Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Accidental Cultural Victory

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Accidental Cultural Victory

    I thought I had turned it off, but perhaps with the all the deleting and reinstalling....something weird happened.

    First Monarch game.

    So it's 1822. I'm sitting on a pile of 25+ ICBMs, 18 tactical nukes, 130 MA, and 90+ MI, in addition to 26 bombers, 7 carriers, 14 destroyers, 7 battleships, and a partridge in a pear tree. I've conquered more than half the globe. I'm preparing to conquer the other half, starting with the Romans....but then....

    *FLASHBACK*
    First it was the Greeks in 310 AD. My swordsman, horsemen, and elite warriors made war on them for 190 years; they fought galantly and I conquered several Greek cities, including Athens, Thermypolae, and Delphi. That was enough to catapult my Egyption race into a solid lead.

    Our continent was a funny shape; almost like two conjoined twins, it was really two smaller continents joined by a land bridge on the west side of my territory. Early in the expansion phase I had blocked the Roman and Babylonian warriors roaming onto the half I shared with the Greeks by founding a city as a choke point right on the bridge. That city would later serve as a vital seaport.

    Those were the days before our foursome on this funny continent had discovered the west. In 410 AD I made contact with the Russians and made a tremendous fortune on balancing out everyone's techs and trading around the world uber-map. I was sitting pretty.

    But I am a warmonger. It is what I do. I seasaw between building and conquering, expanding from the center of my empire to overrun the lands that surround it. I cherish the uniformity of occupying a single land mass, be it island, archipelago, or continent. Whatever land touches mine, I must have it. It must be mine, from coast to coast.

    The Greeks had always been fools. Even after I had first trimmed their exterior in my ancient age war, they traded with me. They had no choice. Pitiful fools! They bought their own destruction!

    Through the four hundred years that followed the end of my first war with the Greeks, my proud people produced many more horsemen, then knights, and finally Cavalry. In 930 AD, the lands I had conquered in the first Greek war were prosperous and happy, but now I sought the total destruction of the remaining Greeks, to push south to the sea. I launched the second attack, where I had planned to wipe them out. They were to my south; I overran them. Archers, pikemen, horsemen, swordsmen in defense--they were no match for the onrush of Cavalry! By 1060 AD, the Greeks were no more, and the east half of the continent was almost fully mine. The Babylonians and the Romans had managed to inject one city each on the eastern side of the sea that separates the two halves of the continent. The Babylonians were stupid enough to declare war on me during my quest to crush the Greeks. I took and destroyed their lone city on my half of the continent, and things were almost complete....

    Rome had been a friend. A friend I had always smiled with and greeted and traded with, but a friend whose proximity I knew would tempt me to destroy them. Brundisium was their favorite vacation spot on my side of the sea; from it they could bask on the beach and gaze upon the distant empire of Rome across the sea. I did everything in my power to wrest it from them by cultural means, but they would NOT be turned....

    In 1250, Steam Power was discovered, and hordes of slaves and workers descended on the continent like a plague of locust. They chopped forest, dug mines, built irrigation, flattened roads, mined hills, and laid railroad track. My Musketmen were upgraded to riflemen, and then to infantry.

    By 1330 AD, the lands I had conquered in Greece had been transformed from the thick, teeming, undeveloped jungle that they had once been into an industrial powerhouse, complete with all the signs of Egypt's most fabulous culture, Cathedrals, Libraries, Universities and railroad. Egypt was basking in riches and enjoyed most favored trading status with all nations on the planet. My technological prowess equipped me with the finest of all weaponry, infantry and artillery. They were destined to carry us to our manifest destiny.

    We invaded Rome for the sole purpose of Brundisium. That city was a thorn in the side of our continent--OUR continent! Vacationing Romans were awaked with the sound of mortar fire one summer morning. They found themselves bound, gagged, and were dragged to Thebes for slave labor. They would never see their families again. Rome would have no such aggression! In short order their marched out their pathetic armies to be trounced by our Cavalry, and five more Roman cities fell. When the dust cleared, Rome begged for mercy, and Egypt had taken 6 more cities from them. The eastern half of the continent was ours, as was our destiny. In 1355, a period of peace and prosperity ensued....

    Throughout the 1400s the Egyptian people sought science and technology. Ironclads, transports, Destroyers, and Battleships were built. In 1500, after discovering the "Steel Chariots", the Egyptian people now had the weapon that would carry them to their manifest destiny.

    That manifest destiny of conquest was forever shunned and insulted by the Russians. Their fat, snivelling Czarina....what contempt she had for us! Never a fair deal. They challenged us in technology and were never willing to trade luxuries or resources.

