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[Mardoc]

Zanth swapped into Nationalism. Why? Probably because he's got Rifling now...



Definitely got to go pick it up ourselves. Presumably he's going to use this to finish Slowcheetah, but let's not tempt him.

On the home front, much happier news: Golden Age is a turn early. Apparently National Epic applies immediately to GPP production.


Demos and city screen before firing it





After:




Note that we save at least three turns toward Oxford . Also generally boosted on all fronts. That GNP isn't first, but we're running basically breakeven and are a solid 2nd. Definitely no question of first in MFG and Crop Yield - which will get better when we finish Chemistry at EOT.

This ought to get us a good number of courthouses and banks in place, too.

Next up, naval techs, followed by a run up to Rifling, I think. I'm still tempted by Steel, but still planning to spend hammers on infra for the moment.

Also, we're not quite as far from State Property as I thought we were. Just need Liberalism, Scientific Method, and Communism. Will probably wait until after we've got a more modern unit available, though.

Don't think I can quite chain golden ages, but if we go into Pacifism after this one ends, we can have the next GA about 10 turns after this one. Could definitely get there faster, but I really covet that +25% hammers toward buildings while #1 in world hammer production...need a bunch of infra yet if we're to have a chance of keeping up outside the GA.

[Mardoc]

In foreign news, BaII's out of his GA and looking for trouble. Or, mayybe for a solid defense against Zanth. I'm very glad the two of them have to worry about one another.

Gawdzak, of all people, sniped Notre Dame. In retrospect, that would have been a good wonder to help out a drafting spree; I guess I'll just have to use my huge amount of resources, markets, forges, and possibly Hammam in its place. And/or take it from Gawdzak.




At home, we just keep building and researching. 1st in GNP! Granted, 60/turn is not a rate that will catch us up very fast...but at least for now we *are* catching up. And almost every one of those first place hammers are going into things to keep our rate boosted; after the University round finishes, most of those cities are going to proceed onto Banks and/or Courthouses. Gotta push the slider up to get maximum benefit from U's and Oxford, after all .

[Mardoc]

Other thoughts: +32 hpt from last turn. Part of that is cities growing, but a substantial part is Chemistry . I knew it would be a good investment!

Still waffling on tech path. This turn is Compass. I'm probably going to continue on to Astro, as long as I have eyes on Zanth's stack and it's not coming my way. After that, I'm debating between six different directions:
1) Rifling. Fastest building force, although the draft has its own issues. Basically no non-military benefit
2) Steel. Cannons, Drydocks. Cannons would basically shred any land-based invasion from anyone, while Drydocks would make naval defense strong.
3) Military Tradition: Cuirs and later Cavalry. Quick reaction force, handy for invading with too. Not too handy on its own but very nice with Rifling
4) Military Science: Grenadiers; cheapest option in beakers
5) Nationalism: the Draft! Kinda low value with just Jans, but very nice with Rifling
6) Communism: State Property! Turn my temporary lead into a full one. Unless someone calls me on not having a modern military...

I guess fundamentally it's all a question of goals. Do I need more land? Do I need it now, or am I comfortable waiting an era more? If all I want is defense, I want to go for Steel, I think. Build cannon and knights and then head for State Property.

That would probably work for a sniping strategy, as well - defend what I have and keep grabbing a city or two every time there's a war. Take China's islands and a city on my border if BaII invades him, take Rome's islands, never grab more than I can digest. That might not be enough to actually win, but it's a strat that leads to steady growth and surviving long enough for Zanth to maybe make a mistake.

Or...go for broke, pick up Nationalism/Rifling and aim for serious profit.

Actually...hmm. These aren't mutally exclusive options. Maybe my first priority should be to establish a handful of galleons on each front, with modern units on board, just ready to be opportunistic. And maybe a couple settlers free floating. I don't think I'm ready for a full-blown war of conquest, in any direction, but there's no reason not to grab a city here or there if someone's sufficiently distracted. In particular - I really ought to get a fleet in place that can grab either Chinese or Sumerian islands and peninsulae. I think it's likely that BaII invades Gawdzak. It's possible that he loses - especially if Zanth decides to intervene, but also if BaII underestimates the ChoKoNu. More likely that he wins, I think he's got superior MilTech. But in either case, I ought to be able to profit, if I play my cards right.

