Rat44 CCM - Ultimate Challenge

We safe-steal Communism from Spain for 5334 gold. I was hoping for something more helpful, since Communism’s only use to us is that it leads to Blitzkrieg Tactics far down the road, but we’re about to start stealing Spain’s 98K of gold so the expense hardly matters.

We declare war on Spain and commence hostilities by trampling a cav outside Palma—well, more suing than trampling, since we gain a Great Artist (212-76).

Our first attack on Palma brings India and Indochina into the war against us—more insignificant MPP nonsense.

We storm Palma, held by two 1900 inf (henceforth just inf), for the loss of two Hotchkisses. We destroy at least one vessel and one Zeppelin on entering the town (216-78). We steal 1742 gold.

We clear away Santiago’s garrison, held by an inf (217-78).

We seize Santiago, held by three inf, and wreck at least one steamer and one Zeppelin on entry. We lose a Hotchkiss and steal 2661 gold (222-79).

We remove Leon’s undefended garrison.

We capture Leon, held by four inf, and steal 2687 gold. We destroy at least one Zeppelin on the ground and lose an ET (227-80).

We take Spanish Grenoble, held by two inf, but lose three Hotchkisses (229-83). We steal 1818 gold.

We storm Spanish Sippar, defended by three inf and two heavy artillery (234-83). We gain a partisan, steal 1847 gold, and capture a worker.

In tidying up the Spanish front we slay five cav, five inf, a Conquistador, a late pikeman, and a Great Leader. We lose two Hotchkisses and a cav (247-86).

The Spanish counterattack with some vigour. We repel two inf but lose two inf of our own, and a steam frigate. We also topple an attacking British cav (250-89).

The British, French, and Spanish are all still fighting each other. You’ve got bigger problems, gentlemen.

The domino effect of MPP’s brings Rome and Russia into the war against us.


1799 (6): In the far north, we have commit an irritating number of Hotchkisses to grind down a French stack of nine (seven inf, one marine inf, and one Guards inf) blocking our access to Nîmes, though we only lose three (259-92).

We capture Nîmes, held by five riflemen, for the loss of two ET’s, also sinking at least one ship in harbour (265-94). We steal 1466 gold and capture a worker.

Both surviving citizens in Nîmes are Spanish, though it’s a French-founded town we took from the French, so the place has had a complicated history.

We culture-bomb Nîmes, which pushes away Spain’s borders so that we can build an uninterrupted rail line to Nîmes, and soon Rouen. This will let us attack Spain’s northern cities from the northwest, where they’re less protected by terrain, and shorten the conquest by a turn or two. Forest-bound Asturias will still be a problem, though.

We fish a little against the French before attacking Rouen, defenestrating a late pikeman and a longbowman and gaining a Great Artist (267-94).

We take Rouen, held by an inf and a musketman (269-94), and:

Rouen’s one citizen is in resistance—I didn’t know that was possible in an eliminated civ’s last city.

Thirteen French units that we can see come off the map.

We culture-bomb Rouen.

Developing our attack on Spain from the north, we excise Cadiz’s garrison, held by a late pikeman (270-94).

We storm Cadiz, defended by two inf. We lose an ET and steal 1961 gold (272-95).

We seize Almeria, held by two inf. We lose a Hotchkiss and steal 2008 gold (274-96).

We culture-bomb Cadiz, letting us attack inaccessible Lugo next turn.

Turning to the southern front against Spain, we crush a Spanish stack of three inf, two cav, and a marine inf moved next to Santiago (280-96).

We capture Seville, defended by four inf, for the loss of one Hotchkiss (284-97). We gain 3087 gold.

We extinguish Logrono’s garrison, held by an arq (285-97).

We take Logrono, held by four inf, at the cost of a Hotchkiss (289-98). We steal 3128 gold.

We blast Murcia’s garrison, held by a rifleman (290-98).

We storm Murcia, held by three inf, and steal 3171 gold. We lose a Hotchkiss (293-99).

