Somehow I didn't take any pictures of the conflict zone on this turn but there is nothing immediately threatening for me. Caledorn moved a vulture onto a hill NE of his capital that I could have attacked with my chariot at just under 71% odds but I would have surely lost the chariot and I'm not trying to invest much in this if I can help it. I've noticed that Caledorn has whipped pretty severely on his half of T105, so I'm sure I'll have a little defending to do, particularly in the city that I kept (Sapphire?) but we'll see. I've stuffed some units in there and have evacuated two workers to my marble city to get that started, hopefully before someone else finishes TGL. Anyway, here's one picture I took:
A rough plan to take a swipe at Opal. Caledorn settled Opal on T98, but it hasn't popped borders and so has no food resource to work. For maximum food, it can work the grass forest SE of Jade and would grow after 11t if it used that tile every turn, so on T109 Caledorn could whip the city but if I capture I could still keep it, assuming that I'd be able to hold it. Most likely, though, I'll just want to raze this city. He has a few chops into it and there could be a monument, I haven't zoomed in to check. I want to raze it on the cheap, which means doing it before borders pop. Or, if he wants peace, that's fine too.
I'm probably just going to keep taking these city screenshots each turn because it is helpful in keeping my sandbox accurate, which is becoming a more and more daunting project every turn. If you don't want to see city screens each turn, and I can't really blame you, skip over this section. I'll keep it spoilered as I've been doing. I'll throw in some commentary every now and then.
Cities:
Now that I have forges up elsewhere and the hammers are piling in, I really regret this market build. I'm going to run a lot of wealth elsewhere, making this much less important. Live and learn.
Coming along nicely. I'm going to trust Nakor not to bully my workers too much while I mine the hills on his shore. I'll leave the galley nearby in case of trouble, just to be safe.
I hate dumping the overflow into a unit, but better safe than sorry. I had rather built a 4t worker and put some more cottages up here.
Since I decided to let Yellowstone finish its settler, I've kept the sheep here. The grass forest sucks but at least it's a golden age. I need more worker turns to put down the mines shared with the capital here, as well as
Whip next turn. This arguably could have been a unit, but I'm not looking for a war of elimination.
I need more cities. Land is king (really, #tiles worked at this point) and I'm sorely behind whoever has that 256 crop yield.
I've made contact with HAK, at this point just another mediocre power.
The turn's big news: MoM is finally built. Really, I should have taken that one. Is it better than having my own religion? I don't know if I can answer that one but that was a possible tradeoff. Christianity still hasn't landed anywhere, which is interesting to me. I thought we'd be on to the race to Islam by now. Anyway, of more local concern, I've left Caledorn's worker alone because his spear would murder me, so no need to antagonize without benefit.
And there's his unit stack. It is sitting there, not on a road, so I assume this is a purely defensive posture. I'm not looking to wade in deeper just to waste hammers, so I pulled back. I'm glad there isn't a worker there, either, so my chariot is safe from those guys. By the way, say hello to West Entrance.
I don't think I had offered peace to Caledorn as of last turn, but I offered this turn. And, for wetbandit, whose power is on the rise...
...an overture of friendship. Sometimes I see these offers and think they reek of desperation. I hope that isn't how it comes across. I just don't want war to hold me back. Or him, since we're great friends. I hope.
Cities:
Yes, I'm still waffling and not growing my capital. But I need to be able to pump missionaries out somewhere and that is going to end up being in Lake. I don't have the units to spare to defend a second city on wetbandit's front until I start getting a better feeling out of him about his intent when the peace treaty expires. I can stuff one city full of units, logistically it's just shuttling units back from Sapphire to West Thumb. As soon as Caledorn accepts peace (*if he accepts*), I'll finish the settler and start shuffling units back across the ditch to dissuade wetbandit from any shenanigans. Also, not for nothing, I'm short on worker turns to throw down a new city just now. Need more: Cities, units, workers, not necessarily in that order.
The trireme has just enough time to get built (only 2t, not 3) and float serenely into wetbandit's vision on the turn that he would be able to choose to declare war. I don't know if he has MC or not, but this would give him something to think about. I'll just tear up all his seafood if we go to war. Don't make me do it! Now that I have what I want, let's be friends!!
The missionary did its job, so I'll start shedding population with whips for overflow very soon.
