La Grande Nation

[Kaos XIII]

This story is based on a civIII game; Regent, Huge, Archi., 24 Civs. The game is much modded like wheeled modern units and new unit the Terrorist. The Terrorist acts similar to a cruise missile and until Precision Strikes can only attack enemy units (so it is more like a freedom fighter early on). It comes with Refining and has Hidden Nationality. There are more changes to the mod and you will notice them as I go along.


The Dawn of Civilization: In those early days we were a group of nomads which moved up and down along the banks of the Sienne river. When our leader Jeanne d’Arc decided to settle, there was a fierce discussion as to where? At that time we did not know how large a continent we were on and some were sure we were located in a huge continent. The isthmus was quite tempting but, Jeanne d’Arc decided the walk was too long and decided we would settle on the northern coast and on the Sienne’s banks. Only time will tell if we wasted an opportunity to create a great canal.
We French are an industrious people with a keen sense of commercialism. We knew about advance technologies like Alphabet and Masonry. So with that, we established Paris in the year 3500 B.C. Soon we realized we were living near some luxurious Dyes in the forest. We could either establish a colony or make a new town? In all her genius Jeanne decided that a new town shall rise in the East Dye Forest

nice starting location

[Kaos XIII]

3250 BC-- Today we met Osman (leader of the Ottomans), southeast of Paris in the city of Istanbul. We traded technologies and all in all, he seemed like a “good guy”.

3200 BC-- Orleans has been established in the East Dye Forest east of Paris

3050 BC-- Terrible News!!! Jeanne screamed as she heard the news that Magnar Barbarians were streaming into Paris. Our Warrior soldiers had been sent out on discovery expeditions and only civilians were left to defend. The people of Paris fought bravely and defeated the Barbarians, but at a great cost around 22,000 civilians who were slaughtered and starved. The streets of Paris flowed with blood and the event would forever be known as the Sacking of Paris. From then on Jeanne vowed to never let the French people be victims, ever again.

2750 BC-- We met an emissary of Ragnor Lodbrok (leader of the Vikings) and bought some technology for some gold. We had plenty of money because of our historical commercialist trait.

2670 BC-- Lyon is established south of Orleans at the edge of the Ottoman lands.

2430 BC-- Pop. 168,000
Land 5,200 sq. m.
Military 8 units
Reims is established southwest of Paris near the Rocheux Mountain Range. By this time it was becoming painfully clear that an isthmus opportunity had been missed. We named our country France and our continent Masculin. Here is our country!

current view of France

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Nice start and its looking set for some nice land struggles especially with the Ottomans so close.

Keep the goods coming. and the screenies!!

[Prince Jason]

nice, i love these!

Keep it comin!

[Kaos XIII]

Thanks Everyone!

2350 BC-- Met the Persians (south of the Ottomans) and bought the technology of Iron Working from them. With this we have discovered an Iron deposit out west on the Rocheux Mountains. We are now fully aware that we are in fact in a large continent (Masculin Continent) and an isthmus opportunity was wasted, GRRR!

2110 BC-- Tours is established just north-east of Paris near the St. Pierre River. Meanwhile the treacherous Vikings have demanded my territory map and some 27 gold pieces. Jeanne was furious, but decided now was not the time for war. The Vikings are below the Ottomans and Persians, but most of our wealth has been allocated for Scientific Research purposes thus our military was quite weak. The French masses were furious. “Pourquois?, Pourquois?, we will now be viewed as weaklings throughout the world”, the French generals asked themselves. In a speech before an angry crowd in Paris, Jeanne eloquently spoke and said “war would stump our growth and we should concentrate on expanding our empire, err… nation into undiscovered territory“. The anger subsided as the people were assured that Jeanne would never forget the vile poison that was Ragnar.

2070 BC-- Marseille is established near the Iron deposit in the Rocheux Mountains.

2030 BC-- Chartres is established east of Lyon on the last unclaimed land between us and the Ottomans. Our borders are now set on the East Side.

1625 BC-- In the North-West we established the city of Avignon on the St. Laurent River to cut off the Spanish and the Carthaginians whom we had just met on the Northern end of the Masculin Continent (they were backward people). They where attempting to cross into unclaimed lands we considered as rightfully French. We also met the Aztecs from the same Northern Masculin and technology trading was helpful to us all.

1425 BC-- Besancon is established in the south-southwest. At the same time in Orléans the people were dancing in the streets as our new glorious Colossus was unveiled in the Orléans harbor. This will attract even more commerce to Orléans.

1400 BC-- Rouen is established in the north-west near Avignon to secure the border with the Spanish and Carthaginians.

1200 BC-- Grenoble is established in newly discovered South Dye Forest of South France.

1125 BC-- Dijon established in the far west.

1100 BC-- “Glorious Day!!!” Announced Jeanne to the people of Paris as she cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the Great Library. The technologies will soon start pouring in.

1050 BC--
Pop. 1,266,000
Land 24,800 sq. m.
Military 26 units (This includes Workers)

here is what France looks like now


730 BC--
Pop. 1,992,000
Land 28,900 sq. m.
Military 27 units
Joan has been effectively been modernizing our nation into one of the great powers of the known world. With our great industrial base we have extensive roads throughout the countryside, our people feel united in France. We went through a very brief period of anarchy to now become a Republic and Jeanne has successfully won our first election. However, the effort put into improving French civilians way of life has come at a cost to our military. During this time period we met the Iroquois who came from a great distance. They had built the Great Lighthouse and where now traveling all over the world. From them we have discovered new tribes in a far away continent we named the Feminin Continent across the North and South Iroquois Oceans to the north-east of France (Greeks, Egyptians, English, Japanese).

130 BC--
Pop. 3,314,000
Land 33,000 sq. m.
Military 34 units

170 AD-- At this time we have strategic resources to arm our military (1 Horses, 1 Iron). What we didn’t have was luxuries. All we had were Dyes and it just isn’t enough to keep the people happy. Our wealth was being drained into luxury expenses and away from our scientist. Jeanne knew something had to be done.
Discovered 2 new continents including an enormous one just south-west of France we named the Occidental Continent. The other continent was far away and a bit smaller but, completely settled by the Chinese. In the Occ. Continent, there were any new and interesting civs including the Celts with a luxurious resource of Spice across the Strait of Dijon, named after our own city which stood at one end. The French people longed for more luxuries and Jeanne wanted to please them, perhaps these Spices would satisfy them?
Before this discovery however, Jeanne had been concentrating on how to receive some Gems from the Carthaginians. We were in serious negotiations, but they have been asking ridiculous prices for Gems. Jeanne was frustrated and realized that only the sword would convince them. The problem was that the Gem deposits were far in northern Carthage and our Galleys would probably be cut down well before they got there due to the Carthaginian Galleys which were constantly harassing our coast.
PREPARATION FOR WAR WITH CARTHAGE:
Jeanne met with her top military advisors in the city of Tours to discuss future operations and the probability of capturing crucial Gem deposits. Admiral DeClerk of the French Navy announced that, “three Galleys in the northern coast of France would take too long to reach the Gem deposits and it would be virtual suicide to try“. General Fronsac of the French Army felt confident that we could march through Carthage country and capture key cities critical to the Carthage war machine because of their nearby deposits of Saltpeter and Iron (Their only sources). Jeanne decided that the Gems were too risky, but if we could take their strategic resources we would cripple them and make a second campaign later to the Gem deposits much easier. This war had to be finished quickly since our Republican government could not sustain a prolonged war. The objectives for the Carthage war were written down and agreed upon by all military personnel.

OBJECTIVE 1: Capture Rusicade in quick strike
OBJECTIVE 2: Capture Theveste and secure Iron deposits
OBJECTIVE 3: Capture Utica and secure Saltpeter deposits
OBJECTIVE 4: Capture Sabratha near Gem fields and easily defendable around Mountains
OBJECTIVE 5: Capture Oea a second Gem field for trading

Objective 4 and 5 were for a later campaign, but some of the more cockier generals think that all objectives can be met. The campaign would be known as ” OPERATION NATION CRIPPLING”. It would begin as soon as Leonardo’s Workshop was completed in Paris. Now we just needed to convince the French people the war was just.

here is the view of Carthage and the battle plan- plus a world map
http://apolyton.net/upload/files/kao...i/france04.jpg

[Prince Jason]

looking really good!

