Through The Ages - Card - Michelangelo

This is a series of blogs written about each card in Through The Ages.  To find more, simply click on
"Cards" label.
Michelangelo

History

His full name is Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, but most simply call him Michelangelo.    Born March 6, 1475, Michelangelo was born to a failed banker in Caprese, Italy.  Six months after his birth the family moved to Florence, where his father owned a stone quarry.  His father sent his son to study Grammar, but Michelangelo was drawn to paintings and sculpting.  At 13 he became a painter's apprentice.  At 14 he found himself at the court of the most powerful man in Florence, Lorenzo de'Medici.  While there he studied under Bertoldo di Giovanni, and began his career in creating art.

He was invited to Rome in 1496.  Since the Medici's were expelled from Florence in 1494, Michelangelo accepted.  By 1497 he had completed even more sculptures, including the Pieta.  The Pieta was so masterfully crafted that when it was placed in a chapel in St. Peter's Basilica, the chapel was renamed Chapel of the Pieta.  It also stands as the only sculpture Michelangelo ever signed.

Over the coming years Michelangelo would be contracted for works of art by the most powerful and influential of people in the world.  He created the statue David for the Florence cathedral.  Completed in 1504, David only reaffirmed his status as one of the greatest artists ever to have lived.

In 1508 he returned to Rome to paint the Sistine Chapel, a project which took 4 years to complete.  The list of works by Michelangelo is long and esteemed.  He traveled between Rome and Florence many times, but always working.  Besides sculpting and painting, he was also an accomplished sculptor.

His art brings with it an unparalleled aura of majesty and magnificence.  He moved among the circles of the most powerful people in the world during his life.  Indeed, they sought him out for his exceptional talent.  Michelangelo remains one of the few people whose talent and skill was as readily apparent during his life, and his work retains the power to awe people to this day.
Game Stats

Michelangelo holds a unique place in the game.  He is the first leader to hit greater than 50% in popularity.  Despite this, Michelangelo's ability to improve the player's position is minimal at best.  In fact, it may seem his best 'ability' is to grant a player the ability to draw a Wonder for one action less.  This is a misleading ability, as it takes at least 2 turns to take Michelangelo from the card row and put him into play.  Thus, if the player could take complete two Wonders and take a third, than Michelangelo pays for himself action-wise.
Opinions

I recommend avoiding Michelangelo unless the player has a strong economy already in place.  Given he is an Age I Leader, this is unlikely to be the case.  Despite Michelangelo's stature in increasing culture, he improves neither the economy nor the military, and therefore is not important at this point in the game.

Perhaps the only time for using Michelangelo is to follow him up with William Shakespeare.  Doing this means following a "culture track", which is very difficult to maintain late in the game.  However, if the player can build an imposing military to prevent attacks against him and then tries to rush the game to an early conclusion, Michelangelo may be of great benefit.  Michelangelo should not be taken lightly as a "second option", as this path requires expert play and a constant build up to choose this path from the beginning of the game.

HIS - Ottomans - Strategy - Piracy

Piracy is the Ottoman's "special VP ability".  As abilities go, it is useful but with serious drawbacks.  It is best to gain at least a few points in Piracy.  Furthermore, piracy threatens three of the other players in the game with possibly ill effects, leaving only the Protestants and England untouched.

Must be played by Winter of Turn 3

When Does Piracy Begin

Piracy begins when the Barbary Pirates mandatory card comes into play.  At its earliest this is Turn 1.  At the latest is the end of Turn 3.  Its entry into the game should have no impact on the plans for Turn 1 (see Ottoman's First Turn).

I believe Turn 2 or 3 is an ideal time for Barbary Pirates to enter play.  This gives the Ottoman player plenty of time to Capture Belgrade on Turn 1.  Turn 2 should be spend either consolidating territory, removing the Knights of St. John.  Preferably, the Ottoman player should do both on Turn 2, leaving Turn 3 as the big decision point as to where to proceed.  More on that in the next article.

