The save Pre-turn a number of our cities vic ex-Egypt are without garrison, so Id like to rectify that. We could also do with a couple more settlers to fill the empty spots left by razing. Jute tribe is near Thebes. Looks like Incas made peace with Iroquois, so now theyre just watching Korea go at it with Hiawatha. First, to the matter of Egypts demise.
IBT- Woah, why things moving so fast? Go to preferences to animate all moves. Maybe I missed it if mentioned, please put the settings to default when youre done. Chemistry in, Astronomy in 6 @ 38gpt. Hague worker>spear. Alexandria flips, we lost Zeus. Reykjavik library>spear.
Turn 1. Move zerks next to Byblios. Worker action.
IBT- Longbow comes out of Byblios, kills crusader, redlines. Amsterdam library>spear. Trondheim Library>spear. KT gives us a new crusader. Copenhagen zerk>spear. Groningen galley>spear.
Turn 2. We retake Alexandria with AC vs reg spear. Pop now 1. At Byblios zerk army kills 2 vet muskets. Watch in anguish as one of our zerk armies gets taken down to a 2 by a fanatical vet spear. However, the Sons of Odin do not fail, and the fatal blow is dealt. Byblios is a pile of rubble with 3 dazed workers at the feet of our conquering armies. The redlined longbow was there to watch the most recent capital of Egypt fall before he too dropped at the hammer blow of the zerks. At this point, I had blocked the land bridge to Zulu last turn with workers. Saved the game to check LKs rules, which I think is a grey area, but Ill err on the side of caution and say it is a violation, so I free up the land bridge. There are two Zulu workers at the border. Im not real keen on this Zulu war proposal, to be honest. Were stretched thin with all this new territory, weve got barbs lurking near our worker stacks with little defense, and the zerk armies need time to regroup. But, given that his settler will be free to build otherwise, I pull the string. Crusader takes the workers. Now we are at war with two for the moment.
Trebizond needs a clown.
IBT- Zulu have MI and 2 pikes w/2 settlers making for the bridge. Copenhagen spear>spear. Now for some really bad news, Asyut flips back to Egypt with the archer army in garrison.
Trebizond library>spear. Stavanger library>spear.
Turn 3- Galley comes up next to Asyut and zerk beheads the reg spear defender, town falls with 4 gold. What I REALLY want to do is burn the place to the ground and execute the survivors. Alright, Ill spare them, but it flips again and its time to issue Special Order #1. .
IBT- Zulu MI and friends move next to Asyut. Copenhagen spear>spear. Groningen spear>spear. Reykjavik spear>spear. Abydos spear>spear. Birka courthouse>spear.
Turn 4- At Isipezi Amphib vet zerk kills reg impi, no damage. Vet crusader attacks, wins, no damage or promote, town goes/razed. Elite archer collects 25g on barb camp. Take a chance with depleted zerk army to whittle down the Zulu MI team. Get vet pike, but down to 5 hp. While Id love the 2 settlers, cant chance losing the army as the MI is on a mountain. Chop forest at Adrianople to hurry library. Crusader kills barb vic that camp. Amphib fleet now on Egypts isle, off Athribis. Reg spear shows. Straight kill by elite zerk. Just now dawns on me, this is a rare case where an elite unit cant generate an MGL. Vet zerk kills reg spear loses hp. Athribis falls for 3g. Try flipping a pile of rubble, Cleo! Egypt should be gone in 3.
IBT- 2 chariots seek revenge for Athribis, but fail. All survive. Amsterdam spear>spear. Trondheim spear>spear. Copenhagen spear>spear. Stavanger spear>settler. Tromso harbor>spear.
Turn 5- Our 4 galleys split up into 2 each to hasten the work. At Pithom 2 elite zerks take out 2 reg spears, Pithom goes with 4 gold, 3 workers. Other two to Kahun, drop a crusader adjacent. For sale: Wasteland formerly known as Pithom. Make offer. Vic Asyut, treb fire and elite zerk kill Zulu MI with settler, now 2 workers. Cat strikes yield no effect to Zulu pike on the mountain. 10hp zerk army knocks him off, bagging 2 more workers.
