"After the First 100 Turns of Civilization VII, I Became a Conqueror of Continents."

I managed to conquer almost the entire continent in my first 100 turns of Sid Meier's Civilization VII, starting with a modest role as Persia in the Ancient Era. My expansion primarily came through conquests, capturing more settlements than I founded. As the Ancient Era progressed and I moved into the Age of Exploration, my empire transformed from Persia to Mongolia, accumulating a large army and waging several wars without hardly exploring the New World.

As a fan of aggressive play, I am really enjoying the new title and the modifications it brings to the classic formula. Civilization VII, which will be released on February 11, effectively introduced me to the game with comprehensive tutorials that refreshed the basic systems, legacy paths, and objectives to pursue. Although there seems to be an excessive balance favoring military builds and it has some quirks with peace treaties, it is evident that Firaxis has created a strategy game where I can invest many hours.

The game belongs to the 4X strategy subgenre, where players explore unknown lands, expand their territory through conquest or by creating settlements, exploit resources, and can eliminate nearby opponents. Personally, I lean towards the expansion and extermination parts, and Civilization VII facilitates this tendency. Xerxes, the King of Kings, soon became the best leader option, thanks to his unique ability "Rebel Crusher," which boosts my units when fighting outside my territory. This civilization aligned perfectly with my military approach, and I was able to start my game quickly.

As in its previous versions, the challenge consists of founding a settlement and gradually expanding it, tile by tile. Thanks to my familiarity with the franchise, reintegrating into this mechanic was straightforward, but the tutorials in Civilization VII explain everything meticulously and provide clear direction. The legacy path system provides Culture, Military, Science, and Economy objectives to complete in each Age. As I progressed through the Ancient Era, I began building combat units and researching useful technologies recommended by the in-game military advisor.

I quickly met my neighbors: three more leaders inhabited my continent, Machiavelli, Tecumseh, and Ashoka. By the end of my 100 turns, two of them had already been defeated, and the third, who had been a friend, became an enemy. I played quite aggressively, just like Ashoka, who rapidly expanded his territory to the north while I concentrated my efforts on my capital. I planned to attack him, but he surprised me with an invasion while my units were scattered exploring the map, which almost cost me my capital. Interestingly, once he managed to invade me, Ashoka offered peace and allowed me to take a city as payment. I'm not sure if it was a game error or strange AI behavior, but this fair treatment facilitated my success.

This new city increased my income of gold, culture, and science. I strengthened my alliances, especially with Tecumseh, and continued researching more powerful units, which led me to fight against Machiavelli to the south. It wasn't a challenging battle, and soon it was Tecumseh and me, the two powers on the continent, allowing me to recover and heal my units before attacking Ashoka again. This time, the battle was more balanced, but his forces were extensively spread out, and I managed to capture some of his southern settlements, allowing me to advance to the next Era.

Upon entering the Age of Exploration, I needed to evolve my civilization, so I decided to transform Persia into Mongolia, optimizing my fighting capabilities on my home continent. I began the war again against Ashoka, who soon disappeared as he was totally annihilated. Although the next logical step was to explore the new continent across the ocean, my legacy path still required me to conquer more settlements, some of which were controlled by Tecumseh. So I reinforced my army while Tecumseh dedicated himself to exploring the New World, weakening himself militarily through espionage.

Finally, I declared war on my former ally, starting a protracted conflict that extended to turn 100, by which time I had limited Tecumseh to a small capital city in the middle of my territory. In those first 100 turns, Sid Meier's game allowed me to create a narrative within my civilization, and while I felt that my military approach was extremely powerful, I am left with the urge to try a more cultural path in the future. I clearly remember how I betrayed Tecumseh in my quest for total control over the continent.