The War: 1250AD

[vondrack]

Re: Eastern Theater

Originally posted by vondrack
This is how the map of the Eastern Ocean looks after opening the save and going through the diplo and build phases:

OK, I think I've figured out the Eastern Theater. Have a look:



This will tell us whether we need any/extra defense in Jackson and/or Dye Fields. I do not see a way to get the same info for Port Hammer & Castlea, unless we sacrifice a transport from Port Hammer. I would prefer waiting for what we find out by these moves - if we have units enough, we just stuff Port Hammer and Castlea with a crapload of infantries and be done with it. Next turn, we ask Vox to check that area for us, and send a sub from Port Hammer that way.

[Tiberius]

What are we going to build in Legopolis? A Police Station or what? It'd be a shame to waste 80 shields.

[Kloreep]

We don't really need a police station, though.

Unless we want to go for Battlefield Medicine, I'm not sure what else there is to build. No Mass Transit available yet.

[Tiberius]

The moves are looking good, though I'd move the destroyer more to the north. Though I'm not sure how far north we can move it without having it destroyed.

[vondrack]

Originally posted by Tiberius
The moves are looking good, though I'd move the destroyer more to the north. Though I'm not sure how far north we can move it without having it destroyed.

Keep in mind we had all our picket ironclads bombed down to 1hp and then "executed" last turn. There are at least 2 GoW carriers in the area. Whatever we leave out in the open, is likely to be sunk without us ever seeing the attacker.

The goal I had in mind was to find out if there was a direct threat to Jackson and/or Dye Fields, while keeping our ships as close to our coast as possible.

[Tiberius]

I am sorry to inform you, but I will be off town for most of this weekend, so I will miss most of this first war turn. I trust in you to make the right decisions

Hold the flag high and Go Legoland!

[vondrack]

Originally posted by vondrack
Alright, here we go... considering the situation, I suggest we do a couple of "obvious" or "no-brainer" moves that may reveal important information to us.

1) move Blade SW-SW
or
2) move U-K1 SE-SE-SE-SE
if the tile SW-SW-SW-W-W-W-W (the current "finger" of the FoW) is clear, we will know for sure that the landing is not to happen around Invoice - and we will be able to move Task Force North to a more central position. I'd personally favour moving the submarine, because we need to pull her back anyway. But the ironclad would be just as good, since it can return to his position and refortify with no problem.

3) move the new submarine finished in S'haven ('U-S1') NW-NW-NW-NW
stop if (as soon as) the GS submarine spotted

4) move the new submarine finished in Sandonorico ('U-Sa1') W-SW-SW-SW
looking for the 1/4 GS submarine (moving this way covers most of where that sucker can be)

5) move the new destroyer finished in Tipperary W-W-W-NW-NW-NW, engaging the 2/4 GS destroyer
as mentioned in the turn plan amendments, there must be a 2/4 GS DD on that tile, since the only DD of theirs was exactly 5 tiles from H.B.S. Argonaut

6) move U-H2 eastwards (E-E-E-E, to be precise), watching for GS ships

7) move U-H1 (in the far South) NE-NE-NE-NE
pulling back, trying to establish a new picket perimeter; unlikely to spot anything, but we will need it closer to the coast anyway

Well, that's it - at least for the Western Theater. Any ideas? I am trying to keep it as simple as possible, so that we do not close doors we might need left open...

I am now going to have a look at the mobilization option.

Seeing no objections to this plan, I made the moves as suggested. Kloreep was present in the chatroom. The results were as follows:

20) U-K1 moved SE-SE-SE-SE
spotted nothing -> Inchoff/Invoice route out of question

21) new submarine finished in Sharpehaven named 'U-S1' and moved NW
spotted a 4/4 GS sub W-W of Sharpehaven

22) new submarine finished in Sandonorico named 'U-Sa1' and moved W-SW-SW
spotted a 1/4 GS sub W-W-W-SW-SW of Sandonorico

23) new destroyer finished in Tipperary named 'H.B.S. Tisiphone' and moved W-W-W-SW-SW-SW, engaging a 2/4 GS destroyer - won with 1hp lost
there you have it, bastards!

