Enlightened Sidar

[Thoth]

Animals won't spawn naturally for 5 turns.


But lairs can start producing units immediately.

This is FFH. Safety is an illusion.

[Ichabod]

Turn 2

Quick turnaround, quick turn!

The warrior went into the not-that-defended tile, since Thoth and Qg told me that’s the best move and totally barb safe (that’s how I've read those previous posts, by the way). If I end up dead, I’ll ask Qg to .dll hack a warrior back for me, which is fair.




See the gray dots? Considering the southernmost one is an island, I can get there after I research KotE, with a scout or DS and the Sever Soul, without using boats. Pretty nice, hopefully we find a long-lost tribal village that gives us Arcane Lore tech or something. One can dream… Ah, expect me to post a 10+ picture report about that teleport move, if I even end up doing it. Gotta hype the thing, right?

And with all the water around, perhaps we can indeed use the Ghost Ship strategy to hurt our opponents later.


"You mock the riverless cotton tile, right? Well, have another one!"

The feature to the east of the scout is an Ancient Tower. I’m not exactly sure about the specifics, but what it does is give a vision boost when you stand in the tile, just like a hill would give you (but it’s a bigger bonus). Not sure if we want the scout to go there next… Perhaps. Desert tiles in FFH give -25% defense and they cost two movement points, so the scout will have to end turn there. The peaks will block some of the vision from the tower, but I guess it’s a decent move. Unless I see something really good/interesting, there’s no point in heading towards that desert area.




The big news of the turn is that we will have big news some turns from now. Yes, we spotted a hut. About time we spotted something, really. I was about to start wanting us to find even a lizardmen ruins, just so I would see something different. But a hut is even better! A shame it’s far away from our scout, but he’ll get there eventually. It’s about the journey, not the destination (and especially about the tech we’ll get once he reaches the damned thing! ).




Sidarland, in all its plain-y glory! Couldn’t that desert scrub tile be a floodplain, at least?

[Qgqqqqq]

I’ll ask Qg to .dll hack a warrior back for me, which is fair.

Knowing my skills, you'd probably end up with a different civ and the Never tech...

[Ichabod]

Philosophical Thoughts

The categorical imperative, described by Kant as...

Oh, no, no, no. We are talking about the PHI that matters here, the Philosophical trait from FFH/EitB! No need to fall asleep until the class ends like you did in college, mates.

To begin with, let’s tackle the small bonuses PHI gets, the two discounted buildings: Library and Elder Council.




I already talked about ECs a bit, the 40h for 2 science per turn building, which becomes a much better deal with the PHI trait, for only 20h. The other thing about ECs is that they allow a sage specialist to be hired, which further synergizes with PHI, enabling a very fast GSage for someone that wants it. Since we’d rather avoid a GSage as our first GP, that’s one bonus we’ll have to use carefully in the beginning of the game. Anyway, in a commerce starved map like this one, ECs are a nice little building to have.




Libraries in FFH/EitB seem to be a way less common build than in BTS. That’s mostly because Writing is not a key tech for much of the Tech Tree, but also because they are more expensive (80 quick hammers compared to BTS’ 60) and there’s no easyly available slavery to rush it (so poor production cities can’t do it quick enough to matter). Ah, and libraries don’t give culture in FFH, so they aren’t even a good way to skip monuments for the greedy player… Well, we get them for half cost, 40 quick hammers, which makes them a decent build in commerce cities. We are likely to go for Writing sometime, after I feel secure against horsemen and pyre zombies, likely on the way to Mathematics or Trade. When that happens, we’ll probably see some libraries being built here and there.

So, both the buildings we get cheap from PHI are useful. Nice bonus! But, obviously, those buildings are not the main thing about PHI, nor the reason why you are reading this. Everyone wants to know about the double speed GPP generation and how we can use it to get a boost against our opponents.

