[SPOILERS] Cornflakes and giraflorens PB49 - any stock traders out there?

[Cornflakes]

i succumbed to temptation and sniped a stack of 2 builders + settler from Elkad. My public works department has bee woefully under-staffed with only 2 workers for 4 cities with a 3rd worker just completed but a 5th city founding next turn. Now I have a respectable 6 workers.

   

I feel a little bad kicking Elkad while he’s down since we had cow/fish trade, but that was over 10 turns ago and Elkad has lost 2 cities to Fintourist and has almost no military. Just 37k soldiers which can’t be more that a pair of axes. There is no military on the island except that Elkad likely whipped something there on his half of the turn. 

The DoW didn’t help my GNP any though. I’m paying unit maintenance for about 10 units now  Founding a city + using a workboat next turn will help.

Peace treaty with Carthage also expired so I need to be wary of war on the eastern front.

[Cornflakes]

Uhhhh ... I’m not sure when it happened but Elkad lost his capital before I declared war. How did FT manage to take Elkad’s Capital? It must have been a surprise amphibious assault? Or maybe Elkad just didn’t have any military. My war is more “putting him out of his misery” than kicking him while he’s down.

Elkad did indeed whip a spear in the island city after the previously reported turn. I took the 78% Bowman vs. spear and lost But I had moved 2 axes towards the Elkad front when I contemplated war, and loaded them up on the galley ...

   

Giving me 65% amphibious odds Axe vs. GGeneral C2/Cover Spear ... WIN! Making up for the poor combat roll on the Bowman last turn. I cleaned up the redlined spear from last turn’s loss with another Bowman which I had landed. Elkad’s galley was burned in the port and I captured another worker, bringing me to 4 captured and 7 total. For the cost of 1 Bowman I have gained a city and 4 builders And the Babylonian UU Bowman factored into the success!

So now I have a 0.3/5 and full health axe on the galley. Maybe I can raze the copper city so FT can’t capture and keep it.

Demos aren’t bad considering I have spent as many if not more turns at war than peace this game:

   

2nd in food bodes well for the long term. GNP is suffering but a GScientists to bulb Mathematics will help. With 2 island cities maybe I should hit Currency before Construction. I’ll at least consider the alternative when the Math bulb is ready.

Overview shot:

   

I have acquired Gems on the island but they are again covered by yucky jungle Iron Working isn’t in the near-term tech plan unfortunately so I’m grateful for the CHA +2

[Cornflakes]

Yikes! I just realized that I never gave my 3rd city a name and it's still sitting there with the generic Babylon  I'm going to name the Elkad captured city "Resistance" so that we have Support and Resistance paired on the island. When I find another suitable pair of cities I'll name them Buy Low and Sell High. The only name left on my list (first page, 2nd post) is Contrarian. Need more names!

[DaveV]

Need more names!

Growth and Value for another city pair?

[suboptimal]

Long and Short could be another city pair. Target Price or Trailing Stop could be used for individual cities.

[TBW]

Iron Condor
Dividend Yield

[giraflorens]

One question: why do you keep the gold count so high? Does it relate to your economical analysis?

Should you make the techs as fast as possible? This brings me some old doubt: I heard that as turns pass the quantity of the most basic techs go down, or they cost less. Is that right?

[El Grillo]

Those Worker captures and getting the whole island to yourself are very nice gains, good spot on the opportunity.

[Cornflakes]

Thanks for all the city names! I selected Trailing Stop as the new name for Babylon. It felt like it fit since that location was held in reserve as a backup option for security while reaching for a more aggressive front to the east. The other names have been added as candidates to the 2nd post, and I crossed out the already-used names.

One question: why do you keep the gold count so high? Does it relate to your economical analysis?

Should you make the techs as fast as possible? This brings me some old doubt: I heard that as turns pass the quantity of the most basic techs go down, or they cost less. Is that right?

Right now break-even research rate is bad so I have about enough gold now to burn through 1 Classical tech. I could turn on research now, but for what? No 1 classical tech that I can research will give me an immediate boost. Therefore I'm saving gold to do a burst of research after bulbing Mathematics. I'm currently leaning Alphabet + Currency for the pre-requisite bonus there, followed by Construction. Currency provides an immediate boost (and a decent one with 2 island trade routes available) so I would turn on research when I have enough gold to burn through Alphabet + Currency, which times just about right with the GScientist arriving in 7 or so turns.

Those Worker captures and getting the whole island to yourself are very nice gains, good spot on the opportunity.

Thanks! Indeed it turned out quite nice!

[Cornflakes]

   

Island city came out of ... resistance ...

Commodore is rocking Horse Archers already. And Miguelito painted a great big target on his back. Both had a non-trivial power drop a few turns back. Commodore is showing lower than me on the power graph but the power ratio on the scoreboard says his power rating shot up massively this turn. I think I have 2 spear + bowman + axe in Candelsticks so I'm not concerned either by Commodore or Ras. What does concern me slightly though is the Carthaginian galley off the coast of Risk Management. Even though a fortified bowman on a hill behind 40% city defenses should get enormous odds vs anything amphibious I decided to practice risk management and moved my scout in as a 2nd defender. I have a bowman + spear a turn away and can whip something if needed.

As you can see, I decided to make a play for Great Lighthouse. I have 2 inland cities so not the greatest benefit and only 2 islands so I'll have to get OB in order for the extra payoff. But expansion prospects into the jungle aren't interesting and I have more units than I can afford already.