Chevalier Rides Again: A City Lights exploration

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Total losses, 201 - 212

Greece:
201:
1 caravel fleet 
1 privateer

202
2 caravel fleets
5 privateers

206
"10 privateers & 4 caravel fleets so far"

208
1 privateer
1 frigate fleet

"six privateers available, six more en route"

211:
2 privateers

TOTAL: 13 privateers, 4 caravel fleets, 1 frigate fleet
Melee combatants +1 ironclad armada (from 5 fleets to 6)
Ranged units +1 BB armada (from 5 fleets to 6)
Escorts from 6 on 208 to 21 on 212

Overall strength has increased over the 11 turns! 

Japan
206
"8 ironclad fleets, 2 frigate fleets, 1 privateer so far"

208
1 caravel fleet

211
2 ironclad fleets

212
2 damaged ironclad armadas (Tokyo & Nagoya)

Total:
10 ironclad fleets, 2 frigate fleets, 1 privateer armada, 1 caravel fleet. 

Dramatic improvement for Greece, Japan has weakened noticeably (from 8 ironclads and 2 frigates to his strongest unit now being 2 melee fleets, 1 frigate fleet, and 1 privateer armada now). Total hammer exchange is 10,140 vs 3060 hammers, so I'm achieving a roughly 3:1 kill ratio while being on the offensive against fixed defenses.

BECAUSE: fixed defenses only kill what you allow them to! My damaged units get pulled back to heal and repair, his die! FIXED DEFENSES DO NOT WORK

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 213: Approaching Tokyo

Situation outside Tokyo on 213:

 
Japanese defensive fire took out one privateer, but he left his ironclad outside the city. I hate to lose the unit, but in order to shield my battleships from the ironclad, I have to place the privateers in range of the city - and if you place one privateer in range, you may as well place them all since he's only got the one shot. So, moral of the story, city garrisons make your city defenses much more effective! Otherwise I could safely shell the city from out of range of any retaliation. 

Additionally, Akkad having served its purpose as an upgrade and repair base, it revolts to Free City status. I'm actually quite happy with this development, which I couldn't have prevented if I had tried, for reasons you'll see. 

Somehow, the ironclad repaired to full health:


He's got a promotion and didn't attack any of my units, so conclusion is Japan promote healed and probably took the turtle promotion. I have so many ranged units that that doesn't matter - my battleships pound the armada into scrap and the caravel lands the finishing blow:



Note that I'm using caravels as combat units where possible, such as at Oslo and up here. Due to the coal shortage, I can no longer repair damage to coal-burning units, so I'm holding hte ironclads in reserve for confrontations with the next Japanese fleet to assemble. Scouting has shown another caravel and another frigate fleet joining the northern squadron, so it looks like his next stand will be attempting to hold the northern channel near Takamatsu. Look for a clash there in approximately 15 turns, or one month. 

After a round of pillaging and bombardments, little changes other than the ironclad being taken off the board and smoke streaking down the Japanese coast:


2 battleships won't be able to safely enter range to bombard Tokyo due to the encampment, but I'll put them in once the walls are low for the finishing blow. Battleships also can't repair as a coal unit, so I want to preserve their health even if it means taking a bit longer with the city burning. 

Also, torching the city dramatically accelerates the Greek Mordor economy, as the pillages net me a substantial amount of faith, gold, and culture:


We get multiple turns' worth of income as Japanese plantations and their theater square go up in flames. The culture alone, for example, drops my ETA for the next government by a full turn (28 turns, for the record). The faith I finally have a use for - having suzerained Valetta, I can use its suzerain bonus to purchase city center buildings with faith. Many of my newer shipbuilding colonies out on those islands have no monuments or granaries, so I quickly do a round of purchases. I'll buy more next turn after more pillages - each pillage is effectively a granary or a monument.

All of that leads to me evolving a plan with Akkad. The great lake near Akkad is accessible via canal and is seemingly undefended. I detail 3 privateers to pass through Oslo and the Oslo Canal into Lake Akkad:


The shores of hte lake are ripe with a holy site (pillageable 3 times), an Industrial Zone (pillageable 3 times as well), and various mines and pastures, as well as a Japanese aqueduct and canal (both pillageable for gold, eventually). 

Given the rich rewards available, and gambling on a lack of Japanese ironclads assigned to this theater since I sank the last two that came this way, I'm optimistic about the potential payoff from this operation:

 
It's about 20 turns' worth of gold income, 40 turns' worth of faith, and 6 turns worth of science. Once I beat the other half of the Japanese navy and get a grip on his western coast, there's more universities and industrial zones available to net me about 10 turns' acceleration of science. These privateers are paying for themselves! I absolutely can't research electricity or I'll lose the ability to build them! 

