Military Department Thread - Term 1 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19309)

Our Military Strength....

Immortals - 20
Muskets - 5
Pikemen - 44
Knights - 8
Catapults - 2
Galleys - 2
Armies - 1 (Immortals)
Spearmen - 2

How we compare to others...

Rome - Strong - Peace
Aztecs - Strong - Peace
China - Strong - Peace
India - Average - Peace
Greece - Average - Peace
Babylon - Average - Peace
Zulus - Strong - Peace
Iroqouis - Average - Peace

Foreign Wars -
Babylon and China allied against Rome

Cities with Barracks-
Fox Nest
Eyr
Shailonegha
PDX
Pherris
Civanatoria
Memphis
Washington
Khatovar

Cities with Harbors-
Port Gisnod
Shailonegha

Walled Cities-
Macoa

Congrats on the election. Now to business.

No Navy?! I submit that we make the development of a navy a 2nd Term priority. Tech, harbours and fine ships to seek out and destroy our enemies and transport our units for tactical advantage.

Thoughts?

Congrats Falcon2!

Navy? How many Egypt cities do you expect to conquer with galleons? No, give us knights! Better yet, give us armies of cavalry, and we will rule the plains!

Falcon, please place your vote in the Cabinet vote for the revised Constitution. (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21595)

A navy is important, but it's not imperative at the moment. It would prevent any more landings, but we must concentrate on getting rid of those who have landed in our territory and defending our borders first. So land forces is STILL the priority, a Navy is in the plan books, but not in the near future.

and hopefully stop the domino from repeating. (But will lengthen the war,

Possibly, the domino effect could prolong the war more than an alliance.

Also, what's the plan with galleys? Exploration, defence or expansion?

Very pleasing to see the commissioning of our first naval craft. Shailonegha is also the perfect site for fleet HQ at present. I have moved there to monitor naval matters.

Perhaps we should also give some consideration to dedicating a ground unit to our galley, when completed. It could then transport and raid/disrupt targets of opportunity behind enemy lines.

(Duck of Flanders, delete this one. I forgot the file - it's in the next post).

Even though this assessment is geared towards trade concerns, I have included a list of strategic resources (these are tradable too, that's why I included them) and who has them. There's also a section on the landscape of each nation. It may be of some use.

The file is in MS-Word format, but should be viewable in Wordpad.

It should be noted that China is also fighting Egypt. We should be happy that they are also fighting our bitter rival. Also, I think we should keep a close eye on where their troops are and the ownership of Egyptian cities, in case we can swoop in on the spoils too. There is already a Chinese town named "Abydos". Strange, as it doesn't sound that Chinese...

We should move a pikeman into Lutetia immediately for defence!

Pikemen are not needed in PDX and Pherris since they are deep within out cultural borders, giving advance notice of any surprise attack.

Barring any budget constraints:

The above pikemen should be sent to the cities with spearmen to relieve the spearmen for upgrading.

The warrior should be upgraded to immortals while immortals are still useful.

The Egyptians and chinese seem to have had a small war and made peace(?) after the capture of one Egyptian city. I suggest a horseman or two to go with our galley

Our existing galley should proceed south and collect 1 or 2 Pikemen from Fox Nest for garrison duties at Lutetia. The ground unit(s) will have to move to the coast for pick up. This is probably the quickest way to garrison Lutetia with substantial forces, Fox Nest can build replacements quicker, and it leaves the galley better located for southerly operations.

Meanwhile, Shailonegha is producing a second galley and contains our last warrior. The warrior should be upgraded to Immortal on the turn before the galley is launched, then loaded and (both) sent east (towards China). Shailonegha could then switch to harbour production. A nearby city (PDX perhaps?) could produce/transfer a second defensive unit (Pikeman?) for Shailonegha

Now, as for that Eqyptian Galley near Atlanta. Hmm. I note that it is a veteran - so probably has the better odds against our (new)regular galley. If we adopt this plan, and if we are still at war with Eqypt, and if our second galley encounters the Eqyptian one, then we probably should land the Immortal before the naval battle. All this would be several turns away, so I guess we play it by ear for the moment and deal with the Eqyptian galley as appropriate when the time comes.

