Lull in the battlefield

So after the long exhausting days of battle, I decided that a break was needed. I never realized how much damage takes place during a war until I started one! Ironically, I was on the winning side of things, so the other rulers, like Caesar, Gandhi, Peter, and Kublai Kan must have endured substantially more.

While taking a break, I began improving my empire internally. Military tradition was still intact; however, I needed more of a unified civilization then a bunch of separated kingdoms. Unlike the Roman Empire which expanded more then it could control, I sought for a way to bring all of these diversified cultures together. My solution was through Nationhood. Granted, it started a revolution, yet I found the result momentous. Having a nationhood meant that I could have a relatively large group of people organized under a single, independent country/ government. So now that my government was reestablished, it was time to work on the economy.

There were several factors to consider for my empire's market. For instance, where was the invisible hand? I needed to make incentives for my people to work hard, build, invent, and flourish. The goal was to create marketplaces to locally trade, invent fun attractions for civilians to enjoy, while at the same time increase culture and revenue. In the meantime, it was also critical to have the people want to have these attractions or to need to buy my products. The basic reason for any sort of economic failure is partly rooted in the change of people's desires.
For this reason, After studying these various factors, I knew a free market society would be perfect.

Unfortunately there truly is no way to know whether this free market society will sustain. History and research can only do so much... with that in mind I'm constantly overlooking the economy to check for problems or cracks in the system. Hopefully, all will work out when I declare my next war.

Paranoia works out after all

So paranoia has brought me a long way in my free market society. In fact, being a more aggressive ruler in general has provided a lot of success. I guess I'm getting cocky because I'm on to total manipulation! My ultimate scheme this time around: turning other empires against each other. Case in point, Julius Caesar was getting in the way of my expansion, so I say get out of my way with instant war. It seemed to be the only answer. I agree with Diamond that luck definitely plays a part when building a successful empire. But lets face it, I'm done establishing the perfect location, so its on to bigger and better. The only thing better then declaring war is allying with the second strongest country to help. Ironically, the country is Egypt, which is what empire I chose and lost with last game. However, since I played Hatshepsut last time, it's awesome to pair up and take over.

Unfortunately the price of war also comes with serious side effects; i.e. cottages, farms, mines, and plantations have been destroyed as a result. But I'm standing strong in my decision with no regrets. Of course innocent people will die and land will be burned; however the ultimate goal is still in plain sight and totally attainable. The only thing that I wonder about is if my society is suffering, I hate to think how badly Caesar must be hurting!!

So Lets Try This Again

Emperor Tokugawa, Japan

Still being paranoid from the last game, the initial goal is to search, settle, and gain warriors. Keeping Diamond in mind, I start animal husbandry asap, and BOOM! I get instant expansion. I think that starting the game is crucial to the rest of the game's survival. In the last game, I tried to balance having a warrior with having a settler or worker. By the end, I realized that more protection would have been better and easier to expand my empire. As a result, I quickly focus on building an army that could withstand any invasion.

But without a moments peace, here comes my arch enemy again. Yep, the menacing Kublai Khan reenters my life. So remaining paranoid (and learning my lesson from the last WW against me), I go straight to upgrading my army. During the last world war, my army was large, but wasn't as sophisticated as the other empires. My one archer or musket man was no match for knights and cavalry. Therefore, I jumped at the early opportunity to refuse building unnecessary structures to adopt horseback riding and building barracks. And I guess you could say that I went a little extreme because I didn't build just one barrack or gain one rider... no, no I needed a lot more then that. I went all out and gained as many as I could right after creating each new city.

The result was amazing. I did not expect my city to flourish so quickly, but my game plan seemed to work. The better army allowed for more rapid expansion, which created more cities, and thus established a stronger civilization. Moreover, I must say that Diamond drastically helped me strategize my empire. Not only did Diamond caution to pick location carefully, he also reminded me how important it is to gain animal domestication right away. So now the next step is to create a more refined society as well as gain specialized workers.

What the hell just happened?!!!!!!

So I'm building my cities, improving my defense, expanding my army, and out of nowhere: WAR! Kublai Khan decides that I'm too much of a threat, which he was right, and so something had to be done, someone had to die...

