[spoilers] Vi Viqsi Veniversum Vivus Vici (or possibly just embarrasses herself)

[Viqsi]

This is going to be slightly epic, as I've been writing up turn reports without actually posting them. Going forward, thanks to time loss (due to a combo of 1) job planning and 2) HOCKEY'S BACK! ), I may end up having to compile and post these on weekends or something. We'll see.

Annnyways...


T52: Hmf. So much for "sneaking up on" Sareln.

Forward movement has yet to reveal any borders. So far.

Back at home... remember my being paranoid about whether or not I'd actually get all my overflow hammers?

Paranoia totally justified. Grargh.
So my plan is to add that Worker, then start on a Settler. And in the meantime, my pair of Workers up north will get started on a pair of Farms for Mechanical, and once that's done we'll look into doing roads to the site for city #4 for my settler. It's not ideal (I'd much rather be building up Riven) but I don't have enough workers in place. Working on that. (The one worker down there is on his way to start a Mine, and will follow up with some cottages.)


In happier news, I have Demographics charts for Sareln!

Also, I noticed that Hydra finally realized about two turns ago he was throwing Espionage Points at me for no good reason, and stopped, so I've started with two towards him (enough to get graphs) and two towards Fin. So next turn I should have Hydra back as well.

The spreadsheet has also been updated. This causes me lots of confusion. Observations:

• Sareln's up 12 points. Which makes me wonder - were the 14 points last turn for the Oracle alone, and these points for the tech? Because that would mean he's managed two techs at once, which would be a nice move. He also added soldier points this turn (see the charts above), and so those could be techs. But frankly I have no clue how to know for sure, and that BOTHERS me.
  
• Azza's added 13 points. Timing suggests that it's land control points for Broken Bones.
  
• Fintourist is up 4 points. That and the Population figures suggest that Roland Garros (city 2) is now size 2. (Could also be Chip 'n' Charge, but as that was founded last turn, I kind of doubt it. )

[Viqsi]

T53: Well, there's an unexpected guest near Alliteration territory...

I don't think he's going to get very far. :D

Still no sign of borders, purple or otherwise, to the north:

Wanderin' on.

Annoying moment: somehow my citizen on the silver mine at Mechanical got moved to an unimproved forest last turn! Grargh. Didn't notice 'till I checked the demographics.

Speaking of those, by the way... the spreadsheet has been updated, and we have MOAR CHARTS! Now with Score included! Oh, and Hydra as well.

I could probably break the charts down even further, but that'd take more time than I presently have available.

Anyways. Demographics highlights:

• Sareln's whipped his capital for 1 population. Wonder what he's working on now.
  
• Ambling Alp and Broken Bones both added a pop point. Huzzah for Azza.
  
• Fintourist's capital of Ace is now at size 5.
  
• Hydra now has land control points for his second city.
  
• The soldier count is up 7000 points - well, technically 8000 because 1000 was lost from Sareln's whip. 2000 has been added to Rival Worst. Conclusion: someone's added a warrior, and someone's added an Axeman. I believe that's our first Axe, even. Oh my.

[Viqsi]

T54: At this rate, I'm never going to get any other borders in the north.

Still going...

Work is ongoing at Riven:

3 turns for the mine and 4 for the cottage. Staggered like that because otherwise I'd be wasting worker turns to movement. Not the greatest arrangement, but oh well.
(Oh, and the Warrior was moved there from Myst due to happy cap issues from the earlier whip. I need to work on that...)

I did not bother to take shots of Demographics charts this turn, because frankly while I'm writing these things I haven't actually posted any of them (I tend to try to also set aside time to read other posts when I do so, and haven't gotten that yet), and so some laziness is creeping in. Still, the spreadsheet has been updated. I have a land control score bonus for Riven's second ring, Fintourist gets one as well for his second city, and Sareln's city of Dill reaches size 3.

[Viqsi]

T55: FINALLY!

Looking forward to taking a look around.

Oh, and I got greeted by this on the way in:

Picking my next research priority is a bit of a rough one. There's five and a half reasonable choices:

• Plan 1: Beeline towards Monarchy for HR - Mysticsm>Meditation>Priesthood>Monarchy. Because, y'know, happy cap is important and stuff. I'm not yet in serious trouble there, but I eventually hope to be (sorta ).
  
• Plan 1.5: Monarchy beeline, but via Monotheism rather than through Priesthood (Mysticism>Masonry>Polytheism>Monotheism>Monarchy). There's a very slim chance of picking up Judaism along the way. Not a likely one, though.
  
• Plan 2: Beeline towards Code of Laws - Mysticism>Meditation>Priesthood>CoL. Confucianism and courthouses both sound VERY attractive.
  
• Plan 3: Compass research! Iron Working>Compass. I could get started on jungle development, and Compass is vital for me 'cause it gets me my Cothons into play. It's damned expensive, though. May consider a diversion to this midway through one of the other options.
  
