Suboptimal IV: Indonesian Insanity

[suboptimal]

Yes, the sword has a promotion in-hand so I can sit tight. I'll hold off on a warrior upgrade unless/until he comes south.

[suboptimal]

Turn 60

Last turn of the Ancient Age. IT’s occurred to me that I’m not sure what happens with techs and civics when the age turns over. Prior-age techs get a 20% discount but what happens when you’ve put enough or into something to be above the discounted cost when the age rolls? If my math is right we may find out with Masonry, as I am right in that range.

Island warrior finds nothing, western galley rounds the bend of the land mass and finds salt. So far this part of the map has all producing luxuries. You can see in the screenshot there’s an island to the north. Right now I’m skipping it as given my position on the mini map west is the preferred course of navigation.




Up at Hattusa my warrior rounds the bend and sees two city-state warriors around. I don’t think I’ll be attacking the city-state directly. If an opportunity to pillage results I might go after that Campus. Gotta figure out what I want to do with these units if a pillage is not an option. I’ve got 7 turns left on the warrior and 16 turns on the swordsman.

Arckduke’s galley hasn’t made it around the land mass yet; I send my quadrireme into the strait leading out. If I had a second naval unit (or perhaps an embarked unit) I could force him to go around the south of the island instead of moving north past my coast, but right now I don’t have the military for it.

In the far east I move my warrior east and uncover Australian borders to the south:




Newcastle is building a Government Plaza. Speaking of which I need to decide what to do about getting my own down at
Punky’s. Perhaps a builder purchase next turn to chop out the jungle for food and – I’d get 25 of each which is 1/3 the cost of the district.

Up by Nan Madol Woden is moving his hypaspist past my position, probably to help the archer defend against the Nan Madol warrior (which wandered off instead of attacking ).

[suboptimal]

Turn 61

It’s time.







The Classical Age is upon us! I take the Monumentality dedication. All other players are in a Normal Age except Alhazard, who will be in a Dark Age. Interestingly I need to get 19 era points (total 57) to avoid a Dark Age and 31 points (total 69) to get another Golden Age. That could be tricky (I’ve said that before, though ). Nan Madol has given us a new quest: gain the inspiration for Games & Recreation. .

I buy a builder at Sound for 85. The next one costs 90 and is purchased at Punky’s. That leaves me with 238. The upcoming chops will get me another 100 or so and I’ll buy the settler for the island location once Sound hits 6 population in three turns. Likewise, the next builder will go to the inland location for a farm and some mines.

Galley heads west and…




We’ve met Korea and gained 3 Era Points. Unfortunately it appears to be the end of the road as Alhazard’s closed borders prevent further travel in this direction. Let’s see what he’s got:




By the numbers he’s running 15.4, 10.2, 69 milpower () and 9.3:faith. Judging by the faith coming from the coastal tile he’s got the Earth Goddess pantheon.

Warrior on the island continues defogging and looky here:




That’s where it all went! I think I may move Amani here for the suzerain status and to get the iron. Down south, Archduke hasn’t shown up with his galley yet. I advance my quadrireme and find him, two tiles east of my position. I’ll keep an eye on him as he goes by. I also see that my northern galley has come upon his. We pass peacefully in the…sunlight, based upon the state of my graphics.

Settler moves to the inland city site. The forces by Hattusa begin moving back towards Pella. I’ve got six turns left on the warrior so perhaps that’s enough time for a bit of mischief. I’ll see if I can bait Woden’s warrior out of the city borders.

Over by the Australian/Scottish frontier pindicator is moving a builder under warrior escort. I move east to defog and send him the prototypical 1-for-1 deal to try to indicate “I come in peace”. We’ll see what he does.

Looking at the tech tree Masonry shows that it it complete in terms of required but needs 1 turn of work. Archery is also at one turn. I switch to Celestial Navigation. I’ll drop two turns into that, then finish Masonry and Archery in quick succession, putting all of the overflow into Horseback Riding. Games & Recreation has dropped to two turns so next turn I’ll switch that over to Drama & Poetry.

Provided I get the first Great Prophet I plan on taking Defender of the Faith and Choral Music. I’m taking the latter as I plan on building out the Holy Sites for faith generation and the cultural output will help make up for the expected eventual loss of Nan Madol. The first evangelization will go to getting Synagogues and the second would go to Church Property if it’s available (or Tithe if it’s not).

