aCK-2 Seeing Red

[sturick]

Very nice (and prompt ) turns there DE!

One thing to I was confused by...when Genghis vassalized Sulei did he also join the war against Monty then? Or did he just declare at some point during your set and you missed it the report?
I was slightly baffled at the end when the AP vote came up...I baffle easily though!

Looks like a quite the maul (hammer isn't sufficient) you have assembled in Mutal DE!

Thinking goblinmarine should move it towards the spot 1N of Kago in preparation for our DoW on Pacal. That way we can pounce on the forested hill and take out Oxiclean on the quickfast.

So as far as Pacal goes when do we plan on declaring???

Are we waiting to get CS so we can promote our bigmen first?
How much should that cost btw...I'm guessing about 100ish gold a piece?

Do we want to DoW as soon as possible knowing that Pacal just used the AP and we have a few turns before he can use it again? Then we could use the gold we get from city capture towards upgrading our bigmen as we go?

I have never used Samurai before so I have no idea how broken they are...hopefully very broken!

My instincts would be to DoW in 5ish turns once the "maul" arrives at the Kago rally point.
If we could take Oxiclean and Mayapan (sounds almost Japanese doesn't it?) before Pacal unleashes the AP on us I say that would be a good haul.

I would change the build in Kyoto to a spear or an archer.
A spear since pretty much all Pacal threw at me were mounted units...sorry I didn't mention that earlier...would have been useful to you DE.
An archer cuz it would only take one turn and we could use it to defend Oxiclean by itself so the SoD could quickly move on to Mayapan.
Speed is of the essence with this next attack since we don't know how long we will have before the next peace is forced upon us.

Oh yeah and whip the granary in Mutal as working that unimproved plains tile kinda makes me queasy...

Bonus for us that Brennus took coventry to be honest.
Now he will have to rebuild the culture to grab the wine and copper from us.

Thats all I see for now...once again nice work DE!

EDIT: Disappointed to see that the seafood in Chicken Pizza was whales...GROAN!

 

[S.ilver]

Well, ran over to the strategy forum to take a look around, as I'm not very familiar with AP idiocy (and this diplomatic victory drivel in general). Found a guide here that may be of some use.

Apparently if we become full members of the AP rather than just voting members, it will prevent Pacal from reassigning our cities back to himself. We might want to think about that.

Reading further down the article, it appears that the +5 anger from defying a resolution wears off after 20 turns (unsure of game speed modifications). It apparently wears off faster if you have other religions in the city. This is interesting, because I thought that unhappiness was permanent until you vote along with another vote (maybe that's the UN?). At any rater, we've got other religions kicking around our towns so we can spread them all around to hopefully prevent the AP from damaging us too much if we absolutely need to defy a resolution.

More comments on this later; 'nother round of midterms on Tuesday, so I'll let Liq comment and advise for the next set or two.

 

[Diamondeye]

The owner of the AP is always a full member, hence he cannot demand the city back?

 

[S.ilver]

The owner of the AP is always a full member, hence he cannot demand the city back?

Uh... Doesn't appear so...

The Owner of the AP is the Civ that owns the city in which the AP is in. The Owner is always one of the two candidates for the Resident Election - regardless of his current religious or Defiance status. Note that the owner is not necessarily a Full Member.

I'm taking this guide at it's word, because the AP is poorly documented, and I've no experience with it other than the +2 hammers.

 

[goblinmarine]

I see the save, got it. I'll play tonight.

 

[Jedi_Otis]

Long time lurker, first time caller here. First off, kudos to you all. Following along with your various SGs for the last month or so has improved my play greatly.

As for your AP questions, the guide is correct. The possessor of the city it was built in isn't neccesarily a full member. Just by possessing the AP city alone would grant him status as a voting member(a city with AP religion). This can lead to some interesting scenarios.

In a game I won this afternoon, oddly enough, inspired by this thread(Toku on Pangea map), the heathen vassal of a friendly brother of the faith had conquered the AP city. I was holding the the residency from winning the previous election. I won a Diplo victory when the friendly master voted for me and not his heathen vassal.

 

[sturick]

Looks like goblin might be MIA...

