Mooooooo.... wait, wrong animal. Neeeigghhh

[Iskender]

T70:

Another 70% fight won.

Not much else happened. Epsom finished a Monument EOT. Serdoa's C3 scout is sniffing around.

[Iskender]

Nothing interesting domestically. The Clan founded RoK last turn and this turn a Great Bard was born.

[Brian Shanahan]

As regards the D site it may be better to split the two gems, putting D 1 west to get Odio's, 3 FP's and the more northern gems, and putting a second city down by the Rice (possibly 1NE) to get the other.

Odio's only works within the BFC of a city IIRC and IMO two strong cities are probably better than one amazing one.

Just a thought.

[Iskender]

As regards the D site it may be better to split the two gems, putting D 1 west to get Odio's, 3 FP's and the more northern gems, and putting a second city down by the Rice (possibly 1NE) to get the other.

Odio's only works within the BFC of a city IIRC and IMO two strong cities are probably better than one amazing one.

Just a thought.

Sounds doable, but I doubt Odio's def bonus would be of any use in this particular area. Also, I'd rather have one great and one mediocre city to take full advantage of mulitplier bonuses, but there's no threat of having to found a mediocre city in the near future - there are Dyes available in the south, third Gems SE and still many of flood plains.

The settler is out. Another one in production, with Epsom taking care of delivering workers.

Now where would city #5 go? I was thinking of making it work lots of FP and riverside grasslands to take advantage of incoming Aristocracy (in about 15 turns). I'm fond of the yellow spot on the map below, it could work 3FP and at least 4 grasslands. OTOH it means settling on the Sheep and no space for one more city between yellow and D. The area could be divided into 2 cities, one ie. 3N of the yellow dot (only 13 workable tiles, but that's enough in my book) and another maybe 2S1E of the yellow dot.

The red dot is slightly worse, with 2 FP and 2 grasslands. Possible sites are also in the south, a city over there could work Dyes and the Rice Brian mentioned, or Dyes and Gems a bit more east.

Serdoa adopted FIN and has Currency (bulbed I guess). His GNP was 120+ last turn, this turn only 85, probably after switching to 0% research. Someone's MFG almost doubled, reaching our level. It must be the Clan's, not Illian - we're ex aequo in MFG and got the second place, only possible if the other guy is later in the turn order. Not good. Demos:

[Iskender]

T73:

BW splashscreen

Villagers gave a bloody map. I hope for some dinero at least, but what else could they have, living at the edge of the world?

Another FP uncovered. This makes E2 a good spot for 5th city. Only 2 shared tiles, 2FP (one can be preimproved), 5 river grasslands and Sheep. Almost no production, but it could spit out workers/settlers until we adopt Conquest

The settler is almost there. The brave scout is holding the hill (~20% chance to lose).

Two scorpion goblins are approaching Aintree. To be devoured by Mardoc and Illios, our two candidates for [STRIKE]waning[/STRIKE] unlocking FotT.

Serdoa switched to Consumption. I wonder if it's because he can (by being SPI. Still, RAI>SPI), or is it a part of some elaborate plan.

[Iskender]

T74:

Armageddon Counter hit 10.

Mardoc & Illios defeated 2 goblins at 99-ish odds.

More cannon fodder approaching from NE.


Now look who's there:

I thought Serdoa would pull the priests off or head them NE in a clockwise fashion. Aintree's borders expand in 4 turns sealing off the east from Serdoa. He can't make it in time before the borders expand even if he beelined for the pass.

[Iskender]

T75:

Fourth city founded after Square Leg the well ronud warrior successfully defended the crowd against a lion. It's been a close one:

The orc squad didn't follow the goblin and probably headed towards the capital. I sent some warriors to intercept the squad (with the help of Ascot garrison).

Aintree finished Monument EOT. It has a couple of hammers invested in a warrior, already decaying, I think it'll be best to let it decay and get another worker instead (now it's 5 workers vs 4 cities)

[Iskender]

T76:

Orc warriors decided to go for Aintree after all. That's very nice of them. Maybe even Mardoc will heal up enough to get a piece of action (he's at 1.9 now).

Serdoa founded and adopted Octopus Overlords. It might be that he knows the location of Letum Frigus and maybe aims to reach it with a Drown. Aggressive Adaptive Spiritual Illians? Ouch.

I'll try to get a scout past the C3 lion. Maybe there's a land bridge connecting Letum with the north.

T76 demos:

Alas, the gap in GNP and food is increasing. Without eco traits there's not much we can do about it. For now let's just:

[Iskender]

T77:

Three orc warriors and a goblin killed. Zakalwe is a bit exposed. I attacked out of the city to kill the goblin and then heal up with two promotions Zakalwe would have. He was redlined badly and healed up only to 3.0. There's maybe 1/3 chance for the orc to win.

Illios is at 15xp. Settler arrived at the E2 site. Two workers built EOT.

[Iskender]

T78:


City #5 founded. EOT overview of the land:

Workers are building farms mostly. A couple in the south will improve Gems next turn. The scout in the east encountered a goblin and had to take the northern route.