Chevalier Rides Again: A City Lights exploration

[williams482]

Questions/comments? Do y'all like the icon-less screenshots, or are they confusing?

The icon-less screenshots are pretty, and all the other screenshots provide the necessary context. I like them.

[Erasmas]

I think it is more likely the encampment was built using the Contractor ability of Reyna I spotted in the city.

I see you planned the Panama channel. Would that not be a big waste? Your naval supremacy is absolute, just move aramada there and you are safe. Meanwhile you must be close to planting forests, which provide great production when lumbermilled.

Finally, another lesson from the big naval PBEM. Venetian Arsenal was banned after that game but Sulla's Terracotta Army trick was also seen as a game changer. But I guess you needed units more.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

I think it is more likely the encampment was built using the Contractor ability of Reyna I spotted in the city.

I see you planned the Panama channel. Would that not be a big waste? Your naval supremacy is absolute, just move aramada there and you are safe. Meanwhile you must be close to planting forests, which provide great production when lumbermilled.

Finally, another lesson from the big naval PBEM. Venetian Arsenal was banned after that game but Sulla's Terracotta Army trick was also seen as a game changer. But I guess you needed units more.

Panama is purely a vanity project, because it'd be fun. I probably won't ever build it, but this game hasn't been about me making the optimal moves - if it was, I would have rolled over Indonesia right after England, and probably snowballed into Phoenicia as well. Phoenicia had a desert start and was VERY slow to get off the ground, only really getting his Cothons online and taking Bologna about turn 150, the same period when Japan assimilated most of Norway. I had to attack Japan to keep from losing, but otherwise I'm goofing off.

And yes, I remember Sulla's Terracotta Army, I was the one who grabbed the VA in PBEM7.  I just didn't expect Japan to hit on the trick, nor to have the Encampment. I think he hand-built the Camp, though - note his gold only went down by about 300 from turn to turn, or about the cost of a unit (memo to self: there's probably some kind of defender in Nidaros in addition to the suspected privateer in Stavanger).

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 229: The Fall of Takamatsu

Banner day in the Bender household!



Ideology is huge for us. It upgrades a bunch of civics, and it's the last prerequisite for one of the Tier III governments - I've been feeling very cramped for policy cards so this will be an enormous gain. Here's our new government:



We dropped Press Gangs and Drill Manuals, which had been boosting our ship production and our coal/niter mines, respectively. With even privateers being phased out of production now as we demobilize the economy, I have no need for Press Gangs, and our coal pinch ahs been solved with nearly all ironclads upgraded. Only my 7 battleships and 3 coal factories will demand coal from now on, and while I DO need a bit of niter to upgrade my final Line Infantry, not worth an entire card just to speed things up by a turn or two. In their place, we take Total War, which boosts pillage yields by +50%! That will be worth hundreds of gold, faith, and science, um, now. 

The adjacency cards have been upgraded, as well - Natural Philosophy, which doubles campuses, and Craftsmen, which doubled Industrial Zone adjacencies, are combined under the Five Year Plan card, so I can finally pick up science again. Wisselbanken stays, boosting my 13 trade routes to Phoenicia, and I supplement that with Trade Confederation, giving me +2 science and culture per trade route as well. Since this stuff is on trade routes and not from cities, it might not suffer the -30% amenities penalty? Not sure. Anyway, Triangular Trade rounds out my trade cards with +4 gold and +1 faith per, and my last card combines Naval Infrastructure and Town Charters (+100% Harbors and Commercial Hubs, respectively). Overall, we gain 30-odd science, 10 culture, and 30ish gpt over our previous incomes. And now on to Communism, for even more card slots! Due in 8 turns. 

On the front, Japan as expected killed 2 privateers with encampment and city fire, and his garrison in Kyoto sallied out to defend his campus.


3 privateers dead on the turn - 5 have died in this campaign so far, but I claimed a battleship, two ironclad fleets, and two privateer armadas in exchange so the ship losses are still vastly in my favor even as I grind down these defenses. 

It's time for Takamatsu to go down. With 6 battleships and 2 DDs in range, the city is doomed. I carefully manage my ships to fully plunder the shipyard, lighthouse, harbor, a pasture, a plantation, a mine, and a lumberyard for 500 faith and over 2,500 gold before opening up, this time with IGS Volcano doing the honors.



Everything in the city limits is looted, so we can go ahead and take the city:


Only two BB shots needed. TF Tokyo does the honors, to build XP for its 3rd promotion. 


