[Spoilers] Woden takes on the World (PBEM18)

[Woden]

Turn 185
Open the save to Alhambra finishing. Good, at least nothing went wrong there! Ichabod also finished Chechen Itza. I have a policy swap thanks to the added military slot. I switch my policies around a little bit...



I had to put Retainers back in as it is too costly to have all my cities displeased. My science increases by 9 and my culture by 8. I also drop Conscription for Press Gangs. I want to get 2 privateers out for the boost to Electricity and have something around to pillage coastal tiles if I can. Overall, my income drops only 4 because many cities become content again and I lose the -10% penalty. In 2 turns, I will drop Force Modernization and Press Gangs for Chivalry and either Conscription or Raid, I have not decided. Need to work out what would be more beneficial over the preceding 8 turns. 

Ichabod was able to kill one of my field cannons near Misty Mountains...



Looks like he 1-shot it with his 3-promotioned FC. Hope he stays there next turn when Steel finishes, I think I can kill it with my Encampment and FC. I convert Misty Mountains back to my religion and hope the loyalty turns positive. It didn't have the +3 for following my religion on the loyalty screen but I don't know if there is a tech that obsoletes that source of loyalty.

My battleship moves down by Alara Kitan and will start bombarding it next turn. I will also bring the cavalry unit healing at Helm's Deep over there to pillage some tiles if I get the chance. I bought another catapult and switched research to Steel. My hope now is that Kaiser is out of position to launch anything and I can get to Combustion before he is read and before Ichabod launches any kind of attack.

Edit: Forgot to mention, Canada came with a trade, my cocoa for spice and wines. I decline since I am already getting both from suboptimal and I only have 1 copy of cocoa.

[Woden]

Turn 186
Steel completes...



Ichabod didn't pillage my encampment and now it has a defensive attack again. I am able to kill his 3-promoted field cannon with the encampment attack and bringing my field cannon up. It exposes my FC to counterattack but might be able to kill another unit if Ichabod leaves it vulnerable.

Canada comes asking for my marble. I decline again since I only have 1 source right now. He must be desperate for some luxuries, maybe in some loyalty trouble since both his neighbors are in Golden Ages. That sucks if it is true but I have my own problems. Here is my current situation...



Now, this is with 4 luxuries from my home continent (I have 5 but one of my spices is going to suboptimal and the other is pillaged), 3 luxuries from Kaiser's continent, 3 luxuries from trades or city states, 6 cities getting 2 amenities from the Colosseum, 5 Entertainment Zones, 3 arena, 2 amenities from the palace, and 2 amenities in Gondor for the Alhambra (I forgot about this when I built it).  I have 64 amenities to cover 122 population. That alone would barely cover my cities, for 2 population per amenity that would be 128 population for all my cities to be content. I am running both retainers and liberalism, with liberalism covering 11 of my cities and retainers covering 14. My war wariness is at 24, with 4 of my cities being displeased. In total, I have 153 amenities minus 24, which should still be enough but since luxuries don't apply uniformly, I have displeased cities.

I have done a lot to get most of my cities content but I think the recent changes to amenities have been too punitive to larger empires. I would be interested in see what Ichabod's happiness and war wariness is, he has been posting a little bit but not sure if he is as affected as me, which would suck since he has lost a bunch of cities and i have only lost some units. My happiness level is important because if I start attacking Kaiser, or even push hard on Ichabod, my war wariness is only going to get higher. Part of me thinks I should offer Ichabod a sweet deal (Fez and Porto Alegre) to end this war, just to go and kill Kaiser. We know he is not good at fighting since he has not been able to take anything from Canada, even though they are at least an era behind in tech and Kaiser is more interested in building wonders than military. But, I can also just push on Ichabod with tanks and take him out fairly quick if I can get the coin together for upgrades. Regardless of who I attack, I am going to need more amenities to keep my cities form getting penalized. I will discuss this more in a bit but first on to the rest of the turn.

My battleship and ironclad move down to Alara Kitan...



97 versus 80, should get some nice damage...nope, only 28 to the walls and 23 to the city. I was expecting more, even with the -50% penalty...well, okay that was 51 damage at 50%, so would be 100 points of damage. Seems a little low but okay.

Here is the western front...



