SitCom Report: 1874-1877
Basically, because of the complexity of a global war, I've broken these notes down to a "front by front."
Domestic Front
Taxes changed to 0/7/3 in 1874 to guarantee two techs for 1875; yields Plastics and Superconductor to set up Stealth for 1876. Taxes changed to 7.3.0 in 1875 to recover finances from 1874 and rush builds; and then to 5.5.0 in 1876. In 1877, everybody happy except for those in the "bloated" Russian city of Yakutsk.
In 1874, rush builds of many Airports, plus 13 additional Howitzers. In 1875, Howitzer production more or less ceases in favor of rush building supporting ground units (i.e., Armor and Mech infantry); also begin rush building of Engineers. In 1876, phase I of the rush building of the Stealth Air Force in new Airports; eleven in cities facing Viking front, seven in cities on the Russian front, and twelve in cities between Port of Spain and Maikop; also, rush build Aircraft Carrier in Roma for operations against the Russian civilization. With instant air power, more or less finish up rush builds of Armor and Mech infantry. With surplus capital that -- out of habit -- "must" be spent, commence rush building of infrastructure, especially Superhighways. In 1877, phase II of rush building the Stealth Air Force, plus more infrastructure, Engineers, and (of course) Freight.
In general, I stripped most of our coastal defenses of all Mech Infantry and Alpine Troops to support offensive operations against the Russians and the Spanish, and bolster our defensive lines against the Vikings, Mongols, and Greeks. As we are "in their faces," the likelihood of a coordinated amphibious assault is next to nil. The one possible exception might be a Greek landing from Ephesos or Pergamon against Magnitogorsk and Maikop; regular air patrols here would probably be prudent.
The reserves assembled at the Badlands were sent to shore up our defenses on the Viking front. In general, all new military builds from our "core" have also been sent to build up our bridgehead against the Vikings.
All pollution cleared by the end of 1876. However, it will take some time to retreat from the brink of global warming having received a warning of imminent global warming in 1875. Building more Solar Power Plants should accelerate the recovery process, and we do have the financial where with all to do so -- as long as any "nuclear incidents" are promptly dealt with. There are also a few cities (e.g., Dublin) where production is being held back pending the building of Mass Transits.
The Spanish Front
Tim, having dispensed with the partisans resulting from the capture of Madrid and Seville, and destroying the Cordoba garrison, left the Spanish on the brink of destruction. In 1874, both Cordoba and Granada were captured; and Alpine Infantry were transported in to seize the fortifications around Salamanca and Saragossa. In 1875, Artillery and Howitzers destroyed the Salamanca and Saragossa garrisons, and Howitzers dispensed with the Bilbao garrison. Alpine Infantry and other units were employed to prevent "Senate Interference" in the capture of Salamanca and Saragossa, and the capture of Bilbao put an end to Spanish civilization and their partisans. A couple of Howitzers sent north to the Russian front, while Alpine and Mech Infantry establish holding position against Mongols between Saragossa and Shangtu.
The Russian Front
Tim, having built up a powerful force of Howitzers, all but one at nearly full strength; and having left five cities all but devoid garrisons, left me in an excellent position to begin a blitz against the Russian civilization. Just needed to bring up some supporting elements in the form of Alpine Infantry and Mech Infantry (about a dozen each) to minimize Partisan interference and seize fortifications to protect cities as they were captured. In 1874, Magnitogorsk, Maikop, and Novgorod were taken to the southwest; and Dnepropetrovsk, St. Petersburg, and Kiev were taken on the Moscow front. In 1875, Rostov, Yakutsk (the new capital, 48), and Vladivostok (37) were taken as the two fronts linked up. Tblisi (37) was also taken, thus isolating Sverdlovsk and Smolensk. The Kharkov garrison was also destroyed, mainly to get at a pair of Bombers. In 1876, I changed tactics in that I started using the Howitzers for two attacks per turn instead of one. This resulted in the capture of Sverdlovsk, Smolensk, Sevastopol, Kharkov, Riga, and Kuibyshev. In 1877, Stealth Fighters reduced the Kursk garrison, and Howitzers reduced the Grozny garrison, resulting in the capture of both cities. In 1878 -- the only part of that turn I played -- Stealth Fighters operating from Riga, Kursk, and the Aircraft Carrier "Roma" just outside of Vologda destroyed the garrisons Vologda, Kazan, and Uralsk. Rush built Paratroopers descended on each city and -- with non-interference from our Senate -- captured all three cities, putting an end to the Russian civilization. (They never did get Rocketry!).
