RB Pitboss #1 [SPOILERS] Willem of Persia

[novice]

Good stuff. Thanks for updating.

[shadyforce]

No sign of Elkad yet. I hope he didn't just forget to end turn, which would be unlike him.

In other news, the Lins defied the AP resolution so they take the happiness hit. I can't remember exactly but I think 1 or 2 of their medium size cities have Hinduism. Perhaps he took the hit to save Elkad from defying since the -5 happiness in Carthage would really really hurt!

It has occured to me that since Elkad moves first in our war, he can attack now and weaken my units, which earn promos but can't use them until next turn. But since he moves first next turn as well, he essentially gets to attack twice before I can promote? That's a little annoying.

4 of my Cannon survived the fight. They are on 10, 7, 4 and 4 XP. So one of my Cannon must have gained 5XP in fights! Impressive. And assuming he survives, it looks like Kerkouane will be facing a CR3 Cannon... that's +75% for attacking the city and another +10% against a musket! Scary.

Elkad and Daniel both got Great Generals out of the fighting but not me because I had one earlier in the game. But my next is not far off. I expect it when I attack Kerk. A medic 3 would be extremely useful.

Elsewhere in the world, Broker has declared war on Kodii and sneak-razed a city using a Knight. Broker claims the NAP expired this turn but I was sure Kodii mentioned having a longer safety period to atttack Munro without Broker sneaking him. I wonder what'll happen when Kodii logs on and sees what has happened.

There have also been tech trading amongst the enemy. Elkad probably completed RP this turn and I think Broker got a tech as well. I will check when in game but Military Tradition would make sense. Last turn, Exploit researched and traded around what I believe to be Guilds. Daniel is 4 turns away from Rifling and I've suggested that we plan an assault on Carthage based on getting Rifles and maybe Cavalry in the small window we have after we get Rifling but before Elkad gets it.

[shadyforce]

T159: The Advance Towards Kerkouane

Total losses so far:

Me: 2 Cannon, Knight, War Elephant, Pike
Daniel: 5 Cannon, 3 Cats, 2 Knights
Elkad: 15 Cats, 9 Muskets, 4 Knights, War Elephant, Longbow

I underestimated how much damage had been done to my stack. I have quite a lot of of very low health units. Thankfully 3 of my 4 Cannon have upgrades that can be applied immediately and they and a near-full strength Jumbo should provide sufficient defence if Elkad decides to attack with whatever fresh units he has nearby, particularly those Knights who have much less damage than I expected... I am presuming that Elkad gave them promotions using his new GG to heal them.


Here is a screenshot and you get an idea of my units and their health bars along the bottom. this is before I applied a few promotions but most of my units stayed on that health.

Also, oops, I thought the 3 Muskets had been deleted after the attacked but they were hidden from view by my spy in that tile. At any rate, I finished them off with some of my 2-move units, including my remaining Knight who is now up to 10XP and can promote next turn.

Also, when I landed on the new tile, the rest of my 2-movers pillaged the village but I left the road in tact because if Kerk gets razed, that road might be useful for reinforcement or retreats. I have 2 workers nearby that can rebuild the road on the plains tile if necessary.

So here is an overview shot showing all the units in play excluding what Daniel has on the boats which have not yet landed:

[shadyforce]

T160: To keep, or not to keep...

[shadyforce]

T160: [SIZE="3"]The Battle of Kerkouane![/SIZE]

First of all a new Cuirassier gifted by the Lins appeared north of Kerk which will be killed after Kerk is captured. I decide not to bother with bombarding because my CR3 Cannon has decent odds against the top defender:


I send in the rest of the Cannon (all successfully retreat leaving 20% health) to leave the defenders like this:


And then I send in the Maces and Crossbow all at ~99% odds:




The city comes with a Granary and Harbour, as well as being size 12 and loads of gold.

Both my least damaged Jumbo and a Fresh C2 Knight had 50-50 odds on that Cuirassier that the Lins gifted. I decided to keep the Jumbo (who could spend a turn healing and then be the top defender next turn for my Cannon stack) and use the Knight:


Unfortunately lost that coin-flip but I cleaned up with one of my weakened Jumbos.

Next, I try and sabotage the road on that plains forest:


Unfortunately, it failed at 74% odds and I lose the spy but keep my EPs.

Next, I sent a Horse Archer to pick off that lone Catapult. I'm not sure why he's promoted to Drill 1 and Medic 1, nor why he is parked within killing distance:


But he's gone now anyway. I retreated that HA back to the tile 1S of Kerkouane where he can be killed but at least he eats up a move of a potential atttacker.

Next I send 2 workers to rebuild the road on the plains tile to allow my Pike to join my Cannon to provide additional defence. I then decided, in my infinite wisdom, to send a few 2-movers to pillage a village and road that can be used to attack those workers:


My intention was to send them, pillage and retreat back to safety. However:
1) I accidentally sent a crippled spear along with the 4 mounted, and
2) I realised after I had pillaged that they don't have a movement point left to retreat.

That pillage stack is doomed if Elkad chooses to kill them, and they even include my Medic Immortal. I don't even care that much about my outdated mounted but I really really need that Medic! Pure weed there. Stupidity at its finest.


A Great General was born and he is now racing to the front where I need to find a sufficiently crappy unit to become desperately needed super-Medic.

My units are weakened and Elkad's fresh Cuirassiers are a danger if they attack. But if I can hold off for another couplt of turns, heal up, get my reinforcement Cannon and Knights and upgrade a few units to Rifling when that comes in in 3 turns then I'll be safe.

And while my immediate concern is keeping newly acquired Kerk safe, I'm thinking ahead now to how myself and Daniel might be able to take heavily fortified Carthage with Rifles in that small window where we have Rifles but before the enemy alliance do.

[MWIN]

Congrats....Is Elkad still on track to get Rifling 3 turns after you?

[shadyforce]

Elkad is not researching Rifling. He switched to Astronomy. It was 9 turns during his golden age, then it went up to 15 turns when he left the GA and now it's 19 turns after the capture of Kerk. I assume that it is Broker, as probably their best researcher, who is on Rifling. What I do know is that Broker would have started Rifling 2 turns after Daniel and has somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 the beaker output that Daniel has. So I expect another 7-9 turns before they get Rifling. But that's kind of an educated guess. I can't be sure.

I wonder if any of us have visibility on his research? That might help.

[shadyforce]

T162:



Daniel finishes Rifling. 1 turn left on the golden age so I revolt to Nationhood. And now it's time to start building a more modern army:

5 Cities draft Rifles, The Lighthouse triple-whips a Musket which will upgrade IBT and complete a Rifle next turn, The Castle will also complete a Rifle next turn and The Harbour and Central Command will finish their Rifles in about 3 turns.

My healthy Mace in Kerkouane is upgraded to a Rifle and on the next turn, my spear and the other 3 Maces will also be upgraded.

I also currently have 6 Cannon and 2 more Knights currently marching to the front just ahead of the Rifles.

My newest Great General has attached himself to a Crossbow and I now have a Medic 3 in Kerkouane to heal the troops in super-quick time.

On T164, a stack consisting of about 4 Rifles, 8 Cannon, 4 Knights, 6 Jumbos, 6 Cats will start marching towards Carthage. They will reach the hill NW of the city on T166 at which point Daniel will unload something like 7 Rifles and 5 Cannon. On T167, the Siege of Carthage will begin.

[novice]

Why don't you just nuke Carthage?

[shadyforce]

Because Daniel (presumably) wants to keep that city and he won't be too happy if it's glowing in the dark when he gets there.