Bearing the flag proudly, Sabathiel of the Bannors [SPOILERS]

[Mr. Yellow]

Planned tech path for now is Calendar and Mysticism, then Mining. After that it's probably Festivals.

My focus in the early game is quick expansion, but i have no plans for the 3rd city at the moment. Goal right now is to get that 2nd city down.

Anyway, nothing happened to Carlos (worker) the next 2 turns and finished the final road for now. Settler has been finished and the caravan of all 4 units is ready. Sadly one warrior hasn't finished healing up yet (2.8,), but i don't want to wait anymore.

Both warriors were moved to the square with Carlos and the settler right behind. All 4 will meet up on the first plains hill to the east.



The capital is abonded for now, but should have a new warrior ready in case of barbarians.



It will take 8 turns to settle there, 7 if i feel daring. So if everything goes ok we will have the 2nd city on turn 44.
By the way, the caravan could use a name. Suggestions for the settler?

Small notes:
No movements in score. But Sciz apparently lost 2 warriors on turn 35 while Nyktorion made a new one recently. There was a long pause in the power rating so i'm pretty sure he has made a settler now.

[Mr. Yellow]

This turn, nothing really.

But at least the caravan is togheter and moving at a steady pace.



Question now is what to produce in Torrolerial after the warrior.

There is gonna be a worker -> settler in there soonish. Question is how many warriors will i mix in the queue.
Actually i'll start reviving Dirk the 2nd time after the warrior. There's still that western area that's hardly explored. Might be some nice treats there.

Ending the turn nets me a pop. The capital would have been in revolt now if it weren't for Charismatic. =)

Small notes:
Mardoc gained 5 points. Has to be land.
Else no changes.

[icewolf34]

That's pretty far for a second city, right? Do you have any concerns about defending barbarians or an early rush?

[Mr. Yellow]

I'm pretty confident that 2 warriors for now are able to defend it. While they are the first military units availble they are also one of your best defensive units this early in the game. Extremely cheap at 15 hammers (the next in line, the 4 strength axemen costs 60 hammers), can be upgraded with bronze weapons and even has a city defence bonus.
So i'll be relying on them for quite a while.
In addition that city will be settled on a hill, with Odio's prison in sight no less.

The only civ that would attempt an early rush are the Sheaim with Pyre Zombies. If i see that coming i'll be beelining for Horsemen (if availible) and catapults.
The rest are more or less builders with little offensive power untill later in the game.

[Mr. Yellow]

Size 5 capital and only a few turns away from 6. Decided to do some adjustments and get juuust enough commerce to shave of another turn of Calendar. Food and hammers are high enough for the moment.



As for the caravan. All going well.


Taking a look at demographics...i'm pretty much behind in everything cept food.



Only part of it though that slightly worries me is GNP, but that will change once i reach the cotton and get plantations.

Checking the pop ratings show that at least one civ with 5 pop capital have a 2nd city out. That would explain Mardoc getting 5 points last turn. Also Nyktorion has settled his 2nd city as well.

Other notes:
Sciz lost a lightbringer last turn and is now on par with me in power. Tied for lowest.
Irgy gained a tech this turn.
WK got 7 points. 2nd city? Have to check later.

[Mr. Yellow]

Nothing happened today other then Nyktorion getting 7 points for possibly a pop in the 2nd city. So here's a screen showing the caravan and the destination.

[Mr. Yellow]

About the naming themes. What i've decided to use is knightly and priestly names once i get far enough for these kinds of units. For the moment...i've been naming early units aimlessly.
No more though, all of them from here on will be given silly/slightly silly/british surnames and it starts with....



I'll also stop using ranks from here. Expect the caravan to be rebaptised soonish (oh and the caravan still goes smoothly. Just a few turns away now).

Anyway, with Appledough the warrior completed, i'll be giving Dirk a 3rd chance. Want to get him out in 2 turns, since then i'll revolt to both God King and Agrianism. Cost for scout is 16 hammers and i can get 7 out without hurting my food production. Once i pop to 6 i'll go up to 9 hammers.

Another thing i've noticed is that someone has gained a great sage, either through an event or science specialist (unlikely). Dunno what turn though, should check the event log regularily. It's neither Sciz or Nyktorion though.

