[PTW] 1.14 Euro, Open class.
Previous Middle Ages reports are
here and
here.
<insert CNN jingle here>.
Carol : Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to CNN live coverage of Spain at War ! We left you just before the break in 770AD with a newsflash that war had just erupted between Spain and Zululand. Let's get an update from our man on the field Pablo Gringo who's in zimbabwe at this moment. Pablo can you see anything ?
Pablo : yes Carol, good evening. We are now actually ON the city walls, and as you can see a massive force of over 30 cavalry units is rapidly approaching us. Since this morning there was no contact anymore with Calcutta (which was under Zulu control) and Bapedi. Zulu's fears that these cities might have fallen to a Spanish blitzkrieg-offensive seem to be proven true as we see this massive invading force. People are massively leaving town and preparations are being taken to protect this cities 3 famous wonders (Oracle, Sistine Chapel and Great Library). Actually, I'm getting out of here myself, as the few musketmen defending the gates seem no match for what is about to happen here. Pablo out.
Carol : thank you Pablo. We have with us in the studio tonight professor Juan De Madrid from Newton's University, expert on Industrial warfare and technologies. Good evening professor.
Juan : Ola !
Carol : professor, seems like the spanish cavalry is far superior to the Zulu musketmen - are you surprised ?
Juan : Ahem, yes, I mean, not at all. Actually, I predict that the Zulu empire will be completely overrun by Spanish and Ottoman Sipahi by 930AD, leaving only the Ottoman Empire, with a strong military and lots of culture, as a serious opponent on the Spanish home turf. Another problem for Spain may be the fact that, with all this navigation going on, they no longer have a monopoly on trades, and Japan seems to be the rising power in the east, uhm... west. Still, the discovery of coal in the Celtic Occupied Territories will give a huge boost to our economy.
Carol : thank you for that analysis professor, we will be back shortly, after a few messages from our sponsors.
(commercial's voice with heavy Japanese accent) : Are you weary of war ? Want to forget about all of it for one evening ? Please come to Tokyo's Syekusupearu's Theatre for an evening of drama on stage. Discount tickets available at Sumithu's Trading Company ! Mata doozo !
Carol : And we have to interrupt that for breaking news : from Paris comes the news that France has just declared war on Spain ! That's 1130AD local time. Joan of Arc, who was always polite to Spain before, said the move was necessary 'to resist the intrusive Spanish culture and free the French Treasury of the ever-mounting spanish claims'. Pablo is on the scene for us in Paris. Pablo ?
Pablo : Uhm, well Carol, it's 1200AD now, and I'm standing in what is now the FORMER French capital ! After the French declaration of war, Isabella of Spain acted quickly to ally the whole world against France, and hardly 7 turns later Spanish troops paraded on the Champs Elysees, under a pale blue sky. The fate of Joan of Arc is unsure; she was last seen in the Cathedral of Rheims, which was destroyed by the Ottomans shortly after. We can however say that the French empire is no more. Meanwhile, a story is doing the rounds here that a conquistador unit succesfully survived a French ambush. this story is causing so much enthousiasm that analists are already talking about a Spanish Golden Age.
Carol : thank you Pablo, take care. Next coming up here on CNN is 'science today' - stay with us.
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Bob : good evening, welcome to 'science today'. Today we talk about the recent Japanese achievements with well-known professor Juan de Madrid. Juan, can you schetch the situation for us ?
Juan : certainly Bob. As you know, Japan has established Women's suffrage in 1170AD, and used a cunning Scientific Method to build the Hoover Dam in 1310AD. This puts Japan effectively at the head of the culture and science race. It is quite remarkable to see this quiet and peaceful medieval shogunate evolve into an industrial giant.
Bob : how do you think Spain will deal with this ?
Juan : well, Japan and the Ottomans have recently signed an MPP, and we see a lot of activities in Spanish diplomatic circles to persuade all other states (Iroquois, Aztecs, Americans and Indians) to join an MPP with Spain, effectively dividing the world in two camps. These efforts do seem to be effective, since Spain has a lot of luxuries and resources that the new world civ's are in desparate need of.
Bob : indeed Juan, it is now 1295AD and as we speak, we receive news from our office in Spain that war has been declared on the Ottomans ! Spanish infantry, cavalry and artillery has crossed the border heading for Sogut. In a first round of squirmishes fights have also broken out on the Aztec-Japanese border. I think Pablo is in Sogut for us now - Pablo ?
Pablo : yes Bob *Bwham*. As you can hear we are under heavy *Bwham* artillery fire right now. The famous ancient temple of Sogut is seen burning from our *Bwham* hotel window. The area is definitely not safe, as Spanish troops have obviously not yet discovered precision bombing. Still, resistance is strong, and spanish troops seem to be focusing first on disconnecting roads and resources, rather than going directly for the cities. We just had a press conference with Otto Saeed al-Sogut, Ottoman information Minister, and this is what he had to say :
Otto : there are no Spanish troops in Ottoman country. The infidels have retreated and are dying at the gates of Sogut by the hundreds. We will hang them all by their health bars. The artillery you see on that hill, it is surrounded by our infantry unit.
Pablo : back to you, bob.
Bob : meanwhile a communiqué from Madrid reads that Isabella now wants to be addressed officially as 'Comrade Isabella', until the end of the Ottoman war. In other news, we learn that the commander of an elite cavalry unit has been called back to Madrid to work on a project called 'the United Nations', although this may be very long term, since Tanks haven't yet been discovered... <goes off-air, silence... looks puzzled... talks to somebody off-screen : 'who wrote this text ? What is this UN-thing, and why does it depend on tanks ? What are tanks anyway ?'>.
Carol <taking over from Bob> : and things keep changing rapidly; apparantly Sogut is now in Spanish hands, and one after another the Ottoman cities are falling. According to analists, the fall of the last Ottoman city (in 1440AD) will coincide with the discovery of Flight, and put us into what will be known as 'the Modern Age'. We can also tell you, right at the end of this broadcast, that peace has been made with the Japanese, and that Spain received a small former Aztec town as bounty. We'll leave you with the minimap of the world - stay tuned for more surprising news later !
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) broke the alliance to make peace with them 5-10 turns later.
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Awesome report, puts my yet-to-be-completed interview with Isabella the Magnificent to shame.
With a little monetary incentive every nation on the planet declares war on the English! It's Spanish cavalry vs English riflemen so the fighting is fierce and bloody. Within 10 turns we take the three main cities on my side of the bridges but the casualties were high. It takes 15 more turns to rebuild and take Canterbury and 4 more to reduce Nottingham to 1 redlined defender. The dirty cow-loving Kelts grab the city on us the next turn and we slink back to regroup. From 890 to 1010 very little is accomplished. Riflemen in this rough terrain are very tough to bring down and our military advisors suggest that the stinking Kelts might be an easier target at the moment. In 1010 we make peace with the English and immediately declare war on the Kelts.
![[ptw]](/images/smilies/ptw.gif "PTW Icon [ptw]")
1.21
