Desc: The first desert assignment. In one word, ouch. It didn't take long to realize a lot of prefects were needed in a lot of places. I even had one building burst into flames (and again after being rebuilt) despite the presence of a
prefecture right across the street. It ended up taking two to keep that wharf from getting crispy a third time.Not really knowing how quickly wharves could haul in food, I decided to maximize production by building them anywhere and everywhere. Thus the city engulfed the islands. At this point I was still under the impression that each citizen consumed a unit of food a month (it's actually one per every
two citizens not living in tents). Still, it worked out alright, even if the mainland could have supported them all.
Two lessons learned from bitter experience. Gatehouses will turn back random walkers but not ones with a specific destination in mind. Imagine some gnashing of teeth when I ran a road between gatehouses in the mainland walled sections, only to watch market buyers and food carts start flinging across the map. So, I decided to leave the city segmented and move the barracks instead. A little expensive in stored armor, but only necessary once, right? Of course not. Ballistae were pulling vanishing acts, even with
the military given top labor priority. I had to content myself with arming the towers of one section, and not bothering to provide road access for most of those in the other.
Just as well, really, given the second discovery. Keep your population healthy and your reward is a lot of retired people. In other words, expand at a leisurely pace and your labor pool starts taking nosedives somewhere towards the end of the second decade. Thus the mothballing of the furniture industry.
Fortunately all of Caesar's requirements were met before this effect became too severe.
