RBC-15G Napoleonic Conquest - Prussia

[Justus II]

Good turns Kylearan, I'm also glad we could pull that off. And we got the 2-fer after all! Since Britain declared on Austria, Russia is really the only threat to be bought in, if we can make peace before then, we are set. IIRC, we can make a peace deal with Portugal also, and the locked alliance will force England to accept the peace, so if it's cheaper/easier to make peace with Portugal, it's worth a try.

 

[LKendter]

Nov, 1801
I make a couple of minor changes. I set Berlin to cannon every other turn, and Hamburg to cavalry. I would like some offensive abilities.
(IT) Spain and Naples embargo us.
Britain declares war on Spain.
Naples declares war on Spain. This ends the embargo just signed.


Jan, 1802
(IT) Naples and Ottoman trade embargo us.


May, 1802
There is a new tech out their - code civil, but it is currently at monopoly.
I hire a taxman in Posen.

(IT) The FP is completed.


Jul, 1802
I dial up Austria and ship them $1446 and $6/turn and purchase code civil. We now have double speed workers, so I switch Leipzig to cathedral.

The only civ worth selling Code Civil to is Russia for wm, $50/turn and $2.
(IT) Austria and Naples sign a peace treaty.
Austria and Sweden sign a peace treaty.
Ottoman and France ally vs. Russia and Britain.


Sep, 1802
(IT) Spain and Austria sign peace.


Nov, 1802
I sign peace with Portugal even up.


Summary:
Each victory point location is worth 25 VP / turn. That moves on the Netherlands will be good for ~2000 VP if the game goes to the end.

I know it will be tough, but I think France will need to be our target. They are starting to rack up the VP.


http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/RBC-15G-NOV-1802.zip

 

[Dwip]

Got it. Might be tonight, might be tomorrow.

 

[Justus II]

@LKendter - Good call on Code Civil, definitely worth it to speed up the workers. Hopefully, peace w/Portugal should trigger an automatic peace with England this next turn. I agree France will be the ultimate goal, but how do we go about it? I'm guessing they're still in GA (I think their Voltieguers trigger it). Maybe give them enough time to get most of their troops into Spain and/or Russia, then hit them? We have to focus on gettign cities (esp. VP sites) we can't afford a long war of attrition, they will outproduce us AND rack up VPs from unit kills the whole time.

 

[Dwip]

[0] November 1802 - Game familiarization.

To start off with, let's see who's got what for tech:

France: Espionage, Seapower
Britain: Espionage, Seapower
Russia: Espionage, Seapower
Austria: Espionage, Seapower

Ottomans: Up Espionage

Naples: Down Code Civil
Spain: Down Code Civil
Denmark: Down Code Civil
Sweden: Down Code Civil
Portugul: Down Nationalism, Code Civil

Well, that suggests a fairly obvious sort of thing. Either Britain or Russia ought to feel like selling Seapower, whereupon we can then trade to the Ottos for Espionage. Can we? Let's see.

Seapower from Russia for 88gpt. Seapower to Ottos for Espionage, 3gpt, and their map (oh boy!).

I'm not sure that we particularly needed either of those, but.

The next question, I guess, is who we want to attack. In any case, it's not going to be on my turn. We have a grand total of...7 Cuirassiers. While we may frighten small children and/or the Dutch, chances of taking on anybody with a real military is pretty slim.

Group consensus thus far seems to be to whack France. I'm not sure if I like the idea, if only because <insert French unit here> is pretty scary.

On the other hand, we're pretty evenly matched with Austria, if not in terrain than in units. Could be worth a shot. But not yet.

On the other other hand, there's Sweden. Nobody particularly loves the Swedes. And they suck. They have a weak military, even to us. They're across the water, yes, but we have that transport. And they're points, not to mention a VP location.

I'd rather go thrash Denmark, of course, but that's that whole war with France thing because of the alliance. But if we do get in a war with France, we shouldn't hesitate to go beat up Denmark.

And I think attacking the Russians is probably a losing deal.

But in any case, somebody who's not me gets to decide all that. I'll just toss out the ideas and build some stuff.

End turn.

[1] January 1803 - Amsterdam riots. Whoops. I'll just check everyone else now, shall I?

[2] March 1803 - Move some workers.

