RBD Succession game 2 - Nippon Rising

[Carbon_Copy]

Look at the map, Salamanca is 13 tiles away almost due east from Satsuma, which (assuming we have Navigation and won't sink into the ocean) is 4 turns and change without the Lighthouse, and if we capture it only 3 and change for subsequent voyages until we get Magnetism. Also, Allegheny is only 11 tiles away from Whale town, should we decide to launch "expeditionary forces" over there after booting the Iroquois from what are rightfully Japanese lands.

And yes, I have much doubt that Charisgawa will find Mauch Chunk in Iroquois hands the next time that he plays. :soldier:

 

[Zed-F]

Looks like the consensus is... war!

We should get Navigation first off before going for Chivalry so we can trade with the AI empires and bleed their cash reserves before we go to war. Also our coastal towns need a bit of time to build infrastructure depending on the town, but if they get done before we research Chivalry we can always start pumping out Caravels.

We could build Magellan's Voyage in Thebes but it is probably not worthwhile. Capturing the Lighthouse should suffice.

 

[Jaffa Tamarin]

"What's that? Speak up, will you. My ears aren't what they used to be. What? It's war, you say? Very well, to war! Summon my chariot!"

"But, my lord emperor, I fear there is to be no actual fighting. The Greeks have paid us handsomely to declare war upon the Romans, but we are not yet able to cross the seas to their land. Our scientists promise that the new navigational instruments will be ready soon."

"Bah! This phoney war is unfitting for our great nation. But, if that is the way it must be. Summon our armies to Satsuma and conduct some training exercises, or something."

"Yes, my lord."

So the armies were gathered in Satsuma, aboard the great Japanese fleet. Three mighty ships sailing back and forth in the tiny harbor. The citizens were so impressed, they came to the Emperor's palace and built new extensions upon it while he slept. Three times

The scientists delivered the new navigational instruments, as promised. But the army was still being collected, so the royal fleet has not yet left Satsuma. However trade ships have been able to sail, though they find the rest of the world to be very impoverished. New wines from Germany were delivered to the citizens. There was much drunken celebration in the streets, which further impeded the gathering of the imperial army.

Reports from overseas tell us that the Greeks are not doing very well in the war with the Romans.

On his deathbed, the old Emperor demanded the fleet be launched immediately, without waiting for the new samurai warriors that will soon be available. However the last two pikemen are still in transit, so this order has not yet been enacted. Who knows what the new Emperor will decide...

 

[Jaffa Tamarin]

And I think I played one turn more than I should have

 

[Sirian]

There's no need to rush. Certainly not to risk our royal troops on uncertain navigation instruments when we are one tech away from completely secure sea travel. If a leader rushed the attack and lost whole armies at sea, he might not be remembered fondly.

It's going to take time to build up samurai, but there is PLENTY of room for error in any war we conduct. One thing we could do while waiting for feudalism is to build a number of catapults. We can build three for the cost of one samurai, so if six of them save two samurai, they pay for themselves, and we could launch, say, six samurai and six catapults for an earlier initial assault. We WILL have to continue to send reinforcements, even if we burn down every gaijen city. If we capture more than a couple, to go for Domination instead of Conquest, we're going to have to ferry massive garrisons over there.

I see the Lighthouse/Magellan as a nonissue. Capturing the Lighthouse would shorten the trip by a few turns, but we could also just build a couple extra ships. Think of it in terms of running a rail system. If the trains all travel at 60 miles an hour, and hold 100 passengers, on an express line where the two stations are 30 miles apart and attract 300 passengers per hour, you would need three trains per hour arriving in the station to pick up all the passengers. At 60 miles per hour, each train could make the round trip in one hour, so only three would be needed. However, if the trains were only able to average 40 miles an hour, it would take them 1:30 to make the round trip, meaning you would need 4.5 trains total to handle the passenger load. And since you could not run half a train, that would mean 5 trains would be needed, running every 20 minutes with a 5 minute layover for loading at each end of the line.

The point being, that you can haul the same volume at the same rate with slower travelling ships by building a couple of extra ships. Once we start to pour on the heat, there can be no letting up. If war weariness grows too high, flip back to monarchy, end of that problem. All we'll need cash for at that point anyway is to pay the troops, pay maintenance on the buildings, and have some for rushing barracks in strategic locations (occasional captured cities or razed-then-resettled locations) to have a base from which to heal up wounded units.