    We had discovered the Russians in 410 AD after several failed attempts with Galleys to reach deep parts of the ocean. It so happened that the Russians had the good fortune of starting on their own mini-content to the north of the odd twin continent which I shared with the Greeks (for a time), the Romans, and the Babylonians. The Russians had expanded rapidly and become an economic powerhouse. They outgrew their continent and had begun populating the northern part of the unknown continent where the Japanese, Chinese, British, Germans, and Indians fought almost incessantly. The Russians, as had I, profited from our mutual discovery of each other. A century after contact, the Russians were a close second, and keeping pace with my empire.

    The Russians were close enough that our new Transports could reach them in two turns. Cleopatra took the decision that an invasion must happen, and the Egyptians took to the sea like never in their history. Transports, Ironclads, and Destroyers were commissioned, and soon enough tanks, artillery, and infantry were produced to destroy Russia.

    From 1500 to 1565, the Egyptian empire devoted itself entirely to the production of offensive weaponry; tanks, artillery, destroyers, and transports. In 1565, Cleopatra tested the winds, and the attack was launched. Dozens of tanks, infantry, and artillery were unloaded onto the shores of Russia. In 5 turns, nearly one half of the continent was taken. 5 more turns later, and the Czarina was on the run to her remote cities on the major continent near the Japanese. It was a long and hard hunt, and rebellions sent Russian cities into chaos. We crushed them bitterly. While the Russians were nearing the end, the Indians joined in against the Russians, and several Indian warships patrolled the waters. The Indian intervention amounted to little, at the time, but would set in motion a chain of events that would forever alter the fate of the planet. Eventually, all of the Russian cities were destroyed, but Czarina escaped, running in utter fear through the Japanese territory, making for open terrain exposed from the bitter war between Japan and China that had been raging for centuries. In 1635, we laughed at them and made peace.

    Exhausted, the Czarina, in a desperate attempt to save her life, founded a city within Japan's territory. Immediately Japan went to war with the tiny Russian outpost, and soon, Tokugawa had the head of Catherine the Great, and the Russian people existed only as an unhappy sub-race under the boot of Egypt's might, producing designer clothing in sweatshops across former Russian territory, eventually their race to be diluted by time until they would be known only as Egyptians.

    The adventurous (but stupid) Indians had left behind some infantry on one of the small islands that had formerly been inhabited by the Russians but now had so quickly fallen into our hands. We tired of their foolishness--vacationing Indians on OUR hard-won island? Deserters!? Traitors? Who were these foolish Indians that have camped on our newfound territory!? We demanded that they leave, but no Indian ships came to retrieve them. Gandhi, oh how he must have felt for their plight, for he started a war to retrieve them!

    So, in 1680, not long after finishing with the Russians, we were then at war with the Indians, on a continent far from our homeland. Our tanks had undergone upgrades, now our magnificient modern armor rolled over the great foreign lands; through rice patties in China, over great mountains shrowded in the mists of Japan, deep into the unstable center of a unknown continent. We had known these lands only from afar, as we traded with Britons, with Germans, and yes, even the treacherous and foolish Indians.

    The technological progress during the Russian war had been astounding. In 1660 we split the atom, unveiling the Manhattan Project! By 1690 our first nuclear submarines were roaming the oceans equipped with tactical nuclear weapons capable of immense destruction. We were infiltrating the seas of Babylon, Rome, China, and Germany in secrecy! We carried swift, silent, and terrible destruction into the heart of their very empires, and could unleash it with impunity!

    It was now 1700 AD, and continued production of Modern Armor, Mech Infantry, Bombers, Carriers, Destroyers and Battleships had led to a formidable force that was unfortunately scattered across the globe and spread too thin. Manuevering into the heart of that foreign continent meant signing Right of Passage agreements with China and Japan; agreements rich Egypt paid dearly for. But soon we were poised to hit Indian with a powerful blow.

    Egypt's phenomenal Navy had sunk most of the Indian vessels, but so it was that upon our first attack on India's homeland, a mutual protection pact was triggered into action. Rome and India had signed the treaty some years ago, after Rome had lost dearly in the battle of Brundisium (which is known in Egypt as "The Battle of Sunny Vaction Spots"). The silent, hurt Rome had amassed a surprisingly powerful invasion force consisting of many many tanks and mechanized infantry. The Republic of Egypt and its people bore the heavy cost of war for many centuries lightly and cheerfully, but this new threat was grave; our very homeland was at stake, and all of our offensive forces were abroad, defending new territories won and readying to strike India in a major battle.

    The war planners of Egypt met in the dark of the underground bunker to discuss how Rome should be repelled. Clearly Rome could upon the next turn take one or more cities from Egypt and it may be several turns before enough domestic offensive power was produced to take it back. The war planners took careful surveying of the invasion force. It consisted of nearly 30 mechanized infantry and tanks which had rolled onto a mountain two squares into our territory. Complete with railroad, the mountain was a formidable defensive position. A direct assault on it, even with dozens of modern armor, could be suicide. Little artillery was available to rain mortar fire on it.

