[spoilers]Commodore is Tokugawa of Zulu, or, playing for second place.

[Commodore]

No idea what the naming scheme is. On the plus side, Tokugawa is definitely an excuse to bring Sam out of mothballs.

Damn straight. Anyway, first order of business this turn was sco...
No! The first order of business is honoring the brave warrior who discovered the wheel with a name of honor.

Right, so let's do that.



Anywho, moving onward shows more nice terrain. We're either on a main continent or a big island. I really hope we can find a good victim, playing with the barbarians until the AD years doesn't sound like the best thing ever for Agg/Zulu.



It's turn five, so looking back at the capital shows...



normal speed. Well, borders at least pop next turn, so there is that. Expansive would be nice, I hate to say. Still, thanks to Mr. Club we now are closer to granaries, which is nice. Need to help the snowball as quickly as possible.

[Mardoc]

So yeah, Mardoc, eat it.

:hat::cake:

[spacetyrantxenu]

So yeah, Mardoc, eat it.

My guess was going to be that the villages were hostile. Glad to see he's still alive. Mardoc, enjoy your cake!

[Commodore]

My guess was going to be that the villages were hostile. Glad to see he's still alive. Mardoc, enjoy your cake!

Fortunately, unless Krill changed something that outcome isn't possible anymore. So yes, Club is alive, kicking, and apparently very spicy. Nice city somewhere around all those spices, although Calendar is a ways off.



The lion nosing around means I should keep him to defensive terrain for the nonce, although the combat 1 promo is nice. Gee, a shock warrior could have some fun, eh? Anyway, borders popped revealing...not much.



At least we'll have IC-TRs...

[Commodore]

So, all the dry reporting aside, let's have a strat post! We are Tokugawa of the Zulu, somewhat buffed by RB mod, but still slow and waddling economically compared to our rivals. Cheap granaries are nice and all, but the really benefit of cheap granaries is how they enable faster whips...which are nerfed into the ground. So, what's the plan? Well, here's the quick guide to the Toku Zulu solutions to varrious problems and questions presented by early-game civ:

First off, defense. This is barbs-on with tundra to the north of us, and although it's not always war, with this many militaristic players and civs about we can expect wars early and often.

[SIZE="4"]Toku Zulu's Solution[/SIZE]:


Next, land, as Gaspar said, with the big benefits of tech trading and an eventual +150% bonus from known techs, land is even more essential to success here. We need to aquire lots of land fast, and we have no advantages in making workers or settlers.

[SIZE="4"]Toku Zulu's Solution[/SIZE]:


Next, economy. We've got no special building bonuses except for granaries, which as mentioned before, are nerfed, and our bias is neither to specialist nor cottage economies. We need to work early scientist slots to keep up with everyone else, but still somehow get enough developed cottages to compete in the later game.

[SIZE="4"]Toku Zulu's Solution[/SIZE]:


As part and parcel of the REX plan, every civ needs to figure out where they're getting their culture. It's a biggish game and we start nowhere near mysticism, so early religion is a fools game, and with all the Ind + India + Krill, good luck getting Stonehenge.

[SIZE="4"]Toku Zulu's Solution[/SIZE]:



Finally, early wonders can supercharge our game, be they Colossus for fuax-Fin coasts, the GLH for a trade route economy (nerfed but still nice), or best of all the Pyramids for the broken Representation SE. With the aforementioned above usual suspects plus Phi who really want wonders badly too, we're not going to have a great shot at building any of the nice early wonders.

[SIZE="4"]Toku Zulu's Solution[/SIZE]:


Now I just really hope we're not alone on an island.

[Mist]

Finally, early wonders

You forgot something here. This



makes all other Zulu solutions easier to apply. Or harder if someone else grabs it. We want this normal way.

[Commodore]

You forgot something here. This



makes all other Zulu solutions easier to apply. Or harder if someone else grabs it. We want this normal way.

Well, does it apply to all cities (HOLY CRAP THATS BROKEN) or just to the city that builds it (nice little boost)? The trouble is ikhandae are the same cost and same benefit as monuments, but also +3xp and -20% maint. So we'd have issues wasting hammers on building monuments to unlock the SoZ. Unless...

[SIZE="4"]Toku Zulu's Solution[/SIZE]:


If we capture three monuments, I am so down with building the SoZ.

[Commodore]

Huh. So apparently the SoZ applies to only one city, but no longer requires the monuments. But it also lost the ivory doubler. Okay. Well. Hum. But the statue better be made out of spears!

[Commodore]

Interesting turn...s are still a ways away. In the meanwhile, here's a pretty floodplain.



We need to find a victim, fellas, or else this is going to be a pretty boring next hundred turns or so.

[Commodore]

My word that's a pretty river valley there. Corn and floodplains and lots of great riverside grassland. We need a city or two here working cottages sooner rather than later, although I have to wonder if its actually nearer to another player.



It occurs to me only now that another implication of normal speed is that we could get Mortiused at any time now. Another six turns until the worker is done, then five more for the warrior...that's a wide window if we're in dangerously close. Ah well, if we get et, we get et...might as well go big or go home, right?