[Spoilers] Haram hopefully reports

[AdrienIer]

I got 230 failgold from Colossus, now I need another package from Maoi, if I don't want to get stuck before Currency.

Wait does building Moai in several cities give you failgold when one of them ends up actually building it ?

[Haram]

Yup, that's how it works in BTS and I haven't seen any changes in ToW log. At least I hope so, I would be really fucked if it didn't work for some reason. My breakeven went down to 20% after settling 12th city and I still have another settler in transit.

That is one of the strenghts of IND right now. After reduction of resource bonusses down to 50% failgold is no longer viable option for other leaders.


Edit: it works also in ToW, verified in WB.

[Haram]

I got my MoM
So far, I was whipping my cities on a regular basis and didn’t care very much about cottage growing. Whipping is most effective, when it is done on small cities. Now, it is time to let my cities grow, cause I will have a prophet/engineer in ~12 turns and I want to use it for GA. The plan is to adapt Org_religion/Buddism/Heraditiary_Rule/Beaurocracy before GA ends. Probably some Caste in the meantime to farm an academy, but after GA I want to be back in slavery.

My biggest concern at this point is that Scipio doesn’t seem to be expanding to his southern Island. That leaves a lot of free land for Fennbandit. I feel I should challenge them on the island north of me, just not to let them control 2 whole islands for themselves. I’m still thinking how to do it – should I settle some city(s) on the northern island or just come with soldiers to mess with them.

One more note about failgold: theoretically you can build Moai in 10 cities before actually completing it, but it wouldn’t be really worth it. When you boost your eco with failgold it is extremely important how much time elapses from the moment you invest hammers to the moment you receive payout. I think it was SevenSpirits, who wrote somewhere on RB, that if you play ok, you should double the potential of your civ every 30-40 turns. So, the more you wait for the failgold payout, the less it is worth.

North:


South:


Cities:


Demo. My GNP really sucks at this point (I have a lot of culture), but I'm not very concerned about it. It will be better soon.

[Haram]

Six whips from Joey last turn, incl. five 1-pop
Emergency whips would probably include more 2-pop melee whips. So... chariots?
Not again Joey, please not again... I hope we are not heading into PB20 sequel.

[Haram]

Joey's alert revoked. Those whips didn't contribute to power rating.
I still don't have contact with Borsche and TBS, but I was able to read the info of Tsatgon-Borsche war from F4 screen (very convenient situation to Joey), so the setup most probably looks like this:

Borsche --------- wetbandit ------------- Jowy

Joey ----------------- me --------------- Dreylin

Tsargon ----------- Scipio ---------------- TBS



Sciopio was lucky to get a free gold mine, but he is really really struggling. Only 5 cities so far! Also note - that city orphans both seafood

I was considering aestetics line, that would fit very well with my MoM, but I think I have to use GA, to go Civil Service - Machinery and bring Maces here. I'm only afraid, that TBS is able to conquer Scipio before that. BTW - nice play, TBS. 3 cities right before HG and granaries whipped right after

If lurkers have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[Haram]

Ok, it's T100, so a good time for a sort of summary

My pick re-evaluation
PRO - I like to have picked this trait. It's not as strong as IMP in the beginning, but I have to say, it was pretty usefull so far. I still expect it to shine in this game.
IND - this is the trait that actually decided the way I play this game - wonders, forges, failgold. Up to now, it serves me very well, but I expect it to be slightly less usefull further on.
Sumeria - I still don't have a single ziggurat and building settlers... I expected it to be much more usefull, but with tech cost scaling and these oversee trade routes it was not helpfull at all. Ok, 30H discout is still something and vultures with defensive bonusses are really nice, universal defenders, but overall - probably could have picked something better.


Player overview (score and city count at the beginning of T100)

Haram PRO IND of SUMERIA (score: 629, cities: 14)
My plan is to launch a GA on T101 and use it to convert my civ into low-cost, high-efficiency one. At the beginning of GA I adapt OrgReligion/Buddism/Caste, then spread religion, build forges/ziggurats in most cities, move capital, farm academy and adapt Beurau. I still not decided if I want to go aestetics line before Civil Service.

TBS IND EXP of JAPAN (score: 599, cities: ?)
Unsurprisingly doing very well, unsurprisingly got some wonders (fortunately not those ones, that I was chasing). I don't have detailed info about his play, cause we still don't have a contact in-game (tbh - I have a scout in the eastern part of Scipio's land, but decided not to make a contact with TBS yet, cause I'm selling horses to Scipio. I don't know, if he can make any good use of them, but want to give him some options). I was also too lazy to note city settling, so I don't know the exact city count of TBS. I can see from the demo, that top power is rising gradually and it is neither of my neighbours. So, it could be TBS's preparations to conquer Scipio.

GermanJoey IMP FIN of MALI (score: 551, cities: 19)
He didn't get any first-to bonusses, but he's rexing like hell. He uses his opponents' weakness to claim as much land as he can. That's definatelly the right play with Victoria on this map and Joey is a strong contender to win this game. After PB20 experience, as neighbours, we are really nice to each other here

Dreylin IMP PRO of ROME (score: 481, cities: 14)
He had a great start of this game. Early GLH (which is simply great on this map - way better than my shrine) didn't hamper his initial expansion. He got his first 5-6 cities really fast. Then something went wrong... or maybe not as good, as it could. Dreylin is IMP/PRO, so 2 powerfull early game traits and with GLH, he really should have spammed cities all around and fuck the maintenance. GLH would always pull you out, no metter what. Instead, he started to build redundant buildings (I have a visibility on 5 of his cities). I mean, he is not trailing behind with city count, but he could have been way ahead (see IMP Joey). Dreylin still has a chance to win this game, but it is much less than the one I estiated at T60.

