Term 3 - Commander of the Armed Forces: All Hell Breaks Loose

[zyxy]

zyxy - Please check your PM box. I have sent a reply to you .

I did, and I am happy to announce that CivGeneral is appointed as Deputy Commander/Military Intelligence Officer, and that ali is appointed as Quartermaster-General! To celebrate, ceremonial sword fights will be held this afternoon in Sebadoh, followed by consumption of the local luxuries.

 

[GenMarshall]

I did, and I am happy to announce that CivGeneral is appointed as Deputy Commander/Military Intelligence Officer.

Quite a fiting title for a member of Section 9.

 

[zyxy]

At the risk of going completely OT: what is section 9?

 

[GenMarshall]

At the risk of going completely OT: what is section 9?

OT: Its an organisation from Ghost in the Shell.

 

[Furiey]

Commander zyxy

Governor mad-bax has requested some of our forces to be disbanded in cities to aid some builds. As these are units controlled by you, please would you consider whether or not you wish these units to be disbanded and include the approprite authorisation in your instructions.

edit: Please also make it clear whether cities are to be razed or captured.

Thank You,

Furiey

 

[zyxy]

Ms President,

Thanks for the heads-up. It will all be in the instructions.
AFAIK, the units are controlled by me, but I believe their disbanding is not. Anyway, they will be in place and may be disbanded as the governor wishes.
Razing or capturing is currently under discussion in the Dutch War Operational Planning thread.

 

[ali]

Ali,
You would need to propose a Code of Laws change if you wish to re-allocate slave workers. The CofAF has no jurisdiction in this matter.

I personally think this is a bad idea as eventually 90%+ of our labor force will be slaves.

Sure thing mate thats why I brought tit to the attention of the Commander so that he may perhaps represent this idea. I had not realised that 90% of the workforce was slaves thought it was a smaller proportion, now knowing this my idea is an unmangerable option.
@commander, thanks for the promotion mate

 

[zyxy]

Draft instructions CoAF for TC1 term3, May 4 2005.

EDIT: minor corrections.

[Preamble: I assume the Dutch are gassed and will only throw isolated archers at us. Impossible to say as TC summaries and even one chatlog are misssing. If not, we may have to keep more defenses near Skye.
Razing Arnhem and Amsterdam was approved in this poll. ]

Map:

General:

• Current war aims: Amsterdam, Arnhem, Eindhoven, Breda, Middelburg. The first two should be razed. The others should be kept.
• We have 5 army groups:
  1. Main Attack Force (MAF) will follow the route Arnhem -> Amsterdam -> Eindhoven -> Breda, possibly splitting after Amsterdam.
  2. Secondary Attack Force (SAF) will quell resistance in Holwerd, defend Utrecht-Holwerd, and attack Middelburg.
  3. Core Defense (CD) will defend our core from naval (or other) invasion.
  4. North Defense will defend Ela Springs and Skye.
  5. Resistance Fighters (RF) will quell resistance in Sebadoh and Utrecht.
• Do not station troops in cities with serious flip risk, unless you need to quell resistance or defend against immediate attack. Currently the list of risky flippers is (at least) Utrecht, Skye, Holwerd, Over There, Auchtermuchty, Chaos. Arnhem and Amsterdam also, after we take them.

Now follow detailed troop movements. You may deviate under pressing and/or unforeseen circumstances. Note however that these instructions attempt to achieve speed and balance of forces.

