[Spoilers] Woden takes on the World (PBEM18)

[Woden]

T121
Open the save to...



I upgrade the catapult in the encampment at Helm's Deep. He also has a promotion that I will take next turn so I can start working towards the next one. So, there will be a 2-turn delay in removing the walls at Potro Alegre. As expected my knight was shot by the walls and attacked by his swordsman but remained alive. He can't escape, so I pillage the temple. The Courser moves to Fez to heal and wait for the walls to fall. Down south, Ichabod attacked my injured Frigate, giving him a promotion. I move him out and move my healthy one up to take out the walls...



Notice that Kaiser has a galley nearby and might be looking to steal the city, so I move up my other Frigate to occupy the tile while my Caravel moves up. City will fall next turn. My Courser moves to the horses to pillage it next turn before taking the city.

Over in the east, Ichabod's army showed up here too and he has the General in the city. He was able to take out on of my muskets. I think I pushed on this city a little early and should have waited until I could slot the Oligarchy Legacy card and had some fire support in play. I retreat the muskets and need to decide what to do with the knight... 



I could pillage the mine for 324 but would trade a Knight. Is it worth it? Probably not but if I retreat the knight, I will almost certainly lose the ram and musket. If I keep the knight on the mine, I think the musket will be safe and he will focus on the knight for the kill. I do move up my crossbows to deter him from killing the musket. So, in the end I do pillage the mine to save the ram for a future attack with a few more muskets, a General, and a few bonus attack cards in play. 

At Mount Doom, I have been building the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus with the hopes of getting the first Engineer, but Ichabod stole them away. I still figured it was worth building. A while back, when I was scouting out suboptimal's lands, I noticed he was building it too. This turn, I see...



Seems he chopped a few things and is almost complete. Magnus will be established next turn and I could double chop it over the next few turns but I would still have about 4 or 5 more turns of production to finish it. I don't think I have that much time. Hell, he could be finishing it next turn for all I know. Instead of wasting my production into it, I place and start the Great Lighthouse. I should be able to double chop that to completion. I really need the era points to get another Golden Age. With the wonder, 3 great people, and a splendid theater square, I should have enough for the next golden age. I could also steal Venice's suzerainship for a few more points when I era my next 2 envoys. The next age starts in 18 turns, so I have some time but need to start planning things. 

Elsewhere, I upgraded a knight at Misty Mountains and finished 2 Crossbowman (Gondor and Erebor). Both cities start workshops while I wait to slot the bonus to cavalry card. Best to not waste production where I can. Overall, I have hit a few bumps in the war but still looking good. Taking Recife next turn will hit Ichabod's science a little bit and remove one of his horses. Hopefully the turn can make it back to me in a timely fashion.

[NobleZarkon]

Been away for the weekend, been a bit of a slog it seems.

You're certainly doing him a lot of harm but there's a danger you're not getting enough out of it :-(

[Woden]

Turn 122
Start turn off with...



Slot Ballistics in next to finish in 9 turns. Let's see the damage. Starting in the east...



Looks like he went after the knight, as expected, and my ram and musket live to see another day. I retreat all units out of range of the city and will hold for a few turns to re-assess. Over on the coast...



I only need the Fleet Frigate and Caravel, so I bring all other Frigates south towards Sao Paulo. I also notice a Caravel inside the city and it now has a defensive strength of 70 I pillage the horses with my Courser and take the city. Looking at loyalty...

 

The city is currently 50/100 loyal and losing 21 per turn. I can hold the city for 3 turns. If I place a Governor, I can get the loyalty to -13 and it would still only take 4 turns to flip free. Is it worth an extra turn to use my Governor Title and forgo taking Black Markets for Magnus? No, I don't think so. I don't put a Governor in the city because what use is one more turn? Whatever...moving on to Sao Paulo...

 

I am going to need about 4 more frigates to take this city, or at least something to get ride of the encampment. I could bombard it with my frigates but no way to pillage it to kill it. I guess I could bring my Courser over, but will need to see what Ichabod does on his turn. If he brings some cavalry to retake the city, might not be possible to take it. Anyways, I need to ponder my next moves. I did mark a kill zone at Sao Paulo, where I think Ichabod can kill a Frigate in 1 turn. It would get hit my both the city and encampment, plus whatever crossbows he has in the area. I think the 2 city attacks plus 2 crossbows would kill a full-health Frigate. That means I have to either get rid of the encampment, rush the city and pray I can take the walls out before I lose all my Frigates, or  slowly bring them down from the 1 tile where I am only in range of the city and whatever unit is in the city. Not sure the best move. If Ichabod was smart, he would be working towards Square Rigging now and building quadriremes in his city by Venice and in Sao Paulo, which means I have a clock. He might also be looking to head straight to Nationalism, so I think I have probably 20 turns(?) before I can see his nasty Battleships. Not sure if he has Press Gangs to boost shipbuilding but not sure if it matters much. 

