User loginNavigationNew MembersIn Development
Development and Upkeep costs are rising, please support the continuation of GamerTales.com
Ethelle Subscribe |
Don Deity Page 2A bar...somewhere strange...somewhere VERY strange… ... “Hey, Don Deity, how are you doing?” “Well, all right...but I can’t stop thinking about my ongoing civilisation project…” “But there isn’t much to worry I thought, last time you passed by here, you told me that your English are doing fine….” “Well...yea...we have won the race to liberalism (or better, WILL win it the next turn) but I’m concerned a little about one of our neighbours, Ash of India. He is running away in power and score since some turns now and additionally, his nation has entered a Golden Age…” “All right, this is really a serious thing to consider now...would you please show me again the tech situation on your continent?” “There you go… “Rich is relative...you need at least about another 2000 gold, so that you have in total 4000 gold to pay for the upgrading of enough horse archers to cavalry. Perhaps you should try to trade for guilds to build some knights, because the costs for upgrading them are WAY cheaper then the costs of upgrading horse arches. One horse archer costs 335 gold and on knight only costs 155 gold. So with 4000 gold, you can either upgrade 12 horse archers or 8 horse archers and 9 knights. And don’t forget to trade for Engineering in time, if you want to use trebuchets to take out city defenses once you start to advance.” “Wow, I thought our money would help us to upgrade some more troops…” “Sorry about this, but that’s the way it is…” … Several beers later: “…but can you at least help me in my decision, whom to attack?” “Not really, because every move has something in his favour: Attacking Ash NOW is probably the best way to stop him, because he usually has cottaged up his whole empire. And with an empire that big, you might run in danger to be unable to stop him, once he has reached Printing Press and gets even more gold from all his huts… Attacking Alex NOW might be your only chance to get him before he reaches rifles. He is a military freak and usually beelines for them like hell. And with his surprisingly high tech speed, he might be very well there within the next 20 turns… Attacking Bren NOW, while he is still backwards compared to the others, is a really good chance to hit him before he upgrades his horse archers to knights. And concerning his small cities and empire, and his high power graph (even without having upgraded to knights...), I still estimate him having the most units by far, so every military tech he gains might very well lead to big problems when delaying the war against him…” … The next two beers disappeared in silence... Then, after carefully studying his empty beer bottle for some more minutes in silence, Don Deity finally said: “This doesn’t really help me with my decision, you know…” … Some more beers later: “Oh, wait, perhaps I have something that could help you with your decision...Have you checked on the World Wonders build so far on your world, Don Deity? Aiming to capture important Wonders can be a big help in making your decision now whom to attack and which attack path to choose.” “Yes, I have...of the 16 wonders build so far, only 4 are on our continent...we have the Great Library and Ash has the rest: Chicken Pizza: Additional defence in all cities What do you think, should Ash be now our prime target because of the Angkor Wat (which is actually VERY good) or does this take him of the list completely, because of the Chicken Pizza???” “This is a good question...hm, I don’t know...I basically think that a Wonder situation like this doesn’t help you at all in your decision…” … And some more beers later: … “Only one last thing before I leave...Don Deity...please don’t mess this up. You only have one shot at this and it better be a good one…” End of chapter 1 “I just go a message from a scarred Roman. He informed me that we need Music right now and later Gunpowder to upgrade all our horse archers to cavalry.” “Um, Don Deity...what’s a Roman and why is he scarred???” “To be honest, I have no idea, but he seems to know quite well what he is talking about.” “Ok, I understand from the scientific and technical point of view that we need gunpowder to equip our horse archers with guns Don Deity, but what for do we need Music?” “I think, but I’m not completely sure, that is has to do something with targeting practice...so if we are using Musicians for practicing targets, our cavalry can go on practicing after dark...they simply have to shoot for the sound, until it stops. This will cut the overall practicing time in half…” “Sounds logic...but why do we need to equip our missionaries with guns in general for spreading the word of pacifism to our neighbors?” “This is simple...my plan is to massacre among our neighbors about a third of their citizens and to slaughter most of their army in the process of bringing pacifism there.” “I know that I’m only the mayor and not as enlightened as you are Don Deity, but do you really think that the concept of spreading pacifism peacefully can coexist with the massacring and slaughtering part of your plan?” “Yes, of course, it’s all quite simple...just imagine lots of people you have to convince of something. This can be very time-consuming… Simply kill half of them and you only need about half the time, right?” “Umh...this sounds also logic...in some weird way...but I don’t know if I can personally identify with this... ...umh...plan?... …I even don’t know if it is proper to refer to it as a “plan” in general…” At this point, the head scientist joined the conversation: “Well, I think it is a good plan Don Deity...from the mathematical side it is all VERY logic, less people, less time, which only means more peace and love...I will go and tell the other scientists right now that they should increase their research efforts and to work in night shifts also. I will do everything to speed up your genius plan, and I really think that it will motivate ALL scientists to hear that their efforts are for the good of humankind only and not for developing weapons of mass destruction…” “I’m still not happy with...hey, I hadn’t finished, it’s not polite to simply…” … So Don Deity passed by at Alex´ place first thing in 110 AD, and after a nice chat, they agreed upon a trade which brought Don Deity Music and Engineering and Alex received Education. So when Liberalism was finally researched in 125 AD, Don Deity was able to pick Military Tradition for his fee technology. And finally, in 140 AD, the first Great Merchant arrived in London so everything seemed to work out as planned.. … In the mayors house again, the mayor and Don Deity: “…and so we need to revolt back to slavery and resume our whipping to raise the production.” “But, but...slavery...this is cruel and outdated...we will kill lots of innocent English citizens with this.” “Yes, I know, but we need to do it to get enough horse missionaries (with guns) out in time.” “But I don’t see any connection between pacifism and slavery. This simply doesn’t make sense to me. And the whole business of slaughtering our neighbors…” “Come over here dear mayor, join me at the window...don’t you think that all those statues are looking very good down there in the yard?” “Um...yes...I mean maybe...umh...slavery you said...maybe not so bad after all…” … So another revolution swept over England in 140 AD, which brought them back to the good old slavery times. Quite a lot of Horse Archers started immediately to appear in most English cities within the next years and in 230 AD, Don Deity finally deemed it time to trade for Guilds, so that he could start to build (=whip) some knights. So he dropped over to Ash’s place: “Oh, hello Don Deity, nice to meet you, what brings you here?” “The pleasure is all on my side, Ash...but lets get down to business right away...what will you give me for Education?” “How about my maps, all my money (=340 gold pieces) and Guilds?” “Sounds fair to me, deal.” “You know, Don Deity, I think you are my best friend...to be honest, I like you much more then Alex and Bren, becau…” “Umh...yea...well...I will take that into account when I start to burn, pillage and plunder among your… I mean, when WE will burn, pillage and plunder ALL the others nations together, like the good old buddies we are, you know...but I think I have to leave now...bye Ash…” ... Back in London, Don Deity had a closer look at the maps he had received from Ash: … Only a little later, Don Deity received word that the English had lost about 1/3 of their population recently...but on the bright side, this also meant that they really had managed to produce altogether 20 knights and horse archers. So Don Deity ordered them to start working on some trebuchets, which reduced the English population even more, but there was still a timeline to be kept, now that Gunpowder was only two turns away, in 260 AD. And all the units would have to be transported towards the Indian border, so there was really not much time to waist...and to be honest, Don Deity REALLY liked going berserk with this golden whip here and there. … But there were also some bad news, partly related to the maps Don Deity received from the Indians and the heroic English scouting mission...consisting of one caravel, sent out about 15-20 turns before: Since it made absolutely no sense now to change route, Don Deity simply decided that they should sail on...there must be something more out there then the tiny continent, the Indians had found so far... Meanwhile, Anthony van Diemen, the English Great Merchant had reached his final destination, the city of Bibracte, the capital of the Celts. Don Deity had chosen this city for his trade mission, because it was the biggest costal city Don Deity had seen on the Celtic maps, some time ago. Now the Indian maps revealed that Athens, the Geek capital was actually bigger and also costal, but it was already too late to call Anthony back so Don Deity had to live with this also (but Don Deity decided to beam over to Bibacte immediately when Anthony’s mission would have finished and to throw his statue into the local harbor basin)… “Hi Don Deity...you seem to be a little stressed...what’s wrong?” “Look, look at this, this is the tech-situation on our continent...how could things have change so fast??? “Well, yea Don Deity...Alex also seems to have quite some cottages around...and I have mentioned this to you before...once your neighbors have mastered the secret of Printing Press, they are very likely researching a new technology every 3-5 turns…” “But how am I supposed to stop Alex now???... …he might reach Rifling every turn now....” “I have no idea, but this shouldn’t be your main concern now...lets focus on the Indians first, because after thinking about it once more, I would really advise you to attack them first, because: - their land is very good Oh, and something else, I just have met a quite frightened Roman outside the bar, and he told me, that - Ash has founded Hinduism, and therefore should have build the Hindu shrine, which will bring a LOT of money, once you captured it … Several beers later: “But now let’s get back to your invasion plan for India: “I like those bright col…” “Yes, Don Deity, I know...you have mentioned this before, but please let’s stick to the subject, yes?” “Ok, ok, go on…” “The basic plan