Episode 5: The Enemies of England
Last time, on the Epics of Elizabeth of England, we see the English retaliated and send a brunch of their specialized redcoats to pay Gilgamesh a visit. The rampage continues on:
The forces I bring it doesn't seems enough. Hmm ... but don't worry, more is coming your way, Gilgamesh!
Meanwhile, I realized that Physics requires Astronomy ... hmm ... which mean compass and optics as well. Alright, I decided not to delay further and get biology instead:
In preparation for that, I also got CoL from Monty. The idea was to revolt to Caste the same time as I revolt to Free Religion.
But, I did not. I go Serfdom instead.
Why? Because my workers are building the nature reserves. I want these up as soon as possible. In addition, I still have empty scientist and merchant slots available. I am also building the National Park as the final national wonder. I had the good fortune to see a forest growth in my BFC during the last round, so I should be able to get 4 free specialists., which is huge with a philosophical leader. Plus, the removal of population unhealthiness would spring London into another baby bloom. Ofcourse, extra food from the Economy's free merchant will help too:
Meanwhile, the troops keep reporting success:
The last battle also gave me the opportunity to build a military academy. Sweet!!! I no longer need to build one read coat and one catapult in succession to keep units pumping out of London every turn.
With the nature reserves all up, I decided to add one more free specialist into the mix:
I had also gotten some events:
The first one was useless ... theology??? Hmm ...
The second one was simply a nuisance, I have more than enough money for the random spirits to burn a lot more mines.
The third one was sweet! Heh, I got a tundra artists as well!!! (adapting from Cabledawg's words, "suck that, lucky boy of Oz!")
The forth one is another useless but humorous event. Running with the bulls event happening on the cow pasture?
Another interesting thing Monty and I are the only buddhist. As I always abstained, he literally voted himself in as the head monk every time.
And then ... the war takes a sudden turn.
You see, I have razed Gilgamesh down to a final city, and then Mr My-Hair-is-Longer-Than-Yours must settle exactly on the same spot. This had Elizabeth fuming. "Fine, Asoka. You are next in line anyway after Gilgamesh officially bite the dust. Just bringing forward the schedule a bit."
And thus Asoka got declared on by England a second time. Except that this time it is no phony war, and you won't be able to buy yourself peace with a mere 100 gold. You will have to become as bald as Gandhi to be eligible for an audience with Elizabeth. (She is attracted to bald man, you know. But since Churchill did not appear until 1930s, she died a virgin ... but that is another story).
One more reason for declaring on Aoska is he is currently the only one enjoying peace. Ragnar and Monty had been exchanging cities throughout all these time while my army are screwing around with Gilgamesh's. We can't have Asoka growing strong in peace, can we?
Let Gilgamesh be the foretold of what's to come for you, Asoka!
So many innocent lives! Bad queen, Elizabeth! Bad Queen!
Let's take a break from these merciless massacre and review the tech a bit. I have been largely flip-flopping between tech paths, unable to make up my mind, after getting Biology. On one hand I wanted Artillery. On the other, I wanted Cavalries. I though cavalries are easier, so went ahead with Military Science (the good thing is it also enables Mil. Academy). To my surprise, no cavalries. Ah ... I keep having the misconception that they shifted cavalries' requisite from Military Tradition to Military Science.
Hmm ... so I went ahead to get Music, and then decide that Astronomy and Physics first might be better (since observatories boost science rate), so I switched to Physics again. Somewhere along that line, I decide to grab the Economy's free merchant ... heh, Elizabeth is flirting around different scientists ...
Anyway, at the end, I got both Artillery and Cavalry tech. Heading towards Assembly lines now.
Meanwhile, on the western side of London, Ragnar made numerous demands on Elizabeth, wanting her to join the war against and Monty, or demanding that she cancel deals with Aztec. All promptly rejected until the last one, where Elizabeth upon considering the vast land and pastures to the east where the buffalo roams and the deer and the antelope plays, agreed to cancel deals with Monty.
Since London's influential culture spans across from the bottom edge of the world to the middle sea (... but not the iron, arrgh!!!!
...), Monty won't be able to spawn cities there as easily.
Sound like a good plan, eh?
Until ...
Which caught me totally off guard. In one sweep, the Aztec took all my 3 workers (damned, remember the massacre after Gilgamesh's demise? serve me right!), and killed my longbows and warrior (serve me right with my complacency again! should had upgraded them ages ago!!) at the western forts.
Hmm ... one more enemy of England had emerged. Did he chose unwisely?
Stay tuned for the next Episode.