Yep. Two birds, probably empty hands, but screw it. There's only one of these fancy, additive barracks in the entire game and I want it. If I get SoZ, I can keep peaceful economic civics and still get mounted units up to 10xp by settling my first GG. C3 knights are fun. Amphibious knights on this map may be even more fun...
I whipped for overflow into a forge because, highly convenient, I got a free Taoism spread here. Perfect!! Forge, whip, then Moai is the idea.
I love that lake right now. Combined with Caledorn not having horses, it gives me plenty of time to not worry about an invading stack. That certainly isn't coming. Cal only played for five minutes.
Short and quickly to the point this turn. I'm going to see Dave Matthews Band shortly. Yes, people still do that.
That's the news. I offered, he looked around, counter-offered and we're set. I checked this...
...and just felt pretty bad about cancelling the offer to raze his southern tundra/border city. No whips. None! I credit LP as a worthy adversary, but no one can do war justice with a sub-minute turn. I don't blame LP, he just pulls the ordained levers, mostly, but this is going to be a problem. My lesson from this is to just have a swarm of mounted units ready to go and just send the wave forward. Beyond Caledorn lies Lexi'Q, also absentees, and probably the next path of least resistance target. I hope this doesn't come off as overly critical (or arrogant/condescending/etc), that's not my intent. I just know that this is going to skew the game eventually. I've played well enough, but I seriously doubt that I've earned a position this high precisely because my neighbors have been so weak, and it appears that as I gain strength their interest is waning (or will wane) further. This is not going to be fair to the plako/krovice teams out there. But they'll beat me anyway because that's what those guys do.
Elsewhere:
Chops coming in for SoZ. It will be due next EoT.
Cities:
Sapphire Pool:
Temperature 200-202°F Dimensions 18x30 feet. Sapphire Pool, named for its blue, crystal-clear water and for its resemblance to an Oriental sapphire, was once a placid hot pool. It was not until after the 1959 earthquake that major eruptions occurred. For several years following the earthquake powerful eruptions at two hour intervals reached 150 feet. The force of the eruptions caused the crater to double in size, destroying the biscuit-like formations around its edge, and the crystal-clear water became murky. By 1968 Sapphire ceased to function as a true geyser. Today Sapphire still retains its crystal-clear, blue water, and still violently boils and surges occasionally.
My nod to Caledorn while still keeping to the Yellowstone theme.
I still have some work to do to get to 11 libraries to complete the Classic Literature quest.
Well, I guess it pays to scout. So, I could have had marble without fighting wetbandit, but this location is not nearly as nice and I'm happy to grab some of his land. I'm not sure how much this changes things, really. I'm not exactly sorry I've poached some of his land.
I'm bringing reinforcements so he'll know I'm ready-ish when the enforced peace ends soon.
Cities:
Wetbandit continues to build his power, and apparently someone handed Mardoc a pretty nasty setback. I thought it was Jowy earlier but I'm not so sure now. Oxy appears to be in the first half of the time vs. Jowy in their current war so I have no idea now.
Nakor's cities are packed in pretty close. He has not secured much land with this setup.
*********** *BABY BOOM* ***********
--==Scenario==-- "Our soldiers, returning from war, have dedicated themselves to peace and to raising families. Our civilisation is experiencing a baby boom!"
--==Mechanics==--
Chance of Event in Game = 100% Required = Finished war with another Civ
--==Options==-- "Our people are thriving in peace time."
--==Results==-- Option 1 - "Our people are thriving in peace time." Cost : None Result : +10 Food to all Cities --==Appears in Events==-- "[Civ Adjective] soldiers and their wives are celebrating the end of war by creating a baby boom." "The [Civ Adjective] population is growing rapidly as a post-war baby boom sweeps through their settlements."
Cities:
After taking the picture I noticed the bare PH and swapped with the plains workshop.
Not exactly the most sophisticated wonder micro ever. I've kind of kludged this one. Yet to be determined is whether it will be effective in the end. This is where my worker shortage has hurt most. I was running lightly behind on worker turns and then had to divert labor west rather than here to the east when I planted on wetbandit's side of the water. I'll whip the worker the turn that I swap into Caste at the end of the GA, or next turn I suppose now that CS is in.
This will be a 5t build, then I'll run all priests and hope the SoZ doesn't throw an agonizing artist in the way. I may even build a temple next just to get the extra priest slot.
Just in case wetbandit wants to fight. He's still whipping, but he does have a lot of cities to put granaries into. I think he added another city this turn, can't remember.
