[PB79] End of the beginning?

[coldrain]

I think I will continue with the philosophy of "found a faster to contribute city now" rather than a perfect one that will take longer to reach full potential. So midway point city will be right next to pig and copper. Next expand after that maybe to grab the triple seafood south of Swamp.

[coldrain]

Turn 58
 


All barbarians have been dealt with, at least for now. Maybe I overbuilt dog soldiers? Well now I can send them to scout a bit more or take forward fog busting positions. Founded Spider Plains on T56 and immediately started to pasture the pigs. Completed sailing, need to think when to build a galley to settle the closest island for internal trade route boost. There looks to be multiple worthwhile island spots to settle, but priority for now is to establish a good border with China. The Swamp loaned cows for a bit to grow to size 4, next it will whip worker and overflow to partially done granary. Complete it with a chop I think. Preliminary dot map of south:


Red is a clear filler spot to be founded later. I’m eying on yellow or white next. There’s a possibility to shift white, yellow and blue one tile to west, but it would seriously slow down the development of white spot. Need to think a bit more about positioning and order of settling. Next settler has not been started yet, most likely I will 3 pop whip capital in four turns. Demos:

[Dreylin]

Red is a clear filler spot to be founded later. I’m eying on yellow or white next. There’s a possibility to shift white, yellow and blue one tile to west, but it would seriously slow down the development of white spot. Need to think a bit more about positioning and order of settling.

Yellow is a great city long-term, but will be slow getting going with all the resources in 2nd ring (Sugar doesn’t count) and Pink has the same problem. Shifting everything 1W works, but I wonder about putting an extra city in 1N of the Corn: pushing Pink W next to the Sheep, and Yellow E next to the Pigs - I’d probably stick it coastal on the Marble.

I also think you’re underselling Red by calling it a filler. It may be backfill, but it’s going to be a good city in its own right - especially once the Silks are online - and might be a decent bridge city to push to Pink to claim the area.

[coldrain]

Turn 63



Whipped settler at capital last turn, now moving towards green or yellow spot. I revised the settling plan, thanks for the feedback Dreylin. I agree that adding one more city (green) makes early growth faster and rest of the expands less awkward to set up. Two warriors and a Dog soldier are fogbusting that area as the settler is moving in.

Three granaries are about to complete. Finished writing, now I have the dilemma of when to build libraries versus lighthouse or galley… Maybe need a scouting workboat first too. My gut feeling is prioritize expanding to the food rich south as of now and worry about libraries later. Plus south will add furs as new lux, soon I will connect the ivory at Spider Plains. All those plantation luxes make calendar a great tech target, maybe even before currency? And mausoleum + golden ages + PHI =

In foreign news, Great lighthouse was completed two turns ago (maybe remembering wrong, forgot to double check). And no religions founded yet at all!

[Dreylin]

Green dot first looks good to lock in the area.

Library in the capital to grow then whip into a Settler? I'd plan on slotting in a workboat soon (while growing the Swamp?) to get a view behind the islands for food and then loop back to net one of the seafood at white dot. Then decide whether the time is right to invest in a Galley & Settlers for islands. One island city pays out the same as Currency though, so maybe skip scouting Workboat and go straight for a Galley and just plan to plant on the capital island ASAP. With Border Zone's 3rd ring covering the Rice already, that gives full flexibility where to plant; 1E of Rice would be a good option, but you could also shift E of Sheep if there's a seafood to net.

Can you give us a pic of the tech tree?

[coldrain]

Turn 69




Granaries have been accelerating growth nicely. Founded Crater on green dot a couple turns back. Need more workers soon. I’ve completed a couple of Totem poles with whip overflow by now. Let’s take a closer look to the cities:



Border Zone is growing after previous 3-pop settler whip, next up is the same procedure repeated I think. The worker assigned to this city was redirected to newest expand for support.



Stenn Desert completed a Totem pole a few turns back and finished an archer that is heading towards capital, to be picked up by a future galley. PH copper mine has been worked constantly, except this turn I switched to the grassland hill mine to grow one turn faster. After growth, I will build or whip more workers from here.



The Swamp will grow to size 6, whip a settler and finish the galley with a chop. So I will soon have two settlers ready (one more from capital). I’m not sure if I should plant both to the close-by islands (more for this reasoning a bit later).



Another whip granary into Totem pole done here. Not sure what to build while growing, so slotted in a library for now.



Newest settle, Crater, is working the unimproved sugar until corn farm completes. Yet another whip granary into Totem pole here too a bit later?
I kept most military units in fog busting positions (south is completely covered, barbarians can appear only from west or north). Just recently started to move northern Dog soldier to explore a bit more:



Barely visible in this and earlier overview screenshot is the Carthaginian culture behind an eastern island, 5 tiles east of the island stone. I spotted this on turn 63. There might be a race to settle these islands, so this is why I’m contemplating on sending next settlers there. I don’t have a scouting work boat or galley yet, but the latter I could 1 pop whip next turn if needed. Plan is to grow Swamp to 6 and whip settler if no urgent need for galley arises. There are some juicy spots on main continent too, so I need to think about this a bit more. As per request, here’s the tech screen:



Someone founded Buddhism in faraway land (don’t remember if I mentioned this already). I’m saving money until I can rush through mathematics at 100% slider. I always like to save money until library is done at capital, to receive a small bonus on converting the saved gold into beakers. But not sure if I can afford to wait too long here, better chops would be excellent to have soon. Calendar is still in my mind afterwards, but perhaps metal casting is more important to ensure naval superiority if Carthage contests my closest islands? Finally, demos:

[coldrain]

Turn 74 + 75



Not a full report, but I have a question about double moves during peace time. I met Gira with my Dog soldier on T74 by moving on the plains hill 1SE of the gold. I was last to play turn, so I ended turn and moved the same soldier 1N to the forested PH. Since I didn’t declare war and have no hostile intent, this move was ok? Do I need to PM Gira and tell the move I did after T74?

[klops]

this is fine, outside of war declarations and settler races.
you could even tell the dog came from that hill because he looks north.

[coldrain]

Thanks for clarifying, I was 99% sure it was fine.

And this game just moves at an absurd pace, I made full update of T69 on Saturday and it is already T75 now. It's hard to keep writing comprehensive reports that often...

[Tarkeel]

And this game just moves at an absurd pace, I made full update of T69 on Saturday and it is already T75 now. It's hard to keep writing comprehensive reports that often...

Personally, I try to write as I play, taking notes of any decisions made. Not every turn gets reported though.

I have a question about double moves during peace time. I met Gira with my Dog soldier on T74 by moving on the plains hill 1SE of the gold. I was last to play turn, so I ended turn and moved the same soldier 1N to the forested PH. Since I didn’t declare war and have no hostile intent, this move was ok? Do I need to PM Gira and tell the move I did after T74?

If it's unclear to Gira where you came from you can PM him where the unit was, but as long as your unit is visible after the double-move it's ok.

Later on it can get a bit murky when double-moving ships past sentries that would otherwise have detected them.