Monster round today. Having secured our western borders with the help of our Persian lapdogs, we turned our hungry eyes across the oceans to the east.
As our Victory Fleet floated inexorably towards its destination, the horns of war blew:
Sure enough, Monty took offense at Frederick's presence on his landmass. Not that this would be much of a factor one way or another, but at the very least it meant that the bulk of the Aztec army would be occupied elsewhere.
Finally, our forces arrived. I decided to start with the Pacific Northwest.:
Atzcapotzalco (quickly renamed Seattle) fell quickly, and proved to be a decent city. It possessed some infrastructure and such, but nothing to write back to the Home Islands about, and was blessedly cut off from the rest of the Aztec Empire and its insidious culture. The troops upgraded to Infantry and continued their conquest.
In 1635, Kyoto finally pumped out the Scientist I've been waiting for, allowing for a Golden Age and a radical civics change:
The ability to rush production with gold would prove invaluable to the war effort, at least at first.
Our ships did a quick ferry job to the Baja California before turning west to pick up fresh recruits:
Tula burned. Utterly not worth the manpower it would take to hold against the stack that I knew was coming sooner or later.
Around this time, our residency in the Apostolic Palace ran out (Tokyo to Madrid... talk about a commute!). I quickly and easily won reelection, but the episode did raise a red flag:
Isabella has more support than I'd thought. I immediately started a slow trickle of Missionaries to spread the True Faith to the remaining pagan corners of our empire and those of our slave-allies, but even then, the Religious Victory is far from a slam dunk.
Texcoco was the next city to fall:
Again, a bit of infrastructure, but no wonders or anything. Nevertheless, worth keeping. It and Seattle were garrisoned with two Infantry apiece from the invasion force.
Having researched Electricity, I was rather torn between Railroads (both for defensive Machine Guns and to improve the transportation network back home), Artillery (to upgrade our Cannon), and Industrialism (to get Tanks online). I finally decided to go with Railroads. Sooner or later, defense was going to be vital in the war against the Aztecs, and our home empire was big enough that even Engineered roads just weren't cutting it.
Mansa Musa sucked us into a phony war against Alexander, which even the Apostolic Palace was incapable of stopping. My own war-thralls, Asoka and Genghis Khan, defied the resolution. Shouldn't they just vote along the party line? Anyway, I never saw anything out of that war except for a Greek Scout poking around Siberia.
This next screenshot isn't anything too momentous, just a glimpse at the troop supply lines. The farm to the east of Guangzhou is the gathering point for new recruits. They are then picked up by the galleons in that little natural bay and sent off to much fanfare from the crowds lining the Harbor.
Admittedly, as the round wore on, more and more of those crowds were holding protest signs, but who's counting?
Teotihuacan fell for the first time in 1680:
This city must have been the center of Aztec learning. It held the usual civic buildings, plus an Academy and no fewer than three settled Great Scientists!
With Railroads completed, I moved on to Combustion. The Galleons were getting old, and the stink of burning Shale (Thanks, Japanese UB!) was befouling our precious cities. I've never had to target Public Transportation before, but this game has had a lot of firsts.
We also earned a Great Spy in Kyoto. He built Scotland Yard. With all the Communism buildings up, the 100% bonus would actually be significant.
In 1695, the great city of Tenochtitlan fell:
Thanks for all the settled Great People, Monty!
Everything was going great. The Aztec forces were being beaten back in a rout, the coffers were flush with loot, and the situation in our home cities (which had, honestly, become little more than a source of fresh troops) was stable. I mean, yeah, plague and protest would pop up here and there, but nothing I couldn't handle.
In 1710, all that changed:
In the bottom left, you can see our own main army one turn away from returning to Monty's science city. It's probably for the best. No forces could have withstood the tidal wave of Catapults and Macemen that was thrown at that city. The two Infantry and the healing Cavalry held out surprisingly long, taking out an impressive number of heathens, but ultimately, the city was retaken and the countryside was once again awash gross pictures of people getting their hearts torn out, or whatever passed for Aztec culture.
Thankfully, here Monty split his stack:
The positioning of our own main army was quit fortuitious, as it was able to introduce the Aztecs to the power of Cannons and semiautomatic firearms firsthand. The Aztec horde was by no means destroyed in that first turn, but it certainly lost its teeth in the face of massive Collateral Damage. I believe it took me three turns and three or four lost Cannon to finally lay that stack low.
Farther south, our raw recruits had significantly better luck against significantly inferior oppostion:
With a Panama established, I began using Transports to ferry those soldiers up to the northern front. The storm had largely been weathered. It was time to retake Teotihuacan.
I had other objectives, though. Another shipment of troops, another front to open up:
Farther north, I pulled a cheap trick that I normally despise. I had moved most of my units in the Second Battle of Teotihuacan, and the city was down to its last, ragged defender. I called off the dogs. In my defense, though, my intent wasn't to draw fresh meat into the grinder. I didn't think I had enough unmoved units left to hold the city:
Needless to say, the city fell easily the following turn:
So that's where we stand. I don't think Monty has another stack in him, but our own forces are spread a little thin and war weariness back home is getting tiresome. Then again, down south, we have the ability to erase the Incan Empire from the map.
Monty still doesn't have Buddhism in any of his cities (well, he
does, but they're
my cities now), so the AP win is still beyond us. I don't know that we'd have the votes for it, anyway. He's also not yet willing to capitulate.
Here's a look at the Americas:
And Eurasia:
Techwise, a few here and there have Refrigeration or Fascism on us, but they tend to lack Biology, Electricity, Assembly Line, or Combustion. We have little to worry about on that front.
And another look at the Power Graph:
... Remember when Montezuma was a threat?
So... Do we continue the war until Capitulation? Do we turn it into a war of annihilation? I see no reason to leave Huayna on the map, but killing the Aztecs to a man might be more trouble than it's worth. Do we call off now and build up?
It looks like I'm subconsciously leaning more Domination here. Heck, we could even attack the European Civs from the
East once we get America secured. What do you all think?
In fact this went better than my best hopes . I would continue to push for a while longer.... you have only captured the worst part of Monty lands. The lush grasslands and the high prod parts of N.America are still to capture and they are the big prize.
) your gonna need some good sized cities in America for a 2 pronged attack ( use that victory fleet of yous). You dont have to take out all of Monty, just enough that you have 1 or 2 coastal cities and several major production centers. Just hope Monty doesn't have a few more stacks when you go inland, he could cause some damage if you cant reinforce those stacks fast enough
)
The cash went to upgrading our Warriors, Axemen and Archers to Infantry. An easy way to beef up our power rating, and the sight of guys with clubs offends me in the modern era.
Liz is easy to dislodge from British islands and her cities in the area ( one in southern norway right? ) are a nice operational base vs German Scandinavia. But cathy has to go down first... and not only go down ,but being severely cripped ( just to not try to win by space ..... )
