Update 2: War and... Peace? Yeah, Right.
1900-1800 BC
In
the Dual Empire of the Nile, the pharaoh starts a great drive for expansion. He begins by nearly doubling the size of the army, which takes as many slaves as it can in Nubia before withdrawing to cut down on raids from the Nubians (+1 Confidence). The Egyptians then start a great drive towards the Red Sea along the existing trade route to the Hedjaz. Although they take many casualties (-300 Spearmen, -200 Archers), they manage to take control of a corridor all the way to the Red Sea. Since this entire portion of the trade route is under civilized rule, trade booms, as merchants can trade more expensive goods without worrying about their security. (+1 Trade Economy Egypt, the Hedjaz)
Noting the infrastructure problems Egypt is beginning to suffer from, the pharaoh orders that a primitive system of dirt paths be installed throughout the Empire. This great work is well-funded, and it is finished within the century (+1 Infrastructure).
Next, the pharaoh starts some naval adventures. He orders a great force to land on Cyrene and start a colony there. The fleet leaves the mouth of the Nile--and is promptly ambushed by a fleet from Cyprus.
After taking heavy casualties (-5 Galleys, -500 Spearmen, -200 Archers), half of the fleet manages to escape and found a settlement on Cyrene. There are increasing problems of communication, however--there is no overland route as of yet, and half of the time naval messengers do not arrive, sunk by pirates from Cyprus.
As if this is not enough, more expansion takes place in the Delta, as the Egyptians expand east and west along the coast. From the east comes worrying news--Syria has collapsed at last, and the entire east coast of the Mediterranean is controlled by barbarians.
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In the
Byzantine Republic, expansion is halted (contrary to Troy, which expands greatly, creating a border with Byzantium) and patrols are started to protect from the Thracians. This does relatively little, as there is only so much a patrol on the ground can watch at one time (-100 Spearmen), but, ironically enough, it greatly boosts the people's confidence(+1 confidence) and even inspires new recruits (+300 Spearmen).
A large portion of the army then sets off to help Athens. The Trojans consider intervention, but with their galleys outnumbered six to one, they take the prudent course. The Byzantines then land behind enemy lines.
This is basically a suicide move, as they are outnumbered by a huge factor, but, especially with clever use of archers, which aren't used by the Spartans, they manage to inflict hugely disproportionate casualties on the Spartans (Byzantium: -1000 Spearmen, -500 Archers Sparta: -3000 Spearmen). This provides an opportunity to Athens, and, in a great battle, the Athenians regain all of their old lands (Athens: -2500 Spearmen, -500 Archers Sparta: -3000 Spearmen).
But the war is far from over, though it seems won in Greece. For Troy then attacks--not by sea, where they would be crushed, but overland. Outnumbered, the Byzantines are slowly driven back (Byzantium: -1000 Spearmen, -500 Archers Troy: -2000 Spearmen, -100 Archers). The Trojans control all of Anatolia, but cannot cross the Bosporus...
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All hell breaks loose in the Fertile Crescent. Ur launches another, massive assault on Elam, and reaches the gates of the capital (Ur: -2000 Spearmen Elam: -1500 Spearmen, -500 Archers). But Babylon, taking advantage of the fighting, invades Ur, taking a massive chunk of territory, and soon Ur finds
their capital seiged as well(Babylon: -1500 Spearmen, -100 Chariots Ur: -2000 Spearmen, -300 Archers)...
In the confusion, the
Medes manage to take the unclaimed land between the four. Will the Medes get involved in the war?
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Prussia, surprisingly, expands west across the river, as well as doing something never seen before in this region--naval expansion into the Baltic islands. Do the Prussians really have no designs on the remaining Germanic land? Raids have largely died down (-100 Axemen, -200 Spearmen) while they consider the question.
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Rome dedicates this century largely to civic matters. A primitive road system is built, and the Roman language is simplified (+1 Infrastructure, +1 Education). Slavery is declared non-hereditary, which annoys the upper class (-1 Confidence) but delights the now much more numerous lower classes(+2 Confidence). And finally, construction begins on the great Temple of Jupiter, which, when completed, will greatly increase Roman culture, making it truly unique. In preparation for this task, February 27th is declared Dies Jovis, the Day of Jupiter, on which Jupiter is honored in feasting and parades (+1 Culture).
In military matters, the Romans are more sneaky. They send emissaries to far-off tribes to try to convince them to attack the nearer barbarians, who have continued their raiding (-200 Spearmen). This is largely a failure, as the tribes either don't speak their language, attack (-200 Axemen), or want money.
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The insane king of
Carthage orders his troops' weapons set on fire. This is an unqualified disaster, as spears just burn to nothingness (-1 Confidence). The king does do something smart, however: he spends the entire treasury on boosting his troops' training. The mercenaries hired to do this job quickly determine that while flaming spears are a bad idea, flaming arrows can be extremely effective. The king's battle plan calls for "advanced tactics", but no one has any clue what they are, so they make it up. The spearmen protect the entire force of archers, who advance on a Berber village and burn it to the ground.
This is effective while it lasts, but there are very few archers, and after a few ambushes (-600 Spearmen, -400 Archers), this tactic is dead, for now.
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Our last stop is the
Hedjaz. The construction of Medina, together with Egypt's actions (see above), increase trade greatly--enough to make up for the hit in income that Dilmun and Magan suffer because of the war in the Fertile Crescent. (-1 spending point this turn for Dilmun, Magan) In fact, due to a wise spending policy, the coffers of Mecca are overflowing (+1 spending point this turn). Expansion along the coast goes well, and the land controlled by the Hedjaz nearly doubles (+1 size). Emissaries are sent to Egypt, Magan, and Dilmun, and formal contact, friendly so far, has been made. The lone sore spot, in fact, is the king's decision to "open those overland trading routes!" Not quite knowing what he wants, a few merchants are ordered through the desert, where they are promptly slaughtered by the barbarians there.
Military action is needed to clear out the barbarians--certainly not a short-term task.
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NPC Diplo
From: Troy
To: Byzantine Republic
If we are granted all of Anatolia, and half of the income from the Bosporus, we will withdraw from this war.
From: Sparta
To: Byzantine Republic
You will pay for this, fools!!!!!
From: Babylon
To: Medes
Join your brothers in conquest of these weak people!
From: Ur
To: Medes
If you help us against our enemies, we will pay you one spending point for every turn the war continues.
From: Berbers
To: Carthage
Losers.
Rants from the Mod (OOC)
Orders due Monday at 6 PM.
Is anyone going to create a UU?
For this turn, I will give special story bonuses to stories about religion. I want you guys to come up with interesting and unique religions.
Scapegoat-for-the-turn: Luckymoose, for ordering the use of "advanced tactics", but not saying what they are.
Best orders: azale--nice and detailed, and organized well too!
