i didn't build a single tower, and as i didn't have the enhancement pack, i didn't build any chariots either. i did however exploit a feature of naval combat- which is that enemy warships will fight one of my grounded warships and very quickly die. i didn't do this deliberately but in those narrow channels it is hard to avoid.
for the first 10 years i had serious cash flows, excarbated by limited trade options, which couldn't be easily resolved because my 2 companies of archers consistently failed to fight well out of the city. eventually seth started giving me the right blessings and the archers suffered no further problems. this was a virtuous circle as it allowed me to open up trade routes, sell more and hence get out of debt. my kingdom rating propsered correspondingly.
only 1 major hiccup occurred after that- after i finished the pyramids, i started deleting 'unneeded' buildings becuase of labour shortages. unfortunately, this included some of my warship wharves so i was pretty gutted to see a late invasion. their transports got through to my city and seth was not helpful enough so i restarted from my last save- 3 years earlier. this was the only restart that i neede in rowarty.
some years later i completed the mausoleum, and set about to getting that last 1000 or so for the population while silmultaneously keeping culture and prosperity up. it took me 41 game years, but if not for that little oversite about losing money, it would have taken me 39. on to het mike