[PB66] Tarkeel and civac explore the untamed wilds

[Tarkeel]

Turn 190 (1300 AD)
We finally figured out what Mjmd's diplo was about: He's inviting our stack up, to help strike at P&P. We signaled back that we could go in 4, and started shuffling all our knights northwards. This leaves us exposed against Superdeath, but I think he'll respect bringing down the leader.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 191 (1310 AD)
Obligatory golden Moai:

[Tarkeel]

Turn 194 (1340 AD)
We log in to this offer:


That's clearly a bribe, which we decline (atleast for now).

Ever since we sent back 4t to Mjmd on T190, we've been angling to attack P&P together with him, in a desperate attempt to stop the runaway. It was all going swell untill last turn, when Mjmd sent back a 2 turn timer, and started retreating the stack that had almost reached Jupiter. We were originally set to attack on the first half of this turn, but Mjmd's stack had retreated all the way back to CaptainMorgan, and Plemo logged on to play while we were still assessing the situation. Here's how it looked when we logged back in:


While we have 48 knights ready to go, P&P have 47 rifles ready to shred them. Preferably Mjmd's stack should be on the "Danger" tile at the start of this turn to cover us, and then advance while we hit the city next turn. As it is, we'd have to trust Mjmd to advance after us to cover the stack. We decided to wait and see for next turn, but the time is running away from us as P&P are starting to field MachineGuns.

If Mjmd doesn't go in, we'll try to grab stone as bribe and try to build up. We're more likely to be successfull in building and expanding elsewhere than throw away our knights on MachineGuns.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 195 (1340 AD)
Mjmd didn't go in, so we're waiting as well. We'll also try to take this option to get back on the first half of the turn timer so the turns don't span three days. (I actually have been sick the last few days so don't feel like a double, but civac should be able to play later)

In other news, Superdeath is building a stack of Cuirassiers, probably do use against Gavagai, who is fielding rifles? Mjmd researched Biology, and P&P have the GE for MinInc but are missing Education->Economics->Corporation for now.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 195 (1340 AD)
Mjmd didn't go in, so we're waiting as well. We'll also try to take this option to get back on the first half of the turn timer so the turns don't span three days.

That didn't work out at all, as they still log in as early as possible and then don't end turn for another 16 hours, making it extremely difficult to play on either side of them. We'd very much prefer to play on the first half, but seeing as Mjmd still hasn't gone in, we're starting to make other plans.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 200 (1400 AD) State of the Realm VI
We've had a pretty unexciting golden age, mainly spend building and fretting over whether Mjmd would invade P&P or not. P&P just founded MinInc and is predictably spreading that around while researching AssemblyLine; our current prediction is death by infantry in about 20 turns. Mjmd build the Kremlin and founded Cereals, so he's going for the Amicalolian whip-dystopia. Gav is quietly digesting his latest meal. We desperately need something to keep up with the wolfpack here; our economy is best described as decent:


We're slowly falling behind in tech:

[Tarkeel]

Turn 205 (1450 AD)
Ever since Mjmd didn't go in against P&P we've been working on the backup plan: Expanding into Superdeath, and we pulled the trigger on moving forces 2 turns ago. We're planning a two-prong attack with an obvious attack fleet sailing down the west coast, which we knew would be spotted, and a sneaky Nav2 fleet attacking through a fort at Trakanon's Teeth. Last turn we had to close borders to avoid a scouting archer seeing this fleet, and while we could have killed his fleet scouts but we actually want him to see the west fleet. Superdeath's reaction to seeing the western fleet was predictable; declaring preemptive war (without announcing it by PM), killing a scout and offering peace. Lastly there's a southern fleet assembling with fresh build galleons in Karnor's Castle, City of Mist and Crypt of Dalnir which can ferry reinforcements, and another two coming from the southeast. Before moving for the attack, the situation looks like this:


Sneaky Fleet has 4 Nav2 galleons, fully loaded with 5xp+ rifles, including an 11xp GG.
Main Fleet has 11 galleons, currently loaded with 18 rifles, but will pick up another three from Skyfire.
South Fleet has 5 galleons spread out along the coast, none of which are loaded yet
Just out of view is our 50 knight stack, which is heading to south to be loaded in the second wave.

