Turn 0 – 1734AD
Field Marshal Perugia’s delayed report from his pre-turn inspection of Persia has just arrived in Team Fifth Element’s headquarters……
Following the premature end to General Merum’s tour of duty, Field Marshall Perugia conducts a surprise inspection of our military assets in Persia. Given the paltry and obsolete forces at Merum’s disposal, he is impressed with results achieved to date. He finds a garrison of 6 combat units in Gordium and a smaller force of 5 combat units in Susa under orders to ruthlessly suppress Indian revolutionaries.
The Field Marshall finds some medical orderlies sojourning in Susa under the guise of suppressing revolutionaries but reminds them that Recce corps can’t even provide enough military protection to reassure our own citizens safety and happiness so they have no chance of impressing Gandhi’s revolutionaries even the non-violent type. The medics are ordered to the Eastern Front.
Perugia also finds a regiment of longbowmen taking it easy in Persepolis after just being relieved of defending the city by modern rifle armed units. They are ordered to Susa to, in turn, relieve a regiment of 14/17 CA3 macemen for grenado or rifle re-training on the Eastern Front.
While in Persepolis, Perugia has time to inspect the secular works and progress in extending democracy to the Persians under the auspices of the UN. Despite vast quantities of food in the city granary he finds unhealthiness wasting 3 food per turn and on inspecting the poorer districts is worried by the miasma pervading the city. He immediately orders construction of an aqueduce and a grocer in the city taking advantage of a 16 hammer overflow inherited from General Merum. Perugia gives instructions that as one of the 4 forests had been chopped (presumably to speed the UN construction) only 2 of the 3 remaining are needed for health effects, and he orders a worker to chop the odd forest sacrificing a lumbermill for an immediate hammer boost towards the aqueduct and opening up a tile for a future farm under Biology.
Perugia starts a trend here and sets Pasargadae onto building an aqueduct as well and he MM the city to grow to its health limit in next 3 turns but still with +6fpt.
As Bactra has a granary and Susa does not the Field Marshall passes control of the pig pasture we stole from Gandhi to Bactra in exchange for a village. Susa set to work on a synagogue this will give a stone bonus for forest chop 3 tiles to the south. Bactra is ordered to construct Buddhist Stupa.
While returning to Egypt the Field Marshall even has time to arrange some fleet movements between Persian and Russia in preparation for an active defense of our sea resources through seeking and destroying the Incan fleet.
This completes the pre-turn report from Persia…..
Back in Thebes I traded Radio with Gandhi and FDR and got Steel and Military Tradition in exchange plus about 1600 gold and
made Gandhi declare peace with HC and got FDR to change his civics just because we could. As Gandhi is now at peace with HC, there's no way he can capture any Incan cities for at least the next 10 turns and loses the mutual military struggle bonus with FDR
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I upgraded some obsolete nearby to medics as we're going to need these soon and also gave unpromoted maces in Thebes City attack promotions in preparation for an eventual upgrade to riflemen/grenadiers and ordered these units to join our troops mustering in Giza. I just love gunpowder units with city attack promotions, don't you?
Then we changed civics to Universal Suffrage and Free Speech but hung on to Serfdom and Organised Religion just for now. This really boosted our income big time.
Machu Picchu is on a hill which is historically accurate. Vilcamamba is on a hill and heavily garrisoned so I agree with Merum we should bypass it and attack the nearby less well defended cities. If I spot American or Indian forces heading towards Incaland, I will contact FDR or Gandhi and kindly ask them to attack those two cities in the hope they fail. The screenshot shows an initial line of attack using hill bonuses and avoiding Vilcamamba, I have also marked the available sites for new cities.
One other thing I spotted was that we do not have any active trades with Gandhi. We need some if Saladin is to ask us to stop trading with his worst enemy again. I sell sugar, spices & gems for wheat, dye and 16gpt. I also squeeze 1gpt more out of FDR and Saladin.
Turn 1 - 1734AD
I press enter and look carefully the order of our rivals which is India > America > Inca.
FDR sends 2 American frigates to check out Vilcabamba (see screenie) which is very welcome as we could do with the help now that HC has sent his main invasion fleet over to our coast to join the Frigate & Galleon already there. The fleet now has 2 frigates, 3 galleons, 2 knights and 4 catapults. We are still 2 turns from having an ironclad in the area for our defence.
This leaves Vilcabamba defended only by a Rifleman and 2 longbowmen so we might be able to attack much sooner even though it's on a hill.
We easily kill elephant & 2 crossbowmen in town E of Memphis using a rifle, cavalry and cannon. It's so neat to see a Drill 2 cannon blast a crossbow away and gain 2XPs for its effort to get to 10XP.
I place a Guerrilla 2 rifle on the hill 1NE of Memphis and stack up on the town.
I start an ironclad in Giza which will be rushed next turn.
I stop for the night so you can all appreciate the change in our fortune. It's going to be so much easier to kill HC's spare units on our patch rather than in Vilcamamba
. Our main invasion force just departed Giza but still has movement points for use this turn so I’m not sure at the moment whether to proceed across the strait just yet.