Like I said earlier, I killed Ichabod's 3-promoted FC but left my FC exposed to counterattack. Research-wise, I slotted Combustion in and will research I down to the boost, then will switch to something else while I get an artifact dug up and get as many heavy cavalry units out as I can.

Back to amenities, how can I get a bunch of amenities to cover my war wariness. I have a few more Entertainment Zones and Water Parks in production right now and I can build arenas and strategic zoos. An additional possibility in National Parks. After Mobilization, I can research Conservation and be able to plant trees and National Forests. I have room for 2 in the northeast if I plant some trees...



I would also need to settle the "+3 Happy" city", which I plan on soon. Both parks would give +2 amenities to the host city and +1 to the four closest cities. One question I still have is, do the amenities stack or is it like the zoo, where it is only 1 per city from National Parks? Surprisingly, I have a bunch of other spots I can place them with a little work. In the west...



I could place on at Helm's Deep if I don't hook up the marble and get ride of the lumbermill. I can get one at Porto Alegre too but might have to lose the gypsum or a couple of mines. In the east...



There are a few options with some work. I could put two between The Black Gate and Moria and I could even get rid of the sheep and jade mine and put one at Gondor. I believe Naturalists are cheaper now and might be able to get some out in 20 turns. I need to think about this now because I would need to get a bunch of builders out after I finish Mobilization and would need the extra charge card in place. Also, an added benefit would be defense against anybody trying for a cultural victory. Both suboptimal and Kaiser have been pushing wonders lately and I am not sure if they are thinking about going for a cultural victory, since it looks like they won't get a domination or concession victory. I wouldn't be pushing for a cultural victory but rather looking for some additional amenities.

Lastly, here is my capital...



Thanks to the 2 amenities from the Alhambra, the city is happy and getting +10% on the yields! The city requires no additional amenities for luxuries and should be able to grow once I can get some more housing. At least it is not all bad when it comes to amenities.


Turn 187
Start turn off with...



I upgrade the swordsman I bought last turn before I swap my policies. Here is my new policy set-up...



I slot Chivalry and Total War, exiting Press Gangs and Force Modernization. Chivalry because I want to get out as many heavy cavalry out before I finish Combustion. I am a ways away from the modern production card for cavalry units, so if I can get a bunch cuirassiers and heavy chariots out, I can use gold to upgrade them instead of slow building tanks without any production bonus. Total War is in since I plan of pillaging some tiles soon and will make more gold over running something like conscription.

Ichabod killed my field cannon but didn't pillage my encampment. He also brought a cavalry unit to support his cuirassier. I hit the cavalry unit with both the encampment and city defenses and finish it off with my bombard. Didn't get a before picture but here is what it looks like after the cavalry was killed...



Kaiser has brought an artillery over to help remove the walls at Misty Mountains. I am pretty sure I will lose the city before I can get his encampment's walls removed. I hope I can kill Ichabod's encampment in 2 turns but may have to retreat my units afterwards. 

Over in the east, I bring down my 2nd battleship and hit Alara Kitan with both. I also look to see what suboptimal is doing and see he has battleships now and might actually start working Kaiser's cities...



Then again, this is suboptimal and he might just bombard the cities without no land action to take them. I think as of now, my campaign against Kaiser will be mostly pillaging and annoying him. I need to focus more on Ichabod to take him out as fast as possible.

[Woden]

Turn 188
Open the save to the boost for Electricity for having my 2nd privateer completing at Osgilaith. I send the privateer towards Kaiser's coast. I move my caravel down to see what suboptimal has...



No reason he can't land an army on this coast and take a few cities off of Kaiser. I also need to get more boats out to keep up with him in navel power. After combustion, I think I will go for Steam Power and build some ironclads. I have like 25 turns of peace, so I have some time. Also, need to be careful about taking Alara Kitan. I can see him trying to snipe it once I get most of the walls gone. I will have to sail east and see if he has any ironclads around. I also might delay the assault a few turns to get some cavalry out for pillaging just in case.

On the western front, Ichabod has retreated...



