Succession Game V: The Empire of Ra

[mapfi]

Just a few questions before I start - I'll play whenever I get the answers:

The lonely diplomat on the coracle - any reason we want to keep him? Else I'll disband him in the next city...

The Javalin Cavalry way up north - Ed told me to look out for not having any Cavalry on ships when upgrading will take place but apart from that - what's he doing up there?

Any reason we're saving up so much PW, almost 6000?

When will the Elephants dissappear - the moment I change gov or when the new one gets enacted? I thought it was the latter, so how long will it take? Otherwise I'll just play it safe...

Mauro

[Hermann the Lombard]

Some pictures...first, the Yamato Front.

[Hermann the Lombard]

While we're busy in the west, are the Yamato busy in the east? Time (and recon) will tell!

[Hermann the Lombard]

Amarna, the Dye Port, and Sais, the Wheat Port, along with our very chilly eastern outpost.

[Hermann the Lombard]

Originally posted by mapfi
Just a few questions before I start - I'll play whenever I get the answers:

Hey, you can always just make up the answers (like the rest of us).

The lonely diplomat on the coracle - any reason we want to keep him? Else I'll disband him in the next city...

There might be some potential embassies for him to found.

The Javalin Cavalry way up north - Ed told me to look out for not having any Cavalry on ships when upgrading will take place but apart from that - what's he doing up there?

He's lost. Actually, he is one of our oldest explorers but he has almost run out of explorable places. As a soon-to-be horseman (and later cataphract) he has potential value, but he is a LONG way from home.

Any reason we're saving up so much PW, almost 6000?

Um, no, not really. I was considering a fortress (but couldn't decide on a really good location) or a watchtower or two...but most of those PW should probably be invested in boosting our commerce...in first-ring tile improvements (Locutus).

When will the Elephants dissappear - the moment I change gov or when the new one gets enacted? I thought it was the latter, so how long will it take? Otherwise I'll just play it safe...

I think the latter, too, unless "Tyranny" is considered the new govt. Team?

[mapfi]

The account of Mauro, Apolyton XXX (has nothing to do with anything not allowed for minors... )

The oligarchs quickly leapt at the opportunity to take over power and tried to stomp out any thoughts about a republic. But not one managed to stomp out those smoldering toenail fires that had been burning for centuries. Due to the smoke continuously disappearing into the sky, the people of Ra drew the wrath of Ra onto themselves. Overnight the earth under the fires opened up and devoured them. People were screaming and running through the streets fearing one of these huge earthquakes that was bound to hit from time to time due to the wicked mind of the 6th god in the skies. The earth just shook lightly, though and nobody was hurt, but then all over the great empire a thundering voice was heard saying "You are my people and my empire is destined to be the greatest of all - I will send you my son to guide you, to make this empire truly glorious".
Everybody eagerly awaited the promised descent and some opportunist proclaimed themselves to be the true son of Ra, some bold women even to be the daughter of Ra but with no success (and it certainly wasn’t time for emancipation!). So when a young lad named Mauro living in Memphis tripped over his feet at almost the same place where ancient Locutus was once healed by Ra - a group of people immediately started to proclaim him the son of Ra. Mauro denying it made more and more people follow him, huge riots made the Oligarchs give in and eventually he became leader of the nation. The reign of Mauro Apolyton XXX, son of Ra had begun:

750BC:
Since there is so much money in the treasury reserved for public structures it is decided to spend it on 5 harbors near various cities - the Yamato near Kamakura flee when they see our nearing forces.

740BC:
The great leader thinks the Egyptian infrastructure to be the best in the world and so finds it unnecessary to divert valuable forces towards further improving it. Even more another harbor is built. The people of Lykopolis decide to riot without any real reason so they're quickly calmed by a new entertainer. Advancing towards Kamakura our troops see an Arabian stack of one horsemen and mounted archer wandering around south. Of course they flee immediately. Mauro asks his advisors about active trade going on, only to discover that there isn't any - so Tanis and Crocodopolis start building caravans. To bring more blissful enjoyement to the empire Heliopolis starts building the Temple of Zeus.

730BC:
Disturbing news from cavalry on boats arrive in the palace and in fear of loosing them on the sea, Mauro lengthens workdays and raises minimum wage in order to delay the completion of horse armors. The evil Yamato advances again.

720BC:
Amproditopolis also builds a caravan, the Yamato keep sticking around

710BC:
After years of hard work Memphis completes the Lighthouse allowing our ships to travel at higher speed even though they won't be able to see it from the sea. And of course Memphis starts building a caravan. The Yamato place 5 pastures near Kamakura, obviously not realizing that it won’t be theirs for much longer.

