Viking Revenge (Deity)

[Sandman2003]

OK T-Money, I'll bite. What has Rome done to you?

1170AD - cont. A further six units are killed without incurring further losses to ourselves, however, we have exposed several of our units to potential attack, and must cover them as best we can, and we have spotted a further 7 Roman MI on a mountain to the east of Karistad. We have also left untouched a stack of 1 pike and 4 MI on a hill to the west of Karistad. Why attack these units while they have a defensive bonus? They can not harm us from this position. One lone MI can not sensibly be protected, so we be sacrificed. We otherwise cover the hill to the south of Karistad and the forest to the east with a rifle and some pikes each.

IT - The Dutch lauch some Privateers. One sinks a galley by Groningen (empty). Another approaches the galleys being used to ferry troops to the Roman lands. The Romans meanwhile show that they still have some fight left. As expected the lone MI is killed by an ancient cav. More worrying is the fact that Karistad is surrounded now,

North of Karistad are three Roman MI.
East are four Roman MI.
SE are 4 ancient cavs, 2 MI and a musketman.
SW are four MI and a pike.

1180AD - Our frigate chases down the Privateer theatening galleys near Trondheim. The threat is dispensed. Our artillery attacks the SE SOD, missing only twice. The musket is reduced to 1 hp. All SODs are in exposed terrain, and will be dispensed. We decide to use cavalry against the ancient cavalry to ensure that the enemy can not retreat. Four ancient cav are no match for the more recent equivalent. We go four zip with one promotion. We then decide to use an elite MI, on the clean up, and

Healfdene turns into the first cavalry army! We load three cavs into the army. The Army destroys the SW pike and two MIs to the east. As there are so many units to clean up, we use rifles with their attack four. We end up losing a rifle, and a berserk, but otherwise reduce the attackers to 4 units. This means none of our units are unnecessarily exposed.

We note that the French are picking up techs quite quickly from somewhere. We are only banking, metallurgy and physics up on them right now. Ideally we will attack them soon before they have caught up, but obviously we want to finish off the Romans first.

IT - The Romans manage to kill a pike, but lose an MI. England drags the Netherlands into the war against the Carthaginians. We get the Heroic Epic message, and the military academy message.

 

[T-Money]

OK T-Money, I'll bite. What has Rome done to you?

Ah, you know, demanding tribute, putting their ugly face in my territory, that stuff.

Good job with the whole Roman killing thing, I especially like the Roman Killer MI. That unit is my hero.

Keep it up!

 

[Ksim3000]

lol! Nice unit you named there Sandman! Also, a very good update too, I just hope that you can defeat The Romans although I feel that you will be doing that very very soon.

 

[El Loco]

its wierd your first army came so late since you have had numerous wars and (my guess) many elite units as well as elite battles. Once the first leader appears the rest come very quickly with the help of the Heroic Epic. Nice invasion of both Rome and the Dutch. Good luck

 

[GR8Madmax]

Good job as always Sandman and it looks like Rome is running out of units to throw at you.

I'm enjoying the destruction of Rome too. Every time that smug Caesar pops up with a demand, I feel like slapping him.

 

[Sandman2003]

Yes, the Romans can be annoying as aggressive militaristic, with a good AA unit. Actually I am amazed that the AI chooses to 'upgrade' legionaries to MI. The legionaries would be causing more trouble for me, I think.

1190AD - We can not afford to divert builds from cavalry to heroic epic or military academy just yet. We only have 8 cavs, including three in an army left on the Roman continent! Roman killer steps out and does what he does best against a Roman MI - not even scratched! The Romans have another two muskets, three MI and a knight in range, but that is all, so yes, GR8MadMax, I think Ceasar is running out of puff! Cannons take to the Karistad hill (to the south) and bombard the protecting musket to one hp. An elite cav kills the knight. Our elite berserk steps out to kill an MI, and

Inwaaer will lead the second cavalry army. Next leader can rush a small wonder! An injured berserk destroys another MI. An injured vet cavalry kills off the Wounded Roman musket, and promotes. We leave the remaining units alone as they are on a hill and a mountain respectively.

