[SPOILERS] Rusten prepares to face the music

[Rusten]

I'd be worried about an axe rush, but he settled his 2nd city very late so I find it extremely unlikely. He could only start getting axes now and it's a long distance to his capital. It would only be possible if he has copper in his starting BFC, and I don't think the mapmaker would give some people copper and others not. I'll have graph visibility in ~7-8 turns at which point I'll feel more comfortable.

Chariot shenanigans is the only threat short term I think, due to their speed, but I'm well covered against that.

[Rusten]

I'm going to quit my paranoia and assume that Aretas' EP interest in me is just poor play/laziness.
He has a size 5 capital and he has not whipped at all. There can't be a big stack at my door any time soon. He might have singled me out as a target and want to see my research, but he's not close to completing those plans any time soon.

Still no religion spread. Spent all the favourable RNG on gems (I'll take that trade). Guess I will need the madrassa to pop borders even for the first cities.

Only 10T left for D-day. 11 if nobody completes the SH. That would make me feel silly for investing those hammers. But somebody has to 1T it soon.

[Rusten]

A while back I talked about how I went to great lengths to keep my scout alive. I think the image below explains his importance. Scouting a huge area and stopping barbarians from spawning. As a result I can leave Leitmotif (and Kaputt) completely naked (can whip spear for 1 pop at any time in both cities if needed). When the time is right the scout can continue pushing east. Without the scout there I'd always have to be afraid of a random opponent chariot swooping in amongst other things. 

Naufragar has started putting EP on me again. I'm not feeling loved.

I've looked into ways to get Aesthetics T57 without fail gold and I think it's possible, but it would include a few turns of not working optimal tiles and I can't settle my 5th city until T57. Would much rather have someone build the SH and save me the trouble. Please?

[Rusten]

It's graph saturday again.

Currently have 4 cities and 4 workers.

Nights are filled with wet dreams of mauling one of the nearby newbies with 8XP HAs.
So far both Aretas and naufragar look like juicy targets. The former is still on 2 cities and could quickly find himself behind. The latter just settled his 5th city and is rocking a very low GNP. I hope he goes broke and gets stuck in the bronze age -- it would make my job a lot easier. Him still lagging behind in crop yield/prod indicates that he's settling cities at a faster rate than he can improve the tiles. A common issue with the IMP trait.
Superdeath is likely too far away, but maybe later.

I've not mentioned it yet I think, but I have visiblity of naufragar's 4th city to the south. He's also pretty close.

edit:
Of the two the Aretas type is a much better initial target. Early wars are fought without a tech advantage, so production is key. In that case the slow developing Aretas fits the bill. But if Naufragar spreads himself too thin and is forced to go full commerce to catch up then HAs could prove very difficult to handle.

[Rusten]

Dreylin is a bro. SH completed this turn which will net me some fail gold (15) to run 100% slider for 2 extra turns.

He cut it pretty close, but all is working out as planned so far. I send thanks to my Viking brethren -- seemingly much nicer than the neighbouring Ragnar imposter.

[darrelljs]

Nights are filled with wet dreams of mauling one of the nearby newbies with 8XP HAs.

.  Is the timing of using HA driven by finding some early entertainment or are there strategic reasons?

Darrell

[Rusten]

I'd never cave into such whims, I'm much too disciplined.

The map seems more on the crowded side of things so I think there will come a time when space is limited and the best way forwards is military over infrastructure. Waiting for guilds is likely too late. It might not be HAs either though. Perhaps something in between. The idea of launching a GA at CoL and getting a GM through caste (bulb civil service --> adopt bureaucracy) is still alive. Maybe macemen can play a role.

I need to get a better idea of room available and the timeline before finalizing anything.

[Rusten]

I've decided to put the SoZ+HE combination in SinfulWindborne rather than Kaputt.
It has more hills available, it has a few extra forests to quickly chop both wonders and it leaves Kaputt to focus on commerce and growth. That's beneficial short term but also saves me the headache of weighing a market/grocer/bank vs producing units later on. SW can skip such buildings with a clear conscience.

It would not feel good to whip Kaputt excessively during war-time. For SW OTOH I'd not feel bad even if it drops to size 1 at some point. It can stack almost unlimited whip anger.

I like multi-purpose cities that can follow the natural game progression and needs, but this is a case where heavy specialization is better.

[Rusten]

So close now that I can taste it. Means it's also at the point where it would really hurt to lose the race. Both emotionally and now ingame as hammers have been invested. If it had been built 5T ago then no biggie, but the current wait is excruciating.

[Rusten]

Somebody has 55k power this turn (last turn highest was 46k). That's big enough of a spike and number to suggest somebody is doing something aggressive. I can't see it being any of my neighbours though. Currently getting my granaries, so as long as I'm not attacked within the next 5 turns I'll be able to whip out an army in no time. I have other plans though.

GPP: Prophet (shrine) --> Scientist (academy in Kaputt) --> Any type (golden age)

Works out particularly well because the Oracle gives prophet points which will accumulate while I'm constructing the GL+NE. To avoid pollution I can run 2 extra prophets with the madrassa and spawn him before GL completion. Even the 1 hammer from running prophet specs is useful for wonder production. Leitmotif has double seafood and can borrow corn so it will grow quickly. Once grown it can work 2x seafood+copper+gems+grass mine+2x prophet (removing corn and temporarily starving on granary surplus)

With GL+ running regular scientists I'm almost certain to get a scientist next and with GL+NE+4 specialist slots the 3rd GP will also be very fast for golden age. Alternatively I can do golden age with 2nd and academy with 3rd if it fits better with a possible GM bulb plan. The madrassa is great value for this game. At least for the way I'm playing.

Tech: I'm planning writing (oracle-aesthetics) --> AH --> Mathematics --> Literature.
Then it gets more tricky, but Sailing --> Calendar looks solid. There's an island nearby that I want to settle for trade routes and I've already mentioned the abundance of luxuries and the importance of the MoM.