behind this is that I highly suppose that Ash has most of his army up in the North, near Alex´ border and the Celt enclave there. So his southern cities should be relatively lightly defended and any reinforcements will arrive in reasonably sized stacks, due to sheer size of his empire and therefore the distance they have to cover. Therefore I suggest that you rush in as fast as you can at several points far down in the south and try to do as much damage as you can BEFORE the bulk of Ash’s army arrives there...it should take even most of Ash’s knights about 3 turns to reach you there, most other units should need about 5 turns...so I suggest you divide your army in 4 groups: The first group will stay at home and guard your borders, because you seem to be quite short of city defenders, in case Ash sends one of his stacks towards England directly...some cities even don’t have any military police. The second group will advance on Madras. Take some Trebuchets with your army there. Madras MUST fall within 4 turns (only 1 turn of bombardment possible) or you run a VERY high risk of facing most of Ash’s army there. IF this is done, set this army to block off most reinforcements Ash is trying to send down south. The third group will advance on Karachi. Take also some Trebuchets with your army there. Once Karachi is captured, set this army to march directly on the Hindu Holy City, Bombay. You will need quite a big army to capture Bombay I suppose, but IF you should succeed in blocking of the Indian reinforcements with your second group, I think you might stand a chance… The fourth group will advance on Hyderabad. You won’t need any Trebuchets there, because Hyderabad is a young and small city and I don’t expect much defenses there. Once Hyderabad is captured, set this army to march directly on Bombay to assist the third group in their siege…” “This sound quite simple…” “Umh...well...it’s mainly theory...you know Don Deity...it MIGHT happen that you MIGHT have to improvise here and there and there and there…” “I still think it sounds simple…” … “Before you go now Don Deity and plunge your continent in chaos and destruction, might I have another look at the power situation?” “There you go…” There is something you should take into account from now on...never ever let you power drop lower then about 50% of the average power of the other nations from now on. Even the most peaceful and friendly nations might become tempted to try and backstab you, if this should happen from now on, because you will spoil your relations with ALL of them pretty quick now… Something else to observe...you can see when Ash’s Golden Age must have ended because of the power drop. Additionally, he seems to have build no troops since quite some time...and I have no idea why...he must be pushing hard for research or be on the wonder hunt...or simply be up to something VERY weird...and apparently, Bren has knights now also, because he now has not only the largest army, but also the highest power rating.” … Some more beers later: “And I have again a last tip for you, before I leave now: Try to get to Banking really fast now, because then you can switch your government from Decentralization to Mercantilism. This will slow your research down drastically because you will loose ALL foreign trade routes, but it will also slow your continent neighbors down, because then they also cant have trade routes with you any more and since none of them has researched Astronomy so far, they wont be able to establish oversee trade routes to compensate. And right now, best thing you can do is to try to slow them down research-wise... ...this is even more important then speeding up your own research, because you wont be able to keep up with them anyways...and additionally, the free specialist Mercantilism grants you in every city can help you producing your troops faster. But remember that you have to build (=whipwhiphorrey) forges for that, so you can run an engineering specialist…” Don Deity gives a nod, which Emperor Bran takes as a "Sure, as long as you don't get too pesky" Emperor Bran is still impressed by the mere presence of Don Deity, but the beer helps him to find enough courage to give his 'advice' to Don Deity: "Great Don Deity, if I understand your aim right, you want to boost your empire by conquering new cities and people. Therefore my advice would be not to raze any cities. Most of the conquered cities will have some buildings left in them (most important: courthouses), the people in the conquered cities yearn for your golden whip and it would be a shame to simply murder them. The maintenance costs are tied to the development/size of the city (true: a new founded city is cheaper, but that's because it's not developed). The culture is tied to the tile and not to the city and is not reset by razing the city, therefore the only aim you would reach by razing the cities, would be to weaken Ash. Most of the new conquered cities can be garrisoned by a very small force, because your main force enjoys the element of mobility and once the first conquest are done, you can quickly reinforce any spot Ash might find suitable for a counter offensive." Emperor Bran takes another bottle of beer and continues: "Concerning the time after a successful war against Ash, I would advice to try to get Bren and Alex to declare war on your neighbors on the northern continent, this will slow them down and give you the opportunity to finish Ash and maybe even backstab one or both of your friends, but only time will tell which action will be best suited for Bren and Alex." Emperor Bran has finished his second bottle of beer, he stands up "Great Don Deity, I must leave you now, but if you don't mind I will come back at a later time" and leaves the bar of the gods (somewhere very strange ...). ... The Indian war I: A crusade towards the East ... It turned out that Don Deity’s lonely caravel in fact was finding something eventually, because after some more decades of sailing, it came across a quite similar boat wearing an unknown flag. It seemed that the strange folk sailing in their direction (which had by sheer luck and coincidence managed to build a completely identical boat then the English) called themselves Chinese. They were a unfriendly lot, but after Don Deity showed them what wonderful origami donkeys and pigeons he could do with something called “Paper”, they turned out to be quite pleased, and in fact, after Don Deity had enlightened them in the great art of origami (=gifting them Paper) they agreed to sell their maps for some gold to the English:
Nut much later, the Chinese knocked on Don Deity’s door again (well, to be honest, they didn’t really knock on Don Deity’s palace door, because Don Deity’s palace was quite far away from anything the Chinese could reach...so Don Deity simply had beamed over to the Chinese capital some time ago and had installed a fake door in the Chinese throne room...this was the door Mao, the Chinese leader was actually knocking at...and quite furious by the way, because Don Deity hadn’t bothered to beam over and respond since 15 minutes now). Zuummmpppp (Don Deity appeared in the Chinese throne room): “Hey Mao, old buddy, how are you doing” “I just banged 15 minutes on this stupid door...I even have caught a splinter, look here...and you dare asking me how I’m doing?” “Well, yea, so how ARE you doing?” “Fine, thanks, and you?” “Also quite fine...you know, we just prepare to backstab our neighbors and best friends, the Indians…” “Sound like a good idea, we usually also do that with our neighbors and friends...but only from time to time, like every several hundred years or so…” “And…?” “There leader is called Mansa.” “So what…? “And there civilization calls themselves “Malines”…” “Why are you telling me all this…?” “I’m bored…” “You knocked on that damn door and had me spend almost half a second for beaming over here only to tell me that you are bored???...bye Mao…” “Wait...please...wouldn’t you like to have a cup of tea with me, and maybe a cake or some sweats?” “No...bye Mao…” “Wait, please wait...only a short tea and a very little peace of cake...please...umh...maybe if I throw in a tech deal?” “Well, OK then, bring on the stuff...I’ll have a green tea with a small slice of lemon and a banana biscuit cake with some chocolate...what technology are we talking about by the way?” “I might offer you Banking for Education…” “This is quite ridiculous...bye Mao...oh, could you please have the cake wrapped in for me, so that I can take it…” “No, wait...wait...I’ve heard that you are looking for a way to slow continental trade down on your continent...and since Banking enables Mercantilism it will greatly help you reducing ALL continental trade (by killing your own economy completely…) once you start the revolution...so maybe you should reconsider…” “No...the terms of this trade are simply ridiculous...thanks for the cake...by Mao…” “But I will knock on that door like every 5 minutes from now on...until you have given Education to me, so better take this deal, because I might offer some even more useless stuff next time, you know…” “Argh...there you got me, I take it…” … Only a little later, the brave English sailors met the Malines, now they had the Chinese maps to guide them around. And it turned out that the Malines people was quite backwards, even compared to the Chinese, who had about the same tech-level then Bren...and, much to Don Deity’s surprise, the English score was even higher then the Malines...maybe the Chinese already HAD DONE some backstabbing… But back to Don Deity’s continent: It had taken quite a while until all warfare preparations had been met and most troops had been moved to their final position (and handed some guns), so it was only in January 305 AD, when Don Deity finally beamed over to Ash (zuummmpppp) and explained politely, that there will be war now between England and India (much to Ash’s surprise, as you all can imagine). … 21 battalions of cavalry and 6 battalions of trebuchets (more or less finished…) had either been moved in position near the Indian border or had been assigned to do some border-patrol in general: On the practical side, this only meant that the English army got divided into two groups: “Army Group East” and “Army Group North”. … Army Group East was set to advance on Hyderabad and Karachi, like planned, while Army Group North was again split into two groups. One group was ordered to patrol and hold the English border between Nottingham and Chinook and to protect the English workers, which were already preparing a road towards the Indian territory there. This would help the English trebuchets in the Army Group North (which sadly still were in production or on the way to the frontline at that point, so the advance on Madras had to be delayed a little, which basically meant that half of the precious planning and timing was nullified already on the first turn of this war…) to move faster. The second group was split in several small taskforces and given the job to patrol along the stretched English border towards Celt and Greece, as adviced by the scarred Roman. In general, this attack seemed to be a little rushed and not too carefully prepared after all (and NOT going as planned by the way, right from the start…), but Don Deity REALLY tried to do his best to attack as soon as possible, considering the new tech-situation (Ash and Alex running