9 Things Learned from "Civilzations: Revolutuion"

My apologies to my long-term Facebook friends who have already read this. 

1. Being in possession of nuclear weapons is a good way to end open hostilities with another country. This I learned very quickly the first time I built the Manhattan Project wonder, all other empires gave me an offer of peace, even the Arabs. who I was in the middle of a century long war with.
 Addendum:  The UN rather negates this with nuclear disarmament treaties and what-not, but having them at least counts.

2. To ensure the survival of a nation, a strong military is needed. I don't mean armed militia either. I mean state-of-the art military technology with the capability of have large amounts of its units out in the field on a campaign, and still have large forces at home on defense and ready to cycle in to replace casualties.

3. Don't go to war until you are ready and able to support the strong military in number two. If you go to war to early, you won't be able to support them. Take to long, and they'll invade and you'll be stuck on defense. (tip, if this happens pull an Inchon, invade them somewhere else

4. Always stay one technological step ahead of your enemies, and allies. A technological advantage would be fighting spear men with riflemen, (Which is common). This advantage also gives you a plus to other advantages, such as mining, medicine, whatever it may be. Always keep researching, and there are other advantages as well, just look at what came of the space race.

5. Be willing to accept peace terms, but never offer them, unless you truly are ahead. Weakened enemies will, eventually, realize their mistake and sue for peace. Accept their offer. It will make your country look better and spare you from inner turmoil from too many casualties. It also gives you time to recover your strength.

6. Never crumble to hostile threats, unless it is a better idea than to fight. I generally spurn threats received from AI enemies, because I  am always far more powerful than they are. No, that wasn't hubris. I am generally always ahead of them in technology by a slim thread. That gives me an advantage. I also know I probably spend more on military units than I should. Sometimes, however, you are unable to fight due to another war, or some certain problem you're having.

7. Always maintain friendly relations with your citizens. Keep the people happy with good education, jobs, and cultural things. It'll keep them educated, happy, and prosperous, thus increasing your chances of scientific breakthroughs and reducing the risks of them becoming disgruntled and rebelling.
Addendum:  Just make sure you support the stuff, rather than give it to them.

8. Be sure to back up your threats, bluffs, etc. If you threaten to attack a country, and they want proof, you better give them proof, or else. "Or Else" means the realization that you can't back up your threats and will lose most of your power.
Corollary:  Never make a threat unless you can and are willing to back it up. Mean business.


9. Know your targets and priories, whether it be by spies, satellites, or high atmospheric planes. You must always know the priority targets that you would strike if necessary. Cities, industrial facilities, etc. Know your targets, and in what priority they lay. In "Revolution" I always head straight for the capital. More simply, have good intelligence.

Perhaps some embarrassing moments in history could have been avoided if leaders played this game, or read Sun Tzu's The Art of War (More on this book to come soon, think of this as a humorous introduction)


From a hidden bunker,
Varon