How much more time should we give him?

 

[Whosit]

Until the next person is ready to take a set? Liq would be up next, right? Or is he still out of it?

 

[S.ilver]

Just got in touch with Liq (since goblin seems to be MIA), and he's still feeling under the weather, so I'd just say go ahead and grab it Whosit.

 

[Whosit]

Alll-right . . . . I think I got it. Today is, what, Friday? I think I can play Saturday evening, or maybe Sunday. If you don't hear from me by late Sunday, assume the worst. Graduation ceremony is tomorrow, so it's a matter of whether or not I get Saturday evening to myself.

I will review all strategies before I start playing, of course.

 

[Whosit]

aCK-2

Pre-turn: Turn 243, 980 AD

OK, so I'm a little tired, a little sun-burned, and a little distracted . . . but this is my only chance to play, so let's see what I can't screw up! Yay!

I'm doing my best to make sense of what to do. I don't think I'll wait 'till Civil Service to redeclare on Pacal, though. OK, first, a fly-by of the cities.

I note the Kagoshima rally point: I'll put a road there to make it easier. I take it the plan is to duck onto the wooded hills by Oxhuitza. I'll probably do much of what sturick suggested. I'll get to that. Anyway, cities.

Kyoto: I'll switch the build to a spearman. I was going to do an elephant before I realized that there is no stable (as elephants do well against other mounted units).
The city is working a 1-food 2-commerce water tile, and I don't know why. The money doesn't affect Civil Service at this point, anyway. I move it to a mine. Growth still in one turn. There's an available farm that can be worked next.

Osaka: Osaka? It's doing its thing. Catapult in 2. No tile shuffling seems necessary.

Tokyo: It will grow soon and become unhealthy, but it's making a ton of food so that doesn't seem like a big deal right now. Working on a forge. Can always do an aqueduct next if health becomes an issue.

Satsuma: Working on a War Elephant, a long 11 turns. It could use a forge, but that's not in the cards at the moment, I think. I may whip it if it seems necessary. Can't farm more until Civil Service finishes.

Kagoshima: Doing a swordsman. It'll grow slowly, but can eventually work all the grassland forests, another to-be-built mine, and a plains. Forge would be nice, but later, I guess.

Tabriz: Courthouse. Tiles need a lot of work, but nothing doing now.

Uxmal: Not a lot of tiles available now. Could mine the desert hill eventually . . . bleh. Oh, yeah, whip the granary. Boom.

Mutal: Can barely see the city through the stack. Seems to be doing OK for now.

Out of curiosity, I see what Machinery could bring us in trade. It is an insult.

Time to hit enter.

Turn 244, 990 AD

Uxmal: Granary < Walls (1 turn): In case of counter-attacks.

That AP vote to stop the war succeeds. Monty voted No, by the way. Oh well. Move Stack of Doom to Rally Point. Start Rally Road.

Enter.

Turn 245, 1000 AD

Japan celebrates the Centennial Holiday, or whatnot. Wheee!!

Kyoto: Spearman < Archer (1 turn)

Osaka: Catapult < Catapult (4 turns)

Kagoshima: Swordsman < Archer (3 turns): More garrison for new conquests.

Uxmal: Walls < Courthouse (85 turns): Barely makes hammers, wasn't sure what else to do.

Mutal: Granary < Walls (2 turns): Again, I'm worried about attacks.

A marriage has forged new bonds between the Aztecs and Ottomans. Meh.

I see a no chopping sign on jungle near Satsuma. I can only guess that that is a mistake. But I can't farm the spot yet, so I leave it. Start a mine for Kagoshima. I will keep an eye out for mounted units . . . . Start some more cottages for Tokyo.

Nuthin' else, so next turn.

Turn 246, 1010 AD

Pacal comes asking for Open Borders. Sure buddy, sure . . . we'll open those borders real soon . . . .

Kyoto: Archer < Spearman (2 turns)

Argh, a heroic gesture of mercy by the Celts to the English ends that war, too.

