[Let's Play] Civilization IV Beyond the Sword - The Misadventures of Donavannj!

[Netto Azure]

Wow didn't get to comment sorry. But yeah, trying to culturally pressure that city back to your side huh. Still ur building an army to retake it or...?

[mondays suck]

You cannot cultureflip cities lost by conquest :p
Maybe you can use the Apo. Palace (it is jewish, right?) to gift it back to yourself though if you get elected, the option should come up. If he defies, too bad for him as the unhappiness penalty will probably hit him harder than a change of Rostov's ownership.

[donavannj]

Originally Posted by Netto Azure

Wow didn't get to comment sorry. But yeah, trying to culturally pressure that city back to your side huh. Still ur building an army to retake it or...?

More focused on just keeping it from overwhelming my own cities. I don't have an army ready for it.

Originally Posted by mondays suck

You cannot cultureflip cities lost by conquest :p
Maybe you can use the Apo. Palace (it is jewish, right?) to gift it back to yourself though if you get elected, the option should come up. If he defies, too bad for him as the unhappiness penalty will probably hit him harder than a change of Rostov's ownership.

Really? I thought that was an option and not a mandatory game mechanic.

Probably not. Genghis likes Napoleon more.

--------------------------------

Game 1 Update 20: RUSSIA HAS A MILITARY?!

Spoiler:

We have a Horse Archer now.


Now to build a Barracks.


And now we've got another one of these guys.


Now we're getting somewhere.


I totally forgot I was producing one of these.


Oh, well. Let's build a Jewish Temple.


Let's start building more cities.


I'm gonna need that economic boost.


Gotta get one of these guys over to Vladivostok...


... so he won't be dawdling on his way there this time.

End Update 20. 47 turns left to catch up.

[mondays suck]

A millennium or two too late, but you do have one Horse Archer now. What could possibly go wrong from here?

And convert to Judaism already, it's the only religion in your empire and therefore superior to No State Religion or Free Religion. Especially since it means you won't be diplomatically isolated anymore, and while better relations with Napo don't mean you can trust him, they do mean you can bribe him to war with one of the Buddhists, that way he will be busy. Saladin would be perfect for that, unfortunately Gandhi is completely blocking the way to him and Napoleon is 1) Most likely not going to have Open Borders with him and 2) Probably going to conquer him way too easily. Still worth a consideration as it will buy you time to get an actual military.

[donavannj]

Originally Posted by mondays suck

A millennium or two too late, but you do have one Horse Archer now. What could possibly go wrong from here?

And convert to Judaism already, it's the only religion in your empire and therefore superior to No State Religion or Free Religion. Especially since it means you won't be diplomatically isolated anymore, and while better relations with Napo don't mean you can trust him, they do mean you can bribe him to war with one of the Buddhists, that way he will be busy. Saladin would be perfect for that, unfortunately Gandhi is completely blocking the way to him and Napoleon is 1) Most likely not going to have Open Borders with him and 2) Probably going to conquer him way too easily. Still worth a consideration as it will buy you time to get an actual military.

Horse Archers are immortal.

I like the science and happiness boost I get from Free Religion.

-----------------------------------

Game 1 Update 21: We Fail to Build the Mausoleum

Spoiler:

Here are what my finances look like.


More archers because Napoleon is insane.


And this is the first wonder in a while I've tried for but failed to get.


Building a temple for increased production and to stop unhappiness before it happens.


That's a nice sum of gold for that wonder.


Time to build another archer.


Pretty cool random event.

End Update 21. 45 turns to catch up.

Game 1 Update 22: Islam

Spoiler:

And now Judaism has been spread in Vladivostok like I needed it to be.


I'm gonna be building more cities, so I'll need more missionaries.


Got a much needed Barracks here.


Now to build a temple because those are some unhappy people.


FFFFF.


I'll give you what you want this time. I'm not quite ready for war yet.


Got Divine Right! That means that...


I have founded Islam!


St. Petersburg is now even more vital to Russia. I'll research Feudalism now.

End Update 22. 43 turns left to catch up.

[donavannj]

Intentional double post to keep from flooding the page with images.

---------------------------------

Game 1 Update 23: Meh

Spoiler:

Yeah, now to pick what I research. Gonna go with Feudalism.


I've got some new cities somewhere along the line, which is why I have a new missionary here.


So we'll build a market.


Oh, look a temple.

End Update 23. 43 turns left to catch up.

Yeah, just a quickie tonight.

[Netto Azure]

I am wondering you're already into Judaism, why found Islam? But yeah that Napoleon likes to get some tributes from you huh, but yeah you got whipped the last time so nothing to complain there. Anyways keep building and the other civs busy.

[donavannj]

Originally Posted by Netto Azure

I am wondering you're already into Judaism, why found Islam? But yeah that Napoleon likes to get some tributes from you huh, but yeah you got whipped the last time so nothing to complain there. Anyways keep building and the other civs busy.

Monetary reasons. I perform better economically with more religions under my control.

Now for a quick update.

-----------------------------------

Game 1 Update 24: A Whole Lot of Nothing

Spoiler:

Let's build a monastery to spread our new religion more quickly so we have more than two cities with Islam.


