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Okay, very hypothetically, an invasion plan for Lego. Would also work for ND or GoW, I'm sure, but as Lego is the hardest target and on top of our competitors list, I'll go for this.
I assume we have one ally, e.g. GoW. Without them, it could still work, but at greater cost and risks. Main risk would be to be attacked on our home land by GoW or ND, to be sure, we need a protection pact with e.g. GoW so that they won't attack us, and will attack ND should they join Lego.
1. buildup phase
for this plan, we need the following:
- tech superiority to Lego. we should have both tanks and marines, with flight a surplus (otherwise we should be on our way for flight when the invasion starts, so that bombers and fighters can quickly rebase once we're gaining ground). Preferably, Lego should not have Combustion yet, or only just, which means we need a 12 turn advantage over them. If we get ToE, they will not have tanks for sure, as I don't see us giving away AT and electronics that easily.
- one big navy, consisting of at least 20 destroyers, and 15-20 transports. Also includes 12 or more privateers (more on those later) If we have flight in time, 1 carrier can also work nicely
- main army of ~30 marines, ~20 infs, ~20 art, ~20 tanks, ~10 explorers, ~20 workers. Settler for good order, you never know if it is useful.
- reinforcement army of ~20infs, ~20 art, ~30 tanks, 20 explorers (which could be replaced by RPs conquistadors, but we'll need the initial bunch)
- once on our way, bombers to replace the arts. Can also be part of our reinforcements. After that, all forces we can build are nice, mainly tanks and infs.
- some gold for necessary rushes, like barracks. Nothing fancy.
- to get here, we need mobilisation. And we should not be too slow in research either.
- If at all possible, we first of all get a spy positioned, to check their strength. Especially their navy interests us.
2. pre-war positioning
Our transports are filled with the first wave, and our navy (minus privateers) sails as one block, out of spotting range of any of the pickets. Precise positioning can vary, but I would think somewhere near the South of Lego would be best, because it would leave us the most options to sail to.
Then, the privateers move in position. This assumes Lego does not replace the caravels with ironclads, otherwise privateers are of no use, and should better be replaced by destroyers. They will be spotted, but there is nothing we can do to prevent that. And a lone scouting galley can check what kind of navy Lego is keeping behind their line.
Next turn, the picket line either has to move back, or will be attacked by our privateers or destroyers (whichever we can use). The idea is to get the picket line out of the way. With privateers, we can do this without starting a war, meaning we can enjoy our non-WW empire for one turn longer. With destroyers, we need to attack. Important is that the picket line is gone over a longer distance then we need: if they have 4 picket ships, all 4 should be destroyed, so they don't know where we will attack, and can't concentrate their defenses on one spot.
Our navy sails through the breach, and preferably so that we still have a few landing options.
GoW on the other side of Lego does exactly the same thing: get rid of the pickets, and start maneuvering a large navy towards their land.
3. Start of the war
One or 2 turns later (depending on exact landing spot), we can attack a city. Don't bother with a mountain landing spot, or a hill, just pick one of the cities, preferably one not build on a hill. Either we, or RP investigate a few cities that are good candidates. Normally, we should be able to fork a possible attack to at least 2 places. We pick the best city.
Our destroyers move into position, and bombard the city, normally with all this power, we can damage the defending troops, destroy any walls, and with a bit of luck get the city to below size 6 as well. If investigation sees only a few defenders, we spend as little bombardment on the city as possible.
Our marines attack. There is no way Lego can defend a city, already bombarded, to a force of 30 marines. With a bit of luck, we have at least half of them still ready to fight a second time, in a neighboring city. This will depend on how many defenders are in the city, of course.
if we can still risk it, we try to take a second city in the first blow. However, no need to stretch ourselves, if at all a risk, we don't. Anyway, we move transports with infs, arts, and tanks into the city. Bombers which should be ready by now are rebased to the city. We clear the surroundings of the city of enemy troops, for as far as we can, taking special care to take defensive positions. We rush a harbor (using a disbanded transport as prebuild), or a barracks if we have still a harbor present. And the workers we brought build fortresses (we can at least build 2 mountain forts).
