Rostja (Giza) walkthrough

Here’s another scenario that you can’t avoid. It’s a pretty tough one as well, and will probably keep you occupied in excess of 60 game years.

Requirements

  • Population – no requirement
  • Culture – 0
  • Prosperity – 0
  • Monument – 53 (Sphinx, Pyramid Complex, Pyramid)
  • Kingdom – 50

Events

  • Wages fall
  • Price cut for plain stone
  • Price increases for wood and limestone
  • The amount of wood and limestone cities will trade with you will fall

Hints

Pharaoh will demand gems, game meat, troops and pottery from you, so plan accordingly.

Bear this in mind when you decide on your priorities. When I played it, I decided that it was imperative to make some cash as early as possible. Set up a trade route to export gems and luxury goods, and set up industries accordingly. Later on in the scenario, you will be asked for 1500 gems by the Libyans, who will attack while your troops are away at a distant battle if you fail to provide. As a general rule, try to keep 2500 gems in reserve for such emergencies. At Giza, there’s no such thing as having too many gemstone mines!

You will also need to get an army set up relatively quickly, as you will be attacked by Libyans fairly soon into the scenario. 2 companies of infantry and 2 companies of archers will be sufficient to deal with any threats to your city, and will see you victorious in any distant battles. If possible, make sure all are academy-trained. When you’re asked to provide troops to fight abroad, don’t skimp – if your troops lose, the Libyans will move from attacking Dashur to having a go at you. If the Libyans do attack, they will do so from the North or the South (either side of the small stream running down the western third of the map). It really pays off to win the distant battle early on, because after that, troop requests from Pharaoh will cease, and you will not be bothered so much by the Libyans (plus, you get to open a new trade route to Dashur).

Back to domestic matters. There’s no need to evolve your housing past Ordinary Cottage status, as there’s no prosperity requirement. Any less than that, however, and you’ll end up getting problems with plague (irrespective of how many apothecaries and doctors you have in your city), which plays havoc with your workforce and slows down monument production. Import some clay early on and stockpile a storage yard full of pottery to fulfil Pharaoh’s requests late on in the scenario. Don’t bother distributing it to your housing though. Don’t ignore taxation – your housing may only be developed to a low level, but the small amount of deben it provides really helps during the first tough 20 years.

Monument building is what really eats up time in this scenario. You’ll need to make plenty of cash in order to import the requisite amount of limestone. However, the Sphinx is a doddle, and can be put up right at the end – it only takes a couple of years to build. Alternatively, if you’re bored whilst the peasant labourers are preparing the groundwork for your pyramid complex, it can be done then to keep your carpenters and stonemasons busy.

Here’s a list from MRed94 detailing the requests and events you’ll get:

DATEEVENTCITYREQUESTTIME
June 2506RequestIunet1000 gems6 mos.
Oct. 2506New trade routeIunet
April 2505RequestIunet1500 Luxury goods9 mos.
Oct. 2505RequestBuhen500 gems9 mos.
Dec. 2505GiftIunet2100 copper
June 2502InvasionLibyan Armymid-east
June 2501ExtortionKyrene1300 gems3 mos.
Oct 2501RequestBuhen400 Luxury goods9 mos.
April 2500RequestDashurTroops11 mos.
June 2499New trade routeDashur
Jan 2497Wage increase
April 2497StormsWater trade routesClosed
Oct 2497RequestBuhen400 Luxury goods9 mos.
Sept 2496RequestOn1500 game meat8 mos.
Jan 2493Price CutExportPlain Stone
Oct. 2492RequestBuhen200 Game meat9 mos.
Nov. 2492FestivalBuhen1200 Game meat18 mos.
Jan 2491Price IncreaseLimestone
Jan 2488Price IncreaseWood
Jan 2485Decreased TradingOnLimestone
Jan 2484Price IncreaseLimestone
Jan 2481InvasionLibyan ArmySouth east shore
Oct. 2481RequestBuhen400 Game meat9 mos.
Oct. 2475RequestBuhen500 Luxury Goods9 mos.
May 2473RequestMen-Nefer1000 Wood9 mos.
Dec. 2473GiftPharaoh5 Limestone
Jan. 2472GiftPharaoh19 Limestone
Oct. 2469RequestBuhen300 Game meat9 mos.

The forum has also been graced by this excellent thread by Cherub Baltic, detailing how you can finish this one in record time.

Your dynasty grows in importance thanks to its successful completion of these mammoth tasks. Onwards and upwards to either Bahariya Oasis or Djedu (Abusir).