Wowsers! Look at that campus - two geothermal hubs and 2 mountains give it +6 starting adjacency! No wonder Japanese science was insane. There's also the Great Barrier Reef within the city limits, just out in the bay, a +5 holy site, coal, the theater square, and the encampment. What a fantastic city. It's going to revolt in 3 turns unless I take Kyoto, so that's a bummer, but nothing you can do in overseas wars like this. 

South of the front, Escorts 3 and 2 push towards Kyoto, and I throw scouts and pillagers at Stavanger, where they find yet another ironclad armada:


Sheesh. You see why I was terrified of Japanese production capacity? He could have buried me in technologically superior ships if I hadn't used the Venetian Arsenal and struck right away. I'll lose at least 2, possibly as many as 4, privateers this turn. I still have more in reserve, and I may pull back from Stavanger next turn - don't want to throw away ships needlessly now I see how many defenders there are. 

On the eastern coast, Escort 4, with Operation Cortes being canceled, gleefully closes in on a Japanese builder that has repaired 3 improvements for us to, um, pillage again:


Sure, thanks. 

The final bit of war news sees the allied caravel squadron ravaged by a hurricane or something:


Norway's quad is sunk and his 4 promoted caravels are all damaged, shame. I wouldn't mind him drawing some Japanese fire. 

Core building area:


The flood and the sabotage have really hampered me here, knocking out both primary factories in the empire. One is back online next turn, the other will require until the mid 230s to reactivate. Builders are coming out, too, to repair and lumbermill the jungles, and universities in my incomplete campuses still. And the Colosseum, of course, for more culture and amenities. 

Island expansions:


Infrastructure and builders. This area will really start to take shape around 240. 

City overviews - we've seen all my mainland cities. Now here's my first three expansions, 3 smallish island cities:



On a featureless island off the northwest coast of Minas Morgul sits the Tower of Cirith Ungol. While it only has a +2 Industrial Zone, that little beauty was necessary to enable the Venetian Arsenal. Isidore of Miletus and a pair of forest chops finished the wonder, and that probably won the game for me. If I were Japan I would desperately tried for a pre-emptive strike here, instead of defending off Nagoya. 





After they built their shipyards, Nurn and Durthang have done nothing but build privateers for 40 turns. Both also control valuable oil deposits, and will be able to grow and develop again in peace instead of the unsinkable arsenals they essentially are at the moment. Nurn I intend to make my primary fleet anchorage when peace returns, as ships anchored there can easily sail for the channel between us and Phoenicia, in the event of defensive war, or into Phoenicia's homewaters south of his continent, if necessary, or north of my island to defend against Indonesian attacks, or to the west around Japan to take the offensive on Indonesia's heartland (or Norway).

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 230: The Battle of Kyoto

All the credit in the world to Stefanos, the Japanese player - he has continued to flip turns rapidly and has fought back every way he could. In fact, he's done that from the beginning, eating Norway after I ate England to equalize the game and make it competitive again. Phoenicia and Indonesia were the causes of the previous week's hiatus, as they held the save for 2 days and 3 days, respectively. 

Anyway, it's in now and Japan has launched a small counter offensive, with 3 armadas and 1 fleet of ironclads and privateers:


In a nutshell, at Kyoto Japan finished an armada and used it, supported by the city defenses, to sink an Escort 1 privateer in the harbor. Then the encampment (or the city, unclear which) fired on my destroyer for chip damage - my melee ships are essentially immune to Japanese attack. Outside Stavanger, the city combined with the ironclad armada to sink 2 Escort 3 privateers in its harbor, and finally that lone Japanese privateer armada sortied from Nidaros and damaged, but did not destroy, one of my privateers. Total losses, 3 privateers sunk, 1 privateer and 1 DD armada damaged. I'm not sure how he needed the armada and city to sink a privateer at Kyoto but bagged 2 with the same amount of attacks at Stavanger - best guess is the Kyoto defenses redlined but failed to destroy the privateer outside the city and he was forced to use his armada to clear it. 

Also, the barbarians at the newly-renamed Cerin Amroth have pillaged my theater square >


Bastards! I'll see them hang for this!

No, though, I'm going to need a land military presence on this continent, both to control barbs spawning in the new Japanese wilderness and to keep Norway from getting cheeky. Garrisons for the two surviving Japanese cities will also be helpful for loyalty and amenities purposes (we're now losing 40% of our income from war weariness - dark times. I need this war to end within 10 turns).

