Pong 3: Turns 193 - 204 of Norway

Real life has been very busy so this update is overdue. Session 10 was brief so I combined it with 11 for the following report, which is likely to be the last concerning Pong 3 due to the release of the Fall 2017 Update this week.

The Great Sea War draws to a close! Norwegian forces continue to advance on the Russian heartland as the occupation swings into full gear. The end of Russia (and thus Joe) is in sight. We pick things up in 1830 at the dawn of the Atomic Era.

The Great Sea War (1760 AD+) Continues

The Great Sea War began in 1760 when diplomatic conversations between Russia and I broke down. Norway has been slowly gaining ground and has begun conquering the Russian heartland.

Turn 192- My neighbors demand things

My neighbors and most of the world hates me for the occupation of Russia. They have begun regularly demanding things from me every turn. This screenshot is just one of at least a half-dozen that I received.

192- Russian battleship fleet attacks my destroyers

The Battle of Moscow Bay, the last great navel battle of the war, shows the superiority of destroyers over battleships, by far. The destroyers easily crush any battleships they encounter, and my two destroyer fleets are quickly able to clear the sea of Russian ships.

192- News of the world

193- Battle of Moscow Bay continues

193- The last Russian ship sinks

194- News of the world

195- News of the world

195- Enemy spies (Joe) recruit partisans in my heartland

Terrorists appear to wreck havok in the interior deserts of Norway. Although not very damaging, it creates a distraction that slows my reinforcements from reaching Russia a few turns.

195- Persia goes to war with Germany

195- Archaeologists discover a German artifact

196- News of the world

196- Terrorists plunder a trade route

197- News of the world

197- Russia (briefly) retakes Solikamsk

197- We discover Replaceable Parts

Now we can make Infantry. The occupation should be much easier now.

197- Fighting terrorists at home

End of Session 10

197- The Occupation of NuNorway

The former heartland of Russia is renamed NuNorway since it has become fairly certain that they will not be able to drive us away. Although it seems obvious now, this wasn't as much of a sure thing when the attack began. I expected to hammer a bunch of cities and then be driven back into the sea. The conquest and occupation of NuNorway is a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.

197- Heartland

Kyoto in Norwegian-Japan remains the jewel of our empire, with a massive 19 population and the cultural centers to match. The rest of our cities are focused on commerce and production, making our war machine powerful indeed.

197- Farshore

Hong Kong has largely recovered from the Medieval wars of the Viking age and has become one of our most populous and productive centers - thanks mostly to the excellent fish resources in the region. The Icestan colonies to the south provide crucial oil for the empire. I expected these sites to be vulnerable but my control of the sea has prevented anyone from going near them.

Begin Session 11

Begin Atomic Era - 1852 AD

197- We battle terrorists

The Great Sea War (1760 AD+) Continues

197- The Siege of Moscow

My battleships continue bombarding the city from the Bay, making very quick work of the defenses. Fleets of promoted battleships are city-killers in this game, completely reducing all city defenses and HP in just over a turn.

198- News of the world

198- Russia and Germany become friends

198- A new battleship fleet is destroyed

Destroyers completely own battleships and my superior mobility (from the Great Lighthouse among other sources) make these attacks easy.

199- News of the World

199- Cossacks appear in Russia

I didn't recruit these partisans, and I'm not sure if they were created by Russian unhappiness or by a foreign spy. In any case, they don't really much affect things, but it's an appropriate symbol of the total collapse of Russian society. 

200- News of the World

200- Archaeological discovery

With this, my third, the archaeological museum in Kyoto achieves its theme bonus, becoming one of the most popular museums in the world. As a properly Norwegian Imperial Museum, it no doubt shows the early history of our superior fighting character and religion.

201- News of the World

201- The fight against the terrorists at home

Empire Update - Turn 200 (1858 AD)

Heartland

NuNorway (former Russian Heartland)

Farshore

Icestan and Persia

Tech

Civis

Rankings

Score

Science Victory

Culture Victory

The Great Sea War (1760 AD+) Continues

202- Qin gets nervous about all my troops nearby

202- News of the World

202- Cyrus likes my military (still mostly dislikes me)

203- News of the World

204- News of the World

204- Policy Update (still Communist)

204- the great city of Smolensk is conquered

Russia is functionally defeated. This was their greatest city and the last one in their heartland.

End of Session (Game?)

The world in 1866 AD

Endnote: Joe and I had intended to play this one out, but he has some personal news that prevented us from playing last week, and with the excitement surrounding the release of the new Fall 2017 Update, we'll probably just move on from this one. Right now, I'd reckon that I have a 75% chance of winning via a nuclear war against pure AIs, but if Joe dragged out the final defeat of Russia and then reincarnated as Nubia, I'd probably have something like a 40% chance of stopping them from achieving a Science Victory.

In any case, this has been a tremendously fun game. I'd easily put it in the top 5 games of Civ I have ever played, mainly because the pace of play against a human intelligence forced me to slow way down and really learn to enjoy each of the various Civ6 sub-systems. It's a really great game, and while it's unfortunate that the AI cannot play it anywhere near as well as a human, I am glad they made it possible to play with friends.

Long live the vikings of Norway!