Needless to say, the capture of these cities and the pre-conquest freight deliveries made us rich, rich, rich! Russian bombers and helicopters caused minor losses to the veteran infantry. (I still find it damnably funny that Cavalry unit can destroy an enemy Helicopter unit!) And a pesky Fighter knocked off a Spy, a Freight, and a pair engineers blocking Dnepropetrovsk from an espionage attempt. Here we were somewhat lucky in that the Spy attempted to get at that city before the Fighter struck; had the movement order been reversed, the Russians might have given us a small Nuclear headache. Total casualties inflicted on the Russians: 68 Alpine brigades, 27 Fanatic divisions, 19 Rifle brigades, 15 Partisan cadres, 8 Armor brigades, 7 Artillery brigades, 6 Marine brigades, and 6 Mech Inf brigades.
Note, left some "Russian" freight next Krasnoyarsk for delivery to ...
The Viking Front
As I mentioned earlier, I expanded the reconnaissance of the Viking civilization in 1874, revealing a great mass of still more Viking forces in the vicinity of Kaupang. An initial tally revealed at least sixty-one squares occupied by the Viking military, and of those squares twenty-two contained two or more units. Since I estimated that Tim had already provided enough Howitzers in Russia to the get the job done there, I threw the reserves at the Badlands to shore up the Jarrow bridgehead and commence "Howitzer Raids" into the Viking civilization. The raid of 1874, targeting especially stacks without fortifications, yielded the destruction of 63 units. Despite this, the Vikings managed nearly twenty attacks on our defenses at Jarrow, further fortified and heavily reinforced with Mech Infantry. All the attacks were defeated. Another smaller raid in 1875 resulted in around 30 more Viking losses, and in the following year, they managed only one attack on "Fustang Jarrow."
In 1875, the Vikings commenced work on the Apollo Program, and our embassy informed us that no less than six cities -- Trondheim, Ravning Edge, Jarlshof, Odense, Larne, and Aldeijuborg -- had nearly completed the work that same year. Notoriously, the whereabouts of Aldeijuborg remained a mystery, and therefore, we could not get at it to prevent them from completing that WoW. Consequently, in 1876 they completed the Apollo Program in Aldeijuborg, and managed to finish a structural component for their space craft as well. They also developed Mobile Warfare in 1876, and commenced researching Plastics. Espionage revealed that many Viking cities had commenced building structural components for the space ship.
In both in 1876 and 1877, I again made Howitzer raids through the Viking civ; the neck of land between Birka and the newly revealed city of Megara proved an exceptionally productive killing ground as stacks of unprotected Viking units moving from the north fell prey to our Howitzers. In 1877, I probably could have initiated a general offensive from Jarrow and taken out the first six Viking cities, but I didnt want to get too greedy. Besides, I found it amusing that the Vikings were building all those space ship components (now up to 28 structurals), seemingly oblivious as to what was about to hit them. In four years, the defense of Jarrow has resulted in no Chinese casualties. Viking losses: 57 Alpine brigades, 55 Engineer battalions (!), 18 Cavalry brigades, 18 Artillery brigades, 17 Fanatic divisions, and 13 Rifle brigades. (Just gotta love them Howitzers!)
As of 1878, with Mech Inf arriving from the Russian Front, plus newly built Armor and more Mech Inf, and Stealth Fighters at the ready, we are ready to commence a classic Blitzkrieg. At last count, we have 48 howitzers, 24 Mech Inf, and 16 Armor in the bridgehead; we have 9 Stealth Fighters in Jarrow, and about another dozen within striking distance. (Note also that the five "sleeping" engineers next to Nanking have been precharged for three or four turns; and the five "sleeping" engineers in Foo Bar have been for two turns.) And a provisional reconnaissance has revealed that, apparently, the flow of Viking reinforcements from the north has considerably lessened, still arriving from Aldeigjuborg and Phocaea, but not Megara and Thessalonica. Every city within reach was investigated by Spies in 1877, and their garrisons consistently stand at four units apiece -- excluding navy. With our accumulated fire power, we should make the year 1878 one that the Viking civ will never forget.