[unscratchedfoot]

I wanna see some crippling action.

[Kaos XIII]

Why Carthage? In case your wondering the reason I chose Carthage is because they are the closest Civ with a different luxury. To the south in our continent the Ottomans, Persians, and Vikings all have the same thing we have. To the north Spanish don’t have anything worth taking. The Aztecs do have Gems but, they are deep in the northern part of the continent. So the nearest luxury are the Gems in Carthage. Another reason is that we have only 1 source of Iron and theirs is just soooo close. I have been eyeing them for a while and was just waiting for our Knights to make the Num. Mercs a non-factor. BTW Cultural and Diplomatic Victories have been turned off.

190-AD In France the rumors were spreading like wildfire, war with Carthage was imminent. Being a Republic dissent was tolerated not suppressed, however, the rumors were making Jeanne nervous; “Jeanne will bring about our ruin, Jeanne is a warmonger, Jeanne is doing this only for votes”. In Paris, Leonardo’s Workshop is now been complete and a massive upgrade of our military shall begin. Contrary to popular belief, Jeanne has not made up her mind about going to war yet. All she really wants is luxuries at a fair price, really.

“Warfare is a great matter to a nation; it is the ground of death and of life; it is the way of survival and of destruction, and must be examined.” (tzu)

210-AD Our military now numbers 47 including 6 Medieval Infantry, 7 Knights and our own unique creation, 5 Musketeers (defensive specialist with an offensive punch). Enemy forces consists of Special Battalions known as Numidian Mercenaries along with Knights. As far as we can tell they know nothing of Gunpowder.

Jeanne is now confident that our military is much superior, however, she does not want to be viewed as a bully. Gen. Fronsac is putting immense pressure on Jeanne to sneak attack Carthage to completely surprise them while we’re still negotiating. Jeanne frustrated over Hannibal’s demands sends an emissary with the message, “would you please be so polite as to share some of your Gems, for the good of all people”. Hannibal responds with a crude, sick, barbaric, insulting statement to our beloved Jeanne.

look at what that bastard said


Quickly French propaganda teams spread the word in France of the insulting statement toward Jeanne. The people are shocked and appalled. Jeanne takes advantage of the situation and tells the people in the crowded central plaza in Paris, “we have tried many times to deal in a civilized manner, but when dealing with barbarians the only way to behave is BARBARIC! Everyone knows what that means and understands quite clearly that a war against Barbarians is justified, especially if we share a border with them. We have declared WAR!!!


230 AD
Pop. 4,300,000
Land 34,000 sq. m.
Military 47 units

Gen. Fronsac and Jeanne had reached a compromise that their would be no sneak attack, but also that Fronsac would be mostly in control of the war plan. Gen Fronsac’s first order is to move battalions of 4 Knights , 1 Med. Inf., 1 Musketeer from Avignon to Carthage territory. Jeanne knows that our entire force has not yet assembled in Avignon and demands to know why we are not waiting for everyone to arrive at Avignon. General Fronsac assures Jeanne that there are enough troops to capture Rusicade in a first strike, ”besides the rest, 3 Knights and 3 Musketeer Battalions who are moving into Avignon from Tours, as we speak, will be able to reinforce if necessary“.

Before our march Jeanne spoke to the troops in Avignon about “our devotion to flag and nation, and invoked the God of Wars insisting on His aid in our just cause“. The young soldiers now advance with vast, exalting excitement. As the break of dawn appears our troops cross the border into Carthage with 4 Knights , 1 Med. Inf., 1 Musketeer from Avignon. Many people including retired Generals question the decision to attack without assembling an overwhelming force, “we need more freaking troops, this seems like a half-a** way to go to war“, said one such retirery.

IBT: We do not see any visible movement from Carthage except for their Galleys which continue to serve as spies on our coast. Now comes word that the bastard Aztecs are taking advantage of the situation and demanding gold from Jeanne. Her reply is simple and subtle; NON!!!, the Aztecs are up in the Northern Masculin and our army is heading that way anyway. If you want some, try and get some. Montezuma backs down, you betta’ foo’.

our first incursion

[Kaos XIII]

“Warfare is the way of deception. Therefore, if able, appear unable, if active, appear not active, if near, appear far, if far, appear near.” (tzu)


250 AD-- Rusicade (Obj. 1) is a city with long historical roots, established in 1575 BC, it’s a coastal city sitting on some flat Plains, its city walls are no longer necessary as the city of 460,000 has quickly outgrew them. Our Knight Battalions reach the city first, along the way we met little or no resistance, but now that we have reached the city we know it’s going to be different. Fronsac from a distance orders the charge into Rusicade and our Knights quickly realize the true horrors of war. 2 whole Knight battalions have been slaughtered a third barely makes it out alive. We have now met face to face with the Num Mercs and felt the power of their punch.

Jeanne hearing this demands that Fronsac to stop the charges until further reinforcements arrive. 3 more Knights, 1 Med. Inf. , join the battlefield to reinforce and fortify. Gen. Fronsac is now feeling the pressure from the public sector for not bringing in an overwhelming force to begin with.

IBT: On the road to Rusicade 2 Musketeer battalions who were approaching our fortified positions are ambushed by 2 Carthage Knights. We lose 1 Musketeers, but successfully defend and finish of a Carthaginian Knight. Our first victory in the history of France. All of France now rejoices what will surely be our upcoming glory. The home front is now working in a feverish pace for the war effort. Scientist double their research output, production hits an all time high and our streets are now overflowing with Gold as our commerce is ignited. This time in our life shall forever be known as the Golden Age.

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
Casualties:

France
2 Knights
1 Musketeers
Civilians: 0

Carthage
1 Knights
Civilians: 0


260 AD-- Our fortified soldiers outside Rusicade now receive the order to charge again from Fronsac. “This time we are going in at night, while they sleep”, Fronsac says confidently. We charge with everything we have as we move into the city. Battling house to house we catch the Num Mercs napping. 3 whole enemy Merc battalions are killed in the city, while losing only one Med Inf in the battle. Victorious!!! But we didn’t stop there, Fronsac being an aggressive General ordered the attack on another Num Merc outside the city and in the way to Theveste (Obj. 2). We blast through that Merc and send in a Musketeer into the Iron deposits on the hills right outside Theveste.

In Rusicade we discover 3 Workers hiding amongst the populace. Although not military, they have aided in the war effort for Carthage. Jeanne orders them to be taken prisoners. Also some 80,000 civilians in Rusicade were caught in the cross-fire, the poor fellows. This news is ordered sealed by Jeanne for national security reasons.

IBT: Our Musketeers waiting in the Iron deposits were attacked by C. Knights , but we held on. In Rusicade our soldiers spot 2 Mercs and 2 Knights (Carthage) moving into position outside the city. “Let them come, this city shall be their graves”, thought Fronsac.

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
Casualties:

France
2 Knights
1 Musketeers
1 Medieval Infantry
Civilians: 0

Carthage
1 Knights
4 Numidian Mercenaries
Civilians: 80,000 (estimate)
3 Workers


“Generally, in battle, use the common to engage the enemy and the uncommon to gain victory. Those skilled at uncommon maneuvers are as endless as the heavens and earth, and as inexhaustible as the rivers and seas“. (tzu)


270 AD-- Rusicade is burning with rioting and looting going on throughout the city. The situation is quite dangerous for our troops as resistors gather support for an uprising. When dealing with resistors there are only two ways handle them; starve them or fight them. Fronsac relays a message to Jeanne, “we can’t be fighting an organized force from the front, while worrying about militias in the rear. What do you want us to do.” Jeanne responds to Gen. Fronsac in a direct, precise manner, “quell the resistance BY WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY.” This statement was in code, but Fronsac knows exactly what it means.

