Night Demons - War of the Triple Alliance

[Chalito]

Game Report/ Story based on this scenario… https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/guerra-del-paraguay-1864-1870.447787/
I started listening to a Podcast about this conflict and learned a lot of new things. So, I have revised the map a bit to try to be more historically accurate and increased the War Weariness for Argentina and Uruguay.
Playing at Emperor difficulty level, which is called something else here.
Now I have tried the historical Paraguayan war path and have only met defeat, so this time I am going to try a new strategy, go straight at southern Brazil! The heart of their civilization, I shall be sun bathing in the beaches of Rio by turn 20!
Okay let’s begin…

1864 - Week 41
Order of Battle
Logistics
3 Esclavos (Workers)

Artillery
10 Fuerte 0(8)-5-0 (Immobile)
11 Cañon
1 Artilleria de la Guardia

Infantry
17 Milicia Civil 0-4-0 (Immobile)
42 Infanteria de Paraguay 4-4-1

Mounted
1 Caballeria Irregular 6-1-2
2 Rgt Escolta Pres. Aca Caraya 5-4-2

Navy
2 Corsario
3 Vapor (Transport)

Population: 520,000 6th
Land: 7,900 sq ml 3rd

I got a big ole military, but unfortunately only 3 of my cities have what you would call decent production. Also, all units require 1 population, which makes our attrition situation a lot worse!
Now for the plan, I divided my forces in two to head into the South and East directions. I was to send every single unit that could move out of Paraguay for the attack.

South Group
6 Artillery, 21 Infantry and 2 Mounted units were sent to Uruguayana. After the capture of this town, the second objective was to be the large city of Porto Alegre. Because of Uruguayana’s precarious position, I knew I would have to keep a large force fortified there.

East Group
This second group consisted of 6 Artilery, 21 Infantry and 1 Mounted unit along with 3 Workers which were needed to connect the target city of Curituba through the rough terrain for quicker reinforcing. It was going to take a while to get to Curituba, and the hope was the city wouldn’t be heavily defended by then. I didn’t have a second objective planned for this group, it would all depend on how far the South Group advanced. Maybe move south to Florianapolis to reinforce the other group, or possibly keep driving east to São Paulo, if the other group was very successful in the south.

1864 - Week 47
Battle of Uruguayana
We got here fairly quickly with our big force and overwhelmed the Brazilians, 3 enemy Infantry units killed with 0 losses!!! Wow, I’ve never managed to take this town with 0 losses before! We had our full force intact and immediately kept moving on to Porto Alegre!!
Unfortunately, I had forgotten that on the railroad to Porto Alegre was a Brazilian Fuerte unit plus another immobile Infantry unit all fortified inside of a Barricade!

1864 - Week 50
Road to Porto Alegre
The Fuerte unit has a bombard range of 2 and are absolutely devastating. Their defense is only 5, but they also get an extra 2 HP. And with that we threw our forces into the Barricade! And it was a terrible scene! We lost 4 Infantry and 1 Mounted unit attacking the Fuerte. Worse is that the Fuerte was now a full blown Elit unit with 10 HP!!! I thought about bypassing it all together, but I needed that railroad line it sat on for quick reinforcements. Instead, I decided to just bomb the heck out of it until it was low enough HP to attack again. I knew this was going to cause a bit of a delay, but felt it was the better choice.

1865 - Week 7
Battle of the Porto Alegre Road
I kept pounding the Barricade, but the Brazilians kept bringing in more and more defenders, along with Artillery units to the Barricade. I had to act now, before it became insurmountable to capture. I thought I had done enough bombardment and so I sent in my forces again to launch an attack. Once again it was an epic fail as I lost 5 infantry while only killing 2 enemy units. The Fuerte unit itself still stood, the barricade still in Brazilian hands! At this time the town of Uruguayana had also come under constant attacks from the Argies in the west and the Uruguayans to the south. And that was it for the South Group, I lost too many units and I needed to back to Uruguayana to defend and defend. What a disappointment, didn’t even get close to reaching Porto Alegre!!

1865 - Week 10
IBT – We were extorted by the Chileans for a total of 74 Gold and a Territory Map. Absolutely shameful!

