[SPOILERS] Twinkletoes - Deutschland, Deutschland über alles!

[Twinkletoes89]

I thought I'd have a slightly different title as I'm quirky!

Just so that we avoid any spoilers from absent-minded clicks, here is my leader! Just because there will be no spoilers doesn't mean that they can't learn something ;-)



[SIZE="3"]A brief history of Otto von Bismarck[/SIZE]

Otto Fürst von Bismarck, the architect of German unification and the arbiter of European politics during the second half of the 19th century, also known as the "Iron Chancellor", was the founder and first chancellor of the German Empire, and through his diplomatic skills, he managed to maintain the peace in Europe for a generation.

Early Life and Career

Otto von Bismarck was born on 1 April 1815 at Schönhausen in Brandenburg, Prussia. His father, Ferdinand von Bismarck-Schönhausen, was of the old Prussian nobility. His mother, Wilhelmine Mencken, from the upper bourgeoisie. He studied law at the University of Göttingen in Hanover, and obtained his degree in 1837. In 1847, he married Johanna von Puttkammer. During the revolutions of 1848, Bismarck favored suppression of revolt and opposed any concessions to the liberals, staying loyal to the monarchy. In 1849, he was elected to the Prussian Chamber of Deputies (the lower chamber of the Prussian Diet). In 1851, Frederick William IV appointed Bismarck as the Prussian representative to the federal Diet in Frankfurt. In 1859, Bismarck was sent to Russia as Prussian ambassador to St. Petersburg, and in May 1862, he moved to Paris as ambassador to the court of Napoleon III. Soon after he returned to Berlin, and on 22 September 1862, Bismarck became minister president and foreign minister for the Prussian king William I (Wilhelm I).

German Unification

After a series of victorious wars against Denmark over Schleswig-holstein in 1864, and against Austria in 1866, the North German Confederation (Norddeustcher Bund) was formed in 1867 under Prussian control. Then in 1870, following the victorious conclusion of the Franco-Prussian war, Germany succeeded in obtaining Alsace and Lorraine. The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles on 18 January 1871 by King William I as Emperor, and Bismarck was elevated to prince (Fürst) and imperial chancellor (Reichskanzler).

Imperial Chancellor

As German chancellor, Bismarck directed his foreign policy at maintaining and strengthening the power of the German Empire. In order to prevent a war of revenge, Bismarck decided now to isolate France diplomatically. In 1873, he formed the Three Emperors' League (Dreikaiserbund) with Russia and Austria-Hungary. But rivalry in the Balkans provoked the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, and Bismarck had to mediate at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, successfully maintaining the peace. Increasing Russian hostility brought about the the Dual Alliance with Austria (1879), and then the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882. Bismarck, however, sought to tie Russia to this alliance by reviving the Three Emperors' League (1881-87) through the Reinsurance Treaty (1887-90). He also gained British cooperation.
Domestically, Bismarck extended the powers of the imperial government, adopted laissez-faire economic policies, fought the political power of the Roman Catholic church in the Kulturkampf, and pioneered social welfare measures.
After the death of William I in 1888, differences between William II, provoked Bismarck's resignation on 18 March 1890. He devoted his last days writing his memoirs. Bismarck died in Friedrichsruh on 30 July 1898 at the age of 83.

(Text taken from http://www.kbismarck.com/ottovonbismarck.html)

Proper posts coming up.

[Twinkletoes89]

[SIZE="2"]Civ Stuff[/SIZE]






[SIZE="2"]Game Details[/SIZE]

Map

-Highlands Map
-Standard/Small map (TBD)
-Balance Resources checked
-Possibly with seas on the map? Up to the map maker...

Settings

-No Tech Trading
-Quick Speed
-Raging Barbs
-Noble/Prince difficulty (TBD)
-No Huts
-No Random Events
-No Vassal States
-Restricted Leaders

Other game rules

-No Mods
-No Spies
-No Fin/Phi leaders
-Map trading allowed before paper
-Contact with X is allowed once you have either met X, or met another civ that has met X

[Kyan]

Best of luck pal!

[Twinkletoes89]

Cheers Ky! I'm looking forward to it.

Now, just to complete my pre-game posts (at least for now), let me explain why I have chosen Bismarck of Germany as my leader, and discuss my early thoughts on my rivals.

[SIZE="3"]Why Bismarck?[/SIZE]

The two main factors for his selection were the very attractive traits which Bismarck possesses, and the starting techs I will gain, which I think will be critical to starting the game strongly.

Expansive gives me cheap granaries and quicker workers which will be essential for early growth alongside the extra health for each city. This will also mean that for defence purposes I will be able to whip more (I believe).

I like the Industrious trait, especially when there are plenty of hills to go around (which there should be on this map!) Hopefully the cheap forges will allow me to get some big production centres going quickly to cope with the military demands of Raging Barbs and any early intra-civ aggression. Also, if I can pinch some valuable early wonders that would be nice. I don't think they will fall as early in these games as we will have to build a lot more early military than usual to cope with barbs.

The fact that I start with Hunting and Mining gives me only one tech to Archery/Bronze Working for adequate early defence from barbs. As there is going to be 'Balanced resources', I *should* end up with some copper nearby. It also means I can work mines when I get a worker so production can get up to speed early.

Now I may never get a chance to use them, but I do like the late-game UU and UB of Germany which could be critical should I be in a late game race to the finish.


