by Arbela, one is on Ravenna Isle but actually within Hispalis' city radius, and the other is far to the south by Gayagaahe. The great railroading begins. I've included a picture of my slave gangs getting to work down in the south of the southern isle. It may be technically better to have the workers help each other one square at a time, but it's more entertaining to see great masses of workers going at it - and yours truly has to give fewer total unit orders. Rumors Of War There must have been some reason, perhaps conflict over expanding colonies on the large previously unoccupied landmass. But Iroquois declares war on the Greeks. I immediately celebrate. What could possibly be better than a devastating hot war between my two biggest rivals. I can almost see the ruins of colonies burning against the night sky... In fact, I had a big smile on my face until next turn, when Alexander turns right around, ignores the giant war he was just forced into, and demands wines from me again, or else. Son of a motherless goat. I give them to him. I have no desire to have my coast bombarded and delay conflict between Greek and Iroquois warships. Alexander might have backed down if I refused, but I wasn't going to take the risk. Gayagaahe builds a granary and starts on a colosseum. What with grasslands and hills, and coal to boot, that's turning into a nice city down in the south. Of course, the state of my southern island is immediately forgotten as Egypt signs a military alliance with the Iroquois Nation, declaring war on the Greeks. This changes everything, because it turns a draining naval and colonial conflict between two large powers into a major land war on the main continent. The very thing I'd been hoping to avoid this whole time. There was one card to play. Babylon was a significant military power, and with all sides having access to conscription (another benefit of Nationalism), they could make the land war a bloody standoff indeed. But I had to get them into the battle, and they'd never sign a military alliance with me against Greece unless I was already at war with them. The thing is, I wasn't ready for a war at all. I'd have a hard time fighting off a landing on my coast. I had to make a decision. Was risking my the safety of my mainland cities worth altering the balance of power in the war? I was still thinking about it the next turn, when Egypt offered me a mutual protection pact (which would immediately drag me into the war against Greece). I had to decide soon though, because there was every chance Greece would bombard and finally take a devastated Thebes if I waited too long - if Thebes wasn't about to be overrun already. Rome Enters The First World War I waited one more turn, and then signed the mutual protection pact with Egypt. This effectively locks both of us into the war for twenty turns, unless Egypt first makes peace and I decide to follow suit next turn. This occurs, because if an ally is attacked while you have a mutual protection pact, your civilization automatically declares war. I also gave the Egyptians horses to make sure they would be able to build cavalry. That was the only resource they needed. The fighting around Thebes was probably fierce and bloody, as both sides would immediately commit their offensive and defensive reserves, with more units flying around trying to pillage things. Even if railroad networks weren't complete, the small size of the landmass being fought on would ensure a short transit time to the front. I automatically declare war the turn after I sign the mutual protection pact, much as I'd expected. The Greeks are building Universal Suffrage. This is bad for me, Alexander might beat me to the wonder. It also means he has Industrialization. This isn't good, but at least he isn't likely to trade the technology with anyone right now. It's also good for the war effort. That's probably Athens or another major Greek city not producing troops. I switch Veii's production from cannons to knights. At this point, knights are almost a laughable offensive unit, but I'll need something in case the Greeks land on my coast. Rome changes over from cannons to ironclads, to produce something resembling a coast guard. The Babylonians are cheap to bring into the war, I only have to give them wines and ivory to entice them to join the anti-Greek coalition. Now everyone has declared against Alexander but the Zulu. If Thebes holds, the timing could be good. If Alexander has squandered his forces attacking the Egyptian capitol, Hammurabi may be ready to unleash a devastating counter attack. My basic war plan (which I have no way of communicating to the other civilizations) is for a long war fought around Thebes and Corinth. The first part of the plan is already underway. Greece has almost certainly flooded the area around Thebes, not only with attack units, but with defensive units meant to harass and devastate terrain improvements. With Babylon in the war now, they should be able to decimate this exposed army with their massed attack units (although their lack of railroads will hamper this. Texcoco is not important, so Greece should focus their efforts against the valuable and close Thebes. However, there is a chance that they may assault Nineveh. Since this city doesn't look to be as well defended as Thebes, Greece could take this important (to the Babylonians) city with some luck or if they maintain a decent force of cavalry. Ideally, the allies (everyone but Greece) will concentrate on attacking Corinth, eventually overwhelming a core Greek city. I think this is probable, since Corinth is in an exposed position close to the main Egyptian and Babylonian cities. But the Greek's won't give that Corinth easily, and conscription could keep the other civilizations from ever gathering enough units to defeat the Geek defense. Nearly as possible (and maybe a waste of units) is sniping at weak isolated cities. Babylon might decide that Texcoco would connect their Aztec holdings and is small enough to take without much resistance. The problem with this idea is the mountains. The large, rugged mountain range there might cause the Greek and Babylonian armies to stalemate in the brutal mountain combat that frequently swallows armies. With the Greeks having home territory advantage, the Babylons may have trouble approaching Texcoco at all. In addition, both the Babylonians and the Egyptians could even ignore the main Greek forces and advance on Heliopolis. This could lead to actual lasting gains when the city is captured, especially if it was captured by the Egyptians. But I think it's probable that the allies won't pay enough attention to the outpost to overwhelm the city. From a naval perspective, I don't expect much real action (although a lot of sunken ships) unless the war really drags on. The Greeks may do some damage to the Egyptian coast before the opposing three navies turn the tide of the war, but with the long travel Iroquois ships will need to put up with to repair, I don't see crippling damage done to the Greek coast. The Greeks move two ships towards the coast of my mainland next turn, and I immediately panic, unprepared for a Galleon unloading troops near my lightly-defended cities. I actually activate the musketman defending Persepolis and begin to move him south before realizing it's actually just two frigates, moving in the pattern a frigate escorting a galleon would take. This reminds me to activate my own nearly-forgotten strategic reserve, and seven elite Legions leave Hispalis loaded in two Galleons. I had no illusions about these Legions enjoying anything near real success, but there were seven of them, and they did all have five hit points. My plan was to reinforce the mainland, and from there to think about sending them on a suicide mission to attempt to take.Heraklea or Mycenae. Both of those cities shared theisland to my southeast with the Babylonian colony of Ellipi. Landing at Marathon (the one tile plus iron mountain island) would actually have been easier, as it was located east of my southern isle and south of my mainland, but the city was just too worthless to spend resources on. I'm happy to see the Greek frigates retreat away from my mainland