[SPOILER] PB37: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the most aggressive of them all?

[Krill]

Er what?

[Krill]

Turn 74

All pictures from end of turn.

   

Gav moved as expected, archer onto the hill, and he saw both chariots and the worker. The axe backed off, the spear covered the worker. With the cow south of spear on a roaded tile, I had to retreat the chariots as Gav could have declared, roaded forwards and killed one chariot, and I seriously doubt he would have taken much damage (unless he had my level of luck versus Ventessel).

The barb warrior consequently suicided into the archer, lowering it to 2.6 health (one lost round, 87hp remaining, 50% odds of this result or better). Gavagai did not slave anything last turn, but Konya could be 2 pop or not, so I need to accept that an addition unit is available for defence and a few turns from being able to push forward and cover a forward plant.


   

The barb city that was founded is now going to affect my dot map, but I'm going to capture it at size 2 and keep it. Saving the 100 hammers for the settler is enough to make me think "Fuck it, we'll do it live".

Due to R1012 being a holy city and building Oracle, borders pop in something like 20 turns to 60%. That gives me vision from the peaks and an easier route to attack any forward plant, either by a stack of 2 movers without opening myself to collateral or by a slow mover stack giving only one turn of reply. This is important, as it means Gavagai will never be able to hold a front city with anything but the troops he has ion the ground. Whips are irrelevant.

You'll also note that this is the point where Quechua actually matter. The best odds against the archer are with the quechua! (OK, the C4 axe gets odds, but then that gets odds on everything except longbows in defensive terrain at this point or maces). With 2 axes, 2 spears, 2 chariots and a quechua, Gav needs to consider if he can forward plant. He can see both workers, and if he is paying attention he will note that R101 grew to size 5 eot72, so will figure that I can't whip the settler until T76. He is wrong if this is the case, because I carried overflow into the settler, and already dumped hammers into it, but I think he will go ahead with the settler plant on the southern plains hill on T76, moving the settler forward under the stack of axe, spear and archer and basically dare me to attack him.

At that point I get to declare, walk in, and see what I can do to grab a block of time to finish up IW, SOZ and HE and then consider my position. Or he can back down and I'll have misplayed this, or he could just go batshit crazy and start whipping everything into the ground. I'm actually good with most of these, because I still have odds against that 3 unit stack if he doesn't reinforce.

Fun times.

[Krill]

Regarding tech, I think this is an interesting situation.

I want Sailing for an island city, that gives immediate 7cpt. I have always planned on marble city but given the lack of resources there I am starting to think that is a bad idea and I need to eat the hammer cost on HE. I need a WB for the whales and WP is crippled already so getting out a galley and another WB for seafood there is difficult. If there is no seafood and marble is on a one time island with no access or food until Calendar I'll feel annoyed. I want a lighthouse in 12M, I am halfway through a workboat, there is visible seafood and I have 3 forests to chop. Going west is better for an island city.

IW, I need this to make a SE border city with Gav, and to hook up the gems. The city gives only 2cpt and steals a food resource, but after 14 turns makes 20cpt. So the sooner I get this settled the better. Earlier IW lets me hook a banana, or rather farm it to speed up the hose numbers, but the ideal micro is impossible due to tech constraints. I need IW 3 turns before growing to size 3, which is 7 turns after planting. IE IW must be researched by eot84. I also benefit from having IW before HE, so I can hook iron and go straight onto sword builds. However building a few 4 promo axes and spears si not a problem, good stack units.

Lit, I need this after I finish SoZ. I don't want Lit any later than 2 turns after I finish SoZ, one turn to build a scout, second turn to overflow into HE. An 8 XP scout is the medic 2 unit. I finish SoZ...eot85? So I want Lit no later than eot87.

So...how do I get IW eot84, Lit eot87 and Sailing ASAP for an island city?

Answer is I don't. The library finishes eot76. That pushes bpt up to 42ish, add in the extra beakers from cottages t79 and 81 at WP, extra lake tile at 12M, new city means 50 base bpt easy. So what I need to do is to start tech before I finish the library and burn down what I have now, which is 91 gold in the bank at -11gpt. Go Sailing and whip a galley. Single whip the WB, dump overflow into a galley, single whip again, use a chop to seed the lighthouse, whip that as needed, maybe use a second chop.

Don't go temple second at R101. Grow to size 6 in 1 turn then go settler, pick up both hills for 22hpt and settler eot82...or do go temple second and whip a settler from WP eot85, and accept R101 is one turn behind on settler movement. If settler in R101 then WP can grow into cottages, new cottage every 2 turns plus the whales. If settler in WP then T98 shrine. I think growing WP is better, temple after settler delays shrine 5 turns, so no Biggie.

So Sailing...I need that galley eot83. So whipped t83, dump overflow from previous WB except I will have already finished it...so perhaps, whip the lighthouse? Whip that t81, dump a chop t82 and then whip again t83 Sailing is a 3 turn tech after t77...but I'll need to have it eot79 and I don't know how much I trust my maths and Gavagai. So maybe start it no later than t76. IW takes 6 turns at 50base bpt. So I need that started T79. The fur and growth shouldn't affect those numbers.