Otherwise ther'es little news. Indonesia rejects a Religious Alliance, as he's amassed over 2000 faith himself - he's technologically backwards, is he chasing religious victory? Phoenicia is operating spies against him and accepted a DoF renewal from me, I sent a Research Alliance request over, as well. Privateers are sniffing around Japan's west coast but other than making a run at Kyoto for vision I will try to preserve them until the fleet arrives. 

Tokyo burned by 220, Nagoya by 225, and the Japanese fleet confronted by 230 is my current plan. Takamatsu by 240, Kyoto by 250, and Japan eliminated by 260, less than 50 more turns.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Japan has discovered, per his tech thread, that he has no oil in his lands and recognizes he has no chance of breaking my blockade. He's offered a concession. If Phoenicia and Indonesia go along, that could be GG. If they want to play on (both could think highly of their chances), then I'll have no choice but to continue the steady destruction of Japanese power. He's too dangerous to be left alive.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 214 - The grind never stops

The turn rolls in despite Japan's despair, and he has hit back. His fleet found and destroyed one of my scouting caravels on the northern sea and badly crippled the other:


 

The caravels are irrelevant to combat, but losing my eyes on the growing Japanese fleet in the northern channel is a bit of a worry. I greatly value intelligence and scouting, and hate having to fumble forward into the dark. My plan is to engage the Japanese with my privateer screen first, to enable me to launch a devastating volley with my 6 battleship armadas and 6 ironclad armadas. As long as I don't get caught mid-city attack I should be fine, so I need to re-establish contact to ensure I can burn Nagoya first.

At Tokyo, Japan opted to sink one privateer and cripple another:


I've moved my BBs into the city's defense range. I might take a hit, but I think this will speed up the fall of the city by a turn, and I want to turn to confront Japan as soon as possible now that he's blinding me in the north. Plus, his growing despair might lead to a collapse in morale entirely if I can burn Tokyo soon enough. Defenses are down 150 points to 250 total, and about 100 HP is off. I calculate that I need 1 or 2 turns at most to reduce the city, although I may need to commit ironclads to meet that timeline. I place an ironclad armada next to the city - if Tokyo ignores it, it will be able to launch a powerful finishing blow. If he fires on it, the tough armor and the defensive promotion I've given it will enable me to shrug off the attacks, and my intact fleet should shred the defenses next turn anyway. 

Units not needed for the Tokyo attack begin to gather off Nagoya:


Primarily my spare melee units with a few privateers as a screen. Nagoya has an injured armada sheltering in it - I'd welcome the opportunity to destroy it outside the city if possible. Thankfully the encampment is badly placed to defend the city, and I should be able to safely batter away with all 6 battleships once the time comes. 

Note also that I give in to temptation and use two privateers to pillage over 300 science from an exposed Japanese university (the poor scholars are on an island haunted by Norwegian and Mordor raiders...). 

 
That's the university and library gone, if I survive the inevitable Japanese counterstrike I shall get the campus, too. Another privateer to the north eases towards Kyoto for spotting purposes. 
On the southern end of the continent, 3 privateers transit Oslo and begin to file into the lake for Operation Aztec, the looting of the juicy lakefront properties:



A canal becomes impassable to ships once pillaged, so I'm debating burning it to cut off any possible Japanese retaliation, or waiting until I transit it to burn behind me and then try to pillage the universities and industrial zones on the northwestern coast. Greedy! 

With the front handled, I turn to domestic matters. There are two pressing issues: the coal shortage has shut down my three power plants, and war weariness has torpedoed my economy. Many cities are losing 20 or even 30% amenities. There's nothing I can do about the amenities for now, short of making peace with Japan, and that is unacceptable - a window of peace would let him potentially rebuild his armed forces, use his superior science and production to get settlers out for oil or work out another way to solve his own resource crunch, etc. The fact is, Japan is too good a city builder to be left alive, and even Kyoto, Takamatsu, Stavanger, and Nidaros would be probably the second-most dangerous civ on the map. 

I can do something about the coal shortage, but I need about 10 turns:


Per the resource screen, I'm about 7 coal/turn short of my requirements. 6 of that I can earn back purely through the completion of my various armadas - I have single ships on the map destined to merge with the fleets left. But I'm still 1 coal short and that's effectively useless - still can't build or upgrade, power plants still shut down, combat penalty still applies. 