(IBT) - France/Russia declare peace. Denmark/Russia declare peace. And then they get thrashed by Austria, just for good measure.

[3] May 1803 - Berlin Cannon->Cannon. Danzig Fusilier->Fusilier. Move some workers. Rush Stettin's Cathedral. Ponder Leipzig's, and decide not to.

(IBT) - Ottos and Sweden declare peace. Austria and Britain sign up vs. Denmark. Russia gets rocked by Austria some more.

[4] July 1803 - Stettin Cathedral->Cuirassier. Move some workers. Decide to rush Leipzig's Cathedral after all. Bunch of happiness management. We could use another lux or something, but it doesn't appear to be happening. Hrm.

(IBT) - Naples offers an alliance versus the Spanish. I decline. Austria signs the Ottos up versus Denmark.

[5] September 1803 - And speaking of luxuries, we all of a sudden lose our supply of gems and get rioting again. Getting tired of that. I take measures for the preservation of peace and democracy. Or something.

Berlin Cannon->Cannon, Leipzig Cathedral->Cuirassier, Hannover Fusilier->Fusilier.

Since it turns out the only handy gem supplier is France, I hold off on getting more. I do, however, raise the lux tax a bit to put people back to work.

Move some workers.

(IBT) - Naples and the Ottos sign vs Russia. France is pretty much dominating Spain and Portugul.

[6] November 1803 - Amsterdam Market->Temple, Berlin Cannon->Cannon, Hamburg Cuirassier->Cuirassier, Posen Cathedral->Cuirassier.

Move some workers and stuff. We're about out of useful worker projects, unless we start deforesting. There's a big stack of workers still left to move. I don't see any gainful employment for them, but I'll leave them just in case.

Roster:
Justus II <-- UP
Kylearan <-- On deck
LKendter
Dwip <-- Down

 

[LKendter]

We're about out of useful worker projects, unless we start deforesting.

I suspect that won't help much. Most of the cities in the game are food heavy. If anything, we probably need to mine more spaces. I know Britian needs to mine a ton of squares.

 

[Justus II]

Got it, but I won't be able to play until tomorrow night. Looking over the save, it looks like we can get a 2-fer on Advanced Tactics (which is our next step toward Grand Batteries) and Medicine. I doubt we'll build hospitals in this game, as we're not going for domination, and unlike the other conquests, there doesn't appear to be any VPs for tech, so I'll only take Medicine if I can get it very cheap.

I agree that we will have to take on France, but I don't think we can do it before we get Grand Batteries, a war now would just bog down and rack up VPs for both of us, which we can ill afford. We have to attack when we can take a city or two per turn, and that's gonna take some big artillery stacks, and hopefully an army. Can't get that waiting around though.

We have ongoing deals with Austria, so they're out for a while, but Sweden is a possibility. They currently have no alliances, and almost no money, so unlikely to buy any in on us. We'd need to rush a few more transports, but wouldn't even need escorts, if we can land 6-8 cav, 6-8 cannons, and a few fusilers for cover in one turn. Their 4 cities would add up to about 3000VP in population, plus the unit kills and another VP site. So I'll probably prepare for that, although I don't know if I'll be able to land yet this year.

I may try to buy our Advanced Tactics on a gpt deal from Russia, to get some insurance against any alliances w/Sweden. It also seems we can trade our extra wine for gems straight up from England, and we have a clear sea route, so I think we'd be safe with that as well, I have no intention of attacking them.

EDIT: I agree with the mining comment, we have size-12 cities with +9 food, I'll definitely be de-irrigating some tiles. I just don't see Hospitals havign the payoff in this short a time, so lets optimize food and max production.

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

On Hospitals - since you have only a few cities, with good terrain, I'd think they should be worth it. At least, that would be my strategy with Prussia.
And, don't forget the Battlefield Medicine - it will be invaluable when you siege French cities.

 

[LKendter]

...but Sweden is a possibility. They currently have no alliances, and almost no money, so unlikely to buy any in on us. We'd need to rush a few more transports,

This at least keeps us fighting someone. With just 96 turns we can't afford to be totally idle to long. Another VP site will rack up ~1500 VP toward our goal. The cities are close of us to be somewhat productive.

