[SPOILERS] Dhalphir PB13

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Dhal, I think you're perfectly justified in whipping them to the limit, especially since you've said that you intend to whip for units next turn anyway. Totally fine.

Ceil, I understand the line of thinking saying it may be bad form to whip that last pop point for the scout, but if you're in a fight to the death, that's one less pop your tormentor could potentially use to whip a unit against you later. So even in spite, it does serve a purpose to the defense. Is it likely to be the deciding unit at the end? Most likely not. I always think, though, that it comes down to a matter of preference as to how hard one wishes to hang on to life. Some don't mind riding into the sunset. Others cling tooth and nail until someone shoves them into the grave. I don't think there is really a wrong answer, as long as you are playing your best and giving the game a good effort.

I hope you're enjoying your pitboss experience. Fight on!

[Ceiliazul]

I don't think there is really a wrong answer, as long as you are playing your best and giving the game a good effort.

I hope you're enjoying your pitboss experience. Fight on!

Ditto the above.

[Catwalk]

I would not double whip. Scorched earth tactics are fine, but being able to completely decimate a city through multi-whipping feels like an exploit to me. I'd single whip it each turn, doing legitimate scorched earth tactics and getting defenders at the same time.

[Dhalphir]

I thought about it some more, and I don't really feel bad about it. I mean - those cities are going to be contributing to Plako's empire well before I am actually eliminated. Handing him size 2 and 3 cities wherever I can means less chance of those cities being used against me directly.

[Rowain]

IMO It is your game and your empire. Do with it what you please . Nobody can force you to whip but at the same time nobody can force you not to.

And you have really exceeded expectations so far.

[Dhalphir]

Bad news - Shakuras lost as well.

Good news - that was already lost last turn, it just took an extra turn due to the whipped longbow. He didn't take any further losses beyond that though.

News that is good but also bad - aother seven whips adds another seven longbows to my army next turn. It's pretty spread out across my territory. I also cash upgraded three archers to longbows - one on an island city being threatened by a plako gallery and the other two in the north to defend against any Bacchus incursions.

I don't THINK Bacchus will pile on - he has had his own problems north of him for most of the game. But I want to be prepared for it, and hell - I'm already tanking my economy by whipping my southern cities, may as well just go the whole hog and whip everything until the turn I die.

Plako has knights, elephants, and maces, so he'll still be able to beat my longbows. bacchus has nothing better than numidians, so it will be a massive grind for him if he tries to take any cities.

[Dhalphir]

I'm really bad at remembering to take pictures while I play my turns.

Anyway, quick summary

My capital is the next city under threat. It has four longbows with a fifth one completing at the end of this turn, and three spears. My main army is also sitting inside the capital as of this turn, and I have about a half dozen catapults, 6-8 axes and 10-12 spears in the stack. Nothing advanced, but it will be a meatgrinder for plako still, given the longbows. I think he will bypass my capital for as long as there is that many units inside it.

The next city north has a sizable garrison in it too - a couple spears and four longbows, and I can get to that city with my main army just as quickly if not quicker than Plako can threaten it, unless he pillages my roads and attacks that city with knights. The next one north has an even bigger garrison - three longbows, half a dozen spears, and a few leftover chariots. It is also still size 7 and able to whip at least two more longbows before plako will threaten it.

I have six longbows defending my border cities with Bacchus- there are two longbows and a big chunk of spears and axes inside Mar Sara on the land border, and my coastal city on the far north peninsula has one longbow in it, with another due to be whipped and a third to arrive from the south next turn. i don't think any boat army that Bacchus could muster can threaten three longbows, and he will take heavy losses hitting Mar Sara.

So far, Plako has taken two cities. I don't think I could have prevented this - Feudalism finishing on the turn immediately before he declared meant that I was never going to have enough longbows to defend in time. My capital is fortified well now. If he detours south he will get the two cities down there with little difficulty, as his knights are only two turns away from Korhal and that city has only two longbows in it with a third to be whipped soon, but it's a long way away from the rest of my empire down there.

So, tl;dr - Two cities down. Capital under threat but safe enough. Plako faced with a choice to detour south to more lightly-defended cities, or take a longer route north past Aiur and push down those cities. Either way I don't think he's going to be able to finish me quickly.

[Dhalphir]

Do catapults deliver collateral damage when defending too, or just attacking?

[Oxyphenbutazone]

Just attacking. Their virtues as defenders is that they are immune to collateral, so they soak up hits.

[Dhalphir]

Plako's stack was in range of my capital, and my defenses aren't so overwhelming that he wouldn't attack, so I decided to hit him with my cats and sacrifice them to soften his stack. Each unit took around 30-35% damage. Should be enough to prevent him attacking for another turn, which will let me whip the capital down to size 2 next turn and produce two more longbows before he hits me there.

Bacchus also moved in and declared in the north, but every city up there is well protected by at least three longbows and he has less than a dozen units.