CIV3 Story - America the Brutal

[cutlerd]

Map of America

Here is a Map of the Isle of America to help you follow along with the story.

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Map of Greece

Here is a map of the Greek Islands just south of America - now conquered.

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Map - Old China

Here is a Map of Old China on the NW tip of the Eastland Continent:

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Map of Old China and NE America

Here is a map to show the relationship between Old China and the US and why it is such a good invasion launchpoint for the Egyptians against America.

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Map - Faragost Isle

And finally, a map of Faragost Isle, where the major powers meet and greet:

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I should note that for some reason when I applied the 1.21 patch the colours of some civs changed. To help read the maps:

Egypt is blue (the old Persian colour)
Persia is light green (the old Greek colour)
Japan is dark green (the old Aztec colour)
Aztecs are dark red (the old Japanese colour)
Babylon is light red (the old Roman colour)
Rome is darkish blue (the old Babylonian colour)

I have no idea why these colours changed!

[cutlerd]

Story rationale

I should also point out that the reason for writing this story is that I find this particular game very interesting. I am playing the Americans and I am very likely going to lose this game. The Egyptians and Babylonians are quite ahead of me in tech and because of the islandic nature of the western side of the map, it is very difficult for me to just launch a surprise attack on one or the other of them.

Thus, I have had a lot of diplomatic maneuvering this game, trying to play off one against the other and also trying to both prop up anyone they attack and also jump in to get territory of my own.

I think it will be interesting to write the story from the perspective of a losing civ, but of course I am trying my darndest to actually win the game!

Regards,

Devin

[boxcarjoe]

cutlerd, this is one awesome story. when is the next chapter?

[cutlerd]

when's the next chapter?

Glad you are enjoying the story.

The next and final chapter (yes...I finished the game), will probably come this week.

Devin

[cutlerd]

Chapter Four – Fuse

Mojique darted from alleyway to alleyway in the Iroquois quarter of Houston, trying to be both speedy and furtive and at the same time remain inconspicuous. Once more he opened the black attaché case he had been given and checked the contents. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw that the two glass vials, joined at the neck like Siamese twins, were intact.

Closing the case, he licked his lips and began to undress, removing the native doeskin garb that marked his people’s ancient wardress and donning a tuxedo, complete with bowtie and cummerbund. While he was still dirty from the dust of the slums and the sweat of his efforts and his tuxedo was wrinkled and of a style dating a decade or so back to the 1820’s, he hoped the get-up would give him that extra crucial second to accomplish what he had set out to do.

He folded up his doeskin garb and set it down in the alleyway were it might be found unharmed. Then he took out a small iron pot and began to dip his hands within and smear greasy red paint in lines and circles on his face. Of course, the warpaint would go against his intended disguise, but he had been insistent that he be allowed to wear it. He left the pot in the alleyway beside his old clothes and picked up the case and his grandfather’s raggedy medicine bundle, made from badger skin and filled with twigs and other less identifiable relics from his family’s history.

As he walked south along the shadowed alleyway, Mojique silently mouthed a prayer to his ancestors and began to pick up his pace. The mouth of the alleyway drew near, and already he could hear the strains of the brass band and the titter of polite Caucasian conversation. As he reached the end of the alleyway, he casually hopped over a makeshift barricade and past a startled guard who was gawking at the Southern Belles dressed in their voluminous hoop skirts. The guard, seeing only someone in a tuxedo out of the corner of his eyes, stopped his initial effort to call out to the person who had startled him and went back to enjoying the ladies.

Mojique did as he was instructed. He looked straight ahead, walked quickly but firmly, and acted as if he belonged. He did draw stares, but he was too incongruous and walking too quickly for any of the onlookers to have time to figure out if he belonged or not.

Time splintered for Mojique. A man in a top hat smoking a cigar withdrew the weed from his mouth and started to ask Mojique a question. A woman nearby tried to hand him her empty champagne glass. A quick thinking guard to his right raised his hand and began to shout. The giant wedding cake on the table before him stood bright in the late afternoon sun. The bride and groom seated at the table with their backs to him, clasp arm in arm anticipating the night to come. The sun overhead. The sound of birds twittering. The bellowing of the brass band. The click of his attaché case as he flicked it open as he had practiced a hundred times before. The quick flick of the valve separating the two chambers of the vial.

