[PB67] Tarkeel flips the table

[Tarkeel]

Turn 48 (2080 BC)
Charriu offers Open Borders as promised, and we accept. Concordia can whip the settler T50 and settle T52. I'm able to use a worker to chop the forest before settling, which according to my research is 16h? Seems worthwhile. Endeavor takes the newly netted clams and can grow in 3, then whipping a worker on T52.

Turn 49 (2040 BC)
Superdeath completes his #2 favorite wonder, Stonehenge, but not in his capital! Mjmd is going to love that.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 50 (2000 BC) - Checking the Shelves
Concordia whips the settler, and Endeavor grows to 4 next time to take the mine for a few turns. The chop outside borders at clammy is actually only 10h, which is more marginal, but oh well.


Given the rough starting land I'm pretty satisfied with how things look right now, but this is the end of the easy part. Sailing is due in 2, after which it's about 6 more turns for Masonry, so Concordia will start preparing for the Great Lighthouse while Endeavor and Funkenschlag takes over expansion plans.

Opponent Overview
(I don't have good enough screenshots of their territories to share yet, but I've seen pieces from multiple sources to make a somewhat informed opinion about their land)

6. Bing - Cyrus (CHA/IMP) of Native Americans
While Bing is probably the only food in this game, he's still a tenacious defender you shouldn't underestimate. His start seems to be Antarctica, on the choke leading to Charriu's Aframerica and just north of Superdeath, and from what I can tell, the only land rivaling me for worst quality.
While CHA seems to be a good fit for the land, IMP really isn't and Bing is still stuck on two cities.

Pick: 2/5
Player: 2/5
Land: 2/5

5. Superdeath - LieuYe (ORG/PRO) of Mongolia
Superdeath has been complaining loudly about the amount of sheep and plains around him, and completely ignoring that his capital is working a literal goldmine. He does get to complain about two close neighbors, and a third (me) wants to settle up close as well.
I still think LieuYe is the best early-economic leader, I don't think she's a good fit for this start, and I really don't rate Mongolia, either alone or with LieuYe.
There's really not much to say about Superdeath the player that hasn't been said before, but in the setting of a diplo game let me just state up front that he's completely untrustworthy.

Pick: 3/5
Player: 4/5
Land: 4/5

4. Tarkeel - Roosevelt (IND/ORG) of Rome
I'm very happy with how my pick is working out; ORG lighthouses will be a blessing on this map and Rome is already giving me a hand up in negotiating borders with neighbors. Darius would probably have been an even better leader, but Mjmd had already picked him.
I think I've bitched enough about my land quality already, but especially the lack of luxuries is hurting badly.

Pick: 5/5
Player 4/5
Land: 2/5

3. Mjmd - Darius (FIN/ORG) of Sumeria
Mjmd is a very solid player, but prone to tilting at what he perceives to be a bad border. He closely borders Superdeath, who has already settled towards him and built Stonehenge.
If it wasn't for the close border with Superdeath, he'd be in contention for best land, green India to expand into.

Pick: 5/5
Player: 4/5
Land: 3/5

2. Charriu - Pericles (CRE/PHI) of America
Our resident sweetheart isn't the most experienced player, but nevertheless a solid micro-er.
The pick is a CtH 3.0 classic, aiming to leverage the Carnegie Library "neutral-GPP" with an early forge into an engineer, possibly claiming the Pyramids.
He's also blessed with what seems to be the best land, with three natural chokes against his neighbors.

Pick: 4/5
Player: 3/5
Land: 5/5

1. Ginger + GKC - Huayna Capac (FIN/IND) of India
Pick: 4/5
Player: 4/5
Land: 5/5

Ginger is the only player I've yet to meet in game, so all my knowledge of his territory is from third parties. He seems to have a very watery start, but like Superdeath starts with a literal goldmine. Since Mjmd picked FIN/ORG already, FIN/IND is likely meant to get an early Colossus to make the most out of the coast, which is a solid plan Ginger knows exactly how to execute.

World Maps

[Tarkeel]

Diplo with SD is off to such a good start.

Me: Hello! (free pic of meeting)
SD: Hi there.

Three days later

Me: Here's a free pic of your strategic resources!
SD: Isn't this a shitty map?
Me: Hey, you have gold atleast!
SD: Have you met Bing?
Me: Not yet.

