And here we are again! About the "combat fort", the only way to avoid a reputation hit is: 1) declare war 2) enter enemy territory 3) build the fort.
@bonscott: you suffer an
attitude hit when you declare war on a civ.
But if you act in a honourable way your reputation remains intact.
@AndrewH: that's exactly what i did in the early game...
@Hatework: thanks for the support!
This time i'm going a little off-style again. It's hard to write even a small story that way. In english, at least. Don't know enough words
Hope you like it.
Playing time now. Expect something else. Seeya!
-------------------------------------------------------
1280AD - Sailing through hostile waters
Captain Livius wasn't happy at all.
When young, he ofter had dreams about being the first captain in the history of Rome to lead a naval invasion. Now that his dream had finally come true, he realized that "nightmare" was by far a more appropriate word to describe it.
He was wondering why the Roman Crown, in its infinite wisdom, had never put in place a serious effort to build proper war ships. All this emphasis in building an unstoppable land army, and so much little attention to the issues of naval warfare. The result were under his eyes. A task force made of two obsolete caravel fleets and nothing more.
The roman Caravel were in no way bad vessels. Fast, agile, and capable of trasporting a good quantity of both cargo and troops. Obviously, a ship made for transport duties tend to lack the necessary firepower to confront an enemy war vessel. So escorts were necessary. And there lied the problem. Escorts. There were none. And not because of laziness or incompetence by the admirality. The reason was much simpler. Rome had no war ships. Not a single one.
Those two joined caravel fleets represented all the naval force or Rome. Two fleets trasporting 6 cavalry divisions for the planned attack on Miami. Two fleets that would suddenly turn into sitting ducks in case some american frigates were patrolling the zone. Sitting ducks that would sink along with all the 6 mounted divisions inside them.
The cavalrymen were nervous as well, with very good reasons. Strong men, well trained and undoubtly courageous. All of them were veterans of the battle of Boston. They all saw deathin its face, but it was always the face of a visible enemy, armed with a rifle, struggling to kill them before they could kill it. That was an enemy that those men could confront light-hearted and with a smile in their face.
But this time, death could come from nowhere, unexpected and unnoticed, at any time. It was an enemy they weren't trained to confront. It was like a ghost, found nowhere but always present. Their mounts were even more nervous. Some sailors had to be assigned to them. They were doing their best to calm them down.
The air was cold and humid, as the captain expected it to be while sailing into a bank of fog. Usually Livius despised fog. It made sailing into open waters a nasty hazard, but this time it was a precious ally. With almost zero visibility, no enemy frigates could spot them, unless those cursed by the gods were so lucky to stumble upon one of the caravels... Livius praised Zeus to not let it happen.
The fog was slowly fading. In a few hours they would have been under the sun, in the proximity of the Miami Island. Strategist had bet on a lack of american warships around a city that, just a month before, was only a distant settlement overseas. Just a season before, the whole american fleet was around Chicago and Boston, trying to aid the land forces to repeal the unstoppable roman advance. Now that Boston has fallen, that distant settlement overseas had become the new american capital. But the war fleet around the main continent didn't have the time to retreat and redeploy for a defense of Miami. At least, that's what the Admirality was believing.
Livius and all the men under his command were hoping that those men in Athens were right.
Suddenly, the most forward ship made its way outside the bank fog, under a shiny morning sun. The sky was absolutely clear. The visibility was perfect. The sudden burst of light left the crew blind for a few instants...
"Land HO!"
Miami Island.
Barely visible, the city of Miami. Exactly where it was supposed to be.
And, most importantly, no enemy war ship was around.
Quickly, the captain yelled some orders. Horns sounded. Aboard all the ships, the cavalrymen checked their equipment, mounted on their horses and put themselves in formation, ready for a quick disembark.
The roman ships approached the coast at full haste, under the sight of the frightened inhabitants of Miami. In a matter of minutes, their deadly cargo was unloaded on the forest south-east of the american city. The caravels returned on open waters and disappeared back into the fog, as quickly as they came. The expedition has been a success.
1285AD - America's fall
The cavalry units unloaded into Miami Island moved north and garrisoned on a the hills north to the city. The added defense bonus will be of help. The caravels move back, load 5 cannons and 1 musket and sail again to the enemy territory. The best defender in Miami is a regular rifle, but the city is size 10 built on a hill.