700BC:
Egyptians wise man complete horse armor and in an attempt to further strengthen our military start constructing a composite bow. In a nationwide effort javelin cavalry is retrained and reequipped with cost going over 9000 gold. Despite saving and years of preparing only 8800 gold are actually in the treasury. Therefore it can't be afforded to upgrade the lonely rider way up north. He's too far away from home anyway. Any other cavalry is upgraded, though. Workdays are shortened again and of course wages return to the previous level even though people wanted to keep them that high. Our great fleet discovers a Roman ship in our empires waters! Admittingly we haven't really claimed those parts of the sea yet but it should be clear that the passage between our homeland and northern Egypt is ours.
Having waited for half a century again our forces finally attack Kamakura. For months there are now news from the front. The people start suspecting Mauro of withholding information and rumors of a disastrous defeat spread quickly. Mauro is forced to acknowledge the loss of all troops less a few mounted archers who were able to flee and not taking responsibility he blames it on his predecessors not including hysiapist in the attacking forces. Just after admitting the defeat news arrive that the Yamato killed the remaining mounted archers and a hysiapist on the way to the front. New riots seem imminent and so Thebes gets another entertainer. Of course it didn't reassure the public when two elephants were disbanded in Heliopolis to advance the temple. New rumors say that Mauro even tried to talk the Yamato into a ceasefire but that wasn't true - at least not for another 20 years. Even further aggreviating the public barbarians have to appear in northern Egypt. The empire is on the brink of a total rebellion and people call for change. War times are no time for changes says Mauro and lets imprison anybody that says otherwise. The oligarchs who didn't have much of say during the last 50 years applaud but nevertheless they still aren't consulted by Mauro at all. On the bright side 3 caravans start trading uranium to Lykopolis which brings 101 gold per turn into the treasury and people start to wonder what Lykopolis needs that useless stuff for?


690BC:
Surprisingly Lykopolis sends its entertainer away and gets back to work, got something to do with the uranium? The diplomat retires in Heliopolis and with him one of those many coracles that are not much of use. The Temple nears completion even faster. More barbarians appear all over the place.

680BC:
Good news from the front, Kamakuru is now rightfully ours, its forces decided to leave and just a single composite archer was left behind. Due to the lot of Yamato forces wandering around Mauro requests a ceasefire with the effect that the Yamato now laugh at us. Humiliating! Roads are being laid to Kamakura avoiding a connection to the enemy’s road network though. 2 caravans start trading grapes to lykopolis which brings the income per turn to 191 gold. Little Armana is discovered to be building a wall which is deemed useless and therefore it changes to building a granary.

670BC:
The great Ottfla enslaves a barbarian foe and the Roman ship finally moves out of the spot it has stayed in for years. The great fleet immediately brings itself in front of our undefended coracles.

660BC-650BC
Various cities need new orders and start building horseman and badly needed hysiapist. A barbarian archer in northern Egypt attacks and looses, of course.

640BC
Our lonely rider discovers an Etruscan city encircled by foreign forces but in doing so exposes himself to an surely to follow attack by the Yamato. Goodbye, you won’t be forgotten. Kamakura is now secured with 4 horsemen, a hysiapist and a hoplite and starts building a wall. The Yamato send huge stacks toward the city and the public voices once again the desire for change. Mauro, Apolyton XXX realizes he lead the nation for far too long (one turn exactly, is totally shocked and really sorry for missing it) and being old and almost blind, hasn't got the strength to hold onto his power. Mauro feels his last days on earth passing by and he’s forced to call out elections for a senate which will guide the empire. He entrust his closest and most trusted advisor to do just that because he can’t leave the bed anymore and it he same moment confides in him that he wasn't the son of Ra after all. That one decides to guard that most secret secret and never tells anybody, only writes it on some parchment - the one you’ve been reading right now and that tells the story of the false son of Ra...

