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[AAR] The Age of Ice - An Empire: Total War Let's Play (Chapter 2)
Vic
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Welcome to the Inuit capitol!
From the icy north, the Inuit grand chieftain and his followers plot the demise of all the realms of man. The French colonies in particular are the cause of much jealousy and anger, but soon the tables will be turned. The Inuits may only have fish and furs to put up against the Europeans steel and gunpowder, but they will not go down without a fight.
I intend to do a regular game on Hard/Hard as the Inuit nation, with the general goal of taking most of the Americas. With only one tiny, weak province to the north this might seem an impossible task, but I believe there is a slim chance of success. Of course there are several risks, two of which stand out; firstly if the French decide to actually send over some troops from the old world that will most likely mean my demise. Secondly, I am not even sure the Inuits can build schools, without whom I will be even worse off than I already am due to the lack of any usable tech.
Nevertheless I intend to give it a shot! My first update will be in a few hours, hopefully, and include the first 20 turns or so. If there is no interest I will probably end the project after an update or two, so if you plan on reading feel free to comment!
On how to play the Inuits, and other locked nations:
From the icy north, the Inuit grand chieftain and his followers plot the demise of all the realms of man. The French colonies in particular are the cause of much jealousy and anger, but soon the tables will be turned. The Inuits may only have fish and furs to put up against the Europeans steel and gunpowder, but they will not go down without a fight.
I intend to do a regular game on Hard/Hard as the Inuit nation, with the general goal of taking most of the Americas. With only one tiny, weak province to the north this might seem an impossible task, but I believe there is a slim chance of success. Of course there are several risks, two of which stand out; firstly if the French decide to actually send over some troops from the old world that will most likely mean my demise. Secondly, I am not even sure the Inuits can build schools, without whom I will be even worse off than I already am due to the lack of any usable tech.
Nevertheless I intend to give it a shot! My first update will be in a few hours, hopefully, and include the first 20 turns or so. If there is no interest I will probably end the project after an update or two, so if you plan on reading feel free to comment!
On how to play the Inuits, and other locked nations:
Most of the unplayable factions unlocked!
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=234251
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=230846&page=20
There still seems to be a bug with FoV, but hey, it's at least something!
Vic on
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Sorry about this people! If I happen to be wrong about the game not saving the screenshots, please throw me a PM.
I had tried this, but had problems with crashes. I tried again now and it turned out to be a dual screen issue. So, without further ado and with a lot less screenshots than I would have wished, here it is.
Just a note, apologies about the quality of the pictures. The next update will have a lot more of them and in better quality.
Chapter 1 - A swift strike and the fall of Quebec.
The Inuit Nation. Tiny, weak, poor. A people seemingly without potential, doomed to remain an insignificant detail in the history of America.
The Inuits have only one resource, and that is their people. They are few, a mere two thousand, but every one a hero.
The council are not the only great men of the nation. Many of the Inuits are great warriors, though they are rarely in active service. The summer of 1700 the call to war came.
The Inuit council had decided that the presence of the French in Newfoundland was no longer to be accepted. Over the following two years trades were made with Native American nations to the south for horses, and the greatest warriors of the tribes were brought together and mounted to form a war party. While the rest of the tribe gathered their arms and prepared their village for war, 60 men rode east to the French colony.
The war party was spotted by French outriders as they approached the town, and two forces of Native American skirmishers were sent out to meet them. While the poorly armoured riders were very vulnerable to arrow fire, strength of arms and boldness helped the riders prevail. Newfoundland belonged to the Inuits, and the second part of the plan could begin.
War is ever costly, both in furs and in blood, but things had reached a point where it was the only option. Just as the council had realised that Newfoundland would have to fall to secure the future of their people, they realised that they could not stop there. The French had significant strength in the new world, and to the south loomed the city of Quebec with its surrounding forts. The great city would have to fall.