I don't love working the furs, but I want the granary built fast so I can grow this city tall ASAP, and this is the best hammer tile for now. I get more hammers out of the mine, but I can't leave a sack of money laying there for a single extra hammer. This is going to be a fast contributor, so long as Caledorn doesn't fight me too hard for it.
Someone has to work the gold and the horse is fast building walls to discourage wetbandit.
(July 29th, 2014, 02:00)Nakor who needs a sub for a couple of weeks Wrote: Someone, please? It won't take a lot of time... easy turns..
And you get a free hand! Do what you like!
Please, someone?
So mackoti would be subbing for Nakor for approximately three weeks. I should probably bulk up on my coast a bit, at least adding some additional navy. I know that Nakor has not been all that curious about me, but mack will want to know if there is a threat and I'd like him to not see my single warrior/archer garrisons along the coast. Probably a couple triremes would be all I need. Anyway, enough meta. On to the actual reporting...
Met Jowy, on the next blob of land north of Nakor, just east of AT. Jowy's presence may be one reason that AT has apparently struggled so far.
Things have apparently (obviously, looking at the scoreboard previously and now at his city count) not gone Jowy's way. I'm sure no one is surprised by this, and I'd be shocked if this misery is not of his own doing.
The enforced peace ends next EoT. From the game tracker, it looks like wetbandit lost a city to Xenu, which tells me that another war with me may not happen after all. Or, he may redouble efforts to salvage his pride, etc. Who knows. I do know that he double whipped Number wang (8/6) and my best guess is that it's a settler intended to go roughly where his scout is, maybe even on the grass hill 1W of his scout. Preparing for that possibility, I've delayed (yet again) hooking up the corn and instead had my workers road the highlighted tile this turn to position that axe to attack (with an additional section of road built next turn) the scout or occupy the forest hill next turn. This also allows my two chariots in West Thumb to hit/cover either of those tiles. I do not intend to allow wetbandit to have a coastal city into my back lines/core.
The News of the Day-- civic revolts and some kind of war. I don't see an immediate reason for Caledorn to declare war on Q, so it could be exploration, but I would assume that Caledorn would want to keep all force resources near to home with me having recently been aggressive. But I've also demilitarized our border in a very visible way, so maybe he's doing a kick-the-dog type thing where he's mad at me and wants to take it out on someone more, eh, suitable. I'm rooting for you, buddy! Welcome back to the game, Many-Qs!
Also...
*************** *HAPPY HUNTING* ***************
--==Scenario==--
"Moose herds near [Civ City] has grown particularly large. Our hunters have harvested a cache of surplus food." "The people of [Civ City] celebrate as the latest caribou hunting season has brought a rich harvest." "Deer proliferate through the forest near [Civ City], allowing our hunters to store up extra meat."
--==Mechanics==--
Chance of Event in Game = 90% Required = Forest, Tundra Tile Hunting Technology Obsoleted By = Steam Power, Steel, Scientific Method, Artillery
--==Options==--
"Send congratulations to the citizens."
--==Results==--
Option 1 - "Send Congratulations to the Citizens" Cost : Nothing Result : +8 Food for the City
--==Appears in Events==--
"Surplus game harvested by hunters near the [Civ Adjective] city of [Civ City] has fueled a minor population boom."
I finally got around to making a micro plan for The Great Library. Just in time, as it turns out.
T111, this is from the live game. I'm probably losing a few hammers to the overflow cap. My count would have this at 124/60 for the build, but I don't know if the food will overflow hammers here: They didn't convert to food in the box so I'm kind of stumped on where they went. When I ran this through a different way before, I ended up 6-7 hammers short of what I thought it would be and figured the food didn't convert to hammers as I had expected. Or the forge bonus is doing something. If anyone knows, let me know, I'd like a stronger understanding of overflow mechanics and whether foodhammers count differently than just regular hammers for overflow.
T112 from the sandbox. I have 128/350 into TGL as of EoT 110. 124/60 from the worker rounding down to 60h (or even a couple less) combined with two chops next turn and the swap into Caste (+1h) gets me to 350/350. Just in case I lost another hammer or so, I went ahead and wasted a worker turn to put an additional worker on the now bare grass hill to put the fourth mining turn in next turn after the other worker finishes the chop, netting another hammer from the mine. So I should have 2-3 extra hammers available, if needed. Done and done. Now I just need to build the rest of my regular libraries real quick to finish the quest. Unless someone snags TGL EoT.
