[PB59] Tarkeel is alone against the darkness

[Tarkeel]

Turn 17 (3320 BC)
Our scout has defogged enough of the southeast to confirm no land connections in that direction.


Unless the northwest is a narrow connection, it seems like we have a small block of land to ourself, and Commodore did come from the south. If the lion goes south we'll sneak a look 2xNE. In other news; Commodore has split his EP which means he's met someone else, so we'd better get down there too.

I think a city on the plainshill by the southern pigs will be important strategically, but the west seems like a more natural expansion. I might even have considered a city on top of the gems if I had a desperate need for happy (and was IND with cheap forges), but with CHA I'd rather work that tile later on. We still have some turns to mull over dotmaps, but this is where I miss a discussion partner.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 23 (3080 BC)
It's been a few turns since the last update, but not much has happened before now. The lion headed north denying us a look at the coast, so we scouted south instead, finally making new contacts this turn:


Yes, that is Superdeath with Charlemagne (IMP/PRO) of the Inca, another on my top 5 list of people I'd prefer not to start next to. Anyone want to place bets on our scout's odds for survival? I had expected to find Commodore down here, but I guess this makes a landbridge to the northwest more likely.

Superdeath is a player with a reputation and is likely to jump at any perceived weakness. He's managed to get a decent leader/civ pick, and if his river connections are as good as ours, should have no trouble getting early traderoutes going.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 24 (3040 BC)
Our scout lived, but Superdeath's borders expanded, which means that he's founded the only religion so far, Buddhism.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 31 (2760 BC)
I seem to have fallen into a bad habit of not reporting this one as much as I should. So far everything has gone according to plans; we researched BronzeWorking and revolted, then chopped a forest into our first settler and whipped it the turn after. It's currently on location to found our second city next turn. We're researching Fishing in three turns, and the workboat completes in two, ready to hook up the fish immediately.


After a few attempts of redoing the dotmap, it ended up with the same start as before, settling on the plainshill to the west, and sharing the corn with the capital. Next is either the yellow with gold and deer, or the white by the copper, heading for the pink border city, depending on where horses show up. With Superdeath as our southern neighbor we'll need a solid border city early on.


Superdeath planted his second city this turn in our direction, so discretion is called for. A double metal city is nothing to sneeze at, even if he did settle on the gems for faster hookup.

[Lewwyn]

I seem to have fallen into a bad habit of not reporting this one as much as I should.

Not so many lurkers when everyone is playing ha

[Tarkeel]

Turn 33 (2680 BC)
The city of Arkham was founded T32 on the plainshill, and is now taking the capitals' corn. Thw warrior guard will try to peek at the northwest corner, but there's a roaming bear we need to avoid. Fishing comes in next turn, and the workboat will hokk up the fish the turn after. We're going for Hunting and AnimalHusbandry next.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 37 (2520 BC)
Our scout in the south came across this on the previous turn:


Judging by the color, that is Josh/Vanrober of America. If he was a closer neighbor I'd consider avoiding contact to surprise him with war chariots, but Superdeath is between us so contact it is. In the other direction, our warrior has revealed that there is indeed a landbridge in the northwest, but we can't stray too far from home yet.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 40 (2400 BC)
It's been a while since I've shown of my core, which is starting to develop:


Arkham has just grown to size three on a warrior, and will now build a worker, which Abd al-Azred will help chop out. Kingsport is growing back to size 4 on two warriors, before both cities will spew a settler each. We'll probably settle the gold and east copper spots next. Hunting was just researched, and AnimalHusbandry is due in 6 turns, which might change our settlement plans.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 46 (2160 BC)
Kingsport finished a settler last turn and AnimalHusbandry came in, revealing that our beloved horses are about where I expected them to be:


Given the terrain, distances and opponents, a chariot rush isn't really in the cards here. Arkham's settler will claim the gold site next while the current one will either take the pink to lock away Superdeath or settle for the copper. Both are good sites, but I think the copper should come first, and the capital culture will claim the wheat on T52. We'll need both Pottery and Mysticism soon, but Pottery wins out.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 47 (2120 BC)
We found our third city, Essex, on the copper site. We're keeping up with our neighbors, as Commodore founded his third last turn and Superdeath this turn. This is a good thing, as the next neighbor we meet is TBS, another of the top contenders. This sure is a busy part of the map!


I fear for the safety of our newcomer joshy whom hasn't met either of his neighbors, and when we passed through his scout was parked inside the culture of the #2 city with full fortify bonus.

It's also very noticeable that we're playing on a higher difficulty, the net cost of founding Essex was -4 gpt, even with a trade route in place. Pottery is due in 7 at 70% breakeven, but we're saving gold for a turn or two before turning it back on.