Civ4: Colonization - game blog 2 (English)

The Game Room
1

Custom game, playing John Adams (England) on Explorer (tougher than Pilgrim / Pioneer; there are 4 more higher levels of difficulty)

This time I chose England because they get faster recruitment, which should give me a quicker start.
I chose Adams (over Washington) because he gets 25% more Liberty Bells, which are key to my strategy.

Settings (same as blog 1)

Map: A New World (I chose this because it is supposed to be a single landmass, which allows easier access. N.B. As in Civ4, you sometimes get 2-3 large islands instead )

Size: Huge (Actually not that big - but does mean the Indians are more spread out and there’s more land to explore)

Climate: Temperate (haven’t tried anything else yet)

Sea level: Low (more land)

Era: Discovery (haven’t tried anything else yet)

Speed: Normal (haven’t tried anything else yet)

Options

None checked (haven’t tried anything else yet)

Victories

All checked (haven’t tried anything else yet; doubt that ‘Europe’ means anything)

1492 (turn 1/ introduction)

1 Soldier and 1 Pioneer in boat (pity - I was hoping for a Veteran Soldier or a Hardy Pioneer).

Pressing F2 brings up the European Docks, where having a Seasoned Scout makes a huge difference. (The Scout can earn money from Native Villages, Burial Grounds and Ancient Ruins.)
OK - there is a Seasoned Scout, a Carpenter and a Servant. So that’s early exploration (I’ll buy the Scout asap), good production and a Missionary.

2

Nice! Another one!
And I haven’t bought it for the simple reason that it’s not available here :frowning:

(and I’m not about to order from abroad untill the currency sorts itself out)

3

Sorry - I didn’t look at your location.

Hope your economy works out OK - apparently my local authority lost several million pounds investing in a high-rate Icelandic bank. :smack:

4

No worries, mate :wink:

(but if you want to know more, you can check out the “Iceland’s going under”-thread in MPSIMS)

Just give me a cool success-story here :slight_smile:

5

1492 - 1502

1492

Sail NW.
Landfall - with Cotton + Crab resources. (Nice change from salted meat, rum and weevily biscuits :eek:)
No sign of locals…

1493

Found Jamestown.
Adjacent Ancient Ruin yields treasure (my King will ‘Galleon’ it home for me).
Start Dock. Colonists Fishing and in Town Hall.

1494

Meet Incas (usually stroppy, but rich).
Typically they refuse a Defensive Pact. Do they think I’m Spanish? :stuck_out_tongue:

1495 - 1500

Not much happens…

1501

Meet Simon Bolivar (who is Spanish!) Exchange World Maps - apparently he has no Settlement yet.

1502

Have brought Scout over. Let the money roll in…

6

1503 - 1512

1503

Hire Carpenter.

1504

Visit Machu Picchu. Ore miners; 706gp; trade for Guns*.

1505

No other Native Villages in sight. Good for expansion: bad for revenue.

1506 - 1507

Not much happens…

1508

Dock finished - start Printing Press.
Hire Pedro Alvares Cabral (quicker journey to Europe).

1509

Buy Guns for trading.
Ancient Map reveals scattered Native Villages.

1510 - 1511

Not much happens…

1512

Meet Apache - again no Defensive Pact. :frowning:
Offer Guns* trade - bought for 280gp; sold for 823gp. :slight_smile:
Then Incas sold 32 Silver (worth 608gp) for 107gp. :smiley:
This is an important part of the game!

7

1513 - 1522

1513

Enter Tichiog. Farmers; give map; want Guns.

1514 - 1516

Quiet.

1517

Meet Sioux. No Defensive Pact here either. (No surprise - some tribes e.g. Arawak + Sioux usually refuse, whilst Cherokee usually friendly.)
Printing Press finished - start Lumber Mill.

1518

Enter Isanti. Scouts; 956gp :cool: ; want Rum. (I usually make profits out of Horses, Tools + Guns if they want them. Rum, Cloth etc expensive to buy at this stage…)

1519

Decline Juan Ponce de Leon (better treasure from Ruins).
Accept Peter Minuit - 25% cheaper European Units. :smiley: (Trading with Natives undoubtedly gave me the Trading Points I needed for him.)
New Colonist Scout visits Ollantaytambo. Cotton Planters; XP given; Horses.

1520

Buy Fisherman (150gp off thanks to Minuit) and Guns for trading.
Promote Colonist Scout to Veteran 1 and Surgeon 1 (useful for War of Independence). Send Servant to learn Cotton Planting.

