Not Quite Civ: Gaining Independence in FreeCol

[Huinesoron]

Autumn 1697

"Admiral Drake."

Francis Drake struggled to sit upright. "Madame President."

"Oh, lie still." Pocahontas smiled at the injured sailor. "I didn't come all the way to Fort Oranje just to injure you further."

"Ah, yes, ma'am." Drake settled back with a sigh of relief. "How did you come here, ma'am? It's a long road from New Bath."

Pocahontas grinned. "I'm not so old yet that I've forgotten how to ride a horse."

Drake choked on the mental image. "I, ah, imagine the cabinet weren't overly pleased with that."

Pocahontas nodded. "Jefferson thinks it's an offense to the dignity of my office, Minuit feels it shows I'm regressing to my ancestral savage nature, and Vazquez de Coronado is convinced the REF are going to slip past Washington and take me captive." She smiled warmly at the Admiral. "For my part, I have never been one to leave a wounded friend alone."

Drake bowed his head as best he could. "I thank you, ma'am." He coughed, sipped water from the bottle by his bed. "The war… how goes it, ma'am?"

"Other than a certain Admiral failing to keep his ship in one piece?" Pocahontas shook her head. "About as expected. Your action gave a portion of the enemy fleet pause - one Man-of-War was put to flight - but the remainder seem set to maraud down the New Holland coast. Vice-Admiral Jones has taken the flag in the frigate Charity and is sailing to meet them."

Drake laughed. "I bet he was sore disappointed by that. He has been talking about his Man-of-War flagship since we laid the keel."

"He will have it in due time," the President assured him. "He can go back to waiting as soon as my Admiral is back on the deck."

"Ah. About that, ma'am…" Drake patted his immobilised leg. "The good doctors say I'll be laid up almost as long as Treasurer herself. They doubt I'll be shipshape again for the next campaigning season, let alone this one."

"Hmm." Pocahontas frowned. "That certainly is inconsiderate of you. Do you think Vice-Admiral Jones can handle it?"

"Absolutely." Drake gave a firm nod. "John Paul may be a bit skittish at times, but give the man an enemy to follow and he'll be on them like a foxhound."

"I shall assume that's a good thing." Pocahontas smiled, but then good humour soured somewhat. "As for the war on land… Fernambuco has fallen."

"Damn." Drake shook his head. "Sorry, ma'am. Did we hurt them for it?"

"De Soto says they paid double for each of our men they took," Pocahontas said. "Which is less of a consolation to me than I thought it would be."

Drake's lip twisted. "Yes, Madame President," he agreed. "Sending men to death or captivity is rarely easy."

"So I am discovering." Pocahontas shook her head slowly. "Washington - he's taken the cavalry up to the Thames Valley, I don't know if you've heard - before he left, he said that the siege had split the enemy force. That it should render them amenable to… 'divide and conquer'."



"Let us all pray it is so." Drake frowned. "That level of information… he must have a scout patrol right up in the woods around the city. I don't know that I like their chances."

"Yes." The President's smile was thin, humourless. "I have had that conversation with the General. That was my introduction to the term… 'acceptable losses'."

~

Alas, poor Fern. On the plus side, it's about the most useless city the English could capture (other than Oranjestad, stuck way out to Fern's west and with no road access). Their infantry and artillery are two turns away from anywhere, which means three turns to attack range. Their cavalry is more of a risk - when I hit End Turn, the ones in the city are going to be able to use their 4 moves to get a long way into our territory.

Which is why, before the declaration, I made sure we had at least one artillery in every city. We can't move them around effectively as a defensive force - not when the enemy has four times our range - but an artillery unit in a city should be able to take at least a few cavs with it when it goes. And then the mobile force can come into play.

As to Admiral Drake here - I'm giving him (and the rest of the navy) two lives. The first time their ships get sent to drydock, they will come out of it alive. The second time, they're gone for good. Characters to whom this applies are Drake, John Paul Jones, and Magellan (if he ever comes back). Jan de Witt and Benjamin Franklin are currently in Europe, so might ship in at some point, and will follow the same rules. Anybody else who gets on a boat, however, will sink like a rock.

