Chevalier Rides Again: A City Lights exploration

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 219: Final licks at Nagoya

Japan focuses all his fire on my ironclad armada in the sea of Hyuga and sinks it, committing his privateer armada to finish the job:




Well, drat. 2 ironclad fleets and 1 ironclad armada lost make Nagoya by far the bloodiest battle of the war for me - my supply of modern combat units drops by over 1/3, from 8 ironclad fleet or armadas to only 5 armadas now. I need to upgrade a caravel fleet to bring Battle 1 up to strength now, and Battle 2 will be considerably below establishment strength for the remainder of the war, likely. I need to work out oil revenue to determine if I can support 12 DD armadas or not - that might be overkill! 

Anyway, we mop up the survivors and shell Nagoya:





Escort 3 finally - much too late - adopts its screening position in the Mt. Gundabad channel, re-establishing my picket for the first time in 5 turns since my scouting caravels were driven off. Nothing approaches:



So, in the end, Japan's counteroffensive sank 1 caravel on the way in, then in 3 turns took out 2 successive ironclad fleets and then, most stingingly, the ironclad armada, in exchange for 2 caravel fleets, an ironclad fleet, and an ironclad armada of his own, plus 4 frigate fleets and a privateer armada. What could we have done better?

Obviously, in retrospect I went into Nagoya too early, while I was still redeploying from Tokyo. I relied too much on Japan's despair after losing his second city and figured all the fight had gone out of him, plus grew confident in the strength of my fleet. I wanted to destroy the city as rapidly as possible and THEN regroup to sail for Takamatsu. Clearly the better move would been to have regrouped south of Nagoya, re-established my privateer screen, and then gone for the city only AFTER securing my northern flank, instead of deliberately leaving it open as I attacked the city. The first ironclad sinking wasn't a major surprise, but then the Encampment and Hyuga Island really messed with my counterattack - instead of getting to counterpunch with my entire fleet, I could only hit back with part of it, and so 2 exposed ironclads were sunk. Good deployment by Japan there, but I had no other choice after his initial round - could hardly pull back and disengage, just had to kill him as quickly as possible.

So, lesson learned. We'll finish Nagoya, and we'll regroup around Mt. Gundabad, fully upgrading and healing as best I can, before pushing to Takamatsu the RIGHT way, behind my privateer screens. 

Nagoya is battered down and will fall next turn. One battleship is in range, but with destroyer upgrades beginning soon I should be able to repair any damage before Takamatsu. Also, two more fleets are upgraded to armadas:



North of Mordor is a disturbing chain of Indonesian sentries, as we settle Angmar in 2 turns:



We have 25 turns of peace remaining, so no real worries about a sneak attack, but still, what's he up to? 

You'll notice more and more non-ship builds creeping in. My final required strength is set at the 42 ships (counting armadas as single ships) of my 7 squadrons, so while I keep privateers in the pipeline since I still lose them steadily at 1/turn (only one ship left from Operation Aztec, for example), everyone else is starting to adopt needful infrastructure upgrades. I haven't yet decided if I'll once again try for a period of peace after Japan, or if I'll just roll to a domination victory. Depends on how fatigued I am.

Situation on the front:



Will I send a BB to shell Kyoto, or forgo the gimmick and just concentrate on Takamatsu? Don't know yet.

[williams482]

I'm impressed with this Japan player, both the excellent econ development and the resolve to keep fighting despite wanting to concede. They'd fit in well here for sure.

I'm skeptical of the value added by stashing a battleship behind Kyoto and shelling the city from there. Can one armada really do enough damage to make a meaningful difference there? And, won't any ship left there either require substantial defensive support or be vulnerable to a Japanese ironclad sneaking into that bay through the canals?

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

I'm impressed with this Japan player, both the excellent econ development and the resolve to keep fighting despite wanting to concede. They'd fit in well here for sure.

I'm skeptical of the value added by stashing a battleship behind Kyoto and shelling the city from there. Can one armada really do enough damage to make a meaningful difference there? And, won't any ship left there either require substantial defensive support or be vulnerable to a Japanese ironclad sneaking into that bay through the canals?