• Plan 4: Hunting>Archery, then HBR, then go kill folks with Numidian Cavalry. Shockingly feasible, but I hesitate because my economy going forward is going to be a bit dependent on trade routes from those Cothons, which perform best with OB and good diplomatic relations, which means that starting a war is probably not in my best interests. I could probably annex one nation, but at the potential cost of worrying everybody else and thus getting no good trade relations. That would be Bad. But it is so, so tempting...
  
• Plan 5: "Classical Gas". Mathematics, Alphabet, and Currency are all within reach. This could also support a CoL reach. How to do that and when to do that, though, is evading me.

So, what am I going with?

Not Killing Everybody quite yet. For now Mysticism>Meditation>Priesthood is the research path. I'm inclined to go with plan 2, with the option to divert to 3 or 5 as needed or as desired or as whimsy dictates. I can change my mind in two turns if I'm so inclined.

So! With that aside. At the center of the world are a lot of scouting units:

Seems like folks are concerned about observing movements on land here. I think that's the same warrior of Azza's that I was thinking could have been heading towards me. Accordingly, instead of a Warrior, I've got Mechanical working on a Library (to help take advantage of that silver mine). Will still keep an eye out, though.

Also, Sareln hooked up sheep at some point:

Not sure when, precisely, because I have not been regularly checking that diplo screen - had forgotten to do so. Grargh.


STOP
...demotime.

The spreadsheet has been updated. Highlights: Fintourist whips Ace down two pop points to 3. Madrid (Hydra #3) reaches size 2. Sareln... apparently gets land control bonuses for his second city, in addition to seeing Cayenne reach size 4. Azza evidently techs. GNP numbers for rivals drop significantly (presumably due to Fin's whipping), but otherwise the world is pretty quiet.


EDIT: Demoscreens here apparently were for turn 53, not 55 - forgot to change the filenames when I copy-pasted.

[BRickAstley]

Just so you know I am reading your updates.

Also: Which hockey team?

[Viqsi]

T56: Well, would you look at that.

The Top 5 Cities screen helpfully informs us that it's an Ottoman wonder, and not in the capital city of Ace. Obvious conclusion: it's in Roland Garros. Hmm.

Sareln's scout evidently wasn't staying on that hill:

(He'd previously been on the hill with Azza's warrior.)
He's not headed towards Azza or Hydra (or I'd see him), and I previously saw him returning from the Fintourist land bridge. Gosh, I wonder where he's headed now.

Speaking of Sareln and scouting, there's not much new in his territory, yet:

Obvious next move is to the hill. That almost certainly won't get me city visibility (both of his cities have at least their second ring), but it'll get a lot.

One other scouting-related development:

Minimum number of turns to circle the world: 9. (This dependent on fortunate island placement, naturally.)


Demos!

The spreadsheet has been updated. Today was a big day for Fintourist - Ace is up to size 4, Chip 'n' Charge is now size 2, and he's got Stonehenge. Hydra also added a tech, and Dill (Sareln's holy city) also reached size 4.
Oh, and Rival Best GNP is up again. Was at 44, and HOLY LIVING ****ING **** WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN IT'S UP TO 65
I really, really hope that's temporary. Like, maybe, the result of gold from a failed Stonehenge attempt or something (does that happen?). Because otherwise, holy crap. Can't even begin to imagine what would cause that.

[Viqsi]

Just so you know I am reading your updates.

Also: Which hockey team?

Yay! Hope it's at least moderately entertaining.

As for hockey: I'm a fan of what is simultaneously the youngest team in the NHL (both in terms of franchise age and roster average age) and also by far the most absurdly unlucky and abused team in the NHL. Go Jackets!

[BRickAstley]

Just so you know I am reading your updates.

Also: Which hockey team?

Yay! Hope it's at least moderately entertaining.

As for hockey: I'm a fan of what is simultaneously the youngest team in the NHL (both in terms of franchise age and roster average age) and also by far the most absurdly unlucky and abused team in the NHL. Go Jackets!

Yeah, it is entertaining.

And cool! I don't follow too much NHL, but when I do i go for the Preds, cause they're the only team close around. Although my college here in Alabama does have a hockey team, so that's something.

[Viqsi]

Just so you know I am reading your updates.

Also: Which hockey team?

Yay! Hope it's at least moderately entertaining.

As for hockey: I'm a fan of what is simultaneously the youngest team in the NHL (both in terms of franchise age and roster average age) and also by far the most absurdly unlucky and abused team in the NHL. Go Jackets!

Yeah, it is entertaining.

And cool! I don't follow too much NHL, but when I do i go for the Preds, cause they're the only team close around. Although my college here in Alabama does have a hockey team, so that's something.

Coolness. The Preds are kind of my #2 team thanks to friends and family in and from the Nashville area. I spend every New Year's at a friend's in Columbia along with a few other folks - including one of my closest friends from upstate New York who's also a Preds partisan.

Huntsville? Pretty decent setup there. Me and my friend were considering trying to catch a game there while in the area, but the schedule didn't work out. Hopefully the WCHA association happens and works out!

[BRickAstley]

Huntsville? Pretty decent setup there. Me and my friend were considering trying to catch a game there while in the area, but the schedule didn't work out. Hopefully the WCHA association happens and works out!

Yeah, that's the big hope over here.