I am about to start the session (I decided to go to bed early last night instead) -
"Friends, Citizens, Ministers…
I speak to you now to tell you of the plans for the upcoming few years. Our declared primary goal is to take Adam Smith's from the Egyptians. It is possible we may also obtain the Great Pyramids and Marco Polo's Embassy from them as well. Immediately after that, we will turn our attention to the Americans. We can't leave their forward cities threatening our "behind-the-lines" positions as we sweep through the weakened and vulnerable Egyptian Republic. Therefore, we will be eliminating their nearest cities and adding them to our growing empire. It doesn't hurt our plans that Shakespeare's Theater is in Washington, either. That will make a fine base to home units at no cost of unhappiness!
We will continue to trade with the Romans. In spite of the fact that we have so successfully limited their expansion, they continue to offer great trade bonuses with every Caravan we send them. Could we ask for anything more than that? When they no longer serve our purposes, they will be assimilated! But not just yet…
We have outposts under duress along the borders of the other civs. These will be strengthened and made impregnable by Musketeers behind City Walls. Our opponents in those regions will crash their best (paltry) units against our fortifications and die weeping in frustration. They will not succeed in displacing our outposts!
Meanwhile, we have several important projects going on. We maintain the "Core of 4" cities building Caravans for Wonders and Trade. As previously done (while I was Minister of City-Planning), we will rotate the Caravan-building among the many cities of our empire. That will give the previous "Core of 4" cities a chance to catch up to the rest and see to their general infrastructure requirements. A balanced city structure is a flexible city structure!
We are also maintaining a robust force of Settlers to irrigate and roadpave the terrain around our cities. This does not show sudden and spectacular benefits, but the gains are nevertheless important and cumulative. These folks work their hearts out, and we do benefit from their efforts. And some of them will found new cities when opportunity arises. I hereby announce a 5% raise in pay for these hardy Workers and 1 additional hour of training each week on the subject of "engineering". It will return us well in the long run!
We also have exploratory vessels upon the seas. Every year, we learn more about the world we live in. We have 2 ships dedicated to this effort. When they return to our home shores, they will be assigned new and equally valuable tasks of transporting Caravans and military units where needed. They will also be given all their back pay at once, so I warn the citizens of those ports that there may be some wild and profitable times ahead. Still, all will be to the overall benefit of Apolytonia. If they break a few windows, remember all the experience and information they bring back with them.
As I close this today, I ask that you look forward to the gains assuredly in our grasp in the near future. Riches sit waiting to drop into our laps! Cities and Wonders are at hand! Surely no time could be better than this time!
"Disce Aut Morere"
Thank you all!
President cavebear