I am also going to have to think about retreating my bombard next turn. Combined, they took about 75 HP off the walls and they will be gone in 2 turns. Definitely going to lose Misty Mountains. Since everything is pillaged, shouldn't impact me too much. Luckily, I can defend Rivendell's campus fairly well. That geothermal tile is a movement sink. No bridges on those roads, so I can plant a musket there and get a field cannon on the hill behind it to protect it. Should be able to prevent it from being pillaged. I will have to remember to transfer any tiles I can to Rivendell.

[Woden]

Turn 189
We will start on the east coast. I bombard Kaiser's city, shaving off another 50 HP of the urban defenses. I think I might only hit it with 1 battleship for the next few turns. I want to get some units over to pillage before I take the city just in case suboptimal tries to steal it. I send my caravel east to look for suboptimal's ironclad(s0. He finds nothing, so I send my ironclad south and see...



I see 1 fleet ironclad. I move my ironclad back north. Good to know there is at least 1 in the area. I slot a few cavalry in my core cities that had some production already in them to finish in the next few turns. They will all go to The black Gate to try and pillage Kaiser's northern holdings.

Over at Misty Mountains, I decide to make a tactical retreat and move my bombard out of the city. I will probably lose it next turn or the turn after. Not necessarily a bad thing...



The city is only providing 3.3.:culture, 5.8, and 5.8 but costing me 3 luxury resources. Losing it should make my displeased cities content again. Rivendell should be easier to defend with the bottleneck approaches. I also move my Liang to Porte Alegre.

World Congress meets next turn and it will be the end of the +100% costs to units. I switch production in a few cities to units that will finish next when the added cost is removed. My MP is slow moving up and will continue for foreseeable future, as most of my cities are on unit production.

For the World Congress, I will not get anymore votes than the freebie votes since I have a negative diplomatic favor income. Right now, I have +1 for an alliance, +2 for government, +1 for suzerain of Venice, -1 for carbon emissions, and -6 for excessive grievances penalty. I looked around to see who I had grievances with, for Ichabod...



According to the game, he has 556 grievances against me but if you look at the list it is much more (856 versus 150 against him). The 556 number accounts up to , and including, T166-Wwr Declared between us. Not sure why the other 300 or my 150 grievances are still listed. What about the others, here is CMF/williams482...



No balance on grievances but a few listed. And suboptimal...



Same as Canada. What about Kaiser...



I have grievances against Egypt but no grievances against me. This whole system is complete BS. First, with loyalty I can't hold a city for more than 3 turns, so I raze it. Then, I am paying for it with grievances 50+ turns after the fact with 1 player only and that equates to a -6 diplomatic penalty? WTF! This is SP BS that leaks into a MP game. Instead of making a decent AI, they had to implement this BS to slow the player down. This is one system, along with loyalty, that they should have as a optional game mechanic. I just doesn't work in MP games, they tend to be a war game and not just building a great empire. Also, why does Kaiser have points, he took a couple of city states, razed Hattusa, and has grievances against me? He has also been at war with Canada much longer than I have been at war with Ichabod. I guess they chose to penalize people that actually make progress against an opponent and not ones that just fake it. Okay, end of rant.

[Woden]

World Congress
The World Congress has convened, but before I vote I wanted to see what Kaiser did on his turn...



Misty Mountains will fall next turn, with most of its walls removed. Glad I retreated the bombard last turn. 

What does the World Congress have in store for us?



Loyalty versus growth and great people points. I go with trying to give Canada more loyalty. I am pretty sure he is getting squeezed with his neighbors in golden ages. Doubt it will help as I assume both might put more favor into reducing his loyalty. As for the great people points, I went for doubling General points. If it wins, I will run a few projects to get a Modern General.

[Woden]

Turn 190
The results of the World Congress are in. Let's see what passed...



Canada gets +5 Loyalty with Kaiser, william482/CMF, and myself voting for the resolution. Ichabod dumped 5 votes into me losing 5 loyalty and suboptimal dumped 4 votes for having Canada losing loyalty. As for the 2nd resolution, votes were all over the board with Kaiser putting 4 votes into no Great Artist points. No problem with me, I don't have anywhere to put an Artist if I got one. Thirty turns until the next Congress, on to the turn.

As expected, Ichabod did capture Misty Mountains...



What was a little unexpected, he was able to strike my bombard twice! No sure if this guy will make it. I shift units around form a FC corps with the new one out of Rivendell...



