350 (0): Tremendous expansion recently
, though we seem stretched to the limit and I don't expect to match that pace this round.
M60 is right that we have to declare on the Persians, so I do that.
A cultural expansion at Byblos will help our defenses more than one more catapult. I switch that build to a temple.
Helio barracks --> swordsman.
360 (1): On the northeastern front we smite a Bab MDI and two Bowmen (3-0).
In the SE we dispose of two Zulu swordsmen (5-0).
In the SW we cut down three Songhai archers (8-0).
370 (2): We slay two Bab MDI, a Bowman, and a Greek archer in the NE; two Song archers in the SW; and a Song spearman, a Zulu swordsman, and a Zulu archer in the SE (17-0).
A Persian
horseman appears near Babylon.
380 (3): We defeat a Persian horseman, a Bab MDI, and a French swordsman in the NE; and five Song archers in the SW (25-0).
390 (4): We eliminate two Greek archers, a Bab MDI, and a Bowman in the NE; two Zulu swordsmen, a Zulu archer, and an Impi in the SE; and two Song spearmen in the SW (35-0).
Bizarrely, given that we haven't seen a mounted unit from them, the Babs have horses right next to Babylon. I send an army to pillage the tile.
A elite spearman covering an archer falls to the attack of a Bab MDI (35-1). I was going to cover this archer with an army until the opportunity to pillage Babylon's horses appeared.
400 (5): Our SW army defeats two spearmen in Songhai Kangaba, but the town remains garrisoned (37-1).
We pillage Babylon's horses.
The situation in the SE is a little delicate at the moment; we have to defend Lisht from the Zulus and Asyut from the Persians while also shadowing a Persian galley which is sailing far up the Red Sea without committing itself.
We extirpate two French swordsmen and a Bowman in the NE; one Zulu swordsman in the SE; and one Song archer in the SW (42-1).
We kill a French warrior near Pi-Ram, as they finally start attacking in the NW (43-1).
The Persian galley drops a single warrior off next to Heliopolis, after advancing as far as El-Amarna.
A
Zulu horseman appears.
410 (6): We account for the Persian warrior near Helio (44-1).
We dispose of another spearman and archer in Kangaba, but the town is still garrisoned (46-1).
We overrun a Persian Immortal and warrior, ending the threat to Asyut for the moment (48-1).
We wipe out a French archer in the NW; two Greek archers, a Bab MDI, and two Immortals in the NE; and an Impi in the SE (55-1). We gain the GL Ramses on our twelfth elite victory of the round, as though probabilities were additive.
We only have seventeen cities, but with things heating up in the NW (fourteen Immortals in sight at one point) I definitely want to use this GL for an army, not the FP. In the next two turns we should be able to found two cities in reasonable though cramped locations, and one in a spot I would have chosen anyway; and since we have no elite attacks left to make this turn, we'll only lose one turn's worth of opportunites by holding the GL.
420 (7): We root another three units out of Kangaba, and finally auto-raze the wretched place, gaining zero gold (two archers and a spearman; 58-1).
We smash three Greek archers and three Immortals in the NE; three Song archers in the SW; and two Zulu archers in the SE (69-1). One of our armies has an incredible run of bad luck against an Immortal, falling to 1 HP.
We found Kahun near the ruins of Kangaba.
A Persian warrior--a conscript, no less--perishes attacking Byblos (70-1).
Memphis barracks --> swordsman, Byblos temple --> swordsman.
The Babylonians are building Knights Templar, which could work out well for us--or not.
430 (8): We found Athribis and Mendes, pushing our border with the Zulus forward a little. I would have liked to put Mendes in the less cramped position one tile NE, but with the Zulus and Persians using the mountain range as a path, a city next to a mountain would be too troublesome tactically.
Ramses founds our fifth army in Alexandria.
We exterminate a French spearman in the NW; five Immortals and a Bab MDI in the NE; and an Impi in the SE (78-1).
440 (9): We liquidate two Immortals and two Bowmen in the NE, and a Zulu swordsman and an Impi in the SE, gaining the GL Cheops in fighting around Byblos (84-1).
I don't have time properly to consider what to do with the new GL, or where to put the FP if that's our choice, so I won't play a tenth turn.
Fourteen elite victories this round produced two Great Leaders.