We'll start with the easy call. My privateers can hardly scratch ironclads but they shred enemy privateer armadas. Escort 3's 4 survivors are ordered to sink the enemy armada - 4 privateers against 3 combined in one unit. Look at the combat strengths, though:


Ranged units attack with their ranged strength but defend against all attacks with their melee strength - and privateers, while comparable to frigates in firepower, are very flimsy vessels. Base strength is 40, with +10 from being joined with another unit in a fleet and then a further +7 for the third unit joining into an armada. That gives the enemy armada a defensive strength of 57, boosted to 62 due to Japan's shallow water combat bonus. Against that, though, I shoot from a base of 50 strength, with +5 from my Norwegian alliance, +3 from my Great Admiral Rajendra Chola's retirement bonus, and +2 from having 2 military policies at the moment. That means my base privateers hit as hard as his armadas defend, so each attack does ~30 damage (equal strengths always do approximately that to each other). 

This is why it's a mistake to build privateers into armadas, I think. We all know why Japan is doing it: He has no coal (due to me burning out all his sources) and so he can't build battleships or ironclads. He has no oil, either. That limits him to Renaissance units - Frigates, Caravels, or Privateers. Privateers are the cheapest of this and have, as noted, firepower similar to frigates, so that's what he builds. His seaports let him build armadas at a 25% discount, so he's getting 3 ships for the price of 2.25 - seemingly the most cost-effective way to put guns on my invaders. 

But those 3 ships are all packed into 1 unit, which can be focused down by 3 or 4 of my own. If he built 3 privateers instead - which he'd kick them out faster that way, since a lone ship is still cheaper than a seaport-discounted armada - I'd have to spread my fire over all of them, or only sink 1 and damage another. Instead all three go up in smoke as soon as they're exposed. Japan has no good options here, so you can't fault him, but I just think his privateer armadas are simply not cost effective for what they accomplish.

It takes 3 healthy privateers and then my damaged privateer finishes off its Japanese counterpart:



The ironclads are more tricky. 



Here's the combat preview where IGS Inferno, one of my double-promoted armadas, targets the enemy armada. Both units start from a base strength of 70, boosted to 80 by the fleet unit and then to 87 by the armada unit. From there I add my 10 (for the military alliance, Chola, and Sparta's civ ability), but the enemy adds 15 - 5 for shallow waters, 5 for Defender of the Faith, and 5 for Japan's own great admiral. My own admiral is not with Inferno - she is with the main fleet off Kyoto, while Inferno is actually shelling from Takamatsu Bay (the Bay of Lothlorien, perhaps?). So, I DO a fair amount of damage, but it's not the splintering devastation that this BB would do to a privateer, for example. The result is these 3 ironclads take about 4 battleship shots apiece to put down, and I only have 7 available - one of which is only a fleet and so will be less effective.

By comparison, the ironclad fleet is even tougher due to its double promotions:

 
This one I didn't crop, partially due to laziness and partially so you can see the tactical setup. Inferno, at center, is targeting the two ironclads at lower center - presently the fleet. This bugger has one less ironclad in it, so its base strength is only 80, but that's more than compensated for - the Admiral, Japan's ability, and DotF add their usual 15 points, and then he has Embolden for +7 (compensating for the armada) and turtle for +10 defense against ranged attacks, making him very hard to dent. It'd probably take all my bbs firing to bring down this fellow and he's sheltered in the very back of Kyoto Bay - I can only get 4 shots on him and that by sacrificing other things.

So, I gotta prioritize. That ironclad will get a lot less dangerous if I can knock out DotF and the Great Admiral by taking Kyoto, and he can only attack my destroyer at the moment, which is hilariously one-sided (DD is base strength 85, bumped to 102 from armada, another 15 added from my own bonuses -> 117 vs 102 for the DD fleet). So we'll ignore him and instead shoot my way next to the city. I can't take it this turn, so I shoot 3 times into the armada and then finish it with the DD, placing a more or less invincible unit next to the city. He can shoot it twice and attack with the fleet, but I don't expect he'll get down to 50%. 



So, fleet is caught and can only attack at a -15 disadvantage or withdraw into the city, a non-factor. City and camp will probably kill a privateer, but I should be able to kill it next turn. 

My remaining privateers and a few BBs shell the other ironclad fleet, but my destroyers are mostly at Cerin Amroth or rounding the cape - I only entered the Arctic 5 turns ago and the units that needed healing are still catching up! - so it survives, crippled. 

 

Final tally in exchange for my 3 privateers is 1 privateer armada (ie, 3 privateers) and an ironclad armada (3 ironclads), plus another armada crippled. My losses aren't yet so high that I need more privateers, so we stay on econ builds. Kyoto should fall on 231, 4 turns ahead of schedule, and within 9 turns I should be able to clean up Nidaros and Stavanger. Might lose the two Japanese cities to rebellions once or twice, but long-term I hope to hold them. A cultural alliance with Norway will come available in ~15 turns and that should do the trick, if Norway accepts. 



