War Without End

See that light blue border? THAT USED TO BE PURPLE! Are Abe and Gandhi fighting each other? I can but hope. The less pressure, the better. As it is, nobody's really seen the Zulus for eons, and the English have confined themselves to landing a couple of swords every once in a while near Pompeii. The Romans have been the only real "threat", and they suicide on Thermopylae. Even better, my marketplaces have finished, and I can finally get back to having a military again, complete with actual +18 gpt income. Things are looking up up up.

The more I looked, the more it became apparent somebody was fighting SOMEBODY. The 1hp Roman horse near Pompeii. The almost total lack of Zulu units. That blue border. The fact that Indian Washington got Americanized again real sudden like. The fact neither of them were attacking me. Oh, and the part where I randomly attacked Calcutta, his one spearman died, and this happened:

And this time, I had troops RIGHT THERE. Yay me. And it would appear that Calcutta had two Indian workers right there. Interesting.

920 AD - Dipping deep into Abe's drug supplies, I apparently forgot to rush some walls in in Calcutta. That'll be the first order of business, but first, the Greek people wish to build a nice lawn for the palace. But wait. I just rushed that temple in Pompeii. I'm now really poor.

<Dwip is drug out, shot, and replaced with a different leader>

930 AD is the first time in living memory that Thermopylae hasn't been under heavy assault by legions of enemy troops. Probably because they've all diverted to Calcutta instead. It would be really nice if Atlanta could be taken and the mountain passes fortified against Roman intrusion, but that's a pipe dream right now - Greece doesn't have that kind of manpower. We can rush walls in Calcutta now, though. Hopefully it'll last that extra turn for more reinforcements to show up. And it does. And the walls complete, and reinforcements come in. Yes! Now for that pipe dream... The flow of Romans REALLY needs to shut off in a bad, bad way.

And this is Greece in 940 AD.

You'll notice the 15 or so Romans wandering around the world just now, compared to the total lack of Americans and Indians, who must still be fighting each other. Now, could I possibly get some troops up to Atlanta to take it... Current estimates are 5+ swords and 3-4 hoplites for garrison purposes. It can be done, assuming the other fronts can stay quiet for a little bit... Yeah, right.

And for 950 AD, a deep thrust by an American spear captures my worker attempting to re-road Corinth, after I specifically told myself to MOVE THE WORKER. What's worse, that's the third or so time this game that specific event has happened. If that ain't weed... <sigh>

On the plus side, the defense for Calcutta is looking pretty good, with 2 hoplites and a sword behind walls with another on the way, versus horses. Some catapults would be nice, but we'll see.

Of course, come next turn, the reinforcements all die to a horse, and all those Romans doing nothing decided Calcutta would make a GREAT vacation spot. More reinforcements are sent.

Well, ok, maybe those horses aren't going for Calcutta... Free slave workers! Come and get your slave workers here!

And finally another one of those pipe dreams comes about:

And in riveting 1 hp hoplite vs horse-SOD combat at Delphi, the city is BARELY SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION! Despite the massive amounts of elite combat going on, there aren't any leaders happening, sadly.

Of course 5 turns or so after I say that, I get a leader. Second Pyrrhus, who seems purposely made for rushing the Heroic Epic in Athens, despite being in Calcutta. About this time, my Atlanta SOD arrived at target...

And thus it was, in 1040 AD, that Atlanta fell to Greek forces. And life was looking up, except for the gigantic problems going on at Calcutta, which needed troops BAD but was in the comparative middle of nowhere. Then, in 1050, the problem just sort of evaporated as everyone ran off into the interior of America. Not that I was about to argue. Roman troops were streaming past Fortress Atlanta, but that problem will hopefully vanish RSN.

1070 AD, and Fortress Atlanta begins proving it's worth immediately. Everybody rushes off to go attack it. Well, let em. I've got, what, 7 guys and cat support in there? And they just keep charging like it's going to do something... You'd think those REALLY BIG WALLS would give them a clue. Evidently not.

Speaking of cats, it's fairly apparent to me at this point how good they are to have, at least on defense. They did nothing to help take Atlanta, but both there, Thermopylae, Delphi, and Calcutta, they've been vital in saving Greek civilization from the barbarians. Not just on suicidal horse charges, either. It seems to be the case, at least most times, that if you get a cat shot in on an attacker as they approach, they'll retreat outside your borders to heal, thus buying time for defense increases.

1090 AD - Times sure have changed. First Romans near Thermopylae in quite some time, and it's just a couple of spearmen. Gives the remaining cat something to do, though.

And then, the English apparently ate their Wheaties, because after ineffectually attacking the elite hoplite in Pompeii for eons, they succeed in killing him off with a regular sword, thus leaving a single regular hoplite in the city for defense. That won't do... After adding some statues to the palace depicting the fallen heroes (or maybe their wives), some more hoplites are rushed in at substantial shield loss. It would appear that the Pompeii front is going to need some help pretty quick. Meanwhile, on the American front, Washington is violently attacked, but godlike spearmen masquerading as regulars manage to kill off three vet swords in a row with almost no damage.