[SPOILER] PB37 Dark Savant tries not to be a blatant MP n00b

[Dark Savant]

Details on culture mechanics: https://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strateg...assembled/

Thank you!

That reads as if the 1st ring only gets that 1 culture once, in first-ring.  Is it 1 culture just once, or 1 per turn?

Once Ankara hits 3rd-ring, he'll put a minimum of 22 culture/turn on the corn tile, maybe more.  We'll already have been at 21/turn for dozens of turns, so not a big deal, just need to get a stele or library up sometime, if we don't get the Great Lighthouse.

Gavagai already moved this turn and did not move any unit into sight, so we should be good at Castleview -- I can whip the spear next turn if necessary, and also put 2 warriors on defense there.

Do note that this only holds if you play after him, if he plays after you he can move in chariot(s), and you can see them next turn but your whip will only come end of turn, i.e. too late. Though two warriors can hold off one chariot and give you enough time to whip a spear.

Yeah, I'm angling to playing after Gavagai partly for that reason.  I'd seriously consider whipping the spear once the city hits size 3, anyway, even absent any danger, since there won't yet be any improved tiles for the third citizen to work.

[Dark Savant]

Also, you should get a chariot soon. Barb axes will appear, and provide excellent opportunities for you to get Sentry chariots.

Do you believe this is a priority?  Right now we'll have horses connected in 6 turns (t63).  A barb axe before about t75-80 or so sounds very early to me, at this difficulty and barb aggression setting.  We do have quite a lot of land (we're tied for #1 in land area), so barbs are more likely to appear near someone else.

I'm not quite sure what that worker is going to do; I was going to have him chop the other forest at Sorpigal but that would waste 7 hammers, especially since I have enough production at Sorpigal already to soon whip the barracks and complete a work boat by overflow.  I could have him hook up Harmondale's horses faster.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 57 (1720 BC) - Part 3 (C&D)

This turn's score tally:

• Gavagai: +3 points for +1 pop in Ankara (city #3, now size 2)
  
• JR4: +2 points for +1 pop, then -2 points this turn for a -1 pop whip
  
• Krill: +2 points for +1 pop in Room 101 (city #2, now size 4)
  
• Ventessel: +3 points for +1 pop
  

Coeurva is conspicuously failing to research a technology; he is now dead last in tech (not surprising being Imperialistic), and hasn't completed a tech for 12 turns, which is about enough to research Sailing if he wanted that.  He should have already completed Animal Husbandry were he researching it, though there's a good chance he won't prioritize it, being Charismatic.  I'm beginning to wonder if he's researching something expensive like Writing (with only one arrow bonus, ouch), Iron Working, or Metal Casting.  He doesn't yet have Mysticism.

Coeurva's capital Cowboy Rhapsody is currently size 5 -- it's on top 5 cities, which I'll be taking a screenshot of every turn from now on.  He's not making full use of Charismatic already like Krill and GermanJoey both are.

Other things that failed to occur this turn:

• Krill revolting to Slavery -- I'm getting the impression that more and more he wants to double-revolt to Slavery and Organized Religion
  
• Ventessel declaring war on Krill
  
• Buddhism being founded
  
• New non-neighbor contacts being made (I should remember to check this every turn too)
  

[Dark Savant]

Last turn, Ventessel rolled from the previous turn, but logged out and didn't actually end his turn until not long before I played.

Now he just posted to his spoiler thread; he updates only occasionally.

I wonder if his attack is about to commence.  Krill already ended his turn, so Ventessel has second half if he wants it.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 57 (1720 BC) - Part 4

We have a new contact, made after I ended my turn.

Look at who moved into Gem's vision:



I think that accounts for all of Ventessel's contacts.  GermanJoey has ~100 EP invested into Ventessel, which doesn't seem like much, so GermanJoey likely also has a mystery neighbor.

Everyone seems to have contact with only their neighbors -- and us:



CML also planted a new city this turn (+3 points).  It only claims one new land tile (+1,000 land area).

[Dark Savant]

GermanJoey has the expected three cities, named "State of Yue", "Seven Mysteries", and "State of Zijin".

His capital State of Yue is currently size 6; that was where the whip a few turns ago took place.

[ipecac]

Also, you should get a chariot soon. Barb axes will appear, and provide excellent opportunities for you to get Sentry chariots.

Do you believe this is a priority?  Right now we'll have horses connected in 6 turns (t63). 

Ah, I didn't mean that it's that important that you should divert worker plans to get it even quicker than t63.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 58 (1680 BC) - Part 1

That barb warrior that I knew was hovering northwest of our core moved back into sight again:



I moved the zone defense warrior to cover the roaded hill.  The barb warrior moving onto the forest in our territory will be a problem, but I think that covers potential problems the best.

