[Spoilers] Woden takes on the World (PBEM18)

[Woden]

A string of setbacks.
Turn 138
Start off the turn with...



Slot Industrialism to finish in 4 turns but really 7 when I lose a little less than half my science next turn. Ichabod was able to kill both my crossbow and field cannon near Manaus but I hit the city a few times, removing most of his was walls...



I move my units up at Fortaleza, killing his horseman. Should be able to get eyes on Rio next turn. Here is a picture of the war is strategic view...



In other news, a storm is raging by Gondor, wiping out a bunch of tile and a barb camp should up north of La Venta. Suboptimal now has a larger army than me and may be looking to join the war or maybe going after a softer target.


Turn 139
Remember a few turns ago when I said Ichabod is broke...yah, might be wrong there! He wiped out all but one muskets at Manaus but I will get to that in a minute. The Medieval Era ends and the Renaissance Era begins! I get a golden age and select Monumentality. Ichabod also got a golden age and pretty sure he took Monumentality too as he spend a bunch of faith this turn. I retreat my lone musket back to Misty Mountains and send my cavalry south to attack Vitoria and scout out Rio...



Rio is a pretty nice city and looks to be building walls. Figure they will be there when I open the save next turn. I start moving my units up ready to attack or reposition next turn, depending on what he does.

Encampment at Misty Mountains finishes next turn unless Ichabod puts a unit on the tile but then I can kill it with the city attack. The storm by my core continues to ravage my tiles but luckily no districts are damaged and I have a few builders that can repair the damaged tiles. Only 1 mine was stripped. I have a catapult being built in Osgiliath that will change to a bombard next turn that will go down to the encampment at Misty Mountains to strip the walls from Manaus before I launch another attack to take the city. Luckily, the encampment should keep his crossbows away from the approach to the city when I can get enough muskets to try again.

Losing Free Inquiry dropped my science down to about 80 but I used the free policy swap to put in Natural Philosophy for Naval Infrastructure, bringing it up to 98 and still have a positive income.

Turn 140
Start turn off with...



Ichabod was able to kill my leading field cannon at near Rio. I need to be real careful and rearrange my units so I can overwhelm him a little bit. I don't push on the city, preferring to move units around, just out of range of his city attack. Forgot to take any pictures of the movements but not much action this turn anyways. Here is the current score...



I lead by just under 100 points and the best part is that I have more than 80 empire points the next highest (Kaiser). I swapped my capital to the Grand Masters' Chapel so I can faith buy units. I also swap into Theocracy...



Keep the same policies but want the extra faith and 15% discount on faith buys.

[Woden]

Great to have some updates!

War going well, bit annoying at the cities flipping - how long till they flip again??  Crazy mechanic.

Recife will flip every 3 turns now that I have taken Fortaleza and Sao Paulo flips every 2 turns. Not a huge deal. They will be 1 population soon and it is free experience for my Frigates, but, yah, it is pretty stupid.

Fortaleza is pretty stable. It shows it will rebel in 23 turns but should stable out if I get rid of the religion. If I can take Rio, I should have no more loyalty issues. But until then, I will keep retaking them.

[Woden]

Turn 141
I think Ichabod made a huge mistake this turn. Here is what it looked like near Rio this turn, see if you can spot it...



Do you see it? He moved his field cannon out of the city center to let his musket heal. Why is this a mistake? Because I can kill it and he loses an attack out of the city. He should have moved the musket behind the city and keep field cannon in the city to pick off my units. Of coarse, he could have another one pop up next turn, so maybe it is not as big a mistake as I think but still think he left his cannon vulnerable to attack. He did shot my bombard but that guy has a promotion that I take, giving some extra damage to city defenses. I start turn off with retaking Sao Paulo, then throw everything I could at the field cannon, killing it with my knight for the boost to Military Science (the one that unlocks cavalry). Here is how the turn ended at Rio...



I did get a shot off with my other bombard this turn. It will be a couple of turn before the walls fall. Depending on what he is building in Rio and what is coming down the road from Belo Horizonte, I should be able to take the city in 4 turns. I might lose a few units but I should still have both bombards when I open the save next turn (famous last works). Recife will rebel again next turn but will recapture it. Once Rio falls, I should be able to stabilize the loyalty in these cities.

