LL2 - Drake (Scenario)

I am organizing this SG to get see the different strategies used by the players. I will remain out of it (as I am too deep into it) albeit I can start it.
It is based on the Great Armada scenario (v2.0a) which means to play you must successfully download and install the scenario (two files, altogether ~32 MB). The version is bug-free and can be found here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=104091) .
Be careful, rules and gfx are heavily modified.

England will be human-played in this one to compare with the current LL1 where Spain is played.
Level : monarch or emperor (state your preferences).


World size = custom (scenario)
Map : western Europe
Barbs = none
Civ = England
Opponents = Irish, French leaguers, Spain
Allies : Dutch, France, Maghrib in a way as it is also at war with Spain but not part of the alliance.
Neutral : Holy Roman Empire, Scotland
AI aggression = Normal
Duration : 120 turns max.

3-4 players needed to play 5 turns each in the roster.


Order of play :

1- killercane
2- cizzlewalk
3- Bede
4-

Bump !

Nobody interested in playing the Sea Dogs against the Spanish Great Armada ????

Bede's in and I think cizzle and killer are too.

Very glad to see you enjoyed the first enough to want to try the English side now.

Congrats on you well-earnt victory as the Spanish ! That proved very valuable as I now know I must make a separate biq for SG as Spain (as even if you were very good, Spanish tercios among other things made Spain a bit easier to play than intended (in MP/PBEM we don't have that kind of problem but in SG the AI does not seem to good on taking them down except if you lose during an attack) and it enabled me to spot some problems (ie : Inquisitor, musketmen not upgrading...). My home computer was done the last few days (had to use another one) so I could not do much but I will release a small patch today (2.1) with a new biq and I think you should wait a bit before starting this one. The ptach is small but corrects some issues and adds a proper gfx for the Inquisitor !

Being a fourth would be an honor but 1/ I am definitely not sure I am up to the level 2/ I will gone between wednesday and next monday so I could not play during at least that period. So maybe as a temporary 5th when I come back ? And I will try to find another player to be the fourth.

BTW do you want the same alliance settings ?
Because they are others :
- a (version you played) : Spain + Ireland + League vs France, England and Dutch, Scotland is loose and Maghrib in locked war with Spain (but not in any alliance).
- b : Spain + Ireland vs England + Scotland + Dutch, France vs League but not part of any alliance, Maghrib in locked war with Spain (but not in any alliance)
- c : Spain + Ireland vs England + Dutch, France vs League but not part of any alliance, Maghrib in locked war with Spain (but not in any alliance) and Scotland is loose/free

Playing England should be more difficult than Spain anyway, regardless of the level (at least I think so, you can prove me wrong !).

Oh and I forgot in the other thread : Drake was a famous sea dog captain, at least I thought he was famous.

Oh and tell me if you want to change positions but I moved all of you by one so that it is not the same (Bede here) that starts the game as well. Just a proposition !

We NEED a fourth player for this game ! (I will be a temporary 5th if needed).

Recruitment still active !

Leading off is fine by me. We shouldnt put Bede through that pain again.

On which version to play, a would be fine again. Scenario b would be easiest from a diplomacy standpoint w/ not having to worry about the Scots and the League.

Hm, scenario c sounds like a REAL challenge... especially on DG. I'm all for that instead but scenario b will be just fine too.

Edited. cf two posts below.

I DLed the patch and the "a" version from above, but if we want to do "c" I can wait to get it started. We need Bede's vote and any other player that joins to chime in. a or c is fine with me.

I started a game as the Irish, and it really shows that we will have a tough time keeping our real estate in Ireland. Galloglasses are 3/2 and have 4 moves w/ all terrain as roads. These beasts cost a mere 14 shields.

Hi, I have uploaded a new patch (as I was able to correct one or two more things) so you can download the new one and patch again (sorry for that) and a new version "a" (some corrections as well).
I have also uploaded version "b" and "c" so you can choose what you want to play. I am not gonna correct these soon ! as they have been released publicly.

Have a good game. Be careful Irish gallowglass are back to their ancient stats (with a 1HP malus).

I think C makes for a more diplomatic game. so there is my vote. Will pick up patches and scenario tonight.

C it is. I'll try to get it done tonight.

Well I finished my turns. Lou sent me a 5:56 AM message telling me to DL the new version 2.1c but it seems I already had it if I DLed it last night after 10 pm GMT -5. If its not the correct version, I can replay the turns pretty easily. I checked and it *seems* to be the same; Lou please correct me if Im wrong.

On to the action:

Pre turn

Alright forted everyone before we make a whirlwind of deals and move troops.

First thing is to hold the Irish beachfront property against the Galloglass (GG) assault.

Diplomacy

We have a huge opportunity in the diplo department. Lots of gold and luxes available.

Muslims: Ivory, 100 gold for MA against Ireland and Spain.
Dutch: 300 gold for the same deal. Then give back 200 gold and Piracy for Postal Services.
League: Salt, Wines, and 315 gold for PS.
Germany: Liquors and 100 gold for PS, wool, and Piracy.
Scotland: 120 gold for MA against Spain and Irish.
France: 460 gold for PS.

