Turn 100 Update
Well, the second 50 turns went better than the first 50 turns, I think. I’ve been able to recover from a poor start well enough where I’m not necessarily a sitting duck. I’m still last and my chances of winning are slim to none, but I don’t think I’ll go down in flames.
The Empire
First off, some context:
Here’s the zoomed out view of Greece. You can see Incaland to the northeast.
The terrain all throughout the area north of the river is mostly hills, jungle or forest. The settler “donut hole” I mentioned previously is north of the mountain north of Threefry. The tiles NW and NE of that mountain can be settled.
City Tour
Feudalism has helped solve this city’s starting food issues and it should grow nicely for a little while. I’ll be placing the Commercial Hub in a few turns and then building it out once the planned chariot build out is complete. There’s a reasonable spot for an Industrial Zone to the east of the Government Plaza. I suppose at some point I should hook up those horses. I may want to put a few horsemen out as I approach cavalry and I’d need the resource connected to get that done.
My “eastern frontier” city. I remain undecided if a third district will go here. A likely answer is “no” although if the city claims the tile east of the Campus I may mow down the jungle for an Encampment, though I’d lose 1 adjacency at the Campus. I’ll probably shift this city over to building units when it’s not producing district buildings.
The crown jewel of the empire. As will be discussed later I’m considering building The Oracle on one of the featureless second ring hill tiles that the city has yet to claim. I’m leaning towards the southern location. With a camp on the unimproved ivory the city will be at 11 housing. Walls will be going in at some point in the future, probably after I get The Oracle done.
My northern frontier city. Currently a bit cramped, that will be “fixed” next turn. I’m still debating what, if anything, will go where the Encampment is marked. I may very well get a builder up here and just lumbermill the spot. Once the Campus is done I’ll build the library and then walls once I slot Limes. Interesting note: there’s a settler “donut hole” up here – it’s where Pindicator’s warrior is standing.
The central river valley location. The hills south of the Industrial Zone will get mined (I think I once contemplated a lumbermill on the forest). Its position is such that only Xorshift would be out of range of a factory or power plants. A Commercial Hub to the west the city center would get a +4 adjacency though reduce the Campus adjacency by one. An Entertainment Complex east of the city with the Colosseum east of the Aqueduct would reach Acorn, LFSR and LinCon. The Industrial Zone should complete EoT 104 and then I’ll need to work on the Aqueduct and city expansion to get some adjacency bonuses.
Last but not least (for now) my marble grab city. I’ll finish the Campus and then work on a library until I get Celestial Navigation completed, at which point I’ll get out a Harbor and Lighthouse. Liang will move to the new city once the Campus is done here so that the chops there speed things up (and prevent a loyalty flip).
Game Status
Now for the numbers:
Like last time around the row of numbers at the bottom shows a different score stat – I’ve backed out the era and wonder scores from the score totals this time around.
Pindicator has the clear edge on science. I’m currently ahead of Woden
but I’m also running Natural Philosophy and he is not. The silver lining is that I think Pindicator is also running Natural Philosophy and if he were to drop that civic his science would plummet due to his high adjacency Campus districts. Culturally I have an advantage over Pindicator though am slightly behind Woden. With the monument at Threefry and the Amphitheater at LinCon completing during the interturn I’ll be just behind him. From an economic standpoint I’m also middle of the group...I’m currently generating more gold per turn than Pindicator but not as much as Woden.
Meta Situation
Right now I don’t think military conquest is a viable option for anyone. Pindicator and I have maintained military parity and with the terrain it would be difficult. Woden, well, he ate Jester but I’m willing to bet that was due to Jester more than Woden based on past PBEM spectating. Woden would have extreme difficulty getting a military force put together and mounting an invasion. Any sudden build up in his milpower could be matched by myself or Pindicator before he could reach us overland or over the seas. An overland invasion also has the issues of chokepoints – with the exception of the city NE of LFSR both Greece and Incaland are bottled up behind mountains.
One area where Woden has us in a bind is Diplomatic Favor. He’s generating 4 per turn and we’re only generating 1 per turn. The World Congress will meet next turn and Woden will pretty much be able to dictate what occurs there. One potential issue for him is that the resolutions are random. The votes will be interesting as they will be a form of “open” diplo; it might also give some insight as to what Woden plans to do next.
Victory Conditions
Domination
We’re past the point where this is a viable possibility. I’m a relative simpleton when it comes to military execution in this game but the combined military power of the three of us right now is barely 100 points more (if that) than my own milpower in PBEM 14 when it ended at Turn 93. The only way this victory condtiion happens is if one of us manages to get a crapton of uranium in their territory (not likely), outbuilds everyone with nukes (not likely), the World Congress doesn’t drop a nerfhammer on nukes (not likely) and they blow everyone up and pick up the pieces.
Score
This game isn’t going 500 turns. No game will go 500 turns.
Cultural
In order for this to work someone will need to ramp their tourism rates to a kiloshittonne per turn. When your opponents are competent at generating their own culture (ie Human) this victory condition is almost impossible. Will we see rock bands? Maybe, though Woden is the only one currently positioned to get any (because they require
![Icon_Faith Icon_Faith](https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/Civ6Icons/Icon_Faith.png)
to purchase). Pindicator could go on a ski resort binge. Either way it won’t be enough.
Diplomatic
This one is possible, though Woden would have to maintain his grip on the World Congress for the rest of the game to have a shot. If we see Woden build either the Mahabodi Temple or Potala Palace we’ll know he may be giving this route a shot.