Last step: we use our explorers to break all RRs leading to our beachhead, and doing as much pillaging as we can. Taking out resources or luxs are of course a plus, but first of all we need to take the RRs down. If possible, we move our explorers out of the way, of course, to use them again later on. But if we lose some, so be it.
Now, with the city firmly in our grasp, we await the rebound.
If we can, we can take two cities, but we have to make sure we can position a huge number of defenders in our cities, we can't risk losing them again to Lego. I think we will be able to only do it for one city
4. spearhead
If possible, we let RP land a bunch of conquistadores on our land, but only if they can be relatively protected the first turn. These can be used to first of all start their GA, secondly to go pillaging more inland.
Also, in between the bombers still arriving, we take a few fighters as well, which are excellent scouts.
Next, we set up a supply line for our reinforcements. Depending on Lego's navy, we can risk running a continous line, or we have to do it in convoys, which of course transport the same amount of troops, but only in batches. At least we can hold a few transports in our beach head, which can shuttle the last 2 tiles for free.
We hold our cities for 2 or 3 turns, waiting for the reinforcements to arrive. If GoW has a succesful strike as well, or if we get lucky in defending, we can risk it to take one more city. But we make sure not to overstretch, defending is the game for the moment. Our bombers (the number of which should grow considerably by now) wreak havoc on Lego's terrain, concentrating on resources, and on possible forts. If we spot Lego troops roaming around, we bombard these for good order as well, but most importantly we destroy their road network. We do not bombard cities... yet.
Once our reinforcements are present, we advance on the cities. (coastal first, as they can be bombarded by our navy) We should be able to cut off part of their cities from the rest, and take those. We keep our best defenses in our initial spearhead, and extensilvely use bombers to lose as little forces as possible. This is the hardest part of the war, as Lego can outbuild our attackers with defenders, and thus be a very though nut to crack. We need to take some cities, without risking what we just gained... If this doesn't work out as we plan on, we should consider retreating, and waiting for better chances.
5. consolidation
Once we've damaged a considerable amount of their cities, and taken a part of it, we can think of taking them out. This phase can only start if we're considerably stronger then them, and with healthy troops, and all our reinforcements on Legoland.
Now, the idea is speed. Until now, we spend most on keeping our forces safe, but no more need for this, we need to get Lego down as quickly as possible, before WW starts to bite us. (BTW, if we need to switch to Monarchy, so be it). bombard what we can, take what we can, and don't bother too much with defensive positions anymore (don't let us open up so we can be mopped up, of course). Get them down, and meet with GoW, which hopefully is doing the same on the other side as well. In this stage, we can split our forces in multiple stacks, instead of only taking a SoD to avoid being attacked and defeated in one turn.
Don't wait for letting all our troops heal, just rush. Don't pillage their terrai, leaving just one heavily guarded RR open for our own troops, just bombard the cities, attack, and rebase.
6. conclusions
We need a massive number of troops. And, if we can be quick enough in tech, we can have loads of tanks and bombers, while Lego only has infs, and no good attackers (they will have some cavs, but who cares). Timing can be perfect, if we get the ToE: those two techs we gain are too hard for them to easily research. We should only share these with our allies, to avoid devaluation (not even RP). At the time they're still completing factories and hydro plants, we can have a huge force ready
But, to do it right, we need an ally. GoW is a likely candidate, but has ND to think about. If ND does not want to join, and do not help Lego as well, they are the obvious target: we get to MI and MA, and roll over them.
The problem is of course our defense. We can use radio to keep us safe, but will need a good army to spot incoming forces, and deal with any boats before they become a problem. The good thing is, we can base our defenses largely on bombers and subs / destroyers, while Lego should not be given that opportunity. They should not have flight, and should not have be allowed to build many destroyers before they are invaded. And I welcome their transports guarded by only a coupld of destroyers, and mostly ironclads.