As for Charis's fears about pikemen, pssh. Charisan frets too much. Charisgawa knows that fast-unit retreat mostly renders the whole point moot, since unless the defenders are STRONGER than you, as well as bolstered by large-city defense bonuses, then losses from being unable to retreat from units with only one hp left will be moderate to light, easily overcome by a steady stream of reinforcements. And if losses are too heavy, you slow the pace, add more catapults, and cut down on exposure of your samurai.

In any event, the greatest danger is trying to take too much too swiftly, dividing forces too thinly and exposing wounded troops to counterattack, or taking losses and then not having enough troops on hand to press to victory, and letting defenders regroup. These AI's are already torn by war, they've spent most of their extra units fighting each other. A steady, unrelenting campaign is sure to doom them.

We might even want to switch to Monarchy as we declare war, to gain the advantages of martial law, rather than wait for weariness to set in. We get won't lose all that much cash, since we won't have to raise luxuries to counter war weariness, unit maintenance will drop, and we're going to have a LOT of units and build more as we go. Monarchy kind of sucks early on because all the settlements are too small, but later it actually comes back as a good option for religious civs going to extended war. We won't suffer the despotism penalties, so no starvation at cities stretched for food, and we can still rushbuild anywhere we like, with cash, at no unhappiness penalty, rather than having to have population on hand to whip.

I actually prefer Monarchy to Communism as a wartime government later on. Get out from under endless war weariness, but otherwise continue to function smoothly. Communism is probably stronger in most regards, but the whipping is a double edged sword, which erodes your longer term potential. The spread out corruption helps boost distant colonies, but those get used just for whipping anyway, and strength at home is eroded in the strongest power centers. Then again, I mostly just make sure to build Suffrage and Police Stations, and rotate wars from democracy while extending a tech lead. The AI's vulnerability and the speed of rails means blitzkrieg: the war can be ended as soon as the enemy will talk to you again. In the middle ages, it is certain to take longer to win, and without the weariness reducers... I doubt a Republic can stand up to it.

But honestly, what would we need or want from more tech?? To build muskets? Bwahaha! For 10 more shields, get a samurai with the same defense, double the attack, double the movement, retreat option, no need for saltpeter, etc etc. Longbows? Democracy? Wonders? What for? Cavalry would be nice, but that's a gazillion more techs away, the war and the game should be over by then, I would think.


- Sirian

 

[Ionpure]

Got it

... will play in the next few hours

 

[Ionpure]

Nothing special ...

... preparing for war. Building barracks, catapults and samurai while leaving the decision when to start war for a greater leader

The Germans finished the Great Libary and someone else started Sun Tzus.

 

[Zed-F]

I don't think the issue with Lighthouse is so much whether we need it (obviously not) but, since we can get it easily and it will help some with logistics, why not? It also prevents any enemy civ from launching any retaliatory strikes against Nippon itself -- not that that's a cause for concern, but why not make it impossible to begin with?

Kyoto is building Sun Tzu, and Nagoya is building Magellan's... not sure we want either of those. Maybe we could switch Kyoto to Leonardo's Workshop when we get Invention, and Nagoya to a Bank or something, and get it working on Samurai. Thebes and Kyoto still need Banks and Universities -- especially the latter in Thebes since it has Copernicus's Observatory...

I agree that Monarchy is probably a good plan. We will lose the extra trade per square bonus, but the free units should take up the slack. I don't think we will need to worry about martial law in our own towns since Sistine and Bach's will take care of them, but it will be useful in conquered territory.

We could probably have taken out the local Iroquois colonies while waiting for Samurai... but it's not a big deal.

 

[Jaffa Tamarin]

Originally posted by Zed-F
We could probably have taken out the local Iroquois colonies while waiting for Samurai... but it's not a big deal.

We could .. but I figured trading with them would be more useful. They were the only Civ to give us anything approaching a decent deal for our luxuries, when I checked after getting Navigation.

The Germans gave us wines, but demanded all three of our luxuries in exchange. The Greeks offered like 6 gold and a world map

 

[Sirian]

... preparing for war. Building barracks, catapults and samurai while leaving the decision when to start war for a greater leader

While Nippon searches for this elusive "greater leader", a few ships quietly slip out of the harbor...

 

[Ionpure]

... well they might not know yet ... but they are doomed :soldier:

 

[Carbon_Copy]

And I did SO want to raze that ridiculous Mauch Chunk off of Dotland. But if we're getting good deals from the downward-spiraling Iroquois, I can tolerate that blight upon our land for a bit longer and work on culture-flipping it, instead.

