[SPOILERS] Will the Sun(rise) Ever Set on Washington, Mongolia?

[Whosit]

Elum is in the game so I can't get back in to check numbers yet, but in WB I whittled a barb Axe down to 3.3/5 and then checked odds on a Combat I Impi vs the wounded Axe in a forest, and the Axe still had odds, so I will probably cover the forest worker with the injured axe.

[Whosit]

Also it's tempting to feel OK about my position due to score, but I'm pretty sure the leaders are, if not sandbagging, well, I think they've been doing a lot of whipping, so what they've lost in score (pop) they've gained in whatever they've whipped.

[Whosit]

Now I'm kinda wondering if I should swap Soos to an Archer or something instead of the Galley. Here's what I'm thinking:

Barbarian activity (and "scouts" from other players) is probably not going to diminish on my borders. I already had 2 Axemen, and I'll have a Chariot next turn, and that might be enough to keep the southern border secure. My current plan calls for sailing one of those Axes to the island to defend the off shore city. Can I adequately defend my core cities with 2 Warriors, an Axe, and a Chariot? Maybe, but the thought is making me more nervous. An Archer out of Soos means I can retain current defenses on the mainland.

I'd give up that second galley, though. What it basically costs me, right now from what I can see, is scouting. The idea was I could keep one Galley at home for transport/defense, and send the second one off to scout. Although, I could just do the Archer, then the Galley, then go back to what it was going to do before (I think grow to size 6 and make a couple Workers). Slotting in the Archer would delay those Workers down the line, but to be honest I haven't been super desperate for Worker turns before T90 (that probably means I'm not expanding fast enough of course!).

Anyway, I don't really have anyone else to weigh in on this with me, but I'm feeling a little insecure (which means I don't have the initiative vs other players), and I'd rather not be forced to whip a unit later that I wouldn't otherwise need. Barbarians are just a general threat, the other players I'm mainly worried about taking a worker if they see a chance.

[Whosit]

So I was playing around in the sandbox waiting for Elum to finish, and something odd happened as I was moving forward with the Archer in Soos adjustment. The Settler from Stanford for the southern crab site finished a turn earlier than expected. This worked out OK, but I'm not quite sure what changed it. Ah, maybe it was that 1 extra turn working the Ivory while building the Chariot? That provided just enough overflow to make the difference? Huh.

Not that settling it a turn earlier makes a huge difference, as it will still take about 5-6 turns for the follow-up work boat from Stanford to make it down there. Hm. Perhaps instead of Soos going Archer > Galley > Barracks/Settler, it will go Archer > Work Boat > Galley/Barracks/Settler. McGucket would benefit greatly from having a work boat ready to hook up those crabs.

[Whosit]

Turn 68/69 Updates:

Playing Whack-a-Barb



CH is getting that corn there improved. I'm somewhat smug that it looks like he couldn't get the food there improved right away, though I suppose he could have improved the... plains cows first.



Earned a whopping 1 gold from pillaging that mine.



Just noticed this. There's at least one more land tile on that island. I am mildly worried it's not going to turn out to be an island at all, but once Dipper finishes that work boat I can find out. Not sure what I'll do if it's connected to the other land mass (Korea), as settling there would be quite vulnerable.



Overshot of the south. I may log back in to reposition that Chariot. If CH's Warrior goes for that jungled hamlet, I think I might just declare and pop the Warrior, and in any case, I might just pillage that hamlet myself anyway. It's still going to be ages (8 turns) before it's even in my borders, and dozens of turns more before I've teched Iron Working to release it from the jungle. If I pillage it (twice), that could yield 15-20 gold, which at this point is probably just a half turn of research, but it might be better to have that gold NOW than to save 10 turns growing a cottage later.



Demographics. Not looking too bad, but many of the leaders have been whipping every couple of turns, so that could be Settlers or Workers or whatever. CH is leading with that dominant production score, but next turn my score will jump 8 mfg, and in a few more another 6 when Soos can work its hammer tiles again, so I won't overtake CH, but I might catch up a little.



Equal in cities now here, though I'm behind a city (at least) compared to most everyone else. Korea hasn't got horses or any luxuries connected. When I settle Pacifica, I might offer a Fish for Fish trade. Isn't that the AI Diplo version of "let's be friends?"



Here's the capital! When I looked in, I noticed the city had been working the grass mine and not the ivory. Not sure how long that was going on, or why, but I guess it means I lost out on a point of commerce for a couple of turns. In the big scheme, not that big a deal, I guess, though somewhat annoying.



Culture. I dunno. I'll really be bumping up against CH in a score of turns, and hopefully I can settle that filler-ish city north of Wendy before he puts anything there.

[Whosit]

Looks like CH put another city down....

[Whosit]

OK, just a smattering of thoughts. I shall not declare war on CH even if it looks like he's going to pillage the hamlet. What I will do is move my Chariot onto the tile as well so I can at least get some pillage gold from it. I don't think denying CH a small handful of gold is worth pissing him off, especially considering his emerging strength and position adjacent to me.

Alas, were I stronger.....

