Cheater Hater, Ruler of the Modbreakers

[Cheater Hater]

T42-43 Report:
Hooray, more optimization possibilities!


Instead of farming right away, I'm roading instead--this means I can settle the new city a turn faster, and I'll want this road anyway soon. I think I'll road the wine as well, and then I won't waste a turn to get to the pigs. I also get my first Impi next turn--and I'm sure my power will skyrocket because everyone else is running a farmer's gambit


Not much new here, though it looks like I should be able to get through here, at least for a while--I want to know if we're all on one continent or not!

[Cheater Hater]

I'm so surprised at how much I like playing the turns in this--every turn I'm doing some little thing that makes me feel like I'm improving over my play in PBEM 58
T44 Report:


As I mentioned, roading 1N of Theros let me settle the new city (Zendikar) a turn earlier than my original plan--that road also lets me move my new Impi an extra space (which let me guard the settler as well, just in case). The new worker moved S to help finish the cottage, then next turn one of those workers will move NE to finish that cottage, while the other one will move 2E to get ready to put a chop into Theros. After that, the two workers will start farming some of the tiles north of Theros.


Really, no passage here either? I really hope that the one passageway isn't hiding behind dtay--I guess that there has to be passage past novice/Krill, but it's going to take me a while to get the scout back over there--I don't know if I'll even bring a scout there, or if it'll have to be an Impi?

[Cheater Hater]

T45-46 Update:
This is really boring--the most exciting thing is that I moved my Impi up to the northern rice, and the hut is gone, so someone got there first :/

The question right now is where my next settlers and workers are coming from--I think I might end up building a worker from Theros actually (partly overflow from the chop into the granary, and it will be at size 3--though that means I can't 2-pop whip it). The settler's more tricky--the obvious answer is to whip it from Ravnica, but I want to grow those cottages as well. I also would want to build the granary first, but it's going to be slow if I want to get those cottages worked and growing--then again, I am still tops in GNP of the three people I have graphs on, so maybe the cottages aren't that much of a priority? I could work the one cottage while growing to size 4, then swap to the mines (or at least one mine--the other will be loaned to Theros at size 3, and one would possibly be given to Zendikar at size 2 (since it's the only other improved tile it could work)--maybe I won't work any mines in that case?).

I also need to decide where I'm teching to next--Animal Husbandry comes in 2 turns, and I don't have a clear next goal--Writing doesn't help much since libraries are much worse than I thought they were, Iron Working isn't necessary since I have copper and there's no immediate jungle to clear, Mysticism doesn't help much since I'm placing my cities with so much overlap, stuff like HR and Archery isn't immediately necessary since I have Impis in the short term, and I can't remember the rest of the possibilities. Maybe Sailing so I can get a scout across the western canal? Metal Casting's way too expensive at this point in the game, even if it lets me push my advantages, right? Masonry's the only thing left I think, and I don't think I have any stone/marble in range, and I wouldn't go for Pyramids without that. My gut says to go for Mysticism, but Writing, Sailing, and Metal Casting are sitting as dark horses.

[Ceiliazul]

I'm so surprised at how much I like playing the turns in this--every turn I'm doing some little thing that makes me feel like I'm improving over my play in PBEM 58

I noticed that too, fun to read along. Not doing exhaustive c&d really is freeing, no?

[Cheater Hater]

I'm so surprised at how much I like playing the turns in this--every turn I'm doing some little thing that makes me feel like I'm improving over my play in PBEM 58

I noticed that too, fun to read along. Not doing exhaustive c&d really is freeing, no?

Thanks (though you could post and comment a bit more if you're reading along )
Of course, the problem is I know I'm giving up a lot of potential advantage because of it--for example, circumstances in PBEM 58 are making me feel like I should do some more C&D, but I'm postponing the update there because of it--of course, not being that relevant in that game anymore takes a lot of that off my shoulders.

[Ceiliazul]

so many threads, so little time! Im also on my phone most of the time, which makes reading much easier than writing.

but im reading and loving it.

