[SPOILERS] Magic Science and Nobody Else in Pitboss 66

[naufragar]

Pitboss 66 Opponent Analysis: “The Dog Ate My Homework!”

I was on the road when you posted this, so I missed it! Excellent stuff.

[Magic Science]

Pitboss 66 Opponent Analysis: “The Dog Ate My Homework!”

I was on the road when you posted this, so I missed it! Excellent stuff.

Thank you!

I hope that in my next game I will have caught up on my RB reading homework enough to put that "excellent stuff" to practical use.

[Magic Science]

Turn 24 – 3040 BC

   
The east is utterly infested with barbarian animals. To summarize the scattered signs, on Turn 23 there were at least 3 lions and 2 bears within 3 tiles of Nobody. Fortunately, the terrain makes the bears easy to dodge and the lions safe to fight, but the lions are still causing trouble by physically occupying the exact tiles that I want Nobody to move to. It sure is a good thing that barbarian animals can’t stand still.

Nobody found an eastern coast this turn, which confirms the happy hypothesis that I can settle for the lake Fish with a coastal city. I will have a 7-food tile millennia before Biology, oh joyous day! . Though, it did just occur to me this turn that I may be competing for that tile with a rival whose capital is only another 2 or 3 tiles away in the fog across the water. I don’t just HAVE some additional amphibian neighbors such as Plemadilly, I also AM the additional amphibian neighbor for some players. Somehow, that obvious implication of my map analysis had not dawned on me until now.

Nobody’s next job is to move back south and west, to reveal the remaining fogged tiles nearby Zeus by land. If there is an isthmus instead of a peninsula, then I will send one of the first Warriors to explore it, but I need to have at least some knowledge of that region by Turn 33, and both the Greek Warriors born prior to that date are occupied with other tasks.


   
Last turn’s screenshot of the west failed to include 2 important details.

ONE: The land south of Hera’s Gold is a boring wasteland. At least give me some bitter tundra or sublime mountains to work with, come on. Food in the fog could also redeem this region, of course.

TWO: There is a real island in the southern waterbody. This has been confirmed by fog gazing and camera flying. Unless the neighbors in that direction are unusually nearby or unusually greedy, then I can easily and peacefully acquire a source of domestic ICTRs. I hope that there is a Pig, Sheep, Corn, or Rice resource on that single tile. It would be fun to control a city tile that yields 3 food instead of 2, and then I could settle the island with an earlier city without slaughtering the snowball. A first-ring seafood would do the trick even better, but it would not be as interesting, and both things at once are not possible at a non-capital site on Torusworld.

[Magic Science]

Turns 25 through 30, 3000 through 2800 BC
   
On Turn 25, the lion outsmarted me.

I knew that it would abandon the grassland forest hill with its next move, but failed to consider that it could still physically block Nobody’s path by moving to the in-between riverside plains tile instead. This little maneuver cost me 4 tiles of map knowledge about the eastern coast. Nobody had to stop and heal for 2 turns as well, but that was because of my average combat luck, not this lion’s tactical genius.

RIP Tactical Genius Lion, Gone Too Soon. At least you live on as Nobody’s Woodsman I promotion.


   
On Turn 28, Tarkeel and civac2 [Civeel], Mehmed II of Spain, founder of Buddhism, made contact from Hera’s future location in the west.

I considered attacking their scout with Warrior One, but decided not to. Attacking would deny Civeel scouting information and provide Warrior One with experience, but also sour relations with Civeel and reduce the chance of Hera being founded smoothly on Turn 32. So Warrior One stood still, and the Spanish scout lived to scout another day.


   
Which brings us to Turn 30, the present day.

Civeel’s scout has returned and is facing northeast. I take this as a sign that they are more from the south, less from the west. Good. I left their scout alone for the same reasons as before, blah blah blah. HOWEVER, if it tries to invade my culture to see more tiles OR SCREW WITH MY DAMN MICRO , then of course I will attack it. So far, my isthmus start has caused me nothing but trouble with my scouting, now it can cause someone else trouble with their scouting as well. . But because scouts cannot attack and the declarer is the one who suffers from teleportation when war breaks out, it should be easy to peacefully keep the scout in the west. Have you ever heard of the Coincidental Worker Defense?

Meanwhile, Hera’s settler is moving out. The city will be founded on Turn 32. This is later than (so far) Ginger() + Miguelito [Ginguelito] on Turn 28, and Plemadilly and Gavagai on Turn 29.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Nobody finally made it back near Zeus and revealed some new tiles. Still no Copper, and there are not many good places where it could still be hiding. . Nobody had better win his 97.22% combat roll against that lion. .

I have some ideas about strategy for the next batch of turns, but everything depends on where Copper is. For now, suffice to say that I think early scouting is worth sacrificing for in this situation.

[Magic Science]

About another thing: unit names.

I remember that once upon a time on Realms Beyond, it was common for players to name units after lurkers. I do not know why this fell out of fashion, and it seems like a fun tradition, so I think I will do it in this game.

