Congratulations on v. .81 - its a much better game! I have just played as Carthage (I use the BI exe), I did work out how to recruit elephants and the Lusotann not only moved, they became a major threat! Rome launched naval invasions of Corsica and Sardinia! All good.

Some questions though;

1. Is VH/H the best combination?
2. My economy seemed to just limp along... I was often in debt, struggled to keep armies in Spain (vs. Lustotann), Sicily (vs. persistent KH invasions) and Tripolitania (vs. Ptolemies) AND manage my cities to prevent economic collapse and civil revolt... how can I best manage my economy? Mines +1 at 32,000 mnai and 20-turns to build were only able to be built very rarely... should I build some rather than others? Are some mines more lucrative than others?
3. While the ptolemies and KH seemed to use "balanced" armies - with a good mix of units and battle tactics - the Lustotann and Romans seemed to just use stacks of cheap & weak units. Is a better (more affordable) game to use cheap armies myself? The "balanced field armies" that I like to build were just too expensive. I was never able to afford to build elephants or hire mercs!
4. Is it ever possible for Carthage to build Lusotann units in Iberia? The Lustotan preview suggested some of these guys were recruitable... but I was never able to.

My Carthaginian state was finally overwhelmed in 185 BC; the Ptolemies overran me in Africa, Sicily was conquered by KH, and those endless streams of Lusotann "cheap and weak" stacks finally got me when I was so deep in debt that I couldn't build troops...

H.