    And so the decision was taken by Cleopatra in 1700 AD, under these grave threats, to use the ultimate weapon, the Tactical Nuke. It was dangerous, and assuredly would annihilate the improvements on our own territory, but it could be done without harming any of our cities or units. Cleopatra took stock; nearly a dozen workers were available to immediately clean up from the damage. And so, on one fateful day, Cleopatra gave the order to attack Rome's invasion force with all available nuclear weapons. Four nuclear weapons had been stockpiled throughout the empire, in addition to the 12 roaming the seas on nuclear submarines. They were moved into position, and the countdown begun. 10, 9, 8....and upon 0 the first was unleashed, drawing immediately the ire of the horrified world.

    Before the Mushroom cloud even appeared, China severed diplomatic ties, cancelled the Right of Passage, and declared war. Babylon, a long time foe of Rome, which had traded several cities along their borders back and forth over history, declared war.

    And then the beautiful site of charred and annihilated Roman forces appeared after the dust settled. A tremendous blow; truly great, the destruction! The second was launched, and a tremendous fireball illuminated the world. Then a third, and a fourth, and the Roman invasion was no more. Just two turns later, the Egyptian counterattack took two more cities from Rome, including the city of Rome itself. A turn after that, Antium also fell. The few tanks that the Romans could barely muster following were destroyed easily. Soon, they begged for mercy.

    Babylon was toothless and antiquated. They only managed to bomb some improvements in one of our southern cities across the sea. Our jet fighters fought valiantly, and downed 6 planes in 6 turns.

    The fallout and pollution from using nuclear weapons on our own soil was tended to by the great masses of slaves that were left over from taming the jungles of former Greek territory. Soon, the pollution was cleaned up, the roads were rebuilt, the mines remined, and the memory of that fateful day erased.

    The war with India on the other continent had now sprouted into a war with both China and India. The great forces of Modern Armor meant to destroy the nation of India were turned, rerouted, and formed into columns to invade China. A tremendous airlift from the homeland to former Russian cities on the continent kept a constant influx of offensive forces putting pressure on China. Soon several cities fell, and China was reduced to half of its former size. In 1730, just 30 years after their decision to declare war upon our use of nuclear weapons, they made peace, grovelling on their knees, never again to be relevant in international matters.

    India finally saw the light, and we let them off light, having destroyed only a few cities. All that remained was Babylon.

    My intelligence told me that their forces were outdated and were no match for my amassed armor. A few turns of building up forces on the main continent, a few transports, and a few carriers later, I was ready to focus all my destruction on Babylon.

    They sneaked a large stack of infantry, riflemen, and tanks through Roman territory and with a surprise attack on one of my unprepared border cities stock with modern armor on the mend, they took Antium! My counterattack annihilated their stack, and soon my units were streaming through Roman territory to Babylon.

    The naval invasion began in 1756 and took Babylon's two small satellite islands, then leapfrogging to land on the main continent from the south. The main forces came in from the north and began eating up city after city. We planted a spy within Babylon, and using our man inside, kept tabs on troop production. We knew they were weak and would fold easily, but the two Uranium deposits in Babylonian territory concerned us. Egyptian bombers pounded them by the air, destroying roads in and out, but Babylon persisted with its nuclear weapons program. In a last dying gasp, Babylon completed a lone Tactical Nuke and used it against one of THEIR OWN cities which we had just captured. Such a pitiful and wretched people! They drew the anger of the world! Everyone declared war on them! The Romans invaded from the North, but they were too late. Egypt overran Babylon, and soon, they were no more.

    In 1770, the Babylonian government erased from the planet, and the Babylonian people tending to the fallout of their horrible error of using nuclear weapons against Egypt, a period of peace ensued. Egyptian scientists devoted themselves to discovering Nuclear Power, The Laser, and Robotics. Production soared. Thebes 3 and Thermypolae each crossed the 150 shield per turn production mark. 10 more cities were producing 100 shields per turn. We had amassed 130 modern armor, most poised to strike Rome, who was now reduced to just nine cities. We were finally determined to rid the entire continent of the scourge of OTHER PEOPLE. The largest, most productive cities were producing ICBMs at an astonishing rate, while Cleopatra took the decision that all tactical nuclear weapons should be brought back to the homeland and decommissioned. AEGIS cruisers were set to replace all destroyers and nuclear submarines.

    But then it happened--in 1822, I won!

    I was so PISSED. A Cultural Victory! I wanted CONQUEST!

    [edited in actual dates and fixed spelling errors]
    Last edited by diablovision; March 12, 2005, 16:14.

