In Kebet, I'll try to follow most of my recent "personal rules":
* Very Hard difficulty.
* Maximum Prosperity.
* No crummy houses.
* All mortuaries, schools, libraries, and senet houses are kept supplied.
* Reasonably high Culture.
* The city is stable for years without intervention except in response to external events (such as invasions).
* All roads (including the Kingdom road) are connected.
* No cheats, of course.
* No debt. (Since it's a military mission, I'll take the "rescue" gift.)
* No (or very few) deletions of anything that I build.

Since the mission briefing states "Kebet should be a glorious city", I thought that a source of papyrus would become available. To make sure, I violated my "no future knowledge" rule, downloaded a completed Kebet, and looked for the "New Trade Route Available" message (but not noting any other events, such as invasions). As expected, a water trade route to Men-nefer became available after a little less than 9 years, with the same trade quotas as in Menat Khufu (including selling 2500 papyrus per year).

Lots of barley can be imported, and all other goods required for stately manors can be locally produced, so every long-suffering Kebetan could live in a fancy residence or a manor. However, the obvious place to put several warship wharves (along with some fishing and/or transport wharves) is on the mid-river island, but there isn't room on that narrow island for several warship wharves plus the buildings required to evolve a house to a reasonably high level.

The east and west banks have locations to build at most 6 large waterfront buildings (dock, shipwright, and warship wharves). While the northernmost location on the east bank isn't too far from some ore deposits (that will be exploited) and will therefore have housing not too far away, the northernmost location on the west bank is far from any expected housing. I don't like skimping on defense (I had a few tense moments in Thinis, which I could have defended better), but I hate crummy houses, so I decided to make the poorest houses fancy residences and to build only 3 warship wharves (or possibly 4, if some housing is built in the northwest).

Next, I did something quite unusual for me. I was curious whether anyone else had given up the island to avoid crummy houses, so I downloaded and looked at all 6 Kebets in the Downloads, by Tryhard (at Very Hard), Max and kabouter (at Hard), and Vriesea and Ardahan and shorbe (at Normal). The other players all used the island. Max at least gave the people on the island food and water and evolved their house to a meager shanty--the other players had crude huts. I was excited to see that my Kebet would be uncommon, at least in this way. I then noted several other aspects of their designs.

Only vriesea avoided debt (and he also didn't take the "rescue" gift). I'll take the "rescue" gift (at Very Hard difficulty, I'll probably need it) but avoid debt.

Only Max and kabouter built a single dock. I'll build a single dock.

There are 2 ore deposits--enough for 7 mines in the south and 3 mines in the north. The deposits are far enough apart that it would be quite inefficient to mine gold in both places (since some gold mines would be far from the palace), and if all roads are connected then it would also be inefficient to mine copper in both places (since some copper mines would be far from weaponsmiths). The other players all mined gold in the south. Most of them also mined copper in the north. Some quick calculations showed that mining copper in the south and gold in the north wouldn't be unreasonable, but I decided to postpone the decision.

Only Vriesea and shorbe built Seth's temple complex--the other players built Osiris's. While I'd like to build Seth's temple complex (hoping that soldiers would fight better, as the documentation suggests), that would mean catching barely enough fish with 5 fishing wharves and just 1 transport wharf (or, if chickpeas are imported from Men-nefer, perhaps 4 fishing wharves and 2 transport wharves). Therefore, I'll go with the majority and build Osiris's temple complex (with Sebek's altar and Min's oracle), 3 fishing wharves (2 would be enough!), and 3 transport wharves.

The other players all expanded west beyond the original defensive wall. Only Ardahan kept both original forts. None of them protected most of the city with defensive walls. This suggested another way that my Kebet could be uncommon. I decided to put a defensive wall (with towers and gatehouses) around the entire city (except for some floodplain farms), keep the original wall (except for adding towers and maybe gatehouses), and keep the original forts. The defensive walls will be expensive (especially the towers), but I don't mind taking a little longer to complete a military mission.

With so little space inside the original walls, most of the industry and housing will have to be on the east bank--it'll be crowded, but I think that everything will fit. I began the detailed design on the west bank.

As in Menat Khufu, I decided to put houses only where 2x2 sub-residence houses will form. This will be especially valuable in Kebet, since residences can't form until papyrus is purchased from Men-nefer.

My primary concern on the west bank was supporting everything (including all potential towers) from a single block of fancy residences. While the original houses near the wall have to go, I found a design that preserves all 13 of the original 2x2 houses near the center (plus 2 1x1 houses that merge into a 2x2 house). With 3 more 2x2 houses (making 17 total), all buildings should have reliable labor access. The original bazaar and 3 of the farms are preserved. (The other farms are replaced by a more efficient arrangement.) The west bank has service buildings required by fancy residences, a pavilion, some extra bandstands and booths, 1 of each entertainment "school", 16 farms (or maybe only 12), a work camp for every 4 farms, 2 granaries, some storage yards, a ferry terminal (of course), a fishing wharf, a transport wharf, and 2 warship wharves. 10 shrines (and some statues and gardens) improve the neighborhood. A small obelisk looks good next to the pavilion. I also squeezed in a 3rd fort (infantry), which wasn't easy.

Naturally, some of the useful existing buildings (temples, recruiter, firehouses, etc) will be kept (perhaps for quite a while) until replacements are built. A temple to Seth will be built immediately, to keep him from getting angrier.

Since the west bank has only 1 housing block (with a school), the east bank will have 3 housing blocks (2 with a school, 1 with a library). Two of the east bank housing blocks will overlap slightly, so a few houses will receive both school and library coverage and will evolve to stately manors. If more manors are desired, they will be spacious manors. (Having 4 schools and 1 library would mean buying almost the entire quota of 2500 papyrus from Men-nefer every year, and I'd rather not depend on that in a military mission.)

With 1 library, the intended Culture will be 65. (If there are too many school children, Culture might be only 60.) There should be enough food to feed more than the required 7000 people. I tentatively decided to have a population close to 7875, which would require the city to have 4 pavilions, 5 bandstands, and 7 booths. Since linen is locally produced, 2 east bank housing blocks will have mortuaries, easily covering the required 40% of the people.

I hope that the east bank will hold (among other things) 6300 people and all of their services, other entertainment buildings, a lot of farms and their work camps, some granaries, several storage yards, the remaining waterfront buildings, the clay and pottery and beer and linen and gemstone and jewelry and gold and copper and weapons and granite industries, the temple complex, the palace, the mansion, the recruiter, the academy, the festival square, and a couple of obelisks.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 05-20-2003 @ 07:55 PM).]

Brugle,

I want to thank you for taking the time to post all the details of your building adventures. Such posts are what makes this forum a wonderful place to visit.

I learn an enormous amount from reading them, and I am far enough behind you in the family history that I'll forget all the specific details by the time I get to the mission. It is from posts like these that I am truly beginning to understand the real 'strategy' part of this game.

Thanks for the comments, Panta Rei. I'm still learning things too, and incorporating them into my play.

Should Kebet have 7 gold mines and 3 copper mines, or 3 gold mines and 7 copper mines? I'll estimate the amount of money to be made in 10 years of full production, trying to cover all large effects. (Production won't be full immediately, of course, especially without using debt, but both cases will be affected.) Without Ptah's temple complex, a gold mine produces 1129/year and a copper mine produces 960/year (from reply #19 of Nerdicus's Musings on Production and Walker Speeds). In Kebet, a unit of copper sells for 1.85Db, and Buhen has an annual quota of 2500 copper by water.

