Final Voyage of L'Invincible Armada - Spanish Emperor Attempt III

[steviejay]

1200AD
With the turn of the century the Great Battle For Ur begins-
The Second Army advances and is able to disperse 2 Vet Muskets, but at a high cost, redlining the army.
The Forth Army rushes in and kills another 2 Vet Muskets, damaging that army highly as well.
Regular Muskets left.
Vet Knight retreats.
Vet Knight wins and promotes
Vet Conquistador retreats.
Vet Conquistador retreats.
Vet Conquistador retreats.
Vet Conquistador retreats.
Vet Conquistador dies
Forth Army kills Reg Musket.
Elite Conquistador wins. No leader
Elite* Conquistador kills Longbow man.
Move 2 Elite Knights to position to attack next turn should the attack falter.
Run out of units. I’ve no more units nearby. All that’s left is redlined Conquistadors in Sumeria. But there is only LONGBOW MEN LEFT!!!!
Redlined Conquistador attacks. Dies
Redlined Conquistador attacks……



My army is now EXTREMELY over stretched. All my Muskets are in Sumer and the area around Ur is teaming with Sumerian units.

For the Record, I also captured the Collossous and the Sistine Chapel!!

Mop up the units. With Ur’s culture gone I can move troops from Agade and Lagash to attack the units near Ur. 1 Elite, 1 Vet AC attacks 2 Longbow men, win. Attack the MDI with AC, 1 retreats, 1 wins.

author note- there’s nothing like wiping out a civilization while listening to Iced Earth. Try it, its awesome, believe me

Kill 1 Longbow man near Sumer.

Luxuries to 30%

IBT- Lagash flips to Sumeria. DOH!!!

Disease strikes Macao.

Sumerians move 2 Longbow men out of Akshak

1210AD
Retake Lagash with no loss, capturing 188 gold.

Kill 1 Mustket man in Akshak with the Third Army, moving the rest of the stack to within range of the city.

IBT- Sumerians and Hittites sign an alliance against us. They must be kidding me??

My Golden Age ends.

1220AD
For the first time in years, Spanish Artillery can finally come into play and I bombard Akshak

Attack with a MDI but loose, bombard some more and attack using an elite MDI against a redlined Musket….



Nice.

Arttack with a Knight but it fails to do any damage and dies. Follow up with a MDI and finally capture the city, along with 2 slaves and 76 gold.

Three Empty armies now, waiting to be filled.

Move the First and Third Army towards Kish, the finish line… kinda.

The capturing of Akshak has resulted in a nice little bit of information

Hail to the King baby!!.......... well Queen

Kill the 2 annoying Incan Longbow men.

IBT- Greece and Iroquois sign a peace treaty. Traitors. Need to try to sign peace with the Iroquois now.

1230AD
Give the Iroquois 150 gold for peace.

They don’t know Magnetism….. I just learnt it. Economics, Military Tradition , 150 gold and 12gpt . They also give me Democracy and 6gold for Iron. Never seen that before.

Trade Democracy with the Indians for WM, 3gpt and 60 gold.

Using only 2 Armies, I am able to kill 3 Muskets and 1 Longbow man……


Perfect timing I think for my upgrade from Trebs to cannons and knights to cavalry/

Kill 3 Longbow men and 1 Pike outside Ur (they are either taking units from cities of they’ve reconnected their iron. Not that it makes any difference)

Make peace with Korea for 68 gold. Then sell them Ivory and Silks for WM 220 gold and 12gpt

Make peace with the Inca, Japan, Rome, France and America straight up.
Sell the Inca Ivory and Silks for WM, 20g and 8gpt
Incense with Rome for Education and Printing Press.
Democracy to France for WM, 10gpt and 30 gold.
Silks to America for WM, 80gold and 24gpt.

IBT- Sumerian troop movement

1240AD
Its now I notice that the Sumerians have captured the Viking city on the ice island to the south east of Madrid. Need to capture that.