Hrrm, Khan has Machinery now, so the others must not be far behind. No one has much money this turn, either. I'll check for trades to see if we can get something out of it before it's too late. I think best we can get is Polytheism and whatever gold they have lying about. I'll bite if I see anything decent, but probably not (could have gotten several hundred gold a few turns ago, but didn't think we wanted to trade away Machinery).

Turn 247, 1020 AD

Mutal: Walls < Barracks (5 turns)

MoM gets built somewhere. OK, Monty is now the only one without Machinery. He has no gold, but I might as well get a tech out of Machinery, so I'll trade. Machinery . .. for Polytheism. I feel . . . I feel so . . . . so awful . . . .

It opens up Literature, but . . . big whoop.

OK, I'm gonna do a fly-by of the towns just to make sure everything is running smoothly. Oh, we are losing 40 gold per turn now. *slaps self* Getting money would have helped. Will have to cut research drastically in 2 turns. Cities seem alright.

Enter time.

Turn 248, 1030 AD

Kyoto: Spearman < Archer (1 turn)

Kagoshima: Archer < Swordsman (6 turns)

Will start a war next turn.

Turn 249, 1040 AD

Kyoto: Archer < Spearman (2 turns)

Osaka: Catapult < Catapult (4 turns): Can never have too many, right.

Ohhh, the people of Coventry admire the Japanese Empire, and revolt to show their displeasure with Celtic rule!

Mutal is getting squeezed and is starving. Better deal with Pacal now. War is Declared! Oxhuitza should fall next turn.

Workers do more cottaging by Tokyo. I notice that Tokyo has picked up a silk tile. I will connect that next for more happy.

Turn 250, 1050

Mutal gets attacked by a catapult. No biggie. Argh! Brennus declares on us! And Khan is in war-prep mode. Urggh.

Tokyo workers retreat. I divert Kyoto's most recent archers back to the city (all it has is an axeman). Gonna keep an eye on our Khan border . . . . so I send a spearman west.

Well, time to work on Oxhuitza. Oh, right. Research is now at 0%! We're not getting Civil Service any time soon. Even 10% is losing money. Unit costs and city maintenance is killing us.

Anyway, upgrade a few catapults to do more bombard damage. Two knock it down to 8%. Time to try smacking those longbowmen . . . . Odds are 3%. Ouch. We need Trebs. 1st Cat dies, but it does some damage, so yay! Next doesn't do jack. Bigmen have about 78% odds, so rather than send in good catapult after bad with 23% odds, I'll risk our big guys . . . . OK, I lied. One more catapult; they are expendable. Well, it died, but not in vain.

Bigman Billy now has 95% odds. A vast improvement. Smackdown. Bigman Karl is next. Urgh, takes a huge beating taking down a catapult. For shame. Bigman Cecil will take out the last longbowman. Oh, those first strikes are brutal.

Oxhuita comes complete with a granary, lighthouse, forge, monument, colosseum, and 7 turns of unrest. Set it for walls. Can be changed.

I'm gonna pause/stop here. Two front-war, with a possible third is making me nervous, and I don't feel at my prime. Tomorrow is Mother's Day, forgot that last time I checked in, but maybe I can continue tomorrow evening. Unless someone else wants to take it.

Sorry, didn't really take pictures this time. Oh, right, right, earned some cash from capturing Oxhuitza, so I set research up again. 50%, losing 50 gold, but if costs don't go up much, we can have Civil Service in 3 turns (I checked all levels, and this seemed optimal for actually finishing research). We still have to control our costs, though.

 

[sturick]

Well this smells suscpiciously of a bribe to me....
Pacal is proving to be quite annoying.

My instincts tell me that we can press forwards with our attack on Maya.
Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo can just alter their production to bolster up their defenses rather than reinforcements.
We can just hold our ground against Brennus. Any stack he might have had will take a few turns to arrive from English territory I imagine. We should be able to hold him off just fine.

As far as Genghis goes...well thats a different story.
We need to be prepared for an attack but hope and pray that he goes for Liz...we remember how that worked out last time though. Satsuma should crank out spears and archers to defend itself, Uxmal, and Tabriz from possible attack. Tall order with one city supplying garrison for three but what choice have we?