We start by clearing some galleys:
Frigate vs Galley Alright (outside Abydos), 100%: flawless victory
Frigate vs Galley P (outside Skyfire), 100%: win
C1 Galleon vs Caravel (outside Karnor's), 78.3%: loss
C1 Galleon vs Galley U (near Roskilde), 99.1: flawless victory

Ambushing Sigtuna:
C2 Amphib Rifle vs Longbow, 73.6%: win
C2 Rifle vs Longbow, 67.1%: win
C2 Rifle vs Pike, 75.9%: win
Sigtuna come with 129g, harbor, courthouse and lighthouse. That went slightly better than hoped for, making up for losing the Galleon at Karnor's.

Striking Roskilde:
C1 Cover Rifle vs Longbow, 26.8%: win
C1 Cover Rifle vs Longbow, 26.8%: loss
Rifle vs Longbow (2.6), 95.9%: win
Roskilde comes with almost full set of buildings: granary, harbor, forge, lighthouse, courthouse, colosseum, market and grocer, along with 156g.

This is the aftermath:


Sigtuna is defended by 11 rifles, two of which are promoted CG2.
Roskilde is defended by 5 rifles, one of which is promo-healed G2, as well as an war elephant.
Main fleet is N of Roskilde, and still has 17 rifles that can hit Lødøse or Uppsala next turn.
Knight stack is just visible E-NE of Veeshan, and can board at Karnor's next turn.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 206 (1460 AD)
I was expecting Superdeath to hit Roskilde with Berserkers or Sigtuna with his Cuirassiers, but instead he just deleted the victorious caravel and demanded peace in which we give back Roskilde. He also revolted into Nationalism, likely eating two turns of anarchy. Our scouting reveals that Sigtuna and Lødøse are too defended to take amphibiously, so we load up and maneuver to land at three possible beachheads next turn, depending on his force disposition:


Mainfleet has 10 galleons and sneaky has 4, all of which are fully loaded with rifles.
Uppsala's garrison is revealed by trickery (investigate city), and is defended by 4 cavs, 5 cuirs, 5 knights, 2 pikes, axe and chariot.

As is ever the case in this game, we're a few turn too late for this attack to be truly effective, so we're stuck in the meat grinder.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 207 (1470 AD)
Someone please tell me that Mjmd's reload request (and three days delay) wasn't so that he could play after Superdeath this turn?


Going in and razing Væsterås right in front of our ships is an extremely shitty move, and not a way to repay us for being good neighbors the entire game. It's also a bad strategic mode, giving the spot to P&P instead of giving us a foothold in their rear.

Back to the task at hand, invading the area that Superdeath is actually defending. He actually laid a pretty good trap, putting most of his catapults in a tile that was hidden from city vision, so we're glad we sent in a sacrificial rifle to scout out the landing. Our original plan was to land there in force, taking the counter to neutralize the threat, but 28 catapults is too much. If we want to land at BestBeach, we need to clear a small fleet first, meaning two of our galleons can't reach the landing spot, which results in not enough bodies to soak collateral and another wipeout. Superdeath really has put up a good defense, against us. So we spend the turn maneuvering instead.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 208 (1480 AD)
Superdeath continues to defend well in the cities we can threaten, but has given up on anything Mjmd can reach:


Gavagai will have a only slightly rougher time, as the western cities have singleton medievel defenders. I do understand why Superdeath is doing this; he's trying to project that whomever attacks him first will get mauled, in an effort to stave off being attacked in future games, but it feels very close to kingmaking. Oh, and P&P also jumped in while we were planning the turn and took the one city we had hopes of taking.

We spend yet another turn shuffling troops around, hoping for something to break our way.