Ra's blessings are important but unpredictable. I'll assume that in 10 years there will be 6 years without blessings, 3 years with the "trade more" minor blessing, and 1 year with the "sell exports for half again their usual value" major blessing. When copper is scarce, a player is likely to postpone copper use when Ra's major blessing is in effect, but I'll ignore that effect.

With mostly gold mines, all copper should be either sold or used (which includes local use plus requests). Let CuUsed be the total copper used, with 1/10 of it used each year. 10 years of production from 7 gold mines and 3 copper mines should yield around:
10 * 7 * 1129 + 1.85 * (9 + 1 * 1.5) * (3 * 960 - CuUse / 10) Db = 134974 - 1.9425 * CuUsed Db.

With mostly copper mines, copper sales will probably be limited by the quota. Ignoring the extra copper which may be sold by micromanaging granite sales (which seems reasonable, since I am also ignoring any extra granite which may be sold in the "mostly gold" case), micromanagement should allow sales of 3800 copper in most years or 5400 copper with Ra's "trade more" blessing. 10 years of production from 3 gold mines and 7 copper mines should yield around:
10 * 3 * 1129 + 1.85 * (6 * 3800 + 3 * 5400 + 1 * 1.5 * 3800) = 116565 Db.

The two cases will yield the same money if CuUsed = 9477. I plan on having 3 infantry companies, and if we assume that half of them will be killed and replaced in 10 years and that another 800 copper and weapons will be "in the pipeline", then local weapons production will consume 8000 copper. The mission briefing indicates that Kebet will receive "frequent requests for food", so I doubt that it will receive requests for 1500 or more copper and/or weapons. Therefore, "mostly gold" initially appears to be a slightly better choice, but the decision is so close that other things need to be considered.

"Mostly gold" requires much less micromanagement of trade, which would be nice but isn't very important to me. It would also make more money during any "free run" after the city is finished (but that is also minor, since taxes will be the major income source by then).

"Mostly copper" should make somewhat more money in the early years, since that's when copper use should be highest. In addition, 4 copper mines cost 600 Db less than 4 gold mines (at Very Hard). Money is likely to be more valuable early on, making "mostly copper" look about as good as "mostly gold".

With the two designs equally attractive, I'll tentatively choose the uncommon one, and build 3 gold mines (in the north) and 7 copper mines (in the south). Now the detailed design of the east bank can begin.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 05-23-2003 @ 06:29 PM).]

Hi Brugle,
I think that your new concept to download files, compare and possibly make something unusual is an interesting idea. I have been spontaneously playing my four last cities as you, "no restart". However, for the last one, the mission Kyrene, it went so dull and easy that I replayed it completely with new challenges.

7 weeks since my last Kebetan post! I apologize for the delay--my playing time has been (and will continue to be) very limited.

The design of the east bank was tricky. I'll describe it in some detail.

Locations for the gold and copper mines and the remaining waterfront buildings were already determined. The city will have 40 farms, 24 on the east bank, with 1 work camp for every 4 farms. With 29 fig and 11 flax farms, the average farm production will only need to be about 315/year, which should be possible even during a series of very bad floods, assuming that we occasionally get one of Osiris's blessings. (Since farm production should be more than adequate, I decided to put every farm within 2 tiles of an irrigation ditch, not using the trick where an irrigated farm may sometimes be farther from a ditch.) The rest of the industries could be almost anywhere, with a few constraints (weaponsmiths not too far from copper mines, clay pits near water, etc).

First, I designed the "city center", which is unusual for me--my focus at this point is generally industries. Since the palace should be fairly close to the gold mines, I put it inside the loop road of the northeast housing block, which is about as far south as it can be while providing reliable labor access to the northernmost warship wharf and nearby towers. The mansion is southwest of the palace, across the street. Now for the fun part: the east housing block's loop road runs along the opposite side of the mansion, and 3 stately manors (2 on one side of the mansion, 1 on the other) will be covered by walkers in both blocks, so each block will need only 1 education building and 2 temples.

After the "city center", I finished designing the northeast block and some of the east block. Each of the city's housing blocks is built around a 44-tile intersection-free loop road. (Fire risk sometimes rises quite rapidly at Very Hard difficulty, so loop roads are moderately short.) In addition to the 3 stately manors, the northeast block will have 15 fancy residences, 1 bazaar, and the library (which looks good next to the palace). In addition to the 3 stately manors, the east block will have some spacious manors and fancy residences, Osiris's temple complex, 2 bazaars, a school, a mortuary, and the senet house, although the exact locations weren't decided at that time.

Entertainment in the northeast and east blocks uses only 1 pavilion (leaving 2 pavilions for the southeast block). A conservatory and dance school are north of the northeast block, generating entertainers who walk through the northeast block and then between the east block and the floodplain. Those or other musicians and dancers walk through the east block to a pavilion east of the east block (close to the "city center"). Those parts of the northeast and east block that are not passed by "destination" musicians and dancers have only non-house buildings. Following my usual practice, each housing block has a booth at an intersection (not using the trick of deleting the intersection after the booth is built).

Now I considered industries. One question was whether to produce extra beer and luxury goods for sale to Men-nefer, since the mission will probably finish within a couple of years of the opening of its trade route. I opted for more trade, but somewhat less than the maximum. My Kebet has 8 breweries (consuming most of the barley that can be imported), 3 gem mines, and 4 jewelers.

Contrary to my usual practice, I decided to sell inexpensive goods too, to make a few more debens. (Towers are expensive!) Surplus fish and figs will be sold (to land caravans), and shouldn't adversely affecting other trade. If the dock is inefficient then granite sales might impact copper sales, but I thought it would be fun to design a dock area that is efficient enough to sell the maximum copper and granite every year (plus sell beer and luxury goods plus buy papyrus and barley). There are 7 granite quarries, leaving enough after sales to construct the 3 obelisks in a reasonable time.

Another question was whether to overproduce all goods, in case one of them is requested. The mission briefing warns of "frequent requests for food", so I decided to not prepare for a non-food request. The city will have 3 clay pits, 4 potters, 7 (or possibly 8) weavers (mortuaries consume a lot of linen at Very Hard difficulty), and 3 weaponsmiths.

Now for housing. I estimated the number of storage yards, architect posts, and firehouses, and found that around 2050 workers are required for everything except towers. Trying various combinations, I eventually decided on 3 stately manors, 14 spacious manors, and 65 fancy residences, for a total (when full) of 7864 people and (if about 40% of the non-scribes work) about 2392 workers. There should be enough workers for about 57 towers--it might be nice to have a few more, but I love scribal housing! (If more workers turn out to be needed, some planned spacious manors could be fancy residences instead, reducing the population slightly.)

Could the city hold all of the planned houses? A lot of potential housing space had been eliminated, by building the northeast block around the palace and indenting its western corner (where the floodplain intrudes), by putting the temple complex (instead of a normal temple to Osiris) and a work camp (close to its farms) in the east block, and by having the 3 stately manors and mansion in both blocks. I checked and (to my relief) found that there was barely enough room, giving the southeast block 2 bazaars, a school, and a mortuary.

