Woden's Wondrous World of China

[Woden]

Turn 25

Another turn was waiting for me when I got up today, awesome! I must say, we are going at a pretty good clip, especially for a weekday!

I move the slinger and settler done next to the marsh. I am going to hand off to the warrior next turn and send the slinger east to get some long over due info over that way. Turn 25 and I still have fog 4 tiles from my capital. Move warrior towards settler. The warrior and settler will not be on the same tile next turn but the settler will move on the marsh and I will have vision on anything that could take it.




What did the roulette wheel of a tile selector chose? The mercury...




It says the rice next but maybe the stone? I switch the city back to the bananas to drop growth by 1, and warrior still out in 2. Turned on teh settler filter to check out Russian lands and figured out where his capital is located (shown by pin).




I sure hope the continent extends west or further south for Russia's sake (ok, not really). I know from playing Russia that they usually start near the tundra and if I can see all of his "good" land, he is in trouble. My next city should be founded on T30 and St. Pete's in on the south side of the river. If those 2 tiles north of St. Pete's are flat, it would take 5 turns of travel to screw my city plant. So, he will need a settler this turn? Will have to check next turn if he got one out, otherwise I should be safe. Even if he does, hopefully he picks the spot over by the sheep. His military is not quite twice mine, but that will change soon.

No international news this turn or a least I didn't take a screenshot and am writing this in teh afternoon after playing in the morning.

[Woden]

Turn 26

Forgot to mention last turn that the barb scouts disappeared into the fog, I expect Horseman or at least a warrior within 5 turns. That OK, warrior out next turn and I will start a slinger. I think I will push out units until I get my pantheon and can start the 50% settlers card. I move the settler to the marsh, the warrior to next to the marsh, and started moving the slinger east.




Took a gander at the victory ranks and Russia is now first in military power (63), I I am at 30. I need to sit down and figure out how that works. I think he got another unit out or promoted a unit or two. He now is more than double mine. Good thing I am going to kick out a few units, would not want him to get the wrong idea, especially now that I am forward settling him on an awesome spot.




I check the score detail and he still hasn't kicked out a settler, so I think I am fine. I haven't seen any of his units up here lately, so I don't think he knows my settler is on his way to the spot I want. I actually don't believe he knows where my capital is, I didn't see a unit by it and when I saw his returning warrior, I don't think enough time elapsed to make through all the rough terrain. 

In other international news...




TheArchduke moved ahead of oledavy this turn in score. This is because of two things: oledavy put out a settler and TheArchduke got his 2nd civic. Maybe he met a cultural CS or is working a culture tile because he is the first of the remaining pack.

Because of the barbarians, I switched research to Archery. I am going to put 5 turns into and then switch to Masonry. I want some defenses sooner rather than later. Slingers suck against horseman, archers not so much.

[Woden]

Turn 27

Third turn of the day! Quiet turn. Move slinger across the river southwest of the rice. I going to have him zig-zag a little and try and find flat ground to cover more territory. Move settler down to warrior. Finished warrior at Main Street, set him towards barb camp to the west. Started slinger, out in 3. New city will be on-line in 3 turns. I thinking of calling the new city "Jungle Cruise" because of all the jungle. I am going to want a road between these two soon. Probably go Slinger->Trader->Monument at new city.




In international news, Russia produced a settler last turn, I don't think he can move and found a city that will be close enough to where I want my city to prevent it. He might take a few tiles away, but not block it. Oledavy gained a civic, now tied in score. I don't think TheArchduke or Singaboy have built settlers yet.

Hope we have quick turn around again so I have a turn waiting before I leave for work.

[Woden]

Turn 28

Move settler down 1 tile closer to destination, city will be founded in 2 turns.  Move slinger north to the shore, find jade. Will want that! He will move to the eastern hill next turn, hopefully will get good vision on what is east. Move warrior next to the river. I just realized, Main Street would be pretty slow to attack from the north and west, too bad that is my back-line. Looks fairly flat from the south and east, will need to post a guard there at some point, in case Russia tries anything. Would be good to attack from in between Toronto and Zanaibar but i don't know if he knows that yet. Hopefully when I (or him) get some envoys into either of those city-states, their borders close the gap. 




