[SPOILER] Ikhanbod

[Ichabod]

Last turns were pretty quiet and the turn pace wasn't so good. But, a lot of things happened on turn 39, the last one I've played.

First of all, I lost two barb camps to my opponents. The first one, Pindicator stole from me after I killed the defender with an archer. I didn't realize he could pass through the tile where my archer was and reach the camp in one turn. Stupid movement rules that don't apply everytime...




The second one was due to AI stupidity. I killed a barb Archer with my scout near Venice, netting me 12 influence with the CS (up to 22). So, the warrior that was guarding the camp decided to kill my weakened scout and let Azza's units get a camp for free. Nice going, AI. Two CS's wanted that camp dead, so Azza got a big break (he was allied with Monaco for 1 turn, but he lost the alliance on turn 39).




I was nearing my happy cap (I reached 0 happiness for a few turns), so I solved it by improving Gems and getting the Monarchy SP, which gave me 4 happiness each.




On turn 39 I reached the gold I needed to buy a settler. I decided to buy it in Sentenza and settle the city near the Salt resource, instead of the one north of my capital, near Silver. The Salt region is more contested, so I need to settle it early. Besides, I have better unit placement to protect that settler (there's a barb camp near the silver causing some troubles) and my workers are closer to that region. I'll reach happines 0 again when I settle the city, so i'll buy the salt tile and quickly improve it.




On foreign news, Azza was up to a lot. First he settled his third city, I'm guessing he used the Liberty Settler for it.




Pindicator built the Hanging Gardens, as I predicted. To celebrate, Azza declared war on Pindicator, probably trying a Composite Bowmen rush, as I also predicted. Luckily I was not chosen as the target.




I'm close to being a bit safer from a possible Azza attack, because I'm one turn from HR and horsemen. I doubt Azza would attack me, though. He'll be hard pressed to have happiness enough for all his cities + revolting ones. I think i'm the only player with 2 happiness resources hooked up and I'm having issues. Of course, the free alliance I gave him by freeing that barb camp probably helps (same as the fact that Pindicator has a 2 happiness resource capital).




Demographics. MFG will probably improve soon, when I run out of happy to grow into...




By the way, Serdoa is still stuck at one city. Maybe he got a settler stolen, or maybe the Library really delayed him. I don't know...

Question: Do barb galleys pillage? I had a barb galley crossing through my coast some turns ago and I wondered about it. Can't risk losing the hammers from a WB, so if they pillage, I'll need a trirreme built first. Loads of hammers for a single happy resource...

[Ichabod]

Can people see the images? I'm not sure what I did wrong, but only the first appears to me.

Edit: figured it out, somehow image quotes were wrapped around my screenshots names inside the screenshot quotes. I didn't add them, they appeared all by themselves...

[T-hawk]

Tough luck on the camp steals. The rule for moving through another unit is that only combat units can do it (not workers/settlers/missionaries/etc) and the destination space must not contain another unit (but empty camps/ruins/etc are OK.) And of course all normal movement rules apply, that the unit must have enough movement points and not be blocked by hostile ZOC and so on.

Question: Do barb galleys pillage?

I don't think so. I've seen them sail past fishing resources many times without pillaging. I don't have any proof either way though.

[Ichabod]

Good to know about the barb galleys (a quick google search didn't show conclusive results, but it pointed on teh same direction that you said). So I guess I'll be improving my pearls soon.

[Ichabod]

Last update I had recently bought my second settler, planning to settle my third city near the Salt resource to the NE.




This plan changed, though. After asking me to join the war against Pindicator, Azza probably ran into some spirited defense and gave up on the attack. I wasn't willing to attack Pindicator, since I don't have an army and I was likely to lose the only prize to Azza, which is Pindicator's capital (Marble + Gold + Hanging Gardens). I don't want Pindicator's no resource second city... Anyway, Azza and Pindicator made peace.




But the change in the geopolitical situation forced me to change my own plans. Azza's army was not destroyed during the Pindicator war. I'm not even sure if he lost a unit. What I'm positive about is that my third city would be easy picking for Azza. It's very close to his land and his army and my own army would take quite a lot to get there, while leaving my core undefended. So, no way I could do it. This changed my settler, which was en route to that destination, making him go to the Silver city north of my capital. Next city will be settled on the cows.