Mojique yelled out the name of his tribe and his grandfather as he dropped the case and vial. The chemicals in the vial, jostled by the fall, mixed, reacted, expanded, and exploded violently. Mojique was the first to die. The bride and groom the second and third. After that…all was chaos.

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Chapter Five - Cinder

President Brodderick rubbed the temples at his forehead, aching from the constant strain of momentous decisions.

Was it really only four months ago that the U.S. had begun its latest move in its efforts to remain abreast the tide of history and keep from being swept away by the fast rising Egyptians and Babylonians? He could recall the feverish cabinet meetings; the indecision; the prospects for victory and the fear of defeat.

But how could he be blamed for embarking on this current expedition? He was given a ship that had long ago set sail. Set adrift was more like it. Old Cutler had taken the US out of its splendid isolationism and into the forefront of the world stage. And for a while, all the world was America’s stage. At every instance when Egypt tried to maneuver an advantage against the US, the US had responded and foiled them. First with the invasion of Greece, and second with the invasion of Old China. With Zululand demolished by the Eastlanders and parceled out between the Germans, Indians, Persians, and Aztecs, the world had settled into a respectable peace once again. The Zimmermann letter had finally been leaked out, inadvertently, but so many years after the Old China incident that it hadn’t mattered much.

It was the Iroquois rebels that had started this latest turn of events. The first incident was a bomb blast at the wedding reception of the governor of Houston. What a horrific event that had been. The governor’s beautiful daughter ripped apart and caught on camera by the Hearst boys and splashed all over the front pages. And while the Iroquois nationalists were brutally repressed, intelligence came up with hard evidence that the natives were being riled up and funded by both Egyptian and Babylonian operatives.

This had prompted the first emergency meetings. It was plain that Egypt and Babylon were overcoming their old enmities and trying to destabilize the US, perhaps in preparation for a joint invasion. The latest spy dispatches told that both nations had been sharing technology for some time, and the reports of the latest metal naval dreadnaughts about to be launched were so fantastic they seemed unbelievable. Moreover, the Egyptians had apparently begun to test and deploy a gun called the Anubis Gun, which turned by way of a hand crank and fired 3 shots per second! How could American cavalry armed with revolvers and cartridge rifles stand against such devices of butchery?

So it had been determined that the alliance between Babylon and Egypt had to be broken up before it could form. One or the other had to be attacked in such force that she was crippled and unable to effectively aid the other. This would hopefully deter the other’s partner and return peace to the area. The decision had to be made as to which to attack…Egypt or Babylon, but the decision was an easy one to make.

Egyptland was composed of two islands, a small one to the west, nearest Greece, and the main island in the east, almost halfway between Greece and Eastland. On each island were concessions…trading outposts given over to certain nations in accord with ancient treaties made when Egypt was desperate for trade with the outside world. The Chinese had a concession, their only city left in fact, on the small western island. The English had two concessions on the main island, one to the far north and one to the far south.

The plan was to first declare war on China, claiming that they had been complicitous in the Iroquois uprising. This was not difficult to do since, in fact, there was Chinese involvement, they being quite upset when America refused to hand over its holdings in Old China. The invasion fleet had already sailed and would invade the day after war was declared, giving no time for the Egyptians or the world to protest before it became a fait accompli. The US would announce its adoption of all of the terms of the Concession Treaty, but Egypt would realize that this was a sham.

This would be followed immediately by a declaration of war on England. The English were strong defensively on their home nation in Eastland, and they had a moderate naval presence, but once again, the invasion fleets had already sailed and they would have no time to react before their concessions were in American hands.

Then it would be a matter of negotiating a peace with England and building up massive forces under cover in the three concessions and finally, in perhaps 3-4 years, launching what he hoped would be a lightning strike into an unprepared Egypt. If the initial strike were successful, Egypt would never be able to recover.

The plan had been gone over time and time again. It seemed to work on paper. So why was he so nervous? What had been overlooked?

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Chapter Six – Rubble

General George C. Patton looked through his field glasses down into the valley that marked the English concession of Liverpool, on the southern tip of Egyptland. The campaign against the Chinese had gone like clockwork, and the Chinese were signing their surrender documents before the Egyptian ambassador could even lodge a protest! He chuckled at that one. Served those damned diplomats right. Tongue wagging was for women! War was for men!

