The Story of Celtic Baseball - OOTP Meets Civilization IV

[Tyke]

OK, OK, I'll wait! KUTG

[Difar]

This is so very cool.

So... when you build your colosseum(s) do the games begin?
Got's to have one in each city to play ball.
Cities with a Temple a minor leagues. Cathedral's/Academy's/Mandir's etc. are Major's.

Can't wait to see what comes next. Sweet.

[Jeff1787]

I think Civilization is a great game so you have my attention!!

[sbrylski]

It is now the year of 675 BCE, and it appears we have made contact with every organized civilization on the local landmass. We have made official contact with the Romans, and in addition to the Greeks, Indians, and Ethiopians we met earlier, we encountered Hatshepsut of the Egyptians, Qin Shi Huang of the Chinese, and Isabella of the Spanish, with the latter in surprising proximity.

From L to R - Julius Caesar of the Romans, Hatshepsut of the Egyptians, Qin Shi Huang of the Chinese, and Isabella of the Spanish

Though I can say with a fair level of confidence that Ethiopia and China lie to our far northwest, and Egypt to our far northeast, our exploration efforts have been quite dismal. We were able to send fishing boats once around the sea that separates us from the city of Rome, however. As it turns out, we share this sea with another civilization, the Spanish. I had been hoping the glimpses of land to the south we had known about in the past would have been unoccupied for easy settlement in the future. This will not be the case.

The Eastern Sea

Barcelona has a huge quantity of sugars, but the Spanish haven't even started to clear the jungle in order to build plantations.

The Spanish are likely to be an important part of our story, as Buddhism, their state religion, has gained a strong foothold on our side of the sea. It had spread to our two southern coastal cities well before 700 BCE, but in that year I, as leader of the Celts, decreed we as a nation would endorse Buddhism as our state religion as well. The citizens of Camulodunon and Ratae largely still worship pagan gods (the former is even named after Camulos, the god of war), and are essentially ignoring the directive. However, the people of Bibracte and Durnovaria are quite happy about it, as well as Isabella. When asked of her opinion of our nation, she remarked, "We care for our brothers and sisters of the faith." She should care, as the holy city of Buddhism is presumably her capital city, surely located in the black, unexplored territory in the bottom right of the above map. Spain stands to make a pretty penny if their religion becomes powerful enough.

Julius Caesar is also Buddhist, though my foreign explorers tell me it is only celebrated in their capital. The only other popular religion at this point is Hinduism. Gandhi has declared it India's state religion, and it is present in the nearby city of Bombay. The holy city of Hinduism lies in Egypt, so naturally they are also Hindu. Judaism is in its infancy, as I have heard whispers about people celebrating a monotheistic religion, but nothing more.

Greece, Ethiopia, and China have not yet declared state religions. I'll definitely keep my eye Greece, given their proximity. To ensure a friendly relationship, I may attempt to spread Buddhism to Sparta and Athens so they convert.

[sbrylski]

The next 250 or so years in Celtia passed relatively uneventful. Just a few things of note:

625 BCE - Nobles from an Indian family became angry with their new Roman in-laws for holding a Buddhist wedding against their wishes. This event drew great interest within these nations as feuding broken out over the dispute. Relations between these two countries became even more strained. As a fellow Buddhist nation, the citizens of Celtia were also quite pleased to see the wedding carried out in a non-Hindu fashion. We applaud the Romans!

600 BCE - Speaking of Buddhism, it has taken root in Ratae. No longer will they worship their silly pagan gods of the past. And the citizens are quite happy about it, feeling more at peace with the world. Moral is boosted knowing their new religion of choice has the support of the ruling class.

440 BCE - More bad news for the Indians. Their nearest city to Celtia, Bombay, had a disastrous problem with their harvest. The growth of their crop itself was fine, but vermin got into the central granary that year. All the food stored there was ruined. They still had enough to get by, but the city definitely took a step back on its growth curve.

425 BCE - Our first battalion reaches the barbarian settlement of Vandal in the west. The battle will not begin for a few years, but establishing camp and intelligence about the enemy is the first step...