Note that I'd be shelling from the bay near the former Tokyo - the one sea space 3 tiles from Kyoto. Basically it'd let me start working on the walls 5 turns or so before I could sail all the way around the continent. The BB would be totally secure from sea attack - the only canal to the south is through Oslo city center, which I hold, and to the north is where my fleet is. So Japan could only hit back with his land units, and I think I wiped those out - I haven't seen any since Oslo, where I destroyed a couple of siege units, even though they might have fought at Tokyo or Nagoya. Even so, a field cannon can't scratch a BB and a bombard would need to setup first, letting me get the first shot or sail out of range.

Still, it's a gimmick, and not necessary - I will keep the battleships together and we'll blast Kyoto down from the north, after taking and burning Takamatsu. Destroyers and privateers will clear the bay, then hold the southern flank while the shelling happens. Then we burn it (it's a gorgeous city, shame), and use the shelter of the bay to take down Kyoto.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 220

Japanese defenses and the ironclad armada in Nagoya claim 4 more privateers over the turn - 1 off his west coast (RIP Kyoto scouts), 1 near Akkad (RIP Operation Aztec), and 2 at Nagoya itself. In reply, of course, I'll raze the city and sink the ironclad - the ship exchange alone is nearly 2:1 in my favor, thanks to the Venetian Arsenal! 


 

Japanese power is down to 400 points. I know of 1 ironclad fleet, 1 armada (which will be sunk), and 1 privateer armada near Kyoto. The armada accounts for 87 of that power, which will be destroyed. The fleet is another 80 points, the privateer is 67, so he only has about 150ish power outside those 3 units. That's essentially 2 armadas, except I know of one samurai army still operating, which means he has effectively 1 armada that I haven't detected yet. So, at the moment, his navy is down to about 3 units, total, and I know where all but one of them are. 

Still, I'll be cautious. We will upgrade our ironclads to destroyers, ending the combat penalty from lack of coal (and, incidentally, re-opening our coal power plants and boosting economic output at home), form up our privateers (still averaging 2 every turn produced), and move behind that shield towards the end game at Takamatsu, Kyoto, Nidaros, and Stavanger. 

Japan has Defender of the Faith, granting him a +5 combat bonus near his own cities, which stacks with his shallow water defense to give that ironclad armada +10 strength total. So fighting the ironclad in his own territory is to be avoided - we shell the city with two BB armadas and seize it with our own ironclad:



Before we raze it, that grants us control of the encampment and city defenses, so I fire on the ironclad from the shore before clicking the raze button.

Then, privateers swarm and sink the 'clad:


That bad boy was double-promoted, too, making it the most experienced unit on either side lost in this war.

I upgrade my first destroyer - 990 gold, ouch, and no prospect of a civic swap within 11 turns. Still, the former IGS Gorgon, veteran of the Battle of London over 160 turns ago, is now Task Force Tokyo, the first oil-burning unit in the world:

 

At a thousand gold a pop, I can upgrade 4 more ironclads, which I think matches my available units exactly. Then we'll need to pillage from Japan's western coast before we can afford to begin upgrading the caravels, sadly. Still, this marks the end of my combat and healing penalty in coal, if nothing else. I had to fight one major battle with it, which is more than I had hoped for, but the alternative of NOT upgrading battleships or ironclads was simply out of the question. It's going to be a much more powerful fleet roaring down on his west coast than anything Japan has seen before, that's for certain - modern destroyer armadas, no combat penalties, higher in numbers than it's ever been...not bad for 20 turns of a war that started with caravel fleets battling!

Final setup after the sack of Nagoya:


Escort 3 is in screening position, escorts 1 and 2 are forming up. BB1 will form up behind the escorts, while Batrons 1 & 2 return to Gundabad for upgrades and healing, respectively.

I sure hope that ironclad isn't permanently stuck on Nagoya's tile...

[Erasmas]

So since you cannot raze his capital, do you plan on keeping any other cities?

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

That's a good question.

I've made promises to Norway to return Nidaros, Stavanger, and Oslo at an opportune time, and I intend to keep that promise. Norway is so far behind in tech (he's not unlocked crossbows yet) that he'll never be a threat to win the game, and with him friendly towards me I can get military alliances against any other competitors. I think that's more valuable than the handful of extra yields I'd get from those 3 cities.

