[SPOILERS] Donovan Zoi and AdrienIer: Slümhund Millionaires!

[Donovan Zoi]

Oh and the next city names are Shimonoseki, then WWI with Le Bois Belleau, Château-Thierry and Sechault (the US leaders didn't want American soldiers to be split and used as reinforcements to French and British regiments, but they made an exception for African-American soldiers were merged with the French divisions who participated in those battles). Then we have the second battle of the Marne, the battle of Amiens, and litterally dozens of less important battles like the battle of Blanc Mont.

Wow, two turns in one day! Just played T210 and I'll see if I can report tonite; otherwise I'll do it ASAP.

Adrien, can I get another list of names, perhaps more from the Blanc Mont group? We'll need about 12-15 more for the Zulu.

Then maybe we can start with WWII for our next opponent.

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 210 - 1500 AD

This turn was all about setting up for the advance on Epirus next turn, as well as taking control of northern Zululand to set up a second route of attack. Ruff actually whipped 3 times this turn after realizing we were now pouring in from the other side of the mountains. Having Galleys in the western part of our canal also helped get 3 Muskets and a Longbow into the area too --- I was able to have them leave Oswego and land in The Hague on the same turn, something that used to take 3 turns using the scenic route.




We were also able to take two Zulu outposts this turn, Ulundi and Jerusalem. After renaming them, I positioned two Cuirs
to hopefully take West Bank next turn. There were no Zulu troops waiting in that fog.




A bit of sad news though among all of the other bright spots. Remember that Knight that came to the aid of our Pikeman after Ruff razed Damascus? Well, the two of them have since been in Rotterdam awaiting the orders to take out the Maceman guarding former Ulundi. Well today I gave the call but our Knight, now a Cuirassier, was bested in battle by the Maceman he and his friend had craftily eluded years ago.






Powergraph

Here is a long-awaited look at that powergraph I have been meaning to upload:




As you can see, Commodtay and HAK are practically neck and neck with us in the middle and Ruff/Gavagai on the ropes. But the battle between HAK and Cdtay has been pretty one sided, with Commodore taking three cities so far. Two of those are on the same island where Ruff has 4 cities. I am still wondering if we will be contested there, and how each of them will react when we start to emerge as a possible threat over the next few turns.




Lastly, here is a pic of the newly named island cities.




Tech Talk

We get Chemistry next turn, and will be the first ones to have Frigates! I am thinking we should go for Steel next. I know that I have yet to mention Steel seriously, but Cannons are to Rifles/Cavs what Cats are to Muskets . Yes, we would lose some and it will be a bigger investment, but this pick fits into my "ready for anything" strategy when dealing with two much stronger opponents. Also, having IronWorks and the Drydock available will help to preserve our naval dominance.

After that, I am torn between Education, Replaceable Parts and Military Science.

[AdrienIer]

I couldn't find more WW1 battles (blanc mont was the main one in the Champagne campain) and there weren't combined operations during the Russian civil war. So off to WW2, starting off with North Africa in 42-43 then going up through Italy

Casablanca
Kasserine Pass
Sidi Bou Zid
Troina
Monte Cassino

Then off to Normandy and the battle of France, where French troops mostly fought alongside the British. Also I suppose "Normandy" as a whole would qualify.

Falaise
Paris
Cavalaire (as part of the Provence Dday)
Montelimar
Colmar
Hatten
Saarbrucken

Good job in finding a way to get units from Oswego to The Hague quickly. The power graph worries me but they'll probably just use their forces to pin down each other. After Chemistry and steel I vote MS. Grenadiers will stop rifles from running over everything coming their way (and it sends a message, they know you'll be annoying to kill). The only advantage I see in going for rifling (after RP of course) is getting cavalry. We can't produce rifles quickly enough to repel an invasion.

[Donovan Zoi]

Sorry, family day yesterday followed by a night of falling asleep in the general's chair again. I didn't spend almost 4 hours on the last turn but possibly two.

Thanks for the city names! I like them all and we will hopefully get to use each one. I agree with your take on Rifling, even though being able to draft them one day will be helpful. And Grenadiers/Cannons will be great except when you consider

a) The stacks HAK brings will minimize the residual effect our Cannons could have.
b) His stacks will also be diverse enough to include Cavalry, meaning that our Grens wouldn't get the attack bonus.

