DocT01a - Middle Ages Modified: Reconquista!

[Corrado]

Warfare is always fun.

Absolutely agreed that Harbors are necessary, if only to get the (eventual) Ivory as a Luxury for all of our cities. Now, if Seamanship had offered us a Wonder...

I'm not bothering to attack the cities near the Ivory yet- they are unconnected to the main Fatimid base and therefore can't produce anything other than Spears, so I'm not worried about them. Once we take Tunis and therefore have disconnected their Horses, we can mop those extra cities.

As for the Abassids and the Byzantines- actually, the Abs are starting to take a few of the Byz's outlying cities. They haven't taken any core, but I think they may- Burgundy has taken several of Byz's Greek cities, and I think Byz is getting dog-piled on. Hopefully, there'll still be something left to join in a dogpile of once we have Galleys.

 

[Corrado]

IBT: Fatamid SoD (Swords and Spears, no archers) moves next to Fayyum. 2 Swords die in attacks on Fayyum, and a Sword kills one of our exposed MDIs.

1209 AD (7): Murcia Blacksmith->Knight. Santander Town Hall->Knight.

Count Fatamid SoD- 6 Swords, 3 Archers, 7 Spears. No problem.

Income down to -29 gpt. Trade Wines to Turks for Jihad, 30 gold, and WM. Trade Wines to Rus for Worker and 8 gold. Drop tech to 90%, and we get Theo in 17 turns- just barely enough- at -11 gpt.


IBT: Defense of Fayyum- we kill 4 Swords, 2 Archers, and 1 Ansar. We lose 2 MDI.

We also get a Great Leader, El Cid!

1212 AD (8): No production.

El Cid moves to the safer city of Logrono and forms an Army, which I will fill with Knights should any get finished.

With lots of bombarding, we kill an Ansar on the mountain outside of Fayyum, though at the cost of an MDI.

IBT: Ansar dies attacking our MDI on the mountain, but second Ansar kills it. I'm satisfied in exchanging MDI for Ansars, so long as Knights are coming.

1215 AD (9) Cordoba Library->Knight. Pamplona Knight->Knight.

Leader fish with an MDI and get nothing but a dead Archer.

IBT: Kill 2 Sword and 2 Ansar counter-attackers, but lose a sword and an MDI in the process.

Sweden decides our Horses for their Furs isn't good enough. We offer them Medeval Combat instead.

1218 AD (10): No production.

Kill 2 Ansars, 2 Archers, and a Spear clearing out the area near Fayyum.

Attack a few units outside of Logrono and get another Leader, which slips back into Logrono.

Cordoban Conquerers are sent out of Toledo to deal with a Fatamid Sword that was dropped off by a Curragh.


Here's the Save.

The bad news:
*We haven't made a lot of progress against the Fatamids, and we're starting to run low on units due to constant exchanges.
* The Burgundians have nearly taken Greece, and the Abassids are starting to make inroads into Byzantium.
* We only have 7150 VP to Abassid's 10995 and Byz's 9905.
* We are losing money, and given how much of our income comes from Domesday, money we lose becomes even more money lost.

The good news:
* We're starting to produce Knights.
* We have an army waiting for Knights, and a leader ready to set up another army if we want. (Can't think of anything else to use it for, but decided not to force the next player's hand.)
* We are 4 turns from Bayeux Tapestry, and 13 turns from Theology and getting Notre Dame. Once we have Theology, we can trade for massive profits.

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Re: The bad news - We're losing money.

You are aware that we are a Knight victory away from a GA?

Re: MGLs - one good use for a future Leader could be the FP (Inquisition) somewhere in Africa once we know the Tech; but for now, Armies, no question.

The VP situation: Well, we've just started to make VPs, the riff-raff with Spears/Swords/size 2 towns leads to nothing, but slaying Ansars, and the large Abbassid cities will help us...

Tactical: As long as we fight mainly in hills, we should keep producing MDI in a few cities; better lose an exposed 40sp MDI tham a Knight, and both will be able to kill wounded Ansars.

 

[DeceasedHorse]

I see it, and will get on it tonight.

 

[DeceasedHorse]

Preturn: 1218 A.D.
Deceased Cid comes to the throne of Castile, a rising power, a phoenix reborn from the ashes of Roman Iberia. The Fatmid Caliphate, as the infidels of North Africa call themselves, control around 16 cities (hard to tell, it looks like one of their cities is getting screwed up by y-wrapping). We have 1 unfilled army and and an unused Leader, Ferdinand, camped out in Lograno. Leon is building a palace prebuild timed perfectly to complete the turn after we research theology, and Lisbon is building the Norse Saga, due in 19. Fire a scientest in Lisbon and put him to work on a mined hill, Norse Saga due in 15. Madrid will finish the Bayeux Tapestry in 3 turns, and we can then sell extraneous barracks which will help with our small defiecit. Vet MDI's kill a Fatmid sword and a spear on our borders, losing 2 hp's in one battle, none on the second. Move a spear out of Fayyum to cover the wounded MDI in Fatmid territory.

Diplo Check: France is up Chivalry, we may be able to trade theology for it but I wouldn't count on it; the AI seems to put an insanely high value (it may have been the result of a monoply however) in my german game, it took multiple 4th age techs to pry it out of her hands. Assassination is avaibable from the Turks for +-490 gold, but I don't think we can build Assassins. We could use the tech eventually so we can get access to Medicine for 'hospitals' (glorified aquaducts in this scenerio). The Burgundians are kicking some Byzantine ass, suprisingly enough.

IBT: Massive Fatmid counterattack as Ansars ride out of the fog and massacre to MDI. Many, many spears and swords are moving up as well.

Turn 1: Salamanca, Navarre, Santiago, and Barcelona all build libraries, start knights. Vallaliodad builds temple, start catapult. Seville builds forge, starts catapult. Libraries reduce theology research time to 11. Put Lisbon on negative food to get the Norse Saga in 10; it has a full food box and is only losing 1 fpt so it can handle it. Upgrade two horses to knights as I am genuinly afraid of losing our north african toehold. Income now to -80 gpt, but I will kick off our GA next turn. Cats in Fayyum open up, going 6 for 8, a good salvo. Elite MDI in Lograno forces one Ansar to retreat. Elite horse attacks the spear now covering him, dies. Vet MDI attacks from Fayyum, killing the spear (we have to kill the ansars ASAP!) Vet horse attacks, loses 4 straight and promotes the Ansar...Have no choice but to send out a vet MDI from Lograno to finally finish off the stubborn Ansar. Kill 2 spears and 2 swords in the damaged stack outside Fayyum, no casulties and one promotion. Stack dead. I gamble and sent the damaged MDI outside Oran after and Ansar, forcing him to retreat.

IBT: Lose garrison sword in Fayyum, lose 1 spear and 1 mdi. Many more Fatmids move up; I'm guessing GA production boost.

rest of the report in a little bit; need to reboot.

 

[DeceasedHorse]

Turn 2: Cats go 4 for 7. The Knight I unloaded last turn kill off a Fatmid pillager spear:

MM for GA, start another library and courthouse. Bayeux Tapestry is now done next turn, Norse Saga in 7. There is, however, and unforeseen consequence: There is no way to get theology before the palace prebuild completes without starving Leon, although it should get away without losing any pop. We are still bleeding cash at an obscene rate, but will make it to theology in time. Load the knight into the (currently 1 unit) army, turn around and kill the vet archer the spear was guarding, promoting the knight. Unload another knight. Horse kills the redlined Ansar. Notice that I can drop science to 80% and still get Theology in 7; gpt is now -44/turn. Move Ferdinand into a Curragh; our position in Lograno is awefully exposed against 3 move Ansars, at least until the army is fully loaded.

IBT: Fatmids split the SOD, half going to Lograno, half to still hanging around Fayyad. Got to do something about that Elite Ansar in the woods. many more Ansars charge out of the fog. Kill three Ansars, lose 1 fort. Sword.

Turn 3: Madrid builds the Tapestry, starts on a library, due in 2. After that, it can pump knights every other turn while we are in the GA, and even start growing a little bit since it produce 40 spt right now. Sell off all our 'real' barracks. Cities are either building libraries or Knights, but I may sneak in some manors if we can't make alot of money selling Theology around. Fayyad switches to walls, due next turn. Nuke the Ansar with 'pults, kill it with vet MDI, fortify the rest in the city in hopes of stopping the 5 swords in striking difference. Kill 2 Ansars and a spear with the two-knight army, going to down to 3 hp but leaving no offensive threat greater than a spear in range of Lograno.

IBT: Well, it's a good thing Lograno is on a hill We kill 1 archer, 1 sword, and 3 ansars on the defense, losing 1 MDI. Praise be to the RNG gods. The Swedes destroy the Norweigans.

Turn 4: Decide not to load the Knight who promoted to Elite last IBT on defense so he can maybe pop a leader; load a vet instead, army now at full size and will be ready to roll next turn.

IBT: Fatmid troops shift their SOD's around some more, surrounding Fayyyum. Elite MDI repulses and Ansar, who retreats.

Turn 5: Kill 4 spears, lose 1 knight. Unload Ferdinand to form another knight army.

IBT: Fayyum finally falls to a massive Fatmid assualt. May be weed on my part , but even with walls and a hill city defense is tough, and we took out many attackers. Just couldn't get the army to the city in time as it was still trying to cut through the spearmen flood. The only major loss is our catapult battery.

Turn 6: Kill 2 spears and an Ansar. Science dropped to 70%, theology still done in three but we are finally in the black, making +1 GPT.

Turn 7: Seville and Santander both complete libraries, and get started on building replacements for our catapult brigade. Seville can build one every other turn, Santander every turn. Ferdinand and 3 vet knights create the Fayyum avengers army. Knight armies obliterate the Fatmid forces moving up on Logrono. Our own stream of GA-fueled units is pouring south, and I feel certain that the tide will soon turn against the heathan hordes.

IBT: Ouch. Fatmid Ansars reduce our two (already injured) armies to three and four hps respectivly, although we do get a promotion. Thankfully, 4 fresh knights will be unloaded next turn to help out.

Turn 8: Counter attack the Fatmid minisod, all but annihilating it.

IBT: We lose an army and an elite knight move three units are such a pain in the ass.

Turn 9: Theology finishes. Leon goes back to full production mode, Notre Dame due in 16. Lisbon finishes the Viking saga. Start research on Polearms, due in 9 with +10 GPT. The other choice was religious persecution, and, while great, isn't needed as badly as a defense 4 unit. Sell theology around, and get polearms anyway from the Abassids. Get Assassination, medicine, and 43 GPT from the turks for polearms and theology. Sell Theology to byz for 49 GPT and change. We can now run 100% science with +22 gpt. Religious Persectution due in 9. Oh, and it looks like we CAN build Assassins! Madrid switches to pikes, can build one every turn during the GA. I've spent over two hours on my turn and I feel like I've screwed us up militarily enough for one night, so that's it for me. Feel free to re-arange pike and knight builds, and get pikes and 'pults over to our stronghold in North Africa ASAP. As long as the army stays fortified behind the walls, I don't see the AI attacking and the longer we can hold on the stronger we will get, especially once the Fatmids lose their GA production and reserve troops. I apologize for the half finished turn but I can barely keep my eyes open as it is.

The battered Castillians

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Ok, got it. No problem with the incomplete turns, better handing it over before screwing up something.

And don't worry, I did expect those Fatimid SoDs...good for VPs.

One thing we really need ASAP are Galleys, to get our Sword Armies to N Africa; I'll swich research there.

Solid turns, lots of bloodshed as expected. As long as we don't loose Logrono, all casualities are acceptable.

 

[DeceasedHorse]

My major mistake, IMO, was over-using the Knight armies. Losing the cats was pretty bad too. I could attack three times a turn and win every single time, but the problem was I was just killing of their escorting spears and not the more dangerous Ansars and swords. The ai is doing pretty well with combined arms for once, and the Ansars had a nasty tendency to run up out of the fog and attack. I think we will be relatively safe once we get pikes fortified behind the walls and some replacement catapults.

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

@DH:
The one thing that completely surprised me is seeing the AI aggressively attacking (even fully health) Knight Armies with Ansars.


Short summary: We're really rolling now, the Fatimids semm gased, and the Abbassids may run away with this!

One Heathen down, two to go!

Castile 1245AD

Well, there are *some* Fatimid units nearby…
Minor MM, switch Aswan to Walls (don’t think we’ll have Quarry there for long). Concentrate on Pikes this turn, and shave a few turns off from some builds. I plan to get a couple more units over, and then dig in, and use the GA at least partially for infra (Manors, Hospitals).
Switch research to Seamanship.
Hawk around WM (as in any other turn). Wool to the Abbassids for 130gp, 10gpt, WM and Tar.
Enter.
Reg Archer manages to redline 4/4 Knight at Aswan, then dies and promotes the Knight.
2 Ansars attack the Army, bringing it down to 7HP
Turks and Abbassids start Notre Dame.
Theo demands Polearms...she isn’t exactly Catholic, right? I decline.
Arab Medicine pop-up.
Cordoba (Pike) -> Cat, Madrid (Pike) -> Manor, Barcelona (Knight) -> Knight, Vitoria (Pike) -> Cat, Asturias (Knight) -> Knight

Turn 1: 1248AD
Kill various Fatimid units without any casualties.
England gets WM and Early Siegecraft for 117gp and WM.
Rush Walls in Aswan, upgrade a Spear to Pike for 60gp.
IBT:
Ansar manages to kill all but 1HP from our Knight Army before he dies hew: . Ansar dies to Elite Knight. Asnar kills Knight. Ansar lands next to Toledo. Stupid Fatimid Settlers hurry to resettle that razed spot :crazyeyes:
Salamanca (Knight) -> Manor, Cordoba (Cat) -> Hospital, Lisbon (Pike) -> Hospital, Aswan (Walls) -> Town Hall, Vitoria (Cat) -> Pike, Santander (Pike) -> Pike, Jaen (Knight) -> Monastery

Turn 2: 1251AD
Bombard the landed Ansar and kill him with Elite Horse, no Leader. Kill a few units around Logrono. Shuttling, MM.
IBT:
Some Ansars die to our defending Army.
Toledo: Town Hall -> Cat, Murcia (Knight) -> Monastery, Pamplona (Knight) -> Monastery
Byzantines start Notre Dame.
And we have exactly 1000gp.

Turn 3: 1254AD
Join 2 native Workers in Madrid; we have plenty of Slaves, and our core is nearly ‘overimproved’.
Kill 3 Ansars next to Logrono, MGL (Army, of course). And our score is 10070, finally (Abbassids at 14255). Ok, we’ll get about 5000 for Techs, 1000 for Wonders, but that will get tough...
The Bulgar (!) forces outnumber us .
IBT:
Another Ansar impales.
Sweden and Turks end there phoney war (600 years before Bell....)
Santiago (Knight) -> Hospital, Navarre (Knight) -> Knight, Valencia (Knight) -> Manor, Madrid (Manor) -> Knight, Barcelona (Knight) -> Knight, Aswans borders expand, Vitoria (Pike) -> Pike, Santander (Knight) -> Manor, Asturias (Knight) -> Manor, Logrono (Cat) -> harbor prebuild

Turn 4: 1257AD
Form the Knight Army. Approach Fayyum.
Map brokering is no more worth the hazzle every turn, since the Abbassids and Franks know MM, too.
VPs 10150 for us, 14970 for Abbassids...but they won’t make that much more, I think. Why? Because Constantinople is size 2 and Bulgar! Smyrna is Bulgar as well, and Athens Burgundian...and the Abbassids are next to Casearea. Guess Theo is about to leave the building
IBT:
Ansar kills exposed 4/4 Knight..over a river, on forrest.
Seville (Knight) -> harbor prebuild, Toledo (Cat) -> Galley prebuild

Turn 5: 1260AD
We retake Fayyum with no losses, and get our 6 Cats back, + 2 Slaves. And it comes with Walls and Granary.
IBT:
Salamanca (Manor) -> Monastery, Cordoba (Hospital) -> Monastery, Madrid (Knight) -> Cathedral, Resistance in Fayyum ends, Vitoria (Pike) -> Pike

Turn 6: 1263AD
Fayyum is in such an excellent defensive position, I will concentrate on the W Fatimid cities next. Fatimids bring us one more Cat. Rush Temple in Fayyum.
IBT:
Fatimids have Assassins..but he and an Ansar dies against a (now elite) Pike.
Turks and Poland sign peace.
Turks and France sign peace – now wait, if France was at war with the Turks, how on earth could we trade with those ? Anyway, they redeclare immediately.
Seamanship comes in, Improved Siegecraft next – I want the Krak/Great Wall, should be extremly helpful. And the AI usually goes for other Techs first.
Navarre (Knight) -> Knight, Lisbon (Hospital) -> Harbor, Fayyum (Temple) -> Town Hall, Barcelona (Knight) -> Knight, Murcia (Monastery) -> Manor, Jaen (Monastery) -> Harbor

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Turn 7: 1266AD
Kill Fatimids.
France knows the Middle Class, and would give it for Theology, Polearms and (monopoly) Seamanship – will check again.
Rush 2 Harbors. Start on Assassins.
IBT:
2 more Assassins attack our Elite Pike and die.
Madrid (Cathedral) -> Knight, Toledo (Harbor) -> Blacksmith, Pamplona (Monastery) -> Cathedral (culture war against France), Santander (Monastery) -> Harbor, Logrono (Harbor) -> Town Hall

Turn 8: 1269AD
Upgrade some Curraghs for 60gp each.
Capture New Mahdiyyah (and some Workers).
IBT:
Assassin kills Pike.
And this:

Remember that, Sid team! (in fact, they were that weak since they never got Iron connected)

Salamanca (Monastery) -> Assassin, Cordoba (Monastery) -> Assassin, Lisbon (Harbor) -> Manor, Seville (Granary) -> Harbor, Vitoria (Assassin) -> Pike, Asturias (Manor) -> Monastery

Turn 9: 1272AD
Kill Assassin. Capture Slave. France still has a monopoly, but now wants only Theology and Seamanship. I don’t make the deal.
IBT:
Brave Fatimid Settler Combos head W; let them found
Santiago (Hospital) -> Harbor, Navarre (Knight) -> Knight, Valencia (Manor) -> Granary, Valladolid (Blacksmith) -> Harbor, Madrid (Knight) -> Knight, Barcelona (Assassin) -> Settler, Santander (Harbor) -> Galley, Jaen (Harbor) -> Pike
Furs deal expires

Turn 10: 1275AD
Abbassids know Invention – I smell a 2-fer. Grrr...didn’t work; in fact, we could get Invention, for absolutely everything we have...sell around our spare resources instead, and Sweden gets Theology for Furs. Note I sold the Turks Iron, enabling them to build Sipahis; guess we need another Eastern power now...Abbassids at 16235, Castile at 11755, Turks at 10555.
Change all Manors to Markets. Join 2 more Workers in Madrid.
Decide to play 2 more turns, I simply want to see the Notre Dame .
IBT:
Assassins strike...
– Bulgars declare on Abbassids!
Cordoba (Assassin) -> Assassin, Barcelona (Settler) -> Knight, Vitoria (Pike) -> Pike
Franks and Sweden start Notre Dame

Turn 11: 1278AD
Oops..there’s a stack of 3 Assassins next to Logrono, and 3 more on the road to Oran...all dead now; didn’t see them, but I ran enough Knights into them.
Rush Temple in New Mahdiyyah.
IBT:
Fatimids land a 2/4 Ansar next to Toledo :hm:
Leon (Notre Dame) -> Palace, Madrid (Market) -> Knight, Seville (Harbor) -> Market, Murcia (Market, WLtK) -> Knight, Pamplona (Cathedral, WLtK) -> Market, Santander (Galley) -> Pike, New Mahdiyyah (Temple) -> Walls

Turn 12: 1281AD
Kill 3 Spears, 1 Ansar and 1 Assassin at Oran without losing a single HP, and still a Worker shows up as defender...then I load an Assassin of ours in a Galley, and yes, it works! See 3 more Assassins, but the Worker is still on top; in other words, only the Caliph is left.
Capture New Iskanadiryyah – a stupid 3/3 Spear takes 8HP off an Army.
Found Palma at the Pyrenes to help with unit support.

Notes:

• At least for coastal cities, the ‘Assassin in Galley’ –trick works; you cannot stack them, they would be stealth target for Fatimid Assassins. Don’t use ours to attack, but to detect. And NEVER! move one of them in the path of a friendly unit, they’re subject of the ‘Sub Bug’!
• Leon is on prebuild again; note the Krak de Chevalier can only be built in towns, not cities, due to giving walls to the town! Thus you can trade away the tech without real risk; there hardly is any competitive size 6 city. Once the Wonder is started, no need to import Tar anymore.
• Focused on the southern cities, mainly because I needed Assassins for the larger ones. And we have enough Workers there to road to the Ivory. There’s a Fatimid Settler combo, wait until they found.
• A few more cities there would be nice for unit support; if we found at Red, we could even get Irrigation over there – of course, this is only worth it if we get the FP somewhere near.
• Minor ... didn’t start Arab Medicine so far; this one is more expensive then most Great Wonders, and could make a good prebuild for Madrid...except that I forgot there is only one wonder left that could be build in Madrid (Robin Hood), and this one cannot be prebuilt, since it requires a Sheriff’s Office ;switched now (Madrid wastes 34sp per Knight anyway)
• No trades so far; France is up Chivalry and Invention, and Abbas Invention.

Current standings:
Abbassids 16955
Castile 13245
Turks 11050
Sweden, Franks, Burgundy, Rus in the 7000
Bulgars surprisingly only 6325

We’re making progress! The usual AI madness for invisible units really helps us, Ansars were far worse...but the Abbassids and France are only one tech away from Swissies
And the Fatimids won't give us enough VPs to win.
What to do?

We could sign everyone cheap (Magyars, Germans, Burgundy, even Turks) vs the Bulgars, to avoid any more VPs for the Abbas; problem is, this may cause one of the 3 big Eastern Civs to win by Domination...
We could attack the Celts and/ or Burgundy for easy VPs.
Or we could run through the Fatimid core, bypass Tunis, mop up their remaining cities with minor troops, land sufficient forces next to Jerusalem (Swissie Army would rule...), and simultanously attack the Nile region.

I'd prefer the later. In any case, we have no time left; I couldn't advance faster because of the stream of GA fueled Fatimids, but their GA is over. And taking their lone Iron soon will ensure only Spears/ Assassins.

 

[Corrado]

So, where do we go from here?

The Fatamids still have a chunk of cities for us to take; after that, we can maybe have a quick war with Sweden and/or Norway to grab their NA holdings.

With Abassids and Franks so close to Swiss Mercs, and with Abassids so large and dominant, do we want to go up against them? High risk, but maybe high rewards if we can kill a lot of their units.

The other option is Burgundy. If they've sent their attack force to Greece, that means they probably don't have much in Italy. And if we sign the Germans and Franks to MAs, we might even be able to grab Greece for ourselves...

I don't think we'll hit 35,000, not at this rate, and not with the big defenders starting to show up. But we need to outpace the Abassids. That means either attacking them and killing them faster than they kill us (and the Bulgars), or hoping they sit around in peace while we conquer Burgundy.

 

[DeceasedHorse]

How difficult would it be for us to get the intelligence agency? IIRC, even though the Byz are dead, the Kievan Rus have access to the same tech tree. If we steal or research the entry tech, we should be able to trade for the Espionage tech. I think an accurate count of just how many units the Abassids have would help us plan this out better.

 

[Bede]

Got it.

Dispatches due Saturday AM.

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

We should try to research everything anyway and get every available wonder, this should bring us about 7500VPs; together with the Fatimids, that brings us close to 25000VP (btw, we need 30k, not 35k, Corrado). DH, knowing their strength won't help us much, we can't even see all their cities.

The reason why I'd prefer the Abbassids is (aside from the theme): Alexandria has about any thinkable Lux, we could land a force to detract them near Jerusalem, and head for those huge mesopotamian cities; so in fact, while it will be more difficult to get those cities, they come with 1,3 -1,4k VPs each. Note I don't want to take Jerusalem...

I've played the Fatimids once, and all my VPs (except the peaceful ones) came from killing the Abbassids, about 20k!

 

[Bede]

Crusade!!

Across North Africa to Palestine.

 

[Bede]

Update:
N African campaign going nicely. We've taken Cairo and all the West coast except New Asyut (founded by settler team Doc mentions). Ivory is online.
GA and heavy gpt deal with Turks have ended so Treasury is in deficit but with plenty of room for max research and military support.
We are approximately 1000VPs behind Abbassid but most of Euro is at war with them now without any encouragement from us.

Should finish soon and will post tonight after 7PM (-5GMT)

 

[Bede]

Crush the Infidel

Reconquista
1281
Abbassids 16955
Castile 13245
Turks 11050
Sweden, Franks, Burgundy, Rus in the 7000
Bulgars surprisingly only 6325

1281

Objectives for this round will be to drive eastward
across N Africa
Get sword armies and assasins to N Africa to
support Crusade towards Palestine.

As Doc wrote: Or we could run through the Fatimid core, bypass
Tunis, mop up their remaining cities with minor troops, land
sufficient forces next to Jerusalem
(Swissie Army would rule...), and simultanously
attack the Nile region.

Load armies and elite horseman into galleys for trip
to North Africa. Horseman is dispatched to shadow spear and
settler pair. When city is founded will try leader
fishing.

Diplomatic round shows not much doing. Most
nations are poor or have little to offer. Of the Euro's
only Joan has anything of interest but is unwilling to
to trade.

Invention and Chivalry would be nice to have.

Chivalry gets us the Crusader and we have lots of places that
would build them in 2 turns in GA and three
out if it. And Invention gets us closer to Swiss Guards.

IT
Fatimids pump three assassins into Oran

The Celts come calling and want our world map
Sorry, but no deal.

Santiago builds a harbor and starts a manor as I want to keep the gpt up when the GA ends. Other towns
finish military builds and start manors for the same reason

1284

The Battle of Oran
Cat bombardment goes 2 for 3 wounding the defending
assassins
Vet knight attacks wounded assassin,
is victorious,
promotes, no casualties.
Second vet knight attacks assassin in
garrison, takes heavy
casualties, but leaves the city open
for the army
Third vet knight kills the Caliph and
Oran is ours.We also gain two more
slaves. The sword armies and cats sail
into Oran and unload
The city starts a Town Hall.
Newly unloaded cats at Oran bombard assassin/spear pair
and Conquistadors attack: Spear and assassin are killed and the
Conquistadors take 30% casualties. Assassin from galley
joins the army on the hill outside Oran

Forces are assembled for the attacks on the towns on the flanks.
(South of New Mahdiyyah and Fayyum)

Toledo Blades unload at Logorno and
march across to join forces
with the knights and cats at Fayyum

IT

Assassins attack force south of
Fayyum and kill our assassin but the pike defeats the other.
Remaining Fatimid assassin is killed by cat and knight
GA ends.

1287

Forces move towards new targets.
Assasins outside Oran spy out
assassin/spear pair within reach
of our knights in Oran.
Elite knight attacks spear, wins
promotion and the North African
Mounted is formed in Oran with The Abbot's Horse as its first
regiment. Two more vet knights fill out the TOE

Cats and the Conquistadors and an assassin move out to flank
Minya after the Conquistadors kill the assassin

The forces (cats, knights, a pike and
the Toledo Blades) at Fayyum
move SE towards Uqsur.

Fayyum Avengers and an Elite Knight
leave New Isakariyah for the battle at the Fatimid city south of
New Madiyyah

IT
Assassin forces knight to retreat at Uqsar
The Abbasids come calling and want an RoP and an alliance
against the Bulgars. Turn him down flat.
Fatimid assassin and spear head for Minya
Fatimid found New Asyut SW of Aswan
1290
Fayyum Avengers attack southernmost
Fatimid city and kill a spear. Cats, knights and a pike are in
place on the other flank of the city
The Elite knight moves from the mountain to join the Avengers

Battle of Uqsur
Vet Pike moves forward, encounters an assassin, kills him and
promotes to elite
Cats move forward to gates of city
Elite knight attacks defending spear, kills the spear with no
casualties but does not promote
Vet knight follows up, captures the city
and four slaves.

Toledo Blades move into garrison.

Battle of Minya
Cats cripple spear and assasin on mountain
Toledo Blades finish them off and move onto heights.

Fayyum Avengers move from Oran to the mountain above Minya

Galley picks up assassin in Oran and moves to Mahdiyya
revealing another Fatimid assassin on the road between Mahdiyya and Eastern Fatimid

Pay courtesy calls:
Sell the Bulgars Medieval Combat cheap to bolster him against the Abbasids 41g +2gpt
Sell Theology to Germany for 61g +8gpt
Build an embassy in Pliska (Bulgars) as we will probably need
his help soon.
Simeon has stone, tar, iron and horses, wool and silk, producing
16spt, 20fpt, 19gpt at pop9. He's got a barracks, granary, temple and colusseum. Six spears, a sword, a king and a cat in the garrison (Dick Whittington's cat?) and he is at war with the Abbasids and the Turks.

Discover three barb camps
in the desert. Send a vet knight
out to seek promotion and gold
VP up 1400
Ab up 540

1293
We capture New Mansuriyya and
seven slaves with a single knight
Minya falls to the Avengers: two more slaves

IT
Burgundy joins the Bulgars against Abbasids

1296
North African Mounted takes Mahdiyya.

Position knights to take Fatimid Ivory city shortly.

With IS due in 2 turn down science spending so the treasury is
now gaining 143gpt.

IT

1299
The garrison at Mahdiyyah destroys the approaching assassins
with the help of newly landed knights.We lose one green knight
New Fayyum falls to our magnificent armies and as soon as we
have a road built we will have ivory.
Troops are positioned to take down Asuways in the desert. Its
destruction will secure our right flank for the Crusade to the Nile

Improved Seigecraft comes in and Leon switches to the Krak due
in 11

Monks start learning Divine Right due in 8
Thanks to our libraries and monasteries our gold to research rate
is excellent and the treasury stays in surplus even at 100%, that
will change however when the Turk gpt deals expire

Trade Improved Seigecraft to Joan for Invention
and small change (19g)

Everybody else is broke and has nothing to offer.

I try to renegotiate a wool deal with the Turks to see what they
might have to offer in gpt but the Turk needs all the coin
he can get as he offers only his maps for it.

IT

1302
Battle of Asuways
Ansar warrior appears in garrison (first one I've seen) and the
Ansar kills our attacking knight. Army attacks thrice taking minor casualties and razes the town

Forces are healing in Mahdiyya for the drive on Cairo and the
Conquistadors move out towards Asyut which has no visible
defenders, probably chockfull of those pesky blackflies.

Bulgars are losing ground to the Abbassids

IT
Poland joins Abbassids against Burgundy
Abbassids and Bulgars sign a Peace Treaty

1305
Kill a few more assassins and move troops to Cairo.
Load the Cats into galleys and start sailing to the east.
Upgrade cats to Trebs.
Bismarck has Chivalry and will take wool, the Middle Class and
Seamanship for it, buy it.
Peddle Theology to the Burgundians for 31g
The big gpt deal with the Turks has expired and the Treasury is
now in the red (-30). Leave research at 100% for Divine Right in
6.
There are two Fatimid towns left in Western Africa. The first will
fall next turn and get razed. New Asyut is in a prime spot on the
coast so I'm waiting for it to grow before attacking.
The advancing troops at Cairo have siezed the Fatimid iron
supply

IT

1308
West Africa is secure.
Cairo is ours.
Asyut is razed
Galleys unload at Cairo and set sail for
Seville.
Sell iron to the Poles to bolster them against Burgundy and get
reasury back to 900g.
Others are too broke to offer anything meaningful for technology
or trade goods.
Give Map Making to the Bulgars to improve his attitude
We're going to want his help against Abbassids when the time
comes.
Assasins in N. Africa uncover more pesky pesky Fatimid
blackflies.

IT
Abbassids declare war on Turks
Bulgars declare on Abbassids

1311
Build garrison at Cairo.

Position W Africa forces to take New Asyut

Eliminate a Fatimid settler/spear pair in desert near the rubble of
Asyut.

There are galleys in Seville loaded with troops for N Africa.
There are workers near Seville and in Barcelona which have completed tasks and need orders.
We are running out of things to do in Iberia.

There are workers, an assassin, and a hurting sword army NW of the rubble of Asyut heading to the nearest town to heal.
The knight army is S of Aswan IIRC and needs to heal before proceeding.

The Abbassids are over 20K and we are about 1K behind. We need to start building galleys to transport the needed troops to Palestine.
The eastern nations are starting to dogpile on the Abbassids with the help of a couple Euro's.



North Africa

Castilia

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Excellent!

Few comments:

The Turks are at War with the Abbassids - that could turn out to win us the game, since it will most likely remove the Abbassid Iron.

Note the Krak is only the 'old' Great Wall, it doesn't give walls to every city. Guess Leon should get a Hospital next, and then join all our native workers in Spain.

Set Lisbon on Palace prebuild at once; it's our best coastal city, and we need all available wonders - the hanseatic league is coastal only! Get Robin in Madrid, and Magna Charta in Leon again.

Assassins attack force south of
Fayyum and kill our assassin

Yes, that will always happen, AI Assassins always target the unit with the weakest defence - Archers make up for good lightning-rods, and Inquisitors are really good here. But our Assassins are too expensive, keep them away from the frontline.

 

[Corrado]

Pre-turn: Take a look over the Empire to familiarize myself with our situation. It's certainly changed a lot since I was failing to conquer the Fatamids earlier...

Following Doc's suggestion, switch Lisbon to a Palace.

Why are we building any Crusaders? Pikemen are better defenders, and Knights better attacks. Yes, Knights cost more, but are also more likely to be able to retreat. Switch all Crusaders to Knights.

IBT: Fatamid Ansar dies attacking our wounded elite Knight; Assassin finishes it off.

1314 AD (1) Valencia Harbor->Knight. Pamplona Knight->Knight. Jaen Manor->Hospital.

I don't see why we should bypass Tunis- Tripoli, as their capital, will have the final king, and getting Tunis takes their wines and horses, making their lives a bit tougher.

To that end, North African Mounted steps forward and kills 2 spear in Tunis for 4 hp lost. Two more Knights come along and kills the next 2 spears. Galleys drop off the rest of the massive attack force.

Our assassin kills Fatamid assassin outside of Cairo.

Our army captures New Assyut, begins work on Spear.

IBT: Fatamid Assassin attacks and kills our assassin.

Poland and Abbassids MA against the Turks.

1317 AD (2): Cordoba Knight-> Pikeman. Valladolid Manor->Library. Toledo Blacksmith->Marketplace. Murcia Harbor->Hospital.

Bomb the heck out of Tunis, then attack; Army kills a sword, spear, and assassin; wounded knight kills king, Tunis falls to us. Begins Spear.

Knight kills Fat assassin and promotes.

Realize that we have more than enough Galleys; switch Seville to a Knight.

IBT: Fat assassin kills itself on one of our Crusdaers.

1320 AD (3) Santiago Knight->Knight. Navarre Knight->Hospital. Salamanca Knight->Pikeman. Vitoria Knight->Hospital. Santander Knight->Hospital.

http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/DocTRAM.jpg[img]

Madrid begins Knight.

Attack Iskandirayah with two Knights; kill two spears and take it. Begin a Temple.

IBT: Fat assassin kills the wounded crusader.

Turks and Bulgars sign a peace.

[b]1323 AD (4)[/b]: Discover [b]Divine Right[/b]. Move to research Mercantilism.

Cordoba Pike->Pike. Barcelona Knight->Knight.

With 44 turns left, no Sheriff's office will gain back the shields spent building it. But we can't build Robin Hood without one, so Madrid is switched to a Sheriff's Office.

Trading around, and find France can pay us ~60 gpt for Divine Right. Abbasids can give us ~260 gpt! I don't want to trade it until we actually start on Robin Hood, though, and all the money the Abassids are offering us will just keep us from attacking them for 20 turns. So no deals.

Fayyum Avengers lose 8 hp, but kill 2 spears and take El Alamein.

Bomb Mansurria. North African Mounted attacks it twice, loses 3 hp, kills two spears, and takes the city. Begins Temple.

We are now over 600 VP ahead of the Abassids.

IBT: Fat assassin kills a kinght outside of Tripoli.

Kievan Rus and Abassids sign MA against Bulgars.
Denmark and Abassids sign MA against Burgundy.

[b]1326 AD (5)[/b]: Salamanca Pike->Pike. Seville Knight->Knight. Aswan Town Hall->Marketplace. Asturias Knight->Knight.

Elite Knight kills Fat assassin.

2 Knights attack Samara, kill two spears, spawn Ferdinand.

IBT: Fat assassin attack retreats one of our Knights.

[b]1329 AD (6)[/b]: Cordoba Pikemen->Knight. Pamplona Knight->Knight.

Fayyum Avengers kill an Assassin on the way to Tripoli.

Attack Tripoli with 2 Knights; first retreats after barely touching the spear inside; second kills a spear.

Unload 4 Knights outside of Fustat.

IBT: Abassids wish to re-negotiate our Wool-for-Tar deal. We agree to do so, by ending the deal.

We re-negotiate our ROP with France in order to get another 60 g.

[b]1332 AD (7)[/b]: Salamanca Pike->Pike. Valencia Knight->Pike.


[img]http://civfanatics.net/uploads6/DocTRKC.jpg

Leon begins a Hospital.

Elite knight attacks Samara, kills assassin inside, takes the city. Begins Pike.

2 Knights attack Fustat, kill 2 spears inside, take the city. Begins Spear.

IBT: Sweden and Abassids sign MA vs. Bulgars. France and Sweden sign MA vs. Bulgars. Poland and France sign MA vs. Bulgars. Maygars and France sign MA vs. Turks.

1335 AD (8): Santiago Knight->Granary. Seville Galley->Galley. Barcelona Knight->Hospital.

Sweden ends our Fur deal. For that, war! (Okay, well, we've had units sitting outside of Vasteras waiting for the war for a while. Hey, ~400 VP- we could use that.)

IBT: Assassin slips out of Tripoli, but does not attack any of our units.

Swedish Longboat shows up, and a Beserk attacks one of our Knights seiging Tripoli. The beserk dies.

1338 AD (9): Salamanca Pikeman->Pikeman. Cordoba Knight->Knight. Valladolid Library->Marketplace. Palma Temple->Harbor. Jaen Hospital->Marketplace.

Plague in Madrid.

Tunis rebels and joins the Fatamids.

2 Knights attack Vasteras and kill 2 spears, taking the city. Army (that I didn't realize was nearby) attacks a Swedish archer.

Knight dies attacking New Cairo, first non-assassin loss of this segment of the campaign. 2 other knights kill the 2 spears inside, though, and the city is taken and begins a spear.

IBT: Turks decide 37 gpt is too much for iron. 12 gpt is agreed upon.

1341 AD (10): Madrid Sheriff's Office->Robin Hood. Murcia Hospital->Granary. Satander Hospital->Marketplace. Asturias Knight->Knight.

Attack on Tunis- 2 knights kill 2 spears, city is reclaimed.

Bomb the bejeesus out of Tripoli. Doesn't work well, but then, if they had much bejeesus in them, we wouldn't be crusading against them, right? Send Elite Knights in to leader fish; kill 3 spears and a sword, but spark no leader. North African Mounted then kills the last Fatamid king.

So, here's our current situation.

We have 5 armies (4 Knights, 1 Swords) on Galleys. These are ready to sail off to Jerusalem, where they can be offloaded and not expect a counter attack. The rest of our forces are swinging around to New Cairo to make the attack through North Africa.

There are 38 turns left. We have 23470 VP to the Abassids' 21860. Unfortunately, we're going to be spending 2-3 turns moving units around, which will let them catch up somewhat. What's most important for the coming war is to take more VP than we give them.

The war against Sweden is mostly pointless. There are a few 2 pop Swedish cities in the Med, and we have a galley with 4 knights on it, so if someone wants to go for those, that's ~500 VP to be gained. But I don't know if that's worth diverting 4 knights from the Abassid front. IMO, if you can get a peace with Sweden, take it.

There is a Palace pre-build in Lisbon for the Hanseatic League, which we get with Mercantilism (due in 5). Madrid is building Robin Hood, and will have it in 10.

There a quite a few trade opportunities out there; I was very lax in trading because of the war. I was also wary fo trading around Divine Right when there was little of value for it and we'd be giving another civ a chance for Robin Hood. I think we're safe to get RH now, and Religious Persecution is available from the Abassids and Germans for trade.

Reclaim the Holy City of Jerusalem!

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Great set of turns, Corrado!

The reason to bypass Tunis was simply to ensure to take the Eastern Fatimid Cities including Tripoli while running towards the Abbassids; seemed easier to grab those first, and take Tunis last. But your way was fine as well.

a Beserk attacks one of our Knights seiging Tripoli. The beserk dies.

Agree with skipping Sheriff's Offices in general; just check if a city can reach 40spt with one (Leon?).
Btw, Leon could go on prebuild again...for the last wonder (Magna Charta); this one won't be available for Madrid, since it's a FP.
I wouldn't concentrate too much on Jerusalem itself, it should be too heavily defended; better focus on Bagdad and the cities there first.

Over to DeceasedHorse.