[SPOILERS] Emporium For Sale. We Don't Rent Pigs.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Dazed moved his stack to the hill north of Saddleback. He looks like he's eager to repair the road. Fine. Mayhap he'll continue to wander the stack forward so I can get some GG points in my own borders.



City screen dump this report!

I double-whipped the settler to completion. I'm thinking that I'll swap to some high food tiles and 1t a worker next turn, then regrow on the Ikhanda the following turn.



This one is easy. Chariot, Axe, Chariot probably. Or an Archer.



Overflow! I've stacked up whip unhappiness here. I could convert to Buddhism to help, and I'd love to do that. If Dazed will give me breathing space for a turn, I'll convert while the new settler is on the move. Maybe I convert anyway so he thinks he's got an advantage to press. This is a bit sandbagged, so I'd like to encourage his stack to come in so I can whack it. Or, he can stand there and we can have an uneasy truce. Anyway, I've got some options. I can 1T a wall, or build a series of units (Chariot, Chariot/Trireme/Galley, Axe, Chariot/Trireme Galley) in consecutive turns, unless I've really messed the micro, which is possible. Or, I can dump the overflow into a settler, or the Colossus. I'd like to get the Colossus here, for the bonus culture and because I have a good food surplus here so it would be a good NE site. But, it's also currently my best Moai site, so I have to think that over. I could always put the NE in Abilene, which also has a host of hills to build wonders as needed, so that may be the better spot for that. So that would leave Moai here, and I can get this city up to full size quickly once I raise my happy cap. Basically, I have some decisions to make with this city, so long as I can keep Dazed from taking it.



Forge next turn, probably working the silver, then a unit (archer) for garrison happiness. Plenty of chopping here still for quick wonders. Mausoleum maybe, if I can find marble on that island. I think work boat next. It can explore the island for 2t and be back on the clams at city #6 when borders pop there. After the work boat, Trireme to harass novice, then a galley to settle the island. I should be able to come up with a settler by then.



I'll whip the granary next turn and work the horse (food will be 8/16 that way), overflowing for a Forge. Nothing but hammers coming from here in the future. Failgold wonders (marble + stone on the island PLEASE!!! ), wealth, and units.

Novice is winning, the rest of us are losing. GNP is 100% science with no tech selected.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

All cities finished a build EoT:

Lonesome Dove - Worker, resume Ikhanda while growing.
Austin - Chariot, resume Axe (1t).
San Antonio - Chariot, 30 overflow.
Abilene - Forge. Archer next (cheap garrison), then Work Boat.
Ogallala - Granary. Forge next.

Dazed will help me decide what to build next in San Antonio. There still an axe sitting at 22/23, but I don't want it yet or I'll waste hammers on capped overflow. I dearly wish I had an Impi in my stack this turn:



Dazed has 3 workers pasturing the sheep without cover. This is the exact reason I should always keep an Impi on hand, just in case. Dazed moved 3 Vultures (1 combat 1, 2 no promos) in and has two, including a Combat 3/Melee GG Vulture one tile behind. I ran a quick test to see what kind of odds Dazed would get if I just defend in place:

Combat 1 Vulture: 22.1%


No promo Vultures: 10.8%


I like those odds, so I'll stand firm. No reason to retreat and give him free access to my mine. He can see my Chariot in San Antonio, so he'll likely beat a hasty retreat. I'm hoping for an attack though.



Same options as before for the overflow, we'll see what Dazed does. I should have finished Sailing this turn rather than run cash again so I would have the option of a Trireme, but on this body of water I should build a Galley first anyway, so that could be one target if I'm feeling comfortable with the military situation.



Demos are not so good when I don't work cottages at Lonesome Dove.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

T64

Look around, Dazed has withdrawn his stack, I can get decent odds and if he attacks the attacker I can clean up next turn with my other chariot. Good deal, attack, win, move workers, end turn.


Edit: Oh, the whole point of not showing much from this turn is that I converted to Buddhism, so not much else matters.

T65



I can finish the axe that is at 22/23 with 9 overflow. The following turn: 10 base + 9 overflow = 19 + 175% (33.25) = 52.25 + 115 from this turn = Colossus. Or, I can just finish the Colossus in 2T with regular production and use the axe overflow for...library/settler/galley. That might be better, if I don't need the axe right away. I will look to see when I'll lose hammers on the axe.



Welcome.



The GNP is Zak. Writing? Lastly,



Dazed has horses. Impi time? I'll only know if the lurker(s) tell me to do it.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

This is not Dazed's game so far.