I like Lecky's Idea about using the Galley to take two of Fox Nest's Pikemen to garrison Lutetia. Good work.

I also agree the remaining warrior should be upgraded to an Immortal, along with the remaining spearmen. However, we must also make sure the Horsemen are upgraded, I feel the Warrior and the Horsemen are the priority right now, the spearmen can be upgraded with future funds.

According to Eyrei's preliminary Budget, we will have approximatly 144 gold to our disposal. (Since it's not final it may change, but I think we should use this as a basis for our plans, for now)

It looks to me like it should be enough to upgrade the warrior and the Horsemen, as soon as we're ready. But, very little will be left over for future operations.

Also, I am now taking applications for a new Military Dept. Chat represenative. While I'm normally able to attend the chat sessions, my attendence has gone down in the last two, because I'm starting to get hit by the AP tests this week. So anyone, looking for the position should apply. Any Applicant must be able to attend chats regularly.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads/Attack_Egypt.jpg

This is my attack plan. The Yellow attack on Heliopolis is optional, but we may want to take it just because of the high culture it has, and ensure there are no flips.

For the green arrow, could we just move thro Aztec territory to Asyut? What are they gonna do about it? Kick us out to the side nearer to Asyut? :D

Originally posted by Zur
For the green arrow, could we just move thro Aztec territory to Asyut? What are they gonna do about it? Kick us out to the side nearer to Asyut? :D

Good point... why not go ahead with it?

Nice going with the troop management so far. Just like to raise a point:

Pikemen are not needed in PDX and Pherris since they are deep within our cultural borders, giving advance notice of any surprise attack.

I see no action has been taken on this, but am not sure whether this is due to a communication error or some other cause. Keeping garrisons in cities well within cultural borders before paratroops is a waste of resources.

Also, can add Phili, Washington & Chie to the above list.

Zur

They were good for happiness before, but I can agree that they are not as important any longer.

I would like to get the military department's input on my proposal to build harbors to connect our Egyptian conquests. Please look at the description here. (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=276091#post276091)

I have read Justus' proposal on harbours and think it has merit. The obvious advantages are 1. connection of cities and 2. ability to produce vet ships in the Fleet HQ. Either of the 2 home cities mentioned would be appropriate for a harbour, and then naval production.

We must also now give serious consideration to frontier operations.

The war with the Aztecs is of little value to us at the moment because we are not in a position to take any significant part of their territory. It will, however, continue to be a thorn in our side until it is terminated. I think we should see if we can get a reasonable peace deal with them asap.

Of greater concern (I think) is the Chinese build-up in our new Eqyptian territories. There are also not insignificant numbers of Indian units present, but the Chinese movements are much more aggresive. Should we be planning a major war with the Chinese?

We should be planning against a war with the Chinese, definitely. To this end, Foreign Affairs will begin courting the Iroquois, China's eastern neighbor. More detail in the next Foreign Affairs proposal.

PDX is uprising, therefore the pikemen are needed as MP.

Originally posted by Shabbaman
PDX is uprising, therefore the pikemen are needed as MP.

We are in a republic. No military police.

Stupid am I.

Silence I will be.

What would the Military Dept recommend against the Aztecs? Are we to try to end the war as quickly as possible? Should we show them a force to try to deter them from continuing the war? What would have the greatest effect on war weariness? Protecting our borders & hope they ask for peace? Or, sending some threatening Immortals their way?

Actually, they control a couple wonders, maybe we should go for it.... heehee....

Originally posted by Shabbaman
Stupid am I.

Silence I will be.