I have to say that I didn't expect him to be much of a threat. I mean we were around the same level, but ignorance is bliss (or was). So there I was with no choice but to except the challenge to see who's going down. At first, I was doing well. Then, out of the middle of the blue, I gradually watched my men die. I suffered substantial damage and lost a few baby cities, but nothing to overly worry about.

Peace came, then right as I'm fixing my society, war again! AGAIN! Alexander, then Gandhi (supposed to be my closest ally), almost Frederick, then Kublai Khan for a second round. All of a sudden, I'm losing man power, completely invaded by cavalry, and hit at all angles. It just wasn't fair. I trusted these people and this is how they repay my loyalty.

During the whole battle all I could think of was now I know how the Romans felt. After so many peaceful years, expansion and domination must one day come to an end. Talk about deja vu! My mini Rome was attacked and conquered from the inside. Once city defenses were weakened and cities were gradually being taken over, I had reached my doom. Maybe Diamond has a point when he talks about having luck mixed with the right environment. Obviously my predators knew my surroundings better then I did and obviously luck was not on my side.

It all seems so illogical that it had to all go down this way. Everything was great and my defenses were strong, yet I kept dying. But what can I say? I guess I'm just not cut out to be a global ruler. However, I will also say this: next round, victory will be mine!!!!

Egypt: RIP 2001

Nothing worse in Civ then being bored!

Unfortunately this week in Civ has been quite the disappointment. As much as I would like to have expanded more or do something dramatic, I just seem to continue to grow internally. Since my previous focus was primarily internal, I wanted to put more emphasis on military support as well as arranging treaties with all of my neighbors. Ironically, military advancements also brings greedy neighbors and constant threats. I was successful keeping everyone at bay, but I am still hesitant to refuse deals: To have a war or not to have a war?! This always seems to be my most frequently asked question.
Right now, the answer is no. I don't feel ready or prepared to handle any more then what I am already doing. As a result, I keep opening my borders to everyone and giving whatever to keep the peace.
However, one interesting decision was which economic system to choose. As different systems are introduced, I wonder how Colander would handle the situation. So many systems and yet only one can be chosen. Considering my options, I opted on the free market with democracy. It seems to work better then whatever I had before, but I'm still waiting to see if everything is going to blow up in my face.

Still Alive and Growing

Thanks to Heilbroner's The Making of Economic Society, Heilbroner actually mapped out a floor plan to help me develop a stronger economic society. The first main objective: roads will increase military development. In reviewing my Roman notes from class, I remembered learning how the Pax Romana was created from elaborate road systems used for military deployment. From this, their population rose to over a 100million, which, in turn, lead to specialized workers, artisans, engineers, etc. I figured that if it worked for the Romans, then why not try my luck in Civ.
Not surprisingly, expanding the road system was my most effective decision. Instantaneously, military defense increased and the internal society flourished. Like a domino effect, expanding roads lead to building theaters, more extensive libraries, and even temples. Therefore, philosophy, science, and arts grew as a result. The only concern is that I have two established religions, Confucianism and Taoism. While moving these religious leaders around the kingdom, I am growing more and more nervous that two religions will sooner or later cause a religious riot. Since you probably don't know, my kingdom is still in Egypt, so religious diversity is nothing new in that part of the world. Considering Africa's religious variances, I am assuming that having options will be beneficial to the people rather than one strict doctrine. Thankfully, I do not have to be too concerned with clergy matters as of yet. Nevertheless, I am in the Renaissance and thus Christianity will soon be on the rise as well as the exploitation of the church and secular clergy. So, in the meantime, I am enjoying my time successfully strengthening socially, politically, and economically.

So much for being passive

As much as I tried to stay neutral with neighbors, it seemed that passivity in Civ does not always work. Ironically, the Mongolians proved to be just as aggressive in the game as they were in history. Even though I stayed within my borders, my workers kept getting killed. In retaliation, I decided to improve warriors and establish better military infantry. Once my kingdom became better protected, peace was established. I like how accurate Civ is to real life situations. I have learned that those with the most gold and the best weaponry are the leaders of the game. Sadly, I'm moving pretty slowly. I am still just trying to figure out the best strategies to each obstacle; but I feel as though a lot of time is being lost. At this point, I would like to change my game plan. Hopefully by becoming more proactive I will be able to improve and expand faster, but we shall see.