Meanwhile, more troops arrive into Rusicade, in total we now have 6 Knights, 2 Musk., 1 Med. Inf inside Rusicade. Fronsac decides not to attack the 2 Knights, 2 Num Mercs instead orders all our soldiers to fortify and defend Rusicade. Also, our Musketeers are ordered to destroy the road leading to the Iron deposits outside Theveste. In the home front the Sun Tzu’s Art of War has been built in Tours, French people rejoice in its glory. With the Sun Tzu all of our troops will now be equipped with the knowledge of waging effective warfare, thus becoming Veterans without being in battle.

IBT: Our Musketeer is charged and killed on the Iron deposit outside Theveste by C. Knights. A fierce battle now erupts in Rusicade as 2 Knights and 2 Mercs try to breach the city. We are the ones with experience in city warfare and our Musketeers shoot down the enemy at will. A few enemy combatants do actually get behind our Musketeers, but are then cut down by our Knights. We mowed down 2 Knights, 2 Num Mercs in the city. The citizens are then told to bury their compatriots in the outskirts. This time the blood in Rusicade all belonged to the Carthaginian military.

A new development now occurs as Jeanne hears that the bloody Aztecs have now joined the Carthaginians to fight against us in an axis of EVIL. The situation is now getting complicated, they are not too far away and could slow down our attack on Carthaginian cities. Now Jeanne is quite worried about Chartres and Lyon, our cities on the Ottoman border. Those cities are lightly defended and if the Ottomans are brought in against us, they could devastate us severely.

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
Casualties:

France
2 Knights
2 Musketeers
1 Medieval Infantry
Civilians: 0

Carthage
3 Knights
6 Numidian Mercenaries
Civilians: 80,000 (estimate)
3 Workers


280 AD-- Jeanne now goes on the offensive on the diplomatic front. She travels to Madrid to talk with her good friend Isabella. Our cultures are quite similar and we share many of the same values. Jeanne tells Isabella, “in our struggle with Carthage we have tried not to involve other nations, but now the Carthaginians have brought in the Aztecs and we feel this alliance threatens the security of the entire Northern Masculin Contnent. As a long time friend of Spain I travel here to ask for help in our battle against the Axis of Evil.” The royal queen of Spain Isabella, who was barley a teenager, responded, “At this time in our history we are but a poor, technologically inferior nation and war would simply add to our compounding problems. My answer must then be no. UNLESS, you would be so kind as to hand over some of your impressive treasury and teach us a few of those wonderful technologies we hear so much about. After all, we could be more helpful if we were at par with France.”

Jeanne who traveled with a team of negotiators, quickly assemble a package of 500 Gold along with military advisors to teach the Spanish about Chivalry and members of the French Rebulique newspaper to start up the Printing Press in Spain. Isabella is satisfied and says she will declare war on the Aztecs. Jeanne specifically insisted that she not declare war on the Carthaginians. The reason being that Jeanne doesn’t want Spanish troops getting in the way of our battlefields. The Spanish and the Aztecs share a long border, so they will be busy for quite a while. The entire Northern Masculin Continent is now at WAR.

At the same time the meeting in Madrid is taking place another gathering is occurring in Istanbul. There French Foreign Minister Jérôme LeMond met with Osman to discuss the current situation. The Ottoman Empire consisted of only 6 cities, but all were very impressive. LeMond told Osman in a non-threatening way of course, “we would greatly appreciate it if the mighty Ottoman Empire would restrain itself from this little conflict. Because it you do become involve I can assure you, we will not fold up like an accordion.” Osman did not seem intimidated and we then gave him a Map of our territory as a guesture of friendship. We can only hope Osman got the message. The reason Jeanne did not want an alliance with Osman is because that would force their military to cross our sacred lands to get to the battlefield.

In the front we advance on Theveste with 6 Knight battalions. Fronsac orders them to fortify and attack at sunset. A new situation now occurs in Rusicade, the people are now starving. There just isn’t enough food coming in. Government newspapers write the stories to read, “Carthage troops attack food shipments.” The average French citizen sympathizes with those in Rusicade and Jeanne says that she “is doing all she can” for those poor people, however, the truth is that ……..err, well let’s not worry about the truth for now.

IBT: Mercs are seen retreating to defend Theveste, while a lone C. Knight is sent on a suicide mission in Rusicade. Those poor saps didn’t stand a chance it seems now that Carthage is desperate. We see no movement by the Aztecs, surely they are now in the battle of their lives with the recently improved Spanish.

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
Casualties:

France
2 Knights
2 Musketeers
1 Medieval Infantry
Civilians: 0

Carthage
4 Knights
6 Numidian Mercenaries
Civilians: 180,000 (estimate)
3 Workers

Rusicade captured we head for Theveste

[Prince Jason]

keep it up!

[unscratchedfoot]

This is a cool story. I like the Sun Tsu quotes and updated casualty reports for a nice touch. I can understand the need to attack after that nasty threat from the dude with the accordian neckbrace. Keep the printing press running!

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Great work keep it up

[unscratchedfoot]

Please continue the story!

[Kaos XIII]

Ha ha, I hadn’t noticed the accordion on that freak’s neck he who doesn’t scratch the one foot.
In continuation:

290 AD-- Theveste is a city of 380,000 it is a coastal city and sits in the Plains on the mouth of the Utica River. With visions of glory our Knight battalions attack Theveste. This battle is ferocious, 5 battalions move in and go toe to toe with enemy Mercs and Knights. We are counting on this battle to be successful, it is quite critical to take Theveste now and continue on to Utica for the Saltpeter deposits. But alas, it is not meant to be, 2 Knight battalions are crushed and 3 are barely able to retreat from the inferno. The good new is that we were able to kill 2 Mercs and 1 Knight whom were defending Theveste.

Gen. Fronsac now demands that all injured units retreat to Rusicade while the 1 Med Inf, 1 Musk. join the fight outside Theveste. Jeanne feeling pressure from the citizenry to end the war decides that Objective 3 should be abandoned. “We have suffered heavy losses in Theveste and Rusicade and the battlefield is bogged down”, said Jeanne. Fronsac is furious, but even he has to admit that the Carthaginians have fought much tougher than he expected. Also the food shortage epidemic continues in Rusicade. “We are trying to do everything in our power to bring supplies to those people”, Jeanne was quoted in the national paper.

IBT: The first reports of MusketMen have now come in to Fronsac. They have been seen inside Theveste, that means the Carthaginians now have gunpowder. The battle for Theveste will now be even tougher than before. Also in an effort to cut our supply lines and reinforcements enemy 1 Knight, 1 Warrior battalions have landed right outside Avignon in the road leading to Rusicade. They washed up on shore from one of their many Galley fleets. They will slow us down a bit, but we have a whole bunch of Knights on the way.

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
Casualties:

France
4 Knights
2 Musketeers
1 Medieval Infantry
Civilians: 0

Carthage
5 Knights
8 Numidian Mercenaries
Civilians: 244,000 (estimate)
3 Workers

carthaginians cut off road to Rusicade



300 AD-- The second charge for Theveste begins as 1 more Musketeer battalion arrives in the area. For the first time in history the French military is shot at. But our Knights and Med Inf are far too quick for their Muskets. We successfully move in behind their lines and take down 1 MusketMen and 1 Merc. We now have the initiative and Fronsac feels the city might fall. The problem is our only other unit ready to charge the city is a group of Musketeers. Fronsac does not hesitate for a second and sends them in. The news received back was bad, our Musketeers were cut down in Theveste. The city remains under Carthaginian control. In Avignon the enemy Knight and Warrior units are driven back to the sea by our hard charging Knights. 7 Knight battalions are all heading into the direction of Theveste from all of France. Their young, angry and males, soldiers, all Veterans thirsty for some blood.

IBT: Terrible News! Our Musketeer and Med. Inf. outside Theveste are ambushed and killed in a Carthage counter attack, a lone Knight battalion survives, but they are seriously wounded. The war is getting serious now. We are in danger of being involved in a very long conflict, just the thing we were trying to avoid.