  • #2
    Re: Accidental Cultural Victory

    Originally posted by diablovision
    I'm sitting on a pile of 25+ ICBMs, 18 tactical nukes, 130 MA, and 90+ MI, in addition to 26 bombers, 7 carriers, 14 destroyers, 7 battleships, and a partridge in a pear tree.
    Now THAT is culture!!!

    My kinda military, although I do not play with the 'Partridge Family Mod'.

    (Great story, btw. )
    The greatest delight for man is to inflict defeat on his enemies, to drive them before him, to see those dear to them with their faces bathed in tears, to bestride their horses, to crush in his arms their daughters and wives.

    Duas uncias in puncta mortalis est.

    Comment


    • #3
      Well you can play on for the fun of it. Have you load a sav form the board? I am doing that all the time and they reset your preference and such, so you have to be careful to set them manually each game.

      Comment


      • #4
        This happened with me, too. On the WW2 in pacific scenario, when I was ready to finally attack the Hawai and conquest the China I won by victory points limit! But worst than it was when the Age of Discovery conquest was finishing, I was ready to win by Victory Points and on the final turn the mayans won by culture!
        "We, civilizations, now know that we are mortals...", Paul Valéry

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Accidental Cultural Victory

          Originally posted by diablovision I'm sitting on a pile of 25+ ICBMs, 18 tactical nukes, 130 MA, and 90+ MI, in addition to 26 bombers, 7 carriers, 14 destroyers, 7 battleships, and a partridge in a pear tree.
          i forget ..
          how many turns 'til icbm becomes a tourist atttraction?

          don't listen to them caro diablo ..
          you are on the right path.

          you must learn to possess their SOULS ..

          . . . . .
          I don't know what I am - Pekka

          Comment


          • #6
            I am going to move up a level to Emperor now.

            I always wondered how people won culture victories, as I always assumed that you had to try very hard and be very good at it in order to do that. Mostly the reason I won by culture is because I rushed so many temples and cathedrals in my conquered territory in order to prevent culture flips and fill out my borders (I just hate the look of empty territory).

            I guess when you have all but 2 great wonders, 100 cities with temples and cathedrals, and your core is built out, it can happen.

            BTW, how is it possible to win by Conquest without triggering a Domination victory?

            Comment


            • #7
              BTW, how is it possible to win by Conquest without triggering a Domination victory?


              Yes. After you have set up you core, just raze cities insteaad of capturing them. Or you could capture them, sell the improvements, rush settlers/workers, and disband them before you cross the domination threshhold.
              You just wasted six ... no, seven ... seconds of your life reading this sentence.

              Comment


              • #8
                Best way is to only enable conquest before you start the game.

                Use a tool like Mapstat or CivAssist to determine how many tiles are neede for Dom and not get them. If you have to sell off some cutlural structures and check the culture growth.

                Comment


                • #9
                  even easier way: Just use F8, and makes sure that neither pop or land area never goes past 65%
                  You just wasted six ... no, seven ... seconds of your life reading this sentence.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Similarly, with culture enabled and not wanting to wish to win that way, you can sell off the culture buildings in your empire.
                    1st C3DG Term 7 Science Advisor 1st C3DG Term 8 Domestic Minister
                    Templar Science Minister
                    AI: I sure wish Jon would hurry up and complete his turn, he's been at it for over 1,200,000 milliseconds now.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by joncnunn
                      Similarly, with culture enabled and not wanting to wish to win that way, you can sell off the culture buildings in your empire.
                      Or mobilize.
                      The greatest delight for man is to inflict defeat on his enemies, to drive them before him, to see those dear to them with their faces bathed in tears, to bestride their horses, to crush in his arms their daughters and wives.

                      Duas uncias in puncta mortalis est.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I think that only prohibits you from building new non-military buildings and doesn't keep the existing ones from generating culture.

                        Originally posted by Theseus

                        Or mobilize.
                        1st C3DG Term 7 Science Advisor 1st C3DG Term 8 Domestic Minister
                        Templar Science Minister
                        AI: I sure wish Jon would hurry up and complete his turn, he's been at it for over 1,200,000 milliseconds now.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by diablovision

                          BTW, how is it possible to win by Conquest without triggering a Domination victory?
                          The easy way (short of turning domination off) is, as has already been said, to raze instead of capturing. But I ve done it at least a couple times in spite of always capturing instead of razing by building up a large tech lead in mostly peaceful play and then doing most of my conquering in a relatively short period of time with cavalry blitzes. Start off with a small enough territory culturally expanded, and knock off the other civs quickly enough, and under the right conditions, there can be time to capture all the world's cities before domination kicks in. (Of course rush-building culture in captured territories throws a major monkey wrench in that idea.)

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by joncnunn
                            I think that only prohibits you from building new non-military buildings and doesn't keep the existing ones from generating culture.
                            Mobilization causes you to gain cultue at only half the rate you would otherwise.

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X