• Main Attack Force, start group. Consists of the 5 vet swords and the spear currently in Chaos, the horse in Utrecht, the 3/5 elite sword S of Utrecht, the 2 swords in Skye, the sword north of New London, the spear in Regentham: total 9 swords (3 elite/6 vet), 1 horse, 2 spear.
  Heal first, then march to hill SE of Arnhem, and raze Arnhem. Should take 4 turns to heal and march to the hill, attack on the fifth. Step back to heal outside Dutch territory, then march to FP wheat tile NE of Amsterdam.
• Main Attack Force, reinforcements. Consists of the 2/5 elite sword S of Utrecht, the elite sword from Regentham, the sword N of Skye, the sword SW2 of New London, one of the swords SE of Black Hole, the spear from Delhi, the 2 cats next to Holwerd: total 2 cats, 5 swords (2 elite, 3 vet), 1 spear.
  Heal first, then move to tile SW of Amsterdam. Timing should be such that both groups arrive at the same turn. This means that some of these forces have a few turns to spare; use as you please. Raze Amsterdam.
  I estimate it takes about 7 turns after Arnhem to take on Amsterdam.
  After that, heal. If number of swords is at least 10, then split in 2 (evenly), march one group on Eindhoven, one on Breda. Otherwise, first Eindhoven, then Breda. Attack Breda from the correct riverside.
• Secondary Attack Force. Consists of 1 horse, 4 sword in or next to Holwerd, the spear and sword in Utrecht, the spear from Donsignia: total 1 horse, 5 swords (3 vet/2 elite), 2 spears.
  First task is to quel the resistance in Holwerd, kill any Dutch units in this area (use an elite for the visible one; if he stays in range you can also use the cats for 1 turn), and retake Utrecht or Holwerd if they flip.
  After Holwerd and Utrecht are pacified and there seem to be no more Dutch troops returning from China, this force is to march to Middelburg. Attack from any hill or mountain you fancy
  In case of need, Holwerd can now be defended by spears from Utrecht.
• Core Defense. Consists of 1 of the vet swords SE of BlackHole, spears from Provolutia and Camelot, reg swords from Bentley and BlackHole, and the horse to be trained in Donsignia: total 3 swords (1 vet/2 reg), 1 horse, 2 spears. Should defend our coastal region as indicated in the map from naval invasion. In particular, shadow Persian galley and take out any landed troops. Move defenders out of Camelot to entice Persians to land, of course with the Core Defense force nearby. Stay on roads. Preferably keep stack together, but split if needed. Watch out with river crossings.
• North Defense, consists of spear+sword from Ela Springs and will defend Ela Springs and Skye. I suggest to station them at NE2 of Ela Springs.
• Resistance Fighters, will quel resistance in Sebadoh and Utrecht.
  Send spear + warrior from Oxford to Sebadoh, and leave reg sword there. After resistance ends, use as you think fit. I advise to move them north to quell resistance in Arnhem and Amsterdam; the sword could help defend in the Utrecht-Holwerd area.
  Send spear and warrior from Roosting Tree, spear from Auchtermuchty and spear from BlackHole to Utrecht. After resistance ends, use these units as you please. Advice: let them defend the Utrecht-Holwerd area. Note that 1 spear and 1 warrior should be disbanded in Utrecht as per governor's instructions.
• Kamikaze Warrior: send warrior from Donsignia to Skye for disbanding as per governor's instructions.
• Use any other forces we may have or get as you please. I would advise to replace the vet sword in the Core Defense by a newly trained horse (from Bentley), and send this sword to one of our fronts.

General tactics (you may know this, I just list it in case): our forces in our lands are to be kept on roads as much as possible. Keep attack forces together in stacks, especially in enemy territory. For leader fishing, elites should get as many easy fights as possible. Use terrain and rivers.

 

[zyxy]

Deputy Commander CivGeneral,

The External Consul has started discussion on who our enemies should be after the Indians. Likely candidates are China, Persia, France, Portugal, Spain. Could you, as head of Military Intelligence, provide an analysis on the military capabilities of these nations?

zyxy

 

[GenMarshall]

Ill get on it after karate class. Had to make a B-line to the bank afterschool to buy a Rib Guard and Sparing Gloves for their B days.

 

[GenMarshall]

China
Proximity: Close
Streingth Compared to us: Weak
Threat: Low

Persia
Proximity: Far
Streingth Compared to us: Weak
Threat: Low

France
Proximity: Close
Streingth Compared to us: Weak
Threat: Mild

Portugal
Proximity: Close
Streingth Compared to us: Very Weak
Threat: Low

Spain
Proximity: Close
Streingth Compared to us: Weak
Threat: Mild

 

[zyxy]

CivGeneral,

Thank you for the report! I would like to ask for an elaboration on the threat level, please. I mean, why is it "mild" or "low"? I could think of such factors as land area, proximity, tech and resources (do they have iron? horses?), nasty UU's....

If you are looking for more to do after that, you could continue with the other civs

As an example, here is my take on China, our most likely next target after India. This one is quite detailed, and we can probably do with progressively less detail on the other civs as they are further away from us.

China

• Power: weak in score, power, and very weak in culture (only ours is significantly weaker).
• Land: China has 6 cities. Most of its land is under the fog. As far as we can see, Chinese land is mostly flat, but mountainous near the eastern border. There are gems near Canton (we don't have gems yet). China is the closest civ to us after Netherlands and India. The capital Beijing is on our side, is protected by a river on our side, and is size 10 by the last report.
• Military: no horses or iron hooked up or to be seen, and no MA technology. Its military is weak compared to ours. Expected resistance: spears and archers. No reported sights of anything better than that.
• Diplomacy: we have an embassy. China is
  • unknown to Hittites, Maya, Japan.
  • at peace with India, Spain, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Fanatannia.
  • at war with Persia, Byzantium (they are allied vs China).
  • not allied with anyone.
• Trade: China has no ongoing trades, but can potentially trade with France.

Conclusion: China is weak, and can probably be conquered by a dozen knights with some MDI/pike support - the infantry is mainly needed for Beijing, and for resistance quelling. Such a war would probably take 10-15 turns after initial positioning, with a two-pronged attack. Add 5-10 turns if we don't have knights. Positioning will take significantly less time if our force consists entirely of knights.