I expect a Field Cannon will shot the bombard from Misty Mountains, otherwise, I think the cavalry is the only thing that can reach it. There are no bridges because of the geotherm and it costs 3 MP to go from the geotherm to the campus. If he does use kill it with one of those units, I am pretty sure I can kill it with the corps FC and city attack. 

A while back, I launched a covert mission that is coming together this turn. I sent a battleship and a few cavalry units down to the south side of Ichabod's empire...



I should be able to get some pillaging done and might even be able to raze the city. One battleship blast took 80+ HP off the walls.  Next turn, I will pillage the commercial hub and mine, then continue to try and pillage more. Not sure was is in the fog but hope is that he has everything he has up by the front and it will take a few turns to get down here. I also have a cavalry unit by his capital that can pillage a mine next turn and then hopefully a lumbermill. I know he has a pike and shot or 2 north of the capital, so I brought a new cuirassier out of Helm's Deep south of Proto Alegre to hopefully draw them out or delay them a turn.

Over in east...



Both Battleships hit Alara Kitan and it looks like suboptimal is shifting units to attack Ed Mercer. I think my spy settles in next turn and I will start a listening post mission. My first cavalry unit is in position, so I move my General to The Black Gate. I should be able to reach Ed Mercer's commercial hub and pillage it. Then if he survives a turn, I will pillage again before retreating back. Another cavalry will come out of Gondor next turn and go to the encampment at The Black Gate, getting ready to pillage some tiles. A couple more will follow the next turn but I should be able to take the city before they get into position. I will keep the city and get units into position to pillage when it revolts. Then, I pillage everything and raze the city.

Question for the lurkers: I plan of razing Bologna or at least capturing it but want to pillage everything before. But, it might be a while (after Flight) before I can take the city (maybe 15 turns). Would it be within the bounds of the rule to pillage the campus, library, and university now to get to Flight sooner, then go after the city once Kaiser's capital falls or do I need to wait until I can take action on the city. I am at war with both players that have the most envoys (~17 vs 3 for next closest player), so no threat of somebody else getting suzerian and forcing peace on me and I don't plan on making peace with Kaiser or Ichabod, we finally got to the fun units. I would make sure not to pillage it again if they fixed it.

Or, since this has become "Woden's Rule", I can just say it is okay since it is not "gaming" a city state and I plan on taking it out

[Woden]

I forgot one thing, with Ichabod taking over Misty Mountains my overall yields changed slightly: -2.5 +1.7  & -7.8 Interesting that culture went up. But here is the real kicker, Misty Mountains had a trade route that went to Gondor. The trader was available at Rivendell and I sent it to one of suboptimal's cities for 17  3  & 1   On top of that, all my cities are now content and a few actually have an extra amenity. Overall, losing Misty Mountains helped my empire!

Thanks Ichabod!

[Woden]

Turn 191
Time to do a little fundraising! But first, let's take a look at the front lines. Down by Rivendell...



Ichabod did kill the bombard but did not advance anything new. Rivendell finished its Waterpark and starts a cavalry. Over by Kaiser...



Nothing new that I can see. I move up my cavalry unit to his commercial hub and I move up my caravel to see what's around Ed Mercer. Not sure if my cavalry will survive but I pillage his market anyways for 445 I also hit the city twice with my battleships and should be able to take the city next turn, unless suboptimal snipes it from me. Hopefully he thinks it is going to take another turn of bombarding.

Found a curious thing I thought I lost...



I had this knight in production before I researched Ballistics but was working on something else more important when I finished the tech. Production into units doesn't transfer unless the unit is current in production. I don't remember what I was building but remember it was more important than losing the production into the knight. Thought the production was lose forever but apparently the game remembers and since I only have 2 iron, I can continue the knight. Didn't know about this little detail.

Down south...



I do a little more fundraising, pillaging both the commercial hub and jade mine for an additional 890. All in all, end turn up 1,345. Pretty good haul so far. I moved up a cuirassier to the border of Rio, threatening to pillage the Theater Square. As for my cavalry unit, the pike and shot shouldn't be able to reach it but his cavalry can. I should be able to absorb another blow and pillage the lumbermill. Not sure about Curtitiba. He could block my next targets but will leave himself open to my battleship. Cuirassier might die if he focuses on it but again, it will leave him open to attack. If I can't make anymore progress down here, my units will hit the water while my battleship works on the city and come back later.

