[PB59] Charriu welcomes all the townfolk

[Charriu]

T47:

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After all these turns of avoiding Laz's warrior I finally moved close to be in attacking range, because I couldn't know he's there. Well if he attacks my scout has a 28% chance of winning. We will see if he wants to sour our relationship.





Back home I also got a visit from barb warrior in the east, but this one isn't that dangerous. As you can see I already have a warrior in place, who is heading towards the fogbuster position in the east. With the forest and the river crossing my warrior has a 95%+ chance of winning this, so I'm not worried.

[Charriu]

T48:

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Laz did show mercy with my scout, but my warrior did not show any mercy with the barbarian warrior. Now healing.




Had a look from above and it looks like I already crossed the half-way-point on the world wrap. I also finished Mysticism, which brought an unpleasant surprise. I discovered that one of my neighbors already researched Meditation and the only one that could have done that is Ramk, because he was the only one with Mysticism the round before.

I fear that he might go for Priesthood and Oracle, which is what I want to do. Now what could have happened here:

- He's going for Priesthood and Oracle. Bad news for me. But why would he do it. His traits aren't exactly screaming for Oracle with IMP and CHA. He does want libraries sooner then later with Arabia and Priesthood leads to that. But so do Animal Husbandry and Pottery. The big question for me though is, why not take the little extra risk and go to Priesthood via Polytheism. Hinduism is still free to grab and it's only 1 turn delay. At least that's the reason why I'm heading towards Priesthood via Polytheism. Another reason for Polytheism is that it is needed for Monotheism and Organized Religion later, where as Meditation unlocks fewer techs in the long run.
- He went for Meditation pretty early and founded Buddhism in T13 (3480 BC). With Arabia and Mysticism it's not unlikely to go for religion and I have put some remarks on him as a likely player to found a religion. This would also explain why he's still on 2 cities even though he's IMP. He's just lacking improved tiles. By the way Laz is also still on 2. Good thing is I am entering his territory and should be able to find out if he's the founder.
- He went for Meditation, but missed Buddhism. Same scenario as the last one, but more sad.

I find the second scenario the most likely and therefore will still go for Polytheism. Should I miss Oracle in the next turns then I never had any chance to get it anyway. I then can still finish Polytheism if the relgion is there or go straight towards Metal Casting.

[Charriu]

I also forgot to mention this, but Ramk still hasn't switched into Slavery. A mistake? Does he really want to oracle Monarchy to switch into Serfdom? This really doesn't help IMP in any significant way.

[Charriu]

T50:

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And that's it folks. I lost the race towards Oracle. I found out that Ramk built the Oracle. Well then I never had a chance. But then again this is a huge risk and blow towards his early development. With IMP still on 2 cities at T50. He may also miss some worker techs.

On the bright side I also met GKC this turn. He could be may other direct neighbor and I soon will know that thanks to my work boat heading towards that direction. Luckily his UU is no match for my Phalanxes. Just need to get them. Oh and thanks to GKC I now get KTB from 3 players towards The Wheel. Nice!

Because of the lost wonder race I will switch towards Pottery and then Metal Casting for the Colossus. Just need to plan what to do and how to do that. I think I will still finish Polytheism, because the price of Hinduism is still there.

[Charriu]

T51:

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Interesting turn. My capital popped borders again, which is great for fogbusting the east as thanks to the lake there the border pop provides a lot of vision there. As you can see I also got another forest growth on the 'fogbuster' tile. I had hoped that it grows before I move my unit there. For those who haven't noticed the first forest growth was unfortunately useless as it was on Amn's city tile. Lastly the border pop enabled me to meet Mjmd's scout north of me. His scout must have come from the west and he could very well be my western neighbor because of that. Having him as a neighbor (again) would be nice as I don't fear him as much as GKC.

Speaking of GKC. It turns out I misread the border colors I discovered north of Lazteuq. It's not Ramk who is Laz's northern neighbor, but rather GKC. Fine be me, if he's not my direct neighbor. Hinduism is still up for grabs and I expect to finished Polytheism on the turn roll from T53 to T54 just as the screenshot shows.

