[Spoilers] Bacchus debuts on RB showing unmatched vision and slick dice-rolling

[Dhalphir]

Settling the jungle was a difficult decision for me. I had a feeling that you would consider it disputed land, but with Plako's early attack on me, it meant he was able to settle a city right up in my face and I wasn't able to settle more than the first ring of cities from my capital in his direction. That meant my empire pretty much had to extend into the jungle to remotely keep up in city count, and, well, you saw how well I was able to defend such an elongated empire. I think had I not been facing chariots with warriors (Not entirely my fault, Serdoa skipped archery all the way until turn 60 when I took over and started researching it, and there was no copper nearby), I could have avoided losing that city so early on to Plako and then my empire would have looked very different.

[Dhalphir]

What are your plans for the next dozen turns or so?>

[Bacchus]

What are your plans for the next dozen turns or so?>

Is Plako mustering an attack? I've finished building some banks, and researched education, so I'll build a uni in cap and a couple of commerce places, otherwise building cats and muskets. Research is Economics, followed by PP, RP and Rifling.

[Dhalphir]

Sorry, that post contains no hints - I originally wrote thirty turns but a dozen seemed easier to plan for :P

[Bacchus]

Plako has completed his first Cannons, the end is nigh. At least I have city viz on him, so I get to watch the equipment roll in.

As good a time as any to post the defense plan:


I am going to build forts and reinforce on the line just south of the capital. This is the only place where I can cut off the advance using just three tiles. Not the best terrain — only one hill, so the weak tiles will have just the +25% from the fort. Still, better than nothing and better than holding in the city, which will have it's cultural defense bombarded down to 0%. CG promotions still work in forts. The fort upon a hill will have a nice +50%, so I will be able to leave a slightly smaller stack in it. Fortunately, due to the lake there is no way siege can threaten both flat tiles on the same turn. Cavalry can.

The land that I lose is mostly MFG land, the cottages remain behind the line, so I should be able to finance the army for a while, plus beg.

A lone garrison remains in Chau Sara, mostly in a forlorn hope that Plako will overcommit to that front and buy me some turns in the north. I don't really have a way of moving that garrison across without it being too obvious. Still, I might actually move it out on galleys, 6 units a pop.

Everything south of the defensive line starts whipping next turn. I expect plako's DOW in 4-5 turns.

If he figures out the plan and pushes straight towards the capital with a large force, I have no hope of getting Rifling in time and surviving. Otherwise -- maybe just.

Also, lesson for the future -- MilTrad is a better defensive tech than Rifling, at least you get units that can flank cannons and destroying the attacker's siege train is a primary goal with such an economic disparity.

[Bacchus]

Oh yeah, black question mark. William will probably use this opportunity to rush in and take my economic core away. It doesn't actually make sense for him to do that as this land with developed cottages is plako's main prize in declaring on me. What he should do is send a scout to monitor the front lines and then, once plako's breakthrough is imminent, pillage the hell out of my improvements.

[Dhalphir]

Why not whip everything north of the defensive line and funnel units down that way too? waiting for Rifling to do that?

[Bacchus]

Oh, I will whip, just not to the ground, precisely so that I can get Rifling, yeah, and maybe nationalism. I'm now even considering getting Nationalism before going RP->Rifling, might prove more useful given the timeframe I'm facing. Actually, I sort of fell asleep at the wheel here, preparations should have started earlier.

[Ituralde]

Love the defense planning. That's a really fortunate position you've got with that lake there.

I have no experience how these things hold up in MP games, but from a pure tactical point of view I'd love to see a standstill along the front line you've described.
Good luck with that!

[Bacchus]

It seems that in the situation I am faced with, the best I can do to make plako's advance delay and cost him is NOT to pile people into a few squares, which will just be ripped apart by cannons. So what do I do? Well, expect a WTF post from plako a few turns from now. I think it's the right thing to do.