[SPOILERS - PBEM19] Huayna Capac of Ottomans - yuris125 & Maestro

[yuris125]

T92

Moved Settler in position to settle 1W of the Orange dot. We will give up Red, it's not that good, and I think it's too risky
Whipped 5 cities - Libraries, Lighthouses, Courthouse in Europa Plus, Settler in Echo of Moscow

I will get over the loss of AP if we manage to land Taj. It's still approx. 6 turns away though. We think GES has no more forests to chop, and he gives his marble to RL7. I assume it's a marble for stone deal, and RL7 told us earlier they would be able to give us their stone around T98-99. Even if GES took Nationalism from Liberalism, we should be able to beat him with all our bonuses, if he doesn't get the marble back

[yuris125]

Also, we're hearing rumours that RL7 are planning an attack on MNG. This actually would explain the message they sent yesterday, they might want MNG to think that we're likely to join in the war. Especially since our good relations with RL7 are also widely known

Anyway, now that we missed out on AP, nothing is there to stop us building units in Maximum. We need to get a few Axes for garrisons first, then it's Cats time

[yuris125]

T93

Settled Love Radio
Sent a Settler from Echo of Moscow to the northern coast spot
Ultra produces 30hpt with bonuses when working on buildings. Chose Barracks (33 hammers) to line up the whip for Taj
Philo in; Nationalism due in 3 turns (T96). Chops for Taj should come in T97, so Workers should start chopping T95. All Workers except one are in position and can entertain themselves by investing 1 turn of road into their tiles next turn. The final Worker is ready to move onto his forest next turn, and start chopping on T95 as well
A vote for Pope comes up, GES and RL7 are candidates. I abstain with the full power of our mighty 3 votes. GES wins, of course

[yuris125]

More thing of note:

Maximum and Rock are building Axes, the former is for Echo of Moscow, the latter for Retro FM. We then need 3 more Axes for the 3 cities we still plan to found
I inserted a Workboat in Nashe for the fish at the northern city. Should have started it earlier, but should be ok
The remaining Settlers we need can be built in Maximum, Best FM and Rock FM. If we can get them out before the Golden Age starts (assuming we get Taj), that would be perfect
Worker in the Dinamit FM region should be loaded onto the Galley and sent to Love Radio. The same Galley can pick up the Axe for Retro. I didn't notice we don't have any more Workers in that area, but there are no tiles which need improvements urgently, those cities are for whipping at this stage
I sent a Missionary to Retro FM, but I think spreading Buddhism to NRJ is of higher priority. I would even spread to Love Radio before Retro. Retro doesn't have any hammers, so no OR bonus, and it doesn't need the culture

[Maestro]

If Love Radio = New Orange, then I agree that it needs culture as quickly as possible. We have deer in the 1st ring, but it will be contested by GES's 2nd ring. It'd be a real bummer to lose that deer, even for a little while, to GES. Since it's in our 1st ring, once we get a border pop, it should stay safely ours.

[yuris125]

Yeah, Love Radio is the Orange. If we're bringing the Axe from Rock to Retro on Galley, we can pick up the Missionary there. Not sure if it will be faster than if he walks by foot, just need to keep in mind it's possible

[yuris125]

T94

A map trade offer from Commodore on loading. I debate with myself if we want to negotiate and get some money out of him for our map, but decide not to, and accept the deal
Temporarily move missionary production to Rock FM, and choose a Worker in Ultra
At the end of the turn, Nationalism jumps a lot, next turn we will lack just a handful of beakers. Probably we would be able to get it a turn earlier if we hire scientists everywhere we can, but there's no reason to do so, we won't get Taj before T97 anyway. But I wonder how this could happen; if I knew it before, we could've done the reshuffling earlier and get Taj one turn earlier. Either I miscalculated badly, or someone (e.g. RL7) discovered it this turn and we now get an extra discount on it. It would be bad news...
Commodore now has Alpha, I will try to figure out where his science is after work

[Maestro]

My calculations predicted 5.4 turns of research to get Philosophy + Nationalism, but they didn't account for a few variables:

1. An increase in our GNP during those turns. We produce 456 bpt now. When I did the math we made 399.
   
2. Any 'known research' bonuses. I think known research is in the ballpark of 3% bonus per civ, but had no way to know how many civs would have philo or nat before us.
   
3. The Couple dozen beakers produced by scientists while saving gold
   

Those things could combine to drop my 5.4 turn projection to 5.2 or even 5.1, which is why the last turn of research doesn't need much. Unfortunately, that was the best projection I could make at the time. Hopefully the turn of inefficiency won't hurt us. I guess we'll know soon enough.

[yuris125]

Here's an idea. Why don't we send to RL7 something like this:

Hi RL7,

Our new department has come up with a few rumours we recently heard about your team. We fully understand that this is probably classified information, but would greatly appreciate if you could confirm or deny these rumours:

* You're preparing for an attack on MNG, which should happen between T100 and T105
* You already researched Nationalism and Astronomy
* You're building Taj Mahal, which will be completed on or before T97

Of course, your reply will be kept in the strictest condifence, and we will understand if you would prefer not to comment on any of these rumours

I don't see what we lose by sending such a message

[Maestro]

I wouldn't ask abotu Taj. The primary opportunity cost to us was the research: choosing to tech Nationalism instead of Eduction or Gunpowder. We've already made that investment. Because of the 1-turn build plan, we don't stand to lose any hammers on the Taj Majal. Either it's available, and we build it in one turn, or it is not and we don't.

The worst case, however unlikely, is that RL7 is building Taj, and are maybe a turn behind us. We ask about it, though, and they feel the pressure, and decide to 3 or 4 or 5pop whip to get it out a turn or two earlier. Not likely, but feasible. We would not change our plans no matter what they said about Taj, so why tip them off at all?

I think that asking about MNG, and offering to "be of assistance" or something nonspecific like that is a good plan.