Coal (top of screen) is dropping by 2 per turn. I have 1 ironclad armada still to upgrade, as well as two single BBs steaming to join my lone remaining fleet (leaving me awkwardly with 1 single BB left over, but I could always build one more and thus form an armada), which will drop us to even on coal consumption. Cirith Ungol will go to oil power as soon as that comes available, and Takamatsu has 3 more coal to supply, so I'm not worried on this front. 

At home, infrastructure repairs continue...


Jesus, that flood really set me back. Workshop and factory are repaired in Morgul and it begins rebuilding the coal plant, the worker is finally out of Barad-Dur and it heads to repair the farmland. 6 turns so far lost here, more than tripling what should have been a quick library & university build. Workshop is still being repaired in Osgiliath, hats off to Japan there. Wish I had my third spy! Or I'd at least captured/killed the Japanese agent...

I also start Kilwa Kisiwani in Barad-Dur. So far I've built the VA and the Pyramids, with Colosseum finishing in 6 turns (stupid flood!) at Umbar. So this is wonder #4, but it's a good one. 

+3 Envoy Envoys when built.
When you are the Suzerain of a City-State this city receives a +15% boost to the yield provided by that City-State. If you are the Suzerain to 2 or more City-States of that type an additional +15% boost is given to all your cities.

A potential 15% boost to culture or production civ-wide. Here's the current envoy situation...


Barad-Dur will immediately get boosts from Nan Madol and Mexico City. I will have 7 envoys + Amani to target either Hong Kong or Rapa Nui. Hong Kong boosts every city by 15% production. Say average production in my empire is 25 after war-weariness, so call it 7.5 hammers per city. With 18 cities, Kilwa will pay for itself in 5 turns, an excellent investment. If I can manage to grab Rapa Nui eventually, culture will rise 25 points, to over 185. The main nervousness is exposing my suzerainty of Nan Madol, which accounts for the majority of my culture production - risky to have a single point of failure, but I have been able to channel the production saved on monuments and Acropoloi to other endeavors, so I've lived with the risk. 

Continuing my civ overview, here's the second wave of island cities in the northwest.


Utumno is an island city like Nurn and Durthang, providing a trade route and shipyard. Later I will add an water park here to provide amenities to this area. But war weariness instantly saps any amenities I get at the moment (I can explain another time), so I've been ignoring them for 20 turns or so now. All will be well after the war. 



Angband is the first city on a large island/small continent that was planned to hold 4 cities someday. It's only another trade and shipyard outpost, but it's working on a fine campus and will add an entertainment district later as I can finally cease wartime ship production and cultivate these into mature cities.



East of Angband is the city of Moria. With many farms and a good Industrial Zone, this city will grow large to become the main productive hub of this continent. There's a 5 adjacency campus just outside of city limits - I can't afford the tile at the moment as I am saving money for upgrades and I can't build the campus until size 10 anyway. Once again, after the war - need to wait for growth to resume after war weariness goes away. :/



South of Moria is Mount Gundabad, which lies just north of the channel between this island and the Japanese mainland. Gundabad has been an excellent naval base, offering repairs and upgrades to the entire fleet. It's still finishing the shipyard. Not sure how to develop it after that - the trade route and industrial zones will be covered, so I have some luxury options available here like an Encampment or Aerodrome.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Japan opened the save and threw in the towel, surrendering. We'll see if the game continues.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

231: The Fall of the Japanese Empire

Precisely 30 turns played over 3 months and 8 days after the outbreak of war on 201, we sail into Kyoto in triumph. No surprise there, as Japan surrendered to AI. So, let's wrap up this war within the next 10 turns, if we can. 

Last turn, I cleared a barb camp on the coast of Japan using my privateers, both for the gold and to make Kyoto safe for my new occupation. Irritatingly, though, the wastes of Japan are now the only place left on the map for barbs to spawn:


A new camp, this one safely inland, spawns immediately! I will move at least two ground units to this island immediately. 

To business. One last privateer was claimed by Stavanger's defenses:



I decide to quickly take Kyoto rather than pillaging out the industrial zone and campus, since that would delay things by at least 3-4 turns while I got a ship in position, and I'd be hammered by defensive fire all the time, while losing Cerin Amroth to rebellion. So, IGN Volcano receives the honor:



And then my DD sails in to occupy the city center, which even with population losses is bigger than any Mordor city (twice the size of Barad-Dur, which was perpetually strapped for housing).



