RB Pitboss #2 [SPOILERS] - Peter of Byzantium

[regoarrarr]

Definitely had to look up what a Kontos was

Also I checked some earlier emails, and the Incans are about 10 tiles south of the ottomans, and the Zulu were to the SW of the Incas. So I don't know that the Ottomans have that much land to grow into, though it's certainly a suggestion that they should be focusing their cities on the Incan border since THEY (the Incas) are the ones with tons of lands.

I also saw that the Zulus had met Rome prior to their death, so it sounds like there's one more (living) civ on our continent that we haven't met

[regoarrarr]

As requested by Speaker, our 3 overview shots

1. Empire



Lookin good

2. Demographics



Solid, save for the soldier count

3. Military advisor



Yikes!

[regoarrarr]

Darrell -

What's the reasoning behind whipping the worker next turn, at 36/60 rather than in 2 turns, when it's at 48/60? Or even potentially sandbagging to 10 or 11 per turn to whip it at 59/60 in 3 turns?

[darrelljs]

The timing of the whip is to get The Oracle started as soon as Priesthood comes in, and to give it some whip overflow. Whipping Workers as Expansive is nice since it gets the full hammer bonus, although without a Granary it isn't nearly as efficient. This is definitely the fastest way to get The Oracle out. Things are timed now so we complete it right when Pottery comes in, we can speed it up a bit if we can get a NAP but that looks unlikely.

Edit: Just to be clear, we want less overflow and not more. Whip hammers suck for wonders, but chops are fine.

Darrell

[darrelljs]

Sunrise,

Can you give us an idea how much you want us to focus on military after The Oracle completes? We'll have an extra Warrior and a partially completed Archer above what you see now. We really need to get more cities up, which means Settlers and Workers. I'm leaning towards making Paris a whip pump right now (hence the two Farms). I hate to say it but I don't see us working that Gold tile in the near future (after we nail The Oracle). We'll want to whip a Forge there, which means 2 food to feed an Engineer.

Also, I would like to squeeze in a few Granaries when Pottery comes in. We won't quite have Copper online so I think it is the perfect time to do it.

Darrell

[regoarrarr]

Darrell

Few more questions on your plan, posted back in post 430

Turn 55
Worker #1: Move to road NW of Paris, build Farm

Why not build the farm on the tile W of Paris, which we can do without losing a worker turn (since we can farm the same turn we move off the gold)

We could start the farms earlier rather than building the road E of Paris, which I know we need at some point, but do we need it now?

[sunrise089]

Sunrise,

Can you give us an idea how much you want us to focus on military after The Oracle completes?
Darrell

To feel totally safe at this point in the game (pre-cats) we want to have 1 spear for every [EDIT] 2 enemy chariots and 1 axe for every 1.5 enemy axes. Archers could for ~1.5 enemy chariots and ~1 enemy axe. Therefore it's really based on how strong enemy power is. Once we have archery tech and a barracks, we should generally try to then subtract our pop+tech+building power from the rival best power and build units to equal half of the difference as long as we're building metal units.

Right now we have 24k power and the rival best is 34k. Lets assume we all have the same buildings (none) and techs (BW + AH). If an enemy has a barracks or IW or Archery we actually can worry a bit LESS. Anyways, we have a 10k gap, so 5k in new units (which is like 2 archers?) would make me feel safe.

[darrelljs]

Why not build the farm on the tile W of Paris, which we can do without losing a worker turn (since we can farm the same turn we move off the gold)

Yeah that's what I meant. I think I was typing move NW, but then wanted to give a reference point and ended up fudging the text . Its a good thing you are reading this thing closely, I really need an editor.

We could start the farms earlier rather than building the road E of Paris, which I know we need at some point, but do we need it now?

We could but I found we did not need it right away since we'd be working the Gold to get Pottery to finish when The Oracle is ready. This order also has the chance of letting us get to the Deer if a NAP comes in mid plan.

Darrell

[darrelljs]

Anyways, we have a 10k gap, so 5k in new units (which is like 2 archers?) would make me feel safe.

Well that's music to me ears. I was actually hoping to get an Axe and a Spear out of Paris after the Granary completes so we can safely Camp the Deer. We might be able to slip a Barracks in between, I haven't simmed this out yet. If so, which unit would your prefer to have the XPs?

Just curious, but why is it 1:1 for Spear:Chariot? The movement points?

Darrell

P.S. Should we switch all EPs to the Ottomans for now?

[Cyneheard]

It's 1:1 for the Spear and Chariot because they have the same strength. Except for +50% to melee units, which is worth 1k power, basically every unit in the game gets its strength in k power points, regardless of other bonuses. So skirmishers have 4k power, and bowmen with their +50% vs. melee are also worth 4k, but normal archers only 3k, despite their huge defensive bonuses. There are some exceptions that aren't relevant this game (like Jags still being 6 strength).