Das Boot (directed by Wolfgang Petersen and Singaboy)

[Singaboy]

Turn 33:

Curiosity Kills the Cat

The first thing I do after the just completed test on third ring placements, I buy the second ring hill which is needed to buy the third ring tile. As tile costs scale with technologies, I rather buy those tiles as soon as possible even when depleting my coffers. The tile now costs 60 gold and the third ring would cost a whopping 90 gold. Can't afford that yet. Luckily I am going to make more gpt with sugar connected. The additional hill tile will have another advantage of offering Kiel the possibility to work a 2 hammer tile when expanding rather than a crab tile.



I check Aachen and its production for my own spreadsheet. The monument is at 41/60 and will get another 14 hammers next turn before the increase in amenities will bring Aachen back to 15 hammers a turn. I hope that the additional luxury and the monument will cut Early Empire by 1 turn. Of course, I will swap out of it until God King is no longer needed.



So, what about curiosity and the cat. I could not resist to send my single charge builder to explore further. There is always a possibility to discover a natural wonder or a third city state.
Well, what I spot is really juicy. That spot east of the cattle is a killer spot for a city, really. Two fish, two wheat, cattle, a hill to mine and horses to top it. I WANT that spot for myself



How do I get there. Besides having the necessary military to defend it, I need the technology to send units there in the first place. I need to research Shipbuilding. Well, since I am planning to build a second galley right away anyway, it would leave 100 beakers for research. Currently, that's a little too much, but with the campus online, it would be feasible. Of course, by then the spot might well be settled. Norway still has only one city though as he is going full force for a religion.


PBEM3 players - don't read the spoiler

We know how that is ending in PBEM3 for Japan. So, good luck Norway.

Before heading for shipbuilding though, I will head for BW, writing and currency.

[Singaboy]

Turn 34:

Irrigation is finally done and the builder who just arrived on time, can work his wonders. Thanks to the patch, plantations are worth +2 gold 
Of course, the other side effect that both cities are no longer unhappy is not updated in the display just like the other values that are back to normal. The UI is really shabby. Anyway, income is up to 11gpt, which is badly needed for the tiles we have to buy eventually and sooner rather than later.




A check with Aachen shows the next tile it is going to choose for expansion as well as the cost for the tiles, which has gone up thanks to irrigation. It is already 95 gold for a 3rd ring tile However, if I wait for BW to finish, it will only go up. In the 6 turn before the completion, gold should increase to 115 gold. I might eat the bitter pill and buy that tile.



The builder continues to sail up the shores in the west. It looks as if the southern is a peninsula connected to the main continent by an Isthmus. Interesting. I get a new idea here. Instead of sailing back to connect the sugar at Aachen, the builder might as well continue north and then move east to disembark on our continent to move to Kiel's jungle that has to be chopped for the campus. BW will take 7 turns, writing 3 turns, hence the builder has to reach the rain forest in 10 turns for the chop. This should just be possible in time.

Builder #3 that will be produced in Aachen next can then connect sugar, stone and the northern cattle. The northern cattle could be used by Kiel as well. There are quite a few nice synergies between Aachen and Kiel's tiles.




And finally, the first German ship sets sail and moves southeast. What I spot immediately raises the curious interest. there clearly seems to be some land to the northeast. I am hoping to meet more city states. I already got my share of first envoys, so I would be contented to meet more of them for additional tasks. Currently, the two tasks given to me are somewhat bad. Valletta wants a Great Merchant and for Buenos Aires, I got to defeat a barbarian camp. I know that people declare war on the city state in order to get rid of the current task before entering a new era. However, with my active trade route, that seems to be a bad idea in Valletta's case. By the way, I am also trying to avoid to send another envoy there so that Valletta doesn't claim the crab tile. I am hoping that Kiel grabs that tile with the next border expansion.

[Singaboy]

Turn 35:

The monument in Aachen is done and Early Empire drops by a turn and would be done next turn. Of course, we don't want the policy change not just yet. 



I start builder #3 in Aachen (takes 4 turns), builder #1 aka sailor #1 is moving north and we discover to our dismay that he will have to take a longish route to get to the rain forest to chop it.

Well, it will arrive there just as writing will be done and then chop the forest into the galley with the 100% bonus. I will need to make sure to get maximum effect via the overflow. Currently, the galley is at 11/65 and Kiel is making 4*2 hammers a turn for the next 2 turns, resulting in 27/65. Once Kiel grows to pop 4, it will make either 5 or 6 hammers a turn, depending on which field we work. It should work the hill for a production of 6*2 for 3 turns before switching to maybe a military unit. This will get the galley at 63/65. Then, when we have writing and builder #1 in place, we swap back to the galley, chop and gain optimum overflow.



