Well... WW is a *****, nothing much we can do about it. I can dial lux up, but Rome is doomed to starve til Biology, Cumae the same fate, dialing up culture would help a bit, but I'll wait til the next level of WW to do so, nobody is so angry that its killing us. I do think the brothers of the faith thing is garbage when they declare on you though.
Militarily, we have one nice SoD, we could possibly have another, except that I can't move units out of a lot of cities as MP is the only thing keeping them even semi-productive. If we can take Athens, hopefully Alex will crumble. Would also help if stupid Greek ships weren't blocking our ports. Should get Athens, but it looks like its going to be a bloodbath.
Diplomatically, it is what it is. Cathy has Wine we can trade for Gems, gonna do that, every bit of happy helps.
Optimistically hit enter...
(IT) Go 1 for 3 against Greek rifles, perhaps I was too optimistic in thinking we'd take Athens. Also Abu Bakr, GP is born in Rome. 80% chance for a GS no less. Meh. Gonna hang on to him, don't want to GA during war. Realize we already have one, could burn him for Liberalism or join him for cash. Still thinking saving for future GA is the right move. Hopefully that engineer will be able to build something and we'll get a sci or something later. He's fortified in Rome along with Peter.
1730 - Have a tough call outside Athens. Theres a whopping 5 units in Athens, 1 a half-dead cat, 2 rifles and 2 longbows. If we had city raider units, I'd go for it. Without, gonna wait til everyones healthy. Apt, I suppose, given our variant.
So I just mop up the 2 rifles we fought on the IT.
Also spot this mess outside Corinth. Really wish we had a navy.
No doubt where thats headed.
1735 - That force lands outside Cumae. Decide to attack first, ask questions later. Kill all but one cat and leave a lone rifle at 0.6 str. That will be handled next turn. Otherwise shuffle units, prepare for assault next turn. We're going to lose a lot of nets soon.
1740 - Suicide 5 cats against Athens, 2 Withdraw. Then send in the troops. Resulting in:
Take that, unhealthy swine. On the upside, we've got the Greek Capital. On the downside, think we might be spent. We'll see what Big Al brings on the IT. I would really like to take the Greeks out completely, and I certainly would like Athens not to be owned by cultural pressure, but if I can get anything worthwhile, I will probably sign peace if we can hold Athens. I don't really think we stand much chance of anything other than a bloodbath if we continue on, hes ahead on tech, and we have some lebensraum.
Decide this is a good time to recheck diplo. Cathy says she has enough on her hands right now in regards to war, that means she's building up for someone. Let's hope its not us. A dogpile would mean we're done I think.
1745 - No news is good news. We'll be able to hold Athens, Alex is still disinterested in peace though. I think we might be able to grab Thermopylae, Steel is in next turn. No ironworks sadly, but Cannons are a nice consolation prize. Pretty darn sure I'm heading for Cavs next. I'm pretty sure nobody has Steel, which means I should trade it around, but as its a key military tech, I have no interest in encouraging our bloodthirsty neighbors. I still think a lazy Toku is going to attack us before anyone else. If he ever goes FR we're screwed. Interestingly, the siege of Athens has brought us to 2nd in score. I know better though.
1750 - Steel in, going after Nationalism on the way to MT. Going to run 0 sci for a few turns for catapult upgrades though. Toku is definitely missionary spamming. That Hindu Shrine alone is keeping him in the game. Going to let stack in Athens heal, then go for Thermo.
1755 - Nothing much, just some upgrades. Alex has the pillagers out in force, but if he has a SoD somewhere, he's hidden it well. Given how crappy the defenses in the Capital were, I can't imagine he has too much more up his sleeve.
1760 - Now have 4 Cannons, turning Sci back on.
1765 - Units healed, marching on Thermopylae.
IT - Lose a Gren to Greek Rifle at Athens, will clean up/shuffle.
1770 - Great Sci born in Cumae. I don't want to start a GA during war though. I fortify him there. There are 3 Rifle and 2 Cats in Thermopylae. Should take it out without problem.
IT - Kill Greek Rifle outside Thermopylae with Gren. I left medic behind and am regretting it. Figured he could catch up after bombard.
1775 - Bombard Thermo to defense 0. Medic one turn behind SoD.
That's it. Thermo will fall next turn, I leave the glory to ChrTh. Nationalism due in 4. People are willing to trade for Steel, but I didn't want to pull the trigger on it. Feel free if you think its a good idea. Have grand total of 4 sleeping GPs, rush the first wonder we can, and we can GA as soon as the war is over. Nearly lost both Cumae and Athens due to stupidity but managed. 10 turns and all I took was Athens, but I think whatever Alex has is spent. Looking at his lands, he didn't have a whole lot to begin with, which is why he backstabbed us, the bastard. Good luck, and remember...
I won't do that mistake in my turn! I promise.
And an Academy. It has an Aqueduct, so I think I'll start with Granary since it's starving.
Has an Academy, though, and a Granary, Harbor, and Aqueduct. I start Grocer.
