Zhonghua Wenming Jinian - The Annals of the Chinese Civilization

[Oxyphenbutazone]

You just took 3 cities with one chariot. I don't think sian is putting up at least token resistance

[thestick]

'If' being the key word here.

Jowy asked for Open Borders. This is either a sign of friendship or a sign of him wanting to scout out and invade his neighbor after Sian falls. I'm hoping it's the former, paranoid enough to believe the latter. We don't have trade routes because we're both at war with Sian, BTW.

I'm pillaging roads in neutral territory with my Chariots, both to slow down a potential counterattack and to use my Chariots as advance picketers.

Yanzhuang was settled:


Spike strip ho! This place cost me at least 10 GPT, yeesh. Religion will come in... T84?

I changed my mind on Ancheng. I was originally going to run it as a Great Person factory, but I'm going to keep its GP pool pure Engineers. Instead, it'll be a frontline labor camp.



Things are going according to plan in Ximen. The MoM will be completed EOT 84.



Notes to self:
-Workers become one-pop whips at 10/40 hammers with a Forge.
-Stop working the forest in Meiyuan. Forges are two-pop whips at 30/80 hammers, not 20.
-Swap to Worker in Yanggang, whip T83. Remember the first item on this list!
-Mardoc is making 17 GPT. Check back next turn to see if that's his 0% rate.

[thestick]

I approached the barbarian city of Zapotec:


Only Warriors, despite Sian and me having Archery? I'll take it! Heroic Epic, coming up! (PLEASE not let a scouting Jowyan War Chariot kill my 10 EXP Axe!)

Where to build the Epic? Probably Yanzhuang:


It makes 19 HPT working all mines and the Cows. For comparison, Ancheng and Huishan make 12 HPT, Ximen makes 13 HPT, and Yuedao makes 16 HPT.

Let's see, it's 134 hammers with a 2.5x multiplier, so... 53.6 hammers. Without a Forge, it's 59.6 hammers. Three forests left. Easy.

In domestic news, still going through the economic slump. Number of cities maintenance is through the roof:


GNP is tanking:


Because I'm valuing cottages, growth, and whipping Forges and Courthouses over Scientists:








Notes to self:
-Swap Yuedao to an Archer.
-Move the Galley in Kuanghai to Yanggang to, you know, pick up the Worker I'll whip.

[thestick]

After many years of sailing, we have found Fish, the harbringer of LAND!


Of course there's no way potential land can be settled pre-Astronomy... this is one big map.

Moai statues will complete in two turns:



On a general note, I'm unsure whether to build Courthouses in my first ring cities...


I mean, my CAPITAL has about as much maintenance as the next city. I guess this means I should stop building Courthouses and cut over to Scientists.

As of next turn, all the grassland riverside tiles in the central valley will be cottaged and worked.

I'm at -32 Imports-Exports because Mardoc and Jowy have defogged routes to my cities but I haven't to theirs. GNP at breakeven is 143 to Bob's 144, so that's nice.

City counts:
thestick: 13
Bob: 11
Mardoc: 10
Jowy: 9
Sian: 2

Notes to self:
-Stop building Axes. Horse Archers and Spears will be useful for many years to come, Axes are near obsolete.
-Remember to turn Civil Service research down to 0%, like you forgot to do after taking that screenshot.
-Build a Market in Kuanghai.

[thestick]

Notes to self:
-You are an idiot for not hiring four Scientists and picking up the 21 BPT in Kuanghai and 15 BPT in Meiyuan, both cities with obscene food surpluses. That is two-thirds of your current research rate. Fix that.
-Consider building the Temple of Artemis in Ximen for the Great Prophet points.
-Don't hire specialists in Yanggang, since the one-man Golden Age Scientist will come from Meiyuan in ~13 turns and the Prophet will come from Ximen. Grow onto Moai coast.
-Don't swap into Caste System, because Civil Service will come in before 5 turns and Bureaucracy can't wait.
-With the GNP improved, build a Settler in Qiming for the Copper city.
-Build the National Epic in Meiyuan. Build a Library in Qinglong.

[thestick]

Uh, to clarify, the reason none of us has built the Great Lighthouse is because we enjoy our open borders and/or are really bad at BTS, and not because it's banned, right?

