Muaahahaha. Sullla will be at battleships soon, but I hope I get at least 10 turns to run around with my frigate...ugh, I can't call it an armada, 'coz I actually have two of those. Fleet is similarly out. Flotilla and squadron are both too weak. Well, anyway, I have lots of frigates. 20 and climbing, to be precise. Now with Press Gangs, I want to slip in a few Sea Dogs - 4 or 6, maybe - to try and land last hits on Sullla and raid his coasts on the Med.
Just as planned. This game is way less stressful when you no longer really bother about winning or long-term plans or anything. Just ships and money to pay for more ships and see how much damage you can do. Cornflakes, I understand the appeal. I hope I'm even half as effective as you were.
Next on the menu, all good choices. Too bad Civil Engineering doesn't have city defenses anymore - easy call to rush that.
I opt to grab the cheap civics for some easy policy swaps. Don't need the envoys urgently, Nan Madol isn't long for this world.
New gubmint:
And boring overview. more ships, more traders (more money):
Domestic production is going to be pretty repetitive until the end of the game. I shan't give Sullla any nice science districts or anything to capture. We're scorching the earth like it's 1941. Maybe I can hurt him hard enough to make something happen. Maybe.
I found Midway for one purpose only: To chop out ships.
A stone harvest gets a +25% harbor done quickly, and the overflow goes into a Sea Dog. Right now, the plan is to use Lepanto for Caravels, Midway for Sea Dogs, and Jutland/Actium for Frigates. A nice balanced fleet. Midway has little native production, but has 1 stone and 3 forests left to chop - each one of those is a pair of ships. I have a builder on the way, and there's all my sea dogs accounted for.
These coastal cities are vulnerable to the Roman navy, of course, but if I lose this sea the game's over anyway so who gives a damn? The city makes me marginally more likely to win the battle for the sea, and affects my chances of losing the game not at all (what, I lose harder if a few more cities get sacked? C'mon). The harvested production more than pays for the cost of the settler even if Midway does nothing else all game (as, uh, is likely. Pop growth will be slow here and production will be shit. It's literally a colony to chop down forests and pump out MOAR SHIPS).
Sullla's fleet is lurking off Genova cape:
Right now, I'm thinking to position my fleet northwest of the island around Nan Madol, out of sight of Sullla's. When he commits against the city, I try and hit Genova as hard as I can. My two armadas leading the way, I want to blast it down and raze it. That will cut Sullla's ship reinforcements to this sea to Parma and Firenze, and I can burn Firenze's harbor. Then it's a matter of beating his fleet and sacking the coast - easier said than done, of course, but I think I'll have a chance.
More likely, Sullla's fleet will intercept mine. I intend to force a grand sea battle in that case, let the chips fall where they may. I'd rather lose attacking then cowering and trying to defend.
I have 3 more crab harvests coming in, for another thousand gold, plus 1000 more from natural generation - so 3500 gold to upgrade with. I have no idea how to calculate upgrade costs, so I need to check next turn, but that SHOULD be enough to get my western ocean navy all upgraded. We're taking professional army next turn and beginning the process, then I ahve a few turns to sail out and position myself.
Boring overview. Ships in the west, a few last minute traders in the east. Or more ships.
Upgrade costs: Hammer Difference * 1.5 + 10. Then divide by 2 if in Professional Army. And finally round down to the next 5.
IIRC that makes for 125g per frigate upgrade with Professional Army
Thanks, pin. So to upgrade my 20 quads in Sullla's sea, I need 2500 gold. That leaves 1000 to spare, which can be used to upgrade ships in the southern ocean OR to modernize the land army. Land army is probably the safer bet, except there's no way I can reach Field Cannons in time. :D I royally messed up 40 turns ago and still I pay the price.
My apologies for skimping on the turn reports this week but have had a fairly busy work week trying to get a few projects out the door plus Battletech came out Tuesday and had to give it ago, having been obsessed with the table game when I was a wee laid. Besides, not much going on. You can only write about building units and chopping stuff so much. Therefore, I am just going to do a summary report of the last few turns.
Nubia-Summary for Turn 135-T138
To start off, I finished a few techs...
On T135
On T137
And got a few boosts...
On T136
Most of my cities are building units. Here is my current army makeup on T138...
Most cities are focusing on horsemen. After the eastern cities finish their current horsemen, they will shift to crossbows while the western cities continue on horsemen. It is getting to he point where the horsemen out of the eastern cities won't make it to the western front to make much difference.
Here is my core on T137...
My core cities can 5-turn 2 horsemen and the same for crossbows, so I should be able to get a few more out before I obsolete both of them. Over in the west...
I did found another city on T137 that will get stripped of harvest-able goods into crossbows and builders. Another 2 settlers will complete next turn, just in time to swap policies. Need to get my science and culture moving to be able to finish the necessary techs before T146.
I did buy a missionary to fortify the religion at Hothor to make sure China has a hard time converting my frontline cities. i don't want them to be able to take advantage of Crusade. I also plan on building/chopping a temple at Ma'at to buy an apostle to start an inquisition and get 2 inquisitors to sit in the frontline cities to remove religion if China sends missionaries. I should be able to get roughly 6 horsemen here around the time war starts with another 6-8 in route. I should have enough gold to upgrade 6 to Calvary and a bunch of Field Guns to defend.