away every single turn a little more)...even if this meant to strike without all troops ready and to leave some English cities completely undefended (not even a military police was present in some cities…). … At least, everything was proceeding according to the plan in the beginning with the “Crusade towards the East”, the advance on Karachi and Hyderabad: Seven battalions of cavalry and three battalions of trebuchets were assigned to “Army Group East one” (AGE 1), advancing on Karachi, another five battalions of cavalry were assigned to “Army Group East two” (AGE 2) and were set to march on Hyderabad. Two battalions of cavalry remained between Canterbury and Warwick as a “Backup” and to defend these cities from any counterattacks and to protect the workers that finally had started to build a road from Canterbury towards Warwick, to connect the sad and lonely (and useless) city of Warwick with the rest of the English empire... There was surprisingly little resistance, when AGE 1 and AGE 2 finally crossed the border and pushed eastwards into India. Some horse archers, crossbows and a knight here and there tried to sneak past them, but they were all taken down before they could advance deeper into English territory. The counterattacks didn’t seem to be coordinated very good, it seemed more like a desperate effort to slow the English advance on the Indian cities down a little, in order to gain time to organize a proper resistance. It really seemed that Don Deity had caught Ash completely off guard and that Ash never had expected an attack from this side...Don Deity now really thought his friend was right and Ash’s main army was in fact stationed near the borderline towards Greece...which basically meant completely at the opposite side of the huge Indian empire. So his own advancing battalions would have some precious time now to set up the siege engines near Karachi, even without Madras captured and to put up some defenses for the main Indian counterstrike... In the tundra forest near Karachi: “Captain, our trebuchets are in place now, should we start to bombard the city defenses?” “Yes, do so...have you already received word form our informant inside Karachi about the defensive forces garrisoning the city?” “Yes sir, two battalions of longbows and two battalions of pikemen...the longbows shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but the pikemen...fighting them without weakening the Indian defenses WAY more could lead to heavy casualties…” “Do we have any information about Indian reinforcements approaching the city?” “Negative, Sir...but we could send three battalions of cavalry to the floodplains behind Karachi. They would be protected by the river and could spot any approaching forces in advance…” “Do so...and as soon as our trebuchets are ready, have them fire again…” … In the outskirts of Hyderabad: “We managed to get here even faster then planned...only two battalions of longbows and one battalion of pikemen are guarding the city, and they all seem to be quite inexperienced and frightened, by the look of it...” “Wait another hour, and then the forces near Karachi should be in place, blocking the main Indian supply routes to Hyderabad, then advance with ALL your men…” … After the heaviest battles were over, Don Deity had a closer look at the maps showing the eastern front and the Indian and English troop movements… Only to find out that things never turned out to be as planned...the first battalion of cavalry was slain by the defending Indian pikemen and the second was defeated also, but managed to retreat, but with most of the men heavily wounded. Still, Don Deity decided to press on...and finally it turned out that the Indian longbows really were no match for the advancing English cavalry. The wounded Indian pikemen managed to hold back the advancing Indian troops some more, but in the end, they were brought down also. And in late September 335 AD English troops marched into the city of Karachi… ...and, since Emperor Bran´s advice was quite similar to what Don Deity would also have done, if left alone, he sticked to it and added both cities to his empire... … On the northern front hadn’t been much movement so far. Some Indian troops that had tried to cross the border into England near Chinook had been taken down and even an Indian settler was captured near the English border...it made Don Deity smile a little, HOW desperate Ash must have been, by trying to invade him with a settler...but perhaps Ash just wanted to get rid of him to save money, who knew (or simply acted stupid, because he’s the AI)… But now there had to be some MAYOR movement in the English army there...with all the wounded or almost dead troops down there in Karachi, the assault on Madras had to be started, to further distract Ash’s forces, which Don Deity still suggested moving down from the Greece border in heavy numbers. Backed by the fact, that the siege units for the northern army had arrived now where they should have been like 50 years before, Don Deity finally ordered that all units of the northern army (Army Group North, AGN) that could be spared from borderland sentry business, including even some minor wounded units, to close in on Madras: But since the war had started, Don Deity had set two cities to build longbows so that England could muster at lest some defenses in case of an emergency and to beef up the English happiness via military police in ALL cities. The basic plan from now on was that at lest two cities would continue producing troops until the end (may it be good or bad), and Don Deity would try his best to keep up the English power rating from now on to reduce the likelihood of VERY BAD surprises... The English research had been set towards Chemistry some while ago, after Gunpowder had been discovered, thanks to the fact that Banking had been traded with the Chinese. Once Chemistry would be discovered, it would allow Don Deity to reinforce his army with some Grenadiers...which seemed to be a quite good plan, because facing rifles was only a question of time. But the English research was proceeding at a speed, thanks to the war, the excessive whipping and therefore the excessive dying among the English population and the fact that the English really had adopted Mercantilism that could best be described either as “baaaahhh” or “painfully slow”. … Only thing that could be done now was waiting for the MAJOR Indian counterattack and hoping for the best… When the storyteller reached the part about the fall of Karachi in 335AD Emperor Bran jumps up in excitement: "I'm in his story! The great Don Deity mentioned my advice! Listen to this folk, they will still sing this song in a thousand years, my name will not be forgotten in the eons to come!" He starts dancing through the great throne room "I rock, you not! I'm the king and you are nothing!" he starts making faces at his court since he has no breath left to turn his joy into more words. When Bran reaches the storyteller the later gives him a shy and uncomfortable smile. Bran realizes that something is not as perfect as it should be right now, he turns to the storyteller and tells him: "Dear storyteller you will be rewarded richly, but you pronounced my name wrong. It should sound like Bran as in 'Bran the Builder' you made it sound like Bren as in 'Bren the worthless, barbarian maniac', 'Bloodthirsty, backstabbing Bren who cannot control his wife'". The storyteller nods "Yes your grace I did, but I tell the story exactly as Don Deity wrote it". Emperor Bran's good mood is gone in the instance of a second, he drops to his knees and cries out "Oh you cruel gods, you made my name immortal, but you made the wrong name immortal! People will remember me and my advice by the name of some unworthy celtic scum ... How have I deseved THAT?! ... *sob*". After some time, one of his advisors tries to cheer him up: "Your grace, Don Deity has so many important tasks to look after, you can't excpect him to correctly remember the names of simple people like us ... And besides, this is a minor mixup, way better than having your hard earned battle marks be mistaken for signs of cowardice, me thinks... ". When he thinks about the 'frightened roman', emperor Bran has to restrain a giggle ... He stands up, gives the storyteller a long look "You do know how to pronounce my name the next time you tell this story in a different court, do you?". He walks out of his throne room. For a moment he considers to visit the Great Don Deity in his bar somewhere very strange, but since the events allready have unfolded and Don Deity is busy writing his story down, Bran decides not to bother the Great Don with his presence and to pay the bar a visit when he can offer suggestions about events that don't have taken place already. “Don Deity...(long break for heavy breathing)...I have...(another long break for heavy breathing)...just run all the way up from the mayors house...(another long break…) to your palace...(break)...only to find the front door completely blocked by statues...(break)...so I ran back all the way to the city...(break)...and have taken the road up to your palace back door then...(break)...and I have important news from the mayor...(break)…” … Three seconds later, in the mayor’s house: “Hello Don Deity, what brings you here? I had just sent a messenger to your palace to…” “I know, I have met him, and we had an a-stone-ishing informative talk...so I decided to drop down myself and ask you directly what news you have to save some time (and because your messenger somehow decided to stop talking forever before I could tell me anything useful and joined the palace decorations)…” “I just have received very bad news from one of our spies in India...it seems that Ash not only has managed to discover the secret of Nationalism, but also to build the Taj Mahal only a few turns thereafter…” “And…?” “Our spy said that the Taj Mahal is such an impressive building, that it might inspire the whole Indian nation…” “Which means for us…?” “India is about to enter another Golden Age...and this might bear some negative consequences for our invasion into India, you know.” “Ok, now I see your point...and I agree with you. That’s really bad, but there is nothing we can do about it. Please let me know immediately, when you receive word from our troops about the impact this might have on our warfare...Oh, and please send the next messenger directly to the back door of my palace…” … Meanwhile… Around the time Don Deity and his generals were busy worrying about the influence Ash’s Golden Age might have on their little war, the English brave sailors continued to use the Chinese maps to their advantage and managed to make contact with the Zulu and the Mongolian civilizations. It turned out, that Zulu was quite weak and underdeveloped technologically (everything else would have been a wonder...Shaka is one of the most efficient leaders when it comes to wrecking his economy, research, expansion and more or less everything else by building heaps and heaps of troops right from 4000 BC on, which tend to be outdated around 1000 BC, when there is no peaceful neighbor around to stomp early…) but with Mongolia as only neighbor in direct reach, Shake’s stagnation was no wonder. Although Kublai, the Mongolian leader, had quite a reputation as warmonger himself, he usually was very much more efficient then most of the other warmongers (= Shaka…), because