You, freebie missionary, can go to Yaroslavl.


Another day, another Jewish missionary. We'll send you off to another city.


Build more cities!


Also gonna need to defend those new cities.


And let's get Islam into another city.


I'll send you somewhere... not sure where, though.

End Update 24. 42 turns to catch up.

[Conjurer]

That little spot to the southwest of Rostov might be good. Might as well use the maintenance bonus from Moscow, eh? I can't see if it's too close to French land though, and considering they got Rostov that might not be a good idea. o.o

[mondays suck]

Wait, wait, wait. 1200-something AD and Napoleon is still using Spears and Axes? Punish him already! Quickly assembling a sufficient force of medieval units (I hope you have Machinery and Civil Service) to retake Rostov and ward off any incoming stacks from the French homeland should be a piece of cake. Just don't use tanks ;)

[Yuoaman]

Yeah, you should probably use those Archer guys soon before anyone takes the next leap in military technology and ****s up with your plans.

[iFr0z3n]

1 word, AMAZING! I love the fact that you took screenshots rather than a vid.

[mondays suck]

Shadow Game, 1635 AD
Things are looking pretty ugly, because:

Spoiler:

I decided taking over the rest of the world by force would take too long, so my plan was just to sit on my 40 cities and win space or whatever, but of course Genghis the jerk and his puny 12 city empire had to declare war on me. I don't have Rifling yet, but still am 3 turns from Infantry and Cavalry isn't far either. I just hope my outdated army will be able to hold off his equally outdated forces until then. Oh, and Joao became his vassal at some point, so I'll have to deal with that guy as well. Urgh, unnecessary waste of time and virtual lives. Maybe I will raze both Lisbon and Karakorum as a punishment.

So, here we have Russia West aka Ex-France...

...and Russia East aka Ex-India and Arabia. Or, in case of most of the cities I settled, these would normally have been the rulers over most of these lands hadn't they succumbed to my vastly superior military strategy that is the brainless early Horse Archer spam.

Since my technology pace is decent by now, this game is in the bag, all I will have to do is deal with the Mongols and sit back until I win space. The map is just too big to pursue a military victory without having it take ages.

Also, I crave an update.

[donavannj]

Originally Posted by Conjurer

That little spot to the southwest of Rostov might be good. Might as well use the maintenance bonus from Moscow, eh? I can't see if it's too close to French land though, and considering they got Rostov that might not be a good idea. o.o

I'm more focused on obtaining land area at this point.

Originally Posted by mondays suck

Wait, wait, wait. 1200-something AD and Napoleon is still using Spears and Axes? Punish him already! Quickly assembling a sufficient force of medieval units (I hope you have Machinery and Civil Service) to retake Rostov and ward off any incoming stacks from the French homeland should be a piece of cake. Just don't use tanks ;)

I'm too passive to attack Napoleon. Plus, his power is an unknown value at this point.

Originally Posted by Yuoaman

Yeah, you should probably use those Archer guys soon before anyone takes the next leap in military technology and ****s up with your plans.

I'm pretty sure I'm the most advanced nation on my continent, so not much to worry about there.

And now for another update.

Originally Posted by iFr0z3n

1 word, AMAZING! I love the fact that you took screenshots rather than a vid.

With screenshots, I get to pick and choose what I show.

Originally Posted by mondays suck

Shadow Game, 1635 AD
Things are looking pretty ugly, because:

Spoiler:

I decided taking over the rest of the world by force would take too long, so my plan was just to sit on my 40 cities and win space or whatever, but of course Genghis the jerk and his puny 12 city empire had to declare war on me. I don't have Rifling yet, but still am 3 turns from Infantry and Cavalry isn't far either. I just hope my outdated army will be able to hold off his equally outdated forces until then. Oh, and Joao became his vassal at some point, so I'll have to deal with that guy as well. Urgh, unnecessary waste of time and virtual lives. Maybe I will raze both Lisbon and Karakorum as a punishment.

So, here we have Russia West aka Ex-France...

...and Russia East aka Ex-India and Arabia. Or, in case of most of the cities I settled, these would normally have been the rulers over most of these lands hadn't they succumbed to my vastly superior military strategy that is the brainless early Horse Archer spam.

Since my technology pace is decent by now, this game is in the bag, all I will have to do is deal with the Mongols and sit back until I win space. The map is just too big to pursue a military victory without having it take ages.

Also, I crave an update.

Well,

I actually made an effort to start posting this update on the 2nd. Then I got lazy and busy.

------------------

Game 1 Update 25:

Spoiler:

Surround Rostov with cities!


This is just to show that, yes, I do have some semblance of a military in the works.


And now for a monastery to further spread Islam.


This is a pretty sweet deal for me. 3 turns until I can start building Macemen. At least I think that's how it is. But do I really wanna take it? Let's get a closer look at what I give up quick.


What I give up.


I think it's worth it.


I think this was another archer.


I forgot what I built here, but an Archer is clearly next.

End Update 25. 40 turns to catch up.

[donavannj]

More updates.

Game 1, Update 26:

Spoiler:

No, I don't want to build one yet!


