I was asked to write update on how things went since I took over, because this is very interesting and read game, so here it is. (Sorry, no pics as of now.)
WLP was attacking on 2 fronts with some 60 cavalries and many rifles supporting. 2 major cities on west front were just fallen opening huge ugly openings in the culture (combined with the missing culture from the seaborne razed cities in the south. The main catapult stack was staying guarded by knights in the open where it could had been hit by 30+ cavalries. I ran for my life and barely could find a place where to hide them from the advancing cavalries, having to cut 1-2 roads to create the safe zone.
On the North front the situation was even direst, as there were no catapults at all to salve the advancing enemies. 1 major border city was already taken and second was imminent to fall the next turn. I pulled back everything I could and start moving units from the other cities in order to give decisive battles to the advancing enemy. I switched to slavery and nationhood the very same turn. Due to the shrunk empire it took a single turn to switch to 2 new civics. I found with displeasure that both of those ways of getting units quick in emergency cases were terribly nerfed. Good thing is I had some 2000 gold in cash to spend on upgrades. The decision do I keep teching in order to get new and more powerful military units (cavalry or canons) or do I react with the whatever I have at hand was largely made by the thinking that the longer I look weak and under pressure, the more my enemies will get more brave and the more new enemies will get courage to move against me. So I started upgrading units - mainly muskets and some pikes/xbows to rifles and move them in position, while emptying the not-so-important eastern and south cities from garrisons, which I even did not knew if they will be enough to hold Finharry or the possible Dtay treat at bay. If I had info what units the attacking group of Finharry was composed of, maybe I could had made some estimations and decide, but I could not fear from seaborne ghosts when tens and tens of cavalries are galloping towards my capitol.
2-3 turns later everything was in place and I started the reconquista. WLP saw the tides might change and actually proposed me peace with returning 1 of my cities. But I was already determined to take back all my cities he took, and even teach him a little lesson, so I declined the offer. After the diplo-screen was gone I saw WLP was emptied the city in question so I walked in. (btw, I find the AI-diplo somewhat limiting not only in the arguable benefit of not being able to make more complex agreements, but also you could not look at the situation before you decide to take or not a peace treaty. I guess 1000's of virtual lives had fallen victims to the simple fact that peace truces are so hardly to decide on turn-to-turn basis given you must accept or decline before actually knowing what is going on in the turn, then you might want to make the peace, but then you have to send peace offer to your foe and then it is his turn to know if you were generous and graceful opponent by say not pillaging his precious cottages to harm him, or letting his retreating units ran to safety, or you killed/pillaged what you could dastardly and just then to secure yourself from retaliation and teleport your own units out of harm's way in the incoming turn offered peace. Of course this can be game design flaw too, as there might have been a button just like the "let me investigate the city" which to let you look and investigate, but not move anything on the map and then you make informed decision whether you want peace or not, but well...)
Later I took with force the next north city which WLP was garrisoned with all his rifles in range. If was rifle vs rifle battle, where the city garrison promotions did almost no good to my AGG rifles with a free promotion, which was made to pinch. 10-15 battles later the city was back in my hands. Culture jumped, but there was still a weak diagonal from where WLP could had launched devastating attack on my newly garrisoned units, which due to the fighting were mostly knights - the main rifles mass were staying wounded outside the city because of recent turn attack. There was a river to be crossed before my city could be hit from the diagonal and maybe this turned WLP down. Instead of attacking me with his cavalry corpus in the north, he decided to move it quickly to reinforce his western group of armies and improve his position.
Dtay just as expected (seeing him doing few whips in a single turn not being at war) did used a galleon (freshly produced for this reason I assume) to snipe out one empty northern coastal city size 4-5 and razed it with a single mace. I will remember this. Next turn he proposed me 10-turns peace as I guess this was all his ambition going to in relation with me. I took the peace as I need somewhere open borders to possibly make the trade mission of my 5-6% chance GM I set up to be expected in the next 3-4 turns. I'll come to Dtay later.
