Long Live the Queen — Gilgamesh Had it Coming (Turns 241-250)

Right. Enough is enough. Gilgamesh is about to get a rather nasty surprise. Namely — I’m going to take Adab and Eridu from him. They split our territory, and so rightly should be claimed in the name of the English people. No more Gilgamesh — you are about to learn why the world considers our army the most fearsome.

I hope to capture both cities within my 10 turns. Possibly Ur, too. But we’ll see how it goes. This will be my first attempt at capturing cities in Civilisation in… quite some time. So it is more than possible I’m underestimating how long it takes to do so.

I guess we’ll see!

Also, if you’d like to see how we’ve got here, you can find a link to all the succession game posts right here.

Gilgamesh had it Coming

Turn 241

Interestingly… Cleopatra would accept joining us in a joint war on Gilgamesh. Basically… Gilgamesh has no friends in this world. And with how he’s behaving, I’m not terribly surprised.

I consider taking this option, but it’s possible she would end up being credited for taking the cities. So I’ll hold that option in my back pocket for now and declare war using the casus belli granted to us by the fact we are denounced enemies to one another. It still ups our Warmonger rating a fair bit — but not nearly so much as if we declared a surprise war.

Teddy Roosevelt had some stern words for us about declaring the war — but is still counting us on Friendly terms for the time being. His disfavourable outlook on our war declaration is not too surprising, he really doesn’t like people declaring war on his home continent in particular. I send him a delegation to ensure we maintain a friendly understanding which they accept graciously.

Turn 242

Ur exchanges fire with some of our nearby units, but with fortifications the damage is less than that of an angry gnat. We thumb our noses at them and stand firm. Ur isn’t our focus. Yet. I see that Plymouth is almost done with building their walls. Next up — I’ll consider gold-building a siege tower to provide a bit of a ‘Hello!’ to Ur.

I’ve also moved a knight and a set of pikemen (accompanied by a battering ram) from Birmingham toward Adab. It might be a turn or two yet before we’re in range though.

We also settle the new town of ‘Norwich‘ nestled right between Leeds and Sheffield.

Between turns, Pedro comes with us for a deal to provide him access to our Iron in exchange for… er, Tea and 2 gold per turn. With an insultingly small one-off payment of 7 gold. I mean… At least it isn’t a demand this time? But still- I’m afraid not Pedro. We’re at war. (And you might be next)

Turn 243

Well… Teddy took some time to think about things… And has decided he doesn’t much like the cut of our jib after all. He has publicly denounced us as a warmonger.

*shrug*

Fair.

Right. Where were we? Oh yes. Razing Adab’s structures. And one of Ur’s too. Wow. This is very profitable. I can see why people enjoy this. A tad over 300 gold per structure. Rushing a 400 gold siege tower is no big deal now.

I use the new windfall to in fact rush two siege towers. One from Stoke-Upon-Trent to send toward Adab, and for good measure also upgrade the Swordsmen stationed there to Musketmen.

I think it’s going to be close, but I might just get Adab and Ur in my set of turns now, and hopefully get things positioned for Eridu to fall next. My hope is that we accept no call for peace until those three belong to us.

Turn 244

Fairly uneventful turn during the main phase. I circle the Pikeman/Battering Ram combo around Adab to get at their Ziggurat on the other side. (I really have a taste for that pillage-gold now.)

I would have preferred to use the Knight, which is closer, but the Knight is holding position until the siege tower reaches them to form a linked unit. It would be quite embarrassing to give over my newly constructed siege-tower to them. I would much rather the embarrassment be theirs when I take their city using the spoils from the very self-same city.

Oh. Incidentally during this turn, the small strike-force tasked with dealing with the Barbarian encampment southeast of Sheffield has been dealt with too. Freeing those units up to return home for a quick recovery-rest before being sent to join the fray.

Turn 245

Halfway through my turns. Do I feel halfway there toward my objectives? Eehhhh… Maybe? I think it’s going to be close either way. I may have to pass this most important of missions onto Rakuno but we shall see.

An important milestone has been reached for the sieges at both Ur and Adab. The siege towers have arrived and linked with their knights.