I didn't notice any changing in international news. He still has not founded his city yet. I did look at Russia's military power and he is still in the lead with 65. I am now 3rd at 52, which I think means he has 2 warriors, 1 slinger, and 1 scout with a few of them promoted. I looked at Sullla's thread again to see if I can figure it out and he stated in summary military score is the sum of attack strength and gold (12 gold/point). I don't know if that is correct. I think it might be sum of the average strength (attach + defense) and maybe 1 point every 100 gold. That would get me too 52 (2 warriors at 20 strength + 1 slinger at 15 attack and 5 defense + >200 gold)? My warrior is hurt, so IDK. I looked at the formula thread at CivFanatics but there was nothing on military power. Anyways, we should be equal or I should be strong when my slinger comes out in 2. Also, I can test the gold, because I think I am going to buy a trader in my 2nd city when it is founded. I will discuss my plans for that city when it is founded on Turn 30. 

I will discuss my future strategy in detail after turn 30, but think I will give you a little information on the near future. Next turn I am going to move the slinger to the eastern hill, hopefully I can gain some vision on what is east. I haven't decided if I want to check out what is east of Zanzibar first or follow the coast to see if I can find a coastal natural wonder because will give me an envoy in Zanzibar and Toronto and give me the eureka for Astronomy.  Of coarse, there might not be a coastal wonder and I could be wasting my time but I also might find another Civ. Or I could find a river for another nice city. Or, I could head to Zanzibar and see about a eastern forward settlement. Or, there may be a wonder over that too. Either way, I want a few forwards cities and fill in after. I guess I will wait until next turn to see what I see. 

Like I said a little bit ago, I think I want to buy a trader when I settle "Jungle Cruise" or JC. It is going to be slow growing until I can get some farms down. A trader will add some food to grow faster and a little production will help too. I was going to buy a builder to do a little chopping but that can wait a little while and I should get some gold if I can take the barb camps. It will also add a road, to speed up travel between the 2 cities. In MS, I am going to kick out another slinger to go scouting after the current one, then I might build a monument to keep the lead in culture. I do need to pick up the science a little to get more techs done but there is not a good spot in either city site (in JC there is a 3rd ring but I don't have the cash and I think Russia will get a city down there and grab it. Hopefully there is a nice spot in the east. Which brings up another point, no one from that direction has come calling, which makes me believe that: 1. there is a lot or room in that direction; 2. there maybe an obstruction of some kind (mountains or a narrow point in the continent or both), 3. lots of hills for slow movement; and/or 4. my competitors are not scouting very good. I don't think they are bad scouters but something is keeping my neighbor to the east from coming this way. Might be as easy an explanation as they haven't started scouting this way, look at me, I am just starting that way. 


Hopefully we can get more than 1 turn tomorrow. I had to work later than usual today and didn't get the save to Singaboy until after he left for work. Which seems to set of a cascade effect where everybody gets it a little after they leave for work, but I am still play way earlier than my desired window and we are still hitting our goal of a turn a day. In fact, I think we are going at a good pace. Hopefully we can get a few rounds in this weekend.

[Sullla]

They took out the gold component in the military power score in one of the patches that dropped during the PBEM1 game. Power is now simply the sum total of all units owned, with injured units counting for less power as they take damage.

[Woden]

They took out the gold component in the military power score in one of the patches that dropped during the PBEM1 game. Power is now simply the sum total of all units owned, with injured units counting for less power as they take damage.

OK, thanks! Good to know. Then you were correct is stating it is the sum of attack strength. With my 2 warriors (20) and Slinger (15), I get 55 strength but the slightly injured warrior must get nicked 3 points for the 52 total.

[Woden]

Turn 29

I am working from home so I could play as soon as I got the download this morning. I see that Singaboy was online, so maybe we can get another turn in before he goes to bed. That would be great because next turn is going to be eventful. 

Move my slinger onto the hill and spy a bunch of flat land with another jade but no freshwater. I see some flat land to the northeast, so I well send him that way to cover more ground and see if I can find a river or other source of fresh water. Move my warrior across the river and spy a barb scout and warrior. Barb warrior is probably going to attack my warrior in between turns. This is good since I am in jungle for better defense and it means horseman haven't spawned out of the camp yet (again, famous last words). I will probably try to chase the scout with the slinger coming out next turn.  Move teh settler and warrior onto the city site, will found next turn. 