Little else happens. American warships disappeared from sight. They're probably running back to Miami, but my artillery will arrive in time.
Some cavalries are moved north, to deal with potential flips. My military is being rebuilt, but now it's time to focus on banks. And in mastering Nationalism and Steam power. I'm confident to extort Theory of Gravity and Magnetism to the worthless americans, once i reduce them as a lousy city-state as Greece.
I end the turn. Bob of the Iroquois try to extort me gems. Are you nuts, Bob? Gems for free? I can sell them, but you're too broke. Here's 50 gold, you lousy dog. A little gift from Rome. Now go to hell.
America draw Monty into signing an insignificant trade embargo against Rome. Monty, i'll come to you very soon, embargo or not.
In 1290, cannons are finally disembarked on Miami. The caravel are still in hostile waters. American war ships could arrive
in time... The rest is business as usual.
In 1295, finally, the attack on Miami can begin. Cannons fire. 2 regulars are weakened, at 2/3 and 1/3 respectively. A third is visible. Cavalrymen charge. The first kills a regular, and the damaged rifle is visible! Only 2 of those pukes left!
The 2nd charge retreats redlined. The 3rd and the 4th are both successful. Miami falls easily, as its defenders were already discouraged. The gold stolen is awesome...
With the capture of Miami, the american campaign is over. The last city left to Abe is a worthless town in the southern part of the New World, Houston. Now let's offer peace to poor Abe, and extort him as much as we can.
Hello, you pitiful excuse of a president... wait? Where's Abe? Has this stinking town some form of government? Ah, wait. America is in anarchy. Ok, let's find Abe somewhere. Hi, private citizen Abe. Soon you'll become president or whatever you will, i couldn't care less. We came, we saw, we kicked countless number of american arses and we finally grabbed all the land that was rightfully ours. Now, since we would have no use of that insignificant colony, we offer you peace. You give us... let's see... Magnetism and Theory of gravity... WHAT! Money?
Gosh!
Those AS are broken. I completely crushed him and he don't want to hand over what i want. As usual, sending some troops to have him change idea wouldn't be pratical at the moment... Gravity and 150 gold, ok? Now, stay in that stinking town and never, ever, cause trouble to Rome, or i'll come to finish the work. Idiot.
With the money extorted from Abe, i safely spy on him. Magnetism and Nationalism. Well done. Amazingly, no civ knows other industrial tech other than Nationalism. I switch to Steam power and try to move the slider... abysmal. Without going broke, it can be researched in 29 turns. Nope. Alas, this situation should not surpise anyone. Some productive cities don't even have a library. Only 3 of them have an university. The northern part of the Kingdom is totally unproductive. And i lack some banks too.
Military upkeep is small, 10 gold per turn. I need more money. For the moment, we'll stay at minimum research. I wanted to build a rail, but if they don't come soon, nothing forbid me to attack the Iroquois without a rail system in the mainlands.
A good idea would be to feed Mario of the Persians with all the medieval techs. Since Persia is scientific, he could pick it as a free tech. Let's try. With 4 cities in total, and a war in progress with the Iroquois, those vermins will never become a troublesome opponent... no way. They acquired nationalism. Who said that it was a good idea?
Nothing else to report. Slaves continue to clean up some jungle and work some tiles. Some temples have been rushed around. A minimal culture must be grown, and those extra tiles available thanks to the increased city radius can be useful.
Finally, it's time to renew peace with Alex. Hello, you smelly rotten bag of puke... bah, you're not worth insulting. Peace renewed, ok? I give you saltpeter, horses and iron for other 20 turns and you give me Economics, right? Uff, money. You're not even worth menacing. 15 gold per turns, ok? Good. Stick them where the sun doesn't shine. Goodbye. And good luck with the Iroquois. You idiot.
Nothing else is left to do. I end the turn. As expected, lots of resistors are quelled. Some american towns went into WLTKD. And my income has grown to 291 gold per turn. Steam power in 21 turns. Still too much.
In the pix: my score progression since now.
I'll stick with monarchy. Unless something totally unexpected happens.
