[SPOILERS] Parity Parody

[suboptimal]

Turn 43

Craftsmanship is in, no changes to policies. Start State Workforce, 7 turns to complete. Tile picker back on Government Plaza marsh with two turns to go until acquisition.

Eastern okihtcitaw jogs SW then into the jungle to the SE:




There’s coast in the fog to the south of the jungles. I finish by moving to the rice, revealing the left half of “Tethys Ocean”. Going to head back over the hills next turn rather than skirting the barbarian camp, I think.

Out west I follow the river:




There’s a river delta just outside the fog to the SW and that PFH is coastal. I’ll move to the plains next turn to see what’s around. The dyes might make for a good city location as it sits in a chokepoint.

[suboptimal]

Turn 44

Magnus is established in The Saga Begins though that won’t matter for another 5 turns or so. The tile picker is now taking the tile to the SE I want to chop and shows one turn. Hopefully it takes that tile.

In the east the barbarian scout has reappeared and pinned my scout in the corner. I move one tile through the zone of control and then attack, killing the scout. It’ll be six turns to get around the mountains to their southern end. Out west I find some more hills that will flood:




The question now is whether to wander south or continue west? I think I’ll hit the hill across the river next turn and then decide whether I turn around or defog down here.

I’ve also spotted a major flaw in my plan. I need four population at the capital in order to be able to put down and build the Government Plaza. Hmmm...what to do here? Well, the only way I can make it work reasonably is to not quarry the stone. That gives me three chops to work with. The current plan is to chop two jungles (the two E/NE of The Saga Begins) and the forest to the SE of the city. That completes the Ancestral Hall on Turn 61 and the settler only needs to be standing around for one turn. I’ll also take out Colonization when State Workforce completes, then put it back in when I complete my next civic.

Of course, that brings up another interesting question. Do I settle Location #5 first and complete Mysticism before Political Philosophy? With three districts completed and three districts unlocked the Preserve would be discounted.

[suboptimal]

Turn 45

After looking at the numbers and despite my focus, settling Location 5 and building a Preserve + Grove seems like a better play than settling Location 3. I’ve been able to push the Ancestral Hall to completing on Turn 60, which lets me settle on Turn 60. Using the free builder to harvest wheat upon founding and then Magnuschopping two forests I could complete the Preserve + Grove on Turn 77. At Turn 80 it would be 3 population with 5 surplus and generating 6 and 9 per turn. It would add an additional upon growing to 4 pop on Turn 85.

Generally speaking, any city I put along the southern half of my starting area is either going to need to do something similar or take the “standard” approach of lots of farms. The good news is that it gets a little easier over time – two forest Magnuschops will build a full cost Preserve and later in the game the chops cover more of the Preserve. The alternative is the somewhat slower chop and build farms approach, which is something that will still need to be considered when it comes to getting up and running.

Mining in complete, start Sailing. Okihtcitaw in the east backtracks. Warrior moves back towards The Saga Begins for escort duty next turn. The city took the forest I plan on chopping. Builder moves to the jungle on the trade route for a chop next turn when the settler completes and I move a citizen from the deer to the maize. Out west I cross the river and find that the area is a small peninsula. As with the other southern regions it’s a usable area but would need a preserve (or lots of forest chopping and farming) to be workable.

[suboptimal]

Turn 46

Okihtcitaws are covering old ground but the one to the east has some company:




I’m gonna back up and fortify.for the time being. I want to make sure this is just a unit spawn rather than a full-on 2 warriors + slinger type deal. That...would suck. Fortifiying also gets me a turn of healing, which should help some against the warrior.

Warrior and settler rendezvous at the Campus. Builder chops the jungle to get back up to 3 population and kick start the second settler. Oh wait, I can’t because I’ve forgotten too much of the early game and can’t chop jungle. /5 So...now what? (ERASE THE LAST POST AND PRETEND THAT PLAN NEVER SAW THE LIGHT OF DAY!!! ). Mine the amber and chop the forests to the NW and SE in the mid 50’s. The Ancestral Hall still gets done for Turn 61. Amber will get mined on T49 by the 2-charge builder, and the forests will get chopped in the late 50’s. I’d say the tile picker is doing me a solid by including the tile I want for the Government Plaza but it’ll take too long to grab the tile. I’ll wait to see if the trade route ends and I can snag it that way or if I’ll be making a purchase.

I really need to de-head my ass here. My absent-mindedness is showing up here and I need to focus.

Checking around I see that Thrawn has completed either two Campus (likely) or a Campus + Library as he’s gaining 2 GSP per turn. Marcopolo and Alhambram have not completed any districts yet.

[suboptimal]

Turn 47

Units move. Builders aren’t taking any actions until Turn 50, when I chop out the marsh. I buy that tile now since the settler won’t be founding its city until the same turn that I need to chop. Eastern okihtcitaw fortifies and will eat a warrior attack at 25 vs 20. Western okihtcitaw finds what appears to be the west coast:




If I had to guess the map meta I’d say that land across the channel is an island with a city-state. I’ll move through the deer first to defog that part of the coast and then find out. That does leave me wondering if I’ve missed any other nearby islands to the south, but that’s for further exploration.

Hit end turn, Thrawn meets a city-state. That’s his second and seems to indicate that both my suspicions may be correct.

[suboptimal]

[b]Turn 48/[b]

As expected the eastern Okihtcitaw was attacked. I hold my ground, gaining another +3 CS and will wait for next turn when I can kill the warrior. It has no nearby friends so I should be OK to leave the area after it’s dispatched. Shift some units around north of the capital, two turns until settling. Out west the okithcitaw enters the deer tile, finding nothing, then turns northeast, finding that the “island” is just a connected spit of land:




No city-states yet. I’ll complete the sweep of this coast and figure out my next plan with this unit. There appears to be a spit of land to the south, just poking out of the fog. That plus the one here and the one out east have me wondering if spotting city-states relies on going all the way out on them?

I think my trade route ends this turn. At least, I hope it does as I’d like to have the trader at the new city. Inactive grows next turn and completes the Campus in 6. Unfortunately the only available tiles to work provide zero . I’ll work the crabs for more .

[suboptimal]

Turn 49

Open the save and find out I’ve met Bandar Brunei. I don’t get the free envoy as Unmet Player has already met them. Where are they located?




Also note the terrain – it’s all tundra. Their warrior also blocks my exploration path north. Wonder if the city-state blocks crossing the land bridge? Also wonder if that means the southern body of water might be one giant saltwater lake and the outside body is another lake? The good news is that they want the inspiration for Mysticism, which I’ll get in eight turns. I wonder if that means that I’ve got a city-state off the SE end of the land mass?

Western okihtcitaw sits tight and will wait to be able to cross the river to the north. Eastern one kills the barbarian warrior and confirms he has no friends around. This unit is redlined so I’ll move over to the stone and heal up. Settler and warrior cross the river to the west – settlement off the coast is stronger here. The Saga Begins grows in two turns; Inactive has grown and is working crabs. It also looks like my trade route isn’t over yet, which is both helpful (gives Inactive extra ) and not (will slow the new city a bit).

[suboptimal]

Turn 50

How come you're always such a fussy young man
Don't want no Captain Crunch, don't want no Raisin Bran
Well, don't you know that other kids are starving in Japan
So




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcJjMnHoIBI

City starts a builder and is working the jungle hill. Warrior heads back towards the capital. The builder will get me more than a trader here (Mekewap, Campus jungle chop, amber mine @ Saga Begins). I’ll have The Saga Begins spit out a trader after the current settler and run a route from Eat It to Inactive in order to pick up useful tiles between the two cities.

In the east a barbarian scout has spawned. The good news is that it won’t attack my scout. The bad news is that it’ll eventually result in another spawn. I move up to the oasis to get out of danger will head for home turf and healing next turn. In the east the okihtcitaw crosses the river and finds more of the same – plains, forests and hills. It’s almost like the mapmaker(s) wanted to give people a low-food expansion area to contend with to slow things down.

[Kaiser]

[suboptimal]

Its an interesting map concept so far. If it does turn out to be an inner sea and outer sea situation I'll be curious to see what role naval power has in this game and which body of water people choose to control.

The city states (well, the one that I can see) appear pike they'll be unattractive conquest targets if they're all set up like that....hard to get to and no food once they're conquered. With the new rules in place it'll be interesting to see how those play out.

Likewise, if the land around the other starts is ad food poor as mine i have to wonder how many will use Preserves and how many will attempt to force the issue with farms.