he also knew how to write the word “cottage” and therefore was able to tech and develop his empire during peacetimes very well… Considering all this, it was no wonder, that it turned out that Kublai was the second superpower, only a notch behind Ash score-wise, but with a much larger empire and WAY more troops... Since there was only very little left of what seemed to have been the Korean civilization around the time Don Deity’s sailors reached Kublai’s continent, this only was another indicator that it would only be a matter of time, until Mongolia would claim control over their whole continent...and Shaka wouldn’t be able to slow them down very much, once Kublai decided to add the Zulu cities to his empire. Concerning Korea...a closer observation even revealed, that they already had capitulated to Mongolia and were vassalized some while ago… ... Still Kublai was nice enough to sell his maps for only a little gold to the English sailors, and so the final picture of the world was revealed. After having considered it long and carefully, English historians decided to name the various continents and, after some discussion, came up with some nice, descriptive and proper names: The starting continent of Don Deity and his neighbors was named: Continent “France” Since most of the English cities had switched back to builder mode some time ago and the English workers had run out of forests to chop down and roads to build, Don Deity decided, that this was a good time to switch the English economy from Food Economy (FE) to Cottage Economy (CE) to bring up the English research again, at least a little. From the English core cities, only Hastings, Coventry and Canterbury would be spared from this economical change and would be allowed to continue working mainly farms and mines, with the goal of turning them into England’s main production centres. Starting with London, city by city now got spammed with cottages and ALL of them had to be worked as soon as possible, to allow the best economical growth. … In parallel, the English army got bored of waiting for the somehow missing massive Indian counterattacks and was finally ordered by Don Deity to advance on Madras with the goal of taking this city and then to march directly towards Delhi, the Indian capital. Since Ash didn’t seem too interested in mustering any bigger counterattacks and not even bothered in strengthening his city defences, Don Deity spontaneously had decided to change his initial attacking plans (again)...there wasn’t much sense in blocking Indian reinforcements, coming down from the North, when there simply were almost NO Indian reinforcements coming down from the North...and so a smaller contingent of the AGN, consisting mainly of Trebuchets even was ordered to march north, towards the city of Bangalore, which seemed to be the main Indian production site (indicated by a knight moving out of this city every two turns) and to start bombarding the city. The rest of the AGN would be ordered to meet with the AGE in the outskirts of Delhi and to assist them in their efforts to capture the Indian capital after Madras would have been taken. Since time was so important now, due to the extremely fast teching of India and Greece, Don Deity’s new plan now was to push for the Indian capital immediately, before Ash had a chance to upgrade all the units stationed there. … Since Don Deity had already learned hiss lesion during the siege of Karachi, he wasn’t too optimistic and expected quite some losses capturing Madras and Delhi. Therefore it was quite a pleasant surprise, that Madras fell in 410 AD quite easily after some bombarding and without too much fighting...so Don Deity kept to his new plan and had the AGN split in two groups, as planned. One pressed on towards the Indian capital with the goal of meeting the AGE there...although approaching Ash’s capital now directly all Don Deity’s arm had been facing so far in this war were 12 knights, mostly sent to suicide pillage missions into English territory, 3 horse archers, 5 catapults and a small number of trebs, maces and crossbows...which basically meant nothing to really worry about, so Don Deity had his men rush on… It was a quite big surprise to Don Deity’s leading general, that Delhi fell only after a short fight in 455 AD already, with the bulk of the English army still gathering there, directly after the English siege engines had taken out the Indian fortifications surrounding the city: Genius Ash, winner of the Continental Knitting Games from 48 AD to 396 AD but apparently only a hobby warmonger, and a quite bad one by the way, had really managed to use the production bonus from his golden age to build the Spiral Minaret in his capital, despite the war. And apparently he had finished it just in time, like one or two turns before Delhi finally had fallen. (Knitting first became popular in the Greek rural regions between Thebes and Corinth around 350 BC, but was considered as a “poor people sport” at first. Only around 200 BC, when the aristocracy in Corinth incorporated knitting in their society, by combining dinner parties with big knitting events, it was slowly becoming more and more popular also among the other cities in the Greek empire. In 134 BC finally, when Alex’ family also turned towards knitting, it became clear that knitting as a sport and as an event had finally made its way up to the royal Greek court and only some years later, knitting was THE number one sport in Greece. From 100 BC on, knitting was also adopted more and more in the neighborhood countries, first only in the Indian, English and Celt borderlands with Greece, but later also in their bigger cities. In 63 BC finally, when knitting was also incorporated in the religious customs all over France (Don Deity’s continent, home of the English, remember?) no Hindu temple could be imagined any more without a knitting chamber and regular knitting events. But only in 12 BC knitting gained the glory it really deserved, with the building of the Knitropolis, a huge area of temples, commerce and sport, mainly dedicated to knitting, situated on a hill in the outskirts of the Greek capital Athens. And in 4 BC finally Athens featured the first Continental Knitting Games there, which, from then on, should take place every 4 years to symbolize the friendship and peace among the nations in France. Only the best knitters would go there and represent their country. In the beginning, knitting was only allowed nude in the Knitropolis, but when Ash and the Indian royal family became more and more successful (and nobody REALLY wanted to see Ash nude), this was changed and knitting during the Continental Knitting Games was allowed with long white robes in the Knitropolis also. All of this wasn’t mentioned before, because it had absolutely nothing to do with the storyline so far. It still has absolutely nothing, really nothing at all, to do with the storyline, but hey, who cares…) At least, Don Deity had to admit, that Ash had positioned the Spiral Minaret quite nicely, directly besides the Ankor Wat... The following screenshot shows the battlefield in central India, with Don Deity’s eastern and northern force already united and Delhi captured. As you can see, all units were concentrated in the attack on Delhi, only some flank guards were left and the mentioned division of the AGN was guiding the rest of the English siege weapons towards Bangalore. Despite the lack of real resistance, the big success of the English army inspired the retired English General Barca Hamilca to found a war academy in Coventry. Not much later it turned out that this greatly helped in educating new officers for the English army and therefore sped up the army production in Coventry by almost 50%, enabling them to replace any cavalry lost within 4 turns (London, the second English city producing troops, needed still 5 turns per cavalry around that time). Thanks to this great achievement, Barca Hamilca was remembered and referred from then on in the English history books as the first “Great General” ever (and immortalized by Don Deity by turning him into a very beautiful statue, which still can be seen in the entry hall of the war academy in Coventry). … But here the good news stopped...a look at the scientific advisor revealed, that Ash had in fact managed to get a quite depressing tech-lead on the English up to 455 AD: Ash had Constitution, Printing Press, Economics and very likely also Corporations and Replaceable Parts on Don Deity. … So far, it had been a very strange (and very lucky) war for the English. Ash really seemed more interested in building some additional wonders he could gift Don Deity along with his cities instead of raising a decent defensive force, or at least ANY defensive force. But there still had to be some mayor Indian stacks out there, indicated by the power graph. So the big question was, why Ash refrained for some reasons from sending them to face the English army...maybe Ash REALLY was very close to rifling already and wanted to upgrade his main army first to riflemen, before sending them to face the English cavalry...this might also explain why he kept lots of gold in his treasury, despite the fact that he was in a war...and soon this could become a quite big problem… So Don Deity ordered about 1/3 of his troops to assist the advance on Bangalore, in order to take this important Indian production city, another 1/3, mainly injured, was stationed in Delhi to heal and to wait for the arrival of Chandgragupta Maurya (who was renamed by Don Deity to Bob, for obvious reasons). Bob had been the general in charge during the advance of the English army from Madras to Delhi. Only thanks to his great leadership and skill in medicine, no wounded English soldier had been left behind and the English losses had been very few so far. To old now to lead the men, Don Deity had promoted Bob to be the second Great General of the English and to teach the art of healing to his comrades that his wisdom won’t be lost from then on… The rest of the men were ordered to guide the remaining English siege engines towards the Indian cities of Jaipur and Lahore, so that they would be in place, when the forces in Delhi would be fully healed and again ready for battle. ... Not much enemies were seen on the path of the English army and everything was going according to plan. Still Don Deity decided to switch his troop production from cavalry (all losses had been replaced thanks to the constant troop-production of London and Coventry so far and the English army therefore still contained about 20 cavalry) to trebuchets, to be better prepared for the feared appearance of Indian riflemen (only collateral damage would keep the English advance going from then on). The plan to push for Bangalore seemed to pay off in Summer 501 AD already and the city of Bangalore, the most important Indian production city, fell to Don Deity´s advancing cavalry and trebuchets. As an additional bonus, Don Deity’s troops also gained control over the Notre Dame which was situated in a small village near Bangalore. Another huge strategic milestone in this war also was, that by controlling Bangalore, Don Deity now also controlled the only area, the Indians had mustered the art of breeding horses. … But then, after the loss of his most important city, Ash seemed to have decided to change his strategy and to send some troops down from his northern