Drawbacks of Piracy

Piracy comes with two drawbacks.  The first is the temptation to dive into piracy if it arrives early on Turn 1.  Many players dealt Piracy on Turn 1 will play it right away.  It is tempting to begin immediately spending CP on Piracy or build corsairs.  The Ottoman player must overcome this temptation and instead concentrate on taking Belgrade.  Yes, the gain of Algiers immediately gives the Ottoman's an extra card, but as long as Belgrade remains in Hungarian hands, the Hapsburg doesn't need to worry about a possible attack from the Ottomans, and one of the goals is to keep the Hapsburg player worried about as many things as possible.

The second draw back of piracy is its unpredictability of results.  When it is successful, the target of the piracy gets to determine the rewards: a random card draw, target loses a naval unit, or Ottoman's gain a victory point.  The Victory Point option is most common, until the chart begins to reach high levels, then the player's would rather lose naval units.  This means timing and target of Piracy can be critical to success.

Julia Gonzaga
Italian Noblewoman who famously
avoided capture by Barbarossa

Timing Piracy

Ignoring Julia Gonzaga, who gives a 1 VP bonus if Piracy is successful, timing who and when to pirate can be critical.  Ideally, the target of Piracy should be a player who has no remaining cards available to give should the Piracy be successful.  Furthermore, if the player has no adjacent naval units, then every successful piracy will yield a VP.

France makes a great target for this type of approach, particularly since the French player only has a single naval unit and is likely to have fewer cards than you.  The Papacy makes another great target as they have few cards beyond their two home cards, which they can't give you.  If possible, threaten the French with Piracy if they don't yield to your demands during the Diplomatic phase.  The same tactic may work with the Papacy, but be careful as you will need them to keep the Protestants from running away with the game.

The Hapsburgs is the other, and the most likely, target of piracy.  Your piracy on them will be a major threat.  They are much more difficult to threaten, however, as they can easily force you into a land war rather than a sea war.  Furthermore, many of their forts and sea units can actively work against your piracy and force the loss of corsairs, which must be replaced.  When push comes to shove, you must yield your naval activities to defend against a Land War.

Max of 10 VP from Piracy
At the cost of 2 CP, plus cost to move and build the corsairs

Diplomatic Status

You may commit piracy without declaring war.  Ideally, you remain at peace (not at war) with all players, leaving you free to commit piracy.  If, however, war is declared against you, focus your corsairs against your wartime enemy.  Your wartime enemy always gets to attack your pirate ships, even when they are not the target of the piracy.  Gaining a VP can become an expensive option if this is not followed.  In the worst situation, Hapsburg and Papacy both declare war on you.  In this scenario, expect to lose corsairs at an alarming rate.

How Many VP from Piracy?

In general, I believe most Ottoman players will receive around 5 points from Piracy.  Any more and players will begin to destroy their naval units rather than give out VP.  Many players will also keep a card in their hand which is "not great" or is unimportant to their plans in case they are pirated.  Thus, they lose little of value while costing the Ottoman's 2 or 3 CP.

Success Rate of Piracy

Piracy has a good success rate, as long as the Ottoman is rolling at least 2 dice.  The odds of success are detailed below:

Escorts

The Ottoman player must be prepared to lose and replace corsairs.  The Ottoman player should expect an enemy "At War" with them to engage their fleet.  If the fleet does not have an escort of regular naval ships, expect to lose large portions of the fleet.

Conclusion

Piracy is an important Ottoman ability but not to the point everything else should be ignored.  Piracy should complement the player's strategy, not become the sole means of gaining VP.  When combined properly with land assaults, piracy forces the enemy to choose between building expensive ships or confront the land units.  I rarely see the Ottoman's gain their full potential of 10 VP from Piracy, but it can constitute a respectable 5 or 6 VP.

