Thanks AtPG, I've just played through the demo twice and although i enjoyed it (both times), I am not convinced there would be much more to the game except "more of the same" and am therefore really unsure about paying $30 for the full experience.

I appreciate the supply considerations, combat mechanics, story telling and setting; but I couldn't agree more on the tiresome "whack a mole" defense the game forces you to play.

The trade/supply system for cities is interesting but it has a few faults:
1) you can't "unlink" a farm, villa or town once you have linked it up -this means that it can be hard to is properly absorb new cities etc if you cluster trade too much in earlier phases of expansion;
2) its not clear how economic or beneficial a given link is over another, this is a problem when you have strategic considerations (e.g. supplying a fort from a town) as well as when seeking the best balance of food to feed a city or city/city trade for economic benefit.

I would buy the game immediately if it was on sale for $10-15, I would have a hard time deciding if it was $20, but $30 is just too much for this IMO. I hate to say that as I think the developer is on to something interesting and that it will only be improved on, and I'd like to support Indie games with innovative ideas. They've just set the bar too high for me.