[PB25 Spoiler] General Flauros leads the Creole Calabim

[Krill]

Premined copper is nice.

[GermanJoey]

It's not really fair to Elkad that my copper is auto-connected and his isn't. =/ I can finish my settler and still have an Impi there to either take his cap or choke his copper, not much he can do about it even if he could see it coming.

[GermanJoey]

T24.

I noticed Elkad's CY increased a small amount during the last few turns... I think he built a workboat for his crabs?




Demos show that someone else also got an auto-mined copper... 11h max mfg = 2h plant + 1/5 copper + 4h plains hill, I'm guessing it was retep, the other Imp player.




My Settler completes at EOT, I've got my scout ready to check for wandering animals... my revised micro plan (does anyone actually want to see my micro spreadsheet?) is that we revolt next turn, grow to 3 while chopping the Impi (I decided we need a couple chops to keep an accelerated pace despite this extra unit), follow up with a second worker, whip that, and then chop a second settler. Assuming barb animals play nice, we have 3 settled cities with 5 total pop, 3 workers, 5 improved tiles, and an impi (possibly dead at this point?) on T38. of course, if we get really lucky, we might even have four cities by then, we'll see!

I think I get Fishing after The Wheel? It seems right, building a wb would be a nice time to grow back to size 3 without squandering tile yields since we already used 2 chops. So that'd be Fishing -> Pottery? The tech rate is fast at this map size, I wasn't thinking we'd have any granaries up before T50 but now I think we'll have at least 3 of them.

[GermanJoey]

actually, fishing won't be ready in time, so a second chop doesn't make sense. maybe delay the whip to be on the second settler... that would delay the growth of the second city though, unless I want to delay the second worker by 2 turns instead of just 1... hmmm....

[LogicalTautology]

I'd be interested in seeing your micro spreadsheet, would probably help me learn how to eventually make micro plans myself.

[GermanJoey]

T24-T27.

Sorry I been awol y'all, things have been FRANTIC for me irl lately.

That demo shot I mentioned of someone's (speculated to be retep?)'s massive MFG, suggesting that his copper was also pre-mined:




LT, regarding your question on micro:

Well, haha, so there's a few ways to do it. Some people like to straight-up sim everything in-game, and while I certainly always build a sim that's not my main method of planning. At the start of a game, when planning out micro on T0 based off a starting screenshot, I use a very elaborate google doc I made that shows pretty much everything. I really like using a spreadsheet for this because a.) it lets you try out things very quickly (e.g. what happens if I mine here instead of chopping first?) and b.) it lets me play civ at work. I always will confirm the plan with in-game sims though, just in case I make a mistake. Eventually, I will throw out my T0 plan sometime in the mid T20s in favor of looser spreadsheets, because I think that if you try too hard to stick to a plan then you won't be able to so easily adapt to changing conditions. I mean, you only have so much time and effort you can be willing to commit to a video game, right? So, you want to be pretty efficient with your planning in case strange shit happens like your copper turns out to be auto-hooked on T23 and oh god what the hell should i do now. I have been drastically re-arranging my micro of 5-10 turns from now almost every turn now because I've had such difficulty deciding how much I actually want to try rushing Elkad vs how much I should just stick to fundamentals and get swole. Like, its so hard because on one hand I think a rush is a slam dunk? Because it appears:







that he grew up to size 4 without producing a warrior somehow???? What was he building instead, a barracks??????????? He switched it a few times, I'm really not sure. But, on the other hand, rushing is often a disaster in this games, with mental scarring of my own failures still very visible to my mind. So, here's my current compromise plan that is sure to fail in every respect:




Basically, there's a few big questions are: 1.) do I chop with my first worker before he mines? (I think yes, I'm forced to because of the copper auto-hookup and my planned 3rd city will need a garrison), 2.) Do I get an Impi or Worker first? (I decided on a worker so that I don't fall behind on improvements with the early Imp settlers because of the chop) 3.) Do I whip down from size 3->2? (yes, to then accelerate the Impi), and finally 4.) do I delay the growth of the second city by a turn by letting the capital use the pig, letting the corn sit idle? (I think yes, to get the second worker out a turn faster)

I'll still send my Impi up towards Elkad but I won't have high hopes that a single-unit choke will work. I'm slightly more optimistic than I was because of his growth to size 4... If he double-whips his settler into a worker, and I'm able to catch him without at-ready overflow, I might be able to raze a theoretically-hooked copper before he can whip an axe.

By the way, my previously reported turn-count numbers from a few days ago were off by 1 because I originally mislabeled the first row of this spreadsheet. Be careful with that! XD

[GermanJoey]

T30-32.

MADI! CU DEFIO!

EN DANS DEY, END DANS DEY

HERE COMES THE BIG CHIEF! THE BIG CHIEF!




BIG CHIEF OF THE NATION!




THE WILD WILD CREATION!




AND WE WON'T BOW DOWN! ON THAT DIRTY GROUND!




OH! HOW WE LOVE HOW YOU CALL THAT INDIAN RED!



COOCHIE-ma! HOOM-BOw! WON'T BOW DOWN, DON'T KNOW HOW!

[GermanJoey]

I'm really scratching my noggin here, it appears that Elkad went something like, worker -> grow to 4, worker, and then chopped an axeman? no city plant from him yet, no whips or slavery revolt implying that the only way he could get this power rise so soon after BW completed was with a chop, and this power rise is definitely an axeman. so... what the fuck?




edit: it could be the wheel, couldn't it? his research rate would be faster than mine with a single size 4 city and a crab, maybe he could complete the wheel that quickly?

[GermanJoey]

T36.

I cannot for the life of me figure out what the hell Elkad is doing. He's got a size 5 (?!??!) capital (this can't be a good play, especially if he's chopping) and 28k in soldier points, which is shocking because I'm #2 world because of my Impi at 22k. He has 28k! Was he axe-rushing me? I poked my head in his territory to have a lil look around...




what.

a spearman ?!?? so how does he have 28k soldiers? I figure for sure:

2k pop
2k spearman
2k hunting
2k mining
8k bronze working
-----------------
16k soldiers - that's missing 12k!

i'm thinking it's maybe the wheel (4k) + archery (6k) + 2 warriors or perhaps another spear? he can't have 2 axes instead of archery, right? the power graph would look more staggered since he isn't in slavery... it's gotta be archery even if he's chopping. so, no chance I can do any damage here, I think.

here's my rundown, for reference:
4k impi
2k mining
2k hunting
2k pop
8k bw
4k wheel
----------
22k soldiers

here's the graphs if anyone wants to figure this the hell out:

the big gnp jump suggests a tech with a pre-req, and it being at the same timeish as a big power jump is what makes me think its archery. archery is uber-cheap in rtr mod.



based on his mfg jump, I think his copper was also pre-mined.








I don't think he can have a settler even started yet, if he's grown to size 5...

[GermanJoey]

T38-T39.

Elkad revolted into slavery in response to my war dec, but sent back the peace treaty. It turns out he did have an axemen around too! Based on its health, I think it was out hunting bears... two axemen and spear then, not archery? Geez... I'll need to get an axeman up here pronto.




I plant city #3 next turn, T40, with a worker in position to start pasturing the pigs on the turn of the plant via some roading shenanigans. I'll post a screenshot of that next and an overview next turn.