TheHumanHydra Loses His Head(s) [Spoilers]

[Fintourist]

But if I start running double specialists somewhere now, it will take 12 turns to get my first Great Person (11 in Dawn's Chancel, since I already ran a scientist there for a turn), which is about when I can have Civil Service if I start it in the next turn or two. Does that sound like a good idea?

Not saying you should do it, but you could do more or less the same move we did in PB18 (In PBEM45g I did basically the same thing, in PB13 I can't remember).
1. Produce a Great Person ASAP, tech CS and grow your capital
2. Start a GA, swap into Caste, (+ convert into religion)
3. Run scientists during the GA in at least one city and tech Monarchy (+ Monotheism/Theology?)
4. Use your new GS and get academy in your Buro-capital and swap into HR + your chosen Reli civic at the end of GA (and back to slavery probably)

The above is just one possible scenario, which has some logic in it. Other routes have merits as well and you need to take into account your conflict with Mardoc too.

[Krill]

That's essentially the same plan everyone should use for their first GA. It's the go-to tactic for building a mid game tech lead if you can get to Bureaucracy first (although usually doing it with the second GP is better, getting the early Academy with the first GS is often what gets a player into position to be the first to Bureaucracy).

[Fintourist]

That's essentially the same plan everyone should use for their first GA. It's the go-to tactic for building a mid game tech lead if you can get to Bureaucracy first (although usually doing it with the second GP is better, getting the early Academy with the first GS is often what gets a player into position to be the first to Bureaucracy).

I've found myself often too busy with horizontal expansion for that even earlier academy, but depending on capital quality it can be good (and surely the way to go with PHI).

[Krill]

Varies between different players and specific scenarios, but IIRC this game is base BtSwhere the extra early game production possible form slavery normally can open a window for na early library which is harder to get in RtR.

[Fintourist]

Varies between different players and specific scenarios, but IIRC this game is base BtSwhere the extra early game production possible form slavery normally can open a window for na early library which is harder to get in RtR.

True, and for the same reason CRE also helps a lot in making the early academy a viable play (stating the obvious for the sake of completeness, I just mentioned PHI above)

[Krill]

Stating the obvious is good

[TheHumanHydra]

^ Especially for someone dense, like me.

It seems I may have messed up, because BtS whips plus Cre meant I got libraries a while ago. I was just always enticed by the lure of working foodhammer and cottage tiles over specialists (and someone told me my capital sucked, so not to bother with an early Academy ).

Some form of a Golden Age into Hereditary Rule and Civil Service, in one order or the other, seems to be the consensus (and has the endorsement of Krill). I'm hearing a plurality of opinions, though, on which order (only one of which is endorsed by Krill ). I will have to weigh the advantages of Organized Religion and Hereditary Rule versus Bureaucracy for the six (nine?) turns of the Golden Age. Thanks for your thoughts, all (and more are always welcome!). Thanks for reading and your thoughts, Krill!

[Krill]

The most important thing to do is to come up with a plan to win which normally means figuring out how to kill someone (or preferably take all their land without fighting). Figure out how to do that and everything else is memorization. i.e. a good tech rate is only important if you need tech to accomplish a goal.

[TheHumanHydra]

The most important thing to do is to come up with a plan to win which normally means figuring out how to kill someone (or preferably take all their land without fighting). Figure out how to do that and everything else is memorization.

Hm, yes, I hadn't thought that far ahead, besides grandiose visions. My goal for this game was mostly 'make a good showing of it,' i.e., 'play competently and don't make the massive emotion-driven errors for which you're making a name for yourself.' Now that I seem to be in a good enough position that I have at least an even (1/4) shot at victory, for now, I suppose I should think about that. The difficulty is, of course, that conquering someone will be much more difficult on this map, with its narrow choke-points, land and naval, its bodies of water separating home islands from mainland, and, nevertheless, its lack of wide expanses of water by which to launch Sirian Doctrine (I know I'm abusing the term) -style strikes. There are advantages to be found in all this for the conqueror, too, though (easier to defend your other borders, harder for your enemy to reinforce). I will have to ponder this more, in particular as I see the geopolitics and relative tech-rates unfold.

i.e. a good tech rate is only important if you need tech to accomplish a goal.

This is mind-blowing.

[TheHumanHydra]

Excessively Detailed Turn 70 Report

Two important pieces of news, the first of which actually happened last turn, but I forgot to report it: Miguelito revolted to Representation, and Alhazard completed the Mausoleum of Mausollus in his capital. For the record, I was three turns short; I would have finished it eot72 with exact hammers (by coincidence). However, this is also an opportunity, for we now have gold in the bank almost sufficient to power us through to Civil Service, while I realized Dawn of Planet, in which I had fortuitously whipped my sole market recently and which can thus run four specialists, could generate my first Great Person in roughly the same time frame. The sudden much closer proximity of Civil Service and its tech-boosting powers decided me on this path.




Two turns to reach (temporary) maximum size, then give the cottages to its neighbours and run two merchants and two scientists off of the corn and flood plains. And yes, I thought I would go through the cities this turn, as I don't think I've done that in this thread yet and this is a reasonable milestone (a few turns from getting two new happiness resources, most cities near their current maximum size, embarking on an important project). That was the capital, now for:




The spear build is just in case I need an 'emergency' whip. This is where I had been planning to generate my first Great Person; now it might be my second.




I may do a quick whip here next turn for happiness reasons, before growing it like a weed.




I dumped Virgin Planet's massive whip overflow into a settler last turn, thinking I had to hold it off from growing past its happy cap, but now I realized I want it to grow as fast as possible into the silver and spice happiness, and don't particularly want another settler while rushing for a tech bottleneck at 40% break-even. Oops.




I figure since I set this place up with so many mines to build the Mausoleum of Mausollus and its cottageable terrain isn't that good, this might be a good place to run wealth builds in future.




I whipped a worker here last turn and overflowed exactly into the axe it needs to defend against an encroaching barb warrior this turn.




Whip thee a courthouse next turn, O Haven of Locusts (and then finish thy library for the gems).




Overflows into a spear, two-thirds of a library, or half of a courthouse next turn. Not sure which yet.




Whips its granary next turn.




Walls first?! Maybe.

Overview shots:







We still need to decide which of X, Y, and Z to to move the settler to next turn. I'm tentatively in favour of Z at the moment (see my previous report for why).

Other screens, randomly:







(These are more for my and the other players' reference later.)







After ending turn.

Finally, the long-awaited (?) graphs (still not enough points on Mardoc yet):













Demographics, before and after, because I can't make up my mind:







That is all.