The Long Road to Happiness (I) - 925 AD to 950 AD.

 

925 AD: The dust is beginning to settle and it is time to assess the situation. Some of you may be asking why I didn't continue the war and capture Pasargadae? Well, after taking Persepolis my Unhappiness dropped to -7 and the capture of another city would lower it below -10 which would mean that the Empire is VERY unhappy. All kinds of penalties that I don't want to think of!!!

Secondly, it would mean overstretching my forces. I wouldn't have enough reserves for E. Africa. Pasargadae's neighbour to the North is Russia and I feel better having Persia as a buffer between Catherine and myself.

Thirdly, I am still at war with Aksum, present-day Eritrea, and I want that city because of its access to the Indian Ocean. Aksum declared war on me so I shouldn't get too much of an unhappiness hit if I conquered it.

Finally my Empire needs to build more cities in the region - where today's Basra and Amman are in order to fill in the gaps between Constantinople and Cairo/Persepolis. In other words I need an extensive period of peace to, amongst other things, catch up on my paperwork in Rome.

The Empire around Arabia

935 AD: Several units have been given orders to march to the African front and luckily I have an Open Borders agreement with Arabia. My advance forces meet an Aksum Archer and Worker.

940 AD: Combat ensues and my Knight easily overwhelms the enemy....

....more forces are revealed.

945 AD: My Longswordsman crushes a second Aksum Archer but their Knight severely mauls mine - we retreat but not to safety....

....because their Knight attacks again destroying my guy and recapturing their Worker.

950 AD: Follow-up forces have arrived and after a bombardment the Aksum Knight is destroyed and the Worker captured again.

The front is now firmly in friendly hands. 

The Middle East in 950 AD. I have 5 Workers busy building roads connecting North Africa with Asia Minor. The turn ends with Thailand declaring war on India. Note that the remnants of the Persian Empire are not only N. of Persepolis but also to the East.

Sweeping Persia under the Carpet - 905 AD to 925 AD

905 AD: A close look of the map below shows Persia having only two cities, Persepolis and Pasargadae, but there are probably more further to the East - somebody recently captured Delhi and Persia strength on the Victory Points table indicates an Empire greater than what can be seen at the moment.

 910 AD: The Persians chose to attack my forward Ballista - the survivors fire back....

 ...and my Knight also attacks the city. Hopefully we got the defenders attention! Two more Ballistas have moved forward and are now within firing range.

I have finished researching Gunpowder and have chosen Machinery as my next project. My Archers will be able to upgrade to Crossbowmen but more important bridges will negate the movement penalty when crossing rivers.

915 AD: The Persians hit my forward Ballista again and it is almost wiped out but I receive a promotion for the unit and shall rebuild it to full strength.

It returns the fire and two more Ballistas barrage Persepolis.

A Longswordsman lands in S. Persia and 2 more Ballistas plus another Longswordsman move forward. The situation is getting precarious for Darius.

920 AD: This time the Persians have attacked my Knight almost destroying it but again a promotion comes to the rescue and the unit is rebuilt to full strength. All four Ballistas now bombard Persepolis and.... 

  

 ...and my Knight gives the final blow.

 Persepolis falls and I get the best deal possible.

925 AD: The war is over and I move forces to the new border. To the SE there is a piece of Persian territory and as I suspected Darius appears to have captured at least one Indian city. Excess Ballistas are now moving out of this region and will be transferred to southern Egypt. (Aksum did not sue for peace).

As for my statistics - pretty much unchanged - the only difference is that I now have the 4th largest population.

The 2nd and 3rd greatest Empires are the Arabian and Russian - my neighbours to the South and East. The Arabians definitely have cities in east Africa!

 

It's now time for a strategy session - more in my next post. Ave, Caesar!!!

 

 





Is Persia up for Grabs? - 875 AD to 905 AD

875 AD: The capture of Thebes, now Cairo, was much easier than expected and with that Rome now controls ths entire Mediterranean Sea and I can link Asia Minor to the Empire's trade network thru Palestine to N. Africa. There is also no longer an immediate need to capture St. Petersburg in the Russian Empire.