I COULD convert my coal plants to oil plants, still leaving me 1 coal short but at least the lights would be on. However, that entails unlocking the Electricity tech, which also upgrades privateers to the oil-burning Submarine unit. That's a no-go for me. Remember, privateers exist to tank hits and to pillage tiles for me, nothing else. To fulfill that role, they need to be as cheap as possible, while other considerations like movement range or combat strength are irrelevant. So, the fact that subs can creditably fight battleships or ironclads is no good to me, since they'd suck up precious oil resources AND they are 200 hammers more expensive, which is an increase of 7-turns construction time minimum (also not subject to production boosts, as oledavy found out back in PBEM4!). So, Electricity is out.

I conclude the best way is the Combined Arms tech. This tech is 8 turns away (or 8 pillages :D), and unlocks uranium (meh), carriers (no need), but most importantly, Destroyers. These babies hit with combat strength 85, as compared to 70 for the ironclad, or 102 CS vs 87 for an ironclad armada. Most importantly, each one burns oil. 

And oil we got:




We have fully 7 deposits first or second ring to some tundra cities. To the south, there are 3 more in the inner sea between ourselves and Indonesia. Japan, art imitating life, meanwhile has no oil. So we can develop 10 deposits for 30 units per turn - more than enough to fully build out a modern navy. The ironclads are burning 12 coal a turn now - so Combustion alone will solve all coal problems forever. We need 3 oil per armada upgrade and something like 600 gold each. Making about 100 a turn, so if I start saving now, in 8 turns I should be able to afford roughly 3 armada upgrades. Each pillage nets 300 more gold, so every 2 gold pillages is another armada. All told, it should be feasible to fully upgrade the ironclads to destroyers, the caravels will have to wait (again). 

So that's the plan, going forward. Research combined arms and save gold and oil, while dispatching settlers to the tundra, where faith-purchased monuments will drive a massive oil boom. I have a few land deposits to fuel me while Plastics gets online to unlock off-shore rigs. Note that my entire economy now is dependent upon the stolen loot of Japan - stolen science for combustion, stolen faith for monuments, stolen gold for upgrades! 

Overview of the theater of war:

 

Overview of my home front:



Any questions? Thoughts?

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 215 - The Black Day of Japan

Turns come in almost reliably once a day now - I think everyone can sense the end is near, and they flip quickly. Japan discovered, as expected, my privateers near the island university of Nidaros, but one survives to carry out one last pillage. Operation Aztec also commences, bringing me to Tokyo:



My gamble in bringing the battleships in range paid off. Japan hit the two circled units, the battleship and the privateer. The privateer can fulfill its role as long as it has one hp so who the hell cares, and the battleship? Well, he just so happens to be next door to my one source of healing for coal units: an intact set of fishing boats. I swap places with the privateer on the boats, pillage, and I'm back to full health. Then we unleash hell:



Four battleship bombardments knock off 74 health from the garrison and 72 from the walls, when I note that the pillaging still hasn't exhausted my injured battleship's movement. So all 6 are able to fire, then any privateers with nothing to pillage fire, and finally:



The garrison is brought down to almost nothing, with an ironclad armada right outside...



With predictable results. 

Japanese science collapses immediately, dropping over 30% from 165 beakers to 115 beakers per turn, all the way down to third. He loses nearly a fifth of his culture, too, and I don't even want to speculate about the impact on his production. Celebrations break out across Mordor as word of the victory spreads - church bells are rung (or they would be, if I had built a single Holy Site ever), orcs dance in the streets, torchlit processions in front of Barad-Dur, while the Great Eye graciously acknowledges the adulation of its minions. For make no mistake, this is the most significant achievement in the game so far- one we've been planning in general ever since Japan overran Norway 11 real-time months ago, over 100 turns in game, and a move we've been planning specifically since turn 165 at the latest. So, 50 turns of planning and 6 months of gameplay have at last led to this moment, the destruction of Tokyo.

To quote my planning post from back in May:

Randoms, Turn 166

Anyway, I have decided to act militarily to knock Japan out of contention before he can build his empire even more. We're probably about 20-30 turns out, but here are my plans to prepare for war and then the war plan itself:


Let's break down the busy screenshot.

First, Japan has about 1150 power to my 700 power, give or take. That's a 3:2 advantage, although hopefully a fair amount of it is in Samurai from his Norwegian war. However, we cannot declare war until we have a powerful fleet in place. I can outproduce him, I think, but his large cities will be a very near match for my entire imperial production potential, so we'll have to steal a few marches. 