 

[Sirian]

In the year 650AD, a group of eleven children from Whale of a Town disappeared. Two mothers of the vanished reported tearfully of their young sons excitedly describing to them an encounter in the woods. The boys claimed to have come upon a secret meeting of ninja discussing something heatedly. Among them, or so said the boys, was a frail old man with jet black hair on the left side of his head, and snow white on the right. The mothers wept as they confessed to dismissing these reports as the fancies of children. Their sons, and the other eight who had been playing with them in the woods, were gone now, with no trace, no witness, no explanation.

Warlords across the heartland scoffed at this tale, too, but one brave soul from the line of Charisgawa got nervous and decided to check the crypt of Silversan at Kyoto, which had been sealed with the mummified body inside some centuries ago. The body of Silversan was not there.



Told-You-So's from all over the empire rose up out of the woodwork to proclaim that the Third Prophet had arisen, claiming that the second long sleep he endured was not a true death, as many had long argued, and therefore he was due another resurrection before the prophecy could be fulfilled. Many who had scoffed or quietly disagreed now began to wonder.

And then the Ninja returned.

A force of hundreds of fierce-looking ninja, dressed not in black but in traditional Nipponese war garb, arrived (from where? who knows) at the docks of Spice Town, as it was known locally.

"Prepare these ships. The time of armageddon has come."

Huh?

None dared argue, and so the Ninja, leading all of the garrisons of swordsmen from the nearby countryside, and outfitted with many bulky engines of siege warfare, did set sail to the east, out into the vast ocean, without so much as a word of explanation, and the soldiers followed them. It is said that so many ships sailed, that watching them in the sunrise was like watching a nest of ants marching off to make war on hapless termites.

Over the next thirty years, ninja appeared in every city in the land and opened new military barracks, which they called "Dojo". New arts of warfare were taught in the dojos, training warriors so skilled and so fierce, that none could stand before them. One by one, each city completed its current projects and changed over its focus solely to that of training fierce warriors in the dojos.

One conversation was recorded in Thebes, where the ninjitsu master who ran the new Dojo was taken on a tour of the great Observatory. It is written that when he looked through the lens of the great telescope, that he rose with a most unimpressed expression and said, "This is useless. I cannot see Rome from here, nor Greece, nor Germany."

The sage in charge of the observatory told him, "But Master, it is from this great instrument that we have learned to chart the stars. This is how we have deciphered the true nature of the Mother's Eyes in the night sky, and learned to safely navigate across the oceans."

"Oh? Hmmph!" grunted the ninja. "That is a good thing then. But we have learned this now." He waved his hands to his guards. "Shut this place down. We have need of these men in the Dojo."

So it was that all scientific inquiry and research was halted completely across Nippon in the year 670 AD. The entire economic production was shifted over to the training of fierce samurai, and all the taxes collected were dedicated to the military budget, save those essential for maintaining city infrastructures.

In 680 AD, the most glorious Hanging Gardens of the Great Mother was completed in Kyoto, and on this very site, a new and wondrous dojo was opened: Silversan's Dojo. The Third Prophet himself was not seen -- nobody had yet seen him anywhere, but surely he must be alive again, for who else could direct such a massive effort among our people and be obeyed? Surely the ancient one must live again! It is even said that his ninja had eyes and ears everywhere, for it certainly was true that ninja came in the dead of night to execute any who spoke too loudly for too long against the idea of the Prophet's return.

Silversan's Dojo was the undisputed best, churning out the most fierce warriors in the least amount of time. The graduation rate was triple that of many other dojos, and certain none could even pretend to rival it. Only the best and brightest were given to train at Silversan's Dojo. An entire fleet of ships was needed to carry the warriors of this one dojo across the sea! Truly, it was the envy of every other city.

Yet for all that the greatest dojo trained warriors so efficiently, still the bulk of our armies swelled from the total effort, as every city on the mainland contributed to the war effort.

In 690 AD, after a lengthy and brutal bombardment by our siege engines, our elite swordsmen all but walked into Salamanca and took it over, capturing the great Lighthouse and the Colossus. The Final Campaign to take control of the whole of the earth, in the Mother's glorious name, was begun.

In 710 AD, Grand River was besieged, then burned to the ground, once again with all but no losses from our elite expeditionary force. Excitement spread across the land, and predictions of our samurai sweeping the earth clean of all gaijen resistance within the next generation spread like wildfire across Nippon.

