[Spoilers] The Network assimilates ipecac, Ruff_Hi & Dreylin (Monty of Vikings)

[Dreylin]

OK, I /think/ that I managed to stabilise the Plan, at least for the next ~10t ... well, at least enough that I was happy to play the next turn, anyway!

Warrior is now in position to Pillage; Workers are doing their thing, builds are a'buildin'. Maybe some pictures next turn?

[ipecac]

Sorry about the mess, and thanks for fixing it I'll work on it further during the weekend

In thousands of points: as of the picture taken on T54, he has 32 Soldier points. We can be rather certain of 18 accounted for via tech (Hunting =2, Mining =2 , BW=8, Wheel = 4, AH = 2). Population contributes rounddown(Pop/2) points. Warrior =2, Spear/Chariot =4, Axe = 6. Elum first had access to Slavery beginning T47 or 2140 BC. Hence the 5 point increase at T46 can't be an axe + whip so he doesn't have axes out yet.

The following is more speculative: he does not have any other tech (Sailing = 2, Archery = 6) or barracks (=4). Assuming he has at least 4 pop, he has at most 12 soldier points in military. It would be good if we could compare to his population score, but my guess as of now is at least 1x Chariots, 2x warriors.

[Dreylin]

Well, we now have 52g in the bank and a road heading towards the settling zone:


I tweaked the plan a little because we have the Worker turn available to cut down the pre-chopped forest. I looked at the options in Smurf and 2.5" and decided to use it to complete the Monastery at 2.5". It slots in very well without significantly affecting the rest of the plan and opens up Missionaries as an option. Here it is and our Eastward exploration:


Thinking to keep the explorer heading East as far as possible and try to meet some other opponents.

I do think we're going to hit anger issues in one of the cities sooner rather than later; the latest Warrior is holding SE of The Hub where it can dive into any of them as needed.

[ipecac]

Plan updated: The Smurf has no mines so basically needs to keep whipping, but it lacks . So it'll get a cheap Warrior Garrison T59 (before copper is hooked up) and 2.5" will build a Missionary allowing for +1 after spread and +1 after cheap temple.

As for now the plan assumes no garrison in the other cities but if we could spare any it would be good. Also, I haven't done the worker plan since it'd depend on where Horses are (if any).

Plan overhaul: Summary page to keep track of what builds are completed when, change to Population and Hammers columns to automatically update if whip occurs, new Happiness and Unhappiness columns that include "we want military protection" calculations.

Mid-term considerations: with all the whipping we're constantly bumping up against the happiness limit of 7 (or 8 for The Hub) - , so we might want to push Yellow Dot up in priority for whales.

I've been rethinking Marble City which isn't too bad with a farm 1NW especially if sheep and copper are already hooked up. On the NE side I'm thinking of planting one city 1N of stone so clams are lighthousable, and a later filler on Sugar which can borrow sheep and cows to grow onto lots of cottages.

[Dreylin]

Well, Smurf got a natural spread this turn, so that eases the Happiness issues!

Liking the new summary and the unhappiness/whip counters!

I did find an issue with Smurf Tube which was showing an extra tile used next turn. Taking that away doesn't seem to affect anything for 10t or so, so there's time to fix it.

As far as Workers go, my tentative idea was to run the Northern one along with the Settler to start improving the Pigs the same turn the city is Settled. Once the Copper is connected, one of those can run after and work on the Road connection. The other could prep for a Marble city or chop/Mine the hill at Smurf / prep the Sheep. Next Worker can probably start on a couple of Cottages or help out with Road duties.

We currently have 2 Warriors in the NW, and the third is in The Hub. My feeling is that he should also head for the NW to protect the route/Workers, etc. until the Spears are out. New city would probably start building a Warrior for added protection since it won't have the connection for Copper.

Here's a shot of the Core for Worker planning:

[ipecac]

Well, Smurf got a natural spread this turn, so that eases the Happiness issues!

We'll still want a temple for more Happiness, so I'll try to fit it in at a suitable time and then we should probably run a priest specialist there.

I did find an issue with Smurf Tube which was showing an extra tile used next turn. Taking that away doesn't seem to affect anything for 10t or so, so there's time to fix it.

Hate it when that happens. Oh well, I have to redo both Smurf and 2.5" anyway with the spread (unless we want to get a cultural borders to pop in Blue dot asap?)

As far as Workers go, my tentative idea was to run the Northern one along with the Settler to start improving the Pigs the same turn the city is Settled. Once the Copper is connected, one of those can run after and work on the Road connection. The other could prep for a Marble city or chop/Mine the hill at Smurf / prep the Sheep. Next Worker can probably start on a couple of Cottages or help out with Road duties.

We currently have 2 Warriors in the NW, and the third is in The Hub. My feeling is that he should also head for the NW to protect the route/Workers, etc. until the Spears are out.

Here's a shot of the Core for Worker planning:

Thanks, I'll see what I can do with it.

[Dreylin]

I did find an issue with Smurf Tube which was showing an extra tile used next turn. Taking that away doesn't seem to affect anything for 10t or so, so there's time to fix it.

Hate it when that happens. Oh well, I have to redo both Smurf and 2.5" anyway with the spread (unless we want to get a cultural borders to pop in Blue dot asap?)

I think we do want to ensure that Blue dot gets Religion ASAP for the Cultural defenses. We may even want to consider an early Walls build (even before Stone is hooked).

[ipecac]

I have my turns pretty well worked out.

That should mean no Immortal rush, right? Or is that intentional misdirection....

We plant T63, missionary finishes EOT T68 and spread T71. Masonry comes in EOT T68 for Walls. When we pasture the Pigs we'll need to cover it with at least one Spear.

Tactics: as the situation stands (with his forests untouched) the critical tile to contest will be the grassland 1N-1NE of the city which will allow Elum to attack us without warning by staging on cows. Unfortunately the peak tile makes the situation asymmetrical (ie we can't attack him by surprise, even if we control that grassland tile). Worst-case scenario, he holds that tile but we can keep an eye on cows every turn by using a Sentry Chariot (Free Flanking I ) to move from the city 1N and back 1S. (Once engineering comes in things will change though.) Or we can use our amphibious Maceman for a naval assault

[Dreylin]

I have my turns pretty well worked out.

That should mean no Immortal rush, right? Or is that intentional misdirection....

I'm pretty sure that an Immortal rush is off the cards (we have no evidence that he knows where we are), but worst case he has settling plans in the vicinity of Blue Dot that will clash with ours and will be supported by Immortals. Warrior has finished pillaging the Village off the map, so can either now stay on that spot and accumulate fortify bonus or move back towards us. There are lots of disadvantages to that (loss of visibility, fortify, etc.) but leaving him there does make it look threatening or that we have interest in the area. Still, I think we have to leave him in place.

[ipecac]

There are lots of disadvantages to that (loss of visibility, fortify, etc.) but leaving him there does make it look threatening or that we have interest in the area. Still, I think we have to leave him in place.

Yeah, we don't really have a choice. Well, given that he can't yet have expected it we should be able to get Spearmen in to the city before he can pose a threat.