Here's the city, renamed to Caras Galadhon:





Simply a monstrous city - one of the largest in the world, with 6 fully built out districts and a wonder, and he did it all with only one mine and a few timbermills. Honestly, it's astonishing. He benefited a lot from Hojo's adjacency ability, which was gutted when I put Tokyo to the torch 15 turns ago - only halfway through the war at that point, gosh. The Encampment, Holy Site, and Theater Square were admittedly half price, but still. There's a few luxury plantations, a nice farm triangle in the northwest, and the Encampment was built as a shield against Norway, whose capital is just out of sight to the southwest - Japan actually cited Norway's acquisition of those third-ring horses as his casus belli for the initial conquest. 

Really well played overall to Stefanos, the Japanese player. He's kicking my ass in a second game we started while this was on pause, as Japan is this time boosted by Auckland and Work-Ethic Holy Sites to dominate the scoreboard. I drew Australia as my random civ, but my spawn was a flat tundra island, and I'm a distant third to Japan and the English player (who took Maori and ran over Indonesia). 

Anyway, time to move on and wrap up this war with the final two cities. I should be able to take both in less than 5 turns each. Kyoto's city fire and encampment finish off the Japanese ironclad fleet trapped in the bay, as he loses Defender of the Faith. Then Thunderer opens on the enemy 'clad armada to the south...


Very tough ships to damage, but we chip away. 

Then the Devastation joins in...



And that sets up the killing blow from a destroyer armada:


Appropriately, Task Force Oslo, which took that Norwegian city, will likely be the one to liberate Norway's capital 30 turns later. 

Privateers move in and pillage industrial zones and the theater square in Norway's holdings, as well as nabbing 2 builders. The pillage science finishes Sanitation:


And I use Valetta-faith to purchase two newly-unlocked sewers in Osgiliath and Barad Dur so my main cities can continue to grow. Need to begin getting holy sites down in the core, will look at that after Entertainment Districts. Pillage culture drops Communism to 3 turns away, ironically just as I'll no longer need the policy slots so desperately. 

Final setup around the last two Japanese cities, Occupied Norway:



Japan overran this area between turn 107-111, so it's been a long 120 turns for the good Norwegians, over half the game, but liberation is on the horizon!

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 232: Towards a Postwar World

With the end of the Japanese player, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Nearly 80 turns of crisis will come to an end, and we'll be free to once again resume peaceful building towards a victory condition. It remains to mop up Stavanger and Nidaros, liberating the two cities that started this whole affair back to Norway. My belief is that I can take Stavanger by the end of 233 and Nidaros by the end of 234, including pillaging most of what's worthwhile in the two cities, and then we can start lifting these awful amenities penalties. 

So, to the front, as usual. Robo-Hojo spent Japan's copious gold reserves on an emergency battleship and cuirassier, of all things:



The BB isn't a bad use of gold, as it actually lets him hit back at my besieging ships, but obviously the horse purchase is just bizarre.

There's also a bit of excitement in the Sea of Okhotsk, the body of water facing Oslo, Akkad, and the ruins of Tokyo and Nagoya, where a barbarian ironclad has appeared:


I have 6 ironclads nearby that can deal with him.

Before fighting, I move my pillagers around. Pastures give faith which will become sewers via Valetta for more housing. Industrial zones become science, each pillage worth more than an entire turn's income of science. And Japan's lone coastal theater square gives several turns' worth of culture, which speeds up:



Class Struggle, which in turn enables the...



Communist government, which looks like...



This. We now get +10% science and +.6 production per pop in governed cities. My policy cards should make sense:

• Levee en Masse is necessary to keep my massive navy from bankrupting me.
  
• Total War boosts pillages by 50%.
  
• Veterancy speeds up ongoing harbor and shipyard construction.
  
• Five Year Plan boosts my campuses and industrial zones, obviously worthwhile.
  
• Economic Union boosts commercial hubs and harbors, which adds production thanks to shipyards.
  
• Triangle trade necessary to keep my gold afload.
  
• Wisselbanken boosts trade routes to my allies Phoenicia and Norway.
  
• Trade Confederation same.
  
• Force Modernization will let me finish modernizing the navy and army with the pillage gold.
  

Then we batter Stavanger with my battleships in range. We knock out about half the health:



City shoudl fall next turn, and Nidaros on 234.

Indonesia boldly founds a city north of Minas Morgul, on a small island off my northern coast:



It's going to revolt to Mordor almost immediately unless he does something quick:



Peace in 2 turns. Fingers crossed.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 233: The Liberation of Norway

The war proceeds apace, with little left of tactical interest - my forces are overwhelming and the AI doesn't even focus down units. It's mostly a puzzle of trying to take Stavanger with the fewest number of battleship shots possible, so they can get to work early on Nidaros and my privateers can be free to pillage.