I also started a trade route form Ma'at to one of England's cities to get a road through the jungle to help speed travel to the west. If my frontline cities fall, we will have to make sure to pillage it to slow down Rome/China.
We now have 16 frigates in the sea facing Sullla. We also have a triple crab harvest coming in next turn, which will finish off those upgrades and enable upgrades of the land army, I think. Sullla has few ships in the south, so I can upgrade those later using trade income.
My frigate armada will outgun Sullla's battleships 77 to 70 (with a GA), but I only have one (or two). My fleet can go toe-to-toe, and my own frigates will be only a little weaker and capable of overwhelming numbers. I'm actually starting to feel like I have a chance to win this battle. The war is hopeless, of course, since he can just outtech me and come back later, and I'll get creamed on land either way, but I want to claw him down enough that maybe Archduke has a shot at this, or Woden can make something happen, I dunno.
We have 7 trade routes incoming, nearly double our current 8. This will give us 14 more culture and science, will almost make up for the loss of Nan Madol soon, and will give me a healthy income.
Too bad about the Archduke, I think I'd actually be competitive if I dumped these chops into campuses and commercial districts instead of MOAR SHIPS. But it is what it is!
The turns roll in faster than my ability to keep up with updates!
Quick hits - I will try and do a proper report later -
Sullla has finally scouted out my frigate fleet. Interesting to see if he moves to respond. I aim to set up to hit his canal city in the first turn of the war, turn 146 if I'm not mistaken. Hit that, raze it, and it don't matter if he gets battleships or not - I can quickly secure the few harbors he has on this sea and own it. That's the key.
Archduke offered 500 more gold (in addition to GPT subsidies) and diamonds, no strings attached. With his help, and the crab harvests, I manage to upgrade not only every frigate in my navy but also the entire land army as well - muskets won't do much against cavalry and field cannons, but it's better than nothing. Sullla is showing knights and muskets mostly, but with his tech rate it'd be absurd to expect only those to attack. I still will be forced to concede Nan Madol. Making matters worse, I misclicked and uncovered the sea space around the city. Rather than replay the entire turn, well, I just accept that. If Sullla wants to commit his frigates to bombing down the city, that lets me know where his fleet is. Might be for the best, neh?
Pictures soon. Really excited about these trade routes I got goin' - 14 gpt with one of Archduke's cities!
You guys know the highlights, so let's hit some minor housekeeping stuff:
In the south, I'm bringing two ships back from exploration missions, but the way has been barred by barbarians all the time. I've ploughed through 2 caravels and a quad so far, and now a barb frigate shows up.
This gives me an idea for using the two Sea Dogs I have in the southern ocean - why not sit outside the barb camp and farm ships that appear? They'll be weak and need to be repaired, but free ships are free ships. Upgrading this navy will take a while - about 20 turns at current income. ._. So I need something to do in the meantime. Once everyone's upgraded and the Archduke joins in our war, I will sail them south of Russia, pause to promote at the NW, and then head into Rome's southern seas to work what mischief I can.
Archduke and Singaboy have founded cities on opposite ends of this lake, so no one gets a canal here. It'd be awesome if we had some lake fighting! Archduke clearly is not backing away from Singaboy, either - most of Germany's army and navy are lined up opposite China.
This is a good break for Woden and I - Singaboy won't be able to lend his full weight to Sullla's attack. And without Singaboy, I think Woden and I combined can take on Rome. He'll beat me to Battleships, but my Frigates can meet battleships with superior numbers and win, and my fleets and armadas can go toe-to-toe - PLUS, I can churn out more frigate fleets than he can single battleships, thanks to the VA! I get Press Gangs, he does not. I have a chance at sea. Not a great one, but a decent one.
Helping matters, the Archduke clearly wants me to do as much damage as I can to Sullla:
I have enough gold to upgrade my own navy (one of them), but this lets me upgrade the land army, too. Excellent move by the Archduke, if I say so myself - now my army can at least resist for a few turns before being overwhelmed. Before it was just a speedbump. I'll pull out of Nan Madol and use it to cover Woden's northern flank, so I don't get beaten in detail. Once again, the Royal Army is mostly a support for our allies and the Royal Navy.
Finally, most of our fleet has sortied and is at sea:
We will sail northwest for 2 or 3 turns, then alter course to the southwest and make for the cape and Sullla's canal. That city is the key to the whole war -with it, Sullla can send thorugh battleships from his southern ports. Without it, he's got only 3 harbors on this sea, two of which are easily pillaged. Without that city, this sea is mine, and if I own this sea, Sullla will have a very tough time advancing against my core.
So, I guess in the next two weeks, the future course of the game will be decided. If I fail to take the city and lose my navy, I am prepared for a concession, as I must lose most of my coastal cities in the west. If I take it, then it's still anyone's game (well, probably not mine).
Boring overview of traders building:
I will have 18 trade troutes available when all is said and done. They will average 12 gpt + 2 science and culture per, for a total of 216 gpt and 36 science/culture - a good chunk of my economy. Ah, what might have been...
(April 28th, 2018, 11:07)Chevalier Mal Fet Wrote: This gives me an idea for using the two Sea Dogs I have in the southern ocean - why not sit outside the barb camp and farm ships that appear? They'll be weak and need to be repaired, but free ships are free ships.
Ooh, does that work? I believe the Aztecs' similar ability doesn't work on barbarians.
Incidentally, taskforce might be a good word to use to avoid the confusion over the term fleet. Navy might work too, though it feels more general.
