We started off with a bang…  dropped two cities, then drop-kicked the Zulus into a war.

By Brant Guillory, GrogDude

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So here goes the start of turn 2 or so.  I mean, really – why waste time where there’s this much tail to kick?

Yes Dude, I got it…
You’re unhappy that I’m about to whip your butt.

D’oh!
Her majesty is upset at my land-grab.  I’d rather her mad at me now than cultivating my vineyards on turn 11.

Another of those wacky victory conditions
Finding natural wonders scores points for the Europeans.

Here goes the war
The Zulus immediately make for Bloemfonten.  I’ve got some defenses.  Will it be enough?

Wow, that’s a lot of firepower
There’s a lot of attacking, but not a lot of damaging, going on here.  Both of my infantry units survive, and one is getting promoted.

Yeah, pretty much gotta zap-heal this guy
I need him in the fight.

This is what we call a “target-rich environment”
Plenty of bombardment-catchers to choose from.

Kill the bastards!
I focus my bombardments and ground attacks on guys that are already damaged.  If they’re dead, they can’t hit back next turn.

Nice to meet you
Now get outta the way! I gotta war to fight!

Keeping the Workers Working
But safely away from the fray.  I need the resources, but the Zulus aren’t anywhere near threatening Pretoria so long as I keep them bottled up near Bloemfonten.  I do manage to capture one of the Zulu workers in the fight, too.

Another zap-heal
I need guys at full-strength right now, to survive next turn’s attacks.

Get that Caravan moving!
The only place I can send it right now is Cape Town.  That’s not just the only foreign city in range, it’s also away from the fight, so it won’t get plundered.  My war is 3 turns in, and there’s some plinking going on, but their settler got away.  Bummer.

Begging for Mercy Already?
The Zulus want a peace treaty.  Considering how bad I’m whuppin’ ’em right now, I understand.

I’ll give them a brief respite
And it’ll cost you your silver for me to do it.

Well, hi-de-ho neighbor!
Leopold just borrows Pedro’s portrait from Brazil.  Again, I’m not capturing every screen, but I’m establishing embassies with everyone.

Hey Stanley!  Are you out looking for Dr Livingstone?
It was a Belgian explorer that made contact.  Again, I’m not out exploring much myself right now, having just started a war and all.

First Policy
The Zulus have planted their second city, but I got my land-grab in first and will be able to separate their two cities here very soon.  If you look on the right side of the screen, I’ve accumulated enough culture for a social policy, too.

New Policy Tree
With a short scenario like this, you’re going to be limited on what you can culturally accomplish, anyway.  For the sub-Saharan states, there are essentially 2 policy tracks of 3 steps each.  I want Warrior Code because I want the Great General, who I plan to use to build a citadel and steal someone’s land.  I wonder who…  hmmm….

Near-horizon exploring
I just want to know what’s in the neighborhood.  Looks like Portugal is next door.

And those bastards grabbed my wine!
Part of the reason I planted Bloemfonten where I did was the resources around that location.  And now the Ports are bogarting my vino!  We’ll have words about this with them…

… next time!

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