This is something of a milestone. We start the turn with Electricity - opening up hydroelectric dams and oil-burning power plants for me. Oil burning plants give a flat +3 bonus to production, while the coal plants key off the industrial zone's adjacency, so they can be better or worse depending on how good a district you have. BUT oil plants also spread their bonus to all cities within 6 tiles, which for me is 9 thanks to holding suzerainty over the Mexico City city-state. So a few of my weaker zones, notably Cirith Ungol, will adopt oil power now. However, Electricity also unlocks submarines and obsoletes privateers. As oledavy found out to his chagrin in PBEM4, subs are a modern raider unit that cost a cool 480 production each, and they can't be boosted until the Cold War civic enables their policy card. Since privateers raid just as well and I'm using them to scout and soak hits, not to fight, I intentionally delayed this as long as possible so I could build the unit more suited to my needs. However, a lot of the tech tree is locked behind Electricity, so it was time to end things. I have 30 privateers on the board and that's all I'll ever field. End of an era.

Like I said, no tactical notes. Privateers finish off Stavanger's industrial zone and the DD completes the sack of the harbor, lowering the city's combat strength as it loses all its remaining districts. My single-promoted battleship - only one of those left, I think - shoots Stavanger, and I add another BB shot as support. Then the DD uses its remaining MPs to storm the city. We liberate it back to Norway after 120 turns of Japanese occupation:



That immediately solves loyalty problems in Kyoto and Takamatsu, as well. Remaining fleet pillages around Nidaros or the battleships begin early bombardments:



The Norwegian capital is down to about 2/3 health and I should be able to finish it, and the war, next turn. 

Ending the war and the war weariness will be huge. I'm presently suffering 40% penalties across the board due to the huge suffering the war has caused. Counting fleets and armadas as 2 & 3 ships,  I've lost nearly 50 ships since the war began - 2 frigates, 5 ironclads, about 7 caravels, and over 30 privateers. Japan lost nearly 70, by comparison. The losses alone work out to something like 50 x 200 WW per ship lost = 10,000 war weariness, and probably that amount again from combats (you get about 3/4 as much war weariness from combats as you do from losses, and I assume I did a lot more combats than losses overall!). So we're probably looking at anywhere from 20,000 - 30,000 war weariness accumulated over 30 turns. 

Every 400 war weariness equated to -1 amenity, spread over my whole empire. So call it 50-75 -amenities, spread over all my cities. Now, there's a bit of mitigation there - WW is converted to -amenities at the end of every turn, and 'leftover' ww isn't carried over, so we shed some random amount from 0-399 every turn. You also automatically shed 50 at the end of every turn without a battle (I guess it DOES keep track of global WW, and hwen you drop below a threshold, you get one amenity back? The wiki is unclear what's happening under the hood). We'll get 2,000 back immediately when the war ends, and 200 back every turn after that. So, within 10 turns we should be back to full strength, I think? We'll have to monitor things and see how they go. By turn 245 or so, we should see our present yields of every statistic increase by 40%. So our culture will shoot up to 255, for example, and our science to 265 without anything else happening! Then you factor in getting the Japanese cities loyal and repaired, finishing my long-delayed libraries and universities back home, and we should be leaving Phoenicia in the dust right away.

So, the game is over, we know that. The other 3 powers combined can't stand up to the Grand Fleet, and I'll hold 4/6 of the necessary capitals for a Domination victory - my own, London (Osgiliath), Kyoto (Caras Galadhon), and Nidaros. It'd just be a matter of betraying Norway, sailing to Tyre and taking it, smashing up the Phoenician navy on the way, and then sailing to Mahapajit and taking that. But I said a year ago that I don't want to win via domination, since that's...well, done. So we'll see how to go about getting a science victory, I think, since I haven't built a single Acropolis this whole game (lol) and the enemy has pretty good theater squares and I don't think a religious or diplomatic victory is in the cards either. 

Nothing else of note happens. We fight barbs around the Sea of Okhotsk, destroying a barbarian Scout near Caras Galadhon and finding a few barb frigates in the icy southern waters. Escort 4 attacks and sinks two of them:





We'll clear the camp next turn.

Tomorrow: We end the war that's been raging since September, and begin to plot what to do with our peacetime navy and to set the empire up for a rapid push to space!

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Randoms 234: The Return of Peace

After 3 realtime months and 34 turns, the Mordor-Japanese War ends in total victory this turn. The outcome has been a foregone conclusion for 20-odd turns, it just was the mechanical working out of superior force straightforwardly applied. After being in crisis mode since May or so in this game, when Japan's yields first approached mine, it's a welcome relief to be back in the winning position I thought I'd secured a year ago. 



