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City States of Shang

by Gustavia

The end of 400 years of Xia rule resulted in the rise of the Shang Dynasty. During this period, powerful warlord-kings used wise seers to predict the future, based on interpretations of cracks in fire-heated oracle bones. Many of these predictions were then etched into the bones, planting the seed for a written language. Elaborate bronzewares were cast and used during important ceremonies to pay homage to ancestors and heroic figures. Take this path to walk in the footsteps of the Shang...

This campaign is set during the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty (c. 1750-1045 BCE). The seven missions that comprise this campaign are generally “easy”, but run the gamut from very quick and simple to slightly involved scenarios involving trade, as well as defending against a barbarian attack. About half of the full game’s buildings and commodities come into play during this campaign. The Shang missions are set in the temperate and humid regions and three monuments are built.

These walkthroughs are fairly detailed with requirements, events and suggestions of city layout. If you don’t want this much help, read some of the other walkthroughs for Shang. All missions were played on Normal with default settings. It isn’t my habit to fiddle with labor priorities, taxes or wages. Another word of caution. I play with minimum population to get the mission accomplished. Unemployment is rarely a problem; in fact, my style of playing involves more having to wait for just a few more workers to do the next thing. The military aspects were always de-emphasized. No cities were conquered unless it was a mission requirement; bribes were paid instead of fighting if possible.