1521

Nothing.

1522

Colonist Scout offends Natives entering Burial Ground. They attack - he wins!
Fisherman in place, so Jamestown growing well.

8

1523 - 1532

1523

Sell Inca Guns for 1169gp profit. Buy 21 Silver for 86gp :wink: and 48 Ore for 67gp.
What nice people! :slight_smile:

1524

Quiet.

1525

Servant trained as Cotton Planter. Consider second Settlement site (near Corn Resource.)

1526

Still quiet.

1527

Pickup Carpenter and Cannon (best defender) from Docks cheaply. Thanks, Minuit!
King raises taxes to 1%.
Enter Vicas. Tobacco Planter; 140gp; Guns

1528

Still quiet. (The map is sparsely populated, both with Natives and Resources.)

1529

Meet Tupi - usually OK and they do indeed agree Defensive Pact.
Apart from Bolivar unit, still no sign of other Europeans.
Cannon fortified in Jamestown. Colonist sets off to found second Settlement.

1530

Meet Dutch. Open Borders? Yes. Exchange World Maps? Yes. Give me 20gp as ‘friend’? Yes.
Jolly decent chaps. :wink:

1531

Buy second Cannon and Elder Statesman (for Schooling).

1532

Reject Gonzalo Jiminez de Quesada (Treasure locations).
Build Plymouth, which starts generating Religion Points (for Missionaries and Servants).

9

1533 - 1542

1533

Enter Huamanga. Fur Trapper; 94gp; Guns.
Seasoned Scout gets XP from Ruins - promote him to Explorer 1 + 2.
Elder Statesman arrives, freeing a Colonist to found third Settlement.

1534

Find Great Hiwasee (Cherokee). Defensive Pact with them.

1535

Accept Vasco Nunez de Balboa (+25% defence in all Settlements). Perhaps he isn’t the best Founding Father - but it feels right. :eek:
Great Hiwasee. Fur Trapper; map; Guns. XP from nearby Ruins.

1536

Enter Cuzco. Farmer; 173gp; Rum.
Cannon fortifies in Plymouth.

1537

Enter Kiuwah. Farmer; 1608gp treasure train :); Guns

1538

Incas gift 28 Ore. Why are they being nice? :dubious:
King demands 380gp. Nope, I already pay taxes.
Founded Roanoke near Banana in Jungle. (N.B. This Resource is detroyed if the Jungle is cleared. Therefore the best way to use it is to put a Farmer on it - since Farmers get an extra bonus of +2 Food from Bananas.)
Convert criminal to Missionary and send to Farming Village.

1539

Dutch offer World Mao exchange. Agreed. Ask them for 30gp. Refused.
Arrive at Chota.

1540

Enter Chota. Tobacco Planter; 2264gp :smiley: ; Guns.
266gp from Ancient ruin.
Enter Corihuayrachina. Tobacco Planter; map ; Tools.

1541

Buy Cannon for Roanoke. Decline John Rolfe (+25% Tobacco). King raises taxes to 3%.
First Wagon train takes Horses to trade.

1542

Enter Tiwanaku. Farmers; 530gp treasure train; Rum. Scout gets XP from Burial Grounds.
Trade with Ollantaytambo. 720 gp profit on Horses; 47 Tobacco as a gift. :smiley: Buy Cotton at average price to celebrate. Still no Defensive Pact on offer, though. Incas - can’t live with 'em, can’t live without 'em. :rolleyes:

10

1543 - 1552

1543

Discover treasure train worth 988gp (=494gp after paying King for transport). 25 years to reach Port though. :frowning:

1544

Quiet

1545

Build Warehouse. Start on Newspaper.
Decline Giovannida Verrazano (free Caravel). (I don’t have much trading to do)
Buy Guns (for trading) and Hardy Pioneer.
67gp from Ancient Ruin.

1546

Decline Lord Baltimore (increase Cross production by tax rate). Although he and the previous guy are prefectly acceptable, I’m holding out for Religious Founding Fathers who bring Servants and Missionaries…
Having said that, immediately John Winthrop turns up (1 extra Cross per Settlement) - he’s too good to miss!

1547

Mission in Tichiog (Farmers).
Farm Corn Resource.
Currently shipping mainly Cotton and Ore back to Europe.

1548

Fortify Cannon in Roanoke near Banana in Jungle.
Trade in Ollytaytambo - as usual good profit! :slight_smile:
King raises taxes to 8%. :frowning:

1549

Quiet.

1550

Enter Ihanktowan. Cotton Planter; 160gp ; Guns.

