[spoiler]Pindicator's pb80 thread

[pindicator]

I hope I can be more creative than this title.

Depending on when this game kicks off, I'll either be searching for a lurker to play out my first turns while I'm away next week - or if we don't get it running until Thursday or Friday then I probably just sit on it.  Basically if I have time to plan out a start then I can get a plan for a lurker to follow.

[Dreylin]

I can remain unspoiled and help out if needed.

[pindicator]

Sure, if i can get a plan together before I leave, that would be great to have someone pilot.

[pindicator]

So I've run about half a dozen test maps and half of the time I ended up with a large stretch of green, rivered lands - very lush - covered in forests and completely bereft of bonus tiles.

Someone is going to get screwed.

I kind of hope it's me.

[greenline]

Which is better: a torusland quality grass puke bowl with no resources, or a barren stretch of plains without rivers that has some cows and wheats here and there?

[pindicator]

Oh yeah, PB71 was a fun map. I guess I've already done the barren plains without rivers recently

[pindicator]

Well, this certainly is lush




Edit: I've also rolled Mao (EXP / PRO) of Mongolia.

Going to sleep and I'll think on my play in the morning. Obviously we want to get IW unlocked ASAP

[scooter]

Well, this certainly is lush

Sorry.

[pindicator]

First Idea is to put cities W of the cow and 2E of the cow.  We'll be able to share the abundant food, and have room to share again with further cities.  I'm not sure how the modifiers for EXP's workers boost will line up with the 120 points, but I'm hoping it lets me grab 3 workers instead of 2.  That will mean 4 workers at the start, and being able to hook up the cow on the first turn.  Pigs and chopping out the wb next, then cottages and mines.  Downside is I will be relying on PRO archers to deal with raging barbarians.  Tech has to be IW first here to get the gems and other resources available.  Then just your normal expand & conquer routine, looking for the quality of the start to win you the game.  We should get the horses into 3rd ring relatively soon from the holy city.

Maybe we can use that island to speed up early commerce and get Iron Working faster?  Capital goes E of the red circle, City #2 goes N-NW of the Fish.  Of course, there's no guarantee that is an island, so this is probably a bad idea.

[pindicator]

Testing shows that workers will cost me 48g instead of 60g in RtR, and that work boats will get no discount. That is ... disappointing. I'll just save 24g - not enough for even a second archer.

It may be better for me to use 33g for population points in both cities and then whip out workers. 66g + 48g = 114g, so I would be under budget. T0 would be revolt to slavery. Would take 4 turns to get to 20h in the box to allow a whip, so whips would be on T5, workers emerging T6. Bonus is that giving a population point in Advanced Start also fills the foodbar halfway so I would be at size 1 with 12/22 food in both cities starting T6. The initial 2 workers probably chop out granaries.

No wait - I'll have 36g if I buy 3 workers because the first mandatory worker is also discounted. So I could do that and buy a work boat for the fish.

I guess I need to test these out. Leaning towards the population + whip method because it lets me chop out granaries while waiting on the initial workers - then when I have 4 workers they can all go improve tiles. If I just go 3 workers then they have to compete priorities of chopping granaries & improving tiles.

Edit: Now I'm getting workers at 44g apiece... which would let me buy 4 workers at the start. Maybe I had some setting wrong in my first test?