[SPOILERS] Woden and ljubljana like boats

[ljubljana]

Ok, I think I should wait for IC and my two bait caravels. But I don't really know what to do with my ships this turn though...shooting blanks at Low-End Theory seems a bit pointless, especially since I will take damage from city fire that will be hard to heal off before we have to fight privateers.

Another thing to think about with your IC is that you will probably want to keep a few behind for the beautiful new expanse of pillaging that has been opened up on Australia's north coast. Not sure whether that should be the same group as the ones we use as bait (probably so the England ones are not slowed down) or whether pillaging should happen before or after pushing west (probably before, I guess, but it will slow us down even more...)

[Woden]

Shooting at Low End Theory is not pointless, farm it for experience and once you start bring the walls down, they go faster. My ironclad in the are will continue to pillage for a couple of turn and the new one out of Fort Miln will pillage a turn or 2 while waiting for the other one from the southern sea. I am holding off on the culture generating ones for after Suffrage to help Mobilization along. I can leave 1 ironclad back for pillage duty while the others sail west.

[ljubljana]

Scouting information suggests a change of plans:



Low-End Theory looks like a tough nut to crack with a field cannon corps in tow, but Illmatic is virtually defenseless with only Ancient Walls! Do you think you would have a chance to hold this city against Australian loyalty pressure with Victor? It would be under heavy pressure but it is in range of MBDTF which would alleviate the situation somewhat, and we could move on to Rodeo next to bootstrap loyalty here. I could probably take the city out in just 2 turns, or at least take the walls down, and it would be at minimal risk to my frigate health. Bypassing Low-End Theory also gives us some chance of ultimately flipping it if we can do well on the west side of the cape. Let me know your what your thoughts are on that plan.

Also, apparently Illmatic is Australia's original capital! I guess it got moved to The College Dropout during the Indonesian war, who knew?

edit: Also, do you know how much faith it will cost Australia to buy Renaissance Walls in Rodeo? I am trying to decide if I need to shoot it with the Dreadnought this turn to keep that from happening...unfortunately that would likely add a turn to the Illmatic time, though, which could be crucial given how close they are to IC

[Woden]

If we take Illmatic, we might be able to loyalty squeeze The Low-End Theory with MBDF on the other side. I should be able to hold it, being in a Golden Age and them in a Dark Age. Hit it and hit Rodeo if you can get vision on the city center. If you can, it might be worth it to just blast it from this side of the island.

[ljubljana]

Re: Rodeo:



I can get visibility on the city center, but I think I will need the Dreadnought attack to make sure I can take out the Illmatic walls in 2t. I am worried about that field cannon - it fires at 53 strength (63 in a city if that is a Garrison promotion), and that plus the city range strike can possibly take out one of my frigates. I don't know if I can afford for that to happen, and can certainly not afford it happening more than once.

I wish there were a way to easily check how large the Valletta wall discount is. If Renaissance Walls cost 300 faith (equal to their production cost), Australia will just squeak over the line next turn with their 26 faith income. If they cost any more than that, though, I think I should use the Dreadnought attack against Illmatic to minimize frigate attrition - they do not have walls under construction as of now, as Rodeo still has medieval wall graphics.

edit: Google image search reveals that Flood Barriers cost 160 faith = twice their base production cost with Valletta. But are we willing to bet on the same logic applying to walls? The description says that their faith purchase cost is "reduced" relative to other city center buildings, but of course it does not specify exactly how much the cost is reduced by...

[Woden]

If I remember correctly, walls with Valletta have a 1-to-1 cost, so 300 production walls cost 300 faith. I could be wrong here as it has been a while since I have used them in a game but I remember ancient walls cost 80 faith, which is there production costs. I say go after Illmatic now, he probably doesn't realize you can hit Rodeo from this side and not in any rush for better walls.

Edit: There are fishing boats there too, so you can heal 50 one time.

[ljubljana]

Yeah, I think I will do that. They will probably buy Renaissance Walls in Rodeo next turn...but, well, fleet IC are coming for roland VERY soon (like, 2 turns soon) and if Illmatic hits 96 defense strength (which it will with a fleet IC) it will be impregnable to frigate assault. I think Rodeo is probably just not going to happen due to the coming fleet IC, Renaissance walls or no Renaissance walls. Therefore, I should do as much damage to Illmatic now so that we have a chance to at least take that city. Not sure if you will be able to hold it with no Rodeo, though...

[Woden]

I just noticed that The Low-End Theory is already losing loyalty, so we should able to flip it by taking Illmatic. I may start buying artillery to help take out Australia but first need some Cuirassiers to handle Russian Cossacks.

Edit: I should be able to hold Illmatic. We should capture it around the time I finish Suffrage and slot the +2 amenities, +4 housing card, which will help my amenities situation. Add in a governor and a unit and it should be loyal to me or at least loyal enough to flip TLET, which will help keep Illmatic.

[ljubljana]

Hmm, I agree that we can flip LET with Illmatic, but it might be a very slow process. It is only barely losing loyalty as of now (~minus 1 per turn), and there is no governor in place yet. Then again, MBDTF is at +20 loyalty from population already and it only has 2 other Norway cities in range vs 3 Australia...

[Woden]

If you are going to hold the save this long, I suggest you put something in the tech thread. I can't righteously complain about everybody else and give you a pass.