Stupid you are not. :)

Silence is what makes people stupid. :)

(There should be a yoda smily or something :) )

A few ideas:

1. We are at war with the Aztecs. Lets not forget that fact. We might not see much value in it, but we must act decisively. We should take out the Spearman near Elephantine immediately. There is an Immortal available. Lets do it. We can wait a turn or two to deal with the Spearman + Settler near Asyut. If they move within a one-turn striking range, or move into 'settlable' territory they will also have to be taken out. We can probably hold off offensive on these units for a turn or two and monitor their movement. Otherwise, I hope the Foreign Office can get us a peace with the Aztecs asap - perhaps a bloody nose in Elephantine will help, who knows. Anyway, the last thing we want is actively hostile Aztecs at our backs when war comes with China.

2. Similarly, the Indians are trespassing in our territories/zones of influence on the frontier. We don't want a war with them either, at the moment, but they will have to be told.

3. China - they are currently diplomatically isolated - so we should be able to attack without drawing in other Civs. Our forces should be positioned for an offensive in no more than a few turns, and by then I hope we will be at peace with the Aztecs. The Chinese defences will probably only improve if we wait. The initiative will be ours. I think you can see where I'm heading ;)

4. The Harbour Scheme. The price is huge, and does not come down very significantly if we delay 2 or 3 turns. Turn savings to total cost I estimate at something like 20-25 gp. It is cheaper (by about 80 gp) doing it is New Falcon, but Shailo is probably better positioned and it is questionable whether we actually need the 3rd galley from there right at the moment. Connecting the former Eqyptian cities will, however, be advantageous in any war with China.

5. Advance the galley, with the Immortal, from Atlanta, for a timely landing behind Chinese lines to interdict their forces from reinforcing their front.

Summary: I reckon we do the Harbour Scheme, and do it with Shailo (and El Amarna of course). Burn the Aztecs' fingers and get a peace with them. Tell the Indians to clear off or else. Consign the Chinese to the history books and get ready for a victory banquet of Peking Duck!

I don't know if that Harbor plan is necessary. We need one atleast, but the road through that mountain will be completed soon.

Lecky, that's a well thought out strategic plan and under other circumstances I'd support it. There are several main reasons why I cannot:
[list=1]
China is not a part of our Manifest Destiny.
The citizens of Phoenatica chose to become a Republic for the benefits that government style has in peace time.
Our citizens are war weary and already rioting in several cities.
[/list=1]
This is not the time for war and China is not a target of agression.

and 4) We have not once started a war in this world, and we should not start now.

We have only defended ourselves in the past, let it be aggressive. But never ever have we started a war, and never ever will we either. I hope.

I want peace with the Aztecs soon, possibly waiting until we take Tlaxcala.

By no means do I want war with the Chinese if we can avoid it. First off, I never want to "fire the first shot" it's a moral justification thing. Secondly, China has their Rider and will be pumping them out soon (If not already). These Riders pose a real threat, and while I agree waiting will allow them to build more, we should concentrate on building up defences in preperation for a potential attack.

Also, I do not think China is "Diplomatically isolated," it's too late to think that, everybody has communications to everyone, except for a potential civ on a large unknown Island, which may exist.

I do agree we need harbors, but I don't think we "MUST" use them to connect the "old" empire and egypt. The Roads won't take too long, and it's a little too expensive an undertaking, but I still believe one must be built soon, in the old kingdom, to those trade partners with Harbors and for resource bonuses.

I have turned the first post into a general military information post. I will try to keep this updated.

Secondly, does anyone want to apply to be the Military chat rep for when I can't make it? While I attend most chats, I cannot attend them all, and Charis can't attend chats, so I have no backup.

The age of the Immortal is passing, and the age of the Chinese Rider has already dawned. While our magnificent military machine idles, mopping up the last vestiges of the humbled Egyptians and making impolite gestures at the distant and irrelevant Aztecs, Mao’s Riders enjoy a right of passage and use it to scout our positions. Does anyone else see something wrong here?

Manifest Destiny is an admirable idea. Manifestations of powerful and offensive hostiles, threatening our hard-won new territories with impunity, are another thing altogether. Let’s put Mao’s “friendship” to the test in negotiations. If war with the Chinese is to come, and I strongly suspect it is, it will suit us better sooner rather than later.

