Iām back on the Civ 5. Young Adult Unit #2 expressed an interest in the game last week, so I bought her a copy and gave her a bit of a primer during her first game. Young Adult Unit #1 has finally deigned to re-emerge from the expensive clutches of the capital. She has been a keen player for years. This is not a warm Chez pap gaming story, though. Itās a true Sotonians tale.
Last night, I am playing single player and our own MLG says āHallo. Do you want to play multiplayer?ā. Now MLG is sadly much better at this game than I am, and much more committed. I say I cannot commit to a huge amount of time, so he starts a Quick game (3-4hrs) on a Tiny map. The map is some real flat earth shit. It doesnāt wrap around, like it does in the regular game, and Iām right up against the left edge, playing the Venetians. MLG, my ally (weāre playing against the AI) is playing as the Indians.
The Venetians are a weird race in Civ. They cannot found new cities, but they can use their immense wealth to buy city states. The Indians are also a challenge to play. They donāt mind having shitloads of people in a city, but they do mind having shitloads of cities. Neither MLG nor I can build much in the way of new real estate. I can only buy existing city states. I eventually snaffle two up.
The port city I took over had a serious problem. It was supposed to address the lack of a navy, but thereās a mountain blocking all the ships in. At best, I can deploy six ships in a closed lake. MLG is on the coast, exposed and worried about the Polish, lining up on the other side of the ocean.
Although allies, weāve gone about things in different ways within our own empires. I donāt know what MLG specifically went for, but it was quite clear that he didnāt choose piety, which focuses on developing religious power. I did, founded Sikhism and sent my missionaries out to convert the heathens. Out of respect for MLGās militant atheism, I do not send my missionaries to his cities, but it matters not. My religion spread to MLGās cities regardless, such is the fervour with which it is observed.
MLG gets increasingly worried about the Polish, looking ever more likely to start something, and asked what my plans were, militarily speaking. I informed him that he was essentially acting as a shield for my monument based theocracy, what with my empire being completely unreachable unless they came through him first. I might have even called him ābuffer boyā.
We shall resume play at some point in the future. Affairs persist in this state of tension. But yes, trolling MLG with religion and half-hearted military commitment in Civ 5 is quite the experience 