[Charriu]

T53:

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Good news. Nobody has founded Hinduism so far and it's down to a coin toss for me. At least now I can say that it's no longer my fault if I don't get it.

[Charriu]

T54:

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Success.

Unfortunately Hinduism spawned in Crysta, which is the more exposed city. Would have loved to get it in Amn, which also would have helped with securing more territory. Luckily this popped borders immeditaely in Crysta, which not only grants me another trade route in Crysta, but it also helps with fogbusting the green dot city spot, which was annoying. With the Holy City connected to the trade network I do expect some more random spreads of Hinduism throughout my empire. If my calculations are correct then the random spread chance is higher due to the bigger map.

As you can see there's also a little barb problem at the northern border. It looks like the barb did a stealth move across the northern shoreline to evade my fogbuster. Well my warrior has a 75% chance to defend successfully against the barb. Just in case I moved my fogbuster 1NW of Amn back into the city. This of course also means that I am not able to finish the pasture on the cow this turn.

[Charriu]

T55:

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So far no random spread of Hinduism, but more importantly my warrior was successful against the barbarian, if so barely (0.3 health remaining). But my east is fairly covered with fogbusters and there are only some tiles in the north that need cover. Looks good.

As you can see I founded my 4th city Nobilia this turn. This is a town from the SNES game Secret of Evermore. There it is a big trade city in the desert. Just imagine that you drag yourself through the hot desert for minutes (literally) only to enter a buzzling town with market places, a colosseum and a big palace. I think the one unique feature that seperates this town from others is the market place, which takes up almost half of the town. But this isn't any kind of simple market, no this is bartering through and through. You have to check every stand to find out what they are trading. One is trading 2 jewels for 5 sacks of rice, the next is trading a worthwhile whetstone for other stuff. I haven't seen anything like it in any other game and yes I know that some people hated this market, but still this made the town unique. Of course that's not all there is. There are also a lot of small gags to be found like an exploding chicken or a mad prophet, who you can turn into various things (or spare him and get something in reward).

[Charriu]

So one thing that keeps me up at night is, what Ramk took with Oracle. I doubt he did took Monarchy, because by now I would have expected him to switch into any new civics like Hereditary Rule, Serfdom or Slavery. By the way he still hasn't switched into any other civic. Then again he may also wait for a settler to be finished, because he's still on 2 cities. Did I mention he is IMP, I think I did.

Now if he hasn't taken Monarchy I only see one other tech and that is Metal Casting. It can't be anything after Writing because nobody researched that yet. Same for Horseback Riding and Iron Working. The good thing is I will know if he took Metal Casting when I finish Pottery in T64. If he really took Metal Casting, then I never had a chance to get there in time to begin with, which is just sad. Yes I could have gone the 2 city route like he did, but honestly I find that to risky and it may not have worked anyway. The barbs will surly eat him alive with so few cities. Metal Casting is very expensive to tech and I only expect to finish it in T79.

Should I discover that he has Metal Casting, I will most likely go down to Masonry and build the Temple of Artemis to generate myself a Great Prophet for a Shrine. Followed by going down to Monotheism and Monarchy to start switching around civics like crazy.

[Charriu]

T57:

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Well, we now really have to wait until Ramk fixes the server and reloads to the last turn. Ramk - thank god - provided an answer to what he took with Oracle: Monarchy. I'm so happy. That means the road towards Metal Casting is open and I have a good shot at Colossus thanks to being IND. As you can see I also discovered that Mjmd really is my western neighbor. Looks like a return of PB52 for us. But at least this time without any early pink dots by him as I have already covered almost everything important on that side of my territory and the map doesn't really lend itself to pink dotting.

In additional information I discovered a clam on his jungle island, which might mean that I have one too on my horse-jungle-island. The boat will turn west next to discover more KTB providers.