Back north...



Suboptimal is looking to steal the barb camp from me and gain a pike and shot. No biggie, just stay out of my way for founding my new city in 4 turns. Also, just under Mobilization, a storm formed so I moved my lookout caravel down to Weathertop to ride the storm out.

Finally, Kaiser passed me in score this turn, he has 891 points to my 886 points. Losing Misty Mountains did cost me something, the points lead.

[Woden]

Turn 192
Open the save to find that Kaiser has moved his ironclad out of Alara Kitan and wants to play. He attacked one of my battleships. He has also moved up a bombard to its encampment and an artillery into the city. I move my General down to see what is hanging around. Find a musket and 2 field cannon (one is under the commercial hub pin...



I stop and take a bit to see how I can attack and take the city. I start the attack by switching my ironclad and injured battleship. Then, I attack the city with the full strength bombard, removing most of its health and some of the remaining walls. I have a choice here, do I kill the ironclad or do I go for the city? I will need the privateer and caravel to take the city but my ironclad and battleship might not be enough, so might need the privateer to kill it. I decide to see what the ironclad and battleship will do the ironclad before I make my final decision. I attack with the ironclad first, to not get into the range of the artillery. With a few good dice rolls, I am able to kill the ironclad with just my ironclad and battleship. Next up, see if we can take the city...



The privateer removes most of the remaining health and I capture Alara Kitan with the caravel. Taking the city removes the artillery and bombard out of the game. Also, the city had some walls left, so I can attack with both encampments and Alara Kitan's city attack. I attack and kill 1 field cannon, redline another, and take half the health from his musket.



I had to leave 2 of my cavalry in bad positions. If he takes back the city next turn, I will lose both of them.

Over by Ichabod...



He was able to respond better than I had expected and kill both my units by Curitiba and trapped the cavalry by Rio. I pillage the lumbermill by Rio and retreat. The unit will die next turn but I did get enough gold to upgrade a heavy chariot to a tank. I should almost have enough for 2 army tank upgrades from heavy chariots.


Turn 193
Save got to suboptimal late in the night and he decide not to play his turn but luckily he was able to play the turn in the morning, so we ended up not missing a day. I was anxious to see how Kaiser responded...



He took back Alara Kitan, bring up a bunch of Field Cannons. We have 2 you can see and another one on the wheat SW of his cavalry. It also has his General on the tile. Do I retake the city and we go back and forth a few turns or do I focus on his units. I did kill about a quarter of his army last turn. Let's see if we can get more. I decide to focus on his army and take out the walls at Alara Kitan to minimize his counterattack. I start the attack by hitting his corps FC with 2 cuirassiers (one in the encampment and one out of Moria) and finishing it off with the encampment attack. Next, my cavalry kills his redlined FC and spots the General and other FC. I have both my battle hit the FC, killing it. Next, I hit AK with the ironclad, leaving 6 HP in the walls so I have to shot it with my privateer, removing the walls. Finally, my corps cuirassier hits the cavalry, redlining it. If my ironclad had removed the walls, I might have been able to kill it with an attack by the privateer. He is how it looked after the attack... 



I might lose a unit but my horses are in position to pillage before I retake the city. At least my spy will establish next turn and I can see what he has hanging around Ed Mercer. Plan is to take AK next turn, get more units into position to finish pillaging everything when it revolts, then raze it.

Suboptimal finished the Huey Teocalli this turn and my recovered production shaves 4 turns off the artillery. I hope he isn't too distracted by chasing wonders to realize I have wiped out about half of Kaiser's military power. He should push on him from the west and help squeeze him to death. Of course, I have no faith he will. It took me a whole 9 turns to take Alara Kitan with 2 fleet battleships and an ironclad and it took so long because my boats were on the other side of my empire. I started bombarding Ak on T186 and captured it last turn, so 6 turns to take it. He has a Armada battleship, many more battleships, and a fleet ironclad. Why didn't he do anything about it?