As for escort and transports, I suspect there is a safe close point from our shores to land.

 

[Justus II]

King Freidrich Wilhelm had decreed that Sweden would be the next target for the glorious armies of Prussia, and so the General Staff swiftly set about to prepare for the invasion. The first obstacle, of course, was the lack of transport craft. Before building boats, we probably need to determine how much of a landing force we need. So I investigate Kristianstad, for 67g. Decent improvements, garrison appears to be 2 reg and a vet musketman, with one of the newer Musket Infantry (5 defense) due to complete before we can land.

A little short-rush and some MM gets me a transport at Danzig next turn. Konigsberg would waste 30 shields switching, but I can rush a Cav (which I need for the landing force) and then start on one next turn. I have one transport now, and should be able to comfortably rush 3 more, the one at Danzig next turn, and then wait a turn and rush one in each city. That gives me the capacity for 16 units, which would be about as many vets as I can get to the cities in 3 turns anyway. My plan is 6 cannons, 6 cav, and 4 Fusilers, with a follow-on wave once Kristianstad is seized.

On the tech front, I buy Advanced Tactics from Russia for 82gpt (as additional insurance), and turn it to the Ottomans, with an additional 3gpt for Medicine. I decide to sell some older techs for money, getting 120g from Naples for Seapower, and 4+13gpt from Denmark for Espionage. England gets our Wines for Gems straight up. This lets me drop lux to zero, saving 42gpt, with just one cop in Amsterdam. I do a little more MM to max shields vs. food, hiring a couple cops and setting up a WLTKD in Frankfurt. Using the worker stack I convert a couple irrigated tiles to mines, trying to get to some magic numbers (Berlin hits 22spt, one cav/5 turns).

IBT: Portugal and Russia ally vs. Austria. Konig-Cav>Trans, Danzig-Trans>trans, Frankfort-Cav>Cannon.

JAN 1804: More worker moves, continue moving cannons and Fusilers to Danzig.
IBT: Sweden and Portugal now ally vs. Austria. Sweden asks to trade WM, Russia asks for an embargo on Naples (no). Amserdam-Temple>Rax, Leipzig-Fusiler>cannon, Hannover-Fusiler>cannon, since I’m taking most of ours north.

MAR 1804: Continue worker moves, chop one forest at Frankfort to get it to 12, there are plenty of mined hills to work. Sweden had some cash, so I sell them Espionage, as they are the last civ without it, for 120g, which I use to rush a transport (gotta love the irony). Transports are rushed in both Danzig and Konigsberg, our force is assembled.
IBT: Britain/Naples/Portugal make peace w/Spain. Russians land a Cossack next to Konigsberg?? That doesn’t look good. Stettin-Cav>cav, Danzig-Trans>trans, Konig-trans>trans.

MAY 1804: We’re paying Russia over 110gpt net, I’d hope they wouldn’t want to throw that away. Also, the one Cossack is the only unit we see, nothing near their border. In fact, there had been a Cossack (this one?) on the border earlier, maybe they are just landing here as a way to get to Austria. I ask him to leave, and he says OK, but he’s still waiting there. I really don’t want to fight Russia right now, but I certainly can’t risk launching the invasion force until I know what’s going on, so I fortify and cross my fingers.
IBT: British sink a Danish ship off of Copenhagen. Cossack moves to border w/Austria, as ships head for home, must just have been a scare. Amsterdam-Rax>Fusiler, Leipzig-Cannon>Fusiler, Hamburg-Fusiler>Cannon, Hannover-Cannon>cannon, Posen-Fusiler>fusiler, Frankfort-Fusiler>Fusiler.

JUL 1804: The armada is launched. Join 2 workers into Leipzig to max it out, getting it to 24spt, for a Fusiler/3 turns. Most of the irrigation has been mined, send some workers toward Danzig. I rush another transport, and a Ship/Line for escort, for our follow-on forces.
IBT: Watch a Hussar take out the Cossack, then another Cossack comes from the fog to kill the Hussar.