1551

Accept Bartomedala Casas (+50% on Mission conversions)

1552

Wagon Train completed in Roanoke.
Send out new Colonist to found Settlement (my 4th) near Tobacco Resource.
Weaver arrives from Europe. Decide to make cloth.
Enter Teehach. Tobacco Planter; xp for Scout ; Rum.

11

Excellent game, so far. Sad to say that I’m stuck at work and can’t continue my own game, but this is a decent substitute.

(This must be what those guys who read the chess columns in the papers feel like :p)

12

glee, what’s your process for taking notes? Do you keep notepad open and switch out every turn? I’m thinking about doing one of these threads to show off my lack of strategic thinking. :stuck_out_tongue: However, I don’t know that I’d have the patience.

13

Most kind.

Actually I have written a chess column or two in my time…:slight_smile:

14

Yup, notepad open and make notes every turn.
Otherwise I find I’ve got the year wrong or forget exactly what happened.

I estimate it takes about twice as long to finish the game - and you have to concentrate harder because of the incessant interruptions. :eek:

As the innuendo bloke said "It’s harder than it looks! :wink: "

15

1553 - 1562

1553

Promote Seasoned Scout to Surgeon 1 (can’t have too many Healers in the War :wink: ). More XP from Burial Ground.
Other Scout gets map from Ruins.

1554

In Europe, pickup Tools (mainly for buildings) and Farmer.
Both Scouts now have Surgeon 2. :cool:
Enter Chichiil. Cotton Planter; map ; Horses.

1555 - 1556

Quiet

1557

Enter Tiiis. Fishermen; 134gp ; Guns

1558

Buy Farmer from Docks

1559

King raises taxes to 12%
Enter Taubute. Scouts; 67gp ; Guns.
Colonist Scout trained as Seasoned Scout!

1560

Farmer joins Roanoke

1561

Founded Barbados - set to Religion Points

1562

Decline Jan de Witt (less Tools for buildings)
Farmer joins Plymouth

16

1563 - 1572

1563

Treasure train (1040gp) from Ruins

1564

Native converts in Tichiliog (Farming) - tell him to train there
King demands 3590gp :eek::smack: - refuse (You know … I think the more money you have, the more likely the King is to demand some of it…)
Food shortage in Jamestown; Ore Miner turns his hand to fishing

1565

Offered Juan de Bermudez (+1 boat movement)
Decline (still hoping for Religious types with ‘followers’)
Treasure train arrives in port - decide not to cash it yet since King may get envious and greedy…

1566

Turn down Adam Smith (Factories) - I never build 'em :wink:
Accept Pocohontas (better Native relations)
Buy Fisherman from Docks (where else would they be? :smiley: ) plus it uses up money + no Native villages nearby train Fishermen
Meet Iroquois - but no Defensive Pact

1567

Finish Schoolhouse in Jamestown + start training Elder Statesmen
Building Stockade (sadly Hernan Cortes ‘supplier of Stockades to European Royalty’ has already been nobbled by another European Power)
Enter Guyohkohnyon. Farmers; 374gp ; Horses.
Ancient Ruin yields 180gp
Now holding off cashing in two treasure trains - already have 4383gp, which is too tempting for King. Must spend money!

1568

King raises taxes to 13%
Farmer completes training in Tichiog - send him to Roanoke to harvest Bananas
Fisherman arrives in Jamestown. Ore Miner happily reverts to his Speciality
Bit short on Wood (over-enthusiastic Carpenters :slight_smile: ) Decide to spend spare cash on Lumberjack and another Elder Statesman

1569

Enter Sy Aru. Farmers; 250gp ; Rum.
Buy Caravel, Lumberjack and Elder Statesman - 1823gp left

1570

Finish Stockade - start Fort
Buy Tools (for trading) and Fisherman
Enter Oneyotekaone. Fishermen; 920gp ; Horses.

1571

Enter Tocatins. Farmers; 256gp ; Cigars.
Send Colonist to train as Farmer
Enter Ancient Ruins expectantly - just a Map

1572

Ha! Juan de Sepulveda brings two Natives with him - accepted warmly
Reroute Colonist (Natives can benefit more from training, so send them to Cuzco for Farming lessons)

17

I can believe that. I’d probably manage to do that for the first couple of turns*, but then it would just slip my mind and all of a sudden I’m crushed under the foot of oppression with my last entry being: “trained fisherman in Vera Cruz”.

