Gandhi of France II - Assuming Direct Control

[oledavy]

[SIZE="7"]Turn 93[/SIZE]

Opened the turn to see this:



Commodore asking for a share of the GM Trade Mission Money I got from expending John Stuart Mills in Riffington last turn.

Commodore, do you really need that money? You're already winning this thing...

I would be less depressed if I didn't have to see this graph every turn:



Well shit.

At any rate, I gave him his money. I want to keep Commodore on my good side. He's currently giving me a favorable resource deal (spices for sugar), and last turn offered me a cattle for cattle trade....which I assume means he wants to stay friends. We have one unit in all of our border cities, and one of his is empty, so I assume he's not planning to turn on me.

He has been capably of researching Guilds for quite some time, however, he made a curious diversion to Philosophy. My best guess is he's going for the Taj. I was really hoping to land it through all my bulbing, but with his research capacity, that is little more than a pipe dream at this point. It is worth noting that he has a lot of EPs on me, I'm assuming for research visibility.

Up until last turn, I did have an insane plan in mind. I skip an entire generation of military units, and use my GM gold and GS bulbs to go through Paper, Education, Gunpowder, Nationalism, Literature, Music, HBR, IW and leverage Liberalism into Military Tradition. Thus, I would have Cuirassiers and musketeers against Mistabod's Knights. Unfortunately, their tech rate is going too fast for this insane plan to be workable. I'll be caught with my pants down, fielding spears and axes against their OMFGHAX UU.

I'm expecting a declaration of war any turn now:





My military is pathetically tiny. Now that Mistabod have secured peace with Yuri, I'll be facing the full front of the Byzantine war machine. I've started queueing up spears and researched Construction this turn (contrary to MC which appears in most of the SSs) so I can start pumping catapults next turn. Instead of making a run at Liberalism and an early Oxford, I'm researching: Construction -> Metal Casting -> Machinery -> Engineering. That should enable me to withstand the gray masses. My gold from my GM should allow me to get there in time to stop the Phracts. They only have three techs (Machinery, Guilds, IW) to go though. In the meantime, I'm praying my pathetic military is sufficient to hold off their HA/Catapult swarm.

I queued up more spears this last turn, and deleted my pair of scouting units to save on costs.

On a related note, before I deleted Dr. Karin Chakwas, she spotted half a dozen Ottoman HA's moving towards the Chinese border. I think NoGas are soon to receive a rude surprise from their neighbor to the south.

As per my original tech path, I already have IW. I need it to chopthe jungle to the north and make Thessia more productive, for Pikes down the line, and most importantly, I wanted to see where the Byzantines keep theirs:



I've been spending all my EPs on Mistabod for some time now, other than the occasional investment needed to keep graphs on the other players. The plan is to sabotage their iron and delay phracts as long as possible. Hopefully that is their only source, there are a couple tiles in their empire I haven't defogged.

It also might be worthwhile to sabotage their horses, however, they're much deeper in their territory.

They're doing their best to keep tabs on me with a sentry HA on our border:



I want to kill that thing so badly.

Let's see, what else has been going on. Well, as you saw above, Mistabod got out of their Free Music GA golden age, revolting into medieval civics, and built the SoZ. They also recently birthed a Merchant. Commodore recently birthed a GE, presumably to rush the Taj.

I built the Great Wall in Palaven, it was cheap, the culture and GPPs are nice, I got to cash in Thessia's failgold, and I will likely be able to leverage the GG production buff soon. It also led to this visual oddity when Jumping popped borders.



I also built the Taoist Shrine, and am spreading the religion around. Additionally, I'm sending a Jewish Missionary to the capital so I can build a Temple and Monastery for the bammer boost (to be further buffed by Bureacracy too).

Overview Shot:



And the domestic advisor:



I am so screwed:



At this point, my sole goal is to survive - with the vague goal making a run at Liberalism and building Notre Dame after I make it to Construction - I have enough GP coming down the tubes that it is still possible. However, right now my overriding concern is holding off the Byzantines.

It's probably impossible, but I'm going to try, and if they do take me down, going to make it as blisteringly painful as possible.

