1700 (0): LK has left me a little alertness test
--six Celtic units near Bampur and an English cav in Egypt. We destroy them all (7-0).
I MM a fair amount, transferring some of the capital's wasted production (it's at 64 spt) to Sardis, helping Ghulaman (which is a serious city now) at the expense of the nerd camps
around it, and merging seven native workers into core towns below their potential.
It's too late to fix this now, since we're about to abandon self-research, but we've left some of our core cities without universities, although we get them at half-price.
Disaster strikes our reinforcement fleet, as two
submarines stealth-attack it and sink two galleons transporting eight inf (7-2). I'm going to have to abort the whole mission, since the galleons would have to spend another interturn at sea and only one could be expected to reach Bridgehead. What's really regrettable about this is that now we'll be too weak around Bridgehead to open up the way to the city for luring purposes, unless circumstances are ideal.
1705 (1): We defeat six Celtic and four Ottoman (two inf and two Sips) units landed next to New Zohak in Arabia, but we have to make some pretty dubious attacks to do it, and we're lucky to lose only an Immortal (17-3). LK is right--we're far too weak in Arabia.
Our exploring frigate discovers a southern island held by the English and Mongols.
Our fleet flees back to Kandahar.
One of our frigates defeats the attack of a Mongol frigate (18-3).
1710 (2): We ship four artillery to Arabia.
1715 (3): More reinforcements arrive in Arabia.
We lose two empty galleons, one to a submarine and one to a Celtic battleship (18-5). Naval movement has become just about impossible.
I suppose the rest of you have noticed this before, but one frigate makes a useless escort for one galleon, since the program decides that the galleon should defend so that the frigate can use defensive bombardment.
1720 (4): Research down to 0%, Steel still due this IT with most of our scientists turned into taxmen. We're now at 527 gpt.
We wipe out four Ottoman units landed near Fustat (22-5).
We plant spies with the unimportant Egyptians and Mongols, while failing to plant them with the Ottomans and English.
1725 (5): I found five minor cities so that Arbela can build another army.
With the transition to a no-research economy complete, we're at 599 gpt.
We're finally able to move our strike force next to Eboracum. Since there aren't many enemy units around Bridgehead I take the risk of combining this with a luring move there.
A very disappointing interturn. First, the sequence of play hurts us, as the Ottomans react to the open path we've left to Bridgehead before the Celts do, and block it, so that the Celts don't move anything out of their cities. Then, at the last possible moment, a
TOW inf appears in Eboracum. With both these factors operating against us, the attack looks impossible, especially as Eboracum is a size 13 hill town (though it was size 12 when I chose to advance on it--more wretched timing
).
Our exploring frigate, after being repeatedly ignored by Men-o-War for whatever reason, is finally sunk by one (22-6).
1730 (6): We eliminate a Celtic stack of six landed near Fustat (28-6). How long until their landings start to include TOW?
We trample two Sips and an English cav around Bridgehead, restoring our blockade there (31-6).
Finally, some good luck on the IT. The Mongols declare war on the Celts
![[pimp]](/images/smilies/pimp.gif "Pimp [pimp]")
, and Celtic units pour out of their cities, producing a Sid-like stack of 140 on the Celtic-Mongol border.
1735 (7): I pay to look into Eboracum. The garrison consists of four TOW, three flak, an artillery, a fighter, and a worker.
The Celts are at 60% science, 40% cash, with three luxuries (dyes, incense, and gems). Eboracum is connected to one oil, two coal, two saltpetre, three iron, and three horses. The Celts are
mobilized, unless they're in their GA, which seems absurd.
Even with the garrison (presumably) reduced, this is a questionable attack...but it's as good as we're going to get with our cav armies against the Celts now, I suppose. Our twelve artillery do well, redlining two TOW and yellowlining two. Our first cav army attacks the town, loses an admirably consistent 18 rounds in a row, and saves itself by retreating. But after this the RNG turns in our favour, and we eliminate the garrison without any further close calls (38-6). We capture an artillery and a worker, and raze the town for another six workers.
We crush a Celtic stack of six near New Zohak (44-6). No TOW in the landings yet.
We liquidate an Ottoman stack of three landed near Tureng Tepe (47-6).
1740 (8): We kill a single Ottoman guerilla landed in Egypt (48-6).
We expunge an Ottoman stack of four near New Zohak (52-6).
We successfully plant spies with the English and the Ottomans. England's army is very weak, so one factor in our favour is that we only have two serious opponents left.
The Celts have finished off the Mongols (on the continent), so their units start trickling back to their cities.
1745 (9): We ride down an English cav landed near New Bampur in Egypt (53-6).
Our armies heal, sort of--but healing in enemy territory while being bombed is a slow business.
1750 (10): We steal Combustion from the Celts (careful steal, 2416 gold).
Our strike force continues to heal, now in a fortress built by Celtic slaves.
We gun down a Mongol LB landed next to New Bampur in Egypt (54-6).
Well, I wish I'd achieved more, but after submarines and then TOW inf appeared at exactly the wrong time this was never going to be a round of sweeping conquests.
Six elite victories didn't produce a Great Leader this round.
