Polish/South Korean vacation succession

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Wargamed out a few scenarios.

India and Germany's alliance automatically brings Germany in. It's too late to assemble an army for Germany on D-Day, but my hope of getting a Nationalism inspiration there is useless.

However, the tech front is very encouraging - Cuirassiers, cavalry, and field cannons go through medieval units like hot knives through butter. My tech is also so much stronger than India's that right as he can get his own Cuirassiers into the field, I'll be able to field infantry and airplanes (I plan to lay down one aerodrome in my core and use that as a biplane pump - then the planes can hop to cities near the front in Canada and massacre Indians, or they can garrison the west and keep the Germans down).

Other tests showed that musket-based city defenses with Renaissance walls are tough nuts to crack, BUT they don't kill units very quickly, either. Thus, India cannot save himself with walls, he can only slow me down, but he needs to beat my army in the field to survive. I don't think he can do that - even if he reaches modern units, his gold and resource and production generation are all too low to field those units in significant numbers.

Lessons from the wargames:

1)I need to keep the unit pump going, for sure. My tech advantage will vanish rapidly before a determined player (Germany just reached muskets, for example), so numbers will need to make up the difference.
2)Observations balloons + bombards will become city crackers. My cavalry swarms will keep the Indians away.
3)I need lots of muskets/infantry as the only really viable city assault units, but my artillery units will do better against Renaissance Walls - thus they should get niter priority.
4)Gold generation will fall quickly - modern units are expensive. Triangular Trade will be worth +60 gold/15 faith all on its own.
5)I need to balance caution with aggression. Moving too carelessly will get units killed, however, I have enough of a strength advantage that I shouldn't be overworried about wall/Xbow attacks before field cannons.
6)Given all this, India is unlikely to save Madurai, but can field a significant defense at Patna. THus, the southern front will receive priority for reinforcements until I reach Hyderabad. Then I'll split my flow and start rebuilding the northern force. The northern force will push - cautiously - towards Delhi - but generally remain on the defensive and go for units rather than aggressive attacks.

[Kaiser]

Free inquiry is not available from Renaissance era on, but you can close this even without it.
If it gets dire, focus on India over Germany and just defend the West.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

I need to calculate how much science I'm getting from it, but it's ~30 - 35 of my science. Geneva is a bigger boost, honestly, that I'll lose once I declare war.

Even without it I still have 2x India's beakers, though. With both I have nearly 3x at this point.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

T-2 turns until D-Day (turn 90).

I finish a bunch of key techs and civics and begin converting my army, putting it a full generation (or even two!) ahead of India's best troops




I DO think I want a military academy at Me, I'm Counting!. That will let me directly build Corps in ~8 turns when I unlock those, and infantry corps will be almost impossible for India to stop even with field cannon corps. It'll go through German and Hungarian units like they're not even there. Once the military academy si done (conveniently just as corps will unlock) I will go into fulltime unit production from the city - cuirassiers, infantry, or field cannon corps as resources allow. 




Diplomatic Corps finishes, but of the remaining players only Japan is friendly towards me. The other 3 have united against me, and Japan will be out of the game in approximately 2 turns (less than a week, real time). More importantly, this was the last prerequisite on the road to corps, and now I can start on Nationalism (with one diversion).




I go with this government for upgrades and to get started on my melee production. However, I am crippled by a lack of niter, still. +4 a turn isn't cutting it. I have two more mines that can take me to +8, which will be nearly a musket or bombard every turn, but even that isn't quite what I desire. Still, we can fix that. For now, time to start spending down my massive war chest on upgrades.




My military engineer throws down 2 forts, purely for the boost to Ballistics. Cuirassiers and field cannons are instantly available - field cannons one shot crossbows, and Cuirassiers can fight even Indian pikemen on favorable terms. With that done, all around the empire I upgrade dozens of units. 




