Seeds of Greatness: Game #2

[Straybow]

Originally posted by Bostero
that's nice Stray. try to sail out from crete... the world awaits you.

I did, and the barbs sank my boat and razed my Advanced Tribe city on the continent.

Psst: PM me when you post... Peaster has reminded me a couple times when I didn't check in.

[Eurisko]

Assyria:

We are glad that the Hittites have understood our claims and do not object to them.

However, the Babylonians are rather cryptic in their claims. Yes, Ashur may be closer to Ur than it is to Nineveh, but we believe that it is close to a good natural defense line between our kingdoms. The rivers branching out of Euphrates and Tigris provide border guards with good enough defense bonuses (what a horrible way to form the plural) to discourage attacks.

Btw, I rarely check my email, pms would be a better way of communicating in private.

Anyway:

A swordsmen platoon narrowly failed to subjugate a village to the southwest. Alas, the Emperor did not shine his light on them in this encounter.

However, a horsemen platoon was more successful and barely defeated another village.

Egypt:

Popped a hut, domestication.

A veteran skirmisher platoon approaches a village and notices that it has been attacked by someone not too long ago. The survivors do not look like they will be able to put up much of a fight.

[Bostero]

looks like i do not know to use PM yet,

@Persia: nothing, just cowcrap.

@greece: hut= chariot.

[Straybow]

"Nothing" is better than "stomped by a stack of Bronze Inf"

To PM a member click on this icon at the top of one of the member's posts.

A little more exploration... not much else happening.

[Peaster]

Hittites: Several bands of nasty-looking barbarian infantry with shiny bronze weapons have been spotted south of Hittite border towns. Citizens scream in panic and more riots break out across the land. However, our scouts exploring distant ruined huts discover the secret of The Wheel, giving our strategists hope that the Silver Throne will prevail.

Scouts on the Murat river find their paths blocked again by an Assyrian unit. Assuming this is not intentional, we request that the Assyrians move their skirmisher (either away from the river or farther upstream). We assure them that our scouts mean no harm, and only wish to explore lands to the North and East.

Babs: Hut = swordsmen. We also have a scout on horseback which has been blocked twice by Assyrian units (which seem to everywhere) - probably unintentionally. This scout has been ordered to explore the South and West for unknown civilizations.

The Hittites and Babylonians have made contact. I think we agreed that deals involving only one human player should be announced, to prevent abuses. So.... I intend to trade 1 or 2 techs (one-for-one over the next few turns), and probably trade maps. Instead of trading techs, I may sell a tech for approx 50g. Not sure if the techs must be named in this situation - have to recheck the rules on that.

[Eurisko]

General:

Dario, are you aware of these special rules for Persia?

* Persia will get a few exemptions (2x hut limit, auto-settlers). The first player to get the monarchy tech must offer it freely to Persia. If Persia accepts, she must then research the pre-reqs, and she cannot give/sell monarchy to another King.

Assyria:

We are sorry for the inconvenience which we are causing the Hittites, but our scouting operations to the north must continue.

As a matter of fact, a skirmisher regiment was badly wounded in a fight against barbarians on the river, hence it may take some time before the path is clear again. We advise you to scout the area to the northwest of the Murat river, we will let you know when the river is once again clear.

We must also apologize to the Babylonians, but the Lebanon is of particular interest to Assyria, therefore we have several scouting and raiding parties in the area. Our horsemen will have recovered next turn, which will solve the logistics problem in that area.

As for the turn itself: A hut is approached by a skirmisher platoon, and much to our dismay the inhabitants mount an attack on our forces, which is repelled at a very high cost of material and men.

Egypt:

The village was, as expected, raided and subjugated.

The nomarch is also thinking about exchanging knowledge and goods with the most powerful Sargon of Assyria.

[Bostero]

persia: barbarians landed close to a city in the north.

greece: ready.

[Straybow]

Somehow I missed that the thread had gone to page 5...