[BMW]

Normally, I don't get into meshing the fictional universes from one game (book, movie, etc) into OOTP. But Civ 4 caught my eye (I've been playing solely Civ 4 and OOTP 10 myself for the past month). This is brilliant. Good luck, I'll be watching.

Have you considered using a blog rather than the forum?

[sbrylski]

Originally Posted by BMW

Have you considered using a blog rather than the forum?

Hasn't even crossed the mind. Quick pros/cons?

[BMW]

Originally Posted by sbrylski

Hasn't even crossed the mind. Quick pros/cons?

The pros, I think is that it works in a more blog format, meaning that other people can key in on the most important aspects, which are your posts while the comments from other people remain secondary.

The con is that people haven't been using them much yet, and that they are continuing to use this forum because it's more visible. People are used to using this forum.

I asked because I was considering what to do if I want to post dynasty stuff.

[sbrylski]

Originally Posted by BMW

The pros, I think is that it works in a more blog format, meaning that other people can key in on the most important aspects, which are your posts while the comments from other people remain secondary.

The con is that people haven't been using them much yet, and that they are continuing to use this forum because it's more visible. People are used to using this forum.

I asked because I was considering what to do if I want to post dynasty stuff.

Its not a bad idea. But for now I'll take the traffic. More feedback is more important than a cleaner format, especially for my first dynasty. Anyway... big updates coming tonight, I'm excited to get home to post them. (I played the turns last night).

[sbrylski]

I'll be posting the account of our first real military battle shortly, but I wanted to set forth the game-to-story translations I'll be using. According to CivFanatics.com, the following is a list of what the game considers a particular unit to consist of in terms of individuals. I'll be using these totals when I talk about troop numbers in the narratives. For casualties, the formula will be: unit's game-defined number of individuals * [1 - (unit's remaining strength) / (unit's initial strength)]. Randomly, I may vary slightly from these numbers to spice it up a little occasionally, and maybe add numbers wounded, but this is the foundation of the game-to-story translation anyway.

2000 soldiers – Warrior, Quechua, Galley
3000 soldiers – Archer, Trireme, Caravel, Carrack
4000 soldiers – Spearman, Impi, Holkan, Skirmisher, Bowman, Chariot, War Chariot, Immortal, Galleon, Airship
5000 soldiers – Catapult, Hwacha
6000 soldiers – Swordsman, Juguar Warrior, Gallic Warrior, Axeman, Dog Soldier, Phalanx, Vulture, Pikeman, Landsknecht, Longbowman, Horse Archer, Numidian Cavalry, Keslik, East Indiaman, Privateer, Guided Missle
7000 soldiers – Cho-Ko-Nu, Crossbow
8000 soldiers – Praetorian, War Elephant, Ballista Elephant, trebuchet, Frigate
9000 soldiers – Maceman, Samurai, Musketman, Musketeer, Janissary, Oromo Warrior
10000 soldiers – Berserker, knight, Camel Archer, Ship of the Line
12000 soldiers – Grenadier, Cataphract, Cuirassier, Conquistador, Cannon, Ironclad, Fighter
14000 soldiers – Missile Cruiser, Rifleman, Redcoat, Anti Tank, Machine Gun
15000 soldiers – Cossack, Cavalry
16000 soldiers – Transport, Carrier, Bomber
18000 soldiers – SAM Infantry, Artillary
20000 soldiers – Infantry, Stealth Bomber
22000 soldiers – Mobile SAM
24000 soldiers – Jet Fighter
26000 soldiers – Gunship, Mobile Artillary
28000 soldiers – Marine, Navy SEAL, Submarine
30000 soldiers – Paratrooper, Tank, Panzer, Destroyer, Stealth Destroyer, Attack Submarine, Tactical Nuke
32000 soldiers – Mechanized Infantry
40000 soldiers – Modern Armour, Battleship, ICBM

Note that in the demographics area in Civ IV, more than simply the above goes into determining total army size. The number presented there is more analogous to potential army size/power, if one must go to war. This endnote is basically irrelevant to this dynasty thread, I just wanted to be thorough for any Civ-playing readers.