Over at my core...



I am starting to repair the damage from the storm that pushed through between Gondor and Erebor. I will replace or fix the last of the mines next turn, then the western builder will go east for some much needed builder love in my eastern holdings. I also am in desperate need of some entertainment zones. Rohan, Osgiliath, and La Venta will build them after their current builds. A bunch of my cities are now at -2 happiness, even with a bunch of luxuries. It is not war wariness, I only have that in Brazil's former cities, but rather just too many cities and my populations are rising. Might need Erebor to build one too and maybe even Moria when they both hit size 7.

[NobleZarkon]

All very quiet!!

[Woden]

We have dropped to a turn every 2 days, so very slow game progression. Here is a summary of the last few turns...

Turn 142-T144
Here is a quick summary of what has been going on. Ichabod has been chopping all his jungle tiles in a last ditch effort to prevent me from taking his capital and it has worked. We have been killing each others units at a rate of a couple per turn and he is replacing them faster than I can get reinforcements built and to the front. Also, Ichabod and Kaiser signed a friendship and my alliance with Kaiser has ended on T144. Looking for him to jump in on Ichabod's side soon because it doesn't look like he has done much against Canada. Finally, suboptimal's military power has been rising the last dozen or so turns and he can really hurt me if he choses. My hope is he has targeted Kaiser as easy prey and leaves me (who has a large fleet) alone. Overall, I could be in real trouble in the next 10 or so turns. Can't run military production cards because I need the CS boosting cards to stay relevant with Ichabod's combat strength, so reinforcements are taking too long to build.

Here is the front at the start of T144...



I don't really see a way to take Rio. I just don't have enough ranged units. If I hit the city with my melee units, they get injured then killed by his units. He has too many crossbows that are picking me off. If I attack the ranged units, he has enough to kill each attacker before they can kill them. This is really a losing war. I have done enough damage to Ichabod to prevent him from keeping up, so I decide to send him a peace offering...



I sweeten the pot by offer to return Fortaleza. Don't really need the city and I can't hold it due to loyalty and I am really getting crunched for happiness right now with several cities at -2 happiness and getting the 5% penalty. Ending the war now will let me focus on defense of my lands and I really need to get factories and power plants going at my core.

Recife revolted this turn and I decide to raze it...



I will raze Sao Paulo next turn, then seen my ships to protect the northern passes and my core. Peace will give me some time to rebuild my army and then maybe I go after Kaiser. I am curious where is army might be...



My best bet is if he is planning anything, it will be at Misty Mountains. I will need to get a few field cannons down here to here defend. If Ichabod doesn't accept peace, I will fall back and defend for a while, while I get my Industrial Complex built out, reach Nationalism, and then can 1 or 2 turn units with the proper production cards in place.

[NobleZarkon]

Oh dear, sorry to hear the war isn't going to well but recognising that in time and not just getting your troops slaughtered is key!

[Woden]

Turn 145
Ichabod rejected my peace offer! I would have thought he would like the time to regroup and try and work something out with Kaiser to double team me. I did check and he has no available gold per turn to trade, meaning his income is negative. My best guess right now is he is close to Nationalism and thinking he might be able to put the hurt on me with corps. Good thing he doesn't have any coastal cities to put out his unique battleships. Even with cops, it is hard to capture cities will medieval walls.

Oh well, I am still going to turtle up for a few turns to shore up my defenses and get my industrial complex going in my core cities. I am getting worried about a 3-v-1 with suboptimal joining in to take my coastal cities. Here is how it looked at the start of my turn...



Sao Paulo revolted, so I razed it to the ground! My ships are needed elsewhere. I will leave one down here to prevent him from settling on the coast but the others are going to defend Fez or sail north to protect the passes. Ichabod was able to kill my field cannon, so I retreat anything that can but my musket by the city is dead next turn regardless if I promote him or try to run. Instead, I attack the Cuirassier, injuring it and redlining my musket. Ichabod will only be able to get experience for one unit killing it. All my other units head towards Fortaleza or the ocean. They should all be able to survive any attack Ichabod can throw at them. 


Turn 146
Start turn off with...



Here is the front...



