1340 (0): Well done mining our capital area for better MM.
I cut the lux rate to zero, which only requires adjustments to four cities.
We've fallen into our old error of building improvements other than aqueducts in completely corrupt towns, so I change several of those builds. We don't win these games by domination, so getting cultural expansions to fill empty tundra with no capacity to support scientists is useless. Nor is there any profit in building libraries just to let corrupt coastal towns reach one whale. Vmxa has delivered this lecture many times.
Bad news--a Japanese cav makes one of those random attacks on our mixed cav-knight army (still well in the green) next to Ise and does a lot of damage, so other Japanese units pile on and we lose the army, though it takes three attackers with it. This will push the point at which we can have two cav armies operating beyond our wall in the east some turns into the future.
1345 (1): The Koreans have cavalry. That'll be a problem, on the fluid western front.
We seize Suwon, a Korean desert town held by two musketmen and a cav. We also crush two Aztec knights adjacent to the town (5-0).
We found Slumtrimpet on Rat's coastal site. There are too many enemies around the inland settler for us to found there ATM.
We pummel six Korean units adjacent to 38th Parallel North (11-0).
We curb-stomp a Mongol stack of six next to Foppish Nose (17-0).
We smite six enemies, mostly Korean, on the Fight the Gauls - Dry Gulch front, gaining
our first Leader/army of the round (23-0).
I'll send the new army east. It'll take a few turns, but we can't lose the opportunity to gain gold capturing Japanese cities, and we dont have much capacity to generate new armies in the east.
We grind down six Japanese units in the eastern mountains (29-0).
We storm Paegam, a size-twelve Korean city that somehow doesn't have a cultural expansion, held by three musketmen (32-0). We destroy a Hwa'cha, since we aren't alowed to capture it. We have to pass on razing and hold the city briefly to protect our army.
We begin a programme of lumberjacking improvements in semi-corrupt towns, since our workers don't have much else to do.
Back in the west, we pick off two enemies around Ancyra (34-0).
We leave a hole at the northern end of our line in the east to pull the Japanese away from Ise, and it works, in that only three cav come through the hole and we can easily mop them up.
1350 (2): We auto-raze Ise, held by a Samurai, two musketmen, and a cav, and collect 821 gold (38-0).
We round up the three Japanese cav from the minor jailbreak (41-0).
We unhorse another five Japanese cav left in vulnerable positions by their swing to the north (46-0).
On the northern sector of the western front we dismember ten enemies, mostly Korean (56-0).
On the southern half of the western front we flay seven foes and an Aztec settler, mostly around Suwon (63-0).
Back in the east, we spot two Samurai on flat land and shame them into seppuku (65-0).
We abandon Paegam.
Germany, Babylon, and Russia land one unit each in the Istakhr area.
1355 (3): We dispose of the three units landed around Istakhr--not hard, when we had a cav army passing through (68-0).
There's no action at all along our eastern wall, as the Japanese have moved out of range.
The west is quiet too, as we heal most of our armies and strike down just five enemy units (73-0).
1360 (4): We found Triptweeze, filling in the gap between Suwon and Slumtrimpet in the southwest.
We send two cav armies towards the Korean core and raze Kaesong, which is at size eight but has no culture (garrison of three musketmen; 76-0). We also shatter two Korean musketmen in the area (78-0).
Elsewhere in the west we defenstrate twelve enemy units, seven of them Aztec knights, and a Greek settler (90-0). We
gain our second Leader/army of the round, and this one will stay in the west.
We found Malacandra, one tile off Rat's inland site in the west.
In the east we move two cav armies next to Toyama, the latest Japanese foundation near our wall.
Science down to 50%, Physics still due in one.
We lose a pikeman to the attack of a Korean MDI, because I didn't see that a mountain was roaded. Does Darski have a graphics mod for this?
We just survive a second Korean MDI attack along the same road (91-1).
The Japanese decide to make some attacks on our armies next to Toyama--the same thing that happened at Ise, except that with two armies stacked together and good RNG there's no disaster. We repulse three Samurai (94-1). We noticed in GR23 too that the presence of a wall of armies tends to randomize AI behavior.
Physics --> Magnetism, due in eight turns at 100%.
1365 (5): We auto-raze Toyama, held by three musketmen, two cav, and a Crusader, and gain 824 gold (100-1).
In the west we raze Cheju, held by three musketmen and a cav (104-1). Cheju is about the sixth city the Koreans build, so we're really hurting them now.