And I was immersed in SoG#1 turn.

Minoan explorers have returned to the continent.

[Peaster]

Hittites: Hut = Star Obs. Early chariot destroys a barbarian bronze inf and some unknown unit.
Assyrians declare war on contact.

Babs: Hut = barbs. Deal made with the friendly Hittites; but we now owe them one tech. We request that Assyrian scouts respect the city radius of Babylon, as we have respected the radius of Ashur.

Assyrian scouts continue to block the passage of Hittite and Babylonian scouts seeking to discover new lands and civilizations.

Sargon: Pls restore relations with the Hittites (either F3 or civ2dip). I think raising your civ's attitude makes these AI reactions less likely (not sure).

[Eurisko]

Assyria:

A hut yields a new, advanced weapon. A very finely crafted chariot is found in it, and although we do as of yet not know how it was built, Assyrian scientists are trying to reverse-engineer it.

But now for more grave matters.

The crowds were gathering in front of the imperial palace of Emperor Sargon, for the people of Assyria had been called there to bear witness to a milestone in the history of our young empire.

Soon the roads were clogged and thousands of citizens had taken their place in front of the palace.

Sargon, surrounded by his crack praetorian guard regiments, entered the large balcony from which one could see almost half of Nineveh. The guards were startled by the sight that they beheld. The streets of Nineveh were vibrant, pulsating with life as people from all over Assyria gathered to listen to Sargon's proclamation. They could barely hear their own words, for the hushing and whispering of the crowd was so intense that it drowned out everything else.

However, when Sargon lifted his arms up in the air, the crowd fell silent, the noise gradually growing weaker until only the barking of a lone dog could be heard.

Lowering his arms, Sargon began to give the speech that would change the fortune of Assyria.

"Hear me, oh people of Assyria, who have been blessed and bestowed with the mission of spreading the Greater Good by Assur, our patron and protector, guardian and guide.

Long enough has Assyria put up with the petty ambitions of our more than pitiful Mesopotamian brothers. At every turn of our co-existence they have tried to hamper our development efforts in the name of freedom of scouting."

The crowd knew who the Emperor was talking about. The mood grew palpably tense as the sheer hatred of the Assyrian people for the Babylonian interlopers resulted in chants of "Long live the one true Emperor! Death to the false emperor Hammurabi!"

After the guards had stepped in and calmed the crowd, Sargon resumed his speech.

"However, their latest transgressions have now brought the righteous fury of the ASDF upon them.

Not only have they completely ignored our territorial integrity by founding the city, nay, the military outpost of Babylon close to Nineveh, putting us all at risk of being raided by their forces, but they also have, according to our intelligence service, the Central Intelligence of Assyria (CIA), plans to trade technologies with the Hittites, who will give them the plans for a fast attack vehicle, nicknamed the chariot, which would allow them to raid us mercilessly.

Clearly, the great Assyrian nation cannot allow Babylon to exist and possess chariots of mass destruction."

A loud gasp of bewilderment went through the crowd. Men clenched their fists in anger as they imagined filthy Babylon vermin attacking their families from chariots, making sure they had a bow and enough arrows to defend their home to the end.

"The punishment for jeopardizing the safety of Assyria is as harsh as it could, and should, be. In a swift attack, our forces have already hit several Babylonian strongholds and are poised to strike deeply within Babylonian territory in only a few decades. As we speak, more and more troops from throughout the empire are being sent to the front to punish the hated enemy."

As if on cue, a large regiment of skirmishers emerged from one of the streets, walking towards the river in the east in an absolutely perfectly symmetric formation, drawing loud cheers from the crowd.

"Sons of Khorsabad! Children of Nineveh! Pride of Arbela! Veterans of Calah! You shall go to the battlefields in the east to restore Assyrian honor and to spread the gospel of the Greater Good! Suffer not the Babylonian dogs to live! Crush them with all your might!"