So the question is - can I hold Kyoto given the loyalty pressure from those two big Norwegian cities? I think so, if I hold Takamatsu. And it really is a gem - the Great Barrier Reef is in Takamatsu Bay, it has an excellent geothermal campus, a Holy Site somewhere in the mountain fog, etc. So best practice might be to capture those two cities and hold them, and resettle Tokyo and Nagoya? There's also room for a city on the northern coast and on Hyuga Island, but I need to look at my amenity situation. Such cities almost certainly wouldn't pay off but they're fun to build and I'm not worried about Indonesia and only a little worried about Phoenicia.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 221 - Regrouping

For the first time in a long time, there's no exchanges of fire on the interturn, no ships sunk, no cities attacked. Exactly 20 turns of warfare have seen the Japanese navy destroyed and half of his cities razed or liberated, while we lost a quarter (more or less) of our own pre-war navy - half a dozen caravels or ironclads, 1 frigate, and close to a dozen privateers. However, thanks to the Venetian Arsenal and the pillaging of science, we're actually quite a bit more powerful than when we started. 

First off, Plastics comes in, granting me the ability to build off-shore oil rigs and solving all our strategic resource problems for probably the remainder of the game:



There's little to note, except that my camp near Oslo has been pillaged: 

 

That means there's a Japanese privateer on one of the neighboring tiles, probably an armada. That's about 1/4 of his fleet located, then. It has no escort - the ironclad fleet has moved elsewhere. I find another privateer defending Nidaros on the western coast:


That's about half the fleet located, then. 

In the north, he has helpfully repaired the coal mine my Line Infantry sacrificed itself for - I pillage it again, of course:



Another 1/3 of a destroyer upgrade, and there's 2 more lumberyards to burn on this coast! Delightful! That should be another full armada, enough to totally fill out Battle 1. 

My spy establishes in Kyoto:


Lovely city. This will provide spotting until the city is taken. I'd also place a spy in Takamatsu, but alas, my spy was captured fleeing Nagoya (he neutralized Victor just before the final Battle of Nagoya), so I'll be down to 1 until Japan is wiped out. I start to run a listening post mission, it should finish just before the fall of the city per my timeline and it might cut that Japanese intel advantage somewhat - I presume there's a spy in Barad-Dur just running Listening Post missions on repeat. You can't stop those, basically, so I ignore it. Anyway, Kyoto has an ironclad fleet guarding the entrance to the bay, and still has a robust economy despite the devastation that wreaked everything southeast of the city, near former Tokyo. Note the many railroads Japan built - they speed movement of land units, but frankly, what's the point? He's only got the one anyway and my army is mostly a police force at home. Each tile of railway cost 1 coal to build, plus the production put into a military engineer. That could have been more ironclads or battleships - waste of time if you ask me. 

Anyway, now it's time to take a look at the operational geography of western Japan and plot Operation Olympic. Here's what we'll do:


The main fleet will assemble within 5 turns south of Gundabad (behind the score ribbons at top right). Then, Escort3 and Escort2 will lead the way around the point into the Arctic Ocean, followed by Battle1 and Bomb1 in support. The mission here is to find and defeat any Japanese naval units and establish firm control over this body of water. Deadline for this phase is turn 230. In phase 2, we'll send an escort squadron into Takamatsu and again sweep out any Japanese naval units or drive them into the city, before we take up position at the mouth of the bay and shell the city down. This should be accomplished by 235. From Takamatsu, most of Bomb1 will have covered positions to open up on Kyoto, so we'll shell the city from here, before moving into the bay once the city defenses are down to strike the coup de grace. Only then will we proceed south against the final Japanese cities - the war should be concluded by 245. Battle1 and Battle2 will probably be split - Takamatsu and Kyoto are restricted waters, so I'll probably only send in 3 destroyers (Destroyer Division 1 henceforth). Desdiv2 will support Escort3 in holding the Arctic against any Japanese incursions, then will move on Kyoto after Takamatsu falls. 

I don't see many ways this can go wrong. We know Japan's strength is less than 400. We know he has 2 privateer armadas and 2 ironclad fleets - 300 power accounted for. He has one Samurai Army visible near Mexico City (New Norway island), which is another 65 strength. So all told he has only 1 ship otherwise. His ships are scattered from Oslo all the way to Tokyo, not gathered en masse, and all of them together couldn't beat even one squadron of my navy, let alone all 7 sailing in concert. He might add 2 armadas to his forces before I enter the Arctic, but even 4 ironclad armadas are not going to stop 6 destroyer armadas backed by 7 battleship armadas, 20+ privateers, and my ragamuffins in Battle2. And once the sea is lost, then his cities will follow - we saw how even stoutly defended Tokyo and Nagoya melted in 3 turns under serious assault, and only damaged a handful of privateers in return. So really, the war from this point forward is mostly a matter of sailing there.