I tried many designs of the rest of the east bank before settling on one. The center, around the dock and its storage yards (between the east and southeast blocks) has weavers, breweries, a fig granary, a fish granary, and the festival square. The north, near the gold mines, has clay pits, potters, gem mines, jewelers, and a fig granary. The south, near the copper mines, has weaponsmiths and a fish granary. The east has granite quarries, the recruiter (just within full-production range of the weaponsmiths, since the shortest road is rather indirect), the academy, the carpenter guild, and the stonemason guild. An extra booth, some extra bandstands, some more entertainment schools, and several more storage yards are squeezed in.

The southeast block has 22 fancy residences and 7 spacious manors. The east block has 11 fancy residences, 7 spacious manors, and 3 stately manors. The northeast block has 15 fancy residences and the same 3 stately manors. The west block (across the river) has 17 fancy residences. With one exception (a tax collector near the mansion instead of the courthouse), buildings are in my preferred groupings: bazaars together, tax collector near the courthouse, dentist and mortuary near the physician.

I considered building the 2 east bank obelisks touching the sides of the temple complex. However, I decided that the large obelisk will look better beside the pavilion near the "city center", with entertainers walking around it. The small obelisk will be fairly close to the temple complex, with stonemasons walking around it.

To keep the gods happy, the city has Osiris's temple complex, 4 temples and 16 shrines to Ra, and 3 temples and 19 shrines to Seth. A few of the shrines were not needed as desirability boosters, so one was put near the west bank bazaar (to help it upgrade) and others replaced the small statues that had been planned to prevent a few residences from evolving into manors. (I generally use gardens instead of small statues, although I may put a few small statues in places where they look good.)

Each housing block has a police station. To free up a few more workers for towers, I may not build those police stations, and instead build courthouses early (when crime prevention is needed). This will depend on available money and workers.

The initial construction plan for Kebet is simple: place several vacant lots on the east bank to provide labor access, build a temple (or a couple of shrines) to Seth, clean up the existing west bank settlement a little, mine copper and gold as soon as possible, then decide what to do next.

Building Kebet

The mission begins late in Aug 1951BC, with (at Very Hard difficulty) 5256 Db, 744 people, CR 5, PR 0, and KR 40. Just before starting, I realized that the original shrine to Seth could be preserved, so I modified the plans accordingly.

In Aug, clay imports were turned off. Several parts of the original settlement were deleted: a potter (that blocked the path to the ferry crossing), some roads and rubble (to improve fire and damage protection), the conservatory (where Seth's temple will be), some crude huts by the wall (that mostly would have evolved to sturdy huts after Seth's temple is built), and some gardens, small statues, and 1x1 sturdy huts in the center (where part of the housing loop road will be). The ferry crossing was built. Vacant lots for (parts of) 3 houses in the northeast block and 2 houses in the southeast block were placed, to provide labor access for the gold mines, the palace, and the copper mines. (Additional vacant lots will be placed, as appropriate, to complete the new houses.)

In Sep, city sentiment fell from idolize as a god to love. A temple to Seth was built in the west block, since he was Resentful. Vacant lots for 1 new house and to complete a house (with 2 exising 1x1 sturdy huts) were placed in the west block, and were settled by homeless people that had been kicked out of their homes. As the flood receded, the flax farm was deleted. A few roadblocks were placed and some more roads and rubble were deleted, to improve fire and damage protection.

In Oct, city health fell from excellent to very good. A fig farm was built, making 5 (including 1 that will eventually be deleted).

In Nov, vacant lots for 2 houses in the east block were placed, to provide labor access for the new dock area. The 7 copper mines and the 3 gold mines were built. The juggler school and 1 of the water supplies were deleted. The weavers were turned off.

In Dec, the palace, a storage yard near the copper mines, another storage yard set to "get" copper, and the new dock were built. That used up the starting funds, so the "rescue" gift of 2625 Db was taken. Vacant lots for 2 more houses in the southeast block were placed, to provide labor access for some granite quarries, the new recruiter, and the academy. The original dock, 1 of the weavers, and another road tile were deleted. The potters were turned off.

The year ended with 624 Db, 749 people, CR 5, PR 0, KR 39, and 13 green archers. 300 gold was heading for the palace and 700 copper was heading for a storage yard.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 07-17-2003 @ 12:59 PM).]

Holds breath and waits for next post

I forgot to mention that the "rescue" gift was taken in Dec 1951BC, so I modified my previous post.

Hi Nimlot, I hope you enjoy the (intermittent) show.

I'll call 1951BC the "first year" of the mission, even though only the end was played.

Kebet's busy second year, 1950BC, started with mostly economic development but shifted to mostly defense.

In Jan, the first gold was delivered to the palace. The water trade route to Buhen was opened. 2 granite quarries were built.

In Feb, an architect post and a firehouse were built, on the east bank. (More architect posts and firehouses will be built as needed.) A slight worker shortage developed, confined to Government and Religion. Since there were enough non-essential workers, the potters were turned back on. The 1st ship from Buhen bought 400 copper. 2 more new storage yards were built, to collect granite and weapons and to "get" granite and copper. Vacant lots were placed for a 3rd house in the east block (to provide labor access to the ferry terminal, shipyard, and a fishing wharf), 6 more houses (making 10) in the southeast block, and another house in the west block. A police station (where the housing loop road would be), some road tiles and rubble, and 3 1x1 sturdy huts on the west bank were deleted. The homeless headed for the new west block house.

In Mar, the 1st physician was built, in the west block.

In Apr, city health fell to good. A ship from Buhen bought 1000 copper and 2 granite. The 1st fishing wharf, the shipwright, and 2 weaponsmiths were built, on the east bank. Vacant lots were placed for 4 more houses in the southeast block (those remaining that either are not adjacent to the loop road or will become manors) and for a 4th house in the northeast block.

In May, all clay had been turned into (800) pottery, so the potters were turned off. City sentiment fell to extremely pleased. A bit more road was deleted on the west bank, to improve fire and damage protection. The 3rd and last weaponsmith and the 2nd fishing wharf were built, on the east bank. A fishing boat was completed.

At the start of Jun, we received a warning that Egyptians would attack in 6 months, which shifted my focus to defense. I determined that, by the end of the year, the city could afford some academy-trained infantry, a transport (to shift troops to the appropriate bank), and a warship (in case the invasion is by water). I considered creating an infantry fort quickly, to maximize the number of infantry, but decided to wait until after the academy was operational. City sentiment improved to love. The first harvest produced 3648 figs. (Only harvests of special interest will be reported in the future.) The land trade route to Kharga Oasis was opened. Plain stone and wood were temporarily set to "importing", to make caravans from Waset and Kharga Oasis head toward storage yards before they contain figs and fish. (Caravans will continue to be manipulated as needed.) A ship from Buhen bought 1200 copper. The remaining police station and (right after the 24th archer was created) the recruiter were deleted. The new recruiter and the academy were built, on the east bank. The 2nd fishing boat was completed.

In Jul, the 5th new storage yard was built, for fish, on the east bank. The labor shortage could no longer be confined to Government and Religion, so it was extended alternately to Health and Sanitation or Food Production and Distribution. (Labor priorities will continue to be juggled, as appropriate.)