border, to try and recapture Bangalore and get back access to his horses: Two stacks, containing altogether almost 20 units, a decent mix of maces, pikes, trebuchets and knights, were closing in on Bangalore already in late September 501 AD, coming down from the Greek border. The young general in control of the English city garrison in Bangalore, consisting at that point only off 5 battalions of cavalry (and 3 were wounded) and an additional 3 of trebuchets, was desperate. How was he supposed to cope with such overwhelming numbers, his men outnumber almost 3 to 1 and most of them wounded or extremely inexperienced in defending cities (trebuchets...maybe the worst unit to defend a city…)? … Delhi, English medic camp, Great General Bob and a messenger from Bangalore: “What??? What did you just say???” “Umh...Bangalore is going to be very likely overrun the next turn by two major Indian stacks...but if you want, I’m happy to repeat it a third…” “No, forget it…” … About 2 hours later, in the English commando tent near Delhi: “And I only have to knock on this poorly made fake door hanging down from a sort of provisory wooden construction in the middle of the tent?” “Yes Great General Bob, this is what Don Deity said. Just knock on the door and he will drop by right away…” “But wouldn’t it be enough to just call out for him, or wave my hands in the air, you know, or any other stuff like that, with his all Seeing Eye, it surely shouldn’t be a problem for him to notice me...I feel sort of stupid knocking on this lousy door...” “Well...I assume Don Deity has lots of things to look after, so I think you need to knock on the door…” “OK...but the whole construction doesn’t look very solid...you better step back, if it collapses, it’s enough if I get hurt…” … After having knocked twenty three times very softly, while cursing very loudly: Zuummmpppp “I heard you cursing Bob…” “Well...sorry...but wait a second, doesn’t that also mean that you saw me knocking on that damn door right from the start?” “Umh...forget about the cursing...what do you want?” “I just received very bad news from Bangalore...it seems that the bulk of Ash’s army finally entered the scene...and we are very (very, very, very) likely to loose the city with all units stationed within…” “Yes, this ARE bad news...am I right in assuming that you need all your men to continue this war?” “Yes, off course, why do you ask?” “Oh, nothing to worry about...just give me some minutes, I will be right back…” Zuummmpppp … On the market square in London, the major trying to keep up with Don Deity (who seemed to be REALLY angry): “Don Deity...please stop it....running around screaming and turning heaps off civilians into stone is NO SOLUTION at all…” “I know...but it makes me feel MUCH better…” “Umh...I don’t know how to say this, but I think there might be some more bad news…” “MORE BAD NEWS...I don’t know if I can cope with that…” “And I don’t know if I should tell you (it could shorten my life drastically)…” … But off course, the mayor did tell Don Deity… And it turned out that there was MAJOR movement in the continental power situation… ...the blue line shooting up skywards was Alex, who apparently had upgraded ALL his troops to rifles, within one turn: And Ash still was higher in power then Don Deity, so this really, really was a bad time for that...and Bren was also starting to worry Don Deity, because even without rifles, his power was going up and up and up and up...he now REALLY must have zillions of troops... On the funny side, the updated powergraph revealed also, that Wang seemed to have played a quite amazing game, because his power seemed to have been always around Don Deity’s...which basically meant, that he had almost zero army and Kublai as neighbor...and a different religion...might be two of the reasons why he was predestined to be Kublai’s vassal right from the start… The first storyteller tells them how Don Deity's troops conquered vast areas of India and important cities without much resistance from the Indian army, Emperor Bran leans to one of his advisors: "I have a quite solid theory concerning the lack of Indian resistance, Ash is simply so frightened by the fact that he is under attack from the mighty, mighty, mighty Don Deity, that he has hidden in the deepest cell in his palace and is unable to listen, eat or give orders to anyone. The building of wonders was probably ordered long before the declaration of war and the golden age of India is probably only the consequence of Ash not leaving his palace." The advisor nods: "Then let us hope Don Deity finishes his war, before Ash dies of starvation, his brother looks like him, but is simply to stupid to fear the mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty Don Deity." When the storyteller tells them of the success of knitting, Emperor Bran laughs out loud: "That's a nice distraction and it really adds something surreal to Don Deity's words. Maybe I should hold knitting games as well, this will give my worthless knights a game where they can challenge and defeat me after all." The first storyteller finishes his speech and Emperor Bran throws some golden coins in his direction: "Nicely spoken my dear storyteller, but you should really give more attention to your clothing you look like you haven't changed them for days. Now begone and pick up some food in the kitchen, you do look a little bit skinny you know?" The storyteller nods, picks up the coins and stumbles out of the throne room. The second storyteller tells his tale and after he has been dismissed (he was corrected before that: "was the Indian advance" should be "was the English advance") Emperor Bran turns to his advisor: "It seems you where right concerning Ash's brother, what's his name?" "Ash your grace", the advisor replies with a smile. "Oh ... and he looks like his brother? Well that will make matters easy for him I guess. By the way, the part about the fake doors has reminded me of something, do you know what happened to my master of fake doors? I haven't seen him, or a fake door for quite some time now". The advisor scratches his head: "The last time I have seen him, he left for an excursion to find those fake doors and he seemed rather committed to the task, because he took his whole household with him, I guess we will hear of him soon". Emperor Bran smiles: "Yes I'm looking really forward to his return and one of those fake doors, tell my goldsmith to build a massive golden doorframe to hold the fake door on its return." When Emperor Bran walks to his bedroom that night he tries to imagine how Don Deity's struggle continued and what course of action Don Deity had taken. "I for my part would try to make peace with Ash right now, keeping most of my gains and muster all my strength for a second war with India. But it is doubtful that Ash's stupid brother Ash will listen to a reasonable offer, even from mighty, mighty, mighty Don Deity ..." ... Back in the market square in London, the mayor and Don Deity: “Really, Don Deity, you should consider making peace with Ash, even if he wants the city of Bangalore back.” “But I don’t want to give the city of Bangalore back...and besides, I don’t want to make peace with Ash, I want to capture all his cities and then drag his dead body through the streets of…” “OK, OK, I understand your point, but do you really think it’s a good plan to fight for a city you are very likely to loose anyways?” “Yes, I think so, dear mayor. I’d rather loose Bangalore then to miss the chance to kill most of Ash’s army BEFORE he is able to upgrade ANYTHING to rifles then to make peace with him now...besides, there still is Bob with the wounded veterans stationed in Delhi, and they should arrive in time to support the garrison forces in Bangalore…” “And you really think that old Bob and his wounded comrades are enough to save Bangalore?” “I don’t know...and I don’t really care, as long as the main host of Ash’s army dies in the process. We are able to field 2 new cavalry every 4 turns, even without whipping. So whatever happens, Ash won’t be able to match our production with the losses he already has taken, as long as he isn’t able to field riflemen, so we WILL press on at all costs.” … Zuummmpppp “Oh, Don Deity you are back early…” “As promised Bob, as promised...how many men exactly do you have stationed here? “I fear not enough to defend Bangalore...but two fresh battalions of cavalry heading towards Delhi could be rerouted and would be able to reach Bangalore in time, to strengthen the defenses there.” “That’s nice to know, but how many men do YOU have available here?” “But most of them are still wounded...and it is most important to me that they all have a decent chance to return home, to see their wives and kids…” “That’s also nice to know, but now please tell me the numbers, yes Bob?” “OK...I have 2 battalions of cavalry around patrolling the city for any intruders and altogether 5 wounded more for medical treatment. Another 3 battalions have already left for Jaipur and Lahore, protecting our advancing trebuchets...and I fear they won’t make it back in time, even if I order them back immediately…” “Including yourself, that makes a total of 7 battalions you could sent towards Bangalore, if we leave only one battalion in Delhi...with the reinforcements from England heading directly to Bangalore, we could muster a total of 14 battalions of cavalry (of which 8 are wounded), including the forces already stationed in Bangalore.” “This may be right, but with all the trebuchets Ash has moved towards Bangalore, we still wouldn’t be able to hold the city...he would simply bombard us to death, then finish all survivors with his pikes, maces and knights…” “Who said that we want to hold Bangalore...let Ash have Bangalore...I want you to attack Ash’s forces directly, starting with the stack that includes most of his trebuchets. Only move the two battalions that are coming from England into the city of Bangalore to protect the trebuchets there, because they wouldn’t be able to reach Ash’s troops in time anyways. And if all else fails, let the trebuchets bombard Ash units to weaken them. Then unite your troops with the garrison army of Bangalore in the hills outside of Bangalore and attack Ash right away…” … And so it came, that in late November 501 AD, the long expected clash of Ash’s and Don Deity’s main armies finally should take place, at a completely unexpected location, in the lonely hills outside of Bangalore...and very likely deciding the outcome of this war and therefore the fate of Don Deity and the English civilization (and Ash’s off course…): … “We united our army with the men stationed in Bangalore Great General Bob, and we are awaiting your orders…” “How is the situation?” “Our main forces are stationed right next to Ash’s main stack, which contains 6 battalions of trebuchets, 3 battalions of longbows, 2 battalions of knights and 1 battalion of maces...but they are stationed on a hill, just outside of Bangalore, so mainly the longbows should cause trouble...and you should remember, that only 2 of our units will be able to move into Bangalore after the fight...IF you should want that…” “We’ll see, we’ll see...start the attack NOW…” … The battle lasted until the break of dawn...and Bob was about to win a victory that finally would make him immortal in all English history books...but there was a prize...a high prize: The most experienced