So, step one is a massive shipyard construction spree empire-wide. I am running Veterancy in my government for +30% production on harbor buildings, and will be finishing up across the next ten turns. Niter income is very limited, so Frigates will be produced out of most likely Osgiliath using Magnus as governor - Magnus has a promotion that grants an 80% discount on resource requirements, so I should have no issues spamming frigates. Everyone else will build caravels, plus I intend a massive wave of Naval Raiders as well which will burn Japan's exposed coasts to the ground. 

This part of the plan went off without a hitch. I have nearly a dozen cities with shipyards all over the empire. I built as many frigates and later ironclads and battleships as my strategic resources would allow, and that turned out to be quite a bit more than any other player has managed so far. I've also churned out over 30 privateers, who have done their job of burning the coast to the ground with flying colors.

Continuing:

The real coup de grace is at Cirith Ungol, the island just northeast of my mainland. I am building a coastal Industrial Zone here, which will complete in two turns. My other IZs nabbed me the Great Engineer Isidore of Miletus, who has two charges granting a total of 430 production towards wonders. That will get me about half of the Venetian Arsenal's 930 production. I have a Magnus chop preparing that will net me possibly another 150 production? So optimistically Cirith Ungol needs to come up with 350 production on its own. The city is running massive amounts of trade routes and is in range of a Coal Factory, so it's getting about 50 production on its own. Thus, within 10 turns I can expect to finish the Venetian Arsenal, which will cause every ship I build to spawn with its own clone. This is the most vital naval wonder in the game and Japan has, curiously, neglected it despite having 3 coastal Industrial Zones himself. I have scouted the map thoroughly and no sign that it's under construction anywhere. 

Once the VA finishes, I will finish a wave of caravels across the empire, netting me about 14 if I counted correctly, plus 4 frigates. That will more than double my current fleet in a single turn, and I will continue building ANOTHER wave of 14 behind that, and so on, and so forth. Japan will be buried. Research is close to securing Refining for Battleships in about 15 turns and Ironclads about 5 turns after that, so depending on Coal supplies I'll have a few modern ships supported by waves of older fleets. 

Again, executed just as planned. I netted the VA - Phoenicia and Japan both laid it down, far too late to contest me - and spewed out something very like my original estimates. I grabbed ironclads BEFORE the war started, and halted caravel construction due to the need to preserve coal for my existing fleet long enough to upgrade the frigates to battleships. My modern ships are instead escorted by waves of older privateers, not caravels, which do the job if anything even better.

Once the war comes, here is the plan:



Here is Japan. Scouting indicates that he has two fleets, one gathered near Nagoya facing me and a second covering Kyoto/Takamatsu Bay in the west. The two fleets are divided by the Japanese mainland and can only reinforce each other via a lengthy voyage around the north of his island (by contrast, all my harbors save two face southwest, and the two northern harbors, Osgiliath and Barad-Dur, are only accessible via a snaky one-tile wide channel, very defensible). Tokyo, his second city, is the heart of his urban sprawl.

That suggests the plan. Our first thrust will be at Nagoya to split Japan's defenders in two, similar to the way we defeated ljubljana and Woden's fleets in PBEM20 by taking position off their east coast to divide their fleets. I will move quickly and target his ships first, defeating every vessel in sight before moving on the city itself. Then, the combat vessels will hold the northern channel (which is VERY close to my own harbors for quick reinforcements, bwahaha), and the battleships/a few melee ships will burn Nagoya and Tokyo. If Japan loses his initial defense fleet, he'll be totally unable to reinforce his east coast in time to save those cities, and once Tokyo burns, Japan is out of the game:




With Tokyo gone, we shoudl be able to liberate Akkad and Oslo, which will make Norway happy, and Japan will be down to four - very powerful! - cities, and the war will be decided. I'll be able to grind him down from there, since there's no way the 4 Japanese cities, however well-developed, will be able to compete with my entire empire boosted by the Venetian Arsenal.

I altered my plan several times upon contact with the enemy, but by and large this is what I carried out. My initial thrust did catch the Japanese fleet divided trying to cover both his coasts at once (if I'd been Japan, I would have been more aggressive in my positioning, placing my fleet to threaten the Greek archipelago, even Cirith Ungol and the Venetian Arsenal, thus avoiding the problem of defense entirely. His problem was he conquered Norway too late, and though his science rate surpassed mine, he never caught up in total science due to my head start, and so he unlocked frigates and later ironclads and then battleships too late, leaving me the initiative). We beat the fleet in a decisive sea battle off Nagoya, but then I altered the plan. Instead of crashing down headlong on Nagoya, which was well-fortified (including Victor), I decided to strike for a softer target at Akkad or Tokyo itself.

