[Not a Bug] Mali's Songhai empire，bug ?

[holien]

Match1402:Why did Mali's Songhai empire did’t work??Can't our own military be the lowest?

[holien]

Sorry，Match:1420

[Logitude]

I don’t see a clarification in the Dynasties rule book or the FAQ for Songhai Empire. I think the question boils down to, does “Others:” apply to the comparison for determining which nations have least military or not? I have asked Rustan. It’s going on midnight in Sweden, so I suspect I will get an answer tomorrow morning at the earliest.

The way I programmed it, it checks for least military in the usual way, including all nations, and every nation with least military except Mali suffers. If only Mali has least military, then no one is penalized.

[holien]

Thanks for your patience. I’ll wait for your response.

[Logitude]

According to Rustan, having Songhai Empire in play is as if every other nation had a card in play that says “Famine: Least [Military]: -3 [Food] extra”. The comparison for determining least military is the usual one, including Mali.

I think that makes sense from a balance perspective since otherwise it would always penalize at least one other player. For instance in 2-player, the other player would always pay 3 extra food every round. It can already be too strong in 2-player.

[holien]

Thanks for your reply.