4th Civilization Post

I have almost beat the game! I am so excited to only have 80 turns left... although once I beat the game I have to start up another so I am not really sure why I am excited. Anyways... my subject this week is power. In my last blog I was considering ending the long war I was involved in with Alexander. I was concerned about doing this because I didn't want to be seen by the other empires as a weak target, so I thought of another way to end the war. I used power to make Alexander surrender. When any empire wanted to trade something with me I would allow the trade but only if they entered war with Alexander. I had about 5 empires along with my own pounding on Alexander, who was the smallest empire to begin with. This forced Alexander to come crawling to me to ask for an end to the war. So in the end I got what I wanted and even more. After the war was over all of the empires saw me as the strong leader and they all wanted to be on my good side, offering very generous trades. During this time I also discovered steel, oil, rifles and removable parts. Everyone wanted to trade for those goods but I kept them for myself. This allowed me to be the most powerful in terms of production as well as military. The game started moving along very fast with the new technology.
The lesson learned this week is to gain control: strategize. To keep control: keep your strategies to yourself. By out smarting the empire Alexander I was able to remain on top and profit from the war.
This type of power by numbers and forcing of surrender has been seen many times in history. A specific example is WWII. During WWII the main axis powers of Germany and Japan were out numbered by the main allied powers of the US, the Soviet Union, China and the UK. After the axis powers surrendered the US along with the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers.

3rd Civilization Post

Recently I have begun war with the empire Alexander and I am beginning to regret my decision. War is expensive and it is slowing the development of my civilization because all of my efforts are going to expanding my armies and defences. I thought that the war would be a quick war due to the fact that my empire is significantly larger than Alexander's but it has been going on for quite a while and I am getting a little bored. I keep getting notifications that the enemy has been sighted close to some of my cities and I am keeping my cities fortified to be ready for attack but it just seems like they are not ever going to come and attack. Hopefully this war will not be the demise of my civilization because I am looking forward to entering the modern age. I have lost quite a few of warriors that to the enemy but I have yet to loose an entire city. If I continue to loose money and the enemy doesn't come any closer I might be tempted to end the war. I am skeptical to end war because then the other civilizations will think that I am weak and most likely attack me.
A worldly example of an expensive war is the war in Iraq. This war has put the US in emince debt. America is in over it's head in Iraq and has put so much time and effort, not to mention money that if they were to pull out now with unfinished business all of their efforts would have been for nothing. Hopefully the war in Iraq as well as the war in my game will both end successfully.

2nd Civilization Post

This game has become addicting! I am still not quite sure what I am doing as I play but my empire is still strongly in the lead. I believe that I have seven cities right now and have discovered many new things such as technology, religion, and an alphabet. Within my cities my workers have built many things such as light houses, Stonehinge, the Pyramids, and temples. My cities are doing very well at the time being. I have made it to the Medievil Era so that is an accomplishment. I have open borders with many neighboring cities and have come accross them through my scouts as I navigate the unknown areas in search of new sites for new cities. One of the neighboring empires, Alexander, was unhappy with my decision to have open borders with one of their enemies so they gave me the option to either sever trading relationships with the enemy or go to war with them. I chose to go to war and they are on their way to my civilization right now. I keep getting the message saying that the enemy (Alexander) has been spotted close to some of my cities. I am excited for something to happen in my game, hopefully it will end well. Right now I am focusing on building the strength of my warriors and archers as well as keeping my cities fortified so they are ready for an attack. I chose the option of going to war because Alexander was the smallest city in the rank so I figured I can out number them in time of war.
Even though my empire out numbers Alexanders I still have to be alert. I learned that having the larger number of warriors does not always promise defeat. I learned this from the reading and documentary from Diamonds book. Diamond demonstrates this with the Mayan civilization being destroyed by the Spaniards. The Mayan people largely out numbered the Spaniards but the Spaniards were more skillful. The Mayan were not ready for the surprise attack that they received. This is why I am building my warrior size as well as keeping my cities fortified so they are ready for an attack and will not go down the same way the Mayans did.