The other military types - Washington, La Salle, Revere, Bolivar, Cortes - only get one life. If the army I claim they're with gets wiped out, they will be killed along with it. The same goes for Coronado and de Soto, if I ever identify them with specific scouts.

The rest of the government (there's another 13 of them) will be considered captured if the city they're in is taken (currently New Bath). If for some reason I use a unit to represent some or all of them, they will die if it does, and be captured is it is.

Is this the point where I start taking bets on how many of them will get through the war alive? (Answer: not really. It's not exactly a harrowing battle.)


Francis Drake
Real World: The first man to captain a ship through an entire circumnavigation, after Magellan foolishly died halfway several decades earlier. He claimed California for England, fought the Spanish Armada, and was a pirate. Wait, I mean privateer! 1540-1596.
FreeCol: Makes your Privateers 50% stronger. Joined the Congress in 1653.
West Wessex: Admiral of the Fleet. Having spent his early career harrying French shipping down south, he has now taken command of the entire navy. And then gotten himself nearly killed, because even a boosted Privateer is no match for a Man-of-War.

[Old Harry]

Oh man. Another game I need to try...

[Huinesoron]

Spring 1698

President Pocahontas rode back into New Bath ere the snow melted on Mount Georgia overlooking the city. The following day, she strode into Congressional House and made her way up to her own office. The door stood open; she stepped inside. "Well?"

Thomas Jefferson, seated behind her desk, did not look up. "I have sold us all to the French," he reported. "It seemed only fair. They'll be here to collect your papers at noon."

"Very droll." The President took a seat by the door, nodding to the other Congressmen waiting within. "How fares the war?"

"It could be better," Jefferson admitted. "Quittance and Schaekerloo have been sent to drydock; Vice-Admiral Jones tells me he cannot in good conscience send any more ships against the Royalist fleet until-"

"Until he gets his flagship," Pocahontas supplied, holding up a hand. "I recognize the complaint. But the enemy is sailing for New Holland?"



"So it seems," Henry Hudson agreed. "But that may not be a huge problem, as I've been telling Thomas. We don't move very much by sea now - and of course the harbour guns…"

"Aren't really designed to hold off an entire fleet, Mister Hudson." Jefferson rubbed the bridge of his nose. "And of course, our fishermen do use boats."

"Oh! Oh, certainly." Hudson blinked at him, then looked back at Pocahontas. "I only meant, insofar as trade is concerned…"

"Thank you, Congressman Hudson." The President leant forward in her chair. "So much for the oceans. What of the war on land? I have heard rumours-"

"They're true," Jefferson said bluntly. "The Royalist cavalry has slipped past Washington and approaches Mauritsstad. We're moving the artillery up to defend the city, and the Nieuw Amsterdam arsenal is working overtime to build more, but if they choose to attack the city, we cannot hold it."

"I see." Pocahontas' gaze tracked across the room, settling on Hernando de Soto. "Congressman de Soto. I assume you have come from the front."

De Soto managed a smile. "Yes, ma'am."

"And I assume you can tell me how General Washington intends to meet the threat at Mauritsstad?"

"Ah. Yes." De Soto looked uncomfortable. "There are… other considerations."

Pocahontas' gaze was cool and unreadable. "Tell me."

Hernando de Soto sighed. "As you wish, Mother-of-us-All." He tugged a map from his sleeve and rolled it out across Jefferson's desk. "If you will?"



Pocahontas left her seat and crossed to the desk. "The Thames Valley," she said. "General Washington intended to block the road between Fernambuco and New Grove; he failed, obviously."

"Yes," de Soto agreed, "but also no. The REF cavalry certainly slipped by him, but their infantry - and more importantly, their artillery - remains in the valley. They will have to cross the desert if they wish to escape Washington's forces."

