Hi U all!
About saltpeter denial, i can settle the issue now: nope.
Apart from that hill visible on the SE corner, there are 2 other sources: one on the east coast, actually deniable, and the other deep in the middle of the Iroquois territory (north of Babylon). So i don't think denial would be a viable option, considering that the attack will take place in a few turns and it will be as fast as possible.
Strategic considerations now are thing of the past. There's only 1 strategy now: hit soon, hit quick, hit hard. I don't know how strong will be the Iroquois defenses, i'm going to spy on some cities just before the roman fleet is ready to sail the seas for the New World.
Obviously, i'll try to lure Bob into declaring war, so he'll eat a nice pack of extra war weariness points. Thanx for following the story, guys! Now here's the update:
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1360AD - The gathering
Troop amassment continue as planned. The 2nd combat settler has been created and moved toward Texoco. The 2nd settler is being trasported by a galleon. I'm still short of transport vessel, but the production continues at full haste.
Bob of the Iroquois is still at war with Persia. Cannot he swallow his pride and offer peace? He's losing an awesome amount of money and production every turn.
Nothing much happens. No new techs have been discovered. But the amount of money still held by Abe is surprising: more than 3000 gold! An espionage on Houston doesn't help much. They are obtaining dyes and spices from the Iroquois, but Bob is broken at 0 gold! Probably they've supplied the Iroquois with some expensive techs, and they're paying with luxuries and gpt. Who knows?
1365: other galleons are rushed in Alexandria and Memphis. The last 2 cities, Santa Peppa and Xochicalco, expand to rank 2. Now i'm 258 tiles short of the domination limits. Nothing new on the world: Bob and Mario still at war, with the Iroquois badly bitten by WW. A large number of Iroquois cities are still losing population, and i cannot but be pleased of that.
If nothing goes wrong, my ships would be ready in 3 turns, and my troops will land on the New World 7 turns from now.
1370AD - Unpleasant discoveries
While the amassment continues. I pay a short visit to Abe, just to see how he's doing in that rotten excuse of an empire... oops! He discovered Steam Power. And the Iroquois too. Last turn no one had that tech.
Bob is still broken. Abe has still his huge amount of gold in its coffers. Who discovered that damn tech? And who gave the tech to whom? Those bastards trade each other a premium tech for a world map or less.
Now the question is: should i acquire that tech? My first answer is: no. With only 3 turns left for the attack, i won't certainly benefit much of a raiload system, not counting that it would take a handful of turns to put it in place first. On the other hand, a rail network in the New World would help in delivering reinforcement troops to the front, supposing i have the necessary extra galleons to trasport 12 national workers.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to ask for the tech, just to see how much it costs. Abe don't even want to consider a possible deal, and so Bob. Strange. I try to offer some gpt, and both of them "would never accept such a deal".
D'oh. My rep is borked! That war with Alex must be the culprit. I obtained a tech from him, in return of money per turn and resources. That should be the reason why, when the trade line broke, my reputation got ruined as well. Bye bye with the idea of acquiring Steam Power for a nice sum of gpt, then lure Bob of the Iroquois into declaring war...
At last, the problem has solved itself. The only way to get it is via spying, and i need no less than 4 turns at full income to have the necessary money for a safe espionage mission.
I buy the world map from Persia, just to avoid shelling money. They want Navigation, and i have no reason to deny something to Mario, at this point. I obtain an updated map of the New World. Better than nothing.
In the shot: a cut'n'paste composition of the Top 5 + Demographics screen. The best culture cities are all Iroquois now and, for the exception of Cattaraugus, they're all losing food! The demographic status is outstanding: Rome is #1 in everything that counts.