the next turn. They're probably responding to a new Iroquois or Babylonian naval threat appearing off their coast. With the number of Greek enemies (everyone of consequence) and the close location of Egypt and Babylon, even my coast ought to be pretty safe from bombardment. Only the weak defense of my cities would attract attention from the Greeks. If I got lucky, I could make this a diplomatic war- by-proxy, and I had every intention of doing so if I could get away with it. Veii builds a knight, and I think that maybe I should buy Military Tradition somewhere. The next turn Antioch builds a colosseum and starts a granary. I check to see that no cities have yet changed hands anywhere on the map. Good. I would have no problems with all the civilizations frittering away their attack units with nothing to show for it. I move my galleons towards Heraklea carefully, making sure they stay at least five sea squares away from a Greek galleon that had moved off my coast. This should make them safe since the maximum speed for galleons and frigates is four squares a turn. Hammurabi wants to sell me Military Tradition for 1340 gold. I negotiate him down to 1250 and take the deal. I also checked about buying it from the Egyptians, since I liked them better, but Cleopatra still had a healthy gold reserve from the massive technology purchases I'd made recently and Hammurabi needed the money. I didn't trade coal to Babylon though, even though they needed it for railroads and ironclads. They wouldn't give me dyes, so they could go find their own coal. NO! Fire the admirals! A galleon is sunk by the frigate I was avoiding last turn, and I lose three elite Legions that were on board. I'd forgotten that Alexander had built Magellan's Voyage, and my galleons had been overtaken by a frigate with six movement points. Even worse, it was in the open ocean out of range of land. Doggedly, I continued on to Heraklea. In the meantime, Tarsus builds a colosseum and starts a bank. Kewauka produces a marketplace and starts a harbor. Very obviously, I don't intend on interrupting my domestic improvement program despite the war. Rome starts building the Military Academy, a small wonder available with Military Tactics and having once had a victorious army. It is slated to become either Universal Sufferage or Theory of Evolution far in the future. My last honorable Legions are sent to their deaths in Davy Jones' Locker, my second loaded galley sunk by the same frigate that had destroyed the first half of the convoy. It aggravates me that one frigate was able to take out two galleons while hardly being injured, but I really can't complain about how the random number generator treated me early in the game, so I guess this is a bad time to start muttering. In the picture here, my first galleon has just been sunk and it's now my turn. I move directly east, since if I can make landfall I'd rather it be on enemy territory. I was rather disheartened by this loss, since it meant I'd be unlikely to be able to mount any offensive in this war. Ravenna builds a library and starts a cathedral. Update from the front lines: Babylon manages to take Texcoco from the Greeks. I don't know what it is about that city that draws attackers like rotting fruit draws flies. Rotting fruit is probably the only thing Texcoco is capable of producing. Still, it means that Hammurabi is making headway in the war, and has the offensive momentum. Pasargardae builds a colosseum, and I begin a cathedral in the city. Golgouen finishes a marketplace and starts a granary. I continue taking an active economic interest in the war, and pay Hammurabi 550 gold to purchase dyes for twenty turns. We also exchange maps. The deal works out well for both of us. I didn't need to cover for war weariness, since I wasn't in the thick of things. But it's always good bring in luxury items, and Hammurabi already needed the military aid, as the money I gave him for Military Tradition was already rapidly disappearing. Hispalis builds a cathedral and starts a library. Gayagaahe builds a colosseum and starts a bank. Veii builds a cavalry, and with the knight also upgraded to a cavalry unit, my mainland is actually much safer than it was a few turns ago. With my embryonic rail network, the cavalry units can strike anywhere on the mainland, and with cannon support they should be able to handle a small force. A number of events occurs in 1630 CE, making for a string of interesting turns playing the game. Another source of coal appeared in the hills south of Hispalis, which actually made for two coal sources within the city radius, somethign I've never seen before. More importantly, the Iroquois make peace with the Greeks. Despite starting the war, they've made no apparent gains against Alexander. Egypt immediately follows suit, which means their forces may well have been depleted recently, or even for some time. Greece is probably ready for peace from me as well, which means I get to decide how things go. When I check with them, they're generous to be willing to pay me 150 gold for peace. Not a significant sum, but then again I wouldn't call our proxy war (well, proxy from my point of view) significant since I wasn't doing any fighting - just sinking. Opening up my diplomacy to Hiawatha, who's still furious with me, I can get them back in the war by giving them 50 gold and ivory, and I consider that. If they memory of the war is that fresh, they might do more. After some negotiations, I get a commitment for an unlikely mutual protection pact between us for a mere 300 gold in addition to ivory. I accept immediately. Note that strange mutual protection pacts are easier in this time period, as the AI likes to give them out like candy soon after Nationalism is researched. (Luckily, you can sign a mutual protection pact with someone who researched Nationalism even if you don't have it.) Now if the Greeks try anything, I'll be fine. I also don't have to break my military alliance with the Babylonians (which would sully my reputation and make such alliances harder to obtain). Meanwhile, the Babylonians, not the Egyptians, will be taking the hits from Greece. Rome Begins A Great Program Of Industrialization Egpyt starts building Universal Suffrage. I guess they're technically not at war with Greece right now, but I'd still wish they were building military units. In any case, it means I can but Industrialization from them. I enter negotiations and eventually succeed at buying it for 2650 gold. Maps are also exchanged. I immediately attempt to trade it with the Babylonians, but they won't give anything worthwhile for it. I could buy Electricity from Hiawatha (a tech no one else has) and attempt to trade it to Egypt for Nationalism and some gold, but I decide Electricity is too expensive at 3100 gold to take a risk on right now. I do want to avoid both of my major competitors surviving with no significant damage, so I begin to move my two ironclads (my whole fleet) along my coast towards Greek seas. Their job will be to bait Greek warships into battle, thus re-igniting the world war. The next turn Gordium builds a colosseum, and I start a factory... oh, yeah. The production benefit from factories is even more important on archipelago maps, since coastal cities tend to have much less production than land-locked cities do. Almost every city under my control is ordered to drop what it's doing and start industrializing. Neapolis, Susa, and Viroconium stopped producing colosseum and began factories. Golgouen, Antioch, and Kiohero switched over from granaries. Pisae, Pompeii, Bactra, and Chondate all stopped building marketplaces and started a factory. Cumae, strangely enough, switched from building an ironcland to a factory. I hadn't remembered switching Cumae from a cathedral to ironclads. Veii also stops military production, ceasing to create cavalry units in favor of a factory. Antium and Arbela stop their universities. Pasargarde and Ravenna switch over from cathedrals. Gayagaahe and Tarsus stop building banks. I almost decided to continue buliding those before changing my mind. Gewauga stops an aqueduct to build a factory, and Rome even stops building a Military Academy to create its own