Looks like Ichabod is going to push on Fortaleza. The city is going to rebel in 2 turns but I move back my musket and send Victor to Porto Alegre, so it will rebel next turn. My plan is to keep my cavalry in range to see if I can capture and raze it if Ichabod attacks the free city. Also, I don't need the hit to my luxuries with having another city. I already have a few cities at -2 happiness. The changes to luxuries really hurt large empires. I have 2 continents worth of luxuries and still am being impacted by unhappiness. War Wariness isn't really that bad yet. Ichabod did put a few envoys into Venice and I lose my free income. I am now just barely in the positive. I need to fix that soon, since next turn I will go negative with a field cannon coming out. Triangle Trade in 3 turns should fix my income situation with 12 trade routes and potential 2 more on their way. 

Here is what my core is working on...



Gondor finished the Grand Master's Chapel this turn and starts a factory. My core cities will work on factories and power plants once they are done with their current builds. I should be able to get their production to somewhere between 70- 100 in the next 20 turns. Then I should be able to build an army fairly fast.

Finally, I sent suboptimal a friendship request to see if he has plans on attacking me and if I need to push out more ships before I build all my factories. If he accepts, I will continue as planned. If he rejects it, then I will switch into Press Gangs and build a bunch of caravels to block the northern passes.

[NobleZarkon]

Tough slog at the moment but you have a clear plan so that's good. As long as you don't end up fighting 3 Civs you should be fine!

[Woden]

Turn 147
I open the save to...



Fortaleza has rebelled, but more importantly, Ichabod attacked the city on his turn lowering its health enough for me to take the city. I attack with both the musket and cuirassier, then raze it the the ground. Ichabod should have taken my peace deal. Now, he is down one city with a holy site and theater square. I will probably lose both units but still worth it. No more loyalty issues at Fez or Porto Alegre.

Suboptimal did not accept my offer of friendship but rather sent a trade of 10 for 10. Okay, I know he likes the meta using trades, so I think he is saying no aggression but is probably scheming something where he doesn't want to world to know it is not me. Best guess is he is looking to attack Kaiser or Canada soon and a friendship with me would ruin any surprize. Of course, he could just mean we will have peace for 10 turns and all bets are off but I think if he had plans to attack me, he would have rejected it and not send the gold for gold offer. This is good. At least I can relax a little, at least with concerns about suboptimal.

While in the diplo screen, I did notice that Kaiser and Ichabod have an alliance now, best bet it is a military alliance. I send a friendship request to Canada in hopes they notice the alliance and realize I am looking to help them out with our own military alliance. Of coarse, he may not see it or might not want to screw over his former ally (Ichabod). An alliance with Canada won't help me because I don't think Ichabod or Canada will declare on each other but would help Canada when Kaiser declares on me. Not sure how to read it if he declines. We will see.

Here is how the fronts looked at the end of my turn...



Like I said, my musket and cuirassier are probably toast but I think my cities are safe, at least until I start seeing siege units. Fez has medieval walls will have a few frigates for defenses. Porto Alegre will have medieval walls once the builder chops a few jungles and has a couple of field cannons. Not sure how aggressive Ichabod is going to be here. He may think I am on the run and weak but I just don't have the units to launch a decent attack. I don't think I will have any problem defending.

[Woden]

It has been a fairly slow turn pace and not much going on. Here are the last 3 turns.

Turn 148
I open the save to find my musket is dead but the cuirassier survived...



I move the cuirassier to jungle tile and see Ichabod has a pike and shot in the fog. If I move him to the rice tile, he will die but if I move him to the horse tile to the south, I can have 2 frigates waiting to kill the pike and shot if he attacks. I move the cuirassier to the horse tile and spot a crossbow that might be able to hit him. Not sure if it would be enough to kill the cuirassier, so I might still be able to kill the pike and shot if Ichabod goes for the kill.

My inquisitor re-coverts Fez to my religion and I buy a settler at Fez to settle the location north of the city. I need that city to help shore up loyalty in case Ichabod founds another city where Fortaleza was located. Also, I stupidly traded out both my whales and need to hook up the whales just east of the city location. Actually, I was getting a third whales from Sao Paulo that I traded out and when I razed the city, I lost my copy so need another. 

I am going to take a defensive posture until I can get Nationalism and the +50% card to ranged and melee units. This will give me time to build out my industrial complex...