On the domestic front, I think that I shall not whip the lighthouse in Wendy. I don't think it's worth it as I'd rather keep the city large and working on cottages. I can use that as a build to grow on, though, and will finish it eventually. Dipper, though, I do want the lighthouse and I'll follow up with a Library. It should be able to reach max size and work a couple of Scientists to stagnate, and from there I'll get my first couple of great people. Soos can then take the wheat from Dipper and grow to size 8, and I believe stagnate producing 24 hpt base, as follows:

City Center (2/1/1), Wheat (5/1/1), Sheep (4/1/2), Plains Farm (2/1/1), Plains Horse (1/4/2), Plains Hill Copper (0/6/1), Grass Hill Mine (1/3/1), Grass Hill Mine (1/3/1), Plains Hill Mine (0/4/1) -- with that last tile requiring a border pop. Add in a forge at some point and that jumps to 30 (religion and OR would be nice, too, but not sure if I'll get that). Forge would also increase happy cap, so maybe I could either farm another plains to get +1 hammer, or more likely workshop the flood plains so that would be... 2/2/1 initially, I think. Might make the plains farm first, though, so I can still use the FP farm to grow.

Also regarding Soos, I think I want to make a grab for the Statue of Zeus.

Also, I don't think I'll rush for Markets until I get Calendar. Hooking up the silk means a whipped Market is still a +1 happy gain. Or, if scouting galleys can find a way, there's those whales off the coast, though I'm pretty sure that a city picking those up would be on a western chunk of the main landmass, not an island. That's mainly a problem dealing with foreign aggression (harder to hold than a mere island early on). Would still be worth it for that lux resource, though.

Techs: Not entirely sure what I'll get after Currency. I think Iron Working will be the next tech, because a few new cities will need to dig things out of jungle. I want, in no particular order, Metal Casting, Horseback Riding, Aesthetics, Alphabet, Code of Laws.... and then etc. So, in this mod Aesthetics and Metal Casting are both the same cost (448 it seems). Could probably knock those out in ~8 turns of teching when I get there, but I'll need many more turns to save up the cash. Statue of Zeus is 200 hammers, and a Forge is 120. If I want the SoZ, I definitely just wanna go for Aesthetics first and build the wonder without bothering with a Forge in Soos.

Though grabbing Aesthetics opens up another interesting possibility: Shwedagon Paya. (Note to self: The wonder also requires Mediation.) (Note to Krill: I am not sure if this is intended, but the wonder still gains 100% production bonus from gold, not 50% like other wonders have been reduced to.) Why would I want the Paya? 1) It would give me access to all religion civics without requiring me to research some technologies I might not want yet, 2) I will have access to Gold, 3) I might have a shot at founding one of the later religions, but even if I don't, I can always swap into Free Religion for the small tech boost, 4) Assuming I tech Metal Casting first and get a Forge in Soos, I can build it with 125% multipliers. Assuming base hammers of 24, that's a modified 54 hpt, so the city could knock it out in 9 turns. I don't think it's often a heavily contested Wonder.

That might not be worth it, of course. If I never found a religion or get a spread, I won't have access to the preferred Civic (OR), and even if I chose FR, I lose out on half the benefit (extra happy, though I seem to recall most people value the universal 10% tech boost more. Hell, even hammer city Soos would earn an extra beaker from working so many river tiles, and most of my cities should be tall enough that FR should be worth 1-2 extra beakers per city for the same cost as Paganism). If I don't make it to CoL first (and I probably won't, especially since I'm not going straight for it after Currency), I probably won't found my own religion. I could always tech Alphabet and Drama to open up a Philo bulb, but for me I think that means I either give up an Academy or my first GA, not worth it. However, I think I could make use of this Wonder, so I'll make a play for it. SoZ is my priority, though.

If I land SP, I'll probably wait for my second GP to fire off the medieval Golden Age, swap into Civil Service and either OR if I've managed to get religion, or FR if not or if the religion isn't spread well. Though, honestly, I may just stick with FR at the end for the tech boost. We'll see.

So that's my rambling about plans and stuff.

[Whosit]

Looks like CH settled yet another new city.... Yeah, he's gonna be a giant, and I'm gonna have like half his cities. That won't end well.

[Whosit]

A little less motivated to actually put up reports when no one's looking, and I know the global lurkers can't really offer me any advice of substance (beyond, perhaps, purely mechanical questions). Oh well.

CH did indeed pillage the hamlet, so I pillaged the remaining cottage for 18 gold. Bleh. Also CH is getting really scary, both in demos and score. The spread:

CH 283
Elum 247
Dreylin 231
Me 230
Johns 224
Adrien 195
Grimace 191

So nearly a 100 point difference between leader and loser, and a healthy distance between CH and 2nd place. At least I'm still leading the loser pack, for what that's worth. And I know score isn't everything by a long shot, but it's a thing to look at. CH is pretty much leading all the demos from what I can tell, though, so. If Grimace of Korea keeps falling behind, however, I may just see if I can take a chunk outta him while keeping a safe border with CH.

For now, though, waiting a couple of turns to see if that fish island is indeed an island. Really hoping it's not actually attached to the mainland on the east.

[novice]

FWIW yours is the only PB23 thread I've read, but I'm not paying close enough attention to give any useful advice.