Situation Assessment: The year is 500AD. We are researching Feudalism, which is due in 23 turns. Our city is at population 10, and growth is stagnant. Health is 12=12 and happiness is 12>10. The city governor is currently off. We have 1 citizen specialist. Production is set to Axeman, due next turn. The treasury is 278 gold pieces at -2gpt.
Homeland defense consists of 4 archers. One archer is guarding our gold, while the other 3 are garrisoned at Delhi. Our 3 workers are doing various tile improvements, including 1 forest chop.
Our army is at the gates of the Arabian city of Kufah. It appears to be newly established on the rubble that was once Tenochitlan. Our army consists of 4 swordsmen, 1 axeman, 1 archer, and 2 catapults. One of the swordsman has a Woodsman II promotion, allowing for movement of 2 in the forest and jungle.
Objectives: I think Rik was correct when he said we need more units. More to the point, I think we need more armies. We currently have 1 army in the east. We need at least two more armies: a Northern army and a NE army.
Our other problem is city growth. Hereditary rule did wonders for the happiness problem, but the health issue remains. Our research is a pathetic 29 beakers; and that is after a +85% boost from our buildings. Our finances, however, are in order. At -2gpt, we have 139 turns before we run out of money.
Turn 0 (500AD): Turn on city governor and set to emphasize research. This drops feudalism down to 17 turns from 23 turns. Axeman still due in 1 turn. Population growth will be in 8 turns. Change Research to Pottery, due in 2 turns.
Turn 1 (520AD): Delhi completes the axeman and starts training another. The axe just built is sent to join the Eastern Army.
We begin the assault on Kufah with a Shock-promoted, Combat II swordsman versus Saladin's Combat I swordsman. At odds of 7.2 to 4.8 it should have been an easy win. But, our swordsman barely survived. Kufah's only defense is a Combat I chariot, which is attacked by our Combat II Swordsman. The odds this time are a slightly improved 7.2 to 4.0, as we defeat the chariot and burn Kufah to the ground. At this point, our army consists of 2 units (out of 8) that have full health/strength. They are going to need some R&R before marching.
The razing of Kufah reveals that Saladin has a pair of Combat II axemen enroute to reinforce Kufah. Wondering what else lies in the fog, I decide to use our Woodsman II swordsman to do some scouting. Holy Criminy, Batman!!
I think this game may be over soon. Sal is sending army consisting of a swordsman, two axemen, a chariot, and a spearman. One of the axemen has a Shock promotion.
IBT: A Japanese warrior and archer appear out of the fog NE of what was Kufah. Sal's army appears to be marching to Delhi.
Turn 2 (540AD): Pottery is learned and we return to research Feudalism, due in 17 turns. The axeman destined to join the Eastern Army is reassigned to the defense of Delhi. Our archer defending the gold is ordered north to assist the axeman. Our Eastern Army continues to heal.
IBT: Well, Sal's Army is definitely Delhi bound. Our corn is pillaged
Turn 3 (560AD): Another Axeman is constructed for the defense of Delhi. The two Axemen are promoted to Combat I. They will be defending from a forest giving them +50% defense bonus. Not sure if Sal will attack them or just flank them to Delhi. The archer, which had been guarding the gold, is now there and is promoted to Combat I with Shock. I queue up a catapult, which will be done next turn (complements of a forest chop).
IBT: Wow, what a fight! Sal brings his Shock-promoted axeman up first. At 5.5 to our 6.75, our axeman successfully defends the forest. Next, Sal brings up a Combat I swordsman. It was a suicide mission (7.2 to 10.5) against our Axeman. Finally, Sal brings up his chariot against our Shock-promoted Archer. Oh, this was such a smart move, even though the odds of 4.4 vs 4.8 were still on our favor. His chariot retreats before the death blow would have been dealt.
Unfortunately, Sal has even more troops. Another chariot and spearman appear out of the fog.
Turn 4 (580AD): The catapult completes. I queue up a spearman to counter the chariots that Saladin is throwing at us. By turning off the city governor, the spearman will be ready next turn.
Our forces are in bad shape. I don't see how they will survive another assault without some rest. So, I pull back off of the forest to defend the iron tile. This buys our troops one turn of healing in exchange for the loss of the forest defense bonus. At this point I'm thinking, this may be the critical mistake that costs us the game. The two axemen are given Shock promotions, while the new catapult is given a Drill promotion (we may need that first strike).
Meanwhile, our Eastern Army is 3/4ths healed (all but 2 swords). I leave the two swords to finish healing and send the rest of the army after Saladin's Army.
IBT: Our old buddy, George, founds Chicago near where Bantu was located. It is being defended by a Spearman and an Elephant. Meanwhile, a Malinese Axeman is spotted.
Sal, on the other hand, did as expected and moved his forces forward into the void I had left.
