[SPOILERS] Dazed and scooter play Stalin of Vikings and make a big mess

[scooter]

I think that when the volcano event goes off, it always ignores who owns the plots near it.

Yeah, I understand how it works. A peak is chosen, and the owner of that tile (me) is presented with an event. When I choose to let it kill something, it picks a random tile improvement within 1 tile of it. In this case, there was only one improvement next to it - a cottage. The funny part was that it's not my cottage, so I was choosing to destroy Nakor's cottage. It likely doesn't check to ensure it's actually the same player's culture. So that's how you literally see it say "YOUR" cottage has been destroyed even though it's not mine:

[Nicolae Carpathia]

I like to imagine your Vikings tipped the volcano over so that it spilled all its lava onto the Egyptians.

[NobleHelium]

Stalin's always happy to make use of environmental weapons.

[scooter]

I like to imagine your Vikings tipped the volcano over so that it spilled all its lava onto the Egyptians.

Stalin's always happy to make use of environmental weapons.

Yep, both of these things for sure.

[Nicolae Carpathia]

The ultimate kegger.

[Old Harry]

My understanding for Engineer rushing is it functions the same way as if you build wealth for a turn - it just stores whatever overflow you had and you get it the following turn. If you sink 10 hammers into the wonder and then rush it, I do think those 10h are lost - someone can correct me on that if I'm wrong. The bulb thing I believe is similar, but I'm less sure on that. I always just try to minimize overflow before a bulb/free tech.

In both cases you waste what you've already invested into the tech/build, but what you overflow into the turn and what you produce that turn is overflowed into the next turn.

Caveat: A rush/bulb does not always complete a build/tech.

Cool, I think I get it. I've always avoided early bulbs as I thought the GS could get more beakers for my buck later on. But then loads of way better players than me around RB do it as a matter of course so I thought maybe the beakers overflowed - but is it just that getting the techs earlier gets the snowball rolling bigger? Still so much to learn...

And at the volcano! Wonder if it even told Nakor...

[scooter]

Cool, I think I get it. I've always avoided early bulbs as I thought the GS could get more beakers for my buck later on. But then loads of way better players than me around RB do it as a matter of course so I thought maybe the beakers overflowed - but is it just that getting the techs earlier gets the snowball rolling bigger?

Yeah definitely this. For instance - in PBEM32 I did an unusual Currency bulb (due to being able to get a really early merchant because of my Grocer). Currency is not a real expensive tech, but the ability to get +1 trade routes everywhere and markets 10T sooner was a really huge boost for me. The value of the bulb is more than just the beakers, but it's the use of the tech X turns earlier. If the tech provides economic or military benefits, then it can be really useful to have.

And at the volcano! Wonder if it even told Nakor...

I'm guessing no which probably left him reallllly confused .

[scooter]

OK, couple notable things from the last two turns.



Settled our bridge filler spot to start settling Irene. Forcing a Caste Artist here to pop the borders. Got a 2nd scout from a hut:



Got a Merchant like we wanted from SoF:



Fired the merchants down to a sane level of just 1-2. The goal now is to get a sci out of Baskerville before Scarlet gets out a great person:



We'll have to lower the amount of scientists running before it starves, but this should still be pretty quick. T188, Dazed, here's the notable things if you end up playing a couple turns:



I'm thining send the settler here and start colonizing Irene. These borders will pop end of next turn. We have a WB coming too, and we can run a Caste Artist at this new city too. Galleys in motion:



This lbow can go wherever - probably to cover the new city on Irene. This merchant needs to get to Nakor's capital. The settler is down here:



Also, we just need to not let Baskerville starve down a size - it's not necessary to get the scientist out before Scarlet I don't think (which is all that matters).

[T-hawk]

Yeah definitely this. For instance - in PBEM32 I did an unusual Currency bulb (due to being able to get a really early merchant because of my Grocer). Currency is not a real expensive tech, but the ability to get +1 trade routes everywhere and markets 10T sooner was a really huge boost for me. The value of the bulb is more than just the beakers, but it's the use of the tech X turns earlier. If the tech provides economic or military benefits, then it can be really useful to have.

The most useful techs to bulb or otherwise slingshot early are those that give significant benefits without additional hammer investment. There's always other stuff to invest hammers into, like workers and settlers, and it's unusual for some drastically better sink for hammers to open up. (Corporate executives can be such a situation.) That's why Currency, Civil Service, Democracy, and Communism are so highly prized for beelines, kicking in immediately without any other enabler needed.

[dazedroyalty]

I played but the signs you made got lost in the reload... so...