Six days later

Me: I did meet Bing to your east
SD: Yes, I've met him

Five days later:

SD: Hey, do you have some screenies to trade?
Me: Sure, but you showed no interest in what I've given you. What are you interested in?
SD: Area between us

Unless Charriu or Mjmd have told him, Superdeath probably doesn't even know where I am. I have scouted out almost the entire area between us, so this is a huge deal to give away, and I'm not sure what he can offer for that.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 51 (1960 BC)
I made a small error by being too eager on the whip last turn; by holding it for a turn I could have sent the overflow into a lighthouse next turn. Instead we do a worker-shuffle to delay hooking up the copper, and finish another MP warrior (which will come in handy).


Vital, who was mining the copper, heads off to improve the capital sheep, while Friedeman finishes clearing Clammy before hooking the copper next turn.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 52 (1920 BC)
Sailing comes in, and Concordia starts on the smaller lighthouse while we're researching Masonry.


Villagers is founded and takes the cattle from Funkenschlag, which will have it's fish hooked in two. The empire has 9 total pop, and the only unimproved tile is a lake. Despite this, we're barely ahead of last in GNP. At least I have a healthy lead in foodhammers.





Villagers is a fast-paced tableau-building game. The players draft villagers depending on their village's food production and play an amount of them based on their housing level. There's some neat chaining and unlocking mechanics to keep things interesting, but this is one of the lighter (and quicker) games I enjoy.

[Tarkeel]

I've got a (very) rough microplan for building the greater lighthouse now. After saving gold for a turn, I should be able to get Masonry in 4 more, at T58.
T53: Lighthouse at 14/60; Concordia works Crabs+Wheat;
T54: Lighthouse at 20/60; Friedeman arrives at grassmine
T55: Lighthouse at 26/60; Concordia grows to 3 and works Crabs+Wheat+Clams; Friedeman starts grassmine; Vital finishes sheep; Worker#3 completes and goes to forested plainshill
T56: Lighthouse at 32/60; Worker#3 starts minechop on forested plainshill and Vital moves to help
T57: Lighthouse at 38/60; Concordia grows to 4 and works Crabs+Sheep+Plainsmine+ForestedPlainsHill
T58: Lighthouse at 58/60; Masonry finishes; Grassmine finishes;
T59: GLH starts; Minechop completes

I'll see if it pays off to have Vital help out on the grassmine instead, but I doubt it. Will also see if it's worth whipping the lighthouse for overflow, but might be better to put 4 hammers into an axe for double-whip later.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 55 (1800 BC)
I found the first error in my micro: Concordia taking the lake-clams for two turns will delay the third worker by a turn, but that's not a big problem really.
Funkenschlag on the other hand was set to grow to size 4 on the same turn it would finish the granary, but by setting it to work bare coast over fish for a turn we slow down the growth just enough to atleast get some use of the granary.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 59 (1640 BC)
After a sizeable delay we're back to playing, and Concordia has built the lesser lighthouse.


Vital and Uwe are minechoping the plainshill, but I think I'll save the other forests for later. Construction of Uwe was further delayed a turn, which proves that micro is not my strongest suit. Friedeman is roading eastwards, where the settler which Endeavor whips next turn will go. Funkenschlag will 2-whip a pair of axes to secure the area, so we might be able to claim Pinky.

In other news, Charriu birthed a very early scientist which he spent on academy, and we have foreign trade connection.

[Tarkeel]

Addendum: A quick look at the demographics reveals my predicament here:


Despite a decent lead in foodhammers, our GNP is atrocious. Sure, our opponents have some culture inflation, but this graph is rather worrisome:


Given that Bing, Mjmd and me are all gathered around 30 GNP, SD has 45 and Charriu at 70ish, that means Ginger is also in the mid 40s. Now, I'll improve some with GLH and Iberian cottages, but racing Ginger to Colossus is going to be rough.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 60 (1600 BC)
I spent some more time thinking about the turn after reporting, and decided that I'm better off going for Monotheism than contesting MetalCasting. I'll also need a spear on the SD frontline, so I switched to Hunting so it finishes in time for the overflow next turn. Hopefully I'll land Judaism for some much needed culture and happiness.

Bonus culture should look something like this:
Charrius: CRE: 3x2; Library: 2; Academy; 4 = 12
SD: Stonehenge: 8 + 3x1 = 11
Ginger: Holycity: 5
Mjmd: Holycity: 5

Meaning SD is about the same GNP as me, Mjmd a bit behind, while Ginger and Charriu are far and very far ahead.