But thank you **Glee **for making me want this game even more :stuck_out_tongue:

*That is, if I had the bloody game :frowning:

18

Worm,

I’m glad you enjoy my blog.
‘Absence of Colonization makes the gamer’s heart grow fonder’ :wink:

Glee

19

1573 - 1582

1573

Treasure train (1160gp) from Ancient Ruins

1574

Jesuit Missionary on Docks

1575

King raises taxes to 17% (irritatingly, this affects the final score as well)
I always accept those, otherwise you can’t export something specific to Europe … but if that something is Horses, Tools or Guns, why don’t I refuse? :confused: I’m always going to need those three over here (and presumably I can sell them to Natives if desperate)
Sell World Map to Bolivar for 270gp :cool:
Sell identical World Map to van der Donck for 30gp plus his World Map; maybe I should give up Colonizing and become a used-car salesman?! :wink:
Trade Tools in Tichiog, then pick up 14 free Furs for being a ‘friend’ - nice little earner! Definitely have a future in sales. :slight_smile:

1576

Two Converted Natives arrive in Cuzco village to train as Farmers (can’t have too many Farmers!)
Enter Onodowahagh. Scouts; 936gp ; Cigars.
Complete Jamestown Fort and commence Armory
Map ‘filled’ with treasure trains all heading for Jamestown - a glorious sight!

1577

Student qualifies as Elder Statesmen - 500gp well spent in my opinion
Cultural expansion (Liberty Bells rule, OK) means Incas yield Ollantaytambo village peacefully. Still no Defence Pact though…
Farmer joins Roanoke

1578

King increases his Forces (I try not to be intimidated :wink: )
John Smith offers to join (cheaper native land) - decline. (I usually only build about 4 Settlements - and I’ve already done that here)
Moving 100 Guns + Horses to each inland Settlement - ready to form Dragoons in each later

1579

Delighted to welcome Alexander Hamilton (3 Hammers in every Settlement :smiley: ) - whether building or increasing Religion Points, he is the business…
One Scout gets XP from Burial Ground - then the other discovers 890gp from treasure train

1580

Another home-schooled Elder Statesmen - much more satisfying than buying them (and cheaper!)
Meet French: Open Borders OK; exchange World Maps OK; 30gp for ‘friend’ OK… magnifique :wink:
Send Jesuit Missionary to Cuzco where Dutch already have a Mission - let’s see if he can oust them…

1581

Enter Boriken. Trappers; 304gp ; Horses.
Turn down Francisco Pizzero (some promotions or other) - I l always promote to Veteran
Farmer qualifies from Cuzco - send him to Barbados where the nearby river gives useful bonuses
156gp from Ancient Ruin

1582

300gp from Burial Grounds

20

1583 - 1592

1583

Enter Haiti. Farmers; XP ; Horses.

1584

Welcome to Ben Franklin (Liberty Bells :slight_smile: )
King raises taxes by 3% … I was going to refuse and not sell Guns - but probably **I can’t buy Guns either **- which is very bad. Pay up
342gp from Burial Ground
Enter Parana. Tobacco Planter; Map ; Guns.
Map from Ancient Ruin
My Jesuit Missionary does cause Natives to renounce Dutch Mission. Dutch then refuse to give me money (perhaps these events are connected…)

1585

Tobacconist on Docks
Sell World Map to Bolivar for 270gp :cool:
Convert Native in Tichiog, start him training as Farmer
4 treasure trains waiting in Jamestown. I thought this was the best way to ‘bank’ money without the King demanding a share of it - but now I’m woried that the King may be charging tax rate on top of the 50% Galleon fee…

1586

Reject William Brewster (cheaper Native land)
Incas give me 28 ore :slight_smile:
Farmer reaches Barbados

1587

154gp from Burial Ground

1588

Map from Ancient Ruin

1589

Decline Jacques Marquette (improves Scout)
Accept Thomas Hooker (3 missionaries)
King raises taxes (now 24%)
Create my first Dragoon (makes room for more Guns+Horses to be stored)

1590

Enter Kanienkahana. Sugar Planter; 152gp ; Guns.

1591

Buy Veteran Soldier+50 Horses (good to have a little extra ooomph in attack)
Apache donate 22 Sugar :slight_smile: Inca donate 25 Ore :smiley:
‘Cash in’ a couple of treasure trains - must have 500gp cash in hand to pay for graduation of Elder Statesman

1592

Accept Diego Velasquez de Cuellar with his 3 Indentured Servants (I’ll give them all Native training, then convert them to Dragoons)
Trade Tools with Inca, then pickup Silver cheap (they can spare it!)