In honor of teaching me how my own UU works, , Charriu will be the namesake of my first Phalanx. Though the unit having the same name as the lurker could cause some confusion and awkward phrasing, so I think the first Phalanx will instead receive a name like “Charriu’s Company” or “Ctabbers of Charriu” instead.

Suggestions for lurker-inspired names and what unit types those names should be applied to are welcome. Otherwise, I decide, so now your hypothetical namesakes are held hostage to ensure your contribution to this thread’s post-count. . How would you like to be the inspiration for a suicidal catapult, or a military police warrior who literally never moves for thousands of years, then gets run over by a Knight?

[Charriu]

I feel honored

[Magic Science]

Hey, if anyone deserves it, then you do. .

Turn 31 – 2760 BC
   
Nobody won. Copper doubly located, and peninsula confirmed with 95% confidence.
Hmm. . Phase 2 of the micromanagement plan begins in earnest next turn.

[Magic Science]

Turns 32 through 36 – 2720 through 2560 BC

This screenshot of the demographics was taken mere minutes before Hera was settled. Things to note:
   
• For reasons that remain unknown, my GNP is tied for last. Does double seafood count for nothing?
• at having the highest power. FEAR ME. I do have two warriors.
• My land area is also last, at a mere 12 tiles. Interesting. I wonder, am I the only one with an isthmus start? How many other people have coastal starts? I have all the information I need to answer that second question, even organized turn-by-turn in a spreadsheet and everything, but I have yet to pull myself together and make it happen. .
• You can see from my Exports – Imports ranking that in this game I have the player ID that wins all ties. .


   
The location of my Copper displeases me. There is no place to settle that has my Copper and a new food resource tile in the first ring, and the only old food resource tile I can steal from Zeus to feed a city with my Copper in its first ring is the infamous plains Cow forested plains hill Deer. That is absolutely not good enough for my third city, but I need Copper sooner rather than later, right?

Yeah, I do. .

I did consider trying delay my Copper for another few cities. I could settle timidly, use my saved IMP hammers to build an Ancient Era wonder while maintaining a respectable snowball, and get by with Archers, Chariots (I hope), and prayers for defense. However, with my geography that is too dangerous. I have no backlines. No matter which direction I go, every step away from Zeus is a step towards the teeth of the enemy. And the teeth of the enemy are not so far away either. There are about 147 land tiles per player on this map, and Nobody has already revealed more land tiles than that. Settling timidly enough is just not possible. Also, I am behind technologically in the race for the Oracle, I have not seen any Stone that can be acquired timidly for the Pyramids, and the lack of foreign intercontinental trade routes will weaken the Great Lighthouse.

So, I will settle my third city, “Poseidon”, for my Copper, and hope it does not hurt too much. Oh well. The city is not too bad, since it will at least have plenty of good commerce tiles.


   
Now that I know where my Copper is and that I will be settling for it early like a normal person, I can divide my strategy for the coming turns into phases based on when I settle which cities.

Phase 0: Settle my first 3 cities to connect Copper and develop a foundation of foodhammers, commerce, and raw population to support rapid further expansion.

Phase 1: Settle my next 3 or 4 cities into the contested regions on my side of the water. I am looking for cities that have excellent tiles to work or that claim a disproportionate amount of land. Every city claims at least one “cityworth” of land, of course, but some that are placed forward in strategic locations can claim more than one cityworth of land. If Krill won’t give me any backlines, then I will settle boldly and MAKE MY OWN. Again, I know that Torusworld maps produce chokepoints that are ideal for this, I just don’t know where any of them are yet. Come to think of it, I started on a perfect chokepoint. I wonder what that means for my chances of finding more around me in the fog? .

Phase 2: Settle all the rest of my cities while overcoming the economic problems I will probably have. Some cities will go in the hard-won backlines on my side of the water, while others will go north or south to the other side of the water into very close but still somewhat contested territory.


For Phase 0: All the map knowledge required can be provided by my free starting scout. However, the next 2 phases demand that I make sacrifices to acquire the required map knowledge.

For Phase 1: Guy the Warrior will abandon my borders T37 to explore the south and west. Starting T40, TBD1 the Workboat will explore my side of the coast to the north. Nobody the Scout will continue into the east.

For Phase 2: Starting T39, TBD2 the Workboat will circumnavigate the one-tile island to the south (this costs me a few commerce in Hera from an early whip and a few food in Zeus from a delayed improvement of the Crabs). Dude the Warrior will start a detour to the southern peninsula on T37 and only return to guard Poseidon at the last possible moment on T44. TBD1 the Workboat will eventually turn around to scout Plemadilly’s side of the northern coast, and TBD3 the Workboat will eventually be trained in Hera or Poseidon to do the same for the southern coast that is still totally in the fog.


I can’t properly explain how much this focus on scouting will cost me without my boring spreadsheets, so to keep it short have just 2 zany facts.

1: For a handful of turns after Turn 40, I will pay 1 gpt on unit maintenance costs and 1 gpt on unit supply costs. .
2: I will whip 3 times without granaries before Turn 45. These whips do not help accelerate the development of my cities, they just help it almost keep up with what it would be if I was not spending so many resources on scouting. Technically, the two whips of Zeus are both into settlers, but the production gained from those whips really goes into Warriors and Workboats.

