Hi guyz! And THX again for all the amazing feedback!
A note about the bushorchimp.jpg: i used it simply because it was
amazing 
I didn't intend to side with anyone - american politics is a matter of americans, foreigners have nothing to say about it. BTW, we italians are very fond on political satire. In fact, one of our favorite sports is to ridicule politicians. Our prime minister, mr. Berlusconi, is often the subject of a merciless satire, even from the televisions he actually owns!
Now it's...
REPLY TIME
Zelda's Man: Kud0s for the rating!
JackRules: hehe if Bob insists in this totally masochist conduction of his affairs, i'll probably find weak opposition from the Iroquois. The AS has never performed so badly...
Sub: i was a little lucky at the beginning. I could have been screwed immediately at the attacks on Thebes and Memphis... but great risks were to be taken for having at least a chance to win the game. Anyway, i must admit myself that i performed greatly in exploiting the dumbness of the AS
Shadow Phoenix: it would be quite worse. But Bob is so broken that he isn't able to upgrade a single unit at the moment. About Steam Power, my rep was ruined when the trade with the greeks was interrupted (i thought at the moment that it was still intact). Abe doesn't want to sell me Steam Power for goods per turn, then i'll go for the espionage option.
jafink: congrats for your victory... but why don't you insist on regent?
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ANOTHER TURN PLAYED
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1410AD - Big things coming
Bob is still at war with Persia and still in Republic. Does he love
so much to be in war weariness? Being religious, he could switch to monarchy with only 1 turn of anarchy. Frankly, his ineptitude in dealing with the most basic things is spoiling a little my satisfaction for the successful military campaign against him.
I trade world maps with Abe. Still no sign of a rail line in the iroquois territory... but obviously i cannot say if Abe's maps are updated or not.
As usual, i focus on the "obvious" tasks first. Obvious tasks this time means Oka and Kahnawake. The units defending Oka are still spearmen. Good. A cavalry kills the first, then i try with a rifleman, hoping that the 2nd regular spear is the last... i was correct: the rifleman kills the spear taking no damage and walks into the city, capturing an iroquois worker.
The defender visible in Kahnawake is a regular rifle, and i have still 5 cavalry units available for combat. The first unit attack and redlines the rifleman, but is killed. A regular musket shows up. The 2nd unit charges and dies. The musket is redlined but promoted (2/4) and is
still visible. The 3rd unit attacks and kills the musket taking no damage. The redlined rifleman shows up, and is killed by the 4th unit, which takes no damage and gets promoted elite. Kahnawake falls. A galley and a frigate that were parked into the town are sunk.
There are also bad news. In both the 2 cities every citizen is resisting. I have no much units for quelling, and there's a not so slight chance of a cultural flip. But Kahnawake has mantained its harbor. I'm putting all the units into the cities, in order to take advantage of the grace period for quelling purposes. 4 cavalries and 2 rifles are still available, and i can safely move at least 2 cavalries to the front.
A galleon is moved north to reach the shipchain and spots 2 iroquois units in the open waters: a frigate and a caravel, both of them regulars... and here i make a mistake. Instead of sending my vet frigate, i send the 2nd galleon to charge. It's redlined but victorious! Too bad my frigate is sunk in the attempt to destroy the caravel, which is redlined but still alive. Lucky with the galleon, unlucky with the frigate... i think it's ok, after all.
Here's a shot of the area after my movements:
Oka and Kahnawake... what an ugly name, let's call it Kaname. Oka and Kaname are both set to build a temple, which will be rushed once resistance ends. There are 5 fine coastal tiles good for domination purposes. And since we're talking about the domination count, here's the update: 657 tiles acquired, 202 to go.
In the Old World, slaves are redeployed as usual. The settler popper from Forte Mungo has moved to the foundation tile. Next turn it will build its settlement, and Forte Mungo will be abandoned. Some units have reached the gathering point.
Now let's deal with the hot potato: the iroquois front. The 1st problem is Ashur. There are 1 rifle and 5 muskets (plus 2 weaklings) in range for reaching the town next turn. The defender visible is a rifleman, the town is on open terrain but the cavalries coming from Pasagardae will be forced to cross the river. However, i must capture it, even if it's costly: next turn it could be much worse.
The cannon fires. The first tears off 2 hp from the vet rifle, the other kills a pop. The roman cavalry charges, and meets fiercy resistance. Two cavalries are killed and 2 redlined before the rifleman and the musket are eliminated. Another unit is badly damaged. A regular spear is still in the city. A rifleman disposes of it, and walks into the town. Ashur is captured. 193 tiles left for the domination limit.
From Forte Cesare, 2 rifles are sent as reinforcement and the 3 cannons follow along. The last rifle is sent to the mountain tile NW of Ashur: it's important to subtract from the enemy the possibility of garrisoning on that mountain. Now Forte Cesare is free from cultural pressure. A lone rifleman is enough to defend it. The unit is sent from Pasagardae.
It is time to assess the pester stack north of Forte Augusto. Cannons manage to weaken 2 muskets and 1 cavalry (at 2/4). The 2 mounted units parked in the fort attack and kill 2 regular musket with light damage and 1 elite promotion. Another musket at 3/4 is visible. Cavalries from Pasagardae are needed. 2 muskets at 3/4 are still on the tile, and 2 units are enough to kill them both. A regular pike is now visible. The last cavalry unit from Pasagardae attacks. Target killed with no damage. And elite promotion.
3 more stinkers are present. Cavalry units are all been used, but for the first time i can send 4 reinforcement units through the shipchain line in a row. 2 cavalries and 2 cannons are loaded in Texoco and disembarked in Forte Augusto. The extra galleon in the 1st node is sent back to Texoco, in order to send other units next turn.
On the front, a cannon weakens the spearman, and a rifle finish it off. The 2 fresh cavalries get rid of the remaining 2 mounted vermins. The last cavalry is promoted elite.
By moving on the game tile, i spot more iroquois ships wandering around: 2 frigates and 1 galley. 3 frigates are still around, and i cannot risk to lose the road for a damned bombardment. So i need to defend the tile, but too much units could convince the stacks of iroquois defenders to gather at Susa. On the other hand, a weak defense could be beaten by the sworsmen army. I move there the spared cannon and 2 rifles from Pasagardae.
There are 3 frigates in Pasagardae all with 1 hp of damage. They could be strong enough to get rid of 1 frigate. The risk is worth taking, since the frigates would have the necessary movement left to retreat in the safety of Forte Augusto. And the galleon parked there could support the attack and retreat as well.
The 2 veteran frigates are sent bombarding. They manage to redline the enemy frigate. The regular galley shows up. An elite frigate sink it with no extra damage. The last frigate is sent toward the redlined enemy and
lose. Damn... the galleon from the fort destroys it with only 1hp of damage. My ships are a bit unlucky. The 3 frigates left are moved in Forte Augusto.
Barracks are rushed in Forte Augusto. A worker is rushed in Pasagardae. Nothing else happens. Those 3 lousy pukemen will be left to pillage the dye tile. I have no units left to attack.
This turn has been awesome: 3 iroquois cities captured, with minimal losses. This make me feel a little uncomfortable. Usually good luck doesn't last forever.
I end the turn, hoping to have done the right things.
In the shot: the iroquois front before the interturn.
Nothing is better than politics to attract spam, flames, trolls etc.
Bob has 5 different sources of incense distributed on various parts of the New World - a denial strategy isn't an option for now.