[Cheater Hater]

Fair enough--just knowing someone is reading is enough, especially in the cluster that is PB18

[Cheater Hater]

T47 Update:
Since nothing happened that was new, I had another thought of how to do my tile micro--give Ravnica's eastern cottage to Theros! I'll actually bother to post the updated capital picture for reference:


Of course, this isn't going to happen right away--I'll grow onto the farm at size 3, but I think what I should do is only work sheep/farm/copper until the granary finishes, then I'll swap from the copper to the cottage until Theros gets to size 4! This actually is timed perfectly with Ravnica growing to size 4, at which point I think I'll switch to the mine anyway (since I'll be working on a food-eater). Of course, since Zendikar wants the northern mine, that means Theros will eventually be forced to go pig/clam/south cottage/plains mine, which will slow down the food eater slightly (and maybe cause for me to build a settler there instead of a worker).

[Ceiliazul]

shared cots are sexy!

(post++)
(keeps you on first page)
(im a helper!)

[Cheater Hater]

Thanks Celiazul (even though post count/page position aren't that important )
T48-49 Report:
I meant to get a report out yesterday, but I didn't, so you get my news on the horse position one turn late:


If you didn't catch it, my horses are SW of the capital, by the sheep. That's actually a pretty good city on the plains hill, with sheep and horses first-ring, crabs second-ring (cut off in the picture), and sharing a couple cottage spots with the capital. I don't know when I'll settle it though, since it's in my backlines and not in danger of being taken by anyone else. In fact, it appears that that's the case with everyone--or at least it's the case with dtay, the only other horses I can see at the moment (which also gives me my one opportunity to whine about the map for this month):


[maprant]Seriously, the choice of either 4 resources in one city, or 3 resources with the pigs first-ring? [/maprant]

Back to the relevant part of the map, my perfect city placement appears to be threatened soon


That warrior's parked on that hill, and I passed by Whosit's scout as well--it looks like that's where Whosit might want to put his next city. If that's the case, that means I can't put my northern city where I would have wanted (1W of my Impi). Thinking about it though, if I place it on the forest 1E of the corn, that might actually be a better spot--I still share the pigs with Zendikar, I get the corn in the first ring, and I trade the cow and some plains tiles for a crabs and some coast tiles. It also blocks off the corner from anyone, letting me focus on developing in the south (which I still need to scout soon).

So, in planning the immediate future, let's look at the dotmap and decide which city I want to settle next:


And apparently I can't remember the dotmap much at all

Anyway, I think my northern dotmap's become a little more clear in 15 turns--I settle next to the corn instead of wherever city 5 would be, and I move city 6 1NW next to the rice (notice the 2F ocean tile 2N of that site--I'm not sure what that is, but it must be a resource). I think I should make a new dotmap in the near-future--I don't don't know if I should wait for Whosit to settle his next city or not though. More importantly for my next city, I feel like I have three reasonable cities to settle:

1. The eastern cow/wheat city (city 3): This is the most natural expansion site, and allows me to expand without costing a fortune in maintenance.
   
2. The northern corn/pig/crab city (the new city 5): This blocks off Whosit's western expansion and has better land overall, but will cost a lot of maintenance--is there an easy maintenance formula I can use to estimate the cost compared to the eastern city?
   
3. The southern sheep/horses/crab city: I doubt this is the best option, it's just an option if I think I need horses ASAP for some reason (and I can't think of any outside a horde of barb axes showing up on my doorstep next turn or an unknown civ dropping two axes off from a galley, neither of which is likely ).
   

Of those three, I think I want to settle the northern city, since it has better land and basically guarantees the corner city, but I just hope Whosit won't think of it as an aggressive move--or if he does, he forgets I'm Zulu

Of course, I also need to decide when I'm building my next settler. Ravnica grows to size 4 in 2 turns, while Theros grows to size 4 in 5 turns. I feel like one of those will build a worker and one will build a settler when they grow, and both will end up being 2-pop whipped. I think I'm good on workers in the short term, so worker number 5 can wait a couple turns. I'm also not completely sure I want to whip Theros, since it has relatively little food (even though I'll have 2 farms in a second), though I think it's still worth it.