We found Perelandra, connecting Amorium (which I decided to keep) to Suwon in the southwest.
We strike down two German units landed as usual near Istakhr, and gain
our third Leader/army of the round (106-1).
We bludgeon six Mongol units outside 38th Parallel North (112-1).
Elsewhere in the west we devastate five enemy units and a Greek settler (117-1).
We pick off a Japanese cav that wanders too close to our wall (118-1).
We leave a hole at the top of our wall to get the Japanese moving again.
1370 (6): We found Thulcandra to fill in a gap in the east on a river site.
In the east we expunge three Japanese cav and a Babylonian LB moved into vulnerable positions after we opened our wall (122-1).
In the northwest we take the Aztec junk town of Tlapanaloya, which conveniently has just reached size two and doesnt auto-raze (garrison of two musketmen; 124-1). We then topple seven Aztec knights in fighting around the town (131-1).
Elsewhere in the northwest we extirpate three enemies, including two Korean cav (134-1).
In the southwest and central west we shatter four Mongol and three Aztec units (141-1).
We locate Osaka. If we can start razing major Japanese cities well be in fine shape.
The Aztecs have cavalry now too.
The Koreans have conducted some merges, since the population of Iri has gone up from one to four. Thats a rare sight.
A lot of cannon complete in our tundra towns, since we began that project forty turns ago.
1375 (7): We found Viritrilbia, pushing our line forward in the southwest.
We move two cav armies adjacent to Osaka in the east.
In the Korean core we raze Pusan, held by three musketmen and a longbowman (145-1). We destroy at least four Hwacha and take seven slaves.
We storm Iri, held by two musketmen (147-1).
In the northwest we slay seventeen enemies, including a Korean cav, an Az cav, and three Az knights. We lose a full-strength elite cav attacking a redlined musketman (164-2).
In the southwest we overrun a single Korean musketman (165-2).
We open a gap at the northern end of our wall again.
Elizabeth introduces herself, obviously as the result of a communications trade. She has twenty-seven cites, six of them Iroquois. We declare war.
One of our musketmen posted on a mountain repels the attack of an Aztec cav (166-2).
The Koreans complete Magellan for us, which would be good news if this werent a pangaea game.
1380 (8): In the east we raze Osaka, held by four musketmen, a Crusader, and a cav (172-2). We gain
1414 gold and seven slaves.
I invest some of the Japanese gold in settler rushes in the west, since the corrupt cities weve held long enough for them to produce settlers naturally are all in the east.
In the Korean core we raze Nampo, held by three musketmen and an LB (176-2).
In the east we obliterate ten enemy units, mostly Japanese cav, moved into vulnerable positions after we re-opened the hole in our wall (186-2). We capture a Bab settler.
In the northwest we liquidate eleven enemies, including two cav (197-2). We capture an Aztec settler.
In the southwest we exterminate four foes (201-2).
1385 (9): In the east we massacre thirteen Indian cav and four Jumbos lined up against our wall (218-2).
In the west we heal several armies and set up three foundations for next turn. We abolish just eight enemy units including two cav, as two terrible RNG runs by our cav armies hamper our operations (226-2).
Three different nations land a total of five units next to Istakhr behind our eastern wall.
1390 (10): We found Glundandra, Lurga, and Neruval, pushing our front another step forward in the west.
We auto-raze Mongol Tsetserleg in the far northwest, after I get tired of waiting for the wretched place to grow to size two (garrison of two spearmen and a swordsman; 229-2).
We gain our fourth Leader/army of the round.
We hack down six Inca units next to Neruval in the northwest (235-2).
In the Korean core we move two cav armies adjacent to Pyongyang and winkle out two musketmen, though the town remains garrisoned (237-2).
Elsewhere in the west we slay nine enemies, including three cav (246-2).
In the east, we account for the five enemy units landed next to Istakhr (251-2).
With our enemies having retreated from our wall, we pulverize only an Indian cav there (252-2).
We move two full-strength cav armies next to Satsuma, which at size twelve should provide another rich payday. We have to scatter seven slaves from the razing of Osaka to the winds, but well get them back eventually.
With help from lumberjacking, we made fair progress on infrastructure this roundsix aqueducts, two marketplaces, three courthouses, and two libraries, counting the upcoming IT.
Twenty-eight elite victories this round produced four Great Leaders.
all of a sudden a big stack of Gallic Swordmen appear in the west
