Turn 0: Cancel Cow and Wheat to GK for 11 and 6 gpt, respectively. We've got to start looking at him as a rival, not an ally, and giving him 3-4 health per city is too much. However, he'll give 18 gpt for Stone, and that seems safe enough, so I take it. (What's he going to do, build his space ship out of rocks?). Cities look good; I switch a few tiles for higher food, on the theory that this is the down time to do it; and switch a few production queues around, mainly getting cavalry mostly built, that will magically transform into half-built gunships when we google "rocketry". Likewise MGs become mechs. I'm not sure what will happen to half-built infantry: they can upgrade to either mechs or SAMs, but how is that decision made when both techs are discovered on the same turn?
Turn 1: Approach Philly. The airforce strikes the defenders, and panzers reduce the numbers of the defenders. It makes me nervous to face off against a stack of artillery that large, even if he's already dead in the larger picture.
Turn 2: Fun fact: artillery are resistant to collateral damage, right? Not from bombers:
I don't know why, if it's intentional or an oversight by the programmers, but bombers
can do collateral damage to artillery. Now you know. Panzers kill six defenders.
Turn 3: Nappy demands 510, the fool. Slaughter philly's defenders down to, but not including, the last man. Internet clock = 2.
Turn 4: Bomber recon reveals that Moses is in Boston. Sometimes civ can get a little surreal, eh? Recall most of Philly's beseigers towards Washington. Adjust production queues, direct workers, naught else.
Turn 5: Internet count = 0. It's not the longest Internet list I've ever experienced (10+ layered Leonard Nimoys are pretty cool), but it includes Composites and Robotics, the key late-game military techs:
Destroy the Americans, leaving just one artillery (I don't think it's worth garrisoning Philly at this point. If Nappy takes it, so be it, we can retake later). Hey, spending 9600 gold on upgrades is fun! Priority to mechs and jet fighters. Panzers and bombers are about 1/2 upgraded, maybe 2 or 3 turns to finish the job.
Turn 6: Let slip the dogs....
A stealth bomber destroys his only Coal mine. Advance on Rheims (for some reason, his cultural boundaries have not expanded to fill the dead American's space. So artillery can step next to his city) and on Boston. Stealth bombers soften up defenders/counterattackers.
Turn 7: In between turns, he brings out the artillery, the gunships, the modern armor. Philly falls, expectedly. Washington falls, partially expectedly; I had hoped he wouldn't have/devote the resources to it, but it wasn't a strongpoint. Chicago holds (the airforce has been rebased to Utica just in case, but I'm still glad Chicago held). Clean up extra-city units. No major assaults.
Turn 8: In between turns, lots more gunships. Technical note: a gunship cannot claim an undefended city. However, it can destroy any aircraft in that undefended city. In this case, I'm talking about Atlanta, where I lose 2 jet fighters. Oops.
16 stealth bombers. How shall I allocate them? I decide to spend them on Boston until the job is done. The last 5 help out at Rheims. I take Boston, but the Rheims stack isn't large enough. The medic III is there, too. Hope I don't lose him.
Turn 9: There's just too many defenders in Rheims, and my stack is shrinking. Ivan the Terrible takes the remaining 2-movement dudes and moves towards Boston, abandoning the artillery. I give Ivan some cover with gunships and units from the Boston stack.
Turn 10: Regroup and heal.
Overall things didn't go quite as smoothly as I'd hoped (losing Washington, not taking Rheims). He had more expendable artillery and gunships than I'd accounted for. But he's spent most of them now, and I think we're in a good position to tear him down.
Our forces are concentrated in and around Boston. Next target should be Rheims to lift the culture. He has some spare troops there, beaten down by stealth bombers, but nothing too frightening. He's got a stack of artillery in his capital (13, I think) plus a half dozen more scattered about, but I haven't spied any large reserves of armor/mechs/gunships. After Rheims, either reclaim the left coast or strike at his heart: Orleans, Lyons, Paris. Enjoy!
peace,
lilnev