IT - A privateer attacks one of the mighty Scandinavian galleons. From the Romans - nothing!

1200AD - 3 vet cavs are loaded into the second cavalry army. It is time to pay a visit to Thermoplae. Thermoplae is size 9 protected by vet musket/s. Between the two cavalry armies we destroy three muskets, but then we run out of attacks, with a one hp ancient cavalry showing. I could use a one hp elite cavalry, but it doesn't seem worth the risk. Next turn we have another elite cavalry in range to attack, as well as the armies again. Thermoplae will fall! A contingent of rifles, cannon, MI and berserk is bringing up the rear. The plan is now to take Thermoplae, gaining us a native ivory lux, then take the Greek penninsular cities, as these will be more lightly defended. This will give us time for our cavalry build up, before going back into the Roman core cities.

IT - England and Rome sign peace. A Roman caravel drops off three MI by Cumae.

1210AD - We lose our frigate to the Roman caravel. I should have bombarded first!

Seige of Thermoplae - The second cavalry army kills a reg musket, then the first kills an ancient cav, revealing a one hp MI. To leader fish again, we use the elite cav. No Leader, but we take Thermoplae, and gain an ivory. The citizens are put on a starvation diet, making workers (to strip off Roman citizens quickly!)

Athens is next. Not only is this the start of our liberation of our mate, Alex's, cities, but taking Athens should eliminate the only Roman source of saltpeter. Of course, Ceasar may be able to trade for more. It also is the next natural city to take on our path through the Greek penninsular.

At Cumae, an elite cav, an MI and a rifle destroy the three MI, promoting the rifle. Four freshly produced cavs arrive.

Finally, we remanage all cities, and thanks to the ivory are up to 174gpt.

IT - The Romans attack Cumae with a cavalry! Ok, the saltpeter source has just gone up in priority.

1220AD - Two muskets block the road to Athens. A third is to the north of Themoplae. The northern one is destroyed by an advancing cavalry. Our cannons knock the two souther muskets down to two and one hps. T-Money's Revenge Berserk dies attacking the first - he will be mourned, when Rome burns! A vet MI, and Roman Killer live up to his name, and dispense with the remainng muskets.

IT - A privateer sinks a galleon that I think had four reinforcement MI units bound for Rome!!! These things are becoming annoying! A Roman musketman advances onto our ivory. I can see a pillage attempt coming.

1230AD - Our cannons attack the musketman. At first they have some trouble targeting between the beasts, but eventually they find their aim, reducing the musket to one hp. Roman Killer does his job again.

Seige of Athens - I screwed up last turn. I hit the move all units out of Cumae. This moved a stack of cannons with cavalry, so I lost the full advantage of the cavalry move, and my four reinforcements will not be able to join the fun at Athens. There is a vet musket defending size 6 Athens. The first cavalry army dispense with two muskets for the loss of 2 hp. No the defender is a reg musket. There is only one more defender, and

We do indeed deprive Rome of saltpeter! Unfortunately, we will not be getting any ancient cavalry out of the statue of Zeus.

 

[Sandman2003]

IT - We lose our french luxes, but banking and 181 gold gets them back! Another Roman cavalry emerges and kills an advancing rifle. Athens resistance ends.

1240AD - The two cavalry armies advance to the iron mountain by Corinth. The armies will take the three cities down the penninsular. The single cavalry units will take Delphi and Sparta, and then they will probably rejoin to complete the conquest of the Roman cities.

IT - The Romans come begging for peace. Not a chance! Ottos and England sign an MA against Carthage. I don't think Carthage will be around much longer! A lone Roman longbow threatens Athens. hahahaha

1250AD - Seige of Corinth - 1st cavalry army strikes first, and single handedly destroys two muskets and a longbow, capturing the city and a cannon.

Seige of Delphi - Delphi was protected by two muskets, a pike and a cannon. The seige is bloody - we lose a vet cav, but again we are victorious.