Nidaros's defenses struck random units, so no casualties. It seems the handful of privateers sunk during the siege of Kyoto will be the final casualties of the war - possibly the game? Fingers crossed. I have a bit of pillaging to do, with more than enough battleship shots to crush the city like an egg, so the privateers and DD in the harbor gleefully help themselves. Note also that I've grabbed two workers, one from Japan and one from Akkad - they will be used to help patch up Kyoto and Takamatsu once I can safely get them home.

The strength differential between my promoted battleships and Nidaros is 35 points:


IGS Volcano knocks off 2/3 of the city's remaining health in one shot, for example. So there's absolutely nothing tactical about the turn - I pillage everything I can except the trade routes, 3 BBs shoot, and then a destroyer armada sails in to accept the formal surrender of the city (and of the Japanese empire):




The occupation administration is quickly worked out, having been in place more or less since the start of the war, and finalized before I sailed from Gundabad to kick off Operation Olympic. Nidaros and Stavanger will of course be returned to Norway, in payment for his steadfast support throughout the war, and as recompense for the losses suffered from Japanese aggression so long ago. At long last, his home continent is returned to him. Takamatsu and Kyoto will be held under Mordorian administration as compensation for our own sacrifices.

Norway Restored:



For comparison, here's my first screenshot of the area back on Turn 96, the outbreak of the Norway-Japan war which I confidently predicted would stalemate:



Looks like Japan artfully built a canal and 2 aqueducts flanking 2 industrial zones. Norway will have a small coal income from Stavanger, just enough to power his two coal factories if he can repair them - not sure since he's not researched industrialization yet, I think. Anyway, point is, these cities have greatly profited from their time under Japanese rule, and will be jewels in the Norwegian crown.

The new far side of the world:



I'm surprised Japan never went after Norway with the fleet he lost at Second Nagoya. The 4 frigate fleets would have obliterated Norway's ancient walls, strength 60 shots at 50 strength defenders, and his ironclads would have had no trouble taking hte cities. Norway had 4 cities in that direction (one just north of the screenshot on a small island near the Indonesian archipelago), and he could have done it all long before I sailed around the continent. It would have cut off my +5 military alliance, knocked one player out of the game, and made me go to considerably more effort to finish him off. I don't think it would have saved him, but I do think it's his biggest strategic missed opportunity of the war. Never miss chances to go on the offensive! 

On the whole, the war really shows off how well-designed Civ VI's war system is as of Gathering Storm (as my Polish war showed off the land side a few years ago). This war saw competing Civ strengths (Spartan military policies vs Japanese shallow waters combat bonus), it saw multiple generations of military tech each playing its role (started with ironclads/caravels in support escorting frigates, ended with DDs/ironclads in support escorting battleships). It had battles at sea and many city sieges. There was the tricksy use of governors (Magnus at Nagoya) and dueling spies (my spy neutralized Magnus, his spy sabotaged my primary shipyard at Osgiliath). Loyalty mattered, with cities being razed, captured, and liberated variously - the revolt of Akkad, barely holding on to Norway, burning Tokyo and Nagoya, etc. Resources played a primary role, as both of us struggled with a shortage of coal maintaining so many modern units, and in the end it was the lack of oil that doomed Japan for good. And of course, pillaging played its part, as both sides exchanged pillages, both key targets of critical resource nodes (my twice knocking out his coal, his cutting my niter supply), pillaging for science (the mutual burnings around Lake Akkad) and other clever moves like his torching the canal behind him so I couldn't pursue. It was a multi-front war involving 3 powers and lots of city states. I think everything fit together wonderfully, and I love where Civ VI war is right now. 

Timeline
Turn 150 - 200: I spot the Japanese build up and initiate a crash ship-building program of my own. The centerpiece is building an IZ at Cirith Ungol followed by using Magnus-chops and a Great Engineer to grab the Venetian Arsenal. Greek naval strength is 3 caravels and 2 galleys on turn 111, rising to 9 caravels and 1 frigate by 166. The Venetian Arsenal completes t.179. 

201-202 - The First Battle of Nagoya: After moving up the Greek fleet in a menacing fashion towards Japanese territory, Japan launches a pre-emptive strike. He brings 7 ironclad fleets and 2 frigate fleets. Opposing him are 5 Greek ironclad fleets, 11 caravel fleets, and 5 frigate fleets, with 5 privateers in support. By the end of the battle, 3 Greek caravel fleets and 5 privateers are lost, while Japan loses 7 ironclads, 2 frigates, and 2 embarked samurai units withdrawing from island picket positions. 