I included the score again as well. I am happy to see that none of them has increased there score. However, with BW taking 6 unnecessary turns (the others might have the Eureka for it), I might fall a little behind. My score will increase again when I hit BW, writing in addition to Craftsmanship and Early Empire. I can finish Craftsmanship any time and swap to Agoge any time. As barbarians are a rare thing here for me, I don't really need the +5 strength.
Early Empire will be done in 4 turns with a prefect match to the faith accumulation which is then at 25.8 and giving me a Pantheon on T40. I do hope that by then, there are a still good choices left for me.

The last image comes from the east, where my galley (counting for 25 military strength) is exploring and found Siberia II. Yes, that land counts as the same continent as mine. Nothing is revealed yet and I can take a dice roll whether to sail north or east.

[Singaboy]

Turn 36:

I decide to move eastwards to sail a little more to the southeast as well as there seems to be interesting land. And when taking a turn around the corner of that continent, I get this
Not only do I get the Eureka for PP, I am the first to discover my third city state. To top it, it is a cultural CS. This will undoubtedly help me reach a new government faster than planned. From 3.4 culture a turn just two turns ago, I am now making 7.4 culture a turn. I might have to switch from State Workmanship to either Mysticism or Military Tech to avoid an overflow of beakers.




The rest of the turn is rather routine: I move builder #1 around the western continent to reach our own land in 3 turns. The slinger stays in place to ensure my builder can actually disembark there.

My southern warrior will move towards Aachen in the distant hope that barbarians will pop a hut eventually. I want at least the Eureka for archery. At Kiel, the city chose the wrong crab. I had hoped that it would choose the northern crab to deny Valletta the access. To be honest, Valletta is a completely crappy place for a city. I might have to conquer it later for the fact that it might deny me certain tiles I want.



The three tasks for bonus envoys from all three city states are pretty bleak. Valletta wants a Great Merchant, Mohenjo wants the Eureka for BW (not gonna happen anyway), Buenos Aires wants me to conquer a barbarian camp.

[Ituralde]

Who thought you were ever gonna miss barbarians after PBEM2? There's no middle ground with those guys.

[Singaboy]

@Ituralde, yes, who would have thought so...

Turn 37:

Kiel grows and I adjust the tile assignments to get 6 hammers a turn (net = 12 due to Maritime Policy). The city is currently at 27/65 for the galley. I will have to switch in 3 turns to keep the overflow bonus. Until I finally get to the campus, I can then switch to the crab to make more gold. 



I am finally overtaken by someone else, and it is Norway that has now 2 cities as well and a district (holy site). He got his Pantheon as well and chose +1 production per sea resource. Not too shabby as well and suitable for the Vikings. He got no resources and no luxury currently. My score is in fact 33 too thanks to Kiel's growth. I will get another 3 points next turn with Craftsmanship done as well as Aachen growing. After that, it is a final turn for Early Empire and a Pantheon the following turn. 



Bronze Working takes only 3 turns according to the technology screen thanks to Kiel's growth. Together with Aachen's growth next turn, we will in fact get BW in 3 turns and writing too (25 beakers). This means that builder #1 will reach 2 turns late for the chop. I might have to use builder #3 to get the campus going sooner. Thanks to the road, it could reach the site on time for the chop. I will think about this in the following turns, it's still 2 turns for builder #3 to be done. The galley in the east is sailing past Mohenjo and spots more land in the FoW.

[Singaboy]

Turn 38:

Craftsmanship is done and I am changing the civics though that doesn't make any impact as yet. I switch back to Early Empire as I can swap out of God King next turn and enable Colonization. It is then time to produce two settlers in a row.



Aachen has grown and BW dropped to 2 turns completion. I will get a healthy 14 hammer overflow, though it would have been nicer with Ilkum. There is no time to waste and I can't afford anymore waiting for Early Empire. I will make a healthy 17*1.5= 25.5 hammers toward the settler (costs 110 hammers). With the overflow in place, it will take a mere 4 turns for it to complete. The next settler will then cost 140 hammers and take 140/22.5 = 7 turns with some overflow. I hope to steer it in such a way, that Aachen can stay at a population of 5.



The galley continues to sail east and spots more land. Let's hope I can find more city states and other interesting stuff.



It is time to think beyond the campus in Kiel. I will go for currency after writing to lock the cost of commercial hubs. The first to lock would be the CH of Aachen. For that I need to buy the 3rd ring tile (current cost 95gold). I will buy the tile next turn before the cost increases yet again with BW in place.
In order to lock the CH and not waste the rain forest, I have a new plan. I will change the builder tasks.