Destroy Kilkenny in Ireland with Clan member.

Cities are mostly happy now. Set to Limited Monarchy in 10 turns for cash rushing of units.

Apportion units to Newry (middle city) in Ireland to react to any Irish attacks at the 3 cities.

I set most of the cities w/o 3 mps to militia. MM a bit. It's pretty easy with 4 luxes.

IT

Lots of Irish movement. Lose one Musket.

Turn 1

Wax 11 GGs and 2 Irish ships. Ha. They shouldnt get too close to cities having only 1 defense point. They were a lot tougher at 3/2.

Move more units to the Irish front. Equal defense in each of the 3 cities.

IT

More troop movement. 10 GGs, a knight, and a pike are in range of our cities.

Turn 2

Apportion more troops. Kill one GG. If we survive this turn the Irish are pretty gassed.

IT

We survive the fierce Irish attack. Lose a few units but we're all good.

Turn 3

We kill a treasure ship, enslave it, and have a treasure to deliver north. Nice.

Kill 3 more GGs. Position for a multicity attack next turn.

IT

Nothing

Turn 4

Take Derry, Coleraine, Watertown, and Athlone from the Irish. Positioned to attack Cork next turn.

IT

Nothing

Turn 5

Take Cork. There is a tercio nearby. Shipchain some bombards over to weaken it up.

Move in position at several other cities.

Tax collectors are messed up it seems; they reduce corruption and dont give tax.

If the AI doesnt backstab us its gonna be easy going...

The majority of cities are building bombards and Pikemen to land on the Northern Spanish holdings. Spain is at war with everyone and hopefully stretched pretty thin. We need a lot of bombards to take those Tercios down without stronger units. I accidently loaded a musket in the army, maybe adding a MaA when we get Mil Strat would be good. MaAs are amphibious so I really wish I had not misclicked that musket. An amphibious army would be nice.

I dont think our trade routes are likely to be broken, barring the Spanish taking the Muslim coastal cities. Hopefully we can avoid a rep hit which would hurt all of our deals. C might be an easier scenario with the ability to ally everyone against Spain and Ireland. Hopefully we can stay out of the League/French war until we are ready to march on one of them.

Should we invade Scotland? If so, at what point? I'll post a screenshot later if this is the right version we are going to play.

First, great work doing damage to Ireland. Second, let's focus on taking out Ireland, then Scotland, then the Spanish holdings in Holland.

Besides that, everything looks just fine!

Roster::
killercane
bede (take it away)
cizzlewalk
----
LouLong

I'm with you on the Order of Battle - Ireland, Scotland, then any Spanish holdings in Flanders.

What about research path after Limited Monarchy - money or military?

Got it, BTW

Seeing as how England was a commercial empire... and after Scotland attacks we'll have nobody on our arse for awhile I suggest going down the money line. Mounting a Spanish invasion will mean at least 15 full carracks full of units and bombards/cannons to take out those tercios.

Swapped London to Shakespeare's Theatre for the happy effect.


Scots take Smerwick in the West of Eire and Spaniards die at Cork.



Jan1583

Capture another Spanish treasure off the Isle of Wight and land it at Portsmouth. Lose a sea dog trying to sink War Galleon crippled by battery fire from the Channel Islands.

Frobisher retalitates and takes the War Galleon as a prize.



Kill an Irish knight at Galway exposing a Gallowglas but bombards miss at Ballyshannon.

And the Stuart goes on a rampage in the west of Ireland.


And we lose ivory when Ireland dies and Bristol riots.

The French make a landing at Kinsale and our sea dogs in the channel are attacked by ships from the League ports. Both survive. Looks like the League is running pirate ships.

Jul 1583
Apparently the Ivory deal was wrapped with the Muslim alliance. With Shakespeare's in London and another MP in Bristol we don't need it at the moment. Renew the alliance against Spain however and then buy Ivory for 639g. We have two treasures inbound to London. One atill in the South Atlantic the other on land and almost there.

Don't have enough muscle in place to take Kinsale. We'll see how the French do.

Everybody and their brother land at Kinsale so the French use up their riders attacking the League. There are now Leaguers, Dutchmen and Scots in the hills around Kinsale.

Jan 1584

Sink a Spanish carrack off the coast at Plymouth then Frobisher collects another prize.

The Spanish are banished from Ireland.



Looks like time to take on the Scots in Ireland and on the home island.




I loaded another musket into the Army and sent it north to the Border Marches.

Limited Monarchy due in two.

Revolution then build a Scottish land based invasion force.

The Channel is a very busy place

Got it.

It seems the revolution will take up most of our time in the next turn or two... so I get to just smash up some ships in my turns (HURRAH!).

Sorry about tying in the lux deal to the alliances, I thought we would be the ones ending Ireland's existence. Oh well.

Theres a forted settler on the east coast of mainland England, we could use him to take control of the Kinsale victory point.

Edit: I meant west coast England.