Just a few months later, these whispers ended as stark reality set in. A single army of the Roman Legion, which had bypassed our assault force at Grand River and penetrated behind the lines, toward Salamanca, was engaged by FOUR Nipponese armies and TURNED THEM ALL BACK! Three forces of samurai WERE DEFEATED and sent retreating back to Salamanca, while an entire brigade of swordsmen were routed and wiped out, unable to escape the debacle.

Then our reinforcements arrived, well enough in time to secure the defense of Salamanca, but not before our warlords learned the humility of combined arms. Forsooth, when bombarded by a steady rain of rocks and fire from the sky, the fierce Roman can be shaken and demoralized, and routed from the field, albeit still at some cost. The Legion is their elite force, and it is the only worthy threat they pose, or so our warlords believe. Their other troops are softer, less well trained, less well armed. Our samurai are more than a match for the Legion, on the whole, but we must take care lest our arrogance lead us to another such defeat as that of Osaka. The Second Prophet, Carbon the Liberator, would not be pleased if He too had to rise from the dead, as Silversan, to come and Liberate cities we have lost to the enemy out of ill preparation and complacency.

In 720 AD, with proper support from siege engines, our reinforcements routed the vanguard of the Roman Legion and took control of the area around Salamanca and former Grand River (now Empty Plain). But then more Roman forces advanced on our positions. The Ninja cancelled our diplomatic treaties with the Iroquois, offering neither them, nor us, any explanation.

In 730 AD, another unit of the Legion met our elite swords in battle AND DEFEATED THEM! This, after our swords had won a battle against another Legion force just the year before. The war in the West is surely going well for us, but the costs are higher and the pace of gains slower than some had forecast. After routing the advance Roman units, our Samurai marched on Sparta and captured it in a fierce but brief battle. Scouts report that Caesar's own Palace Guard, his most elite Legion, sits garrisoned in the mountains above Sparta, daring us to advance any farther. Our warlords have decided to dig in and Sparta and wait for the Ninja to take control of the Iroquois lands, so that we may then be able to fight on a single front. For some reason, the difficult battles with the Romans have led them to conclude that "a two front war is a bad idea", and thus to sieze all of the Far West now, before our force becomes divided.

In 740 AD, Nippon declares war on the Iroquois. Our glorious forces attack the offending Gaijen at Red Dot City (which in Iro Speak translates to "Mauch Chunk"). What demons were unleashed, we do not know nor understand. Our force of swordsmen was routed, slain without so much as setting foot inside the city, and our Samurai were defeated and pushed back. It is said that we were Cursed, for some reason, and that only minor losses were inflicted on the Iroquois. This defeat is most ignominious, and the warlord of that area has been beheaded, and will be replaced with a new commander at the dojo in Yokahama. This defeat simply defies explanation, for we outnumbered the foe, and were better equipped. Apparently, the gaijen Iro are not as soft as some had thought. Not even the Mother could overlook their bravery and skill, as surely we have done something to displease Her on Dot-Sun Island.

In 750 AD, Allegheny was burned to the ground. The Iro are on the run, despite their glorious stand on Dot-Sun. Once the warlords up there regroup, vengeance will surely be ours. All of Nippon now trains our people to fight these bitter foes, Rome and Iroquois, while the Greeks fawn at our feet with admiration, and the Germans quietly buy our trade goods. They seek to curry our favor, but as to whether they shall be allowed to live in peace or not, is a question for another generation to answer.

Also in 750 AD, our expeditionary force has landed a surprise assault on the eastern Roman island. It is hoped that this area will be lightly defended, as the Romans speed their forces westward to meet our vanguard, the instrument of their doom.

Silversan's Dojo can train an entire force of Samurai in just 30 years, IF the city is managed well, pulling workers from one of the wheat fields two turns out of three, to work in the forest. Our people can eat grain from stores during these years, then work the wheat field again for a short time to replenish the granary.

Although the Gaijen have been found to put up fierce resistance to our holy crusade to ascend to control of the entire world, in the Mother's name, they are less numerous than we are, and they cannot possibly be as relentless once we commit, as we have. Many glorious battles await! Perhaps some will even be so wondrous as to be worthy of writing an epic history! Surely if a great leader emerges, he must be put in charge of a vast army, to lead a force that no gaijen Legionary might resist!

Cities where we want to locate barracks, strategically, can be preserved, the rest may be burned down. We can resettle them later if we so desire, to begin to work the lands. All of the cities have suffered brutal oppression at the hands of their masters, and the citizens there are warped with much bitterness, not only against us for enslaving them, but even against their own leaders. In some cases, better just to wipe away these corrupt sites and move on.

