(For some reason I didn't record turn numbers until half-way through the set, so things may be even less clear than usual)
Rolling a few cities over to wealth builds as they finish current production makes Guilds look reachable in under 10t. I start chopping a forge (to be completed with a whip) over at Advanced Wars that will be followed by the FP. Sadly it's inefficient to get overflow from a whip to complete a forge (the new buildings multiplier is divided out of the unmultiplied overflow), so I have to look to minimize it. Speaking of the whip, I put a few select ones in where we're not whipping off commerce tiles
![whip whip](https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/whip.gif)
.
We also need to spread Buddhism more. Hinduism only gets us benefits once we've built stuff, Buddy is pure gain thanks to the shrine (FAKE EDIT: other players opinion may differ here - I'm not keen on tying up too many hammers in religious buildings
now when we need cash and troops
now, even although their mathematical payback is greater).
Julius pulls back, after picking off our wounded Horcher (maybe I should have considered woody axes, but IIRC being boosted to 10 str is not quite as good as being naturally 10 str). We need worker support to get roads down at the point of conflict to get reinforcements there faster.
I trade a spare spice to Willem for 4gpt. It's not much, but it's something. BTW, take a look at his capital. Wow. That's a challenging start. I'm faintly surprised he's still in the game.
Ah, misclick
![smoke smoke](https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/smoke.gif)
. I meant to find out what Julius wanted for peace now, but he just took it. So, 10t of quiet for me to focus on the economy. Could be worse. (FAKE EDIT: it's only a ceasefire, of course, as Zalson has pointed out).
A scouting horse archer I was bringing home gets hit by a barb horse archer out of the fog - using one of the Inca roads to nowhere. It's a flat 50%, but we win
![shades shades](https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/shades.gif)
!
A bit later, Julius accepts OB and Dye-for-Wine. I turn the science slider on for Guilds.
I get the updates from Zalson and Haphazard. FM is now free to run a couple of scientists; I swap the corn back from Contra so FM can grow more and run yet another specialist. Contra stagnates, but is already whipped and out of good tiles.
Hmm. Gilgamesh asks us to convert to Buddhism. I say no - I don't want the turn of anarchy, quite aside from anything else. We may need to keep an eye on him. I consider where to put our army now that Rome is quiet, and decide to shuffle it a little to the west. Caesar gets the Great Library.
T216, Jules is bored and declares war on Mansa. I get the popcorn out
![popcorn popcorn](https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/popcorn.gif)
. Anyone fancy backstabbing one of them with knights?
I get sloppy and expose an axeman on flat ground to an unseen barbarian horse archer
![banghead banghead](https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/banghead.gif)
. I keep forgetting that there are two-movers out there. Actually, there are no units in the Incan area capable of easily dealing with it... I ready a 1-pop spear whip at Jurassic Park, as the other cities are already whipped. Some HAs are detached from the main army to come help cover.
T217. I lose a good axe
![cry cry](https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/cry.gif)
, gain Guilds and turn down Mansa's request for war against Rome. Gilgamesh completes the Sweaty Pizza, Jules gets a a GG.
I kill the (badly wounded) horse archer with another axe. I switch all the wealth builds to either grocers or knights depending on whether they are commerce cities (pleasingly, both the non-commerce ones have stables).
BTW, we have two settlers due to complete around the end of the set. One is aimed at the Inca iron city, one at a site in the north (TDB).
T218. We stumble on a spy. No attribution.
T219. Islam and Angkor Wat fall. We're not actually too bad on GNP, but I am
not used to the AI having tech trading. Ugh. Need to kill the smart ones
![hammer hammer](https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/hammer.gif)
.
Willem has a settling party heading for us. I hope he doesn't fancy pushing for those cows.
I may have made an(other) error - I'm building a forge in SMB, but that will trigger unhealthiness and it's already stagnant. Could switch to building grocer first if we think that's going to be a problem.
T220. We get the FP. I utterly failed to get before and after shots of our economy. But we are now at about 30% break even with no wealth builds (there are other factors, like peace).
There is a swarm of swords coming in from the N of Inca. We're a bit light on troops to handle it smoothly. Partly because our spare Samurai are handling a lesser swarm at Golden Axe / Streets of Rage. Jurassic park is a potential problem, as its natural Axe is off the road network guarding a worker. Oh, and there is a barb HA incoming at Wolfenstein.
Overall, I may have slightly rushed the turns but don't think I did too much damage. Our demos at break-even are respectable - with a nice, clear lead in crop yield.
Power ratings are not looking good for Mansa. I recommend seriously considering taking some of the spoils with knights.
If I had managed to get any new cities down, I would have called them Ocarina of Time and Perfect Dark. Other names are available.
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore