Mmm, generic canned tuna... I typically prefer my processed fish more heavily salted, like Chinese sardine fillets with black bean and chili oil, or Japanese unagi. Those go great with a warm bland rice porridge, with some pickled greens on the side. You can add some dried shrimp and finely sliced ginger and scallions to the rice pot if you want to get real fancy.
We grow to size 4 as the eastern mine finishes, and start our 2nd worker. The warrior has 4 hammers left, and can be completed at will later on, but it feels more valuable to have a worker.
I apparently put our research back to 100% after taking the picture yesterday, so we did a turn at 90%. D'oh. Not a big deal, luckily.
Superdeath continues to dump EP into us. I don't need any help seeing you as an enemy, SD...
- - -
(June 4th, 2021, 11:36)El Grillo Wrote: Mmm, generic canned tuna... I typically prefer my processed fish more heavily salted, like Chinese sardine fillets with black bean and chili oil, or Japanese unagi. Those go great with a warm bland rice porridge, with some pickled greens on the side. You can add some dried shrimp and finely sliced ginger and scallions to the rice pot if you want to get real fancy.
I've never had either, but I'm sure I could get them at the supermarket! Rice porridge sounds interesting; I eat rice all the time, but only from a rice-cooker. Honestly this all just sounds like something I'd like to try.
As much as I enjoy it, the most disgusting sandwich I've ever eaten also involved generic canned tuna. It was a 'use my last ingredients' on a hike, and ended up being a plain tortilla with tuna, olive oil, ramen seasoning, and... raisins. Would firmly not recommend that combo.
- - -
Side rant: 'No barbarians' is a terrible setting. It just reinforces 'no military' as the only optimal path, usually turning the early game into a literal sandbox. I think that's a problem in itself (small random swings are important for an exciting game), but it's even worse than that. Someone can march a warrior up to absolutely ruin us right now, but I guarantee the same is true for every other player, as no military is the optimal path here, always. The luck of who walks a warrior by the right city in this scenario is a larger random swing than having barbarians and everyone building at least some military, because we would all prepare for the latter. So instead of dozens of tiny swings that are dynamic and played-around, there is (possibly) one major swing that literally dictates the entire game. Or there is no swing, and the early-game is a sandbox. Neither of these scenarios make for a better game.
At least, that's my opinion. What do you guys think?
T38-39
We found Jowy on the spiral end north of Lazteuq. He knows Hunting and Mysticism, of which the latter is quite surprising. I'm going to double-back with the scout and meet Jowy's opposite, who I'm pretty sure will be a different player; either Mjmd or GKC. My DNA map theory is looking good, with three circles containing two players apiece.
I forgot to mention earlier: Lazteuq got Stonehenge, not Mjmd!! That's got to be a pretty major setback, I'm not sure that I would call Mjmd the favourite anymore. The funny thing is, I'm wondering if Jowy was also going for Stonehenge with that early Mysticism. Maybe everyone saw the ocean fish and panicked.
As usual I'm most productive when procrastinating my work. Something I loved the idea of, but was terrible at updating, was my 'Info Post' in PB55 and PB56. I've edited the first post of the thread for Cities, Workers and Technologies. If there's anything else worth recording, let me know. This time I promise to keep it up-to-date.
SD's capital. He didn't settle towards us or on our 2nd city spot, so there's a good chances he nabbed horses. Ideally I'd like to get peace in about 5 turns to guarantee safety until spears, but it seems he isn't whipping out an army yet, so maybe we're safe (pre-copper, at least).
Domestically, we overflow our 3rd worker into a warrior at 30/15 hammers, and then will overflow into a settler for our 3rd city. We haven't whipped once yet, because the capital is quite food-poor, and without a production trait it doesn't seem worth it. I whipped pre-granary a lot in PB56 and PB59; in the latter, it never felt very good, and with the former we had IMP (and it still didn't feel very good!). I'm not sure if that's a hangup I need to shake, or sensible.
Our first whip went into the third settler, last turn. This turn we overflow+chop into a granary at Salmon, so we can keep whipping efficiently. That's the theory, at least. Tuna will also whip its granary at size 3, with overflow into a lighthouse.
The Brothers Ruan are going to road our copper, while Santiago builds a cottage and then helps to connect it. Captain Ahab will farm the wheat after roading the hill. It feels like the right choice having three workers so early; there's a lot to do!
Demos are appalling, but we're a slow pick that just 2-whipped, and invested 90 hammers into a (so far) unused granary and work boat. I hope this will pay off long-term, although we'll have to see.
Superdeath hasn't built any chariots yet, and we're right at the end of the pre-copper danger zone. He can absolutely still wreck our game, but I don't think he could kill us anymore; at least this went better than PB51! He settled his third city last turn, in the same location as us (so we're two turns behind). I guess clam/wheat/floodplains is pretty enticing.
We founded Flathead. It will grow onto the wheat farm, and then onto a floodplains cottage. Then we will 2-whip a granary->monument to get the copper down the line.
I realised I should have moved Captain Ahab (worker) to farm the wheat after Lazteuq's warrior moved, so that Lazteuq didn't have to option of threatening it. I covered him with the warrior, so hopefully he doesn't think any more of it. We'll see if he wants to make an enemy.
I thought for a while about whether we'd rather cottage the spice or a normal grassland. I decided the normal grassland, since it's <70 turns until plantations anyway.
Flatheads
Are really ugly. But my uncle used to catch them for dinner in the Port Phillip Bay (Melbourne's bay) when I was a kid, so they're at the top of my 'fish list.' And probably no one else's.
Not a big deal, luckily. 
Our scout found SD (thank goodness), so we'll know if he charges forwards with War Chariots anytime soon. 
That's got to be a pretty major setback, I'm not sure that I would call Mjmd the favourite anymore. The funny thing is, I'm wondering if Jowy was also going for Stonehenge with that early Mysticism. Maybe everyone saw the ocean fish and panicked. 
