Turn 73 & 74
As Woden noted, we had two turns yesterday! Or we would have, had not the save gotten to me after I went to bed. Then to make matters worse, it's a holiday here in the US (Presidents' Day, doncha know, in honor of Lincoln & Washington's birthdays), so I slept in. Anyway, turn's passed on now, let's look at the last two turns for me:
73 was pretty sleepy for England. The vast majority of my units are marching back towards the borderlands with Khmer. I do have a bit of a dilemma, though - where to station the army? The terrain between Nan Madol and Actium/Leyte is rough - jungles, forests, hills. Stationing the army at my border is safest - but it also means that when the DOF expires, my Nan Madol garrison will be exposed and have to hold out on its own in the face of possible Kongo/Khmer assault. Stationing the army at Nan Madol is easier, but that in turn exposes my own cities to attack. We should have Woden's army in the area, but splitting my troops causes a really bad itch. Imagine if Woden's army gets beaten before mine can show up to join forces? That'd be extremely humiliating. Finally, stationing my army halfway between the two risks the worst of both worlds - the terrain will be too rough to reach either city to help in time.
I see two steps I need to take:
1)I need a road to Nan Madol - Actium will go by sea, but a trader out of Leyte should work. Since I need to defend this city for the rest of the game if I want to keep this super-culture (still tops on the scoreboard! :D), a quick way to transfer troops there and back to my border is essential.
2)I need to aggressively patrol. I need to know where Cornflakes & Japper's armies are most of the time, and move my dispositions to match.
One final way to defend both locations is a forward deployment - if we're threatening Cornflakes' expansion city (again), they can't spare the troops for a city-state sack.
I'll have more thoughts on the shape of our campaign to come, but that's the way I'm leaning. To give a rough outline as a preview -
1)We need to overcome difficult, slow terrain to reach the enemy cities, so any conquest will not be swift, and will leave us vulnerable to the other teams.
2)We need to not expose ourselves to Germany/Russia - I don't want to attack until we renew our DOF with them. If they refuse, well, we'll think about how to cross that bridge again.
3a)We're at peace with Rome/China until 102, but they could still support Kongo/Khmer - a diversionary attack on Nan Madol, sending gold and resources, blocking troops.
3b)When Rome/China see us attacking, they could strike as well and secure most of the spoils themselves while Japper and Cornflakes' army face us.
As a result of this, Woden, I think we need to be sure of the diplomatic landscape before we act. Let's not declare war right as the DOF expires (if Relic gives us a choice). Instead, let's be cautious and ensure we're not getting ourselves in a 3 v 1 war as Archduke/Emperor opportunistically jump in on the other side and Sullla/Singaboy join in on 102. Ideally, there'd be conflict between the other two teams, giving us a free hand, but I don't see any way to make that happen.
Anyway, in other news, my scout finds a Natural Wonder near Rome:
That probably influenced the foundation of the city near there. I wonder if it's on the coast? Lisbon's units are crowding me, so I can't get a good look. I might wait for a galley to swing by here later.
That was it for t73. Infrastructure builds continue, while Trafalgar spat out a builder and began work on a Commercial Hub - 7 turns. Should probably think about overflowing this one, too, but I'm not sure I want to take the time to build ancient walls at Trafalgar - the timeline works out the same either way. Might just straight chop (there's a hill I want to mine), and I can chop the ancient walls later for something else.
t74 starts with my finishing Games & Rec, via Woden's inspiration (although I would have finished it on my own this turn anyway). I promptly slot in Defensive Tactics:
Only 5 turns, not bad at all! A war with Rome/China isn't worth 2 turns of this civic, not with all the potential complications, so sending the DOF was the right call, I think. With only 5 turns until another policy swap, I set up a couple of turns of economic policies to wring out a little more gold:
Agoge is in to chop the RND at Aboukir, then Conscription to save a little on costs until my next round of chopping. Maritime Industries can wait until DT is in - I don't mind delaying the dockyard at Navarino 2 turns, I can use the time to repair the monument and granary. Ilkum is out, since I'm through building, er, builders, and Caravanserais is in with more trade routes coming up. In 5 turns, I'll swap into Corvee, Maritime, and Limes, and chop out the Mausoleum. The builders are already standing by and the walls and galley are ready to go. Actium is also ready to chop its walls, I think into a bunch of traders, since there's no other way to boost those.
Temeraire finds a frigid jade isle that nonetheless has freshwater:
I wonder if there's a passage to every ocean at the top and bottom of each continent?
Finally, a few tidbits from the score. First, if Japper and Cornflakes are revanchist, they're not building like it:
218 combined power - I alone outmuscle them, though if you remove my 3 galleys from the equation it's more even. Maybe this number will swell in a few turns
China, on the other hand, is a monster. Check out this faith:
That's astounding. Imagine if China had landed Choral Music - the game would be over already. As it is, when Singaboy reaches Theocracy he's going to conjure up entire armies out of thin air.
:I Nothing for it but to soldier on as best we can.