In international news...




Oledavy got anther tech and is now in first place. Must be nice to have a science CS near by. Hopefully I can find one east of me, may not be first but I will have an envoy when I get my Pantheon. He has 5 now and probably was a 80 science one (BW or Wheel or Currency?) because it has been a few turns since his last one. Russia still has 1 civics and 2 techs and is last in score. I bet he is research to the inspiration and eureka point and then switching, wait to get the inspiration/eureka. Come to think of it, he got his settler out soon after mine and he built a couple of units beforehand. I wonder if he skipped a builder or used a chop instead of putting down his 3rd improvement and not getting the inspiration for Craftsmanship. That is a possibility, he maybe building a builder now, since his military power has not gone up. I did check the settler filter and he has no founded a city in the area that I can see and his population has not gone up yet. He does play after me, so he may this turn but I am pretty sure my 2nd city is still safe, may be close to his 2nd city but the tile will still be eligible. Next turn will be eventful...

[Woden]

Turn 30

The turn I have been waiting for for a while, I get to found my 2nd city! Singaboy must have went to bed right before I sent him the file because he didn't play until he woke up. Oh well, at least I got to play before I went to bed and should have another turn waiting when I get up. 

First, I move my slinger northeast 2 tiles along the flat areas and find a river...




Might be a nice city spot. Fresh water, rice, jade...I will have to see what is on the other side of the river and see if there is production or someone close by. Potential 3rd city...I will have to see what is down by Zanzibar before I make a decision. I really want a city on the other side of Zanzibar. I want to protect that city as best I can because I don't want anybody to capture it. Those additional amenities are going to be nice.

The Barb warrior attacked the purple warrior instead of me in between turns which is nice. Hopefully the purple warrior attacks next turn and I can go for the kill my next turn, get my first or three barbs needed for BW. I move my slinger to the west mined hill. I am going to chase the scout if I can. I am also going to move my warrior out of JC (damn, just looked and forgot to rename the city) to push the scout back north if he moves that way. 
Now for the good news. I founded my 2nd city. As stated earlier, I am going to call this "Jungle Cruise". I buy a trader and the southern stone tile, using most of my gold. I bought the stone because if Russia gets an envoy in Nan Madol, the borders will expand and might grab the tile.




I have big plans for this city. This city is going to be my (non-Petra) production powerhouse. Look at all those hills waiting for mines and if I put the industrial zone where I want it will have a +5-adjacency bonus.  This city will be slow growing because it lacks some high food tiles, that is why I bought a trader and stone tile as soon as it was founded, to speed growth. I plan on harvesting the stone as soon as I get Masonry and farm it. That will be the top of a farm triangle for better food. My build plan for this city is start with slinger, then build a monument and get walls up as soon as possible. Then I am going to put an encampment on the desert tile. This city will be my unit production city and it will have a lot of production, especially when I get an industrial zone. Once I get walls and an encampment, this city will be a tough nut to crack. I plan on keeping all the southern jungle in place while Russia is still in the game. Because the jungle is on hills, no one can shoot over them and anybody wanting to take this city must get next to it and attack across a river. With the encampment and walls, I can then shoot on units from both sides of the jungle. Also, it will bring units within the crouching tiger range once I have them. The only real threat from 2 tiles away is the jungle tile by the mountain but that is only 1 tile and would be the focus of a counter attack if someone was there. I plan to do a lot of chopping (4) and harvesting (2) all the stone to help get my wonder strategy going (see T30 review). I also can harvest the marsh once I get the tile (may buy later).

I check the settler filter and no new city from Russia. 




I think he will place his 2nd city (if going in this direction) on the tile southwest of the sheep. Then he could get 1 more city southwest of where I marked the campus. I may need to buy a few tiles in JC because with Russia's extra tile bonus, he could steal all the 2nd and 3rd ring tiles southeast of JC. Hopefully, he settles on tile west of the sheep, then the tile southwest of the campus pin would be ineligible. That would be awesome! 

In other international news...




Oledavy settled his second city. Surprisingly, he has not regrown his settler population yet (I have this turn). I will still be behind in score (27 to his 28) but that will last only 7 more turns. I figured I am going to get 3 civics in 7 turns (Early Empire in 6, Mysticism in 7, and State Property in 6). Looks like him and I are going to be the leaders in this game. No one else has another city yet and Russia is still at 14 points. What is he doing? He must be researching an 80 science tech and waiting for inspirations for civics. His military score has not changed, still at 65. Next turn, I should be ahead of him with my 69 or 70 (healing warrior in a city this turn).