Originally posted by Lecky
The age of the Immortal is passing, and the age of the Chinese Rider has already dawned. While our magnificent military machine idles, mopping up the last vestiges of the humbled Egyptians and making impolite gestures at the distant and irrelevant Aztecs, Mao’s Riders enjoy a right of passage and use it to scout our positions.

All the more reason to want time to strengthen our defenses and modernise our military to better withstand an attack should one occur. If they do try anything stupid then I'm sure our well led and battle proven forces will do a good job of carving out a new oriental province, but for us to be seen as belligerent by all those other civs (who aren't too enthusiastic about us to begin with) could result in disaster.

One thing we must keep in mind, as the mandate that was given when we started our glorious civ stated, we will not break ROP's. So we must deal with the Chinese incursions until they attack us, or it expires. I don't know how so many people supported these ROP's for just this reason, but I don't want another ROP with any nation to "Improve" relations. We should only have ROP with civs that we already have good relations with, it seems to me like China is setting up to pounch.

Okay, I don't like those Chinese in our land. It seems like Old Egypt has become a crossroads for the world with all these ROP's. However, while I have my worries they are likely only going after the Romans, they're movements seem to just go right on through.

We have at least one defender in every city except Boston and Chicago, I'm sending their spears to be upgraded.

Immediate suggestion for next turn, send any Old America or Western Pheonetica spears to be upgraded. We should only need to keep one pike in every inner city.

The mass of our forces I've sent to the borders. Exact distribution can be debated now or during the turn chat.

I think the largest garrison should be in Abydos though.

We can finally get rid of our ROP agreement with China. This will be up for debate, though. But I support the elimination of the Chinese ROP soon.

The Mass of our production can now go to Culture. :egypt:
HOWEVER, we must make sure we still have a good military production of Pikes and Knights. (We don't want to fall behind)

The ROP might be the reason the chineese have not attackted.It looks as if war is comming so we should try to appease they until where ready to strike back. The ROP will force the chinnese to make peace or lose there reputation.

Falcom02:We should only need to keep one pike in every inner city.

I would have thought that it would be better to keep 2 pikes in a border city than 1 pike in a border city and 1 in an inner city. The total visibility within our cultural borders acts as a buffer against surprise attacks on inner cities.

The ROP might be the reason the chineese have not attackted.It looks as if war is comming so we should try to appease they until where ready to strike back. The ROP will force the chinnese to make peace or lose there reputation.

Another thing is that they may very well continue to barge their way thro our territory even without an ROP since we divide the pangea in two. :( This could lead to an escalation if we are adamant about keeping them off our land. By giving them passage, we are also weakening the AI by letting them fight amongst one another. :D In the last turn chat their objective seemed to be solely the Romans. Nevertheless we must be prepared for any unforseen circumstances. :ninja:

I'm wary to eliminate our defences in the inner cities. Call me paranoid, but I want to make sure any galley landings will meet some resistance, and we won't get razed cities. However, I understand your concern.

I've seen the AI often abuse ROPs & raze inner cities that have no garrison. I suggest leaving at least 1 troop in most cities. Even an Offensive unit here & there may come in handy. Open cities are very attractive to AIs. In times of peace, we can afford to leave them there. When we are faced with war, I trust Falc to judge where our troops are most needed.

It seems like at the moment Egypt is the main crossroads. With Homie's suggestion (expanding border to coastal, something I'd never thought of). I agree to removing them from the Inner cities, however I will post a poll to get assurance from the general public.

I am currently leading an expedition of Pheonatica's finest explorers, warriors and diplomats to count the resources in the known world. :viking:

A table of our findings has been sealed in a scroll using the most enduring Pheonatician wax and sent towards the palace in Fox Nest with a trustworthy carrier pigeon for Pheonatica's leaders to analyse.

I would like the input of the Military Department on suggestions for trades. Pls. see Trade Department thread:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=281448&t=9370#post281448

I have posted an excel table with a breakdown of resources for each civ and possible trades.

Greece -

Ivory --> 10 GPT, 9 gold upfront

Then trade world maps immediately (same screen) for only 2 gold.

