41 Vice: Commodicator/Pindore

[Commodore]

Not bad amount of workers!

Thanks, finally. Better than the 3 city/1 worker ratio earlier, at least. 

Things in Mali are pretty ho-hum, at the moment. Babylon is settling on our nice peninsula.

He's welcome as long as he doesn't push any further west.

Our chariot overcame a roadblock...

...and burned it, as that would have absolutely been a crash. This let us scout farther...

...to discover KRILL IS A MASSIVE DICK. Shocker?

I burned the great general for confidence in the ocean. Well worth it, and now let's go get IC-TRs. 

Superdeath also captured Ghuzz, the barbarian city. So that's a nice ripe target once we get the chariot over there. Although, will we be able to IC-TRs from this direction? When we capture his city to the south and the borders pop there will be an ocean-culture road, FWIW.

Finally, we added a nice filler cottage worker, named after the famous Vice President Dick Johnson.

No cities allowed out of first ring from the capital until the economy improves.

[Zed-F]

Is the cap settler for ICTR city or moai/canal city?

[Commodore]

Is the cap settler for ICTR city or moai/canal city?

Moai/canal/Stop Naufragar city to the north. We have an IC-TR city. 
The Battle of Aladdin
Civstats tells us that Superdeath whipped Aladdin, his southern island city. Another archer would be annoying, a galley could be disastrous. Fortunately, this extremely fecund city is on flatland, and my galley came loaded for bear, with a C1 axe and a shock skirmisher. The skirmisher died at ~25%, leaving the axe...

Yup. Frawress vitory! Stephens, nee Aladdin, comes without infrastructure but with TWO work boated fish and a plains hill mine. Kids, don't plant on flatland defending against Pro Mali. I thought we had this lesson learned before. I expect he'll delete his worker next turn. Pity, but he made great infra for me, and the Western Isles are opened.

Thar be GOLD in them thar (foodless?) hills.
Hopefully, further west lies Donovan Zoi; he has added to his Stonehenge and Oracle and Colossus and the HINDU SHRINE. Here it is, turn 75, 1000 BC, and I am going to confidently make a prediction about the game: Donovan Zoi is the win condition of the game. The person who captures his over-wondered, woefully under-expanded, beautiful little pinata of an empire will absolutely be the winner of PB 41. Fight my prediction, I dares yah.

[Mardoc]

Moai/canal/Stop Naufragar city to the north. We have an IC-TR city. 

Hmm, and yet your gold income went down.  What does it take to actually get those trade routes?  Out of revolt?  Out of revolt plus a coastal path?  Out of revolt plus a coastal path that doesn't go through Superdeath territory? Do trade routes go through ocean tiles with your culture on them, or is that only a help for galleys?

I see you're researching HBR - I'm guessing that's your strategy to finish off Superdeath?  Before or after Stephens pops borders?

Hopefully, further west lies Donovan Zoi; he has added to his Stonehenge and Oracle and Colossus and the HINDU SHRINE. Here it is, turn 75, 1000 BC, and I am going to confidently make a prediction about the game: Donovan Zoi is the win condition of the game. The person who captures his over-wondered, woefully under-expanded, beautiful little pinata of an empire will absolutely be the winner of PB 41. Fight my prediction, I dares yah.

How are you going to conquer infantry with your horse archers

[Commodore]

Moai/canal/Stop Naufragar city to the north. We have an IC-TR city. 

Hmm, and yet your gold income went down.  What does it take to actually get those trade routes?  Out of revolt?  Out of revolt plus a coastal path?  Out of revolt plus a coastal path that doesn't go through Superdeath territory?  Do trade routes go through ocean tiles with your culture on them, or is that only a help for galleys?

I see you're researching HBR - I'm guessing that's your strategy to finish off Superdeath?  Before or after Stephens pops borders?

I actually don't know the rule for ocean-in-culture. HBR is indeed to way to murder Superdeath; C1 horsse archers get even odds on his archers.

Hopefully, further west lies Donovan Zoi; he has added to his Stonehenge and Oracle and Colossus and the HINDU SHRINE. Here it is, turn 75, 1000 BC, and I am going to confidently make a prediction about the game: Donovan Zoi is the win condition of the game. The person who captures his over-wondered, woefully under-expanded, beautiful little pinata of an empire will absolutely be the winner of PB 41. Fight my prediction, I dares yah.

How are you going to conquer infantry with your horse archers

Lots of horse archers. He's looking at what, four build queues by turn 200?

[pindicator]

Lots of horse archers. He's looking at what, four build queues by turn 200?

To repurpose Archimedes: "Give me a horse army large enough and a navy on which to transport it, and I shall conquer the world."

[Commodore]

In a related thought, it looks like Superdeath might actually have one thing to say as a point of pride. I believe he has built more cities than DZ.

[Commodore]

Now for a competitor that is most assuredly building cities. BGNenu, hello boyo.

...I am absolutely scared of these guys. As you can see, they might have fewer plains tiles painted in their team colors, but they have 50% more citizens. In one fewer cities. Holy crap.

Pindicator had the wise and exciting insight here that we might well be best positioned to control circumnavigation. This is a big honking chunk of land we're looking at our competition having to head around. I...kind of want to go Alphabet next and make a play for it.

[Commodore]

...the first triad of victory: Mobility, Flexibility, and Initiative.

Superdeath whipped this turn. Given the amount of time spent, that had to have been a galley. It'll pop out of Vietnam at EoT, and...be one turn too late to save Ghuzz. Speed is essential in war, no matter the era. I'm hopeful that the capture of Ghuzz (nice food there barbs) and the sacking of Nubian (up north near chariot) will be enough to fund the remaining turns of HBR. If the time slips, it'll just be by a single turn. The toothache that is Vietnam needs clearing; that foodless gold will get settled for happy. IC-TRs will be enabled. Everything is better, once we can actually trade with all these wonderful acquisitions.

...I'll note flatland again. This is a theme, dude.

[Zed-F]

Superdeath can't choose whether the barbs settle on hills or flat. If he could, he might have chosen 2E for a better gold city. Of course then it would still be flat...