Religion
This is another one that Woden may be positioning himself for, perhaps as long-sought redemption for losing a religious victory to Alhambram in PBEM 2 (remember that one?). It’s also currently his path of least resistance to victory, but will take some time to pull off. Again, though, geography makes it difficult to mount a land-based crusade as we’d be able to position units at chokepoints to kill the heretics as they came in. The number to watch here is Woden’s
![Icon_Faith Icon_Faith](https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/images/smilies/Civ6Icons/Icon_Faith.png)
generation. He’s currently at 14 per turn and would need a significant ramp up to start a timely religious victory.
Science
This one is possible though we’ll be here for another 150-200 turns to get it done, I think. This may also be my only route to victory provided I can figure out how to keep up with Pindicator and out-build him when the time comes. As a result of that thinking I’ll be needing to keep district spots open at Acorn and LinCon for eventual Spaceports.
Looking Ahead
Techs
I’ll get Stirrups to one turn then work on other parts of the tech tree while I get a group of chariots built out of LinCon (and possibly LFSR). I’ll probably stall techs to one turn to help with district costs (Campus at the new city, Commercial Hub at LinCon). I’m going to hold off researching Astrology and Celestial Navigation until I have 9 districts built so that I can keep the discount in place and continue to try to work that mechanism. At some point I’ll complete Shipbuilding and try to get my scout into Persia.
Civics
Feudalism is complete, though astute observers will note I made no attempt to prebuild builders with Ilkum. Two reasons – first, other build priorities. Second, don’t need that many builder actions. I’ll be looking to slot Serfdom around the time I found my next city (for a free 5-charge builder) and I’ll get a couple of builders out then. There are a few chops and improvements to be made, but not enough to warrant a full-on builder flood.
The current goal is Exploration for the Tier 2 government. I do plan on getting the Intelligence Agency built in LinCon to get a spy up and running. Like PBEM 10 I’ll use it to try to scout out my opponents, though I need to figure out how to get better visibility on Woden’s lands.
City States
I’ve got four envoys in the bank. I’ll most likely use two at Bologna and one at Bandar Brunei. That will suzerain both city-states and leave me one envoy in reserve. I want to do that partly to try to offset Woden’s Diplomatic Favor and partly to see if or how Pindicator will attempt to contest those city-states. Even if Pindicator matches my envoy counts the additional science and gold will make the envoys worth it.
Further down the line I’d probably look to get three envoys into Auckland and Brussels (currently 2 and 1, respectively) to help boost the IZ at Threefry.
Districts
I’ve got two Campus districts in progress and an Industrial Zone and Aqueduct placed at Threefry. The city will complete its monument next turn and I’ll start getting those districts built. Threefry will go IZ → Aqueduct → Workshop. Depending on what happens the next district would be another Commercial Hub or a cheap Entertainment Complex for a late Colosseum run. But what about beyond that?
At Xorshift I’ll eventually put down a discounted Harbor, but that won’t be for a while. Up at Mixmax I’m not sure what district #2 will be, if at all. This city might get the Campus built out, go max walls and shift to Campus projects. The new city will get a Campus down first and then probably an Acropolis or Commercial Hub.
As for LFSR a third district is a possibility, but what and where? One option is to chop the jungle west of the city center, place an Acropolis there and then remove the quarry, harvest the stone and farm the tile once I can farm hills. Another option would be to park an Encampment in one of the mountain passes.
That leaves Acorn. Well, right now there’s no real space for one. The city’s current focus is to get to 10 population for the inspiration. Any further districts here will need to be third ring. But what? Another Industrial Zone, most likely E of the city’s Commercial Hub. After that I'll probably hold a spot for an eventual Spaceport.
That Settler
Well, there’s a problem with the location NE of LFSR:
I’d have a hard time holding the city without a governor, though Liang will be available to move here for a little bit while I get the Campus going. That’ll give me enough time to get a Monument built (helped by a jungle chop) and then population and LFSR’s pressure should prevent the city from flipping.
Wonders
You can’t be serious, can you? Yes, I can. Acorn has empty hill tiles 2NW and 2SE of the city center. I’m thinking I purchase it and drop The Oracle on the hill. Acorn could crank that out in 10-11 turns depending on overflow from the prior build. That would be good for +4 GPP in Merchant, Writer, Musician, Artist and Scientist flavors (and Engineer if I go through with the IZ build). I’d be looking to start that wonder in eight turns, right after the market completes. I’ll purchase the tile I want to use after Acorn’s natural expansion after Turn 100. LinCon currently has the territory and production to do it but Acorn gets the better use of it.
Would I consider any others? It’d be situational, but sure. Angkor Wat and Hanging Gardens at Acorn, Jebel Barkal at Threefry (if I needed to ramp up faith generation, maybe the Great Library (though I suspect Pindicator may already be eyeing that one) or Oxford University.
Other Items
Ancient and Medieval Walls at Mixmax, LFSR, Acorn and possibly LinCon. The builder currently embarked is going to put a camp down at Acorn to get its housing to 11. That’ll keep the city growing to 10 and the Civil Service inspiration.
On the Great People front I’ll be uncontested for the first Great Writer and probably the one after that. Pindicator will be getting the first Great Merchant and currently has a slight lead in terms of point generation. Acorn’s Market will put me ahead, though probably temporarily, in terms of point generation and I’ll have a chance at the second merchant. As for Great Scientists I’m currently tops (by a point) in GSP generation, will extend the lead slightly with Acorn’s library and should be able to claim Triple-A. Woden is well on his way to Great General #2 and no one has built an Industrial Zone yet.