24) U-H2 moved E-E
spotted 2 GS destroyers (2/4 and 4/4) at N-N (E-E-E-E-E-SE of Hurricane)

25) U-H1 moved NE-NE-NE-NE
spotted nothing

[vondrack]

A picture is worth thousand words, they say... so, here we go - it's doctored a bit to show parts covered either before or after the first moves.

[vondrack]

Originally posted by vondrack
Seeing no objections to this plan, I made the moves as suggested. Kloreep was present in the chatroom. The results were as follows:

20) U-K1 moved SE-SE-SE-SE
spotted nothing -> Inchoff/Invoice route out of question

21) new submarine finished in Sharpehaven named 'U-S1' and moved NW
spotted a 4/4 GS sub W-W of Sharpehaven

22) new submarine finished in Sandonorico named 'U-Sa1' and moved W-SW-SW
spotted a 1/4 GS sub W-W-W-SW-SW of Sandonorico

23) new destroyer finished in Tipperary named 'H.B.S. Tisiphone' and moved W-W-W-SW-SW-SW, engaging a 2/4 GS destroyer - won with 1hp lost
there you have it, bastards!

24) U-H2 moved E-E
spotted 2 GS destroyers (2/4 and 4/4) at N-N (E-E-E-E-E-SE of Hurricane)

25) U-H1 moved NE-NE-NE-NE
spotted nothing

After a brief debate with Kloreep, we did two more moves - one (U-Q1) was posted in the turn plan and never objected, the other one was very obvious:

26) U-Q1 moved E-E-NE, engaging the 2/4 GS destroyer - won, 1hp lost


27) 58th Artillery moved to Sharpehaven and ordered to bombard the 4/4 GS submarine W-W; 1hp off the submarine

28) new ('62nd') artillery finished in Tiberium moved to Sharpehaven and ordered to bombard the 3/4 GS submarine W-W; 1hp off the submarine

29) 59th Artillery moved to Sharpehaven and ordered to bombard the 2/4 GS submarine W-W; 1hp off the submarine

30) H.B.S. Legopolis moved S-S-SE-E, enagaging the 1/4 GS submarine - won, no hp lost

Updated picture:

[vondrack]

BIG NEWS!
GS Armada spotted!

vondrack the fact is
vondrack that it's likely GS launched their armada
vondrack from a port
vondrack not from a coastal tile somewhere
vondrack 'cause they did not want to be spotted
vondrack and we had IRs close
vondrack Inchoff it was not
vondrack Tornado it was not (U-H2 would see it at the beginning of this turn)
vondrack Sufa does not allow for a seaborne attack at a city on the third turn
vondrack hmmmm
vondrack Hurricane does allow for that
vondrack turn 1: 5xE
vondrack turn 2: 5xE
vondrack and then you can attack 5xE into Sandonorico
Kloreep|idle Ah, Radar Towers...
Kloreep|idle That'll be nice once we get radio
vondrack if you take the city, you can immediately pour the tanks in
vondrack that's bad
Kloreep|idle Yep
Kloreep|idle Sand can reach New Camp
Kloreep|idle Nou can reach QM
Kloreep|idle And Karina!
Kloreep|idle Also, we sholud tihnk about a 1-infantry-per-city policy
Kloreep|idle As insurance against Cavalry
vondrack no need
vondrack GS lacks Military Tradition
Kloreep|idle Ah, okay
vondrack theoretically
vondrack 2x(5xE) from Blizzard
Kloreep|idle Hmm
vondrack allows attacking S'haven
vondrack but that would bring them quite close to all those BBs
vondrack if we simply stuff all of them into the bay
Kloreep|idle Sand could only take Nou, QM, Karina, and Oasis
Kloreep|idle And that would be it for the turn
vondrack they'd have to pray to RNG
Kloreep|idle Karina is quite enough, theough
vondrack yeah
vondrack hm, I guess I am betting on Hurricane as the launching point
vondrack plus - Sandonorico is on flat land, just a town
vondrack ah!
vondrack just realized that Blizzard is nonsense
vondrack after 2x(5xE), they would be SW-SW-W of S'haven
Kloreep|idle Forkmouth is also vulnerable, right?
vondrack but that's within the range of artillery positioned SW of S'haven!
Kloreep|idle And it can take Farmerville
vondrack GS would never risk that - especially with so many BBs there
Kloreep|idle Good point
vondrack ok, so we are now 95% sure they set sail from Hurricane
vondrack
vondrack means they would be
vondrack 5xE from Hurricane now
Kloreep|idle U-H2 N to check?
vondrack that's NW of those two DDs
vondrack sounds like the natural thing to do
Kloreep|idle
vondrack since we will even have 1mp point left to run away after taking the peek
Kloreep|idle Yep
vondrack ok, let me check one more time before moving it
vondrack Inchoff - not
Kloreep|idle k
vondrack Blizzard - would be exposed to arty bombardment
vondrack Hurricane - very dangerous to us
vondrack Tornado - not, we would see them this turn
vondrack Sufa - transit takes too long
vondrack 5xE from Hurricane is
vondrack N-N-NW of the current U-H2 location
vondrack if we move N, take a peek, then move back S, we should be fine
vondrack Jesus, I am feeling butterflies in my stomach
vondrack ok, let's do it
* Kloreep|idle is now known as Kloreep|dinner
vondrack U-H2 moving N
* Kloreep|dinner holds his breath
vondrack YESSS!!!!
Kloreep|dinner There it is!