In Aug, a ship from Buhen bought 8 granite. The 1st caravan from Kharga Oasis bought 500 fish and sold 100 wood.

In Sep, the 2nd caravan from Kharga Oasis bought 400 fish. Caravans from Waset bought 1500 figs. The 1st warship wharf was built. The mood of both Osiris and Ra had fallen to Apathetic, so a shrine was built to each of them, to prevent the loss of the 5 ankhs that each had at the start of the mission. (A shrine to Osiris hadn't been planned. I put it on the west bank, since the temple complex will be on the east bank.)

In Oct, the 2nd caravan from Kharga Oasis bought 300 more fish and sold 100 wood. A ship from Buhen bought 1200 copper. The 1st infantry fort and the 1st transport wharf were built, on the east bank. Another water supply was deleted and a replacement was built (to provide more reliable coverage), in the west block. The 2nd physician was built, in the east block.

In Nov, city health fell to average. The 2nd caravan from Kharga Oasis bought 100 more fish. A warship was completed and stationed in the north.

At the start of Dec, Egyptians (12 infantry and 8 archers) invaded by land in the northwest. A transport was completed. Crime risk was high in the houses connected to the palace, so the 1st courthouse was built, in the northeast block. (I decided to not build police stations, freeing a few workers in the final city.) The 16 green archers in the southwest fort were ordered toward the attackers. A potter was deleted, to shorten the path from the northwest fort to the attackers. A ship from Buhen bought 8 granite. A caravan from Kharga Oasis bought 800 fish.

The year ended with 669 Db, 1104 people, CR 5, PR 3, KR 39, 30 mostly green archers, 5 academy-trained infantry, 1 warship, and 1 transport. Attackers were heading toward the northwest wall!

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 07-21-2003 @ 08:43 PM).]

What about, at a late stage of the fight, when the enemy infantry is getting tired, engaging your archers in the melee below the wall to get many killed so that new ones emerge experienced from the academy?
BTW after years I can hardly figure out the benefits of having highly experienced archers. It is more obvious with infantry.
I had some hours so just played Maritis, the only mission I had never finished yet. Not fascinating. I used a company of archers to roam around a block of police stations; eventually the policemen routed the egyptian archers and started to kill some infantry, when I unleashed the two infantry companies I had.

Tryhard,
I considered deliberately letting some green archers be killed in the fighting. But, as you indicated, the benefit of training for archers is questionable. (I haven't fought the battle yet, and there may be archer casualties anyway.)

Kebet's third year, 1949BC, went well. The invaders were defeated with just a few casualties, the already-ample income was increased by Ra's blessings, and the city began to resemble the plan. However, the tiresome labor shortage continued, and city health fell. I also discovered 2 placement errors (a road and a firehouse in wrong locations), but both were correctable by changing the plan slightly (adding an unnecessary roadblock and exchanging the firehouse with a shrine), preserving the "rule" of deleting nothing that I had built.

In Jan, our infantry boarded a transport, which headed for the west bank. Our archers were deployed in front of the enemy, exchanged a few arrows, and then retreated toward the north end of the wall. A caravan from Waset bought 700 figs. The festival square was built, and a common festival for Ra was scheduled.

In Feb, the infantry landed on the west bank and took up a position near the south end of the wall that was covered by 2 towers. Our archers started retreating to the southwest, along the wall, and 3 of them were caught and killed by the enemy. The enemy infantry followed our archers, but the enemy archers stopped and exchanged arrows with tower guards. The 2nd and 3rd new water supplies were built, in the southeast and northeast blocks, and some houses in each block evolved to sturdy huts. A caravan from Waset bought 800 figs, a caravan from Kharga Oasis bought 400 fish, and a ship from Buhen bought 1200 copper. (Future trades will be reported only if they are unusual.) The 2nd infantry fort was built, on the east bank. The 1st new temple to Ra was built, in the northeast block.

In Mar, the festival to Ra was held, and a common festival to Seth was scheduled. (Festivals will continue to be scheduled, as appropriate, but not for Osiris until there are a lot of farms and the flood is predicted to be poor.) The existing houses in the southeast and northeast blocks were all sturdy huts. Our archers passed the corner of the wall and retreated to the southeast, along the wall. The 4 remaining enemy archers retreated and, a little later, the 7 remaining enemy infantry retreated. Our infantry didn't even get close to the action! Our archers were sent back to their forts, and our infantry headed for the transport. Vacant lots were placed for 2 more houses in the east block, to provide labor access for the rest of the granite quarries.

In Apr, we received Ra's "sell exports for half again their usual value" blessing. Our infantry were tranported across the river and sent back to their fort. Osiris's temple complex and Min's oracle were built, in the east block. City sentiment rose to idolize as a god.

In May, city health fell to below average. The 3 original temples (2 to Osiris, 1 to Ra) and an original architect post were deleted. Vacant lots were placed for the 17th and last house in the west block. The first new plazas were built, to upgrade the water supply in the northeast block. (More plazas will be added, as needed.)

In Jun, several original buildings were deleted: the work camp, a large statue, a firehouse, another architect post, and the remaining water supply, potter, and weaver. The 2nd bazaar (1st new one) and 1st granary were built, in or near the southeast block, and the granary received some fish. The 3rd physician was built, in the east block. The 3rd and last fishing wharf was built, on the west bank. City sentiment fell to love. Vacant lots were placed for 7 more houses in the east block (those remaining that are not adjacent to the loop road), including some for the stately manors. (The houses that will become stately manors are considered in the east block, since they won't be within 2 tiles of the northeast block loop road until they expand into 3x3 manors.) The 5 remaining original crude huts (four 1x1s and a 2x2, with high disease risk) and some roads and rubble were deleted.

In Jul, city health improved to average. The 3rd fishing boat was completed. The 4th and last physician was built, in the northeast block. The 3rd granite quarry was built.

In Aug, the 6th and 7th new storage yards were built, on the west bank for fish and on the east bank by the dock. Vacant lots were placed for the 13th house in the east block (the remaining one that will become a manor). Houses in the southeast block began to receive food, and some evolved to rough cottages (since the temple complex priest followed an unusual path on the incomplete road network). 2 more shrines (1 to Ra and 1 to Seth) were built. (More shrines will be added, as appropriate.) Another original firehouse was deleted.

In Sep, city health fell to below average again.

In Oct, the 1st new work camp was built, on the west bank. Vacant lots were placed for 4 more houses (making 8) in the northeast block (those remaining that are not adjacent to the loop road). 10 more original sturdy huts (4 2x2s and 6 1x1s, with high disease risk) and some more roads and rubble were deleted. The 2nd granary was built, on the west bank, and received some figs.

In Nov, all existing houses in the southeast block were at least meager shanties. 4 more 1x1 sturdy huts, which I mistakenly thought were the only 1x1 houses remaining from the original settlement, were deleted. 4 more fig farms were built, on the west bank outside the wall. The gatehouse rubble was deleted and a gatehouse was built in its place, part of a road to the new farms.

