Almost there.....

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was in the process of overtaking the entire world. However, Frederick was delaying my progress. He continues to take over my smaller, weaker cities, but I am rapidly destroying the Egyptian civilization. Hatshepsut has no clue what hit her. My modern armor tanks are zooming through her cities, destroying them with ease. I find it to be advantageous that I am taking over major cities while losing smaller, less important ones which serve no purpose to my progress. As soon as I destroy Hatshepsut, however, those small cities that were taken over will be mine once again. Frederick is dealing with seven different kinds of smoke...and I feel that realtively soon it is going to destroy him.
A concept which I actually took notice of while playing this game is the concept of opportunity cost. While at war with these two powerful civilizations, I suddenly realized that I need to spend more time on my military if I want to end up defeating Frederick. What would help me more in the process of owning the entire world: building a courthouse to help my economy or building a modern armor tank in order to protect my cities and take over others simultaneously. If I have the protection, I will be able to hold off the enemy until they are destroyed, and then I can focus on my economy. This has to deal with the comparison of guns and butter. Thankfully,
my economy is already strong due to the attention I dedicated towards it at the beginning, so now I am able to devote much of my production towards guns. One must be very careful in the approach to this, however, for if you produce too many guns without focusing on butter, you're economy is a hell hole. However, if you focus on butter too much and do not pay attention to your military, you can kiss your civilization goodbye. From an ideal perspective, one would achieve productive efficiency (as I did), receiving as much output as possible from a certain amount of inputs/resources. I would recommend that the concept of opportunity cost be carefully watched, for it truly plays a key role in the success or failure of your civilization.

Domination

As I took my new approach to a new game of Civ IV, I wasn't entirely sure that I would succeed. In the past two games, I thought I would do well, yet was compared to the worst leader possible. I approached this game differently however. As I mentioned in my previous blog, my civilization started in the Fertile Crescent (I was also the Persian Empire). I was extremely excited about this good fortune. After having read Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel," I knew that I would be capable of expanding my territory on the East-West axis of Eurasia. Therefore, I decided to focus on establishing a successful economy and military, while also concentrating on my technological progress. Once these concepts were achieved, I dedicated much of my time to producing a significant food surplus as well as research. For a little extra entertainment, I also transported several troops to North America, and have already began to expand my territory over the entire continent. While the barbarians may have taken a good amount of marines out, I was still capable of finishing them off. Knowing that my military was already far superior to others, I declared war on the Japanese Empire, whose territory was on the border of mine. I easily destroyed them. However, once I took over their cities, I focused on having my workers improve the area. I had them construct several railroads, making transportation much more efficient. This aided in the process of improving my economy. I continued to expand my territory, easily defeating every single Empire excluding the Egyptians and Germans. While at constant war, I was still capable of focusing on my technological and economical progress simultaneously. My economy has become extremely strong and organized to the point where it seems impossible that it could become any better. Shortly after the year 2000, I was successful in winning the space race. As of now, I am in the extremely long process of discovering "Future Technology." I have no clue how long this process lasts, for I have already reached the 16th level of Future Tech. However, once I mutilated all the civilizations excluding Hatshepsut and Frederick, I began my strategical process of destroying the Egyptian civilization (for she was lower in points than Frederick). I figured that I would not be able to be defeated, for the entire map was a light blue (Persian). I own all of Asia, Australia, and North America. Therefore, I began the process of taking over Africa (where the Egyptian civilization is). I stationed over fifty modern armor tanks outside of her entire borders, preparing to succeed in my civilization domination. I declared war on her, and easily took over a main city with a barrage of tanks. I began to shift my other tanks to other cities in her territory, but I suddenly discovered that Frederick declared war on me as a result of declaring war on Hatshepsut. I am now at war with the remaining two civilizations, and Frederick is taking over several of my cities. I immediately began to shift several of my modern armor tanks towards Frederick's territory, but I fear that it is too late. He has already moved into my territory easily. I plan on destroying the Egyptian civilization first, then, once it has been destroyed, I will shift every single bit of my military power towards Frederick, hoping to defeat every single civilization in the game.

Another game completed

Once again, I was hooked to this game, completing a new civilization within three days. In my previous civilzation, I failed to win as a result of focusing on military and going to war immediately. This game, I focused on quickly establishing germs, guns, and steel. I created farms whenever I had the chance in order to create a food surplus, both for the animals (which I thought would bring germs) and for my military in the future. The food surplus would also allow me to have a sufficient amount of people in my civilization. However, I came to realize that germs do not simply come once animal husbandry is adopted. As a result, I immediately shifted my attention to strengthening my economy. It was only after my economy became organized that I began to construct a powerful military. While my military was superior to any other civilization, I took the peaceful approach. I did not take part in any single war. I now realize that this was not a good decision, for it is not truly a good way to approach the domination of this game.
I did end up winning the game, but it was a result of running out of time. I did not truly perform anything memorable as a leader, failing to win the space race due to lack of technological progress. I also did not focus on the cultural aspect of the game, failing to construct any significant structures. At the end, I was compared to the worst leader possible (and I can understand why). I have already begun to start a new game, and I will not focus on trying to adpot germs, for I now know that I'd simply fail once again. However, I will construct several farms while focusing on my economy, technology, and military. I will also dedicate more time to the progress of culture within my cities. Then, I will declare war on the weak, allowing me to slowly expand my borders. Once I take over these weaker cities, I will focus on forcing the workers to improve the cities, while also allowing them to maximize the resources of the surrounding areas. My first city has been established in the Fertile Crescent, an area of maximum productivity. I will continue to expand my territory on the East-West axis of Europe and Asia. I will post my results in the next blog, and will most likely be speaking of my civilization domination.