“No nation has ever benefited from protracted warfare. Therefore, if one is not fully cognizant of the dangers inherent in doing battle, one cannot fully know the benefits of doing battle.” (tzu)

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
Casualties:

France
4 Knights
4 Musketeers
2 Medieval Infantry
Civilians: 0

Carthage
6 Knights
9 Numidian Mercenaries
1 MusketMen
1 Warriors
Civilians: 244,000 (estimate)
3 Workers


310 AD-- Jeanne is frustrated at Fronsac’s apparent lack of intelligence in the matter of warfare and gives him one final message. “Gen. Fronsac you should gather all of our forces handed to you in Rusicade and prepare for one final attack on Theveste. Your career and the destiny of France now depends on its outcome.” Fronsac is now quite nervous and tells his soldiers, “I shall lead the charge myself, better to die in war than to live in defeat.” The people of Rusicade continue to suffer, many French citizens are perplexed since they have sent in tons of food into the city in charitable donations. Of course, the food must first go directly through our soldiers, so maybe it’s getting lost on the way to the people.

IBT: In a surprise move the Carthaginians are attempting to retake Rusicade. They charge Rusicade with 1 Knight, 1 Merc, 1 Longbowmen battalions at a time when our force in the city is quite impressive. Needless to say the enemy is currently meeting their maker. We are much experienced in city warfare and the Carthaginian bodies are now burned for sanitary reasons.

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
Casualties:

France
4 Knights
4 Musketeers
2 Medieval Infantry
Civilians: 0

Carthage
7 Knights
10 Numidian Mercenaries
1 MusketMen
1 Warriors
1 Longbowmen
Civilians: 310,000 (estimate)
3 Workers

[Kaos XIII]

320 AD-- 8 healthy Knight battalions are now inside Rusicade waiting for 3 more battalions to fully heal. Fronsac isn’t going to leave anybody in reserve for the final assault on Theveste and decides to wait until the other 3 are healed. Meanwhile, there is more growing concern for the continued starvation of Rusicade. The French people are quite disgusted with what they are reading in their local papers. Jeanne announces a full investigation into the matter in Rusicade. “Some progress has been made, but we are still incredibly upset over the famine situation in the city”, she says.

IBT: A huge force of 4 Mercs, 1 Knight, 1 Warrior battalions has been spotted trying to outflank our positions away from heavily defended Rusicade and heading toward lightly guarded Avignon. Those are the ones that we can see, there might be even a larger force out of our view. However, they are using Spanish territory (our allies vs. Aztecs) to make their moves. Spanish authorities are giving us complete details on the force and their movements, so there is nothing to worry about. Jeanne takes swift action to defend Avignon.

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
Casualties:

France
4 Knights
4 Musketeers
2 Medieval Infantry
Civilians: 0

Carthage
7 Knights
10 Numidian Mercenaries
1 MusketMen
1 Warriors
1 Longbowmen
Civilians: 360,000 (estimate)
3 Workers


“Have the enemy be separated and unable to assemble; if the enemy is assembled, it should not be organized. Move when advantageous, stop when not advantageous..” (tzu)

330-- FINAL ASSAULT -- The final battle for Theveste will take place in the wee hours of the morning. Fronsac who is embedded with one of the Knight battalions will lead the charge. The fight commences and we quickly discover that, the defense of Theveste is rather weak. Fronsac and the men storm the city with an overwhelming force, the Carthaginians are stunned by our tactics and speed. Like a charge of thunder we roll through all defenders and quickly take control of Theveste. Vive le France! In our path we leave 100,000 civilians, 1 MusketMen, 1 Mercs, 1 Knight battalions killed. We also capture a group of Workers. Theveste and the Iron deposits belong to us. Hearing the news of their quick capitulation, Hannibal agrees to talk with Jeanne in an effort to stop the war.

Today the Treaty of Rouen is signed by dignitaries of both countries to end the conflict. During negotiations Jeanne tries to pry some Gems from Hannibal, but he still won’t budge, that savage. He does however, agree to hand over 60 Gold in reparation costs. Fronsac has mixed feelings, “We surely now have an overwhelming force. Why are we stopping when we can head straight for Obj. 3 Utica”. But, Jeanne has other things on her mind like the Spices in Celtia, just across the waters from Dijon. The final report on the war reveals that although we captured 2 large cities and suffered less than half their casualties, we still failed to achieve all 3 objectives. In fact the very important 3rd objective, which was to capture the Saltpeter deposits may prove quite devastating.

“The whole point of this war was to cripple the Carthaginians beyond recognition in preparation for our Gem campaign. I’m afraid that future generations will now have to suffer for our inadequacies”, said Jeanne as she scolded the Generals of the war. But still, Gen. Fronsac and members of the Elite Knight and Musketeer force march as victors under Arc de Triomphe (monument for our troops) on Champs-Élysées in Paris. The crowd of hundreds of thousands who are here in Champs-Élysées are festive and blissful as we watch the parade and we sing La Marseillaise. The soldiers past us by in their clean, pressed uniforms as the girls throw flowers of all kinds and colors at them.

The party continues in Paris and other cities, but all is not finished. In Rusicade the populace is still starving and the Spanish are wondering when we are going to send in our force to defeat the heathen Aztecs. The truth is that while the parade continued in Paris, Jeanne had secretly dispatched several Knight and Musketeer battalions to the south-east city of Dijon. She has her eyes on the Celtic spices now and says to her advisors, “this time we ain’t stopping till we get us some luxuries”.

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
(Final Casualty Report)- Obj. 1 and 2 met, Obj. 3 never even begun.
Casualties:

France
4 Knights
4 Musketeers
2 Medieval Infantry
Civilians: 0

Carthage
8 Knights
11 Numidian Mercenaries
2 MusketMen
1 Warriors
1 Longbowmen
Civilians: 500,000 (estimate)
4 Workers

our newly captured city

[unscratchedfoot]

Wow, this is getting even better. The quotes from Jeanne to cover up the starvation situation are great. You should be a PR man, Chaotic dude. I'm looking forward to seeing the Celtics get beaten down. Do the french have an acceptable official motive?

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Youre doing a great job with this its most entertaining, cant wait to see the reports from the next campaign. As Scratch says the unit losses updates are a good idea, as are the IBT reports of what the enemy are up to.

I remember some of SKILORDS earlier stories, he used lots of screenies and such to add eye candy to his work, although his style has changed and I like his recent stuff very much he was very good at writing this sort of piece, and Im sure he would like this. What Im trying to say is that this is a refreshing crisp and informative style of documenting your game, and you can see the players enjoyment of his game through the writing.

Its a great first story, a great first effort, your updates are about right in length just enough to salve the readers thirst and also keep him waiting for more. Please keep it coming.

[Kaos XIII]

@unscratchedfoot: Of course, the French are a peace loving people and they never go to war unless it is justified. ''

@ChrisiusMaximus: I’ve only read SKILORDS’ presents stories, didn’t know there were older ones. I’m going to have to check those out! About the eye-candy, you just can’t go wrong with it. The IBT I got from the Succession Games and the casualty reports started ‘cause I could never tell how many units I was losing compared to the A.I. like in Civ2.

Now for the continuation:

350-- State of the Union
Pop. 4,980,000 2nd in the world
Land 36,300 sq. m. 5th in the world
Military 55 units

The war with Carthage lasted 120 years with many casualties, however, we were still at war with Aztlan and Isabella is getting all prissy ‘cause we haven‘t sent anybody to help yet. Back at home the atrocities at Rusicade are uncovered by some nosy reporters. The headline in the papers read, “Forceful Starvation in Rusicade”. The scandal hits all politicians hard, including Jeanne. Thousands gather outside the Palace in Versailles and demand the impeachment of Jeanne.

Her advisors in an effort to control the spin decide to pin the blame on Gen. Fronsac. Fronsac agrees to take the blame only in exchange for immunity from Jeanne, promise of Gold payments and a chance to lead the French into victory again in Celtia. Jeanne agrees, but is stunned to hear Fronsac speak of “her secret plan” to attack the Celts. Fronsac‘s “hero” status is reduced to “criminal” status as he appears before Le Tribunal des Conflits (Tribunal of Conflicts) and speaks about what happened that lead to the starvation of Rusicade, “There were many resistors there, we were scared and confused, the lines of communication got mixed up somehow.“ The Tribunal absolves him of his crimes and blames the lack of structure in the military as the sole reason for the famine.

