Das Boot (directed by Wolfgang Petersen and Singaboy)

[Singaboy]

Turn 74:

There are some strange things happening with war declarations. Our shores are quiet, even Japper's long boat has sailed away. Maybe he wants to check out Weinberg. I will need to watch out.

Woden's military strength has gone up to 200, while mine remains #1 at 280. It is poised to increase once Aachen starts its production in earnest. Three turns for two districts to finish though. By then, Zuckerstadt will join and produce a battering ram just to be sure we can take walled cities too. Japper has now five cities as well. He is surely starting to accelerate too.

Nothing much is happening. A warrior has reached Zuckerberg's Hansa to prevent it from being pillaged. The builder is moving north for the repair of Zitronenhain's farm. Zuckerberg will grow its borders next turn and it is time for buying the wheat tile there next turn. I might as well buy the rice tile at Weinberg too as long as the cost is still lower. This will result in Weinberg working a +4 food rice instead of +3 rice once the city grows to two.
Weinberg seems to be a really strong city long term. I will need to develop it to reap its full potential. To start with, the Hansa will get +6 production from CH and 4 resources, it has 2 stone hills with a potential production of +6. It has two rice tiles for strong growth (even stronger with a water mill). I will need a builder there to improve all those tiles including cutting the forest to make space for its CH.
The trader is sticking to it's route, Zuckerberg needs to stay on high production. I do hope that Kiel's CH will go from +2 gpt to +3 gpt with the Hansa done next turn.

Defensive tactics are done, no change in policies. Feudalism started (eta 14 turns without the Eureka).



A look at the Great People overview shows us now starting to participate in the Great Merchant race as well. I am now certain that Archduke employs a wild card for +2 Great Admiral points. Smart move on his part. My Great General seems to arrive on T83 only.



Two galleys are continuing to sail home

[Singaboy]

Turn 75:

Woden (as seen in the diplo thread) has declared war on Jester and Hongkong. I guess it is Hongkong he is after. Luckily I have no envoys invested in it so far. This war declaration explains his high military score.



For me, Aachen finished the Hansa. Salz am Meer grew its borders as expected towards the sheep. Unfortunately, I need my gold for two other tiles. The sheep has to wait.

The warrior that had been exploring my neighboring Island has reached the tip of it and is going to irritate Japper for a bit. I am going to send him over to his Island and will move towards the horses there. The tile is pretty hard to reach. It also hold another horse there. I am going to try and block him from connecting those resources. I am not 100% sure and will need to have a closer look whether the city is building walls. I will build a battering ram in any case for the coming campaign.



My plan now is to build two traders in Zuckerstadt once the Hansa is done next turn. Production should be at around 15 hammers a turn. With Aachen finishing its CH in two turns, production will go up another turn. Zuckerstadt will then go for the battering ram. Kiel is the city to go for another builder while Salz am Meer will have to build the Hansa for a while.
I buy two tiles and empty my coffers. This is all in preparation for the six farms I need to have for feudalism. Weinberg is finally growing to pop 2 next turn and will work the 4 food rice. Unfortunately, Kiel's finishing time for the Hansa drops by 2 turns thanks to 2 less hammers to 6 turns (not yet updated on the screen).



Let's have a look at the district cluster and what is shown currently for each tile: Interestingly, the CH both show 3 gold though the Hansas are not yet done. In the end I expect Aachen's and Salz am Meer's Hansas to have +5 production (each two CH for +4, two other districts +1). Let's see in a few turns, what the end result will be. Once I get to guilds, those Hansas will rock all making +10 hammers by themselves without workshops or factories.

[Singaboy]

Turn 76:

Iron Working is done, so is the Hansa in Zuckerberg. Thanks to this district, Zuckerberg becomes ecstatic yet again. Salz am Meer finishes the builder and starts the Hansa.



Zuckerberg goes for a trader done in 4 turns, SaM's Hansa takes seven turns, not as bad as I feared. My warrior has landed on Japper's Island and I wonder how upset he will be. , he attacked and pillaged two of my tiles initially, so there is no reason not to be a PITA for him too.
Research goes for a quick Astrology. I am a little worried, that Woden is playing this huge science game. His science output is huge and exceeds 30 a turn now. I have tow campuses that need to get built, but unfortunately, I have a ton of other stuff that needs attention too. If my campaign against Norway is successful, I will get a lot of additional science too. My other hope is, that Woden can't keep up with all Eurekas as he doesn't have that much culture output an surely will have less districts. His military strength keeps on increasing though.




Let's have a look again at the Great People overview to see who is building districts etc.
Woden has started to make GG points for the last two turns and I suspect this comes from a policy card unless he finished two camps at the same time. I am sure now, that I will gain the Great General on T82. That turn, I can finally remove Strategos for the time being and enable Agoge or Conscription besides Maneuver. I tend towards Conscription as my unit support is bound to increase soon.

England has the Great Admiral policy card of two harbors. As expected, I am the only one making GE points. However, even with three additional Hansas coming online in the next 7-8 turns, it will take past T100 to get the GE without any special project. The race for the Great Merchant could get interesting with me gaining another CH next turn and potentially two additional CH in the near future. However, I am not interested in the current GM. The race for science is involving a lot of players. Lot's of them are building campuses it seems. I will need to get my campuses and libraries done in Zuckerstadt, Kiel and Weinberg soon too. I can't afford to fall behind in science.

