Turn 130 - 30 AD - I CALL THEIR BLUFF!

[Cheetah]

Turn Summary

I started this turn by checking what it would cost to investigate GCA cities.

I then investigated Sodapopolis, Lucky Harbor and Balance of Power, for 14, 30 and 71 Gold respectively.

The information is shocking:
GCA HAS MOVED ALL THEIR UNITS TO DEFEND AGAINST APOLYTON!

Based on the information from the investigations, I believe GCA has only 4 combat units west of Balance of Power. Most of them are located west of Sodapopolis, consisting of 1 Elite Spearman, 1 Veteran Spearman and 1 Swordsman. They are accompanied by a Worker. The last unit is an Elite Spearman defending Santopia.

As you will see from the screenshots, there are NO units in Sodapopolis, NO units in Lucky Harbor and only ONE Pikeman in Balance of Power.

Except from this I moved some units, etc. Screenshots are coming.

 

[Cheetah]

CFC Mainlands

 

[Cheetah]

CFC-GCA Border

 

[Cheetah]

GCA Mainlands

 

[Cheetah]

Sodapopolis

 

[Cheetah]

Lucky Harbor

 

[Cheetah]

Balance of Power

 

[Cheetah]

Based on this information I think we should be able to refine our battle plans a bit.

And once again, I strongly suggest that we build a few more Horsemen! As it stands now we can send them in and take over the cities WITHOUT OPPOSITION! This is not possible with Med Infs, who will move to slow. And once we get some cities with our Horsemen, we can send the Med Infs in and attack any units they may have sent to retake and defend the land.

As an example, both Shen Ling and Jiang Mapi could be changed to Horsemen...

 

[Noldodan]

All I have to say is: SWEET! Build those Horsemen and take those cities!

 

[Ankka]

Great! So, they only had units in thos cities that are visible to us... Now horsemen would really rock! Build some, and we'll get our revenge!

 

[Ankka]

But, every city'll have a unit in a matter of turns, max 5... So we must be swift'n'fast!

 

[FortyJ]

I would commence the attack immediately. Move whatever units we have east and switch construction to horsemen. Besides, we should be building horsemen now anyway, since they can eventually be upgraded to RIDERS!

 

[Cyc]

Oops!? Is Cyc in the wrong forum? I think not, I'm a constant lurker.

Attack now with whatever you can, switch to horsemen where it's appropriate, and try to create a settler (maybe two) to place in the best spots. After we take BoP, we should try to place a settler by those silks.

 

[Ankka]

Nice to see you here too, Cyc!

And, I think you have got the point on attacking and settling the areas then.

 

[FortyJ]

Cyc brings up a great point once again. If we have any hope of getting Balance of Power, and thus any chance of establishing a settlement near those extremely desirable silks in the southern reaches of Gamecatchers' lands, we must attack now! Otherwise, we'll likely find ourselves meeting Apolyton's forces (peacefully, we hope) on the west side of Balance of Power.

EDIT: I would still like to see total and abject denial from our Foreign Affairs department of any intention of war until the very last second. Let's move our forces into their territory, continue building horsemen and advancing them to the front and wait for Gamecatcher to declare war on us. If they don't, then once we're in position, we strike them, all the while Zarn should be denying any knowledge of war plans.

EDIT #2: A word of caution: There is the possibility that GCA has moved its units outside of their cities to prevent us from seeing the strength of their defenses. In other words, they may have deduced that we are spying on them for Apolyton's benefit and taken action to prevent us from learning anything else.

 

[Hygro]

I will write this short for skimmers:

Build horsemen, attack now, build settlers as we risk autoraze!

 

[Cheetah]

Yes, I thought GCA might have moved forces out of their cities as well.

Though if I remember correctly, they are weak versus us in the military screen, and we KNOW they have forces defending against Apolyton. I am very sure that they have no forces on our side of BoP. Though the only way we can know for sure will be to invade them.

Next turn, we will change some of our Med Infs to Horsemen. I don't think we should change if we loose shields though, but I checked before I sent the save, we and I believe we can get 3 horsemen without loosing extra shields, in two turn.

Our horsemen will still use some time to advance to the GCA cities, so I believe we need both some diversion AND some good diplomacy to hold down GCA reinforcements.

CivGeneral, or anyone else, make some battleplans showing the fastest and best way for our horsemen to attack, and where we can insert our diversion. As little resistance as possible is the key.

 

[Zarn]

Originally posted by FortyJ

EDIT: I would still like to see total and abject denial from our Foreign Affairs department of any intention of war until the very last second. Let's move our forces into their territory, continue building horsemen and advancing them to the front and wait for Gamecatcher to declare war on us. If they don't, then once we're in position, we strike them, all the while Zarn should be denying any knowledge of war plans.

What war plans and offensive forces?

I would rather declare war before running and riding through the countryside for bragging rights against GCA.

 

[Octavian X]

Considering the positioning of their forces, I would then go straight for Sodapopolis. This will be the first city to be reinforced by the largest force GCA can muster on this side of BoP (those two spears on the iron mount).

 

[Stuck_as_a_Mac]

Can we all say "Attack", boys and girls?

Spear heads towards Mr. Rodgers
Very good!