Here is the story of an extraordinary warrior whose achievements set the foundation of my Great Japanese Empire.
He was perhaps my first or second warrior produced to get a first look at the terrain just outside my capitol and only city so far. In fact I was more interested in what he found than in him as I sent him west into the unknown. First there was a hut which I sent him into. The resulting barbarians made him a veteran and then elite. Cool, but I sure could have used a free settler I thought. As he explored further he discovered a great river, gold, and then a dense pack of mink. As I rejoiced at this great land that was my future I was startled by a regular Chinese warrior traveling w/ a settler which emerged from the darkness heading for my river, my fur, my land, MY DESTINY!
...I traded a science with the Chinese and then attacked. My elite warrior carved the Chinese guy up in short order taking only one hit...but developing a LEADER in the attack! (As well as the two workers from the enemy settler, very handy so early) That's right, my very first attack w/ my first and one and only elite unit resulted in a leader. How did I feel you ask? Don't ask stupid questions. My warrior, who I'm becoming rather fond of at this point advanced into the defeated enemy square which revealed the border of a Chinese city. The staff work of letting him regain his lost hit point and sending the leader and workers on their way towards civilization passed the next turn. With regained strength in the next two turns my warrior advanced adjacent to what turned out to be the Chinese capitol. In the next turn I attacked, defeating another regular warrior and losing a single hit point. Another Chinese regular warrior popped up in the city. In the intervening turn a barbarian conscript moved adjacent to the city and my slightly wounded warrior. My turn came again and I chanced all on an attack with my weakened unit. Losing two more hit points, it took the Chinese capitol! ...and there was much rejoicing.
The Chinese then cut a peace deal giving several sciences and much gold. The city was mine! The barbarian attacked in its turn, killed my elite which only had two hits left in it and ransacked the city.
I'll tell you what boys and girls, I grieve for that unit! The best damn warrior that ever was. If my citizens were real they would mourn him as Nelson was mourned. Anyway, the next Chinese city turned out to be far away, on the other side of my capitol, perhaps gotten from a hut. The huge frontier which I wanted was now open to me and I've since planted perhaps 20 cities in the area which by all rights should have been Chinese. The capitol the warrior took I renamed Warrior Legend. If that isn't enough to remind me of that single unit that changed the history of my civilization, every time I get a free science from the Great Library I think of him and smile. ...The Great Library which was built in a turn by the leader which emerged from that elite warrior.
The best damn warrior that ever was.
-sniff-