Oh, a few brief notes on things that came up a few turns ago. I did have seven units staged to attack Bravery. However, Mistabod saw through my attempt at misdirection, reinforced the city, and told me to "BCK OFF." Which I did. I offered them OB and 10 gold, but they refused. So, arguably I precipitated this crisis Go me. With I could take it back and return to the detente I had with my neighbors to the south. But what's done is done.

I think Yuri missed the point of my diplomatic missive, because he accepted it. At any rate, he's off on military adventures elsewhere now. NoGas are going to be hurting soon, between Commodore's Knights (after he rushes Taj) and Yuri's spoiling attacks. This game is coming down to a battle between the two Financial Civs, and as he alluded in the Tech Thread, I think us two non-FINs have already lost (not insinuating that their traits are the sole, or even the primary reason Mistabod and Commodore are in the lead right now). At any rate, we'll see where this thing goes soon enough.

End Turn.

[oledavy]

Turn 93 Tech Update:



I'm going for Engineering
Mist and Ichabod are going for Guilds
Commodore is going for Nationalism
NoGas for going for the University of Sankore
Yuri is just going

[Shoot the Moon]

Anything going on?

[oledavy]

Apologies for the recent lack of updates, but aside from having very little time of late to spend on RB, there hasn't been all that much going on in game. On the plus side, I'm still alive and got my first pike out last turn. On the other hand, I'm continuing to fall behind in tech while my Financial neighbors surge on ahead.

Anyway, without further ado:

[SIZE="7"]Turn 99[/SIZE]

Turns 94-98 saw me use the rest of my Great Merchant Trade Mission gold to push me through Metal Casting, Machinery, and ~650 beakers into Engineering. This left me one turn short of finishing the tech, but with no gold to fund the run.

So, on t98, I prevailed upon my northern neighbor for corporate sponsorship, asking for 250 gold to push Engineering to completion and allow me to upgrade a couple spears to pikemen. Unfortunately, he refused.

This left me with little choice:



Painful, but necessary and for the greater good.

I'm planning starting Notre Dame in Earth next turn, sped along by stone and the overflow hammers from the two-pop whip I just did to complete the Lighthouse.



The true beauty of this is that I have a Taoist Missionary 4 tiles away, heading to the city to spread the religion for the OR bonus. Thanks to the Engineering road movement boost, he'll be able to get there next turn so work can begin on Notre Dame with the bonus immediately.

After that, I will be building a courthouse ASAP. Earth is already a really expensive city, and will only become more expensive as I grow out the city to pick up all those coastal Moai tiles.


All my military effort of late has gone into fortifying the two border cities of Irune and Palaven. As of the end of t99, the garrisons of both cities stand at the following:

Palaven

1 Pikeman
1 Maceman
5 Spearmen
2 Axemen
1 Chariot
1 Catapult

En Route

1 Catapult




Irune

4 Spearmen

En Route

1 Maceman



I completed that Pikeman in Palaven the turn I finished Engineering without any whipping, a fact I was rather proud of

Building wealth in Irune preserved a pretty massive overflow from a spear, that will allow me 1-turn walls and a castle in quick succession. Palaven will be two-turning a castle next; such that on t101, both my border cities will have +100% defense.

At this point, I'm growing more and more confident in my ability to hold off the probably Byzantine attack, my power has been growing steadily in relation to theirs - although they still enjoy the advantage.



They also haven't started their true mobilization yet, finishing guilds the same turn as I finished engineering. For the next several turns, I'm going to be saving gold and upgrading spears into pikes, while continuing to build catapults, macemen, and pikemen.

I've been focusing all my EPs on the Byzantines for quite some time, and now have visibility on three of their cities. Their turn advantage is rather annoying because it means I have to wait an additional turn to have visibility on cities I would be able to see otherwise.

At any rate, this should allow me to monitor their mobilization and prepare my defenses accordingly. Down the line, my excess of EPs should allow me to cause some mischief in their territory. I've already discounted sabotaging their iron for the time being. However, I may revisit it later.

Note to Self: Station a spy in Palaven to make it more difficult for them to support a city-wide revolt.

If we do end up at war, I'm going request that Mistabod rename their Cataphracts 'Reapers' and their other units: 'Banshees,' 'Marauders,' 'Husks,' 'Brutes,' 'Harvesters,' 'Ravagers,' and 'Cannibals.' I doubt they would do it, but I would get a kick out of it.

