Pong 8: Arabia

In Pong 8 I chose Arabia. I wasn’t fond of any of my choices this time around. I considered Zulu but did not want to be forced down a domination path. I went in with a plan already. I was going to forgo focusing on religion and make use of Arabia’s ability to automatically get a prophet and rush to Mamluks. My plan would then be to expand via Mamluk rush either by conquering player’s cities or city states. Unfortunately, my plan did not end up working.

 Starting position is acceptable. There are plenty of mountains in view for science or holy district adjacency and the territory seems relatively defensible.

I begin focusing on getting to Mamluks. I am greeted very early by India to the southeast who threatens me with two slingers and a warrior after settling my second city of Sana’a. I laugh off the threat. I decide he would be the target of my Mamluk rush. He’s very close so loyalty won’t be an issue and if he declares a territorial war on me his units will benefit and I don’t want that threat to my south.

I want to work on getting some promotions for my early units and expanding northeast doesn’t seem like it will be too hard or upset anyone. I send a few units. I am met by Scythia who has a significant military presence in the area and decide it would not be wise to tire my units on Granada.

Scythia quickly moves in after I retreat and conquers Granada. I am worried but I have a strong choke point. Later Scythia moves a large number of his units across the isthmus and I ask him if he is simply moving through. He tells me yes but promptly declares a war on me the next turn. My plans to invade India will have to be put on the backburner. Nate attacks from two fronts initially and I am unaware of just how big his army is.

After managing to hold out against Nate’s first few waves the full gravity of this war reveals itself as Nate reveals an unbelievably large army. My Mamluks had been doing exceptionally well to this point but Nate realized I had little means to prevent him crossing the sea and flanking him. He proceeds to embark an insane number of horsemen.

I rush to get some Galley’s up to sink his Horsemen while they are embarked. With my Mamluks covering a lot of land his horseman only have a few places to land and I try my best to cover those with archers or city attacks. I am able to hold out and we make peace but it is not to last. I realize quickly that he is still sending units across the sea and since we are in a forced peace I have no means to prevent a potential flanking maneuver.

As soon as I can I preemptively declare war to prevent him from building up a sizable force on my border with Georgia. My mamluks move out and kill one or two horseman but he pulls back. Shortly after I realize he really surrounded me this time. He’s got units coming from every direction. Luckily, I was able to bolster my units with a few faith purchases.

I find he has levied Muscat’s forces and opened up another front on my border with India. Despite this impressive force the worst news was yet to come. Nate had secured an open borders agreement with india and had been hiding a large number of horseman in Indian territory. He proceeds to plunder all my trade routes leaving me with a treasury that was draining rather than growing. I’m confident my fortress of Homs can hold his units but when the units start being disbanded I will be a sitting duck. I quickly appeal to the Nubians to the south for a temporary loan asking for just enough to keep me afloat and maintain my military. He agrees. This was the beginning of a game long relationship with the Nubian empire.

An unforeseen consequence of attacking Scythia preemptively was pulling their mighty ally Georgia into the war. I am worried the game may be over for me as Georgia has much more advanced technology and a sizable navy. I buy him off with loans from the Nubians and focus on my defense.

Peace is obtained and finally I can focus on my infrastructure. Nate keeping me on my toes has forced me into a situation where I cannot settle anymore cities. Peace reigns briefly before I decide to try to push my veteran units to attack an undefended Macedonian city to the southeast. 

Regretably I didn’t take many pictures of the conflict. I found out Macedon had been hiding a rather large contingent of musketman corps in his nearby city and quickly I was forced to fight defensively. After gaining advantageous terrain I was able to fight his superior units to a stalemate and we agreed to end the war.

I look to the west and see Nubia and Georgia building up forces. During this time me and india begin growing close and Nubia, Arabia, and India decide to form what we call the IAC. By this point I realize there is no way I will win and to repay my debt to Nubia I move peace keepers in to buy him a turn or two in the coming war with Georgia. Some turns later Macedon begins building up an army along their border with India and invades. Suprisingly, India has built virtually NO military units all game so I rush to try to help him defend. Unfortunately my Mamluks are no match for the Infantry and bombard corps pouring into India and Agra is quickly conquered and Macedon turned his guns toward Hatin.

I am finally able to get field cannons and I once again assume the defensive position. After much jockeying and fighting I am able to just barely hold my line. I find Macedon is eager to kill units so I occasionally throw a unit up as bait to attract his infantry into the range of my upgraded field cannons. This continues for quite awhile until Joe manages to buy Scythia into the war thus crashing Zar’s entire economy. Zar manages to capture my capital and razes a small city I had placed above Homs.

Macedon proves incapable of keeping the city of Agra as they rebel and barbarian infantry fight his units back. He recaptures Agra and decides to raze it. By this point the war in the west had begun to turn decisively in the Nubians favor.

Eventually Joe arrives with his liberation forces and frees my capital and pushes the Macedonian menace back.

This was the last session I was able to be apart of. Overall I was really satisfied with how the game turned out. Despite me not having a chance to win the game ever since the outbreak of the second Scythian war I really enjoyed combat against Nate and playing an integral part in a diplomatic coalition against Zar was also quite rewarding. I am looking forward to our next session and excited to see who I get to play in that match.