I noticed his GG is not in the city this turn. Perhaps an emergency elsewhere? Anyway, I sense a little weakness here. Worst case, I think I can chop that forest without fear of an attack. Unrelated, Colossus due next turn. I went with manual production since the hammers aren't decaying yet on the axe.




Best guess is that it was Zak. Well, that goes without saying, I suppose, since Dazed doesn't border novice. Well, that was easy. But the graphs lead me to believe that it is Zak that teched HBR. Good. While my Impis don't fear those foul horse riders, they're happy to see the other backwards peoples cowering before them.



Sailing is in, no tech selected. Probably save cash next turn until Lonesome Dove is fully regrown, then go for Currency.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

Ugh...multi-turn report lost to the abyss. A sorrier attempt #2...

T68

Splash screen goodness.



A look at the civ with a few builds completing.






Saving cash. Others appear to be teching.

T69



Hello there.



Zak has been on the short end of the stick vs. novice. Here the wheat is pillaged, as is the Bronze 3N.



Running short of improved tiles near the capital. Here, I decided to run a scientist again. I'd love a low odds Academy, but the shrine will do just fine too.



I'm not the leader when I turn tech on. Others have emphasized libraries more than me, as I only have the one in Lonesome Dove. Nice use of the CRE trait, eh? Well, we have mines and forges, and there's a way to wring commerce out of those too. I'll just have to see about doing it.

T70



A poorly framed overview of the empire, taken as the turn rolled because I got a couple free Buddhist spreads, including one in Lonesome Dove. Score!!!



I can haz religious victory now? Zak has the other two (heathen) religions.



A better look at our current builds. I'm emphasizing growth now. In the coming turns I'll be settling islands both west and east.



Workers embarked this turn, will disembark on the bronze next turn and mine thereafter.



A little work boat exploration before netting the clams next turn. Interestingly, this is all coast terrain down here, though nothing shows on tile yield, meaning it is not within range of land to ever be worked. Mapmaker's curious diversion here. No doubt bloodthirsty Commodore had some keen insight as to how we should utilize this before Astronomy. Perhaps one fine day I'll send a couple triremes and galleys from due east of novice and attack him as he stares into the rising sun.



I may have wrongly credited Zak with killing Dazed's Great General. Note the war weariness. Novice's arm has grown long indeed if his reach extends down to Dazed. This bears watching.



I chased his workers from the wheat. In the city, the also-chased chariot and scout. Phalanx means I won't be messing with them further without losing my Impi. I'll just continue scouting for now.



More numbers. Novice is top GNP. He's consolidating his early land grab nicely. Someone really needs to do something about him one of these days...

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

T71

I make bad decisions sometimes, and sometimes I'm just not smart. I lost my impi in the south to novice's phalanx, thinking for some reason that the phalanx is a spear replacement rather than an axe.



Lesson learned. But I really need to stop losing a unit here and another there on stuff like this. Anyway, our expansion prospects:



This is sure to stir controversy with Dazed, but it's my best spot here. The dyes do not factor into my placement, as I assume Dazed will retain those easily, and I'd never improve/keep the tile anyway. I just want fast growth, so two seafood, sharing one with San Antonio which has plenty for now and is at the happy limit constantly anyway. Iron Working soon for the rice and gems (not pictured, to the south).



After the turn rolled I got a border pop and can see that I'm not the first to this island. We'll just have to see, then. Novice has gobbled up much of the earth so far. I want some islands.



Note Dazed's galley. I'll have to keep an eye out here to see if his numbers decrease. Perhaps a raiding party? Hopefully a settling party to the southern island. I have no ports on that shore, so he has free reign for now. Novice may say something though.

I missed the demos this turn, but I'm sure they would have said I'm a runaway.

T72

Dazed moved his galley out but I don't see any troops missing. Best guess is that it's a worker party to improve his bronze, as I have done. Fingers crossed, but I doubt he's coming to my mainland as there's nothing to be gained there. Other stuff:



Overflow for a nifty library, chased down with a work boat for the new city to the north. I'll have to think of a name for that one. EoT Currency is in:



I'm the first one there. Nothing super impressive right now, but I can keep a general eye on what folks are up to and get a better baseline for tech rate now.



I'm working a couple of sub-optimal coast tiles here to keep under the threshold for a triple whip. I want some good overflow to support furious expansion. Or a trireme to mess with novice some. We'll see what the island looks like next turn when I drop off an archer on the deer.



