850 (0): I still think Theology might be a better second choice from Philosopher's Stone than Engineering, but I won't subject the team to the irritation of river effects lasting far into the second age when I haven't had any feedback on the point. So we stick with Engineering.
We switch Cheju and Genoa to granary builds.
After some thought I short-rush a granary in Naples, too. In this financial situation we desperately need city growth.
A Russian chariot redlines and retreats at Pusan.
Naples completes a granary, and Turin slavery.
875 (1): We dispose of the Russian chariot outside Pusan and a Turkish stack of three at Pisa, gaining a slave (4-0).
We prepare to push forward from Pusan.
The Carthaginian phant lurking in the forest outside Pyongyang finally attacks. It redlines and retreats.
900 (2): Three Carth jumbos are on a hill outside Pisa. We'll have to let them attack and take the consequences, but it'll be a terrible attack in terrain terms.
We twist the trunk of the redlined Carth elephant outside Pyongyang (5-0). Its last words: "How do you breathe through that thing?"
We move adjacent to Nampo, which is only four tiles from Pusan. It's a hill town, though.
The three Carth jumbos around Pisa don't like their chances in a transriverine attack on a hill town, even without walls, and move to a flat tile where they're vulnerable.
We unhorse a Carth AC attacking Pyongyang (6-0).
Milan completes a granary, Pyongyang a Christian Community, and Pisa a Roman fort.
The Mongols, unknown to us, complete Royal Tournament. So we won't capture it in time to use it, but we may never face its units either.
925 (3): We storm Nampo, held only by two spearmen, and immediately culture-bomb it (8-0).
We're close to two Russian cities now--so close it's hard to see how we didn't meet them much earlier. Anyway, we should be funding our research with their gold before long.
Our elite enslaver picks off a Korean archer around Nampo, and achieves the maximum possible result, generating both a
Great Leader and a slave (9-0).
We account for six enemies, including the three Carth WE and a Carth cat, around Pisa. We lose a cat and a knight in good-looking attacks, though (15-2).
Outside Cheju we grind down a Russian stack of four, including two chariots, so we're working through their autoproduced units (19-2).
We expunge a Viking Berserk/cat team outside Venice, and also a Viking archer landed next to Naples (22-2).
We lure a Russian swordsman into a bad attack outside Cheju (23-2).
950 (4): We abolish a Turkish cat/archer pair outside Pisa with slavers, but take no slaves (25-2).
Routinely disposing of a Russian spearman near Cheju costs us a Legionary (26-3). Well, that's AW without bombardment or armies.
We overrun an Egyptian cat outside Nampo (27-3).
We get a stack of fifteen moving towards the Korean city NW of Pyongyang.
The Vikings want peace. They have the expected eight cities, all native.
Genoa completes its granary.
975 (5): Our Leader rushes a marketplace in Milan.
We lash a Turkish spearman/warrior pair, gaining a monk, as we advance on the last Korean city (29-3).
Bah, getting an Eg spearman off our roads costs us another Legionary (30-4).
A Russian swordsman makes an unwise attack on Nampo (31-4). They've put a fair-sized stack by the city, though.
We detusk a Carth jumbo attacking our modest SoD approaching the last Korean city (32-4).
Our gallant exploring warrior in the north is finally ridden down by Siamese forces (32-5). He mapped a remarkable area for us, by AW standards.
Milan completes its rushed marketplace.
Naples completes its aqueduct, just as it hits size eleven.
The Egyptians complete Dome of the Rock. That should eventually give us Hebrew communities everywhere on our continent.
One turn to Philosopher's Stone, so it's ours, given the sequence of events.
1000 (6): We smite one Russian spearman around Nampo, but otherwise wait for the Russians to make bad attacks (33-5).
We move adjacent to Wonsan. Our stack may take a bit of a beating in the IT, but after that things should go smoothly.
We liquidate a Turkish pikeman that moved onto flat ground near Pyongyang (34-5).
At Nampo we lose a Praet to a Russian cat attack but rebuff two swordsmen and an archer (37-6). We take a slave, since the archer was able to stealth-attack a slaver despite the presence of Legionaries and Praetorians in the town, which I didn't expect.
Our SoD next to Wonsan isn't attacked, though it no longer has a pikeman on top.
PHILOSOPHER'S STONE brings us Engineering and Gunpowder.
Florence and Cheju complete granaries, Pisa a Christian Community. Nampo rushes walls.
1025 (7): We take Wonsan, held only by two spearmen, and
eliminate the "Fragile Koreans". We lose a knight (38-7). There's at least one worker in the town, but for some reason it dies when we enter. One Korean unit that we can see comes off the map.
We culture-bomb Wonsan.
The only saltpetre anywhere near us is at Pusan. It's not roaded, but as we have a one-turn roading stack headed to that section of the front, we hook it up immediately.
We start on Theology at 70% (maximum in CCM monarchy), 18 turns, and -101 gpt--painful numbers, but they should improve.
We round up three enemy units in what's now the behind-the-lines Pisa-Pyongyang sector, and another near Wonsan (42-7).
We upgrade a few pikemen to arquebusiers near the front, but I don't think we can afford to do it en masse.
The Russians don't attack Nampo, since it's now a walled hill town.
Venice completes an aqueduct.
1050 (8): We tusk a Russian swordsman, then extirpate a treb and three other Russian units in vulnerable positions, all around Nampo (47-7). We gain
our second GL of the round, who immediately rushes the Great Guild in Pusan.
We begin advancing on what appears to be an isolated Russian city south of Nampo.
This interturn may be unpleasant at Wonsan, but after that we'll have walls up.
We begin exploring SW of Pyongyang with a cheap unit, because it looks as if that's where our next city should go.
We break the attack of a Roman archer at Nampo (48-7).
We do well at Wonsan, going 3-1 against various attacks (51-8).
Rome completes a windmill, and should be at 50 spt for one-turn knights in two turns.
Wonsan completes walls.
Pusan builds the GREAT GUILD.
1075 (9): We move adjacent to Smolensk, a small and isolated coastal town. It has a lot of floodplain and should grow explosively for us, though.
We sweep away another two Russian units around Nampo (53-8).
Our exploring Legionary finds a patch of BG, so our next city will definitely go SW of Pyongyang.
We trample a Viking spearman north of Cheju (54-8).
We defenestrate two Turkish units outside Wonsan (56-8).
A longbowman attacking out of Smolensk shoots down the pikeman covering our attack force, but the Russians don't have the units for follow-up attacks (56-9).
1100 (10): We seize Smolensk, held by two pikemen and a longbowman. We lose one Legionary--a very moderate cost, when we see that the city has a castle (59-10). If this small town has a castle, then unfortunately most of the Russians' cities probably do. We gain a worker and steal 186 gold, which will fund one and a half turns of deficit research.
I won't waste a monk on culture-bombing Smolensk, since it isn't subject to attack.
We eviscerate two Viking units, a Berserk and a chariot, approaching Venice (61-10).
We scythe down a Russian spearman outside Cheju (62-10).
We lose an elite yogi in the best possible attack, against a defense-one unit on flat terrain (62-11).
We wreck two Egyptian chariots around Nampo, taking one slave (64-11).
We rend three Turkish units around Wonsan (67-11).
Nine missionary/yogi victories this round yielded three monks.
Eight slaver victories this round, one defensive, generated four slaves.
Eighteen elite victories this round, two of them defensive, produced two Great Leaders.
I'd like to play the next one with a more useful Great Library.
I am also unsure where to go. Russia seems a little far off and maybe vmxa is right. We would face Indochina, the Turks and then Carthage. If Carthage is the country with most cash, maybe we should go after them?