My research went Horseback Riding -> Writing -> Mathematics. I think I'll get a library in my capital soon (it's size 8, but I think it'll be size 10 before too long). It'll speed up Chivalry, so it's probably worth it. I'm making 15 beakers a turn now, which I think is reasonable.

Luckily, two city states decided a fairly distant barb camp was annoying them. It's lucky because the camp is very close to my third city. Annoyingly, Azza has a warrior nearby scouting, ready to steal my camp, if it comes to this... I can't let this happen, since one of those CSs is Venice, which I'm cozing up to. It's a Maritime city state near me. I have a warrior and an archer to take care of the camp. The camp already spawned an archer, though.




Another lucky break: harmonica wants Salt. I'll soon get salt, be it from a trade with Azza, be it with my own 4th city (which I'll settle when I have some horsemen ready). What are the benefits of WLTKD again?




Here you can see Sentenza finishing its granary, after quite a long time. It's worth it, though. It'll give +4 food per turn next turn, when i'll be working only 2 bananas tiles. I think i'll build a spearman next... Maybe another worker and I leave a Military unit for when I have horses hooked up (soon, worker is already pasturing it).




Situation on the last turn I've played.




Demographics.

[Ichabod]

By the way, Serdoa is really lagging behind in this game. I wonder what's happening over there. I think he's still at one city and he was losing money last turn.

If I feel Pindicator is too ahrd of a target, I could go for Serdoa. I know he has Marble, so there's one new happy for me anyway.

Just look at his soldier points and crop yield... His start must have been really bad. Or maybe he was attacked by someone I haven't met yet. Maybe a captured settler...

[Ichabod]

Turns are becoming slower... I finally received turn 45. At least it was a good turn!




Big news of the turn was the settling of my third city, Blondie. It reduced my happy to 0, but that's not a big problem. I'm going to improve the pearls in the capital before growing into unhapiness. The capital will grow before it, since the Social Policy gives me a free happy at Capital each odd number it grows to. My capital is shaping up to become pretty powerful and that's without a lot of improvements.




Capital finished my third worker at eot. I started another worker at the second city, after it finished its granary. I think I can afford to slack on military a bit more, since an attack by Azza would be impractical on his side. My cities are packed pretty tightly and I make quite a bit of cash per turn. Besides, his cities are pretty distant from mine. The Salt city that I decided not to settle would probably be in danger, but as things stand now, I think I'm safe.

Capital will get an WB next, due in 3 turns. After that, maybe a library. Other options are a horseman, a trirreme (for exploration purposes - getting the two final contacts would be useful), another worker or even starting ToA (though I think I'll wait until I have the +15% wonder Social Policy before trying any wonders). Not sure if ToA is useful. Lately, I've been considering attacking Venice (the city that want ToA built), the CS nearest to me. It's a maritime one, which is pretty useful, but it also fits perfectly with my empire and it has an unique happy resource. I'll have to think about it and regarding how much unhapiness I'd get from a captured city. If I attack venice, I'll cozy up to Jerusalem, which also wants that barb camp near me destroyed. Now that I think of it, I think I can become friends with Jerusalem only by destroying that camp. In that case, I could maybe get the needed faith for a Pantheon without building any useless shrine.




Part of my efforts not to be attacked by Azza. Azza would get free happiness, while I only get the same number of happy, since I don't have two gems yet. But I'll have two gems soon. AND, most importantly, Salt will enable WLTKD on my Capital, which I want to keep growing. If he accepts, my Capital can grow to size 9 at end of the next turn.




The overview of my cities as I microed them to end turn. You can also see my research there. I'm not thinking too much about what to research next, just beelining to Civil Service. It gives passive bonuses, that's the only thing I can use right now. And, it's on the way to Chivalry. It'll take quite some time for me to reach Chivalry, even with a straight beeline. But I think it's worth it, if I manage to capture Pindicator's Capital (which I think I can with Keshiks).