The economy...well it really sucks. BAD!
We need to be able to grab a tech or two from Pacal for peace this time.
The only tech that we have but our enemies don't is Metal Casting. Liz will offer us 5 gold for it...now thats quite the offer huh? Must be one turn away from teching it herself.

Otherwise, Whosit you had good but short turns...the AI did you no favors here.

 

[sturick]

Question that I had for the group...

In Mutal I was playing with the build queue.
I thought it would be a good idea to whip out the barracks to provide overflow towards an archer or a spear. Then I thought what if we put an archer at the front of the queue and whip it. The overflow would be enough to build the barracks too. Now would the archer get the 3 exp because they were built on the same turn or will it be a plain unit because it was first in the queue.

Never had that situation come up before but I imagine that neither has anyone else...
Maybe we can find out together on the next set...

Speaking of which...if you can finish what you started Whosit I say go for it.
I think Silver is up next so lets hear from him on this too.

 

[Sengir]

lurker's comment: The archer will finish next turn, the barracks the turn after (no matter what you do, you can only build one thing per turn), so the archer will come out as a regular one.

 

[sturick]

Thanks Sengir...I don't know why but I feel like that happened to me before in a game.
Faulty memory I guess...

 

[Whosit]

Ah, I don't mind taking a few more turns for my set, though I'd also be happy to pass it on if we think it'll do us more good. I just wanted to take a break to get some feedback from the group on what to do.

Khan is certainly a problem. In my desperation, I even tried to see if I could bribe Liz to attack Khan, but no dice. Khan won't attack Liz 'cuz he's busy, of course. So, yeah, sounds like we prepare for a defensive war on two fronts, while waging offense against Pacal. Once that fight ends, hopefully through a treaty that gives us concessions, we can turn our attack stack around and hit . . . whoever else is pestering us. I don't think that we want to take on Celtic cities, especially considering our financial situation. But I'm sure that if we give Brennus a bloody nose, he'll leave us alone for a bit. If we end up in war with Khan, we might as well take a few of his towns, right?

As far as our economy goes, I don't see that we can do much while we're in War Mode. I'm sure we need marketplaces. As I said, unit costs are hurting us a lot, but we can do little about that (can't afford to disband half our army). I guess we need courthouses wherever we don't already have them. But, as far as I can tell, markets in our financial towns may be our best chance. I can't remember if we have any, actually.

So, yeah, let's see if S.ilver throws us a few cents. Otherwise, I can play a few more turns, try to grab another Mayan city or two and see what we can get for peace. The good news is that we should be able to finish Civil Service and actually get our Unique Unit. Tho' we won't have any cash with which to upgrade them. Should we sell Civil Service to anyone who doesn't already have it?

 

[S.ilver]

Question. When did Khan go into WHEOOH? We have forced peace with Khan, so he cannot have gone into WHEOOH against us if we were already in forced peace.

Sorry if it was mentioned already. I have almost no time today to look closely at reports, let alone the save. Things don't look too grim; our expenses are out of control because we lack courthouses, which we can easily get up and running with the whip. Since we're still in slavery, we need to leverage that.

Our stack is also large and in charge, so I don't anticipate too many more problems, although again, don't stop building units. DO get some infrastructure up in alternating waves though.

If Whosit wants to hand over the turns, I can play them tomorrow night/Tuesday morning. But I think he's done a fairly good job (although we do need to lean on a the whip a bit more to get our infrastructure up now).

 

[sturick]

Who knows...maybe Pacal will call for AP peace again.
Won't that give us 10 turns of peace on all fronts?
Perhaps wishful thinking on my part...

Thinking ahead...I will be out of town Wed and Thurs to catch a pair of Cubs games. So if Silver plays on Mon/Tues I would need a swap with DE or a skip

 

[Whosit]

I can play a few more turns tonight; I'll do my best to use the whip a bit more extensively, especially for infrastructure projects. I usually wait until a 2-pop whip, but is 3-pop acceptable? I'm guessing for towns that grow fairly fast.

As far as the AP, Pacal would bring up a vote on the war against him specifically, so Brennus won't be affected.

 

[Whosit]

aCK-2: Red Alert, Part II

Continued Turn 250, 1050 AD

Alright, so Oxhuitza has just been taken. Time to check some cities before I continue to move units.