Which means...Astro then either Rifling or MilScience. Cannon and Cuirs are no good for island sniping. Follow it up with something that supports a longer term strategy, but I shouldn't overlook a small advantage just because I'm hoping for something bigger later.

[Mardoc]

Demos are still good, we're on to Optics now, and Astro's looking to be a 2 turn + overflow tech. After that - turns out I was a bit confused on the tech tree, some of those options aren't actually options yet. Thinking on the situation - fundamentally I'm not ready to swap to a war footing, if none of my neighbors make me. That means...I want an upgrade for the military, to make sure no one gets frisky with me. I want maximum bang for the buck, so I can spend the rest on further economic upgrades. That means - Grenadiers, I think. It's one tech away, and not even my most expensive tech unlocked. It probably also means researching Nationalism - not because I want to use it, per se, but because I want the option of using it. Drafting Janisaries would suck...but my neighbors knowing I could if I had to, that's worth something. And Nationalism is also en route to the Cavalry tech - I'm building a big stack of Knights, it'd be good to be able to convert them to Cuirs or Cavs on short notice, also for insurance purposes.

After that, I'm going to gamble on more peace. Head directly for Communism. I think I can get there first if Zanth isn't currently headed there, which means the Great Spy, which means our next GA happens sooner. Maybe I can snag the Physics Great Scientist, too. But as long as I'm not willing to spend hammers on units, there's not much point unlocking them.

Our empire really needs to get into State Property instead of Mercantilism. I was keeping Merc for the boost to the golden ages, but cities are starting to grow into specialists naturally, and Pacifism may not be that far off, and we've got a National Epic now too. SP...will be worth something like 200 gpt, minimum, plus that 10% hammer boost, plus a lot of food to the hammer cities. It'll cost GPP in exchange - maybe I can have those hammer cities work some specialists with their extra food.

I'm just gambling, here, that no one's going to want to fight me until I'm ready for it. So far it looks more or less true. I'm definitely keeping an eye on Zanth, and trying to also watch Rome, as those are the two most likely to change things up. Fortunately I've got a jungle/forest buffer with Zanth, and his troops all march. So as long as I keep eyes on him, I should have a few turns warning.

[Mardoc]

I, um, I don't even? I thought BaII was thinking of absorbing China, but maybe not. Maybe he's just nervous about Zanth. Who, admittedly, is looking pretty scary.




Demos still good. Actually...we have been catching up to Zanth for a while already...1st place has varied, but it's not been him. That's reassuring.





Three turns to Astro.

[flugauto]

Sorry for not showing up, I have been buried alive at work. I should be free by august, one way or another. You have done a great job. Demos look very good.

[flugauto]

I have just read the missed part. Zanth is at war. And all Zanth got from the war is 3 cities with 7 pop. Nice.

[Mardoc]

Good to hear it, and to see you around .

Re: Zanth: So far. He's upgraded all his Cuirs to Cavalry, and has at least eight drafted Rifles with no sign of stopping. I'm pretty sure he's going to finish off Slowcheetah before Slow needs his sub in six weeks.

[Mardoc]

In the next two turns, I expect the remaining five universities to finish up, letting Istanbul go straight onto Oxford. This is a beautiful city, isn't it? It's just going to keep getting better .



Edirne, I decided to gamble on a wonder with. It was a tough call - all that lovely Fin coast begs to be run through a bank - but unlocking all those Priest slots will really help it in its duty as a National Epic city. Plus pushing Priests up to 2h, 1g empire-wide means a lot of cities will be able to get more benefit from a Temple/Priest than a Forge/Engineer. And if this doesn't work out, it's failgold at a 2.5:1 ratio. After this, probably Grocer first, actually, for the health, then we need a Bank and a Courthouse. And maybe slip in a Hammam somewhere - maybe even first - since we're also low on extra happiness here.



Demos, forgot the shot. We're 2nd in GNP by about 6/turn, first in all the other production categories, still 9th in soldiers.

[flugauto]

The Istanbul university will change the GNP demos by a lot.
Edirne is unhealthy because, I recall, we lost the deer trade with Yuris.