There is the possibility of pillaging. Here's the full western coast, except Nidaros:


I count 5 lumberyards, 3 mines, 2 pastures, 1 camp, 4 fully developed harbors (4 pillages each), 1 campus (3 pillages) and 3 fully developed industrial zones (4 each), plus a theater square and holy site. By my calculations that's 21 gold pillages, 15 science pillages, 4 faith pillages, and 3 culture pillages, working out to 7,644 gold, 2,430 science (20+ turns!), 648 faith (3 granaries or monuments with Valetta), and 486 culture. That seems too valuable to go to waste, so I think I must let each city survive until the privateers can fully pillage out. That will mean casualties in privateers if he has ironclads hunkered in the cities, but if he kills a ship with an ironclad then I get the ironclad in return and can finish pillaging out in peace. All of this will mroe than compensate for the war itself!

Good thing, too, because my amenity situation is TERRIBLE:


20 more turns of this to endure, then a long period of peace while I debate finishing off Phoenicia and Indonesia or building to victory. 

I begin to lay in post-war plans at home. First, the core of Mordor:


The Colosseum will alleviate the amenities situation somewhat, granting +2 amenities to 5 cities within 6 tiles. Mexico City, my vassal, extends regional effects by +3 tiles, but I don't know if that only applies to Industrial Zones' factories and Entertainment Districts' Zoos, or if the Colosseum also benefits. Anyway, that will help. Minas Morgul is also laying down an Entertainment District because I was distracted by the war and my urban planning was poor. Anyway, all these places are covered by the factory in Minas Morgul and are mostly builder-complete, although I can lumbermill Jungle tiles now so need a wave of builders. 2 should cover this area.

England/Gondor:


Osgiliath amusingly can claim the Pyramids, in the modern era of all things! Japan and Phoenicia both had desert tiles in their capitals, not sure why this Wonder went unclaimed. It's a quick 5-turn build. I can also build a NICE Panama Canal to connect my northern and southern coasts, which would be fun, but not necessary. Osgiliath is mostly built out, though, so I may do it for the hell of it. Coaltown and the Black Gate can contribute amenities with good entertainment and waterfront districts. I need about 2 builders here. 

The archipelago:


These cities are entering adolescence. I have a decent industrial zone, several entertainment districts, and some excellent campus sites available, as well as needing 2 builders here. This area is a worthy competitor to Phoenician & Indonesian colonies, or to the whole of Norway's empire. 

Finally, the war zone:


Should have 4 or 5 destroyer armadas ready to go next turn.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 222 - Survey of Mordor

Another quiet turn passes as the Mordor Fleet regroups, repairs, upgrades and reinforces near Mount Gundabad. I have 3 more turns to get everything ready for the offensive against Takamatsu. This turn, the major move is I get all my ironclad armadas save 1 upgraded to Destroyers. 


 
To make up the missing armada, I was forced to upgrade a caravel fleet and my singleton caravel (which survived Japan's attack on my scouts prior to Nagoya by the thinnest of margins). The result is I don't quite have the gold to upgrade my final ironclad armada, and won't, until I can begin the pillage campaign. Do I sail with 5 destroyer armadas and 1 ironclad armada? I think so.

The great news is, this turn I finally was in the black on coal, which means my coal units can begin repairs at last and my power plants will begin to come back online:



That's another +6 or so production per turn in Minas Morgul, Osgiliath, and Cirith Ungol, and +3 in all the cities covered by those factories - on the whole probably about 30 production will trickle back into the empire over the next 3 turns. Slashed by 30%, of course, so only 20 production will I really see, but there's nothing to be done about war weariness. 25 more turns to soldier through. 

End the fleet movement this turn like so:


Escort 3 is in position at the entrance to the Arctic Ocean. I pushed up one division of Bombardment 1 behind them to provide support in case Japan attacks, which I don't expect. Two pillages happened at Oslo this turn, knocking out the aqueduct and factory, so I know he has 2 privateers there and 1 near Nidaros. The fleet at Kyoto hasn't moved and the one near Akkad can't have reached Takamatsu yet. Battle 1 is forming up as rapidly as I can - I can take a few turns to repair, at least, although I'm debating if I'll allow it to delay the launch of Olympic or not - and Escorts 1 and 2 are formed up in the rear, sailing for the front. Escort 4 has been nearly completely rebuilt near Gundabad and will join in, as well. Battle2 is healing up and will be in reserve. 