In Dec, we received Ra's "trade more" blessing. City health rose to average again. City sentiment fell to extremely pleased. The 4th and 5th granite quarries and the 2nd transport wharf were built, on the east bank. The 3rd and last infantry fort was built, on the west bank. The 2nd temple to Ra was built, in the southeast block. The mansion was built, between the east and northeast blocks, and the salary was set to 0. The 4th and last water supply was built, in the east block. The 1st garden was built, to upgrade the new water supply. (More gardens will be added, as needed.) The bazaar in the west block (that had been idle since the start of the mission) was set to buy figs and fish, and its buyer left to get some.

The year ended with 636 Db, 1351 people, CR 5, PR 11, KR 40, 28 archers, 23 infantry, 1 warship, and 1 transport.

I won't be able to play much for the next 3 weeks, so the next installment may not appear for a while.

[Edited to indicate that the deletion of 1x1 sturdy huts in Nov did not remove all of them.]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 08-17-2003 @ 07:57 PM).]

D'oh! I thought that I had deleted all remaining 1x1 sturdy huts from the original settlement in Nov 1949BC, but I missed one. Reply #13 was edited appropriately.

With a little more time for play, I'm back in Kebet.

Development accelerated in Kebet's fourth year, 1948BC, with taxation, completion of the navy, record exports (5600 copper and 16 granite to Buhen, 4000 fish to Kharga Oasis, and 2500 figs to Waset), greatly increased food production and consumption, and more! However, city health did not improve.

In Jan, city health fell to below average once again. City sentiment improved to love. The last 2 granite quarries (making 7) were built. The remaining 2 firehouses, architect post, and storage yard from the original settlement were deleted. A few houses in the west block finally obtained food, and some of them evolved to rough cottages. All existing houses in the city were at least sturdy huts.

In Feb, we received Seth's "protect...soldiers...in far-off lands" blessing. The 2nd transport was completed. Sebek's altar was built in the temple complex. Vacant lots were placed for the 7th house in the northeast block. More parts of the original settlement were deleted: the last 1x1 sturdy hut, the remaining rubble, and the last large statue. The first 2 new statues were built, in the east block. (More statues will be built, as needed.) All existing houses in the east block were rough cottages.

In Mar, the 2nd warship wharf was built. There were enough workers to confine the labor shortage to Religion and Government, so juggling of labor priorities was stopped.

In Apr, the 3rd and last warship wharf was built.

In May, 2 roadblocks and some more roads from the original settlement were deleted. The 2nd warship was completed and stationed in the south. The remaining 3 courthouses (making 4) and all 4 tax collectors were built. Since Government needed more workers to send out tax collectors frequently, juggling of labor priorities was resumed. The tax rate was set to 13%. The wage rate was raised to 34 (Kingdom+4).

In Jun, the 3rd warship was completed and stationed in the north. All houses in the west block were ordinary cottages. There were enough workers to confine the labor shortage to Religion, so juggling of labor priorities was stopped again.

In Jul, the 3rd and last transport wharf was built.

In Aug, there was a bit of unemployment. (Future employment details will be reported only if unusual.)

In Sep, the 8th storage yard was built, on the west bank. Another work camp on the west bank and the first 2 work camps on the east bank were built (making 2 on each bank). A fig farm from the original settlement was deleted. 2 more fig farms on the west bank and the first 2 fig farms on the east bank were built. A gatehouse, part of a road to some planned farms, was put into the west bank's wall (in the north). A gatehouse, part of a road to a new farm, was built on the east bank, starting the east bank's wall (in the south). The 3rd transport was completed.

In Oct, we received Ra's "lifts your reputation" blessing. The remaining 17 fig farms (making 29: 16 on the west bank and 13 on the east bank) were built, and all were irrigated. The carpenter's guild, the 9th storage yard, and the 3rd granary were built, on the east bank. 3 more bazaars (making 5) were built, 2 in the east block and 1 in the northeast block. The west block bazaar was set to buy only figs (not fish).

In Nov, city sentiment fell to extremely pleased.

In Dec, the east block and northeast block bazaars were set to buy fish, and their buyers left to get some. The first 2 booths and first 2 juggler schools were built, in and near the southeast and west blocks. A few more bits of road from the original settlement were deleted, completing all planned demolition. The west bank roads and roadblocks were completed, and a bit of the wall (in the north) was thickened. The 3rd and last archer fort was built, on the east bank.

The year ended with 1102 Db, 2222 people, CR 10, PR 20, KR 46, 31 archers, 41 infantry, and the complete navy (3 warships and 3 transports). Next year should see everyone eating (improving city health), ordinary cottages, and the start of obelisk construction.

Kebet's fifth year, 1947BC, was exciting, with a larger invasion! City health finally improved (food helps ). But I discovered 2 mistakes, one in the design and another in my play.

The design mistake was that the school in the southeast block did not have a nearby firehouse to guarantee superior fire protection. I was tempted to ignore the small risk, since the school would have been passed by 4 firemen on patrol. However, I decided to play it safe and add another firehouse (putting 3 on the loop road with the recruiter and academy).

The playing mistake was that a work camp, firehouse, and 3 road tiles had been built 1 tile off of the planned location. Unlike my earlier placement errors, this was not easily corrected. Rather than try to change the plan to accomodate the errors, I gave up my "delete nothing that I had built" rule and called out the wrecking crew.

In Jan, a few houses in the east and northeast blocks obtained food, and some of them evolved to ordinary cottages. Most of the houses in the west and southeast blocks evolved to ordinary cottages (the lowest level with an increased tax multiplier at Very Hard difficulty). The tax rate was raised to 17%. The wage rate was raised to 38 (Kingdom+8).

In Feb, all houses in the west and southeast blocks were ordinary cottages.

At the start of Mar, we received a warning that Egyptians would attack in 6 months. City health improved to average. 5 more storage yards (making 14) were built, on the east bank. All houses in the east block were common shanties or rough cottages.

In Apr, all houses in the northeast block were rough cottages. Everyone had food!

In May, we received another Seth's "protect...soldiers...in far-off lands" blessing. The last 3 granaries (making 6) were built, 1 on the west bank and 2 on the east bank.

In Jul, 4 more work camps (making 8) were built, 2 on each bank. The first small obelisk was placed on the west bank, and a carpenter started the long journey there from his guild.

In Aug, city health improved to good.

At the start of Sep, Egyptians (24 infantry and 15 archers) invaded by land, again in the northwest. The first 4 new towers (making 11) were built, near the north end of the west wall. To allow tower guards to be sent to the west bank, almost all of the roads were connected (increasing the travel time for carpenters and masons working on the west bank obelisk). Our 16 infantry and 16 archers in the southwest were sent to a position in front of the new towers. Transports picked up our 32 infantry in the northeast and southeast and headed for the west bank. (Our 7 archers in the east would not join the battle.)

At the start of Oct, 1 of the infantry on a transport disappeared. The first 3 flax farms were built, so there would be 4 farms for each work camp. Our 32 east bank infantry landed, and they and our 16 archers in the northwest were sent to the same defensive position. Before our 16 infantry from the southwest had arrived, 12 enemy infantry engaged ours and were all killed. We lost 3 infantry.

In Nov, all our troops and tower guards had arrived at the defensive position. The enemy waited, then moved closer.