Capture 2 Sumerian workers with the Forth Army.

WW is at 54%. Need to make peace soon.

3 AC, 7 Conquistadors and 2 Knights move towards the Sumerian city of Kula, supported by the Second Army.

1250AD
Loose 2 ACs and 1 Knight but I’m able to kill 3 Muskets, 1 Pike and 1 Longbow man to finally capture the city of Kua.



Karistad is the city on the ice island.

The war is over. The Sumerian Empire has fallen from being the Cultural Center of the entire planet to a 4 city bit state who’s only purpose now is to act as a buffer between the Spanish and Russian Empires.

Another successful war I'm now the top dog. I own about 5 wonders, including the very nice Leo's Workshop and Sistine Chapel. Now I'll spend a few turns building up my troops on the border, upgrade the troops, form new armies and head off again to finish the Sumerians.

Write up to follow soon

 

[El Loco]

Wow! everything went very smoothly and perfect (what else can you expect from a scot). You achieved all your objectives and you didn't suffer any casulaties. I think the game is now turning to your favor you have your island more or less in your pocket. I hope you kick the sh-t out of the celts for what they did to you on your previous, previous game. Good luck my fellow country men!

 

[GR8Madmax]

Good job with the war. Excellent planning.

 

[steviejay]

Sumerian War of 1000AD – 1250AD

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/steviejay_review1.jpg
The war began with a huge battle, the biggest of the entire war. In a single engagement I routed the Sumerian army by wiping out more or less their entire offensive army. After that battle they never really became much of a threat. With all the units gone I was successfully able to push on with the newly created Third Army and mop up the outlying Sumerian cities. Not crutial to the Sumerians but a potential thorn in my side so they had to be taken. With those cities taken care of I could mass my army in Shantung and advance up towards Der, as per the plan at the beginning of the war. These cities fell without much in the way of a fight, but this might have been due to actions on the other front, which I shall come to later.

With Zalabam taken I was planning on moving straight onto Der, however I got slightly bored waiting for the army to finish its attack on Zabalam and attacked Der with units from Macao. This was due mainly to my lack of patience and its always been a problem in my Civ games.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/steviejay_review2.jpg
Ok, stick with me here. When my forces in the south were fighting their hearts out against the Sumerian Hordes, the Two Spanish Armies in the North (the Glorious First and Second Armies) were tasked with causing mayhem to the Sumerian transport and communication networks. The sheer characteristics of Armies helped in this greatly, the First Army, using Blitz could disconnect all the roads leading through the intensely dense jungles, wasting valuable turns to for Sumerian units to get to the front and engage Spanish units. While the Second Army, although not as fast as the horses in the First Army, had the offensive capability to keep any stray Sumerian units away from the cities of Macao and Yangchow. (with the addition of the Forth Army later on, I went on a pillaging frenzy)

With the fall of Der I hit a major snag, where to go now? I’d not planned this far ahead. With the somewhat…….. loose use of pillaging I’d done enough damage to Sumeria that no troop could move about successfully, yet this severely hampered my ability to move my own units, noticeably my artillery, which I had planned on being part of my main force.

The “Slow Advance” was just that, with jungle there was no cavalry units pushing out and galloping towards the enemy, it was just one large stack, moving ever so slowly towards their objective. By the time of the capture of Bad-tibira I had begun to realise that the Sumerian threat wasn’t the greatest so I could split my forces. So, the Second Army covered a Horse SoD towards the city of Lagash while I moved troops towards Umma and the sources of Spice there. Getting the spice wasn’t a case of denial. The Sumerians had more sources to the north which were out of reach but Umma was a large city, and probably churning out Longbow men like you wouldn’t believe so the city was an ideal target, and taking the city was also essential to opening up the Sumerian borders towards the grassland to the north, which would finally allow my advance to get some momentum and it also allowed me to advance and capture Erech, an important city with a source of Horses, Saltpetre and also home to a Great Wonder.