880 AD: Darius of Persia is unwilling to even talk to me so I have no alternative but to be defensive until more ground forces arrive from Egypt because the majority of my forces bordering Persia are Ballistas. Three Persian units are near me so I shall make a dent in their defences.

My Knight bashes the Warrior, pillages the Plantation then withdraws back to the hill.

 Ballistas eliminate another Warrior...

 

 Finally a Longswordsman assaults the Persian Pikeman.

I also need to take care of that fleeing Persian Catapult - gotcha!!!

The other players' turn and that's strange - Arabia and Russia have declared war on Askia of the Songhai. Arabia probably has cities in E. Africa and is therefore a neighbour and rival - that may explain why Askia hasn't been spreading North towards Roman N. Africa. Catherine is obviously smoking some serious dope but it is an indication that Russia and Arabia are friends.

 

885 to 890 AD: I am moving some forces from Egypt to the Persian front and also take the opportunity to grab a Persian Worker.

 

Policy Adoption time - I choose Reformation primarily because of the 20 turn Golden Age and that means extra cash and production....

...and of course Catherine is peeved about something! How is your against Askia going, bitch?

895 AD: A Persian Chariot Archer is too near to my Ballistas so we hose it down a little.

900 AD: A Ballista terminates the Chariot guys while my forces slowly but surely move towards the front line.

Time to renew my trade agreements with Askia - after all he is at war with two of my neighbours so it would be unwise not to support him.

Meanwhile in Upper Egypt I have bumped into the City-State of Aksum and since we are at war it means that my Longswordsman is a little too exposed. Oops...

I am also moving forces down the Arabian Gulf coast with the goal of an amphibious assault in southern Persia.

905 AD: A final lunge forward and it is revealed that Persepolis is only lightly defended - the trick now is to get several Ballistas within bombardment range of the Persian capital presenting more than one target for the city's defenders - it can only bombard one of my units per turn.

Ave, Caesar!

 

 

Closing the Circle - 850 AD to 875 AD

850 AD: An aerial view of the Roman Empire from Iceland in the NW to Armenia in the SE.

 

There are only three Russian units near Moscow - such a tempting target but the capture of Moscow
and St. Petersburg would put a huge hole in my Happiness Level and cripple the Empire's growth.

Note the mass movement of Arabian forces to the East in support of their war against India. Also a
tempting target but I have an Open Borders agreement with them and I do business with them. They not really an opponent at the moment.

The Persian presence in Egypt has all but disappeared - a very tempting target. Thebes is no
longer a capial city and it isn't a large city so its capture wouldn't cause too much Unhappiness.
There is also the Cotton luxury resource within its territory which will further lower the Unhappiness
hit. So Persia it is!

860 AD: My forces are being brought into position - not only to land on the northern Egyptian
coast but also anticipating a move from the Persian homeland. Persia has made peace with Thailand
but I doubt that it has anything to do with my moves.

865 AD: A little bit of extra cash won't hurt - thanks Askia!



870 AD: The war begins with my Longswordsman assaulting the Persian Pikeman - it is eliminated -
nice one, guys...more forces land on the coast.



My Knight pulverizes the Archer sotuth of Thebes while other forces move adjacent to the city...

 

The Persians decide to evacuate the city and the Catapult is trying to escape - the Thebes Garrison attacks my Knight causing minor damage. Oops, India has lost its Capital - maybe our struggle with Darius can offer some relief...

875 AD: The next round begins with my Ballistas bombarding Thebes....

....followed by assaults from 4 of my units

My Knight delivers the final blow - how's that for Blitzkrieg?

Thebes has been liberated from Persian rule and has been promoted to a Roman province. As I had hoped, the Unhappiness hit isn't too bad and that will soon be solved by the Courthouse being built in Byzantium.

To celebrate a new age for Egypt we have renamed the city Cairo - now where's Cleopatra?

I have what I wanted but Darius is unfortunately not interested in burying the hatchet so the war goes on!