Micro Thread

[zakalwe]

T69 sandbox: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/49396026/rb/tro...dSwordSave

[zakalwe]

So here is a combined report from T69, plus a walkthrough of our micro plan to complete the pyramids by EOT79. We plan to research mathematics and then masonry on T79, settle a city on top of stone (way down south) on T79, and chop 8 forests into our newest city, WIFOM, on T79. It's a pretty tight plan, with just one gold to spare in our sandbox, even though we should be able to compensate to some degree for any unforeseen deviations, if we really need to.

So first of all, here is the lay of the land, and our cities on T69:

The North:





The South:







Horse's Neck:




This is the city we got from TEAM in our peace settlement. It's about to complete a library, and will then grow to size 5 on a chariot (gold will be connected next turn, to keep it happy). Once it hits size 5, it will start working two scientists along with the three resource tiles and remain in that configuration until T79. When the chariot completes on T75, it starts a settler, halting growth at size 5.



Bitter:




This is the next door neighbor of Horse's Neck, and just completed a library. It has more whip anger than Horse's Neck, so it will need to halt growth at size 4 for a while. The plan here is to work the corn, cows, and cottages until the axeman completes, and then switch to a settler and hire two scientists, right before it grows to size 5. (Note: It also works a single scientist on T70.) When the whip anger is about to run out on T76, Bitter will switch to a chariot (or something) to allow growth, picking up a riverside cottage tile in addition to its two scientists.



Bloody Mary:




This was our second city, and is destined to be a cottage city, with all its riverside tiles. We want to grow this city to size 5 and work riverside cottages. The challenge here was to find time to actually build those cottages before rushing south with our workers to chop out the pyramids. Bloody Mary will complete that library just as it hits size 5, at which point it will build a worker that completes on T78, in time to participate in the chopfest. It will only be working resource tiles and riverside cottages.



Caipirinha:




This is our capital, which is pretty solid even if it's been somewhat underdeveloped ever since it was forced to whip an axe in response to TEAM's aggression. It will have to go another 10 turns without much worker love, working that wine farm at size 5, rather than a cottage. The plan here is to grow on the chariot build, and at size 5 put two turns of production into a worker and one turn into a settler. Then grow again on the chariot, as the whip anger expires, and triple-whip the settler on T76. The settler is born on T77, just in time to settle on top of stone on T79. Meanwhile, the capital overflows into the worker, completing that on T79, just in time to contribute a chop to the pyramids.



WIFOM:




Finally, our most recent city, settled with gold in the first ring since we desperately needed the happiness, and the place where we will build the pyramids. A pair of workers just finished the gold mine, which is being worked for much-needed commerce. They will complete the road on the gold next turn, and then hurry to get the corn farmed on the turn after the borders expand. Once the corn is farmed, WIFOM will work that until it grows to size 2, then work the corn and gold until T78. On T78, it whips the granary (which is almost complete), and works the corn. On T79, it has a granary and a perfect 11/22 food in the box, and works the corn. It also builds the pyramids, using the granary overflow and 8 mathematically stone-boosted chops.




To be continued with the actual walkthrough... have some work to do first.

[novice]

Great overview, Zak.

[pling]

Great overview, Zak.

And I think I shall just shamelessly steal these descriptions of the cities to go in the T70 report, as it's only a turn away

[zakalwe]

Continuing... here is a screenshot to explain much of our upcoming worker movement.




On T69, one worker put a cottage turn into the tile 2E of Bloody Mary. From there, it will move SE-SE to the "Pitstop" tile, to put a cottage turn there. After that, it will move to the next tile labeled "Pitstop" and cottage there. The purpose here is to make it south in time to help out with the corn farm. Meanwhile, the worker from the capital just put a turn of roading in. Next turn, it will move SW-SW onto the forested hill (moving straight through the forested tile in between... fast workers are awesome). It will road that tile in time for the other worker to pass. Both of those roads are needed for the settler's eventual passage towards the stone site anyway. The workers on the gold will move to the gold via the forest SW of WIFOM, prechopping that.

While those four workers improve WIFOM, and start roading towards the stone, the last two workers will linger a bit in the north, building two riverside cottages for Bloody Mary before making their way south. They will use the same pit stop near the capital, and when they arrive the forest 2E of WIFOM will also be roaded, so they can use that as another prechopping pitstop. The seventh worker, born in Bloody Mary on T78, will use the pit stop NE of WIFOM before chopping on T79. The eighth worker, born in the capital on T79, will move directly to chop one of the roaded forests.

Actually, the above really explains most of the worker movement, so I will just show you some screenshots of how this all plays out without much further commentary. Towards the end, the deer is also roaded, and we put three turns of camping into the tile, but the deer is never actually worked. So while we do need 8 workers to actually execute a one-turn build, we technically have a couple of worker turns to spare. (Still, the timing must be fairly precise for everything to fit together.)

Anyway, here's how it plays out:


























In this playthrough, I also allowed Horse's Neck to grow to size 6 on T79, and triple-whipped its settler. The settler can move south while we're revolting and settle E of the ivory, or maybe on the coast, so we can chop out some workboats.

[zakalwe]

Great overview, Zak.

And I think I shall just shamelessly steal these descriptions of the cities to go in the T70 report, as it's only a turn away

Sure, feel free to reuse all you want. I actually meant to say something about that, but I was in a rush.

[zakalwe]

Btw., out of curiosity. Is it possible to make do with 7 workers, by chopping one forest into the granary on T78? I'm away from my civ computer so I can't check, but it seems like that should work, in theory.

[plako]

I'm a bit worried about the culture war near HN. What about building monument instead of Chariot there next?

[novice]

I'm a bit worried about the culture war near HN. What about building monument instead of Chariot there next?

Does F8 show TEAM's top three culture cities, or aren't they the rival best?
I guess more culture in HN can only be a good thing anyway.

[zakalwe]

Monument is fine by me, at least if we get the NAP with Gillette.