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He has exactly one, I think, based on his gold change. He had only 200 last turn and didn't notice my offer of 240 more, but I think that's just enough to scrape a single warrior to man at arms upgrade. Everything else should be ancient age odds and sods like archers, which legions should rapidly run over backed by the great general. As long as Whosit doesn't run headlong into the man at arms in defensive terrain, but maneuvers around it, one upgrade shouldn't change anything. No turn yet, so it'll come when I'm at work, so screenshots will be tough. I'll try, though.
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Oh, forgot to answer your quest: His city defense strength spiked to 35, which will be considerably more difficult for legions to run over. I know it's Men at Arms because of the strength boost, and
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Turn 90
Here you go. Tourdion (the former Gwangju) has defense strength 35, but no walls yet:
Korea has about half of Rome's military power. He also took my gold, finally (Krill also spent all his gold on something), so he's upgrading another man at arms, I hope. Two of them in tandem might be able to slow up Legions a bit. Whosit is probably chopping out more follow-on forces, and he should be able to outmaneuver Korea as I said, but at least greenline is making the right moves at this point. Still think he should have deterred the attack entirely, but hell, I'll take it.
My biggest problem is my tiny yields compared to everyone else. I don't mind being behind in science, as noted (my horsemen can trade more or less equally with legions and I'll reach the next generation of tech in good time), but I need more food and production. So, I've opted to spit out a wave of builders in every city. They'll chop lighthouses and then get to work on a few improvements, then I want at least two shrines, and then hopefully I can do a settler wave.
Need to reach size 7 in either Korutu or Tekisanzu for the Plaza, but that will be another big boost to all my trade routes - hopefully +4 food/production/culture/science at that point if everyone has their lighthouse up.
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Turn 91
Man, this game is tough.
Rome's 2 expansions, fueled by abundant food, trade routes, and imported builder labor, are already far ahead of my capital and second city, to say nothing of my own expansions.
How to stay motivated? Well, I guess seeing how long I can survive and trying to make a nuisance of myself is a decent enough challenge. Let's go for that.
Builders done soon, to chop lighthouses and build mines everywhere I can. We have a Golden Age approaching soonish, assuming I can scrape up one more point somewhere. Free Inquiry might beat out Monumentality, except...well, do I want the Science, or do I need the Food and Production more? I desperately need the F&P, but I also need to stay within an era or so of Rome.
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I definitely prefer monumentality to Free Inquiry under the circumstances. You should be able to turn food and production into science reasonably efficiently, and maintain those benefits instead of losing them at the end of the era. Monumentality also gives you more options for trying to scrape up a stronger army if the need (or opportunity) arrises.
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Turn 92
Quote:I definitely prefer monumentality to Free Inquiry under the circumstances. You should be able to turn food and production into science reasonably efficiently, and maintain those benefits instead of losing them at the end of the era. Monumentality also gives you more options for trying to scrape up a stronger army if the need (or opportunity) arrises.
I'm inclined to agree. My biggest worry is dropping behind in military and having to face Men at Arms or bombards while I'm still fielding archers and horsemen. But the science does no good if I can't build the troops anyway. We secured our final era point of the age this round so we'll have Monumentality in 8 turns, I can start a settler push to the south then.
Military scores have stayed largely static. Whosit has about a 200 point advantage on me given I have 60 points in galleys, so I DO need to get out some more walls, two more archers (for the eureka), and more horses. Feudalism would let us equalize in military tech, since Samurai are unlocked there, and that SHOULD see us through to the Renaissance, at least. So I come back to needing Feudalism as rapidly as possible, alongside expansion.
Basic harbors are done. Builders will chop lighthouses and place improvements. Monumentality will bring settlers. So I need shrines and a Plaza as soon as plausible. I'm battling limited housing and severely limited food and production compared to Rome, and you really do see the snowballing effects. I need WHosit to throw troops away fighting Korea, without actually running him over. I assume the relatively slow decline in military score means Rome is re-positioning the army to go after another Korean city and maneuver around the Man-at-Arms that greenline upgraded, but honestly, 6 legions with a great general SHOULD have been able to take one of those out. Wish I had more visibility but I had to recall my scout for desperately required barb suppression. Ah well.
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Wait, duh, I'm in a Dark Age now, so I'll be in a Heroic Age next round! I can choose both dedications!
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Oh yeah! and you'll presumably grab Pen, Brush, and Voice to hurry your feudalism timing as well. Although I guess there's some argument for the religion one instead.
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Turns 93-94
Not much to report from Japan. My harbors and builders finish, and I will use these early builders to chop out lighthouses and plant mines to boost Apprenticeship. The traders will also boost science and culture. The prospect of a Heroic Age offering all three of science, culture, and production (via Free Inquiry, Pen Brush and Voice, and Monumentality) does buoy my morale somewhat. I still have NO idea how I'll fend off the inevitable Roman invasion, but my horsemen can at least manage against Legions and I have a lot of space from Rome atm, so figure I'm safe until Whosit either gets a road to me or reaches Muskets. His yields are far above everyone so I can only hope Krill and Archduke want to pile on - he's in the middle of everyone, isn't he?
Anyway, I have no illusions. We're not winning this game and we're probably not even surviving it. It's purely an academic exercise at this point. Still, I think get the trade routes running, get some improvements down, and then shift to another wave of settlers (before going back to military) will do neatly.
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As noted, the save is crashing, but I can take my moves. Just can't upload, so I'll do this turn at home, with screenshots.
Basically, we're chopping out lighthouses and our cities are sloooooowly getting on their feet. We'll have the Apprenticeship Eureka (3 mines) in about two turns, which will grab us Apprenticeship for Industrial Zones, my next chopping target, and we'll get an iron mine online as well. The trickle of iron might be vital, or it might not - I think Samurai are resource-free? Not sure. Should check the wiki but I'm busy. Will do so later (or more likely williams will instantly reply with the correct rule).
Anyway, we're close to getting the basic infrastructure in place, I think monumentality can let me catch up to Rome in expansion, and the war seems stalemated as milpower is stagnant. So I need to do my best not to die to a frustrated Roman attack (pls, Korea, keep him busy. I pray greenline's gamesense is enough to know to stick into Rome and don't give him an opening to throw his military elsewhere), and scramble to try to catch up, if it's even possible (it's not).
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