Next 2 turns I used the settlers I slaved in the previous turns to slowly reclaim the culture and zones of control in the west valley where WLP's cavalries could had hit almost anything and prevent my slow catapult stack get in position to threaten his stacks defending my ex-cities. Again with brave and self-sacrificing HAs I had cut strategic road tiles with the knowledge that there are no enemy workers in range to rebuild those important roads and threaten my stack. Next turn WLP was seeing the threat and cut roads on his own to deny me possible shot (fork) at his most western conquered city and moved all his cavalries in this city to not be killed in the upcoming assault of my other ex-city on the west front which was now guarded by single-movers only - many rifles, LBs and other old units. Catapults started at something like 0.1%, but shortly after the odds were getting better and better. My 2 trebuchets even retreated victorious. Then the massacre begun. I ran out of rifles at some point, so knights had to do the job. Mopped up the resistance and the city was mine again. It's mighty culture jumped and the last of WPL's conquered city was completely surrounded by my own culture with some 30-40 units of his entrapped and surrounded. I moved in position army - catapults, knights and rifles to wipe out him while he is retreating. Did not forgot the workers in range in case he tried braves to cut the roads. His army was doomed there. Additionally, because of his desire to reinforce the west, he had pulled out his whole cavalry stack from the north. But my 20 knights + 10 rifles stack was well and there. I made a move from diagonal which result was my knights stack guarded by my rifles and yet the former being able to hit his first native city next turn with only like 5-6 rifles defending it. I have no vision on his territory (my only spy got caught and no airships), but the next cities were 3-4 tiles away so no hope to sneak in defenders from there. The city was going to be razed next turn. And here comes the moment I went for catharsis - both mine and WLP's. I had read some back in the Ichabod's thread and saw it was mutual untrust and fear and Ichabod's ambition which lead to this war between them two. So I secretly was sympathizing with WLP for him having the balls to come after supposedly stronger enemy to revenge being bullied and actually succeeding. So instead of slaughtering his surrounded army and razing his border cities on the northern front bathing in the blood of my nation bitter enemies, I offered WLP 10 turns peace in exchange of my last occupied by him city. Next turn he must had declined the offer (again wanting to see how the situation look and what I did), then he quickly realised the dire situation he was and the generosity (I hope) of my proposal, so he re-sent the same offer. Heh, actually, now I remember I asked for 1 piece of gold as symbolic tribute to mark who won the war, where he either forgot, or did not wanted to give this 1 coin to not agree with me being the victor in the war. Anyway. I took the peace with light heart.
Now to Finharry.
WLP was attacking on 2 fronts with some 60 cavalries and many rifles supporting. 2 major cities on west front were just fallen opening huge ugly openings in the culture (combined with the missing culture from the seaborne razed cities in the south. The main catapult stack was staying guarded by knights in the open where it could had been hit by 30+ cavalries. I ran for my life and barely could find a place where to hide them from the advancing cavalries, having to cut 1-2 roads to create the safe zone.
On the North front the situation was even direst, as there were no catapults at all to salve the advancing enemies. 1 major border city was already taken and second was imminent to fall the next turn. I pulled back everything I could and start moving units from the other cities in order to give decisive battles to the advancing enemy. I switched to slavery and nationhood the very same turn. Due to the shrunk empire it took a single turn to switch to 2 new civics. I found with displeasure that both of those ways of getting units quick in emergency cases were terribly nerfed. Good thing is I had some 2000 gold in cash to spend on upgrades. The decision do I keep teching in order to get new and more powerful military units (cavalry or canons) or do I react with the whatever I have at hand was largely made by the thinking that the longer I look weak and under pressure, the more my enemies will get more brave and the more new enemies will get courage to move against me. So I started upgrading units - mainly muskets and some pikes/xbows to rifles and move them in position, while emptying the not-so-important eastern and south cities from garrisons, which I even did not knew if they will be enough to hold Finharry or the possible Dtay treat at bay. If I had info what units the attacking group of Finharry was composed of, maybe I could had made some estimations and decide, but I could not fear from seaborne ghosts when tens and tens of cavalries are galloping towards my capitol.
