Preparing for World War Bob

[WhiteBandit]

Originally posted by Aidun
If we want to build fortifications near Zaragoza or Santiago, we'd betterbuild one on the game and/or build one on tile #2 of Santiago, or the tile NE of Santiago. moving troop to that tile is strategically clever, because then you can attack Santiago while your units needn't to cross a river when attacking. I heard but just form WhiteBandit that he hasn't got that much workers to complete it quickly, so these plans are still more like a utopia. The best thing we can do is to build just masses of pikemen and medieval infantry.

Yeah, with 5 workers, I can complete a fortress on a jungle tile in 5 turns, but I don't have that many workers to deal with that luxury, plus it would take me a bit just to get enough workers in order, and I'd rather not pull them off some important projects right now (such as mining).

Ruby Master also correctly noted, that they would most likely just go around the fortress anyway, so it wouldn't be that effective. I'd rather concentrate on improving our cities in the meantime.

[Arnelos]

Originally posted by Aidun
ND has to move their Ansars just before our walls and can but attack the NEXT turn. Ansars can but poorly defend and M I is strong in the attack, so if we counter attack them turn after turn, we will gain victory over them, instead they over us.

Because of the river and jungle, catapults would be more effective for this than medieval infantry. We need to build a force of catapults and station them in the Santiago/Zaragosa area for use against Ansar stacks north of the river.

Attriting their Ansar Warriors will make them more vulnerable when they try to attack our fortified pikemen on our side of the river.

[Arnelos]

On the other hand... a cat costs 20 shields but may only have 1 turn of attacking before the city it's in is overrun. It will do perhaps 1 point of damage.

A Medieval Inf, despite being twice the cost, will probably do more than 1 point of damage on a regular basis against an Ansar Warrior, even one in jungle behind a river (worst case).

If we had enough Medieval Infantry where more would be pointless, cats would make sense in order to attrit their forces and raise the survivability of our Medieval Infantry... but with a questionable number of Medieval Inf even capable of stopping their rush AT ALL, we still need more Medieval Inf.

As I've said before, though, we need to wargame this...

[BigFree]

This is what we have available on next turn after upgrades:
18 Pikes
12 MI
We will be then building on the next turn:
5 Pikes
3 MI
2 Cats
Then when those are finished and/or rushed we build:
2 Pikes (in city with Barracks)
3 MI (in city with Barracks)
1 Pike (in city WITHOUT barracks)
4 Cats (in city WITHOUT barracks)
We will then have a total of:
26 Pikes
18 MI
6 Cats
I believe we can build/rush these untis in 6 turns from the next save arrival, giving us 3-4 more turns for additonal units before the war starts(possibly according to intel). Maybe 5 more Pikes and 4 more MI in that time.

We would also consider abandoning Bilbao upon seeing any approaching Ansar's and move units to Toledo. cancel build in Bilboa for Walls and build a cat instead (it will have to be rushed, but we have lots of positive cash flow now, 50+ gpt!

[Aidun]

I think Bilbao should not be abandoned, I think we can build enough pikes and MI to defend it bravely and gain victory over these foul violaters of the peace.

Duke Aidun Cian of Zaragoza

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The Church will support a war against the Arabs.

King Justino Togas I, Lords of Spain, Cardinals, Bishops, Paladins, priests, As soon as the Arabs will threaten us, or any other nation will threaten us, I will call for a Crusade.

Pope Aidun I

[Togas]

Current Production & Queues

Zaragoza: Inf. 1 turn. Next = Inf? Pike? (10spt & WLTKD)
Santiago: Pike. 9 turns. (will be rushed later on)
Vigo: Pike. 6 turns. Next = ??
Leon: Inf. 3 turns. Next = ??
Pamplona: Barracks. 4 turns. Next = Pikes. Once it gets to 14spt it will build Inf.
Salamanca: Worker. 1 turn. Next = ??
Toledo: Pike. 2 turns. Next = Walls.
Bilbao: Walls. 20 turns. (will be rushed if needed).
Madrid: Granary. 1 turn. Next = Inf? Pike? (will be 10spt once it grows. Add worker?)
Barcelona: Barracks. 1 turn. Next = Pike.
Valencia: Inf. 3 turns. Next = ??

Merida, Sevilla, Cordoba, not considered. Too remote

Please post your suggestions and reccomendations for these cities. In this time of crisis, we need to have 1 uniform plan.

--Togas

[Aidun]

Zaragoza: as in the orders, will build a Med Inf

Duke Aidun Cian of Zaragoza

[Nuclear Winter]

Perhaps we should try to gain the upper hand by sea... as things unfold, it seems less likely that lego and GS will join this war... so with a greater navy we could gain an important advantage over our enemies, forcing them to attack by land, and allowing us to scare them with scouts landing on their territory (even if only for pressure). Although we would be getting less pikes we could then at least relocate our forces totally to the northern border...

[civman2000]

I am sure my returned uncle would be willing to help in such a crusade, if he is allowed to.

Daniel de la Civ, Cardinal, Monk, and Priest

[GodKing]

General advice - good in any situation like the one we are in.