Through The Ages - Card - Joan of Arc

This is a series of blogs written about each card in Through The Ages.  To find more, simply click on "Cards" label.
Joan of Arc

History

France and England haée tactics had devastated the French economy and strong French leadership was missing.  This was the state of affairs in France when Jehanne D'Arc (Joan of Arc), an illiterate farm girl of no particular fame, began receiving visions from God.
d been waging war since 1337, with some truces within that time.  Over this time England slowly had gained the upper hand.  By 1427 France was badly mauled.  Morale was low, English chevauch

In 1428 the English besieged the city of Orleans.  So desperate was the situation when Joan approached the heir to the French throne, the Dauphin of France Charles VII, he did more than listen to her.  He let her travel with his army and, after they were donated to her, let her wear the equipment of a knight.  Joan's presence transformed the French view of the war from a simple fight against the English, to one of religious fervor.  The French army's vigor was renewed with her speeches and her sermons of success by the will of god.  When they met the English army outside Orleans in 1429, the English were defeated.

Joan's actual role in the battle is not known.  It can be confirmed she at least bore a standard, but whether she commanded any troops is not known.  Just her mere presence, however, was enough to inspire the French to fight with renewed strength.

After Orleans Joan convinced the Dauphin to give her co-command of an army.  Furthermore, she proposed a bold move to take a series of bridges deep within enemy territory to reclaim the city of Reims, where she said Charles VII would be crowned King.  From the 12th of June to the 16th of July the French recaptured town after town, most of it without bloodshed.  The battles which did occur were completely one-sided in the favor of the French, and Charles VII became King of France at Reims.  By December of that much of France, including the capital city of Paris, were back under French control.

In one short year, Joan's visions had come true.  France was a nation again.  However, in 1430 she was captured by the English.  She was tried as a heretic and, despite displays of incredible oratory talent, she was condemned.  Evidence suggests her English captors put her in a position where she was forced to break the law.  In any case, she was sentenced to death and burned at the stake.

She was 'retried' for her crimes in 1455, and found not guilty in 1456.  She became a symbol of the Catholic church.  In 1920, nearly 500 years after her death at the age of 19, Joan of Arc was canonized to sainthood.  

Game Stats

Joan of Arc seems like a good leader to permit a player to continue building culture while maintaining military strength.  Unfortunately, her statistic indicate she may have saved France, but at best she is more likely to result in costing the player the game in Through The Ages.
Opinions
Joan of Arc suffers, like almost all Age I Leaders, suffers from "Not Good Enough" syndrome.  Basically, there lacks a compelling reason to 'upgrade' to an Age I leaders.  Perhaps Joan's best use is as a deterrent.  Her play at least gives compensation for a player who is being attacked by all the other players.  She therefore buys some breathing room for the player to rebuild their economy.  Otherwise, far better leaders exist than Joan of Arc.

HIS - Ottomans - Strategy - Knights of St John

While the Knights of St. John remain in play there is a constant possibility of another player playing the Knights of St. John card.  If the Knights of St. John are in play when the card is played, the Ottomans will lose 1 card from their hand.  Additionally, after Piracy is played, the Knights roll 1 die to sink corsairs if the piracy is in an adjacent sea zone.

The odds of the Knights appearing in an opponent's hands is roughly around 30% or less.  Thus, the Knights results in the loss of three cards per game on average.  The problem here is they can seriously disrupt any plans the player attempts in the middle of the Ottoman's turn.

Dealing with the Knights

The main way to deal with the Knights is to assault their position take over Rhodes.  Removing the Knights effectively requires a full two impulses and 4 cp:

• Move ships to a sea zone - 1 cp
• Move 5 troops, and a leader, to Rhodes - 2 cp
• Assault Rhodes - 1 cp

Consequences of Removing Knights of St. John

Removing the Knights adds a degree of certainty to the Ottoman's turns.  It makes it easy for the Ottoman player to ensure any plans they have will proceed as expected.  Additionally, if a player wants to bring the Knights back into play it will cost the player 2 cp.

