So back to Olbia
One never likes the Populists (especially with their +10% power costs malus) - but sometimes they insist on getting elected. And sometimes they get their comeuppance, as with this lovely event that popped up shortly after the previous war concluded.
The reality is though that I am still incredibly bad at taking screenshots. Not a great deal happened for the next little while, except that in due course I got a new leader.
Pretty nice, but the important thing was not a populist - so I immediately splurged on power getting various inventions, boosting my stability and triggering a new omen, plus my first military advance. And then I claim the remaining Chersonese province, and get ready for war. Amusingly, shortly after I fabricated the claim the Cheronese gave me a gift. Very nice of them that
But it won't stop me. The Chersonesus League are allied to the Bosphoran Kingdom, which is involved in a war with Moesia to the east. With Scythia's aid I think this is a perfect time to strike.
And the truth is I was right. This is not a proper fight. The only signficant battle I fight I outnumber the enemy 2-1, and I stackwipe them in their capital. The siege of the same does take well over a year - but with Scythia clearing up any other enemy troops and swathes of Bosphoran territory the end is not really in doubt.
Then what to do with the families. I choose to invite one family from Chersonesus into my state, and get rid of the rest. I fiddle around with the offices, getting some better folks in the various jobs. I switch a new governor in, and set up a trade route from Chersonesus to bring in Wood. I am thinking of possibly building up a fleet.
Meanwhile however whilst the Chersonese war was winding down Scythia attacked Moesia and their allies with myself, Tyras, and Sarmatia on their side. Having made peace with the Kingdom I asked for (and received) military access, and took my army over there to join in the fun. We sacked the Moesian capital - running rampant through it killing 4 pops (no slaves alas). We also took the capital of one of their minor allies, but were better behaved. Along the way the chap leading my army become the Archon of Olbia.
And then we were kicked out of the alliance. Apparently Scythia made the jump from Local to Regional Power, and therefore the alliance could not be maintained. I misssed the screenshot pop-up, though I have to say it was rather confusing and took me a little digging around the game to work out what had happened. Still being friendly though, the Scythians immediately guaranteed me.
They have also guaranteed Tyrus, so I won't be getting them anytime soon. It is nice to have the protection as Thrace has been moving up the Black Sea coast.
However it is time for me to starting thinking bedtime thoughts so I save the game and exit it, to write up this post. It looks like the Bosphoran Kingdom is my best bet for immediate expansion. I also want to build up a navy , which would bring up the possibility of looking over to some of the other Black Sea coastal areas. However, my manpower is also now quite reduced so I will need to bear that in mind.
As for the game itself - I have enjoyed my first night in Olbia. I certainly have some niggles - the default message alerts are rubbish, there is plenty of room for roll-over tips all over the place, and the UI is "classically Paradox". The map is beautiful, but I feel oddly like some of the UI feels a bit "heavy" in its appearance. Not quite sure how else to describe it. Music works nicely.
I would not be surprised if newcomers to PDS games find this one a pretty steep learning cliff. Previous PDS players should, I imagine, be able to figure out the basic UI and other essential matters relatively swiftly I think.
Anyway, there are my first thoughts on Imperator Rome after my first evening of play.
Just for the record, I am not intending to necessarily "play all the way through" with this game. It is a learning experience for me. There will doubtless come a time when I want to play with another new toy (perhaps a British tribe) but until then I hope to keep this running.