Seige of Pharsalos - In a bit of a push, the 2nd cav army advances to size 7 Pharsalos. We kill a musket but are down to 6hp, so we pull back for now.

The longbow is killed by an elite cav. We trade Osman our new spare iron for 22gpt.

IT - The resistance in Corinth and Delphi end. There is a Roman Caravel near Holwerd looking suspicious. Carthage end our horses to them deal. There is a lone Roman musket approaching Corinth.

1255AD - The 1st cavarly army destroys the musket - otherwise, regrouping and healing turn. Our armies are strong against everyone except France and England. Given France's backward tech, they must have a lot of units!

IT - The Roman caravel attacks and sinks an empty galley (I have too many of those now anyway!) . A new Roman cavalry emerges from Pharsalos.

1260AD - The Roman cavalry was on a mountain, so he is first bombarded and then killed by one of ours.

Seige of Pharsalos - This is where the cavalry came from, so the inhabitants must be punished! The second cavalry army is up first. Singlehandedly, the second cavalry army dispatches two muskets and a pike to take the city.

Seige of Knossos - The first cavalry army only has 10 hp left, but this is only a size four town, and so likely to be weakly defended. With the capture of Pharsalos it is brought within range. The first cavalry army charges, kills two muskets, and Knossos is liberated.

There was a longbow blocking the way to Sparta. An elite cav dispenses with the threat.

Seige of Sparta - We are only able to bring four cavalry into range, and this is not enough. We lose one, but kill a musket, leaving a 2hp musket as best defender.

IT - France and Carthage sign an MA against Ottomans.

1265AD - Most of a century ago, our Dutch conquering berserks set sail in galleons, bound for the lower part of the Roman continent. Six berserks are now within range of Sparta, and will join in the cavalry assault.

Seige of Sparta - The first two berserks are enough to capture the city, killing a musket and a pike in the process! We also gain two more ivory.

The other four berserks will be used at Pompeii. The new map of the Roman continent:

The galleons at the top and bottom of the continent are Viking, and carry Berserks - 3 up north, 6 down south. The plan will be to sweep around the coast and finally finish at Rome!
The power graph

and victory conditions

IT - Rome obviously still has some cavalry, as two attack our SOD by Pompeii. No deaths on either side, just retreated cavalry.

1270AD - Our new frigate finally catches up with the Roman caravel that has been causing mischief, and sends it to Davy Jones Locker.

Seige of Pompeii - This city gets a cannon barrage first, redlining the defenders, as if we really needed to, but now the attack turns into a fishing expedition! Three elite berserks kill two muskets and a longbow, leaving a one hp cavalry defending the city. An elite cav finishes the job and Pompeii joins the Vikings!

While assessing the strategic options for our forces in the Roman continent, it becomes apparent that Antium is too far away for a direct cavalry charge. We can however, bring 7 berserks into range to attack next turn. It is decided then, to take Antium with Berserks, Neapolis with a cavalry charge, and Rome will get the pleasure of our armies backed by reinforcement cavs. This campaign should be over in about three or four more turns (I hope).

1275AD - Seige of Antium - One fine morning, suddenly without warning the citizens of Antium can make out 5 galleons sailing in from the horizon, as they near, the panicked citizens suddenly realise that they are the vikings. By then it is too late, the berserks are storming the city. However, the citizens of Antium put up some considerable resistance, and the first five berserks die, before a musket perishes. We lose one more berserk, then it comes down to forcing the wounded, one hp berserk to attack a one hp musket. We do it anyway to keep the campaign momentum going, and he wins capturing Antium!

The Romans now have just two cities - Neapolis and Rome itself. We will strike both next turn! Because of the river running in front of Rome, we need to pause just inside Roman territory before attacking Rome directly, even though it is within range three. This way we can avoid giving the Romans the defensive advantage of the river. Task force Rome has the two armies and five vet cavalries, and is lined up just inside Roman territory.

Also it looks like we can only get three cavalry up to Antium to be in position to charge Neapolis, so the surviving berserks may be called back into duty!

