[SPOILER] Kyan + thestick. Is that the best you can do?

[thestick]

I revolted into Organized Religion. Two turns of Anarchy total, but it was probably worth it for cheaper building whips, more happiness, and the lack of a Golden Age coming anytime soon. Time to crank Missionaries.

I have three forest chops banked in Namaka, which will be poured into a Granary and Forge. I chopped Ceres' last forest to build Dysnomia's Work Boat. (Wow, I ran through the 11 pre-asteroid names. I didn't think that would happen.)

I also never really appreciated how important Forests are until Hydra. No forests, so I have to wait for Size 4 to whip a Granary, then wait until Size 4 again for a Lighthouse.

I have enough money banked to research Code of Laws in one turn. The tech after that is probably Civil Service, with an off chance of Monarchy. I'll need to check the bottom part of the tech tree and see if there's anything there, I never remember to look there.

[thestick]

In domestic news, the Markets finally completed. I dropped a scouting Warrior on the other continent, but he hasn't found anything yet. In retrospect, it might have been better to grab Monarchy before swapping Civics...

Like I said, Makemake is building a Settler:


It's going onto one of those islands.

Namaka's getting up to speed:


I'm going to build a Forge after that Granary.

Hi'iaka is just growing, but is an extremely rich site:


National Epic, probably. Never built that before...

Demographics:



Slipping. Uh oh.

[thestick]

This turn was more domestic building. I started storing money for Civil Service. I'm pretty sure I have enough stored up now... I'll probably grab Monarchy to pair Heredity Rule with Bureau-cat-cy. I FINALLY whipped a Granary in Hydra. The Work Boat in Ceres completed, but the Settler doesn't complete for two turns. I think I'll churn out another Settler from somewhere else soon.

Domestic:



I finally have some happy headroom. I think I'll just build the Moai in Nix, since it has the hammers to get the Moai done in a reasonable timeframe. It'll probably be fine with nine water tiles.

[thestick]

Shoot, Sian, and Mackoti are already in Bureaucracy. I'm pretty sure I'm losing to Sian and Shoot, since I'm trailing in tech, land area, population... especially with Sian's 15 cities. Shoot has 12, and Mackoti and I have 10.

In any case, the first Courthouses are coming online. I'm going to whip a Settler in Haumea, since the economy's pretty good now. Nix is going to be infected with Buddhism next turn. I'm sending my Trireme north to scout the islands.

What did I do wrong? Having a low happy cap and many cities, causing unhappiness and a drain on the economy? Not push hard enough for the jungle?

[thestick]

The turns continue to be uneventful. Civil Service in 2t. I whipped my first Courthouse in Charon. I met TheMusicMan and offered Open Borders.

I infected Nix with Buddhism and am going to start building Missionaries:



Hi'iaka is up to speed on improved tiles:



My Settler/Worker/Work Boat is heading to settle Dysnomia. Next load will be a shipload of troops.



I've scouted some of Ice Island:



Demographics:

[thestick]

I slipped into last in score this turn, and I'm not quite sure why. Crop Yield's still adequate, 3rd place. Land?

In Charon and Nix, I'm still cranking Missionaries. Dysnomia's Settler is in position, but I don't think the Work Boat is yet. Note to self, get another Work Boat out of Charon for another island city and settle jungle filler south of Hi'iaka.

As you can't see by those tech bars, Civil Service completes next turn. One quick jump to Monarchy, then I'll swap. After Civil Service, I'm not sure what to research. Paper-Liberalism beeline? Literature and the top of the tree? Optics for Cothons?

Also, what to do with my eventual Great Engineer? Lightbulb Machinery or whack out a wonder? Strangely, Mackousin has the Great Library, but no Parthenon.

Pluto's mostly maxed out in cottages, I just need to cottage those plains and chop some forests:



As mentioned, I'll whip a Settler in Haumea (or whipped, I can't quite remember):



I whipped a Courthouse in Makemake. Unfortunately, the slow growth means I'll need to wait for the Copper.



Sian has a city on the central island. Very concerning. I need Triremes.

[thestick]

Quickly, I had enough overflow to 1t Monarch at 0%. Next turn I'll swap to Bureaucracy/Heredity Rule. Next is Optics, I think, I can't remember the name, whatever unlocks Cothons. After that, I'll probably head up to Literature for the Epics. I wonder which would be better here, Mercantilism or Free Market. Probably Free Market, oversees intercontinental Carthage will be nice. I think I've been whipping too heavily, my cities are pretty small.

Dysnomia was founded and the Fish were netted. I'm up to 60% breakeven right now, time to settle more cities. I need to whip a Courthouse ASAP at Namaka, since Namaka is costing 10 gpt. Eris I'll wait until Buddhism comes in.

EOT, finally back up to 2nd Crop Yield. Only 3rd Population, though. Time to fix that.

[thestick]

I revolted into Heredity Rule and Bureaucracy. Compass is a 1t tech.

Domestically, I have way too high of a happy cap. I think I should've let my cities grow more, especially when I have all this coast to grow into.

Dysnomia was founded:


I'm chopping out that Granary as we speak.

Hi'iaka's growing, but Mackoti's Jewish holy city stole my Corn:


I need to found a filler city to get more cultural pressure on that Corn.

Namaka's out of grassland cottages. Time for the Lighthouse.



Nix is looking nice, I'm just waiting for more growth before whipping the Courthouse.



The Settler's on its way to Pallas:

[thestick]

We're finally back online, except I didn't seem to take any screenshots of last turn.

I revolted into Bureaucracy, infected Pluto with Buddhism, and am starting to churn out Missionaries. In retrospect, I've probably been overwhipping. Makemake, Ceres, and Charon are all only Size 6-ish. I'm considering grabbing Temple of Artemis to synergize with island trade routes... I wonder if that's a sane thing to do.

The Settler for Pallas is in place, but the Work Boat isn't done yet. Oh well.

[thestick]

In domestic news, Pallas was settled as scheduled:



The Work Boat arrives in four turns, though.

Generally, I'm trying to grow my cities onto juicy coastal tiles. I picked up Aesthetics to grab The Parthenon (why hasn't anyone built that? Mackoti's had Great Library for the past 300 years or so). I noticed Mackousin has Macemen and Catapults, so I'm heading to Archery and Feudalism next. (No, I didn't research Archery since I was planning on relying on Copper weapons. Might have been a bad idea to not get Numidian Cavalry yet...)

Anyway, Medieval military probably won't work, I don't think I have a big enough Crop Yield or research edge yet. I'll probably head up the Paper/Education/Liberalism line. Mercantilism/Representation probably won't be the best idea with intercontinental trade being such a huge deal here. Then again, I'm getting the short end, I'm at -67 Imports-Exports.

As for the Great Engineer, the AP sounds nice, combined with Sankore that I'll probably hand build. Music and a Great Artist doesn't appeal so much to me.

I got graphs on everyone.
















I hate how turning on research inflates GNP, making an accurate comparison impossible. I'm pretty sure I'm behind, since Mackousin already has Machinery and Construction. Crop Yield is finally back to 2nd, though that's because Sian's tanking for some reason. I think Shoot's winning this.