In Dec, 2 more booths (making 4) were built, in the northeast and east blocks. The remaining 12 enemy infantry engaged ours, 1 retreated, and the rest were killed. Our infantry (with our archers a short distance behind) marched to and began killing the enemy archers. We lost another 5 infantry. A little of the east wall was built: in the north from the river to the rocks (including a gatehouse), and in the south from the river to the (already-built) gatehouse. As described above, a work camp, a firehouse, and 3 road tiles on the east bank were deleted and rebuilt in the correct location.

The year ended with 1515 Db, 2778 people, CR 10, PR 27, KR 47, 42 archers, and 39 infantry. The battle was almost over. Next year should see more towers and houses.

[Corrected typo in number of storage yards.]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 08-26-2003 @ 12:32 PM).]

Kebet's sixth year, 1946BC, had the fastest (population) growth yet, with the search for workers turning into an effort to keep unemployment below 5%. And, I discovered another playing mistake.

Before last Sep, one of the fishing wharves had been delivering to a granary. When almost all of the roads were connected, that wharf began delivering to a storage yard that was considerably farther away (near another wharf), until the problem was corrected in Jan. The fish loss (about 600) was not important, but the carelessness is a bad omen.

In Jan, vacant lots were placed for the last 6 houses in the northeast block (making 15), 4 more houses in the east block (making 17), and 6 more houses in the southeast block (making 20). The battle was soon over. The west bank soldiers were sent back to their forts, the east bank soldiers were sent back toward their transports, and a transport picked up one company and sailed for the east bank. However, when the west bank soldiers were sent back to their forts, 2 infantry disappeared. (Later, experimenting, I saw that disappearances could have been avoided by waiting a few moments before ordering the soldiers back to their forts.) Total losses, including the disappearances before and after the battle, were 11 infantry. All settled houses in the east block, and some of those in the northeast block, evolved to ordinary cottages.

In Feb, we received another Seth's "protect...soldiers...in far-off lands" blessing. Both east bank infantry companies were transported across the river and sent back to their forts. All settled houses in the city were ordinary cottages.

In Mar, we received Ra's "reputation...is substantially better" blessing. The stonemason guild was built, on the east bank.

In May, city sentiment fell to very pleased. All 3 clay pits, all 4 potters, and the first 2 weavers were built, on the east bank. 5 more storage yards (making 19) were built, 1 on the west bank and 4 on the east bank.

In Jul, after lots more figs had been harvested, the bazaars in the east block were set to buy figs (as well as fish). The last 4 temples, 2 to Ra and 2 to Seth (making 4 to Ra, 3 to Seth, and the temple complex to Osiris), were built, one in each block. To stop the whining about nothing to do, the first pavilion was built, in the west block, and the first conservatory and dance school were built, near the northeast block.

In Aug, the carpentry on the first obelisk was finished.

In Sep, masons headed for the west bank obelisk.

In Oct, the 15th and last architect post and the 29th and last firehouse were built. The first 2 breweries were built, on the east bank, and the first barley was purchased from Kharga Oasis. The last soldier was trained. 10 towers were built, 3 more on the west bank and 7 on the east bank (4 in the already-built wall, 3 temporarily isolated).

In Dec, we received another Ra's "trade more" blessing. The weapons storage yard, holding 13 weapons, was set to "Accept 1/2" weapons, to stop weapons production soon and leave more copper for export. 6 towers (making 27) were built, 1 on the west bank and 5 on the east bank.

The year ended with 1436 Db, 3848 people, CR 15, PR 30, KR 63, and 6 full forts (48 archers and 48 infantry). Next year, the focus will be on towers.

[Corrected a typo in the description of the west bank obelisk.]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 09-01-2003 @ 08:51 PM).]

Hi Brugle. I was thinking you were not so keen on receiving blessings (contrarily to me)

Hi Tryhard,

In any mission, I want the final city to be self-sufficient, able (if people didn't age) to survive indefinitely without intervention (except in response to external events). Therefore, I make sure that all consumption can be supplied by production and normal imports. In other words, the final city doesn't depend on stockpiles or on blessings to supply the needed food and goods.

However, while the city is growing, I usually like to get blessings. (I wouldn't want to play a military mission without them, especially when Seth is present.) I look for ways to vary my play in different missions, so I played Rostja and Menat Khufu without festivals or blessings, and expect to do so again (but only when the mission seems appropriate).

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 08-27-2003 @ 12:01 PM).]

Kebet's seventh year, 1945BC, was uneventful. The flood was poor, but there were around 29000 figs in granaries and storage yards.

In Jan, vacant lots were placed for the last 4 houses in the east block (making 21). The second pavilion was built, in the east block.

In Mar, 3 towers were built, 1 on the west bank and 2 on the east bank. In a moment of weakness I paid attention to the Ratings Overseer, and the first dentist was built, in the east block.

In May, city health fell to average. 4 towers, the 3rd juggler school, the 2nd conservatory, and the 2nd dance school were built, on the east bank.

In Jun, city health improved back to good.

At the start of Jul, we received notifications that Buhen will sell less barley (now 2500/year without Ra's "trade more" blessing) and that barley's price increased 27 Db (now 75 Db per 100 for buyers). We received another Ra's "lifts your reputation" blessing. City sentiment rose to extremely pleased.

In Aug, we received Seth's "strike down the next enemies" blessing. 5 towers were built, 1 on the west bank and 4 on the east bank. The bazaar in the northeast block was set to buy figs (instead of fish). 3 more, perhaps the last, storage yards (making 22) were built, on the east bank. (There are spaces for additional storage yards on both banks, but I'd rather not build any more.)

In Oct, 4 towers were built, 1 on the west bank and 3 on the east bank. Vacant lots were placed for the last 9 houses in the southeast block (making 29). The 6th and last bazaar was built, in the southeast block, and set to buy fish.

At the start of Nov, we received a warning that Egyptians would attack in 6 months.

In Dec, weapons storage yard space was increased, resuming weapons production. (Production of several goods, including pottery and linen, will soon be limited by storage yard space.) The west block's bazaar was set to buy fish (in addition to figs). The 3rd and last conservatory and 3rd and last dance school were built, on the west bank. The last 2 pavilions (making 4) were built, in the southeast block. A little more of the east bank's wall was built.

The year ended with 1203 Db, 4320 people, CR 25, PR 30, and KR 69. Next year we'll be invaded.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 08-28-2003 @ 01:20 PM).]

We managed to defeat the invasion in Kebet's eighth year, 1944BC, with an interesting defense. The west bank obelisk finally completed. But I found yet another playing mistake!

The 2 storage yards in the northeast, between a pair of industrial loop roads, had been built 1 tile off of the planned location, touching the wrong loop. The misplaced storage yards had good labor access with the existing road network, which included one connection between the loops. A second connection between the loops was planned (for delivery of gems from mines to jewelers, and to connect the road through a gatehouse), but the storage yards would probably not retain good labor access with the second connection (because of the unusual behavior of storage yard labor-seekers). I first decided to delete and rebuild the storage yards, but I then saw that the gem mines could still operate with full efficiency even when delivering to the jewelers through the existing (longer) connection. The storage yards were left alone, and half of the second connection (to the gatehouse) was built, which looked ugly.

At the start of Jan, we received notification that Waset will buy more figs (now 2500/year without Ra's "trade more" blessing). We received another Ra's "lifts your reputation" blessing. City sentiment fell to very pleased.

