Butchr, Bakr, Candlestick Makr

[Robber Baron]

Over in Civfanatics, Charis started a Succession Game with a fascinating premise that I've lifted and adapted to try playing the Arabs. It's been a blast, and it's taught me a lot about this civ and about culture-building as a strategic pillar of expansion.

As originally formulated by Charis (link: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showth...threadid=39225 ), the concept is an Abu Bakr hell-bent ... no, that's definitely not the term ... ahem, heaven -bent on cultural conquest.

Charis' playing parameters were pretty strict. (There is one God, and Charis is his prophet! )
My version of the groundrules ran as follows:
1) Serving the Glory of Allah, Part I: first building in any city founded or seized must be a temple (make that a mosque). No exceptions. Once theology has been researched, all cities with populations over 3 must immediately build a cathedral (make that, umm, a bigger mosque). No exceptions. Any captured city with a population over 3 upon conquest must build bigger mosque after building the smaller one.
2) Jihad: any civ destroying a mosque (i.e., razing one of our cities) has offended God, and becomes the subject of a jihad. No peace. Our goal is conversion, however: enemy capitals cannot be razed.
3) Mecca: the capital is sacred, and cannot be relocated. At least one citizen (i.e., worker) grown in Mecca must (as soon as practicably possible) be folded into the population of each and every conquered city. (My own version of the haj principle. )
4) Holy Land As soon as FP becomes a build option, it must be built -- in a foreign capital if at all necessary. Any available leader must rush the palace there, despite danger of flipping, as soon as mosques are built. (Conversion must be a weapon: we will fight with the sword and the mosque.)
4) Serving the Glory of Allah, Part II: The religious wonders receive highest strategic priority. Ultimate goal is either domination or cultural win.

I played on a standard map, Emporer level.


The early going went very well. I got a great start, on a river with lush land nearby. God smiled on his chosen people. Mecca set to building a temple to give thanks, and my starting scout (prophet) set out to explore the land. He found a barbarian village and converted a chosen few to the glory of Allah (popped a settler). Another party of settlers from Mecca founded our third city, Damascus, on the coast. This city began pre-building for Great Wonders.
We missed Oracle (not a particularly good wonder, of course, but religious, so we had to bid for it), and converted to the Colossus. Meanwhile, we encountered Ottomons, English, Celts and Iroquois to our south.
The pace of expansion redoubled when we finished the Colossus and triggered a Golden Age.
I hadn't realized this would happen, and was disappointed to get the GA in despotism, with a handful of cities on the map.

On the other hand, we had been following the epxress will of God, and if this was his command ....

(to be continued ...)

[Robber Baron]

Through the middle stages of the game, we continued to spread the good word. On backs of our horsemen, that is, taking out the English and then the Ottomans. Built the Forbidden Palace in Istanbul (how appropriate!), which gave me a perfect, central radius of influence continentally. (Mecca was located well to the north. God works in mysterious ways.)
Meanwhile, Damascus turned into a truly righteous wonder building factory: after Colossus, building Great Library, Sistine's, Copernicus, ...

My keshiks made fearsome holy warriors. [edit: ansars! doh!]

On the other hand, the Iroquois heathen managed to carve out a strong place for themselves across the southern band of our continent -- partly because I had allied with them to weaken first the English, then the Ottomans, and partly (I assume) because the AI managed to use its mounted warrior/early golden age to establish a firm grip ahold of good territory.
(Anybody else finding that the Irqs seem to fare better in PTW than they did in vanilla Civ III?) I suffered them to live and to worship in idolatry, confident they would eventually see the light.

Perhaps I grew too confident. For when I pierced the fog of the high seas (suicide galleys powered by a Great Lighthouse, seized from the English) and found the Persians, gaining command of their continent, I traded a few techs, including Lit. That I regret, for the infidel Xerxes built himself into a major power on his side of the world, even without contact (which I guarded jealously, of course). (Probably just me adapting from Monarch to Emporer level play. On monarch, I'm sure I could have outresearched and outbuilt him.)

[Robber Baron]

Now we're in the modern era. The Great Satan Persia has actually outpace me culturally. Sigh. I suppose I will have to send over my holy warriors to, um, awaken people there to the glory of God.

Here's a screenshot of the Holy Land:

[Robber Baron]

Gaze upon the work of the Lord, in Dasmascus:

[Robber Baron]

Here's the wide world, awaiting the word of Allah:

[punkbass2000]

ToE? Heresy!

