[Spoilers] Woden takes on the World (PBEM18)

[Woden]

Turn 246
Last turn of my alliance with suboptimal. I start off the turn with a Great Person. I check it out and see something funky...



I get a Great General but look at the Great Scientist. It looks like suboptimal ran a project, then passed on the GS...but I can't recruit it. I would have got it this turn if sub didn't run the project but it looks like the game is going to give that option to Ichabod. Never seen that before. No big deal, this game is almost over anyways.

I move my navy up and see that suboptimal has retreated his units...



I think he must be retreating and massing elsewhere for a strike after I declare or he will declare before me on his next turn but I didn't see anything but a sub in the north that could make a strike. I am protecting my aircraft carries with battleships. They are in range of a few sub shots but they should survive an attack.

In the south, I move up my units and put a fighter on patrol to look at what is around Pearl...



The good thing about nukes, you don't have to hit the city directly to drain its health. The city just needs to be in the blast radius. Therefore, I can drop the nuke where his General is located and vaporize the musket too. Same will go for Marina, if he brings a unit to block access to the city center, I can drop the bomb on the tile just west of the city to clear the path to raze the city.

Elsewhere, I have most of my cities either working on nukes or building something that generates gold. My income is going to be screwed for a few turns. I currently am making +44.8 per turn but am getting near 210 from trade routes to suboptimal. I can recoup some of that gold by liberating Geneva and sending them trade routes but I don't think I can get the 30 per turn I am from suboptimal. I could send them to Ichabod but really want to declare on him when the next round of nukes come online (if we don't get a concession out of my next turn). I will have a buffer with my banked gold but still need to consider improving my economy. Anyways, here is the east...



I have a few more chops at Isaac and a few chops at Ed Mercer. That should give me another 3 or 4 nukes in the next 6 turns. Here is my core...



My production core has switched to building nukes. It looks like Ichabod wants to try airborne units. I think if he does attack, I will see a few of those in my empire looking to pillage tiles. I also see that Ichabod has settled a new coastal city down on the southern tip of his empire. I wonder if he has been building ships down there in the lakes and now set them to the ocean. I might have to divert my western fleet over there to poke around.

I hope Ichabod plays his turn at a decent time. It has been hit and miss over the last week or so. We have been hitting about 5 or 6 turns every 7 days. Not bad but it always seems I have to wait an extra day when the next turn is going to be exciting. Of coarse, not sure if that is confirmation bias or reality, just feels like it.

I did test out recording a game and it seems to work with and without my mic, so I might offer commentary.

[Woden]

Turn 247
The bastard declared war on me! How dare he! 

Start turn off with finishing Suffrage. I don't need Democracy but do need the civic change...



I remove all the production bonus cards and slot War of Religion and After Action Report for a little more experience. I did a little testing this afternoon with anti-air guns and nukes and realized it is a lot easier to defend against nukes than I though. Two anti-air guns can hurt a bomber enough to stop the nuke and then you also lose the nuke. A fighter and anti-air gun is even better. Not sure if I am going to have as easy a time as I initially thought. Luckily, I planned a little and have some units to check some of the cities before I drop nukes.

First up is Pearl. I can see into the city with my fighter, so no problem there. Here is a video for you viewing pleasure...

[Woden]

Turn 247-cont.
Apparently you can only have 1 video per post, so we are going to split this into 3 posts...

Next up is Smiler. I don't have enough movement to check the city, get to safety, and then take the city, so I roll the dice that suboptimal felt pretty safe there and did not reinforce it with multiple anti-air guns and/or fighters. Here is my 2nd nuke...

[Woden]

Turn 247 cont.
For my third nuke, I check on Marina...



This is risky. He has both an anti-air gun and a fighter in the city. Pretty sure a nuke is not going to work here. Looking at what damage he was able to do to my fleet, it looks like I might have a tough time taking both cities. Thought I took a screenshot of what I saw before I moved up in the ocean but it didn't take. Suboptimal ws able to kill a few ships including my 5-promoted battleship and a destroyer armada. My options for nuking the next city is Barry or Howard. I want to liberate Barry (old Geneva) so maybe Howard. I look and the city has 2 anti-air guns but one is located east of the city. I don't see a fighter, so I think I can nuke it successfully. Here is the video...



Three nukes, three successful detonations. To my surprise Pearl was a holy city state. I liberate it to help with the war wariness. I am down to 2 from previous wars but I think each nuke is going to give me something like 3 unhappiness.
I was too excited with the videos, I forgot to take screenshots of the rest of the action. I liberated Barry with bombers and battleships (and wow, battleships don't do much to his cities). I kill a bunch of his boats. I think a few sub armadas, a battleship armada, a destroyer armada, redlined another destroyer armada. I killed 4 army tanks, an army cavalry, an army field cannon and whatever he had in or near his cities. I lost 5 units, a army helicopter, an army tank, a 5-proted battleship armada, a destroyer armada, and a sub armada. Pretty good trade. Here is what suboptimal has left...



This is going to be tougher than I thought. My planes are going to have to heal a bit and will probably lose some but I think my tanks are going to come and pillage while I work on his coastal cities and build more nukes.

Next turn, Ichabod is going to attack. I see that suboptimal and Ichabod have an alliance and you can bet it is a military alliance. Surprisingly, Ichabod doesn't look to be ready for an invasion...