Turn 5 (600AD): Our spearman is trained. Another axeman is queued up and the city governor is turned back on. I turn off emphasize research and set for no growth. Once the corn gets hooked back up, we can build a granary and grow to population 12 quite easily.
I then send our Woodsman II swordsman
(erroneously labeled Eastern Army in the above picture) to clear away the fog of war and see what else may be coming our way. Unfortunately, I did not realize that C4 had an "Auto-Attack" feature.
Our swordsman attacked one of Sal's axemen in the jungle. If I had been asked whether I wanted our 6.0 swordsman to attack Sal's 10.5 axeman, I most likely would have declined!
Needless to say, this unit has given us his last intel report.
IBT: Sal does not attack? Interesting. He does, however, consolidate his forces on one of our forests. I believe he wants to do some pillaging.
Remember the two swords that weren't quite healed? The ones that I left behind in a forest? Well, Saladin has sent 2 horse archers after them. And, not to be left out, Tokugawa has sent an archer and a warrior.
Turn 6 (620AD): With Sal's forces in the forest as they are, it would be suicide to attack him. And I'm pretty sure he wants to pillage our mine on the hilltop. It may be possible to set a trap using our iron as bait. He would definitely pillage the iron, and we may have to go without for a turn or two, but it may be worth the risk to get his forces on flat land. I move our forces onto the hilltop. This leaves our iron undefended. My guess is he will go for it, leaving the forest bonus behind.
Alrighty then, our wounded swordsmen have two choices. Run like dogs, or attack. I am pretty confidant that they could take out the Japanese forces, but they would be guaranteed a death from Sal's horse archers. Personally, I don't think trading swordsmen for warriors and archers is a good deal. They run!
Meanwhile, the rest of the Eastern Army is one turn away from attacking Chicago. However, a Mali axeman stands ready to defend George's latest villa. I wonder if George appreciates the sacrifice that Mansu Musa is making? Our axeman attacks in a 6 to 5 skirmish that is easily won. Next turn, Chicago!
IBT: Sal does as expected, and pillages our iron.
Turn 7 (640AD): Delhi trains a new axeman. Since iron is no longer available, a catapult is queued up. But, now to see about taking back our iron. First off, our one available catapult suicides against the stack causing collateral damage. Unfortunately, not nearly enough as I would have hoped. Next, our wounded axe defeats one of their wounded chariots in a 5.2 to 3.4 matchup. Then another wounded axe easily takes down one of Sal's Axemen in a 5.0 to 3.2 battle. Now, in a 4.4 to 3.9 matchup, our 100% healthy spearman dies against Sal's wounded spearman. This one kind of surprises me. Now, I really wanted to save our last 100% healthy axeman for a melee unit, but I am forced to take him against a half-strength chariot. Well, our axe barely defeated the chariot in what should have been a 5.0 to 2.9 cake walk.
Well, after it is all said and done, Saladin still controls our iron with two wounded spearman.
Meanwhile, up in the "Windy City", an elephant is a formidable force. I suicide one of the two cats against the elephant. Not sure how effective it was, though. Oh, how I wish I had a suicide spear! I decide to gamble with the RNG and use our Shock-promoted swordsman to attack the elephant. The odds were 6.6 to 6.2 in our favor, but our sword did not stand a chance. Before dying, our sword did manage to rip both tusks off of the elephant. Our axeman easily obliterates the defending spearman, while our in-need-of-a-promotion catapult decimates what was left of the elephant.
Now, in the end, Chicago may have been burned to the ground, but the Eastern Army is no more. All that remains is a cat, an axe, and a bow.
IBT: Sal's spears take off running in two different directions, thus freeing up our iron. Meanwhile, his horse archers are approaching from the east.
Turn 8 (660AD): We easily take out one of Sal's fleeing spearmen (5.2 vs 2.4). The rest of our forces are set to heal. Task the 3 workers to reconnecting the iron. Unfortunately, I don't think it is going to be done in time to build a spear before the horse archers arrive.
IBT: The horse archers turn and head for the gold mine. Pillaging the gold will delay their arrival in Delhi.
Turn 9 (680AD): The catapult is built and another is queued up. With the overflow, it will be done next turn. In the meantime, one of our swords gets to finish off the last fleeing spearman.
The only forces still threatening Delhi are the two horse archers to the SE. Unfortunately, I do not have any forces that will get there in time to prevent the pillaging of the gold mine.
IBT: Not sure what happened. Without pillaging anything, Sal's horse archers retreated. However, two more horse archers appeared out of the fog from the NE. From the SE, a barbarian swordsman emerged, as well as an American scout.
Turn 10 (700AD): Catapult built, begin training a spearman. Pulled back some of our forces still needing to be healed. Moved forward our currently healed defense forces: 2 cats and an axe. Unfortunately, the horse archers are out of reach. Maybe next turn...
I guess thats what I get for trying to post at 2AM.
on the Arabian front! I'll see what I can do about more units, better units may be a bit more difficult. 
![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