[vondrack]

[vondrack]

So, there we have it. The main invasion force of GS has 13 transports escorted by at least 6+2 DDs. 13*8=104 units aboard.

In just 2 turns, they will be W-W-W-W of Sandonorico, able to attack the city - if taken, Sandonorico would provide GS with means to immediately pour the rest of their invasion forces ashore, attacking further inland. Nou Camp could fall, then Q.M., Karina, Abilene, Ahhmyfoot... With 70 tanks and a coupla combat settlers, they could theoretically wipe most of our South out.

They must NOT take Sandonorico. That's a given. We need to stuff the city with so many defenders that they will not be able to take it with marines.

[vondrack]

Oh, btw... the move done was obviously:

31) U-H2 moved N

[vondrack]

OK, a plan here. We will need every infantry we have around Sandonorico. Having to split our forces and defend several landing zones is a nightmare for us.

It's quite obvious what that 3-transport convoy in the South is supposed to do - tie our forces down there in Abilene and Tipperary.

So, let's try to get rid of them... or at least some of them.

Have a look at the picture above (the one with the main GS armada in a yellow circle). Green borders denote where a transport must start a turn to be able to take a city and "flash through" it further inland. Blue border is the movement range of the GS group. It's likely that the GS group heads right to where they will be able to threaten two cities at once - two tiles only. 7 if counting even those that do not allow a "flash through", but just seaborne attacks at both cities.

So, let's assume, that...

1) we build two 1t DDs in Tipperary and Abilene this turn (disbanding a horse and partially shortrushing)
2) we rebase both our bombers to Tipperary
3) we move U-H3 E-E-E-SE
4) we move LNT-BD, LNT-FE, LNT-NC, and H.B.S. Myrmidon closer to Tipperary

Next turn, we:

a) bomb the group, hopefully bringing the DD down to at least 2hp
b) we attack with U-H3, both new DDs (one 3/3, one 4/4), and H.B.S. Tisiphone (3/4)

Odds will be close to 80% for every attack. Unless we suffer from a real bad RNG roll, we should be able to take out at least 2 of those transports, making the remaining one much less of a threat.

If we do not sink everything, we make a "sea wall" around Tipperary and prop the defenses in Abilene as if expecting 8 marines (we can use 9 horses and cavs...). That should allow us to leave (almost) no infantry there.

Sounds good?

[vondrack]

OK, let's take this real fast, as I am slowly losing ability to think. I've been up and crunching civ for too long today.

There is a couple of ships still having movement points in the Western Ocean. Suggestions:

Task Force North, incl. H.B.S. Legopolis to move to W-SW of Sharpehaven. This is a tile where 1/4 GS sub cannot spot them even if moving directly towards them. It's a tile allowing all the BBs to slip through to F'mouth, if needed. It allows them to strike at the tile W-W-W-W-W of Sandonorico - which is the most likely spot we will find the incoming GS Armada at when we open the next save.

U-H2 "Hawkeye" to finish its turn by moving SE, away from the Armada

U-Q1 "Avenger" to finish the turn by moving S, trying to stay out of 1/4 GS sub's sight.

U-Sa1 "Fastborn" to finish the turn by moving S, trying to stay out of 1/4 GS sub sight, tentatively heading to search for the 2/4 GS sub W of Abilene.