[SPOILERS] Kaiser and TheArchduke are nice and friendly neighbours

[Kaiser]

PYDT shows that the game has been started wohoo (missing not started notification)

[Kaiser]

Ok, I was over eager here, but now the game has started

*pokes thrawn for his spreadsheet*

[Kaiser]

Here is mine I used so far, you can take anything you want from it if there is anything of value

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

I will have a look at yours today

Mine is crazy mindwork compared to yours, as it forces you to count the city yields in your head to enter the totals worked per turn so you can fill in the cell.
I have some score tracking and district calculation sheets though

[Kaiser]

Btw. I believe I am a decent Builder but do miss the timing on Military build up and am a bad tactician on top, if recent events tell anything. I am normally microing every turn and am in favor of going for calculated risks which shows especially early game where I try to juggle barbs with minimal military. No shocking secrets spoiled when I tell you that I started PBEM 18 with Builder -> Settler -> Builder, right?
I would say what I lack most is a dedicated plan, I know how to go forward and which choices and options are there, but generally I am building into a decent position instead of pushing for a dedicated goal. This shows especially when preparing for war as I just cannot have some (to many) cities building infrastructure/other projects

So feel free to reign my builderism in if you think we should act differently.
I want this to become a team success and I am personally very open to direct criticism and want to learn a good chunk this game from Master General TAD and 1-game Veteran Thrawn, Master of Timing and optimization.

If you are up for it, I suggest we coordinate early game closely, maybe even in a Chat/Teams/Steam VoiP session. Especially the early turns.
Thrawn is in CET as well, so TAD and me can do all of that in English if you can make the time. Today's evening window will be a good opportunity for that, my son typically goes to bed around 19:00 - 19:30 even though occasionally (yesterday) a bit later.
My wife needs the gaming PC for work, but I will try to get a 2 hour window in the evening where she is not allowed to do over-hours (better for her anyway, I am such a good and selfless husband *cough* xD)

[TheArchduke]

Sounds good.

My playtime is CET 20:30.

I am not allowed at my CPU before the bedtime of both younglings.

[Kaiser]

here is the spreadsheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

It is based on thrawns and I added some other information. I have sheets for England and Japans capital respectively.

The first turn came around tonight and TAD and me played it directly, discussing different options and possibilities.



TAD hat some more interesting choice here, as SIP and settling on the incense were discussed. 

Ultimately we decided against picking 2nd pantheon/channel city for the more defensible option which also has more strong PHJ tiles as well as the +4 campus in range.

Appeal and fog gazing tells us that the NE is a peninsula with a potential landbridge in the far E. Another reason for SIP, but also not worth scouting with the Warrior so he is heading either S or E.

As there are no important resources to improve right away and no real barb threat from the N, TAD suggested a Monument opening which we decided on. 
The plan here is to switch to Settler at size two, so the GCow is worked until turn 5.

England researches Pottery to uncover 2 techs and get on the way to a Campus



Naming scheme was decided on after the screenshot, tech is Mining as we want to know what follows it.
It was clear quickly that I will settle in place with very nice Campus and Harbor spots nearby. Builder into Settler at size 5 seems to be the best play, though we also discussed starting Slinger here, but I we ultimately agreed on playing the opening a bit greedy with the amount of coast to leverage Japans +5 CS against barbs.

The brackets indicate final adjacencies, the first numbers indicate starting adjacencies. The Campus spot is great, but this city might only build its campus 3rd (HS and GP first). We certainly need to discuss this a bit more detailed, one option would be exchanging the GP with a CH and building the GP at a different city.

The HS is on a stone tile, so Japan will need to get to Masonry and Astrology quickly. Quarrying the stone to then chop it later into the HS will likely be the play, especially as England also needs to get rid of its stone.

The PJBanana in the NW is also sweetwater again, so here is hoping and foggazing that there will be another river. There could be a decent city site with the 2 strong banana tiles we can see already, so let us hope for some more tiles.



The Ancient Civics are all channeled through one unknown to us, finding Political Philosophy early is likely key so we will likely try to split our research here to identify it quickly.



Techs are a highly gated, Masonry and Astrology are top priorities here.

In foreign news, Australia (MPTF) did not settle on turn 1.

[TheArchduke]

Thanks for doing the report of our turn together. Turn 2 will be done by me if both play.

[Kaiser]

Please check the spreadsheet, you are red E1 with your capital there. Can you adjust it or do I need to give you special rights?

While calculating I realized that finishing the Builder will delay my Settler to turn 23 instead of 17, so I adjusted the plan accordingly to also build the Settler first and finish it on size 2 working two 2 2 tiles. Basically we are following identical plans but you are building a Monument and I am building a Builder in the meantime.
For the Builder I decided to continue working two 2 2 tiles to speed it up as much as possible so I maximise yields, this cost me growth by one turn and means I need to finish AH by turn 20 to pasture the Cow and have it become a 4 yield tile as well.

Your plan currently is maximising growth over finishing the Monument early, but we can adjust that if you prefer getting it or something else done earlier. I had to get around thrawns way of thinking, but it is a quite neat spreadsheet and a big step up from my own.

[Kaiser]

Yeah the drawback is the opportunity cost of the district slot occupied by the HS, that is actually an argument why Work Ethic/Choracl Music and Goddess of the River are very symbiotic picks though they do not help England unless it invest in HS, well besides a stronger Japan in itself.

I think we will have to see what is available but my current preference is:
Follower Belief:
- Work Ethic (not crazy Brazil levels but min IZ fits quite well, incentivizes running +100 HS adjacency policy for a high income to be invested in Settler/Builder later into units
- Choral Music for denial value (Indonesia) as well as having covered for Japan
- Warrior Monks if we want to get frisky
- Jesuit Education forces us to build Theatres and I prefer spending my on units
- Feed the world is actually quite nice and synergistic, the map just looks fertile at the Capital so we probably won't need it

Worhsip Beliefs (to be picked last ...)
Depending on empire situation but likely Wat > Meeting House > the rest

Founder Belief
- Tithe for stable income/denial
- World Church or Cross Cultural Dialogue as consolation prizes
- Pilgrimage if we are really late to the religion party

Enhancer Belief
- Crusade
- Defender of the Faith
- Itinerant Preachers (probably better than Scripture on an island heavy map)
- Scripture

I coloured the best picks in my eyes, DoF is a bit weaker as it needs cost but will lead to the same +10 CS swing on coastal tiles in Japans culture. Crusade though is a +15 CS swing in Englands culture ocoastal tiles, getting the religion over there will be a bit more difficult though.

I think we need to check the religion race, but if we can get a top 3 religion we should likely go for it, especially as we can easily use HS to drive the district discount for us which helps like detailed here
https://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/show...#pid765407

[TheArchduke]

Turn 2

Seems everyone settled. I got the turn early, so I moved my warrior.

   

Regarding beliefs. I am skeptical if we will have prime choice of anything with Russia and China + Stonehenge. We will see.