[PB74] Tarkeel and civacs Game of the Year

[Tarkeel]

Turn 3 (3880 BC)
Scouting the north reveals a lot about our position:


Our start seems to be an isthmus of sorts. Let's just hope that we're not the piggy in the middle with a lone neighbor on either side, but I really don't expect that from Mjmd. More likely one of the ends is backlines and the other is a front. Looks like a city will fit nicely NE of the corn, or NW of the cattle if we want to work more coast.

In foreign news, Piccadilly and Miguelito were both lucky enough to get a hut-tech as well.

I'm already starting to have second thoughts on the naming scheme, dropping the Spiel-shortlist and just going for games I enjoy, but civac tells me that's something of a first world problem.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 5 (3800 BC)
With the scout circling clockwise and capital borders expanding, we get a better understanding of our immediate surroundings.


The plainshill we'd hoped to share gold from turns out to have a sheep, so will probably settle E of it. Another city will likely go NE of the pigs, to claim the cattle and corn. There's even a cow for the southern city that will help grow cottages.

Amica and Greenline also popped a tech on T3, making five lottery winners so far.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 7 (3720 BC)
Popped another hut, for yet more gold.


Still not as good as a tech, but starting to get close. The scout will finish the circle, and then head back towards the south/west and most likely go deep.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 9 (3640 BC)
The south is looking rather good:


The scout uncovered ivory last turn, and stepping onto the hill this turn reveals pigs and floodplain(s?). This area might be contested, but also looks like our natural expansion vector. Just need to check for seafood before we can dotmap it.

Speaking of dots;
CattleCorn is likely one of our first cities as it claims two (new) good tiles inner ring, and is sensibly located for the longer term.
CornSalt on the other hand is not likely to be settled for a hundred turns or more, and might even move 1W for even bigger fishing village status
GoldenFleece is the natural spot if we want to split away the gold to a second city, but civac tells me the capital can afford to keep it, so will most likely move W.

There's a natural border to the northeast with the lake and peaks.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 11 (3560 BC)
We bring news from the south:


That's by far the best city site we've scouted this game, it might even rival our capital in goodness: two 6f tiles (wet corn and pigs) and three floodplains, on a coastal plainshill? Yummy. Too bad it's nested right up to what appears to be Dreylin's Portugal. This will have a big impact on our dotmap, as there's really nothing inbetween this and the ivory worth settling for.

I'm reminded that I've yet to do my opponent overview for this game, but Dreylin is something of an unknown to me. He's one of the old-timers that have been lured back recently, and last played in PB38. I can't remember reading any of his threads, but I got the impression he's competent.

Part of me wants to plan out how to grab that site, but I doubt it's doable or worthwhile.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 13 (3480 BC)
We're finally last to research a tech, allowing the worker to start improving the pigs next turn as well as revealing horses:


Not the best position they could be in, but infinitely better than what he had in PB66. With that in, we can put some tentative dots on the map:
CattleCorn is likely to be our second city, as it claims two good resources.
EquiTusk claims two new resources but has no native food other than a floodplain (and lighthouse lake down the line); It can be settled 1W to eventually work fish, but it's probably more important to get it running earlier.
Surf-N-Turf claims some good tiles and can help grow a floodplain cottage down the line.
GoldenFleece is still an option if we want to split the gold away, but most likely we'll settle something W of the sheep.
CornSalt (or the tile E of it) is still a late filler.

Our hardy scout is revealing more goodies down south:


All of these goodies are in Dreylin's native sphere of influence, but we're putting together some loose plans to grab it. Nothing has been decided yet; EquiTusk could be the second city if we committed to a chariot rush.

We also had a big choice in which tech to go for next, with the main options being:
BronzeWorking; primarily to unlock chops as we don't have enough food to feed the slavery machine yet
Agriculture; to improve the wheat and corn
Wheel; to connect horses and build chariots.

Most likely they'll be researched in that order.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 15 (3400 BC)
We've been trying hard to avoid contacting Dreylin, only to have his scout appear at the capital this turn. Oh well, we can then safely explore his inner circle for copper.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 18 (3280 BC)
Our scout has been working his way south, clockwise around Dreylin's capital:


It sure looks like he's only got one way to expand, and it's right into the area we want to contest. He's even got limited avenues of expansion after that, as the south is jungle-ridden.

In other news, the worker finished the pasture last turn and is now taking the long trip over to the gold, while the first warrior completes next turn. I must say, I kind of hate this start and how the resources are laid out, so I sincerely hope others have it just as bad.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 23 (3080 BC)
The second warrior finishes just as we grow to size 3 (after some microing last turn), and we have our first major decisions to make: worker or settler next?


After discussing this on and off for some days we settled on a second worker, for a slower but stronger start. This will be especially important if we do the chariot rush, as we can then settle straight on the horses and have them instantly connected in the capital, while the workers can chop out and go for a surprising rush. Since Dreylin has met someone else and not spent his entire EP on us we got graphs this turn, and they support our assumption of an Agriculture->AnimalHusbandry->BronzeWorking path, where he'll hit BW a few turns after us (and about the time we can get the first chariots out).


Our scout has wandered around some in the jungle to his south, where we met the scout we saw at our capital on T14; it's been making more or less a straight line to the south. Assuming that his copper isn't in the capital BFC (in which case we're doomed) or under forests, there isn't that many places for it to be.

[Qgqqqqq]

What are the factors that would lead you to do a chariot rush, vs. not?