[mapfi]

The Yamato gathering for the counterattack:

[mapfi]

The Etruscan city Telamun revealed by the lonely rider:

[mapfi]

Lykopolis receiving valuable grapes and doubtfully useful uranium:

[Locutus]

I was so busy with the Directory and tournaments that I completely forgot to play my turn

Not only that, a power failure destroyed my game notes just before I could save them So I have no story for this time or even a summary this time, although I'll try to sketch in a few lines what happened during my turn:

I immediately dispatched reinforcements to Kamakura in an attempt to keep the town. However, before they could reach the city, both reinforcements and Kamakura were attacked by nearby Yamato stacks. The city fell (although the Yamato suffered very heavy losses) but the reinforcements miraculously escaped without taking very severe damage. They immediately counter-attacked Kamakura and retook the city again. I moved in more reinforcements ASAP but the Yamato fortunately stayed away (although they did kill the lonely rider up north). A lot of Barbs appeared all over the map, I set up a number of tactical forces to deal with them - there might still be one or two north of Carthamen and west of Memphis but other than that I think I got them all. I continued to send troops to the Kamakura region throughout my turn, these units can serve as strike force for the next attack. This can be either on the unknown Arab city just south of Kamakura - an attractive (namely vulnerable) target, but it would open up a second front, I'm not sure if we want that at this point - the isolated city of Odawara (north of Carthamen) or the strategically important stronghold of Nagaoka (north of Kamakura).
During my turn Composite Bow and Ballistics (Belfroi!) were discovered, Aquaducts research begun. In terms of PW, I've saved up a lot of it and created a fortress west of Memphis, one more such fortress and we'll be able to connect Lykopolis with the rest of our empire by borders and road. That way we can actually defend the city, if the need arises.

[Locutus]

The Yamato front:

[Locutus]

The fortress to-be in the Memphis-Lykopolis void:

[mapfi]

Good to see that despite my phyrric victory, Locutus managed to hold on to that city after all.

[Locutus]

Yup, this game hasn't changed too much for me: first I had to save Hermann's butt all the time, now I'll have to save yours...

[Hermann the Lombard]

Originally posted by Locutus
Yup, this game hasn't changed too much for me: first I had to save Hermann's butt all the time, now I'll have to save yours...

HEY! I resemble that remark!

"Saved," eh? Stoned, eaten, fried, hit&run, discus-sed, stabbed, collapsed (suspiciously) . . . yep, you saved 'em, all right! Of course getting trampled by elephants could be seen as a stomp in the right direction...

[Immortal Wombat]

do I get the gamefile?

[Locutus]

D'oh! I knew I was forgetting something. File will be sent in a moment.

[Immortal Wombat]

ta

[Hermann the Lombard]

Originally posted by Immortal Wombat
do I get the gamefile?

SOME people want EVERYTHING! Sheesh!

[Immortal Wombat]

pheuww, just caught this before it dropped to page 2. Sorry for the delay.


================================

The Chronicles of the Apolyton Wombat

550BC - Having won the elections, the Ceremony of Reloadslic is begun in the Gaulish territories, for the first time. However, the ceremony was curtailed when the new Apolyton heard news that an earthquake had hit Armagh. He rushed over to survey the damage, and was visbly relieved to see that the only casualty was a farmer who broke a leg when a cow fell on him.
The new Apolyton vowed to continue the heritage of his forefathers, and bring Ra's wrath down upon the unbelievers using the weapons that Ra saw fit to bestow on him.

540 - With this in mind, Wombat continues unit production across the continents, and though from here no specific reports of unit production will be given, it can be assumed that units were being churned out at a fabulous rate. The hypastists and horsemen in Gaul move west to the front.

530 - Ooh, sweet troop movement

520 - Barbarian riders are driven from the western border of Egypt by the western border patrol. Damn immigrants

510 - Egyptian wise men discover aqueducts. Wombat orders them to begin work on alchemy, the art of turning base metals into gold and, it seems, trireme construction. Theorists imagine a new chemical that can burn enemy ships up. They call it "Greek Fire" for some reason unknown.

500 - A scout horse archer near Osaka is taken out by a Japanese horseman. Wombat mourns.

490 - Wombat plays an early form of tiddleywinks. (The wise men get bored too sometimes)

480 - The barbarian javcav that had been scared from the border had merely chosen a route around the fat donut-eating guards, and come southwards, towards Tanis. Another horseman barbarian killed a passing belfroi. Wombat did not mourn. Crapping little things belfrois, when on the wrong continent.
Memphis begins some Hanging Gardens for Wombat to sunbathe in. *shrug*

Also in this eventful year, an advanced recon mission (a mounted archer) was sent into Nagoaka to retrieve defense information. It seems the Japanese had all but abandoned - there were two defenders. A crack squad of Egyptian horsemen were sent in, and soon polished off the remaining resistance. Nagoaka was annexed to the Province of Gaul in Egypt.

470 - Alchemy is discovered. Wombat orders a conversion of all the empire's lead into gold. He is informed that nobody has ever heard of "lead", perhaps his highness dreamed it? gold however, is commonplace, and not worth the hassle. Wombat looks a little confused, and settles for triremes. Iron Working is set as the next research goal.