IBT- IBT redlined chariot gets our redlined zerk at the Pithom battlefield. Bergen zerk>zerk Copenhagen spear>zerk. Groningen spear>zerk. Reykjavik spear>settler. Trebizond spear>zerk. Incan galley near our mainland by IIRC was El Armana. Hes after the iron.
Turn 6- Science 60-30% Astronomy still in 1. At Kahun, the newest in a series of Egyptian capitals: Elite zerk kills reg spear. Our crusader killed, but redlines reg spear. 2hp zerk kills redlined spear. This pile of rubble looks a lot like the last two. Busiris is now the last city standing. At Asyut, another MI/settler team. Treb and crusader do their thing, 2 new slaves. Barb encampment w/2warriors appears around undefended workers, zerk army gets one, the other will get one of our slaves during IBT, but well get the camp for 25g. Trebizond needs clown.
IBT- Bloodied chariots race into their last city. Zulu land a settler pair. Zulu MI impales himself on crusader who promotes. Astronomy > physics in 7 @ -18gpt. KT builds crusader. Stockholm zerk>settler. Heraclea market>settler. Birka spear>temple.
Turn 7- Elite zerk kills reg spear at Busiris. And again. The two chariots are holding out, and were out of attackers. Next turn, hopefully the end. Turns out Zulu went to the site I thought the Incas would. Zerk army 2 more workers w/reg impi slaughtered. Damn Cleo, I had a captured worker on that island refuge, I had to move to prevent impi capture, he runs right into another Egyptian settler pair. Elite crusader kills reg impi, loses 2 hp. Check diplo, we can trade chemistry straight up for PP if desired. Incas up Nav, PP, and Banking.
IBT- Korea and Iroquois make peace. Amsterdam spear>caravel. Trondheim spear>zerk. Zeus>AC. Smyrna worker>temple Stavanger settler>zerk. Egypt settler does NOT settle, moves to coast. Incan settler pair moves into where we got the Zulu pair, now they want the iron, but too late as our settler is in position.
Turn 8- Pair of zerks in galley kill pesky chariots in Busiris, they go with the town that well keep, with 42 gold. Now only the settler remains. Move zerk galley into position for next turn. Risor founded.
IBT- Zulu MI dies attacking AC. Cleo wants to talk. Sure, well talk, what do you want on your tombstone? Library Adrianope>spear. Copenhagen zerk>zerk. Reykjavik settler>zerk Odense court>spear. Molde library > spear.
Turn 9- Zulu town of Isandhlwana has a single impi spear defense. Falls to a couple trebs and a 3hp crusader. Have to pillage an iron tile there. Back to Egypt. Vet zerk kills reg spear at El Ashumein. Lets do it again with an elite 4hp zerk. We win, get 15 gold, and
.adios Cleopatra!
4 civs remain. At Intombe, vet zerk kills reg pike, 2nd zerk dies, redlines reg impi who promotes. Change Odense from spear>settler.
IBT- Thebes, Alexandria and Isand resistance ends. Hague spear>caravel. Stockholm settler>spear. Lisht worker>spear.
Turn 10- Intombe defended by lone impi, falls to zerk army. Ngome, last current Zulu town on Egypt isle falls, elite zerk kills reg impi. Theres another iron that will need to be pillaged next turn. Move 2hp elite to another settler pair same vic as the last Egyptian city to go. Same island, elite zerk kills vet MI, no damage. At Umfolzi, vet zerk kills reg impi, no damage. 2nd impi showing. Worker actions, and grs can have it Wednesday.
Post analysis: Except for the loss of the archer army, the outcome is about what would have been expected. We definitely are suffering from a lack of settlers. I added a couple, but should probably have done more. It wont be helpful if the Incas move in where Egypt once was. We ultimately have to figure out how to slice up the #2 power on the planet. What we can do is finish running Shaka off the mainland, and get control of Umfolizi. At that point, if we can get a MGL, save it for a rifle army. That army crosses over, landing on the iron tile one east of Andahuyalas. It is a mountain tile for excellent defense, and is their only source of iron (rail/knight/pike), and within 3 tiles of their only saltpeter (cav/musket). Get an MA with the others, and Incas are hurting big time. As far as dealing with an Incan invasion, as long as we keep a few zerks close to home as a mobile reserve, we should be ok.
