We reached the shore just in time, the boat sank and there was no evidence if it ever existing. Luckily, all of us were out at the time, so we began looking around for something to eat. Not far from the short, perhaps a thousand paces or so, I and the settlers with me set up camp while our trusty explorer went off on his own.
We took in all our supplies and immediately began on building homes and chopping wood. More settlers came to join us, though they strangely appeared from the houses that just had been built. All of us went after wood at first, then split up for some hunting.
Meanwhile, the explorer Luther discovered a few treasures left behind. But he also found out that we were not alone. There were three Spanish towns, all allied with one another, thriving just as we were! Led by Queen Isabella, Queen Isabella, and an unknown Spaniard named Player 3, they posed a Moderate threat.
We quickly went for Colonial and were the first ones to get to it. Quickly, we put up a barracks and trained three batches of musketeers, in addition to more settlers.
The grouchy Spanish came with their rodeleros, mobs of five or ten each. Our militia of musketeers take them down very quickly with minimal casualites. More of our settlers went for hunting than chopping, and next to mine some silver to pay our troops.
This is how it went for awhile. A few settlers threw up some loose walls around the town, some of them ambushed during work. But we easily repelled all their efforts to rush us. And so we advanced to the Fortress Age, and strengthed our defenses with a fort, towers, and cannons. Repelling occasional attacks, we went to Industrial. That's when trouble began.
The Spaniards had hit the Fortress Age a while after we got to age four. And they came with no mercy. Musketeers, pikemen, rodeleros, lance cavalry... synchronized assaults. Our musketeers held them off, and repairing the walls kept the invaders out.
But one force was too strong. A troop of 15 or 20 cavalry, they burst through a wall and rushed on to slay our musketeers and falconet cannons. Just barely, very narrowly we repelled them. But as the one side's troops were finished of, men from the other TWO came to take over the battle.
Responding to the incident, villagers daringly threw up more barracks in the line of fire, the other 60 or so trying to maintain farms and plantations. We desperately trained more musketeers, but as soon as they popped out and took out one or two cavalry, a combined force of cannons and lances ending their breif careers. A fort, built right outside my walls, aided their men by shooting my defense from a safe distance away. Houses and barracks began to fall. I was tempted to ride out on a boat and resign my colony.
But lucky turned for the better. Down many houses and several barracks, the enemy seemed content and retreated with their remaining men (my hampering did some good, it turns out.) I rebuilt, took down the fort (with heavy losses) lightning quick, and trained like none other. Musketeers and cannons. No walls, just men.
They kept coming, but they had missed their chance. With their pikemen, cavalry and cannons, they could not defeat my massing army of infantry and artillary. Long and hard they pounded, but they could not break through. I trained more villagers to reassume the economy that I had so narrowly maintained, from 30 up to 70 (losses had been heavy.)
I went up to the Imperial age, upgrading towers, men, cannons, and economy like none other. Then I set a sizeable army outside of the former battlefield, which the enemy tried (unsucesfully) to harass.
I knew that soon the enemy would send out its own huge armies if I did not lay some pressure on THEM, for once. So I sent my men along the south-eastern shore in secret, leaving a mere 5 musketeers for my town's defense. The enemy encountered my army a few times, but unsucesfully. It contained 25 gunmen and 12 artillary, no force to be swept aside. Not even an enemy fort and an army could stop me.
I came to my nearest enemy's town, ignoring the villager's weak peashooters. Then, when all my men were in dead center, I issued the stop command, and then let them break all hell loose. Bullets and shells went flying. The enemy's allies tried a few times to assist, and managed to reduce my force by half. Blood was spilled. But at last, the Queen Isabella asked for surrender, and I granted it, quickly sending my army home to recuperate.
Back at my town, matters had gone sour. My defense, which I was constantly increasing, kept losing out to small, raiding parties of cavalry. A few times the enemy broke in and attacked my barracks, but it was nothing as before with only two of them doing it. It was only by the brace surprise-attacks of bunches of musketeers that held them from taking any down. My invading army returned home and helped to defend while I boosted my forces back up. Soon, my army was off to invade again, this time with over sixty musketeers in defense.
I encountered heavy resistance on the way to the town. The enemy seemed to know my destination and sent everything it had once it popped out of their barracks. But it did not stop me from tearing down yet another fort and making my way to the second Isabella colony. Once I was there, the enemy stood no hope, and it went down easier than the first colony I had taken.
My army likely could have marched on and claimed victory against the last town, but I wanted to really show my dominance. I built a captial and sent ships to blockade my opponet, and hired spies. I say and knew all. Any attack they sent, obliterated. Any cannons they used to try and get some heavy casualties with, I sent men hidden just out of site to stab the operator.
Keeping the enemy at bay, I claimed all four trading posts (some of which I had to sieze fromt the enemy) and allied myself with the natives. The ground was safe to tread, at last, for my settlers.
As I planned for the last step of my conquest, I sent horsemen to raid the enemy's villagers. It worked well; the enemy's army was too slow to stop them from my dirty work, and when they tried following, my cannons ambushed. Soon, my enemy had no villagers at all.
I built my forces up until no more men were willing to fight for me, but still I receieved foreign aid. 66 mantalts joined my cause, an overwhelming amount. With this invincibe army, I marched straight into the town, empty except for seven villagers the enemy had recently trained, and tore it down piece by piece. Surrender? I did not let them do so, as I had allowed my past two opponents. No, I wiped every house, mill, plantation, and barracks off of the northeast of the map until my victory was nearly complete.
The enemy had fishing ships off the coast, so my lone exploring boat took them out with any trouble. My armies took care of the docks. But still I was not fully victorious. My spies looked around, and spotted one last enemy--a lone scouting horseman. I sent all my armies to his location, ignoring him at first so he came near, and then suddenly level all my weapons, included my artillary, and fired. For a while, time stood still.
I had won.
2000 kills for my side and only 400 losses.
[This message has been edited by CK the Fat (edited 09-18-2005 @ 11:04 AM).]