I played 10 turns:
Inherited turn (800 AD): I found Rome unhappy and building a Colosseum with 2 turns left. Whipping would solve the short term problem but give another red-faced citizen for 29 turns. I decided to let it ride out the 2 turns. I woke up the sleeping Great General and sent him to the front -- dang desk jockey. All the other cities looked okay, if not rather small. I decided to try to let them grow to their happiness cap, currently size 8.
I put together a Recon-In-Force team of some war elephants and axemen to escort a Catapult to the Korean capital to get it warmed up for the main force which required a little more healing in Sparta.
IBT: Isabella/Hannibal declared war on Hatshepsut/Huayna Capac -- most excellent!
Turn 1 (820 AD): We completed research on Compass and I chose to go for Priesthood next -- it's only 1 turn and we can use the temples for more happiness. Rome completed its Coloseum and is no longer unhappy. I was surely tested not to choose Stonehedge, Pyramids or Parthenon -- look at the year! But I picked a Catapult instead.
IBT: Catherine demanded that we cancel deals with Victoria. She was +4 pleased with us so I risked denying her. She went Cautious on us. I wondered if she'd consider helping a lonely guy out with his lonliness but I didn't broach the subject, fearing I might offend her with my needs. Instead, I traded Corn for 2 gold/turn with her -- that should make her pleased again soon.
Turn 2 (840 AD): Priesthood completed and I chose Monarchy next, again for happiness. Neapolis completed a Courthouse and started an archer -- Sparta needs a permanent garrison.
IBT: Hatty offered us Metal Casting and 40 gold in trade for Compass. I take it. That reminded me, I was supposed to check out what we could get for Compass.
Turn 3 (860 AD): First, I checked out our trades, starting at the bottom of the score table.
Huayna Capac had every tech we had, so I got 3 gold/turn for our excess fish.
Hannibal, as it turned out, was hungry for Compass:
(I lost the screen shot -- he offered Meditation, Monotheism and Monarchy)
I took the deal he offered and then got 5 Gold/turn for our excess crab.
We had nothing anyone else wanted so my trading round ended. But it strikes me as odd that we got 4 technologies that begin with an M for Compass -- things that make you go "hmmmmm."
Please admire the wisdom I showed in blocking the only road out of Seoul:
It forced the Korean Horse Archer to climb the wooded hill to attempt a pillaging run. He became training fodder for our War Elephant.
The bombardment of Seoul began with a lone catapult; several more were moving up.
IBT: Isabella demanded that we declare war on Hatty. She was +2 Cautious with us, so I took another chance and refused. We dropped to +1.
Turn 4 (875 AD): Our victorious War Elephant took a Combat III promotion. He then looked like a good candidate for our Medic III Warlord. (Where the heck did that Great General go? I kicked his butt when he eventually showed up.)
Turn 5 (890 AD): Neapolis trained an Archer, started a Forge(15). I sent the Archer to Sparta. New Athens constructed a Courthouse, started a Forge(18).
The bombardment of Seoul continued:
We pillaged Wang's horse pasture -- that might have eliminated his pillaging aspirations.
Turn 6 (905 AD): The citizens of Sparta finally quit their whining and went to work. They're starving badly so I had to crack the whip for a Courthouse -- more to come.
General Sleepy finally arrived at the front. We now have two Generals outside of Seoul: Hamilcar Barca and Jayavarman II.
Unfortunately Jay Jr. (for short) didn't quite make it to Medic III -- that was a blunder on my part, failing to check the arithmetic prior to pulling the trigger.
IBT: This time it was Victoria demanding we cancel trades with Catherine. I refused. That put us Even/Steven with her.
Turn 7 (920 AD): Calendar completed and I chose Horseback Riding to enhance our pillaging effectiveness. We had limited mobility at the time. Rome completed a Catapult, started a Forge(18). Sparta constructed a Courthouse, I whipped a Library for the culture, fixing the starvation and unhappiness all at once.
Turn 8 (935 AD): Sparta constructed its Library, started a Forge(18).
Uh oh, looks like we were about to get a bit of pillaging done to us.
Maybe Wang had another source of horses.
IBT: We lost the Goldmine at Sparta, along with its road.
Turn 9 (950 AD): Horseback Riding completed and I started on Civil Service.
The bombardment of Seoul was finally complete, so I sent in 2 CRI catapults; each withdrew after inflicting collateral damage. Here's the mess they made of the CGII/DrillI longbowmen inside the city:
Next I sent in our Barrage I catapult who died while messing things up a bit more. Hamilcar went in next, killing a Longbowman without getting scratched. Kewl. Three more Praetorians did the mopping up:
I rang Wang; here's the best he could offer.
I decided to wait. I sent a force north to deal with the pillagers and sent a garrison into Seoul.
IBT: Oh great: look what came out of the desert. What the heck are Victoria and Asoka doing up there for fogbusting?
And this message popped up.
Not to mention, larger cities make for better whipping opportunities.
Turn 10 (965 AD): Cumae constructed a Forum, started a Forge(15).
Fortunately, we had an Axeman guarding a Cow Pasture on the road between Rome and Cumae -- I moved him up to deal with the desert Barbarian Swordsman.
Our force at Seoul has been split into 3 teams:
- Hamilcar is leading 3 Praetorians and a Catapult to Pyongyang.
- Jay Jr. is leading a War Elephant and Praetorian to Sparta to deal with pillagers.
- 2 Catapults and a Praetorian are healing in Seoul. Seoul could use an Archer to garrison it properly.
Our two galleys have been exploring:
We've discovered Northern and Southern Russian and it looks like there's lots of territory between them. In the north, we see London, we see France (Carthage and Arabia, actually), we see Isabella's underpants (I shudder). In the southwest, that's a newly uncovered portion of Egypt.
What say we move the capital to Sparta or New Athens? And how about training a settler and garrison for that spice/corn/fish/horse resort between Rome and Neapolis. It's probably the best non-capital site on the map. We'd better hurry though -- Asoka is already sniffing around there with a Galley/Trireme pair. There's some War Weariness in nearby cities so maybe we can whip up a new city quick.
Here's
The Save for Cosmichail. Have fun!