Khmun (Hermopolis) by Cherub Baltic
Starting year : 1540 BC

Requirements:

• Population 6000

• Culture 55

• Prosperity 50

• Monument 18

• Kingdom 75

No monument construction - pyramid is already built, you only have to supply burial goods stolen by Hyksos.

Best housing : Common residence (limited by 1 food type).

Resources : Chickpeas, flax, barley, plain stone.

Trade routes : Men-nefer, Sharuhen (land); Itjtawy, Tyre, Pwenet (water); later - after 4 years - Bubastis (land). Route to Bubastis becomes available even if you deny help to Rowarty, right around the time when Hyksos army is attacking your city.

Exports : Beer, beer and beer (8000/year from start, later more when route to Bubastis opens). You can export overstocks of barley, if you wish. Oh, and I almost forgot, you can also export some beer :).

Imports : Clay, papyrus, luxury goods, copper, wood. You may wish to import barley in the first years before you produce enough of it. Theoretically it is possible to import straw+clay, produce and export bricks.

Gods : Ra (Patron), Ptah, Seth.

Requests : 1539 BC Rowarty asks for troops, 10 months to comply

Specific of this mission is comparatively high prosperity requirement, given the highest possible housing level. Nevertheless, clay import is high enough to produce pottery for all houses, and beer can be produced in nearly unlimited quantity - so you just need to import papyrus for schools.

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Warning - potential spoilers ahead

More tips

Khmun has probably the most fertile meadows in all Egypt. To use the best places efficiently, you should grow barley where the fertility is over 80% - it is the only plant with 2 harvests in this mission. There are two stripes of floodplain, also with very high fertility. Growing barley and some food here can help, as the harvest is in another time than on the meadow farms, and you have a nice steady supply of everything.
Creator of this mission probably likes to use red herrings. The introduction rallies you to build a huge army and navy, but in fact all you need is 1 archer fort built quickly. You are told that other cities will ask for help, but over the whole time I didn't get a single request for goods, and only one for troops - in the very beginning. The only raw material you can produce is plain stone... but you don't need it (I quarried full SY of stone, in case someone would demand it).

The request for military help from Rowarty comes very soon, you shouldn't hesitate too long before you build up your military. With Seth's protection, 1 company of academy trained archers had no problems to win the distant battle. After this battle you can let the military be and concentrate on brewing to earn some debens. You'll need a lot of money for imports (2200 luxury goods, papyrus, copper), fortunately you can ask Ra for assistance.

Alternative - if you like it hot - is to ignore the calls from Rowarty (deadline is extended first if you don't send troops in time). Then, after some time, you will see a message that Hyksos army is approaching, and in a few months about 12 footmen and 4 chariots attack from North. I played it just to see what happens - my company of archers was eradicated in a few moments... and for the first time I have seen the "Defeat!" screen. To win at difficulty hard, you probably need a full charioteer company supported by archers and policemen. Hyksos seem to have orders to attack best housing, because they destroyed all Ordinary Cottages first - avoiding Rough Cottages and Shanties.

I finished Khmun in 148 months, because I spent many thousands of deben on my military, and imported enough wood to create 4 charioteer companies. (I had 3 archer and 3 charioteer companies + full storage yard of chariots, 2 warships). If I would have used the money for city growth, I could have finished much earlier than that. Just to make sure, I reloaded the save just before end and continued for 3 more years - still no requests, no invasions. Hard to tell what happens if you ignore Rowarty in the second year - is it just that one attack, or several? Does Rowarty call for help again? And is there any difference in storyline if you send troops to Rowarty, but lose the battle? Find out!