2-3 turns later everything was in place and I started the reconquista. WLP saw the tides might change and actually proposed me peace with returning 1 of my cities. But I was already determined to take back all my cities he took, and even teach him a little lesson, so I declined the offer. After the diplo-screen was gone I saw WLP was emptied the city in question so I walked in. (btw, I find the AI-diplo somewhat limiting not only in the arguable benefit of not being able to make more complex agreements, but also you could not look at the situation before you decide to take or not a peace treaty. I guess 1000's of virtual lives had fallen victims to the simple fact that peace truces are so hardly to decide on turn-to-turn basis given you must accept or decline before actually knowing what is going on in the turn, then you might want to make the peace, but then you have to send peace offer to your foe and then it is his turn to know if you were generous and graceful opponent by say not pillaging his precious cottages to harm him, or letting his retreating units ran to safety, or you killed/pillaged what you could dastardly and just then to secure yourself from retaliation and teleport your own units out of harm's way in the incoming turn offered peace. Of course this can be game design flaw too, as there might have been a button just like the "let me investigate the city" which to let you look and investigate, but not move anything on the map and then you make informed decision whether you want peace or not, but well...)
Later I took with force the next north city which WLP was garrisoned with all his rifles in range. If was rifle vs rifle battle, where the city garrison promotions did almost no good to my AGG rifles with a free promotion, which was made to pinch. 10-15 battles later the city was back in my hands. Culture jumped, but there was still a weak diagonal from where WLP could had launched devastating attack on my newly garrisoned units, which due to the fighting were mostly knights - the main rifles mass were staying wounded outside the city because of recent turn attack. There was a river to be crossed before my city could be hit from the diagonal and maybe this turned WLP down. Instead of attacking me with his cavalry corpus in the north, he decided to move it quickly to reinforce his western group of armies and improve his position.
Dtay just as expected (seeing him doing few whips in a single turn not being at war) did used a galleon (freshly produced for this reason I assume) to snipe out one empty northern coastal city size 4-5 and razed it with a single mace. I will remember this. Next turn he proposed me 10-turns peace as I guess this was all his ambition going to in relation with me. I took the peace as I need somewhere open borders to possibly make the trade mission of my 5-6% chance GM I set up to be expected in the next 3-4 turns. I'll come to Dtay later.
Next 2 turns I used the settlers I slaved in the previous turns to slowly reclaim the culture and zones of control in the west valley where WLP's cavalries could had hit almost anything and prevent my slow catapult stack get in position to threaten his stacks defending my ex-cities. Again with brave and self-sacrificing HAs I had cut strategic road tiles with the knowledge that there are no enemy workers in range to rebuild those important roads and threaten my stack. Next turn WLP was seeing the threat and cut roads on his own to deny me possible shot (fork) at his most western conquered city and moved all his cavalries in this city to not be killed in the upcoming assault of my other ex-city on the west front which was now guarded by single-movers only - many rifles, LBs and other old units. Catapults started at something like 0.1%, but shortly after the odds were getting better and better. My 2 trebuchets even retreated victorious. Then the massacre begun. I ran out of rifles at some point, so knights had to do the job. Mopped up the resistance and the city was mine again. It's mighty culture jumped and the last of WPL's conquered city was completely surrounded by my own culture with some 30-40 units of his entrapped and surrounded. I moved in position army - catapults, knights and rifles to wipe out him while he is retreating. Did not forgot the workers in range in case he tried braves to cut the roads. His army was doomed there. Additionally, because of his desire to reinforce the west, he had pulled out his whole cavalry stack from the north. But my 20 knights + 10 rifles stack was well and there. I made a move from diagonal which result was my knights stack guarded by my rifles and yet the former being able to hit his first native city next turn with only like 5-6 rifles defending it. I have no vision on his territory (my only spy got caught and no airships), but the next cities were 3-4 tiles away so no hope to sneak in defenders from there. The city was going to be razed next turn. And here comes the moment I went for catharsis - both mine and WLP's. I had read some back in the Ichabod's thread and saw it was mutual untrust and fear and Ichabod's ambition which lead to this war between them two. So I secretly was sympathizing with WLP for him having the balls to come after supposedly stronger enemy to revenge being bullied and actually succeeding. So instead of slaughtering his surrounded army and razing his border cities on the northern front bathing in the blood of my nation bitter enemies, I offered WLP 10 turns peace in exchange of my last occupied by him city. Next turn he must had declined the offer (again wanting to see how the situation look and what I did), then he quickly realised the dire situation he was and the generosity (I hope) of my proposal, so he re-sent the same offer. Heh, actually, now I remember I asked for 1 piece of gold as symbolic tribute to mark who won the war, where he either forgot, or did not wanted to give this 1 coin to not agree with me being the victor in the war. Anyway. I took the peace with light heart.
Now to Finharry.