factory. Kewauka is allowed to finish a harbor (there was one turn left), but will start a factory next turn. Only Persepolis bucks the trend. I switch production in Persepolis from palace to Universal Suffrage, and cross my fingers (eighteen turns to go). Iroquois starts building Universal Suffrage themselves, but it's unlikely they will manage to finish it. More importantly, my ironclads have approached the Greek coast near Mycenae. A Greek ironclad actually attacks them from a north, which makes me wonder is the Greek admirals have had a bit too much sea water to drink. The Greek vessel sinks one of my two ironclads, but Egypt and the Iroquois are not drawn back into the war. Too late I remember that the latest patch sort of fixed mutual protection pacts. Human players have to show a little more patience and arrange to be attacked in their own territory now. I retreat my ironclad north, through the red-lined Greek ship. It sinks with no damage to my own ironclad, which is nice, and I place what remains of my bait just inside my own territory, patrolling the open sea a few squares from Neapolis. The Greeks respond by sending a small task force of two frigates to attack my ironclad. When on the attack, frigates actually perform decently against ironclads, but the crew is a noble sacrifice for drawing the Iroquois and the Egyptians back into the war. As it turns out, I don't even have to make that sacrifice. Both frigates fail in their attack, leaving me with a red-lined elite ironclad and the Greeks with two more enemies. I retreat my warship into Neapolis for repairs. Glancing around the map, I may have picked the perfect time to re-engage the other AI powers, since the Greeks have managed to retake Texcoco. Since that city seems intent on being the symbol of who has the upper hand on the main continent, the new hostilities will probably keep the Babylonians from being defeated. Hispalis produces a library and starts a factory. Whoops, missed a city in my civilization-wide sweep. I hate it when that happens. Rome finishes its factory, using the resources it had invested in Military Academy to good use. I have my capitol restart production of the small wonder. Babylon and Egypt are making more progress against the Greeks. Alexander has lost the city of Heliopolis, which was behind Eyptian territory and isolated from the rest of Greek lands. I assume Babylon finally took the city, since it was razed to the ground. Egpyt, which founded the city long ago, might have figured they had a chance at keeping it. The loss of one isolated city doesn't mean the Greeks are done, and they move two small convoys just off my coast. This may be the price I pay for giving Egypt time to recover. A caravel and an escorting frigate sail next to my coast near Neapolis, while a galleon with a frigate escort is sighted off the east coast of my mainland. I could be in trouble if both ships land at least two units, since I only possess two cavalry for attack. Just in case, I move musketmen south from Persepolis and Veii. I do my best to sink the frigate escorting the caravel, bombarding it with cannons and following up with an attack by my elite ironclad. The cannons don't do much damage, but my ironclad is more that enough for the job. Unfortunately, the caravel survives (which is why the computer escorts their transports). Not happy with the newfound attention from the Greeks, I place an embassy in Ashur with an eye to seeing if it would be worthwhile to toss the Greeks a little war with the Zulu in order to keep them distracted. Ashur is a crappy little arctic town consisting of a palace, a harbor, and that's about it. Shaka is devoting his people to science, which does him nothing, but at least six Impi, a longbowman, and a galley guard the city. I close the city screen in disgust. It's not worth my time. Only one longbowman is dropped off by the Greeks, appearing from the escorted galleon. It's probably a spare unit they produced from one of their outlying colonies, which would explain why the galleon came from the east and there was only one unit. I slaughter the longbowman with a cavalry. The AI shows the foolishness of its escort policy when the caravel automatically retreats towards the Greek mainland after losing its escort, without dropping off the unit(s) its carrying. I chase it down with my ironclad and sink it. Arbela builds a factory and starts a coal plant. This is always annoying, since coal plants mean lots of pollution. For awhile I would play civ3 and just not build coal plants if I couldn't get Hoover Dam. But when you break down the numbers, if it's worth the pollution to build a factory, it's worth the pollution to build a Coal Plant. The next turn Antium also builds a factory and starts a coal plant, with Ravenna doing the same two turns after Antium. Babylon and the Iroquois sign a mutual protection pact. I'm not worried, despite the fact the nation that hates my guts and another military power have just joined forces. The only practical effect the mutual protection pact will have is prevent Babylon and the Iroquois Nation from easily signing peace deals with Greece. Egypt also alters the pattern of alliances, as Cleopatra informs me that she wishes to end our mutual protection pact. Since Egypt is already engaged in the war against Greece, I have no major problems with this. But I'm still a little irked, so I start charging Cleopatra seven gold per turn for horses. By now I've accumulated 10,000 gold in reserve, which is a lot of gold at any point in a game. It also feels like time to acquire another technology, so I extend my negotiations with Cleopatra. Technologies are getting a lot more expensive now, and I end up coughing up 3050 gold. Electricity will allow me to irrigate land that doesn't have access to fresh water (which will really help many of my desert cities) and it is also a prerequisite for Scientific Method. After the trade, the only technology Egypt has that I don't appears to be Nationalism, which is a good thing. Technologies and Trades Right after buying Electricity I finish a minimum effort 40-turn research of Medicine. I immediately begin negotiations to sell the technology to the other civilizations. Egypt gives me back all of the massive sum I'd paid for Electricity and a bit more, for a total of 3200 gold and 20 gold per turn. Imagine this same trade repeated four times and you can begin to see the power of a technology lead in a game with several rich civilizations. Unfortunately, I'm the only really wealthy civilization this time around. Babylon doesn't have anything to offer but Nationalism, so I trade them Medicine, Electricity, and 400 gold for Nationalism. Not surprisingly, one of the reasons I was able to research Medicine before the computer did with only minimum effort is that the AI was researching technologies that require Nationalism. Egypt and the Iroquois both have Communism and Espionage. I trade Medicine for Hiawatha for Espionage, furs, and 60 gold. I even give him wines for seventeen gold per turn. Soon after inking the deal I feel a little cheated. But no matter, it wasn't a real blockbuster trade. I also give Egypt the money we've been trading back with a little interest when I buy Communism for 3450 gold. This will give me the ability to build police stations in corrupt areas of my civilization (or heck, everywhere) in addition to allowing a communist government. I now redirect my research towards Scientific Method so that I can build the anticipated Theory of Evolution. Unfortunately the Military Academy Rome is producing (my pre-build for Theory of Evolution) is only seven turns away. I put my science allocation into overdrive, assigning 70% of my commerce to research. Even running a deficit of -60 gold per turn I'll be nine turns from researching Scientific Method, so I take the drastic step of reducing Rome's production, ordering citizens to cease work and become entertainers instead. The next turn Greece lands another longbowman on my east coast, but it is soon killed by a cavalry. More distressing is the news that Greece has signed a trade embargo on me, until I realize it's just with the Zulu. That was kind of a curious move, so