Rome -

Horses --> 15 GPT, (3 gold upfront) - 3 gold is optional if we want to trade spices

Spices --> 6 GPT
or
Spices --> WP, 3GPT, 30 gold
or
Spices --> 4GPT, 35 gold

*NOTE: Rome is at war with the Babylonians. Except for horses, it will take them 10 turns to reach Babylon through the rugged terrain (and through the Aztec homelands).

**NOTE: If we do go for the horse trade, after it's agreed, immediately trade:
Spices --> WP, 3GPT, 30 gold
China
Incense or Ivory --> 116 gold (150 in treasury)

India
Ivory --> WM, 17 gold (entire treasury)

Aztecs
Incense or Ivory --> 2 GPT, 30 gold
or
Incense or Ivory --> 36 gold (entire treasury)

Iroquois
Incense or Spices --> WM, 5 gold (entire treasury)


Zulus (too poor for viable trade. They want too many resources and gold for silks. They seem desperate.)
Incense, Spice or Ivory --> WM, 2 gold (entire treasury)

I approve the Trade of the Horses.

I think we may even want to make Rome an ally in the future. But, that's their choice.

Give us more soldiers, noble leader. So that we may stick our swords in the beating hearts of our enemies! I would like to have a full scale war. Only our swords can lead us to world domination. Do it, eternal leader Falcon02. Do it for the glory of our empire. While you're at it, overthrow the government and put yorself on the crown of Pheonatica's mighty empire! Long live Falcon02! :king: :satan: :viking: :D

could the department heads please open a new post in the "chat-voicing-list (term2)":
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20797

is should contain the following:
department-name
chat represenatatives in order of priority

for example this could be:
joke-department
1.) leader-name
2.) deputy-name
3.) chat-rep name

this will be the only source for voice-rights, so please update it!
otherwise your reps wont get voice in the chat.

Falcon02, please vote in the Council Vote for adoption of Constitutional Amendment (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22596).

Falcon, I think we are going to need some leadership on a campaign to get some muskets to defend our borders. The age of gunpowder has begun & we may be left vunerable if we do not keep up to date.

I don't think musketmen are worthwhile. I'd rather have two pikemen.

im also for more units because the ai only counts the numers, not the strengths. many units will prevent others from attacking us.
PEACE

I think that we currently have 1 city building a Musketman, with a few others building Pikemen. What's the plan here? Are the Pikes to be upgraded? Is it 1 Musket per city, with a Pike or Pikes in reserve? Building Muskets takes a fairly long time in poorly producing cities, but upgrading is costly and (where there are no Barracks) may involve quite a bit of 'shuffling'.

Eventually we will need all Muskets, and then all Riflemen, etc. etc. While peace reigns let's set about an orderly and planned overhaul of our defences.

Can you even build pikes when you have Saltpeter connected?

If not, we might want to avoid connecting some cities if we are about to build pikes, otherwise should we build Musketmen.

You are not able to build pikes if salpeter connected. Thats why in Term1 a road was cut so we could still build warriors instead of immortals and upgrade then.

Actually, I have experienced cases where I get a new tech and the resources are connected, but the city production just doesn't change from pike to musketmen. I imagine that in these cities (if connected) that we will not be able to select "pikemen" but rather muskets.

Currently we have 30 cities and 49 pikemen. I would like to see 1 musketman in each city.

I played with the Idea of upgrading them all. When I discovered that the upgrade would cost 60 Gold each, I KNEW it wasn't gonna be a pretty figure, here it is anyway.

30 Cities * 60 gold per upgrade = 1980 Gold!! (with the Leo's it would have only been 990)

Anyway, so we need to find a good balance between Urgency and time to build more Muskets.

So I suggest for now we work on upgrading pikes in our 10 border cities, costing 600 gold in total (will take a while unless I do some MAJOR borrowing). These cities are....

Abydos
Memphis
Thebes
Elephantine
Justinian
Macao
Asyut
Lutetia
Alexandria
Heliopolis

Edit: Egyptian area can use Memphis as an upgrade center. Khatovar for the Cities along the Lake's west cost, Asyut, Justinian, and Macao. Lutetia can use Fox Nest as a source of upgrades.