Catipults - a must, and in particular, do not bother building a barracks first. Vet status means nothing to any artilery. Move them to the front at locations we expect to be attacked and that we feel we can defend.

Ansar warriors will be our downfall. Their 3 movement means that we cannot strip our inner cities to defend the front. See one, kill it asap.

Take 2/3 of our Offensive force, station it so that we can march north with it and act like we are on the offensive. Show them the force (or a part) and if they say anything state that we are just sending a small scouting party to determine their intentions. Do not enter their territory, or place them in a place that can be attacked with a sortee from one of their cities without any prior notice. If they do march on us - attack them suicidally. IF we take any cities, and are unsure if we can keep them, burn them down. Heck, burn them down anyways now b/c they will have lots of culture that will be a pain to fight untill they are almost dead.

That final 1/3 of our offensive forces, set them up in 2-3 man stacks around the periffory of our empire. If they land, and are not on mountains or anything, be prepared to kill them before they can pillage our roads.

Been a while since I looked at a save, but road the mountains around our iron, and build a fort on top of the iron (if these have not been done yet) our culture will prevent them from benifiting from the roads, and the fort will protect the 1 defender and 2 or 3 offensive units we station there.

[Arnelos]

I think GodKing should help playing the scenarios we create... speaking of that, I need to get back to it.

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Togas
Current Production & Queues

Zaragoza: Inf. 1 turn. Next = Inf? Pike? (10spt & WLTKD)
Santiago: Pike. 9 turns. (will be rushed later on)
Vigo: Pike. 6 turns. Next = ??
Leon: Inf. 3 turns. Next = ??
Pamplona: Barracks. 4 turns. Next = Pikes. Once it gets to 14spt it will build Inf.
Salamanca: Worker. 1 turn. Next = ??
Toledo: Pike. 2 turns. Next = Walls.
Bilbao: Walls. 20 turns. (will be rushed if needed).
Madrid: Granary. 1 turn. Next = Inf? Pike? (will be 10spt once it grows. Add worker?)
Barcelona: Barracks. 1 turn. Next = Pike.
Valencia: Inf. 3 turns. Next = ??

Merida, Sevilla, Cordoba, not considered. Too remote

Please post your suggestions and reccomendations for these cities. In this time of crisis, we need to have 1 uniform plan.

--Togas

Zaragoza: Inf. 1 turn. Next = Knight if we get Chiv, otherwise Pike
Santiago: Pike. 9 turns. (will be rushed later on)
Vigo: Pike. 6 turns. Next = Pike
Leon: Inf. 3 turns. Next = Pike
Pamplona: Barracks. 4 turns. Next = Pikes. Once it gets to 14spt it will build Inf.
Salamanca: Worker. 1 turn. Next = [B]Pike[B]
Toledo: Pike. 2 turns. Next = Walls.
Bilbao: Walls. 20 turns. (will be rushed if needed).
Madrid: Granary. 1 turn. Next = Knight if we get Chiv, otherwise Pike
Barcelona: Barracks. 1 turn. Next = Pike.
Valencia: Inf. 3 turns. Next = Pike

Why all the Pikes? Because we are not planning an offensive, we are planning defense. I know, I know - "Offense is the best defense". The problem is, it is too late for that. We haven't got Chivalry, nor enough horses to upgrade if we did have it. The first and possibly second build waves must protect Spain. Only after we have blunted the assaults of our enemies can we then turn the battle to their lands, with offensive units. Medieval Infantry are fine counter assaults in our own lands, but they're also ripe pickings for Ansars/Riders. We have just enough Med. Inf at the moment, and a lack of defenders to compliment them. I believe we should over build defenders first, and then catch up with the offensive units afterwards, hopefully with Knights instead of Med. Inf.

[GodKing]

In the chat for SPDG now. I can play, but it will have to be on a weekend. I will soon be getting the lasik surgery and that weekend I may (if my eyes permit) be around. Weekend of the 19th

[Arnelos]

I honestly think we should build more Medieval Inf than pikes right now... the ability to ATTACK those Ansar warriors in the field with a Medieval Inf at strength 4 might be more valuable than letting the Ansar warrior attack us and determine the location of the battle field... once their bulk gets through our first line, they could potentially even run to the rear of our territory rather than batter themselves against the front walls... if so, we're toast.

That's why attack will be more critical than defense on the front lines, though enough defense to prevent an all-out assault on one city would be nice.

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Arnelos
I honestly think we should build more Medieval Inf than pikes right now... the ability to ATTACK those Ansar warriors in the field with a Medieval Inf at strength 4 might be more valuable than letting the Ansar warrior attack us and determine the location of the battle field... once their bulk gets through our first line, they could potentially even run to the rear of our territory rather than batter themselves against the front walls... if so, we're toast.

That's why attack will be more critical than defense on the front lines, though enough defense to prevent an all-out assault on one city would be nice.

Yes, it makes sense to attack with Med. Inf. - when we can. But with the movement of Ansars (3), most often we will be unable to determine the battlefield, which is why we have to be prepared to defend everywhere.