u/ottilieblack

I've put in 500 hours, mostly on The Good difficulty playing Rome. The only way I can win is through Ambitions, and even then I lose most of the time. One of the AI players will declare war on me and take me down, while another just goes on to victory.

I'm an experienced Civ player, ancient history nerd (ask me about my collection of Roman deification coinage), and this game just kicks my ass. It is so complex that I don't understand how to balance all the elements.

I've lost games where I had incredible amounts of gold and resources that I couldn't change into armies. I've had an incredible army that was hobbled by a lack of orders and resources.

I can't seem to get things to balance enough to win.

The families. The archetypes. My most recent game I had the Claudians rebelling against me because I was a commander and their leader was a tactician. I was in the center of the board and had all of 6 resources at turn 140/200 which to bribe them with. Meanwhile Assyria, a similar army, takes me down, allowing Egypt to destroy Persia and run away to victory.

Are there any good walk-through videos specifically about balancing all the elements? For example, even something simple as workers are more efficient working in their own city. How do you manage that? Create new workers, while at the same time building an army or improving culture or economics?

The state has been in a bad drought over the year, with some parts being in an "exceptional" category.

Could this have impacted the migratory route? I've only seen less than a handful of monarchs on my rural property, whereas last year I had quite a few plus plenty of cats on my native butterfly weed and milkweed.

Or are they just late?

On my 5th generation in 80 years playing Rome. Had a string of new leaders with reigns under 5 years, all of whom died from natural causes. Not very Roman like, but accurate given the conditions.

QQ: I get a lot of sickness notifications for primary as well as secondary nobles. Are any of these useful beyond the "getting affairs in order"/"doomed"?

I was walking my fields today and found the native milkweed much more plentiful than last year, even though we have been in extreme drought this year.

The monarchs usually arrive in July-Sept, and the caterpillars are plentiful on the milkweed. But I didn't find any chrysalises. The field is open on two sides and surrounded by trees on the other sides, but the trees tend to be at least 50 ft away from the milkweed stands.

Should I set up some branch teepees or something within the milkweed stands - or will they pupate on the milkweed stems?

I had an auction shipped from Europe. FedEx employee called me on a cell phone cutting out, asking what kind of metal the coins were made of. They delivered the package a week later. I disputed the random tariff and dispersal fee. They then threaten a $90 surcharge for disputing. I had another package shipped. They’re holding it over 5 weeks until all tariffs and fees are paid and another $90 threat even though I disputed fees and was told no action is necessary . So now on top of all that I can still get billed another $120. If they reject my appeal.
Instead of generating revenue they’re just robbing a few people and keeping me from my small hobby. Let alone some entrepreneur.

So, I am traveling to Japan and I am wondering what coin shops are like in Japan. I have done a little research here and there, but nothing conclusive. I am kind of curious as to whether they have anything comparable to circulated US 90% silver. I’ve seen some sterling 100/1000 yen coins, that and 72% Sen/Yen from just before WWII (those are particularly beautiful)

Basically, I am wondering if anybody may have any experience with coin shops in Japan. I am considering trying to find smaller shops that might trade US silver for Japanese silver. That and just how the shops are or if anybody might have a personal favorite shop in Tokyo or Osaka. Or anywhere else really, I do want to see places other than Tokyo.

Thank you to anybody for the information!

https://preview.redd.it/lo5j03t9fcyg1.jpg?width=577&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a548454d67f9f2878c536763c10a2ab8f144f8b