Posts: 3,090
Threads: 14
Joined: Apr 2017
Turn 31
Bingo...
Found Fez and they want me to boost Wheel. Easy, I will have the builder I just started at the capital mine the jade first for the boost and +2  . Three scientific city states near me and Brazil, I might have to take a few of them out to deny them to the other. Fez will be an easy target because it is coastal but I need to see if I can get there. Speaking of the coast, they might be on the western coast of the Pangaea and I might not have a neighbor directly west on me, which would also be the reason Brazil's scout back tracked through my lands. He didn't find anything in the west. Western warrior will move towards the coast and follow it north to see how much land is there.
Slinger moves closer to capital as Brazil's scout slowly makes his way east. Trader finishes in the capital and I move him to my other city. Probably won't speed up the monument (due in 3 turns) but will help pump out some warriors. Southern warrior didn't find much new information.
Internationally, Canada has finally founded his second city, last to do so. Not much else going on. Builder due in 5 turns but I might be able to speed it up once I can drop the jade tile without adding a turn to State Workforce.
Posts: 71
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2015
Nice find!
Tricky balance, scientific city states are so strong - great to keep around but you don't want your opponents benefiting from them!
Posts: 3,090
Threads: 14
Joined: Apr 2017
Turn 32
Start turn off with send Trader to Gondor, shaving a turn off of the monument, which will finish next turn and will shave a turn off of State Workforce, due on T37. Western warrior moves west and finds a bunch of coast north of Fez. He will follow it north. Southern warrior moves west and finds jungle and defogs some are north of Brazil's capital. Now I will have to decide if I circle him north and then back east to defog the areas between us of move south to defog around Rio. I am leaning towards defogging between us since he can shift north to help take La Venta in about 15-20 turns, once they build their Holy Site. If the west is the coast and the north is open of ice, I can use a boat to poke around south of Brazil. Also, it would be nice to get a unit back so I can send something east to defog east of my capital.
Brazil's scout is still poking around...
Most likely looking for the continental divide. Slinger is in place to protect the trader next turn. I don't think he will have LOS on the trader as it is blocked by the forest and stone hill, so I think it is safe. If he does attack to pillage the trader, my southern warrior will go and pillage his plantations.
Internationally, Kaiser has finished a tech and civic and is now leading the score board. Removing era points and he is still in the lead, followed by Ichabod with me in third. Suboptimal's (4th) and CMF's (5th) remain the sme, regardless of Era points. Suboptimal has finally finished his 2nd civic and he and CMF have only has 2 techs and 2 civics. Probably no science city states over by them.
Posts: 71
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2015
What's the protocol in these games, do you generally let them sniff around rather than declaring war and killing them?
Posts: 3,090
Threads: 14
Joined: Apr 2017
(July 4th, 2020, 13:31)NobleZarkon Wrote: What's the protocol in these games, do you generally let them sniff around rather than declaring war and killing them?
I don't think there is any real protocol. It used to be to ask for friendship to secure any scouting units but that has it drawbacks and I don't really do friendships anymore unless it is to secure a flank. I think he is just trying to find the continental divide because he has to be close to needing the boost to Foreign Trade. If I had another unit where I could trap and kill him, I would seriously think about it but if I attack, he will just run off and then I would be forced to prepare for war and delay other things. Better to just let him move on through.
(July 4th, 2020, 03:52)NobleZarkon Wrote: Nice find!
Tricky balance, scientific city states are so strong - great to keep around but you don't want your opponents benefiting from them!
I will have to see what the others do. If they go heavy campus starts, then it will be best to capture at least Fez and Bologna. Hattusa will be hard to capture and keep, being so close to Brazil. I am not planning a campus for a while and am going to rely on harbor science with the golden age dedication until I can get some cities with decent adjacency bonuses settled. I have no problem keeping in up with techs since it seems if you go to heavy with science you forgo some very do-able boosts. And if I focus on massive expansion, when my larger snowball starts rolling, it will cruise past them.
With 3 scientific city states, the research in this game could go pretty fast and we could end up with something like PBEM 4 where oledavy research to subs but really could build them because his infrastructure was not there yet and he didn't have the production card yet (regardless, he still won with a massive frigate fleet). Might be better to limit the science gains by taking out a few. Besides, a free city is a free city and if they built their campuses, free districts. Plus, I will have a bunch of warriors already since I plan on taking La Venta as soon as they build their Holy Site.
Posts: 3,090
Threads: 14
Joined: Apr 2017
Played 2 turns with not much going on...
