So...Brennus thinks he's tough, does he? Let's take a look around and see if we can convince him otherwise.
Inherited Turn - 1650: Tech situation is mediocre. Peter, Luis, and AC all have 1-3 techs on us (and we have a couple back). Peter & Louis are at WFYABTA, AC might trade Steel, but not right now. Blah.
And, yep, we're at war with Brennus. He's got a respectable stack in his capital, which we're lining up on, and there are a couple of lightly-defended cities in the south. Can't see much else. And we're advancing with...what? A few Grenadiers, a cavalry, and a smattering of maces/swords and an axe. Hrm...I'd have kept the outdated units home and upgraded them - they won't be much help in city-taking, but maybe we can find a use.
Our power rating is in the toilet. This is bad.
We can't whip, draft, or rush-buy, nor do we have much money for upgrades. This is very bad.
I remember something about the eastern front being lightly defended. Let's see...ah. There are a pair of longbows in Thracian. But Brennus has a Cavalry and a Crossbow in Tokugawa's territory within striking distance.
Tokugawa won't even talk to us. It's been twelve turns since we cancelled trades with him twelve turns ago. And clearly he's got Open Borders with Brennus. If he turns on us, this could get
extremely bad.
And most of our cities are constructing buildings. Markets, Banks, etc. Nice, but we need some troops! Well, most of 'em complete in a couple of turns - let 'em finish, then start the mobilization. Switch Thracian to an Infantry NOW, and bring a Grenadier up from Seattle to try to stave off that Cavalry. MM a bit in the cities, then press Enter.
IBT: Yep...the mini-stack in the east invades. And kills our Axe on the border (which I had not even noticed was there. It stops to pillage a town.
Turn 1 - 1655: Move the troops up to Bibracte in the west. We need to take down the defenses (our best attack is at 22% right now), so wait for the siege to form up. I figure I'll take down the stack in his capital, which ought to take the fight out of him, then mop up the cities on the southern coast, then evaluate. Since we need a heavy-hitter, I move up Ziggy from his guard duty in Vienne. Nothing in Brennus' arsenal looks too threatening to Infantry, and I think I'll need that Medic III on this campaign. The CRIII Infantry stays behind as garrison.
IBT: The cavalry stack in the east closes on Thracian and pillages again.
Turn 2 - 1660: Ok...we have a grenadier in Thracian now. The enemy cavalry is at 12 strength (healing after fighting the axe, so he did some good). It's a straight-up 50% fight if we attack, but the cav will only get stronger if we let it rest. ATTACK!
Drat...that's supposed to show a dead horseman. Ah, well. As I keep telling Pholk, it pays to be in good with the RNGod:
Not a scratch on our Grennie.
I decide not to push my luck with another 50% battle (LB v. Xbow), but just take out the Xbow with my perfectly healthy Grenadier next turn.
This marvelous success also gets us a new GG in New York. Easy choice this time - I send him to Boston (the HE city) and settle him as an instructor for +2 XP.
Oh, right. Boston: Market->
KFC Infantry
Vienne: Cavalry -> Trebuchet
Start the bombardment in Bibracte.
IBT: Biz cancels our peace deal. Joy. And Brennus throws a Treb at us outside Bibracte. Not much collateral damage, but the treb withdraws.
Turn 3 - 1665: Washington: Cavalry -> Infantry. The Grenadier at Thracian takes out the Xbow, as expected.
Bombarded again at Bibracte. Why are we only down to 10%? Oh, right. The patch made walls reduce bombardment damage by 50%.
We have good odds with a Cavalry, so I send him in. He kills off the top defender w/o a scratch, again! Next combat is at 30%, so I wait again to take down the rest of the defense and let Ziggy catch up. Oh, and I punish a Musket trying to sneak by us to the east.
A GS is born in Vienne, as well. He'll lightbulb 1851 beakers toward Physics, or I can settle him in NY. If my math is right, he'll give 21 bpt there (while we're in Representation, anyway), so we'll be ahead in 90 turns if we settle. Easy choice.
Also note that I've moved half our navy (i.e. a Caravel) over to the coast near NY to watch for incoming ships.
IBT: Three of Brennus' Grenadiers leave the southern cities and head toward Vienne. Also, Peter decides we haven't been pulling our weight:
I deny his request - I don't want Biz breathing down my neck again - and he stays Pleased. Good enough for now.
Turn 4 - 1670: Philly: Market -> Catapult. It'll take forever, but every little bit helps.
Finally, the pieces are in place in Bibracte. First, we strip the last of the defenses, then Ziggy goes in at 96.4%. And wins.
Ziggy takes March, BTW, 'cuz he's going to see more action. Then a cavalry takes out a Grenadier at very high odds. Now, the second string comes in. First we send in the cats & trebs for collateral damage. I lose two cats and a treb, but everything is weakened enough to give wonderful odds. Then I just throw the rest of the stack in, and...
The plunder money goes to upgrade our Caravel to a Frigate, since there's a couple of Brennus' ships snooping around there.
IBT: Yep...Brennus hits us with two frigates. We get the first, but the second takes us out. And the Grenadiers near Vienne pillage a bit.
Turn 5 - 1675: Tolosa: Bank -> Trebuchet
At Vienne, I send out our Infantry to squash the Grenadiers nearby. I fortify Bibracte a bit with the low-tech units, and send the siege and heavy hitters south toward the coast.
IBT: A bunch of Brennus' ships show up on the northern border near New York. And he drops this steaming pile on us.
Oh, crap. We have a grand total of 2 archers in NY. And nothing that can get there in time.
Remaining report in the next message (might take me a bit...the three year-old is gettin' persistent).
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