I decide to be petty and see how much I'll have to pay Shaka to get the Zulu to sign a trade embargo against Greece. It turns out they'll do so without any bribe at all. Well, ok, I agree to the deal. The whole exchange feels rather odd, but I suppose it will keep Alexander and I from destroying Ashur and breaking our respective agreements with the Zulu. Gayagaahe builds a factory and stats a coal plant. The city's continuing development is still quite a treat. Despite low expectations its industrial output is already quite high. Ravenna builds its coal plant and starts on a police station. The next turn Arbela builds a coal plant and starts a university. In overseas news, the Iroquois are making progress against the Greeks on the largest of the newly settled landmasses. The town of Rhodes has been occupied, which breaks the previous stalemate that split the island in half. The my agreement purchasing dyes from Babylon expires, so I pay them the cheap price of 540 gold to renew the contract. Antium finishes a coal plant and starts a university. More interesting (but less important) is the depletion of one coal source near Arbela and the discovery of another one in a different mountain next to the same city. Egypt suddenly produces Universal Suffrage, which surprises me. They'd gotten faster than I'd been expecting (and hoping) they could. This changes my plan quite a bit, as Persepolis is now the city closest to building a Wonder (it was only a few turns behind), with Rome owning much less built-up production. In response to the news, I have Persepolis switch back to building a palace (this is now the pre-build for Theory of Evolution). Rome starts building a small wonder again, but this time it's Intelligence Agency (the city is also brought back to maximum production). If I can manage it, I want to plant a spy in Athens while I'm officially at war with Greece (failing an attempt to plant a spy in peacetime can lead to war). The Greeks should be in a mood to sign peace agreements soon, as they lose another city, Eritrea, on the newly settled landmass. Things can't be going to well for them, as an unescorted Galleon (retreating from an Iroquois squadron?) is bombarded by cannon fire and killed by my ironclad near Neapolis. Ravenna builds a police station and starts a cathedral. Buildings are starting to finish quickly again, as the helpful but expensive factories finish. Hispalis builds its factory and starts a coal plant. Scientific Method seems like it comes quickly, I'm getting used to leaving my research at minimum. I set my research to Atomic Theory, since it's the most expensive technology I can receive for free when Theory of Evolution is built. Speaking of which, Persepolis switches production from palace to Theory of Evolution. My domestic advisor kindly informs me that we'll finish in one turn and waste 375 production units. I hadn't realized the Wonder was so cheap. I set my science output back to 0% of my resources, ballooning my surplus to +515 gold per turn. Overseas, things are happening in the war. Greece has lost Epheseus, as the Iroquois complete their conquest of the newly-settled landmass. Meanwhile Egypt has resettled Heliopolis near the site where the old city was destroyed. Given time, this could bode well for their strength on the main continent. At home, Gayagaahe builds a coal plant and starts a harbor. The Theory of Evolution gives me Atomic Theory and Electronics. As I've mentioned before, I can't build hydroelectric power plants or Hoover Dam without major rivers, but these two technologies are the best trading pieces available. I could research Sanitation in nine turns if I put the resources into it, but instead I stick with a minimum commitment. Checking around the other civilizations, the Iroquois have Replaceable Parts (very valuable in the current global state of war), but no one else really has anything to give to me, so I wait on trading my technologies Agent 006 - Now There's A Spy My Intelligence Agency is also completed in Rome, and I start a coal plant there. More fun small wonder construction is begun when Veii completes a police station and starts a Military Academy. Unfortunately, my growing population and industrial capacity is starting to take its toll on the land. My first pollution problem strikes the hill east of Antium. I ignore it for now, since my workers are still working on my railroad network. With my brand new Intelligence Agency, I spend ~100 gold and try to create a spy in Athens. I fail, causing me to mutter. Failure rates for placing spies are quite high, which is why I only try to place them when it's necessary or I'm at war with a civilization. I also only recently discovered that trying multiple times during one turn is essentially futile. Oh well. Gayagaahe is continuing to improve, building a harbor and starting a bank. Ravenna is now one of my premier cities, building a cathedral and starting a university. Hiawatha sends an emissary next turn, suggesting we trade territory maps. That's a little odd, but I agree. They don't have any pollution yet, but their railroad network is still in its infant stages, which is reassuring. Alexander also sends me an emissary: the Greeks want peace. I refuse, desiring to plant my spy before peace is declared. Thus reminded, I promptly fail in this turn's attempt to place a spy. The good news is that civilizations don't stay mad for very long for spy- related insults. No wonder Alexander wants peace. The Babylonians are continuing to advance against the most vulnerable Greek cities on the main continent, taking back Texcoco. This would have made me quite happy not too long ago, but now I'm starting to get worried about how many Greek colonies the Iroquois are going to be able to pick off. This concern makes me ready to sign peace with Alexander, but I fail to plant a spy again. The Greeks drop a rifleman off on the east coast of my mainland. Apparently their war against me is being funded solely by a few of Alexander's colonies. Again I fail to plant a spy in Greece, but both Arbela and Antium build a university and start a police station. Hispalis builds a coal plant and starts a university. Finally, my cannons and a cavalry converge on the offending rifleman and destroy the unit. Shaka wants me to exchange world maps. Sure, why not. I'm more concerned with two more outbreaks of pollution and another failure to plant a spy. That is, until I'm looking for updates on the war and notice that the Zulu maps show most Greek cities (plus the Egyptian city of Memphis) on the main continent have had their population reduced, especially Athens and Corinth. On the island just northeast of the main continent, the Egyptian city of Elephantine was also lost population and has been completely stripped of terrain improvements. Much of Greece's west coast has also been ravaged, as have some areas around Memphis. It's hard to tell if Babylon has had problems with naval bombardment, since their territory is still shockingly underdeveloped (probably because of workers hiding from Greek units), but I suspect Hammurabi hasn't had much of a problem with the Greek navy. I learned a few things from this. I know the Egyptian navy suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of the Greeks, as naval bombardment (rather than artillery) is likely responsible for the devastation around Elephantine, and the population reduction in Elephantine and Memphis. The Greek navy is also on the run from the Iroquois, as we can see by the coastal damage suffered by western Greece. But the coastal cities themselves have not been hit too hard and Alexander has managed some landings on my territory, so I feel safe assuming the Iroquois navy is not completely dominant. The loss of population in Athens and Corinth is troubling, however. Since the AI rarely uses massive stacks of artillery, population loss in AI wars occurs for three primary reasons. First, because war weariness has caused the recruitment of too many entertainers, and the population starves. Second, because of conscription. Third, because of rushed units under Despotism or Communism. War weariness is probably not too much of a problem, since the happiness