First came the pacification of Newfoundland, however. Some rogue Natives were raiding the trade port which was vital to the future plans of the Inuits. The French immigrants were also restless, and only after the defeat of a rebellious mad pirate scientist who had acted as the ringleader for the resistance had been defeated could peace be restored. (A pirate army of 6 units of rocket launchers appeared due to unrest, and killed all but two in my best generals units. What the hell.)
With the port secured boats were built and both the Newfoundland war party and an army that had been formed in Agvituk embarked for the south. A short march from their landing they came upon Fort Nashwaak
The few defenders were taken completely by surprise, and quickly the fort was in Inuit hands. The training facilities were quickly converted to allow recruitment and training of the Native Americans that inhabited the surrounding countryside of Acadia. A hundred men were left behind, while the rest of the army joined up with reinforcements from up north at sea.
Approaching Quebec by sea turned out to impossible, as a small French fleet blocked the path. The crude Inuit boats would be no match to the French ships of the line, and the army disembarked to make the approach on foot.
Anticlimactically, Quebec fell with hardly an effort. The French turned out to be as unprepared as they had been in Acadia, and only seven Inuits died in the fighting. The Inuits had gone from victory to victory, and it seemed like the French influence in North America would surely soon be at an end. The Inuits had yet to face the French in any significant numbers. To the south of Quebec a large French army looms, and further south are the British colonies. To the west are Native American nations, and the French court might yet choose to send armies from the mainland.
At this point I am in a decent situation. My economy is weak, but the magical 3000 a round is keeping me going. Building armies is tiresome because even the highest level building allows for only one recruitment a turn.
The biggest problem is ships. I have yet to capture an actual shipyard and the trade port only allows for the recruitment of trade vessels. I suspect it will be impossible for me to create any actual naval strength.
How should I proceed? There are two forts left in the northern French-American territories which I will certainly take, but after that I have several options.
1: Create a huge army and attempt to slip past the French navy to land it on the French Mainland and capture Paris.
2: Attack my fellow Native Americans
3: Try to ship troops to the Southern French-American colonies.
It'll be funny.
First, you've said you'll have more screenshots and things and that's good, but you really should have redone this first post. You have five screenshots there, all which really don't show much of anything. It was still fairly early in the game. You wouldn't have lost much time and it would have been worth it to start your LP with a more interesting first post.
Second, make it interesting. Everything is very clinical and detached in a way that makes it boring rather than being somewhat of an interesting storytelling tone. We don't actually know what's really going on, you just say things happen. Remember, you're telling a story here, not just playing a game. If you just want to talk about a few of the awesome things that happened while you were playing, it would be more at home in the E:TW thread.
Third, you're showing off a game. You don't need to explain every single thing you do, but at the start, when it's still rather fresh and new, it's never a bad idea to take the time out to explain how the game works. What, exactly are you doing? How do battles work? How does the economy work? What is happening in the battles? You don't have to go into painstaking detail, but it's helpful to remember that LPs are also for people that have never played the game before and "Oh, I conquered <city> and lost n number of men in the fight" isn't enough.
I hope it helps. Good luck with your LP.
You make a lot of good points though, and I will put in more work on the next update.
As expected, the French army marched at dawn. While a large part of the force was made up of Native American conscripts, it was lead by the seasoned general Philippe de Vaudreuil and included some professional soldiers and artillery. The battle ahead would surely be bloody.
Kiasutha, the Inuit Warchief, realised the limitations of his army. If faced in the open field the french guns and arrows would surely cut down his troops, and thus he opted to place the major part of his force in a forest, from which they could spring an ambush as the enemy approached. Far to the left of the forest he placed Barboncito, his second in command, at the head of half the Inuit horsemen. The rest of the horse would wait behind the lines ready to reinforce the main force wherever they were needed.
The sound of a cannon firing marked the start of the battle. The cannon fire was directed towards the town where a lucky shot managed to kill three horsemen before they were able to relocate. Meanwhile the main French force marched straight towards the forest. For a while it seemed like the plan would work perfectly as the French infantry came ever closer to the forest edge, but a shout of warning from a keen eyed officer brought the line to a halt. They had spotted the trap.