 

[mad-bax]

Will you be sending a horse into the fog to explore the Chinese lands before we attack Commander? It's a little risky because of the ongoing war with Persia - but the intelligence might make it worthwhile.

 

[zyxy]

nice idea! why not. Chinese might kick it out though. Perhaps an RoP?

 

[mad-bax]

Why not. We'll get it for free and can cancel it at any time.

 

[Bertie]

Commander, I support establishing a ROP with China. The only question is when. This is the response I made to your inquiry in the External Consulate thread:

I would be happy to negotiate a ROP with China. Before we do so, I would like to block land access to our continent. This would entail either stationing troops on Gem Mountain; or waiting to make the ROP until after we attack and take the Indian city of Bengal. I assume we would not be able to accomplish either one of these options until the turnchat on Wednesday, 5/11.

Does this timing work for you? Or do you anticipate we will need to negotiate the ROP during this upcoming turnchat?

 

[zyxy]

Draft instructions CoAF for TC2 term3, May 8, 2005, 1800 GMT

[More or less as for the previous TC, except that the Secondary Attack Force for Middelburg will be cancelled for more concentration of forces.]

Map:

Targets: Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Breda, Auchtermuchty, Sebadoh, Middelburg. Raze Amsterdam, keep the others.

• Attack on Amsterdam: First priority is to raze Amsterdam. For the attack force, use all available swords, including the one that will be whipped in Mandos, except for the reg sword in Bentley and the damaged one near Strider. Total: 8 vet swords, 6 elite, 3 regular (2 vet+1 elite from Strider, 6 vet+4 elite+1 reg from Mandos area, 1 elite+2 reg from Ela Springs area).
  Use two attack points: FP wheat NE of Amsterdam for the east forces, and spices SW of Amsterdam for the west forces. Add at least one vet spear to each attack group. (For the west group you could use the one from Chaos, and move the spear SW2 of Mandos to Chaos; for the east group there is plenty of choice).
  Heal first, then march in stacks, the attack points can be reached simultaneously on turn 4 = 130AD (counting the present turn as 0), and we can attack in 150AD. This means that forces should enter Dutch territory in 110AD.
• Horses are to be used mainly for skirmishing with Dutch attack forces (I expect only archers). Try to keep them on roads. Expected hot spots for defense are near Breda and Sebadoh. I would keep one in the east (Mandos-Strider area) as well. If we can spare them, please add some horses to the Amsterdam force. Note: governor MB is training several new horses, as indicated.
• Use catapults at your discretion. They can be added to the Amsterdam attack, but if the Dutch keep throwing archers at us then it's probably more effective to bombard those.
• After razing Amsterdam, attack Eindhoven with at least 5 swords and 1 spear, preferably also a horse (all healed, all vet/elite). Attack Breda with another such group. If we don't have enough forces, do Eindhoven first, and then proceed to Breda. If we have enough forces, attack the cities of Auchtermuchty, Sebadoh, Middelburg at will. Middelburg is on a hill and probably requires 6 swords, the other two can be attacked with 4 swords, or 6 horse (a bit more is always better). In all cases, please add spears if forces will be exposed prior to attack.
• Please upgrade the warrior in Provo (60 gold), and use at your discretion. Advice: move him to defend Oxford and BlackHole.
• Try to give our regular swords some easy kills for promotions, especially those going to A'dam. E.g. the one that will be whipped in Mandos could take out the encroaching archer on the next turn.
• Avoid stationing valuable forces in risky flippers as much as possible. ATM the worst ones are Skye, Mandos, Chaos. Try to keep our forces out of reach of Dutch attackers when possible - that also means keeping them away a bit from Amsterdam, Breda, Sebadoh. We want the Dutch forces to expose themselves, not ours. Obviously this is not possible for the attack stacks, it may be possible for horses and for individual units.

EDIT: for clarification. Added map and additional instructions.

 

[zyxy]

Status report 230AD

• Our troops have razed Amsterdam, and taken Eindhoven and Breda. Very soon, they will be ready to liberate Auchtermuchty, Sebadoh and Middelburg. Our losses were minimal. There are some remnants of the once fearsome Dutch army near Strider's Haven.
• Indian forces are moving through our land, probably to their Maya front . Several Indian workers are improving our land.
• Two of Theodora's Dromons are spotted near Bentley, with unknown cargo. They have sailed all around the south coast to get there.
• France has declared war on us -- and on several other nations. Joan must have one of her fits. Except for one nasty warrior we haven't seen any French, and their lands are far away.

A view of the current situation:

EDIT: changed pic (forgot one Indian city)

 

[GenMarshall]

Its about time that we have captured the tratorous cities that fell into the hands of the Dutch. Now we need to reclame the tratorous cities that left us for the Indians.

 

[zyxy]

There are intelligence reports on France and China in the third post in this thread