Starting to look nice here. Azza's production is really high because his Civ is unhappy, so he's stagnating growth (and building military). That's another reason for him to accept my trade. My strategy will continue to be Get happy -> Grow, Get happy -> Grow. Sources of happiness I can see right now for me:

+ 4 from gem/salt (after I hook up my second gems if Azza gets the deal)
+ 4 silver
+ 4 Pearls
+ 4 Circuses (in Sentenza and Blondie)
+ 4 Alliance with City State Resource (Sugar - Venice, Silk - Jerusalem)

That's enough to grow quite a bit my cities + get a 4th one.

Further happy will be a bit more difficult:

+ 4 Gold (Pindicator - I could even trade gems for gold with him before my attack)
+ 4 Marble (Pindicator or Serdoa)
+ 4 Ivory (City to the Southwest near Serdoa)
+4 Alliance with another City State (Sugar - Venice, Silk - Jerusalem)

That's enough to capture Pindicator's Capital + some more cities.

I think things are looking up. No offense intended, but I think my fiercest competition would be Serdoa and Pindicator, followed by Oledavy. Apparently, they got hit by the Map Generator. I don't fear Azza or Jowy that much on a late game contest. So, I think my position is actually pretty good.

[Ichabod]

I think Serdoa might have gone for a Great Library -> National College opening, which would explain his lack of expansion.

Not sure if science is worth delaying expansion... The tech tree doesn't give much by itself and the old buildings are way better than the new ones.

[Ichabod]

The turn greeted me with good news. Azza accepted my Gems for Salt trade, triggering WLTKD on Harmonica. Also, a barb galley returned to pester my waters. He survived my city attack with 1 health, I think. Annoyingly, he exerts zone control over land tiles, making my worker unable to start improving things this turn. Since I couldn't improve the tile SE of my capital, I crossed the river with the new worker, to improve the tiles there.




WLTKD gives 25% more food on my capital, which is awesome. Exactly when I need it (I can grow and it's becoming more eexpensive to do so). The Capital will keep growing non stop for a while, I decided that's the best strategy. I only get 1 unhappiness per 2 pop in the cap, and I'll get gold and a science boost (after library, which is coming soon) each 2 sizes. I'll get my next settler in Sentenza, not the capital. I think I can reach size 12 pretty soon, especially with the WLTKD help. Workers will focus on improving the capital too.

I couldn't grow this turn by 0,05 food, as the screenshot below shows . Of course, I changed tiles to make the city grow this turn, but it was a fun thing to see. That's what percentage bonuses do to your food...




There's an annoying bug going in my second city. Do you see that face working a tile? That's a citizen which is controlled by the governor, not by myself (the locked ones are mine). Thing is, I can't get that citizen to not be controlled by the governor. All the others I can do it, that one, I can't. What's up with that? That damn citizen changes everytime I leave the city screen. It has been a pain to find a way to make the stupid givernor agree with me and do my planned micro.




Overview of my lands. WB will be ready in three turns, not four, since I'll micro it. Question: do I lose something by growing into hapiness on the end of turn and hooking up the resource on my next turn? I don't lose anything in Civ 4 by doing it, not so sure about civ 5. I'm guessing there's no loss.




Demographics.

[Ichabod]

I was reading a bit about the game and I found out that Chichen Itza gives +4 happiness on top of the Golden Age bonus. That's big! I have to get this wonder and it fits perfectly with a CS beeline.

I'll have the Wonder SP by then and I can gear my capital to production by cleaning all those hill-jungles (what do you think of hill farms, T-Hawk?). Does anybody know how much production a forest chop gives in Civ 5? I have two chops to speed the construction.

I have to plan to get this.

EDIT: Another benefit of Chichen Itza is the GEng point. If I also get Temple of Artemis, that'll be 2 GEng points per turn. It'll take a while to get a GP, but at least I'll be on the way to it. Other ways of getting a GP are pretty resource intensive for the early-mid game.

EDIT 2: I thought nothing useful would come from my CS beeline other than the +food on farms. But now that I look at it, not only CI is good, but a market in my capital is also interesting. My capital currently produces 18 gold. If I work the other gem mine, it gets 21 gold. Another riverside tile gives 22 gold. A market would give me +2 gold and +25% gold. That's 8 gold for a building. Pretty nice.

I could also go for a Great Merchant, which would give me gold plus, more importantly, a city state alliance. Very interesting. Maybe time this when I need to upgrade to Keshiks? I don't think I have time, though.