We had to finish off Autumn first with the Macedonians invading Sarmatia. I'd deleted the photo showing the last deployment so Ian had to invade again - with Mark defending. He subsequently (after a lot of push and shove and avoiding the pike) managed to kill Ian's general and thus kick the Macedonians out.
So onto winter. The event cards played a part - especially around Cyprus which in Winter and Spring got pulled out 3 times! But more crucial was the food situation. Carthage ended up with just one food token and the Seleucid army was reduced to just one elephant and one pike unit as Russ couldn't feed any more troops. Luckily for him he has quite a buffer between him and the other players - otherwise his campaign would already be over!
The spying became fast and furious and were generally unsuccessful - much to the players chagrin. But a couple did come off and could prove crucial in the mix.
The players were looking forward to Spring and getting some food in the coffers. But the event cards brought bad news - especially for Ian's Macedonia. Macedon itself was invaded and as he had no army in Macedon, he has lost it until such time as he wins it back (meaning his main source of gold had gone for the time being). This has certainly saved Russ as Ian may well have turned his sights east (as he's the only empire in touching distance at present) with the Seleucids virtually defenceless. As it is, Ian has his own troubles with an 11 stand army sitting on his capital city.
But sprong also means the food flows again. As usual Jon threw a blinder (100 Gold, 90 Food for his port alone) and this allowed him to extend his burgeoning fleet still further.
Shipping has become a vital element and all players invested heavily in ships in order to get their food stocks up. Bucking the trend, Russ had a relatively successful trip - and Ian and Jon had very successful trips as well. But once the bill for cities and troops came in, again stocks had fallen and the players must find ways to get food up again before winter bites.
While Macedonia and the Seleucids are struggling (despite being the only empires that can field the awesome pike), Carthage is mopping up cheap desert territories, But by having pushover victories Mark is also creating a bottleneck for his eastern expansion. A walkover means 2 stands move into a neighbouring neutral territory - and with unlucky event cards this means that most of North Africa is now a minefield of some very tough territories. In order to expand he must take these piecemeal - or buy a fleet and hope to get into Spain before Rome does. But he's starting to use his spies well - and managed to reduce Numidia's army size by using a spy to mount an army mutiny where 3 bases 'defected' - making Numidia a much easier target.
Rome (Jon) is - at present - leading the Empires in Prestige Points. He's already conquered most of Italy and now is moving west into the fertile lands of southern France. He took Massillia in the spring and has already launched his summer campaign - the attempted capture of Gaul.
With Mark away in March, the campaign will be mothballed until a Saturday in late March where we'll have a full day at the campaign (and hopefully get 4-5 years worth in which will / should mean players Empires coming to blows for the first time).
So onto winter. The event cards played a part - especially around Cyprus which in Winter and Spring got pulled out 3 times! But more crucial was the food situation. Carthage ended up with just one food token and the Seleucid army was reduced to just one elephant and one pike unit as Russ couldn't feed any more troops. Luckily for him he has quite a buffer between him and the other players - otherwise his campaign would already be over!
The spying became fast and furious and were generally unsuccessful - much to the players chagrin. But a couple did come off and could prove crucial in the mix.
The players were looking forward to Spring and getting some food in the coffers. But the event cards brought bad news - especially for Ian's Macedonia. Macedon itself was invaded and as he had no army in Macedon, he has lost it until such time as he wins it back (meaning his main source of gold had gone for the time being). This has certainly saved Russ as Ian may well have turned his sights east (as he's the only empire in touching distance at present) with the Seleucids virtually defenceless. As it is, Ian has his own troubles with an 11 stand army sitting on his capital city.
But sprong also means the food flows again. As usual Jon threw a blinder (100 Gold, 90 Food for his port alone) and this allowed him to extend his burgeoning fleet still further.
Shipping has become a vital element and all players invested heavily in ships in order to get their food stocks up. Bucking the trend, Russ had a relatively successful trip - and Ian and Jon had very successful trips as well. But once the bill for cities and troops came in, again stocks had fallen and the players must find ways to get food up again before winter bites.
While Macedonia and the Seleucids are struggling (despite being the only empires that can field the awesome pike), Carthage is mopping up cheap desert territories, But by having pushover victories Mark is also creating a bottleneck for his eastern expansion. A walkover means 2 stands move into a neighbouring neutral territory - and with unlucky event cards this means that most of North Africa is now a minefield of some very tough territories. In order to expand he must take these piecemeal - or buy a fleet and hope to get into Spain before Rome does. But he's starting to use his spies well - and managed to reduce Numidia's army size by using a spy to mount an army mutiny where 3 bases 'defected' - making Numidia a much easier target.
Rome (Jon) is - at present - leading the Empires in Prestige Points. He's already conquered most of Italy and now is moving west into the fertile lands of southern France. He took Massillia in the spring and has already launched his summer campaign - the attempted capture of Gaul.
With Mark away in March, the campaign will be mothballed until a Saturday in late March where we'll have a full day at the campaign (and hopefully get 4-5 years worth in which will / should mean players Empires coming to blows for the first time).