Behind him, the cavalry regiments and infantry battalions from his Third Army were assembled, the batteries of cannon and mortars ready to fire at his command. It was a wonderful thing war…the anticipation of the ultimate struggle between man and his fellow man. War clarified. War brought out what was best in men. And he was born to lead men into it. It was his destiny.

Patton got off from his horse, a dark brown destrier, and saluted his aides and officers that were around him. Although he was speaking to the entire assembled company, he knew his voice would only carry a short distance. But he also knew that his words would be passed down the ranks and eventually inspire every man in his army to fight and die like soldiers.

“Men. We stand here on the hill of destiny. There is only one way to proceed. Forward into the valley of the shadow of death. Down there before you lies honour and glory. Songs to be sung and deeds to be recounted. Each and every one of you is making history this day. Your children and your children’s children will read about this battle, and even long after you are gone, whether fallen with honour on the field this day or passed on in old age, they will recall and remember your bravery this day.

Our great nation, God’s nation, hangs in the balance this day. We live or die by what happens here. I expect every man to do his duty. I expect every man to be reconciled to die today in the course of that duty. I expect every man to remember that we are Americans, and we cannot but prevail.”

With that, Patton leaped atop his horse, raised his pearl-handled revolver, and fired. Within moments, the air was alive with the sound of cannonades and the crackle of small arms fire. Patton drew his sabre.

“Cavalry…”

And thrust his sabre forward

“Charge!!”


*******

Darius the Fourth withdrew the spyglass from his eye as he watched the Americans charge. It was perfect! He stood up once he was out of sight of the battlefield and walked down the side of the hill facing away from Liverpool. Before him stretched 30 divisions of the Persian Immortal army group. To either side stood 20 divisions of French infantry and 10 divisions of Babylonian Cavalry. Serried ranks of artillery and cannons stood mounted to horses ready to be rolled into position.

As Darius closed with the commanders of the Babylonians and French he smiled. “The fools have taken the bait. Thank Allah for that, as those damned spies cost us plenty to learn of the American plans beforehand! We will let them expend themselves on the English and be boxed in. The English have assured me the harbour is unusable. There will be no evacuations for the Americans...they will be crushed!”

The Babylonian commander stroked his ornate beard in anticipation, while the French general affected an unconcerned demeanour. “It eez a foregone conclusion mon frer. Patton cannot stand against 60 divisions with his own 16, even if zee cowardly British put up no fight whatsoever.”

“And with the Egyptian army ambushing the Americans in the north, along with the English, Aztecs and Indians, the Americans will be defeated in detail far from their homelands,” smirked Darius, “and that will leave the US ripe for the picking. The world has had enough of these upstart Americans and their brashness. I personally will enjoy seeing the look on their President’s face as we march into Washington.”

And with that the Persian commander hustled away to lead his troops into battle.

******

When the urgent dispatch came by way of army courier, sent MOST URGENT and FOR YOUR EYES ONLY with General Patton’s own seal on it, President Brodderick opened the bundle quickly, anticipating some gift or prize or token of victory sent from the British concession.

His heart almost gave out as he dropped the opened bundle. It dropped to the floor with a wet thud. There, at the horrified President’s feet, was the head of General Patton. Engraved onto his forehead were the sigils of the Egyptians, Babylonians, French, Indians, English, Germans, Persians, and Aztecs. Stuffed into his mouth were a piece of jade, an eagle feather, and a bit of marble.

Suddenly, President Brodderick realized that the world stage was a dangerous place and taking its centre was a perilous business. And now, when it was too late, isolation indeed seemed splendid after all.

The End.

[cutlerd]

That's the end. I lost the game. I tried to get the three concessions and then discover tanks and build up quickly and then launch a lightning strike at Egypt. My hope was to take Egypt out quickly, get a leader, build a forbidden palace there, and then get enough of a production base to turn on the Babylonians. Had I done that, I could have then won the game.

But the damned English allied the Persians. The Persians allied everyone else in existence and the game was over at that point, as America could not stand up to the combined might of the world.

Still, it was a very fun game. Very tense and with a lot of maneuvering.

Should I have another interesting game I will write another story.

Rergards,

Devin

[civman2000]

great ending !

[dexters]

cutlerd, can you post a larger minimap? I'm having a hard time spotting the nations in the pics you posted.

btw, which level difficulty did you play?