OK this is looking more reasonable. Start Sailing T75 or T76, then IW and don't slow down until IW is done, and then the extra commerce should carry Lit to completions by around eot90 or sooner. Settling an island city can't happen until t88. Gems aren't hooked and worked until t88, but I should reach 75 base bpt by those turns, so I'm not far from finishing Lit.

[Krill]

   

Assyrian should be at 9/22, growing eot80. The axe can kill the final warrior T81. Gavs worker should finish the road next turn and then plant a city on the southern plains hill on T77. Due to the roads if he does anything else I can either immediately settle 114 or 113 (why I would do that I don't know) and invalidate any forward plant of his, but I'd rather settle for the jungle gems.

WP is on avoid growth, hits 22/22 eot then grows eot77, 78, 80.

R101 puts one turn into the settler T77 and grows to size 6 then finishes settler eot82, grow@7 eot85, temple eot86, and GP eot100 for shrine T101. At size 7 working a priest R101 makes 20 foodhammers working the flood plain or 21 working the second hill. Size 8 and 9 are easily attainable however require building units, barracks or library.

   

Micro changes slightly. It would be possible to double whip a galley and use the current settler from r101 but that delays hooking the jungle resources. Double whipping the lighthouse is better imo but then I'm really looking at booking the sheep and mining that hill, then whipping with a lowest size of size 5 seems most effective.

With Gavs push I only need three more settlers for the land that is not jungle encrusted, so I should be able to get one of these from each of R101, 12M and WP by T91 easily. Then it's about moving onto islands, building units to support killing people and spreading religion. Really want Gold and to build SP in R101 so don't need to tech Theo or Monotheism, but need med for monasteries.

   

[Krill]

Gav didn't plant this turn when I expected him to.

Fuck.

[Krill]

   

No. But Gav obviously saw the units I had available and is reconsidering his options about how to plant forward. Maybe he delays it a bit, but I think he has put himself into a position where he has to plant forward onto the plains hill to not have an easily forked Samsun and Konya. But that puts him against R101 which will crush him culturally because once I get the shrine that's 18 culture, so easy 20 culture with a library is what he has to consider. Once R101 hits 60% he is in a position where he needs to maintain strong garrisons at two front cities against myself and Dark Savant, with long supply lines and I have teh tech lead with Boudicca. His hope has to be that I've totaled my economy (and my CY sucks but as my MFG is decent I can still expand, and have no threat on the northern front).

So what does Gav do? Well He might decide he has to become aggressive and try to attack me, which means heading for HBR but he must know I have a GG and Oracle, so he might realize I have tried to rush HE, or I took Maths and I'm close to Catapults with a potential for WE to take over Ventessel and an easy defense plus expanding away from him allows me to recuperate via expansion

So no wonder he tried to signal for friendship. The only other option is to threaten warfare to try and stop me taking out Ventessel and Gav knows I'll merrily reply by destroying his game if he gives me the chance for a fun brawl. I think he has played himself into a position where he is regretting planting so greedily; Konya should have been settled 2W like I thought he would have done.

Oh well, at least I get a choice who to attack now.

BTW, researching Sailing I'm #1 GNP by over 10, so even with 20 culture per turn I'm doing OK IMO.

[Krill]

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Just posting for my own benefit. I misjudged city cost, it delays tech a lot. IW would finish eot84 at the earliest, more likely 85, pushing back Lit to eot93 at the earliest and HE eot99 with a bunch of overflow tricks and whips. Going Lit now means I finish SoZ eot86 and with a mine on a desert hill and burning food I could get HE eot94? Whip tricks don't really help here. I don't know the right move.

   

Easy micro, need to finish this settler and then grow on a temple. Overflow 9 hammers eot82, need 62 hammers. Over 4 turns need 35 food to grow 2 pop sizes which is not doable...unless I make 9fpt for the 4 turns. Growth over 5 turns is much easier, need to consider that. Also have to consider need to spread religion for gold and border pops, I need another unit city for support, R101 can mix units, missionaries and GP duty easily enough.

   

Grow. Get Workboat asap, mine the grass hill next turn and work it, finish WB eot82 and then swap off the hill. I want WP working as many cottages as possible, so want to max it out at the happy cap and 2 turn growth until size 7. That means 3 cottages and 2 hill mines, 10hpt. Whip cycle on settlers? Probably.

   

Double whip the lighthouse, single whip galley, regrow on another Workboat? I'll need to scout and inner ring seafood will be best way to grow island cities. Definitely on a whip cycle bottoming out at size 5. Need to be flexible but galleys and Workboat...

   

Run the numbers for granary at size 2 if I don't go IW next. 4 turns on rice, 1 on the, 6 hammers saved. Then hill mine and rice for 1 turn and chop the fur forest, whip t84, regrow t87, t90 to size 3 with nothing more to work? I still prefer the IW plan but need to nail down micro here and at AF.

Can someone log in for me and change tech back to IW at max tax please? Password is "REPAIR"

[Krill]

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[Krill]

I need someone to log in, keep tech at max tax, and to change research to IW please. Password is "REPAIR". Anyone can do that so long as they don't make any changes to anything else.

[Thoth]

I tried. Couldn't log into the game (game says "connecting to peer" and stalls). From the looks of the tech thread, this seems to be a problem with the server I think.