Given the wonders suboptimal has built and his skyrocketing science and culture, I am suspecting he has came up with some grand plan to shoot for a culture victory and his war with Kaiser is more for show than anything else. I will have to see if artifacts start disappearing of the map.  There is not that many around my empire, so no telling if he has a bunch.  . Boudica is scouting around the barb camp in the NW, I wonder if he is looking for more artifacts too. Actually as I type this up, I realize I might have to protect the ones I have near me. I need at least one for the boost to Combustion and it is going to take 5 or 6 turns.


Turn 194
Bonus turns for the day. Since suboptimal was able to play in the morning, the turn made it around again for a turn in the evening! Start the turn off with...



A military engineer also finished in Helm's Deep and placed a railroad in the city center. I am actually not sure if the city centers need railroads but I always place them in them to make sure not to lose any movement. The engineer will work on placing a railroad across my empire. Helm's Deep starts another engineer. My goal is to place a rail network and then use the engineers for hangers near the frontline once Flight finishes. 

Over at Kaiser's empire...



He was able to kill my cavalry that was on his niter and redline my ironclad. He has abandoned AK and refrained from pushing an attack. My spy also establishes and I see an artillery with a balloon. Need to be careful of getting to close to Ed Mercer. His MP was at 961 when I first assaulted AK and now is 521, so damn near cut it in half. Okay, time for more fund raising. I pillage a lumbermill with my privateer, another one with a cuirassier. I pillage the industrial zone for some science and the commercial hub for some more gold. Then I retake the city with a bombard and my ironclad. Finally, I shot his FC with a battleship. Here is it after the assault...



Damn pop-up screen. You can see the blue under the pop-up window. I also tried to get my units pulled back so he will have to come close if he wants to fight. I will lose my ironclad if he retakes the city but don't really need it for the time being. I can kill the city with my battleships and retake it with any land unit. You will also notice Kaiser has finished the Potala Palace. Hope he enjoys the additional diplo card slot. What is he building wonders when he is under attack by both military leaders? Makes me think I should focus all my energy on this side of the map instead of trying to take out Ichabod. I know I have built a few wonders but I mostly built them to take care of my war wariness and I had or was expecting to have GEs to build them. Both suboptimal and Kaiser have been pushing wonders hard. Doesn't make much sense, do they think they can win via culture? Nukes will probably be online by the time they get close.  Oh well, might make it easier for me to take cities.

Over by Ichabod...



He is starting to pressure Rivendell and most likely looking for pillaging opportunity. It will be a hard city to take. I just need 4 or 5 turns to get an artifact, a turn to complete Combustion, and a turn to upgrade and then I can field some army tanks that should be able to significantly damage any industrial unit, if no 1-shot them.

I will found a new city next turn, over in the northwest. The city won't require any additional amenities for a while, since it is in range of the Colosseum and Osgiliath's zoo. I will buy a monument and have it start a granary.

I put the science pillaged from Kaiser's industrial zone into Flight. In 3 turns, the cavalry unit from Rivendell will start pillaging Bologna's campus. It should be able to move, pillage, move back to the encampment all in the same turn. Then, the artillery from Moria and a balloon from Gondor will move to the encampment and start working of the city center. I still have to decide if I go after Kaiser or Ichabod when tanks arrive but I should be able to take out Bologna regardless of who I focus on.

[Woden]

Turn 195
Open the save to find that Ichabod is pushing his units into my territory...



Pretty sure he is looking for more pillaging opportunities. I also get a notification that a spy mission in Gondor failed and eluded capture. Pretty sure this is Ichabod's spy. He has 3 of them and I am his main concern right now. I think Kaiser has the +3 CS for intel on troop movements and doubt he would have 2 spies in my empire. He other one should be in England, running the listening posts mission. Not sure what the spy was up to, but my best guess would be the governor or sabotage industry mission. At least it will take some time to get back to Brazil and then more time to establish in the city if he tries again. I rearrange my units to minimize damage. I will get pillaged again but it is hard to stop it right now. Better to have my units over by Kaiser to do a little fund raising for tank upgrades.

Over in the west...



Kaiser had correctly turtled around his capital. His MP is now down to 391. My hope is that he continues to turtle while building his military back up, or at least does that for the next few turns while I get my units ready to completely pillage Alara Kitan before I raze it. I do send my Privateer to pillage a lumbermill for some gold. Don't think he can see it unless he moves something next to it, so if it does get killed I can at least get a kill in return. My injured battleship takes a pot shot at the knight corps on the campus, now he only needs 1 more XP for a promotion.

