Summing Up New Empire

THERE was a stage, round about turn 16, when I thought my Romans were cruising to victory, as they had every right to be after not being greatly troubled by the Carthaginians early in the game.

But the Persians were equally never really troubled by the Macedonians, meaning they never had to recover their homeland and return to the game as Parthians.

This was doubly bad news for the Macedonians as they were squeezed by two great powers, with the Persians triumphing fairly comfortably in the end, thanks to the last-turn capture of rich AEGYPTUS.

Here are the updated standings (four points for a win, three for coming second, etc).

ME

Game One: 3pts (Carthaginians)
Game Two: 3.5pts (Romans)
Game Three: 4pts (Persians)
Game Four: 1pt (Macedonians)

Game Five: 4pts (Persians/Parthians)

Game Six: 2pts (Carthaginians)

Game Seven: 3pts (Romans)
Total: 20.5pts

ANDY
Game One: 4pts (Macedonians)
Game Two: 3.5pts (Persians/Parthians)
Game Three: 3pts (Romans)
Game Four: 2.5pts (Carthaginians)

Game Five: 2pts (Romans)

Game Six: 4pts (Persians)

Game Seven: 1pt (Macedonians)
Total: 20pts

REG

Game One: 1pt (Persians/Parthians)
Game Two: 2pts (Carthaginians)
Game Three: 1pt (Macedonians)
Game Four: 4pts (Romans)

Game Five: 3pts (Carthaginians)

Game Six: 1pt (Macedonians)

Game Seven: 4pts (Persians)
Total: 16pts

RICHARD JOHNSON
Game One: 2pts (Romans)
Game Two: 1pt (Macedonians)
Game Three: 2pts (Carthaginians)
Game Four: 2.5pts (Persians/Parthians)

Game Five: 1pt (Macedonians)

Game Six: 3pts (Romans)

Game Seven: 2pts (Carthaginians)
Total: 13.5pts

SCORES BY PEOPLES
Persians/Parthians: 23pts

Romans:20.5pts
Carthaginians: 16.5pts
Macedonians: 10pts

The main takeaways:

*I have narrowly regained the lead..

*Both my outright wins have come in command of the Persians/Parthians, including game three where Parthia never fell and so my people were Persians throughout.

*Richard's second place in game six is his best score..

*Looking at the peoples' stats, the Persians/Parthians have easily scored more than twice as many points as the Macedonians.

*Only the Carthaginians have failed to win a game, but they and the Romans are the only peoples never to have come last.