Pre-turn:
I figure a little over 10 units can't be enough to make a decent dent since the Mongols
already killed one of our armies, so I decide to delay the landing a little bit. Of course
we don't have enough navy to transport much more people but hopefully I can figure out something
creative. Taking that Mongol city on the other small island can't be difficult though.
Looking through the empire I change a few builds but forgot to note down what exactly.
Have I mentioned I love courthouses?
After a little more thought I decide to land the pikemen on the mountains close to Darhan
to see how the AI reacts and to steal a couple of slaves.
IBT: Incas want and get our territory map. Aztecs aren't willing to continue our Furs-deal.
We kill 3 Mongol archers and a longbowman with no losses, one of the pikes promotes. A small
SoD shows up of about 25 units shows up.
Turn 1, 460 AD:
We produce 3 MDIs. Start the Heroic Epic in Salamanca, due in 10 turns.
The current plan of invasion is to have two galleys drop 4 pikes on the mountain near Darhan,
then either a turn or two later (depending on how the pikes survive) the actual landing party
will arrive at Almarikh. Will take a few turns to get into position first though.
IBT: Mongols perform a weak landing near Dalandzagdad.
Turn 2, 470 AD:
We produce barracks in Mauch Chunk.
The lone Mongol archer that landed near Dalandzagdad kills an MW before dying. We land near
Mandalgovi.
Greece would be willing to agree to a peace treaty in exchange for 40g, which I don't see
as such a bad deal so I take it. I sell one of our spare Ivory to them for 64g and 18 gpt.
IBT: Aztecs are busy making deals: first they sign a peace with the Incas, then form a military
alliance with Greece against the Mongols.
Turn 3, 480 AD:
We produce a pike.
Found Kawauka on the spot cleared in the middle of the marshes.
The main landing force will be ready to move very soon. Meanwhile on the little island...
They have a fourth spear in defense though and one of our MWs die so they get to keep the city.. for now.
IBT: Aztecs complete Magellan's Voyage.
Turn 4, 490 AD:
We produce a pike.
Next wave of our landing party arrives at the small island. It's time to move with the main
landing. Mongols now have pikes in defense. In fact they could even have knights running around.
Their SoD is already where I wanted it to be so I land the main force near Almarikh instead.
IBT: Aztecs destroy the Hittites. Surprisingly the majority of the Mongol forces don't
seem to be interested in our landing.
Turn 5, 500 AD:
We produce aqueduct in Allegheny.
Just one spear left in Mandalgovi from our last wave and we take the city. Two Greek knights
right next to it are a little scary. Then we capture Almarikh with the cost of two MDIs. I don't
really see us holding it right now, especially with the flip chance up in the 10-20% range.
I drop a couple of pikes on the mountain near Darhan to hopefully buy us some time
near Almarikh (capturing a couple of more slaves) but they just don't seem interesting at all
to Mongols.
IBT: Mongols drop forces near Grand River. I could swear I saw two units land their but on our
turn there's only a lonely spear there. Either I'm starting to turn blind or they're having trouble
supporting their units. Also I could be just paranoid, but the Aztec troop movement seems pretty
suspicious.
Turn 6, 510 AD:
We produce an MDI.
I prepare to abandon Almarikh the next turn and strike near Darhan instead.
IBT: Mongols keep on moving at Almarikh. They also drop a party of two near Dalandzagdad.
On our turn only one is left so they're definitely having trouble.
Turn 7, 520 AD:
We produce 2 MDIs and a settler.
We abandon Almarikh and move troops towards Darhan. I'm not entirely convinced it's the right
plan though.
IBT: Aztecs have Magnetism and Theory of Gravity. We might just be a little too far behind
compared to the better civs.
Turn 8, 530 AD:
WW is really starting to kick in so I look for trade opportunities. The Incas are willing to
part with their wines and dyes for our spices and ivory so I close that deal.
IBT: There are quite a few Aztec ships around, sailing towards the Mongols.
Turn 9, 540 AD:
Not much is happening except jungles going down and troops moving.
IBT: The biggest Mongol stacks suddenly head back south. Someone else, probably Aztecs,
must have landed there. Mongols suddenly decide to sink one of our galleys, which happens
to be the only empty one around.
Turn 10, 550 AD:
We finish Gunpowder. There's no saltpeter anywhere nearby as far as I can tell. Aztecs
are in the IA now.
Some notes once again:
- I didn't move any of our ships yet this turn, because of the unexpected withdrawal
of the Mongol forces near Darhan. The best plan might be to wait another turn,
then land near Darhan with full force and burn and replace. I think we should
have enough firepower to hold our ground now.
- Mongols seem to be willing to part with Chivalry (all they have) for peace, I don't
know if that's very good deal though since then Aztecs would without a doubt steal all
their land.
- There's an empty army in Niagara Falls. I was kinda hoping to have it filled with muskets
but it doesn't seem like we'll be having any in the near future. There are also a couple settlers
there waiting to settle the Mongol lands. I've been using St.Regis to build settlers since
there's really a lot of food there.
- I chose Education as the next tech but we could just as well go some other route since
no beakers have been put into that yet.
- The Greek knights outside Mandalgovi landed there when Mongols still had the city and been there
since. As far as I can tell they aren't planning a sneak attack at least right away.
- It could be worthwhile to start thinking about merging some of the workers we pay upkeep for.
We don't have much jungle anymore and they cost something like 70 gpt. Another option would be
to conquer more jungle by wiping out the remainder of the English.
But that will require some
preparation since we have no settlers and not many troops around that area currently.
