[SPOILERS] The Legend Ends - Whosit's Adventure

[Whosit]

Alright, it looks like if I need to I can delay founding of Gerudo Fortress to T52 if I need to get a stronger military presence in Kakariko (I'd have 4 Warriors plus a Spearman). That will suffice if Ilios has only Warrior(s) defending that hill/city, but it will not do if any Axemen appear.

If I need to do anything clever with roads, I will also have to pay more attention to which tiles are visible to Ilios' sentry. I do assume, though, that he plans to settle rather than just scout, otherwise he probably wouldn't have fortified his unit there. We'll see, we'll see, but it's wrinkles like this that will test how well I manage things. Unfortunate for me, though, because I anticipated Ilios to be one of the stronger contenders, especially militarily.

[Whosit]

Popped borders show where an Incan city is. Closer than I'd like, but it's good to know where it is.

I could delay the Pyramids if I really wanted to settle Gerudo Valley. I'll have to think on this. I know from my world builder testing that this city won't become particularly useful to me for a while, but on the other hand, securing it would probably be a strategically strong move because I'd block off Incan expansion in that direction, whereas if they get there first, I'm the one blocked. I wonder if I'd provoke war by settling, assuming I got there first. I dunno. Not really sure what I'm gonna change in my builds to settle there earlier, so I guess I'll play around with that.

Of course, I could always just let that area go and continue with my plan, and there's always the possibility that Ilios won't settle there in the next 15 turns. Unlikely, but possible. I suppose that if Diplomacy were allowed I'd be messaging him about my intent to settle there, but alas, can't do that, so I just have to assume he's my enemy and that he'll probably try to get in my way.

Will test things out in my sim, but I'm inclined to stay the course and resort to military after the Pyramids if needed. I'll just need an alternate plan for where to divert Kakariko's Settler if things go awry. Probably to Zora's Domain for the Horses.

[Whosit]

A new thought: If I can get Judaism to found in Kakariko, then I might be able to culturally dominate that area, anyway. Unfortunately, it seems like it may have an equal chance of founding Great Bay. I think the only thing I can try and do to favor Kakariko is to make sure it's larger than Great Bay at the time of founding, but there may still be some luck involved.

Of course, holy city on a possibly contested border could be an invitation for war, but I'll deal with that when I need to.

[Whosit]

Played turn. Just did worker stuff. I couldn't figure out any good alternations to my plan, so for the time being my whole eastern part of the empire is being defended by just one Warrior. Not so good. Hopefully Ilios will leave me alone for a bit, but I should be able to whip some Warriors if it's truly necessary. Just so long as he doesn't attack while Kakariko is size 1 after my whip in a couple turns.

[Commodore]

Could we see a wide shot of all known lands?

[Whosit]

I'm certain this isn't much compared to what the others have uncovered, but here is the world as it is known to the Hylians:

[Whosit]

Started research on Polytheism, due in 4 turns. Then a turn or two of cash so I can get Monotheism (expected to be 4 turns as well). My small cities are leaving me behind in the demographics, but hopefully that will change as the turns go on. Great Bay will grow like a weed... eventually. After it gets to size 4 and builds a couple more Warriors, it's going to build a Worker, 1-pop whip that into another Worker, and then grow a bit before making a Settler. Pfff.

I did have the bright idea to move Great Bays' garrison warrior east, something I should have done turns ago as soon as I saw the Incan Warrior. Takes 4 turns to cross the empire. Oh well. Better late than never, and better than waiting a couple more turns for a new Warrior to pop in Great Bay. Next few turns will be dangerous, as I'll be whipping Kakariko's Granary. I'm just going to stick to my plan, and redirect my Settler if it becomes necessary. I'll have 4 Warriors by the time it pops, so I can move out to Gerudo Hill in force if necessary. I'll have to wait and see if that looks too risky, since my escorts could easily be ambushed by any sort of better unit. Just gonna keep an eye on Ilios's power.

[Whosit]

I feel like our team is the Whosit from PB2. Everybody knows we aren't a really serious contender, but at least we are funny to lurk.

I keep finding this stuff.

I was trying to get a read on Ilios by reading old games he participated in, but it doesn't seem like he was the driver for this game. Maybe I'll read some of his FfH games, but I'm not sure how well his playstyle there will translate to this.

I'm determined to continue down the low-military, build-the-pyramids route, but I'm incapable of chilling out and accepting that it might put me in a vulnerable position. 90% of my worry is that Ilios will attack me while I'm weak; I will be getting copper units late comparatively. 10% of the worry is that he'll settle in the Gerudo hill area, but at least if he does that I can just whip my Civ into the ground to produce enough Axemen to take it from his cold dead hands.

On the upshot, with some adjustments to Worker actions, I could get everything in place to settle on T50 like planned without him having any warning, I think. Ah, I will be focusing on growth in Kakariko to make sure it's my largest city when Monotheism is researched. I get the feeling I'll want that holy city culture on that side of the empire. It means I'll be short a Warrior, but I'll just leave Hyrule Castle unguarded. So, I will have 4 Warriors stationed in Kakariko. The turn after I whip the Settler, I can get 2 Workers to lay the final road to the hill, and move 2 Warriors to cover them. I can move the Settler onto the hill that turn, and if I pre-position 2 Warriors, they can guard the Settler. I believe that I can position my units so that only the 2 settler escorts will be visible before everything moves into place. So long as Ilios hasn't moved more or stronger troops into the area, I should be able to settle a city right under his own Warrior.

This, of course, rests on Ilios not making any moves into the area for the next dozen turns. He's Imperialistic, and I'm not focusing on expansion for the near future, so he can win any settling race, but perhaps he'll choose to put his next city somewhere else. And, again, failing that, a Holy city on our border should give me the advantage in future altercations. Assuming, of course, that he doesn't invade me before I actually start building a military. Reading that old thread didn't give me the impression that he was particularly aggressive, but then again, it was old, and I don't think I exactly carry a strong reputation myself.

Short version: I keep talking to myself to try and make me feel better about the uncertainty I've found myself in.

[Whosit]

On another note, I just remembered that the Moai Statues are a thing and I have stone, meaning it's actually feasible to build them. Not sure where I'd put them, though. Maybe Zora's Domain? It won't have a ton of great land tiles for a while, and until it fills up on specialists it might just work a lot of coast for commerce. Getting some extra production out of that wouldn't hurt at all.

[Whosit]

Turn 39 played. Nothing has really changed this turn. Will be stacking 2 workers on the stone next turn, which has me a little bit nervous, but there have been no dramatic changes in power anywhere, so at the very least, I don't think Ilios is gearing up to attack. One thing of interest is that I noticed all known opponents have Writing already, because I have the option to trade maps with them. I wonder if they were going for an early Maths or something.

A couple Warriors in the next few turns will boost my Power rating a little bit, but unlikely to be enough to deter or frighten anyone. Pyramids will be started on Turn 42.