[PB 59] Donovan Zoi Reflects on Over 100 Turns (of LIES!)

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 112

Another turn, more shifting priorities.  I am going to need to scrap the Academies and Caste System as part of my GA plan for 3 reasons:

--The tiles in Valkyrie and Minotaur are just too valuable to devote solely to specialists for a number of turns.
--My religion is spreading like wildfire, so it makes the most sense to use my 3rd GP to found a shrine.

But mostly:
--It's getting way too risky out there!

civac

...is spreading like a weed, having capped off his military building for the moment and is concentrating on settling any unincorporated land.  This means I will lose the race to settle my western jungle as well.  He is also claiming an island to my south that is a bridge between our two lands.

He also got sight on my graphs as well , so he knows I am not an immediate threat.  But I will be soon, so I am letting him win these small gains for now, knowing that I should be able to rip them to shreds once I have bagged the military techs I would need to maintain a distinct military advantage.  Unless he decides to whip himself into oblivion again -- he has very few chops left.

However I need to be careful because...

Miguelito/Rusten

...have just started their own GA and are racking up some impressive numbers (253gpt to my 101 right now, for example).  This is worrisome because their French made it to Metal Casting at least 20 turns before I did, which means they would have the jump on techs like Machinery, Guilds, Optics and Gunpowder.  I am hoping that converting to Bureaucracy during my GA will be enough to keep me competitive enough to not be considered a snack.

I haven't spoken much about this team since their power graph has been running a flatline just above mine (I am 0.7 of their power) typical to a civ with a larger empire than mine (18 cities to 11), but that doesn't mean I have been ignoring them.  I know that things can change in a heartbeat, as I plan to prove in the coming turns. 

Golden Age

First orders of business will be to convert to Confucianism and start on Civil Service.  Then I will move into Bureau for free once discovered, and then likely go for Construction/HBR next, although I still plan to look at how cheap Engineering is at that time.  The extra road movement would make my trailing Horchers great for any clean up. Plus, I'd be able to build them across the empire and still get them to any frontlines quickly.

During the GA, I will also be queue stacking: doing partial builds of unique units so that they can be whipped in succession when the GA is over.  I'd like to keep my cities at their max population if I am able, but am willing to whip some units during the GA if the situation requires it.

For now, I have had some cities deadheading builds like Chariots so that these cities can grow in pop and have the happiness to do so.  Being able to scout civac helps because it gives me an idea of the amount of units I'll need to keep nearby Minotaur.

Org Religion and Forges/Markets will have to wait until I get through this, but I am thinking that after my military burst, I can recover cities by growing beyond my happiness limit to 2- and 3-whip these buildings.

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 115

Sorry for not being able to post the run-up, but my Golden Age has arrived!  And just like on T98 when I claimed Confucianism, the team to my east has put a damper on the celebration with another aggressive city plant (this time on my main continent).



No sir, I do not like this.  Not one bit.

As you will notice above, France's Settler just SE of the Rice allows them to use the connected lake to drop troops onto the Flood Plains to immediately threaten my cities of Black Dragon and Whiplash.  This is important because these two sites house my sole sources of Horses and Iron respectively. 

It also makes that fog coastal tile just east of the rogue site all the more troubling.  Are there 3 galleys awaiting orders there?

Or 5?

Or 0?

My only solace is that Miguelito's powergraph has not yet started to spike and he is still in Caste System.  So this could be just another defensive plant for them, but those slight power advances could include investment in a small choke force.  I'll be making my decisions based on that assumption, because I don't otherwise see a reason they would make this move.

Adding to this, Miguelito also has Fish ~ Fish with (who I am assuming is) his other jungle bridge neighbor, Elkad.  So France would be able to run light defenses across their entire empire if they wanted to make a play at me.

OK, so let's get back to those endangered resources:





My secondary instances of Horse/Iron are located on the two islands south of my mainland, and just north of the new island city that civac has recently founded.  Because of this, I have 1-whipped an emergency Galley to begin moving Workers to Kraken to secure its Iron, while planning a new city (Bronco) on the unsettled island south of Witch Doctor to claim the Horses.  I suppose I could also look for possible trades for these if things get bad.

Well, I told you my standing in this game would be decided within the next 10 or so turns, so my next post will unveil my new plans on how I intend to deal with this claustrophobic situation.  Also those city screenshots I have been promising.

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 115 (Continued)

For my Golden Age, I have 3 main objectives for its duration: military, military and military.  I have been pushing things to the limit as far as my defenses are concerned, so it is finally time to provide my citizens with the protection they so richly  deserve.

More specifically, my new tech queue is Construction > HBR > Engineering.  That's right, I am forgoing techs like Calendar and Civil Service to make this happen.  I had to really put some thought into moving away from my original plan for Civil Service, which would have been a great boost for the capital, as well as having Macemen available.  But thankfully, France's intentions toward my continent forced me to rethink things a bit:

Civil Service would have gotten me Macemen in about 5 turns, but with the new plan I get access to Catapults on T117, Horchers and War Elephants on (hopefully) T118, and Pikes/Trebs on T124/125.  Of course, Engineering also introduces my crown jewel in the form of the beautifully buffed Citadel, as well as the road movement bonus I am counting on to mow through civac's land.  So tactically, it just made sense to set an immediate course for vital advancements in both defense and offense.

