(3) 1742AD [continued]
Being at war with one civ isn’t too bad, once the initial shock has worn off. However, the prospect of battling two of the top civs, along an extremely wide front line was less enticing. I’m naturally a defensive player and I was worried by the fact that we have a LOT of obsolete units, so the first thing I did was to slam research to 0% for a few turns. It plays hell with our tech standing, but it allows us to start upgrading our reserves.
Secondly, it was fairly obvious at this point that things would only get worse the longer I delayed: if I was going to attack it would have to be more or less right away, before Napoleon got his act together. It was notable that he hadn’t even changed civics at this point, which supports my theory that he was bribed into declaring by Monty, rather than simply objecting to something we had done. His cities were relatively lightly defended and he was clearly unprepared to go to war. This would change, however, if I gave him breathing space. I therefore made up my mind to go for the quickest and easiest target, which just happened to be Besancon. Fortunately, it was close enough that I could actually attack it this turn. I sent out a mixed force of cavalry and riflemen that I felt I could spare from Djenne (I’ve forgotten the exact distribution in the heat of the moment) and started the assault. I didn’t even bother waiting to bombard the city; I just attacked. I was able to reduce the garrison of Besancon to just a single rifleman without any losses by the end of the turn, but my units were left relatively exposed outside the walls.
(4) 1744AD
IBT: Nappy sends a single rifleman to attack our forces – unfortunately he kills one of the rifles outside Besancon. Belatedly, he adopts Vassalage and Theocracy. Then it is my turn.
There is still only a single rifleman in Besancon so I simply throw what I have at him. First rifle is unsuccessful and dies. The second wins without a scratch and Besancon falls:
My rather pitiful force of 2 rifles and a cavalry fortifies itself inside the city and waits for the inevitable counterattack.
Construction is finished at a couple of cities (Gao and Timbuktu, I think) and more military units go into production.
The other downside of this war is that those deals we had with Nappy have been cancelled: most of our cities are now unhappy due to the loss of extra gold we were receiving from him. As a quick fix I dial up Cyrus and offer him sheep in exchange for his incense. He agrees, and our cities are happy once more, albeit temporarily.
Finally, after studying the status of Nappy’s other cities I decide that Rheims is also relatively unprotected. I send out a stack of cavalry, rifles, and cannons from Kushans and fortify them on a jungle hill just inside the French borders.
(5) 1746AD
I’m simply
staggered that Nappy didn’t even attempt to take back Besancon. He could easily have sent units from Marseilles to assault it. Even his lone rifleman outside the walls (Walls? What walls?) turns round and scurries back whence it came. Bizarre, but I’m not complaining. I might as well see about strengthening our garrison.
He also seems unaware that I am advancing on Rheims.
Again, production is finished in a couple of cities, most notable a Hindu temple in Tokyo. A library is started here; military forces elsewhere.
(6) 1748AD
A single French cavalry unit approaches Kushans. One of our rifles in the city attacks it and dies! The cavalry is completely unscathed. Next a combat1/pinch rifle attacks it and this time is victorious (6.4/14).
Nappy finally realises the danger Rheims is in and brings down some cavalry from the north for support. Monty also sends a cavalry unit to assist – great.
(7) 1750AD
IBT: Nappy finally attempts to retake Besancon, with the help of Monty, but is completely unsuccessful. His cannon is destroyed, his cavalry withdraws injured, and Monty’s cavalry is slaughtered.
(8) 1752AD
The calm before the storm.
(9) 1754AD
Monty attacks Besancon once more, but again his attempt ends in failure and his cavalry is forced to withdraw. More seriously, two other cavalry units of his sweep south to pillage the land near PigPen.
My forces are now in place outside Rheims and bombard the defenses down to 18%
(10) 1756AD
Crunch time. Nappy still hasn’t bolstered the garrison of Rheims. My first two cannons reduce the defenses to 0%. The third is sent on a suicide mission and causes significant collateral damage to the defenders.
These are all then picked off by my remaining troops (just barely, it has to be said). Rheims is captured and two of my cavalry sweep inside.
Left unprotected outside are a single grenadier and two cannons. We can only pray that our units will survive and keep Rheims over the next turn…
But every silver lining has a cloud, and while we savour victory in the north Monty is still pillaging at PigPen: we lose 2 cavalry units and 1 rifle trying to kill 2 of his cavalry.
Finally, Nappy has at last got off his backside and has sent a stack down towards Djenne, with support from Monty:
Comments for the next player:
In theory this stack should do very little harm, provided we are careful. What is important to note is that to produce this mini-army Napoleon has virtually emptied Marseilles. If you can defeat it quickly you can probably send a sizable force out from Walata and take Marseilles before Nappy realises what is going on. There is a hill above the city that can be reached in a single turn: fortify on this and then just go for it. Bring up troops from the back lines to replace those you take from Walata.
I would also recommend that you make peace with Monty right away – don’t even wait for the next turn in case he decides to pillage. My guess is that he is pretty much a spent force at the moment: he seems to be sending only single green cavalry units, which suggests that the bulk of his forces was spent on first Cyrus and then us. Nevertheless, he can seriously hinder our actions in France – I think it is better to just focus on one enemy.
If you manage to take Marseilles (and certainly if you fail) my suggestion is that we leave it at that and make peace with Nappy as soon as possible (he is not talking to us at the moment). The reasons should be obvious: we are in a nasty position techwise. I wasn’t able to find any worthwhile deals during my tenure. Nappy actually has machine guns in some of his cities but hasn’t yet brought them south. So, if we are going to take Marseilles it must be sooner rather than later; I really don’t think we will be able to capture anything else now.
As soon as we are at peace, try to sign a defensive pact with at least one leader. The most likely candidates are HC and Cyrus. But remember: once you sign with someone else relations with all other civs will drop by at least one point (
“we are annoyed that you have signed a defensive pact with our rivals”). So be careful who you approach first.
And one last thing: for heaven's sake upgrade the defenses at Marooned: there is just a single skirmisher defending at the moment!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads10/Lurker_II_AD-1756.Civ4SavedGame
. 
Thanks a bunch. 
At least we'll have the boat ready, and I can drop some badass ship on the tile until we are ready to work it.
