A miniature map of the terrain gradually appears on the mahogany table, with 12 red markers on the left and 12 blue markers on the right.
On this small wooden table, a wide variety of landforms are presented by virtual patterns, including mountains, plains, rainforests, and rivers, and at the marked locations there are buildings that look like cities.
"My game is called 'Civilization'. Well, I think I've already introduced it once. I hope you won't be surprised."
"These marked locations are cities. Red represents cities that I have captured, while blue represents the opposite. The goal of victory is to capture all of the opponent's cities. Sounds simple, doesn't it?"
"If only it were that simple."
"Haha, I'm sorry, it might not be possible to do as you wish." The minotaur continued to explain the rules, "I need to explain the existence of certain values to you first."
"Loyalty is a crucial statistic that determines a city's ownership and is directly proportional to the happiness of its inhabitants. Once loyalty reaches zero, your city will become independent. The same applies to the army; once loyalty reaches zero, your army will also become independent."
"Hunger is related to whether your people and army can have enough to eat. Hunger is calculated separately for each region. Don't assume that people will die when hunger reaches zero. Generally, they will make wiser choices, such as revolting."
"Productivity represents the speed at which your city develops, enabling you to research certain machines and construct certain buildings more quickly. Productivity depends on your current population and production tools."
"Money is the currency you possess. You can use it to buy all sorts of items, and if you offer the right price, you can even use it to bribe my people."
"In addition, the unique terrain can provide special assistance in the event of battle, and it also has its advantages and disadvantages for normal production."
"These are the rules I can explain to you. As for the rest, please experience them for yourself in the game."
After the Minotaur finished explaining such a long list of game rules, the viewers in the live stream were completely dumbfounded. The rules on the surface seemed very simple, but what the Minotaur said was probably just the tip of the iceberg of the game's rules!
This is different from the previous betting tables, where neither side is very clear about the rules of the game, so they start on equal footing.
However, the Tauren had already memorized the rules of the game, while Jiang Ran was completely a novice. It could be said that he was at a disadvantage from the very beginning!
"Then, let the game begin!" the minotaur said. "From now on, you can directly control everything in the game with your mind. Neither of us knows what the other will do unless we have vision of the corresponding city."
"Each round has ten minutes of thinking time, and each city can only be acted once."
Jiang Ran first checked the attributes of all the cities.
The capital city has a loyalty level of 10 and plenty of food and water, while other cities generally have loyalty levels between 7 and 9, and border cities have even lower loyalty levels.
To win this kind of game, you absolutely cannot treat it as a game; you must treat it as a real war!
Each city allows only one action, meaning Jiang Ran needs to make twelve actions within ten minutes. Jiang Ran selected a border city, and the following options popped up—
[Recruit troops] [Deploy troops] [Defense] [Support]
Farming, trading, spies, plundering
[Scientific Research] [Tax Exemption] [Disaster Relief] [Speech]
"Hiss—this game might be a little more complicated than I thought."
First of all, farming is a must. Some cities must make this choice to ensure that the people in all cities can have enough to eat, so that there can be more population and army.
The surrounding terrain might affect grain production. In addition, Jiang Ran thought of another factor that the minotaurs hadn't mentioned—climate!
The Tauren must be very familiar with this game, so he must have his own formulaic playstyle, which allows him to easily outmaneuver Jiang Ran from the very beginning!
To prevent surprise attacks and ensure domestic food production, the initial focus was often on defense of border cities, while inland cities were primarily used for farming and trade.
However, defense is actually a very risky choice, because if the opponent doesn't attack, you've essentially wasted an action opportunity and done nothing.
"You can only deploy troops if you recruit soldiers first, and similarly, you can only defend if you have an army. Therefore, the latter two options are based on the premise of recruiting soldiers!"
While an army is a good thing, it naturally consumes much more food and money than civilians. It is easy to recruit soldiers, but difficult to maintain them!
Ten minutes passed quickly, and both of them completed the first round of selections.
"The first phase is complete. Now, please draw the 'Great Man' card!"
The minotaurs hadn't mentioned this rule beforehand, but Jiang Ran had seen plenty of hidden rules before, so he wasn't too surprised.
What is the "Great Man Brand"?
"Simply put, after completing each stage, you will receive a Great Person card. A Great Person can provide a considerable boost to a city. It should be noted that once the city is captured, the Great Person will also die!"
The minotaur was already very familiar with this, and after speaking, he took a Great Man card from the side!
[The Great Writer Homer: Provides one free [Speech] for each phase of the city he governs, and increases loyalty gained from the speech by 1.]
With this bonus, Homer's city will not have to worry about his loyalty dropping unless it is breached or he is starved!
The minotaur sneered. He had hidden a lot of secrets within the rules. Loyalty also affected the combat effectiveness of the army in the city. In a battle between two equally well-equipped armies, the one with higher morale would definitely win!
An army recruited from a city with full loyalty is a true iron army! Consuming only one action opportunity, such an army is enough to crush armies with loyalty levels around 5!
Jiang Ran, what great figure card did you draw this time?
The Tauren placed Homer in the central city to ensure that he could provide immediate support to the border cities without putting them in danger.
In the first phase, the minotaur sent out two scouts, enough for them to check the status of Jiang Ran's four border cities, but after they finished looking at them, a look of doubt appeared on his face.
Jiang Ran's four border cities did not recruit soldiers; instead, they all chose to trade. This means that Jiang Ran will be unable to defend these four cities in the next round. Isn't this like opening his doors wide and making them easy targets?
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