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[SIZE="3"]My Rivals[/SIZE]

Bobchillingworth - Augustus of Rome - Ind/Imp

UU - Praetorians (Sword) | UB - Forum (Market) | Techs: Fishing/Mining

Another Industrious fan! If he can get his production going, his Praets are going to be troublesome for whoever is near him! Imperialistic is good for quick settlers, which is a 50/50 strategy I think as quick expansion could easily be curtailed by some string barb activity. Would be happy if he is far away from me.

scooter - Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia - Cre/Org

UU - Oromos (Musket) | UB - Stele (Monument) | Techs: Hunting/Mining

Early strong techer. Cheap libraries boosting beakers with reduced upkeep and cheap courthouses suggests he is looking to maximise gold as much as possible without the boost of a financial trait. Would be an early culture leader as well and may well be leaning on that as best hope for victory.

Sleeping Moogle - Brennus of Celtia - Cha/Spi

UU - Gallic Warrior (Sword) | UB - Dun (Wall) | Techs: Hunting/Mysticism

Not too sure what to make of this one. Obviously looking for some highly promoted units utilising the Raging Barbs, which should make their defences strong and hard to take down. The UB is a very canny one for this map, with Guerrila 1 promotions for all units which will make them stronger in the hilly environment. If their cities are on a hill, I wouldn't like to take them on unless I had a good tech advantage. Clashing against Rome would just be lovely for everyone else as it has a stalemate written all over it. Only civ with Mysticism as a starting tech which means that an early religion could be up for grabs and a certainty if they go for it!

timmy827 - Suryavarman of Khmer - Cre/Exp

UU - Ballista Elephant (War Elephant) | UB - Baray (Aqueduct) | Techs: Hunting/Mining

Well thankfully this UU is never going to see the light of day in this game! Big cities ahoy if they have plenty of food sources. Cheap libraries again to boost research with cheap granaries and a food-boosting UB to try and boost tech rate. The problem is how strong they will be if the terrain is as harsh as it could possibly be. Common starting techs which are probably best combo for this game.

Sandover - Hatshepsut of Egypt - Cre/Spi

UU - War Chariot (Chariot) | UB - Obelisk (Monument) | Techs: Agri/Wheel

Horses nearby and they could be trouble early doors! Library focus again which is logical but i'm not sure how good they will be on defence as I don't think the traits are the strongest out there. If this was a map with few hills then I think they would be a lot stronger and have the potential to be a quick tech leader. Balanced Resources could negate a chariot rush if copper is nearby for everyone, or even just their neighbours. They are at a big disadvantage to most of us as he has FOUR techs to research before they can have axemen and archers or 2 techs for one of them.

I could be wrong about all this but these are my initial thoughts.

Bring on the game!!

[Twinkletoes89]

Well without further ado, here is my start position.



I moved my scout SW-SW onto the forested plains hill and this is what I saw.



A double river valley with unirrigated corn, grassland deer and silver. A very nice spot, but there are plenty of peaks around too so I have to see if I can get better than my original start.

This left me with a choice, do I move my settler or not?

My opinion is that moving my settler 1W onto the second grassland hill is a better move than staying put.

Here is a rudimentary dotmap to illustrate my point.



If I stay on the spot (orange), I grab all three resources, but I end up with 4 peaks inside the dotmap.

If I move 1W to blue, I keep all the resources and bring the peak count down to 3. Alongside that, I incorporate THREE plains hills into the dotmap for extra production which will be very nice. The 5 riverside grassland tiles stay in the dotmap too so I think this has the makings of a lovely capital!

[Twinkletoes89]

Well one turn gone and I'm already concocting an early plan.

What I am thinking is using my Industrious trait to make a concerted push for the Oracle as early as is feasible and aim to pinch Metal Casting. With the three plains hills which will be in my bfc by the time I get MC, a forge would be a big production boost, and with the deer and corn plus Expansive for lots of health combined with silver for happiness, I *should* be able to run a couple of engineer specialists and target either The Pyramids/Hanging Gardens for a rush.

This is the early tech path I am envisaging.

BW>Agriculture/Fishing>Wheel>Pottery>Mysticism>Meditation>Priesthood

Hopefully BW will give me a close source of copper in case I need some strong defence, and I think going for pottery before chasing religious techs is essential as the cottages will boost my research to make them quicker.

The reasons why I am considering Fishing instead of Agriculure is two-fold. Firstly, it is cheaper which will help me through the techs to Priesthood quicker. Secondly it means I can work the 2F,2C tile to the NE of my capital which I think will benefit me more in tech rate than Agriculture in the short term.

The major problem to reaching the Oracle is the amount of techs I need to go through, as I believe my capital will be able to build it quickly.

Moving the capital also loses me one turn of research on everyone bar Sury, so speed is important. The only good thing is that it is NTT so I *should* have more time to get there than when there is some Tech trading.

I also may have to slip Archery in to defend against raging barbs if there is no copper nearby, but I shall amend my strategy only when I know that it is the case.

Hope you lurkers enjoy these musings!

[darrelljs]

Wow, I didn't expect you to give up those two grassland forest Fur tiles . Heh-heh...just kidding.

Are you buy any chance German, and if so did that influence your civ choice?

Darrell

[Twinkletoes89]

Had me worried for a second there!

I am actually English and I just like the traits Bismarck comes with and thought I'd try something quirky with a late game UU and UB. Wildly optimistic maybe!

[Twinkletoes89]

Wow scooter's post count is much too great! I should have split up my summaries into many more posts!!!

/shamelessspam

[Twinkletoes89]

Well as you can see, turn two has come around and here are the results.

The [SIZE="4"]BIG[/SIZE] news

My first city was founded as planned! Cookie for first one to guess the less than subtle naming theme!



Inside Cha Cha Cha



Now you will see that I have chosen to work the 1,1,2 Silver tile instead of the 3,0,0 corn tile. This is because it means I can research Bronze Working in one less turn and build a warrior in half the time - two good advantages in my book!

Scouting Results

Another cookie on offer for this naming theme - a bigger one as there are a couple of possibles!

Nothing interesting was found at all!



Enjoy