Fronsac walks out of court grinning from ear to ear, as he gets into is wagon and heads to his chateaux. The public is furious and tomatoes are thrown at him as he walks down the steps of the Courthouse. Unfortunately, Fronsac is never to be seen again. Rumors are bound that the Carthaginian mafia in Theveste ordered his execution. Others think he couldn’t bare the criticism and left on his own to live in Spain. In fact the truth is much more sinister, Jeanne fearful of Fronsac leaking the Celtic battle plans to the press, ordered him kidnapped and banished to far away Egypt. Officially, Fronsac’s case is still being investigated.

Up to this point Jeanne was pretty much in control of all matters concerning France, but the Assemblée Nationale (Parliament) was slowly wresting control from Jeanne. In fact the Rusicade scandal had given the Assemblée much power in domestic issues. However, Jeanne was still the dominant figure when it came to the military and issues of national security. With more free time Jeanne begins to reform the military into a well organized machine. She also wants to make sure that the military is divided somewhat, so that no one general can have enough power.

All ground units will now be referred to as the Armée de Terre (Army) , which will then be divided into three subgroups. Northern Defense Force stationed in Rusicade, Southern Defense Force stationed in Lyon and the Expeditionary Offensive Force which would be spread all over the country ready to attack anywhere, anyplace. Also all of our sea vessels, all of which are used for transport, will now be referred to as the Marine Nationale (Navy), which would have two subgroups. North Defense Fleet based in Tours and Chartres. South Defense Fleet based in Dijon and Grenoble. Full control of the military and its operations still reside with the Commander in Chief, which is Jeanne, of course.

Jeanne whom is also in control of all our foreign affairs establishes embassies in many foreign capitals. Diplomats in those embassies are given authority to operate our foreign policies in those embassies. With our diplomats, Jeanne creates a new spy group known only as the Noire Pluie, which would consist mostly of diplomats acting as spies in those capitals. The Noire Pluie also has operatives inside France which include propaganda and anti-subversive teams, only Jeanne and her people know about these secret teams.


360-- Promotions are now in store for Jacques Géricault and Louis Dequenne. Géricault was a former Knight and was there in the final assault in Theveste. He is now put in charge of the Northern French Defense Forces, which consisted of 8 Knight and 3 Musketeer battalions. Jeanne orders Gen. Géricault to take a token force of 2 Knight battalions into Aztlan. He was told to “just harass the Aztecs to look good in the eyes of the Spanish.” We would name this limited war OPERATION ENDURING FRIENDSHIP for the Spanish.

Meanwhile to the west in the coastal city of Dijon, Gen. Dequenne, who was an excellent marksmanship with the French Musketeers and was there in Rusicade during the many counterattacks is now in command of the Expeditionary Offensive Force. Also in Dijon is Adm. DeClerk of the South Defense Fleet, there the two men meet with Jeanne to discuss the operation which will bring Spices to France.

Dequenne: We need to storm to the two nearest towns at the exact same time from the sea.
Jeanne: I agree, it’s good to be finally working with a competent general for a change. So DeClerk, how many battalions can you transport in your fleet for the initial invasion.
DeClerk: We have 3 Caravel fleets and can fit 9 battalions.
Jeanne: Excellent I shall now prepare the Celtic protocol with our objectives.
Dequenne: I have but one question Jeanne, how are the people of France going to accept this aggressive war.
Jeanne: Don‘t be worrying about that, I have a strong suspicion that the French people will be supporting this war very soon.”

Our Caravels begin loading up men and material in Dijon Harbor. Jeanne then lays out the Celtic Protocol for DeClerk and Dequenne to study , it read as follows:

OBJECTIVE 1: Capture Ratae Caritanorum and secure Spice deposits
OBJECTIVE 2: Capture Lapurdunum to delay Celtic effort in retaking back the Spices.

The two towns listed were very small and a great distance away from the heart of Celtia. Covered in jungle with no roads connecting them to the rest of Celtia, a Celtic counterattack would take a long time to develop. This time the Objectives are to be accomplished simultaneously, a lesson learned from the Carthaginian War. Our first intelligence reports indicate that the Celts have only Spearmen and Gallic Swordsmen (GS) in the area. Once again we just need a valid reason to declare war for our Republican citizens. The war would be code-named OPERATION HOT SPICE.


380-- MURDER!!! Is what is being printed throughout all of France. One of our diplomats was murdered in the streets of Ratae Caritanorum. Jeanne demanded the body be returned for proper burial, Brennus declined. Our populace is horrified and seething with anger. The poor agent was trying to investigate the military forces inside Ratae Caritanorum when his cover was somehow blown. He was imprisoned and then executed after a two day show-trial. Jeanne responded by saying, “Our people abroad are not to be treated like animals, a message must be sent to the Celts.“ This meant only one thing - WAR!

Inside her palace in Versailles, however, Jeanne was not that upset over the execution of a Noire Pluie agent. The reason was because a Noire Pluie double agent working with Brennus had told the Celts of the espionage operation. That the poor diplomat was actually given up to the Celts, oh well, that‘s the price of glory. News from the northern front now reveals the Gen. Géricault has captured some civilian Aztec Workers, they were sent to France for a better life.

Aztec War - Operation Enduring Friendship
Casualties:

France
Civilians: 0

Aztlan
Civilians: 0
1 Workers

the objectives and world map, as you can see we are just west of Dijon


Back with more very soon!!!

[Kaos XIII]

390 -- Our forces successfully land in the Galois Jungle outside of the two key Celtic towns. 4 Knight, 1 Musketeer battalions wait outside Ratae while 3 Knight, 1 Musketeer battalions hide in the jungles outside Lapurdunum. All we see are Spearmen guarding the towns, the men are upbeat and confident this might be a very easy war.

IBT: The first battle: a GS attacks our Musketeers outside of Ratae. We are now tasting our very first jungle battle and we like it. It is the first time many of our troops have even been in a tropical location and the humidity is very intense, but not overbearing. This might be easier than we thought, those Swordsmen don‘t stand a chance against our Musketeers and are easily eliminated.

Aztec War - Operation Enduring Friendship
Casualties:

France
Civilians: 0

Aztlan
Civilians: 0
1 Workers

-------------------------------------------------
Celtic War - Operation Hot Spice
Casualties:

France
Civilians: 0

Celtia
1 Gallic Swordsmen
Civilians: 0

bigger world map with all the known continents



400 -- Gen. Dequenne orders the battles for Ratae and Lapurdunum to begin simultaneously to achieve the greatest shock effect. In Lapurdunum our Knights move out from the jungles and into the town, which was defended by two Spearmen battalions. The Spearmen are promptly defeated by our Knights and we take Lapur a very small town of 10,000.

In Ratae the battle is more of a struggle as 1 Knight battalion is lost. However, something miraculous is happening out in these jungles. As some of our troops begin to yell, “RETREAT, RETREAT”, a Great Leader emerges and says to all, “je ne suis pas effrayé, ALLONS, ALLONS, à l’avant pour la gloire de la France!!!”, the retreating troops stop as they hear his strong, stern voice. They are moved by him and with an injection of adrenaline follow him into Ratae, destroying everything in their paths. His name will be remembered by French historians for all time, Napoleon Bonaparte. Jeanne is so impressed by the young soldier she allows him to take command of his own small force. In the end though, the town of Ratae did not survive the onslaught. Settlers are quickly gathered in Amiens, as soon as we get around 10,000 volunteers we will send them out to Dijon where they will then sail to the Galois Jungle.

