[SPOILERS] - Gandhi of Mali - Krill

[Krill]

OK, to the Oracle.

I can lose this. Very, very, easily. Dazed can finish it at any turn, but I'm not sure if he is going to. Cyneheard I think is too slow to threaten, and scooter is just bullshitting in the banter thread: he needs to get the Mids, not the Oracle, and marble is something like 18 worker turns for him to hook up and he is behind on development. So, it's only Dazed I'm expecting to compete with.

I can chop 4 forests, for 52 hammers. 5 if i change the MM a bit and risk losing a forest chop. I can overflow 10 hammers from the capital, meaning I need to make up 38 hammers (or potentially only 25). I can just about get it with 3, or maybe 2 turns of building.

So it's doable. I'd then need to assess my army and figure out where to settle my third city, plus keep an eye on Cyneheard and figure out the GP plans: I need to decide right now if iI want to go for the CV win, and I'm not joking, I think it is possible here...

[Rowain]

A CV in a 3CC-AW game would be great. And I bet a huge surprise for all.

[Krill]

CV isn't that difficult to get though...if you are left alone. 15 GA is quite easily obtainable, 20...is pushing it. But that just means I need to get 25K culture from cities via the slider/wonders...from working artists and everything. I don't know when I could get a win by, but I'm pretty sure I could get it before tanks turned up, maybe even around the time Cavalry can be built by the tech leader.

It's also not that different from a tech strategy in this setting, as I need at least 2 early GA for bombs for defenses. The question is, when will people catch on to the potential CV?

[Rowain]

...if you are left alone.

Thats the tough thing in a 4 player ,few cities game isn't it? Especially as they should know that leaving you alone is the worst thing they can do no matter what victory you plan to get.

[Krill]

Yeah, so it's going to be a balancing act. Gotta make sure that I'm not the most dangerous person in the game, keep up my military strength, and reach the critical military techs. Luckily, we have AGG Rome in the game...

I think I'm going to need HBR, Feudalism, Construction and IW within the next 25 turns, and probably sooner. Those aren't difficult to get, if I land the Oracle. The economic techs I need are just Lit and Drama; CS is a fair distance down the path, but MC wouldn't be bad, and Maths is on the way to Construction anyway.

Thanks to PHI I don't expect any difficulty in getting out the first four GP in that time frame, might even get the sixth depending on how Kikazaru grows. If I get out 2 GS (one settled, one Academy), I need to figure out where to settle them. Mizaru is the safest, but it won't be working cottages. Kikazaru is a proper cottage capital, but it's in a dangerous position: I would have to bomb it and focus on military a lot more.

I can quite easily use HR/Vassalage/CS or Slavery/blank/OR or blank. SPI will come in useful...every 5 turns I can spend in CS and then Pacifism as well will speed up a CV and shorten the amount of times the others can assail me with superior units...

[Krill]

Turns out I can't micro workers anymore. Oracle gets delayed 1 turn (or more likely, lost) because I'm 1 worker turn short of getting a chop down in time. So...T45 Oracle...time to hope...

Also...Cyneheard got his first preat this turn, T43...

[Krill]

OK, Cyneheard has the save, and this is the last chance of anyone to build the Oracle before I take CoL and print a huge target sign on my back.

[Krill]

WOOHOO! Oracle is completed. I get a GS next turn in Kikazaru, and the borders expand again (T46) without any need to revolt to caste, and I can make a 3 turn settler in the capital. Not that I'm going to, it's defences all the way to stop Cyneheard trying anything smart.

So, someone got Judaism...I'd bet on that someone being Dazed. Cyneheard just dragged himself to IW, and scooter is doing god knows what.

I just realised...I might get a double Holy City in Kikizaru. Kikizaru means "Hear no evil", kinda ironic, really. But I can revolt back to no state religion to get a bit of extra culture in that city as I won't need the happiness, I want to slave that granary out and then regrow quickly to push out a GA to bomb either here or the third city. Mizaru will be back into happiness next turn when the gold is hooked up, but I'm not entirely sure how to play this out now. I need the settler and it is the only thing I can reasonably slave, but I lack the military to really defend it, or the workers to even road to it.

I suppose I could just double slave out the settler and overflow out some more skirms as bulk defenders. Then it would be straight barracks and units...

Fun times.

[ironstar]

Cyneheard is starting to spike... Let's all sing "when the praets go marching in".

Congrats on the oracle! Things are falling neatly in to place. Looking forward to see the effects of a GA bomb in your border town next to the henge cap.
Whatever happened to that Cyne-grieving skirm of yours, did he make it to G2?

[Krill]

Only to G1 unfortunately, but he is sat on the pigs hill keeping an eye on anything Cyneheard moves towards me. Surprisingly, he hasn't moved anything at all forward, and I have a complete sentry net between us.