Tabriz can whip its courthouse for 2 population points (not sure how I missed that). So I beat those lazy peasants.

Gonna check what cities markets would be useful in.
Kyoto: Making 10.5 gold at 50%. It, Osaka, and Satsuma are our biggest earners aside from Tokyo right now, though when the cottages at Satsuma are farmed over, that'll change. I'll try to whip up some markets when I get the chance.

I whip the Barracks at Mutal so we can get overflow for a unit. There's a scary stack nearby. We need Feudalism baaaad. Hopefully Pacal will just barrage for a few more turns.

I just move the rest of Doom Stack into the town. They can move out next turn, though I may have to let the Bigs heal.

Kagoshima will grow next turn. I can whip the swordsman for 1. It lacks a courthouse. Oh, bah, only 19 overflow, nevermind (BUG is useful for that). I'll whip the sword anyway, 'cuz the overflow can go into another unit (have to wait 4 more turns, otherwise).

End turn and hope for the best. Oh, no. First I whip the forge (5 more turns) in Tokyo to get some 42 hammer overflow to go into a unit or something. Lose two pop and some income, but since the town is right on the new war-front . . . I think I'll add some walls since the town lacks natural defenses. Oh, oops, CS in 4 now. Shuffle tiles in Tokyo. Now we're good.

Now end turn.

Turn 251, 1060 AD

Well, good news and bad news. The good news is that we're not the weakest Civ (we're 4th); the bad news: Everyone who hates us ('cept Pacal) is stronger. And Brennus' main stack entered our territory this turn.

Kyoto: Spearman < Archer (1 turn). I wanted a crossbowman to handle Brennus' macemen, but it's 4 turns.

Tokyo: Forge < Walls (1 turn). We'll need 'em.

Kagoshima: Swordsman < Spearman (4 turns)

Tabriz: Courthouse < Barracks (9 turns)

Mutal: Barracks < Spearman (2 turns)

Pacal only bombarded this turn, so it gives us some time.

Civil Service is still 3 turns away?! Huh? Did something happen inbetween turns to delay it? (I switched tiles last time to get it back to 3.) Oh well . . . We may still make it.

Hmmm . . . . OK, time for a Whosit-Brand (TM) trade. I give Liz a call. Yes, yes, it is politically wise to have nothing to do with Liz. BUT: She is the only one without Machinery and she has no beakers in it yet. Khan and Monty hate her. Khan already hates us, but we'll hopefully kill him eventually. Monty? Well . . . .

I can get Civil Service, Compass, and all her 60 gold. Monty does not have Compass, and he has 190 gold. I can get our UU tech now, instead of in 3 turns, and 250 gold. Alternatively, I could get Monotheism instead of C.S., but although it pains me to trade for a tech we've already put so much into, we don't seem to NEED Monotheism. Now, or in the near future.

OK, so that's my reasoning. I'll face the firing squad if I have to, but because of whatever happened last turn, I see no guarantee that we'll tech CS on our own before we run out of money.

Sigh. Can't trade to Khan now because . . . ? I guess the game doesn't let me trade techs the turn I trade them. I hope he doesn't spend all that cash by next turn. Khan's not happy about our trade, but it hasn't come up as an official dip hit--at least yet.

Oh, I set us up for Engineering. Could to Drama to trade, but at least one AI already has it, so no. Well, at least we can upgrade this turn. For a whopping 155 gold (i.e., most of our treasury), Cecil gets to be our first and so far only Samurai (figured we didn't want "Combat" Colin to be upgraded . . . .)

Now we are broke. I can run 20% for a few turns, but it's still not pretty.

I send the new Kyoto Spearman north because Brennus only seems to be fielding infantry. No, wait, it'll go to Osaka 'cuz Khan has so many mounted unites in Edirne . . . . And science is at 0% after I moved units into enemy territory . . . . Joy. Engineering sometime after the next Ice Age.

OK, I think I've done enough damage this turn. On to the next!

