[Spoilers] Hashoosh, Gaz and the crew - The CANZAC Alliance sail the high seas

[Bobchillingworth]

Barb cities never pop borders in normal BtS

Are you certain? I thought they could build castles, which give +1 culture- they just almost never survive long enough to do so.

[NobleHelium]

Raging barbs pop borders.

[Gazglum]

My friends, you are not forgotten. The turn pace has been slow recently, so not a lot of movement at the station. I'll do a big update at the weekend.

Short notes - I would say we have moved from last to 4th place *polite applause from the peanut gallery*. We founded our 6th city, The Pequod, last turn on an island, jumping our GNP by about 12%. We have another city in 2 turns, then another 1-2 turns after that. Our GNP is competitive with the leaders, and that's with no Stonehenge/Oracle cultural inflation.

Our food is still crappy and our miltiary is dropping dangerously below Yuri again. I've built walls in The Argo, which should stave off an immediate axemen assault in the next 5 turns. But half a dozen horse archers forking my southern cities is a real threat, so I need to get back to pumping troops to keep up with his power.

I'm researching metal casting for forges/triremes. This is important because otherwise if Yuri gets a trireme he can annihilate my food without me being able to do anything about it. Also Org Religion + forges would help me keep up with the leaders.

Finally, I want to try for the Great Lighthouse. Since Ilios won't be going for it and I have a better developed port that Yuri does, I might have a chance.

[Gazglum]

Bottom of the ‘last updated’ threads? A travesty! Captain Glum returns to make a full report.

Turn 63-69: The Fleet Expands!


Relatively speaking, the last 7-odd turns have been good for me. At one point I was on 5 cities when my opponents were on 7ish. Since then I have managed to keep pace with the others, and I’m quite satisfied with my recent growth.



First up we settled the Pequod, the game’s first colony in the New World. This is a great city – not only does it give me intercontinental trade routes but it shares the fish, adds wheat, and has good production. This will be a great base camp for further exploration eastwards.



The Hispaniola was next, of Treasure Island fame. It’s a 2-food spot, which makes it worthwhile in my book. Other than that its not the best, but working the coast and some workshops it should be a decent hybrid city. I picked this spot over other potential homeland cities because I was worried that Ilios might expand his culture so far over our sea that I would lose the clams, if I didn’t get in soon.

If you look at the bottom of that screenshot you will see my next city, handed to me by the barbarians a turn later. Thracian, as it was called, is now known as Naglfar. This is one of the coolest ships of mythology, and I should have picked it earlier. The name is Old Norse for ‘nail ship’, and it is made entirely of the fingernails and toenails of the dead. Loki pilots it and its crew is from Hell. Other than that, it’s a swell vessel.

If Yuri takes my empire, I shall make Naglfar my last outpost and his men shall die against its bone-white walls.
So, that puts the Glum fleet at 8, equal to Yuri and Dhalpir. Whosit is still at 5, I feel really bad for him. If that is the price for getting the Pyramids, I’m glad I wasn’t tempted.

8 cities is starting to get a little creaky at the treasury, but that’s where the joys of Sumeria come in. I’ve only built one ziggurat so far, hoping for more religion spreads for the +25%, but now I will start a round of them across the empire. As a bonus, they will add to my espionage. I already almost have research visibility on Yuri. That will be very important to get, because knowing Yuri’s tech will help me gauge whether I need to research construction or HBR, or if I can keep happily island hopping.

My next city definitely has to go offshore for another beautiful 11 gold in trade routes. Where exactly I put it is a little more complicated, and I will save that puzzle for another post.

I personally glaze over when people do their city lists, but I’m feeling updatey and bored waiting for WhoSit to send the save, so why the hell not?

THE FLEET

Dawn Treader
Maybe I made a mistake having such a foodless capital, but its humming along nicely now. Market and library, and a forge coming next. This will be GREAT when it has bureaucracy, pity about the 4 plains tiles.



Flying Dutchman
Even better. If I can regain some position in this game it will be because of this. It’s hurrying through the Great Lighthouse, which even in nerfed form will be worth a huge amount to me. I know I’ve been wrong a lot before, but I genuinely think I’ll get this one – Yuri’s prime port doesn’t have nearly the same level of production. If I put Maoi statues here, it will be hammer supreme.
Next turn I take the horses from the island to add even more hammers!