As Woden noted, we had two turns yesterday! Or we would have, had not the save gotten to me after I went to bed. Then to make matters worse, it's a holiday here in the US (Presidents' Day, doncha know, in honor of Lincoln & Washington's birthdays), so I slept in. Anyway, turn's passed on now, let's look at the last two turns for me:
73 was pretty sleepy for England. The vast majority of my units are marching back towards the borderlands with Khmer. I do have a bit of a dilemma, though - where to station the army? The terrain between Nan Madol and Actium/Leyte is rough - jungles, forests, hills. Stationing the army at my border is safest - but it also means that when the DOF expires, my Nan Madol garrison will be exposed and have to hold out on its own in the face of possible Kongo/Khmer assault. Stationing the army at Nan Madol is easier, but that in turn exposes my own cities to attack. We should have Woden's army in the area, but splitting my troops causes a really bad itch. Imagine if Woden's army gets beaten before mine can show up to join forces? That'd be extremely humiliating. Finally, stationing my army halfway between the two risks the worst of both worlds - the terrain will be too rough to reach either city to help in time.
I see two steps I need to take:
1)I need a road to Nan Madol - Actium will go by sea, but a trader out of Leyte should work. Since I need to defend this city for the rest of the game if I want to keep this super-culture (still tops on the scoreboard! :D), a quick way to transfer troops there and back to my border is essential.
2)I need to aggressively patrol. I need to know where Cornflakes & Japper's armies are most of the time, and move my dispositions to match.
One final way to defend both locations is a forward deployment - if we're threatening Cornflakes' expansion city (again), they can't spare the troops for a city-state sack.
I'll have more thoughts on the shape of our campaign to come, but that's the way I'm leaning. To give a rough outline as a preview -
1)We need to overcome difficult, slow terrain to reach the enemy cities, so any conquest will not be swift, and will leave us vulnerable to the other teams.
2)We need to not expose ourselves to Germany/Russia - I don't want to attack until we renew our DOF with them. If they refuse, well, we'll think about how to cross that bridge again.
3a)We're at peace with Rome/China until 102, but they could still support Kongo/Khmer - a diversionary attack on Nan Madol, sending gold and resources, blocking troops.
3b)When Rome/China see us attacking, they could strike as well and secure most of the spoils themselves while Japper and Cornflakes' army face us.
As a result of this, Woden, I think we need to be sure of the diplomatic landscape before we act. Let's not declare war right as the DOF expires (if Relic gives us a choice). Instead, let's be cautious and ensure we're not getting ourselves in a 3 v 1 war as Archduke/Emperor opportunistically jump in on the other side and Sullla/Singaboy join in on 102. Ideally, there'd be conflict between the other two teams, giving us a free hand, but I don't see any way to make that happen.
Anyway, in other news, my scout finds a Natural Wonder near Rome:
That probably influenced the foundation of the city near there. I wonder if it's on the coast? Lisbon's units are crowding me, so I can't get a good look. I might wait for a galley to swing by here later.
That was it for t73. Infrastructure builds continue, while Trafalgar spat out a builder and began work on a Commercial Hub - 7 turns. Should probably think about overflowing this one, too, but I'm not sure I want to take the time to build ancient walls at Trafalgar - the timeline works out the same either way. Might just straight chop (there's a hill I want to mine), and I can chop the ancient walls later for something else.
t74 starts with my finishing Games & Rec, via Woden's inspiration (although I would have finished it on my own this turn anyway). I promptly slot in Defensive Tactics:
Only 5 turns, not bad at all! A war with Rome/China isn't worth 2 turns of this civic, not with all the potential complications, so sending the DOF was the right call, I think. With only 5 turns until another policy swap, I set up a couple of turns of economic policies to wring out a little more gold:
Agoge is in to chop the RND at Aboukir, then Conscription to save a little on costs until my next round of chopping. Maritime Industries can wait until DT is in - I don't mind delaying the dockyard at Navarino 2 turns, I can use the time to repair the monument and granary. Ilkum is out, since I'm through building, er, builders, and Caravanserais is in with more trade routes coming up. In 5 turns, I'll swap into Corvee, Maritime, and Limes, and chop out the Mausoleum. The builders are already standing by and the walls and galley are ready to go. Actium is also ready to chop its walls, I think into a bunch of traders, since there's no other way to boost those.
Temeraire finds a frigid jade isle that nonetheless has freshwater:
I wonder if there's a passage to every ocean at the top and bottom of each continent?
Finally, a few tidbits from the score. First, if Japper and Cornflakes are revanchist, they're not building like it:
218 combined power - I alone outmuscle them, though if you remove my 3 galleys from the equation it's more even. Maybe this number will swell in a few turns
China, on the other hand, is a monster. Check out this faith:
That's astounding. Imagine if China had landed Choral Music - the game would be over already. As it is, when Singaboy reaches Theocracy he's going to conjure up entire armies out of thin air.
:I Nothing for it but to soldier on as best we can.
I Think I'm Gwangju Like It Here
A blog about my adventures in Korea, and whatever else I feel like writing about.
A blog about my adventures in Korea, and whatever else I feel like writing about.