1865 - Week 13
Battle of Curitiba
The East Group had at long last arrived at a Hill tile north of Curituba to commence the attack! Our Mounted unit was able to achieve a Golden Age for us. Excellent! We needed this to ramp up production of the reinforcement units to come.
We also needed a Great Victory and we got it! 5 units killed, which only losing 3 and we have taken our first large Brazilian city!

 

[Chalito]

1865 - Week 16
Ejército Regular tech achieved, which will allow us to create a more advanced Infantry unit with 6-5-1 stats! Next up is Espionaje! This Tech will allow us to get an Invisible Mounted unit that also see Invisible and can stealth attack Artillery units. I need this before the Alliance starts building them.

1865 - Week 28
So, I had hoped to move on from Curituba to the Florianapolis in the south, but we just got pinned down by a relentless Brazilian attack. This is also a Brazilian Fuerte unit 2 tiles away sitting on a Hill that has been pounding away at the town causing damage. A steady stream of enemy units including Artillery has further reduced the defenses of Curitiba. We have suffered way too many losses to even think about launching another attack any time soon. I’m afraid to say, but I think we’ve now reached the culmination of our attack!

Uruguayana has faired a bit better, as there haven’t been to many attacks on this town and any were repulsed quickly.

The Argentines have been steadily marching up the Parana to try and take Humaita AKA “The Gibraltar of the South.” Which is an incredibly difficult path to take, as we have a total of 5 Fuerte units in this area, and we have been continuously pounding the invaders relentlessly.

1865 - Week 43
The Brazilians have now started to appear further up the Eastern front and in the South. All the way up from Concepcion to Curitiba. Curitiba has continued to be the primary meat grinder for both us and the Brazilians, but they have a whole bunch more cities producing units. The Uruguayans send the occasional Infantry unit to attack Curitiba as well.

Down in the South, the Argies have continued to try the Humaita path to no avail. They are starting to try the Encarnacion path too, which does not have the Fuertes to defend it.

1865 - Week 52
Road linking Paraguay proper to Uruguayana has been cut off by the Argies!

In Curitiba, the situation has gotten from bad to worse. We are down to 6 Artillery, 2 Mounted and 6 Infantry units! The enemy appears to have an infinite amount of units.

The Brazilians don’t send a SOD, they instead keep a relentless attack of 2-4 units on every turn. They come in from the roads and they are coming from the sea. I have been able to bombard and then take them out with my mounted units and return to safety. But they destroyed a road on a Hill tile to the northeast of the city and so I have to leave their last defender alone, less I lose any of my precious Mounted units.

Very little activity in Uruguayana, the Argies have been concentrating on the Humaita and Encarnacion front. I did leave 3 Artillery and 6 Infantry units fortified in Uruguayana, but that shouldn’t be enough to deter to AI from attacking, especially since it’s a VP location. In any case, I rush-build any non-military Improvement throughout, as it is time to hit the Mobilization button!

1866 - Week 3
Military
Logistics
7 Esclavos (Workers)

Artillery
10 Fuerte 0(8)-5-0 (Immobile)
1 Cañon
12 Cañon Estriado
1 Artilleria de la Guardia

Infantry
16 Milicia Civil 0-4-0 (Immobile)
17 Riflero Paraguayo 6-5-1

Mounted
5 Caballeria Irregular 6-1-2
1 Rgt Escolta Pres. Aca Caraya 5-4-2

Navy
1 Corsario
3 Vapor (Transport)

Population: 1,429,000 12th
Land: 19,200 sq ml 5th

Victory Points:
Triple Alliance = 5,445
Paraguay = 5,295

So our Infantry units have been reduced by almost 50%, that is some serious reduction by attrition, the Battle of Curitiba has been hell! Doubled my territory through Conquest, but mostly Culture in this game. The Victory Point standing puts us very close to the Triple Alliance, must be all the points I’m getting from my active defense.

1866 - Week 6
First sighting of Brazilians in the north near Fuerte Olimpico, the front is getting wider!

1866 - Week 15
This turn is 26 out of 108, so a quarter of the way through.