Pocahontas' eyes narrowed. "Which will slow them down and hold them in range… does he think they'll attempt it?"

"Surely they have to," Hudson interjected. "They must know their guns are best deployed against the colonies; they can't fight George in the open."

"But they are not in the open." De Soto ran a finger down the river Thames. "The forests peter out into undergrowth, but they could still conceal themselves and make a stand. If they have time to fortify their guns…"

Jefferson sighed demonstratively. "He's going to attack, isn't he?"

"He deems it best," de Soto said. "He has called up the reserves from New Tilbury. If he can hold them in the valley through the summer, he feels he has a good chance of eliminating the threat altogether."

"And it would let him go on the offensive," Pocahontas observed, "which has always been his forte." She studied the map for a few moments, then glanced at de Soto. "When does he propose to begin?"

"Ah…" The scout looked out of the window, gauging the angle of the sun. "I believe he already has."

"Naturally." The President rounded the desk, and took her seat behind it as Jefferson hurriedly vacated it. "We shall just have to trust in the General's judgement. I-"

There came a pounding of footsteps, and then Peter Stuyvesant charged into the room. "Madame President! Madame President!"

Pocahontas waved aside Jefferson and de Soto, who had stepped in between her and the door. "Minister Stuyvesant," she said, "what brings-?"

"They've been sighted!" Stuyvesant said, waving a sheet of paper in the air. "Coming in from the Pacific, west of the Ceredigion Sea - they're here, Madame President, they're here!"

"Peter," Hudson said, grabbing at his arm, "you're not making any sense. Who's here? Is it more English ships?"

"What? No!" Stuyvesant shook him off and strode up to the desk. "President Pocahontas," he said with a slight bow, "I beg leave to report that Minister de Witt's mission has been a complete success. Two Men-of-War have been sighted, flying the Danish flag." He took a deep breath and held out his message. "The hoped-for Intervention Force has arrived."



~

There aren't actually coastal fortifications in the game. In fact, the Royal Navy is a bit of a paper tiger at this point: it can't attack anything on land, so all it can do is fight my fleet or transport units. Any ships they defeat just get sent to the drydock for repairs… and I don't think the AI is likely to load its armies back onto their boats.

Speaking of armies on boats… the Intervention Force is promised at the moment you declare Independence. If you're at peace with at least one European AI (in this case it's impossible not to be, because Denmark doesn't have a presence in the New World), one of them will promise to send you reinforcements if you make a certain number of Liberty Bells in your colonies. These are what determine how rebellious your settlements are (more on that next turn), and also are the 'currency' for claiming Founding Fathers. It took me nearly 50 turns to claim my first Founding Father, and another 50 for the next one; by the time I got the last of the 25, I was pulling them on alternate turns.

The Danish wanted about 3000 Liberty Bells, and it looks like I've finally hit that. They don't need to be shipped or anything - just produced. They've sent me two free Men-of-War loaded with a small number of troops. They're part of my army, not a third party. I've sent the heavily-laden one down towards New Grove (it will come up the river Mawddach), and the other towards the mouth of the Chattahoochee, to try and take on the REF fleet.

Washington's Battle of the Thames Valley has indeed already started; he's killed 8 enemy infantry at the cost of 6 of his Dragoons being unhorsed. Not a bad exchange ratio; he's attacking into forest, which doubles the enemy defence, putting them roughly on a par with our troops.

Once he gets done with the infantry, though, the artillery are doomed. They take a massive -75% to their strength if they're not fighting in a city, so the Dragoons are going to eat them alive. It will take a little while - the first defeat transforms them into a weaker 'damaged artillery' unit, so they have to be killed twice - but that army isn't going to make it to my core.


Thomas Jefferson
Real World: Author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the US. As with Washington, you pretty much know this. 1743-1826.
FreeCol: Increases Liberty Bell production by 50%. Joined the Congress in 1644.
West Wessex: Vice-President of the Confederation, and one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence.