Sounds good to me. Get our front-line cities covered with our best defenders, and backfill later as we have the money.

Falcon's plan is very sound. I dont think there is such urgency as to require too much 'borrowing'.

Another thing - Foreign Affairs and Culture have a long-term plan of 'cultural assault' aimed at a number of our opponents' border towns. We need to be prepared, if and when this strategy pays off with culture flips, to quickly reinforce newly acquired territory. I think we probably have just enough units in the likely locations to do this, but it is nevertheless an added contingency for military planning.

I would like to restate my opposition to building/upgrading any musketmen at all. A pikeman costs 30 shields and a musketman costs 60 shields, IIRC. Is there any conceivable reason to build one musketman instead of two pikemen? Also, upgrading at 60 gold per unit is rather expensive, IMO. Nearly 2000 gold, apparently. I question whether it is worth the expense.

Originally posted by punkbass2000
I would like to restate my opposition to building/upgrading any musketmen at all. A pikeman costs 30 shields and a musketman costs 60 shields, IIRC. Is there any conceivable reason to build one musketman instead of two pikemen? Also, upgrading at 60 gold per unit is rather expensive, IMO. Nearly 2000 gold, apparently. I question whether it is worth the expense.

We cannot build pikemen in any city connected to the trade network.

The military department now has 300 gold to use for upgrades. Enough for probably 3 more will be allocated after the next turns.

Then I propose we cut the link. What do we need Saltpeter for if not musketmen, until Cavalry. In fact, perhaps we could sell the Saltpeter to another civ. Many are against selling strategic resources, but if at this point it would only cause them to have a disadvantage, I think it would be worth it.

Originally posted by punkbass2000
A pikeman costs 30 shields and a musketman costs 60 shields, IIRC. Is there any conceivable reason to build one musketman instead of two pikemen?
Well... there is the fact that two pikemen cost twice as much to maintain as a single musketeer...

I cant really see much advantage in mass producing obsolete units, paying twice the upkeep, especially if we have to disconnect cities to do it! I think we should purposefully modernise our military, and be prepared to instantly support the FA and Cultural campaigns.

Originally posted by Eklektikos

Well... there is the fact that two pikemen cost twice as much to maintain as a single musketeer...

True. However, our military will be seen as twice as strong by the AI. Also, our military will be stronger, perhaps not twice as strong, but we will save time too. I think the costs outweigh the benefits.

This is my least favorite upgrade/build as well. Muskets are only 50% better than pikes but cost 100% more. Unfortunately, it's a price that's eventually going to have to be paid. The cost difference from pike to musket is still there when you go pike to rifleman so it doesn't make financial sense to build pikes now unless we do not intend to upgrade them in the future.

Originally posted by Shaitan
This is my least favorite upgrade/build as well. Muskets are only 50% better than pikes but cost 100% more. Unfortunately, it's a price that's eventually going to have to be paid. The cost difference from pike to musket is still there when you go pike to rifleman so it doesn't make financial sense to build pikes now unless we do not intend to upgrade them in the future.

I wouldn't call them 50% better, but that's beside the point. However, I do think Shaitan makes a valid point about building pikes, in that they will eventually have to upgraded. I now propose that we build musketmen, but do not upgrade our pikes until nationalism, as the overall cost will not change.

Sorry Punkbass, last turn chat I upgraded 5 Muskets for 300g, and distributed them among the Egyptian eastern boarder cities.

War with the Aztecs - we should workshop some options here.

FA is hosting a discussion about this war, and it seems there is a view building that we should attempt to negotiate a peace deal with the Aztecs. If this eventuates, then I guess we will not need to consider the options, and we can just get on with modernising units and deploying them in the most favourable strategic positions.

But if the war persists, who has some ideas about its prosecution?

Falcon02, please cast your vote in the Cabinet Poll (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23040) for adoption of Constitution changes.