I diverted south to take Akkad first, initially intending to liberate it, then mistakenly occupying (oh well). My reasoning there was that Akkad had lower defenses than Tokyo, and could serve as a base for battleship upgrades - which would let me pound down the rest of Japan's well-fortified cities with impunity. The war started on 201, I took Akkad on 207, and Tokyo on 215, so you could argue it delayed my main objective by 8 turns. But, I did it losing only 1 major combatant, a frigate fleet at Akkad, and that's unavoidable when you have to enter city defense range. Then I diverted another 4 turns or so by striking south at Oslo. I think that was also the right choice, since some Japanese ships were using Oslo's canals to transit, and would have been a permanent irritant to my rear if I left the city, or it would have necessitated backtracking after taking Tokyo.

So, why have I been so hell-bent on Tokyo? Well, Hojo's special ability is improved adjacencies from dense urban districts, and the Japanese player has exploited this to the hilt, building frankly an incredible urban sprawl from Kyoto to Tokyo. That was leading to stunning industrial zones, jaw-dropping campuses, etc. Even his government plaza was built at Tokyo to further provide adjacencies. So, in the first place, knocking out one of those cities would rip the heart of Hojo's adjacency spiral, dealing a heavier blow to him than, say, burning a random Indonesian city would to Indonesia. In the second place, Tokyo was vulnerable. Kyoto is deep inside a narrow bay and flanked by powerful neighbors in Takamatsu, Stavanger, and Nidaros. It'd be tough sledding to knock out the Japanese fleet and then fight my way into the bay to burn Kyoto, especially since I'd be doing with this with very long supply lines and no battleship support at the start. Tokyo, on the other hand, was on a wide open sea, with only Nagoya and the weaker Akkad and Oslo nearby. Plus, there was an open road straight from my core to the eastern Japanese coast, letting me bring up reinforcements faster. So, Tokyo had to be the target, obviously. 

Will it pay off? I think so. Let's wrap up:



For whatever reason, outside Nagoya he's placed a privateer armada. I think his building of armadas is a mistake - he has seaports in every city, so he gets a 25% discount building them directly, BUT they're still more expensive than single privateers and they die just as easily. I think it's an act of desperation for any sort of combat unit that floats. Regardless, it is easily sunk:




And then Tokyo is burned:


A fully-developed government plaza, a fully-developed industrial zone, a fully-developed campus, the Forbidden City, etc, all go up in flames as orc put everything immovable to the torch and carry off the rest. This has had the predicted effects on his research, giving a clue to how much his adjacency fell in, for example, Kyoto (his IZ must also have suffered!). Nagoya, also, is doomed, I think. My fleet is as vulnerable as it's ever been, with a few ironclads and a screen of privateers separated from the rest of the fleet by a full turn's sailing between Tokyo and Nagoya, but I don't expect the second Japanese fleet to attack quite yet. He needs time to make his way around the coast, and the loss of Tokyo will have him reeling. He might write off Nagoya and prepare to defend Takamatsu, or he might try to hit me as I move up to the city, but I don't anticipate a lunge to the south. That, in turn, should seal the fate of the 4th Japanese city, and half his empire will be gone.

I need the war to end soon as I can make it happen, look at these amenities:



Yikes. 

To begin preliminary planning for our next operations, I have obtained some maps of Indonesia and Phoenicia, as well. Here's the last two intact members of the opposition:


Sharing a landmass with me on the eastern side, Indonesia is an archipelago centered on the Andalan sea. Looks like early plans - either I'll come from the west and try to concentrate on controlling that channel north of Majapahit until the capital is taken, then roll him up, or more aggressively I could try to seize the Andalan sea straight away and then gut him. His science is abysmal and he's focusing on a religious victory. I won't face more than ironclads  and possibly jongs here.

Phoenicia:

 
Occupying the large island due south of my own homeland, Phoenicia is centered on the Antarctic Ocean. Getting control of this sea will be the end of him. He's still fielding quads at the moment, as his niter supply is limited. He has a small coal and oil supply, though, and technically the highest science in the game - but he's far behind in total research so far and his leading science rate is mostly based on my amenities crunch and him running projects, so a bit of a mirage. 