veterans around Bob broke into the ranks of the Indian longbows, pushing ahead like hell, desperately trying to open a corridor for the lesser experienced English units, fighting their way up the hill, where the Indian main host was stationed. It was a bloody battle and lots of good men were lost on both sides...but in the end Bob’s first wave succeeded. The second wave, containing mainly lesser experienced units and fresh recruits now could take on the weaker Indian knights and maces. They did their best, but losses had to be taken...Finally, after several hours of heavy fighting, the Indian resistance seemed to be broken and the wounded English units still waiting at Bob’s side entered the combat and ganged upon the now unprotected Indian trebuchets and tried to finished them off, but two battalions managed to retreat towards the approaching Indian reinforcements (there simple weren’t enough English troops left to attack the remaining two Indian trebuchets),... …and to Bob’s horror, he had to watch them all approaching Bangalore, cutting off his own way. “Great General Bob, we will never make it in time to Bangalore...should we order to evacuate the city?” “How far are the two battalions of cavalry moving in from England away?” “A messenger just arrived some minutes ago...they should make it in time, but the young general in charge of Bangalore still estimates his chances of holding the city quite small, due to the many trebuchets still left in Ash’s army…” “I wont disappoint Don Deity...so we wont give up the city...once our two battalions of cavalry still able to move make it there, we will have 9 battalions of cavalry (6 wounded, including 4 that were almost dead) and 4 battalions of trebuchets in the city against the remaining 2 Indian battalions of trebuchets and the Indian reinforcements containing another 2 battalions of knights, 2 battalions of pikemen, 1 battalion of macemen, 2 battalions of trebuchets and 2 battalion of longbows...even IF the Indians should win EVERY SINGLE BATTLE...and I don’t expect them to do that because they appear to be all quite inexperienced...we still would hold the city thanks to sheer number...we even can afford to loose one trebuchet now...give word to the young general in charge...he is to hold the city at ALL costs.” … The siege of Bangalore started around 2:00 in the morning… After having heard from the messenger that he had to defend the city at all costs, the young general in charge was terrified at first, but then he decide to try his best and to do his duty. He ordered one battalion of trebuchets to face the Indian forces and under the cheering shouts of the English defenders, they even made it back towards the English ranks, inside the city. So he ordered another battalion of trebuchets to advance...they never came back. Then he ordered his forces to fortify and wait for the final Indian advance...which came with brute force. Only half an hour later, after having suicided all his trebuchets (two managed somehow to retreat) Ash apparently ordered ALL his generals to charge with ALL their units, except the longbows, desperately trying to recapture Bangalore...but the English defenders stood their ground, never backing down, for almost 2 hours. But then, when Bob and his men had almost reached the city, the Indians, led by their pikemens, broke through the western flank… “General, we HAVE to retreat. All our units are severely weakened, we can’t hold them off any longer…” “But we have to...Bob and his men are about to arrive...just some minutes more…” “It’s not possible...we are loosing WAY too many men...we can’t hold them back...and it would be complete suicide to charge into the advancing pikemen…” “We WILL charge...and I WILL lead the attack myself. I need volunteers, and I need them NOW…” … And there were many English volunteers, happy to charge into the Indian pikemen, together with the young general...to charge for the last time (and down the drain went the first and only English combat 4 cavalry...the most experienced English unit by far...it had a very short level 4 life, lasting only 2 turns…). … But their sacrifice wasn’t for nothing...they managed to buy Bob the time he needed. At the time the Indians had closed their ranks again and resumed their advance, Bob was there, and had closed the English ranks also. And when the sun finally appeared on the horizon, it became clear that Ash had failed...Bangalore was save again. Later the same morning, two more fresh battalions of English cavalry arrived in Bangalore retreated from the advance towards Jaipur and Lahore, charging into what was left of Ash’s army, exposing the remaining Indian trebuchets. What was left was an easy kill for the remaining wounded veterans around Bob and when the sun stood high later that day, everything was over...Ash’s army was defeated. … And finally, after the massacre at Bangalore, Ash’s overall power dropped below Don Deity’s. Combined with the fact, that both, Alex and Bren like Don Deity more then Ash, and Ash still was on the rifles countdown, Don Deity dismissed the idea of making peace with Ash once and for all and decided to continue the war against India at all costs...although Ash would accept peace now without any conditions and even would gift all his gold for that (and maybe even his hidden and frightened twin brother)… So Great General Bob got ordered with most of his units back to Delhi, to heal and to regroup once again and then to resume the advance on Jaipur and Lahore... Sitting in his throne room, being busy mainly with feeling great, Don Deity suddenly remembered two things: The first was to ask Emperor Bran who had told him about Ash’s twin brother and where to get a decent marble throne for a fair price (his own old stone throne was already worn a little, after more then 4.500 years of excessive use). The second was related with a forest, far far away from everything, between Chinook and Hastings and close to the Celtic border...long forgotten by everybody, including Don Deity and his various advisers...and had to do something with founding a city there around 1000 BC...so Don Deity decided to beam over and to cheer up the settlers a little still camping there since almost 2.000 years now...and to tell them to go on camping. There was no real need now for another city, and since Don Deity supposed that they were now sort of experts in camping, he assumed that they wouldn’t mind much camping for some centuries more... In parallel, Don Deity received news that stupid Mao secretly had circumnavigated the Globe and had therefore stolen Don Deity’s reward (+1 naval movement)...so the fact that the former brave English sailors finally had managed to make contact with the German nation in 530 AD wasn’t really enough to make Don Deity proud of them again... But now back again to the war front in Central India: Bangalore had received a quite strong garrison containing of 6 battalions of cavalry after the heavy battle there, just to make sure… In the mayor’s house in London, the mayor and one of his spies: “And you really think Ash has turned to drugs?” Everything indicates that...either him or it’s his twin brother again...it’s so difficult to tell them apart...only good, that Emperor Bran has informed Don Deity about the fact that there are two of them…” “And why do you think one of them has a drug problem?” “Well, there was this banquet in Ash’s new palace last week, in Bombay, and Ash (or his twin) was having a speech...and believe it or not, he referred to Don Deity as “one of my best friends”…” “HSMF? How can this be? Don Deity has killed most of his army now, has taken half of his cities and has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Indian civilians (in average, about ¾ of the population in each captured city had been whipped to death...remember Don Deity’s Golden Whip???)…” “I have no idea, I just report what I heard.” (Yes folks, it’s unbelievable, but Ash actually still is pleased with Don Deity, despite the little war…) … There still was not much news to report from the English research...it seemed to be crawling a little here, a little there, trying to approach chemistry every year a little bit, but not much really...which Don Deity would REALLY needed now, to have at least a small chance to survive any battle against a major force of riflemen… Additionally, another serious problem starts to show, because England seemed to be quite poor on culture...more and more ground was lost to the Celtic culture pressure (this was a quite depressing fact by the way...CELTIC culture pressure...getting bogged down by CELTIC culture felt like...well...getting bogged down by CELTIC culture…) Chinook already had lost 3 tiles, including the only English area warm and humid enough to harvest rice...and more would be lost soon...but at least, Don Deity had overtaken Bren now in score, and seemed to be working its way up slowly but steadily, thanks to the successful war against the Indians and the excessive troop production going along with that...and was ranked now 4th in score (but still behind Ash…). Although the risk of getting backstabbed should have decreased drastically now with Ash offering himself helpfully as easy prey, Don Deity still had a strange feeling creeping up his back, getting stronger and stronger… The Indian war VI: Getting backstabbed ... Bearing the fact in mind that the war with the Indians had to end VERY soon due to the rifles-clock, Don Deity ordered his army to press on, as fast as possible. And it really seemed that the resistance of Ash was broken after the defeat of his main army near Bangalore… Lahore fell in 545 AD and Jaipure not much later, in 590 AD...without many losses for the advancing Indian army. So Don Deity decided to split his forces once again and ordered half of his men to advance on Ligurian, the last remaining major Indian city in central India. But then, Don Deity discovered another annoying fact. Despite all Don Deity’s efforts, Bren had overtaken Don Deity again in score, as the previous screenshot shows (the excessive whipping Don Deity practiced here and there MIGHT have something to do with it…)... The science academy in London, Don Deity and the head scientist: “And you are sure that you have almost solved the secret of “Chemistry”, after only 400 years of focused research?” “Umh...yes...but you make it sound as it is actually a bad thing, not a great discovery…” “Well...it took you ALMOST 400 years...that are more then 10 generations of scientists...not very impressive, if you ask me.” “But it wasn’t our fault...somebody switched the English governmental system to “Mercantilism” about 400 years ago...and without the cooperation and idea exchange with foreign scientists (=no foreign trade routes), things are bound to take a LITTLE longer…” “Yeah, I know, but I had to do this, you know, to slow our neighbors down...and at least this seemed to work, since neither Ash nor Bren has discovered “Rifling” so far.” “I don’t care about unimportant politics...all I care about is my research institute...and for that, “Mercantilism” is disastrous, even more NOW, that we would have access to “Astronomy” for over-sea trade and idea exchange and would also be able to trade for “Economics” with one of our neighbors and adapt “Free Market”…” “Well...yeah, I’ll take it into consideration to trade for Economics and to revolt to Free Market, since