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conflict between us. To his credit, Min offers me a peace

treaty, on the condition that I become his vassal and pay

him a regular, extortionate tribute. Fortunately, there’s still

a large buffer of territory between us, so I can decline

without risking his immediate wrath.

REST IN PEACE

In the meantime, I concentrate on spreading peace to the

Han Empire, liberating several cities from their warlike

grasp. Since there are no officers in these cities, however,

my ‘siege and surrender’ tactic doesn’t work. So instead I

have to opt for ‘siege and starve-out’, squatting outside the

city until the inhabitants get hungry enough to let me in.

An entirely peaceful action, I’m sure you’ll agree. I’m not

taking any food off them. I’m merely diverting incoming

food toward the more urgent cause of national peace.

A couple of cities rise-up in an attempt to forcibly

break the siege. Since they are attacking my forces, this

counts as a defensive battle, which I am allowed to fight

in the name of maintaining peace.

Using this approach, I spread so much peace through

the nation that I get promoted to Second Marquis, which

unlocks a bunch of new powers including espionage,

forming coalitions, and additional armies. I celebrate by

building a second army to deal with Han forces sniffing

around my territory. I’m not going to attack them, just

persuade them to march back across their own borders,

like ushering a spider into a glass.

The general I hire to lead this army turns out to be an

enemy spy, and in one turn she disappears from the map,

taking with her some loot I got from my peaceful

campaigning. Fine! I then have to hire another general

and raise more forces to keep the Han armies at bay.

While my armies play cat and mouse with the Han, I

turn my focus to preventing any further conflicts, using

my Credibility to boost my diplomatic standing with

several warlords bordering my territory, then signing

non-aggression pacts with them. I’m too slow to stop a

southern warlord named Liu Yao from raising his banners

against me. But he then proceeds to do precisely nothing,

so I figure I don’t need to worry too much.

After this, a powerful warlord named Yuan Shao

invites me to join a coalition, which is like an alliance but

less official. I accept, and suggest that he also invite Liu

Bei, aka the nicest warlord in ancient China. Shao agrees

to this. Finally, my mission of peace is getting somewhere!

Naturally, my council picks this moment to remind me

I’m yet to retaliate against Tao Qian. What’s particularly

ironic about this is that Tao Qian is dead. I’ve bided my

time for so long that Qian, who was an old man at the

time he decided to murder my dad, has simply

succumbed to age. You’d think him dropping dead would

put a pin in my council’s vengeance-balloon. But if

dynasties are good at anything, it’s holding a grudge, and

the council now wants me to exact my revenge upon

Qian’s son and heir, Tao Ying.

I SPY

In an attempt to placate them, I dispatch a spy named Lu

Zhi into Ying’s court, with the vague hope of toppling the

faction from within. Before I can consider the problem

any further, however, Liu Yao finally decides to act against

me, attacking my most profitable trading port. I man a

THE PLAYERS

Three Kingdoms has a much greater focus on characters. Here’s a rundown of the key players in our diary

DONG ZHUO

The tyrant who

usurped the

throne of the

Han Empire.

DONG MIN

Zhuo’s somewhat

unhinged adopted

son. He’s the

murderous sort.

HAN EMPIRE

Once the ruling

faction of China,

now the vassal of

Dong Zhuo.

CAO CAO

China’s great

general and

strategist. Also a

peaceful guy.

LIU BEI

China’s friendly

neighbourhood

warlord.

Trustworthy.

TAO QIAN

A well-respected

warlord, and

long-time ally of

Cao Cao.

YUAN SHAO

Powerful

northern warlord.

A useful ally but

arrogant.

LIU YAO

Small-time

warlord to the

south.

Backstabber.

PERSONALADVENTURES IN GAMES

DIARY

The failed defence of

Lujiang Fishing Port.