TZ moved their CG3 warrior from the fog to the tile 1N of Sternum. They have also switched builds, and have 6H invested into the new one, but are not yet in slavery. So I've managed to delay their work boat with a turn, good.
With Sternum potentially capable of 2-turning warriors and a road between their cities I see little reason for further offensive actions. Stark pillages the farm for 4g, and I promote Citron with C1. Tough call between the combat and guerilla lines, really, and I'd have preferred to defer it a bit, but I need the promotion to heal.
Fröderyd will be founded next turn, and the mine is already being prepared. I will probably open with building a skirmisher there, not a granary - I with impis and raging barbs soon I will need units.
Demos and C&D
One team has chopped a bit, probably AT. The GNP of the other teams has started to take off, quite possibly helped by known tech bonuses, but in the case of TZ and Catwalk non-trivial amounts of it is culture.
One thing that I'm thinking of right now is if I can go via Polytheism instead of Meditation towards Priesthood, and still get Priesthood on T35. My current micro-plan hos no margins at all, but I've picked up a couple of bonus beakers from known techs, but not that many. I had 3 with Pottery, and might have picked up a few more now with BW, and I have 4g from pillaging TZ's farm, but those need to be turned into beakers.
To go via Polytheism instead of Meditation, I will need 14 more base beakers, and I only have about 6 right now...
My domestic units do their thing. Ouch on the maintenance costs here: -4gpt with only the second city.
With 4g in hand, I can delay the 100% gold turn. Will have to do some calculations if it's better to do it now or wait a bit. The rounding here bites us in the ass either way, though I think more in the save-gold-this-turn case.
Beaker micro-management
BW is at 89/96 this turn.
BW this turn: (17C + 1b) * 1.275 = 22
(22 - 7) / 1.275 = 11b overflow into Mysticism
BW T29, BW is at 90/96 T28, and Ryd has switched to a cottage:
But then I will have to delay working the cottage with 1t, so I will end up with 13g next turn and a lost cottage-turn, not a good trade-off. And I won't get the mine until T32, so can't use that to gain lost hammers in the skirmisher.
In short: it seems I gain 3b at the cost of 2g by delaying BW and stockpiling gold this turn. I will continue to follow the micro-plan.
To leave the beaker micro-management, Sternum has 20H in something, ie TZ has chopped a second forest and probably into an impi. He should get it at the end of turn, so Citron and Stark retreat to the pass. All in all, I've managed to pick up the following during the early skirmishes:
Delayed their first worker with 3t
Pillaged their rice (4 worker-turns) for 4g
Delayed their workboat with approximately 3t
Forced them to put a chop into an impi
3 points towards a GG, compared to 1 for him
Now I need to avoid them doing the same to me. To that end, the first build in Fröderyd won't be a granary - I will build a skirmisher first.
My two cities and an empire overview
Ryd
Working a grass forest this turn, but will get its first cottage T28.
Fröderyd
The silver mine will complete T29, 1t before growth to size 2.
We also get our first real barb unit after I ended turn, to my east.
Demos and C&D
Nothing happened on the foreign front last turn, but this turn we get a lot of changes!
TZ get a tech, AT gains a pop point, and Catwalk gets both! As shown in the city screen, AT's capital didn't grow, so he planted his second city this turn, and it is Catwalk's second city that grew to size 3, not his capital.
The changes in power comes from AT reaching pop 4 total. I think the low GNP is AT stockpiling gold.
Yeah, I definitely need you to play tomorrow and until Sunday. Just follow the micro plan here, I think.
I didn't check the notices when I opened the save, but Hinduism got founded, by either TZ or Catwalk. Better to go via Mysticism -> Meditation then - we would want Polytheism later on, but better to get to Priesthood ASAP without delay.
Checking the demos for T22, it seems the correct turn sequence is that techs and resources go first, then production, then culture. So if a religion is founded in a city, then the holy city culture is applied the same turn. (Any knowledgable lurker who can confirm this?)
Catwalk has already expanded the borders of his second city, so a religion wouldn't impact his cultural borders that much. TZ's second city reached 6 culture, and expanded borders anyway, so there's not much help there either. It added 8 land tiles, which would fit with a placement on their plains hill 3SW of Sternum.
But TZ of course doesn't have Mysticism yet, so we can note down Polytheism for Catwalk. Wonder if he's planning on a culture victory?
That leaves TZ's tech, in 4t and without a power score. I think Pottery is the most likely candidate here. The way his GNP spiked T27 and then fell to barely above ours points to a heavily-discounted tech, and Pottery certainly fits (1.55 multiplier from discounts and known tech).
As for the third city. Not many thoughts yet. More scouting data needed. But we can get hints from TZ and Catwalk.
TZ went for the PH, which I think we can assume contains copper; Catwalk went for the banana. Both are decent placements, but I think I prefer the PH - more defensible, and probably more food long-term.
Another option is to go for horses to our west, but we can claim those with Fröderyd as well. I will definitely want some chariots to scout and fogbust with, but with TZ nearby I think copper will have to take priority.
BTW, I've tried to look you up on the chat this evening, are you available soon?
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
![[Image: rbpbem42-sot27-demos.jpg]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10039024/rbpbem42-sot27-demos.jpg)
![[Image: rbpbem42-sot28-demos.jpg]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10039024/rbpbem42-sot28-demos.jpg)
![[Image: rbpbem42-sot28-cities.jpg]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10039024/rbpbem42-sot28-cities.jpg)
