In this round, we learned who our friends
really are.
The first few turns were uneventful. Healing troops on the eastern front, sending siege weapons to the Baltic Sea, trudging steadily toward Steam Power.
The round proper started when the treaty with Russia ran out:
I wasn't quite as ready as I would have liked, but every turn I waited was another turn for Catherine to work her feminine wiles on Frederick.
I easily weathered her offensive stack:
Gotta love Cavalry's new flank attack feature.
A few years later, my veteran eastern army was healed up and in position outside of Osaka. It was time to conduct a quick raid on Mr. Grumpy-Pants:
I didn't have boats to take the fight to the home islands, but Osaka was prize enough, especially when you consider the fact that its annoying culture was choking out my Chinese holdings.
In 1525, Qin Shi Huang, with his *ahem*loss of clout in international affairs, found his hold on the papacy short-lived:
Isabella ended up winning it. Not great, but not terrible. I guess. You can also see the event indicator for the Running of the Bulls starting in Mogadishu. I paid the 50 bucks, if only to help that two-square cultural hole fill in. It didn't, but whatever. I'm all about the bread and circuses.
As my siege weapons rumbled toward Moscow, I sent my quick-hitting Cavalry (and 2-move Great General Rifleman) to strike at the lightly-defended Yaroslavl:
I kept it. Not great, but not terrible. And, big picture, I'm running out of time. Land is not only power, it's a victory condition.
It turned out that Catherine also had a (hideously obsolete) stack tooling around in Africa:
That was picked apart pretty easily.
Out east, my troops converged on the city of Osaka:
No wonders, but a couple of Great People. Not a bad haul.
With Osaka taken, it was time to let Tokugawa off the hook. Again.
Japan is like the Quickie Mart of battlefields. Get in, conquer it, and get out.
In 1550, with Steam Power researched, I decided to found a city to fill a hole and grab a pair of Coal fields:
Not a big deal, but it felt nice to build a Settler again.
As with the last round, while the conquests on the Pacific front were largely cheery color guard parades, the battle in Russia was a bloody fistfight. After the quick conquest of Yaroslavl, my troops settled into the long, painful siege of Moscow, whose Knights and Longbows turned into Cuirassers and Grenadiers before my eyes. In 1555, the death blow was finally struck:
With Moscow taken, Catherine was willing to kneel in capitulation, but not to give up cities or technology. So, bloodied as my troops were, I chose to continue the fight.
My ragtag quick-strike forces swept north from Yaroslavl, burning its sister city:
That was apparently the last straw for the harried Russian empress. Sometime during her flight from Moscow, as the news of Yekaterinburg's burning finally broke her spirit, and she leapt into the arms of the only man who would have her:
This was a slap to the face. I mean, sure, I was planning on betraying Mongolia in the next two or three turns, but at the moment, we were friends! How dare he take Russia's side over mine? This was unforgivable.
I had no choice but to take my massive stack of hardened veterans, which just so happened to be hanging out a turn away from his borders, and invade:
The Mongols are a hardy, warlike folk, but, on the Earth map, they're never very advanced. Their meager weapons were no match for the Arabian state of the art:
Those Generals will come in handy, I guess. Karakorum will make a fine Cannon depot.
Genghis Khan, like all great warlords, had a massive stack that he had been saving up for a rainy day, and, apparently, with his capitol in Arab hands, it was pouring. So, just what tricks did he have up his sleeve?
... That would have been mighty scary 3000 years ago. Now, it's little more than a roadbump. My Cannons, left out in the field, were sadly chewed up, but they acquitted themselves well on the field of battle. My Cavalry and such mopped up the rest of the stack, then settled in to find Mongol brides and... replenish their numbers.
Back west, the remnants of my army were as healed as they were going to be. It was time for a march on Rostov and St. Petersburg. With those cities taken, Russia would be permanently reduced to a Siberian remnant. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Khan was everpresent:
How did THAT sneak by me!? Thankfully, I did a little bit of damage to the stack and it retreated, possibly to defend the Mongolian core.
My stack limped into position outside Rostov:
At this point, I had no siege and almost no technological advantage. I was winning with sheer numbers, and those numbers were dwindling. Reinforcements were trickling in, but not quickly enough.
In 1595, Isabella showed us all why she is a spiteful #$%^* and deserves to die:
So what would be easier? Suffering +5
in all of my cities (which were already suffering from war weariness and demands for emancipation) or having to send a small stack to retake Osaka? I chose to simply vote no and, thankfully, that was enough. Up your nose with a rubber hose, Izzy!
My eastern forces, meanwhile, marched up to Beshbalik. I had no siege, but the garrison was outdated enough that I wasn't worried:
I should have been.
"Dear Mrs.
Zotl,
It is our solemn duty to report that your husband
Auit and his
Cavalry unit perished bravely in battle in
Mongolia. He made the ultimate sacrifice to the Arabian people. He will be remembered for his valor and
mobility.
Sincerely,
Saladin
President of Arabia"
Argh. A 110 XP Great General lost at 95% odds. Ah, well. C'est la vie.
I took Beshbalik in his honor:
And, in the west, Catherine's last relevant city fell:
So that's where I decided to call it a round. Railroads is almost done, so my idle workers will finally have something to do, I have accomplished most of my objectives in the war (despite the fact that Genghis isn't willing to talk to me), and the troops (and citizenry) are tired and ready for a regroup. State of the world to follow.
)
It was a simple plan so tell us how it all went south 