Early game, I think the best we can do with PHI and quick GPs is to bulb a tech that will give us a big advantage by having it earlier than usual; that requires some planning. Late game, I think it’s a bit simpler: PHI gets is value from generating more GPs than non-PHI, so we can have an extra GA for instance. It also helps to get the usually difficult to generate Great Commander, a unique type of GP from FFH that, among other abilities, can create the following building in a city (ORG leaders can build it with hammers, without the GP):


It gives 3XP in this version of EitB, I think.

This is a very synergistic building for the Sidar, and it’d go pretty well in our HE city! The thing with PHI and Great Commanders is that there’s no Commander specialist to generate GPPoints, so you need to rely on Wonders to generate those, which usually don’t give quite that much GPPs. So, getting them doubled from PHI will make the long slog to actually generate a Great Commander from a pure Great Commander pool an easier, more accomplishable, task. Generating one of those is certainly an objective I have in this game (there are some first to bonuses in the tech tree that award a Great Commander and getting one that way would be even better, but I don’t think we can be that optimistic).

But the most interesting thing we can discuss about PHI is certainly the early game bulbs. Without PHI, trying to generate a specific type of GP early is a difficult task in FHH, because almost all specialists slots come in “ones”: 1 sage slot in ECs, 1 priest slot in Pagan Temples, 1 merchant slot in Markets and 1 bard slot in Carnivals. So, without PHI, you need to get the tech for the building with the specialist slot you want, build it and wait 23 (!) turns for the GP to be born (if you don’t want to risk getting a different GP type, by running other specialists). That’s a long time and, usually, slow researching the tech you want would end up actually being faster. PHI cuts the required turns for generating the GP to 12, which makes it more manageable.

But that begs the question: what can we bulb that would be worth this effort?




My first idea when thinking about the game was to bulb Priesthood, the tech that enables the level 2 disciple units, which are pretty game changing in military strength. Most religions get a very nice spell enabled by their level 2 priests and the units themselves ca also pack a punch (5 strength, gains passive XP). The Priesthood tech is expensive for early game, though I think a single bulb finishes it, so it’s basically what you want when bulbing techs. This bulb idea occurred to me when I was thinking about how to survive the pressure of the early/mid game warfare oriented Civs we have in this game. Since the Priest of Leaves, the level 2 disciple unit from the Fellowship of Leaves religion (which is our religious goal in the early game), has a summoning spell, most of the possible early game military threats would be thwarted by them. Summons are really powerful against enemies with limited numbers, which is usually what you face in the early game, because you can sacrifice them every turn and not lose anything, if you can manage to keep the summoner unit alive. And the Priest of Leaves also has some other cool abilities: their summon can be consumed in a city for a +1 happy building (and you can still summon again on the following turns, the ability isn’t lost); they can cast bloom to create forests in a tile; they can be consumed to create a Temple of Leaves building in a city (which spreads the religion and gives additional benefits, that can really help a recently settled city). Priesthood comes with a good package, overall, but it’s a tech that, while useful, we probably wouldn’t have the time to get so early: i.e. perfect bulb target.




Generating a GProphet is costly, compared to, let’s say, a GSage, but it’s not so bad. We could do it through a Pagan Temple, the first “religious” building available (that could possible also give some happiness to the city that builds it); or we could do it through a Temple of Leaves, after we already spread the FoL religion. Both buildings allow a priest specialist.







But, in the case of this game, I think the map is forcing our hand a bit, away from any sort of “cool bulbs”, like Priesthood. It’s pretty obvious even from now that our main hurdle to overcome in the beginning is the bad land quality and the toll it takes on our economy. While bulbing a military tech would be nice, I think that would be a losing proposition here; that’s because, while we would be “unrushable” by doing it, we’d also end up falling behind economically and just become a late game snack for someone (i.e. making our death slower and more painful). We need to push for economic advantages in our current situation, even if we risk actually being rushed for trying it.