Review of my strategies will following in the next post...

[Woden]

Turn 30-Strategy Review

Overall the last 10 turns went as expected. I got my 2nd city down, started to expand my military, and I have started scouted the east. I should be in Autocracy in 15 or less turns. I still need to kill a few barbarians but that will come in time. I am ahead in culture but a little behind in science but that should not last long, especially as I expand and get more eurekas. I have a fourth city site and still need a third. 
In the next 10 turns, I plan of building a builder after the Warrior in MS and a monument is JC after the slinger while I wait for my Pantheon so I can get out of God King. As a side note, if I started God King the first chance I had, it would be done next turn. I will start the 50% settler policy and build 2 settlers out of MS. The builder will farm the rice and quarry the stone and then head down to JC to start preparing for the Wonder strategy.

I plan on building 4 wonders between turn 50-60. I want to build the Pyramids, Stonehenge, the Oracle, and the Hanging Gardens and then build the Colosseum shortly after with the builder from the Pyramids. I want to build the Pyramids and Hanging Gardens in my 4th city site and Stonehenge and the Oracle in MS. Then build an entertainment district (hopefully with wonder overflow) in MS and build the Colosseum next to it. Should be able to reach MS, JC, and the 4th city site, and possibly an addition 2 fill in cities.  I also plan on using the overflow to finish a few districts in those 2 cities.  I have placed pins where I want wonders and some districts.



 
My wondrous plan so far is as follows: Once I am in Autocracy, I am going to run the 50% settler card and 30% builder card while I research Games and Recreation or Military Training.  While running the builder’s card I am going to chop/build/buy a minimum of 3 builders, preferably 6-7. I need 2 builders to complete the Pyramids and 1 to chop/harvest JC. Hopefully by the time I can swap cards after PP, my 2 settlers are done and I can switch to the 15% wonders card. I want to keep the builder’s card because I want to continue getting builders out if I don’t have 6. I will send 2 builders up to where the Pyramids are going and start building them. Each builder charge will supply 21.8% of the wonder (0.15 from builder*1.15 for Pantheon*1.15 for Wonder Card*1.1 for Autocracy = 0.2182), meaning I need 5 charges per wonder and will get 9.1% overflow. If the city works on the wonder so it is 11% complete (20 cogs for 180 cog wonder but no more than 22 cogs), I can overflow more into a district or something that doesn’t get bonus production. This will work in MS but probably not the new city (#4). I need 2 builders to build the pyramids because I don’t want to waste a 1 builder completely because the extra building charge does apply to existing builders, so I will use 3 charges from 1 and 2 from the other. If I get 4 more builders out, I will have them start the other 3 wonders and have another 1 put 1 turn in each. It would be awesome and give the lurkers some entertaining reads if I could finish all of them in 1 turn (this is my goal). I should have a few builder’s charges left after they are done, I will use those to improve JC after chopping is done.

I want anybody who is think of early wonders to forget about them, because I just built 4. I want this because I have yet to find a good location for Petra. There may be something down by Russia but that might be a long shot. I don’t know if I will have the military to grab the spot before he does or at least I can see him declare war on me if I settle a city right next to his capital. I am not saying that I have decided not to do it, I am sketching out plans. I am going to send my warrior done there to see if it is an awesome spot for Petra and then determine how badly I want it. If I don’t find a decent spot for Petra within 20 turns of hitting Mathematics, I might burn it on the desert near JC to prevent anybody else from getting it. I will still get the faith from the wonder but not too much production. That is a little way off and I still have a lot of territory to scout, so we will see.

In other news, I am sketching out invasion plans for Russia. I am think somewhere around Turn 80-100. It involves an army of crouching tigers, an army of horseman, a few siege units (rams or towers), the Terracotta Army, and being Suzerain of Toronto or Vilnius. That is all I am going to say now; I will reveal more as it gets closer and I work out how I am going to get there.

[Anastenazontas]

Don't wonders increase in cost the more of them you build?
Do the worker charges also increase to compensate or do they only provide 0.15 of the initial cost?