Our people have not had to switch to Monarchy, as public opinion has remained favorable so far, but surely the Ninja will install their own Shogun to run the nation if the elections start to go against them. Our surplus taxes are running over 200 gold per turn, almost enough to pay for a rushed samurai EACH TURN, in a location of our choice, or a building or two, or to save for an emergency. No great leader has emerged, as Ionsan predicted, but the Ninja and the ghost of Silversan have swept us into the Final War, seeing us through victory, defeat, advances and setbacks, and many worthy battles. Yet this is only the beginning, for surely it will take much labor to subdue the entire earth.


- the Order of Siriansan

 

[Sirian]

The reason I have halted research is threefold:

1) We have all the tech we need.
2) The gold is useful for speeding our war effort.
3) Being the first to research a tech, takes longer to make the breakthrough. Why speed AI research by paving the road for them? If they do manage to get Gunpowder, it will slow our victory a little.

I went ahead and finished researching Invention, because my forebears had set that in motion, even though it may speed AI access to longbows, which would not be a good thing. Still, that might spice things up a bit in the endgame. We shall see. In the mean time, I converted everything to the war effort. The team voted for war, so to war I have led us.


- Sirian

 

[Carbon_Copy]

Charisgawa can expect the new save file either very early this morning or sometime next evening.

Mauch Chunk shall be mine!!!! :soldier: :soldier: :soldier: ...if Silversan hasn't already razed it yet.

And as for GLs, my guess is an almost certainty that Charis won't find any to work with, either, since I NEVER get Great Leaders (just like I NEVER find Tarnhelms or Gulls...it just doesn't happen )

 

[Carbon_Copy]

Even in the shadows of an apparently still-walking legend, politics must be politics, and in the year 750, the Japanese legislature appoints a charismatic and popular junior statesman to the position of Prime Minister. Charismatic because of his great smile and persuasive voice, popular because he was a bona fide heir to the House of Carbon, and though titles of nobility were officially abolished hundreds of years back, the Carbon family, such as it has survived, continued to be a political dynasty throughout the new Nihongo Republic. It is often speculated how good of a PM Carbon would have made on his own, but that is a matter for historians to speculate. It was no secret to anyone in Japan that the strings of government were still being pulled by the hands of Silver-san's ninjas and possibly still even the old man himself, as nobody has seen the body of Silver-san since its disappearance from the Royal Crypt in Kyoto a full hundred years ago.

While still the junior Senator from the Osaka district, PM Carbon had opposed the war with the Romans vehemently, maintaining that the true gaijin thread lay much closer to the Sacred Valley than Rome: The Iroquois. While the fighting versus the Iroquois continued to gain his full support under his administration, his efforts at aggression versus the gaijin Romans were half-hearted, at best, and only attempted under open protest to the counsel given by his Ninja-controlled cabinet.

As soon as he ascended to PM, the Romans and the Greeks made peace, leaving the Greeks with two meager towns sandwiched between Rome and Germany. The Romans were no longer fighting on two fronts, and to make morale even worse, nearly every military excercise executed under PM Carbon's first round of orders failed except for the seizure of a gaijin settler trying to refound the burnt town of Allegheny. Alas, the Impatient Carbon-san had not waited for troop placement to grant him the advantage, and was careful to make sure of this point in the future.

The next round of the Japanese offensive went much better, with the razing of Cattaraugas in the east, but more importantly with the razing of the Gaijin Iroquois town of Mauch Chunk on Dot-Sun Island. A settling party was rushed in nearby Yokohama to found a glorious city upon the ashes of that backwards gaijin campground. The settlement was named Promise Town, in memory of a promise made by his forefather, Carbon-Sama the Golden, that the Japanese should one day be rid of the gaijin desecrating the Great Mother's Dot-Sun Island.

Also during this time was Carbon-san's most successful expedition versus the Romans, the taking of the town of Pompeii, a Roman town just on the opposite side of a narrow strait from the city grounds of Rome, itself. Funds from the bottomless Japanese treasury were spent in Pompeii to quickly erect a dojo and a harbor in that town over the course of the Carbon administration.

In the year 790, the Roman campaign took a turn for the worse when an elite Legionary unit caught a badly wounded detachment of samurai along the Roman border. During the battle a Great Leader emerged from the Roman ranks to easily dispatch the ambushed samurai, only to then rush off towards the Roman interior beyond hope of pursuit like the dishonorable gaijin devil he was. Soon after, a grudging peace was granted with Rome, costing the defending gaijin the contents of their treasury, plus the greater part of their annual tax revenues and their most recent maps of the known world. And thus, the Roman Campaign ended in victory, such as it was, but the war versus the Romans is undoubtedly far from over.