There’s only one tech I can think of that gives such an economic boost in early game FFH and that tech is a pretty well-known bulb for most FFHers with some experience: Sanitation. Sanitation can be bulbed by a Great Bard and gives +1 food to farms, a strict boost to the most common improvement in early game FFH. It’ll help with expansion (through more food + hammers) and commerce (allowing more cottages and specialists), which, hopefully, will make us competitive against our opponents. For instance, while agrarianism only turns our 2/1 plains farm tiles into 3/0 tiles, Sanitation actually improves the yield, getting them to 3/1.




Sanitation also enables Public Baths, a pretty powerful happiness building, which gives +3 happy faces at the cost of 1 Unhealthy. Not the main thing we want, but a help nonetheless.




Even though we know the tech we want, there’s quite a bit of different routes to get to it and I’m debating regarding which is the best one. The first question to answer about this is: where to get the Great Bard for the bulb? The answer to this one, in an optimal situation, is simple; but is good to also think of a contingency plan.

There are 2 early buildings that enable bard specialists. The easier one to tech to is the Carnival, enabled at Festivals. The other one is already pictured above, the Temple of Leaves, available at Way of the Forest.




The Carnival is the obvious best-case choice. We can reach the needed tech faster, it gives nice boosts along the way (plantation improvement, agrarianism, markets) and we’d not only be bulbing one tech, we’d also be getting a second bulb for free!




Teching Festivals would make our Great Bards bulb Drama, which is the top of the bulb order list for GBs. Drama unlocks a couple of bonuses, but the one that interest us is the first-to bonus: a free Great Bard. It also gives the pretty nice ability to build culture, which we would surely use along our empire.




With the free Great Bard, we could then bulb Sanitation.

The problem with this path is pretty obvious: if we don’t get the first to bonus, we are screwed. Yeah, building culture is nice and all that, but it doesn’t make up for the cost of a Great Bard, right? So, while I’m confident that we have a nice chance of being first to Drama through the use of PHI, there’s also a different way we could potentially take.




If we get the Great Bard through a Temple of Leaves, we can block the Drama bulb by not teching Calendar (Festivals is also above Sanitation in the bulb order, so it has to be avoided). This way, we don’t depend on our opponents sucking to make the strategy work. It’s obviously worse than the Drama route if everything would go smooth, but it’s an option to consider nonetheless, since we eventually would want WotF anyway.

Finally, there’s a decision about which tech to use to enable the Sanitation bulb. Sanitation has two “enabler” techs, Construction and Bronze Working. BW is the obvious choice for most games, since it’s a key military tech, allowing the use of bronze weapons (which makes the incredibly cost effective bronze warrior available) and axemen/swordsmen, the second unit from the metal/melee line. It also allows chopping jungle, which is sometimes needed. BW was, for these reasons, the key tech I was considering for our early game defenses, which I’ll try to cover in a following post.




But, again, this game makes me think about a different route, the one through Construction. Construction + Masonry enable quarries, catapults, workshops… A lot of bonuses we definitely don’t need so early in the game. But, above all, it enables the “farms spread irrigation” mechanic. If our lands are really lacking in irrigation like we’ve seen so far, we have to do something about it. We are severely lacking in food resources and, without irrigation, we can’t even spam farms. Getting Construction this early (at the cost of BW, you could say) was certainly not in the plans and it’ll definitely hinder us in different areas of the game (like the ability to build a proper defensive force), but it’s the only way I can think of to keep our economy barely competitive. It’s not as pretty as my before-the-map-was-revealed-self wanted for this game, but perhaps it’s what we’ll have to do.

Man, this is one heck of a tough game. I’m still pretty much loss about what I should do… We’ll see, I think I’ll have a nice, invigorating weekend of Civ simming ahead of me to make things work.

[Qgqqqqq]

Command Posts give 2xp. Since v9.

[Ichabod]

Command Posts give 2xp. Since v9.

Man, I don't get any of my guesses right.

[Ichabod]

Turn 3

When I look down to the realms of men far, far, below, I can’t help but feel a misty question pouring swiftly inside me: Am I a part of it? And if so, why do I have the need to wander?