wonders in Athens should keep Alexander well ahead of the game in that respect. Checking my military advisor, I find that Greece has indeed switched government types to Communism (likely to combat war weariness). This tells me that the land war is going bad enough for Alexander that he is resorting to wholesale conscription. If that's not sufficient, he will probably start cracking the whip and sacrificing population to quickly finish unit production (if he hasn't done so already). It's also significant that when this happens a lot, the citizens will frequently become so angry that constant riots prevent population growth. Well, not really anything I can do about the whole deal. What I can do is have Rome produce a police station after it finishes its coal plant, and have Cumae start its own coal plant after it finishes its factory. More pollution also strikes Antium, this time on one of the hills blessed with wines. This angers me, since that land is quite important to the local economy and I'll have to immediately divert a number of workers to clean up the pollution. I also fail - again - to plant a spy in Athens. Gayagaahe finishes its bank, starts a police station, and experiences its own problems with pollution. Ravenna builds a university and starts a barracks. I'm also noticing that I had too many workers on my south island and not enough on my mainland (due to needing terrain improvements after conquering the south isle). I'll probably still wait until the south isle is fully serviced by railroads before moving workers to the mainland. My treasury is back to ~10,000 gold in reserve though, which is always good. I spend the money rather than let it continue to build up, and pay to complete factories in Golgouen, Kewauka, my small islands, and the low- production south coast and northern tundra on my mainland. This reduces my reserves to ~6,800 gold. I also manage to sneak a spy into Athens (finally!). With that spy in place, I turn to my military advisor so that he can give me a full rundown of Greek military numbers. Alexander is fielding 4 workers, 29 riflemen, 2 cavalry, 2 cannon, 2 galleons, 4 ironclads (no doubt overworked), and one Hoplite (probably an elite buried in some city). For comparison, I'm fielding 4 workers, 28 musketmen (one upgrade behind riflemen), 2 cavalry, 7 cannons, one galleon, and one ironclad. All in all, our military capabilities are quite similar. Alexander has a few less cities to defend, but it's still a dangerously small force for Greece (probably because he's trying to fight off all the major civilzations but me). In any case, my last reservation about signing a peace deal is gone, and Alexander even gives me 160 gold for my troubles. Just to be safe, I check to be sure that I don't have any mutual protection pact that could draw me back into the war. Lo and behold, I'm still giving Ivory to the Iroquois for a pact with them. Rather irked they had access to my luxuries for so long, I cancel the deal. Peace Again- Though It Had Been A Cold War Since it seems like the time for a diplomatic round, I decide to sell Scientific Method (which no one else has researched yet) and see what I can get for it. The Babylonians give me 137 gold and 27 gold per turn (everything they could muster). The Greeks (yay peace treaty) give me 680 gold and 42 gold per turn, proving their still an economic powerhouse. Luckily trade embargoes only prohibit resources from changing hands. The Iroquois will only give me 50 gold (and they had more to give). I take it anyway, since that amount is an indication that they were researching Scientific Method themselves and were only a turn or two from completing it themselves. Egypt gives me 1070 gold (which is all they had). I could have given them Scientific Method and 2000 gold for Replaceable Parts, but I wasn't in that much of a hurry (even though Replaceable Parts increases the rate at which your workers clear pollution and build improvements). Of course, I also exchange world maps with everybody. The maps don't reveal anything very new, except that Babylon seems to have lost a few terrain improvements (which means that the Greeks have a few units or ships devastating the Babylonian countryside), and Greece's tiny rail network is slowly building (and their workers haven't been forced into the cities by enemy advances). Pasargarde finished a factory on its own, starting a cathedral. All the cities which had factories completed for them begin work on police stations. Ravenna builds a barracks and starts a coastal fortress. The Babylonians want me back in the war against Greece (I guess they appreciated the moral support), and propose a military alliance. I turn Hammurabi down, not least because of the 42 gold per turn Alexander is giving me. Cleopatra puts forward a more practical idea, and gets me to agree to a trade embargo against Greece. I also sign a similar embargo with Babylon. If I'm not trading luxuries with Alexander, no reason to let anyone else do so, should peace break out. Things continue to go badly on the remote islands for Greece. On the small island southeast of the large, recently-settled landmass that the Iroquois took from them, Hiawatha continues his advance by taking Troy. An Egyptian-founded city occupies the southern half of the small and remote isle. So that you can visualize the Iroquois war gains (and see that while extensive, they aren't productive), I've included a screenshot. Rome builds a police station and starts building riflemen. Ravenna completes its coastal fortress and also starts building riflemen. I'm tired of such the care one needs to take with such a skimpy defense, and I like to build up a decent expeditionary force if I have the finances needed. With my surplus up to +610 gold per turn now (remember military units cost 1 gold per turn), I can afford a larger military. Hispalis builds a university and starts a police station. Meanwhile, I've reached 10,000 gold again already (largely due to selling Scientific Method) and invest a huge sum in completing police stations in the cities that had their factories subsidized. My reserves drop a little over 6,000 gold to 3929 gold. Persepolis then builds a factory and starts a coal plant. Arbela builds a police station and starts a coastal fortress. My subsidized cities all switch from police stations to coal plants. Most of the south island now has rail access, freeing up workers to get rid of the pollution there. My small islands (and Ravenna Isle) have also had their rail systems completed by the few workers improving those areas. 1768 CE is a huge year overseas. A chain of events is set off when an Egyptian attack on Corinth is successful, allowing them to occupy the city. The news causes a huge celebration in my palace, with the civilization I'm most friendly with taking a major city from a rival of mine. The Greeks immediately sign peace agreements with Egypt and Babylon, probably having to pay them to prevent a potential sack of Athens. I was somewhat shocked at this rapid development. Usually other civilizations aren't savvy enough to make peace with multiple opponents in the same turn. Combined with the newly-enlarged Egyptian territory, I thought this moment was worth a screenshot. Note the re-founded Heliopolis. At home, Arbela builds a coastal fortress and starts working on riflemen. Veii builds my Military Academy, and starts work on an Army. Armies usually aren't very good in vanilla civ3 (they're improved in the expansion), but nothing is quite so unassailable as an infantry army in the industrial age, and that's what I want a few Armies for. A number of cities also experience increased pollution, and my furs agreement with the Iroquois has ended. Hiawatha wants to pay less for my wines. I'm a little irked I'd sold them to him in the first place, so the agreement is canceled altogether. At home, many worker-turns (~50) have finally cleared the wine hills near Antium of pollution. I'll need Replaceable Parts and a switch to democracy if pollution frequency keeps increasing. My embargo with the Zulu against Greece expires, and I don't really care. Antium joins my growing number of fully modernized cities when it builds its