Small notes:
Both WK, Nyktorion and Mardoc have gained pops. There are several 6 pop caps out there now, meaning they've got luxuries.

[Mr. Yellow]

Turn starts off with Calendar researched.



And immedietaly go for the last turn of Mysticism.

Anyway, caravan renamed. Find those to be much better than the last ones.



Back in the capital, were at full size and so all production goes to hammers and commerce for the moment.



With food not a concern i can get 11 hammers as well as a fair amount of coins out of the gate. Not bad at all. Dirk will be out the turn i'll revolt.

Score notes:
Both Irgy and WK got 12 points. Has to be land.

[icewolf34]

Just checking in to say I'm still lurking!

What are your goals with these early techs? I'm not at all familiar with FFH, so I have no idea what Calendar and Mysticism unlock.

[Mr. Yellow]

Calendar and Mysticism gives access to 2 of the best civics in the game (along with Aristocracy), which i've repeated several times in the last turns now; Agrianism and God King.

Calendar gives you access to 3 important things. First is the Agrianism civic. It gives your farms +1 food and cities +1 health. Pretty crucial if you want to grow your cities fast or you want to focus on specialist.
Another thing about Agrianism, which i won't be doing in this game is the synergy with Aristocracy. That civic gives you -1 food and +2 commerce for each farm, along with a maintanence reduction. It's a pretty overpowering combination since you get tons of commerce and still have lots of food for specialists. Add the financial trait and it's almost game breaking.

For the rest of Calendar, it lets you make plantations for specific luxury resources, like those cottons that im about settle near. Finally it allows you to research Festivals, that gives you the pretty good market buildings (3 commerce, -1 beakers).



Then we have Mysticism, which gives access to 2 pretty significant early game improvements. First is the Elder Council. a building that nets you exact +2 beakers for each you have. Pretty good building for a small city. Finally there's God King, this mod equivalent of Bueraucracy. +50% hammer and +50% coins. The hammers are what makes this great, since your captial is pretty much your only town for the moment that actually produces stuff. With this i can get warriors out in 1 turn and even get overflow. The +50% coin bonus is a minor one since it doesn't affect beakers.

I'll be using God King for a little while, only to get units out quickly. Once i have a decent amount of cities i will go for City States (huge maintanence reduction).

In addition Mysticism grants access to the priest and magic branches of the tech tree.

Anyway, on to the civic screen!



This is why i waited to revolt untill now. I manage to shave off 1 turn of Anarchy by double revolting to both civics. I can even include Nationhood as well, which gives a small bonus in military production.
The cultural values civic started with Religion for the Bannors, which gives happy faces for following a faith. Since i'll be revolting again in sometime and don't have a religion yet, i might as well get a few extra hammers in with Nationhood.



The next tech path will be Mining. Right now there isn't much workers can do other than farming, roading and make plantations. Besides i will need reliable sources of hammers in new cities. Festivals and Education (Cottages) are important too, but they'll have to wait till i'm done with mining. Copper is pretty important as well.



The caravan is almost there! I can even move the settler on the hill and settle next turn. Something i won't be doing cause else he becomes griffin fodder.
Also the event log shows that either WK, Mardoc or Irgy got a prophet this turn from an event. Bah, no such luck for me.

Back home, Dirk is back and kicking!


Current 3rd lifespan: 0 turns

His job now is to check the western realms, which i've been avoiding due to the combinations of many hills and forests that could possibly hide spiders.

If there's 2 units thats the best at killing scouts, it's griffins and spiders. Griffins there is little you can do with other than seeking the best defensive terrain while against spiders you have to avoid finishing your moves next to a forest.


Red crosses shows possible places for spiders.

There were 2 paths to decide on. Either the northern or southern. Decided to take the latter since there's less chance of encountering a spider and you can back off from the first forest if there is one there.

Score notes:
Sciz gained 6 points. His capital didn't grow so that must mean he has settled his 2nd city. Haven't checked it yet though.
Nyktorion gained a tech. Now i've been rather lazy here and haven't checked what they possibly could have gained. Maybe i'll do that tomorrow.