Brick by Brick (Spoiler Alert!)

[TheHumanHydra]

NOTE: This report will be updated tomorrow with text - I am just too tired to write it now. I realize certain sections probably make little sense without it - sorry! Suffice it to say important events of which you are no doubt aware have caused me to alter my plans substantially - just in time for this report!

STATE OF THE EMPIRE
T100

Overview:





Cities:



















Graphs:











Demographics (after end of turn):



Technologies:





Military:



Civics:





Exchequer:



Situation:





Plans:

[TheHumanHydra]

I am just going to put the promised text in another post, because another turn has been played and again events have moved almost too quickly for me to keep up with.

In the "Situation" and "Plans" sections above you can see how my infantry forces were massing for an attack on Azza in the northwest, and how I had been casing his positions and planning attack routes out of dead ground in all sectors. The plan had been for the infantry in the northwest (de_nuke) and the cavalry in the southeast (de_season) to attack simultaneously out of the fog in a few turns. The ponderous infantry, unsupported by catapults, could not really hope to take de_nuke with as much lead-time as Azza would have, but would pin some of his forces there less they do overcome a depleted garrison by means of there 50% bonus against most of his defenders. The cavalry, by means of their strength, speed, and numbers, would overwhelm the limited garrison at de_season then drive north, using their promotions and my Great General to heal. The next round of knights my cities would produce could reinforce one of these existing thrusts, or attack through Old Harry's territory to take de_inferno and, uh, that city whose name is blocked in fork and Azza in the rear. Hopefully Azza's small army would collapse under rapid concentric attack with overwhelming force. I would not keep the cities I took but raze them due to the high costs and defensive responsibilities they would engender; the war was not intended to secure a territorial advantage (I still have city-sites to settle) but push my closest rival down the metaphorical ladder while I have an advantage of another sort.

Then Old Harry declared on Azza and I verified he had indeed marched a large army into his territory. I congratulated Old Harry in my mind: what better use for the substantial forces left over from his devastating war with Serdoa than to take Azza's nearest, not-too-strongly-held cities and recoup his previous losses? And in last place, what did Old Harry have to lose if it went poorly? After a great deal of thought, I decided this would set Azza back enough that I did not have to worry about pushing him down the ladder any more for the time being, and that it would be wise to turn my attention instead to Serdoa, who was not far behind him and had great potential for development (not to mention cataphracts down the pipeline). This was a more intimidating prospect: though Azza's and Serdoa's power show up as even in the graphs, I knew from immediate observation Azza's forces were relatively few, while even at the end of the war with Old Harry I observed that Serdoa had imposing numbers of horse archers to bring to bear. Attacking him would require a little more time to build up forces: that was fine, as I had to march my infantry across the whole length of my empire to stage them for the attack. I decided this tougher target would require the full force of my army to be concentrated to meet with success; there were fewer opportunities for attacks on multiple fronts regardless. I decided to attack from my southwest, toward Thessalonica, where my forces could again be in dead ground (unless Thessalonica's borders expand) until the last moment. I didn't think Old Harry would mind me attacking through his land to take the guy who burned half his cities down a notch, especially since he remained an imposing threat for the future.

Then I opened up the save this turn, and saw that Old Harry and Azza had made peace without a sword being swung! This puzzled me greatly, till I investigated the diplomacy screen and saw that the peace required Azza to gift Old Harry 15 gold per turn. A worthwhile prize, I suppose. But now Old Harry is again a wild card, and I am uncertain as to the effect the loss of that income will have on Azza. I decided provisionally to continue marching on Serdoa but keep a close eye on events. The best-case scenario is that Azza's research rate is disrupted enough by the peace settlement that I develop a clear lead in that regard, my forces send Serdoa reeling, and Old Harry joins in to get revenge, hastening Serdoa's collapse; this would leave me the clear dominant power. The reality, of course, will probably be far less impressive, and I am afraid of Serdoa recovering like Old Harry did and causing me military disaster. It probably wouldn't take Serdoa long to research Feudalism or Machinery (I don't think he has already; he hasn't since I gained research visibility on him some time ago) and whip good defenders. Wish me luck: good or bad, your choice!

On another note, having completed Guilds and Construction, I am currently researching Banking, which will be followed by Civil Service: in that order to minimize known tech bonuses for others researching Civil Service (Serdoa) if I get it first, or maximize them for me if I don't! Then I plan to revolt to Bureaucracy and Mercantilism to improve my economy further and cut others out (I planned this when I was still going to be attacking Azza, with whom I have the majority of my trade, since it would be lost anyway due to the war: I may have to reevaluate when I get to Civil Service). Then the Liberalism track, with possible detours depending on developments, taking Economics (since I will have Banking) as the free tech for further economic development. Of course, I may be beaten to Liberalism, and I may decide the situation warrants Nationalism instead. We'll burn that bridge when we come to it.

Well, that was long, but if you consider it part of the previous report it's not nearly so imposing! I will leave you with another overview of my production before ending turn:



Nine knights now that those have finished, with more on the way. I'll have to see about interspersing some catapults, and spearmen to defend against Serdoa's horse archers.

[TheHumanHydra]

Projected time of attack is t109 (seven turns). I was right about the window of opportunity against Azza being narrow: he'll have Machinery in four turns. Serdoa's researching Civil Service at 0% right now.

Old Harry's army is moving up toward either Serdoa or my south. I don't think he'd attack me, but just in case I deliberately revealed several of my knights to him in the course of my assembly this turn. I'm hoping he'll draw the correct conclusion that they're moving to attack Serdoa and will consider joining me in a concentrated assault. I am prepared to go it alone, however.

I tried to take a pretty picture of my troops staging, but it didn't turn out. Sorry about that.

[TheHumanHydra]

So unless anything unexpected happens, it looks like I'll be attacking t108 with 13 knights, 7 crossbowmen, 1 longbowman, 2 axemen, and 4 spearmen, and more knights on the way. Less spearmen than is perhaps advisable given how many horse archers I know Serdoa has, and no catapults! I wonder how that'll turn out. Well, whatever happens, it should be fun. I have no idea the state of Serdoa's garrisons. Let's hope I make a dent!

Request for input: how would you guys like me to cover the upcoming war? Do you want images for every significant attack decision I make, and/or a written breakdown, or just overviews of how a given battle turned out? Anything else you'd like me to do or not do? An interpretive dance? Mad ravings while high on Smartfood popcorn? (Wait, that's normally what I do ...)

[BRickAstley]

Images of the important battles/standoffs, with a bit of explanation for anything significant happening there. Interpretative dances are fun too.

[TheHumanHydra]

Standoffs? Let's hope not ...

I should be able to shave a half-dozen knights off of that attack force to perform interpretive dance maneuvers, shouldn't I? I'll get right on it.

[TheHumanHydra]

Here's my army the turn before it embarks on its grand adventure:



I was wrong, I will actually have 16 knights at least the first turn of the attack. Many more on the way - at end of turn, I had 22 knights on the table, with more in the queues. I also discovered Civil Service. On to either Paper or Philosophy, though I may take a slight detour for Calendar first to help with my happy cap - I can't spare any new units for military police right now.

So I've got one vote for selected images with a small amount of explanation, plus interpretive dances. Would anyone else like to register a vote?

[thestick]

I vote for Google images of burning cities, along with epic theme music and egocentric speeches.

[TheHumanHydra]

Voting is now closed, thestick has won. How do you upload sound files to RB?

Just kidding, you can still vote, but I'm definitely taking those suggestions.

[NobleHelium]

egocentric speeches.

Sounds like a perfect fit for...