Here are some military options for consideration:

The first thing is that if we are going to use our present Great Leader to rush a wonder (and it seems the popular consensus is that it should be JSB's Cathedral, and located in a city in the central south ie. perhaps Justinian or Macao), then the Wonder rush should be done immediately at the start of turn 0. This is because we are able to attack at least one of the two Aztec close contact units near Justinian with elite units and there is a chance of generating another GL. So - first up we should rush the wonder (if we are to do it at all), then smack that swordsman near Justinian and hope for the best.

More generally, it also seems that the popular consensus is for a quick peace with the Aztecs. I strongly support this goal, because there is little value in stretching this war out and we should try to avoid escalation and the involvement of other powers. However, I really do think we should try to eliminate the 2 close contact units (as outlined above). If Peace is achieved within the first 2 or 3 turns, then my recommendation 5 is redundant, and recommendation 5B is substituted. Recommendation 1-4 are submitted regardless of the Aztec hostilities.

1. Galleys near Lutetia - let them either attack us or retire. We should not attack because (despite co-rated att/def values) it see,s gallies always do better in defence in 1 on 1 battles. Why? - I don't know. I also note that ships can fortify at sea (not sure if our galley in fortified or not) - we might as well do this, although I'm unsure whether it makes any difference to defence values.

2. Boost Lutetia garrison - we can transfer 1 Musket from Eyr and also 1 Musket from Fox Nest. When the first Musket arrives then transfer the Pike in Lutetia back to Fox Nest for upgrading to Musket. The result is 2 Muskets in Lutetia and Fox Nest each and 1 Musket in Eyr - a much better defensive deployment. We could, do 3 in Lutetia and 1 in each of the other 2 cities (by putting the upgraded Pike/Musket from Fox Nest back in Lutetia) but I prefer to leave a reserve in Fox Nest for contingencies and capital defence.

3. Move the Catapults - at the moment there are 2 catapults in El Armana and Civanatoria and these locations are not really exploiting the value of these units effectively. I think we should transfer both to Abydos, Memphis or Thebes where they are closer to the borders and/or can provide Forbidden City protection. Obviously 2 catapults cannot go into 3 cities, so we just need to choose which 2 (of the 3 candidates) is the best location.

4. Army near Tlaxcala - should be relocated to Heliopolis, which is well positioned to stike or defend from. We can then transfer 1 Immortal from Heliopolis to Alexandria.

5. Justinian forces - First deal with 2 Aztec close contact units. Then begin to assemble an expeditionary force to assault Xochicalco. Here's how it goes. We can put a force of 10-12 units (at least 4 of them elite) in the field within 2 - 3 turns. This will require the Knight near Asyut, the 2 Immortals in the field SW of Cumae and all the forces actually inside Justinian except the Musket and the regular Pike. It will take 2-3 turns to eliminate the close contacts, heal presently injured units and muster. The muster point should be 2 tiles SSW of Justinian (presently occupied by the Aztec swordsman). The proceed thru Greece, avoiding Babylon and giving Corinth a wide berth, SW to Xochicalco.

NB. If Plan 5 proceeds there will be a strong need to bolster the Justinian garrison - we could just rush a Musket (cost would be about 190 gold!) and/or relocate a defender from Macao. The situation can be further plugged with some new Knights which are due for completion over the subsequent turns (Fox Nest starts this in 1 turn, followed by some more). Defensive deployment will also have to take account of the location of JSB's Cathedral (if rushed).

5B - Peace with Aztecs in 2/3 turns - Justinian forces simply need to be partially dispersed and garrisoned. We should keep strong units there, and in Macao, but if JSB's Cathedral is located in one of these cities then this city should be our HQ.

1. Water tiles have a defensive terrain bonus. A 1 defense unit has an advantage over a 1 offense unit due to the defender bonus.

I say that now is the time to modernise our army. We should definetly not build any more pikes. Am I correct in thinking that the ROP with china has now expired? Also we should build more musketers and put at least one in every city and aim for more in the boarder/coastal cities. We should also construct fortresses along all of the roads going into our major cities if it is possible for if war with china comes then we may need a back up plan.