I have Gondor, Erebor, and Osgiliath building factories and each city will go right into power plants. The meta here at RB has been that industrial zones aren't worth the production but with Gathering Storm and situations where you can get a nice industrial complex going, I beg to differ. A coal plant costs 330 and at 7 adjacency, it pay back cost is 24 turns (with district doubling card). The game will last longer than that; we are at the point where Urban Defenses are going to start popping up and units are getting to the point where they can take 10 turns to build in cities without massive production. 

I think stopping the assault while I don't have a production card available for the last generation of ranged and anti-cavalry units is the right call. I think with the defensive advantage Ichabod has, especially with DotF, I need to overwhelm him with production, which means factories and power plants. This also means, I will probably need infantry, artillery's, and tanks, which are not that far off.

Ichabod's military strength is reaching mine, which I hope gives him some confidence to attack me. If he does, my cities will be able to take out some of his defenders. I haven't seen any siege units yet and will be safe until I do. I also hope that the other don't see me as a threat because I have stalled out against Ichabod and look at each other for gains. My best guess is that suboptimal would rather go after someone that couldn't hurt him by sea but not sure what plans Kaiser has. If he is content with turtling and building a way or if he has plans to take over Canada (even though he has shown no progress there). Overall, I think I will be building for the next 15 turns while I research Nationalism and build out my infrastructure, then we can shift to massive spamming of units to re-engage Ichabod. 


Turn 149
Start turn off with...



Time for a policy swap...



I remove the 2 combat strength booster cards for a little more happiness and extra charges on my builders. I plan on Nationalism until I can get enough faith for another builder (after I buy a trader for my new city), then I will switch to more gold generating set-up.

Here is the front...



My cuirassier survived another turn and now is safe. Looks like the crossbow attacked but he didn't attack with the pike and shot. The cuirassier moves to the safety of the frigate. I leave my General where he stands to keep an eye on Ichabod. If Ichabod moves to that tile, he will be transported to Fez and I will ship him to Porto Alegre. The question now is what Ichabod is going to do. Is he going to attack and lose his army or is here going to wait for some bombards?


Turn 150
Here is what I see when I opened the save...



All Ichabod has done is move a few units around. Actually, it looks like he maybe finishing Nationalism soon and looking to combine a few of those units. Field cannon next to field cannon, musket next to musket. He has been able to research Nationalism for a bit, so possible, IDK.

Anyways, I founded Weathertop, bought the whales tile and bought a trader. City places a Cothon but starts working on walls. It shows 14 turns to complete but should drop to 4 turns next turn when I send the trader to Gondor. My inquisitor convert the city to my religion.

Since it is T150, here are the scores...





Not much has changed in the last 10 turns. I am still roughly 75 points ahead of Ichabod. Kaiser and suboptimal are close behind Ichabod and very much still in the game.

I really hate the changes to luxuries...



Most of my cities are now displeased and suffering from the -10% non-food yield penalties. I have a plan though, I am going to chop out the Colosseum in Rohan. The city is currently building arena and I moved Magnus there this turn. I also promoted Magnus to get all surrounding factories regional bonus. Rohan has 2 lumbermilled forests. Magnus is established, I will chop the tile where the Colosseum will be placed and then chop the other forest to complete the Colosseum. Figure I can get on T157. That will help my happiness problems. The only issue I can see is the next Great Engineer. Kaiser is leading the race with 254/310, making 7 ppt. I am second with 212/310, making 9. Suboptimal is 4th at 181/310 but making 10 points. Kaiser will have the next Engineer in 8 turns but then the price drops to 240, which will give both me and suboptimal more than enough to get the next one. Since suboptimal plays before me, he will get the next Engineer and I will be left with the 3rd one. Do one of them have it set-up so they can get the wonder built with the next wonder production supplying engineer on the turn they earn them. I actually want to steal Leonardo, since I have a bunch of workshops and if next one is the one that culture bombs IZ, then suboptimal might pass and get the wonder producing one. Also, Ichabod is at 204/310, making 6 ppt. He might actually get the 3rd Renaissance before I even get to get mine, even though I will have more points. I might not actually get a Renaissance Engineer. The biggest issue is if someone buys the next Engineer before it is naturally earned, then I might lose the Colosseum.