First Post Civilization IV

I began building my civilization in Persia for many reasons. Asides from having an interest in the development of the Persian cultures over time I went on the assumption that I would be able to create food surpluses, have a strong defense through the immortals and acquire many luxury goods as well. Also the scientific and industrious advances given in the beginning were appealing to me in many ways. My civilization acquired masonry and bronze working quickly in the beginning. I was more interested in the skill of bronze working as over time I could develop that skill to help in many different aspects which would lead to the growth and expansion of my culture. With bronze working I would be able to produce metal weapons for my soldiers either to defend or conquer other civilizations. I also made the assumption that I would be able to use this to create better more efficient farm equipment. This was important to me as I strove to establish large food surpluses early on. I attempted to do this because I wanted to test some of Diamonds ideas. The idea I decided to test was that with regards to food surpluses, my population would grow which would produce even more an abundance of labor. Through this process I would have people who did not need to work to support my civilization (in terms of meeting basic needs) but rather who could focus on increasing my scientific and cultural standing. Through the advancement of technology I would be able to increase productivity which would allow my civilization's growth to prosper far beyond my competitors. When looking towards the future I hope to adapt this skill to allow for iron working and eventually the development of steel. This seems extremely important to me as iron weapons are obviously much better then bronze in the sense that they render bronze weapons unusable.

The hardest decision I had when I began the game was deciding strategy I would pursue. I wanted to decide early on weather to advance significantly in science and culture or if I wanted to dedicate my civilization to the art of war. After examining what I know of history and recalling the downfall of many great empires due to overambitious war campaigns and lack of economic/monetary support I decided to pursue a policy in between. I began by establishing my first city, which I named Adonis. While looking toward expansion I noticed horses, gold, wine, and incenses close by. One of the most important factors in choosing this location though was its close proximity to the water, a defense from a mountain range and the amount of food that could be yielded. I produced mainly workers in the beginning and also three settlers. I created three warriors for defense though I choose not to overload myself with a large army at this time. I found through my studies that establishing a strong efficient infrastructure is important not only to maintain growth of a civilization but also to maintain order. I would rather not deal with unrest and unhappiness from my citizens and I am a strong believer that most people primarily care about satisfying their basic needs, those being access to food, shelter, and the opportunity to procreate. Because of this I had my workers irrigate the land, build mines, roads, and then turn their attention to helping my settlers quickly establish their cities. I sent my settlers out to find areas with specific resources such as gold, iron, horses, fish, and anything else I thought would be helpful. Another reason for this was to establish contact with my neighboring civilizations as I wanted to engage in diplomacy early. Within the cities I concentrated on building granaries, and barracks. After a short time I had created a large enough surplus to support a large amount of workers in three cities.

I realized early on that trading would be very beneficial for my civilization so I gathered as many important resources as possible. By this I mean gold, iron, and horses. In future trades I was able to acquire scientific advances simply through trade as many other civilizations seemed to wants lots of iron and gold. Though I realized that by supplying these resources to certain neighbors could help them invade me I also negotiated peace treaties with almost all of the civilizations I encountered. One civilization (Alexander) has been nagging me to end relations with another civilization and therefore I may either engage in warfare with that particular civilization or try to reach a peace accord.