We'll see how the diplomacy plays out. I have about 28 turns of peace with both guaranteed atm, enough to settle Japan and redeploy.

[Erasmas]

Good thing they did not concede because as always your report is so much fun to read, so keeping it going a bit longer is nice.
Don't underestimate the power of uranium, 1 unit provides 16 power which goes a long way to free up coal and oil. Ofcourse you need to have a source and also the opprtunity cost of building a plant is not building ships.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Well, we'll see. Japan just took his turn, saw Tokyo gone, and posted this:

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 216

Indonesia indicates that he wants to play on until a victory condition, and Japan doesn't want to surrender while other players feel they have a shot, so we continue. 

It's a quiet turn, mostly. Aztec continues with gold pillages this turn, mostly - there's an enemy Line Infantry occupying the Industrial Zone, preventing my shore parties from landing and carrying off Akkad's technical secrets. My second privateer has been killed after torching Nidaros campus, and I have one left to make the sacrificial dash to Kyoto:




Not too much is revealed, but at last we can see the city center. Kyoto at 22 population and with an IZ, Campus, and Theater Square adjacent to what had been his government district at Tokyo was truly the jewel of the world:



Now we can really appreciate how much the burning of Tokyo gutted Japan. His entire first two cities were built around this megaplex. Around the plaza, he arrayed two campuses, 1 theater square, and an industrial zone. Tokyo's campus was adjacent to a geothermal vent (+2), 2 mountains (+2), the plaza (+1), and the aqueduct and industrial zone for +6 adjacency, certainly doubled to +12. Kyoto was getting a vent, the plaza, and the theater square for +3 or +4? That's down to just the +2 now, probably doubled to 4, so we've cost him 16 points of science at least. Tokyo's Industrial Zone was adjacent to the theater square, the plaza, an aqueduct, the city center, and a harbor, for a total of +4, doubled to 8 production. The theater square lost its 1 culture from the plaza and the 1 culture from the industrial zone + campus combo, so from 2 adjacency down to 0. To say nothing of the gold and production from the harbor, of the city and its population, etc. A complex that was producing over 20 science for the empire now produces only 4. 

To the north, two of my three oil colonies are founded, Mt. Doom and Gorgoroth:

 

The last, Angmar, is pinned on an island to the east. I need Plastics, still, but I want Destroyers online first so I can begin converting the coal-burning ironclads to the leaner and tougher DDs. Mt. Doom has just been founded, but this turn already will begin producing 6 oil/turn, enough to upgrade the entire ironclad fleet! The gold cost will be prohibitive, but my trade routes are solid and pillaging will provide the upgrades.

Current setup at Nagoya:


I've organized my forces (not pictured on map) into 7 squadrons for easier management, since nudging 40 ships around the map was getting confusing. The Mordor Navy at present:

First Bombardment Squadron - Bombron 1
2 battleship armadas
4 battleship fleets <- 2 single battleships in transit, 4 battleships in queue. Final strength 6 armadas and 1 fleet. 

Bombron 1's only role is to blast aside any opposition - enemy ships if available, enemy cities if not. They must operate together and out of range of enemy defenses and ships at all times, until the coal crisis is solved. This is the main striking force of the Mordor navy and the key to winning the game. 

First Battle Squadron - Batron1
4 ironclad armadas
2 ironclad fleets <- 2 ironclads in transit, final strength 6 ironclad armadas

Batron1 is our sea supremacy force. At present it is locked in around Nagoya. Its first job is to find and sink enemy warships and secondarily to attack cities once Bombron1 has weakened them. After Nagoya is burned, Batron1 will sail towards Mt. Gundabad to be upgraded before we move on Takamatsu. 

Second Battle Squadron - Batron 2
2 ironclad fleets
4 caravel fleets

The Second Battle Squadron is the leftovers - our 4 remaining caravel fleets and 2 ironclad fleets that at present have no incoming 'clads to upgrade them to an armada. The Second can see battle against enemy frigates and privateers, but it coudl surely use repairs. Obviously I'd like to upgrade this to Destroyers but that will take second priority to Batron1's frontline combatants. 

First Escort Squadron - Escort 1
6 privateers

Escort 1 consists of the 6 privateers located closest to Nagoya and engaged in pillaging. Obviously the role is to screen first, pillage second, chip shots at cities or ships third. 

Second Escort Squadron - Escort 2
6 privateers

The six privateers with Bombron 1 at the moment. Same duties as 1, just maneuver as a different unit.