460 - *tumbleweed flies past mind's eye*

450 - Noticing some geo-political irregularities on the radar, Wombat exchanges the secret of Ballistics for a Byzantine map. They seem to be having a wonderful war against Rome, and not doing too badly... Wombat ponders this, but before reaching any conclusion, is assassinated whilst riding in the back seat of his open-top chariot through the streets of Tanis. The arrow that killed him was shot from the window of a house on the road, and archers were blamed, angered that Wombat had sold their trade for as little as a map.

Thus came to an end the rule of Wombat X

[Hermann the Lombard]

To Mapfi, Locutus, and Immortal Wombat: well done!

To Locutus: it seems you're attaching images much *wider* than the system will permit me to attach. Is there a trick to this, or is this just another facet of the Powers of Locutus? (I'm attaching jpegs, typically.)

[mapfi]

Hermann - instead of attaching a jpg I think you can attach a link to a file on your homepage f.e. and it'll display like that
And yes - looks like the Yamato will loose... at least we hope.

[Hermann the Lombard]

Originally posted by mapfi
Hermann - instead of attaching a jpg I think you can attach a link to a file on your homepage f.e. and it'll display like that
And yes - looks like the Yamato will loose... at least we hope.

Ah, that would work better if I had a homepage.

[Locutus]

But you do! (Hint: http://ctpmodmakers.250free.com, ftp: ftp.250free.com, username: ctpmodmakers, password: bl00drun)

[Gazablanca]

Save game file has been passed onto Hermann the Lombard....i'm a bit busy at the moment:I'm moving to a new house soon which also means I'll probably be out of this game for a month or more until i get a new connection Will let you all know when I'm reconnected and my possible new e-mail address.

Gazablanca

[Hermann the Lombard]

The Record of Her-mann IX, Apolyton XXXIII of the Republic of Ra

450 BC Dark days for the Republic! Wombat lies slain, then insult is added to injury as his bloody corpse is used as a test missile by the evil ballisticians. Almost as bad, a farmer is killed by a falling Wombat! To quell the chaos, the Wise Men call on the eldest of the clan of Gazablanca, but find that HE was the stricken farmer. Is this the end of the Republic? As of old, the Wise Men turn to the temples for advice, and High Priest Her-mann, the Ninth of that name, steps forward to assume the mantle of leadership. [Behind him in the temple, an archer is congratulated with a chalice of poisoned wine: the Chalice from the Palace.]

Her-mann calls on the Wise Men to learn the state of the Republic. The war against the Yamato goes well, and Odawara shall be the next target. In science, with Ballistics well in hand, all efforts are being made to learn the secret of Iron Working. The youngest of the Wise Men, calling himself an “economist” proclaims that it is premature to pursue the secrets of iron weapons, as the treasury has but one quarter of the gold that would be needed to re-equip our infantry with the new weapons. Impressed by the argument (and not realizing what happens when you put all the economists in the world end to end), Her-mann redirects the Wise Men to pursue the secret of Bureaucracy (and of The Appian Way for our sprawling nation). Close to home, the Army of Ptah dispatches barbarian pezheteroi on the road to Tanis. [Who knew? The barbarians are Republicans.]

440 BC Our forces from Nagaoka and Kamakura move to surround intruders: another barbarian pezheteroi and a Yamato composite archer. The road must be cleared to prepare a pincer attack against Odawara. [In keeping with recent tradition, no mention will be made of the completion of units, which are pouring out to bolster our mighty armies.]

430 BC We have attained the dubious achievement of being the first nation of the world to discover Bureaucracy! [Well, there goes the neighborhood.] Now we desperately need to learn Ethics to restrain the bureaucrats.

420 BC The barbarians destroy the Yamato archers; what a pity. Two Egyptian armies are closing on Odawara, where a strong Yamato army waits outside the walls, entrenched among the latifundia. Our chariot destroys a section of our own road at the border west of Kamakura with the intent to slow intruders…such as the approaching Yamato horseman.

410 BC The barbarian pezheteroi impudently march up to the city walls of Nagaoka, right through the so-called zone of control of our forces outside the city. Much nearer home, barbarian hypaspists show similar disrespect at the gates of Thebes. The Army of Amun gives a lesson in respect to one group of barbarians while the forces at Nagaoka conduct a mercy killing: a single arrow finishes off the pathetic pezheteroi. Heliopolis completes a work camp (instead of an agora, which would have given +10% to the 12 gold produced, at a cost of 2 gold). A forge is ready in Amarna.