Fennbandit PRO FIN of ENGLND (score: 464, cities: 14)
They are doing good, but nothing special. Scipio's poor play made a convenient situation for them, cause they are able to claim 2 islands mostly for themselves. I have a settler on galley to get a foothold on the island north of me, but it still leaves a lot of land for them. As they didn't contribute any resources to Wonders, thay should have 2-3 cities more by now. I think, they are the last one, that still have the chances to win this game.

Jowy FIN CHA of INDIA (score: 433, cities: 11)
He got Hindu, but without a shrine it's not spreading as well as Buddism. What can I say about his play - not really much. He got 2 gems connected, so he has some cities on the island he shares with TBS, or he got it in his culture from the other shore, the way I have.

Borshe ORG IMP of VIKING (score: 422, cities: ?)
We don't have a contact in-game, I wasn't even counting cities, so I can't say much. He's IMP and the score isn't impressive, so it was probably the war with Tsargon, that slowed him down.

Tsargon FIN CRE of GREECE (score: 353, cities: 9)
He starts the shoot-out zone at this point. I think Joey will conquer most of his lands, probably split some with Borshe. For the reasons that are beyond my understanding, he already researched Alphabet.

Scipio IMP CHA of KHMER (score: 338, cities: 6)
I think this is the first time I regret having that poor neighbour. First, as I mentioned above, it leaves a lot of free land to Fennbandit. Secondly, he can be conquered by TBS. I was thinking a lot, how should I play in this situation. Whether should I try to murder my eco and get units there myself... The problem is, that conquest with galleys and vultures would be really risky. Even if I managed to ferry enough units to actually beat Scipio somehow, it could be difficult to hold it, if TBS made a road and advanced with units. So, I decided to play my game and follow the plan I have right now. I will only get some boats on the southern sea, to make things more complicated or TBS, in case of his attack. Scipio doesn't have a math yet, but (like Tsargon) got Alphabet already

Screens come later.

[Haram]

Graphs

Cities

[Haram]

TBS wipes aesthetics line and there is nothing I can do about it. When I saw Parthenon falling, I had a glimpse thought of rushing for the Great Library, but I'm happy I opted not to sink beakers. Instead, I went Theology to get AP. It's not that expensive with Ind/OrgRel and it harmonizes very well with my strategy. Firstly, it secures Buddism as a dominant reliogion till the end of the game, secondly it provides hammers from buildings. There is still a chance I will lose it, cause TBS has a great engineer and it makes all planning more complicated.

Anyways, during GA I try to build as much infra as I can, cause at the end of it, I'll probably switch to Theocracy.

[Haram]

Someone's gonne die. TBS has got 412k power, while I am second with 246k. It is ~28 axeman more. It's a shame to admit, but I wasn't paying attention, whether he used GE to bulb machinery.

If it is Scipio, there is nothing I can do about it, I'm afraid. I will be too late with my maces. It's pretty depressing, there are still tons of forests in Scipio's land and he got additional gold AND silver, thanks to RNG.

[Haram]

I'm currently thinking of Taj beeline. It is a high risk and high reward option for me.

The risk
I think it is pretty natural path for TBS, right now. When he conquers Scipio he would probably want to consolidate his gains - build some courthouses, and forbidden palace in Scipio's land. So no immediate need for military techs. He is not FIN, so Compass/Banking isn't important. He's got an engineer and Taj is definately a good way to use it. I've read some of TBS's threads and I'm sure he also appreciates the denial value of stealing Taj from me, when I have MoM. Atm, he is down ~ 2k beakers in the path (CoL and Civil Service), but he's got some really strong cards in his hand - engineer, representation, artist for possible GA, possible scientist for Philo bulb (I'm not sure about the last one).

On the other hand, I already have Bureaucracy adapted, an academy in my new capital, courthouses in most of my cities and going 100% research for the next ~ 10-12 turns shouldn't be a problem with some wealth build. Philo/Nationalism is still pretty expensive (5,2k beakers) and it's actually good for me, cause TBS currently has got much higher city maintenance and army cost. I also have the information advantage, cause I see his research.


The reward
Both of my side neighbours - GJ, Dreylin - are strong enough, not to consider any hostality in that direction. I could probably push fenn/wetbandit out of the island north of me (if I went machinery right now), but it is only 3 more cities and a possibility of heavy military standoff. TBS has built a huge army so strying to steal anything in Scipio's land would most likely end tragically, when I have to ferry units with galleys (I probably try to raze 1 or 2 northern Scipio's cities to limit TBS's gains, but that is all I can do here).

Taj seems the only way to make a big move and build some significant advantage. If I manage to get it, I most probably launch another (third) GA right after the one from Taj to get to drafted rifles asap. That should allow me to think of some serious land gains, either from fennbandit, dreylin or even from TBS (former Scipio's land).