Exciting food news! I guess we'll settle over here in time to use the marble for the epics. To get the fish we either settle where the warrior is (and 1N of the corn for the marble) or we settle the 1-tile island (which is the only way we can work the grass hill in the capital's culture) and wherever we want the marble city.
One reason to be glad we don't have Krill's land - more barbs are incoming (we're up to 23 or 24 cities with Krill settling his fourth city this turn, so barbs can enter borders if there's something to pillage or attack straight away, 6-7 more cities and they can charge in whatever the lie of the land) and I think he's had barb trouble already while we haven't yet seen one. Touch wood. Perhaps we should put some beakers into archery soon, given how copper is looking tricky to hook...
Demos. Donovan built the Oracle. I dunno what tech he took but it's not impossible that it was HBR. The top GNP is presumably Donovan researching writing, masonry, AH or pottery with a couple of pre-req bonuses and 13-14 culture from Buddhism and Oracle. #2 GNP is between 34 and 39.
We settle our fourth city pushing income up by 6 and costs up by 4 (we're a couple of turns behind Krill, but it's nice to see Elkad, Donovan, Lewwyn, OT4E are all still on 2 cities - despite my moaning about the map we do at least have two food for each of the cities so far, so they're all getting off the ground quick). The naming scheme should be guessable by now so over the next few posts we'll have some details for each city.
Amazing Grace is pretty much definitive of our theme. Hands up if you've got it already.
Based on the land we've uncovered so far Amazing Grace will be our research powerhouse with 4-6 cottages and a dye plantation. It's no Ottawa - the power for the house may have to come from specialists. Early CoL for another religion and Caste action may be needed, if we can find stone somewhere for 'mids Representation would be awesome.
Demos. Note to self - always show demos when you settle new city.
Babylon's Burning is a punk classic and I'm arguing spiritual in it's own way, even before this version makes it official.
The city is the Hindu holy city and one of two good options for Moai (oh to be new IND and be able to build two!) At size 20 with a Shrine, grocer, market, bank and Wall Street this city will let us keep slider high for the rest of the empire (if we can spread Hinduism to the rest of the world - not so easy with seven religions available for the ten players).
Up north Krill has planted four cities without expanding into all this beautiful (for this script) backfill land, does that mean he knows where we are and is bee-lining towards us with a stack of chariots? Who knows. Anyway if our islands are this nice then we'll be alright, but I have my doubts.
Demos. No stack of chariots showing up here as yet.
(November 26th, 2018, 16:33)Mardoc Wrote: I think RefSteel and Cornflakes have the flair, but they probably have a bad taste in their mouth for how PB38 turned out.
(November 27th, 2018, 07:23)Old Harry Wrote: I thought the PB38 map was awesome, but as Boldly says neighbour luck is everything...
Thanks for the votes of confidence, guys! I can't speak for Cornflakes, but for me the problem with working on PB38's map was purely time-related. Cornflakes and I didn't get involved until something like two months after the process started, and neither of us had the time (given our resources and/or map-making experience) needed to make the map that consensus called for. Since two previous mapmakers had dropped out already (Krill specifically because he realized the process would take him far more time than he then had available) leaving not even a baseline map on which to work, we basically tried to fit it into our schedules as best we could, rather than waiting for a mythical mapmaker-with-enough-time. (I think OT4E volunteered to drop out of the game and make the map at some point, but whether he would actually have done so and what the result would have looked like were and remain unknown.)
I'd actually love to make a map for another game, but if I did, it would either be very heavily script-based (like this one or PB41) or a map I built in advance of the game actually starting and offered with the number of players and map settings determined prior to sign-ups (the way Commodore used to make 4-player toroids for Always War games) instead of the other way around, so I could take my time and fit the map-making into the corners of my schedule without making everybody wait for the game after they've already signed up.
Constant Sorrow brings some of that old-timey-song-of-slavation-to-salve-the-soul spirituality. It'll also be apt for my mental state starting next to Krill (see more later).
The city itself was a compromise to try and get us moving as quick as possible, it's great for a size 2 or 3 city, and shares wheat nicely with D, but beyond that isn't going to do much for us, even with a border pop. A worker/settler pump for now, probably military later.
Moan moan moan. Stupid barb blocked the scout so he'll have to go back around the peak.
Our warrior continues to unfog the immediate north. Be careful not to compare this land with Krill's in the previous picture.
Down south I was sure there'd be some food for the copper and was proved sort-of right. Do pigs normally spawn on forests? The plains hill is our best bet right now, but the warrior will move SW next turn to check if there's any other goodies lying around.
This version of Down to the River to Pray takes a while to get going, but its worth the wait.
The city is our other Moai candidate, with three food, 8 coast and 2 ocean tiles it can grow huge, but only one hill for hammers is it's Achilles heel. I think Babylon's Burning (three food, 1 lake, 8 coast and 2 ocean tiles) should have Moai and Down to the River could have the National Epic since DttR can have the shared food on a more permanent basis.
Exploring the east reveals an abundant desert island and a barren grass island. The green island carries on to the north but I don't think it connects to our continent. I'm going to send this workboat on to make more contacts and try for circumnavigation, the workboat for Down to the River can explore the rest of the northern island.
Krill's warrior has been healing for four turns, so it must have been badly mauled.
Exit Music (For a Film). For when you just want to wallow.
To look on the bright side we're the first to five cities, and with the overseas trade routes this one puts income up by 7 while costs only rise 5 so is a net positive from the start. I'm also fairly sure (reading posts 4 & 5 here) that Exit Music is within 5 plots of BB, so has a 10% chance per turn of getting the religion spread it needs for the border pop for the pig. If I'm wrong and it's 6 tiles we only get 3% odds. If we don't get a spread by the time the next settler is ready it could go SE of the pig, but hopefully we'll find a better site in the west. The city doesn't do much beyond getting us access to copper and boost trade, but that seems pretty good to me.
A view from our empire towards Krill's. Note our galley setting off to scout the west, the warrior uncovering no food in the south, our copper is 4 turns from being hooked and our first cottage appears at Amazing Grace.
Demos, score and power. Recently Krill got a big score and power increase, so I think we need to figure out what he's been up to.
Hopefully this image is entirely self-explanatory. Just in case it isn't: I believe he's built 4 warriors and lost one to barbs, and that the big power increase on t52 was an axe. He's just got AH, so we should look for odd tile yields to figure out where his horses are and we should look out for chariot-shaped power increases from here onwards.
At this point the axe is probably to deal with barbs, but it could be bee-lining towards us, in which case it'd get to CS about t66. We'll have our copper hooked well in advance of that and some emergency hammers in an axe of our own in case a whip is required.
The southern island is just as barren as the mainland. We could put a city on the highlighted tile to get the pig in borders and perhaps try to chop the 'Mids. Even with stone and Organised Religion 7*52.5=367 so it'd have to make 80 base hammers of its own as well somehow. Let's just hope there are better options out there.
Well the good news is that we left the bear strong enough to give Krill some problems. It should get a promotion too I guess. The other good news is that Exit Music got an immediate religion spread! I haven't worked out timings for the worker micro but I expect we can road to the pig or mine the grass hill before getting the pig-chop in on the turn borders pop. Finally there is more food here! The warrior will check the peninsula, then check for seafood in the east before heading back to check the far west and then provide MP for EM.
And this is (most of) the known world. Dotmaps please!
Finally there is more food here! The warrior will check the peninsula, then check for seafood in the east before heading back to check the far west and then provide MP for EM.