So, let's take these slow turns to do a quick survey of the empire. Today, we'll just focus on Barad-Dur, my capital. Here's a look inside:






Barad-Dur has been hampered by low food and housing for nearly its entire history. It has its full suite of available buildings, however, and can grow to size 9 soon as the war weariness ends. I need to grow to size 10 for its next district - a harbor, to solve food and housing problems - and I might squeeze in a bank at some point, but with little infrastructure to build the best way I can contribute from here is with builders. So, I need to slot in Liang instead of Magnus, who is present to cover the settler builds for the oil sites (using his promotion to prevent population loss). Do I even have Liang unlocked? I think so. Where the hell is she? Note to self: Find Liang. 

So, that will be a straightforward plan. Builders until size 10, then a harbor -> lighthouse -> Shipyard for +8 gold and +8 production and a fair amount of housing and food. That might let me limp to 13, but I have no real need for another district here. 

Barad-Dur has done stellar work as a settler pump and shipyard even with no harbor. 

Next time, we'll look at City #2: The Black Gate (just to the south).

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 223 - Regrouping...

More turns of repairs, replacements, and redeployments.



Turn opens here where you can see my various squadrons forming up - Escort 3 in the far west near the Japanese cape, Escort 1 clearing the barb camp at Hyuga, Escort 2 and 4 forming up in the Tethys. Looks like 2 privateers attacked - one haunting the southeastern coast is shelled by a Japanese encampment, the other fired upon by the barbarian field cannon. My industrial zone in Oslo is further pillaged - more science for Japan but I can't see how it will save him, and frankly that's more repairs for Norway to make when I gift Oslo back to him in a dozen turns or so. So no worries!

Here's the aforementioned privateer on the southeast...


The sole survivor of the original Escort 4, he's mostly hanging out to pillage any repairs Japan makes here, which he's done more than once. Sadly, I can't take that trader, which seems like an oversight. 

Japan's strength rises by 15 points...repairs? Forming a fleet to an armada? Something like that. No ship completions.

So, my turn is quiet. I push Escort 3 slowly around the cape, letting most of Bomb 1 catch up, as well as the first division of Battle 1 - the second division is still repairing/upgrading and will be late to the battle. I also detach Escort 4 and Battle 2 (4 caravel fleets) to sail to Oslo in what I've dubbed "Operation Cortez." Cortez will have the objective of 
1)Clearing the enemy privateer fleets off my coast
2)Recapturing Lake Akkad and pillaging its coasts
3)Pushing through the Nidaros canal to assist the final offensive against Japan. 

I can't handle an ironclad armada, but anything else I should be able to finish off. So, the final setup north of Takamatsu is this:


Well, not quite final, I still moved up Escorts 1 & 2. But basically, we're on track to capture the Arctic Ocean before turn 230 - in fact, I think I can capture Takamatsu before 230, and thus Kyoto by 235. A dozen turns to take Japan's capital, not allowing for pillage time. The two Norwegian cities shouldn't take more than 10 turns combined after that, so Japan has roughly 22 turns to live - 3 weeks if we were still managing a turn a day. Maybe by the New Year Japan will be out and the war will be over? We can hope.

Otherwise, we continue to swap off ship builds towards domestic needs. A few libraries and campuses, builders, etc. No entertainment districts quite yet until I can get a look at amenities after the war weariness lifts. 

So, let's look at city #2, the Black Gate:




This was my second city founded. On paper it's a bit underwhelming - a library, shipyard, and arena only, small production and science values, but you ahve to consider the history here. This city was founded entirely to block England out of the western half of my island, when I wasn't sure how much land was on either side. It was also the sole source of IGS Gorgon and IGS Sphinx, two galleys that captured England's second city of Newcastle. That was fundamentally the move that put me in the driver's seat in this game, coupled with Barad Dur's attack on London, leading to our twin cities of Osgiliath and Henneth Annun. At the time of its foundation, it had good territorial control and plenty of 2/2 jungle hills to work, and it's tagged by the factory in Osgiliath, but overall it hasn't scaled too well. I can never remember when lumbermills become available for jungle tiles, but I neglected to have a builder ready and so it's been struggling along for a while without. Once I can mill those tiles and finish its fishing fleet the city should be respectable, even more so once it comes out of war weariness and loses the 30% penalty to yields. 