Turn 252, 1070 AD

Tokyo: Walls < Crossbowman (5 turns)

Satsuma: War Elephant < Spearman (5 turns)

Pacal is just bombarding away at Mutal. Check trade advisor. Well, well, Monty and Khan both want Civil Service and Compass. Ummm . . . well, I won't give them CS, so Compass it is! 210 gold from Khan . . . Mmmm . . . I can get 180 gold out of Monty, but if I throw in Civil Service, we get that AND Feudalism, which, in my humble opinion, we desperately need. I do that. Oh, we also get Monotheism, but big hoot.

Oh, right, I was supposed to look at the merits of Bureaucracy. We'd get 12-13 more hammers in the capital, and 10 more gold. It'll cost us 6 more gold to go into Bureau, though. And a turn of Anarchy. Hrmm. As for Tokyo, if Brennus waits to bombard it, it might live. But he's got a ton of Macemen. I really don't want to do this, but I 3-pop whip a blank Crossbowman. Hopefully it'll make the Celts think twice before attacking. Commerce tanks again.

Do some unit stuff. Bleh. I decide to revolt. We need Kyoto spitting out troops even faster. Also, treasury is at a fairly healthy 437. Upgrade an archer in Tokyo to Crossbowman for 179. And a high-level archer in Mutal to Longbowman for 134. Now at 124 gold.

End turn.

Turn 253, 1080 AD

Pacal bombards Mutal; Brennus bombards Tokyo and pillages a hamlet. Pacal completes the Shwegdan Paya. Good for him. Spearman in Tabriz kills a Mayan horse archer.

Income is slightly higher now with Bureau. Gonna let Kyoto finish a Crossbowman it was working on (2 turns left); afterwards, it'll crank out Samurai.

Liz wants Feudalism and Khan still wants Civil Service. Ha ha, you guys.

The only one above Cautious with us is Suleiman, and he's a vassal. Sheesh.

Ohhh. Somehow, due to my negligence, an archer ended up next to one of Brennu's macemen. He'll probably get toasted no matter what, but I'm gonna give him Shock and Drill II to give him a fighting chance. Otherwise, slow turn. Advancing our column (minus the Bigs, though. I didn't want to wait for them to heal. I figure they can catch up). Started to farm Satsuma.

Onto the next Disaster.

Turn 254, 1090 AD

Well, this turn starts out swell. Our guaranteed peace with Khan ends and Uxmal's courthouse progress gets wrecked by infiltrators. Lovely.

Osaka: Catapult < Spearman (3 turns). Can't trust the Khan next door.

Tokyo: Crossbowman < Longbowman (4 turns)

Mutal: Spearman < How 'bout another in 7 turns more?

Hmm . . . trades make peace, right? Or is it only gifts? Well, I give Khan our only pigs for 5 gold per turn. We're not in desperate need of the health, anyway. Monty has 10 gold per turn available. but the only thing I can give is our only wine, and that doesn't seem like a good deal at the moment. Hmm, well, actually, only our largest towns are close to happy caps, and Kyoto can add a few more garrison if needed . . . . 10 gpt at this point will really help us. I'll keep an eye on the happy. I guess we can whip a marketplace if need be, too. I kick up research to 20%; it's still very not pretty, but I don't want to run 0% forever . . . .

Pacal will talk, but won't give up any techs yet. Of course.

We can see Pacal's research. Nationalism in 10. Eee.

Turn 255, 1100 AD

Kyoto: Crossbowman < Samurai (2 turns). Feels good to build them.

Bigmen on the move 'cuz their healed and have escort.

Bombard Mayapan to 18%, pillage Pacal's horses. Hopefully he'll attack Mutal soon, the defenses are almost down. If we're lucky, his stack will die. Khan has a small stack moving through our territory. Hopefully going somewhere else. OK, let's see if I can take that city.

Turn 256, 1110 AD

Our stack gets hit by a catapult. I'll assess the damage, hopefully it won't prevent us from attacking . . . .

Liz wants Open Borders. My bad. I guess I sent the wrong impression when I traded with her before.

Whoa. The Ottomans are offering themselves to us as a Vassal state. Did they break off from Monty? . . . I say "no." Personally, I like taking Vassals, but I know it'll break our economy even further, and it might piss people off. Plus, the Ottomans are too weak to be helpful, I think.