Meanwhile in the northern front Géricault is tired of just pillaging and orders an attack on Calixtlahuaca. In the mountains outside Calixhuatla there are gems and he says to his officers, “if we can capture Calixhuatla, get the Gems, then we will become military heroes for all time.” Calix is however, built on a hill and is not going to be an easy fight. 2 Pikemen battalions are inside Calix and are left dead by our glorious Knights, but the city was not ours yet and 1 Knight battalion suffered many casualties. Géricault now asks Jeanne to release the full northern forces to take Calixhuatla. Jeanne is very upset her orders were ignored, but realizes that Géricault is right. If we can capture the town of Calixhuatla, that would enable a second Carthaginian War unnecessary.

Jeanne secures an R.O.P. with Hannibal, whom is too weak to decline the offer and announces to Géricault, “you have directly ignored my orders, but seeing as the Gems can be had I will release the 6 Knight Battalions under your control. But know this, you are only to capture Calix and take the Gems, if you ignore my orders again or fail to capture the Gems, your a** is grass.” Géricault is quite a rebel and instead of sending all of his new force to Calix, he decides to divert half his force to attack Texcoco, an Iron rich city, a direct violation of Jeanne‘s orders. He has his own objectives and says, “When I take the Gems and two Aztec cities, the people of France will love me. Jeanne will have no authority or political power to punish me.”

IBT: Celts counter with 1 Horsemen and 1 Archer battalions in an effort to retake Lapur, the Horsemen are able to retreat, but the Archers sure didn’t. In the north an Aztec Knight battalion is able to defeat our injured Knights outside Calix. Our other Knights fast approach the battlefield through wretched Carthaginian territory. It is a very strange feeling to march up and down Carthage with many Carthaginian soldiers moving all around you, after we had just finished a very bloody war.

Aztec War - Operation Enduring Friendship
Casualties:

France
1 Knight
Civilians: 0

Aztlan
2 Pikemen
Civilians: 0
1 Workers

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Celtic War - Operation Hot Spice
Casualties:

France
1 Knights
Civilians: 0

Celtia
1 Gallic Swordsmen
1 Archer
4 Spearmen
Civilians: 26,000

Géricault's objectives in Aztlan

[unscratchedfoot]

Very interesting! I like the eye-candy, military ops and the intrigue among the generals. I have an idea: when you get the next great leader thing you should name him after one of the generals already in your story to make even better.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Superb stuff !!

[Kaos XIII]

410 -- Dequenne defends Lapur primarily and secures the location of the new town, as we wait for our settlers to arrive. The location will be in the exact same place where the ruins of Ratae are. Dequenne sends Napoleon to Lapur where he is promoted and given 2 Knight battalions to lead on his own. Dequenne is jealous of all the attention that is being paid on Napoleon and is secretly hoping the young upstart is wounded in battle. In Aztlan, we now have 4 Knight battalions outside Calix. Our other 3 Knights are heading toward Texcoco, but they have been delayed by the Carthaginian soldiers who are clogging up the roads.

Back in France there are signs of small gatherings in some French cities. They protest the war and demand freedom of the press. There are only a few hundred in the gatherings so Jeanne is not worried about them, “besides their idiots, we already have freedom of the press“, she says.

IBT: Celts continue to send primitive soldiers into the area. Our troops just laugh at the sight of the poorly trained Celtic military. In Aztlan, the Aztecs are just holding on as we see Spanish Longbowmen pillaging their countryside.

Aztec War - Operation Enduring Friendship
Casualties:

France
1 Knight
Civilians: 0

Aztlan
2 Pikemen
Civilians: 0
1 Workers

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Celtic War - Operation Hot Spice
Casualties:

France
1 Knights
Civilians: 0

Celtia
1 Gallic Swordsmen
1 Archer
4 Spearmen
Civilians: 26,000


420 -- Napoleon, deep in the jungle outflanks a GS and finishes them off with his 2 Knight force. We are now able to build the Heroic Epic. Dequenne orders that there be no more attacks. “They are on the verge of collapse and our objectives have been met. Let’s just allow Jeanne to arrange a Peace Treaty.”

With our troops in place outside the hills of Calix, Géricault storms the town. The town has no walls, but moving up and down the hills is difficult enough. The Pikemen defenders take up the high points in the town and we quickly rush them. 1 Knight battalion dies, but we were still able to defeat 2 fortified Pikemen in the high grounds and capture Calix with some civilian Workers. Texcoco now remains, rested in the grasslands with the Peak of Cuactemoc in the outskirts. We capture the peak with our 3 Knight battalions and can now view much of the area around Texcoco. Jeanne is pleased and orders Temples, Libraries constructed in Calix to gain access to those Gems. She also has heard about the deployment to Texcoco from one of her moles in Géricault’s forces and wonders just what he is up to.

IBT: Aztecs are seen reinforcing the town of Texcoco, they do not dare try to recapture the peak.

Aztec War - Operation Enduring Friendship
Casualties:

France
2 Knights
Civilians: 0

Aztlan
4 Pikemen
Civilians: 22,000
2 Workers

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Celtic War - Operation Hot Spice
Casualties:

France
1 Knights
Civilians: 0

Celtia
2 Gallic Swordsmen
1 Archer
4 Spearmen
Civilians: 26,000

calix is ours, we look over texcoco


430 -- In Lapur, Gen. Dequenne welcomes French Foreign Minister Jean Fragonard whom will negotiate a peace treaty with Brennus. At the same time Napoleon directs an attack on a GS outside the jungles of Lapur. Dequenne is incensed and relays a message to Jeanne, “Napoleon’s insubordination needs to be dealt with immediately. He has very nearly ruined our chances to sign a peace treaty.” Jeanne just thinks their both acting like children.

The negotiations are held in the nearby resort Celtic town of Tolosa. Fragonard has instructions to take some of Brennus’ Gold, but quickly realizes that Brennus doesn’t have any. Brennus’ diplomats are then told, that if they and their ilk leave Tolosa, then peace will be agreed upon. The diplomats agree and are forced to leave Tolosa with their families. As Brennus’ people leave our Musketeers arrive, marching in front of a silent, stunned crowd in the town square. Also our settlers arrive in the Galois Jungle and establish the town of Cherbourg. The war against the Celts is very short compared to other wars at that time, it the lasts just 40 years.

Jeanne announces that our newly acquired oversea territory shall be given the name Biscay. Also to avoid confusion the mainland is now given the name Gaule. But together we are all français, citizens of France. Napoleon and Dequenne together arrive to the Victor’s Parade in Paris, but they can’t even face each other, let alone have a word. The parade goes smoothly, except for the few war protestors who had the gall to lay down on the Champs-Élysées covered with red paint, symbolizing the blood of all humanity in war.

After the parade Jeanne tells Dequenne, “I want you to be in charge of the newly created Biscay Defense Force.“ Dequenne is honored, but replies, “What about Expeditionary Offensive Force that I am currently in control.” “Don’t worry about that, the Biscay Defense Force will be one of the best supplied sectors of the military. To the south is the enclave of Babylon, a major world power and to the northwest is the Iroquoian town of Chondote. You are a very important general to France,” Jeanne answers. What Dequenne didn’t know was that the Expeditionary Offensive Force had already been handed over to the newly promoted General Napoleon Bonaparte. Jeanne liked Napoleon’s bravery and aggressive attitude, he was her kind of general. However, it is true that the Biscay Defense Force will be one of the larger forces of our military, especially with the mighty, powerful Babylonians in the neighborhood.

In Aztlan, it is a much different story. In clear violation of Jeanne’s orders, Géricault tells 3 Knight battalions to charge the town of Texcoco. The Aztecs are waiting for us inside the walled city. They watch as we stampede down Cuactemoc’s Peak. Our Knights face off against the very best of the Aztec Pikemen, elite soldiers hardened by war. We charge the walls, breach some areas of the town, only to get promptly slaughtered inside the walls of Texcoco.

Those who did survive are then sent to Tenochtitlan were unspeakable acts are committed upon them. Perhaps one such unspeakable act, must be told. Deep in the dark dungeons the men were continually beaten and tortured until they received a visit from an Aztec doctor. He stood 5’-7” and weighed 130 lbs., he quietly and politely asked that the men be strapped to the “operating table.” Once the men were strapped and without any pain-killers or anesthesia the doctor commenced to rip open their chest using simple daggers and pliers. Sick bastard, yeah I know. Removed from their bodies were their hearts, which were then taken away to be sacrificed to the Aztec Gods.