Finally, I have an alternative that might work. The next Admiral gives an Ironclad and I should be able to get the turn before suboptimal but if I pass, the next 2 Admirals might be better. There is the one that gives a Privateer and the one that gives a Armada. both might be more useful than an Ironclad. I could pass on the next Admiral and see which one I can get. It would give suboptimal a Ironclad and that might bite me in the ass a little down the road but I think the other 2 options are better.

[Woden]

Once again we are waiting on Ichabod to play his turn. He made it one day where the turn made it back to me within 24 hours. I am not going to post anything in the tech tread because I want to see where the others stand and if they are as frustrated with the turn pace as I am. We have done 14 turns in October and it is the 22st. That is far from a day a turn. At this rate, PBEM19 will pass up before November ends. 

I don't really understand it, it is not like I have this game locked in, in fact, I think I am about in 3rd place. Once this era ends, my science is going to drop to about 75, where Kaiser is at 107 and Ichabod is 87 (was at 101 before I took Recife). Both have higher culture rates than me and more civics. My only hope to stay relevant is to hurt Ichabod and tech far enough ahead that I can get some infrastructure built while they catch up. Suboptimal is in the same boat as me and CMF/williams482 is a bit behind with only 39. This game is far from over. 

As for the war, I have taken 2 cities and already razed one and the other will be razed in the future because I won't be able to hold it. I am keeping it around as bait to draw some of his units away from the other fronts. I will be able to capture 2 more fairly easy and will keep one of them (Porto Alegre) but after that, I will hit a brick wall and all advancement will stop until I can get some more units out and research a few civics and techs. 

The big issue is the combat advantage Ichabod has right now.  I may have a larger army but Ichabod has stacked a +12 Combat Strength advantage against me, and that doesn't include the +5 for city attacks and +6 to city defenses his cities currently have. The +12 CS comes from defender of the faith (+5), War of Religion (+4) policy card, intel on opponents movements (+3) or having greater diplomatic visibility on me. I knew about DotF but though I actually would have to be following my religion for War of Religion to work and just realized that the added diplomatic visibility is because he most likely has the Printing tech. He doesn't have a trade post in any of my cities, so it is really the way he can have addition visibility on me. I don't think he is on the Diplomatic Service column yet, or at least just got there, so I don't think a spy is out, established, and ran a Listening Post mission yet. 

To help lesson his CS advantage, I need to switch to Printing next turn. The GE I have that adds a district slot to a city also gives the boost to Printing, so at least I get something out of Ichabod stealing the wonder GE. Otherwise, I would be researching it un-boosted. That will take care of the +3 and I will slot Reformed Church after Divine Rights finishes next turn to get the War of Religion card in play to cancel that +4 CS. Not much I can do for the +5 CS for DotF but I can slot the Oligarchy legacy card for +4 and the General I get in a few turns will work with the muskets, so maybe I need more muskets and not so many cavalry units. Problem here is niter, I need it for muskets and frigates and need lots of both. Maybe I build cavalry now and muskets once Magnus is established at Gondor. Definitely need to take the Black Markets. Ichabod could slot the legacy card too but not sure if he will have the slots in Theocracy to run all of his bonus cards. 

Anyways, I think the current plan is to sail to my fleet to Sao Luis to raze it. Until I can get rid of some of the combat bonuses he has, taking Sao Paulo is going to be too difficult. This also means there is a good chance I will see Frigates and/or Minas Geraes, which will make it very difficult without a larger fleet. I should be able to take Porto Alegre once I have my General and can move and shoot with the bombard not in the encampment, which is about 5 or 6 turns. Until then, this war is in a very fragile state and I could be in trouble if he decides to attack my cities in the next 5 or 6 turns.

[NobleZarkon]

Thanks for the update, shame about the pace :-(

Yeah it's a shame the way things have worked out with the war - you may have suffered from always waiting for the next thing perhaps? I know as a builder first that's my tendency.

[Woden]

Thanks for the update, shame about the pace :-(

Yeah it's a shame the way things have worked out with the war - you may have suffered from always waiting for the next thing perhaps? I know as a builder first that's my tendency.

I don't think I am suffering from waiting. He has been in Theocracy for a while, meaning he beelined Reform Church. If I had attacked earlier, it would be longer that I would have to contend with his CS bonuses. Maybe a very early war would have been better but I never had any advantage to where I could take cities away from him. Frigates are the only reason I have made the progress I have. I still think I am going to make progress in this war, it just is not going to be a quick steamroll. 

Turn 123
Start off finishing...



I upgrade my catapult and then do a policy swap...



I swap out Feudal Contracts and Professional Army for Chivalry and Craftsmen. Suboptimal completed the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and with the wonder fail production, I was able to chop the Great Lighthouse to completion (would have finished next turn regardless). I use my GE to add a district to Gondor and boost Printing, which I start to research (due in 3 turns). 

Down south, a Brazilian galley shows up from the west...



I destroy it with 2 Frigates as I move my fleet to go hit Sao Luis. Oddly, Ichabod moved a knight next to the encampment at Helm's Deep...