This next list is one other translation system I'll employ to keep variety in the language I use. Just found it with a random google seach, seems usable enough. A battalion will be defined as one game unit, for those with Civ backgrounds.

Division: 2-4 Brigades or Regiments
Brigade: 2+ Regiments or 3–6 Battalions
Regiment: 3-4 Battalions
*Battalion: One in-game unit
Company or Artillery Battery: 60–250 soldiers
Platoon: 25–40 soldiers
Squad: 8–12 soldiers

[sbrylski]

The First Battle of Vandal
410 BCE

By the end of the 5th century BCE, our military was well enough trained and equipped to do more than just defend our borders, and our generals sent large numbers west to launch a full offensive on the barbarian stronghold in the region. Workers in the countryside near the western edge of our nation were tired of the centuries of uncertainty about what could be coming over the ridge at any moment. Our population was pushing our current boundaries to their limit, and our economy was ready to expand and take advantage of all the arable land and natural resources the local west has to offer. In fact, following in the wake of the military convoy leaving Camulodunon was a band of settlers, itching to work the land unthreatened and leaving no time to waste.

As the full division of troops approached the barbarian settlement, our intelligence read as follows: The barbarian army was comprised entirely of archers, nearly a full brigade totaling around 9,000 men organized in three battalions. An impressive number given their entire male population isn't much bigger. They live to fight, pillage, and plunder. Copper and iron is scarce in the the hills of the surrounding area, unable to be minded in large quantities, ruling out barbarian production of more formidable weaponry. However, three battalions of archers strongly fortified in a city situated on a hilltop is still not an easy fight won.

Our army consisted of a full brigade of Gallic Warriors, in other words four battalions of our highest class of sword wielding soldiers, one additional battalion of Axemen, and one battalion of Archers. A total of around 33,000 men. The melee troops were all specially trained to battle archery defenses at the barracks' in Camulodunon and Bibracte where they were assembled, as that was the expectation for what they would encounter. With this foresight, coupled with our advantage in numbers, we hoped to have the scales in our favor. (Or the gods on our side, in the case of soldiers from the still pagan Camulodunon.)

The angle of attack was decided to be from atop a neighboring hill directly to the east of the city. However unlikely, if the barbarian archers attempted an offensive on our camp, our brigade of archers brought along for defense were trained extensively in managing the higher ground.

When the full brigade arrived at camp atop the hill, it was plain the Vandals new what was coming. Sounding the alarm, we could see their workers, formerly attempting to clear a nearby jungle, scurry back into the city for protection. Unfortunately, we also witnessed a surge of Vandal troops enter the city from the northwest - an additional 3,000 archers had been spread through the forests bordering Greek territory, presumably harrassing the fringe countryside of Greece. So Pericles and I had a mutual enemy, and following the last of the Vandal archers back to their city was a Greek Phalanx of 6,000 men. The Greek camp, set up in the jungle on the north side of the barbarian settlement, was relatively small compared to ours but still one to keep an eye on. Were they hanging around to aid us, or looking to steal the plunder from our (hopefully) victorious and battle-weary troops?

Vandal on the Dawn of Battle

Feeling confident with our nearly 3-to-1 troop advantage, we unleashed our first wave of attackers. A whole brigade of Gallic Warriors charged up the hill at the city... straight into a thick cloud of arrows. Our men fell one after another, very few reaching the city itself. Those that did were quickly surrounded and slaughtered.

But our generals knew it would require casualties before the Vandal front lines would be broken through. Assessing the damage caused by our first wave, it was determined our second battalion should be able to break the Vandal lines. This assessment, in fact, came much earlier in the battle than expected. But our second wave suffered major embarrassment, actually achieving less than the first. Our third battalion followed, inching ever closer, but still being propelled backwards by the surprisingly formidable barbarian archers.

The battle had not at all gone as planned to that point. We lost nearly 18,000 troops already, and had yet to enter the city, while only killing around 3,600 archers. Our 3-to-1 advantage had melted away to around 2-to-1. However, the Vandal positions by this point were extremely weakened, and we did still have and advantage, so we pressed on.