coastal fortress, and it begins producing riflemen. Hispalis builds a police station and starts a courthouse, while Viroconium builds its factory and starts a coal plant. Persepolis builds a coal plant and starts a police station, and I'm starting to feel downright developed when Gayagaahe finishes its police station and can work on the luxury of a library. I also try to renegotiate my long-standing resources deal with Egypt, hoping to get more than sixteen gold per turn for my wines, ivory, iron, and saltpeter. It turns out they couldn't even afford that much, so I end up stopping shipments. Since they're no longer at war with Greece, it's not a large priority. Viva La Revolution Hispalis builds its courthouse and starts on a coastal fortress. The coastal fortress is completed the very next turn, and I switch the city over to military production, producing riflemen. I also lose dyes from the Babylonians again. Since many of my core cities are now fully modernized and producing not-terribly-necessary military units, I decide it's a good time to finally switch to democracy and its lower corruption and higher worker productivity. But before I initiate the revolt, I want to acquire as many luxuries as possible to make the transition easier. I pursue this goal by selling off Atomic Theory. I go to the Egyptians first, but they won't give me any good deal at all, not even a major discount on Replaceable Parts. They may be close to researching Atomic Theory. I do end up giving them saltpeter for a negligible two gold per turn. The Iroquois are much more willing to deal. I only get three gold from them, but I make off like a bandit, netting Sanitation, Replaceable Parts, Gems, Furs, and their world map. The Babylonians get another sweet deal when I trade them Atomic Theory for 70 gold, 16 gold per turn, and Dyes. Like the Egyptians, the Greeks have little to trade. All the other civilizations seem to be stick in something of a worldwide depression (likely caused by the long war and the number of communist governments due to the war). I start the revolution, and it will last about four turns. But as a result of the depression, after selling both Scientific Method and Atomic Theory, I'm only pulling in +194 gold from the AI civilizations. This is also the only surplus being added to my treasury while my civilization shuts down during the revolution. Luckily, only Viroconium riots during the transition period, and they are soon happy after I assign an entertainer. Well, it wasn't quite all luck. I had gone to the effort to acquire luxuries from around the world. The four turns are rather uneventful, although I am reminded that pollution doesn't stop accumulating just because I'm not producing anything. In 1786 CE the new Roman democracy is proclaimed, and my people happily go back to their normal lives. My income hasn't increased that much from when I was a republic, but with all the new luxury resources coming in, I can actually manage to drop my commerce commitment to luxuries down to 0% (which means that now 100% of my commerce is dedicated to taxes). With that change, my surplus soars to +774 gold per turn. I also start minimum research of Radio. I had been working on Sanitation (which was a mistake, Radio is what one should research after Theory of Evolution, since it's a guaranteed trading piece - no one else has access to it) but I just bargained for that technology from the Iroquois. Now that I have Sanitation, Pasaragarde switches production from a cathedral to a hospital (yay for more city growth). Persepolis switches from a police station to a hospital, and Veii stops building its Army in favor of a hospital. Rome, Antium, Arbela, Ravenna, and Hispalis all switch from riflemen to hospitals. I also spend part of my ~8800 gold reserves to finish coal plants in Viroconium, Cumae, Neapolis, Pompeii, Pisae, Bactra, and Kewauka, dropping my reserves to ~5800. Other previously subsidized cities (Kiohero, Golgouen, Gordium, Tarsus, Chondate, Antioch, and Susa) were judged sufficiently productive to continue on their own. The next turn, the cities that had received coal plants started on population-allowing buildings. Cumae and Viroconium started hospitals, while the rest started aqueducts. Persepolis also completed its hospital and restarted its police station. Gayagaahe built a library and started a cathedral. Gewauga built its factory and started a coal plant, and Veii built its hospital and restarted work on an Army. With all the coal plants built even before this recent buy, pollution is a real problem. You can see the extent it reaches on my mainland (the most heavily hit area) in the screenshot below. Pollution would stay at about this level (and slow the expansion of the rail network in non-critical areas) for quite some time. Greece and Iroquois are still at war, but that's now the only conflict. Checking with my military advisor, I see that I'm now the lone democracy in the world. The Zulu, oddly enough, are also in a representative government, enjoying republic. The Babylonians are in a monarchy, probably because they were in a military-oriented government (no war weariness) before researching communism. Egypt, the Iroquois Nation, and Greece are all communist countries. They also share a common path in switching to democracy in more peaceful times, developing communism, and then resorting to a communist government as a more 'modern' military-oriented choice. I'm not sure which is actually better for the AI. Under communism they too frequently sacrifice their own population when hurrying production. Under monarchy one has to pay to hurry something, and I think they can only conscript one unit per city per turn as compared to communism's two. This makes it a little harder for the AI to resist being overrun, but also means they don't tend to waste population and conscripts. My new reserve of 7269 gold drops again to 4845 as I buy the population buildings started in the recent coal plant purchase areas. The next turn Pompeii, Pisae, and Bactra (the small islands) start marketplaces. Viroconium and Kewauka starts colosseums, and Neapolis begins a granary. Pasargarde also completes its own hospital without help and starts a police station. Artillery and Infantry - Learn To Love Them, There's No Other Choice The next turn I begin another massive military modernization program. Musketmen (60 gold each) and riflemen (20 gold each) are upgraded to infantry, and cannons (80 gold each) are upgraded to artillery. I also disband my veteran cavalry, but keep the elite unit. Because of railroads, I can move most of my units to a barracks on the same turn, and my treasury quickly drops to ~2500 gold. Persepolis builds its police station and starts producing Infantry. In case you were wondering, I had access to two sources of rubber, so there was no concern on that front. Kiohero builds a factory and starts an aqueduct. Rome finishes its hospital and starts work on Battlefield Medicine. This small wonder allows infantry armies to work to their full effect, since my units will be able to heal on enemy territory. Hispalis soon produces a hospital and starts a galleon. Nearby Ravenna also produces a hospital and starts work on making infantry. The next turn, Arbela also finishes its hospital and starts work on infantry. Although there has been a little bit of progress earlier, there are no more interruptions on the horizon for my military buildup. Gayagaahe also builds a cathedral and starts on a university. I'm reminded there's still a war on, as the Iroquois take Thessalonica, a Greek colony on a tundra island far to the northeast of the main continent. The Iroquois haven't gained anything too important yet, but it's disturbing that Greece can't muster more of a response. My domestic production should still be enough to make war on one (and possibly two or three) of the strong AI civilizations, though. When my expeditionary force completes, I'll be in better shape. Golgouen completes its coal plant and starts an aqueduct. The next turn, Antium builds a hospital and starts producing infantry. Neapolis builds a granary and starts a bank. Neapolis is feeling the benefit of irrigated desert, allowing