Shadow Phoenix said:
*cough* Nukes yet? *cough*
In Middle Ages?!?
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1060AD - The Scourge of America
In the interturn, two american longbows are sent to skirmish. The first kills one of the 3 muskets garrisoned on the hill, the 2nd dies against a legion on a hill. Bob has started Smith's trading company. He knows Economics then. We'll see if there's the possibility of a trade. But first, let's deal with San Francisco and Atlanta.
The catapults outside San Francisco are almost uneffective. A veteran musket is damaged, a population unit is killed, and that's all.
The 1st knight kills a reg musket. The 2nd and 3rd retreat redlined. The 4th redlines the vet musket but it's killed. The 4th and 5th are both redlined, but another reg musket is killed. The redlined veteran remains visible, and it should be the last defender in the city. An elite longbow charges and gets killed. The musket is promoted. An elite legion redlines the musket but is killed. The 2nd elite legion finally overcomes the defender and capture San Francisco.
On the northern front, catapults perform even worse. Only 1 pop unit killed and no damage done to the defenders. The good news is that no veteran muskets defend the city, only regulars. Knights charge. The 1st is redlined but tear off 1 hitpoint to a musket. The 2nd does exactly the same. The 3rd retreats redlined without doing any damage. The fourth finally kills a musket.
Two muskets at 2/3 are left in the city. Knights charge again. Another regular musket is killed. Only one left defending. It's time to toss in the 2 elite legionaries. The 1st redlines the musket but is killed. The 2nd wins and conquers Atlanta.
Casualties have been minimal. 1 knight, 1 longbow, 3 legions. America: 6 muskets loss. But 9 knights are damaged. They must retreat to Forte Pizza in order to heal quickly. No barracks in the 2 conquered towns, but it's irrelevant. Anyway, i could'n dare to park my knights there. The risk of cultural flip is too high.
The downside is that no leader has been created and no victorious unit has been promoted. With a leader i could have moved the capital to Atlanta. A huge hit for my actual core territory, but i would have secured a stronghold for the successive invasions. Considering the number of battles, the number of leader popped is quite low, not considering that i wasted one to rush a harbor... :suicide:
Ten mounted divisions are still to be moved. They can enter in the American territory south of New York and strike at the city next turn. A risky move, since they would have no artillery support. Then, 3 muskets and 3 longbows are wandering around the city, in the range to reach it during the interturn and fortify. But i move them anyway. If they regroup in New York, i can at least acquire control on the saltpeter tile. On the other hand, capturing New York would secure me the saltpeter tile anyway, so when those cities flip, the defender will be a pukeman rather than a musket.
The decision is made. Those 10 knight companies head for New York. 2 muskets and 1 longbow are sent in support. The 2 muskets garrisoned in the hill nearby are moved too, there's no reason to keep them there.
Finally, a legionary is sent to the mountain north of San Francisco to keep track of the movements of the american troops.
In this shot: my newly acquired land. The task force sent to New York is also visible.
1070AD - Cursed by the evil gods
In the interturn, i'm badly screwed by the RNG gods.
The task force headed to New York suffers heavy skirmishes, in which everything couldn't go worse. First, a longbow attacks and kills a musket, with no hitpoints lost, and get promoted to elite. Another attack and halves the hp of another musket before being killed. Then, 2 muskets killed in a row by 2 longbows. The whole supporting division is obliterated.
The RNG gods aren't content yet. Another longbow attack a knight, which retreats redlined. Then, a stinking swordsman attacks and kill a knight without losing a single hitpoint. When the skirmish is over, the count of the casualties is frightening: 3 musket companies slaughtered, only one survived at half strength; one knight company completely annihilated and 2 badly damaged. And a nasty stack of american forces has placed itself exactly between my task force and the city of New York:
It seems that Abe want to defend that city at all costs. Wait... ah, mistery solved. New York has a wonder, the Copernicus Observatory. It is known that the AS defend fiercely a city in which a wonder is built.
Things have suddenly turned against me. San Francisco and Atlanta are no more in the "grace period", so i must prepare myself for a cultural flip. Forces must be garrisoned outside, and that damned saltpeter supply zone needs to be neutralized ASAP. This means that i have to sacrifice another knight (he will surely be doomed by the american counterattack). I'll pick the damaged one. May Zeus be with you, o brave knights! The company move NW to the saltpeter and destroy completely the road on it.
Now, i need to decide what to do with that annoying stack. And what to do with the task force that, obviously, cannot strike at New York as planned. Attacking the stack would gift Abe with more war weariness, even if my forces fail. There are new mounted units coming and 9 of them, healing in Forte Pizza, will be at full power next turn. A substantial backup. And a difficult decision anyway...
Well, i have played boldly since now, why turning into a coward? Oh, Mighty Lord Zeus! Dark forces have layed waste on our valiant attackers! Soldiers that should have been crushed like insects were victorious over us and killed many of ours! Our enemies acted like puppets guided by invisible and infallible hands! Protect us, oh Lord! In your hands we put our humble lives! Lead us to victory!
Knights of the Crown! For the glory of our Undying Empire! For Rome! CHARGE!
It's an epic charge. Soldiers that have just been badly beaten raise the swords and go against the enemy as nothing has happened. When the battle is over, a mounted company is lost and not a single unit hasn't reported some sort of damage. But a large number of Abe's forces lay dead on the battlefield. It's obvious that my planned blitz attack on New York will be delayed, but i'm sure that the morale of the American population has suffered a severe hit.
Two american musket companies, one in my territory and one just outside the border, have been killed. My stacks of catapult are on position. Muskets and legions guard them. A knight company is just outside San Francisco and ready to retake the city in the case it revolts. Other catapults and defending units are outside Atlanta. More troops are on the way.
To the south, a few longbows and legions previously stationed in the southern cities has been gathered into Thermopylae. Next turn they will send to Cleo the final present from Rome: the annexation of her worthless city-state.
Still have to end the turn. What will happen? I'm pausing from the game for a while. Next update... well, later or tomorrow. Dunno. There's the Formula One championship in Melbourne tonight, and i won't miss it. Well, for the Aussies it's in the middle of the day, for us it's in the middle of the night. Exactly half world away...
Anyway... GO SCHUMI GO!!! FERRARI IS #1.
SIDE NOTE: Actually, we screwed up a lot in the qualifications...
but the race is another story...
Oh god man! And it was a harbor to boot! 
Oh man, you've just shot yourself in the foot! Thank Bob it wasn't C3C, at least. 
