William of Orange won a diplomatic victory in 1903, with one colony vassal and only 25% of the population - just friends with everyone, especially sweet Justinian, the handsome Sitting Bull and the Babylonian. I did not build the UN. The Portugese did that but were universally hated.
The Apostolic Palace had the biggest impact on my game. It was built by the Khmer and they attacked the Babylonian and Byzantine Empires multiple times over the course of a couple of centuries in a seesaw effort to get enough people to follow the One True Faith.
The Netherlands assumed the mantle of the Protector of the Invincibly Ignorant and after watching these wars, and taking part in a few just to shore up the victims, massed troops along the eastern border and smashed the Khmer taking the Apostolic Palace and putting it out of play forever.
History was not universally peaceful for the Dutch, however. The building of the Great Wall led to laxity in defense along the borders and the Maya were not long in taking advantage. Three wars were fought with Pacal. The first instigated by his quick strike across the borders and two more to regain the two western cities he had captured in his sneaky attack and then to finish him off.
The end of the war created a tension filled border with Ethiopia at the chokepoint in the west but it was the early Modern Era before he attacked. The Ethiopians were staunch friends of the grasping Khmer and less than impressed by the Byzantine and Babylonians. And he came in force. It was touch and go for a while but eventually the Dutch prevailed and drove hom back. No cities were lost in this conflict but it was interesting fending off his infantry, artillery and air with Grenadiers, Rifles, Cavalry and Cannon, at least in the early going but early railroads helped. Since I wanted Dikes and the Mining Company I had neglected Assembly Line and Flight and was vulnerable to the kind of assault force the Ethiopian assembled on the border.
The research path was aimed at taking advantage of the new elements available, primarily Espionage and Corporations. The Great Wall was built but the Great Spy was wasted on the Mayan. The only tech I ever stole was Drama and that only because it was the last tech the Maya learned before I wiped them out. The rest of the points were spent crippling the Maya cities during the inter-war periods.
Corporations also played a role. Mining Company was built in the Wall Street city of Amsterdam and a major effort was made to put branches in every friendly foreign town. The boost to the Dutch treasury was immense. Spies were used to change the Ethopian civics from State Property to Free Market so branches could be placed in their cities as well. Sitting Bull was my best customer, however getting to his towns was a little difficult for a while as his territory lay across Ethopian lands and there was the little matter of the war, though once it ended the Ethiope was happy enough to open borders again.
I made a valiant effort to manipulate the Great Persons into a Merchant for Sid's Sushi Company but failed to do so before the favorable UN vote came up.
I built a town in the center of the island to the east and then granted it independence, It shared the island with colonies of the Byzantines and the Bablylonians so it was one happy clam bake.
The Portugese were never much of a factor though they were the undisputed technology kings. Locked away in that little corner they never really emerged until late in the game when they sought to expand through force and sealed their doom, becoming the reviled enemy of the happy band of bandits (Netherlands, Byzantine and Babylon) on that end of the continent.
A good time was had by all, except the Maya and the Khmer and the Portugese.
The Apostolic Palace had the biggest impact on my game. It was built by the Khmer and they attacked the Babylonian and Byzantine Empires multiple times over the course of a couple of centuries in a seesaw effort to get enough people to follow the One True Faith.
The Netherlands assumed the mantle of the Protector of the Invincibly Ignorant and after watching these wars, and taking part in a few just to shore up the victims, massed troops along the eastern border and smashed the Khmer taking the Apostolic Palace and putting it out of play forever.
History was not universally peaceful for the Dutch, however. The building of the Great Wall led to laxity in defense along the borders and the Maya were not long in taking advantage. Three wars were fought with Pacal. The first instigated by his quick strike across the borders and two more to regain the two western cities he had captured in his sneaky attack and then to finish him off.
The end of the war created a tension filled border with Ethiopia at the chokepoint in the west but it was the early Modern Era before he attacked. The Ethiopians were staunch friends of the grasping Khmer and less than impressed by the Byzantine and Babylonians. And he came in force. It was touch and go for a while but eventually the Dutch prevailed and drove hom back. No cities were lost in this conflict but it was interesting fending off his infantry, artillery and air with Grenadiers, Rifles, Cavalry and Cannon, at least in the early going but early railroads helped. Since I wanted Dikes and the Mining Company I had neglected Assembly Line and Flight and was vulnerable to the kind of assault force the Ethiopian assembled on the border.
The research path was aimed at taking advantage of the new elements available, primarily Espionage and Corporations. The Great Wall was built but the Great Spy was wasted on the Mayan. The only tech I ever stole was Drama and that only because it was the last tech the Maya learned before I wiped them out. The rest of the points were spent crippling the Maya cities during the inter-war periods.
Corporations also played a role. Mining Company was built in the Wall Street city of Amsterdam and a major effort was made to put branches in every friendly foreign town. The boost to the Dutch treasury was immense. Spies were used to change the Ethopian civics from State Property to Free Market so branches could be placed in their cities as well. Sitting Bull was my best customer, however getting to his towns was a little difficult for a while as his territory lay across Ethopian lands and there was the little matter of the war, though once it ended the Ethiope was happy enough to open borders again.
I made a valiant effort to manipulate the Great Persons into a Merchant for Sid's Sushi Company but failed to do so before the favorable UN vote came up.
I built a town in the center of the island to the east and then granted it independence, It shared the island with colonies of the Byzantines and the Bablylonians so it was one happy clam bake.
The Portugese were never much of a factor though they were the undisputed technology kings. Locked away in that little corner they never really emerged until late in the game when they sought to expand through force and sealed their doom, becoming the reviled enemy of the happy band of bandits (Netherlands, Byzantine and Babylon) on that end of the continent.
A good time was had by all, except the Maya and the Khmer and the Portugese.