it more production at the cost of trade (soon Tarsus and Gordium will have irrigated areas as well). Chondate builds a factory and starts an aqueduct. I notice that my income has dropped somewhat, indicating that the agreements made when I sold Scientific Method have expired. My southern island is also now fully improved, and its pollution has cleared. I load four workers onto a galleon and start to ship them over to my mainland. Cumae builds a hospital and starts a police station, while Viroconium completes a colosseum and starts a bank. Greece appears to finally take a city! Only that city is Ellipi, on the island it had shared with Babylon southeast of my mainland. Since there's no war between Greece and Babylon, that must be a late culture flip, with the citizens of Ellipi revolting in favor of Greek rule. Antium stops building galleons and starts on infantry. I don't need the boats yet, but I want to get two defenders in every city soon. Pasargardae builds a police station and starts a cathedral, and Gayagaahe builds a university and starts a hospital. Pompeii riots due to growth (haven't had that in awhile, but my small islands have few happiness-creating buildings) and is assigned an entertainer. Pisae builds a marketplace and starts a granary. Veii builds an Army, and I realize I am actually quite close to having two defenders in all my cities. I'll start assembling an invasion force soon, but I'm not sure who it will attack. The Iroquois, now certainly the most powerful of the AI civs, look like they might be a target again. Rome builds Battlefield Medicine and starts production of artillery. Gewauga builds a coal plant and starts a granary. Kiohero finishes an aqueduct and starts a police station. In Pompeii and Bactra I buy marketplaces, so that my small islands will continue to develop at the same pace. Eight more slave workers are sent from my southern isle to the mainland. The next turn it's 1814 CE, one hundred years before the start of the Great War in the real world (which is right about my technology level now). At this point in the game, you can start to judge how quickly the tech pace is moving by comparing dates with the real world. At only one hundred years ahead, a spaceship or diplomatic victory might not be possible until the late 1900's. If a few more major wars disrupt research, the 2050 CE game ending deadline might actually come into play. I resolve to keep an eye on the situation. In the meantime, Tarsus builds a coal plant and starts a hospital. Golgouen builds an aqueduct and starts a granary, and the two subsidized small islands complete their marketplaces and start granaries. Awash With Cash I'm now up to 11,000 gold, so I purchase the granaries building on all three of my small islands as well as the police station in Kiohero. This drops me back down to 10,000 gold, and I feel very happy about the ability of my robust treasury to drive growth in my outlying cities. Hispalis and Ravenna also switch to producing artillery rather than galleons and infantry. When it comes to industrial age war, I have a saying that remains true even if you're a little behind on technology or otherwise disadvantaged: "With enough artillery, anything is possible." Pompeii and Pisae receive their granaries and start building temples. Bactra already had a temple, so it starts on a colosseum. Gayagaahe builds a hospital and starts on a coastal fortress. Gewauga builds a granary and starts a cathedral. Kiohero receives its police station and starts a colosseum. The agreements signed when I sold Atomic Theory expire, and I'm suddenly faced with a lack of luxuries to keep my people happy. I look into what other civilizations have to trade for Atomic Theory, but the worldwide depression seems to still be going strong. Egypt can only offer 11 gold per turn. Babylon is not much better off, running a surplus of 36 gold per turn. The Iroquois have little gold, but they've also managed to research The Corporation. Greece has nothing to trade. Rather than give away Atomic Theory so cheaply, I decide to pay cash for the luxuries I need. The Iroquois offer a decent price for furs and gems, so I buy them for 1300 gold. I don't want to give them the money, but the deal is worth it to me. I buy dyes from Babylon for 650 gold. Note that unlike technologies, one should always buy luxuries in bulk, because prices go up the more luxuries you have when negotiations begin. Susa finishes its coal plant and starts a bank. Antioch also finishes its coal plant but starts a granary instead. Like my islands, these two tundra cities had been following parallel development. However, only Antioch still has the capacity to grow further. Chondate builds an aqueduct and starts a granary. Gayagaahe finishes its coastal fortress and starts a barracks, its last improvement. Again I give silent thanks for the power of grasslands with cattle and hills. I also buy temples in Pompeii and Pisae, so that they can truly catch up to Bactra. Four workers are also shipped from Ravenna Isle to the mainland. With the worker reorganization, eight slaves have been left on the south island to handle pollution outbreaks there and near Ravenna. Pisae and Pompeii starts colosseums after their temples are completed. Cumae builds a police station and starts a university. Golgouen builds a granary and starts a bank. Gayagaahe finishes its barracks and starts production of ironclads. Happily, I don't need to worry too much about enemy navies yet, since Greece and the Iroquois are still happily sinking the other's ships. In 1824 CE, enough irrigation and railroads have finally been put in place near Antium that I can stop that city's use of the wine hills it shares with Rome and let it subsist on the desert and seas nearby. This reduces Antium's usefulness, but increases the output of Rome considerably as my capitol takes over use of the desirable territory. Gordium also builds a coal plant and starts a hospital. No buildings are produced the next turn, but I'm disappointed to see that Greece has reclaimed Corinth from Egypt. No war is going on, so the city must have revolted on its own due to the powerful Greek culture (and Greece's long ownership of the city). Athens has now been drastically reduced by the demands of war (it has shrunk to size 3), and Corinth is probably Greece's most productive city. The next turn, the Zulu declare war on the Greece. The morons. No one even paid them to sign a military alliance. A Second War Against Greece To my astonishment, Greece then comes to me with a demand for Atomic Theory. For some reason, in this game they like to make threats after someone else declares war on them. Well screw that, by now I'm more powerful than the Greeks. And since everyone hates them, it'll be cheap to drag other civilizations into war. with me. I refuse, and Alexander promptly declares war on me. Interestingly, Egypt then comes to me with an offer for a mutual protection pact if I give them two gold per turn. I accept immediately, and give them 1000 gold for being such good allies. I also notice they're broke and want them to be strong for the upcoming war. Chondate builds a granary and starts a marketplace, and I buy colosseums on the small islands and start mobilizing my expeditionary force. The Babylonians cancel the trade embargo we had against Greece, which doesn't bug me much. It's a banner turn domestically. The small islands all complete their colosseums and start banks. Kewauka builds a bank and starts a granary. Neapolis builds a bank and starts a colosseum. Gewauga finishes a cathedral and begins a bank. Antioch completes a granary and starts a bank. Finally, Pasaragarde builds a cathedral and starts a university. Tarsus soon builds a hospital and starts a bank, while Antium begins to produce galleons again. The next turn, Viroconium builds a bank and starts a granary. Seven artillery also leaves the southern isle in two galleons (with two ironclads as escorts). In 1842 CE, the Greeks destroy the Zulu. Shock of shocks. Golgouen also builds a harbor and starts a colosseum. I hear the Babylonians have started building Hoover's Dam and I curse - I let Electronics get away before selling it. The Iroquois also have Electricity, so I'm stuck selling it to Egypt for The Corporation, 130 gold, and 43 gold per turn. My treasury also exceeds 15,000 gold this turn. Gewauga builds a bank and starts a library. My expeditionary force is also assembled, and sails out of Neapolis. Egypt jumps into the race for Hoover Dam now that they have technology, which means Babylon doesn't have a chance of building it first. Viroconium builds a granary and starts a police station, while Kewauka completes its library and begins a cathedral. 