[spoilers] Regoarrarr teams up with your mom

[Cyneheard]

Just remembered something else. Well, 2 something elses

1) Another thing that Education unlocks is... Gunpowder! And I just so happen to have a UU that appears at Gunpowder.

2) If only there was a way that you could get a golden age that didn't require any Great People.... and ideally it would be unlocked at a tech that is a) only 1 tech away from something I have to research anyways and b) unlocks a civic that would be useful to spend 5t at a time in....

So yeah, that could be a better use of the engineer should it pop

Is our tech pace fast enough that Taj would be safe if we hold Lib past Nationalism?

[regoarrarr]

Is our tech pace fast enough that Taj would be safe if we hold Lib past Nationalism?

I'd lean towards yes. Nobody has Philosophy at this point. I think we probably tech Nationalism first and then Liberalism.

[Cyneheard]

Would we have Sci Meth do we can grab Communism?

[regoarrarr]

Would we have Sci Meth do we can grab Communism?

Yeah that would be the plan.

So at the end of this GA (in 5t), the goal would be to have Alphabet, Paper, Education, Machinery and Printing Press.

Then the next few turns we tech Nationalism, Optics, Philosophy in some order. We secure the Taj, kick off another GA, and get 2-3 Scientists to bulb Astronomy and Scientific Method while we tech Liberalism and pick Communism.

[regoarrarr]

The other question is whether I *WANT* an engineer (to rush the Taj). I kind of think that I do, in which case I want to maximize engineer specs in So Fat.

[regoarrarr]

And, trying to live up to my (so far undeserved at least in this game) reputation as chief thread-spammer, I spent some time planning out the optimal FP location and.... I wish I had done so earlier.

I had been thinking that my "treasure isle", which is on the exact opposite side of the world from my capital, would be the optimal FP location, but in looking at things, I don't think that's the case. And if it isn't, then I may have wasted several turns not building the FP when I could have

[regoarrarr]

Well, I got a GSci (at about 25% odds). It looks like I do have non-trivial odds for an Engineer from my other 2 great people due this GA. So it still might happen.

He will give 1300b towards Education, so I think the (revised) plan will be to use him for that and finish off the remaining 557b of Edu hopefully this next turn (T104).

[regoarrarr]

Turn rolled around and Aryabhata did his (her?) thing



1300 beakers towards Education was more than enough with the overflow to allow me to finish it off this turn.

So I need 7 universities for Oxford, which will go in the capital. I actually realized I messed this up a bit as I didn't plan right and there were a few cities that I shouls have made sure to have libraries in so I could whip universities. I've only got 5 libraries currently.

1) So Fat (capital)
2) So Ugly (Jewish holy city)
3) So Skinny (Moai city)
4) So Poor (size 8 - will 4 pop whip when I go back to Slavery)
5) So Loose (needs a library whipped first.)
6) Snowblower (ditto)
7) So Greasy ("treasure isle" - at size 6 (growth in 2), working on a library, due in 2 turns with a chop incoming)

I may do a whip library / whip university in Like a Potato Chip rather than So Loose, which is already size 12 and working a lot of coast tiles.

[regoarrarr]

In other news, Yuris made peace with Pindicator, giving up 4 more cities (along with 2 more settlers). So that makes 6 cities that Pindicator netted in the war. He's up to 24 cities (2 more than me) and caught me in population (going from 91 pop to 116 to 147 over the past 3 turns).

GNP wise I am way ahead though, both from a per turn basis as well as stored up tech. He is 2nd with 6500 beakers, but I have 9590 beakers.

I am up on him: Drama, Literature, Music, Feudalism, Paper, Education
He is up on me: Theology and Machinery (which should be a pretty cheap tech for me as 3 people already have it and Yuris is teching it now)

We still have an alliance, which I have to say is working out well for both of us (note our scores relative to the other 3 civs)

[regoarrarr]

Okay so at EOT, after Education was in, I can check the status of my 7 universities.