Third Escort Squadron - Escort 3
6 privateers
The 1 straggling privateer near Bombron, 1 near Akkad, plus 4 more in transit over the sea. A reserve and replenishment force, might take over 1 or 2's duties as casualties mount.

Fourth Escort Squadron - Escort 4
4 privateers

The 2 dead privateers near Nidaros's campus, the 1 near Kyoto (doomed), mean the final strength of Escort 4 will just be the 3 privateers pillaging Akkad from the lakeside. They will attempt to hold position in the lake until the main fleet hits the Japanese coast, then will begin pillaging once we have sea supremacy in the area. 

It looks like I'm short 2 privateers of table strength, soon to be 3, but I have more than that coming online soon. But 6 BBs, 12 melee units, and 24 screens will be my establishment strength that I will attempt to maintain. Once I beat the second Japanese fleet assembling in the channel between Takamatsu and Gundabad, I'll risk slacking off on privateer builds, other than having some in reserve to replace losses. Any more ships than this really won't have a role, so production will be wasted. 

Sorry, that was dreadfully boring, I imagine, but I really enjoy fleet and army organizations, and it does help me maneuver them better (THESE six ships are supposed to go to THAT area, THOSE six ships will sail over HERE, etc.). Keeps me mission-oriented and the fleet more or less organized, after the gaggle that it devolved into during my drive on Tokyo.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 217 - The Second Battle of Nagoya

The second Japanese fleet, the one that had been guarding his west coast, plus a few builds he's managed, makes its attack on my fleet outside Nagoya. He concentrates his fire and is able to kill my ironclad fleet just northeast of the city, but exposes an ironclad armada of his own to do it:




There's also a frigate fleet and caravel fleet visible - it looks like he flung everything in just as soon as it could sail, instead of waiting to form up so he could hit all at once. That's probably the right move, honestly, as one more turn would have all my fleet in place and he'd get hammered. As it is, he'll get hammered anyway, but since my privateers are out of position I'll take some losses, too. 

So, what to do, here? Battle Squadron 1, albeit not full strength yet, is concentrated in front of the city. Battle Squadron 2 was on flank guard duty and was sailing to set up a screen to the north - well, mission accomplished, I guess. Bombardment 1 is mostly south of Nagoya, and can't get all its guns onto the enemy ships this turn, although it can hit the ironclad and get into position to annihilate anything left in the open after next turn. Escort 1 is pillaging Nagoya, Escort 2 is out of position to the south of Battle 2, and Escort 3 is not fully formed up, mostly to the east and entering the battle area still.

Seems obvious to me that I shouldn't waste shots at the city yet - it's not going anywhere. Defeating this Japanese field force will clear the way for Nagoya and then upgrades before we move on Takamatsu. I'd've liked to upgrade to Destroyers first, since our melee units are presently on equal terms, but Japan correctly was aggressive before that happened. 

Now, I estimate that he has 3-4 frigates, 2-3 ironclad armadas, and 2-3 caravel fleets, giving me an overall edge in numbers of more than 2:1 and a significant firepower edge with my battleships (and privateers in fire support). Most of those frigates are probably hugging the coast and moving into the sheltered waters of the Sea of Hyuga, north of Nagoya - a large island limits access to a 1-tile chokepoint to the south and 2 tiles to the north. I know at least 1 caravel is west of the island, and he probably didn't funnel all his melee units into the sea since that would just let me park a turtle ironclad armada in the entrance and blast him to pieces with my battleships, so figure the rest of his melee units are behind the caravel, absent a close escort for the frigates.

So, here's the plan:


BatRon1's powerful armadas can mostly tank the frigates, so they'll batter their way into the front door, temporarily pulling back from Nagoya. Battle 2 is in position to sweep around the flank - obviously I'd prefer to throw my armadas at his melee units and let my caravels go for the frigates, but that's not how I'm deployed, sadly. So, Battle 2 will clear the flank and attempt to penetrate Hyuga from behind, cutting off any retreat and making sure I bag all his combat units in theater. Bomb1 and my 3 escort squadrons will provide fire support on targets of opportunity, but need to swing wide of Nagoya. I don't want to drive off his forces, but to annihilate them. Then Nagoya.