While the “Slow Advance” was churning on, I begun to stockpile a great deal of units in the cities of Der and Macao, mainly Musketmen, waiting for the fast units to capture the cities which they would then follow into and defend. But I also begun to amass Conquistadors in great numbers. Now, at 3 attack, these units weren’t as good as Knights or even MDI’s or Longbow men but they were perfectly suited for the type of warfare that was bogging down the Spanish Forces to the north, literarily.

The large marshy area which I had hoped would, and succeeded in, keeping the Sumerians from flanking the heavily defended cities of Macao to get to the soft underbelly of the newly captured Chinese lands were impassable for normal units, but these Conquistadors crossed them in a turn and I believe the Sumerians weren’t ready so the city was lightly defended. As a result, the “Conquistadors Sprint” were able to take place and, easily take the city which meant I didn’t need to divert units from my main force which doesn’t have any real military value.

Its also here that I noticed just how good Conquistadors actually are. They easily held their own against Muskets, which I found extremely confusing at first. Normally I just attacked cities with Conquistadors in the Forth Army, preferring to save my Conquistadors for pillaging or picking off units silly enough to be left in the open, but after the capture of Isin I started to use them in a more offensive role (the most notable use of Conquistadors in an offensive role in this war will be apparent later)

After taking roughly a third of the Sumerians cities (including the industrial powerhouses of Umma and Lagash) there was a brief reshuffling of troops to ensure that if something went wrong I could fall back on defensive positions. I wanted Ur. It was the jewel in the crown in terms of cities. It houses 3 Wonders and was a cultural powerhouse (Every time I pressed enter to end the turn I lived in fear that half my army would simply disappear in a depressing cultural flip) From my position in Lagash it was so tempting to just move my troops towards Ur however, a capital city with wonders is one which the AI tend to want to hold onto and I simply didn’t have the units. To divert my attention from the main prize I sent a small force to capture the
Sumerian port city of Agade.

While this was going on, the main forces, supported by the ill-used artillery and backed by an Army advanced on the Second City of Sumeria, Sumer. This city was similar to Umma in that it was a production center for Sumeria and also it opened up the way for my Armies and fast units to move towards the cities which I considered the Finish Line, Kish and Kua. With the capture of Sumer I was able to advance forward and capture the Akshak.

With the recent successes in mind, I decided to go against Ur. The battle was immense and cost me dearly. My urge to take the city almost cost me 2 Armies, the Second and the Forth. If I had failed to take the city in the first turn then a large portion of my army would have been left out to be moped up by the Sumerian Longbows. Even after the capture of the city the units were left to fend for themselves due to me pushing them to the extreme of their range. The battle was very bloody, a prime example of why you should wait for artillery support when taking large cities. Two Armies redlined, many units retreated, almost as many dead units littering the grasslands around the city, if it wasn’t for the sudden appearance of Spanish Conquistadors from the recently captured city of Sumer then the battle would have been lost. The taking of the Great City of Ur by Spanish Conquistadors was certainly the high point of the unit’s history. With the capture of Ur, I knew the Sumerians were finished, they no longer held any great cities from which to spit out units to defend against me, instead relying on cities either in the mountains or just beyond. Thus ended the “Core City Capture”

Despite the capture of all the main Sumerian centers of production. They had not given up. Very like the Germans in 1945, they seemed to have produced a great deal of Longbow men. Also, with the Forth Army sent to offensive duties they were able to reconnect an iron supply and had begun to output Pikes once more, a lot better at defending than the lowly Ed Warriors. But by this point I knew the war was coming to an end. With Luxuries at 40% and War Weariness at 54% I wasn’t looking forward to having to push my entire army across the mountain range. Better still to keep the Sumerians as a buffer state between myself and the Russian Empire. And anyway, if they annoy me I can just march over them as if they weren’t there.