More tile-swapping here. I'll work the forest next turn to finish the worker, or the PH mine if it is finished. Can't remember now.



Solid, if not spectacular. If it weren't for novice's crop yield, I'd be very happy with this.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

So, options (current odds, as of EoT 72), tech cost in parenthesis by tech:

• Can research...
  
• Have tech...
  
• Blocked...
  

Great Engineer (63%, due T79 in San Antonio):

• Machinery (700)
  
• Assembly Line
  
• Industrialism
  
• Combustion
  
• Metal Casting
  
• Mining
  
• Iron Working (200)
  
• Engineering...
  
• WAY too much stuff...
  

So, early crossbows? Not Iron Working for certain, too cheap. Most likely, MIDSMIDSMIDSMIDS.

Great Merchant (37%, due T79 in San Antonio):

• Currency
  
• Banking
  
• Economics
  
• Corporation
  
• Metal Casting
  
• Code of Laws (349)
  
• Mining
  
• Constitution
  
• The Wheel
  
• Alphabet (BTS) (349)
  
• Pottery
  
• Sailing
  
• Paper
  
• Railroad
  
• Industrialism
  
• Monarchy
  
• Civil Service (801)
  
• Guilds
  
• Fascism
  
• Wait, Fascism? Yeah, cut the list now.
  

If I get this, an early Civil Service is awfully good.

Great Prophet (89%, due T79 in Lonesome Dove):

• Meditation
  
• Polytheism (99)
  
• Priesthood
  
• Monotheism (119)
  
• Theology (500)
  
• Divine Right
  
• Mysticism
  
• Masonry (Warlords patch & BTS)
  
• Code of Laws (349)
  
• Civil Service (801)
  
• Monarchy
  
• Literature
  

This is not an easier path to Civil Service, as I'd need the expensive Theology tech, as well as Code of Laws anyway, just as if I'm slowhand researching to Civil Service. Probably I'm better off over the long run with the shrine. I'm also trying to avoid having to research down the religious line. If I can find gold on an island, I'll build the Shwedagon Paya instead and save the 700+ beakers.

Great Scientist (11%, due T79 in Lonesome Dove):

• Academy in Lonesome Dove
  

Scientist: Alphabet, Aesthetics, then Calendar. I'd rather take the Academy.

If I can get away with it, I'm going to run some wealth builds here imminently and try to get through CoL before the GP arrives. This will also help with costs as I continue expanding. I'm set to found 3 new cities in the next five turns or so.

The full bulb list for current options:

Great Engineer:

• Machinery
  
• Assembly Line
  
• Industrialism
  
• Combustion
  
• Metal Casting
  
• Mining
  
• Iron Working
  
• Engineering
  
• Replaceable Parts
  
• Steam Power
  
• Steel
  
• Robotics
  
• Railroad
  
• Feudalism
  
• Fascism
  
• The Wheel
  
• Plastics
  
• Masonry
  
• Construction
  
• Guilds
  
• Bronze Working
  
• Corporation
  
• Electricity
  
• Animal Husbandry
  
• Gunpowder
  
• Priesthood
  
• Monarchy
  
• Code of Laws
  
• Constitution
  
• Agriculture
  
• Economics
  
• Chemistry
  
• Fission
  
• Genetics
  
• Fusion
  
• Optics
  
• Civil Service
  
• Nationalism
  
• Communism
  
• Ecology
  
• Pottery
  
• Calendar
  
• Currency
  
• Banking
  
• Scientific Method
  
• Physics
  
• Writing (BTS)
  
• Medicine
  
• Refrigeration
  
• Superconductors (BTS)
  
• Computers
  
• Divine Right
  
• Fishing
  
• Mathematics
  
• Flight
  
• Fiber Optics
  
• Hunting
  
• Horseback Riding
  
• Rifling
  
• Future Tech
  

Great Merchant:

• Currency
  
• Banking
  
• Economics
  
• Corporation
  
• Metal Casting
  
• Code of Laws
  
• Mining
  
• Constitution
  
• The Wheel
  
• Alphabet (BTS)
  