The men in Calix hear about this and take it out on the civilian population. No man, woman or child is spared as the soldiers release their anger and frustration. Hangings, stabbings, shootings and even some impaling is brought upon the populace. It is not our proudest moment, but who can blame the men for acting out. In the end 16,000 Aztecs were killed in the “Massacres de Vengeance.” Jeanne is repulsed and now orders Géricault arrested in Calixhuatla for “noncompliance in military affairs.” Le Tribunal des Conflits sentences him to life in prison for the dastardly attack.

In France the protestors now reach tens of thousands in many cities of France. Jeanne announces that “all activities in Aztlan are to be finished. We will fulfill our alliance with the Spanish, which will last until 480, but no more French blood will be spilled in Aztlan.” For the men of the Northern Defense Force there will be no victory parade as they are told to remain in Calix for guard duty.

Aztec War - Operation Enduring Friendship
Casualties:

France
5 Knights
Civilians: 0

Aztlan
4 Pikemen
Civilians: 38,000
2 Workers

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Celtic War - Operation Hot Spice (Final Casualty Report) --All objectives met and picked up an extra town not on the list.
Casualties:

France
1 Knights
Civilians: 0

Celtia
3 Gallic Swordsmen
1 Archer
4 Spearmen
Civilians: 26,000

our new territory Biscay

[Kaos XIII]

480 -- State of the Union
Pop. 6,282,000 3rd
Land 42,100 sq. m. 3rd
Military 63 units

The alliance with Spain has passed its time and Montezuma arrives in Paris to discuss negotiations for peace. Jeanne demands nothing of him and he nothing of her. The Treaty of Paris is signed by both leaders. Other than 1 Spearmen battalion that landed outside Rouen and later killed, the war ended without much more bloodshed. We kept our word to the Spanish and the nations around the world now know we were a people of honor and our word is bond. The war lasted 200 years, although only 80 years of that actually involved fighting.

Aztec War - Operation Enduring Friendship (Final Casualty Report)
Casualties:

France
5 Knights
Civilians: 0

Aztlan
4 Pikemen
1 Spearmen
Civilians: 38,000
2 Workers


550 -- We had a period of long anarchy as our country tried to reform from a Republic into a Democracy. Jeanne, founder and leader of the Union pour la Démocratie Française (U.D.F.), a political party leaning right of center, and the Assemblée Nationale whom was dominated by the Parti Socialiste (P.S.), which is more left of center, had fought bitterly for political power and nothing in the nation got done. This time of anarchy was known as “Les Ennuis” and before the revolt our people had been working hard to construct the J.S. Bach Cathedral, Adam Smith Trading Company, but because of the “troubles” both were suspended. Gun battles had taken place in many cities of France as Conservatives and Liberals faced off. During the this time the Generals and the military remained neutral, despite many attempts by Jeanne to get them and the Noire Pluie involved.

The period of Anarchy finally ended with a national referendum, where the French people voted that the Assemblée should now become the dominant figure in domestic and foreign policies. Wielding much power, the Parti Socialiste in the Assemblée passed many land reforms, social programs for the poor begun and worker’s rights were improved like a shorter work week. The businessmen were not too happy, but alas, we were still a passionate Capitalist society and there was enough money for everybody.

The French people were quite sick of war and just wanted to live in peace and prosperity. The majority of French citizens identify themselves more with the Parti Socialiste in the Assemblée. They are however, appreciative of Jeanne‘s toughness and ability to gain control over areas rich in luxuries. Because of that, Jeanne has continually won all national elections to remain as President of the Democratic Republic of France. While she still remained as Commander in Chief, the military and the power to declare war was now shared by both Jeanne and the Assemblée.

With the Assemblée now mostly in control of France, the era of international trading has arrived in full force. The Assemblée agenda is peace and prosperity for all. We currently have 3 luxuries, now that the Calix Gems have fallen in our territory and are receiving 5 more from all over the world. Our trading partners include many different and far away nations like Zululand, China, America, Russia and Mongolia. The other nations are willing to trade more with us now that the Assemblée is in charge.

In other news, French explorer François Watteau discovered 3 new islands in the South Atlantique Ocean. Settlers were rounded up and shipped out to these new places. At the same time the Babylonians were doing the same thing and it was a race between our nations to settle these islands. In the center of the South Atlantique, there were the 2 Bleu Islands. In the North Bleu Island, we established the town of Toulouse, just to the north on that small island the Babylonians had established the town of Tell Wilaya. In the Southern Bleu Island we established the town of Poitiers on some nearby Iron deposits and the Viking town of Karasjok. We needed the Iron for insurance since the Iron outside Theveste had long been exhausted. Further south we discovered a very large island we called the Antarctic Island because most of it was covered in ice, we sent 1 more Settlers down to that island.

north and south bleu islands



590 -- In an effort to satisfy the business sector the Adam Smith Trading Company project was continued by the Assemblée and built in Paris. This will help us bring in even more commerce into France. Even the conservatives were happy with the Parti Socialiste, which bothered Jeanne.

Bayonne is established in the northern part of the Antarctic island, where the area was mostly grassland. In the same island there were three more Babylonian settlements, but most of theirs are in the Tundra covered south part. Hammurabi was quite upset that we were able to take some spots where he wanted to settle and sends a message to the Jeanne and the Assemblée. “Our people are sick and tired of your insolence and can‘t wait to see your scum driven to the pit of hell itself. A shipment of Dyes might be the only thing that can ensure your survival.” We don’t know much about their military forces since much of the Noire Pluie has been disbanded, but we know they are very large and technologically ahead.

The Assemblée scatters and tries to agree on a response to Hammurabi’s threats. Jeanne is enraged, as is all of France and tells the Assemblée, “If you let this madman push us around, then what is to stop every other nation from threatening France. We must respond angrily for them to get the message” “You are crazy the Babylonians are the most powerful nation on Earth”, balk some members of the Assemblée. Instead, the Assemblée adopts a message in a resolution, which tells Hammurabi, “Our warring days our over, all France wants is peace and prosperity for all. Please Hammurabi we cannot give away Dyes, but perhaps we can please you in other ways.”

Jeanne is teed off at the weak response and labels the members of the Assemblée “les lâches”. She gathers all of the members of the U.D.F. and says, “Although I’m upset at the weak stance the Assemblée took, I feel that this could be a Godsend.” In the following elections the U.D.F. launches a campaign around the message of getting rid of the “Faibless de la France.” The campaign is successful and most of the P.S. is driven from the Assemblée. Jeanne and the U.D.F. are in control of the whole French government and changes are expected soon.


630 -- State of the Union
Pop. 8,664,000 2nd
Land 48,300 sq. m. 1st
Military 68 units

During the reign of the S.P., the nation was improved dramatically as the party concentrated on building up our industry, commerce and culture. However, the military was virtually ignored and vastly under-funded. From the last census taken 150 years ago, we had grown by 2,382,000 people and 6,200 sq. miles. However, our military had only added 5 battalions, 4 of which were Worker Companies unfit for fighting duty. Jeanne with the U.D.F., announced that our military would now be expanded to become the most feared force in the world. As far as the Noire Pluie goes, however, they would remain under-funded for now.

current world map and offshore territories


640 -- The construction of the J.S. Bach Cathedral is now complete in Tours and our people are filled with delight. Now Jeanne has ordered the retraining of our Knights to become modern Cavalry Brigades. These guys will be an impressive attack minded group of soldiers. Jeanne is very tempted to try out her new force. The people of France hold marches and parties in honor of Jeanne in most of the cities of France.


660 -- The Shakespeare’s Theater is built in Lyon. The quest for everlasting happiness continues.