[Singaboy]

Turn 77:

Aachen finished its CH and the Hansa shows +5 hammers now. Production is switched to a chariot before going for horsemen.

Astrology is done and Engineering started. It will be stopped at 50% to wait for Zitronenhain's walls. The builders are moving towards their next farm targets and the boats are trying to continue the shortest route back home.

Otherwise a pretty event free turn

[Cornflakes]

What effect to walls have against naval attacks? Is it the same as land based attacks?

[Singaboy]

Hey no problem, it's just that your military score is pretty terrifying for someone who is, you know, like three coastal tiles away at one place...

It's quite ironic, that Japper complains about my warrior when his longboats have not only been hanging around my borders, they actually attacked. In response to his pillaging, I built up a sizeable military to block my tiles getting pillaged. Of course, this adds up to a high military score.
No worries, with a mounted unit being produced every over turn, this will only get worse I do hope to still have some element of surprise when my units land on his eastern shores so I can set up a base there to kick him hard.

[Singaboy]

Turn 78:

Quiet turns really. That's why besides a builder game, there has to be some sort of war. oledavy and Woden accelerate the science game. Instead of building my campuses and building up infrastructure, I prepare for war. Whether it is a mistake, we will find out later.

This turn, the only thing to note is that Zitronenhain has grown to pop 4 but has not that many useful tiles to work. It is time to get some harbors up to make the sea more useful. however, before researching that, I want to finish Engineering and Machinery to get crossbows that profit from the GG too. Ideally I will upgrade some archers before and after conquering the first city in the west.

In the score, I am still far ahead of the rest. 6 turns until Engineering is done (due to the walls in Zitronenhain), then 6 turns to machinery and the technology will come in nicely on T90 for the war.
Zuckerstadt will produce a battering ram next and then probably go for another trader. Kiel will produce another builder, ready only after Feudalism kicks in to get 5 charges. Weinberg's production will go up in 3 turns when the trader adds +4 hammers. It will also start to work more productive tiles. I plan to let it build a water mill as the rice tiles would profit from it.



Aachen now makes 26.3 hammers and with an overflow of 27 hammers into the horsemen that follow, it will produce a horseman every second turn (26.3*1.5 = 39.4 hammers). The result will be horsemen on T81/83/85/87/89. All will head up north to cross the water and attack Japper. My galleys should arrive at the narrows there in time too to protect my troops when crossing.

[shallow_thought]

Turn 78:
 Instead of building my campuses and building up infrastructure, I prepare for war. Whether it is a mistake, we will find out later.

Regardless of the outcome, this is the sort of attitude that lurkers like .

In the score, I am still far ahead of the rest.

So maybe it's the right time to make a big play. We will see   .

[Singaboy]

Turn 79:

The chariot is done and we get a second envoy in Carthage. I will gain two envoys within the next 4 turns and I could theoretically become suzerain of Carthage. This would surely upset Archduke. The alternative would be to sink two envoys into Lisbon for +4 gold for each Ch, in this case +8 gpt so far.
I will think about it.

Two builders are moving to irrigate and repair farms #3+4. Other than that, a quiet turn with boats sailing home. I will need to find a way to sneak my unit north without Japper realizing what is happening. The hills and forests in the north surely make my moves there a little more troublesome.



In the image below you can see my second galley finding its way home. It should reach the eastern shores in 4 -5 turns. On T81, I will swap to Mil Training to finish it a turn later to swap out of Strategos. Even if the General just doesn't reach 60 points on T82, my camp will be enough to get it on T83.



Woden's military strength is increasing and he has started to go after the second Great General. He is currently at war with Jester and I wonder whether he is preparing for a big assault on him. I have seen some of his units in the waters scouting, but that was not on my shores. I will need to be vigilant and have my own defense ready in case he comes from the east. This means continuing to produce enough military even while going after Japper. I better navy would be nice too.

Aachen should start to produce another settler though in due time to expand on our Island. Even with Colonization, it would take 6 turns for a 200 hammer settler.

[Singaboy]

Turn 80:

Zuckerstadt finished its trader and goes for a battering ram at 4 turns. I want to build a quadrireme for the coming battle, but that has to wait and without the right policy, this is not productive anyway.
On T82, when the new policies kick in, I will select Maritime Industries and forgo the gold saving maintenance card. I rather have a few more naval units out. Currently, we still have a healthy balance anyway.

Two cities will grow next turn, Kiel will finally be done with its Hansa. A new trader will come online too that turn. My southern builder repairs the wheat and it results in another +1 amenity, getting us a second city ecstatic. That will change with the city growth.



Looking at Weinberg, it is currently making an abysmal 4.2 hammers a turn. That will change from next turn onward with a new trade route giving +4 hammers. The Hansa will then be done on T85. After that production is at 13 hammers a turn. It will be suited to build a water mill for the Eureka for Construction (giving us a 4th envoy in Buenos Aires). This will spur growth in the city even more with both rice tiles making 6f + 5f with farms and water mill. Once a builder has chopped the forest, it can then finish CH, campus, build a granary and other stuff to become a powerhouse city in due time.