Brant Guillory, 9 May 2013

Hey look, if you’re still reading at part 14, you probably don’t need much of an introduction.

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Last episode, we got screwed with by the Incans, spread a little Catharism around the world, and planted a new city. Here we go…

Aaannnddd. Barbarians. Again.
I promise I’m not recycling screenshots. Look- the terrain is different!

Bugger All.
I knew someone would beat me to The Great Wall. It just happens to be Mr. Gimme All Your Marble At Wal-Mart Prices.

Saguntum Expandum.
We’re going to dig a silver mine here, too. Because everyone needs the religious boost from it.

Enough With the Missionary Jokes.
Plus, we need to start getting Pagodas built. Time to start pumping up our cities a bit.

Plink, Plink, Plink.
My archer is going to plink the crap outta this camp, so that we can curry some favor with Antwerp.

Still Not Making Much Progress.
Pachacuti is ahead of me. Not by a ton, mind you, but enough. I’m still far enough behind that I might need to go on a culture binge here in a bit to catch up. I tend to play fairly heavy toward cultural improvement, and try to balance that with how expansive my cities get.

I Wonder If the Sham-Wow Guy Counts…
… as a “Great Merchant”?

“With a Military Air…”
I’m building African Forest Elephants. Why? Because they’re freakin’ elephants! And they stomp things! What other reason do you need?

Off On A Trade Mission.
I’m going to send my Great Merchant on a trade mission to bring in some gold, and curry further influence with a city-state. Although Zurich’s already pretty friendly, I’m going for total overkill here and going to send my merchant there. Plus, other than Lisbon, it’s the safest place to send him right now, and I don’t really need Lisbon in my orbit all that much. I prefer Zurish trade bonuses.

Checking On Antwerp.
They’ve got a quest to clear the barbarian camp, which I’m about to do. But you can also check to see how much influence you need to manipulate to displace an opponent as someone’s ally. I’m going to see if I can’t tweak the Incans and bring Antwerp under my sway.

Buying Friends Isn’t Cool, Is It?
Suuuuuure it is, in the game. I’ve got the war chest to pull this off, and I’m going to be reloading the war chest pretty soon with my merchant to Zurich, so let’s go ahead and spend this, and then pile on the influence when I clear the camp, too.

Camp. Cleared.
And bring on the Antwerpians!

Watch the Influence.
RIght now I’m at 153/60 to be their ally.

Spread a Little Religion.
And the influence goes up again.

*&^#@* Great Wall….
But at least the lost production was converted to cash. Now I gotta pick something else to work on. How about the Stable to boost production? Then it’s a University.

Next Policy.
I kind of want to save the Reformation ’til I have more Wonders built.

Mandate of Heaven.
Instead, let’s put that excess happiness (now that I have some) to work boosting my culture.

Damn.
Sir Idiot Scout Dude is just a trouble magnet, isn’t he?

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
My first elephant, and I’m going to patrol the northeast for Canadians er, barbarians.

One More Missionary.
If I wait for Catharism to naturally spread to Saguntum, it might take a while, and the Incans might try to convert my town to their faith. So I launched a missionary to them, where he’ll Catharize (no, you didn’t read that wrong) the locals, before moving on to Antwerp.

Next time, dear reader: the spies come out!

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