And sure enough, our fourth and final Gallic Warrior brigade finally achieved success. They reached the city and destroyed a full archer brigade of 3,000, suffering just 1,100 casualties themselves. Down to our last rested brigade, our Axemen administered our last blow of the attack, killing another 3,000 archers while suffering loses of 2,280.

4th Battalion Breaks Through

But the Vandals had stood their ground. With our depleted army tired and weary, we retreated back to our nearby hilltop camp. We still had an army numbering over 11,000 troops, but it was necessary for us to regroup. At the end of the battle, just 2,400 Vandal archers still stood, but it was enough to fend us off... this time.

Final Casualties
Celtia - 21,380
Vandal - 9,600

[sbrylski]

I was right to be suspicious of the small Greek camp that stood back and watched our first struggle against the Vandals. As our remaining troops, still stationed atop the nearby hill, regrouped and regained their health, we watched as the Greeks launched an attack from the north. They had some success and nearly took the city, slaughtering 1,900 of the 2,400 remaining Vandal troops. They couldn't capture the remaining 500, however, and the 1,200 (of 6,000) remaining soldiers of the Greek Phalanx retreated from the hilltop city in defeat, just as I had.

But fifteen years later, we were ready to take the city and stake our claim to the region once and for all...

The Second Battle of Vandal
395 BCE

Though the Vandal army was as low as 500 troops after the Greek attack on the city, by 395 BCE they had swelled back to a number of 2,000.

That said, my remaining 12,000 troops consisting of Gallic warriors, axemen and archers were frankly no match for the Vandal's last stand. We unleashed our remaining Gallic warrior battalion, and again we suffered greater losses than our opponents, but in the end this first wave got the job done. They took the city center and sent the very few archers left standing scattering for the woods.

The Final Blow to Vandal

Final Casualties
Celtia - 3,100
Vandal - 2,000

Inside the city remained over 1,000 Vandal citizens, so instead of burning the city to the ground and moving on, we elected to install our own Governor and use the city as a strategic western outpost signifying our stake on the entire region. Our army took up post in the city, but was actually more interested in celebrating their loot than quelling and civilizing the upstart villagers.

Vandal Fires and Riots Post-Annexation

Pockets of the city remained restless and crime-ridden for the next 45 years, while city and army leaders halfheartedly brought the city up to full working order.

[Tyke]

Great write-up!

[GrimmyDee]

This. is. awesome.

As a player of CivIII (albeit a very poor one) I am hooked to see how you bring everything together. This is truly getting the best of both worlds.

Great work.

[sbrylski]

With the perviously hostile territory cleared of any threat, the settlers that had trailed behind the military expedition could finally erect their new city. Lacking slightly in the size of their workforce, they were reluctant to tackle the challanging task of removing expanses of the vast southern jungle for farmland. Instead, they elected to lay their new foundations sea-side, at the foot of the western mountains. They named their settlement Eblana.

Eblana, Shortly After Establishment in 350 BCE

Eblana is, of course, the bottom left settlement in the image above - west of Camulodunon and south across the water from Sparta.

Between the mountains and the jungle laid a band of plains, fair enough for farming. The grasslands nearest the city were especially well suited for corn growth, just like the farm back on the outskirts of Bibracte. A road through the plains connecting Vandal with Eblana was quickly constructed, eventually to be a route that fully traverses from the westernmost point in our empire to the easternmost, at Ratae.

[sbrylski]

In 395 BCE, we took Vandal, and in 350 BCE we founded the city of Eblana. These two events had cemented our exclusive claim on the western half of the subcontinent, or so we thought. Nearing the end of the century, a band of Greek settlers, accompanied by brigades of both chariots and archers, were spotted emerging from the sole mountain pass our cultural borders failed to reach. This was most unexpected. Though it looked like the Greek settlers would be headed to the southern jungle, to harvest the yet untouched wild sugarcane located near the river, we couldn't be sure if they would continue on their path. If they did, however, the decision was made - we would not concede the territory. Manifest destiny, for Camulos' sake! (As the Camulodunon's would say.)

