New game - The Art of War, Fight!

[Sambo]

And with that, the holy fires of Marignon are extinguished.

Thanks to all for the great game. The highlight for me: killing Shimu. The lowlight: taking my strong mid-game against a nation with end-game power. I tried this: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=43899 and got a bunch of instead.

Lessons learned:

• Don't waste gems. They are vital later on. Those fires from afar would look much better as elemental royalty.
• Sweet gear on thugs can be a waste; go with the essentials (especially true when they die). Relates to point above.
• Beware the rout. This happened on several occasions, when a nice thug retreated from a minor threat due to PD or army routing. Frustrating experience, but point taken.

Best of luck to all who remain... except the foul nation that vanquished me. I hope you get plague events in your capital every turn!

In defeat,

Sambo