War

After a while I entered into a golden age where I could afford to build many things such as coliseums, libraries, Sistine chapels, and other “great feats” which gained admiration from other civilizations. This unfortunately led to me being invaded. I quickly started producing many warriors of high caliber which practically decimated the invading army (Caesar). I also decided to use many war tactics which have been successful in history. I created an alliance with another civilization (Indian) and had them attack Caesar at the same time. The reason I did this is that I recalled the downfall of the Nazi regime where the Nazi’s were forced to fight a two or even three front battles. Their attentions were thrown too many different places and their army was spread to thin even from a defensive standpoint. The only options then available were to retreat and solidify while leaving certain cities to be conquered, or to run a huge deficit and try to acquisition more troops to support their war. This is similar to the war based economy I was forced to switch too. I had to cut spending on scientific research, create soldiers and weapons instead of cultural edifices. At the end of my defensive war I gained a few cities and some of Caesar’s workers. From an economically rational perspective where one would weigh the costs vs. benefits I feel that my war cost me a great deal and I received nothing of equitable value asides from the immediate safety of my citizens.

From my victory in this war one can extrapolate many things. I was lucky to have built my cities in places where I could produce enough food to sustain a high population growth. This allowed me to devote resources to developing technology which made food production even more efficient. It also allowed me to improve the overall infrastructure of my civilizations due to the creation of hygienic structures (i.e. aqueducts). This was important because it eliminated disease in most cases and also provided for overall better health of my citizens (generalization: healthy people are happy). This advanced technology let me create better weapons and soldiers for war but what I found more important were the trade opportunities I achieved. I was able to build harbors and boats which allowed for more trade with other civilizations and the ability to expand across seas and colonize as many cultures have done in the past.

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.