The Truest Gift of the Gods

[La Fayette]

um...probably finished playing that one late at night

[Smash]

allrighty I'll go next in the interest of keeping er moving.....

[Smash]

ok..where to start?...much happening.It is an epic as far as solo games go.

Lets start on the techs since there is little.
We finished Mobile Warfare which kills the Viking War Academy.
A tough choice followed.I decided on Miniaturization.Our "mother" cities could use some offshore platforms.
After that it was Flight or Genetic so Flight was taken and science reduced to 10%.We can gain much in the next few decades with our superior technology and spy corp.

on to the military conflicts.
Freedom fighting was the first thrust.Much sabotaging was undertaken.No targets were given,just random attacks,which bat 1.000,and soon several key cities were without improvements of any kind.Hardest hit was Karakorum(see below) which was reduced to insignificance less the palace.

Our spy corp has greatly increased our geographical knowledge of our enemy's lands.

A peace treaty was signed with Russia for the moment and 50 gold tribute was received.

Viking Theater:
Small inroads in this region.Forces are sparce but so are enemy troops.Our spys were successful in converting:
Nonnebakken
Prague
Lisbon

We have increased our presence in the area and are now buzzing around being pesky to the mighty Vikings.

Mongol Theater:
Ormuz was sight of heavy fighting.Sabotaging was followed by artillery and old fashion cavalry charges.The city was captured and held.Heavy re-inforcement has secured the city and was a key in the ruin of Karakorum.Repeated sabotaging saw the city reduced to size 1.The capitol is ripe for the raze but the Mongols are losing large numbers in the defense of the capitol.Our generals were quite content to let this continue for now.The region continues to be a hotbed of military activity.The RR from South America is complete and we can re supply with no hinderance.

English Theater:
Our largest successes were scored in this campaign.Again,sabaotaging greatly weakened the enemy's defenses.A stunning strike saw the English capitol fall to our forces.Old fashioned hard fighting followed and we now are in total command of the southern area.The Russians have sensed the English weakness and have been attacking from the other end trying to steal our glory.
Cities:
London-Adam Smith's
York
Canterbury


This is what was left of the Mongol capitol 4 turns into my reign.Vet spys are deadly!

[Smash]

..and the save..

[La Fayette]

...so fond of vet spies...

I downloaded, just to have a look...
and then there were so many vet spies in the field that I didn't manage to resist that (remember Ulysses and the sirenes ).

1) Technology
We should get Mech Inf within 3 years and Computers 3 years later.
...but the Mongols, who go on fighting fiercely, managed to bribe Ormuz in 1888 and received ...guess what? = Mobile Warfare, of course

2) Mongol front
We were compelled to destroy the glorious capital city that smash had reduced to size one, in order to be able to buy Ormuz back at a reasonable price.
Later on we took Samarkand but the city was also reduced to nothing during the fighting (no poisoning at all, but so many units inside the city that when the last unit was destroyed there was no city left).
Huge Mongol losses, but some losses on our side...tough!
I would advise to protect any newly conquered city very carefully, since those Mongols seem to be very clever at stealing techs.
I would also advise not to forget to deliver the 'jewels' caravan that is sailing a few tiles south of Crete, since it should bring us at least 400 gold.

2) English front
We took most of England-South Africa, almost without losses.
Three weak English cities left (+ 3 more hidden in the English fog).

3) Viking front
The shipchain between Toronto (northern Australia) and Ghulaman (Vietnam) is at work. The RR Ghulaman-Bangladesh is to be completed next year. The road Bangladesh-Nonnebaken is to be completed one year later, and our army, about 12 units strong, is now south of Nonnebakken. The big fighting against the Vikings should start there (might be a piece of cake, since they have been very awkward up to now,...wait and see!).

4) Russians
We have established an embassy: they have 60 techs (got Mobile Warfare from the English IIRC)and 31 cities.
Next player will have to decide whether to use our army in South Africa against the Russian, or to sail it back to America and use it against the Mongols.

[Julius Brenzaida]

Ah those vet spies
Moi looks to be AWOL
I should try to play this week-end
The wars seem to be going well
I think I'm going to attack the Russians

[Smash]

Darn those Mongols!!...darn that Ormuz!.This city has been a pivotal city in the course of history.Now the AI has tanks!..this can't be good.The fighting around Ormuz has kept us from liberating North America and its many resources.

[La Fayette]

It is a great pity that the Mongols managed to acquire Mobile Warfare, but we are fighting at least ten different places around the world. I guess that we must be prepared to have any new useful tech also stolen somewhere, including Robotics when we get it. Luckily we all know that the AI is not clever at all using the killer combo Howies-Mech Inf (and even less clever than that using the superb ability of vet spies to sabotage enemy units).