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So, what you think, as a hypothetical game?
DeepO
I assume we have one ally, e.g. GoW. Without them, it could still work, but at greater cost and risks. Main risk would be to be attacked on our home land by GoW or ND, to be sure, we need a protection pact with e.g. GoW so that they won't attack us, and will attack ND should they join Lego.
1. buildup phase
for this plan, we need the following:
- tech superiority to Lego. we should have both tanks and marines, with flight a surplus (otherwise we should be on our way for flight when the invasion starts, so that bombers and fighters can quickly rebase once we're gaining ground). Preferably, Lego should not have Combustion yet, or only just, which means we need a 12 turn advantage over them. If we get ToE, they will not have tanks for sure, as I don't see us giving away AT and electronics that easily.
- one big navy, consisting of at least 20 destroyers, and 15-20 transports. Also includes 12 or more privateers (more on those later) If we have flight in time, 1 carrier can also work nicely
- main army of ~30 marines, ~20 infs, ~20 art, ~20 tanks, ~10 explorers, ~20 workers. Settler for good order, you never know if it is useful.
- reinforcement army of ~20infs, ~20 art, ~30 tanks, 20 explorers (which could be replaced by RPs conquistadors, but we'll need the initial bunch)
- once on our way, bombers to replace the arts. Can also be part of our reinforcements. After that, all forces we can build are nice, mainly tanks and infs.
- some gold for necessary rushes, like barracks. Nothing fancy.
- to get here, we need mobilisation. And we should not be too slow in research either.
- If at all possible, we first of all get a spy positioned, to check their strength. Especially their navy interests us.
2. pre-war positioning
Our transports are filled with the first wave, and our navy (minus privateers) sails as one block, out of spotting range of any of the pickets. Precise positioning can vary, but I would think somewhere near the South of Lego would be best, because it would leave us the most options to sail to.
Then, the privateers move in position. This assumes Lego does not replace the caravels with ironclads, otherwise privateers are of no use, and should better be replaced by destroyers. They will be spotted, but there is nothing we can do to prevent that. And a lone scouting galley can check what kind of navy Lego is keeping behind their line.
Next turn, the picket line either has to move back, or will be attacked by our privateers or destroyers (whichever we can use). The idea is to get the picket line out of the way. With privateers, we can do this without starting a war, meaning we can enjoy our non-WW empire for one turn longer. With destroyers, we need to attack. Important is that the picket line is gone over a longer distance then we need: if they have 4 picket ships, all 4 should be destroyed, so they don't know where we will attack, and can't concentrate their defenses on one spot.
Our navy sails through the breach, and preferably so that we still have a few landing options.
GoW on the other side of Lego does exactly the same thing: get rid of the pickets, and start maneuvering a large navy towards their land.
3. Start of the war
One or 2 turns later (depending on exact landing spot), we can attack a city. Don't bother with a mountain landing spot, or a hill, just pick one of the cities, preferably one not build on a hill. Either we, or RP investigate a few cities that are good candidates. Normally, we should be able to fork a possible attack to at least 2 places. We pick the best city.
Our destroyers move into position, and bombard the city, normally with all this power, we can damage the defending troops, destroy any walls, and with a bit of luck get the city to below size 6 as well. If investigation sees only a few defenders, we spend as little bombardment on the city as possible.
Our marines attack. There is no way Lego can defend a city, already bombarded, to a force of 30 marines. With a bit of luck, we have at least half of them still ready to fight a second time, in a neighboring city. This will depend on how many defenders are in the city, of course.
if we can still risk it, we try to take a second city in the first blow. However, no need to stretch ourselves, if at all a risk, we don't. Anyway, we move transports with infs, arts, and tanks into the city. Bombers which should be ready by now are rebased to the city. We clear the surroundings of the city of enemy troops, for as far as we can, taking special care to take defensive positions. We rush a harbor (using a disbanded transport as prebuild), or a barracks if we have still a harbor present. And the workers we brought build fortresses (we can at least build 2 mountain forts).