If I didn't move the bomber I built last turn towards the English front, I probably would have used my 3rd nuke for Belem. I only see a fighter, which is not enough to prevent the nuke. Well, my next nuke is in 3 turns. I did get a great scientist this turn, the one that gives science for artifacts. I use them to complete Composites and put the rest into Chemistry. I am heading straight to Rocketry for missile silos. I believe missiles are hard to kill than bombers. We will see and it gives me something else to test out. Who knows though, maybe taking 4 cities from suboptimal is enough to bring a concession for everybody. We will see. I can't wait to ready his reaction.


Almost forgot, thanks to sub declaring on me, I get to resend my trade routes this turn. I end up sending everything to Gordon Malloy. Both there and Barry gave 16 but Gordon Malloy also gave better production and food. I was able to bring my income up to -1.2 gpt and can easily get that with merging a couple of subs in the western ocean.

[roland of gilead]

Thanks for the videos watched them on the big TV and everything.

[Kaiser]

congrats, afaik missile based nukes cannot be stopped by anti-air guns or fighters but only by Mobile Sams

[roland of gilead]

congrats, afaik missile based nukes cannot be stopped by anti-air guns or fighters but only by Mobile Sams

would make sense.

[Woden]

The biggest issue for dropping nukes is cities with a fighter and anti-air gun in the city center. No way to drop the nuke out of range of both units. I think hitting a city center with multiple fighters might take out the fighter and allow bombers to drop their nukes. Also, once I can get a few promotions, my bombers might be able to sustain 2 attacks and still be able to drop their nukes. I think I have a little more testing to do.

[Woden]

Turn 248
Now we have a game. Open the turn to Chemistry finishing and a war declaration by Ichabod. He managed to raze Erebor...



In all, I lost 7 units: 4 tanks, an anti-air gun, a drone, and a destroyer armada. Suboptimal killed a couple of tanks and the destroyer. Ichabod killed the rest plus razed Erebor. I check the combat odds and he has +9 CS for intel. He must a a very high level spy somewhere doing a listen post because I am running the card that lowers their level by 2. I wish I had save a nuke for Belem.

Since I can pretty much destroy suboptimal by the ocean, so I bring all my army towards my core cities. I kill his 2 spec-ops guys and his cavalry. I fortify nu core lining tanks north of the river and bring all my anti-air guns to surround my core cities. He will have a tough time bombing my core. Thought I took an after action screenshot but I didn't or it didn't take. I will have 1 nuke in 2 turns and 2 more in 3 turns. Then 4 in 6 turns. First one is going to Belem, then Manuas and Belo Horizonte. I didn't take anymore of suboptimal's cities this turn. Most of my fleet was out of range. His next coastal city will fall next turn and then I need to move my ships around the coast. I will probably send some towards Ichabod's coast to bomb his capital. I do think he has a fleet coming up the shore, given that he settled the coastal city a few turns ago. I do send the 2 battleship armadas and my subs in the west ocean back towards Fez, after they killed suboptimal's sub and ironclad. I don't know how much of a fleet suboptimal has left. His MP did drop by more than half (3126 to 1465) and I did kill a destroyer armada, a lone ironclad, and an armada sub this turn.

I give this game 6 turns left. I am going to nuke the shit out of Ichabod. He may take a few cities on the west coast if he has the units to do it or maybe Rivendell but once I start dropping nukes, he will start to crumble.

Finally, Canada came asking for an economic alliance. I didn't want to extend our friendship but the last thing I need is him jumping in on the action. I would rather focus on Ichabod with my army.

[Woden]

Turn 249
I am starting to see what Kaiser must have felt like when I pushed hard on him...



Opened the save to Rohan being razed and half my tanks gone. I need to find whatever spy is giving him the +9 CS for diplomatic visibility. The +9 for diplomatic visibility plus the +5 for the alliance is killing me. Luckily, I have a new one that I can start looking with. I don't think he has any west of Moria because he will want to raze those cities with his tanks and battleships. I think there are 3 cities in the east most likely with spies in them: Gordon Malloy, The Black Gate, and Isaac. Gordon Malloy for production disruption, The Black Gate because it is my only other city with an airport, and Isaac because it is the farthest away from him.
I already have a spy counter spying in Gordon Malloy, so my options are The Black Gate and Isaac. I chose The Black Gate to start with because I think he might have been worried suboptimal might be able to take Isaac (before I nuked him), so maybe lower priority. I have another spy being built in Fez that will start at Isaac if it can be built before I lose the city. I will run counterspy missions in those cities, then move them to other possible cities. I think the next round will be Moria and Ed Mercer, or maybe cities with commercial hubs. Hopefully I get lucky and find him soon.

As for suboptimal, I easily take Cleggy and raze it to the ground...



I did pillage the campus to speed rocketry along. Now, my navy is going to sail around, then split, with half going to my west coast and half continuing around suboptimal's empire. I think I will need a couple of turn of movement before I can attack anything.

Back home, I keep most of my army back. I am going to let Ichabod take another city next turn (probably Osgiliath). Nothing I can do about it. My units are barely scratching his. I hope he keeps his units fairly grouped next turn. I have a bomb coming out. Even if he is in my empire, I think I will still drop it on his army for the mass impact and wipe out his units. I should also have 3 more coming out the turn after if I can get all my chops in. I wil then see if I can balst a few of his cities.