Jolly Roger
It was a short term decision to found this, and it will never be a star. It has my only barracks, so after this work boat it will just dutifully churn out Vultures, then catapults or cavalry. That flood plain will be farmed so it can work more mines.



The Argo
Poor…poor Argo. Let’s imagine an alternate world where Yuri’s warrior didn’t kill my vulture and Milton Keynes was burned, then the Argo popped its borders with the Oracle and cottaged up to its delight. These are the dreams that comfort the citizens of the tense border fortress that the city has become.

This city will burn eventually, so I’m steeling myself not to get too attached. If it ever regained its first ring I would pack it with defenders, but as it is they will be just meat if Yuri gets catapults. I’ll be better off building a counterattack stack in the hills behind.



The Nautilus
Wheee! I like this ship. Submarine. Whatever, so much food. I cant’ wait till I can start slaving here in earnest. At least Charismatic is good for that. I have an archer slightly pre-built so I can whip it if Yuri charges down - but I'll feel safer when I have a trireme holding the straits here.



The Pequod
Good stuff. Production city and gateway to the New World.



The Hispaniola
Myeh.



Naglfar
A drain for now, she should be sailing nice in 20 turns.

DEMOS

Despite having 8 cities to his 5, I apparently have a smaller army, less land, and less food thatn Whosit. I don’t even know how that’s really possible. Still, my GNP and production are good, although when Ilios saw fit to turn his science to 100% he had, I think, more than double my GNP.

CIRCUMNAVIGATION

A project dear to my heart. I should have had this 10 turns ago, except that my exploring workboat wasn’t able to get through. However my scout will grab this next turn. Also good, there are still 2 huts to be grabbed here.



THE WORLD OF GLUM



Questions from the lurkers? Would anybody like a rousing sea shanty?

[Gazglum]

Yuri got circumnavigation in his turn just before me. Probably from a map trade.

Perhaps I should have used a faster boat...

[thestick]

The Water is Wide - Irish Tenors

If you want 'rousing' you'll have to ask someone else.

[Gazglum]

I got Yuri's graphs, he's just finishing Monarchy. Seems an odd choice on such a happy happy map. Will be interesting to see where he goes next.

Yuri has snapped my eyepatch too many times this game, I am starting to feel aggrieved. My personal goal is to deliver a drubbing to his troops if (when) they drive south. There's little chance he'll attack Ilios through chokepoints, so I'm expecting an attack sooner rather than later.

If Ilios did attack Yuri I would immediately join in. Pity that there isn't a way to clearly communicate that to the Master of the Middle.

[Qgqqqqq]

Could Yuri be going for Feudalism or Guilds beyond Monarchy?
Losing CN sucks

[Gazglum]

Could Yuri be going for Feudalism or Guilds beyond Monarchy?

Yuri (Construction 14)



I'm glad I got tech visibility. What a suckaboo. Well, can't say I blame him! But forewarned is forearmed, and speaking of arms I better get into this race. I am currently coasting on 0% science (where I'm still comfortably 4th in GNP, heh), so I can switch on construction and get it myself in 4 turns. If I alternate catapults and vultures/elephants, I should be able to keep pace with the English.

Actually probably just vultures. Strength for hammers that is a much better bet than elephants....unless he goes horse archers. Hmmmz.

14 is an odd number for Construction. It seems too good Yuri running at 0%, but too terrible if he is going at break even. My guess is that he got a lot of overflow, and then dropped to 0%. I’ll see what it says next turn.


BETTER NEWS
I get the Great Lighthouse in 2 turns unless SOMEONE slips in and snags it from me at the last possible turn. I’m pretty much dosing myself with valium between now and then.

QUESTIONS ON ESPIONAGE!
1. Is there a way to work out Yuri's own EP spending into me?

2. I got tech research on Yuri 2 turns ago. I saw him finish Monarchy then, and this turn I see him doing construction. But during the intervening turn I saw nothing. I checked, and I still had enough EP invested. Why would I have not been able to see a tech by his name? He’s spiritual, so he can’t have been in anarchy.

[Old Harry]

1. Point to his name on the right and it'll give the no of eps you've spent against each other. Do it again next turn to see how it changes.

2. Not sure, but it may be that the tech completes at the end of his turn so he isn't actually researching anything when the save gets to you.

Fingers crossed for tgl...

Also does that last pic work for you?