Well, we've cut out the still-beating heart of yet another empire, picked a side in world politics, and suffered mightily for our past sins.
To begin, I let Cyrus run along and play:
I think we're done stomping on his face for a while.
The next step was to rush a settlement to claim the copper:
Culture isn't hugely important there, so I went straight to making it a military pump.
I founded another settlement to claim the rest of the Arabian peninsula:
It probably could have waited, but it'll make a nice Moai city one of these days.
In 725 B.C., either Asoka built the Pyramids, or we've fallen woefully behind:
So that makes him a somewhat juicier target, but he's still awfully far away. No, our first target would walk like an Egyptian.
Before it was time to open hostilities, though, Alphabet started popping up amongst our more technologically savvy neighbors. That could only mean one thing. It was time for a TRADING MONTAGE!!!
The AI drives a hard bargain, but I got pretty much everything I really needed. techwise, I finished up Construction and started on Monarchy. Happiness caps don't mess around on Emperor!
Enough talk. It was time to teach Hatshepsut the meaning of Arab Justice:
All right, fine. Maybe not Arab Justice. Maybe more Domination Win Justice. Your crime is having a thriving empire that is not mine. The punishment consists of Swordsmen, Spearmen, and Chariots.
Of course, the Egyptians, conniving dogs that they are, refused to fight like men. They needed to hide behind their little friends:
I haven't seen any Roman stacks yet, but Jerusalem is ready if one shows up.
Speaking of stacks, ours rolled up to the gates of Thebes:
And, just to rub it in, our troops raised Jewish battle flags outside the Buddhist stronghold:
Except for Alexander, the Jewish bloc seems to be more long-term targets. May as well keep them happy for as long as we can, no? Besides, Mecca could use the extra
Thebes fell, though not without cost:
Archers are a pain, though the War Chariots melted like butter against my Spearmen. I need to get Catapults online, stat. Taking the Great Wall was nice, though. At least now I won't have to worry about fogbusting later on.
My attention was on Egypt at this point. Thebes was ours, and our forces were converging on Memphis. I had largely forgotten about Cyrus. Cyrus, though, had apparently not forgotten about me:
"Massive civil unrest," apparently incited by Persian agents. Why doesnt that ever happen to my enemies? That's catastrophic! Persepolis, once the source of Arabia's finest Archers, fell into its own personal Dark Age as Workers scrambled to repair the damage.
That was a domestic problem. So long as that was an isolated incident, Cyrus remains more valuable to me alive than dead. If it becomes a trend, though...
There was progress on the Western Front. Our forces, bolstered by a SuperMedic Chariot, closed on Memphis:
That Chariot helped a lot under the withering assault of catapult stones.
Apparently, our conversion made us the target for a general Holy War among the Buddhist faithful:
So we're now at war with Hatty, Julie, and Asoka. And after taking Memphis:
Our army was on its last legs. Our Egyptian forces were down to little more than enough troops to garrison our conquests.
It was time to make peace. Unfortunately, only the battered Queen of the Nile would listen:
So here we are, rulers of a sprawling empire wracked by unrest. We are at war from both the east and west (though Asoka isn't much of a warrior and that heathen Roman army will have to get through our Greek allies first). Our economy is in shambles. Persian brigands apparently haunt our borderlands. Things are grim, at least in the short term.
Here's a look at the world as we know it:
Thoe Egyptian cities are going to be crushed by culture until we can finish the job with Hattie.
The worldwide tech situation:
Mansa Musa also has Aesthetics on us, though we don't have anything to offer in return.
Diplomacy:
I'm debating whether to buy allies in this war or just let it peter out on its own.
And Power:
As you can see, taking Memphis was... rather costly.
So what should our next move be? I'm tempted to turtle for a while, patching our economy up as best I can, try to get Monarchy, get the citizens off the streets and back into the fields. Then again, maybe my best move at this point is to keep warring, and try to float the economy on plunder for a while.
Thoughts?
) I would suggest to make a small war vs hatty to take the 2 core cities that she normally has in the Nile FP, while you settle Armenia and start making a more metal-based army to take Alex
