[Spoilers] Whosit is playing for second

[Whosit]

Turn 151

Not much action this turn. Mostly moving pieces around and trying to plan my next moves.




This city finally broke away. It punted out Korea's Xbow (surprised it wasn't withdrawn). Sadly, and surprisingly, wasn't able to kill it. I thought the penalty for being in the water would be enough. Oh well. It can't get far.

12 turns until the city flips to me. When I plant my new city in 3 turns (with 4 starting pop) hopefully that'll speed things up a little.




Took a quick peek. Hwachas being out is a shame for me, but I forgot that Korea gets them early. I'm fairly confident that greenline isn't going to launch an invasion of my territory, at the very least. I'll keep an eye on things to see if I can ever get an opportunity to pick off more units.




Took a pot shot at this Samurai, but decided it was much too risky to attack directly with my melee units. I really never appreciated what a buff it is for Samurai to always fight at full strength. I was right that it makes an excellent defensive unit when I was trying to pick Tokugawa at the start. And yet Legions cost more than normal.  

Crabs religion is here, and Victor will be established either next turn or the turn after. Damn that +15 strength bonus. I need to keep on the pressure but do what I can to preserve my units because CMF can replenish his forces much more easily than I can (looking at resources screen, pretty sure he is being fed iron so he can keep producing Samurai). Best way for me to handle this, I think, is to get my Field Cannons in range and just try to pick off his units. I also don't want to attack directly unless I can maximize my Flanking bonuses, especially since his defensive formations give most of his units +4 or +6 support.

It's going to be a meat grinder, and right now my Field Cannons and Bombards are my best weapons.




Peeked with Missionary. Not sure if I can use it from the water, but if I can, he can probably kill it with an embarked unit, too. I had the thought that I'd love to get a Frigate or two out from Bambino, but 1) it has some infrastructure to finish, and an Industrial Zone to build at size 7, and 2) uh.... well, I could buy with gold but it's like 1200. Can't afford that. Maybe if I can spend down some of my Niter, I can buy a Quadirime and upgrade it later? Maybe.... Much more interesting in shelling units than the city, at least.

Quadireme's cost 480 to purchase, and the undiscounted upgrade cost would be.... 330. If I got it at the discount gold price, 165, I suppose I could afford this, but it would be a big gold investment with my weakened economy. Still.... worth considering. I need every advantage that I can get.

Alternatively, quadirimes are 120 production. Bambino has.... 18? 22 if it has a trade route to Bombay (I can't remember, I need more traders but not enough free production lol). Best case scenario, with 22 prod doubled to 44 with the right card, can build a quadirime in 3 turns. Just have to make sure I don't hit 20 niter. Yeah, I think I can make that work, just going to be a matter of when.




Anyway, this is where things stand. I expect CMF to withdraw the wounded Samurai and replace it with a fresh one (two newly trained ones are heading to the front, you can see one--just 2 turns away). Xbow will shoot... maybe the Courser. Actually, if Xbow stands and shoots, I can kill it I think. Even with the big defensive bonuses, my Field Cannons with anti-unit promotions can still one-shot it, I think. Killing Japan's ranged units is a high priority for me.




Are the others not sharing luxuries? Japan's cities are unhappy. Good for me! Yield penalties. My cities are now just content, sitting at +1 or even +0. I may have some cities go into unhappiness with my newly settled city. I'm going to try to manage city growth more carefully, and will probably need to slot in +amenity policy cards next time I change policies.

At this point, my biggest fear is a stalemate at Fukushima, since every turn that passes brings Japan closer to Gunpowder. My window of opportunity only lasts as long as I have more advanced units, and you can see how much I'm struggling with that.

I have several Commercial Hub projects that will finish in 5-6 turns. I think that should be enough to nab me the next Great Merchant, or close enough. 3 envoys is enough for me to take the city, though with Hong Kong the only remaining City State, everyone else will throw their remaining envoys at it, so I probably won't keep it very long at all, tbh. But it's worth the shot.

[Whosit]

Wow, a 2nd turn for the first time in forever. Short update cuz I wasn't planning on playing this.

Used my Coursers to scout. Korea seems to be holding position. I'm scooting a Builder around the border. Japan withdrew troops, more than I expected and my horsey saw that they created a defensive line WITH the city. Making it harder to assault and pick off units. Smart.