Since the beginning of the war I knew that the city of Kish would be important. It housed Leonardo’s Workshop and considering the point of the game I’m just entering (Cavalry and Riflemen) I knew that I’d need the wonder for a cheap upgrade to get the better of the Russians and the Celts. With only a small front now I was able to push forward a superiour amount of numbers towards the two cities and they both fell easily, thus the Spanish forces passed the “Finish Line”.

Its at this point in writing that I realise something completely bizarre….. with the Sumerians out of the picture and the Vikings getting chewed up by the Celts and Russians, the main forces left on my continent are Russia, the Celts……… and myself. Déjà vu no??

Russia is next. They hold the peninsula linking the Celtic lands to my own, those cities must be taken to ensure an adequate defence against the Celtic Barbarians and anyway, the Russians ain’t my best friends. I killed them once, I can do it again, the only problem is that, I’m now entering the Russian UU territory. Spanish Cavalry against Russian Cossacks. Sounds like fun.

 

[rbis4rbb]

Great job with annihilating the Sumerians. I hate them late in the game they become nearly unstoppable. Hope your girlfriend gets better.

 

[biggamer132]

Great new entry, stevie. What's wrong with your girlfriend though?

 

[steviejay]

nothing really. she's fine, just got the flu or something (to be honest I think its the fact that her exam results come in a week tomorrow)

subnote- GRRRRRRRRR Lagash just flipped back. Bloody Sumerian culture

 

[biggamer132]

nothing really. she's fine, just got the flu or something (to be honest I think its the fact that her exam results come in a week tomorrow)

subnote- GRRRRRRRRR Lagash just flipped back. Bloody Sumerian culture

Looks like someone needs more culture...

Hope your girlfriend feels better.

 

[steviejay]

I'll need alot more culture. Bodo flipped back as well. BODO!! Nothing's happened there in 300 years!!!!

 

[Sandman2003]

Sumeria and Greece sign an alliance against the Iroquois. Hey wait a minute ain’t they supposed to be………… well not talking!!!

Well actually, earlier you said...

1130AD
I’m at war with ten different nations. To avoid myself getting REALLY chewed up I sign a treaty with Greece. In other words, I sign alliances with Greece again – Japan, Inca, Koreans, French, Romans, Americans and the Iroquois. I have to give them Ivory and Silks to seal the deal however

I don't see Sumeria in that list...so no reason for Greece and Sumeria not to talk!

Another great war on the Sumerians, btw.

 

[El Loco]

Nicely done. You showed the sumerians who's boss. This is yur best story so far, keep up the good work!

 

[steviejay]

1250AD
Ok, before I can do ANYTHING, I need to get the road network back up and running.

IBT- Washington completes Smiths.

1255AD
Upgrade 3 Galleys in Madrid to Galleons. I’m gonna invade the Hittites, just for kicks.

15gold to upgrade a Knight to Cavalry. That’s just cool!!

IBT- Sumeria and America sign an alliance against the Iroquois.

1260AD
Rush Temples in the majority of the Sumerian cities.

There is a rudimentary road network operational. It will still take years to get a complete one up and running.

IBT- Celts land a Gaelic Swordsman next to Karistad, but I saw the Galley coming and landed an elite Longbow man and a musketman of my own.

1265AD
Loads 6 Conquistadors into boats along with 2 Muskets. For the invasion of the Hittite home land.

Kill the Gaelic Swordsman .

IBT- Lagesh flips over to Sumeria

Sumeria and India sign an alliance against the Iroquois.

Bodo flips as well!!!!!

1270AD
Enter the Industrial Age!!

Sell Japan saltpetre for WM, 39gpt and 80gold

1295AD
Land 6 Conquistadors and 2 Muskets next to Tarsus, the closest Hittite city.

Time for a bit of wheeling and dealing. The Greeks have Steam Power, no one else does. Spices, Ivory, 220gpt and 800gold gets me the tech. Now hopefully I can sell it on.

America will give me Free Artistry, WM 200 gold and 124gpt for it. I’ll take that!!
Korea will give me Medicine, WM and 8gpt for it. Taken.