both, Alex and Bren, have already discovered Astronomy and are doing heavy overseas trade now I suppose...which makes Mercantilism for us pretty useless...but right now it isn’t possible to revolt because we can’t afford the 3 turns of Anarchy the revolution would bring now (epic game speed and quite some cities…)…” … The same night, Don Deity was sitting quite long over the updated English maps, already containing some of the newly conquered Indian provinces. All Indian cities captured and out of revolt had been whipped down pretty efficient with Don Deity’s golden whip, building each a battalion of longbows, a library and either an university or a hindu-monastery, depending on original size (overall amount of population available for whipping). And, after having killed about 3/4 of the original Indian population per city on average, the remaining Indians started to like Don Deity more and more ...although pretty weird if you think a little more about this extremely realistic concept, Don Deity loved the fact that he was able to whip his citizens to joy and happiness (and death). After the initial whipping, most of the English cities, and already some of the Indian ones, were ordered to build courthouses by Don Deity to beef up the quite damaged English economy some more. Even London and Coventry had stopped to produce troops for a turn or two, to be able to start on Grenadiers right away, once Chemistry would finally be fully understood by the 10th generation of scientists working exclusively on this project… In the mayors house, in London: “Oh my good, these are terrible news, send for Don Deity immediately…” … About 6 seconds later...which may seem quite fast, but with all the beaming stuff and the all seeing ear and the all hearing eye of an average deity, this was quite slow in fact… “Don Deity, we have horrible news... ...we have just been backstabbed…” “NOOOOOOO, NO, nooo…” ... … In the mayors house, in London: “Oh my good, these are terrible news, sent for Don Deity immediately…” … About 6 seconds later...which may seem quite fast, but with all the beaming stuff and the all seeing and hearing eye and ear of an average deity, this was quite slow in fact… “Don Deity, we have horrible news... ...we have just been backstabbed…” “NOOOOOOO, NO, noooo...Alex, let me guess...I know it’s Alex…, no, NOOO...this basically means we are dead within the next 10 turns…” “No, not Alex, it’s…” “Ok, ok, then Bren...this is bad, but we might be able to fend him off long enough to advance to chemistry and to whip some emergency defences containing of grenadiers…” “No, it wasn’t exactly Bren who declared on us…” “HSMF???... …we just recently traded Education and Gunpowder for “Bismarck…” “Biswho? I don’t even know this guy...were the hell does he come from all of a sudden and what does he want from me...and even more important, what can he do to me???” “Well, I think I can answer you that...remember that we made contact with the Germans like 5 turns ago? Bismarck is the leader of the Germans...and therefore he comes from Wrongplacedandthereforewestillhavenocontactwiththe m...and very likely Ash has bribed him into attacking you because all his money disappeared the same turn Bismarck declared on us...which is a good sign if you ask me, because it only means that our power rating combined with the fact that Alex and Bren like us quite a bit was enough to prevent them from backstabbing us...I’m sure that Ash tried FIRST to bribe them into war with us... Oh, and by the way, Bismarck can do absolutely nothing against us, because his empire is like 2000 sea miles (= about 20 turns) away from ours, and additionally, the continents of France and Wrongplacedandthereforewestillhavenocontactwiththe m are separated by an ocean Bismarck’s army can’t cross anyways, because the Germans don’t know the secret of Astronomy, as you already had observed yourself… Oh, and something else...would you please consider renaming ”Wrongplacedandthereforewestillhavenocontactwithth em”...I don’t like the name to much and besides, it´s so long, that the stupid text editor of this DB always insists in adding a break somewhere near the end of the word…” “No problem...how do you like “Wrongplacedandthereforewehadnocontactwiththemunti llourlasysailorswhofailedingettingthecircumnavigat ionbonusfoundthemmuchtolateonlytoallowtheirstupidi nhabitantstodeclareonusthefirstpossibility”?” “Forget that I asked...but now back to that Bismark guy, declaring on us but living far far away…” “So you want to indicate, that this is not really something we must worry about?” “Not much really, no, Bismarck can send some caravels to plunder some of our seafood, but since Germany is so far way, we suspect it to take him like forever to arrive anywhere near our seafood…” “Still it is quite bad news I think, because now our actual neighbours might even be more eager to join in the war against us, because now we are officially at war with two nations...how powerful is Germany btw?” “Very powerful, they are even stronger then the Celts, only the two superpowers, Alex and Kublai, are stronger then Bismarck…” “I fear we have to reconsider our strategy with India (again) and have to take the option of vassalizing them in closer consideration...being at war with two nations, even if one war is only a fake war, might make us appear even more preyish to Alex and Bren...and even when we hadn’t been backstabbed by them before, this new problem concerning our power rating might change things now a little…” “Sounds like a good plan to me. Then Bismarck’s caravels (of which I suspect he has quite some, judging from his power rating) would also have to travel through hostile Indian territory first to reach us because India would switch sides immediately in this war when they become our vassal...but I don’t expect India to have much left to stop them after we are done with them...since India apparently failed to bribe somebody on our continent into the war against us, they are doomed to go down now, without any prospect of hope. It’s only a matter of time now...So IF we vassalize them, Odysseus’ ships might even have to face a fight here and there and get the chance for some pillaging on their epic quest towards our shores...which will slow his ships down additionally...maybe they even get lost completely before arriving anywhere near us because they also have to pass between "Cyclops Island” and “Medusas Rock”...look at this map:” “He’s the captain in charge of Bismarck’s fleet...a great warrior, but his reputation for goal orientated navigation is...well...let’s put it that way...NOT the best…” … In 635 AD Georg Patton, another retired Great General started to build another War Academy, this time in London, by laying down the cornerstone himself. London and Coventry were both building now a Grenadier every 4 turns, preparing the English army slowly to face riflemen. Sill, another project in Coventry had to be to get a forge built there, because thanks to Mercantilism, they were running a free scientist there so far (which was pretty useless for the main English production city)...and with the production bonus from the forge combined with the engineer they would be able to run then would probably allow to could cut down the production time of Grenadiers to 3 turns. The same year, the English army reached another major milestone and Bombay fell. The General in charge and some soldiers: “And you really have searched the whole city?” “Yes sir, we have.” “And you are absolutely sure it isn’t there?” “Yes, we are.” “Search it again.” … 12 days later, same General, same soldiers: “We have finished searching the city again.” “And?” “Same results, not there…” “Oh my god...how am I supposed to tell Don Deity that...one of the main objectives of our quest was to capture the Hindu holy city...founded 4000 years ago...and it doesn’t have the HINDU HOLY SHRINE...search the city again…” … Another 12 days later…: “Still not there…” “Argh...I’m dead...I will never survive the meeting with Don Deity…” “But we have found something else...the Indians call it Versailles...it is said to reduce the city upkeep in Bombay greatly...might even help reducing the upkeep in neighbourhood cities…” … And it really turned out, that brickhead Ash never bothered building the Holy Hindu Shrine after he converted the whole continent of France to Hindu (like 50+ cities)...but he had apparently decided to build the Versailles during the war for Don Deity, to compensate...on a side note, from the author: “Ash, after this war, you can consider yourself as my “private hero”, honestly.” … After having lost Bombay, Ash also was willing to capitulate...but Don Deity decided to finish the attack on Ligurian first and to advance on Calcutta, like planned, because not much Indian resistance was supposed to be left. And with a little timing, it should even be possible to take Ligurian and Calcutta at the same time (=turn) to prevent Ash vassalizing himself to Alex… And in 665 AD finally, Ligurian and Calcutta fell easily and like planned around the same time, and Ash was accepted as England’s first vassal. And England should be known from then on as the “United States of England”. During filling out all entry forms necessary for this complicated bureaucratic process, it also became obvious, that Ash had researched exclusively economical technologies, despite the war. He had Economics, Constitution, Printing Press and Corporation on Don Deity and was currently working on Replaceable Parts (7 turns remaining), so he was in fact nowhere near Rifling...all those worries about him reaching Rifling soon had apparently been for nothing... Don Deity’s palace in London, Don Deity and the mayor: “And you REALLY want to have Ash as vassal? He’s a complete idiot…” “Yes, I know, but I assume it to be generally saver to vassalize Ash, then to carry on the war with him, like I already have pointed out before. And besides, I have a cunning plan, and to make sure we keep the timeline for that plan, it’s easer if we take Ash as vassal now…” “Will you tell me what this “cunning plan” is?” “Yes.” “Would you tell me NOW what this “cunning plan” is?” “Yes, off course…” “Then tell me...NOW...what this “cunning plan” is!” “Have you noticed that we switched from producing grenadiers to trebuchets some time ago?” “Yes.” “Have you also noticed that we are researching “Steel” right now?” “Yes.” “And that doesn’t ring a bell to you?” “No.” “ARGH...OK then, I’ll explain it to you in more detail...only thing we need to do now is to find an English shaman, who will turn all the trebuchets we already have or are just about to produce into cannons, once we have finally solved the mystery of “Steel”...then we are going to whip some cannons more...and then we are going to backstab Alex...and we are going to do this, BEFORE he has anything else then riflemen to oppose to our glorious army and take out his whole offensive army in one quick strike...after that it doesn’t really matter what technologies he researches, because we simply will overwhelm him with numbers, once his main army is defeated…MUAHAHAHA…” “Wow, this is a TRULY EVIL plan...but it really could work out…” … Later the same day, the final meeting between Ash and Don Deity, with Ash signing the vassal contract: “I’m happy that we have finally been able to settle our minor differences Don Deity...you know...you’re still my best friend after