By the time it's done, I should field 7 muskets, 9 cavalry, 9 cuirassiers, 3 field cannon, 2 winged hussars, and 2 siege towers. I have 2 bombards in production, and I'm finishing flight next turn, so an observation balloon will be built at the first available city. Once niter allows, I'd like to get 3 more bombards into the field and form corps. With the observation balloon, they'll outrange Indian Renaissance Walls and batter them down, albeit slowly. 

I'm not sure what to do with the cavalry once the Indian field army is beaten. Sweeping over Canada like a plague of locusts and pillaging out the place might be just the ticket. I'll need massive repairs to get the cities productive, but builder labor is cheap for me and the boosts to science and culture will drive me even further ahead. I think that's the play - his crossbows and walls can't kill units, so I just need to play it safe and keep my hp pools high. 

Meanwhile, I'll take Madurai and Vancouver via brute force at the start, with 2 muskets apiece in place and 1/2 more en route to each front. Then we'll consolidate, bring up the cannons, and start taking the better defended cities. Again, plan is to concentrate on Canada first, and act defensively in the north. 




Setup at Madurai, designated First Army. We have 2 muskets, 2 knights, 2 xbows, and 4 cavalry in the first wave. The cavalry will sweep around the north of the city, while the knights cross the river to the south and envelop any defenders. I haven't seen anything besides a pair of crossbows near the city, and I can get a good look in the rear. Coming up in the second line will be another musket, field cannon, cavalry, and winged hussar, after they polish off an isolated Indian crossbow. Then the cavalry will form a picket while I get the remaining units upgraded (the ram will upgrade in Kandy's territory) and the muskets go after Madurai. Delhi is a short distance through the jungle nad might be a viable target, but I have to be wary of Indian reinforcements coming through the jungle from the south. The difficult terrain makes reinforcements tough here, which is why I'm prioritizing the more open Canada first to knock India back a bit. 




Here is Second Army, which will be under the leadership of a Great General shortly after the war starts. I field 2 cavalry, 5 cuirassiers, 1 musket, and 1 winged hussar against 2 varu, 2 crossbows, a pike, and 2 levied coursers coming down from Jerusalem. In the second line, I have another 2 muskets, 3 cuirassiers, and a cavalry coming up. The numbers are more even here, but my edge in quality should prove decisive, and this army is getting all the reinforcements from across the empire. I will take Vancouver with the muskets while the cavalry concentrates on the Indian field army, which surprised me by coming out to fight in front of the Fraser River. India is also deploying builders from around the empire to chop out walls (a waste of effort) and defenders (the right move). 

He's not building many units, though, all his strategic stockpiles are full. India has no Encampments despite generating 2 GG points a turn, which means he's wasting a card slot on the GG policy, which will never match my own training regimen:




I need ot knock out as many Indian units as I can in the opening rounds, because my quality edge is going to be fleeting. The next generation of upgrades is ~15 turns away, and I need oil desperately for artillery, for infantry, for tanks and for planes. Accordingly, flight and then Combustion is my next tech path so I can start stockpiling oil as soon as I can. 

On the culture side, I delay corps a single turn, because my war chest has been spent down in upgrades and niter tile purchases, and my income has been slashed from the high of 235 to 165, barely better than India's. Picking up Mercantilism opens up the excellent Triangular Trade (+60g/+15faith) and the crucial Drill Manuals. That will upgrade each Niter mine, so I'll go from producing 4 niter a turn to producing 12. That means 6 muskets or bombards every 5 turns! No nation in the world can match that output of modern units.

[Kaiser]

Magnus has a promotion reducing strategic resource usage

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

The Renaissance Era dawns, and we have earned a third straight Golden Age:




India and Hungary also earned Golden Ages, Germany and Japan are in normal ages. Pretty accurate reflection of the state of the game. Anyway, with the Golden Age, I shouldn't have any problems with loyalty in conquered cities - Madurai is closer to Poland than to India, and Vancouver is surrounded by Polish cities. T-1 turn to D-Day.