203-208 - The Siege of Akkad: with temporary naval supremacy, the Greek fleet bypasses stoutly defended Nagoya and Tokyo and attacks the weaker city of Akkad, on the southeastern Japanese coast. Intentions are to secure an upgrade zone for battleships, which have just become available. A frigate fleet and several privateers are sunk, while Japan loses a caravel fleet and privateer fleets, as well as a field cannon and archer defending Akkad. Once the city falls on 208, every Greek frigate is upgraded to a battleship. Greek naval strength after the fall of Akkad now stands at 5 ironclad fleets, 6 caravel fleets, 5 battleship fleets and 1 battleship armada (Santa Cruz), and 7 privateers. 

209-212 - the Battle of Oslo: The Greek fleet moves south to secure the left flank before the main attack on Tokyo. Oslo is defended by 2 ironclad fleets and a frigate fleet, as well as 2 bombards on land. The ironclads and bombards are destroyed, while the frigate escapes through the canals to the north. Greek losses are 3 privateers. After Oslo falls on 212, more than a dozen privateers join the fleet and Greek navy is now 5 ironclad fleets and an armada, 6 caravel fleets, 5 battleship fleets and 1 armada, and 21 privateers. 

213-216 - the Siege of Toyko: Pillaging campaign commences in earnest on eastern Japanese coast. The navy moves up and battleships bombard Tokyo in earnest. City defenses claim a handful of privateers while a Japanese ironclad armada falls defending the city. Tokyo is put to the torch. Navy begins to sail east for Nagoya.

217 - 220: The Second Battle of Nagoya: Japan launches a counteroffensive outside Nagoya - 1 ironclad armada, 2 ironclad fleets, 1 caravel armada, 1 caravel fleet, 2 privateer armadas, and 4 frigate fleets strike the flank of the Greek navy. Greece loses 3 ironclad fleets and armadas and 3 privateers, Japan loses virtually the entire committed fleet apart from a single privateer, which will later be sunk outside Moria. Nagoya is burned on 220. Greek naval strength after the battle stands at 4 ironclad armadas and 1 destroyer armada, 5 caravel fleets, 4 battleship armadas and 2 fleets, and 20 privateers. 

220-225: Setting up Olympic: Greek navy repairs, upgrades, and reinforces around Mt. Gundabad, then sails around the northern coast of Japan towards his most valuable cities on the western seaboard. Lake Akkad and Oslo are torched in mutual pillaging campaigns by Japan and Greece, Greece losing 3 privateers in the process (a Japanese privateer armada is sunk outside Moria in this time). Japan builds his final navy.

226 - 227: The Battle of the Arctic: Japan strikes with 2 privateer armadas, 1 battleship, 2 ironclad armadas, and 1 ironclad fleet as Operation Olympic begins. The privateers, battleship, and 1 ironclad armada is sunk, the surviving Japanese vessels retreat into Kyoto and Takamatsu. Greece loses only 1 privateer in the open sea fighting before the sieges. Greek naval strength is 5 destroyer armadas and 1 ironclad armadas, 4 caravel fleets, 6 battleship armadas and 1 battleship fleet, and over 24 privateers. 

228-230: The Siege of Takamatsu. Japan chops an Encampment and the Terracotta Army while saboteurs put Osgiliath's factory to the torch back home. Takamatsu is pillaged out, blasted down, and captured. The final Samurai army, which ahd been campaigning in Norway, is destroyed by Greek privateers. 4 privateers are sunk during the fighting but more than that arrive.

231: The Battle of Kyoto. Japan launches a final attack with 3 ironclad armadas/fleets and 1 privateer armada, sinking 3 Greek privateers. All Japanese ships save one fleet are destroyed on the Greek turn. The Japanese player surrenders.

232-234: Mop-up. Robo-Hojo ineffectually resists as Kyoto, Stavanger, and Nidaros fall on consecutive turns. The war concludes with no further losses. 

Our gains from all that blood and treasure:


Two splendid cities. 

Our liabilities now:


Almost total paralysis of the economy. 49 lost ships will do that to you! Gold generation is net negative, population growth is halted, most yields are only at 60% of nominal maximums...another 15 turns of this and I'm not sure I would have survived. Hopefully the war weariness starts to wear off next turn and I can calculate more precisely how many amenities I need (-25 now, out of +87 required). 

Plans:


Rush to Research Labs -> Spaceports -> Space. Minor detours for Faith (need 140/turn to match Indonesia) and amenities as required. 5 space cities. Will work out detailed plans later.