Begin the great Rail Road building

IBT- The Hittites attack my stack with 5 Archers. Kill 4 but 1 kills a Musket :shock:

Russia and Sumeria sign an alliance against America. Good luck.

1300AD
Attack Tarsus, loose 1 Conquistador but kill 3 Spearman and the Archer.



The third Galleon arrives and drops off 3 Muskets and 1 Longbow man
A stack of 5 Longbow men, 1 Ed Warrior and 1 Musket man have approached Ur. Demand they leave and they do, unfortunately they head south to Lagash.

Create the Fifth Army. A Cavalry Army.

IBT- The Hittites move a hefty stack towards Tarsus: 4 Archers, 2 Warriors and 12 Spearmen.

1305AD
By sheer chance I happen to glance at the mini map. The Inca and the Greeks are all but destroyed!!! The Inca have 1 city, the Greeks have about 4 and the Vikings are down to 3!!!

IBT- The Hittites attack Tarsus but I honestly lost count. They lost several Archers that’s for certain, promoting all my Muskets.

1310AD
Upgrade 27 Trebs to Cannons.

IBT- Rome declares war on America. They don’t stand a chance.

1315AD
Kill 4 Hittite Spearmen but loose 2 Conquistadors. How does that work??

1320AD
War Weariness is starting to bite so go make peace with the Hittites. Get this, for peace they’re willing to give ME Harran and Ugarit. In case you don’t get whats funny about this. This is there only 2 OTHER CITIES!! They only have a capital now. Silly fools.

Create the Sixth Army.

IBT-
Russia and the Celts sign an embargo against me. Interesting……

1325AD The Inca are no more. The Vikings are soon to follow.

1330AD
With the Vikings down to their last city I nip in and “steal” their last worker and all their gold 16 by trading them my WM. Bye bye!!

IBT- The Russians are moving 15 Knights and 6 Cossacks into my territory where am they going?? Can I successfully defend against a force that size?

1335AD
Use Conquistadors to form a barrier across the continent. Denying the Russians access. If they are just moving to get to the last Viking city they’ll go back, if they’re going to attack….. well, then we’ll know.

Not that I’m suspicious but I begin moving my forces to the Sumerian border.

IBT- The Russian units swell from 15 Knights and 6 Cossacks to 13 Cossacks and 17 Knights.

1340AD
Sell Horses, Ivory, Silks and Spice to Korea for 62gpt.

1345AD
The Vikings are finally destroyed.

1350AD
Renegotiate peace with Sumeria as a prelude to war. I’ll finish them this time, and get the cities back which I lost to culture.

IBT- Longbow man dies trying to attack a Spanish Knight. Ur Flips. Now I’m really pissed.

1355AD
Kill 2 Pikes to recapture Ur. Kill 1 Pike in Boda but the city still holds out unfortunately.

Kill 3 Pikes in Lagash to capture the city.

Loose 2 Conquistadors but kill 1 Musket and 1 Pike to capture the city of Kisurra.

Loose another 2 Conquistadors but kill 2 Muskets and a pike to capture Kuara.

IBT- Korea offers an alliance against Japan. Refused.

Nagsu flips to Sumeria <grunt>

1360AD
Attacking a Longbow man outside the Sumerian capital of Kutha I get ANOTHER leader so that&#8217;s 2 Empty armies now. I know for certain I want 1 Rifle Army to protect my cannon stack so&#8230;&#8230;&#8230; Cavalry Army?

Move the Forth Army south to deal with the Sumerian cities which flipped back to Sumeria.

Move a cavalry army each to the city of Kutha and Susa.

IBT-
Sumerians get rifles and Umma flips

1365AD
Kill 4 Riflemen in Susa to capture the city.

Kill 3 Riflemen and 1 Musket in Kutha to capture the city, loosing a Conquistador in the process.

Recapture Nagsu, killing 1 rifleman and 1 ed warrior

Recapture Umma, killing 1 rifleman.

IBT- Greece, Sumeria and the Celts sign an embargo against me. Nice of them..