The Mongol Front
Repeated reconnaissance of the Mongol civilization from Saragossa in the north has not revealed a military buildup comparable to that of the Vikings -- at least between Shangtu and Khanbalyk. And the Shangtu front has been comparatively quiet thus far. Mongol efforts seem to be concentrated to south toward Naples and Blenheim Palace, as well as at sea, principally in a quadrangle defined by Port of Spain, Genoa, Macao, and Kabul.
In the Blenheim sector, I initiated an operation against Issus, only to have the damned Senate sign a cease fire with the Mongols in 1875. So, when the Mongols immediately attacked us in 1876, I had to start over. Utilizing a newly built Stealth Fighter out of Blenheim to follow up an initial Howitzer attack, Issus was quickly captureed in 1877.
In Naples sector, where Mongol perfidy resulted in the loss of a Cavalry brigade and a pair Engineer battalions, I more or less limited myself to defending Naples and building up a modest strike force, supplemented with some Alpine Infantry arriving from Russia. Instead of using the transports to seize the coastal fortifications south of Quinsay, in 1877 I established the bridgehead of Mongolian Bar-B-Que, slammed into Cremona with Howitzers, and seized the fortifications to the northeast as preliminary for the capture of Kazan and relieving pressure on the Blenheim sector. At the last second, having moved and fortified almost every unit, I thought "Oops! Spy!" and used a precharged engineer to fortify the plain square immediately north of Cremona, and garrisoned it with the last available unit, a non-vet Armor. This resulted in the destruction of said Armor and Engineer units -- and a spy didn't even show up!
I left one transport in Mongol Point to bring up more units in 1878; perhaps after their use in Partisan prevention against the Vikings, some Mech Inf and veteran Armor could be brought south to give further support to the Howitzers. Also, the three "sleeping" engineers near Naples have also been precharged for the two or three turns since the so-called Peace Treaty.
On the Ocean, I've started a rush-built Aircraft Carrier (with limited support) northwestwards to provide operational flexibility for Stealth Fighters being built in northern Spain; it has a pair of Cruise Missiles for reconnaissance and -- at need -- extra fire power against the Mongol navy. In two turns, the Carrier can reach a point off the Khorasan Peninsula, about half way between the current position of our two Battleships, that will be within range of Stealth Fighters based out of Saragossa. The reconnaissance of 1878 reveals numerous ships around the Khorasan Peninsula, so this move might be tricky. (Of course, if they stick around another turn, a rush-built Nuclear Missile . . . )
The Greek Front
Mainly, the holding action continues. Senate forced a Peace Treaty with the Greeks in 1875; to prevent a repeat of the Mongol debacle, demanded the withdrawal of their forces in 1876, resulting in a renewed state of war. Getting the better of the Greeks in the Rhodes sector, though a pesky Fighter out of Delphi picked off a Spy and an Engineer toward Apollonia. As for the Syracuse sector, took out at least nine Greek ships (including at least one Battleship) with a Nuke just off Russian Tee. Otherwise, up until last turn, when Stealth Fighters went into action, nothing but punishing diplomats has occurred on this front.
The Greek Front presents an intriguing possibility for a three-pronged assault as early 1880 or 1881. The Howitzers in Moscow should be back to full strength in 1880; those in Dnepropetrovsk should be back to full strength in 1881. New Stealth Fighters in St. Pete's, Minsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Dnepropetrovsk can reach Rhodes in two turns via Cymru; the new Stealth Fighters in Moscow and Dublin can be there in three. With many Stealth Fighters available in the Russian Tee and Tri-Canal vicinities, an attack via Syracuse combined with a landing at Miletos could strike the Greeks from the east even as a reinforced task force strikes west from Rhodes. And then, using those pre-charged engineers -- who may not be needed against the Vikings -- a rush-built railway via Phocaea and Odessa would allow a third strike to link up with the forces from the Viking civilization. On paper, at any rate, it looks rather intriguing. And, as the Vikings and the Greeks have just concluded the Pharsalos Pact, with the Greeks receiving Armor as a bonus, we should be somewhat wary of the Greeks being the beneficiaries of other such gifts.
So, in the cities up front I'm rushing Airports (using the Temple/Barracks step first) and Engineers in the rear by disbanding units that didn't see action (or who did see action and won't be useful for a couple turns).
