[PB79] Just one more Game

[xist10]

And the next round right after that.

It was actually quite a nice round.




This is the reason why I had Alphabet in my head.
Miro has paper - via theology.

Liberalism will be difficult as long as coldrain is at war - and if miro switches to liberalism.
I don't know anything about Gira - he has Civil Service.

coldrain goes for steel - my estimate says 7-8 turns with coldrain. 3 turns collecting gold (+416 ) and 4-5 turns researching (-278 in R156).

Let's see, in 2-3 turns there could be peace.




This went very well.
Okay, Vodka assured me 99% chance of capture with ~3 losses. Still went very well.
The 1st knight won at ~20%, the 2nd at 45%.
The third knight didn't land a single hit at 46%, but the 4th knight won at 46%.
Then 2 more ~80% fights.




Keep the city.
I pulled 2 Longbow from Thanae for cover.




Steel is actually not that dangerous. The ironclads explicitly need steam engine, so 4 more techs.
Cannons on the other hand ? There I need the grenadiers.




coldrain marches forward.
24 units are feasible. Not necessarily next turn, but in 2-3 turns.
The problem is primarily the 9 knights.
I have actually reduced the garrison of Oea to tempt coldrain to attack.

This would be the ideal case, as I can't take out the knights more cheaply.




In fact, I will use Vodka again to see how effective just the 2 muskets would be.
Because if 8 knights are gone, but I lose Oea, the trade is acceptable.




Here the ships are important again.
The Longbow should secure Skinners Roam - at the expense of Thanae.
The knights can disembark in Oea in 2 turns - that would give me enough knights to attack.

Or I can try to attack Okrans Gulf.
Against a Pike and the Dogsoldier, 4 knights ‘only’ have a 75% chance of winning through the castle according to Vodka, but it would be worth a thought. Especially since I prevent the whip as a second mover.




For being at war, is not good. Well, Miro and coldrain are still in , but Gira has overtaken me.




And I still have to show this. Sure, I'm unfortunately still building infrastructure, but not in core cities.
And above all, I don't start them from scratch.

[greenline]

Would Oea for Skinner's Room be a worthwhile trade for you? Or would you plan to recapture Oea if coldrain takes it?

[xist10]

Attacking Oea is one of the worst decision for coldrain, I think.
I should be able to recapture Oea.
I have further reinforcements coming, but coldrain ? Nothing I can see. Okay, there are a few black spots, but I really don't think coldrain has hidden an army there.
I think I can account for most of his power.
The 24 units there, city guards and 7 knights in his capital.

[xist10]

coldrain didn't take the bait.




Instead, he even brought in a few more units.
If he waits a turn, I should have enough next turn.
If he attacks, I should have enough.
7 knights are not marked.




The sea will be interesting.
Except for Borderzone, the coast is weakly guarded. Warriors or archers. The same applies to the interior, by the way.
If the battle goes as I hope, I should be able to advance with almost everything from next turn onwards.
There must be something left ?

However, coldrain is currently assembling galleys.
At least 2 should be filled, and I expect 2 of the 5 units in Shem to disappear onto the galley in Shem next turn.

Thapsus should get 2 grenadiers in time, but we'll see.

I currently have 7 frigates against 4 privateers.
Plus 3 triremes that can become frigates. coldrain has the money - even if this would delay steel research.

My reinforments continues to be built, but there were a few whips from coldrain that could be frigates. I have seen 3.




Borderzone is heavily guarded as written.
The 7 knights are also a strong argument why I didn't land at Okrans Gulf.
They can reinforce the city.




Further research plan.
Nationalism should take 3 research turns, Philo and Civil Service are 90% researched.

In the Taj Mahal GA (if it comes to that) it will probably not be enough for Lib, but mercantilism would already be a small advantage.

After Lib towards Cre Con at Steam Power?




Okay, Miro researches without a pre-tech bonus, but I still like the BSP.
The rest ? Not so.

[klops]

thanks for reporting, but your pictures are broken/missing...

wait... maybe civforum is down?

[xist10]

I think, this should be no question. Civforum down, so no screenshot hostet on Civforum.

[xist10]

First impression:
No stackwipe, but still a victory.
With the reinforament, coldrain has 26 units.
10 knights, 1 musket, 2 elefants, 5 horse archers, 7 catapults and 1 dog soldier.

I have 14 knights, 4 muskets, 4 longbows, 2 axemen and 4 catapults in reach.
This is nearly too much for vodka.

Vodka has victory in about 25% of the combats, with about 22 units to 9,5 units lost on average and 1512 to 657 production.
I will lose the catapults and a thrid of my knights, coldrain the units beside catapults - and I think the catapult losses are inflated, because flanking damage is nerfed.


In other news, I lost the ability to produce axemen, even if macemen can be upgraded to rifles and I wouldn't lose the ability to built macemen.

In other news, coldrain send a horcher through Miro and threathens to new city. Still, Archer behind castles is enough in the moment.
And sea war becomes interesting too.

[xist10]

Okay, I wasn't paying attention to that. It's time to distribute a few scouts in China.
I probably would have taken the chance to attack the city.
I should upgrade the BS to a grenadier now ?




As you can see, coldrain bombed (without much success) this turn.
I'm almost tempted to wait another turn - if coldrain were to bombard at 0%, it would take another 4 turns.




I'll use the picture from last turn again.
Not shown are 4 knights on the 2 galleys, 3 knights at Kerkounne and Rossadir and the completed catapult in Sarim Batim.




Enter in Vodka.




It actually looks doable. Primarily (only) a few catapults survive.
Since the flank damage in CtH has been weakened somewhat, one or two more catapults may survive.

Vodka is not 100% useful, so I built this manually.




Link to save is in this post too.

Testing showed, that I'm missing a few more (heavy) hitters (or catapults).
If the catapults are hitting good - damage to musket, 2 star knights, elephants (and other knights), I have mostly 70% fights for the knights and then 80+ for the rest.
coldrain's army gets reduced to a few catapults.

In the worse case, I have mostly 50% fights and a lot more of coldrains army survived.
In the end, I think, more hitters from me would have survived, but still more a draw.




I decided to wait at least one more round. The best action for coldrain would be to retreat, I think.
If he bombards or attacked, I become stronger faster.

The knights are also spread out slightly, so you don't see the trap quite so quickly with a scout.




The 7 knights make me a bit nervous - 2 more are in the town on the right.
They could reinforce the army in the north and tip the balance again or try to attack Thapsus.
I think i should be able to defend (grenadiers behind castles should be strong enough), but the threat remains.

And I just realised the musket is new.




So this paranoid unloading of 2 knights was probably unnecessary.
I had actually suspected a frigate in the unseen tile. I think the possible frigate was the musket in Borderzone, but better safe than sorry.

I actually need to take a lot more screenshots for my own documentation.

To disguise the upgrades a bit, I invest 20% in espionage this turn. This should also give me back city visibility, so it's not wasted.




Miro from the , so we're close again.
266 , 263 and 261 .
First in GNP should be coldrain. He changed his research, but I think the gold is not enough for 3 turns 100%.

[xist10]

Nice




Nothing changed, I get a 5th catapult (and a slightly battered knight) in range via ship chain, so I guess I'll strike.




This is not so good. A few more frigates.




And coldrain has withdrawn 4 knights from Borderzone. Another reason to strike this turn.

[xist10]

Drumroll please