It's because there's nearly no intercontinental trade routes, so it doesn't seem that productive.

Except...


Land ho! Come on, circumnavigation! (I'm wondering how Sian, with his cities facing south, would have theoretically settled this land.)

The Mausoleum of Cornflakes completed in Ximen:



In other news, Bob popped Silver, the only visible Silver source on the map:

[thestick]

Augh, all the discussion in PB16 and 17 is making me wonder if attacking Sian was the rational move. Especially since it seems like Jowy wanted peace with Sian, but couldn't get it. And when I offered peace, Sian rejected it, despite having an empty city.

I disgress. Mardoc built the Great Lighthouse, and so I cancelled Open Borders. I wasn't getting any trade routes with him, anyway. I'm a complete idiot for having two uncovered Workers roading to the Banana city that Mardoc can swipe... I should have waited until next turn to close borders to cover them.

Bob didn't embargo Mardoc.

I should have enough Gold to two-turn Civil Service next turn, especially considering the Barbarian city pillage gold. Economy is up to 25% breakeven.

Which means it's time to crash it again:



This land is looking better and better.


There aren't any Wines on the home continent.

Notes to self:
-Mardoc is making 10 GPT. It doesn't look to be his 0% since his GNP spiked last turn - check next turn.
-The Forbidden Palace requires 5 Courthouses on this 'Small' map. You have 4 built currently.
-SPAM MORE SETTLERS. Queue up a Settler in Huangkou after its Forge completes.
-You have too many troops on the Bob border and not enough in the Jungle. Ferry some over with your Galley.

[thestick]

The plan:

Bureaucracy comes in T88. I will swap into Caste System at that time. Worst case scenario, I pop the one-man Golden Age to help build the Epics and Wonders. Best case scenario, Jowy lounges around with Literature so long that I can grab the Music Great Artist (no Artists have been born yet).

Meiyuan:
85: 13/24 Food +6, 21/134 GP +6 (two Scientists)
86: 19/24 +6, 27/134
87: 13/25 +6, 33/134
88: 19/25 -2 39/134 +18
89: 17/25 -5 57/134 +21
90: 12/25 78/134
91: 7/25 99/134
92: 2/25 +0 121/134 +15
93: Swap into Slavery

Caste System also means settling new cities, since with an Artist and Hinduism I can pop borders the turn they're settled. First city is obviously the Gems/Banana city, assuming Mardoc doesn't swipe my Workers:


Though perhaps I should move it 1W to leave room for a Rice/Copper/Ivory city?

After much consideration, I decided that I would resettle Malcanthet on the Red Dot:


I was considering the Green dot, but it had no new resources and only one grassland to irrigate without tearing up riverside cottages.

Of course, the cautious side of me is screaming: 'Why are you settling into the face of your enemy while in Caste System?!?'

I feel this will work for the following reasons:
-Sian doesn't have Horses. Hovering over his only source says that it still needs a Pasture, meaning it isn't connected.
-With second-ring borders that I'll be able to pop instantly, Sian won't be able to get around this city, so I can get away with leaving Yanzhuang lightly defended.
-A Chariot on the Yellow Circle gives me visibility up to the Yellow Line and three turns to scramble defences.
-Sian may be checked out enough to let me get away with this.

[thestick]

Mardoc countered with Wheat/Wheat +OB, the implication being 'if you don't want me to swipe your Workers, sign OB with me.' I rejected, since I can cover all my Workers. Reoffered with Fish/Fish - want peace, just not OB.

Queued up Horse Archers to two-pop whip.

Great Scientist born in a faraway land.

[thestick]

Huangkou was whipped, though apparently 15/65 hammers with a Forge is still a 3-pop whip. Huh.



The North, along with Mardoc's Chariot which I pray won't snipe my Worker:



Still following the Krillian school of Civ with more Horse Archers:



In foreign affairs, Jowy apparently popped a Golden Age with his Great Library Great Scientist, and I bet he's going to grab Music.



In other news, I'm reconsidering the Temple of Artemis. Maybe the Apostolic Palace and the Spiral Minaret will produce that Prophet.