Under these circumstances, Cdtay becomes the better target. But we gotta play with what we have, right?

I am in 0% research for this turn, but am considering a quick jaunt to Education to ultimately speed up our research and get Oxford into Salmon Falls. I think that after 2 turns of 460gpt, I can get it in 3 turns afterward. And doing so would eventually cut down the 10-12 turns to get Steel, as I would get 6 Universities whipped quickly in order to build a Stone feuled Oxford.

Let me know what you think of this. I'll be reporting last turn in a few hours.

[AdrienIer]

If you think you can get Oxford done quickly then education is probably the best choice. But if you don't think we'll get its worth in beakers back from unis and oxford by the time we get steel+MS I don't think it's worth it.

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 211 - 1505 AD

OK, so there are Zulu 3 cities in play this turn -- Epirus, Macedon and West Bank.

Epirius




After some thought, I decided it would be foolish to add our Cuirs to the stack I was sending to Epirus. After all, I may need all of them in full health to take the city. Besides that, the main reason for this stack was to absorb Ruff's counterattack so that our 9 Catapults could deal out the damage needed to take the city at 60% defense, so I sent along 20 units that can use the hill defense.

So instead I chose to have Cuirs attack from both east and west of the city. To the west, there are 9 Cuirs in and around Oswego (two were called from Hague hospital at 10.0/12 in case they are needed). To the east, 6 Cuirs from our northern group separated into three 2-man stacks -- my goal here is to deter Ruff from using Cats against these units. And two of these units can be used to take Macedon as well.

Macedon and West Bank




This is how close we are to taking the Pyramids, which reside in Macedon. There are a total of 4 Cuirs that can strike this city next turn. Not much, but it at least sets Macedon up as a secondary objective -- I will be trying to take Epirus and West Bank first with the troops surrounding them.

Also, the units visible around Macedon are pretty much it. An XBow for defense, a Knight (with 3 workers) and 2 Cats. To the east, Corinth (obscured by leaderboard) has only ships defending. This is because West Bank required a Longbow from each city to keep me from taking it this turn.

So I have 6 units going for West Bank, but I will be starting my attack from the rear flanks. This is so our two leading Cuirs west of West Bank can either take Macedon or adance on Corinth for next turn. I am aiming for the latter if we are fortunate enough.

What's Next?

If I am Ruff, I yield Epirus while shifting units over to Macedon. It slows our advance through his core while giving him a crack us from both sides of that city. But our next objectives will be undefended Corinth and also The Fortress, with units from the latter staying near Sainte-Foy afterward to begin solidifying our defense against a possible HAK attack. We'll still have to take things turn by turn though, of course.

Oh, Frigate!

With Chemistry, we now are able to initiate a naval plan that we'll need not only to take Ruff Island but also to become a deterrent presence in the east as well. Here are some of the highlights from this new venture.

Our first Galleon to enter the canal.




Our first Caravel to be re-fitted with new technology outside of Duquesne will enter the canal as a Frigate next turn.




Workers build another canal outside of Rotterdam to shave a full turn of movement from its ships heading east. I should have started this while they were idling though because now the end of the canal will have to wait.

[AdrienIer]

I'm not sure forts-as-canal works if the tile isn't adjacent to a water tile. It's worth testing at least.

[Donovan Zoi]

If you think you can get Oxford done quickly then education is probably the best choice. But if you don't think we'll get its worth in beakers back from unis and oxford by the time we get steel+MS I don't think it's worth it.

Yeah, I am still re-thinking this, and I agree it may not be worth it for now. Plus I am considering some civics changes in the near future as well, depending on how things go. So it might be best to use any hammer Research/Wealth plan I had for Education to get Steel instead. Maybe I can shave it from 8 to 6 turns at 100%, or at least 7. We'd still be looking at around 10 turns though.

[Donovan Zoi]

I'm not sure forts-as-canal works if the tile isn't adjacent to a water tile. It's worth testing at least.

I always thought the fort had to border either a city or water to be viable, even if inland. So I think we may be okay. I may have to bust out the WorldBuilder for this, even though the trial-and-error factor probably represents a more realistic version of actual war.

If it doesn't pan out, I am sure we will be able to repurpose it somehow.

[spacetyrantxenu]

A fort tile has to be adjacent to a water tile to allow naval units to enter the fort. Also, the fort must be inside your culture to allow your boats to enter the tile.