Civilization V: The Swedish Saga, part 1 (4000 B.C. to 430 A.D.)

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Of Stormlanders and Althings

2500 B.C.: Norse barbarians in the Bay of Storms region, known as Stormlanders, are conquered and brought under Swedish rule. With their aid, the Swedes begin domesticating animals.

I researched Animal Husbandry a little earlier than I usually do because Sweden's first unique unit is cavalry-based. There's just one problem: I've been scouting the entire region for a while, and I've found plenty of sheep, cows, and deer, but there don't seem to be any horses near a convenient city-building site. At least I've still got 3000 years, give or take, to get that figured out.

I'm now turning toward the wheel, which I researched comically late in the Celtic Chronicle and missed out on a lot of bonus Science I could have been generating from trade routes.

2275 B.C.: The Swedes encounter the German tribes living inland from Austria at the heart of the continent. It quickly becomes clear that they don't get along well with their Austrian neighbors. Shortly after, the Austrians approach the Swedes with an offer to declare friendship. The Swedes gladly accept.

One of Sweden's civ powers gives me increased Great Person generation for every civ I've declared friendship with, so I'll be doing that a lot. It's not going to make Germany terribly happy with me, but then, when are they ever?

2100 B.C.: The first Swedish gold mine is constructed near Stockholm, bringing untold wealth to its citizens.

Len Hafer
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Len Hafer is a freelancer and lifelong PC gamer with a specialty in strategy, RPGs, horror, and survival games. A chance encounter with Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness changed her life forever. Today, her favorites include the grand strategy games from Paradox Interactive like Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, and thought-provoking, story-rich RPGs like Persona 5 and Disco Elysium. She also loves history, hiking in the mountains of Colorado, and heavy metal music.