400 BC Riots grip Carmarthen, and four cities tremble on the verge of riot: Memphis, Abydos, Kells, and Nagaoka. It seems that the barbarians outside Nagaoka were the most popular boy band in the world; their fans are furious! Her-mann hastily orders the assembly of an appealing group of entertainers, to be called the Mon-keys. Their tunes quell the riots.

Meanwhile, a scouting party reveals that the army outside Odawara IS the garrison of Odawara; only a single horseman remains inside the walls. Odin’s Tourists crush the tiny garrison. Three horsemen and two composite archers are promoted in honor of the great victory. The Fist of Rage, fresh from Nagaoka, pins the Yamato army against the wall of Odawara. Meanwhile, just across the border from Nagaoka is—of all things—a group of Etruscan nomads, apparently menaced by Yamato horsemen.

390 BC The Yamato army passively awaits its fate outside Odawara. In a variant on the classic tactic, the Anvil of Odawara whacks the Yamato in the back, destroying two thirds of the army without loss, then the Fist of Rage finishes them off. Suspiciously, the Yamato horsemen ignore the Etruscan nomads and ride bravely—but schtupidly—to attack three Egyptian horsemen. The contest is brief.

380 BC More strangeness near Nagaoka: the Etruscan nomads trundle off to the west while a Yamato nomad—with an escort of composite archers—hurl themselves against our fortified chariots. The charioteers barely survive the hail of arrows, then avenge their losses by plinking nomads (oh, where are the slavemasters when you really need them?) More bold (stupid) barbarian horsemen ride up to Odawara (and are killed). Yamato horsemen pillage the road SW of Kamakura, and are destroyed (this was another segment of the road we pillaged ourselves). The Truppes from Tanis reach and reinforce Lykopolis, and a second fortress is begun to close the remaining road gap. On the economic front, a new caravan route is opened to carry buffalo from Heliopolis to Lykopolis (now ALL our caravan routes go to Lykopolis: Gateway to the West).

370 BC Etruscan travelers come with stories of a strong earthquake at some distant place called Yanbu. These travelers come with all their worldly goods, audaciously entering our territory. They are promptly ejected. To the west of Nagaoka, recon reveals a medium-sized Yamato army dug in outside Nagoya. To the north, two infantry units approaching from Nara are seen to be armed with strong weapons made of a substance called “I-ron,” and calling themselves “legions.” The wise men want to ditch this idea of “ethics” in favor of learning how to make such weapons. “In time,” Her-mann declares, “in due time.”

360 BC We have achieved ETHICS, so now we will be wise enough to know that what we are doing is wrong. We have also reached a key decision point: do we begin researching Christianity? (No one can give a good reason.) Do we begin researching Ballista Towers? (Very quick, but the best defense is…) Do we begin researching Iron Working? (We will only have enough gold to upgrade half of our hoplites and hypaspists.) Or do we research Tribunal Empire? (We have not reached our city maximum for Republic, and we would lose speed in our research.) We begin researching Ballista Towers to dump the decision in the lap of the next generation.

A barbarian chariot is approaching Thebes. Another bold (stupid) horseman probes the border west of Nagaoka, meeting doom beneath the hooves of the Riders of Rage. The Nara legions are joined by two more units, but the enemy force is tiny compared to the approaching Army of Odawara.

350 BC The Byzantines offer a map exchange, duly accepted. The Nara force is attempting to sneak around Nagaoka to the east but are observed by our alert horsemen. Her-mann IX sets off on a tour of inspection of the lands liberated from the Celts and the Yamato, but the tour comes to a tragic end. While visiting the site of the Armagh earthquake, the 33rd Apolyton is standing immediately downhill from another cow when an iron advocate tips the beast. This follows a family tradition of thin, wide sarcophagi.

[Hermann the Lombard]

Placeholder

I.O.U. one map.

-- HtL

[Immortal Wombat]

Almost as bad, a farmer is killed by a falling Wombat!

I'm not that heavy...

btw, you won't be able to attach a map to that post, it'll have to be IMG tags now

[mapfi]

The next generation is really left pretty much clueless -how much money does the unit upgrade cost? Should I find that documented somewhere?

[Hermann the Lombard]

Originally posted by mapfi
The next generation is really left pretty much clueless -how much money does the unit upgrade cost? Should I find that documented somewhere?

Yes. In the CRADLE Readme PDF directory, "Misc-info" or some such. Nicely detailed.

Wombat: it's not the weight, it's the height of the drop.