all…” “So you’re not mad at me for taking 2/3 of your cities and slaughtering millions of Indian civilians?” “You’re a good person Don Deity...and that’s all that matters…” “Umh...well...yes...I think so...you are right of course...umh...have you ever heard of a disease called “brain tumour”?” “No, why do you ask?” “Oh, doesn’t matter...and you are really sure that you are happy now, becoming my vassal...because you have been THE SUPERPOWER before this war...umh...I mean our minor differences…” “Yes...of course...together we are strong and that is all that matters…” “You never even bothered to switch to troop production during our wa… umh...our minor differences...nor have you ever bothered researching any military technologies at all…” “Why should I? I knew from the start that our differences would only be temporary...and that even happens to BEST friends now and then...and now events prove me right, see? We are at peace again and will continue to prosper...we even are about to strengthen our relations…” “OK then...that’s it, sign here...and here… and here...and here…” “Wouldn’t it have been easier to make just one contract requiring only one signature Don Deity?” “That’s not the way things work (at least not in Germany )...sorry for that...and here… and here… and here...and here…” … 45 minutes later: “…and here.” “My hand is hurting...I can barley hold the pencil anymore…” “Good news is...you’re done now...you’re now officially one of the states in the newly created “United States of England”...and do me a favour please…” “Yes, of course, whatever you whish my friend…” “Go see a doctor...and do it quick…” … In the end, Ash and Don Deity decided to take the afternoon off, after all the contract and paperwork had finally been done and had two nice knitting games together. Off course Ash won both of them...he still was THE knitting champion after all...and later that evening the friends even agreed to trade Constitution, Printing Press and Economics and a “No trade” agreement with Alex & Bren (form Ash) for Astronomy, Chemistry, Military Tradition (from Don Deity). Ash wasn’t too happy about the “No trade” agreement, but after Don Deity had pointed out to him, that their own friendship would only be disturbed by the others, he was happy again. And Don Deity desperately needed this “No trade” agreement, with all his military technologies now also in Ash’s hands...it had to be prevented by all means that all precious English military technologies would disappear in direction Alex and Bren....Alex was already THE techleader by far at that point anyways, having on Don Deity Theology, Scientific Methods, Replaceable Parts and Rifling (and maybe even some more techs), and he was the priority one target for the next expansion anyways. Bren still was a little backwards but it better remained that way... … This is what the map of Indian-England looked in the end, with the newly agreed border marked in red: … Everything was going fine, but then Alex decided to annoy Don Deity by squeezing in a city between Old-England and India-England, cutting Bangalore, the most important Indian city captured, off from the rest of England: … 23. March, 680 AD, around noon, deep down in the cellar of Don Deity’s palace: “Common Don Deity...it is absolutely no solution at all to hide yourself in the cellar...besides, you’re down there now since almost two days...aren’t you hungry or thirsty at all?” “No, I’m not...I’m beaming up to “Chez Leon” every now and then to have a little snack and some drinks...but apart from that I will never ever leave my cellar again…” “Cheer up a little...it wasn’t that bad...you only ordered a revolt from “Hereditary Rule” to “Representation” immediately when that stupid window popped up...and the anarchy lasted 45 years (=3 turns)...off course it would have been clever to have also switched from “Mercantilism” to “Free Market”, like planned long ago, to recover our research (which we desperately would have needed)...and the anarchy would only have lasted 60 years then (=4 turns)...but apparently you have forgotten complete when clicking on that damn “Revolution now” button and now you have to wait at least 75 years more (=5 turns) before you can change government again and it will take another 45 years of anarchy (=3 turns)...and we don’t EVEN know IF and WHEN we’ll be able to afford another 3 turns of anarchy again...and besides, we have now stupid Ash as vassal, and I fear we will never again get rid of him...well...after considering it...you ARE right...you messed it up big time...better stay down there some more…” … Before this stupid revolution issue, the next English research project had been set to Steel, like said before, because Don Deity had decided before moving into his new office (=the cellar of his palace) that he would only need some slightly better siege machinery to start the war with Alex as soon as possible (with 21 battalions of highly promoted cavalry surviving the Indian crusade)...so Don Deity had been starting to build some more trebuchets to have an English shaman upgrade them to cannons later (he had planned to upgrade about 10 trebuchets altogether and to whip about 10 cannons more), after he had finished building something like 6-8 grenadiers some time ago (to protect his advancing cavalry and cannons from riflemen assaults)...this very likely would have done the trick to correct the continental power situation with Alex having only rifles to face cannons, grenadiers and cavalry...but thanks to his stupid little Mercantilism problem, researching Steel (3 turns invested + 3 turns revolution + 10 turns remaining + 3 turns revolution form “Mercantilism” to “Free Market”) would simply take too long now to compete with Alex in warfare technology for sure (Alex was getting a new tech every 4-6 turns…) and besides, saving the money for upgrading 10 trebuchets to cannons WHILE running Mercantilism would be something completely impossible...so Don Deity’s plan was bound to go down the drain this time before he even was able to start with it... The same night, Don Deity couldn’t find much sleep in his cellar. Too many thoughts were spinning around in his head...what was he supposed to do now? Should he still try invading Alex, like planned, at the risk of facing Greek cavalry and/or grenadiers, or should he now switch to invading Bren to use the small English techlead still remaining over the Celts and face their incredibly huge army while trying to conquer their (still) mainly crappy land, or should he even build up a fleet and start a (very long) journey and make a naval invasion on Bismarck, because Germany was something like 10 technologies behind England? So many questions, but although Don Deity didn’t find no sleep at all this night (in his cellar), he couldn’t find any answers… “Hi Don Deity...haven’t seen you around for some time...hope everything is going fine with your little civilization project?” “Well...yes...basically it is...I conquered India and turned it into a vassal state…” “Didn’t you plan to conquer it completely?” “Umh...ahem...but then I decided to save some time and vassalize them, so I could focus my attention on Greece in time, to attack them with cannons, before they have access to cavalry and/or grenadiers themselves...but then I sort of fell in love with Mercantilism, which, to everybody’s big surprise, killed my own research and economy completely...now England is running a minus of 169 gold per month (=turn) and Steel is still 10 month (=turns) away...but I fear England will run broke BEFORE ever reaching Steel...so the war with Alex wont take place very likely...which makes me very sad…” “Hm...sound like a big problem, Don Deity, but perhaps I can help you a little...what is the general situation on your world?” “My English have made contact with all other civilizations now...there are altogether 4 continents out there, very similar to the one we live upon...and our continent is by far the most advanced...oh, and we are at war with the Germans...they were bribed against us by Ash…” “Hm...mildly interesting...I’m more interested in the development on France...has Bren already discovered “Rifling”?” “No, he hasn’t. And he’s even lacking “Replaceable Parts”…” … Some beers later… “After thinking some more about your situation Don Deity, I think I can cheer you up a little...you have about 20 decent cities now...when you switch your economy to “Cottage Economy”, what you are apparently already doing, you should be able now to keep up with most of the other civilizations out there, except the BIG ones...and there are usually more then one opportunity to wage a war in your favour, when you focus on military techs from now on. Besides, having a plan is a good thing, but adapting to changing situations sometimes (like it might be necessary here) is even more important, because you will NEVER be able to plan everything ahead… Like you already proved, cavalry against medieval units works great, but enough cannons against all sorts of renaissance units does the same...and later, there are gunship’s or artillery that will usually give you a technological edge...and when it REALLY should turn out, that you can’t wrestle down an enemy like Alex with superior technology (because he sadly IS one of the BIG ones) then you can still bring them down with numbers...by the way have you secretly started to build the Globe Theatre like I advised you when we met on work last week?” “Yes, off course, like you said, I started it in the city with the most food available...and it should be ready in 7 turns… That’s great news Don Deity...and once the Globe Theatre is finished, Canterbury can draft one unit every turn without any unhappiness...but you have to adopt the “Nationalism” civic first...and next time, when doing a revolution, please don’t forget to switch from “Mercantilism” to Free Market” also.” “Well...I SURELY will…” … Some more beers later… “As I see it, there are three routes you can go down now, Don Deity. The first is to stick to your plan and to declare on Alex, as you have planned. Please show me his land again, will you?” “There you go… 40 riflemen So I have not really a decent plan, how to take him down once he upgrades his knights to cavalry or starts to build additional grenadiers…” “Well, the only way I see is to wait until you have researched “Steel”, although this means facing cavalry and grenadiers for sure...and to bring LOTS of cannons...and drafting additionally about 1 million of muskets would also help… ...but this could get hard...REALLY hard…” ... “And this is what Bren’s land looks like: Around 40 mobile units are visible to me, a mix of maces, knights, trebuchets, crossbows and catapults...so I guess his WHOLE mobile army might contain about 80 - 100 units… Quite some troops to defend a worthless piece of real estate, if you ask me…” “Yes...this ARE lots of troops… but you would be able to field about 20 - 25 cavalry, 6 - 8 grenadiers and 10 trebuchets yourself, so you would only be outnumbered about 2 to 1 when attacking Bren. And you have to keep in mind that you have a clear technological edge over Bren...and IF you don’t approach his capital too soon, he might keep some units hanging around there NOT facing you…” “But his lands will only drain my money...it is soooooo crappy…” “Then don’t capture it...only take enough to make him your vassal...like that you might even be able |
