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Shaka Shackled
Needing to shake up my Civ game a bit, I decided to try out the Zulus. It was a perverse choice, really, because I tend to prefer building to battling (though I am not averse to making war, especially early in the game against immediate neighbors). Usually I find myself turtling in after the Ancient Era wars and trying to build my way through the middle part of the game. I count on a Middle Ages Golden Age to carry me through that stretch of the “Dark Ages” where the AI civs surge ahead technologically (I play Monarch-level, for the most part) while I frantically lay my economic foundations and erect my cultural infrastructure.
Still, as I said, I needed to shake up my game. So, Shaka. He’s not a particularly adept builder by instinct. And his impis tend to trigger an unhappily premature Golden Age. I’d play Shaka, but I decided to play him against the grain. I was determined to hold off my Golden Age as long as possible, so I’d avoid using Impis if at all possible until the Middle Ages. And I’d force the Zulus to build.
Which made my starting position tricky. The settings were continents, normal, restless. I found myself situated in the middle of what proved to be a large continent, bounded by the Persians to my immediate North, the Russians above them, and the Germans to my South. In other words, next to some very aggressive neighbors.
On the other hand, my core terrain was basically fertile and productive. My first reaction was, ‘Dang, this would be a great location for a classic expansion pattern: a few pruning wars on either side, then build up and buttress. Wish I was playing the Persians, or the Babs, or …’
Then I decided I’d try to build anyway. I’d make a new man of Shaka. In fact, right then and there, I decided I’d be strict about it. I set myself a few internal rules. No declaring war – though I’d fight fiercely if attacked. But no extended conquest: I imposed a two-city limit on any territorial gains in any given war. And finally I decided the Palace stayed in Zimbabwe. (That’s an irrational personal thing with me. I care about my capitals, I figure they’re culturally sacred and deeply significant to my people, and I don’t allow myself to relocate them somewhere else for tactical reasons.)
Xerxes did me the favor of attacking first. We raced to plant cities near an incense resource, I got there first (it was the only luxury in the vicinity, and I needed the hook-up badly). Frankly, I was relieved, because I knew he was coming sooner or later, and sooner was better. He had five cities – and evidently the Russians were hemming in to his north. He had iron, not yet roaded.
It was touchy for awhile, because I didn’t have iron, hadn’t built any impis (not wanting to risk the GA trigger), and so found myself sending archers into the hills to face the Persians. Took two cities. Saw an immortal (their first one) coming in, and negotiated for peace. (Only managed to pry one tech and a handful of gold out of them. It was tempting to take out his iron, but I wouldn’t be able to hold it; I had my two cities already, and didn’t want to press my luck. It was archers against spear and immortals, after all.)
That first part of the game was a blast, by the way. I knew the immortals were coming, I hadn’t yet hooked up to iron or horse, and every turn felt tense.
A period of peace ensued, allowing me to build a basic road network and hook up horses (no iron in my core territory though. aargh). I built up admittedly thin defenses (an archer in each city), then started to prepare a mobile force of vet horsemen. It was an agonizingly slow process. I knew the Germans would be hitting me soon. Made contact with the English and French past the Germans to the east. Maybe they’d occupy Bismark?
Nope. German swordsmen appeared on the border. I wheeled my horsemen south and waited for the blow.
It was touch and go for awhile. The German sword were formidable, and every unit I had in my military had a defense of 1. In other words, I could not afford to defend. I had to stay on my toes and on the attack.
Fortunately, the Germans had no horse. I managed to keep the fighting in the plains and desert, picking off the lumbering swordsmen with my horsies. Took two cities, including one with iron, and made peace. (No tribute at all this time, but at least Bismark had been pruned, and I’d gotten hold of one of his iron sources and a cluster of spice tiles.)
At last I breathed a sigh of relief. There was a long way to go. But now I could station sword in my cities as defense. I’d gotten my first great leader, too. Tempted to build the Heroic Epic, but decided this would violate the spirit of my Builder Compact. Instead, I stashed it, sweated out three turns while I finished researching Theology, then rushed the Chapel. (In the crisis of war with Germany, I hadn’t even been able to set aside a pre-build city.)
Now I’m in pretty solid shape. I’ve bought Chivalry and upgraded my horsemen, and I’m starting to build the Forbidden Palace up North. I figure the Russians will come after me next (they’ve been beating up on the Persians). I’m culturally strong. (A Persian city actually flipped to me! – when was the last time you saw a Persian city flipping Zulu?) If I can just manage to get the FP finished before Cossacks arrive across the northern plains, I’ll be impregnable.