I unlock Flight, which I think is a crucial offensive tech for wars. Observation Balloons to my knowledge have only been deployed in PBEM5, by Pindicator against Alhambram, but they were decisive then. I hope they'll be decisive now - these coupled with bombards (I eventually plan to have 6, 2 of them corps hopefully) will let me shell Indian cities immune to retaliation. He'll have to come to me, meaning his fortifications won't be much good against my cuirassiers and cavalry. In fact, once I get enough muskets/infantry out (I would like ~8-10, 4/5 per front to allow for casualties) I might swap back to the cavalry units - their mobility and striking power makes them excellent unit killers and pillagers. I'm excited for a Renaissance war, which I've never fought!




Mercantilism unlocks the all-important Niter boosting policies, as well as triangular trade. I swap out Professional Army and Town Charters for Drill Manuals and Triangular Trade. This clears the crucial bottleneck in production - sufficient niter for all these gunpowder units. It also gives me an idea...I think it's one of my cleverer ones so bear with me.

Take a look at Flexible Demeanor:




Sitting just north of the main Indian army, it's actually one of my empire's Achilles heels. Not the city itself - even though it's presently unwalled, it's not really vulnerable to Indian attack. The entire Indian army would have to cross the Fraser River, while reinforcements would need to pass by Funny, It Worked Last Time..., and all the while Polish reinforcements will pour out of the mountain pass to the north while my army swings in from the west. No, the real danger is the niter mine: It's one of only 2 in the empire at the moment, meaning half of my precious niter production is located right there. If India is cunning, he'll swing one of those coursers north to raid the mine. That's what I'd do in his shoes, to try to cut off muskets and bombards, letting me focus on pike production (resource-free!) to stop the cavalry/cuirassiers. 

That is a problem, so I'm pulling James of St. George, who has been walling up my German border cities, over to Flexible Demeanor next turn to instantly spawn medieval walls with his final charge. That will let me repel any raiders and limit the interruption of my stocks to just a turn or two. It might also provide fire support in case the battle shifts north. 

Anyway, though, I was inspired by this problem to look over India's strategic production. One source of niter is just south of Winnipeg, unmined but with a builder nearby. We can deal with that in ~10-15 turns once we advance that far. 

His other two stocks are here:




Here in the far east, these two mines at Chennai and Kozhikode are the only sources of niter in the entire Indian empire. They're very far from the frontlines in Canada and at Madurai...or are they?




I don't have any naval raiders out, obviously, since I just unlocked Privateers this turn, so I can't do a coastal raid on the Kozhikode mine. But I DO have this scouting courser at sea. He raced through Canada and took to the sea near Hyderabad when my open borders expired a few turns ago. I was thinking about using him to try and strike the universities near the capital, but I think this is a much better idea - a raid to try and cut his niter production. I can reach the mines in ~10 turns, same time we can be thinking about forward raids on Winnipeg. Since the fighting is all on the other side of his empire, he might not spot this move and may not have garrison units in the area. If he does not, then around turn 100 India can be totally cut off from all musket and bombard production. Oil is ages away for him (literally), so he'd be reliant on field cannons, cavalry, and cuirassiers for his defense. I'm not sure what his horse or iron production is like, and he could be supplied from Germany or Hungary - but taht in turn means THOSE civs aren't building niter units, and I don't fear anything short of niter. 

He'll need to build and divert workers, which is more production wasted, and also have to send units to chase down this horse. I think that's an excellent use of the courser, far repaying my investment in it. 

Final strategic view of the main fronts.

First Army:




4 cavalry, 2 muskets, 2 knights, 2 crossbows against ~3-5 Indian crossbows and the city. Crossbows melt like snow in summer against my horse units, so this should go well. I'll surround the city and pound it down with my muskets and siege tower. Hopefully I have it by turn 100. Follow on forces include 3 muskets, 1 cavalry, 1 hussar, and 1 field cannon. 

Second Army:




6 cuirassiers, 2 muskets, 2 cavalry, 1 hussar, and a knight/courser in need of upgrades. A bit stronger than First Army, I expect Second Army to confront most of the Indian field army. Follow on forces include 2 bombards and assorted cavalry and muskets, not sure of the exact count here. 