Been fighting for this Mountain tile northwest of Curitiba with the critical railroad on it. The mountain went back and forth, but unfortunately in one of these battles I lost 3 Artillery units to the Brazilians. Curitiba has steadily remained under a tremendous pressure. Reinforcing as much as possible, but we are down to only have 3 Infantry, 3 Mounted and 6 Artillery units. It won’t be long now I’m afraid, we just cannot keep up with the attrition.

Uruguayana on the other hand, has still been completely ignored by the enemy. The Argies still getting pushed back by the Humaita Fuertes! But a new tactic has emerged from Buenos Aires, they are now sending Artillery stacks along the Parana River to what I assume will be Asuncion, completely bypassing the Humaita area. Now that’s some good ingenuity by the AI!

 

[Chalito]

1866 - Week 21
Our GA is over! Ugh, our production is going to take a big hit!

1866 - Week 27
IBT – Well, those damn Argies snuck through the gap between Encarnacion and Humaita and launched a furious Mounted attack on Encarnacion! Unfortunately, we were not prepared at all and only had 3 defenders in the city that succumbed to the attack. We were able to take out 5 of their own units before the city was captured! In the east, the situation has now become critical as Curuguaty and Concepcion are now coming under constant Brazilian attacks. They are all over the eastern frontier and I’ve been forced to move some units from Curitiba to stabilize the situation in the frontier! I’m going to have to relocate some of the Worker units as, it is no longer safe to be in the country side.

Brazil has a 4-1-2 Capoerista unit which ignores terrain cost and they are maybe a bit too powerful, moving like the wind through the jungles!

1866 - Week 30
Well, I really thought it was over for me here. Losing Encarnacion would have been devastating as one of only 3 cities producing units consistently. I will say that the town of Curuguaty has started to increase production to a meaningful level as well. But alas, I had moved in any Artillery and Infantry units available to prepare for the recapture of the town, when I decided to just send some Mounted units to attack Encarnacion and discovered the Argies hadn’t moved in any defenders into it yet. And thus the town of Encarnacion was back in the fold of the Paraguayan Empire!! WOO HOO!!!!11


1866 - Week 33
IBT – A little over a year ago, the city of Curitiba was captured by the brave Paraguayan soldiers, but the time of occupation would come to a bitter end, as the attrition finally gave way. In the final defense of the city, we lost a mix of 3 Infantry and Mounted units, plus 3 Artillery units that were captured. What a sad ending to only have 3 units defending, but that was all I had, as the battles raged throughout the borders of Paraguay. I’m thinking that railroad we built from Curuguaty to Curitiba is going to come back and haunt us!!!


1866 - Week 36
I realized it was only a matter of time before the Brazilians would start to pay attention to Uruguayana, it has a Victory Point location after all! But I was not going to risk losing anymore Artillery pieces in this very exposed salient, opened to attacks from all sides. I made the call and had all units leave the burning town behind, it was time to defend Paraguay to the last man, or at least until I got bored with the game. The Argies had arrived on the doorstep of Asuncion with their Artillery units ready to begin the siege of our capital. It was at this time that I instated a national Draft in every city I could, and it was only 3 of them, and only every once in a while, so I could draft some fresh meat too.

1866 - Week 39
The undefended city of Uruguayana was captured by Brazil.


1866 - Week 42
The Brazilians had brought 4 Artillery units to Curuguaty and the siege had reduced the town to nothing, but then we launched a counter and killed 4 enemy Infantry units, plus captured their Artillery units, which were promptly melted down! That’s what you call an Active Defense!


1866 - Week 45
Just after the siege was broken, a huge number Brazilians units were spotted heading to Curuguaty, the first enemy SOD had come to Paraguay!!!! The fortress protecting the railroad from Curitiba has been taken over. I should have destroyed the rails when I could!