While peace was being negotiated with the Romans, Japanese forces were landing by the boatful near the final city of the Iroquois homeland, Niagara Falls. When the combat engineers had rolled all the available catapault units into range, the battle for Niagara falls had begun. Once the city's defenses had fallen, the invading forces of roughly a dozen samurai divisions plus a handful of swordsmen, horsemen, and the last division of the venerable Japanese Chariot Corps rushed the town. All samurai coming from the south were rebuffed, but from the west the invasion was successful, with the only total casualty taken during the battle belonging to the obsolete but proud Charioteers upon the last wounded Iroquois defenders of the city. The Iroquois' only territory remaining were their island holdings to the northeast of the Japanese homelands, and those would be wrested from them in a matter of time. Already the focus of the Japanese war machine turned to nearby Oil Springs, rerouting several caravels to land just outside the new Iroquois capital, and in the declining years of Carbon-san's lengthy reign (The old man lasted to the astonishing age of 130, the longest span of years in Japanese history save perhaps that of immortal Silver-san himself, and he died in office), the second-to-last Iroquois City, Oil Springs, was taken. The (now extrememely) elder statesman, however, regretted that he might not live just a bit longer to see his family's foes vanquished, and died of old age even as the invasion force to dispatch the gaijin Iroquois forever drew within landing distance of the devils' last city. He left no official heir (though there was a brief scandal involving a member of his secretarial staff, but that ceased to be an issue when several of Carbon-san's political rivals in the Senate were found dead under mysterious circumstances . Carbon-san himself denied any direct involvement and nobody really had the guts to investigate the matter further), his only companions in life were a burning hatred of the Iroquois and his handlers, the omnipresent Ninja of Silversan.

Info:

Currently at peace with the Romans, we took all their treasury and rake in most of their taxes in tribute so they should be more or less the same as I left them. EXCEPT they have a Great Leader from when i left a wounded samurai on border patrol. There are eight samurai garrisoned in Niagara Falls, and the rest of my military might, including all the catapaults, are fortified in Sparta. Captured workers are clearing away the jungles around Niagara and bulding a road from Sparta to Thermopylae.

War weariness only became an issue during the last three turns or so of my reign, and the war should only last two more turns, one to land caravels, the other to take the last Iro city. However, we will probably want to pick up with the Romans where we left off, so a switch to Monarchy could possibly be in order.

After razing Cattaraugas and moving east to Niagara, a barb camp sprung up almost immediately in that area. We want a settler down in that area somewhere, the hill southeast of the old Allegheny seems as good a spot as any.

We still want to be friends with the Germain gaijin, at least for the time being. If we polish off the Romans and the Greeks, it could be possible that we score a domination victory without even stepping foot in their territory. At the very least, war with the Germans is going to be more of a nuisance than it's worth. However, the Greeks are so weak that we might as well just march over their last two towns on our way to Rome (I suggest conquering through Thermopylae, as that will net us two incense, a luxury we don't currently possess).

I mostly built whatever the town last built, which is mainly ships, catapaults, and samurai. It seemed to work okay, as those are pretty much all we need to conduct business. I did rush-build a few buildings in towns overseas, but I'm almost gaining more money than I know how to spend. A military win definitely seems in the bag now, Roman army or no. :soldier:

 

[Charis]

Got it, will play early to mid eve. Took most of the afternoon
for the india game

Charis

 

[Charis]

Much had occurred since the last time the lines of Charis had seen power,
and the state of glorious Japan was at a crossroads. Many urged that the next
leader come from the line of Charisan, the wise and religious builder, while
others cried out for the sons of Charisgawa, father of Tojo. While the cabinet
was sitting at a table, trying to decide, a man (yea, though he looked like far
more than a mere man), a tremendous Samurai strode into the room. "Who are you?
Get out of here!" cried the secretary, Ginsan. The Samurai drew his Katana and
before anyone knew what was going on, the head of Ginsan had been severed from
its body and was bouncing off the table onto the floor. "This man is a Roman
spy." "WHO ARE YOU?!" "I am Charisgawaji, great-great-grandson of the master.
I am now taking charge." "What?" "It is done. We are now at war, and I have come
to reverse and put an end to foolishness as well as disrespect to our country."