Turn 33
Finished the monument at Osgiliath and started a warrior. Western warrior follows coast north and southern warrior pushes west. A new bard camp spawned North of the small lake down by Lake Retba. Didn't notice any changes in score.
Turn 34
Warriors defog a little more. Southern warrior is finding lots of jungle for Brazil...
Ichabod might be a powerhouse once he gets going. Lots of nice spots for Campuses or Holy Sites if he is looking to go with the +1  to jungle tiles and take Work Ethic as a belief. He did get out another unit and looks like most have, since I am near the bottom on military power but both my warriors are near half health. It looks more and more like I don't have a western neighbor and have a good deal of room to expand west to the coast. This is going to be a tough decision between looking at an early war or try to out expand everybody. There is at least 3 more viable city locations around Fez that I have defogged so far and I still have a bunch of fog north of my warrior. And if I push aggressively south, I can probably grab some of the land between me and Brazil. And then there is the fogged area east of my capital, how much room is there in that direction.
I will probably fall a little behind in expansion in the immediate future, as some might already be building a second settler and I won't get mine out until roughly T50-60 but I will be able to produce them at twice the rate as others. I should have 8 to 10 cities around T70. I think at that point, I will have to decide if I continue to expand as a builder or expand by force.
Posts: 71
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2015
Interesting choices coming up.
Lots of jungle for Brazil a bit worrying otherwise I'd be tempted to expand first before thinking about war.
Posts: 3,090
Threads: 14
Joined: Apr 2017
Turn 35
Open the save to Astrology finishing...
Start Celestial Navigation. It shows 32 turns to complete but that is without the boost and my science is going to triple over the next 7 turns. I will get the Wheel boost next turn when builder completes for a envoy into Fez (+2 ). Then, when State Workforce finishes in 2 turns, I will start the Government Plaza at Gondor. The GP will take 4 turns to complete, for an envoy into Bologna (+2 ). Pingala will go into Osgiliath and be promoted with the science per pop promotion with the titles from State Workforce and the GP (~+4 ). All that should complete Celestial Navigation in about 10 turns.
In the west, northern warrior is heading to the barb camp and I am going to bring my southern warrior back north to defog the areas between me and Brazil. Need to see how rough the terrain is to see if a quick attack is possible from either side.
Internationally, Ichabod's scout is moving east, out of my boundaries. Kaiser had a 6 point jump this turn, 2 point increase in empire score (district or both cities grew) and 4 more era points (maybe something unique sphinx or chariot). Ichabod finished his 3rd civic. Suboptimal grew in pop and finished a tech and CMF finished a tech and gained an era point.
It is starting to look like I am going to be in a tough position. I have a potential monster snowball civilization to my southwest with all his jungle and if he goes for a religion and takes the work ethic belief, could be a production powerhouse. And to my west, Kaiser, who is killing his early game. Egypt is weighted heavily to the early game, so it is expected. The question is, can he use his early lead as a spring board to continue it into later eras. It is starting to look like I either have to take action to take one of them out or turtle up and set up my defenses to make it impossible to attack me. I need to get an unit to defog the east to see what the terrain looks like and meet my eastern neighbor, so I can judge who might be the best target. From what I have seen so far, it might not be easy to attack Brazil with all the rough terrain but it will also not be easy for him to attack me. I figure I have until the era change (~T60) to figure out the best path forward and then come up with a plan.
July 10th, 2020, 00:29
(This post was last modified: July 10th, 2020, 00:30 by Woden.)
Posts: 3,090
Threads: 14
Joined: Apr 2017
Turn 36
I open the save to the builder at Gondor finishing...
Builder moves to jade and mines it, giving...
Plus an envoy in Fez, +2 for me. Slinger is heading over to help out with the camp and hopefully get the boost for Archery. New warrior next turn will follow. Gondor starts another builder but will switch to the Government Plaza next turn, when State Workforce completes. Builder will connect both whales to boost Celestial Navigation next.
I check the Great People board and looks like Kaiser has completed the first district, a Campus...
He also has completed his 5th civic, so probably starting research on Political Philosophy. I will be starting it in 5 turns and have it done in 11. No much else internationally.
Posts: 71
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2015
"I need to get an unit to defog the east to see what the terrain looks like and meet my eastern neighbor, so I can judge who might be the best target. From what I have seen so far, it might not be easy to attack Brazil with all the rough terrain but it will also not be easy for him to attack me. I figure I have until the era change (~T60) to figure out the best path forward and then come up with a plan."
Tough position you are in but you are right to be thinking about scouting - knowledge is power.
|