Kagoshima: Spearman < 10-turn Crossbowman.

Well, only the Elephant in our stack is still injured. But Mayapan has a few shock troops, including a Maceman. I was gonna send the Elephant in as a flanker. Promote it to Flanking II and it's at 7/8. Catapult time. 11% odds. Eh, I've seen worse.

1st one dies, but it kicks the snot out of the longbowman and deals collateral dammage to everything else in there. Next has 29%. It kinda discomforts the Maceman and dies. Bleh. 3rd (promoted to City Raider I) has 70% odds and retreats. Maceman is pretty badly hurt. Last available catapult has 69% odds without any upgrades, so I give it Barrage I to try and eek out a little more collateral damage. Woot! It retreats after showing that Pikeman a thing or two.

In goes the Elephant. Down goes the enemy swordsman.
CR II swordsman (82%) vs. Crossbowman: We lose!! What a noob.
Combat Colin to clean up the mess. He wins.
CR I swordsman kills a wounded crossbowman at 89% odds.
'nother low-class swordsman wins.
Axeman kills maceman.
Axeman kills pikeman for a promotion and the city. We get some gold and now own Mayapan. We get a lighthouse, harbor, and our monument. 6 turns of insurrection. Queue a granary. Send one of the archers tagging along to garisson.

Urgh. Kyoto grew unhappy. When did that happen? I thought I figured it all out. Samurai finishes next turn, so I put in a market to be whipped.

Awww . . . my doggy is snoring. So cute.

Anyway, back to the mayhem. Still no techs outta Pacal. I guess it's on to Chichen Itza.

Turn 257, 1120 AD

Pacal suicides a catapult at Mutal.
We catch a spy, but another wastes a pasture, somewhere. I'll try to find it.

Osaka: Spearman < Market (13 turns)

Tokyo: Longbowman < Longbowman (6 turns)

AP vote: Stop the war against Brennus! Hellz ya! I vote "yes."

Suleiman is a vassal of Monty again. Promote wounded Elephant Combat I.

Fortify the new Samurai in Kyoto since it's lacking guards. Thought there was another axe there. Oh, and war weariness is showing up. Lovely. We'll need a colosseum next, but we need the market for income.

Well, let's see how that vote turned out. Whip harbor in Oxhuitza, killing 4. Now we're not unhappy. Yay~!

Turn 258, 1130 AD

*edited for the childrens* F***F***F***F***F***F***F***F***F***!!!!!

This turn really turned out terribly. Pacal's forces by Mutal did a 180 and attacked the part of our stack that was hanging out by Mayapan. War Elephant killed Cecil, who was at the top of the stack for some reason. Did I leave the spearmen unpromoted? I didn't think so. We lost a lot of troops. I'll pull up the combat list . . . .

Worst news is that Tokyo is gone. For the foreseable future, too. That AP vote backfired. Brennus attacked full force in between turns and catapulted everything to Hell. I clearly got lax on the town's defenses because I was lulled by the long terms of bombardment. I should probably have whipped out more units. Anyway, Celts took the town, and now we have 10 turns of enforced peace with the Celts.

Liz wants a deal, screw her.

Satsuma: Spearman < Samurai (10 turns)

Oxhuitza: Harbor < Barracks (2 turns)

I'm definitely ending it here. I lost us our financial town. The only good news is that Khan's huge stack is definitely heading somewhere else.

Losses from Stack:
Bigman Cecil (the Samurai)
Spearman
Bigman Billy (to a frikkin' chariot)

We killed a couple of their units and the rest are wounded, but that bites. Our guys are wounded, too. I should have moved them all into the city, but I think I kept them there to defend the guys who already moved. Oh, no, then I left them there after I moved the wounded into the city . . . . That was a poor decision.

Well, there you have it. I managed to pull disaster out of the jaws of awesome. Granted, I don't think the game is lost . . . . just really, really mangled.

I could always cheat by loading up an auto save, but . . . that's cheating.

The only silver lining I can try and pretend to see is that we now get to learn how to deal with a disaster like this. Whee.