[PB74 spoilers] Plemo in epic contest

[Plemo]

Surprisingly, the great lighthouse is now with me.



Within one turn, the effect on the GNP is quite high.



Despite another city, my income increases by 20 gold, 18 come from the lighthouse.



If I turn up the research slider, I am even first in GNP.



Since there are only a few places left to found, I can slowly start with vertical growth, build barracks and prebuild units. Some libraries are still needed for culture.

[Plemo]

Another little update. While things are reasonably peaceful where I live, war is raging in other countries:
Gav has conquered a city from Xist and destroyed one;
DZ has destroyed one of Metal's cities;
Scooter has conquered a city from GT.

My power is currently appropriate for the neighborhood.



Only Tarkeel is a bit annoying. Out of necessity, I show my chariot and whip the spear. Otherwise I might have surprised them.



The border with SD is stable. Only the planned filling city could be a bit annoying. In the end, not bad that the library was whipped in Birka.



Demo looks very good despite saving. Turned up for math. After that I have to think. Construction, calendar or currency. Monarchy without a golden age makes no sense for now.

[Plemo]

In the last few rounds I have been thinking intensively about the plan and discussed it on Civforum. Pyramids were only briefly on the table, as SD also had stones and is also industrial. Alternatively, I had thought about failgold, but SD built the pyramids much earlier than anticipated and also on the other border of the empire.

That left two decisions to make. The first was whether to try to build the gardens. In the end, I could have built them in turn 95 to 96 without much effort, and with better planning or luck even a turn earlier. In the end, I decided against it because they were too uncertain and could have had a negative impact on my second decision. I found them particularly uncertain because two of my neighbors alone had math 4 rounds ahead of me. Considering my BSP values in the demo, some more nations should know math before me, especially GKC (IND/PRO) is a very good candidate, as he bulbed math 13 turns ahead of me. Under normal circumstances I expect the gardens to be up within the next 5 turns.

The second decision concerned the further tech path, which I am still keeping open. Strengthen the economy via calendar or conquer land militarily with construction.

If you have any questions, simply ask.

[Plemo]

A small positive outlook for the somewhat larger round 100 update. 
 

After wasting a few turns producing units, I decided to try building the gardens after all. If it doesn't work out, I can put the failgold to good use.

Maybe I can get marble, then I would also try the mausoleum.

[Qgqqqqq]

Thanks for the update Plemo.

What's the plan from here?

[Plemo]

At Civforum there was a question why I still build so many ancient units.

I build the ancient stuff for two reasons:
1. deterrence and
2. respect for the horse affinity (therefore more spearmen than usual).

For a catapult war, I can either use them as wiping units or as a hedge on the other empire border.

Also, I was asked if the Mausoleum is worth it, since I'm in a very good position, and I'd rather save the GAs for the Industrial Age (except for one to switch state forms).

I wanted to use a GA as standard for the change and use it to breed the next GP. Theoretically, I could have the mausoleum ready in time even without marble. Without war, it should be worthwhile even with only one GA, since each round of GA means about 60 hammers and 80 gold more. Theoretically, I could also imagine a second 12-round GA right before researching nationalism to build the Taj.

On the other hand, I find the suggestion to try the pyramids interesting. Unfortunately, it is on the western border and Picca is unlikely to be enthusiastic. I could rather imagine the following division and leave the pyramids to Picca.



For Tarkeel, I would like to move the borders as follows.



The military research would probably look like this.



The civilian path looks like this.



Production remains military.

[Plemo]

The effect of the gardens expressed in the demo values.

Before



After



And some gaphs








 
I hope to post an outlook with the current rating of the other players tomorrow.

[Plemo]

There are a few statistics to assess the players:

Original grouping:

...
Tier 1 (players who should be the winner under normal circumstances):
Gavagai, Commodore, Plemo, Miguelito, Tarkeel, Pindicator
Tier 2 (players with potential, but who need neighborhood help to win):
Amicalola, Magic Science, Dreylin, Scooter, Piccadilly, Donovan Zoi
Tier 3 (remainder):
Superdeath, Hubabl, Greenline, Bing, General Kill Cavalry, GT, Xist10
...

Points in round 101:


Wonders:

- Gav: Stonehenge (R40), Shrine (R90)
- Pind: Oracle (R71), Shrine (R98)
- Mig or GKC: Colossus (R80)
- Me: Lighthouse (R81), Gardens (R100)
- SD: Pyramids (R89)
- Bing?: Great Wall (R101)



Religions (free choice):

R19 Pind (meditation, polytheism?), R41 Greenline (meditation, polytheism?), R66 Gav (monotheism?), R91 Mig (theology bulb), R94 Commodore? (code of laws?)


Great People:

General: R45 Tarkeel? (against Dreylin), R86 Gav? (conquered cities of Xist), R92 ??
Scientist: R74 (GKC Math Bulb)
Prophet: R89 Gav (Stonehenge), R91 Mig (Obelisk), R97 Pind (Oracle)

In the end, my assessment of the other players was/is pretty accurate. Surprises so far are Scooter and Bing. Without my intervention, Tarkeel would definitely be in the top5.

Outlook:

Commodore is doing very well in terms of points, without any miracles. He is probably the technology leader with Darius. In particular, he has also benefited from the early bronze find.

Pind is particularly well positioned due to his wonders, but also due to cheaper libraries and early cheaper ziggurats. He also found a classic tech and got one from the oracle.

If Mig has the Colossus, as I suspect, he should also be in a very good position with Roosevelt. In the end, I was lucky that he didn't build the lighthouse. They will probably set up a religious economy.

Gav is FIN, has a shrine and already has a conquest, so he's definitely in a good position.

From the demo values and my current savings rate (+93 before currency), I'm doing well. The question is whether I want to wage a catapult war or wait for Berserker and take an amphibious approach.

[Qgqqqqq]

What's Commosores bronze find?

Really appreciate the summary and analysis!

[Plemo]

I think I wasn't precise enough with deepl. I meant that Commodore had found bronze working in a hut very early on.