The limiting factor is going to be that 7th university (really the 7th library). I'm really cranky that I used the 30+ overflow hammers at So Dirty a few turns ago into a market (instead of a library). That's going to cost me 2t on Oxford I think.

So in reverse order (all hammer counts as of BOT105):
7) Like a Potato Chip - 4 overflow hammers into a library (60h), making 10 (12) hpt. Actually, if I fire the 3 scientists and work those 3 tundra forests that would be 16 (20) hpt, which would complete the library on EOT107. Then 1 turn into the university on T108, and I could whip it on T109, after I revolt back into Slavery (which I'll do on T108 when the golden age ends)

6) So Greasy - 16/21 food (size 6), 50/60 in library (at BOT105). Making 6fpt, and 15(18) hpt. So Library should finish on EOT105, so we just need to make sure it will grow to size 8 in time (so the University can be 4-whipped). Since I can't whip the university in LAPC till T109, that should be plenty of time. I may even only have to 3 pop whip it since each whip (once I'm in OR with forge) is worth 30h, and the university is 134h.

5) So Smelly - I had marked So Loose as a university town, but it doesn't have a library yet, so instead I'll put So Smelly, which already has my 5th and final already existing library. It's currently at size 6 working on a settler, because it currently has 32 turns of pent-up anger and is already on its happy cap. But, I'll be getting silks, sugar and spices online over the next 2 turns, so I should have plenty of happy. It has 2 crabs and sheep, for a +10 fpt surplus, so it should have no problem getting up to size 8. I'll do some analysis whether I want to let the settler finish before queueing up the University.

4) So Poor - 9/24 food, 12/20 into a workboat. It's currently running 6 specialists to get a GP (due in 2t) which puts it at -3fpt and 4(5) hpt. Should have plenty of time to finish the workboat and get the 15h needed into the University (it already has a library) before whipping on T109.

3) So Ugly - the first of the 3 "big" cities that can build their universities without the whip. It currently makes 16(20) hpt, but has a 5hpt plains hill mine it can work. I have 5 turns to build one (BOT105 to EOT109). So should be okay - may have to work a few turns of the PHM plus I will have 1 turn back into OR. It also built wealth last turn to save some overflow. I can't see how many overflow hammers exactly though until the save comes back around

2) So Fat - capital and eventual Oxford site. It has 13 overflow hammers plus 16 base hpt, all multiplied by forge and bureaucracy. So 22 adjusted hammers + 28hpt, which should finish (exactly) in 4t. But I'll probably delay it a bit for maximum overflow. May not even need to do anything depending on if I lose more hammers from the 1t I'm out of golden age than I gain from that 1t that I'm back in OR.

1) So Skinny - Moai city. Took a turn to start on UoS while waiting for Education last turn. It makes 42 base hammers per turn in GA, so also should be done in 4t.

So plan looking good to start up Oxford on BOT110, or 5 turns after discovering Education

Oxford is 268 hammers. If I gain the maximum overflow hammers (by being at 133/134 on the Uni the turn before), where will I be? In "max hammer" configuration, it can do 20 base hpt. So each turn that would be multiplied by OR, forge, bureaucracy and stone for Oxford, or 60hpt. I'll gain 57 hammers from the overflow.

EOT110: 117/268
EOT111: 177/268
EOT112: 237/268
EOT113: Oxford finishes.

The other thing I could do would be to whip the university on T109 when it sits at 132/133. A whip with OR / forge / Bureaucracy is 40 hammers.
BOT109: 133/134 hammers into the university. I whip to make it 173/134, and have 20 (40 with OR / forge / Bureau) hammers going in. That makes 77 overflow hammers, which get divided by OR / forge / Bureau into 38 base overflow hammers, which then get multiplied by those same factors as well as stone
BOT110: 114/268 (it will actually show 0 but these are the overflow hammers)
BOT111: 174/268
BOT112: 234/268, Oxford complete at EOT.

So basically the 1 pop whip saves 1 turn on Oxford, and given that I have plenty of happy available, I think it's a no-brainer.