Lastly, I notice a few interesting things in the gossip...



First, Canada is trading with both Egypt and Brazil and Canada has an embassy in Egypt's capital. Looks like Canada is now all buddy-buddy with Egypt. I have no clue why you would want to get all buddy-buddy with the guy that took you out of the game 100 turns ago and made you a "also played" player. Secondly, England has placed the Bolshoi Theater. Suboptimal had definitely come up with some grand scheme to go for a cultural victory. Bolshoi unlocks with an optional civic and you don't need to research it unless you are looking to build the wonder. It odes give you 2 free civics but you research a useless one to get it, so you really only get 1 free civic. Chasing wonders when you could conquer half a civilization will not get you victory. Once again, he is not see the trees in the forest. This settles it for me, I need Ichabod out of the game ASAP. Egypt can wait. I will pull my units back once I raze AK. I will keep a few around to capture Bologna but I will have my main force attack Ichabod.

Finally, I settle Hobbiton in the northwest. The city starts off at +3 happy. I buy a monument, place the commercial hub, and start working on granary that will complete next turn when I harvest the stone. I should have settled this city long ago but never fit the settler in at Gondor. I will need to find time for another one to settle the oil city on teh coast. 


Turn 196
Open the save to find my musket dead and a mine pillaged...



I would say that is acceptable for now. Ichabod did leave one of his cuirassiers exposed, so I kill it. I shift my crops cuirassier over to Rivendell t make him think twice about pillaging my campus. I also notice Ichabod has a tank, interesting. Looks like he might have finished Oxford University as he is now ahead of me by 2 techs and he was trailing me by a tech or 2 last time I looked.

My archeologist finished and I send him to my northwest. I was going to send him to the northeast, by The Black Gate but Ichabod has a cavalry unit that was in Bologna's territory but got booted when Kaiser regained suzerain (Ichabod grabbed it last turn). Nothing I can do right now about the cavalry unit since I need my units in position to pillage AK next turn.

Over by Kaiser...



He killed my privateer, using a GS to scout him out. That sucks but the gold will upgrade a chariot, so still worth it. I move my units into position to be able to move, pillage, and move back. The ironclad is up by The Grey Havens to heal. It needs a full turn with no movement to heal completely thanks to the Cothon, so it will be full healed in 2 turns.

I move my caravel in the northwest to see if I can see anything coming...



I find suboptimal coming to try and steal my artifacts! I move my musket onto the one I am planning to grab for the boost to Combustion. He might be able to get 1 of the 3 but I should get the other 2 before him. I will block another on near The Black Gate to fill the museum. I have 2 turns until 3 more cuirassiers come out and then I will finish Combustion. I can actually finish it in 2 turns with a pillage of Bologna's campus. Next turn, teh cavalry unit finishes at Rivendell and will pillage the campus once into Flight and then the next pillage will go into Combustion to finish it. Then I will upgrade a bunch of chariots to tanks. I want to keep the cuirassiers around because my General will still work with them and it will allow me more units to attack Ichabod with. There is a camp over by AK that will give me some faith and I will use that to buy 4 more chariots next turn. I should be able to upgrade the equivalent to 4 army tanks. I should also have enough cuirassiers for 4 armies. The 4 army tanks and 4 army cuirassier plus 2 corps artilleries with balloons should be able to hurt Ichabod a little bit. Next, I am going to focus on muskets and swordsmen to prepare for an infantry upgrade once I have the tech and gold. The plan is to pillage as I attack for more upgrade gold. I should still have plenty of chariots around for more tanks and be able to get out a bunch of melee units for infantry upgrades. Right now I can support 12 modern units and my reserve is full, so if I go over I have a reserve to hold me over until I can finish Plastics and start to hook up my water oil (4 more sources for 16 more units). The good thing here is that it doesn't matter if it is a single unit, corps, or army, they all require 1 oil per turn. Ichabod is close to my military power but there is a huge difference. I have been forming corps with my units when I can and I only have seen a few corps on his side. Most of his units are still single units, so while our overall power is close, I have stronger units. Two turns to get tanks, a few more turns to get everybody into position, a few more turns to get balloons down to the southwest, then we strike his capital and start steamrolling Brazil.