I decided to move the scout to the ancient tower, for a better look at our surroundings. It’s risky, since it’s on a desert tile, but I hope the grace period from animals will help us here. We really need to keep this scout alive for a long time, the land we see so far is pretty poor and we desperately need some better spots to expand into. I have to back-track the warrior to the Capital soon - if I lose him, I would be doomed if the Illians fire Stasis (which would stop our production for 13 turns, so no more warriors) -, so he can’t scout much more. So, the scout is the only way for us to discover more land. Settling the city spots we currently have available would be pretty underwhelming.

The corn (dry) is very good news. It makes the cotton spot a lot better, though the lack of irrigation and hills makes the spot not very good in the “what-I-would-expect scale” (it’s still good in the “what-we-have” scale). 1SW from the corn is perhaps the best spot considering short term gains (never ever settle a city in FFH that’d need second ring borders while only have monument to get culture in it), but being able to get the cows would also be nice. No sense in dot-mapping things right now, though.

Scout will head to the hut next. I’m confident that a Mysticism pop would put us right back into the game (wink wink, RNG). We’ll try to keep him in safe terrain and explore more of the area while heading there.




I’ll definitely move the warrior 1W next turn, but after that, I’m not sure I’ll keep moving him further away from the Capital. Like I said above, I can’t afford to lose it with the Illians in the game, too risky. We’ll see. Considering the sheep spot is my most likely second city spot so far, I’d love to see a bit more of its surroundings…

Question: can I revolt to different civics when affected by Stasis? My guess is that I can’t.




Changed citizen to plains hill forest, worker 1t faster!




That reminds me that I need to do some C&D analysis. I’ll post them later today (or tomorrow), when I’m finished with it.

[Ichabod]

Turn 4




The Yearner – The One who longs for his place.

He lived for 20 years falling asleep and waking up in the same wooden bed, in a small wooden cabin in the outskirts of Celo. A cup of hot water, ten hours of labor, some matches of somnium waiting for the day to end. Every single day was and would be the same, for as long as he could remember and for as long as he could imagine.

But somehow he was conscripted to one of the expeditionary groups organized by Sandalphon, even though he couldn’t understand why he needed to go and what he was supposed to accomplish. Now, away from the only way he could understand reality, there’s a single desire that encompasses all the simple heart of the Yearner, the one which his mind keeps coming back to when he searches for a reason to endure his next steps: to live once more that same once-everlasting day and to forget this unwanted journey as he would forget one of his ephemeral night dreams, that he could sometimes catch a glimpse with his mind, in some brief minutes after he woke up, but before his whole conscience awakened, that, on his lazy days, he would spend still laid down on bed, enjoying the pleasure that is the refusal to go on with life.







Two turns for the hut. With all the dangers that will fill the map soon, I don’t think we can delay getting this hut, so I’ll go there as soon as possible.

[Qgqqqqq]

Nothing to say, but loving the updates

[Ichabod]

Turn 5

Busy day, quick update.




Turn started with an event. Even the second option would be a good boost, because it could make a Agri -> Myst plan more viable. But such is the life of a Neutral Civ in FFH. I wonder, is there any advantage to being Neutral in FFH/EitB? Is there any special event tied to it? From what I remember, all you get is druids.







I took the cautious route with the scout. After the hut, we'll go east anyway, I think, so we'll end up revealing those extra tiles anyway. The mana is pretty nice, it guarantees that we can have access to the very useful body mana, as long as we tech for it.




I still wonder if I should send The Yearner back or explore a bit more... Perhaps Sandalphon is trying to teach him a lesson about desire. We’ll see.




Still some time to go until our worker is done. My first simming attempts just confirmed to me that I’m completely lost about how I’m supposed to go forward. It’s not a matter of squeezing an extra beaker or hammer here and there, I don’t even know what I should be teching after Agriculture and what I should be building after the worker. I guess a bit of it comes from playing mainly BTS lately, so spamming farms and slow-building settlers gives a bit of a “something’s off feeling”. But my sandbox is done now, so I can hopefully get some better results before I reach the next meaningful decision point in the game.