Pong-3: Turns 129-143 of Norway (Nate)

This week's session (5) was glorious!! As the Renaissance gives way to the Industrial Era, the Vikings of Norway see success at home and abroad, both on land and at sea. Read on to learn of the Orthodox Crusade and the conquests of Kyoto and of Hong Kong.

Turn 129 - News of the world in 1360 AD

The Orthodox Crusade: 

The Fall of Kyoto and Hong Kong

Turn 131 - Declare Holy War on Hojo of Japan

Hojo had previously converted Stavanger to Buddhism, which didn't really affect much since I don't have a holy site there, but I left it alone knowing that I'd be able to declare a holy war when the time came. Well the time has come! It's time for crusade (and 50% warmonger and war weariness penalties)!

131- Initial placement.

131b- The invasion begins.

132- Paltry Japanese defenses arrive.

134- Frigate guns, crossbows, and berserkers crush the walls.

I was a bit disappointed by how little damage the crossbows did to the walls of the city, but the frigate easily did more than enough to pulverize the walls. The siege tower wasn't even necessary, but I let the berserkers have their fun.

135- An inquisitor purges the blasphemy of Buddhism from the world.

Glorious.

135- Viking fleet sails into Hong Kong.

For centuries now, the Viking fleets have been raiding and attacking Hong Kong for all it was worth, but with the conquest of Kyoto there was little need to continue our harassment. The frigates had very quickly and very easily reduced the defenses of Hong Kong to nothing, and with my frigates reaching level 3, there seemed little reason to put this off any longer. Our ships sailed into (the ruins) of Hong Kong.

1440 AD will long be remembered as the end of the Viking Age and the dawn of the Golden Age of Norway.

142- Japan pleads for peace, ceding their former capital to us.

143- Warmonger (-32) with my allies.

All things considered, the warmonger penalties are not actually quite as bad as I expected. With those civs whose agendas I meet, I should actually stay in the positive. Only Tomyris of Scythia is likely to be really unhappy with me for this (she considered my attack on Hong Kong a surprise attack), but I've been working double-time to fix those relations through trade for centuries now.

Other Events of the World

133- Bergen founded on an important island in the East Sea

137- We're pleasing Nubia's agenda.

138- Nubia conquers Buenos Aires.

I'm not even sure I've discovered this city-state yet. In any case, this is the second city Nubia has conquered.

139- Nubia is first to reach the Modern Era.

Turn 140: Empire Update (1490 AD)

Heartland: Scandinavia 

Farshore

Russia (Joe)

Rankings, Score, Religious

Civics

Tech

Cities

End of Session - Turn 143

143- Scandinavia

The World as of 1520 AD.

Plan: Things are looking way up for Norway. We've moved up to a tight second place and are leading in technology by an increasing margin. My plan for next session is to switch to Merchant Republic and to begin transitioning into the modern age, with advanced technology and economy coming easily, so I'm going to need to work on culture using my new populations in the former territories of Japan and Hong Kong. Their high populations should come in handy for this.

I had seriously considered attacking St. Petersburg, as I mentioned last time, but the gains in Kyoto and Hong Kong felt much more assured than putting everything into a single conquest against the other human player. He's done much to start a naval defense so the window has closed.

I'm still now sure how best I'll start pursuing a victory. A lot is going to depend on what the political situation looks like. Nubia remains the second strongest military of the world, and since they are parked right next to Russia, they aren't going to be something he can ignore.

So focusing on expansion and modernizing while I wait to see what develops is the way forward.

Till next time...