[SPOILERS] ipecac wants a win

[ipecac]

T19:

From espionage spending JR4 met someone else next turn.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

The location of the pigs sucks for micro in the first 20 turns, but is great for sharing with other cities afterwards. Not sure if that's overall a good thing.

What's a few worker turns lost compared to having 6f tiles that you can share off to other cities for rapid growth? Overall, it's a very good thing.

[ipecac]

Well, I would also finish pasturing earlier, getting more food, and also be able to chop into the first settler earlier to get it out faster.

I'm not complaining though, my situation might well be better.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

I think you'll make up the 1-2 turn delay due to max distance between second ring pig resources in your cap on each subsequent worker activity (and corresponding benefit of improvement) fairly quickly once your shared food grows secondary cities taller sooner. It may take a little while to make this actual cost reach to the break even point-->profit but it will definitely happen. Cities only need so much food at a certain point. You don't want to just whip down to a nub as soon as you are able to regrow. Get to happy cap, work some cottages/share food tile/whip when counter says it's good to do so. If your pigs were first ring then to share with your secondary cities these would have to be placed minimum distance from the capital. This is great for incubating cottages, but shit for claiming new territory and ultimately makes your cities weaker (less tiles to work per city) and makes you need more of cities (moar settlers -100 fh) to eat up more land tiles and it takes longer to do it due to production costs of settlers. There's a negative cascade in that direction too, and it is more pronounced IMO than having to lose early worker turns (delay on a new granary, then growth, etc).

[ipecac]

Thanks, good stuff to think about.

BW will be in in 2 turns. Copper location is critical to whether I attempt an impi rush, and whether it succeeds.

JR4 teched BW first. They sent their scout towards me and went past, so there's a fair chance they don't know where their copper is.

Players who should be getting BW at the same time as me are William, Dark Savant, Charriu.

Those who will get it after are wetbandit, yuris, superdeath.

There's also the option not going for a full rush, instead sending out a scouting Impi that takes whatever opportunities it can get.

[ipecac]

T20: Someone's at size 3 already, Charriu from C&D

[ipecac]

Turn 21:

There is copper in the BFC!?! I thought it was understood that mapmakers shouldn't do this.

I need to redo micro, rethink Impi rush, and how much danger JR4 poses since he teched BW some turns ago.

[ipecac]

T21(continued)

   

Copper is W-SW of the capital, on the plains hill. My original micro plan was to chop into the settler, but it looks like hooking up the copper for a 6h tile is more important, even if it slows the third pigs pasture down by 2T.

Also, my scout ventured out again, and the lions are still there

[ipecac]

Western dotmap:
   

Copper in BFC changes everything, and also means higher danger. I can't hope to successfully Impi rush JR4, and he'll be hard to take land with PRO Archers, LB, and CKN, until I get knigs at the very least. Even though I have IMP, I think I'm at a disadvantage to settling contested land since he will hook copper and tech wheel earlier.

So I have to settle for a safe border with him.

On the assumption that the western gems marks the midpoint:
Y is greedy. X is a safer alternative, but that means that I can't settle city #3 2E of it on the plains hill, so I will probably settle one of the x's as city #3.

[ipecac]

On further thought, if JR4 beats me to X or Y it will be bad to disastrous. So I might change my plan entirely.

I think I need to settle small x as city #2, stealing copper from capital, then X as city #3. Establishing a safe border is really important.

Need to sim this out.