Opinion

In my opinion, I prefer to remove the Knights rather than have them remain in play.  If played against the Ottomans, the loss of a card can seriously disrupt the Ottoman's plans.  This can leave the Ottomans in a seriously weakened position at the most inopportune time.  It is possible to leave the Knights alone throughout the game and they may have no effect.  But their threat is something to consider.

HIS - Ottomans - The First Turn

The Ottomans have a very specific action for their first turn: Attack Belgrade.  No other option makes sense.

Why take Belgrade?

At the start of the turn, the Ottomans gain 3 cards (plus Home Card).  To gain a 4th card they only need one key.  From their territory there are only two keys to attack: Belgrade and Buda.

Buda: Not an Option

Deciding to attack Buda first is suicidal for the Ottoman player.  First, Buda requires 4 CP  minimum to initiate the combat:

• 2 cp to cross the pass to Sezgedin, 
• 1 cp to convert Sezgedin to Ottoman control,
• 1 cp to move and siege Buda

Unlike most spaces, there will be a field battle to control Buda before there is an assault.  The Ottomans should have no trouble taking Buda if they bring all their armies (reinforced with their Home Card).  This is, however, an expensive option compared to Belgrade.  Furthermore, Buda cannot be reinforced during the Spring Deployment phase as it is across a Pass.

The other reason is the fall of Buda will cause a war with the Hapsburgs on Turn 1, who will gain all the Hungarian spaces as friendly allies: including Belgrade.

This puts the Ottomans at a war with the militarily strongest power in Europe.  Furthermore, troops left in Buda are isolated with expensive reinforcement costs.  Lastly, with control of Belgrade, the Hapsburgs not only have the Ottomans contained, but are able to begin launching attacks directly into Ottoman territory.

On Turn 1, with the worst cards played against them, the Ottomans have an 80% chance of Success at taking Buda.  Long term, however, attacking Buda before Belgrade is unsound.

Belgrade

Belgrade on the other hand is only 1 cp away.  It will take another card to initiate the siege, but with a full assault of Ottoman troops, Belgrade will almost certainly fall.  Lastly, the fall of Belgrade will not cause the Hungarians to ally with the Hapsburgs.

Optimum First Turn

The optimum first turn for Ottomans is as follows:

• Spring Deploy all troops from Istanbul to Nezh (or Nicopolis)
• Round 1- Play Home card to add 4 regulars to troops to Nezh/Nicopolis (bringing total army size to 12 Regular and 1 Cavalry).
• Round 2 - Play any card to place Belgrade under siege (If 3cp or higher, can build more units)
• Round 3 - Play a card to Assault Belgrade.

Optimum Attack Path

If the above method is used, the assault will have at least strength 8 during the assault to Belgrade's 2.  Facing only one enemy, this assault will succeed 96% of the time.  If it fails, a second assault needs to be made which, even with maximum casualties, will succeed 91% of the time.  Thus, the odds of success in this methodology is greater than 99%.

With these odds, Belgrade will fall!  The Ottomans now draw an additional card each turn.  The problem now becomes, what to do on the following turns now that the door to Europe is open.

Obstacles

This opening move is so standard no other player should feel threatened by it.  However, there are three possible cards which might disrupt the Ottoman plans:

• Knights of St John
• War in Persia
• Revolt in Egypt

War In Persia and Revolt in Egypt

 War In Persia and Revolt in Egypt both remove armies from Ottoman forces, but the Ottoman player may choose the armies.  In this case, the first three armies can come from Athens, Salonika and Edirne.  If the Ottoman Home Card is not played for armies (like it should be), the Ottomans will find themselves attacking Belgrade with 4 troops.  This still leads to a 80% chance Belgrade ill fall on the first assault if both are present.

Knights of St John

The other card is Knights of St. John, which causes a loss of 1 card from the Ottoman hand.  This simply reduces the number of turns the Ottomans have to capture Belgrade from two to one.  Still, the odds are 96% of taking Belgrade if the Home Card is played for armies.  If not played for armies, the Home Card provides odds of taking Belgrade to 92%.

With the above, Ottomans should always take Belgrade on the first turn.