The troops, as they were about to enter yet another street, stopped for a moment to yell "ALL HAIL THE EMPEROR! DEATH TO THE WEAKLING EMPIRE OF BABYLON!" before continuing their march to the frontlines, gradually disappearing from view.

"Brothers and sisters, the ASDF has engaged in combat with the hated enemy as we speak. Our first wave of attacks has been swift and successful, but the fight is not won yet. We shall, with the help of the Greater Good, eventually prevail over our barbarian foes.

Long live the Great Good. Long live the empire."

The crowd was eventually dispersed, but the streets were still bustling with life.

Long lines at the recruitment offices of the ASDF heralded the unstoppable onslaught that was yet to come, should Babylon not be reasonable.

Long story short:

WAR!

The empire of Assyria hereby formally declares war on the empire of Babylon!

First encounters have proven the Babylonian military apparatus to be but a paper tiger, as Babylonian forces all over the known world were crushed easily.

To the west, the Babylonian horsemen regiment was wiped out by a horsemen regiment of ours without sustaining more than a scratch.

To the east, a crack chariot platoon which had also participated in the defense against the first barbarian excursion wiped out the wounded swordsmen regiment, which managed to put up enough of a fight to damage the chariots well into the yellow health.

A veteran skirmisher squad moved through the open field which was now no longer part of the ZOC corridor the Babylonians had set up and delivered justice to the heretics of Babylon. The outpost was raided, and although the chariot defenders fought valiantly, they were driven into the river and their fort was razed.

To the east, the city of Kish was attacked by yet another veteran skirmisher squad and razed easily, causing the Babylonians the loss of yet another chariot platoon.

Our mission is clear. The Babylonians must stop being so uppity and accept Assyrian superiority in Mesopotamia. Our borders must be respected, and reparations paid for the loss of time and manpower caused by our drastic step.

Should the Babylonians not comply, we will cut their pathetic empire down until only the capital remains. If we have the forces to capture Ur, we shall not even spare that holiest of Babylonian cities.

Your options lie before you. The sword, certain death, or the scroll, salvation from an ugly fate.

We also reassure the Hittites that we have no quarrels with them. Our empires have enough buffer space between them to prevent us from stepping onto each other's toes.


May Assur guide us to victory.

Egypt:

A hut yields scrolls on star observation techniques.

[Peaster]

A sneak attack huh? Well, that should impressive everyone.

[Bostero]

Originally posted by Peaster
A sneak attack huh? Well, that should impressive everyone.

well steve, that happens when players start with microscopic details about each square....

persia: hut=25
greece: nothing.

suggestion

i was talking with eurisko and we get a conclusion about that should be a good idea to forbid trading tech between 2 civs ruled by the same player. it's quite obvious one civ will be in function to the other civ research. so please let's try to meditate this idea.



straybow up!

[Eurisko]

Oh well, it is not banned, is it?

I mean, if we had a "1 turn mobilization" rule which both players would need to stick to, I would of course go with that.

But as long as we don't, I don't see the point in declaring war and seeing my troops get slaughtered as they present themselves on a silver platter near Babylonian cities.

[Eurisko]

Also, I support the ban on trading techs between two civs controlled by the same player.

And "sneak attack" is highly inaccurate.

I gave you the borders of my empire and said that I would enforce them. You tried to pull a fast one on me by founding Babylon smack in the middle of my heartland, using some unsubstantiated comparison to Ashur to force concessions. War is the only punishment for such folly.

[Peaster]

The players in the Seeds #1 game and the single game I played at Evo disdained sneak attacks. By that, I mean attacking before declaring war, which you just did. It is not illegal, but don't expect to become popular that way.

Babylon was founded by a nomad from a hut in the desert, with few options on where to settle. I tried twice to negotiate with you about possible problems like that, but only got your pompous proclamations in response.

"well steve, that happens when players start with microscopic details about each square.... "

Dario - What was THAT all about ?