1867 - Week 2
Military
Logistics
7 Esclavos (Workers)

Artillery
9 Fuerte 0(8)-5-0 (Immobile)
1 Cañon
7 Cañon Estriado
1 Artilleria de la Guardia

Infantry
12 Milicia Civil 0-4-0 (Immobile)
11 Riflero Paraguayo 6-5-1 (more than half are Conscripts)

Mounted
3 Caballeria Irregular 6-1-2
1 Rgt Escolta Pres. Aca Caraya 5-4-2
2 Gaucho 4-1-2 (Invisible, Sees Invisible, Stealth)

Navy
0 Corsario
2 Vapor (Transport)

Population: 821,000 15th
Land: 17,400 sq ml 5th

Victory Points:
Triple Alliance = 11,745
Paraguay = 10,100

Well, it was a very tough year! Every city as far north to Puerto Penasco is coming under attack. Our military has been dwindling a bit too. The worst has been in Curuguaty, which is slowly starting to become the next Curitiba. The Brazilian SOD has arrived and is continually being reinforced, they have 9 Artillery units all pounding Curuguaty non-stop. BUT, we have 8 Artillery units of our own and we’ve been hitting them right back, plus a steady flow of 1 or 2 fresh Conscripts gets sent to this front line city to hopefully gain some experience. There is no Battlefield Medicine in this scenario, so the Brazilians either have to go home or die!

The Argies are still getting repulsed through Humaita and Encarnacion, they have now a good number of Artillery units laying siege to Asunción, but I think I can push them back from our capital.

Roads between north and south have been cut, but I can still move troops quickly with using my Vapors on the rivers. I have not seen any enemy Gauchos at all, but I’m still not complementing using them to attack the enemy Artillery, unless the AI starts doing the same.

 

[Chalito]

1867 - Week 17
Pay Peru 16 Gold and a Territory Map. Need to keep all outsiders out of this!


1867 - Week 20
After a lot of back and forth, we were able to bomb the heck out of the Brazilians in Curuguaty to launch an offensive against their big stack and were victorious capturing and destroying 7 Artillery units!

IBT – Once again, we lost the southern city of Encarnacion to the Argentines. This time they sent the invisible Gaucho units to attack. I had relocated my Gaucho unit from this area to help out in Asuncion and thus were not able to see them.


1867 - Week 23
Well Encarnacion is one of our 3 key cities, so I needed to do all that I could to keep it under Paraguayan control. I sent in my Mounted units and was able to recapture it killing 2 units. But this was a Pyrrhic Victory!!! I had nothing to defend the city afterwards and I knew this was the last time I would be in control of Encarnacion.


1867 - Week 26
IBT – And as expected, with lighting speed we lost Encarnacion for the 3rd and last time! We would never return to our beautiful city on the Parana River. I haven’t been able to draft unit units for a long time. The enemy units all over the country side and cities cannot grow big enough to support a new Draft. I shall fight on for a bit, to see if we can get any glimmer of hope…

1867 - Week 32
IBT – And there was no hope, Asuncion fell to the Brazilians. Our capital has fallen, we’re done, it’s over!!! The dream of the Paraguayan Empire once again ends in a nightmare.

Post War thoughts:
For the amount of units I had, I thought I did a pretty good Active Defense job in Curitiba. But once they pillaged the road on the Hill tile, it was over, I could not risk my Mounted units from clearing the Brazilians out of that tile. I probably should have employed more Artillery units over there, as our Mounted units could not attack on every turn, they had to rest and sometimes I even had to send them back to Curuguaty to completely heal in the Barracks.

So, one thing I learned from this, is that we can hold off Argentina for quite a while around Humaita, but need to defend Encarnacion a bit more. Even though they sent a siege force to Asuncion, they were not accompanied by the attacking mounted units, they kept those units attacking Humaita and Encarnacion. A new possible new strategy; send a single SOD straight to Curitiba and down to Florianopolis and Porto Alegre, then back up to Sao Paolo. All while keeping a Passive Defense on the Argentine border.

Another idea which I need to try is to attack Argentina only, but I don’t know if the Brazilians will funnel in a single direction like the Argies did. This could make that strategy much more difficult!


Scenario Changes:
I’m going to add Campinas and Santos cities around Sao Paulo, just to make the heart of Brazil even bigger and more important.

Remove the extra HP from the Fuerte units, or just reduce it to +1.

Reduce the Capoerista unit to 3 attack, they are just way too powerful with their movement ignoring terrain.

Not a change, but I need to refrain from attacking too much on the rivers, the AI does not still know that they can move their ships here with the Flintlock Mod, so I had free reign to destroy a bunch of roads, a bit unfair.