Needing to shake up my Civ game a bit, I decided to try out the Zulus. It was a perverse choice, really, because I tend to prefer building to battling (though I am not averse to making war, especially early in the game against immediate neighbors). Usually I find myself turtling in after the Ancient Era wars and trying to build my way through the middle part of the game. I count on a Middle Ages Golden Age to carry me through that stretch of the “Dark Ages” where the AI civs surge ahead technologically (I play Monarch-level, for the most part) while I frantically lay my economic foundations and erect my cultural infrastructure.
Still, as I said, I needed to shake up my game. So, Shaka. He’s not a particularly adept builder by instinct. And his impis tend to trigger an unhappily premature Golden Age. I’d play Shaka, but I decided to play him against the grain. I was determined to hold off my Golden Age as long as possible, so I’d avoid using Impis if at all possible until the Middle Ages. And I’d force the Zulus to build.
Which made my starting position tricky. The settings were continents, normal, restless. I found myself situated in the middle of what proved to be a large continent, bounded by the Persians to my immediate North, the Russians above them, and the Germans to my South. In other words, next to some very aggressive neighbors.
On the other hand, my core terrain was basically fertile and productive. My first reaction was, ‘Dang, this would be a great location for a classic expansion pattern: a few pruning wars on either side, then build up and buttress. Wish I was playing the Persians, or the Babs, or …’
Then I decided I’d try to build anyway. I’d make a new man of Shaka. In fact, right then and there, I decided I’d be strict about it. I set myself a few internal rules. No declaring war – though I’d fight fiercely if attacked. But no extended conquest: I imposed a two-city limit on any territorial gains in any given war. And finally I decided the Palace stayed in Zimbabwe. (That’s an irrational personal thing with me. I care about my capitals, I figure they’re culturally sacred and deeply significant to my people, and I don’t allow myself to relocate them somewhere else for tactical reasons.)
Xerxes did me the favor of attacking first. We raced to plant cities near an incense resource, I got there first (it was the only luxury in the vicinity, and I needed the hook-up badly). Frankly, I was relieved, because I knew he was coming sooner or later, and sooner was better. He had five cities – and evidently the Russians were hemming in to his north. He had iron, not yet roaded.
It was touchy for awhile, because I didn’t have iron, hadn’t built any impis (not wanting to risk the GA trigger), and so found myself sending archers into the hills to face the Persians. Took two cities. Saw an immortal (their first one) coming in, and negotiated for peace. (Only managed to pry one tech and a handful of gold out of them. It was tempting to take out his iron, but I wouldn’t be able to hold it; I had my two cities already, and didn’t want to press my luck. It was archers against spear and immortals, after all.)
That first part of the game was a blast, by the way. I knew the immortals were coming, I hadn’t yet hooked up to iron or horse, and every turn felt tense.
A period of peace ensued, allowing me to build a basic road network and hook up horses (no iron in my core territory though. aargh). I built up admittedly thin defenses (an archer in each city), then started to prepare a mobile force of vet horsemen. It was an agonizingly slow process. I knew the Germans would be hitting me soon. Made contact with the English and French past the Germans to the east. Maybe they’d occupy Bismark?
Nope. German swordsmen appeared on the border. I wheeled my horsemen south and waited for the blow.
It was touch and go for awhile. The German sword were formidable, and every unit I had in my military had a defense of 1. In other words, I could not afford to defend. I had to stay on my toes and on the attack.
Fortunately, the Germans had no horse. I managed to keep the fighting in the plains and desert, picking off the lumbering swordsmen with my horsies. Took two cities, including one with iron, and made peace. (No tribute at all this time, but at least Bismark had been pruned, and I’d gotten hold of one of his iron sources and a cluster of spice tiles.)
At last I breathed a sigh of relief. There was a long way to go. But now I could station sword in my cities as defense. I’d gotten my first great leader, too. Tempted to build the Heroic Epic, but decided this would violate the spirit of my Builder Compact. Instead, I stashed it, sweated out three turns while I finished researching Theology, then rushed the Chapel. (In the crisis of war with Germany, I hadn’t even been able to set aside a pre-build city.)
Now I’m in pretty solid shape. I’ve bought Chivalry and upgraded my horsemen, and I’m starting to build the Forbidden Palace up North. I figure the Russians will come after me next (they’ve been beating up on the Persians). I’m culturally strong. (A Persian city actually flipped to me! – when was the last time you saw a Persian city flipping Zulu?) If I can just manage to get the FP finished before Cossacks arrive across the northern plains, I’ll be impregnable.
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