So I'm doing something a little crazy. I'm making my own defensive line and then everything else is going in the water and is going to land SOMEWHERE up the coast. Very few landing points so this could be a total disaster. But CMF is a good player and is playing a good defense with more advantages than I have. If I were ONLY fighting Japan, I could conceivably just throw my weight against him until he broke, but that's not the case.

Point is, I think I have to make something happen. Wonder if I'll think it's a good idea in the morning.

[Whosit]

Are you FUCKING kidding me?? I have no COAL either?!?!

[Whosit]

Turn 156

Ok, time for some updates.

So, as far as Coal goes, while there's nothing in my territory currently, there's one source north of Bambino that I was able to purchase in the third ring this turn, and another north of Bombay that I am building a Settler to claim. It's just been frustrating that, considering how wide my empire is, Ive been lacking a lot of mid-game era strategic resources. Hopefully I'll have Oil somewhere.....

Everyone else has some amount of Coal. China obviously has at least 1 source (I think 2 or more though); Khmer has 1 I can see; Japan has THREE; and Korea has 2, near where those Niter sources are. I've decided to swing away from Japan and go after Korea again, hoping to take that coal for myself. More on that in a bit....




My policies for the next 2 turns. I purchased 3 tiles (may purchase another next turn, we'll see), upgraded remaining 2 Man-at-Arms to Musketmen, and bought a 7-charge Builder in Sphynx. Getting walls up in a couple of cities that need it. CMF has shown he has naval assets in the southern sea (and his newest city acts as a canal), which is a problem for me, but again, more on that in a bit.




Builders are expensive.... At least I get 7 charges out of this one. Although I wanted to save cash for more military purchases, I just need more Builders but have no room to slot them into production queues right now with so many competing priorities....




I've been poking into the north the last few turns, but now I can get a view from north and south. I also have spies on the way to Arirang and Scarborough Fair. Both should arrive in 6 turns. Tourdion will flip in 7 turns, and I have to wait for that before I can invade, because I need that city as a launching point, not something that could stab me in the back. It does give greenline more time to prepare (power increased by 60, so one of those Hwachas is fresh out of S. Fair), but y'know.

Visible units account for 400 of 515 power. That means there's probably 2-3 units in the fog, but I have reason to believe that most of those are in the fog around S. Fair. I didn't take a screenshot, but hovering over the warrior shows it has a support bonus that indicates another unit is adjacent to it in the fog. While most of Korea's forces are defending their northern border with me, I would not be surprised if over the course of the next several turns that greenline shifts his units to cover his capital more. I'll be keeping an eye on movements.

Right now, Scarborough Fair is impregnable, so I don't want to attack it. The plan, if nothing here changes significantly in the next 8 turns, is to punch through the southern defenses and take the capital, Arirang.




Promoted my Field Cannon there with Marksman, so ideally I'd park it on that grass hill and let it cover my other units, but protecting it from counter-attack is going to be difficult, especially if greenline gets more Field Cannons into that part of the combat theatre. I did notice, though, that even though Hwachas are cheaper than field cannons, they are not cheaper that Coursers. When I complete The Enlightenment, I will put back in my cavalry Policy and get another Courser out of Chartreux, and anywhere else I can manage. Maybe Aegean. It's doing a 2-turn Trader right now.

(I jumped back into my save to double check, and yeah, with the Chivalry policy, both those cities can produce Coursers in 3 turns. So I can have 2 more in 5 turns, basically. So, uh, Coursers are gonna be my cannon fodder for this campaign. They're weak compared to everything Korea has, but they can do a little damage and soak up some hits. And if I can get them past enemy lines, they can have a merry time pillaging the Korean country-side.....

Man, though, having Civil Engineering would be real useful right now too. Good policies there.

Point is, I will happily trade Coursers for Hwachas. Unlike Japan, I'm certain that Korea cannot replace losses faster than I can replace mine.




So the reason that Japan's naval presence is a concern is because I'd like to land some troops amphibiously behind Arirang. Musketmen and Bombards, I think. It would suck to have their transports sunk by Japanese ships. I'd love to find a way to get a Frigate built on these waters, but I don't think that it's happening in time. I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope that CMF doesn't poke around too close to Tourdion when it joins my empire. It should keep the walls, right?


 

Let's see if Archduke wants peace. Probably not. But I'm still crossing my fingers that he wants to take a bite out of Krill. I may be a large empire, but by the numbers, I think Krill is the bigger threat and Khmer cannot conquer my land easily.