Zulu-Incense Crisis
720 -- By now the people are extremely happy, then something terrible and strange happens. The Zulus declare that they will no longer trade Incense to France. No reason is given for the about change, but the people of France are now quite upset at Jeanne and the marches and parties are cancelled throughout France. Production slows down to a trickle and jobs are lost as our economy stagnates. With an election coming soon, Jeanne knows that she must do something to distract the public. She concocts a plan with her political advisors to take some Incense from the Zulus using all military means. This war would in turn rise the level of patriotism and she will ride the patriotic wave to the next election.

We know that there are two Incense deposits in the province of North-east Zulia. N.E. Zulia is a Zulu enclave consisting of three small towns and is separated from the rest of Zululand by a large portion of Korea. “Using the Noire Pluie in France we must begin a campaign of disinformation”, say the advisors. “And what would we say to misinform the public”, asks an intrigued Jeanne. “We know that Shaka is not the kindest ruler on the planet. So we just have to embellish a little on the despotic system of rule that goes on in N.E. Zulia,” responds an advisor. “Excellent, however, I now must excuse myself since I don’t want to be involved in the lurid details of what is to begin, remember I don‘t know anything about this,” says Jeanne as she exit’s the conference room.

The campaign begins and using the Noire Pluie and reporters on Jeanne’s payroll, the news begins to pour all throughout France. In the coming days the printing press rolls out headlines such as these; “Freedom of Speech Denied”, “Opposition Groups Murdered”, “Rapist on Government Payrolls,” “Saddam’s Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Oh Damn, wait a minute, never mind that last one. That belongs to a different story.

In public speeches Jeanne bestows upon the people that, “the virtues of freedom must be accessible to everyone in the world.” Fierce debates however, were now taking place throughout all of France. The left would say, “This war is all about Incense. Many people throughout the world suffer, are we going to save them all?” From the right they would toll the party line and say, “Why must freedom be denied to these poor people, besides we were too dependent upon foreign luxuries.”

Half of the population is in shock that the French Democracy is on the verge of partaking in yet another war against another nation. Demonstrations and marches fill the streets, they scream, “No war on Zululand and No blood for Incense.“ Many of the protestors feel that they can stop this “unjust” war, but still some realize that Jeanne’s war is going to happen, no matter what. It’s not a question of if, but when.

[unscratchedfoot]

YAH, another big rumble is coming up! I'd declare war too if someone refused to sell me incense. TRAUMATIZE THEM ZULUS!!!

[SKILORD]

Speak of the Devil and so he shall appear.

I remember some of SKILORDS earlier stories, he used lots of screenies and such to add eye candy to his work, although his style has changed and I like his recent stuff very much he was very good at writing this sort of piece, and Im sure he would like this. What Im trying to say is that this is a refreshing crisp and informative style of documenting your game, and you can see the players enjoyment of his game through the writing.

Well, it needs some tweaking but is fundamentally sound.

So I shalll set about to help my man out, do not take these for insults, they are not, they are criticisms, but frankly, if you are incapable of acceptin your own fallibility and weaknesses you are incapable of writing.

So here I go:

This story is based on a civIII game; Regent, Huge, Archi., 24 Civs

Totally unneccesarry and pointless to include this, I understand that at CFC simply everyone includes these nowadays, but to have to confess an inability to write so much as to shrink to these is shameful. We aren't playing a SG with you, we're listening to a history of your game, so don't do it.

Point 2: You are too dependant upon dates, making this too mucha timeline at some points. Dates are relatively unimportant, even in the study of history, so do your best to simply ignore them and come to bear your focus on cause and effect.

Why Carthage? In case your wondering the reason I chose Carthage

THis could have been revealed through dialougue (Something your story is lacking of). Dialoug is the most infinitly useful tool of an author. Maybe a close second to spell chack.

Carthaginian War - Operation Nation Crippling
Casualties:

Once again, overdependance on numbers and exact figures, noone will remember them anyways so make it broader and anyway, at the very least introduce the document (If you cannot resist the numbers) (ie: THe paper floated with a joyous air to Jeannes desk, from the advisor's hand.

"Good news," he intoned.

She picked up the paper.)

Starting at the year 330 chapter things start looking way up. :thumbsup:

Remember, if you weren't any good, I wouldn't waste my time criticising you.

[unscratchedfoot]

I like the story just as it is including the updated casualty reports for originality. I think a sentence like "The paper flew with joy down onto Jeanne's desk" would quite quickly make me stop reading it to be honest. It's a fun, simple story without all the boring descriptive filler which turned me off reading fiction novels. I read a story called, "the indian empire" by sealman on the civfanatics forum which is very similar style to this story and I think it was one of the best stories I've read except for the ending which he messed-up badly by adding stuff that didn't happen in the game he was playing.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Sorry SKILORD although I pay homage to your good self on numerous occasions I must stand firmly with Scratch on this one, Yes your criticism's are fair and offered in the right spirit but I like this story.

Its refreshingly innovative in a number of ways and real fun to read.

Sorry about this SKI but you sound like your repeating word for word some criticism you have received from some jerk of a school teacher about one of your own stories.

Kaos your doing just great with this and although Ive stood against SKI's critique he does make good and sound points which may be of great help to you when writing future stories, always remeber that there are many different styles and methods of writing and most importantly this is a fan fiction forum!! Its supposed to be about passing your experience and fun from the Civ experience over to your fellow posters, and in this you have most definitely scored full marks with me.

IMHO you must not change the style or original method of writing this, it would only spoil what is already printed, sure your future work may be completley different or even much the same, truth is its up to you.

I think the reason I like this so much is its been a while since someone posted a piece of a similar report of a game style, and as Scratch says the casualty lists and the IBT reports etc.

More power to your elbow

[SKILORD]

It's certaintly improving, becoming more and more a story than a timeline with each passing chapter, but I think the problem could just be that I never think in terms of numbers, only vauge references to quantity most of the time.

I think I can understand what you're saying about this being his style though, with the dates and such. I am not fond of that style though, I'm sorry.

It isn't a bad story, and don't let me discourage you, I just don't like reading numbers.

[SKILORD]

The paper flew with joy down onto Jeanne's desk" would quite quickly make me stop reading it to be honest

Well, I was just pulling that outta my arse, it wasn't thought out or edited and it isn't very good, it is only meant to convey a point, not to show off my writing skills.

[Kaos XIII]

Salut, ça va? Ah yes, very glad to hear from the Lord of the Skis.

Originally posted by SKILORD

Totally unneccesarry and pointless to include this, I understand that at CFC simply everyone includes these nowadays, but to have to confess an inability to write so much as to shrink to these is shameful. We aren't playing a SG with you, we're listening to a history of your game, so don't do it.

Point 2: You are too dependant upon dates, making this too mucha timeline at some points. Dates are relatively unimportant, even in the study of history, so do your best to simply ignore them and come to bear your focus on cause and effect.

THis could have been revealed through dialougue (Something your story is lacking of). Dialoug is the most infinitly useful tool of an author. Maybe a close second to spell chack.

Once again, overdependance on numbers and exact figures, noone will remember them anyways so make it broader and anyway, at the very least introduce the document (If you cannot resist the numbers) (ie: THe paper floated with a joyous air to Jeannes desk, from the advisor's hand.

CFC, that’s where I first started playing the Succession Games and reading Civ stories. I guess I got used to writing the dates and IBT. This story is mos’ def’ CFC style, which is why I chose to bring it to poly, since I noticed there aren’t too many of these in here. Maybe I’ll put it in CivFan later. As far as dialogue goes, I know that it was sorely lacking early on, but I’m continually trying to add more and will, as the story continues. The casualty reports is something I must have, but I think your advice of introducing the document is very good.

In conclusion, I appreciate your help and criticism. I’ll try to improve on the dialogue and grammar. However, when it comes to the dates, IBT and casualty reports, I will make those changes in a next story. I think if I change now in the middle of La Grande Nation it’s going to suck big time. BTW, whatever happens in this story, it is absolutely what is going on in the game, whether I win or get straight up blasted, you all will read about it.

Anyway my Mem. weekend got off to a good start as I’m currently typing this with a big-time hangover. I’ll continue when the partying stops. Merci beaucoup, à bientôt!