The one and only priority now (apart from researching Robotics) is to finish building our transportation network. There is not much left to be done:
1) RR Bangladesh-Nonnebakken
2) Shipchain Australia-NewZealand-Pacific Islands-South America (which means building not much more than 3 or 4 transports)

The Mongols have lost at least 50 units around Ormuz. They are going to miss them in the near future.

[Julius Brenzaida]

Sorry for the delay, I had too much work.
I play my 10 turns of pain in the Invasion Earth thread and then I am back at this one

[Smash]

status report?

[Julius Brenzaida]

I'm playing today
Sorry for the delay

[Julius Brenzaida]

Gasp
I haven't been able too play much today.
Next wednesday begin the Easter holidays.
It should be easier then
Don't worry, I am still on it

[Julius Brenzaida]

1897 ad. We bribe Brighton. We bribe Nishapur, gaining 8 units in the process. Caravan to Naples. We kill half a dozen Mongol units in the area. Heavy industrial sabotage on Mongols and Viking cities. Our army in South Asia move to attack the Russians on a second front by the Middle East. Our armies in Africa shall very soon be done with the English there. A spy discovers an advanced tribe, Small Surprise, in Danemark !
1898 ad. The Mongol counter attack claim only 3 of our units. The trend is in our favor ! We kill 5 badly placed one and a spy destroy the walls of Bokhara wich then falls. We get Magellan ! We bribe Birmingham and Exeter. There is still 3 English cities left ! Where are they ???
1899 ad. Big Mongol reprisals. We lose 6 units and Bokhara. We discover Labor Union. Robotics is next. We sabotage everything in the cities of Shantu and Khorasan and then bribe back Bokhara. It is reduced to size 1, so we make a ceasefire with the Mongols and rushbuild city walls in an effort to save Magellan. In a sudden burst of peace feeling we also make a ceasefire with the Vikings, as we have no units to attack them now, anyway. But don’t worry, reinforcements are rushed in North America, and a dozen armors are crossing the Zagros Mountains to strike at the Russians cities in Irak.
1900 ad. The Mongols sneak attack us on the year of the cease-fire. I’d never seen that ! But anyway, they fail miserabily. We capture the poorly defended russian city of Turin on the delta of the Tiger and Euphrate. It triggers secret defensive pacts and we are now at war with everybody.
1901 ad. We discover robotics. We go to 80% taxes. Bribing some cities in the near futre would be nice.
1902-3 ad. Small warfare. More of our units join the front line. We capture Nishapur.
1904 ad. Terrible Mongol counter-offensive. Nishapur and 9 of our units destroyed (my mistake : I put too many units on that city). Monglos really fight fiercely. Russians poison down Turin to size 1 but we stop them by capturing Vladivostok in Irak. We capture the russians cities of Tbilissi and Tiflis in South Ethiopia.
1905 ad. Mongols are at it again but this time we lose only 2 units and no city. Reinforcement sent from our pacific islands to turn the tide in our favor. The russian front is falling fast. We capture Grozny and Batum in Soudan and Novgorod in Syria . We destroy the Mongol city of Tabriz.
1906 ad. Fierce Mongol and Russian counter attack (including their Mediterranean fleet : eh we ain’t got no ships there), we lose 5 units but hold all of position. We consider it a success. We capture Krasnoyarsk. As we are having so much trouble with the Mongols we suppress the Australia-Vietnam ship chain in the idea of moving it in a Australia-America ship chain. I think the production in Africa and the units we have there should be enough against the Russians and then the Vikings. And with 3500 gold, we can bribe a bit too.
1907 ad. Mongols again. 7 units lost in a general counter attack. Russians seem hapless. We bribe the Mongol city of Naples in Louisania. Quite expensive but it feels good to give them a blow ! We destroy Aleppo (not only do the Mongols not build enough railroads for our howitzer, but they found cities on our railroads). We capture the russian city of Tula in Kurdistan. We bribe Cambridge for 86 gold in Somalia (English are really out of it) and for the price we get an engineer. We kill a mongol armor near Tanganyka lake, they’re everywhere ! We capture the Russian city of Cunaxa in Israel.

[Julius Brenzaida]

Well it took me forever to play it, but it was great fun !
The English are out of it, the Russians are collapsing. The vikings have not been yet tested. And the Mongols are very dangerous. All our resources except in Asia and in Africa should be directed against them. I’ve put armies in Nishappur and Bokhara for a new attack. Maybe that taking 2-3 cities in one turn should at last give us a favorable trend. Good luck for the next player. Here is the saved game.

[La Fayette]

Please smash, play this one!
I shall play after you, next week.