We culture-bomb Logrono.

We remove Toledo’s mountain garrison (manned by a Conquistador) using a partisan, and gain another partisan (294-99).

We seize Toledo, held by three inf, at the cost of one ET (297-100). We steal 3219 gold.

We expunge the garrison covering Zamora and Salamanca, held by an arq (298-100).

We capture Zamora, defended by three inf, though we lose three Hotchkisses (301-103). We claim 2179 gold in loot.

We take Salamanca, defended by four inf, and gain 3378 gold in loot (305-103).

We culture-bomb Almeria in the north, so that we can move units into position to attack forest-bound Asturias next turn.

We culture-bomb Toledo, since without this step Salamanca would be completely cut off by Spanish-controlled tiles.

We dispose of Valencia’s garrison, manned by a musketman, though we can’t attack the city until next turn (306-103).

We move stacks next to five Spanish cities protected by blocking terrain. We should be able to eliminate Spain next turn if all these attacks succeed.

All along the battlefront we strike down six cav and an inf, all Spanish, and a British Schneider (314-103). With lawyers making many of the attacks, we gain four more Great Artists.

Our enemies make scattered counterattacks. We scythe down one British and four Spanish inf, losing an inf and a Hotchkiss (319-105).


1800 (7): Our challenge now (two easily reached southern cities not shown):

We remove Teruel's garrison, manned by an arq (320-105).

We storm Teruel, the first of the five problem cities (those protected by blocking terrain), routing two inf without loss (322-105). We steal 2306 gold.

We seize Valencia, the second problem city, from its three defending inf. We lose an ET and steal 3592 gold (325-106).

We capture Asturias, the third problem city, held by two inf (327-106). We steal 2445 gold. I spent a long time assembling large stacks to send at these cities, but it looks as though we're breaking nuts with a sledgehammer.

We take Lugo, the fourth problem city, from its two defending inf (329-106). We steal 2556 gold.

The fifth problem city, Dijon, will have to wait, since it's the town we want to leave the Spanish if they have a settler somewhere.

We culture-bomb Lugo, allowing us to attack Vitoria, protected by a belt of forest to its front, across the open tundra behind the city.

We storm Vitoria, held by two inf, for the loss of a Hotchkiss (331-107). We steal 2684 gold.

We turn now to the fringe of three remaining Spanish cities on their east coast: Santander, Valladolid, and Zaragoza.

We seize Santander, held by two inf, and sink at least three ships in port (336-107). We steal 2833 gold.

We capture Valladolid, held by two inf, and sink at least one ship in harbour. We lose an ET and claim 3010 gold in loot (339-108).

We deal with Zaragoza's garrison, manned by an arq (340-108).

We take Zaragoza, defended by three inf, and steal 4838 gold (343-108).

Turning our attention to Spain's two remaining western cities, we storm Alicante, defended by two inf and a cav. We lose an ET, steal 3360 gold, and capture a worker, also sinking at least one ship in port (347-109).

We seize Jaen, held by three inf. We lose an ET and claim 5544 gold in loot (350-110).

The Spanish are now reduced to three cities in their capital zone, and Dijon.

I want to save one Great Artist for a culture bomb when we land on the other continent, so we'll attack Barcelona with Hotchkisses rather than early tanks, although it may be costly.

We capture Barcelona, held by three inf, at the host of five Hotchkisses (353-115). We steal 5890 gold.

We take Pamplona, held by three inf, for the loss of two Hotchkisses (356-117). We claim 6381 gold in loot.

We culture-bomb Pamplona.

We storm Madrid, held by four inf and an apprentice (361-117), and steal 7179 gold.

Fishing without success, we pick off two inf, two cav, and a pikeman, all Spanish, as well as a British pikeman (367-117).

We seize Dijon, held by two inf, at the cost of an ET. We sink at least one vessel in port and steal 11966 gold (370-118). With two Spanish steamers visible at sea I don't have great hopes of a clean elimination, but: