DocT01b - Middle Ages Modified: William Wallace

[barbslinger]

Freedom men! FREEDOM!

 

[Chieftess]

Originally posted by barbslinger

Freedom men! FREEDOM!

Why is it that I have the scottish voice from Age of Empires stuck in my head all of the sudden?

 

[Gobi Bear]

Gruffyd ap Llewellyn, Welsh warlord, speaks. "Celtic brethen, we have sat by idly long enough. It is time for action! The English dogs will be trampled by our horse and impaled by our swords. We ride for the plains of Central England!"

Here is the reasoning...

We are paying 69 gold PER TURN to maintain our military! 99 units and only 30 free maintenance from our cities. We are only breaking even right now even though we have several tax collector citizens. The forces we have are destroying our economy just to keep them fed constantly. So I think war against the English, where we will unleash these pent up Celtic war aggressions is the only alternative.

First thing I'd like to do is establish an embassy with England to view their capital. Only takes 29 gold, but even that is hard to come by. I plan to starve a few size 6 cities for 2 turns by adding tax collectors. That will get us to 29 in two turns.

I can just see the peasants groaning about the tax. "My lord, thy taxes are too much of a burden! We can't feed our lil ones!". Tough!

See here is the war plan of the great Gruffyd ap Llewellyn

I will use the horsemen to cross England swiftly and cut off all the roads to the north. The huge stack of Swordsmen will then move to take both Cumbria and York. We will defend in the hills of our Welsh homeland.

Would anyone like to question this plan?

 

[Chieftess]

I'm just concerned about the defense of that town (Dyfed) if we miss a sword or two on the hill. Other than that, looks good.


(I can still hear the scottish guy saying, "WAR, creeps in from the SOUTH!" )... must've played that scenario once too often...

 

[Gobi Bear]

I'm going to start playing now. We'll see how it goes. I might want to give an intermediate report before 10 turns are up.

 

[Gobi Bear]

At Start, 1068 AD: Micromanage the cities to maximize tax collection. Get it up to +8 gpt. Hopefully I did it right and won’t cause any unrest. Horsemen moved into position in NE Wales. Bring over more defensive troops for Wales.

1071 AD: Dyfed: Sword->Sword. Entremont: Horse->Horse. Two cities starve. Back down to -2gpt after starvations and new unit builds. Still need 4 more gold for the embassy! Matilda of the English would offer 6 gold for a quarry … don’t want to make a deal with our upcoming opponent in the war. Micromanage some more to get it to +4

1074 AD: Dublin: Horse->Horse. Armagh: Horse->Horse. Dalraida: Sword->Sword. Again two cities starve. Hope this embassy is worth it. I think it is. We found the future site of the Holy Roman Empire (in just 4 turns). Take a look!

Looks like 2 Swords, 5 Spear, 2 Horsemen, 1 Warrior and the army. Along with her loveliness, Matilda, herself. Barracks, Temple, Market (were these there at the start?). Army appears to have 11 HP. Ugh!

This is actually a good place to pause. What does everyone think? Do we attack as plan, bypassing Chippenham, cutting off the roads north, and taking the two northern cities. Or am I crazy???

 

[Chieftess]

Well, we'd have to deal with that stack - maybe shuffle a few more units over. Also, I'd wait until the wonder is done. Let them build it for us!

 

[bobT]

England will use their army and stack of swords to knock out Dyfed or maybe even further west to our small coastal cities. I cant se them falling into the trenches and just defending. As soon as your turn ends, obviously England will ask u to leave, and then declare war. This will give England first strike.

 

[Gobi Bear]

Or, since England is still on our soil in Wales, I ask her troops to leave. If they don't, England will declare, but I will move first. Plus they will take the diplomatic hit.

I do have at least 3 good defensive units (Sword or Spear) in each city and hill tile in Wales. Moving more over as they become available.

Right now, I really think I have to go to war. We are broke and each new unit built sends us further into debt. It says our military is on a par with England. I think I need to test that theory. Worse comes to worse I lose the two cities in Wales. With Iron now in Scotland, I think those are acceptable losses if I gain the two cities in northern England in return ... they are actually closer to our capital and should become less corrupt if I settle that area with our own settlers.

Yes, I want them to finish the wonder. Of course I'm not headed against Chippenham in the next 4 turns, even if I start a war right away. They won't stop building it because of war will they?

Some other concerns:
1. Holy Roman Empire will start their golden age. It is a Militaristic and Religious wonder.

2. Holy Roman Empire will let them put one more troop in that army (which does come up as 2.1.2 in the right-click ... I guess it is all horses).

 

[Gobi Bear]

Headed to bed right now. Won't play this further until the morning at the earliest. So you'll probably all have some more time to comment.

 

[warpstorm]

I say go for it. If we really are on par we should be able to take the northern cities anyways. Do they have any more iron than the one near Repton?

 

[Gobi Bear]

I don't believe there is any other iron. If so, you're right, that makes Repton a good ancillary target once I get the northern cities to fall.

We can also (later) invade their island city to our north. Just not well positioned for that right now.

I have a bunch of things going on today ... probably won't post my turns until this evening.

 

[Gobi Bear]

1074 AD (continued, turn 4 of my move): I ask the English to leave Wales … they declare immediately. I proceed with our plan.

The horsemen in Central England are slaughtered, but they tie up almost the entire English response. Only one attack on the SOD we have between their two northern cities. Plus they sent out many city defenders to prey on the horses. They do attack Dyfed, but it holds. Their army heads to Cornwall … almost perfect. It is even red-lined by our Spear. If we have to lose any city, that is the one. But I’d like to try and knock off that army while it is red-lined. Overall we lose 11 units in their first attack; I can tell by the boost in treasury we enjoyed. Time to get rid of all those taxmen! We killed 4 swords and 1 archer, and severely wounded at least twice that many. I’m hoping our counterattack will be delicious. Our losses are 8 horsemen, 2 spear, 1 sword.

Here’s what it looks like after they attack.

1077 AD: Verulamium: Spear->Sword. 3 Swordsmen attack the spear guarding his army and then the army itself. Spear dies … we get the army to 1 HP, but the stinking Horseman army can retreat. Can’t get it this turn! We go after York. 2 archers and 2 swords attack, killing 4 spears (no losses!). The city falls and we raze it. A settler will be on his way soon. Capture 6 workers! Cumbria is in the hills. It might be a bit tougher. We have to kill 6 spears and a horse this time (we lose 3 swords). But Cumbria falls too, and is razed. We take out four more wounded English in the Midlands, but we need to heal badly now ourselves. Our initial momentum will probably slow a bit now. I see the Holy Grail 1 tile north of Chippenham, stacked with an Elite swordsman. Can’t hit it this turn, but amazing it is out there… So far we’ve lost 14 units; they’ve lost 16. Plus we’ve razed two cities and red-lined their army. Let’s hope we can keep the upper hand…

Here's our lines after our second attack turn moves:

IBT: Well no one can claim this current war isn’t bloody. The English counter, and just on their turn we lose 10 units (3 swords, 5 spear, 2 horse) and they lose 8 (7 swords and 1 archer). I’ll take it. We do lose one tile in south Wales with a sheep.

1080 AD: Cork: Curragh->Curragh. Strathclyde: Settler->Sword. Alesia: Sword->Sword. Disorder in Cornwall and Dyfed. I hire some entertainers. Kill 3 more English swords in the Midlands. England refusing to honor our envoy. Lots of healing. Found the relic again. Now held by a Veteran swordsman, 1 tile SW of Chippenham. Lose 1 sword attacking in Wales, but make it up killing an English swordsman in Cornwall.

IBT: Attacks are lessening. I lose 2 wounded swords and a spear, England loses a sword. Camulodunum: Sword->Sword. Richborough: Settler->Sword. Curragh in Baltic sinks (no where to go with it but into enemy territory). The English pull out of Wales. All of Offa’s Dyke is ours! The Veteran swordsman carrying the Holy Grail attacked Cornwall last turn and is now wounded!

1083 AD: Kill 3 Swords and a Spear. We meet the Byzantines. Hole up in Cornwall and let the Grail come to us. We move south with the fresh troops and set up a line behind the river Trent. We can found new Cumbria and York cities next turn. England still refusing to honor our envoy. Advisor now says … compared to the English, we have a strong military!

IBT: Well THIS is interesting. Swedish Vikings (spear, berserk, and settler) land on Eastern England where the cultural border dropped when we razed those cities. We have a settler right there to refound York, hopefully just in time.

Knock off 2 Swords (including the one carrying the Grail – a Spear now picks it up!), lose 1 Warrior, and then get attacked in Cornwall by the English army again … fully healed. But we defeat it! Alfred the Great perishes in a peat swamp at the epic battle of Bodmin Moor. The Cornish folk songs will revolve around that epic for centuries to come!

English complete the Holy Roman Empire in Chippenham. They gave us an army this turn; let’s see if we can’t pick up a Grail and the Holy Roman Empire soon too! We do have to be careful though … they must be in a golden age now.

1086 AD: Armagh: Horse->Horse, Dalraida: Sword->Sword, Brittany: Curragh->Curragh. Ah-ha! I notice Mathilda is ready to deal now. She is offering us peace for 22 gold, 2 gpt, and Castle Building. Do we take it and let England move into their Golden Age? Or do we fight on?

I’ll post the save and let everyone comment again. I’ve played 7 of my 10 turns.

The Save

 

[bobT]

Im just having fun readin your great strory that goes along with the turns

So I suggest you play the entire game writing a new paragraph after each 5 turns or so hehe.


However, to add my views on this one, are we ABLE to move on in battle, or will it weaken us to a point that England or others could just wander back through our land. I would like to see us take out the capital and claim the Roman Empire as ours if at all possible. Right now England wants gpt, but if we take down that city, maybe their demands will be lessoned, and we could turn around and ask for more.

So, going to that one final spot prior to peace is mho.

 

[bobT]

Excuse typos above, just crawled out of bed

 

[Chieftess]

Originally posted by bobT
Im just having fun readin your great strory that goes along with the turns

So I suggest you play the entire game writing a new paragraph after each 5 turns or so hehe.

Shall I move it to Stories & Tales then? Gobi should write more about the heroic epic of the Irish (or Scotts).

However, to add my views on this one, are we ABLE to move on in battle, or will it weaken us to a point that England or others could just wander back through our land. I would like to see us take out the capital and claim the Roman Empire as ours if at all possible. Right now England wants gpt, but if we take down that city, maybe their demands will be lessoned, and we could turn around and ask for more.

So, going to that one final spot prior to peace is mho.

What do our forces look like? (And England's) Definately a slaughter on both sides. From the looks of it, England's starting to use spears to pillage our roads, so I'm guessing they're feeling the pinch. If we can't take Chippenham, we could lick our wounds, and settle around their razed cities, and build up again. But, I'd like to try and take the relic, too. 10,000 points... That means taking out some Sassinid cities (even temporarily), but it's still 10,000 points.

 

[Gobi Bear]

Keep in mind that in the peace deal, 2 gold, 2 gpt, and Castle Building are all coming TO US.

We definitely have more military, since we are getting reports that we are STRONG against them. We have 14 swords and 2 archers currently in the Midlands, many in the need of multiple turns of healing though. 2 are Elite swords, and I keep trying to get them to promote, but it hasn't happened yet. We also have about 5 swords that can move on to the attack from Wales. Cornwall is a defensive action right now (but a glorious one at that).

My main reason for peace is to get Castle Building out of the English. That would move us up to the next age ... and perhaps we could get another tech from them next war. The ideal thing to do would be to make peace, take Castle Building, and then go back to war in about 4 turns. But I assume that would really, really hose our reputation, wouldn't it? Or is it not so bad since we aren't paying out GPT as part of the deal? Anyone know?

Oh yes ... one more thing. I'll keep writing the stories, as long as someone else composes and performs the lyrics for the Heroic Ballad when we are all done. I'm not much of a singer!

 

[warpstorm]

All in all, an excellent outcome to the war.

I think it would screw up our reputation to attack them before the 20 turns ends. (BTW, Ed, you have the code, you could check this answer definitively).

I agree we CT, if you can get the Grail before suing for peace that would be sweet. A bird in the hand and all that. Then we can build up a little and, with some luck, crush them.

I think the discussions for our next target are worth starting.

 

[Chieftess]

Originally posted by warpstorm
I think it would screw up our reputation to attack them before the 20 turns ends. (BTW, Ed, you have the code, you could check this answer definitively).

Cheaters.

 

[Gobi Bear]

I took a quick peek at the code, but that's not an area I am familiar with. Looks like having any deal in place that is broken by a DOW gives you the same reputation as a deal-breaker. Doesn't look like something we want to do.

I'm going to proceed through the 1086 turn, and then think about a peace deal at the END of the turn. That seems to be the most logical course of action. If the Grail is within easy reach, I might hold off on peace a bit longer.