SEP 1804: Declare on Sweden, and land near Kristianstad. New transport with some cav and fusilers, and our new Ship of the Line, move out to cover the empty transports halfway. Join a worker to Danzig. Austria and Ottomans have General Education. We could probably broker it, it would cost about 100gpt, and we could probably get most of that back selling it to Russia and France, but I don’t really want to lock us into a 20-turn deal with France, so I hold off.
IBT: Sweden, in typical AI fashion, sends a musket north OUT of Kristianstad, then sends 3 frigates and a transport south. Denmark and France sign peace w/Spain. Hamburg-cannon>cannon, Hanover-Cannon>Fusiler.

NOV 1804: Get some worker moves out of the way first, move some more cannons toward Danzig. Assault on Kristianstad:
Cannons go 2/6, showing a vet and 2 musket infantry (at least).
Cav redlines, but promotes vs. reg MI
Cav is killed redlining the vet MI
Cav loses 1hp killing wounded reg MI
Cav loses 2hp and promotes, killing the redlined MI
We capture Kristianstad, with Barracks, Granary, and Market intact. I start a harbor, we need to get our luxes flowing in. I leave a couple Fusilers to guard the cannons, land our follow-on transport with a couple more fusilers and a couple cav. Wounded cav move into the city to heal, healthy ones, with some fusilers, move north to position adjacent to Huskvarna, which has a vet MI showing.

I move the rest of our fleet back to Danzig. There’s a few stragglers there to reinforce, and some workers to transport over to work in Sweden. It looks like once the resistance ends, Kristianstad could be pretty productive, 50% or better after a courthouse.


Here’s our beachhead:

 

[Justus II]

On the tech front, Military Logistics was discovered and traded around, almost everyone has it but the Ottomans, who do have General Education, so a 2-fer is possible. However, if Military Logistics is available, Artillery tactics may not be far behind, so we may want to hold off a couple turns. I haven’t rushed anything yet this turn, so you have some money to play with.

VP status hasn’t changed much, France is still at 10,715 while we’re in the middle of the pack at 5160, the city was worth 1100. Taking the rest of Sweden is another 2500 or so plus unit kills, and another victory location. After that, we’ll need to decide on our next target. I’d consider Austria, they’ve got to be weaker than France, and have 3 VP sites within a short drive from our borders, if France keeps in this VP lull. If they start racking up the points, though, we may have to go after them. In fact, they’ve been allied off and on, we may face both of them whether we want to or not.


Roster:
Justus II <-- Just Played
Kylearan <-- Up Now
LKendter <-- On deck
Dwip

The Save:

 

[Kylearan]

Got it. Will probably play tomorrow.

Excellent turns, Justus! I hadn't thought we would be able to invade Sweden so fast; looks like money well spent. What I like about this Conquest so far is the ability to play around with cash-rush a lot (well, at least for Prussia, don't know about the others).

 

[Justus II]

I don't know why I forgot about this, when I had brought it up earlier, but Kylearan, if you haven't played yet, I'd definitely recommend Mobilizing while in this quick war with Sweden. We are only building military anyway, and we will be able to end this quickly enough if we have to, so I'd take advantage of it for a produciton boost! (Our mini-GA). IIRC, Artillery can be built, but doesn't get the bonus, so we may want to swap cities on cannons to Fusilers. Also, not sure, but I think the Harbor in Kristianstad is OK, as it's considered a 'military' building.

 

[Kylearan]

Ah, while I had thought about mobilizing during my last turns, I would have forgotten about it now - thanks for pointing it out! I will definately do this.

Playing now.

 

[Kylearan]

Mobilize, and MM cities to adjust to the new production.

(I) Portugal, Sweden sign trade embargo against us. Sweden lands three cavalry and a musket infantry near...Kristianstad.

January: I kill the cavs and the MI, and decide to assault Huskvarna. We don't lose any units, but fail to take the city: Too many conscripts in it.

(I) Huskvar is reinforced by even more conscripts. Portugal and Britain sign an alliance vs Ottomans.

March: Troop transporting, healing. I wish the resistance in Kristianstad would be gone...

(I) Naples and Sweden sign trade embargo against us. We catch the British trying to plant a spy.

May: Yeay, resistance in Kristianstad has ended. We then lose two cavalry against a redlined conscript MI in site 6 Huskvarna, and now face a vet MI.

