The Golden Empire of the Kongo

The Golden Empire of Kongo - Pong-6 

This session of Pong we used a drafting system. The system allowed us to pick between three civs. The three I rolled were Indonesia, Russia, and the Kongo. I was initially underwhelmed due to the fact that typically I play domination and science games. I eventually settled upon the Kongo due to their bonuses for relics and sculptures and decided I would play a cultural game. I got an amazing and relatively isolated start. 

The first screenshot I took of the surrounding area. A very solid start.

I spotted Kandy very early on and with their suzerain bonus making it significantly easier to acquire relics decided keeping them in my sphere of influence was essential if I was going to obtain the culture victory I sought.

Initially, I was overwhelmed with barbarians, but I fought them back and managed to secure a golden age in the classical era and used it to my advantage. I pre-built warriors and upgraded them to the Ngao Mbaba units and quickly flung them at my Egyptian neighbor to the East.

Egypt will face Kongolese aggression. 

I discovered I had an excessive amount of free land to settle on but still focused early on making the most of my Ngao Mbaba units in my campaign against Egypt. My plan for this era was to conquer Egypt and Australia. Taking these two AI out of the game early will significantly help me later and prevent too many people from reincarnating. Due to my conquest in Egypt my empire is already at six cities by the end of session one (picture was taken prior to the end of the session before my settler was used).

Working on settling new cities and expanding.

Session two saw me continuing with my plans for expansion. I really wanted to maximize on the power of the Ngao units while I could and would focus on infrastructure later. The play between Kandy and my inherent bonuses are ramping up well. I turn my eyes to my southern neighbors, the Australians. They will do nothing but denounce me for the rest of the game for my actions in Egypt and pose a potential threat on my southern border should a military powerhouse come knocking. I decide taking them out of the game is in my best interests.

As my campaign begins I discover that they possessed a great deal more land and cities than I originally thought.

It becomes clear the Australian campaign will take more time than I had originally planned.

Nonetheless I am now in the midst of a second straight golden age with no signs of a slowdown. My military is small and well-coordinated but I realize soon I will be bordering other great powers. I begin opening up diplomatic channels with all nations to get a picture of the happenings of the far-off continent containing the Aztec, Scottish, and Americans. 


I entertained ideas of entering into the small scale war far to my east between Norway and Korea. Korea is small and I will likely join in on their side. Once I’ve mopped the floor with the Norwegians I will turn my guns on the Koreans and complete the cleansing of the continent. 

An image of the territories of Norway to the West of Kongo beyond the strip of city states.

Korea and Norway have been at war since before the first Kongolese-Egyptian War. 

Towards the end of this session I discover, to my horror, of Scotland’s plans to conquer both the Aztec and America. This shifts my whole focus. I need to close the campaign in Australia as soon as possible and push on Egypt. I alert those I consider my friends but it seems it is of no use. Neither the Aztec nor American’s expect to stand against the Scottish forces. 

The session starts off hot. The campaign in Australia is closed within five turns with the complete absorption of their once large empire. 

The Australian Campaign is ended very quickly.

Zar likewise makes rapid movement and decimates the Aztec. In a play probably meant to slow or frustrate Zar, America gifts me a small boon to my economy as well as a ring of cities. A war is brewing. One I am prepared for but only if fought on my front. These distant cities will be nearly impossible to defend. All hopes of my original plan of playing an isolated and to myself culture game are gone. Zar’s military presence once again demands that I focus on production. I must be careful not to lose my way. Though the two powers to the west are small they could potentially grow if I neglect to watch them carefully. I contemplate making a play for their territory but worry it will leave me too vulnerable. At this point i'm still operating with a small but effective army but I don't think that will suffice against Zar. It would be too risky. Diplomatic options are available but whether they would serve me best in the long run is a gamble. A potential option is an alliance to prevent him from flipping and/or invading my cities. this would give me time to develop my territories better and prepare for the coming war. By the end of the session im still firmly ahead in terms of score but I can't underestimate my opponents. 

My score is significantly ahead of my opponents. 

The session begins and me and Zach (Scotland) conclude a quick cultural alliance. This buys me time to reinforce my border cities and prepare for what I assume is an inevitable war. Despite being in a constant golden age since the second era and being significantly ahead of nearly anyone else I know from past experience how efficient Zach can be when it comes to military matters. I decide to hunker down and move my forces toward two fronts. I decide to clear out the remaining Egyptians because I believe if I do not then Zar will.

The beginning of the second Kongolese-Egyptian war which resulted in the complete absorption of Egypt into the mighty Kingdom of Kongo. 

 With the conquer of the Egyptians complete I move to settle to block Zar's potential advances. There is a very defensible peninsula that ties well with the other encampments and defenses I am setting up. If there is anywhere to make a stand on land this is the choke point to do it. 

Brilliantly, Zar founds his religion. I am totally uncapable of defending against his religious onslaught. Kongo is unable to found a religion and there are no other religions in the world i can call to for help. 

Beginning to plan my defense across a narrow strip of land. 

The session ends with me seriously concerned there is no way I can win. A military conquest would net him an easier conversion of my empire. My only option is to try to convince Norway or Korea to found a religion and fight hard to get it to my territory. Their long running war prevents either from being concerned about religious matters or the preservation of the Kongo. 

Zar's zealots reach my mainland at the end of the session.

The next session is the last. Zar's religious zealots have penetrated deep into my territory and are now on their way toward Norway and the remnants of Korea. I decide to funnel my forces toward his territory just as a show of strength. At this point it is obvious he will win, it is just a question of when. 

My forces head east toward Scotland. As you can see I have many great people who never found housing for their works. 

Finally as my forces begin to assemble on the borders of the Scottish Empire, Zar wins his religious victory. I can't be upset. This was my game to win and I lost it and his decision to convert to religion was brilliant. 

A small amount of the forces building up to attack Scotland (Zar). I used an apostle to convert five naval units but they are not pictured.