[Charis]

Punkbass - now that's a in-character restriction I didn't consider

That Mecca rule is "reverse" Haj and should be quite a detterrent to ICS, if you have to crank out 78 workers out of Mecca over the course of the game!

Good luck Robber Barron! I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out, as your situation seems pretty similar to our game. Although... I'm rather surprised that Persia is AHEAD of you culturally! (Not as surprised as if *Rome* were ahead of you! :P )

Charis

PS in EDIT - Great threat name

[Robber Baron]

Originally posted by Charis
Although... I'm rather surprised that Persia is AHEAD of you culturally! (Not as surprised as if *Rome* were ahead of you! :P )

I know. I was surprised too. Probably because either I have not built with maximum efficiency, or because I have neglected colusseums altogether, and started libraries late. (I figured my barracks were teaching my people what they needed to know of Allah's will! )
And I'm kicking myself for dealing literature to Persia. Who knows what kind of headstart that gave him on building his libraries.
Basically, he had a lot of land to fill more or less uncontested, and he seems to have done it with typical Persian prowess.

[Robber Baron]

Some mid-game observations:
Great Wonders are, well great, but ... they may have helped to lull me, here, into a sense that I was winning handily. The Persians, working largely in isolation and landing few wonders, have nevertheless amassed an impressive cultural score, and acheived tech parity through the mid-industrial era (though now they're falling behind again). I have not been spying on ... um, investigating their cities systematically, but I assume their normal cultural builds (temples, libraries, colosseums, cathedrals, universities...) have given them their (narrow) lead.
My game parameters had me torn, in the late-ancient/early medeival era, between warfare and library/colosseum building (crusading, and worshipping). Probably too much straddling, on my part. If I had wanted to go for the cultural win, I should have gone all out.
It's still in reach, of course. I may have to do a little burning in the Persian homeland, though, to acheive it.

The rigorous building of mosques and mega-mosques, on the other hand, definitely made me a cultural power to be reckoned with. It also accelerated my conquest. No English or Ottomon cities flipped to me -- perhaps because of my location. But I took large cities, held them with relatively modest garrisons, in many cases (2-3 wounded beseigers, typically), starved them a bit thinner, and never had any flip back. Since my crusades were horse-driven (horsemen, then ansars), I was able to press my attacks confidently, and defend against counterattacks with a smaller mobile force patrolling front-line captured cities.
Meanwhile, my cities in the holy land were kept happy and prolific without needing to worry all that much about luxuries and (soon) with minimal use of the luxury slider.
Eventually, of course, territorial expansion brought plentiful luxuries into my hands. But I certainly never had to worry about trading away advantages to other civs to obtain extra luxury. I have therefore been able to bargain from a position of strength. (Although, of course, lux trades often confer diplomatic benefits on both parties.)
I am also convinced the Iroquois (normally aggressive, in my experience) have been especially agreeable allies (before I seized some of their cities, at any rate) partly because they were impressed or cowed by my cultural strength (as well as my military strength).

And, roleplaying the variants has definitely heightened my the game experience.

[solodar]

Originally posted by Robber Baron If I had wanted to go for the cultural win, I should have gone all out.
It's still in reach, of course. I may have to do a little burning in the Persian homeland, though, to acheive it.

Any shot at getting the 20K-culture-in-a-city win in Damascus? You've got a bunch of culture producing wonders there as well as (I'm sure) the ordinary improvements...

Not sure if that would fit your motif or not...

solodar

PS brain-fritz check -- it is 20K, right?

[Robber Baron]

Originally posted by solodar

Any shot at getting the 20K-culture-in-a-city win in Damascus? ...

Actually, yeah, that's more or less how I've decided to play this thing out. See if Damascus can get to 20K before Persia can launch the spaceship. I will join the space race, and know how to win it. But I really wanted a cultural win (something I've never pulled off before at upper levels of play).
I could also launch a major, modern era continental invasion, too. But that endgame seems more predictable.
Racing my culture vs. Persian launch should give the game some spice. Let the infidels scurry about, trying to reach the stars. My people have decided to aim higher: for heaven itself!

edit: mind you, if the Persian space program gets too well advanced, well I might just have to punish Xerxes for his blasphemy.

[Jaybe]

Don't forget that for a Cultural Win, no one else can have HALF (Impressed by) your culture.

[DaveMcW]

You can still win by city culture no matter how much national culture you have.