On the whole, not a terrible city, just not a great one. That'll be Minas Morgul and Osgiliath. But next week - Umbar!

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 224 - Skirmishes & Setbacks

Turn 224 sees yet more massive flooding near Minas Morgul, pillaging the Industrial Zone and the productive farmland near the city:


This is something like the fifth time this has happened, and I can't dam the river since dams can only be built on floodplains, which this river has none. So you'd think it wouldn't flood, right? Well, that's where you're wrong, bucko! Sets me back about 5 turns while I make repairs. No big deal in the grand scheme of things, but irritating. 

There's also a minor flareup at Moria, of all places - see the pillage notification at the right of the above screen? An enemy privateer fleet turns up and pillages the empire's only niter mine, which would be devastating, if, y'know, I was building any units that required niter at all. Unluckily for Japan, I had a privateer repairing in Moria and he provides enough vision for the ship & city to combine to sink the raider (forgot to get a pre-firing phase screenie, sorry):



Finally, Japan finished pillaging out the Industrial Zone at Oslo, crippling that city. My biggest worry is he now pulls back north of the canal and pillages it behind him - I won't be able to pursue until Oslo repairs it, which will take functionally the rest of the war. That would stop Operation Cortes in its tracks and I can do nothing about it, so, uh, fingers crossed he doesn't do that very obvious thing?

Otherwise, it's a matter of nudging my 50-odd ships along their charted courses. By turn's end, I have 4 1/2 squadrons of ships poised above the Arctic, ready to enter the ocean next turn:


Escort 3 is still leading, with Bomb 1 in support. Escorts 1 & 2 are immediately in the rear as we squeeze through this strait between the Japanese mainland and that outlying island into the North Sea. Battle1 is spread out along the pack - 3 DDs about 1 turn's sailing apart each are with the main fleet, the other division is finishing repairs at Gundabad and will sail to rejoin the fleet next turn. I know that means accepting battle with only half my melee combat units available - see how close the enemy ironclad fleet is at Kyoto? He could hit me as soon as next turn after I sail closer - but I'm figuring 6 BB armadas and 18 privateers will be enough to handle Japan's navy. He has 427 power, minus 65 for the sunken privateer fleet at Moria. That leaves 360, we can see one ironclad fleet and know of another, leaving less than 200. We know of 2 more privateer armadas, deducting a further 140, leaving only 60 unaccounted for. I know the 2 armadas are out of position in the south. So, I can expect to face no more than 3 ironclad fleets or 2 fleets and a privateer armada or frigate armada in support. They won't be able to do more than sink a couple of privateers, and I actually have enough in reserve to form a fifth escort squadron if I wanted (I won't, those ships will be used to replace losses in the combat formations).

So, next turn we'll enter the Arctic Ocean and move to seize control of the two bay entrances at Kyoto and Takamatsu. I want to find and sink those ships first, then go for the cities. We can open fire on Takamatsu on turn 227, 3 days from now, and the city should fall 3-4 turns after that. I need 6 single pillages and 1 quadruple pillage (on the harbor) to fully pillage out the city, which can be accomplished by turn 230, so that will remain the target date for the fall of the city. Then Kyoto is helpless as I can shell it in safety from Takamatsu's position - the real challenge will be in pillaging out the city.

Continuing our imperial survey, then, let's look at my third city, Umbar:




Umbar was founded using the Fertility Rites pantheon, which granted me a free settler and was key to my early snowball. It sits on the Natural Wonder Ha Long Bay, so it got off to a good start with food and culture. The fully developed campus and shipyard make it a wonderful shipbuilding city (appropriate, given the name), and it also will be home to the Colosseum in about 10 turns' time. This city is largely developed, but it has room for another district - I intend a +5 holy site at the Natural Wonder. There is still 1 religion to be founded and I will set up a counter-religion to Indonesia. Indonesia has a lovely faith and generates hundreds of faith per turn, and could conceivably try for a religious victory since neither Phoenicia nor myself have a religion and Norway/Japan are crippled. My counter is going to be laying down holy sites wherever I can, then founding my religion once as many of those are complete as practicable, which will insta-convert most of my empire right away. Then we'll Inquisition any danger away. Umbar will be the heart of this effort.

On the whole, it's a great city, and will be greater once the war weariness goes away in ~20 turns. Probably the third-best city in the empire, after Osgiliath and next turn's candidate, Minas Morgul.