Gavagai hasn't actually finished his turn yet, but there's no sign of a power increase, and he planted a fourth city this turn, so I think we're safe at the moment.

Next turn we'll actually start to have a real military and we won't have to worry about piddly warriors much longer.  

Castle Ironfist and Harmondale both grew.  Next turn I'll start to have to think whether to produce a worker or a settler to stall growth at Castle Ironfist; I'm delaying the decision as long as possible because who knows what that barb warrior or Gavagai are going to do.  Harmondale also will have to stall at size 4 for a bit.

There's something else at Castleview to consider -- if I chop the forest immediately to its north, Gavagai will get vision into the city.  (Er ... I don't think he has it now.  Chopping that forest will definitely give him vision as there's a hill north of it.)  I don't think I can avoid that if I want anything resembling speed on the Great Lighthouse -- I think I'll need to chop all four forests -- but I can delay that decision a bit.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 58 (1680 BC) - Part 2

The wildling near Sandro moved out of sight.  Knowing I can safely move Sandro immediately NE, I edge east onto the flatland tile first.



That teaches us a few things:

• Ventessel does actually have a chariot, so he must have Animal Husbandry.
  
• He very likely killed a barb warrior on that hill.  Almost lost the chariot, too!
  
• That's two more forests he hasn't chopped for his military buildup against Krill.
  

So it's likely safe for Sandro to move NE from there.

Gem moved south around GermanJoey's jungle peninsula; she can get around its tip next turn.

Current status of circumnavigation watch:



We now have circumnavigation on the Y-axis; several more tiles on the X-axis to go.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 58 (1680 BC) - Part 3 (C&D)

As seen in the above screenshot, JR4 just founded Buddhism.

This turn's score tally:

• CML: +2 points for +1 pop, then -7 points for a -1 pop whip and a -2 pop whip both this turn.  I'm taking that as a sign that CML and dtay are at each others' throats (dtay did two whips on t56).
  
• Coeurva: +6 points for researching Writing (ouch, he researched that with just one arrow) -- he can propose a trade of world maps at any time now.
  
• Gavagai: +5 points for +5 land tiles claimed by Edirne (city #2) in its second ring for 20 turns; +2 points for a new city planted this turn that claims 7 new land tiles.
  
• GermanJoey: -5 points for a -2 pop whip this turn.
  
• JR4: +6 points for researching Meditation.
  
• Krill: +2 points for +1 pop in Wigan Pier (city #3).  That was fast; there are two possible locations since it claimed 2 land tiles, and I thought it was over by the hillside corn, but this city must have been working a 6-food tile from the very start to grow this fast, which pretty much requires it be instead planted between Animal Farm and Room 101.  Oh, and +6 points for another tech finished in just 2 turns.  He could do Archery that fast.  And actually, on t56 he actually had Pottery available to research; he probably got that then.  I'm not sure how he could have possibly researched Masonry or Priesthood in just two turns even with arrow bonuses and the massive commerce he has in Animal Farm.
  
• Ventessel: +6 points for an unknown tech researched in 3 turns; -3 points for a -1 pop whip this turn.  I think he has to have Mysticism and Archery -- he does have reason for those, and they're the only technologies he could have researched this quickly.
  

Someone else claimed 2 land tiles somehow this turn.  (Gavagai couldn't have claimed 9 with his new city -- he's the rival with highest land area and he only got that +7,000.)

Krill also has the most population now -- 13, in cities of size 7, 4, and 2.  I suppose it helps he's the only player not in Slavery; CML and JR4 were both at 13 too and just whipped themselves out of first place in pop points.

I'd like your input on what to do if Coeurva proposes a map trade.  I strongly want to turn him down because he'll almost certainly learn more from us than the other way around (and he may even have guessed this, since he saw Gem wander by), but if people do otherwise in MP let me know.

A majority of our rivals have been doing things not conducive to building the Great Lighthouse quickly:

• CML is the only Industrious player, but he's spending resources on Stonehenge and what is likely military meant for dtay.
  
• Coeurva just finished researching Writing, which is not Mysticism, Masonry, or Sailing.
  
• dtay is last in score, is likely entangled with CML, and if he isn't just about to plant a city, he's likely in trouble serious enough to not bother.
  
• Gavagai's city #2 Edirne is very food-rich, but with 2 forests and 2 hills it'd be hard to compete; city #3 Ankara is not coastal.
  
• JR4 just spent time researching Meditation.
  
• Krill's first two cities are not coastal, and while the likely site of Wigan Pier is, it doesn't have much production and doesn't have any forests to chop.
  
• Ventessel still only has two cities, and has poured a lot of resources into military units.
  

GermanJoey is the only rival whom I don't have a read on in this situation.  It's very possible his second city is a far stronger site than Castleview.  JR4 is probably the next most-serious threat.

That's still favorable enough that I'm committing to going for it hard.