We'll see if India goes for a first strike next turn (I don't think he can kill anything) or if I get to kickoff myself.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn 90 - D-Day

Well, let's get this thing going:




India did not declare and try for a first strike, which makes sense. By waiting for me to declare, he brings Germany in guaranteed, which is worth +5 CS for both parties. He's also deployed his troops to the rear, as best he can, so that he'll get some blows in before I come to grips.

Right now, I count 8 visible crossbows, 1 pike, 2 coursers, 1 archer, and 2 varu. That accounts for about half of his military power, the other ~300 points is lurking somewhere in the fog. I expect I shall be able to eliminate most of that over the next 5 turns, then reduce the two target cities by turn 100. 

Then, my bombards and balloons will be in place, and it'll be a steady advance through Canada for Hyderabad.

Even after declaring war I can track Indian resources. He's building muskets:




To counter, I shall research Steam Power to speed up my embarked courser, then Refining -> Steel for oil/city defenses. Then it's Infantry and Tanks.  I don't know how many modern units my oil economy will support, so I'm not doing too detailed planning. 

Indian muskets will raise his city defenses, so I'm hoping I can at least get one or two attacks in before he finishes. I have maybe 1, 2 turns? I dunno. Anyway, that will make Madurai in particular a slog, since I don't have siege weapons yet to support that front, but I think I can still tear through the city once I've dealt with the crossbows. 

Here's First Army's advance on Madurai:




Cavalry flanks the city from the north and finds a nest of xbowmen waiting. The infantry cross the river to either side of the city, while the newly-upgraded siege tower will move up with a Cuirassier next turn. The horsemen will clear out the units next turn, and we'll begin work on the city. The distance was enough that I couldn't strike any units yet this turn, but I don't THINK he can kill anything except the flanking knight - and in return he'll lose all his crossbows in the next two turns. This should be a victory barring the entire Indian army showing up from the southeast...but if that happens we'll pillage and retreat beyond the river until my bombards here are up to reduce Madurai.




In the south, the battlefield is so crowded that I can't get any kills in, apart from a lone archer at the rear. I pick 'em off, and try to maximize my flanking and support. Again, if he concentrates EVERYTHING on the exposed cavalry, he might kill it, but I think that's all he'll get. And in return, next turn I'll wipe out most of his army. Again, I think 2 turns here should be sufficient to kill or drive off his land troops, then I can work on the cities. He has 4 crippled crossbows, 2 full health varu, 2 full health coursers, and a damaged pike. 

Abroad, Kyoto is under attack, but not besieged:




As long as it holds, I don't have to worry about Hungary.

At home, it's bombards and muskets, while I finish a few factories. One city starts the Colosseum, because 10 culture/10 amenities per turn is worth 1 cuirassier, I think, and it's the same build time for both.

[marcopolothefraud]

Great job on the war. 10 extra amenities- will that push any cities into ecstatic?

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Actually, amenities are pretty low - most cities have 0 or - amenities. One mitigating strategy has been Stupas, but I only have 5 holy sites in the empire and the stupa only gives 1 amenity to that city (the better buildings were already taken, I was the last religion to claim a building). As the war goes on, those 0 or -1 cities will gradually become discontent.

The Colosseum is going up at I Thought He Was With You, which just finished an Entertainment District (built because it was discounted and I was anticipating a war-weariness happiness crunch). It's a 10-turn build there, only 2 turns more than a cuirassier (400 production vs 330 production base). From its spot, the culture and amenities buff will hit 5 cities (ITHWWY, NMMNG, MIC, SMFS, and YI), at +2 culture/amenities each. Even though I'm at war and need every unit, that seemed like a good trade. I am aware of the danger of all the "nice to have" stuff my tech is unlocking, and I'm trying to stay disciplined on always having at least 5-10 of my cities producing new units so I've always got reinforcements coming.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Germany and India have each held the save for 24 hours now. I, uh, gave them a lot to think about I guess.