[SPOILERS] Mardoc's Magical Mystery Tour

[Qgqqqqq]

I'll admit, I was expecting more barbs.

Definitely agree on EC priorities.

How far away is settler?

[Mardoc]

I'll admit, I was expecting more barbs.

It could still be just animal-spawning and the barbs will come. Or I could have made a mistake in picking Sidar .

Or, we could rely on other aspects of the pick. Phi/Ind isn't a bad pairing, really. Fast early tech rate + Ind should give us a very good shot at the Bone Palace. Phi ought to be worth at least one early golden age, two-three with actual attention to detail and careful GPP management. Push the snowball well enough and we don't care that much about Wanes - but we could probably get some by picking on our neighbors. Not like we can afford to let the Sheaim and Amurites make it to late game intact anyway.

We're still tied for #1 GNP. I expect Aurorarcher to be doing something similar to us, but non-Phi civs won't be able to catch up for a while. So we ought to think about grabbing some of the first-to bonuses. Drama Bard would be nice...but I have the feeling Aurorarcher will want it, since he's got aristofarm territory. If he doesn't actually build early EC's, then we might be able to beat him there, but I don't think I'll make it a priority. The MilStrat Great Commander ought to be accessible, though; he's got other ways to get XP where he wants it.

Any other first-to's in the early part of the tree I'm forgetting about? Titan, MilStrat, Drama, Bone Palace...I guess religions sort of count. Especially if we're going to be leaving drama as a low priority. I'd expect Jalepeno to have a head start on Octopus Overlords, since he needs early Fishing - but then he doesn't particularly want Mysticism early, so maybe not. OO should be pretty popular on this map, so a shrine will eventually be worth a bunch, even ignoring the free spreads. Plus, of course, easier to get as Phi, and unlocking Priest slots is more valuable as Phi.

Then, of course, there's always 'first to a T2/T3 unit' to enable a good war . I'm not quite sure what unit to use - maybe we can make it to Rangers early enough to be viable? Rangers + Hawks + Galleys would be terrifyingly mobile, and strong enough to do damage once they get somewhere.

Any other first-to's you can think of, Qgqqqq? It'd be a shame to push early tech this hard and not take advantage.

How far away is settler?

As of this morning's turn, warriors rejoin in 1, settler in 2, Myst in 3. Don't remember the exact turn for our Great Sage, but he's close - four or five turns. So the game should look a lot different by Monday. (especially if we have another 5 turn weekend)

[Mardoc]

[Mardoc]

Alright, settler is out and we had enough overflow for a 1-turn warrior, who will go slaughter the goblin. Myst came in EOT, so next turn we shall start putting up an EC; three turns is probably enough for that. Our Sage finished up, so we'll have an Academy next turn as well. Things are looking up!

Edit: Also nice: Played last night, this morning, and the turn's already over to Molach

[Mardoc]

2nd turn of the day, and things are still looking good .

After revolting to God King, the Elder Council will be a 2-turn build. Should line up pretty well with our growth, to create the sage who will use the EC.



After that, we'll definitely still have useful things to put in our queues...the barb spigot seems to have finally opened. Which may mean that we're 4th or worse to establish our second city...but should also mean that wanes are back on the menu. Probably going to attack the warrior next turn with the combat I warrior - he's got 70% odds - and clean up with the unpromoted warrior if required. While, of course, also killing the goblin in the south.

Unless I chicken out and back up, waiting for the barb to get to a plain grass tile. Have a few hours to debate it while the turn goes around in a circle, most likely. I do need an actual garrison for our second city, it appears - now that barbs have started, I expect to be seeing them from lots of directions. But maybe we can build new warriors to cover the homeland? Anyway, hopefully I've a more confident answer by the time I've got to make it

[Miguelito]

Why is there a barbarian war elephant? Never seen that in ffh, just the animal phants which don't attack. Or just a display bug?

[Mardoc]

Or just a display bug?

That one. Sometimes they look right, sometimes the war elephant appears instead. Same thing happens with skeletons, Sidar worker. If I knew why those showed up, i would fix it, but it doesn't appear to have any gameplay effect.

[Bobchillingworth]

If you disable unit animations the game sometimes gets confused and uses BTS graphics for FFH's various reskins.

[Mardoc]

Ah, I didn't realize that was a separate setting from showing combats. Seems to work.

Of course I only tried it after taking my picture for the turn, so you lurkers will have to suffer with a decorated wild animal for now.

Turn was good . I was able to fit everything except the 3 XP from slaughtering the goblin into one picture:



I moved up my healthy warrior 1N to the plains hill forest, the barb at EOT moved to the mana. Going to sit for a turn and bring the wounded guy to join. Presumably he'll either attack me (boo!) or move to the plains tile where my new warrior can get his Combat I, with a combat II wounded warrior to clean up if required. Then...probably I should withdraw to September. Barbs may come from other directions, and anything but this exact path will give them a defensive bonus.

But it seems the XP tap is finally open for real! Just need to figure out how to slip in a handful more warriors to take advantage of it, while continuing to expand. I both want to have the capital go directly onto workers, and have it spit out a couple warriors first. Probably I should go worker but be prepared to divert if more barbs show up; with third ring borders and 12 hpt, we have some margin. But Mining's about 10 turns away now, and will accelerate again once the EC finishes and gets its sage next turn.

It's also quite possible that our first Wane should be a Merchant, not a Sage. With 3 gpt already in costs, and probably at least one more city in place before we hit the 17 XP mark, we'll be able to use the gold. In the short run, Sage/Merchant is nearly interchangeable, but in the long run, there are more gold multipliers available. Well, Mardoc, don't count your chickens yet. Still need 9 XP on the guy who's closest, which means probably three more combats. Plus time to heal in between, the decision won't be required for a while yet even if the RNG smiles on him.

Looking at demos and such, Aurorarcher definitely also has an Academy. He also has a second city established. DaveV does not, but his demos are surprisingly competitive regardless. Neither has revolted beyond Agrarianism; either they disagree with the worth of God King, or chose a different research path. I guess I'll know in 3-4 turns, if the EC puts my research definitely 1st, or if Auror manages to keep up. We're well behind in crop yield, so presumably someone's doing very well in that regard in the fog.

Maintenance is a bit higher than I expected, which is a good thing for me. Will incline people toward smaller empires than otherwise, leaving more land for the barbs. Who do exist!

[Qgqqqqq]

Will incline people toward smaller empires than otherwise, leaving more land for the barbs. Who do exist!

Plus, our traits are very good for small empires, and our civ bonii too.


I agree about leaving open the possibility of merchants. It'll depend on the setup we are faced with.

Definitely workers first. Warriors just wandering the fog will a) fogbust barbs away and b) be vulnerable to spiders/griffons. Active defense is good enough, and no reason to set it up and delay workers.


No other first-tos come to mind, unless you've a reason to want a shrine, or Hyborem.