Next turn I think, is going to be rather telling. From Plymouth I’ve also started marching the Redcoats to war, but I’ve bought a contingent of Crossbowmen to take their place defending the city.

Turn 246

This turn, my attacks on Adab and Ur commence.

I am now sure, that Eridu at least, is outside of my reach in the remaining turns I have. Maybe Adab too, since I will need to be careful with my attacks so as not to lose the units to counter attacks.

Ur though… I think Ur will be mine. Or at the very least, I haven’t yet given up on it.

And then I notice… I have a Knight stationed in Birmingham. A Knight with swift enough steed to reach the battle of Adab now, ready to join the fray next turn. It leaves Birmingham mightily exposed… But… Given no enemy around or likely to be able to pass by me unnoticed… I go for it.

Turn 247

The Redcoats arrive at Ur and signal the nigh fall of the city to our forces. Adab however is proving more difficult and I wonder if attacking with the Pikeman may lead to their demise. If they are targeted for attack next turn… AND if Gilgamesh’s forces are lucky… They may be no more.

In either case, they will not be attacking again any time soon — needing the time to lick their wounds a little.

Once Ur is ours, I’ll send what forces I can toward Adab to assist Rakuno in securing it’s fall in the next round of turns.

Also — Sanitation research completes. I select ‘Replaceable Parts’ as the next research as we have now met the requirements (of having 3 musketmen) to boost it. It will take 4 turns to complete, and then grant us Infantry units (70 strength) and Mechanised Farming (+1 food).

Turn 248

Ur falls before the might of our Redcoats!

I move the pikeman up to the Encampment district to hold it and recover. The Redcoats I command with holding Ur against any potential uprising or attempt to recapture. The knights — while a little wounded — I head over toward Adab. Adab is proving more difficult to take than I imagined, but with the additional unit — once everyone has recovered a little — I can see the tide of war changing here.

Also, in case you were worried — the pikemen by Adab? Not only survived but also earned a promotion, which I used on making them stronger against Calvary also. (AND! Promotions heal for 50 hp when consumed. Very nice.)

Ur won’t grow until this war is over and we manage to keep the city. (This is certainly my intent!) So with that in mind, I set it toward the construction of a military unit — another set of Redcoats — rather than building up its infrastructure just yet. We can commit to making Ur a place the English can be proud of once we’re secure in the knowledge it is ours.

Turn 249

Teddy would like the use of our Truffles for 30 turns. Their offer is pretty poor — 8 gold once, and 2 gold per turn — not to mention the recent incident of their denouncing us. I decline.

With the completion of Diplomatic Service we’re informed that the time of the delegation has passed — and now we must establish embassies with those we would call our friends.

A new tier of Government has also opened up. The additional card slots are interesting to be sure… But to give up Monarchy? That is not a decision I’ll take upon myself. Not to mention, if we lose the bonus housing currently being provided to us by Walls we might find ourselves in a spot of bother.

Nonetheless — if a future leader would like to take us down the path of Democracy (or other!) so be it!

For our next Civic Research — I pick Colonialism. (Because… of course.)

I attacked with one of my knights on this turn, just to keep them on their toes and to prevent the defenses from recovering too much. You can see on the west, my Knight from the battle of Ur isn’t quite in position yet, and will need a turn to heal once he is in any case.

But we’re close. Very close! Then Eridu, south of here, should pose no problems once this is done.

When we have control of those three towns — I’d be open to the idea of peace, but of course — that decision will lie in the hands of a future ruler.

It’s entirely possible we can (and maybe should) take Kish as well.

Turn 250

On my final turn, we get to recruit a Great Scientist — Alfred Nobel. I’m able to use his ability this turn, as he appears in London. With a quick jaunt over to the Campus, we trigger him for a boost to the ‘Radio’ technology.

I send one of the knights in for a forray to Adab, but I’m reluctant to send the second as the health drop might just make it a tempting target for the enemy Calvary unit. They have decided to jump out of Adab and defend their under construction Encampment.

So in fact… What I’d probably do, had I more turns, is to attack that Calvary with the now-fresh Pikeman and Knight, take it — and the Encampment out — and then refocus efforts on Adab.

But that’s a call now up to Rakuno! Rakuno, you can find your save game here.