1848 CE is another banner turn. Civilzation-wide my terrain improvements and rail networks are complete, pollution has been defeated (further outbreaks will be dealt with quickly), and my native workers will be able to settle in my cities next turn (and I'll no longer have to pay for them). Finally, half of my expeditionary force has been landed next to Mycenae (southeast of my mainland). In only a few turns the other half will be picked up by my galleons, and Greece will learn what it's like when I really prosecute a war. This turn also marks the end of the Pax Romana. I'll leave you with another summary of Rome and the rest of the world: Wealth and Power I continued to grow throughout Pax Romana without expanding my borders. With the same twenty-four cities I controlled at the beginning of this segment, my population has grown to 233, with 132 of my citizens residing in the 12 mainland and 101 in the 12 overseas cities. The fast growth in the overseas territories continues to even out the ratio of overseas and mainland citizens. I also have four workers about to join the mainland population, and 36 slaves are on standby to clean up pollution. My economy continues to be geared towards producing a large gold surplus. In fact, 100% of my base commerce is dedicated to taxes, with none allocated to science and luxuries. This may soon change as war weariness affects me. 1354 of my base income comes from my cities, with 67 gold per turn coming in from other civilizations. 50 gold per turn is also generated by Wall Street. Reflecting my extended dedication to developing infrastructure, my biggest expense is the 455 commerce that goes to building maintenance. Corruption and unit costs are a distant second and third, with corruption costing me 125 commerce per turn and unit costs 121 commerce per turn. This leaves me with a surplus of 770 gold per turn. One scientist has been hired to pursue minimum research of Radio, which will complete in five turns. I have at least two sources of every military resource, a monopoly on wines and ivory, and I'm trading for furs, dyes, and gems. The Iroquois continue to make war on Greece (also my enemy), and Egypt and Babylon will cheaply join in the war should I choose to bribe them. I also have a mutual protection pact with Egypt. The Iroquois, Egypt, and Babylon all have right of passage agreements, indicating their friendliness. The Aztecs, Zulu, and Persians are all eliminated. I consider my military moderately strong, but it is growing. My military advisor claims it rates as average when compared to the Iroquois, but strong when compared to Greece, Egypt, and Babylon. My unit totals are as follows: 70 infantry (6 of which are organized into 2 Armies), 29 artillery, 12 galleons, 3 ironclads, and one cavalry. My expeditionary force consists of all 29 artillery, 16 'free' infantry, and 6 'army' infantry. My navy is also solely dedicated to transporting the expeditionary force or escorting the galleons doing the transporting. Culturally, I have nearly double the strength of Babylon and Egypt, slightly over half that of the Iroquois, and nearly two-thirds that of Greece. It appears that the Iroquois will be my main competition in the late game. They have the territory, money, research, and probably the navy to really make a modern era push. None of the other civilizations can win a war with them, even combined (except myself). The real question is how much of a benefit a democratic government could give them. I may be able to surpass them just by keeping them busy with the other civilizations. Here's their modernized and expanded territory: Theoretically, the Babylonians (or even the Egyptians) could regain a competitive position by absorbing Greek lands on the main continent. But the Babylonians would have to develop their territory much more efficiently (which would probably only be possible in democracy with lots of captured Greek workers). The Egyptians would have to be fairly lucky in not having many Greek cities revolt on them (like Corinth did), since they're behind in culture and won't have a huge army. Both civilizations are still quite important, however, as they'll be able to add to Iroquois research potential, and could join a coalition against me if I get too much of a lead. Babylon in particular has shown an odd tendency to be a significant military power in this game. Greece looks done. However, if I start falling behind in research again, they could have a chance to recover. Falling behind in research would prompt me to end the war, and the happiness wonders Greek still has in Athens could permit growth and economy to continue even in decimated cities like Athens if the Greeks can manage peace. Unlike Civilization 2, war weariness could prevent me from keeping the other civilizations in a perpetual war purely through bribery. The main continent is shown below. Note especially devastated Greece: The Histiograph is starting to look interesting. You can see my score increase a bit this report. This is mostly because of rapid growth after aqueducts, a few border increases on the south island, and the loss of Greek population later. The sharp spike in this power graph is rather interesting. That's right at the beginning of this report. At that point I'm at the height of my technological and military power. With Great Library I'd just shot up in tech, and I'd just devastated the Iroquois. You can see that brief surge drop off quickly as I drop behind in technology and I disband my military. And I'm keeping up in the culture race. Yay. The Greeks look to decline slowly in culture, while the Babylonians and the Iroquois should slowly increase their percentage of world culture with their new territories. Please leave a comment about the game, the report, or anything substantive.

*EDIT* This last summary is included for the curious. I've added it more than a year after this report left people hanging. Which was a terrible thing for me to do. There are various reasons I never started the last segment of the Civ3 series, but mostly I was just being a flake (much as I hate to admit it). Anyway, the game was pretty much over as of the end of this segment (or so I thought). After blitzing the near Greek 3_city island and taking the main Greek cities by artillery barrage followed by army_unit assault (all most all the cities are reduced to 1 population and red_lined defenders by artillery), I get drawn in to a LONG and bitter war with their outlying cities as the Greeks simply refuse to ever make peace with me. I only suffer one or two flips though, and increase domestic production halfway through the war while paying the Iroquois too much for technology.

Eventually, the Greeks have to be annihilated just to end the war, since my economy goes in the tank with CRIPPLING war_weariness from the Greek war. In fact, my domestic affairs turn out to be a mess. I do manage to snake the UN with a pre_build though. I actually almost lose because of time running out (2050 is the deadline) and the Babylonians vote with the Iroquois for world dictator or whatever. The Iroquois, with their new island, have enough territory that they're ahead of me for historiograph score (referred to if no one gets an outright victory).

As a result, I pool all my military forces together (STILL artillery and infantry, I'd only just gotten the ability to build tanks... and only create a few with great leaders in the last war) and go to war with the Babylonians. I create a plan to eliminate them in just 20 turns... and pull it off, in time for the last UN election. Egypt votes for me instead of the Iroquois, and I win.

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