July: Third attempt to capture Huskvarna. Our cannons go 2-4, pfff. Elite cav attacks the ex-conscript, now-veteran 2hp mi and loses, promoting the MI to a 2hp elite. Another elite cav attacks and...loses. I'm cursed! Vet cav attacks conscript...and retreats. What's up with this?!? Another vet cav attacks, and kills a conscript. Now it's time for our fusiliers, and they finally manage to take the city!

(I) Austria, Sweden peace. Spain, Russia sign alliance vs Austria.

September: Kill three vet MIs.

(I) Sweden, Denmark peace. Sweden, France peace. Britain, Austria alliance vs. Spain. Naples and Portugal declare on Spain.

November: Healing.


Troops in Huskvarna are healed/reinforced enough so we can finally advance on Stockholm next turn. Sorry for my slow progress, but the pRNG wasn't my ally this time.
Britain and Austria have sanitation now, most of the rest both general education and military logistics. Artillery Tactics, the only tech we're really interested in, isn't known yet.
I have brought lots of workers over to Sweden, and the workers back home have hopefully mined all necessay tiles so that no food is wasted.
I've forgotten to look up the current VP situation.

Roster:
Justus II
Kylearan
LKendter <-- UP NOW
Dwip <-- on deck


-Kylearan

 

[LKendter]

I got it.

Edited:
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[Justus II]

Sorry for my slow progress, but the pRNG wasn't my ally this time.

I've had those days before! I wish the Foreign Advisor would warn us:
"The pRNG has signed a Military Alliance with Sweden against us! Didn't I tell you they were evil!"

Good progress regardless, hopefully we've run through the bad streaks, and can march on Stockholm.

 

[LKendter]

Nov, 1805
I realize that cannons don't get the mobilization bonus. However, with playing this conquest before I know bombardment is king. I find some more cannons to wake up and send toward Sweden. I compromise and only switch Berlin to cannons. We need more cannons.

I am playing Britain in a solo game and have taken out half of France before Grand Batteries. All I needed was a nice artillery SoD.

I decide to tax the Swedes to death. More money is always a good thing.

I sell Code Civil to Portugal for $153 and wm. I can't find any other trades worth doing.

France is a monster this game! They own half of the Iberian Peninsula already.

I wish I had a few more workers at home. We still have cities with extra food.


Jan, 1806
(IT) What in the world? I looked like privateers of a different color that Britain sails through there ships and sink our Ship of the Line.


Mar, 1806
I partial rush a Ship of the Line to arrive next turn. I plan to build even more ships.
(IT) Well I definitely wasn't seeing things as the privateer movement happens again. All I can guess is the game civs all privateers the same color.


May, 1806
I kill 4 defenders in Stockholm, losing 1 cavalry. However, a lot of our troops are injured.
(IT) Sweden and Naples ally vs. Russia.


Jul, 1806
I kill 3 defenders in Stockholm, losing 2 cavalry and 3 Fusilier despite better cannon damage. However, this time I capture the city. [dance]
(IT) Spain and Russia ally vs. Sweden. Sorry guys, but I don't think there will be any Sweden left to claim.
We have heard of massive barbarian uprisings near Stockholm.
Is this because 2 civs got artillery tactics?


Sep, 1806
Our troops are taking some badly needed R&R.

I ship Russia $106 / turn and get Artillery Tactics. I upgrade the 4 cannons at home immediately.
I ship the Ottomans Artillery Tactics and $25 for Military Logistics. We can now build the Pentagon if we get 3 armies.
I don't know if we will ever build schools, but I ship Austria Artillery Tactics and $575 for General Education.
Britain's price for Sanitation is absurd, so I don't pick that up.
Out of mercy I sell Spain Artillery Tactics for $230.
(IT) France and Austria ally vs. Spain. This isn't good as France will go back to eating Spain alive.


Nov, 1806
Our troops march on the last Swedish city.



Summary:
Our troops are ready to hammer the last Swedish city.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/RBC-15G-NOV-1806AD.zip

 

[Dwip]

...and suddenly I was up in both my SGs at once, and they're both RBC15 games! Whee!

So I've got it, but it might be a day or so.

 

[Justus II]

I will be at National Guard duty this weekend, so if/when my turn comes up, I probably won't be able to play until Sunday evening at the earliest. I will be able to check in tomorrow night, and have a better idea of how Sunday looks.