TheHumanHydra Loses His Head(s) [Spoilers]

[TheHumanHydra]

^Cool, thanks.

I teched Literature this turn. I think Virgin Planet should build the National Epic, since it has a high food surplus, poor food tiles that could just as well be specialists, a central location to keep it safe, and reasonable production with which to build it in the first place. I think Chiron Stigmata should build the Heroic Epic, as it kind of passes a production threshold with it, but I also think it should build the Forbidden Palace, and that first, of course. I think Wormfang Shrine should build the Statue of Zeus, and I built the two monuments it requires this turn (someone else, of course, may finish this first).

I think I'll save gold till I have enough to tech to Education, trying for Economics as retep suggested. Does that sound good?

Thanks for keeping me on track, guys. Stuff would fall by the wayside otherwise.

[ipecac]

What's the tech situations of your opponents?

I don't think Military Science is advisable yet if your economy is still shaky. Better to go Econs before preparing to hit someone else.

[TheHumanHydra]

Well, Miguelito took Liberalism (yes!) and may have taken Economics with it, as he birthed a Great Merchant just a few turns ago - I'll have to check if it was the same turn or not; I can't remember. Mardoc just finished Alphabet, presumably for Printing Press; he has Gunpowder (as does Miguelito, of course), but not much else beyond us as far as I can tell. Alhazard is saving gold on Gunpowder, having just researched Banking, I believe, since he switched to Mercantilism a turn ago. He also has Nationalism, as he just built the Taj Mahal. He could be going for cuirassiers. I just turned tech on to hopefully tech Education; I finished Paper this turn. I'm kind of agreeing with you about getting some econ techs before gearing up for war again; we should probably aim for cavs to be the next time we fight offensively. So perhaps if the Economics Great Merchant is already taken, the tech path looks like

Education - Alphabet - Printing Press - Banking - Replaceable Parts - Gunpowder - Rifling - Philosophy - Nationalism - Military Tradition,

or if the Economics Great Merchant is not already taken,

Education - Banking - Economics - as above.

I don't think we'll need Economics if the Great Merchant is already taken, as I'm not really getting any international trade routes anyway, so Mercantilism will be a better economic civic next time I'm able to switch, and I don't actually think we'll need Liberalism either, as neither civic is terribly impressive next to staying in Bureaucracy and just getting to Rifling faster. The only other question I would have is whether I should detour to Astronomy for the third +25% beakers building at some point in there. What do you guys think?

[retep]

You know since you have OB with Miguelito maybe an scout on his mainland would be a good idea.
Also there hasn't been any GM born(Actually the log doesn't show any GM born at all) the last great person was a GS.

One thing that I was thinking is this: Since Miguelito didn't build te TAj nd there hasn't any sight of Galleons something that could happen is that they took chemistry and they are going for grenadiers, which is the fastest-best thing they can build to defend/attack.

I think that at least Education is vital you need some Universities going if you want to catch up/ out research Alhazard, especially now that he has his MoM + Taj going for him.

[TheHumanHydra]

Re: scout - yeah, I thought of that this turn, too. There's a boat headed that way; it'll take several turns to reach there, of course.

Re: GM - ugh, I could have sworn I read Great Merchant in the log. Apparently I'm an idiot (because I read it more than once over the last few turns) - but that's also good news.

Re: Grens - that's a good thought. Their power graph hasn't really gone up, but I'm definitely on the watch for funny business from them.

Re: Education - for sure. I'm hoping I can tech it in two turns.

[ipecac]

The only other question I would have is whether I should detour to Astronomy for the third +25% beakers building at some point in there. What do you guys think?

Astro isn't cheap, and at 150h per observatory the game should long be decided before you get a return, especially when you'll already be building unis at 200h each.

[TheHumanHydra]

Yeah, that's probably true. On to Rifling, then! (After Economics.) Retep, you were right about the (lack of a) Great Merchant.

[TheHumanHydra]

I was able to finish The Parthenon and The Statue of Zeus (apparently not banned) this turn, and I have the National Epic in Virgin Planet (three turns to a GP!) and the Heroic Epic in Dawn's Reverie. I'm apparently in a race for Economics with Mardoc, who should finish Banking this turn without gold saved (I believe he's running break-even on the slider), while I am saving gold on Banking. Alhazard's monstrous Golden Age continues. No one seems to be arming.

[TheHumanHydra]

I was able to get the Economics Great Merchant this turn, as well as a Scientist (thankfully) out of Virgin Planet, so I'll be able to start a Golden Age when desired. I need to figure out if that should be next turn or not, though. Semi-relatedly, Alhazard just finished Military Tradition and appears to have arranged to have knights queue-upgraded to cuirassiers. Will he attack me or Mardoc (or, corner-case, Miguelito)? I whipped some more cho-ko-nus just in case, because I don't have enough (many had been pulling double-duty garrisoning; I'm attempting to rearrange that). I should post a picture of my defensive arrangements so you guys can critique them. Is there anything else anyone would like to see?

[Commodore]

Is there anything else anyone would like to see?

Region-by-region shots/overview of what the empire's part are doing?