[suboptimal]

Turn 62

Open the save, pindicator has accepted my peace offering. Punky’s is complaining that it is not growing due to a lack of food. That’s OK, I’ll be solving that issue in a bit. Alhazard and Archduke have settled cities. Worryingly, Woden’s milpower is climbing slowly and is now at 214 (we’re at 224). He also gained a handful of era points so I wonder if he’s gotten a Hetaroi out.

In the west the galley backtracks towards the northern island. Island warrior heads back to the city site for the island city and the quadrireme leapfrogs back past Archduke’s galley. Northern troops continue moving towards the mountain pass by Pella and the northern galley continues defogging Woden’s coast.

Back at the...ranch…


Old Friends
Old Friends
Settled the island
Like bookends
A war horn gets blown through the grass
Falls on the still feet
In the clad shoes
Of the old friends





Old Friends is founded. I’ll work the floodplains for a population, then start working hills. I start building a monument for more . After some consideration I spend 80 and buy the desert hill to the SE of the city and lock in an Encampment at 126.

At Sound the builder chops the forest for 70. That puts 11 into the project and the remaining 59 into a new one. I can now get the GPP in 5 turns via natural point accumulation but would rather be sure of it and finish the next project. It’s a bit of a waste of production, I suppose, but if it gets me the Great Prophet and the first religion it’s worth it. Next turn I’ll Kampung the lake and then mine the grassland hill NE of the iron.

Builder at Punky’s enters the jungle and chops for 23, 23 and 46. That completes the Holy Site and brings the GP to 4 turns. Nah, still gonna do the project. I place the Government Plaza, locking in its cost at 70 and start a heavy chariot. I also swap over the grassland hills 2SE of the city center. That brings the completion time of the chariot down to 5 turns.

Now, where to put the next builder? Boxer needs a Kampung (or two) for some housing at some point. OTOH, getting a farm and a couple of mines at Old Friends will get that city up and running faster, especially if I’d like to get that Encampment built. I think Old Friends gets the first one and Boxer will get the next. I spend the 95, Old Friends has its builder and I lock the citizen to the flood plain on this side of the river.

Now, over at Nan Madol:




Woden’s getting a little agro here. My choices are to upgrade the warrior and attempt to flank or backtrack through Nan Madol’s territory and try to meet Woden head on. I’d have a slight advantage with the latter approach as the archer would not have a line of fire to the desert hill NE of the city center as both adjoining tiles are forested/jungle hills. I spend the 80 and upgrade. Notably, Woden doesn’t yet receive flanking & defensive bonuses. Cornflakes, do you have an opinion on this? The just-upgraded swordsman does have Battlecry. Woden does have more favorable terrain where he is. He also has a second archer in the fog – it cleared the barbarian camp on Turn 61 and should be 2E of the hypaspist in the screenshot above.

Lastly, looks like pindicator is getting ready to settle:




I’m going to skirt the Scottish borders heading NE to give him clearance. Also identified the last resource on this continent (and in the game, I believe) as tobacco (icon is behind the builder’s icon).

[Cornflakes]

I would hold the tiles 2NW and 1NW of Nan Madol. Those are very sheltered locations, block of access to all but 1 tile adjacent to NM, are adjacent to each other for +2 support, and also you gain 15HP/turn from healing in allied territory. Just fortify there and laugh at the Macedonian military. My preference would be for the un-promoted sword to be 1NW of Nan Madol so that it can eventually take Tortoise promotion (that tile is exposed to archers from 2 tiles).

[suboptimal]

OK...I'll move both units towards the city and then swap their positions. The only downside to that position is that the archers can move onto the hills (bananas and NW of bananas) and shoot at the unit directly NW of the city center. How about NW and NE of the city center? It's in Nan Madol's territory, the archers can't gain a position to shoot from without being right next to a swordsman (they can't see over forested hills from regular hills IIRC) and the hypaspist would be forced to attack across the river.

[Cornflakes]

Very true. I like your suggested positions better. Might not even need to swap them since you’re right that the archers can’t shoot over the terrain.

[suboptimal]

I'll lead with the battlecry-promoted sword. If he kills the warrior this turn he may cross the river before I get fully into position. He'll be injured so maybe I can force him back across the river if I threaten his unit possible death (though it isn't promoted yet so that could be a problem).