Carthage is down to one city - most of Hannibal's cities have fallen to England. We sell an ivory to England for 24 gpt. I know, they are the most dangerous civ, but at least this is good income for us, to fund our ongoing wars.

IT - The Carthaginians come asking for an alliance against the Ottomans - no way. Carthage and Dutch sign peace. The Dutch come offering an MPP - no way. The palace gets an expansion.

1280AD - Seige of Rome - The first cavarly army is first. It kills two vet muskets, then the second cav army kills a reg musket. There is only a longbow showing now. We decide to let a cav try to promote. He doesn't, but Rome falls!

Seige of Neapolis - We lose two cavs and a berserk without denting the defence at Neapolis. It will get to survive another turn.

 

[Sandman2003]

IT - Carthage and England sign peace.

1285AD - Neapolis is defended by an elite musket (we made him so!).

Seige of Neapolis - The elite musket dies to our second cavalry army. The first cavalry army almost dies taking out a second musket. Now a reg is showing. The second cavalry army dispenses with the Roman. We are finally down to longbows! A vet cav does the business, and

And so finally, our friend Alexander of Greece has been avenged, and the hero T-Money's Revenge can be laid to rest.

Where to next? France has three luxes, but even though they are behind technically, they have the musketeer, and two sources of saltpeter. Their military is rated strong against mine. If I had to conquer them now, this would not worry, me, but there is no need to.

Carthage is almost history, and has nothing to offer.

The Dutch, are weak but are only missing nationalism, so could be strong soon.

The Ottomans only have four cities, and have a source of spice. The Vikings would like to add some flavour to their cooking. I could ROP, land troops around his cities, put him into the IA, trade for his bonus tech, then slaughter him. This plan has the bonus that we then have troops on the Dutch homeland, so we can attend to unfinished business there, immediately afterwards.

The English are very strong, and have a lot of sea power thanks to the many man-o-wars that are sailing around. I would prefer to challenge them when their UU is no longer such a potent weapon.

So probably, the Ottos it is. This will take a while to get our units in place. We start builds for the military academy and the Heroic epic.

 

[Sandman2003]

1290AD - We start moving galleons to Sparta, the aggregation point for taskforce Otto. We sell the Dutch ivory for 7 gold per turn. As much as anything this is some small insurance against them attacking us. We want to be the aggressors, and get the advantage of surprise! We check on the status of the remaining civs:
Carthage - 1 city, up fascism
Netherlands - 13 cities, down nationalism
France - 11 cities, down econmics, physics, free artistry, military tradition
Ottomans - 4 cities, down theory of gravity
England - 17 cities, up steam power, communism, fascism.
Scandinavia - 38 cities, even.

IT - We renew peace with the Dutch straight up.

 

[T-Money]

I would normally say something a little more eloquent, but wow. Seriously, how do some people do so good at this game? I struggle with wars like this even at Regent level.

But anyway, great job as usual Sandman, another fine installment to the Viking saga. I can't believe I have a unit named after me....I feel so special..... I cried at the part where he was "laid to rest".

Can't wait to see how this one turns out!

 

[El Loco]

Englang has 17 cities, steamp power, com. and fascism, that isn't to good. It is now certian that you have most civs under control and if the english get inf. just build more atillery. Great game so far, good luck!

 

[Shevek]

This is a really good read, very enjoyable and informative.
I am just making the move from Emperor to Demigod. So I learn a lot.
I will follow this story.
Good luck.

 

[Sandman2003]

Seriously, how do some people do so good at this game? I struggle with wars like this even at Regent level.

Basically, there were four things assisting this outcome -
1) I had superior units - always a good time to attack.
2) I defended the hill and the forest, so the AI would put his units in the zero defense terrain of grassland or plains. The AI sent mainly offensive units at me, and most were sitting next to my city for a turn waiting to be slaughtered. MIs in particular make good attack units, but are relatively feeble on defence. Ceasar would have been better off sending legionaries at me, I think.
3) Use of combined arms - cannons. It wasn't that big a factor in this battle, but a useful way to reduce the few strong defenders that Rome sent my way.
4) Patience - even on Deity the AI will eventually run out of units. You just need a strong enough entrenched position to hold out, and then move on.

