[SPOILERS] Chevalier Mal Fet and Marcopolothefraud lead a Soviet Down Under

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Drat. 250 gold is right out. Any way you can get PA?

[williams482]

Does Australia get +100% for recapturing their own cities? I've never tested, but I wouldn't expect the game to count that as a liberation.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Drat. It might be worth it detailing 2 frigates and a galley just to liberate it, then, but as I said I really do think the jongs must go first. It's not worth it to get the capital back 5 turns early if it means another city razed.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

I just wanna take my TURN but Kaiser's had the save for 12 hours now after sub had it for 36

humbug

[marcopolothefraud]

humbug


I don't have any turn report or screenshots from my turn because there's no important news to share.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn Master Chief

Two turns until we have ocean navigation and will really be able to put the hurt on the jongs, but for now I have the chance to engage in some limited skirmishing. Let's see...




The turn starts me off in Donskoi, which has finished its granary and will now grow in 6. We want to reach size 4 for a harbor here. It'll be slow going, so in the meantime it'll try to get military in place. I faith-purchase a courser to send north to reinforce Marco, which will be my last faith purchase for, oh, 8 turns or so. I'm done buying settlers for now, I think - there are two possible sites on the far continent, but I have more pressing and needful uses for the faith...anyone know what my next trick is? It might not work because I don't fully grasp all the systems involved, but if it does it should substantially even the odds against anyone who comes at me. In the meantime, needing to conserve faith but also needing to clear the southern camp, I start a Man at Arms. 

Over on Svalbard, we clear the barb sword and are good to settle two new cities in 3 turns:




Technically General Admiral Graf Apraksin could be settled on turn 119, but I prefer the psychological effect of ljubljana and Woden seeing both cities go down at once. I'll sacrifice .5 science, .3 clefs, and a turn of food and production for that just because I'm feeling irritated at everyone else for burning my partner's cities and trying to win a game which clearly I should be allowed to win. 

Marco asks for a deal:



Done. You plan to upgrade a sword, perhaps, or a man-at-arms? Sorry I can't spare more gold, but speeding up Civil Service + Press Gangs is a better military return for us, I think. I think The Blueprint should get SOME kind of melee unit out ASAP, even before a crossbow - because MBDTF is very, very vulnerable to that knight. My courser will help, as will a crossbow upgraded and stuck on the eye of the sahara as soon as you can, but it will be close. If suboptimal goes right for the city...I don't know if we can stop him. That would effectively knock Australia out of the game since you've nothing left to chop a new holy site there if the city is razed. So, up your city defenses with a build out of The Blueprint, upgrade the archer, and stick him on the Eye of the Sahara so he can shoot at anything northeast of the city. My courser will get there as soon as he can and cover the northwest, and that shoouuuuld be enough. It'll be very close. 

Imperator Aleksandr finishes the builder and starts a campus:




Due in 2 turns, then a library due in 3 after that, so we'll have another +9 science boost by turn 122. We'll be in spitting distance of the Archduke then, and we have more techs completed than he does, I think. 

To battle. At Novaya Zemyla:




The jong didn't appear, so he might be lurking just out of sight...or suboptimal purchased him someplace else for reasons known only to him and the jong ISN'T coming after these ships at all. I hope he is, though, since this whole affair is just bait for a larger ambush of that jong in 2 turns. I kill the galley, accepting that the jong will sink the killer from the tile 2 east of me on sub's turn (might already be done as I type) and then hopefully sub will probe south, walking into my trap. 

At Ilmatic, we have the opportunity to open up on a jong:


 

After some thought, I take it. He can't kill my frigate in return, though he can cripple it as badly as I can cripple him - but a 1 for 1 exchange favors me, since I have 5 frigates and 14 galleys against, as far as I know, 7 jongs, to say nothing of the Australian navy. 

I move up my ships in formation and unleash them at the jong:






Now, there are 5 more jongs in the fog out there, but the constricted terrain means sub can't bring them all to bear. If he stands and fights, he can cripple my lead frigate and sink both advanced galleys...but then next turn I'll have 4 frigates able to engage, which will be 2 of his 7 jongs sunk, plus these two cripples. And then the galleys will go in...the turn after THAT I can enter oceans and the rest of the jong navy will be swarmed down. So I expect to win a slugging match here if he takes it. 

Instead, sub might withdraw to the east. If he does, he'll sink nothing, but can link up with the rest of the fleet. That's probably the wiser course for him. Now, he can and probably will raze Marco's city in the north via amphibious landing - bombard from the far side of the peninsula, and send the land unit overland. He might not realize he can do that, though, and may, if we're lucky, try to fight his way around the point. In retrospect we shouldn't have settled these 3 cities, but at the time I honestly thought we could hold Matilda. As long as we don't lose MBDTF to the knight, though, Marco should be able to recover decently well given time. Anyway, he can withdraw, in which case, in 2 turns, I can creep up and then trap him against the coast. Either way, though, I think his jongs are near the end of the line. One week from this moment none should be left alive. 

Away from the front Fuji comes online and works on its granary to get to size 4:




The harbor here will be great opposite Oslyabya's. 

East:




West:




Note the rare harbor build at Mikasa. It's slightly cheaper than a Caravel and I think I have enough galleys to survive suboptimal for a bit - frigates are what's needed to crack the cities up north. So I'll try to get the harbor->lighthouse combo out and then swap back over to ships once I have the basics in place. Petro was synced to finish the builder this turn but IA's builder pushed that back a bit, no real harm done. Delays the harbor one turn but the builder improvements will speed it back up, so, all the same. 

Svalbard:




5 turns until the missionary arrives and starts getting the island online. 3 charges for 3 lavra cities.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Marco, I feel strongly enough about getting a melee unit upgraded to improve MBDTF's defenses that if all you need is gold for a warrior -> Men @ arms upgrade, let me know. We can and should make it happen. I can beat sub with the navy I have in the field, so I can delay Press Gangs a tiny bit to regen that gold, we CAN'T rebuild the city if it is burned.

[williams482]

I should clarify, I have no idea if Australia does or does not get anything for recapturing their own cities. That's probably worth a test.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Bah. People are taking FOREVER with the stupid WC turn. I don't understand why it can't be integrated into a normal turn. 

I'm leaving the country June 22 and I want to be as far along in this PBEM as we can, hence my constant impatience. Out of character.

[marcopolothefraud]

I was the one who called the WC in the first place, and I took about 6 hours with the turn. So...sorry.



Sub has rushed 2 Jongs to MMLP, and the city is already redlined (not shown in the screenshot). If I can't kill his Swordsman, he may just capture the city in the near future...and that may be a strong possibility. I really should've prepared for the loss of Rodeo. 

Notice how Suboptimal's Diplomatic Power has dropped to 8. Last turn it was 20, so he must've put 2 votes in the resolution. I also put 2 votes in the resolution...though I should've asked for some diplo power from CMF so I could've afforded 3 votes. I expect the resolution to fail, mainly because Roland of Gilead has so much Diplo power, but hopefully I can burn through some of his reserves.