In Mar, the 1st gem mine and 1st jeweler were built, on the east bank.

In Apr, 2 towers were built, on the east bank.

At the start of May, Egyptians (40 infantry and 26 archers) invaded by land, just west of the northeast rocks, and immediately came under fire from 3 towers. While our nearby 16 infantry waited a few moments, our 16 infantry in the southeast and 16 archers in the east marched north, our 16 infantry and 32 archers on the west bank marched to the coast and boarded transports that sailed north, and our 3 warships sailed to the northeast riverbank. (I had some trouble getting the archers to board their transports.) 2 towers (making 47) were built, on the west bank. When only a small part of the invasion had appeared, some enemy infantry headed for the nearby wall and towers. I thought furiously about the defense.

We had only 16 infantry near the northeast wall. All other troops were over a month's journey away, some over 2 months away, and there were no good transport landing places (close to and inside the wall). The invaders would soon arrive at the wall, so getting more time was crucial. I decided to sacrifice our nearby infantry, reluctantly accepting the morale loss to our remaining troops. Our 16 infantry in the northeast were sent through the gatehouse (not far from the invaders), then along the wall almost to the river (where they would be close to our warships but only 4 towers). Some of the enemy followed our troops almost immediately, some attacked the wall for a short time and then followed, and some waited. Soon after our warship from the south arrived at the riverbank, about half of the enemy infantry engaged our gallant company. (Some of the enemy archers had still not appeared.) Our 16 archers from the east had arrived near the inside of the northeast wall, where they waited (since the other side of the wall had lots of enemy infantry).

In Jun, our 16 northeast infantry were quickly decimated, but they (and our towers and warships) took out quite a few enemies. (3 panicked survivors eventually made it back to their fort.) The spirit of Seth killed a few (maybe 4 or 5) of the enemy infantry, 3 of the remainder retreated, and the rest headed for the wall. Our 16 infantry and 16 of our archers from the east bank landed just north of the battleground (almost at the map edge), took up a defensive position, and waited for the enemy to come to them. Our other 16 archers from the east bank landed on the floodplain, marched up an irrigation ditch, and joined the 16 archers already waiting on the inside of the wall. While a few of the enemy infantry attacked the wall, most of them engaged our newly-landed troops. This time we had the superior forces--2 more enemy infantry retreated and the rest were killed.

In Jul, our 16 infantry from the southeast finally arrived at the wall, and they and the infantry from the east bank engaged the enemy archers, with a little support from our 32 patient archers who finally joined the battle. The enemy archers were quickly killed. Our total casualties were 20 infantry and 1 archer. The east bank troops were sent back to their forts, one company of west bank troops was transported across the river and sent back to its fort, and the warships were sent back to their stations (2 in the north, 1 in the south).

In Aug, we received another Ra's "trade more" blessing. The remaining west bank troops were transported across the river and sent back to their forts. 2 infantry mysteriously disappeared again, when they were sent back to their fort after landing on the west bank. However, this time I noticed the disappearnce immediately, so I avoided the loss by loading a saved game, waiting a few moments after they landed, and then sending them back to their fort. The last 2 gem mines (making 3) were built, on the east bank. The northeast block bazaar was set to buy fish (in addition to figs).

In Oct, the last 3 jewelers (making 4) were built, on the east bank. The last vacant lots were placed (completing triples of 1x1 houses, which will eventually merge into 2x2s).

In Dec, 2 more breweries (making 4) were built, on the east bank. The west bank (small) obelisk completed. The large obelisk was placed, near the east and northeast blocks, and a carpenter headed for it. One of the east block's bazaars was set to buy pottery, and its buyer left to get some. The east bank's defensive wall was completed, connecting the remaining isolated towers. (Many towers remain to be added to the walls on both banks.)

The year ended with 1536 Db, 4781 people, CR 25, PR 30, and KR 75. Next year, many houses will evolve past cottages.

Kebet's defenses were almost complete in its ninth year, 1943BC.

In Jan, some houses in the east block evolved to spacious homesteads.

At the start of Feb, Men-nefer requested 1300 fish within 9 months, which was dispatched immediately. All houses in the east block were spacious homesteads. The northeast block bazaar was set to buy pottery, and some houses there evolved to spacious homesteads. One of the bazaars in the southeast block was set to buy pottery, and its buyer left to get some. 3 more breweries (making 7) were built. (The planned 8th brewery will not be built unless barley import quotas increase.)

In Mar, we received another Ra's "lifts your reputation" blessing. All houses had formed as 2x2s, either ordinary cottages or spacious homesteads. City sentiment rose to extremely pleased.

In Apr, all houses on the east bank were spacious homesteads. 4 more weavers (making 6) were built (even though there wasn't enough flax or space to store linen). One of the bazaars in the east block was set to buy beer, and its buyer left to get some.

At the start of May, we were notified that the next flood (that had been expected to be good) was likely to fail. (Osiris still had 5 ankhs, but there wasn't time to get his blessing before the flood.) Fig exports were stopped (after selling 2400 this year). The last 3 bandstands (making 5) were built, 1 on the east bank and 2 on the west bank. Some houses in the east block evolved to spacious apartments.

In Jun, we received another Seth's "strike down the next enemies" blessing. The 1st school was built, in the east block, even though there was no papyrus. The last replacement soldier was trained. 5 towers were built, 3 on the east bank and 2 on the west bank. The last 2 work camps (making 10) and the last 8 flax farms (making 11) were built, on the east bank. All houses in the east block were spacious apartments.

In Aug, the last 3 booths (making 7) were built, 2 on the west bank and 1 on the east bank.

In Sep, the 2nd dentist was built, in the southeast block. 8 towers (making 60) were built, 2 on the west bank and 6 on the east bank. 2 or 3 more towers will eventually be built on the road around the large obelisk (that isn't yet connected to the rest of the roads), but those might be the last towers, since I don't know how many workers the final city will contain.

In Oct, unemployment reached 5%. City sentiment fell to very pleased.

In Dec, city sentiment rose to extremely pleased (after a festival).

KR rose an extra 5, presumably because of progress. The year ended with 2754 Db, 5574 people, CR 35, PR 45, and KR 86. When the trade route to Men-nefer becomes available, we'll see some really good houses.

[Edited to add the sentiment change in Dec.]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 09-11-2003 @ 01:13 PM).]

We had to fight off a large invasion in Kebet's tenth year, 1942BC. Some houses evolved to residences and manors, increasing tax income.

At the start of Jan, Kharga Oasis requested 2800 figs within 9 months, which was dispatched immediately. City sentiment fell to very pleased. All existing towers were manned with guards.

At the start of Feb, we were warned that Egyptians would attack in 6 months, and were notified that Buhen will sell less beer (now 1500/year without Ra's "trade more" blessing) and that beer's price increased 71 Db (now 211 Db per 100 for sellers).

At the start of Mar, we were notified that, because Men-nefer appreciated the fish, a trade route to Men-nefer was available. We received another Ra's "lifts your reputation" blessing. The trade route to Men-nefer was opened. Both bazaars in the southeast block were set to buy beer, and both bazaars in the east block were set to buy linen and luxury goods. (Having both bazaars in a block set to buy the same good is temporary--one will later be set to not buy it--in an attempt to make some houses evolve a little sooner.) Most houses in the southeast block evolved, many of them to spacious apartments.

