[SPOILERS] JR4 tries his luck in PB 37

[JR4]

TURN 90

We didn`t quite manage to get top crop yield by turn 90 but we were pretty close (5 less than the leader in a solid second). Chubei was whipped to get out a spear to act as defense for the worker that`s going to chop down the forests N of the city. We`ll get a bit overflow as well. Muqa continued its settler. It costs 3 population to whip it now which was a bit expensive. Next turn a whip anger point will go away so maybe we should just do it anyway.. We`ve got a lot of good options of where to send it, like the marble island or the 4 food spot to the NW of Borte. Of course we need a settler out on the plains hill islands with lots of goodies. Borte and Oghul Qaimish can build settlers next. These next 10 turns are vitally important for us now.

When is the right time to whip Kokejin`s granary? It works a coast and a forest which are non-ideal tiles. If we whip it now it`s going to take a while to get to size 3.

The bug that lets the other party keep control of the tile with less culture invested allowed Joey to keep hold of the lake another turn. On turn 91 we`re taking it, hopefully for good. Btw, he built The Great Wall! That`s not so scary as the Pyramids would have been.

I think we`re ready to go full research on turn 92.

[JR4]

Graphs and demos: Joey got an increase in food. Dark Savant keeps building units. We need to be very careful about him. It`s probably just tensions between him and one of his neighbors but our cities on the eastern sea are quite close now.

[RefSteel]

I'd definitely whip Kokejin's granary right away. With the two 1f tiles whipped away and 4 less food required to grow 2-3 instead of 4-5, it'll grow EoT92 with a full granary. Waiting a turn would grow it the same turn, but without a full granary, effectively trading 6 food for 2 hammers and 2 coins.

I think I'd whip Muqa's settler too, unless worker and ship positioning are such that it wouldn't save us any time on the next city. That would let Chubei borrow the plains cow this turn (instead of the lake it's working) and I'm okay with leaving the plains cottage unworked for a turn to get the next city out faster. There'd be a lot of overflow as well.

[RefSteel]

Wait ... GJ built the Great Wall? Why isn't the graphic showing up around his borders? Did he build it in an island city or something? Or was it someone/something else? (Or, wait, does the graphic only show up around culture that's contiguous with the building city at the time the wonder completes? I don't remember; if so, then maybe he just built it in an isolated city in "Chinese" lands or something...)

[EDIT: I don't think I ever answered this from last night: I wouldn't start working scientists yet I think, because I suspect we want our first GP to be a priest for our shrine. Which leads to the question of our tech path after Currency....]

[JR4]

I went ahead and whipped Muqa and Kokejin. As Kokejin were working pretty weak tiles it makes sense to whip them away. We could have waited a turn to whip out the settler but having more cities sooner is good. It can hop on the galley next turn if we want to build another island city. Muqa could start a Lighthouse/Library next turn.

The Great Wall wasn`t visible on the map for some reason. Well, he`s hardly building it to stop barbs from entering Greek borders!

[JR4]

Here`s a screenshot of Muqa. It`s a bit sad to whip it almost to the ground.
   

I just saw your edited post. We could delay building an Academy for a while. Getting that shrine is going to be awesome but it`s going to take some time. When we finish Currency there is a good argument for going Iron Working next. I`d also like to slip in Horseback Riding at some point. Code of Laws would be a very good tech for us as well, but it`s quite expensive. We could back fill Masonry or go for Organized Religion instead..

EDIT: Joey had moved another Phalanx into his front city. (He has two phalanxes and two archers there). If he has two workers down in the fog he could in principle move on Oghul Qaimish. I`ll feel safer when the spear returns in a few turns.

[JR4]

TURN 91

The settler in Muqa moved on the galley. The plan is to settle the marble city on turn 93. Muqa started a work boat that`ll net the crabs on turn 94. As the new city won`t have any garrison for the first few turns we might want to start an archer after the work boat is done. The spear in Chubei is finished and joined the worker 1E of the city that`ll go north next turn. It has been busy building a farm for the last couple of turns.

Kokejin started a Lighthouse as it`s a very useful building. Chubei`s soon completed missionary can spread Buddhism there for the border pop.

It was quite hard to decide whether to whip Toregene now or wait until next turn. I opted for the latter. My reasoning is that whipping it down to size 3 is bad for our economy and we`ll whip it next turn instead, saving a population point.

Have a look at the landscape W of Nambui. Yes, that`s right, there is a forest growth on that very tile Joey chopped down. I can`t remember us having had one single forest growth so far. It`s bad luck. Also, we finally got control over that disputed lake tile. Nice!

[JR4]

Graphs and demos: Joey is building a bit more military but nothing too scary. Also, our mfg took a big hit this turn as Muqa `s mines were whipped away. It`ll regrow quickly to work them again, though. Btw, we`re spending 2 EP on Gavagai and Couerva respectively. Annoyingly, Couerva has all EP directed at us so getting his graphs will take a while.

[RefSteel]

Looks good. I broadly agree on Toregene unless its whip anger has all run out. One suggestion in the north: I would let Chubei work the good tiles so Muqa can work the mines. Since Muqa has no multiplier buildings yet, there's no urgency to growing it so long as all the good tiles up there can be worked by one or the other of the two cities, and I'm inclined to prefer the mines over the non-lighthouse lakes. I don't know what the beaker/gold situation is like in detail though, so if the (little) extra commerce is important, that's certainly fine.

[JR4]

I set Muqa to work the mines as they`re very good tiles in their own right. Heh, it seems that I`m a bit too eager on working those lakes! The point behind it is of course to get Currency faster. In this case, however, you`re probably right. Turn 93 is going to be a very good one for us as long as we`re left alone. We`re getting our 10th city as well as 5(!) population increases if I counted right.

We might be able to squeeze out an eot 95 Currency, though t96 is looking more likely. I still think we should turn on science next turn to get it asap, working non-ideal tiles a turn if needed. At max science we`re making 103 beakers now, a number that`ll increase steadily in the coming turns (as will our expenses).

Oh, I almost forgot. The big news of the turn is that Couerva got a Great Scientist! That`s early.