There were two main factors that influenced the decision to brace for our second offensive in under a century. First, the Greeks are relatively alone in this world. While many of the nations are banding together under the same religion, none of the major belief systems has caught hold in any of the Greek cities. If we were attacked, as Buddhists we would likely get support from our fellow brothers in faith, Spain and Rome. Especially the former, with Madrid being the powerful holy city of the Buddhist faith. They are unlikely to support me as the one's to draw the first blood of a potential conflict, but for a friend they could turn the blind eye. On the other hand, the Greeks, as pagans, are unlikely to get much sympathy at all from their neighbors, unless there is a significant trade relationship. I need not worry about foreign relation externalities.

Second, though the Greek army appears to be very strong, much stronger than ours, the geography of the area was to our benefit in the event of retaliation. Once we managed to clear the Greek settling party from the map, we would be able to dig into our fortifications at Vandal and the hills and mountains surrounding it, hopefully preventing any Greek advancement past that point. Also, we already have most of our forces stationed in the area, left over from the battles at Vandal.

Greek Settlers and Unsettled Southern Jungle

Our generals settled on a fail-proof plan to ensure the Greek settling party wouldn't make it far if they made a dash for the jungle. Between their destination and their current location in the hills, they must cross the band of plains. Thankfully, construction of this stretch of the trans-empire roadway system was a priority this century, and our workers recently completed the portion that runs straight up the middle of the plains. Our generals pulled two battalions of troops from Vandal and stationed them at the southern end of this road. Another battalion of axemen in Eblana stood at ready. If the Greeks tried at any point to climb down from the mountains and cross the road, we could converge and attack while they were most vulnerable - on flat and unforested ground.

Battle for the Frontier
320 BCE

In 320 BCE, the Greek troops went for it. Crossing our "line in the sand," we pounced. Up the road from the south our Gallic Warriors charged, first engaging the Greek chariots. But the chariots were prepared, perhaps expecting the attack. Our initial charge failed, and 6,000 of our best men were felled, taking 3,400 enemy troops with them.

First Wave of Attack on the Greek Settling Party

Our second charge finished what the first could not, destroying the remaining chariots, but losing 1,920 of our own numbers as well. The axemen stationed in Eblana were then called upon to be the third and final wave of the attack. The brigade faced off against the last of the Greek troops in the area, their archers. Exposed and on flat ground, their attempts to fight back were near laughable. All 3,000 perished, taking only 840 Celtic axemen with them to the afterlife.

Destruction of the Greek Settling Party

We captured the settlers, and sent them up to Eblana to work towards finish the last stretch of the trans-empire roadway. As you can see from the above pictures, reinforcements from the east are coming, and we need them as quick as possible. We will gather them in Vandal, and brace for a retaliation siege on the settlement.

Final Casualties
Greece - 7,000
Celtia - 8,760

[sbrylski]

But enough about the west, we have a few things to catch up on back in the heart of our nation.

First of all, the health problems in Durnovaria were effectively fixed by the 4th century BCE. The introduction of the healthy wheat grain, farmed from Ratae helped a lot, as did the construction of a granary for storing food and preventing disease and spoiling. In fact, the city is becoming our science and research capital, with its impressive library and recent establishment of a Buddhist Monastery. Both have become leaders in intellectual progress.

Scholars from Durnovaria have even tasked its government with the construction of enough libraries to hold the recorded texts of our technological advances, ancient stories and oral traditions. Our nation is brimming with intellectually gifted and eager citizens who desire the resources to complete their ambitions. I believe if I give them what they ask, our nation will be duly rewarded.

Speaking of technological advances, we've been collaborating with scholars of foreign nations to exchange our knowledge for secrets they've unlocked. We have to backtrack on the timeline a bit, but for example, in the past we taught the Spanish an effective system of writing in exchange for lessons on the proper institution of priesthood in our religious hierarchy. We've also collaborated with the Romans, Indians, and Ethiopians in the past.

In 365 BCE, our Spanish friends to the south completed a great project. In Seville, they constructed a powerful Oracle, from which they've derived insight into the present as well as the future. You can see Seville and the Oracle at its city center in the image below, across the water from Durnovaria.