So, my strategic goal now is to take Arirang as quickly as possible. My Level 5 Field Cannon (the Desert Rain) MUST survive (at least, I really want to keep it alive because it's a hugely useful unit), and I can throw as many Coursers into the meat grinder as I want. Actually, maybe I'll lead the charge with a lower ranked Field Cannon, because it's almost certain to take return fire.

Anyway, attack Arirang by land and sea--if the city falls, Scarborough Fair should fall as well. The main thing keeping S. Fair loyal is both loyalty pressure from the capital, and Victor. The spies going to the cities, well, one is going to set up a listening post for the +3 combat bonus, and the other will do something nefarious. I'm curious if greenline will move Victor to Arirang to try and protect it. I definitely want to assassinate Victor if possible. So if Arirang goes down and I can take Victor out of the equation, Scarborough Fair should fall to loyalty pressure without me firing a shot! The rest of the Korean cities will be easy pickings without troops to defend them.

The real problem is, well, assuming I can actually pull off the above, is that the Korean cities on the western shoreline will have to burn. Krill completed his canal some turns back, so the Chinese navy could just roll up to the coast and take those cities from me like they took Burmese. Problems for later..... This assumes that I can even win here and uh... my track record hasn't been great lol.

Oh, this needs an Operation name. That's how I make stuff like this work. Uhh..... Operation.... Glue Factory.

[Whosit]

I've just been consistently making the wrong call when it comes to warfare, so I'm excited to see how this goes bottom up.

[Whosit]

This sums up my approach to fighting Korea this time around:

[Whosit]

Archduke DID accept peace, shockingly, then sent me:

(Me) Silver + Silk + Truffles for (They) Honey + Spices

....Oh, why does my brain only work AFTER I sent the turn? I assumed this was a diplo code and sent the offer back. Only now I realize it's just me giving him 3 free luxuries. Oops.

Well, whatever. Maybe I can beg some assistance from him at a later date.

Also, Krill just teched Steel. All his cities now have 400 strength fortifications, and it shows just how far ahead he is in tech.

Hm. Maybe I can get a Friendship deal with Khmer, and offer a Military Alliance and see if he'll declare war on Korea. That would be pretty helpful. I can't imagine that Korea is a useful trading partner to him, though that has to be weighed against whether he wants to see me grow any further. But I'm not doing great on actual numbers, so....

[Whosit]

Turn 158




New policies.




You can see a nice boost to gold. I also decided to finally name this cannon. Like it?




Archduke already sent me offer of friendship, so I sent this back. I am not confident he will take it, but I've been wrong before.






Oh look, I can have a good gold income, too, if I just use every policy slot I have to improve my gold economy!

Korea is making 10 gpt, btw. Heh.

[Whosit]

Turn 159

Holy Huntress, Archduke actually accepted my Alliance offer. That's definitely worth all the luxuries I'm sending him.




 



I indeed have the +5 military alliance bonus against Korean units. Once my spies are in place and I'm getting intel, I'll have a +8 bonus against greenline's units which will be incredibly useful. Unfortunately, the black lining to this silver cloud is that it appears that Archduke renewed his Friendship with Krill, and may renew the Alliance. I had been hoping that once their previous Alliance ran out that Archduke would be preparing for direct conflict with China.


 

Krill showing me that he has Cavalry..... As you can see, even my Field Cannons can't do much against them. I'm worried that he may begin pillaging my lands. Bengal may need to begin producing units after the Factory and skip the Coal Power Plant for the time being.

Now, as for my Great Merchant....




I always forget that this guy only works on non-hostile City States. What a rip.




Fortunately, I have a couple envoys sitting around, so I can make Hong Kong neutral.




That's worth some Era Score! (If two players had enough envoys, could they just do this back and forth to each other?




Time to claim the prize.




CMF sure has a ton of Samurai.... I don't expect to hold Hong Kong long, but I do get 2 more envoys in a couple of turns. I'd actually like to keep this CS independent. Bonus to projects and prod bonuses to buildings/wonders  is great for me.




Empire overview. Tourdion flips in 4 turns. At least the city's musketmen have been providing some XP. You can see Japan poking around in my south. Probably looking for where my army went. Probably figured out with Khmer's war declaration what is going on.

[Whosit]

Unexpected second turn today!

No domestic updates, but Krill has a Knight Corps. I can't tell if he's just showing off his units to scare me, or if he's preparing an attack and doesn't mind me knowing because he's confident he can stomp me.

Probably the second.