I don't think I have any Crossbowmen.


Chances are this will pass, but I don't care either way.


This looks like a nice place to put a city.


And with this completed, we're starting to see a slow return to profitability.


So time to build more Archers!


Now I can spread my newest religion around.


If you couldn't tell, I'm spamming Archers.


Smolensk is getting up there in size, so I need to keep them happy. And that production bonus doesn't hurt, either.

End Update 26. 38 turns left to catch up.

Game 1, Update 27:

Spoiler:

Called it.


Oh, by the way, I'm building more cities.


Say Hello to Orenburg.


We'll build a Theatre here, I guess.


Actually, make that a Lighthouse.


So now I can build Longbowmen.


I'm honestly not sure if I opted to adopt that or not.

End Update 27. 37 turns left to catch up.

Game 1, Update 28:

Spoiler:

Just a quick look at my Civics.


And we'll go for Philosophy this time.

End Update 28. 37 turns left to catch up.

[Netto Azure]

Oh look Napoleon has built another city. Good luck with that. o3o

[mondays suck]

Maybe a bit off-topic, but one thing I really love to do in Civ IV is hamachi co-op games. Always fun. Well, except for things such as what to research next and who gets which city spot.

Spoiler:

Who am I? And, more importantly, will we still be able to win this game with the bad diplomacy having had a war with everyone and not being too reluctant to raze bad cities (even the buddhist and confucian holy cities burned, to my defense I didn't even know that one of the misplaced cities I razed was holy until I noticed the -diplo points from it a while later) we know caused?

[donavannj]

Originally Posted by Netto Azure

Oh look Napoleon has built another city. Good luck with that. o3o

Bah, who needs luck against Napoleon?

Originally Posted by mondays suck

Maybe a bit off-topic, but one thing I really love to do in Civ IV is hamachi co-op games. Always fun. Well, except for things such as what to research next and who gets which city spot.

Spoiler:

Who am I? And, more importantly, will we still be able to win this game with the bad diplomacy having had a war with everyone and not being too reluctant to raze bad cities (even the buddhist and confucian holy cities burned, to my defense I didn't even know that one of the misplaced cities I razed was holy until I noticed the -diplo points from it a while later) we know caused?

I think I may have to try a game over Hamachi in the near future.

--------------------------------------------

Game 1 Update 29:

Spoiler:

Oh, look, a Settler!


And back to building up a military.


This looks like a good spot for a city...


Oh, hey, a crossbowman.


And on to building another longbowman.


I forgot what I built here. Oh, well, on to build a galley.


Even more longbowman.


And now for a missionary.

End Update 29. 36 turns left to catch up.

[Netto Azure]

This game is going slower than I expected.

Still you're doing a bit well.

[donavannj]

Originally Posted by Netto Azure

This game is going slower than I expected.

Still you're doing a bit well.

I have the screenshots, just a matter of uploading them and commenting on them.

So to tide you all over, I'll post a screenshot of another game I'd been playing in the meantime, since my desktop, which has all the screenshots, is disconnected at the moment.

[mondays suck]

That's one disgusting start you got there: On a food- and water-poor peninsula and blocked off by, of all people, Toku. Ouch. Good luck with this one!

[donavannj]

Originally Posted by mondays suck

That's one disgusting start you got there: On a food- and water-poor peninsula and blocked off by, of all people, Toku. Ouch. Good luck with this one!

I lost interest in that game not long after I posted that, to be honest.

Anyway, finally not too lazy to upload this update:

Game 1 Update 30 - Building Things:

Spoiler:

Yep, you read that title right. In this update, we will be building things.



I AM AWARE OF THIS BUT MOSCOW IS A LITTLE BUSY RIGHT NOW I WILL BUILD ONE LATER, OKAY? OKAY.


Oh, yay, a temple! Now I can start putting cultural pressure on Gandhi's cities!


And, as you can see, I am in the red, so I need to build a Courthouse to return myself to profitability.


See? I've been building a military! Slowly, of course.


Now we'll build that Library.


St. Petersburg needs to keep building troops to keep us going.


Vladivostok is the city most in danger from Napoleon, so I need to keep building Longbowmen here.


And yet another military unit built here.

So basically a whole lot of nothing was accomplished with this update.

[Netto Azure]

How long until those guys become obsolete?

[donavannj]

Originally Posted by Netto Azure

How long until those guys become obsolete? :P

A while yet. At least I'm pretty sure it's a ways off.

Anway:

Game 1 Update 31 - Philosophy!:

Spoiler:

As much as I'd like to, I have to save my hide. And, quite honestly, you're a weak little man.


Yay more military! Time to build a Settler for a tiny piece of land I found!


And there's the Galley to move that Settler to that piece of land.


We need another Work Boat.


Oh look I just squeezed that one right in there.


And now to garrison it quickly before the little Frenchman notices.


Time to get all philosophical on Napoleon!
But I won't adopt any of the civics this gives me access to.

End Update 31.

Be back in a day or two with Update 32, and then Update 33 shortly after.

[Netto Azure]

Ur still playing? xD

But yeah, I hate aggressive civs.