So 5 new units becoming available to me, I am feeling a bit bullish about my chances of long term success -- getting to this point should set me up for ages.  But I still have to endure the challenges present during this GA, which is why I am opting to get access to those first 3 units ASAP (along with the recent XBow activation).  I just have to make sure I am able to keep Iron and Horses secured.

Here is my city list.  You'll notice that all but 2 cities are on Wealth, allowing me +13 gpt at 90% research.  That should give me enough gold to move back to 100% on T118 if HBR falls short of completion.  No worries if that target fails, as any overflow will go right into Engineering.  For turns 119-126, I'll be easing up on Wealth so start queuing up various units, so that the sequential whip party can commence once my GA is complete. Keep in mind, I retained Slavery during my GA because there was no way I was going to sit in Caste System for at least 5 turns.  I leaned on gold collection pretty early to my current tech rate, so now it's time to have the same devotion to my very survival...and hopefully more than that.

Tombstone

Hydra

Valkyrie

Witch Doctor

Minotaur

Sawblaze

Ice Wave

Kraken

Rotator

Black Dragon

Whiplash

[El Grillo]

Thanks for the update and screenshots, would you be willing to share demos and the F5 screen as well? I see that lumbermills are still in the process of being set up, in hindsight would you have chopped more forests earlier?

[Donovan Zoi]

Thanks for the update and screenshots, would you be willing to share demos and the F5 screen as well? I see that lumbermills are still in the process of being set up, in hindsight would you have chopped more forests earlier?

Hey El Grillo!  I actually do have a Demo screen from T115, and will try to remember to get the F5 next turn.


As far as the forests go, I am glad things are working the way they are now because I will be able to use these Lumbermills for the rest of the game.  Besides, I wanted this production boost so that my cities can still organically create units and buildings as needed once I dedicate myself long term to Caste System. The Wealth you see would be nowhere near as effective without the new mills I have, so I think they are actually paying off here despite the setbacks I've brought upon myself in terms of settlement.  I definitely owe my current situation with Miguelito to this line of thought and will own the outcome if it turns out that my neglect of the north leads to my downfall.

I'll get some pics of civac's empire so you can see the difference. Lots of non-river plains and grassland.    Should I send my forces his way, his only recourse will be the whip (which is still dangerous due to the abundance of food on the map).

This gambit also allows me to consider Forest Preserves in the late game (should I be so lucky).  Or keep them for the Electricity bump.


Demos




GNP - Pretty sure #1 is Miguelito since France is also in a GA, but I am glad to be competitive with the FIN team that has the Colossus.
MFG - first time in the top 10 for awhile, GA fueled 
Food - One look at my footprint explains this.  I'll need some more happiness and some conquest to boost this stat.
Soldiers - By design, but looking to burst into the top 10 here now that I have met some key domestic objectives that required me to run at low unit maintenance.
Land area/Pop - see Food above
Approval Rate - been getting lower in ranking as cities maxed out to fully benefit from GA.  
Life Expectancy - There is so much health available from my food resources, which allows for another 8-10 pop points per city once I secure happiness from Forges, Calendar resources etc.  Thinking of going for Notre Dame to bring in more happiness -- to secure more whips.
Export/Import - not bad for a PRO civ.  I've been opening my borders more now that foreign routes are starting to eclipse my own island domestic ones.

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 116

Well, this turn marked the end of an era, as civac's Sumeria was able to complete it's assault on AT's Khmer. 

GG,  Bot Brother.  If you want to stop by to talk BattleBots, make fun of the names I've selected so far, or watch as I try to unify all Bot lands under more benevolent stewardship, please feel free to stop by.  You've probably already started reading threads so it may be too late to ask if you'd like to dedlurk -- or too early since I won't be able to accept much guidance if I choose to go to war with civac.

Not that there's much info I am missing.  civac has let me continue to scout his lands so I now have sight on 24 of his 28 (!)cities.  I really hope I am able to survive the oncoming storm from the French, because I have set myself to go ham on EP against a Sumerian civ that is likely far less advanced than I am.  So his choice would be to put a halt on all tech to keep up with me, or let me have indefinite first-ring sight on his tightly-grouped layout of cities.  And with Engineering coming, this intel would allow me to possibly sniff out and hit vulnerable backline cities with my two movers.  I would just need to strike before more of his cities expand via culture.

Here's a look:





Compare that to my own hapless footprint, shrouded in shades of blue:





And here is the F5 screen that El Grillo requested.  I'll have to start using the scrollbar soon.





My next post will outline the situation with the French.  I'll try to have it up shortly.

[Charriu]

My next post will outline the situation with the French.  I'll try to have it up shortly.

Famous last words?