I apologise for the fact that it took so long to get the latest update up. Schoolwork dogpiled me, but I've finally broken through and might be able to get a few more updates up in the next few days (the fact I've shortened my updates to about 5 turns or less will also speed up updates - and spare my readers the horrors of slow load times)
Game Reports:
A bit of a bug almost crippled the Great German Empire. For some reason, Civ 3 Conquests would exit whenever I skipped the start up stuff...so I deleted and re-installed. I FORGOT TO BACKUP THE GERMAN REICH FILE!!! - my heart raced as I realised that only afterwards. Luckily, the uninstall feature leaves most files and folders intact...*sigh of relief*
To make things worse, it also kept giving me errors when I tried to load the file. I was like "OH NO!!!", and then after looking it up on the forums, I realised it was ONLY because I had forgotten to re-install the patch.
So, you all lucked out there, and the story can continue, despite how it looked like it might have an early grave...3 times in a row in one night!
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Strategy:
Currently the German King/Emperor/Kaiser/Whatever is taking a bath, so I've been delegated to give you the full report. = )
As this oddly high quality image states, Germany engrosses much of Europe, except for the southern Balkans/Greece, Russia and Finland, and parts of Scandinavia, the British Isles and the northwest half of Iberia remain independant. Germany also has outposts in Newfoundland(which now has a Greek colony...) and on Cape Verde off Africa.
German strategists say we must dogpile Greece with military alliances so that they may never obtain musketmen. Musketmen have half the health of their average hoplites(modifications give vet hoplites 8 HP <__<;; ), but we must not allow them to get even stronger. However, our oracles(ahem, testing then reloading) state that our hordes of musketmen cannot defeat the hoplites at Sofia, the most well defended city in the Greek Empire. To deter invasion and to suppress the local Slavic population, the Greeks have deployed a massive army of 7200 Hoplites (9 units!!!) there.
So, we've changed strategies. We will let our Teutonic Knights(attack value of 5) be trained before we consider an offensive. Luckily, we have a massive horde of musketmen at the German-Greek border, so we've obtained a new course of action: a defensive war. We will declare war on Greece to tie up their resources(Pirate Ships will stop being rebuilt, allowing us to banish them from the seas once and for all!), building up our own resources and slaughtering them as they come in.
We intend to recruit the following:
Russia - They are just north of Greece, and could hammer the Greek colonies in Ukraine if given time. They also have been to war with Greece before, so they might be more willing.
Egypt - Once Egypt declares war on Greece, it's two colonies in north Africa and potentially Central Africa are in jeopardy. Egypt has a well-developed core, is constantly advancing in technology, and is far-flung yet connected, they could turn the tide against Greece.
Arabia and Persia - Arabia will occupy Greek forces, and hinder them in Africa. Persia is obtaining iron from a secure source in India...they can use their Immortals - who have 3 bonus hitpoints and 4 attack - to possibly snag some territory in Asia Minor.
China, India and Turkistan - While these countries cannot offer much themselves in the war, they could hammer the Greek colonies in Siberia, as well as give us a diplomatic bonus in relations. As well, it will keep Greece from recruiting superpower allies with it's large treasury if they discover the printing press.
Israel, England, Carthage & Songhai - Israel and England cannot do much, but Israel could apply slightly more pressure, while England's alliance would keep our backdoor secure(weak as it might be, an incursion from Britain COULD tie up resources).
Carthage is reeling from the war with Germany, having lost 5 cities, being reduced to 4 cities in north Africa, 2 in southwest Africa, and 1 in Siberia. Conquering Greece with their powerful Numidians might be plausible, and could spark a new age of revival and power for them. Having them as an ally also would shield us against Greek attacks on Tangier in Africa.
Songhai is large, and could use powerful war elephants to smash the Greek colonies in the African heartland.
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So the plan is simple. We declare war, do NOT attack, and keep building up our supplies of knights and cannons. At the same time, we get other powers to do our dirty work, Greece will so busy fighting on all fronts they won't be able to attack us with much (besides, a few city checks reveals almost no attack units besides about 4 longbowmen...). This will also tie up their fleet of Pirate Ships, and we can slowly slice and dice them. This will give us a monopoly on the seas, also crippling Greek - the main competitor in the New World - expansion.
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We also intend to attack Spain once our per turn agreement expires in about 20-30 years. Once that happens, we can secure Iberia, gain it's ports, and also it's real prize - Magellan's Voyage - which will yield us an extra movement point for all naval vessels, giving us more of an edge over Greek vessels, which have 6 movement points.
