1010AD: Zulus march four swords and two longbows up to the gates of Diamond Hills.
We have two units there, a pike and a spear, both regular.
Shogun Sirian orders our warriors to take up partisan positions in the mountains to the north. The villagers there are distraught at being abandoned to the Zulus but we promise one day to return to liberate them. In the mean time they are told to cooperate and not to resist.
Our wounded samurai unit that kicked off the Golden Age rounds up some Zulu workers, puts them in chains and leads them back to Yokohama. A sword unit captures two other workers in the hills north of Ngome.
1020AD: The Zulus capture the undefended town of Diamond Hills. They march a Stack of Doom toward Ngome, containing eight units: archers, a horsie, swords, a longbow.
Shogun Sirian orders our entire samurai force (now full strength after the inital combat, except for two units which are resting up in Yokohama) to IGNORE THE ZULU UNITS and charge right past them, deep into Zulu territory.
Our beseiged pike and spearman units fortify in the mountains just north of Diamond Hills. Ngome is defended by a single swordsman, which had gone into the hills to capture workers.
1030AD: The Zulu SOD marches on toward Ngome. More Zulu units appears on the roads, heading to engage our forces.
Our samurai ignore them all.
OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO... ZIMBABWE!
The Zulu Stack of Doom... has just one regular longbow left.
In the south, our pikemen, fortified in the mountains, are attacked by a veteran Zulu sword unit. They prevail, losing 1 hp. They are then attacked by a regular Zulu longbow unit. They prevail, losing 1 hp (down to red) and promote to veteran! Our regular spear unit defends against a veteran zulu sword and wins, after losing a hp. Two of the other three units that were in position to attack the town move into position to our attack our units in the mountains, the other one heads off somewhere else.
Slaves formerly known as citizens of Zimbabwe are led into the hills.
1040AD: Resistance ended in Ngome. (Ended in Bapedi last turn, and I rushed the temple there).
Zulus attack our wounded samurai, in an effort to avenge the loss of their capital. One longbow defeats a portion of our samurai unit and the rest retreat across the river. Then two units of Zulu archers attack our 1hp samurai -- across the river -- and both are defeated! Our glorious Sackers of Zimbabwe promote to elite!
In the south, another two swordsmen attack our wounded veteran spearmen. The fight off the first unit without losses, then are reduced to red for the second unit before finally winning and promoting to veteran. (That's five units just barely fought off in the mountains. I'm positive that if I had left them in the city to face all six enemy units at once, in hills instead of mountains, that we'd have lost these units too, not just the town).
Our wounded units are fortified: some in the hills overlooking the site where the SOD was defeated, the rest sent back to the three cities to rest and recuperate there.
The six-pack of Zulu workers are ordered to construct roads.
1050AD: Zulus send a longbow and impi out into the uncontrolled area around former Zimbabwe.
Newly arriving samurai from the homeland race along the roads all the way into Zulu territory from Yokohama, to engage the impi unit. Some TOUGH impis, they nearly defeat our samurai! Nearly, but not quite. Other units are ordered to fortify in the area, to intercept any counterattacking Zulu units, to protect our wounded.
Another samurai units charges across the river BEFORE attacking the Zulu longbows, and slaughters them. A musket unit and our catapults advance to meet up with the slave pack. The Sackers of Zimbabwe arrive back in Yokohama barracks for much-needed rest.
Kyoto completes colleseum.
Osaka completes courthouse.
Berlin completes granary.
Nagasaki completes barracks.
Trade 20 turns of silks and spices to Monty for knowledge of Chemistry and Astronomy.
Spears in Smolensk upgraded to Musketmen.
Trade Cathy silks and 20ish gpt for Ivory. I could lower the lux tax from 10% to 0, and "save" 31 gpt, but that would also "save" us from scoring more, and we're rolling in the cash so much that we're blowing it on whatever lies at hand each turn, so... I am thinking we should blow some of it for better score.
Monty desperately wants Iron. We laughed and told him to go dig some for himself.
Cathy has no Saltpeter and we nodded and said, "Yes, we understand how unfortunate that is." Of course, we're not going to give her any of OURS, though. Let her train pikes!
Zulus have two iron at colonies, but neither is connected and neither colony is connected to their main trade network. I say we should finish them off while we have them on the run.
Shogun Sirian stood over the battlefield and nodded brusquely, greatly pleased with the results of his offensive. He ordered that the settlers and pikemen being shipped in to Yokohama be brought up and a new city to be founded next to the sources of dyes.
"Um... sire. We can't bring in the settlers. There are no settlers."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"The previous shogun ordered them out to sea, and they were never heard from again."
"Ah."
Some words of advice: don't attack across the rivers. Especially at Hlobane vs the vet pikes I got a glimpse of down there. Cross the river before attacking. Or... attack somewhere else next.
We could probably rush a settler out of the South Isle and send a ship to go pick them up, faster (and less costly) than we could train a settler out of our mainland. It would be a good thing to get some dyes online soonish, to further boost our score.
The spearman being produced in Smolensk can be upgraded for 80 gold if it completes. If you swap it to musket, it would take 160 gold to rush the unit.
Nara is, once again, undefended at the end of my turn. Heh. And Kyoto is once again training a replacement.
Kyoto and Osaka are pulling in net 20 shields per turn. This will cease in 15 more turns, when the Golden Age expires.
I did rush the cathedral in Munich, so it can grow to size 4 now. Needs a harbor though.
Printing Press should have come in on my turn, but I lost the scientist in there somewhere, so it's due next turn.
This map is definitely NOT 80% water. Thus, this game is not going to end all that quickly. We'll be lucky to reach domination between 1500 and 1600, I'm thinking. Conquest looks like it would take even longer.
RBD23B - 1050 AD - Golden Age
- Sirian
to send that galley on a suicide run??