I shoot it with the attack from the encampment and shot Potro Alegere with the Bombard, removing the walls. Not sure what he is planning here with the knight, he won't be able to do much damage to the encampment but he does have a missionary poking around the north side of Helm's Deep. He might be looking to do and end run around and pillage my backside. I will have to make sure to get a few units in the north by La Venta and I also should build walls at La Venta, Osgilaith, and Gondor, just in case suboptimal shows up with Frigates some time in the future. In fact, I should get Medieval Walls everywhere and get ready to build Renaissance Walls. I can supplement my research with the policy that adds +2 to Renaissance Walls, but that is still a little ways down the road. 

Elsewhere, Kaiser is moving a few of his unique chariot archers through Misty Mountains to attack Ichabod. Not sure what he is thinking. Why is he not focusing on Canada. His units aren't going to do shit against Ichabod's with all his bonuses. I am attacking with better units and getting my ass kicked. I guess he is in for a rude surprise. I look like I am steamrolling Ichabod, taking 2 cities fairly early in the war but that is thanks to my Frigates, the land war is going to go much slower and needs to wait until I can reduce the attack advantage Brazil has right now.

[Woden]

Turn 124
Quite turn. Ichabod left his knight by my encampment, so I shot him. Otherwise, my fleet is sail towards Sao Luis. Not much else gong on. Dam at Osgiliath finishes, so i figure I could show my Industrial Complex...



All those are double with the policy card in play. Osgilaith is pulling in +20 from the IZ and is my highest production city. I should be able to match Ichabod's Work Ethic holy sites and should no longer be at a production disadvantage. Best part, get factories and power plants and my production will skyrocket. 
 

Turn 125
The War of Religion policy card is broke as hell. I am now following Ichabod's religion...



But guess what is still around...



His knight still has the +4 War of Religion bonus! Stupid but doesn't matter, I stopped following his religion because I am converting Rohan to my religion to get the boost to Reformed Church. I already have converted my eastern holdings... 



Recife became a free city this turn and I will need 2 turns to recapture it. Not sure if I raze it or keep it. Have not see any of Ichabod's units around and not sure if he plans on trying to recapture it....



In a positive note, Fez grew and no longer losing loyalty, its loyalty is now at +1.4/turn. Elsewhere, I switch out of Printing to prevent the encampment project at Rivendell from not completing. Unlike districts, projects costs do increase as techs/civics finish. Ichabod also dumped a bunch of envoys into Bologna and now I am at war with them.

[NobleZarkon]

Steady progress.

Nice IZ you have there.

That's barmy about "War of Religion"!

[Woden]

Turn 126
Open the save to a great person waiting for me, Timur a great general. He grants a promotion and +25% combat experience to a military land unit. Not sure if that is all military land units or just the one I give the promotion too? Regardless, he is going to stay around for a while. Timur shows up at Helm's Deep and I move him to where the bombard that is waiting to move up next turn is located. I should be able to take Potro Alegre in 2 turns. Next turn, I move up my 2nd bombard and hit the city with both. I will also put my musket in the water so he can attack the city by sea. The following turn, I will hit the city again with both bombards and be able to capture it with my musket. I also have 2 coursers able to reach the city if needed. Ichabod still has his knight next to my encampment but I don't attack it this turn. I figure he is keeping it there to earn experience and my attacks aren't really doing much. I will have a crossbow in range next turn and will attack with both a city strike and crossbow and then hit it with both coursers if I don't need one of them for the city attack.

A little further south, I retake Recife...



I decide to keep the city (it will revolt in 2 turns). Not really doing anything with the Frigate currently and can use it for experience. I haven't seen anything from Ichabod, so it doesn't look like I can distract him with the city but if I do see units coming I will probably raze it. But, if I can take Fortaleza shortly after I finish Ballistics, I might be able to hold both cities and go after Rio. Also, suboptimal came investigating the war. He now knows I have frigates. Not sure what his plans might be but I do have to start thinking about the possibility of him joining the war once I start making more progress against Ichabod. Currently plan is to get some knights and muskets built before I finish Ballistics, then upgrade a bunch of units. After that, I can push out a bunch of Frigates and Caravels at Gondor and Osgiliath. That should help a bit. Figure I am a little weak up in the northeast for about 10 more turns.

Finally, my ships are ready to attack Sao Luis next turn...



I also decide to send my Caravel exploring south a bit and find a barb muskets. Glad they are not by me. I wonder if they are giving Canada a rough go of it? Caravel will go 3 more tile east before heading back towards Sao Luis. It will take 2 turns to remove the walls, so the Caravel has a little time to waste before capturing the city. It will be razed, no way to hold it and I want my navy in the west to pressure Sao Paula. I will earn the next great merchant and use the envoy to make peace with Venice. Hopefully Ichabod is out of envoys and I can stay at peace and collect some gold.

I switched research to Printing to get ride of the +3 CS bonus Ichabod has and I boosted Reformed Church by converting Rohan. Slowly but surely making progress.

[NobleZarkon]

Timur a great general. He grants a promotion and +25% combat experience to a military land unit. Not sure if that is all military land units or just the one I give the promotion too?

Just the one you apply him to.

Steady progress, good job.