The Turn 50 Overview & Look Back Report
First things first, right to the current stats (updated through the end of my turn):
I got lucky with my choice of scouting (west rather than north) and the map gods were good to me – two militaristic city-states, lots of resources for plantations and
generation, a double-horse city location and high-Appeal tiles near both city locations. This meshed well with my intent for an early settler and to put down early (and cheap) Campus districts. The only downside to this map layout, so far, has been starting between the two civs best equipped for an “early” game unique unit rush – Alhambram’s Persia (far) to the west and Archduke’s Macedonia to the north.
I got a “nice” surprise when those two declared a joint war on me on Turn 34, especially when it became apparent that only Alhambram would do anything, and even then it was only some pillaging. Both of my cities had per turn
in excess of 10 and the extra boost gave me the ability to finish my early infrastructure builds faster and switch Irukandji to military production. The bonus disappeared after Turn 43 but the benefits remain – I’ve got two completed Campus districts, I’ll have four cities to everyone else’s three (or two) after Turn 55 without the benefit of Colonization and I’m at the top in terms of military power.
Cities
Irukandji
Irukandji is a solid capital with good production and amenities. With Mouse Spider’s founding it will gradually hand off the citrus resources to that city and focus primarily on military production due to its city-state bonus. I have the flexibility to swap back citrus for more food if needed (above and beyond the 5
rice). A Commercial Hub is going to go onto the grassland 2W of the city center – that’s Breathtaking appeal hex and with the river the district will produce +5
. I won’t build that out until a bit later on in the game. That position also frees up the forest SE of the city center for a chop & mine as I no longer need the extra appeal on that plains tile.
Cassowary
For the time being Cassowary is my support city – it’s running the infrastructure builds (builders, trader, settler) and has production rivaling Irukandji (at least until the settler is finished). It is a little food poor, particularly since I harvested its lone food resource, but farming the grassland SE of the city will help get it back up to population 3 after the settler is out. Guilds is a bit off but once the Outback Stations start getting built the city’s food problems will be alleviated.
Mouse Spider
Mouse Spider will be targeted at my economic and cultural growth. To that end it will eventually control and improve all four citrus resources and I’ll put two or three Alcázar improvements around it for their culture as well. Initial builds here will be a Commercial Hub and a Market.
Short Term Plans
Civics & Government
Going for Political Philosophy is the current primary goal. I will want to complete Mysticism for the envoy into Granada and suzerainty as I’d like to build some Alcázars. However I am going to wait until I can complete that civic in 2 turns before doing so. Beyond Political Philosophy the immediate targets become Recorded History (for the Natural Philosophy civic) and Feudalism via Defensive Tactics. Inspirations will be important here, though with good planning I can get the one for Games & Rec, Feudalism and Guilds. Drama & Poetry and Civil Service will be the bottlenecks as I don’t see getting either of those inspirations.
I’ll be switching into Oligarchy for the +4 combat strength as soon as I complete Political Philosophy (right around T60 or so). That’ll be around the same time that I start my initial attacks on Archduke.
Alcázars will be important here as they will be a cheap and easy way to get my culture up. I can fit two of those first ring at Mouse Spider, can get one in at Irukandji (on the hill next to the campus) maybe one at Cassowary and at least one at Blue Dot (plains between the city and the spices). Then it just becomes a matter of working those tiles for the culture.
Techs
Masonry and Wheel are at 1 turn, Currency will be finished on Turn 52 (eureka from the trader + 1 turn of researchh). Once Blue Dot gets its Commercial Hub down I’ll complete Masonry, Wheel and Iron Working very quickly. After that I’ll divert to sailing then do the bottom of the tree right through to Machinery. All of the eurekas along the way are easily doable – iron mine and water mill at Cassowary, ancient walls at Cassowary or Blue Dot and build one more archer. Two more mines would get me the Apprencticeship eureka. Education and Mathematics will be sorted when Euclid comes calling.
At some point I’d like to run down the top of the tree through Shipbuilding – I’d like to be able to embark units and build Harbors. I’ll get the Sailing eureka when Blue Dot is founded and though Astrology is probably a long shot (unless I’ve got a natural wonder in the tundra fog south of me) its research time will be quick.
One other thing of note – despite being 50 turns in Kandy had not yet placed a Holy Site. While I’m not sure how city-state tech research operates (Victoria at CivFanatics has looked into it a little bit) this leads me to believe that only Emperor K has researched Astrology.
Cities
Blue Dot (to be christened Blue-Ringed Octopus) will likewise be commercially-focused though I would like to also get a Campus down on that spot next to the mountain. Like Mouse Spider it will be able to share previously improved tiles from other cities and harvesting the wheat to make way for the Commercial Hub. It will start on the Commercial Hub until I complete Sailing, at which point I’ll build a galley, do a 1-2 turn swap into Maritime Industries and then chop for overflow into a district or walls.
Further out in the future, and highly dependent on my ability to contain or deal Archduke a major set back, is White Dot. If I can achieve territorial security this is a perfect spot for a Petra city. Petra in the hands of Australia can be a powerful combination with Outback Stations as those desert tiles can become 3
/ 2
/2
powerhouses.
In addition to Blue Dot and White Dot there are three additional city sites I’ve got my eyes set on:
- Purple Dot (see T34 and T45 screenshots) as a filler
- The peninsula east of Valetta (T48 screen shot)
- NW of the lake west of Cassowary (specifically one tile west of the “Red Dot” pin in the Turn 9 screenshot)
There might also be a spot for a city northwest of White Dot, up by the coffee (Turn 46 screenshot). However, all of these depend, in part, on successfully containing Archduke (to allow for more infrastructure than economic/military builds) and perhaps getting a liberation bonus to speed the process along.
District-wise I do not anticipate building any Industrial Zones this game. Outback Stations can provide the additional production at a far cheaper cost. Mouse Spider might see a Theater District at some point, provided I can get the district discount for it and it’s cost-effective.
With regards to city-states Kandy is already toast – Archduke has annexed it and I’d like to liberate then annex it myself. Grenada is an ice ball that is going to be more useful as a suzerainty (for Alcázars and trade routes) than as part of my empire. Likewise, Zanzibar will be better for me to power my economy via trade routes and envoys. Valetta, well, that’s a toss-up. It has reasonable land, is coastal and could be a good city to add. However, its +2
bonus is more useful to me at present than taking the city. As for the others, well, I need to find them first.
War
I’m currently positioning to go on the offensive against Archduke, with Urteau, the Austrex or both in my sights. The plan will be to move the first two horsemen up the east side of the mountain range and across the river. The third horseman will complete at the same time. If Urteau’s city strength is still at 10 (or even below 20) and there’s no sign of walls then I’ll send the first pair to that city and the remaining horsemen to over to Austrex. If Urteau goes over 20 or gets walls up in that time I’ll attack Austrex first while I get additional forces in place.
I do need to keep an eye on my western front with Alhambram. Though it's a long way off he could decide that I'm a better target than Emperor K and come calling.