At the start of Apr, Waset requested 21 weapons within 9 months, which was dispatched immediately. The first ship from Men-nefer sold 1200 papyrus and bought 1200 beer. Some houses in the east block evolved, many of them to spacious residences. All houses in the southeast block were spacious apartments.

In May, all houses in the east block were at least spacious residences, and some of them evolved to fancy residences. A festival to Osiris was finally scheduled (for Jul).

At the start of Jun, we were notified that, because we sent the weapons, Waset will buy more figs (now 4000/year). City sentiment fell to pleased. The second ship from Men-nefer sold 1200 more papyrus and bought 1200 jewelry. 6 of the fancy residences in the east block evolved to common manors, causing a small worker shortage. (While houses can be evolved to manors, employment should be maintained between a slight worker shortage and unemployment of less than 5%.) City sentiment rose to very pleased.

At the start of Jul, we were notified that, because we sent the figs, Kharga Oasis will sell more barley (now 2500/year without Ra's "trade more" blessing). Since the required barley became available, the 8th and last brewery was built. Fish exports were stopped (after selling 1600 this year), to increase reserves.

At the start of Aug, Egyptians (49 infantry and 33 archers) invaded by land in the southwest and 5 Egyptian warships invaded in the north. Our 16 northwest archers were sent outside the wall to approach the enemy's left flank, our 32 infantry and 16 archers on the east bank boarded transports and headed across the river, our southern warship and one of our northern warships headed for a defensive position near the northeast wall covered by 4 towers, and our other northern warship looped back behind the enemy warships to attack enemy transports. After seeing that there were no enemy transports, that last warship (followed by several enemy warships) headed for the same defensive position (near the 4 towers). The enemy warships were sunk, with damage to 2 of ours: 1 reduced to good hull strength and 1 to average hull strength. The most damaged warship was sent in for repairs, while the other 2 headed south (in case they were needed). Meanwhile, after waiting for a little while, 17 enemy infantry headed for the southeast wall.

In Sep, our towers began shooting. Our northwest archers arrived near the left flank of the enemy infantry near the wall, began shooting, and gradually retreated to the northwest (along the wall) whenever the enemy got close. The spirit of Seth killed 9 enemy infantry that were far back. Our 16 southwest infantry headed for and engaged the archers that were far back on the enemy's right flank. Our 48 east bank troops landed, and they and the 16 southwest archers assembled just outside of the southwest gatehouse, where the archers shot at the right flank of the enemy infantry near the wall. More enemy infantry headed toward the wall. Our troops came under fire from enemy archers.

In Oct, all enemy infantry turned to their right and headed for our troops near the gatehouse. Half our infantry near the southwest gatehouse headed back inside the wall as a reserve, the other half headed southeast to form a defensive line near the end of the wall, and all of our archers near the gatehouse gradually retreated to the southeast (along the wall, toward the defensive line) whenever the enemy got close. Our infantry in the enemy's rear, having killed all of one group of enemy archers, headed for and killed all of another, and headed for the third that was heading toward the wall. At least 10 enemy infantry retreated, and many of the remainder attacked the gatehouse and nearby towers, so our reserve infantry went back out and engaged them. The remaining enemy archers retreated right into our pursuing infantry, and only 5 enemy archers survived. The 16 remaining enemy infantry that were not fighting retreated. Our troops near the end of the wall headed back toward the gatehouse. One damaged warship was repaired and was stationed in the north, the other damaged warship was sent in for repairs, and the undamaged warship was stationed in the south.

In Nov, we received Osiris's "Innundation will be significantly better" blessing. The enemy troops that were still fighting (and 1 of their retreating infantry) were quickly killed. Our casualties were 2 infantry and 7 archers. Our west bank troops were sent back to their forts, and our east bank troops boarded transports and headed back across the river. The scaffolding on the large obelisk was finished, and a mason headed there. The library and the 3rd dentist were built, in the northeast block.

In Dec, our east bank troops landed and were sent back to their forts. The last damaged warship was repaired and stationed in the north. The bazaar in the northeast block was set to buy beer, and its buyer left to get some. The 2nd school was built, in the southeast block. One southeast block bazaar was set to buy linen, and one was set to buy luxury goods. The last shrines were built (making 1 to Osiris, 16 to Ra, and 19 to Seth). The 1st mortuary was built, in the east block.

The year ended with 10019 Db, 5981 people, CR 35, PR 77, and KR 92. There should be many immigrants next year, with everyone finally living in a good house.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 09-11-2003 @ 06:26 PM).]

The most immigrants yet arrived in Kebet's eleventh year, 1941BC. Construction was nearly done. All 65 eventual fancy residences were at least spacious residences and all 17 eventual manors were manors. Taxes dwarfed exports and gold combined.

In Jan, we received another Ra's "trade more" blessing. The bazaar in the west block was set to buy pottery and beer, and its buyer left to get pottery. Some spacious and elegant residences in the east block evolved to fancy residences. The existing 6 common manors and 1 fancy residence in the east block evolved to at least spacious manors, 3 of them (the eventual stately manors shared by the northeast block) to elegant manors. All spacious apartments in the southeast block evolved to at least spacious residences, some to fancy residences. Some spacious homesteads in the northeast block evolved, a few to spacious residences.

In Feb, all houses in the southeast block were fancy residences. All houses in the northeast block were spacious residences. All ordinary cottages in the west block evolved to spacious homesteads.

In Mar, the 3rd and last school and the 4th and last dentist were built, in the west block. Some spacious homesteads in the west block evolved, one to a common residence. All houses in the east block were at least fancy residences, and 3 of them evolved to common manors (making 10 manors there). The tax rate was raised to 20%. The last replacement soldier was trained.

At the start of Apr, waterborne troops were requested within 8 months for a battle at Khmun against an average force. City health improved to very good. All houses in the west block were spacious residences. Everyone ate 2 foods!

In May, 3 fancy residences in the southeast block evolved to common manors. The warship stationed in the south was dispatched to Khmun.

In Jun, 5 flax farms did not harvest and were buried in the flood.

In Jul, city sentiment rose to extremely pleased. 4 more fancy residences in the southeast block evolved to common manors (making 7 manors there).

In Aug, the large obelisk completed. The 2nd and last small obelisk was placed, near the city center on the east bank, and a carpenter headed there. (I had to get the remaining 60 granite out of flax and fig storage yards and into storage yards near the dock and the papyrus distribution storage yard.) The last roads and 3 towers were built, near the large obelisk.

In Oct, we received another Ra's "trade more" blessing.

In Dec, we received another Seth's "strike down the next enemies" blessing. The bazaar in the northeast block was set to buy linen, and its buyer left to get some. Since there would be more than enough workers (32 spacious residences were still to be evolved to fancy residences), 6 more towers (making 69) were built, 3 on each bank. The 7th and last weaver and the 4th and last juggler school were built, on the east bank. The 2nd and last mortuary was built, in the southeast block. The senet house was built, in the east block. The last irrigation ditches were built.

The year ended with 30114 Db, 7423 people, CR 50, PR 100, and KR 93. Next year should finish the mission!

Quote:

I'm going to miss your Kebetans when its over I've really enjoyed reading this thread, like all of your threads describing your progress through the missions