Last step: we use our explorers to break all RRs leading to our beachhead, and doing as much pillaging as we can. Taking out resources or luxs are of course a plus, but first of all we need to take the RRs down. If possible, we move our explorers out of the way, of course, to use them again later on. But if we lose some, so be it.
Now, with the city firmly in our grasp, we await the rebound.
If we can, we can take two cities, but we have to make sure we can position a huge number of defenders in our cities, we can't risk losing them again to Lego. I think we will be able to only do it for one city
4. spearhead
If possible, we let RP land a bunch of conquistadores on our land, but only if they can be relatively protected the first turn. These can be used to first of all start their GA, secondly to go pillaging more inland.
Also, in between the bombers still arriving, we take a few fighters as well, which are excellent scouts.
Next, we set up a supply line for our reinforcements. Depending on Lego's navy, we can risk running a continous line, or we have to do it in convoys, which of course transport the same amount of troops, but only in batches. At least we can hold a few transports in our beach head, which can shuttle the last 2 tiles for free.
We hold our cities for 2 or 3 turns, waiting for the reinforcements to arrive. If GoW has a succesful strike as well, or if we get lucky in defending, we can risk it to take one more city. But we make sure not to overstretch, defending is the game for the moment. Our bombers (the number of which should grow considerably by now) wreak havoc on Lego's terrain, concentrating on resources, and on possible forts. If we spot Lego troops roaming around, we bombard these for good order as well, but most importantly we destroy their road network. We do not bombard cities... yet.
Once our reinforcements are present, we advance on the cities. (coastal first, as they can be bombarded by our navy) We should be able to cut off part of their cities from the rest, and take those. We keep our best defenses in our initial spearhead, and extensilvely use bombers to lose as little forces as possible. This is the hardest part of the war, as Lego can outbuild our attackers with defenders, and thus be a very though nut to crack. We need to take some cities, without risking what we just gained... If this doesn't work out as we plan on, we should consider retreating, and waiting for better chances.
5. consolidation
Once we've damaged a considerable amount of their cities, and taken a part of it, we can think of taking them out. This phase can only start if we're considerably stronger then them, and with healthy troops, and all our reinforcements on Legoland.
Now, the idea is speed. Until now, we spend most on keeping our forces safe, but no more need for this, we need to get Lego down as quickly as possible, before WW starts to bite us. (BTW, if we need to switch to Monarchy, so be it). bombard what we can, take what we can, and don't bother too much with defensive positions anymore (don't let us open up so we can be mopped up, of course). Get them down, and meet with GoW, which hopefully is doing the same on the other side as well. In this stage, we can split our forces in multiple stacks, instead of only taking a SoD to avoid being attacked and defeated in one turn.
Don't wait for letting all our troops heal, just rush. Don't pillage their terrai, leaving just one heavily guarded RR open for our own troops, just bombard the cities, attack, and rebase.
6. conclusions
We need a massive number of troops. And, if we can be quick enough in tech, we can have loads of tanks and bombers, while Lego only has infs, and no good attackers (they will have some cavs, but who cares). Timing can be perfect, if we get the ToE: those two techs we gain are too hard for them to easily research. We should only share these with our allies, to avoid devaluation (not even RP). At the time they're still completing factories and hydro plants, we can have a huge force ready
But, to do it right, we need an ally. GoW is a likely candidate, but has ND to think about. If ND does not want to join, and do not help Lego as well, they are the obvious target: we get to MI and MA, and roll over them.
The problem is of course our defense. We can use radio to keep us safe, but will need a good army to spot incoming forces, and deal with any boats before they become a problem. The good thing is, we can base our defenses largely on bombers and subs / destroyers, while Lego should not be given that opportunity. They should not have flight, and should not have be allowed to build many destroyers before they are invaded. And I welcome their transports guarded by only a coupld of destroyers, and mostly ironclads.
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So, what you think, as a hypothetical game?
DeepO
I'm away on holiday / vavation this week - I'll comment on it when I'm back.
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