But I think knowing the best places for my quick, bold settlements is worth the cost.

…

Oh, and I have one last special message for civac and Tarkeel to read after the game. You know how I moved my Warrior, “Guy”, to my Corn to threaten your badly wounded and nameless Scout on Turn 35, causing it to flee in fear without healing? I was bluffing! . Your Scout would have been perfectly safe staying right where it was, because Guy is scheduled to leave Hera’s borders to explore the south and west on Turn 37. Attacking your scout would have left him wounded and out of position for that task, and I value gaining map knowledge for myself much more than denying map knowledge to others. HA! I hope your wounded Scout gets eaten by a Wolf in the wilderness.

[Magic Science]

Turns 37 through 39 – 2520 BC through 2440 BC
   
The big news of Turn 37 was that Plemadilly have discovered Sailing. This decision of theirs confuses me, and things that confuse me frighten me. . However, upon reflection I think there is no need to raise my fear above its usual level over this development.

As an Additional Amphibian NeighborTM [AAN], before they discovered Sailing this turn Plemadilly could trouble me only in one way: by settling the defensively vital land across the water from Zeus before I can. While that possibility is terrible, I think the problem is under control. Thanks to my early scouting Workboat, I will soon have the map knowledge necessary to guess how quickly I need to settle that land to win the race, and between double (soon quadruple) seafood, gold at Hera (soon), and internal trade routes (also soon), my economy is strong enough to reach Sailing after Animal Husbandry and Pottery by as soon as Turn 60 (about) if necessary. It will likely be necessary.

Now that they have discovered Sailing, Plemadilly could trouble me in one other way: by training a Galley, loading it with units, and sending it my way. They can see I have not connected Copper, and they know Zeus’ exact location to hit it from the fog with only one turn of warning. . But that is absurd. For just as they can see my lack of Copper, so too can I see their lack of Copper. . And even without their graphs (my Espionage is mostly on Civeel, Plemadilly’s is all on me) a Galley loaded with two real military units would be visible as the rival best power. So I was being silly. Plemadilly probably researched Sailing to build an early lighthouse in their triple-seafood capital (which I considered doing) and/or to settle one of this map’s rare and precious islands. Still, I am sad to see the end of the 15 turns of bliss when my northern border was as physically invincible to danger as a range of peak tiles.


   
The several medium news items of Turn 39 come courtesy of three of my five scouting units.

Above in the southeast, Nobody discovers Stone and Marble, only the second non-Zeus place with two food resources in the first ring, the end of the land, and still no neighbors. Hmm, I was certain that someone would be over here to contest this with me by land. There still might be someone in the south, but if not, then this could be a great region to claim in its entirety with just one or two chokepoint cities. .


   
Above in the southcentral, Dude discovers Crabs, and the nameless Workboat discovers Pigs. The Crabs mean I will need to consider relocating Poseidon to an inferior place one tile north, and the Pigs mean I will feel happy. Now if only the nameless Workboat discovers second-ring seafood and absolutely no other coastal access routes, then my one-tile island, hereby christened “Pig Island”, will be perfect.


…


Also, Turn 39 was the turn that I decided to give up on Cloak and Dagger work. It is too twisted and boring for me. At least I deduced that Civeel and Plemadilly both have coastal seafood starts just like mine back in the good old turns when life was simpler.

[Magic Science]

Turn 40 – 2400 BC

   

Zeus and Hera continued to enjoy their domestic bliss, so there is not anything to report about them.

In the wilderness on land: I had hoped Bears would be extinct already, since we players had [21 > 1.5 * 12] cities between us 7 turns ago now, but unfortunately a Bear appeared across the lake from Guy this turn. Upon reflection, this is an obvious consequence of inhabiting one vast world-spanning continent, and I should have foreseen it, and maybe built a second Scout in place of one of my Warriors. Oh well. Guy was forced to deviate 1 tile south of his planned path to avoid combat, but he found a chokepoint! This chokepoint does not seem well-placed for opportunistically carving out some good backlines for myself, and it makes me suspect that Civeel’s Scout came less from the south and more from the west. Therefore, Guy will continue moving west as previously planned, and all good Greeks will pray for mercy from the Bear.

In the wilderness on and by water: There is unfortunately another coastal access route to Pig Island in the southeast, but at least it means that Workboat can improve Zeus’ Crabs on time instead of a turn late as previously planned.


   

For some strategic perspective, examine this region.

It contains the other non-Zeus place with two food resources in the first ring (and high-quality ones at that!), and in those riverside grassland flats at the edge of the fog I can see the makings of a beautiful, Academy-worthy commerce city. This region, discovered by Nobody before Turn 10, was what first inspired me to try to use IMP and Phalanxes to leap far afield to chokepoints with my early cities and fence off an unfair portion of the land for myself. My present unusual focus on scouting is to make sure there is not a better first target for that strategy, and to identify a second target as well.

For best results I must choose my first target by about Turn 50. It is vital that Guy survive on his mission at least until then.