Avalon Hill's Advanced Civilization
Encyclopedia
Avalon Hill's Advanced Civilization is a computer edition of the Advanced Civilization
board game
(the Civilization
board game including the expansion to that game called Advanced Civilization). Both the board and computer game portray the same basic concept: the players manage ancient Mediterranean
civilizations in an effort to move them from the early Bronze Age
to beyond the Iron Age
. It was published in 1995, shortly before Avalon Hill
was bought out by Hasbro
in 1998. It came out about the same time that Sid Meier
's Civilization II
was released, and as a result, didn't do well commercially. The game was also slightly hobbled in that it was developed for MS-DOS
, so while it ran from Windows 95
, it ran as a DOS application.
, Asia
, Assyria
, Babylon
, Crete
, Egypt
, Illyria
, Italy
(also named Iberia
), and Thrace
. Players move population units across the board, taking over territories and competing with their opponents for the most sought after land.
Once your population reaches a sufficient size, you can congregate the units into cities. These cities can later be attacked for valuable plunder and to deal a blow to your opponents' chances of winning. The primary source of damage to players' civilizations comes from calamities rather than warfare. Calamities are somewhat under players' control, and can be managed by purchase of appropriate tools.
Building cities allows your civilization to produce commodities such as iron, salt, wine, bronze, and spices. For each city you have, you may draw a card from a commodity card deck, numbered one through nine. Those who have the least cities draw first. The more commodities your civilization produces, the more valuable the types of commodities that you can produce. Hidden within each commodity deck are also one or two calamities, such as earthquake, famine, barbarian hordes, or civil war, each of which seriously damages your population and destroys your cities. All commodity and calamity cards have identical backs, for trading face down. Some calamities are not tradeable. Most tradeable calamities have consequences to other players, and generally the player who traded the calamity is exempt from being chosen.
Once your civilization accumulates enough commodities, you can trade them with your opponents in order to corner the market on a particular commodity and increase its value. By creating sets of two or more of the same commodity, the value of the commodity increases. To trade, you offer your opponents three (or more) of your commodity cards in exchange for three (or more) of theirs. You must trade the same number of cards. Notably, only two of the trade cards need to be true for a valid trade to take place, which often discourages trading more than three cards.
Once you collect enough commodities, you can spend them to purchase tools, which range from pottery or astronomy to democracy or monotheism. By acquiring these tools, players' civilizations gain victory points. The tools also give each civilization particular advantages during the gameplay. Tools are divided into categories such as Science, Craft, and Civics. Purchasing a tool of one category normally entitles you to a discount to further purchases in that category, and often also entitles you to a discount to the purchase of specific tools. Some tools have prerequisites for purchase.
By collecting useful tools and maintaining as many cities as possible on the board, your civilization advances through the ages. At the end of each turn, civilizations with enough cities and enough tools in appropriate categories are allowed to advance along the game's turn track, the Archaeological Succession Table (AST). Different civilizations have slightly different entry requirements to the spaces on the AST. A civilization unfortunate enough to end the turn with no cities at all will go backwards on the AST. Once one or more players have reached the end of the AST, the game ends and the winner is decided based on a calculation of victory points. The majority of victory points come from purchase of tools and progress along the AST. Cities and stock at the end of the game provide a minor boost to victory points, sometimes sufficient to decide a close-fought game.
Advanced Civilization
Advanced Civilization is the expansion game for the board game Civilization, published in 1991 by Avalon Hill. Ownership of the original game is necessary to play...
board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
(the Civilization
Civilization (board game)
Civilization is a board game designed by Francis Tresham, published in Britain in 1980 by Hartland Trefoil , and in the US in 1981 by Avalon Hill. The game typically takes eight or more hours to play and is for two to seven players...
board game including the expansion to that game called Advanced Civilization). Both the board and computer game portray the same basic concept: the players manage ancient Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
civilizations in an effort to move them from the early Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
to beyond the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
. It was published in 1995, shortly before Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
was bought out by Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
in 1998. It came out about the same time that Sid Meier
Sid Meier
Sidney K. "Sid" Meier is a Canadian programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games, most notably Civilization. He has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry...
's Civilization II
Civilization II
Sid Meier's Civilization II is a turn-based strategy computer game designed by Brian Reynolds, Douglas Caspian-Kaufman and Jeff Briggs. Although it is a sequel to Sid Meier's Civilization, neither Sid Meier nor Bruce Shelley was involved in its development.Civilization II was first released in...
was released, and as a result, didn't do well commercially. The game was also slightly hobbled in that it was developed for MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
, so while it ran from Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
, it ran as a DOS application.
Gameplay
The game play involves a map of the Mediterranean Sea and surrounding lands, where each player controls one civilization chosen from a set of nine: AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
, Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(also named Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
), and Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
. Players move population units across the board, taking over territories and competing with their opponents for the most sought after land.
Once your population reaches a sufficient size, you can congregate the units into cities. These cities can later be attacked for valuable plunder and to deal a blow to your opponents' chances of winning. The primary source of damage to players' civilizations comes from calamities rather than warfare. Calamities are somewhat under players' control, and can be managed by purchase of appropriate tools.
Building cities allows your civilization to produce commodities such as iron, salt, wine, bronze, and spices. For each city you have, you may draw a card from a commodity card deck, numbered one through nine. Those who have the least cities draw first. The more commodities your civilization produces, the more valuable the types of commodities that you can produce. Hidden within each commodity deck are also one or two calamities, such as earthquake, famine, barbarian hordes, or civil war, each of which seriously damages your population and destroys your cities. All commodity and calamity cards have identical backs, for trading face down. Some calamities are not tradeable. Most tradeable calamities have consequences to other players, and generally the player who traded the calamity is exempt from being chosen.
Once your civilization accumulates enough commodities, you can trade them with your opponents in order to corner the market on a particular commodity and increase its value. By creating sets of two or more of the same commodity, the value of the commodity increases. To trade, you offer your opponents three (or more) of your commodity cards in exchange for three (or more) of theirs. You must trade the same number of cards. Notably, only two of the trade cards need to be true for a valid trade to take place, which often discourages trading more than three cards.
Once you collect enough commodities, you can spend them to purchase tools, which range from pottery or astronomy to democracy or monotheism. By acquiring these tools, players' civilizations gain victory points. The tools also give each civilization particular advantages during the gameplay. Tools are divided into categories such as Science, Craft, and Civics. Purchasing a tool of one category normally entitles you to a discount to further purchases in that category, and often also entitles you to a discount to the purchase of specific tools. Some tools have prerequisites for purchase.
By collecting useful tools and maintaining as many cities as possible on the board, your civilization advances through the ages. At the end of each turn, civilizations with enough cities and enough tools in appropriate categories are allowed to advance along the game's turn track, the Archaeological Succession Table (AST). Different civilizations have slightly different entry requirements to the spaces on the AST. A civilization unfortunate enough to end the turn with no cities at all will go backwards on the AST. Once one or more players have reached the end of the AST, the game ends and the winner is decided based on a calculation of victory points. The majority of victory points come from purchase of tools and progress along the AST. Cities and stock at the end of the game provide a minor boost to victory points, sometimes sufficient to decide a close-fought game.
External links
- advcivladder.net - play by mail games played with rankings.
- Avalon Hill's Advanced Civilization at BoardGameGeekBoardGameGeekBoardGameGeek is a website that was founded in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko as a resource for the board gaming hobby. The database holds reviews, articles, and session reports for over 45,000 different games, expansions, and designers. BoardGameGeek includes German-style board games,...