Scrambling in Africa

By Brant Guillory, GrogDude

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With the Zulus vanquished, it’s time to get down to some serious plowing. Of fields, Starfury, of fields.

Wheat Needs Planting
The Zulus weren’t bothering to farm the fertile fields, so I’m doing it.

Belgium-land
Our open borders treaty lets my lancer/recon-guy cut through their yard while mapping the continent.

Extending My Borders
I’m cultivating as far as I can reach, to bring up my ag production and my culture. And apparently the English bought a family-pack of explorers at Costco.

Hurry Up, Dammit!
I’ve launched a settler to make a break for the north, where there’s one small parcel of land left to park a city. Can he get there before everyone else starts grabbing land tiles?

Big Picture
You can see on the strategic view just how far my settler is breaking out here. He’s headed to a spot just north of Port Sudan (which is neither a Port, nor near Sudan in this game), but will already be Kaliningrad’ed by the Portuguese transcontinental land-grab connector.

We Found Someone Else
From the colors, I suspect that it’s Ethiopia just to the NW of my lancer.

More Germans
They’re already mad at me, so I’ll back away, but it’s nice to know where their ‘capital’ is. And hey look! More explorers!

We Made It
They probably feel a little relieved at not being harried across the Sub-Saharan Plains anymore, and the settlers of Johannesburg don’t just erect a city, they go on a land grab that would make Thomas Jefferson proud. I’m sure the neighbors are pissed, but it’s not like I’m cranking up classic Black Sabbath at 130db. Maybe I should.

Hey Look!
It’s Ethiopia!

And Egypt!
I feel special! Don’t you feel special reading this? If not, you really should. I mean, I spent at least two, maybe two-and-a-half, minutes thinking about what I was going to write.

Paying the Piper Pharoah
In my quest to map everything I need to pay Egypt to cruise on through.

Oh, Waaah!
Lookee here, Vicky. You pretty much consider the entire damned continent to be “lands you feel are yours”. So how about you just politely go back to being ugly, sleeping with your servants, and being a military badass that could squash me like a bug, and let me get on with winning this here game, m’k?

{Grovel}Sorry We Stole Your Land{/Grovel}
Can we please not repeal our mutual defense treaty so the English won’t hammer me like a roofing nail?

It’s Nice to be Wanted
But I’ve got no dog in this fight, and you’re not willing to sweeten the pot for me, so I’ll decline. Thanks.

Hey, I’m In The Game!
I don’t get to be my own Great Writer? Sniff.

Create Great Work
There is absolutely nothing to be gained from a culture boost when there are only 6 policies to get, and you’ll get all of them as the Boers in plenty of time because of all your (agri)culture.

You Too?
Still not interested in the fight, but thanks for asking!

Recaravaning
I’m relocating my caravan to a different home city to get some new trade partners in range.

Almost Done
The workers cultivating the tiles around Ulundi are almost done repairing and enhancing the local area.

See you in a few weeks, and we’ll see whose skirts I ruffle in a kerfluffle next tuffle.

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