Glad you are enjoying the story.

 

[Sandman2003]

Englang has 17 cities, steamp power, com. and fascism, that isn't to good. It is now certian that you have most civs under control and if the english get inf. just build more atillery. Great game so far, good luck!

Yes, I am definitely concerned with England. Their 17 cities are all together with much less corruption than mine, I would suggest. If they get to replaceable parts long before me and decide to attack with infantry, it could be a very difficult war. That is partly why I decided that Ottos were next. We will use their free tech to hopefully gat close to England, techwise. It also puts all my armies close to English soil, so we may be able to get in some licks pre replaceable parts.

 

[Sandman2003]

This is a really good read, very enjoyable and informative.
I am just making the move from Emperor to Demigod. So I learn a lot.
I will follow this story.
Good luck.

Glad you are enjoying the story. The much faster AI growth on Demigod is quite a shock, so make sure you get off to a good start! Glad you like the story.

 

[El Loco]

Just a quik question. On what victory condition do you plan to win?

 

[Sandman2003]

El Loco, for victory condition, at the moment the military win is most likely. I might try conquest instead of domination, though. This depends on time. Domination can clearly be achieved sooner than a conquest, I think.

Just for the record, here is the English empire. As you can see there are 14 cities on the mainland, and three on nearby islands. Far better from a corruption point of view. Also, interesting to note is that with the current Ottoman borders, there is actually sea access to the mountain on the west coast just north of Hippo that we could reach in a single turn, ie without being exposed to the English man-o-wars. Something to bear in mind, I guess! England is also immediately south of Sicily. I was previously calling this continent Africa, but now that it is owned solely by English, I guess England is a more appropriate name.

Now a look at our more immediate plans, the Ottoman empire... We can look at this one without needing to squeeze the sides. You can also see the sea route from Uskudar to Hippo to the east. Notice also that the Dutch only have four cities left on this landmass, and a single tile island city in the SE. The Ottomans lack horses and so can not build the very powerful Sipahi! The visible units around Groningen are Swiss Mercs that must have lost their way. Actually, I think they wandered into my territory because the peace treaty was about to expire. I don't have much defense in that city (one rifle, I think), so that is why I sold the Dutch ivory. It will give them a reason to keep the peace. And of course when Willem came looking ot renew the peace treaty, it would have been silly to refuse as that immediately renews war!

1305AD - The Netherlands now have nationalism (rifles), so they will not be weak for long!

1310AD - We should be ready to sail to the Ottomans next turn. Unlike the Roman campaign when we were heavy on defense, it looks like we will be a bit light on defense (ok, a lot light then). If it is all over in one turn, this may not be too much of a problem. The French now have military tradition, and are only two techs away from IA. Osman is now in the IA and he picked up nationalism - bother. This makes him useless for tech bartering. Maybe if we can take him by surprise, we can still knock him out quickly.

1320AD - Our mighty fleet is on its way to Osman with
Cannons - 17
Rifles - 3
Cavalry - 17 (6 in two armies)
Berserks - 3
MI - 1
Galleons - 13
Frigates - 2

That is actually more Galleons than we need, but there you are.

1325AD - Our ships are about to enter Ottoman territory. I had better ROP. I have already destroyed my rep for trading, and I am surprised anyone will accept an ROP from me at all, but...


IT - The English demand our territory map and 51 gold. I woiuld really like to tell them where to take this demand, but we are not in a good position to fight them, so I cave. We decide to buy an ROP with them to try and keep them happy. 278 gold does the trick.

1330AD - The waters are a bit crowded around our landing site. Just north of Edrine are French troops - a horseman, a knight and a musketeer. NE of that is a French caravel, and north of that an Ottoman caravel. We have loaded a bunch of troops on the hill just east of, and between Iznik and Istanbul. We also landed some cavalries on the west coast. We still have units in the boats, especially just north of Edrine.