• Pottery
  
• Sailing
  
• Paper
  
• Railroad
  
• Industrialism
  
• Monarchy
  
• Civil Service
  
• Guilds
  
• Fascism
  
• Mass Media
  
• Agriculture
  
• Writing
  
• Mathematics
  
• Printing Press
  
• Flight
  
• Machinery
  
• Replaceable Parts
  
• Satellites
  
• Mysticism
  
• Priesthood
  
• Divine Right
  
• Nationalism
  
• Calendar
  
• Scientific Method
  
• Medicine
  
• Horseback Riding
  
• Compass
  
• Steam Power
  
• Future Tech
  

Great Prophet:

• Meditation
  
• Polytheism
  
• Priesthood
  
• Monotheism
  
• Theology
  
• Divine Right
  
• Mysticism
  
• Masonry (Warlords patch & BTS)
  
• Code of Laws
  
• Civil Service
  
• Monarchy
  
• Literature
  
• Music
  
• Writing
  
• Philosophy
  
• Printing Press
  
• Drama
  
• Aesthetics (BTS)
  
• Alphabet
  
• Paper
  
• Education
  
• Liberalism
  
• Calendar
  
• Masonry (Vanilla & unpatched Warlords)
  
• Animal Husbandry
  
• Construction
  
• Future Tech
  

Great Scientist:

• Writing
  
• Mathematics
  
• Scientific Method
  
• Physics
  
• Education
  
• Printing Press
  
• Fiber Optics
  
• Computers
  
• Laser (BTS)
  
• The Wheel
  
• Alphabet (BTS)
  
• Philosophy
  
• Chemistry
  
• Fission
  
• Fusion
  
• Optics
  
• Paper
  
• Astronomy
  
• Biology
  
• Electricity
  
• Flight
  
• Genetics
  
• Compass
  
• Satellites
  
• Aesthetics (BTS)
  
• Sailing
  
• Alphabet (Vanilla & Warlords)
  
• Calendar
  
• Medicine
  
• Ecology
  
• Advanced Flight (BTS)
  
• Iron Working
  
• Metal Casting
  
• Engineering
  
• Steam Power
  
• Liberalism
  
• Agriculture
  
• Masonry
  
• Bronze Working
  
• Machinery
  
• Gunpowder
  
• Refrigeration
  
• Superconductors (BTS)
  
• Rocketry
  
• Fishing
  
• Combustion
  
• Plastics
  
• Composites
  
• Stealth (BTS)
  
• Mining
  
• Military Science (BTS)
  
• Radio
  
• Meditation
  
• Drama
  
• Theology
  
• Music
  
• Civil Service
  
• Democracy
  
• Corporation
  
• Communism
  
• Economics
  
• Hunting
  
• Archery
  
• Animal Husbandry
  
• Construction
  
• Robotics
  
• Monotheism
  
• Mass Media
  
• Horseback Riding
  
• Replaceable Parts
  
• Rifling
  
• Artillery
  
• Future Tech
  

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

T73

Chasing novice's scouting warrior away.



A few city screens, for lack of anything else interesting this turn:

A turn to grow, then back to the cottages.


I'll need to put a turn into a scientist here to force this out before the capital's GP completes. As explained in the previous post, either option is good. Preference is for the Engineer for MIDSMIDSMIDSMIDS.


Overflow! That mine/chop coming next turn will net another settler.


Welcome!

T74

Novice never fails to exact a pound of flesh for any slight inconvenience. I chased his warrior back with my axe, only to have a chariot come from the fog to clean up my axe. I really should expect this every time and just use combined stacks.



More worker moves and military/wealth builds.



Hmm. Sloppy reporting, that's from after EoT. Anyway...



We're saving 49gpt at present, Dazed 29gpt, novice 17. I have no idea if their numbers represent 100% saving. Zak is spending and has rushed out to a nice GNP lead this turn. Hooray libraries?



I'll see if I can't crash my economy a bit. Here's a settler on the galley, to be joined next turn by the selected worker. Not highlighted is another completed settler in Abilene. I may send that one north and give my boat a minute to scout the interesting not-so-coastal-coast. Or, I may just put it on the boat and assume that there is something habitable out there. Smartest thing would be to claim some land on this continent, though, before novice has it all.



Speaking of new cities, hi there!



Probably Zak won't like me taking the clam. Possibly he's getting his ass kicked by novice too much to be able to do anything about it.



Let me know if there is anything else you'd like to see. Or anything, really, that will generate some comments. I get bored talking to myself and this game and reports often help me get through an otherwise boring workday. kthx!

[Commodore]

Um. A second island city is like the opposite of crashing your economy, surely? Currency means that's +7cpt on your mainland.

Also, care to post a "whole empire" picture? Thoughts on where you're expanding?