At any rate, the plan at this point is to head to Gunpowder, then Military Tradition and go hell to leather to kill the Byzantines. Assuming I survive an initial attack from Cataphracts, I'll be drafting out a swarm of Musketeers to take the fight to Byzantium.

I birthed a GS out of Palaven on t98, sped along to complete sooner in case the city came under threat. I'm planning to slow research paper with specialist beakers while saving gold to upgrade units, then use him along with another GP - probably a GS - coming out of Tuchanka to double bulb through Education. With this, I'll research Liberalism, pick Nationalism, then get Gunpowder. All things considered, I'll probably be set to start mass drafting in ~20 turns. After that, I'll head through Literature, Music, and HBR (potentially steal from Mistabod) to get to Military tradition for Cuirassiers. At some point along the way, I also need to pickup Theology for Theocracy and Monarchy to improve my wines. Long term, capitalizing on my early research of Engineering to GS bulb Chemistry and then pick up steal for early cannons sounds promising.

In the international scene, Commodore built the Taj (big surprise there...) and NoGas built the the UoS (Yet another huge surprise...) NoGas started a GA and revolted into Pacifism and CS, so it looks like they're pushing some great people. I may have some competition for Liberalism. Fortunately, I think I have enough of a head-start with my GS production to beat them. We'll see. Yuri has continued to amble along after his almost not quite war with NoGas.

I asked Commodore for gold again. Here's hoping for HRE sponsorship!



End Turn.

[oledavy]

Turn 100 report upcoming, but Mistabod started mobilizing this turn.

I have visibility in 9/12 cities, and they completed 8 cataphracts. Furthermore, I discovered a stack of catapults lurking behind Bravery.

Epic theme music time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVKgVZzdo...re=related

[oledavy]

[SIZE="7"]Turn 100[/SIZE]

Commodore was kind enough to fund me



I used the gold to upgrade a spear into a pike in Irune and Palaven. I'm going to need those units:



What you see is a mass mobilization of Byzantium with the undoubted aim of bringing me down. I still lack visibility on a couple cities, but this is the majority of the Byzantine military; though I would guess they probably whipped 3 more cataphracts in First Touch, Flair and Work Rate.



I calculated all their power, and the visible units leave me 169,000 short. I feel like I probably made an error somewhere, because that cannot be right. I was rather mystified to see not a single Stable in Byzantium. With any luck, this means I won't be facing many shock Cataphracts since they aren't running Theocracy either.

My army currently stands at the following strength:



What I'm most concerned about, it that a mounted stack bypasses Palaven and goes straight for Tuchanka. In that case, I'm trying to build enough catapults so that I'll be able to hit their stack on the flatland as it moves towards the city.

I dialed Commodore up for more gold:



I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't give it, but it's worth a shot. My logic here is that he would rather I be his neighbor than Mistabod - and has a vested interest in propping me up.

I then proceeded to ask him if he wanted to trade world maps:



Then I went around begging some more:





Yuri and NoGas don't appear to be using either those sheep or dyes, so I went ahead and asked for them.

Commodore built the ToA, though I could not find where on the map:



NoGas's GNP has spiked unbelievably with their golden age:



Here are the current tech standings:



I'm honestly surprised I'm not farther behind, though I expect I'll start lagging as I try to upgrade as many units as I can and repay Commodore.



End Turn.

[oledavy]

[SIZE="7"]Turn 101[/SIZE]

Not surprisingly, none of my deals were accepted. No matter, it was well worth a shot. In the meantime, Mistabod moved up workers to chop and road the tile diagonal from Palaven. The invasion will be here and the war will begin in 2-3 turns.



I'm more concerned about my southern front though.



It would be very easy for a mounted force to slip past Irune and threaten Dekunna and then Earth. If they did that, it would force me to engage their army. Thus, I'm sending most of my reinforcements to this sector. The forces around Palaven should be sufficient to hold for the time being.

Here's what I'm up against:



May the goddess preserve us.



End Turn.

[oledavy]

Commodore researched Costruction

[oledavy]

Given Mistabod's force deployment, they're either not aware of the extent - or now aware at all - of how much visibility I have. Their stacks near the border would be hidden if I did not have the EP lead I have. There is no way they can surprise me.

I'll have to draw up some sims later tonight, but it looks like they're making a hammer assault on Palaven, and devoted a fair portion of mounted forces to make a dagger-like strike at Irune.

