Pics & History of your Empire

[Axalon]

So I tried to go under the 60-barrier with egyptians, still in expert difficulty, early period... ... ...It worked very well since I won after 44 turns !

Another impressive result! My jaw dropped, when I first saw it...

Although, to be fair here... I think we should point out that Valer did achieve such good results by doing this with a different "set of rules" then I used - in my previous entries/posts. After all, I made a point of not using "low and easy"-units like peasants, spearmen and urban-boys in my runs/campaigns - much in contrast to Valer who used whatever units available to him as he raced against/towards the "60-barrier". Obviously, all my previous remarks on factions and speed in general are hopelessly colored by that very fact, and evidently utterly irrelevant in Valers campaigns. As has been also clearly demonstrated here, by Valer. Using an "Axalon-set-of-rules" will unquestionably slow things down and make things harder somehow, while a "Valer-set of rules" (in short, use whatever units available to you. Minus all mercenaries, as I understand it) will be easier and faster somehow. There is little doubt to be had on all that. All the same, the "Axalon-set of rules" are not (and never was) mandatory for people to follow, and folks are obviously free to play it in any way they like. Just like Valer did. That said...

Upon seeing Valers last run (campaign) with the Egyptians and only 44 turns... My jaw basically dropped, it clearly made the 60-barrier much less formidable if a "Valer-set of rules" was used - evidently. So, what to do? Instead of stupidly trying to enforce the "Axalon-set of rules" upon the rest of the world on this note, I simply decided to just adapt and adjust here... Play with the "Valer-set of rules" and see whatever happens... And ultimately see how the "60-barrier" fits into all that... Here is what I ended up with (in the spoiler folks, as its a big fat secret and all)...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

30 (freaking) turns! This at expert, default unit-size, no alliances, mercenaries and cheats. I used whatever units was
available to me - save mercs. Had I used mercs too, I could have managed to cut at least a few more turns for sure.

- A