Henry Hudson
Real World: An explorer of North America, after whom the Hudson river and Hudson Bay are named. He was searching for the Northwest Passage, but was a few hundred years too early. 1565-1611.
FreeCol: Doubles the output of your fur trappers, making him probably the most useless Founding Father. Joined the Congress in 1670.
West Wessex: Minister for Production. If it's picked in a field, hunted in a forest, or mined from a hill, Hudson is responsible for it.



Peter Stuyvesant
Real World: The last Governor-General of New Netherland, ie New York. He also had a wooden leg! 1610-1672.
FreeCol: Allows the building of Customs Houses. Joined the Congress in 1655.
West Wessex: With Jan de Witt, part of the team responsible for negotiating with foreign powers. He's presumably behind the continued peace with New France.

[Huinesoron]

After a week off (during which I dug Civ 4 out, and won my first Cultural Victory with a septuple Holy Madrid and a great deal of luck in my opponents), the Confederation of West Wessex is back and raring to go.

Autumn 1698

General Washington's steed cantered into the fort. "Colonel La Salle!"

Robert de La Salle and Paul Revere looked up from their map table. "General!" La Salle exclaimed. "Paul has just arrived from New Grove with our reinforcement; we were discussing how his cavalry could best be deployed."

Revere saluted Washington as the General dropped from his horse. "I'm prepared to take them up against the English artillery," he said. "I know, I know - your men have already worn themselves out, so I won't have backup, but I think after the damage you've done-"

Washington raised a hand, and Revere fell silent. "I'm glad you're here, Colonel," the General said, "but we may have more to deal with than the cannons to our east. An Iroquois warrior has just brought us news from the west - news of a second Royalist army moving up the road." La Salle sucked in a sharp breath as Washington grabbed a handful of infantry and artillery markers, dropping them into the woods to the west of the camp. "We are caught in a pincer, gentlemen, as neat as you please."



"The fort cannot hold against that," La Salle said. "We need reinforcements. We can call up the cavalry from New Hamilton, Nieuw Amsterdam. Make the Thames Valley a nut the REF will break its teeth on." He reached for the cavalry markers by the map, but Revere caught his arm.

"We can't," the younger man said. "I've had word from the State of Arianna: the English cavalry is everywhere. They're threatening Tywyn, Amsterdam, Hamilton - even the capital itself is under threat."



La Salle looked up at Vazquez de Coronado's map of the Confederation, pinned to the wall, and grimaced. "Then we must be the reinforcements," he said. "We'll retreat the unhorsed men to New Grove, and take the Dragoons back east." He strode over to the map, gesturing. "If the REF are between New Hamilton and Nieuw Amsterdam, they must be out in the open; we can ambush them in the Mawddach valley and destroy them utterly. Then on to New Bath, and-"

"And what?" Revere demanded. "We couldn't make it through the Arianna forests before winter set in; by the time we reached New Bath, the English would already have taken it, and would have the government as hostages."

"Gentlemen." Washington raised his hands for attention. "Things are perhaps not so bad as all that. The Iroquois still have contact with the Arawak - apparently taking sides in this war does not erase their bonds of kinship. They have heard of troop movements in the eastern regions. The heartland is not undefended." He stepped past La Salle and brushed a finger over the site of New Bath. "The Arawak also say that a ship left the harbour soon after the Royalist cavalry were sighted, bearing a golden sun on its sail."

La Salle let out a sigh of relief. "The Vergulde Sonne," he breathed. "So the President is safe, at least."

Revere looked dubious. "Are they sure she was on board?" he asked. "It seems unlike her to flee from danger."

Washington gave a small smile. "I asked the same question," he said. "Apparently a figure was seen leaping over the side of the ship as it sailed away, and swimming back to shore. Make of that what you will."

Revere shook his head slowly. "Oh Mother-of-us-All… though she may be safer in New Bath than on the high seas, if the English fleet continues to the east."

"Ah." La Salle tapped the image of Fernambuco on the map board. "There, it is I who have good news. The ships have retreated - they have returned to dock in the harbour they have captured."