The results:
Bomb1 and Escort2 are enough to sink the ironclad armada, freeing me up to strike north. I break one fleet off from Battle2 and send it to sink the enemy frigate fleet, which goes down, intending to follow with Battle1's 3 armadas available, but a cleverly placed caravel fleet in the fog mousetraps me and prevents further entry to the sea - good positioning! The rest of Battle2 with fire support from Bomb1 and Escort3 are able to destroy the caravel fleet, and reveal an ironclad fleet lurking just to the north. I could have sent two single clads after it, but instead I brought them to join my double-promoted fleets and create 2 double-promoted armadas instead, basically finishing up Battle1's roster. 



3 enemy ships (1 armada and 2 fleets) are sunk, although I shall certainly lose another ironclad fleet in return now. Battle2 with support from Escort3 is positioned to sweep aside that ironclad fleet next turn and swing around the rear of Hyuga, while Bomb1 is able to provide fire support over the entire sea from safe locations south and east of Hyuga Island. Battle1 will ahve 5 ironclad armadas available to clean out the sea next turn. 

The Battle of Nagoya, visualized with all the icons off, so you can see the beauty of the stately lines of ships exchanging fire:


I love Screenshot Mode - really an excellent mod.

The broader battlefield, zoomed out so you can see the full tactical situation. Japan will get his licks in but I think I've got his fleet right where I want it:



Glorious!

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 218 - Second Nagoya Continued

Four casualties from Japan's reply in the ongoing Battle of Nagoya. Two ships destroyed - a privateer involved in Operation Aztec, as an enemy ironclad fleet enters the lake and begins sinking my privateers - and the forward ironclad fleet at Hyuga is focused down and destroyed. Two others are damaged - the enemy ironclad fleet east of Hyuga comes down and attacks my caravel fleet, and a frigate fleet joins with Nagoya's city defenses and garrison ironclad to damage one of my armadas, like so:




So, I have most of my fleet closed up now, but Hyuga does provide a good shield and I won't be able to nab all the frigates this turn. I think I can get close, though. Unfortunately, I'm playing this turn before work - it flew around in only 12 hours after my last turn yesterday evening - so I am forced to rush, can't take my time. I blunder, for example, by moving up the two fresh ironclad armadas to flank his ironclad fleet east of Hyuga - but BB and privateer fire alone was enough to polish that off, and I don't have the movement to reach a privateer fleet that appears further north. Oh, well. Here's how it went:



Escort 1 and 3, supported by Bomb 1, do most of the heavy lifting, and my privateers finish the enemy caravel and ironclad fleet. More shots cripple two of the frigate fleets, leaving my damaged ironclad armada to either promote or to lunge for one of the frigates.


 

Now I see how clever Japan's encampment build was - it actually controls the 1-tile choke into Hyuga and prevents ships from moving through its ZOC. Thus, my more distant ironclads can't actually enter the sea, only the nearest, damaged one can. So my first plan of promoting while moving up reserve ships won't work. Instead, I send the ironclad. It destroys the frigate - a bit of fun as Gorgo's ability kicks in and I net culture from the melee kill, finishing Mass Media and leaving me just one civic shy of tier III governments:




Two damaged frigates are left, but the island and encampment block access for most of my ships. I bring in privateers, which can slip past the encampment, but they don't quite have the firepower to finish both:




One frigate survives on less than 10 HP, with Battle2 sweeping into the rear. There'll be a coda next turn, but by and large I think Second Nagoya is over. Final tally - 2 ironclad fleets sunk, multiple privateers and caravels damaged, in return for 4 frigate fleets, 1 ironclad fleet, 1 ironclad armada, and 2 caravel fleets. 

The final front is on the north, where Escort 3 moving in finds an enemy privateer fleet on the northern flank:



It's double promoted, as well. I have ironclads nearby to run it down, I don't think it can one-shot one of my screening privateers. I'd like to not let this get away. 

Final situation at Nagoya on 218:



Yes, Japan has 1 damaged privateer fleet, 1 crippled frigate fleet, and 1 crippled ironclad armada to hold back 6 ironclad armadas, 4 caravel fleets (1 more joining from Oslo after repairing there the last few turns), 2 battleship armadas, 4 battleship fleets, 2 single battleships, and 21 privateers. It was a brave attempt, but this operation was about as doomed as historical Japan's last desperate lunge at Leyte Gulf. 

A few early shots fell on Nagoya this turn, but the serious attack will begin on 219 and I hope to burn the city by the end of 220. 

Situation on lake Akkad:


Lost a privateer to the ironclad attack, and I won't be able to hit the Japanese lakeshore, but I'll try and grab as much faith and science as I can - all the gold is gone. Need plastics for a proper oil intake.