[SPOILERS] Northstar of the Svartalfar v Bob the Great of the Malakim

[Northstar1989]

OK, so another turn, and I'm just a *bit* closer to having that Cow Pasture:



I also seem to be leading in production, and tied in crop yield- though SOMEHOW Bob is beating me in GNP. Which makes no sense- as he only has two population, and I have three...



And, my third Scout is ready! Time will tell if this one survives a little longer than the last two!



Really, that was just HORRIBLE luck before- but maybe I can still recover...

Although, a terrible realization just struck me (I bet this what you were trying to tell me before, Q)- what if Bob settled two tiles east of the Rice? Then he would have the Cows AND the Rice in his BFC (I thought it would be unwise for me because I didn't realize I had the Creative instead of Expansive trait...) Then this game could go REALLY badly for me very soon...

UNLESS, I make working the Incense a priority... (one of the few advantages of my current capital location) THEN I could hit Bob with a big tech-lead, and maybe even deny him at least a couple religions (likely Fellowship of Leaves and Octopus Overlords- due to both building off the Exploration tech) by getting the techs first...

Octopus Overlords could actually be rather powerful on this map. Even though I have Creative, and don't need the culture, there are quite a lot of lakes around for my Cultists to cast their divine spell on (and since they are the main source of fresh water on the western/eastern ends of the map, Bob will have likely settled near them) and for Fishing to pay its dividends on (plus, my Workers are SLOW- so working lake tiles I don't have to improve will be a HUGE boon for me...)

Regards,
Northstar

[Qgqqqqq]

I know nothing about what Bob has done, and I certainly wouldn't spoiler it in your thread.

I recommend against reading things into GNP, myself. But here it's probably that you're on exploration (a tech with no prereqs) whilst he's on one that does have prereqs.

[Northstar1989]

I recommend against reading things into GNP, myself. But here it's probably that you're on exploration (a tech with no prereqs) whilst he's on one that does have prereqs.

Well, let's see, he started off with a tech w/o prereqs- that was probably Agriculture. And he started with Ancient Chants (a fairly useless tech for a Creative leader, except as a prereq ), so that really only leaves a handful of techs:

Animal Husbandry (likely if he settles 2 tiles east of the Rice- he wants the Cows too!)

Mysticism (could he be trying to rush a religion?)

Education (requires both Agriculture and Ancient Chants- and would be useful for a Spiritual leader thanks to Apprenticeship...)


All in all, not very helpful to know, because all of these lead to VERY different strategies...


I just wish my Scouts hadn't both gotten eaten so early! It really would be nice to know where Bob settled right about now...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Alright, well, another Scout!



Let's TRY not to get him eaten like the last couple guys, shall we?


Also, Bob has already caught up in population!



I wonder what he's doing... Best not to give him too much time to think, though- I passed the save back to him right away!


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

OK, so nothing too exciting to report- my Scout has started exploring to the west. I'm debating whether to stick to the high ground so I can spot ny threats coming from a distance, and try to get away...



Oh I do wonder where that Tiger is right now...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Maybe if I just climb this hill, I'll spot the Tiger coming from a distance...



You have GOT to be kidding me!

At this point, the only thing my Scouts seem to be good for is leveling up the Barbarians so that they'll make a nasty surprise for Bob's Scouts... (or the first stack he tries to send to attack me)



Of course, the predictable thing happened- ANOTHER scout ended up at critter chow...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Nothing too exciting going on still. Bob's capital has grown to size 4, though... (Demographics not shown)



Fingers crossed something GOOD actually happens to me soon (like a random event, or a Barbarian attack I manage to defeat...)


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

OK, so first of all, I just had something important to say...

Lately, I've noticed my competitiveness at this game has taken on a slightly ugly tint. As in, I've been whining about bad luck on my part and the advantages other players have had, and their choosing game settings that favored them, while gloating over any good luck I have.

I just wanted to apologize for that to anyone who might be reading this- because I need to be OK with the result, however these games turn out- even if that means my losing. It necessarily follows that there can only be one official "winner" from each game- but we're all winners if we play well and fairly, and enjoy the journey. On the other hand, if we all get angry every time it seems like we might not win, and whine and complain like I've been doing in some of my games, then we're ALL losers in the end...

So, I hope you guys can forgive my bad game spirit, and look ahead to my playing this game as well as I know how to- whether that means winning or losing! And, of course, I'd appreciate any strategies or pointers on how to play (generally speaking) along the way!


Now back to the game...



Anyways, so I completed a second Worker, and got to work on a Smokehouse (although more careful thought quickly led me to realize it won't be completed until I already have reached my happy-cap: so I'll be wanting to replace it with additional Warriors instead... Maybe I can scare Bob into building more Warriors of his own if he sees my power suddenly spike... )



Is there something I'm missing here? I can't see how a Smokehouse would POSSIBLY be a good idea at this point- so it seems I'm better off with a couple Warriors and then a Settler...


Regards,
Northstar

[Tasunke]

Spoiler for After the Game Ends

Fishing tech should probably not be a priority right now, and also, 1W of silks seems like a good 2nd city spot, with at least one hill visible in its BFC. Now that you have Animal Husbandry, Calendar *might* be worth it just for working a plains Incense tile, if not even a temporary agrarian civic until you get Hidden Paths. Neither the dry rice or dry wheat seem particularly tempting ... however for an elven 3rd city spot, perhaps the plains hill near the dry wheat, or even some of the unexplored forest near the silks city ... might be a decent 3rd city spot.

[Northstar1989]

Having found myself lagging significantly behind Bob thanks to my failed Scout-expeditions (3 Scouts lost, all within just a few turns of leaving my borders!) I was scratching my head for ways to catch up before I fall too far behind, and came up with a killer idea...

But before we get to that, first we have to invent the Wheel.



Also, we got a seemingly-worthless random event:




And, the reveal:



OK, so my idea is, to build a Settler???

Not exactly...



Look at the map. Notice how my capital and the tile north of the Rice are connected by two forests?

My plan is to defend TWO cities with ONE Warrior.

By positioning my Warrior in the forests between the two cities, I should be able to locate him such that he can reach either city within a single turn when threatened... Thus, I can get my 2nd city founded a few turns earlier than if I had built a Warrior (or two, for another city-growth at my capital) first, and stop the snowball from rolling quite so quickly against me...


Of course, this is a gamble. It involves losing the fortification-bonus from having a Warrior for each city, and could backfire HORRIBLY if I get attacked by two Barbarians at exactly the same time. But sometimes you've got to take risks to win- especially when you get screwed by the RNG the first time around... (losing 3 Scouts means if I play safely, I am now *SURE* to lose)


I'll probably get a second Warrior online as my first build for the new city. And I wouldn't even have to do this if I hadn't lost ALL 3 of my Scouts earlier... But having a few turns advantage in building my 2nd city like this could CERTAINLY come in handy...

Also, the 2nd city will found the exact turn after I unlock Fishing, and will rely on the freshwater lake for most of its early food after the Rice- which is nice, and will allow my Workers to focus on building Farms near my capital and a road connecting the two cities instead...


Regards,
Northstar