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There are two key parameters I had to manage in Serabit Khadim: the first invasion and the kingdom rating. The invasions following the first one are easy to handle, even at V.Hard, as the Cannaanites are weak fighters. The winning conditions in SK are a population of 2000 and a KR of 80. The KR was a concern as I wanted the game to last: playing fast. The game starts in 2600.
I could have reached the KR of 80 in 2.5 years: starting at 40 (V.Hard), I can send 3 lavish gifts at 10 points in March, April and May of Years 1, 2 and 3 (the mansion costs only 225 db). I get 5 points in first reward in December 99 fulfilling a request. I gain 1 point in December of each Year after the first one, setting my wage to 0. So, In May 98, I already have 40+10+5+0+10+1+10=76. If I send another lavish gift, I am granted 5 points only but what puts me at 81 and the game is won. I also get another 5 points in late 98, so anyway the game is won in less than 3 years.
On the opposite, I manage my KR to drop to 11 by being over indebted somewhere in late 2599 (KR drops to 20) and to be still negative in December 2598 (KR drops to 11). Then I did not manage the KR, I simply fulfilled the requests and reached 80 in late 2589, having gained points 5 by 5. I rejected any KR blessing from Ra.
The only issue was for me to get enough food. I have 4 types of foog: game is locally produced, 4000 peas can be imported from Men-Nefer, 4000 fish from Kebet, 1500 wheat from Abu. There is a small conflict for Kebet as it is also selling the reeds and the clay. The wheat is not enough to be used as an entity in a block. So this was my strategy:
Instead of setting my industries between the copper mines, I set them on the desert stretch West, it allows more caravan trips per year, especially for Behdet that must deliver reeds, beer, clay or pottery and fish.
- I first set the copper mines and ensure I sell the 4,000; I set soon an archer fort and rather soon two weapon factories. My point is not to go below –5,000 db to be able to expand and import reeds at the end of the year 2600. When I have sold enough copper, I can set the papyrus factories and start buying flax. First year I manage to export for 7,400.
- Beginning of the year 2599, with the selling of copper, I am getting money again, I set the infantry fort and the linen factories. I manage to export for 14,000 db. When the Beduins attack in June, I have some 15 infantry and 6 archers, what is enough if they are already concentrated around the invasion point West.
- On Year 3, I set the pottery and luxury factories. I export for 20,000.
- On Year 4, I stop importing clay to import fish. When the 4,000 fish is delivered, I import clay until the end of the year, and repeat thus every year. I still export 17,000 but import beer. Fish is for the workers’ block, peas are for the manors’ block, set at 20 houses.
- The Ra Temple Complex is set only to absorb workforce, it is in itself not really useful. I also get minor blessings from Seth which are useless. On the other hand, I often get a minor trade blessig from Ra, which main interest is to get 2,500 wheat, and one or two major blessings from Ptah to get gems and earn some more money.
Then, slowly, I accumulate peas, game and fish. I also import the wheat I deliver to the manors’ block; it helps a bit to stabilize some fancy residences that did not get enough game or peas and therefore do not devolve. Painfully, I make residences evolve one by one, when they have at least 300 of game and second type of food. When the manors had the necessary peas, I shifted the wheat distribution to the workers’ block.
After ten years, I had reached the food limits, spent some time just to pass the 5,000 population. I end up with exports between 22,000 and 25,000.
Economically, having 20 spacious manors is not really profitable compared to having common residences, for example. These manors consume lots of goods I have to import or could export, and pay only some 1,200 db each per year in taxes, so some 24,000 altogether. But my point was, as usual, to “get as many of the best housing I can in a forever running city”.
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