Builder #3 will immediately improve the cows north of Aachen (which can then be used by Kiel). It will then move toward the rain forest at Kiel and chop it once writing in in. It then has one charge left which I will most likely use to chop another rain forest meant Kiel's CH.

That means builder #1 which is still sailing about, can chop the rain forest meant for Aachen's CH. Below the reminder of the planned districts. I might actually settle the city near Aachen's west sooner in order to lock districts too.

[Cornflakes]

Builder #3 will immediately improve the cows north of Aachen (which can then be used by Kiel).

Are you referring to the 1st ring cows directly NE of Aachen? I didn't think 1st ring tiles could be used by another city (Kiel)

[Singaboy]

You are, of course, right about that. Forgot about the 3rd ring exclusivity

[Singaboy]

Turn 39:

The turn starts with a surprise to me. It seems that you only need to have a faith of a fraction more than 25 to get the Pantheon. Well, even better for me to select it on T39 before someone else grabs what I want. You can see at the action button below the many choices I need to make this turn.



Let's start with the Pantheon: Great, Oral Tradition is still available. There is no doubt that I take that as I am not planning to play the faith game here. By the way, note the additional citrus that the trader at Valletta revealed. Another potential culture tile.



Then, it is time to change civics and I go for the previously discussed combination of Maritime Industry, Agoge and Colonization. Tis combination will serve me until I get a new government, I guess. I also start research on State Workforce, currently at 8 turns without the Eureka. As I am building a campus soon, I will swap out of that after 4 turns.



Next thing, I plunder my gold reserve and go almost bare bone by buying yet another tile, the said rain forest to be able to build the commercial hub for Aachen. It costs 95 gold, better than it would be soon with new technologies coming in. The side effect is that I can work that tile instead of the hill next to it for a little added growth. I could potentially go for 7 hammers at Kiel, but in this case, it would result in the galley done next turn (now at 51/65) and that's exactly NOT what I want. I will swap out of the galley and start a slinger next turn before swapping back to the galley in 4 turns.



Builder #3 improved the cows giving Aachen faster growth with a housing cap of 8. The galley in the east sails and spots red tiles via the settler lens. An additional move of the galley and I can clearly spot the borders of another player. If I am not mistaken, this ought to be Brazil with its greenish color. Woden, here we come. The question is whether I should deliberately meet him or avoid it. It might give Woden the Eureka for writing. Maybe I should simply move north or take a cautious approach to the south aiming to avoid being spotted. I would like to know what lies in the south for my own expansion plans. I will see where iron is next turn and this might be crucial.



Note the scores. oledavy's score has shot up to 40. Now, there is nobody that has more than 5 techs or 4 civics (I am in the lead for both individual categories). oledavy might have conquered a city state or built a third city. Besides Japper's holy site and Great prophet points, nobody is making any Great people points yet. oledavy is last in the rotation and this might change when I check the GPP next turn. We shall see. My actual score is 38 now with the new civic and will increase to 40 as well next turn with BW.

So, what are the plans:

Research: BW -> writing (3 turns) -> currency (7 turns)
Civics: State Workforce (4 turns, then stop at 50%), swap to mysticism, once State Workforce kicks in, swap to Political Philosophy for a fast government change.

Research time for currency might drop depending how fast I can build the campus for +3 science. I have two rains forests to chop that can both go into Kiel. I might use the first chop with Maritime Industry +100% bonus and the second chop using Agoge bonus of +50%. I will need to adjust the MM according to the situation.

Aachen will build two settlers, then a slinger and two warriors and go back to builder/settler duty. I will lock the CH once currency is in. Kiel will swap to a slinger next turn and go back to the galley once writing is done. With this, the campus will follow.

As for expansion, I decided to send the next settler to the banana/sugar river in the north and then follow with Salztal next to the salt in order to lock down districts sooner. With the orange and another tile visible north of Valletta, the city has suddenly gotten juicier and I would wish to conquer the city. However, it will be almost impossible to siege and attack the city thanks to its mountain/sea protection. I would have to have at least a sword to attack and maybe with a galley to bombard it. It's a tough nut to crack.

So, after currency, the question is whether to beeline for Apprenticeship and Hansa's or to go for shipbuilding to allow units to embark. It would currently take more than 11 turns to get there, but I expect research beakers to go up from 9 to around 13 by the time currency is finished. It would get me shipbuilding in 8 turns.
For Apprenticeship, I will need to mine three hills, not impossible but that takes some effort.

Certainly, exciting times ahead.