1370AD
Attack Bodo, the last Sumerian city, but can&#8217;t capture it. Not enough troops. Next turn. Pretty much got a full rail network up and running. I can get troops to front lines in 2 turns or less.

1375AD
Kill 1 Rifleman and 2 Ed warriors and YES!!!!!!!!!!............... no??

WTF?? Where are they??? They must have a settler somewhere&#8230;&#8230;.. ah



Three Pirateers close by. Loose 1 Pirateer but finally kill the Caravel and capture another Pirateer and&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;. Aww come on!!

Oh wait, found them. They were able to capture a French cities.



IBT- Tutub flips to Sumeria and they land a longbow man next to one of the undefended Hittite cities I captured (Ugarit)

1380AD
Recapture Tutub and land 3 Conquistadors and 1 Longbow man outside Poitiers. To prevent the Sumerians having ANOTHER city, I gift Ugarit to France. They&#8217;re the weakest (living) Civ so I can recapture the city later.

IBT- Japanese wish to renew my saltpetre deal, but I alter it so instead of getting 36gpt I get 19gpt and Furs.

SDumerians kill a Conquistador. I won&#8217;t be able to take the city next turn.

1385AD
Trade the Iroquois Steam and Medicine for Dyes, Nationalism, WM and 1 gold.

Attack Poitiers, killing a Musket, but loose another Conquistador to a Sumerian rifle. Ned to wait for troops to come from the main land DAMN DAMN DAMN!!!!

Spend 1000 gold to upgrade 34 Muskets to Rifles. I&#8217;m not fussed, I&#8217;ve got 5000 in the bank. Spend another 900 to upgrade 12 Pikes

IBT- America asks for an embargo against the Indians. Don&#8217;t see why not. Also get 20gpt for Ivory from them.

Oh, the Russians wipe out the Hittites, didn&#8217;t even know there was a Russian force on the island.

1390AD
Create the Seventh Army, a rifle army, which will hopefully hold back the Russian hordes.

Just looking at the landscape of Russia isn&#8217;t promising. Its very open, the cities are (for the most part) spread quite far apart. Moscow is right at the far end of the empire so I&#8217;ll need to plow through the entire Russian Empire to get there. I can&#8217;t play a war of movement with these guys, the Cossacks will eat me up. I do have armies (2 Cavalry) which will help me greatly and I&#8217;ve got 1 Rifle Army to help defence, but on tyhinking about it I may use this army to transport cannons about, as cannons will be very important in this war. There will be no breakout, it will be one long drawn out war. As a result I&#8217;ll need to change government, Communism most likely.

IBT- Celts offer a peace treaty straight up. Why not.

Sumer flips back.

1395AD
Recapture Sumer, loosing 1 Conquistador.

1405AD
Land 4 Cavalry next to the (hopefully) last Sumerian city.

1410AD


At bloody last!! Now for the Russians.

Trade Japan Iron for 38gpt
Silks to Rome for 10gpt

 

[general_kill]

170BC
Currency to the Vikings for Monarchy and 40 gold and begin a Revolt immediately. Spain will be a Monarchy and Elizabeth a Queen in 2 turns.

heh, just thought i'd point out to u that u may have a traitor within your kingdom.

 

[steviejay]

heh, just thought i'd point out to u that u may have a traitor within your kingdom.

DOH erm............ I meant that

 

[El Loco]

keep it up

 

[rbis4rbb]

Nice job. Now is not the best time to invade the russians with their UU being strong. I would hit the Celts.

 

[steviejay]

congratulations :goobjob: you get a cookie. I came to the exact same conclusion. and what makes it better is.......... they've only got pikes

 

[rbis4rbb]

Do you mean the Celts only have pikes? Because that would rule.

 

[steviejay]

they only have pikes Pikes, MDI, Knights, the usual rag rtag group of goodies.

they've got sharp pointy sticks against my 3 Cavalry Armies

 

[El Loco]

its gonna be a walk on the park