"A nation that is not learning is a nation that is dying. Lack of knowledge does
not please the verses." With that he demanded that the knowledge of Gunpowder
be learned, so that we, and we ALONE might know, and hence secure, ALL worldly
occurrences of Saltpeter.

"There is no partial war. A nation is friend, or foe. If it is foe, it is foe to
the death. I am abhorrently appalled and ashamed of our behavior towards the
Iroqouis. They sought not war with us, but peace, and they were betrayed. I
hereby decree peace with them, not to be revoked unless they attack us."

"Two front wars are a losing battle. We will now face one enemy, and we will
swiftly sweep across their lands and take control. Their very hearts will melt
before our Samurai warriors. I have seen that another Great Leader will emerge.
It is simple. Great Leaders emerge when you do great things. Leaders are born
against you when you betray friends and when you let Gaijin dictate peace."

There was no further "discussion", and no more heads rolled...

850 AD (0) - Massive redeployment of Samuari, from ordered to sleep in their
barracks to the very doorsteps of Athens, Thermopolyae and Pharsalos.

860 AD (1) - The INSOLENT Romans demand we retreat. The head of a Roman envoy
is returned with a note "You have displeased the verses, prepare to die."
It is decreed that no new Catapults will be made beyond those already in
production. They are just too slow to keep up with our Samurai. We shall
rely on concentration of force and SPEED, not attrition!

Sun Tzu's Art of War is started in the Isle of the Verses. As a tribute to
them, a great leader will one day see this completed!

Apparently an Army was made with the murderous Roman leader. Rather than
defend his city of Athens, he... fled to mountains!

"So, he thinks he can let us take it then recapture? RAZE their city!"

870 AD (2) - HA!! The so-called-great leader came down from the mountain and
attacked Tojosanjitsan, a fortified elite samurai... the latter took one
single scratch of damage, and parried a devastating 12 times to slay the
puny excuse for an army. This was too pitiful for words to fully describe.
Our hope had been to lure him off the mountain then slay him, yet he was
not even strong enough to make it down off the mountain!

Unbelieavably insane moves by other nations. The Iroquis, who we gave
peace, had the nerve to call us SCUM as we sailed our ships past Tonawanda.
Charisgawa does not accept insolence, and the mighty armada of four ships
halt, turn around, and decide to bring an end to the Iroqouis nation.
In the same turn, Germans with whom we have shared our map land a single
Swordsman and a settler on the Roman Isle. What insolence?! Do they realize
who they are dealing with. May the Verses help them if they decide to settle
on our new continent!

Yet more foolishness! Barbarians show up on the Western coast of the Roman
continent. These are mere jars of clay to train veteran and elite Samurai!

The spearmen of Pharsalos are stronger than expected, and we rush a Samurai
in Pompeii at no little cost. A look at the domestic screen shows the people
very weary of war. Charisgawaji decides this is no time for democracy, but
for action. He institutes Marshall law, declaring himself as Emperor, the
sole and undisputed leader. With such confidence, the ararchy period is
quite short. Amazingly, the very choice to put aside Republic principles
for the good of the nation itself brings much much happiness. (ie many
uncontents became content, and many content happy, DURING the anarchy)

880 AD (3) - The big downside to the new order is that research slows to
a crawl (this must please the old order ;p). However, happiness is
rampant, and the people are ready to stick with war for the duration,
as long as mighty Japan prevails! A second German settler appears, this
time near Niagara falls and incense and horses. Will they still our
precious incense? Do they have any idea what this will lead to?!

Tonawanda manages to defeat one Samurai, but then falls. The remaining
Iroquois people bow to the superior ways of Nippon and join us. They are,
as a people, no more.

Thermopylae, home of the dreaded weed, is razed, as the last defender, a
mere archer, falls. We sent the elite samurai vs Cumae and... nothing. Well,
except the razing of Cumae of course.

As for Corinth... huh? It's now Greek?? How did that happen? Was it... Sold??
No Greek ships or troops seen at all? Ah, perhaps a reversion? Interesting.

890 AD (4) - We ask remaining peaceful countries to aide us in our war effort
with a 'gift' of gold. They refuse. Quite nastily in fact. charisgawaji makes
a note of this! A Legionary impales himself on a vet samurai, making him elite.
German settles Nuremberg on the ex-Roman continent. Bismarck must be crazed!!
Veii is razed.