"Why?" Washington mused. "Repairs? To prepare for retreat? In case they are needed against the Iroquois?" He bent over the map, studying it.

"I do not see that it makes a difference," La Salle said. "The President is in danger; we must ride east, even if we will reach her too late. It is our duty."

"No." Washington looked up at the two colonels. "Our duty is to West Wessex as a whole, not to one woman, however beloved. And these cannon…" He tapped the army to the east. "In another season they could be at the walls of New Tilbury. We have a chance to take them out, and we must take it, whatever the cost to ourselves or our President." He straightened, and the other two found themselves coming to attention.

"Colonel Revere," said General Washington, "you will take your cavalry and harass the enemy guns to the east. Our forces have already stripped away their infantry and damaged a number of their cannon; God willing, you can end them as a threat for good."

~

Now is as good a time as any to mention that I've completely trivialised this war, in several different ways. The first one is that I chose only Moderate difficulty; I'm not sure precisely what that means, but it's given me a pretty easy ride.

The second way was a stroke of pure luck. While exploring far and wide for Lost City rumours/goody huts, I stumbled across not one, but two Fountains of Youth. These immediately dump about six colonists on the dock back in Europe, meaning I had a very early influx of population. At a time when the game expected me to have two people in each city, I was able to run all the way up to seven.

Seven is the early-game soft limit on city-size; after that, you start being penalised if you don't have enough Liberty Bells/rebel sentiment. With my excess population, I was able to start addressing that pretty quickly - which meant that by the time I was conquering the New Netherlands and starting my second expansion phase, my core cities were pushing 100% revolutionary and getting a bonus instead of a penalty.

I kept my new and conquered cities small at first, running them straight up to 100% rebel before expanding them. Since I wasn't really using gold for much, I didn't work too hard on getting my cities to produce trade goods - which meant they made heaps of food, instead - which meant that every turn I was getting multiple colonists born as cities hit 200 food. The new colonists could be trained at the universities and sent back home, to replace the untrained colonists already there… it all fed back on itself.

The thing is, you can declare independence as soon as your nation hits 50% revolutionary. I didn't. I was at 90% when I declared, and had spent the last couple of dozen turns building soldiers. Far from being an overwhelming force, the Royal Expeditionary Force is about the same size as my army. If I'd bothered to pull all my artillery into Fernambuco, we could probably have wiped them out there and then.

I also made use of a quirk of the game mechanics. Any Veteran Soldiers (which can be trained at university) working in your cities when you declare independence have a chance to upgrade to Colonial Regulars, based on how rebellious the city is. Great! … except that the upgrade happens instantly. So I just dumped all my soldiers into the cities - never mind that they were now deep in starvation, and that the warehouses would drop all their guns and horses next turn - pushed the button… and then pulled them back out as an army fully upgraded and ready to match strength with the English.

Finally, Fernambuco was a tragedy, but did a wonderful job of splitting the enemy force. Some of them used up their moves attacking the city, so were left outside. One captured my one escaping colonist. One fought a single cavalry outside the colony on the next turn. Then, the AI didn't bother to either wait in the city or keep its army together, resulting in Washington's dream scenario: the slow infantry and artillery stuck in the Thames Valley (split into two, because some of it is the units that got stuck outside the city), the cavalry way out ahead (also split in two), and various isolated units all over the map.

We might lose another colony. We might even lose New Bath, if the Royal Dragoons gang up on it. But we definitely won't be losing the war.


Paul Revere
Real World: "The British are coming!" Okay, he never shouted that, but the poem said he did. Actually, even that's not true - it's just generally attributed to him. American revolutionary and silversmith. 1734-1818.
FreeCol: If an undefended colony is attacked, one of its citizens will use any stockpiled rifles to defend it. Joined the Congress in 1601.
West Wessex: With La Salle, one of Washington's two colonels. His main responsibility is the militia (well-organised, naturally).