[RedRover]

TURN 18
Caelum buys Blackfist away from me! Also, it turns out C’tis, not Man, is east of me. I can see a province he owns, but not his capital. My assassin moves in to investigate. My fort construction starts now and I have raised the PD there to 15. I’m two turns away from Blood 3, so a Demonbred will soon be a priority.

Hector’s contract is up, so it’s him or the fort. I choose the fort. With Blackfist gone, Hector in his current location isn’t helping. If I let him go and no one else hires him, I might be able to hire him back on turn 19, and put him where he will be useful. Risky. I would not have this problem if I’d positioned Hector properly the first time. Also, the last of the aquatic mercenaries came up this turn, so down the road it’s going to be harder to get into the oceans.

I’m feeling a little low, so I sneak a peak at the graphs. Ulm and C’tis are tied for most provinces, I’m third. I have the best income, with Ulm right behind me. For gem income, I’m fifth of eight; looks like the other three lowest still have only their original sites. Ulm and C’tis are in a dead heat for first, probably pulling 11-12 gems each. For dominion, I’m tied for fourth. For army size, with the loss of Blackfist, I’m dead last, a little behind Oceania. I need to raise my troop count before everyone starts jumping on me. No choice, the fort goes on hold, I keep Hector, bid on the Fishermen, and start raising cheap troops. If my fort type was a Castle instead of a Citadel, I would be building now.

I need more provinces. If Hector and the spearmen move northeast, there’s another pass, and I’ll have two more provinces to attack before I run up against the Amazons. The first is Light Infantry and Crossbows, no clue about the second. Stay tuned…