Taming the Teutons (II) - 1280 BC to 1250 BC

1280 BC: I move my forces adjacent to Berlin, taking hits, but I have two more in reserve...

1270 BC: The good-old tactic of barrage then assault - Berlin's defences are weakening...

1260 BC: Again a barrage then two Legions assaulting...a weak Legion is moved away from the front-line and a fresh one moved forward. The next round should terminate Teutonia for good :)

 1250 BC: My Archer bombards and the fresh Legion assaults - Berlin falls and the Teutons are vanquished - adieu, Bismarck :D

 My statistics..they look much better than before the war

 ....and finally the Roman Empire in its full glory...

There are of course negative aspects - I now have -3 Unhappiness and that means minimal growth - a real bind because my Population is #10 ranked. There are no more untapped Luxury resources in the area so I have to wait for buildings to be completed. Courthouses negate the Unhappiness caused by occupying another player`s cities. I also have a Settler ready but building a new city would create even more Unhappiness.
The Greeks may be tempted to start something - they never have been friendly - but their forces are no match for my Legions.

The good news is that three Ballistas are being built in Rome, Bilbao and Mainz and I have a full pot of Gold. It is now consolidation time and I shall reorganize things. Until next time - Ave, Caesar!

Taming the Teutons (I) - 1360 BC - 1290 BC

1360 BC: The Area of Operations:

As you can see, most German forces are on the French border and Hamburg appears do be defended by Workers - no doubt they are Reserves.
Both Archers bombard first then the Legion South of Hamburg captures the Worker and attacks the city. The 2nd Legion W. of Hamburg moves East capturing another Worker - the 3rd Archer moves forward while my Spearman moves West to delay/block the German army N. of Mainz - probably a sacrifice.

1350 BC: My Spearman was indeed destroyed but they lost one of theirs. My two Archers again bombard Hamburg followed by assaults by two Legions - first the weakened unit then the fresh Legion SW of Hamburg - et voilá, Hamburg is ours!

1340 BC: My armies in the East regroup and rebuild while N of Mainz a fresh Legion has arrived. Hamburg has been renamed Warsaw.

1330 BC: My forces N of Mainz counterattack with Archer support and destroys a French Warrior - then something unexplainable has happened - Bismarck declares war on Napoleon!!! Am I missing something?

1320 BC: All is quiet on the eastern front with more defence tactics N of Mainz...

1310 BC: My 3rd Legion moves W of Warsaw destroying a German Warrior that got in the way. France has just denounced me and Bismarck is not interested in a cease-fire - I have what I wanted, their city! The Iron Mine S of Warsaw is finished so I can start converting Warriors to Legions - my 4th Legion is created N of Mainz.

1300 BC: Mathematics is researched and decide to start Sailing - we're going to a Navy, folks... A 5th Legion is converted and you may notice that my forces are moving East and North, surrounding Berlin.

 1290 BC: Bismarck sues for peace - I demand all his Gold but he turns down the terms.

So the war goes on - more in the next post - Ave, Caesar :)

The Rise of the Legions - 1690 BC to 1360 BC

1690 BC: Being at peace can be quite boring but I have to cultivate my lands - build farms, pastures and mines in order to get the most out of the citizens. I also get denounced every now and then, so I denounce the denouncer, in this case, Catherine. What follows is several other leaders saying that they also dislike Catherine.

Sometimes a Barbarian enters within firing range and my troops get target practice thus gaining experience which leads to promotion.

1640 BC: Rome has completed building the Stone Works so I shall build another Archer before a Circus, which becomes possible as soon as Trapping is completed, 3 Turns.

1630 BC: I adopt a new Policy - Citizenship which gives me a free Worker and reduces the cost of new Workers.

1610 BC: Trapping is completed and I commence researching The Wheel. It enables me to build Roads to connect my cities and leads to Mathematics = Ballistas. In the pic below a Worker ENE of Rome is busy building an Iron Mine

1600 BC: The Archer in Rome is completed and I commence building the Circus = +3 Happiness when finished.

1550 BC: The Iron Mine is completed and I convert a Warrior to my 1st Legion :) Note that in Bilbao a Settler and in Mainz a Circus are being built.

1500 BC: The Wheel is now complete and I start researching Mathematics. Bismarck appears to have been busy building Warriors as well but I see no Iron Mine - non-Roman players have Swordsmen not Legions - they are weaker...

Another Wine Hex is ready and I make a great deal with Askia of the Songhai - enough Gold for 3 Legions, he he...

1410 BC: Time to check my statistics...I still have the largest production and I now have the strongest army.

My Victory Points score is way ahead of my neighbours...only Gandhi is near and we are friends.

1400 BC: Bismarck declares war on France!!! I guess my Legions are a deterrent....

Now to change the course of history - I sell Horses to Genghis Khan!!! :D - let's hope that the Golden Hordes keep the Russians busy....

1380 BC: The German city of Hamburg is looking a bit unprotected and Bismarck has the nerve to denounce me.... >:)

1360 BC: Bismarck and Napoleon make peace...

...so I decide to attack Germany before they can recover. I have managed to maneuver my forces around Hamburg due to an Open Borders agreement.

Caesar's Legions are on the march and the earth is trembling!!! Ave :D

Rome at Peace....2290 BC to 1690 BC

2290 BC: Some of you may be asking where the huge Roman Empire is, the one that conquered the known world. Well Rome didn't start expanding until the mid 8th century BC and we have the 23rd... I believe they had a series of fights with the towns on the hills surrounding Rome then eventually bumped in to the Greeks in southern Italy and the Carthaginians in Sicily.

Looking at the map below there is room for expansion in the West and East - strange that Greece only has one city....I have decided that my next city will be in Spain and that Calendar will be my next Tech to research.....

In 2110 BC I finally complete the Colossus :-) Also I see that Germany, Thailand and then France declare war on Persia - have fun guys...

There are 4 Wine hexes in Spain and Italy so I use one for me, (4 Happiness points), and export the other three to get Gold for my war chest. I now build a Barracks in Rome - they produce better troops :-)

2060 BC: Calendar is researched and Iron Working is next - that is good because with Iron I can produce Legions and Ballistas. Darius is now making Peace with his advesaries.

1860 BC: A flurry of new wars which I am staying out of - this time Gandhi and Ramesses are the lucky ones....In Rome a Settler is almost complete while my other 2 cities are building Warriors. They are weak units but with Iron and Cash they can be upgraded to Legions....

1790 BC: Suleiman of the Ottomans is my first Wine importer....

....and in 1730 BC Iron Working is completed - Trapping is next for Furs = Happiness points....

1690 BC: My 4th city Lisbon has been built and here are my statistics - not bad at all!!! I'm still very unpopular - can't win them all....

I appear to be number one on the victory points table....that's nice - most are friendly towards me too.

The Roman Empire in 1690 BC....600 years since the beginning of this post. Rome is developing fine. Ave, Caesar!!!