A Healthy Durnovaria and Seville With Its Oracle

Bibracte experienced a major "event" during this century as well - the birth and life of a great Buddhist prophet, Ananda. He spread his religious insight and inspiration around the city and bound its citizens closer together. The populations greater love for their fellow man found through the teachings of Ananda has been shown to generate greater commerce and industry in the city by removing some of the irrational human barriers to successful business.

Ananda in Bibracte, Spreading His Holy Energies

[sbrylski]

The Battle of Pericles' Trap
170 BCE

It was rather quiet out west for the next century, a long time to wait for Greek retaliation for the destruction of their settling party. But then, to my surprise, creeping over the mountains in 170 BCE was... another settling party! Just 8,000 troops, a mixture of chariots and spearmen. Only 1,000 more than their last attempt to pass through the mountains.

Huh, no siege on Vandal? No 50,000 soldier army to overwhelm our western front?

If that's what Pericles was going to try, no problem. We set up for the same opportunity again - stationing much of our troops on the north and south ends of the road across the plains. We'd pounce when they tried to cross - for the second time.

But then, suddenly a scout reported that the settlers had turned back, and the Greek army had split and was marching on both Vandal and Eblana! Pericles was trying to catch us with our troops outside of the cities!

Pericles' Attempted Trap

The fake was a good try, I'll admit, but quite naive. For one, with my road system fully in place, there was no problem at all getting them back to the city on time. They weren't that far away to begin with. Secondly, the Greeks brought far, far to little troops. We had 27,000 alone stationed in Vandal, and their spearmen that marched towards the city numbered just 4,000. And we had 16,000 in the Eblana area, to take on the other 4,000 chariots.

We first engaged the chariots at the foothills of the mountain adjacent to Eblana. It was a slaughter - we had spearmen stationed at the frontline who easily handled the horse-drawn chariot charge. We only lost 600 of our own men.

Massacre Near Eblana

Over in Vandal, the Greek battalion of spearmen may have caught wind of the massacre of their other invading party. Instead of attacking the city, they dashed to one of our mines and attempted to destroy it. We sent axemen out from the city to head them off, and off came their heads.

Defending the Vandal Countryside

We lost 1,680 axemen in the fight - the spearmen did have the high ground. But all 4,000 Greek spears were felled, eradicating the last of the Greek military in our borders.

After the two skirmishes, we sought and audience with Pericles, in hopes of coming to terms on a peace treaty before he returned with greater numbers. Needless to say, he was furious when we met with him.

An Unhappy Pericles

But he agreed that both sides should lay down their arms and discontinue the fight. I agreed on the condition that no Greeks enter our borders, effective indefinitely. There will be no need to attack future settling parties because there will be none. The fight for the west was officially ends in victory!

Battle's Total Casualties
Greece - 8,000 (15,000 for the entire war)
Celtia - 2,280 (11,040 for the entire war)

[sbrylski]

Battle posts generally take me a little while (relative to how much time I have to type them up), so with no more fighting on the horizon, hopefully we can "breeze" through the next handful of centuries and get at least in sight of baseball. Optimistically, next weekend begins baseball talk, but we'll see how my schedule looks this week.

At this time, I'm going to post an overview map, to make sure the big picture of this world (or this section of it) is conveyed well enough.

And actually from this map, I wouldn't mind a few suggestions on geographical names. (Not that I'm sure to take them...) The main three things that need to be named are the inland sea/lake, the sea to Celtia's east, and the large river that runs through our nation. Also, the western mountain range between Celtia and Greece might need a name, or the central mountains/highlands. I'm definitely not looking to name every little thing on the map at this point, but in the future its possible to go into greater detail.

For the river, at the moment I'm leaning towards calling it the River Isca. Isca means "water" in brythonic, and the River Isca was the brythonic name for today's River Usk in central Wales. Not set in stone though. Suggestions can be based on anything, by the way, doesn't have to have some deep reason behind it.

Overview Map, 155 BCE

Note that the nations of China (Jewish), Ethiopia (Jewish) and Egypt (Hindu) aren't on the map because their quite distant and I've only gotten very small glimpses of their areas. The former two are to the northwest of Greece, and Egypt is to the northeast of Rome.

[Mucho Macho]

Wow, Civ has changed since I last played it.....about 12 years ago