Other cities:
Bureaucap, sad and pathetic and not tall. Growth coming next, onto glorious cottages.
Two of these cottages, in fact. Growth here EoT and then stagnate on hammers for the make good of entire empire! Missionaries? Barracks/units? Definitely a library to finish the Classic Literature quest.
The missionary from Lake will be here and found EoT, then a forge.
This is of dubious necessity but I lack imagination and like hammer multipliers.
At size 8, West Yellowstone will take the gold back and let West Entrance grow up into whatever middling thing it is destined to become.
AW/500; base + 100%
T110 - 152h - 152/500
T111 - 64h - 216/500
T112 - 64h - 280/500 (end of GA, -9h base)
T113 - 23 base + 2 chops (60h) = +166h. 446/500
T114 - 23 base + 1 chop = +106. 552/500 (AW done).
Configured for growth, then I'll work a bunch of hammers at size 6. Not strictly better than hammers into Moai, but I wanted to minimize the number of hammers lost to the "feature" where the forge divides out the hammer bonus from overflow after the forge completes. I would have had both chop/mines complete and mines ready simultaneously after the forge finished but opted for unit safety over micro efficiency. Probably a good idea now with mack taking over for Nakor for a while. I chose the more threatening/closer tile first, which I'm now glad for. I can't wait to get my units back onto my side until Nakor is back in charge.
I think I reconfigured this from the grass forest/lake to use both plains forests to get another free hammer from the forge. Previously I wanted commerce more. Meh.
I was supposed to steal the bronze instead of the cottage, and I may actually have done that, it's in my micro notes that way. Who knows.
Walls done. Wetbandit, don't try me over here, I'll just pack in the units and we both lose. (Accept mediocrity? Yes!) New here, an annoying Buddhist conclave.
Manifest mediocrity. I'm going to farm the grass and workshop the plains. The lakes will go to a fishing village on that tundra nub in the south. And, more Buddhist annoyance. I hate those guys, but only if my missionary fails to convert the heathens.
If I've put walls elsewhere I should have put them here too prior to swapping to Caste, but walls are only a chop away and I have two forests with roads. Grow, baby, Grow!!! Also, -2g for domestic trade routes. Jowy will fill up this city's routes all by himself!
Make gold for make good of entire empire. Need more trade routes. I think I offered to someone new in addition to Jowy, someone who also has alphabet and so won't be getting a free ride off of my routes. I can't remember precisely who though.
I'll be very sad when the golden age ends. I really need to slam down some more cities.
I'm glad the double whip (apparently) wasn't a settler, but I'm not crazy about being at a collateral disadvantage. Regardless, I'm not diverting to Construction. I want wetbandit to show his hand, and I'll have cash to burn for quick research. Enforced peace ends EoT and he has the first half (played before me this turn, despite my numerous earlier testing logins with Caledorn). I can whip an extra last minute defender if needed. He can see my stack covering the chopping worker and my trireme moving toward his coast. Maybe that will be enough of a show to discourage him from moving in. I have a couple of archers positioned to load/unload from the nearby galley before wetbandit can attack West Thumb too.
As expected, light on the back lines. Good job. We'll be friends!
Wetbandit keeps building a little power, but I honestly don't see him piling on just now. My MFG has been insane during the golden age and he certainly can't have missed that. I have a greater capacity to make war just now. He needs his new cities to start producing. Or so I hope.
Cities:
I offered OB to Jowy last turn for his two cities but he has not played yet so I don't know if he'll accept. I offered OB to Caledorn too, but I kind of regret it. Mardoc is giving full routes to Caledorn, so it won't be a great trade deficit with him and actually may benefit me more than him. I also offered a health resource trade with wetbandit, banana for wheat I think, but we'll see if he's interested. This isn't a crucial deal just now but could indicate a willingness to cooperate later.
I'm really going to miss this golden age. But all good things must come to an end. Next up: Music (or war with wetbandit), a few more workers, libraries to finish the quest, missionary spreads, new cities, and infrastructure. Or units to ruin wetbandit.
Edit: I just realized that I'm in Caste, so forget any whipping for an archer. I'll just ferry over units that I need and rely on the slow and steady weight of gravity to crush him. Forges and caste workshops are pretty nice, and I won't be building wonders forever.
But I need to be able to pump missionaries out 
Forge, whip, then Moai is the idea.
I'm sure no one is surprised by this, and I'd be shocked if this misery is not of his own doing. 
Welcome back to the game, Many-Qs! 