The one thing I am really happy to see is that there are still muskets defending the sighted cities.

 

[T-Money]

Great addition, sandman. Good to see that the Ottos are going down next. I dislike the Ottos very much as well.

Just a question, seeing as all I have is vanilla civ: are you using PTW and Conquests, or just one of them?

 

[Sandman2003]

IT - The French land a bunch more troops by Edrine, and Osman is starting to upgrade troops to rifles.

1335AD - We move into position.

IT - The French fare poorly with their knights versus Edrine's rifles. A privateer comes out of Iznik and attacks one of our empty galleons. We survive, but nationality flag or not, it is obviously sent by the Ottomans. If we needed an excuse for war, we have one now. We didn't need one, really.

1340AD - All my money, 1028 gold, and the English areinsulted even just for steam. Very well. let us see what the Ottomans have defending their cities!
Istanbul (130 gold) - Two rifles, two muskets and a trebuchet. Hasn't Osman heard of cannons.
Edrine (90 gold) - Four rifles and a longbow. It also has the Oracle.
Iznik (130 gold) - Three rifles.
Uskudar (136 gold) - Three rifles.

I don't think I can get Uskudar in the first go as it is also on a hill. We declare war!

Seige of Edrine - Two frigates bombard first causing one hp damage. Our eight cannons cause 6 hps of damage. The second cavalry army attacks, but is knocked down to 5hp after killing only the first rifle. Three rifles and a longbow to go. We pause for the moment.

Seige of Istanbul - We only have four cannons, but they score three hits. The cavs by Uskudar decide to hit Istanbul instead, this turn. Out of the four, it is two retreats, two deaths, and only redlines a single rifle. The three berserks go 2 for 1 on the two muskets, leaving a 2hp and a 1hp rifle left defending. Two cavalries finally get victories, and Istanbul falls.

Seige of Iznik - Here we have five cannons, and we score only two hits. The cavalries are sent in. We lose two, but Iznik falls.

We return to Edrine - the only units that can attack are the first cavalry army, and the injured second cavarly army. We decide to send in the first cavalry army. The army kills two rifles without getting scratched, but runs out of movement. The second cavalry army faces a single rifle and a longbow. I turn to the combat calculator. The town is in the desert, and my cavalry army attacks with effective 9 strength. Apparently, I have an 87% cahnce of winning. That will do. The second cav army continues. Without any further harm to our army,

We also get two spice resources by virtue of the capture of the central two cities. We will now gather all the remaining force together to attack the hill city of Uskudar.

Carthage has picked up communism. No one seems to like spicey food in this world!

IT - The Ottomans land a medieval infantry and a musket north of Edrine. We also see a couple of Ottoman ships sail near Fauske, but no troops are dropped off. We lose our french luxuries.

1345AD - We ship France, nationalism for the three luxes, their world map, an ROP and 4 gold. They won't pay gold per turn to us for a tech due to our bad rep! We are ten turns from our min research on steam. The first cavalry army deals to the Ottoman threat north of Edrine. Our two frigates bombard the Ottoman caravel twice scoring only one hit.

IT - The Ottomans send a lone longbow at Istanbul.

1350AD - We now have three frigates in range of the Ottoman caravel. Two more bombards knock the caravel down to one hp. It is then attacked and sunk. The longbow meets a berserk and doesn't survive the experience. Our cannons and troops are in position by Uskudar to strike next turn.

1355AD - Seige of Uskudar - The three frigates strike first scoring two hits. Then the huge cannon battery of 18 cannons starts firing. However, they find it difficult to hit targets in a hill city and only get five hits. The second cavalry army takes the longbow hit, and kills the only non-redlined rifle. We then use two elite cavs, and the elite berserk to finish off the defenders, but no leaders emerge.

 

[Sandman2003]

Just a question, seeing as all I have is vanilla civ: are you using PTW and Conquests, or just one of them?

I am using conquests, although the vikings are actually PTW civ. I never brought PTW, but you get a full version of PTW with conquests anyway! (in addition to all the PTW stuff being included in the conquests version).