War!

I had a Civ session with a few people that DH met online and been playing with today. One guy told me that DH is very lucky to have a wife who games. Needless to say, I was flattered. I'm sure there are fewer females who play Civ than males. I know it's even rarer for a gamer to have his wife liking the same game. But really, I didn't do anything! All I had to do was sit back and enjoy getting praises for being myself. Aren't nerdy girls lucky? My reply to the guy was "Well, I was lucky my husband introduced me to this game". Because really, without his effort to make the game approachable to me, his perseverance in making it enjoyable for me, I would be missing out on one of the good things in life. So here's to you, partner!
That said, playing with people is entirely different from playing with computer. One of the guy sent his troops to attack me. I found out then that my playing before was completely un-vigorous, to use a mathematical term. I vaguely knew what strengths and weaknesses each unit has, and didn't care much about certain level-ups that they can achieve. For a while, we were just moving troops back and forth to anticipate the other person's attack, very much like playing chess (which I hate). The tediousness of having to watch out for my enemy's every move, having to stop and calculate every turn frustrated me. It was to the point that all that kept me from quitting was the thought that my opponent would think that I'm no good because I'm a girl. Yeah, being a nerd girl has its pressure, even if wholly imagined. For a while, I couldn't figure out why he's so aggressive to me, someone who just joined their game, is new to Civ (compared to the other guy who's been playing for about 20 years) and not only that, a girl! (yup, I'm sexist too). Then it dawned on me that he's only attacking me because I had the top score, and my land is near his and that I was a potential threat. So I made peace with DH (you didn't think I would be friendly with him in the game, did you?) and asked for help. I managed to kill off my enemy's troops without too many losses. Now DH and I are gathering our armies to go kick his ass! At least that's what DH said: "I will avenge you!" (and looting the other guy, I'm sure).
After the session, I had a chat with a Verizon customer service person, and I almost chewed his head off. My aggressiveness surprised me. I'm usually the kind of person whom when told that a certain feature is not available, just take it as is without asking questions and finding work-arounds. Being aggressive in the game has somehow translated to being aggressive in real life. One could only guess what would happen if I continue playing this game...