[SPOILERS] You know nothing, Mahala Tholal

[The Black Sword]

Some nice promotions on Mance and Tormund there. I was sort of hoping Mance would be a lock for the Form of the Titan, but if barbs are that plentiful, the others probably have plenty of opportunities for experience as well.

Does Mortensholm need a monument btw? Seems like that just unlocks more plains. On the other hand, you probably have enough Beastmen for the moment also.

You look to be doing quite well with 3 cities already, gems will move the GNP back up.

[Tholal]

I guess the advantage in getting Form of the Titan in this particular game is that 2 of the players have the Barbarian trait and wont be racking up the experience the rest of us will.

I do want to expand my borders in Mortensholm to better keep an eye on the barrow, but the Monument is just a placeholder until something else needs building. Need to expand a bit before building more troops. I might build an Elder Council here once Mysticism is in. Mortensholm will be a small city for a while.

Cities all set to grow in 2 turns, which is the same time that Mysticism will finish. Just started working on the Copper mine. have Tormund and the other Warrior guarding it. They'll push further south to try and intercept any Barbarians coming from that direction. Scout found a hut... 25 gold Lame!

[Tholal]

Apologies for lack of updates lately. I got run over by some sort of cold/flu germ a few days ago and am just now recovering. I'll try to post some info and screenshots on the next turn.

[Tholal]

OK. Quick update. Urslo is now size 7 and is 2 turns from completing a Settler. Running God King now. Did a few turns of gold accumulation and am now switching to research Calendar because I want the food bonus from Agrarianism and I also want to be able to build Plantations at my new city site (blue scribble).



My eastern scout survived an encounter with a Lion but is now wounded and trying to run away from a Lizardman. Have another Scout just now pushing into the northern ice.

Current demos.

[The Black Sword]

How's everything going?

[Tholal]

It's going alright. Up to 5 cities now. Just planted the fifth one a couple of turns ago.



I decided to push out to the river to the east rather than settling a closer spot first. Maintenance is high but I just finished researching Code of Laws and will switch to Aristo-Agrarianism next turn when the Settler is complete.


(future city sites marked with blue stars)

From the demographics, it seems that someone else has been running those civics already. I'm guessing the Hippus since they are 40 points ahead in score. Someone also just received a Great Bard, likely from researching Drama. I'm guessing the Hippus again.



I'm currently running 100% gold to get some last use out of God King. I'm considering heading for Warfare. Tormund is only one experience point away from hitting level 6.



Meanwhile, in the east, the barrow has spawned a Skeleton. I sent my newly acquired mutated Beastman (must be one of the Hornfoot tribe) out to deal with it.



In World News, Orthus spawned, and then was killed almost immediately. Couldn't have been one of the players with the Barbabrian trait, and it wasn't me, so that only leaves the Hippus and the Illians as potential current owners of Orthus' Axe.

I have a Scout out exploring who's managed to dodge quite a few enemies and make it a fair distance across the map. Still no sign of any other players.

[The Black Sword]

Bard could be from the Harpy event right? Is there any way to tell whether the Drama one is still there? Someone getting it already seems like a crazy tech pace.

You look well prepared for the Aristo switch.

[Tholal]

Bard could be from the Harpy event right? Is there any way to tell whether the Drama one is still there? Someone getting it already seems like a crazy tech pace.

Yes. The mouseover text for a tech will display the text 'First to discover receives a free <GP type>' if that tech has not yet been researched. Once the free GP has been acquired, it will no longer display that text.

You look well prepared for the Aristo switch.

The switch went fairly well. I realize that I should probably already have built a couple of more workers. But I'm first in GNP!



I'm also (somewhat surprisingly) 4th in total population. Hopefully that will change soon as I will found my sixth city next turn. Three players have size 9 cities (2 via the Charismatic trait - not sure what extra happy bonus the 3rd person is getting).

Researching Warfare. It will complete in 4 turns. Hopefully either Mance or Thormund will have reached level 6 by then.

I'll also be getting a Great Person in a couple of turns. Most likely a Sage. I'm thinking that a Golden Age might be nice, especially if I can build the Titan.

[Tholal]

Turn 68 update:

Received a Great Sage a couple of turns ago (from GP points in Urslo). Thought about starting a Golden Age but decided to build an Academy instead. I also considered using him to research Knowledge of the Ether - having a few early Shamans could be fun - but I think the long-term research bonus was the best decision.



Finished researching Warfare as well, and I have two units with 25 experience, but the flow of attackers from the Goblin Forts and Barrow have halted completely!


Met a Scout from Brian the Cambion last turn. First contact! Seemed like his Scout was coming from the southeast.

Here are some graphs I obtained from the encounter.






I also find out that the Sheaim have the greatest metropolis in the world! Of course, this news arrives via the Sheaim Scout, so perhaps his talk was a bit overblown.



My Scout then ran into a pack of 3 skeletons just to the east of Olricstaad. The scout will die, but hopefully those juicy targets will head towards my lands afterwards. I moved Tormund in that direction... just one more kill!





Finishing Festivals research this turn. Think I will go for Bronze Working next. From the growing score lead from the Hippus, and someone's massive crop harvests, I'm guessing that they used the Great Bard to research Sanitation.



I have quite a few troops, but someone still has ~50% more power according to the demos. I can't imagine that anyone else has built that many troops, so I'm guessing that someone has an Animal Capturing Scout and is scooping up the wildlife - possibly one of the Barbarian Trait players since the Scout would be able to avoid the regular Barbarians.

Overall I feel like I'm doing alright, but the Hippus early lead is worrisome, mainly because other players start becoming less interested in the game once they see that one player has a significant advantage.

[The Black Sword]

Yeah, that's one scary early crop yield.

Academy does seem to be the best choice for that GS, I imagine your empire could have a lot of room to grow before your first GA. Do you plan on cottaging Urslo at all or just more farms?