900 AD (5) - Bismarck is MAD! He... cough... DEMANDS "Music Theory" from us. Yet
another envoy comes back with head severed from neck. The crazed man declares
war. That will be his last bad decision he ever makes! Nuremburg is added to
the "Raze me" list, and that roaming settler is toast! War weariness? Nay!
The people are frenzied with bloodlust, "We love the Shogun day" is celebrated
spontaneously throughout the land. Bismarcks timing is as bad as his judgement.
His declaration of war comes RIGHT as a fully loaded Caravel is crusing past
Nuremburg! An elite samurai mows down the roaming German swordsman as if a toy,
and captures two german workers. (Still, no GL)

910 AD (6) - The people cheer even more loudly, and build onto the palace.
Nuremburg falls (autoraze), sinking a German ship in dock. Pharsalos
finally falls. Gawaji respects their great prowess in defense, and
in suprising moves, spares the city. Now the people chant "Gawaji!!
Bane of gaijin dogs, merciful to those the Verses bless!"

Neopolis is razed, led by an elite samurai. A colony is built on the iron
deposits that lay under Neopolis, formed by one of their own workers.
The doubters of Gawaji wonder when/if Tojosanjitsan will arrive?!

920 AD (7) - Gunpowder is discovered, as are the secrets of Saltpeter deposits.
There are NONE found in the valley, a sure sign we are to rely on Samurai,
and not explosive powders. There is one deposit on the island of the
Verses, which also proves the mother is not ignorant of saltpeter, yet
wishes to keep it AWAY from the gaijin. There is a supply in our control
outside of Sparta, and one outside Niagara Falls, where one Samurai is
already standing guard. The Greeks have it next to them in Knossos, and
the Germans at Frankfurt and Konigsberg. We have much to do, and soon!
A temple in Niagara Falls is rushed to honor the Verses. The building
order for Nippon is simple: Samurai, Temple or Cathedral. Whale Town is
now the sole producer of Caravels. Rome is surrounded by Elite units. Will
this be the end of the Roman era and the start of a new almost Golden Age
for the bold men of Nippon? They defended as cornered dogs, but were
defeated. There was found to be no culture in Rome (!) and so it was not
seen as worthy of keeping. "You razed Rome?!" "But of course," answered
Charisgawaji. This made several in the government very very nervous, and
plans were laid in secret to try to remove him from power at first chance.

930 AD (8) - Ambush!! Off the coast of Niagara Falls, a Barbarian trireme
assaulted our galley. It was the height of insolence, and their last
mistake. Pisae is defeated and autorazed, leaving only Antium. The last
healthy Elite Samurai gathered outside the city. There were about eight
other units in the area if they failed, or if resistance was steep.
Hah! Steep resistance? ONE vet spearman, and it folded. A colony of Silk
was built on its ashes. The Romans were no more. The gunsights turned now
to Germany. Nippon is now a steamroller that cannot be stopped. We seek
to taunt Bismarck but he won't even listen (he fears the loss of another
envoy's head.) Alexander again refuses to provide a gift for our great
cause. Seeing how we singlehandedly protected him from Rome, this is seen
as most rude!

940 AD (9) - There is a goody hut just steps from Pisae that they didn't
have the boldness to investigate. There a vet Samurai disturbs the
barbarians and finds an ambush! He grows elite on the first of the
three foes, but a nearby worker is likely doomed. A ship sent long ago
to Konigsburg arrives. This is good - it will be a diversion opposite
the armada of about five ships due to land on the WEST shore of Germany
in a half dozen turns Also, we plop ourselves right on their
Saltpeter

950 AD (10) - The saltpeter road is pillage, and one stray spearman is
picked off near Konigsburg. We lose a worker but slay the second barbarian.

With the war against Rome over, Charisgawaji is adored by the people, and yet...
he feels the Verses no longer wish for him to rule, as the promised son of
Tojo has not appeared. Somehow, we lacked valor. He leaves it to his successors
to rid the evil German threat and to bring Greece to submission...

(Note, any seeming criticism in the above is PURELY the notion of Charisgawa,
who sees things in black and white. Charis finds no real fault in any actions
leading to this situation ;p)

Charisgawaji

 

[Sirian]

Rip roaring hoot of a verse! Much LOL-ing and ROTFL-ing!



The Iroquois! Now that was just too funny! :suicide:

 

[smegged]

Very good game from turn one!

Now, for the minor nit. Nihongo means literally "Japanese language" (and can only be used by outsiders, the Japanese call their own language something else, which escapes my memory presently). Nihon is Japan!

It's time to nuke the evil Gaijin off the face of the planet!