Now, once they reach the walls of Palaven, they'll discover +100% defenses, and will lack sufficient number of catapults to reduce it. I'm should have sufficient forces in there by the time they hit to prevent a straight up capture by Phracts, at least with the numbers they're currently fielding on the southern front (~5). Other than that, they have a smattering of a other troops that will probably support - an Axe, HA, LB, and a single catapult.

With the number of Catapults they're fielding around Palaven, I think they're anticipating a longer siege. They have a half dozen Phracts, a half dozen Axes, and a smattering of HAs. The big question is whether or not they will commit the HA reserve in Composure to the fight, or whether they will hold it back to fend off Yuri should he declare war.

They'll probably settle in outside Palaven, pillage the countryside, and wait until they're reduced my defenses before assaulting. After the defenses have been sufficiently reduced, I don't know what will happen. Palaven is far away from the rest of my cities, making it difficult to reinforce. And the current garrison cannot hold indefinitely. What I need is to force a quick conclusion with the southern invading army, and destroy it in the field. If I can manage that, I'll shift forces northeast along the newly constructed road. Forces take three turns to reach Palaven from the Irune area. It will take 10 turns for them to reduce Palaven with the current number of catapults. They may wait that long, all the while adding to their troops from the nearby HE city of Composure, or they may bombard for a few turns before going in. Hopefully, I can relieve the city in time.

After all this, idk. Of course, I could be wrong about all this and they blow through my defenses on the very first turn. Irune is the bigger priority to hold, however. If Palaven falls, I can fall back to Tuchanka and hold the line there. If Irune falls, however, then Dekunna and Earth will be lost. With their preponderance of force, I can not hold the like south of Sur'Kesh.

The one thing I'm quite thankful for in all this is Mistabod's lack of Stables and Theocracy. Shock Cataphracts are a hell of a lot more intimidating than Combat I Cataphracts.

[oledavy]

[SIZE="7"]Turn 102[/SIZE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPFpcKm0B7U

Time for something drastic:



I revolted into Police State and Paganism. Police State obviously for the unit production bonus, and paganism to save on civic upkeep costs. I would have revolted into Theocracy, but unfortunately I do not have Theology researched at this time. On further thought, I went ahead and changed my research from paper to theology. It will be much more useful in the short-term. Hopefully, by the time I'm able to switch civics again, I'll be able to revolt into Theocracy.

At any rate, leaving Representation was extremely painful - cutting my research rate by 3/4s. Nowhere was it more painful though, than The Citadel.



My beautiful capital, largest in the world, reduced to starvation and unrest with the loss of +3 happy from Representation.

Last turn I whipped all the remaining peacetime builds to completion a last turn of OR, and this turn, went full military:



I may have switched over a little too late, but I felt there was no way I could skip certain builds and maintain any competitiveness over the long haul. What's really getting to me right now is my lack of Forges. I only have a single one built in Rakhanna, while Mistabod have one in nearly every city. With any luck, the PS bonus should make up for it.

I'm going to need every unit I can lay my mitts on, because the Byzantine horde keeps getting bigger.







I went ahead and begged Commodore for more gold - I still have a half-dozen spears I can potentially upgrade.

Lots of techs fell worldwide this turn. Commodore researched Education - on the short list to get Liberalism I'm sure. NoGas got Nationalism, and Mistabod researched calendar.



No matter how this pans out, I'm going to be at war with Byzantium until the game ends, I'm dead, or they are - whichever comes first. With my own chances of victory basically shot, I have set myself the goal of making things as blisteringly painful for my would-be conquerors as possible; and doing my best to make sure they don't win. Between their earlier attempt on Palaven and this, I have no motivation whatsoever to make peace.

As long as Commodore doesn't get involved, I feel pretty sure I can 'hold the line' If I succeed in turning this war into an unending quagmire for Mistabod, Commodore may be the one who benefits the most - seeing the presumptive leader dragged back into the pack. It will then be up to NoGas to make sure Commodore doesn't run over us with Rifles while we all still have medieval units. The one who seems set to benefit the most from the brewing wars is Yuri, already with little chance to win, holding down his distant end of the pangaea. I'm hoping once he sees Mistabod declare war on me, he'll turn on them. With him in support, a take-down of the Reapers just may be possible.

End Turn.