One possibility to consider if we land the first prophet - do I spend 6 turns building a shrine (which would be 2 & 2) and drop 130 for a missionary to convert Nan Madol? That'd take 12 turns to pull off (6 to build the shrine, 6 to move the missionary into position) but one should do it. That might buy some more time at Nan Madol.

[suboptimal]

Since I wound up with unexpected free time tonight (thanks to the weather) I opened up the EoT62 save to look around and consider various possibilities...

Trade Routes

To Stockholm: Punky's can send a trader for +3 +2
To Carthage: All cities except Sound, +3 +1
To Nan Madol: All cities, +3 +1
Internal to Sound/Punky's: +2 +1

I'm thinking Stockholm, though after the island city is founded - that's a shorter route and prevents pillaging.

Nan Madol

Woden may think I only have one unit in the area, not two. He'll have killed the sword during his turn. The battlecry promoted sword would do significant damage if he crossed the river on Turn 63. Of course, that assumes the Nan Madol warrior SW of the new sword doesn't get in the way first.

City States

We'll have our first "natural" envoy in 10 turns (71/100 as of start of Turn 62, +3 per turn). I'm thinking Hattusa will get it.

Missionary Plan

Instead of a Kampung + mine at Sound I could chop & mine the GFH while Magnus is in the city. That would give 75, completing the shrine and putting 10 into a heavy chariot. I'd still be able to get the settler out a turn or two later as regenerates. For reference, the screenshot faith generation is wrong because of the projects; I calculate the actual generation at 11.5 per turn.

Other City/Building Plans

Island

If I go through with the above I'd move Magnus to the island city as soon as it's settled and then buy a builder once Magnus was settled. That city would farm the wheat and chop & mine the forest. Alternatively, what if we put the first island city up in the NW corner among those jungles, say NW of the iron? All those 2/2 tiles and the 4 rice would make for a better city right
off the bat and we could backfill the other locations later. Perhaps buy a builder up there for an iron mine, a jungle chop and a rice farm? The barb camp will be gone by the time the settler gets there and the other spot can be backfilled later. A Campus or Holy Site would be +2 on the desert hill NE of the mountain. (screenshot below for reference)




Sound

Chariots after any potential shrine build. If I did the shrine plan I'd want another builder here for a pasture on dumb cows, a mine on the grassland hill NE of the iron and a farm SE of the sugar. Gotta start getting this city up in population.

Punky's

The current chariot, maybe one more after that, then complete the Government Plaza. Grassland hills SE of the city are getting mined over the next two turns.

Boxer

First builder will mine the grassland hill, boat the crabs and Kampung the coast tile in between. A second builder would chop & mine the GFH and chop the jungle. I intend on completing the Campus build and then getting a couple of chariots out.

Old Friends

Complete the monument then start the Encampment, perhaps stopping to build walls if needed. Farm the floodplains and mine both grassland hills with the first builder. The second would mine a plains hill and improve the resources once they are acquired.

Civics

I can complete Defensive Tactics in 6 turns at the current culture rate. If I can get 5 farms down by then Feudalism could be completed 11 turns after that. Theology would take 3-4 turns after D&P to complete. I think I'll get D&P down to 1 turn, finish G&R and go Defensive Tactics -> Feudalism -> Theology.

Once Revelation expires I'd probably slot Urban Planning for the time being.

Techs

Archery & Masonry are at 1 turn and I'll get some pretty serious overflow into HBR...my tracking has Masonry at 66/64 and Archery at 33/40. At my current science rate (17.8/turn) I should be able to finish HBR in three turns once I get around to starting it. Stirrups would then take....27 turns without Feudalism, 18 with. For techs I'll go Masonry -> Archery -> HBR -> Stirrups, stopping the latter with 1-2 turns to go to completion (counting the eureka) and then go Celestial Navigation -> Currency.

At the current tech rate district discounts are completely out the window, for better or for worse. Need to generate production to make up for it.

[Cornflakes]

Why take D&P down to 1 turn if you are not going to continue straight to theology? That just seems like wasted time on the Feudalism path. It seems better to either head straight to Feudalism or straight to theology rather than starting with D&P.

It sounds like Stirrups and Feudalism are about on the same timeframe. Island city to the north looks better. Maybe consider chopping there with the first builder and using the chop-generated faith to buy another builder.

Shrine sounds good with Choral Music to provide culture, and then missionary for Nan Madol (does DotF even work for allies/suzerainty?).

Consider putting the natural envoy into Nan Madol to ensure holding on to Suzerainty.