The game is not over yet, folks.
Inherited turn (1730 AD): I took a look around the map looking for our forces and at the locations of the remaining civilizations. Churchill has Oxford off our eastern coast near Athens and it's defended by a lone Longbowman and 25% cultural defense. Unfortunately, we have no cannons and very few military in the area. What we do have seems like just enough to hold off barbarians coming out of the jungle. I upgraded an Axeman to Grenadier at Gold Horse and notched down research a bit so we would have enough funds to upgrade a second one next turn, hoping that would be sufficient to take out Oxford.
In the west, Churchill has the legendary City That Cannot Be Seen and probably one other further west of that one, judging by the cultural borders that are visible. I changed production at York and at Antium to Galleys just in case we need them to attack another island city off the west coast. It's doubtful that this map can be circumnavigated by galleys because I don't recall ever seeing any enemy AI galleys approach us from the east.
I also saw that we're fog busting in the former Viking lands in the southwest but there was still a lot of fog there. So I woke up some of our sleeping workers and sent some to there and some up north to help us keep track of both barbarians or any settler parties attempting to escape the inevitable. I thought it most important to do that for coastal files to spot any galleys sneaking past our army. I don't want this game to turn into a session of Wack-A-Mole. I noted that there were many many improved tiles that could be pillaged so I scouted around for any mobile units that could go out and collect some plunder but didn't find any that were available for the task.
And finally, I must confess, I did no round of micromanaging for our cities. Micromanaging is not going to win this game or even speed up the win at this late stage. I promised to check out cities as they completed builds but I probably forgot to be consistent with that.
IBT: A barbarian Mace killed an unescorted cannon in the north west tundra.
Turn 1 (1732 AD): Moscow trained a Grenadier, started a Cannon.
Another confession: I was probably too aggressive and anxious and attacked Thapsus, Hannibal's last (I hoped) city. We had a Grenadier and 2 Knights facing a Longbowman and Pikeman. The Grenadier lost at 87% odds. Fortunately the second knight killed the Pikeman after the first one died. That left us with a badly wounded knight to kill a very badly wounded longboman. I moved up another nearby knight to help out next turn. At Size 1, it was unlikely that Thapsus would train another new unit IBT.
Surprisingly, the City That Cannot Be Seen was finally seen. The citizens there were pretty discouraged, partly due to their humiliation at finally being seen and partly because they were defended by a Longbowman and an Axeman. In their disgust, they renamed the city Nottingham, I suspect a reference to their shame for finally being seen wearing green tights and green vests. Their 85% cultural defense was going to need addressing though.
Turn 2 (1734 AD): Masihero trained a Grenadier, started another(7). Athens completed its Galley, went back to work on a Grenadier. The Galley embarked with 2 Grenadiers to take Oxford.
At Nottingham, our slew of Cannon reduced the cultural defense to 0% and the tight-wearing defenders were eliminated. The city was razed. That allowed us our first look at London, perched on the western tip of their peninsula.
I was relieved to see there were only 2 CGIII Longbowmen on that hill city.
We also spotted some Roman culture.
And Hannibal's body was found in the ruins of Thapsus by our avenging Knight. I will never be required to type Carthaginian again in this SG.
IBT: So let's just say that using Workers to fog bust in highly roaded areas is a really bad idea:
And it's also wrong to leave a badly wounded Musketman unescorted when there's even the least possibility that the English could conjure a Knight out of thin air. Pillaging the horse pasture northeast of London (visible in the screen above) suddenly became a priority.
Turn 3 (1736 AD): Moscow trained a Cannon, started a Knight(2), intended to replace workers as a fog buster. Novgorod trained Knight, started another(5).
Turn 4 (1738 AD): Gold Horse trained a Grenadier, started another(11).
IBT: Jumbo popped an Iron deposit right under one of its hilltop mines.
Turn 5 (1740 AD): Moscow trained a Knight, started a Grenadier(2). Ruffsville constructed a Bank, started a Grenadier(13).
Two Grenadiers got dropped off at Oxford. There was a solitary Longbowman guarding it. I was not going to underestimate a CGIII Longbow again, especially one fortified on a hill. I decided to wait for reinforcements.
Outside of London, I joined the General to our most experienced Grenadier (16/17) available.
Turn 6 (1742 AD): We discovered Replaceable Parts, I selected Rifling(11).
Jumbo trained a Grenadier, started a Cannon(5).
I got caught short by one unit at London. We bombarded the defense to 0% and attacked with everything we had, losing 2 cannon. London was left with a single wounded Axeman(2/5) to garrison it.
IBT: An English Galley was spotted south of Gold Horse. That probably explains why Oxford only had 1 Longbowman. Ill bet the other one is escorting a Settler on that galley.
Turn 7 (1744 AD): Moscow trained a Grenadier, started another(3). Athens trained a Grenadier, started another(9).
Our newest General, Zhuge Liang, delivered the final blow to Londons garrison:
If you look close, you can see more Roman culture north west of London. Two English Caravels avoided the fate of much of Englands navy that was sleeping at the docks. I kept London. At Size 16, itll whip up a couple of Galleys pretty quick. With those Caravels around, theres no way we could bring a Galley around the coast to ferry troops to the island. I just wish I had made that decision
prior to pillaging all the farms outside the city.
Turn 8 (1746 AD): Novgorod trained a Knight, started a Bank(10). I think we have enough army to end this. We simply need a means to get them to the enemy. Antium completed a Galley, went back to work on a Grenadier. I started sneaking the Galley along the southern coast but I fear that it wont survive for very long.
Turn 9 (1748 AD): Masihero trained a Grenadier, started a Grocer(8). Zophoville constructed a Library, started a Forge(25).
Turn 10 (1750 AD): Here is what we had at Oxford.
I took the 25% odds to mean I would lose 3 out of 4 attacks. I had 4 units ready so I let loose the dogs of war. The first Grenadier died, the second one surprised me by winning. We razed the city.
This game is 20 or more turns away from victory. London has 9 turns of resitance remaining and with those Caravels hanging around, theres no chance of us getting a Galley from back east to the city. I sent a small stack from London led by General Liang, east to deal with what I am certain will be one or more AI cities popping up along our southern border. That English Galley didnt move after the turn in which he was spotted. But that doesnt mean he doesnt have a settler on board. Or maybe they can be used to take out the barbarian cities. Yeah, a 2nd one has appeared south of Jumbo. There are some Grenadiers at Athens with nothing to do unless our exploring Galley discovers more cities in our eastern islands. They can probably take the Barbarian city west of Gold Horse.
We need a few more fog busters along the northern tundra. Our guards there are experiencing at least 1 barbarian attack between each turn. Sooner or later, one of them is going to get lucky.
Here's The Save:
Queen_Mother_AD-1750.CivWarlordsSave Have fun!