As Philippe gave the order to fire, arrows and musket bullets began to rain down upon the warriors hiding in the forest. With no other options and men dying around him, Kiasutha gave the command to charge. Hundreds of warriors sprang from the forest into the withering fire. As Kiasutha spurred his mount to join the fight, he saw the sight he had been hoping for. Barboncito and his riders had seen the opening and were charging into the flank of the French force.
The battle was quick and bloody, with casualties on both sides. Muskets and bows proved a poor match against axes in melee however, and the French lines soon began to crumble. Philippe died as he tried to muster his reserves into a desperate counter attack. With the French army crushed, there was nothing to stop the Inuits from taking the last of the northern French colonies.
With Canada taken, only Louisiana remained to the French in the Americas. Approaching over land would take require military access by the Iroquois. Instead the Inuits chose to sail. As reconnaissance passed the coast of the British colonies they spotted something interesting.
A goddamn school. Schools equal knowledge. Knowledge equals power.
Of course, the British did not only own a magnificent fleet, they were also allied with another of the greatest naval powers of the world, the Dutch. Attacking them would be an awful idea.
But I had to have that goddamn school. Besides, I was getting sick of seeing this every other turn:
First there was France to deal with, however. Desperately hoping to avoid being spotted by Pirates and Frenchies, an Inuit fleet sailed south along the coast.
After landing in southern Louisiana, the Inuit army was soon attacked by a large French force. Once again Inuit horsemen proved stronger than Bowman militia. New Orleans had fallen, and the French holdings on the American mainland were now limited to a single province, northern Lousiana. Wasting no time, half of the Inuit army split off and started the march north.
Meanwhile in New France preparations to invade the thirteen colonies were proceeding nicely. The Iroquois were kind enough to provide military access, allowing the Inuits a path to Albany, in New York. Three Inuit armies moved into position to strike.
Unsurprisingly, the Dutch chose to honour their alliance to the British as the Inuits declared war. The Inuits were now at war with three of the worlds main powers.
The British colonies were utterly unprepared to the Inuit attack however, and both Albany and Falmouth fell in short order. Boston followed soon after, as Inuit warriors from the two taken cities joined the third army in the assault.
In northern Louisiana the French made their last stand, and once again proved that bows and muskets are no match to horses and axes.
Apologies if the quality of the narration is once again rather poor, but I really wanted to get it done tonight and it is getting awfully late.
The French colonies have fallen, and the British will almost certainly follow within a few more rounds. This leaves me with a significant power base in the Americas, and I will soon be able to take over the other Native American tribes in time. I also got a College, with which I can hopefully do some research. Most research lines are useless since I can not make any industries, recruit line infantry or upgrade western buildings, but I should still be able to get some benefit from the philosophical techs and some of the industrial ones.
My main problems right now are with my trade and navy. Both the British and the French have navies roaming the coast of Canada, and in Europe there are about ten fleets pirating my trade routes. There is obviously only one thing to do.
Invade Europe.
The question is, should I attack the Buck-toothed tea junkies or the cheese eating surrender-monkeys?
You could try setting up trade with Maratha aswell as that trade route will probably be safer than the ones to Europe.
After that I'd make a dash to England to hold an isolated safe spot in Europe.
Yeah, I have no damn idea. I am sorry I lost the screenshot of it.
The fight was pretty terrifying. I started out ordering all my cavalry to charge 8 or so rocket launchers, hoping I could reach them before they had time to fire. Unfortunately this just meant that my horses took the rockets point blank. Only three of their batteries actually hit but together they killed like 20-25 of my 60 horsemen.
I think that when there is unrest in a province, two things can happen. If their French patriotism had been strong enough a French army would have spawned, but since it wasn't a randomized rebel force appeared, the two rebel factions being the Pirates and the Barbary nations.
That still does not explain the damn rocket artillery though.
Taking out the Cherokee, the slightly browner provinces north of Florida, would be prudent but costly both in men and money. On the other hand the Dutch and pirate colonies to the southeast are ripe for picking, though getting to them will be pure hell.
Pirates/Dutch, Cherokee or both?