[SPOILERS] Dark Savant leads the noble Inca as half-noble Churchiill

[Dark Savant]

Turn 24 (3040 BC) - Part 2 (C&D)

We still have no contact with anyone; we're now at the point where I'm starting to wonder why we haven't made any contact yet.  (Yeah, much later than making first contact on turn 6 as in PB37.)

We've scouted enough territory that it's apparent we don't have an early Mining happiness resource, and therefore likely no one else.  That means we are under relatively little pressure to research Animal Husbandry: five rivals are not Charismatic and are under pressure to connect ivory quickly (I'm assuming everyone has ivory for balance purposes), and another has an Animal Husbandry UU.

4000 soldiers appeared this turn.

Score tally:

• wetbandit: +3 points for +1 pop (capital growing to size 4)
  
• yuris125: +3 points for +1 pop (capital growing to size 4); +6 points for a technology researched in 6 turns that is worth at most 2000 soldiers.  This pretty much has to be Mining.
  

wetbandit still does not have Mining (he's the only player who still doesn't have it).  What is he on ... Animal Husbandry like I thought before?

[Dark Savant]

Building tall on two cities doesn't seem like a good idea to me now; we can't get Pottery before about turn 42, and our cities need to be producing something in that time.  

Three cities tall is very much a possibility, though.

Religion is also not going to happen before we have Pottery, with the plan to develop the copper quickly rather than rushing out a settler.  (We need to whip terraces ASAP to make up for the later city plants.)

[Dark Savant]

Turn 25 (3000 BC) - Part 1

The scout has a choice of going northeast or southeast; since northeast is the hypothesized direction of our eastern neighbor's start, I head that way (moving the scout N, NE).



Those freshwater clams can be worth 6 food with a workboat and a lighthouse.

Oh, and that random forest we lucked into must have grown very early, since there's no event in notifications (so it grew when it was outside our cultural borders).  It just wasn't relevant when improving both corn was the highest priority.

Still no contact with anyone, but that isn't expected to last more than a few more turns at most -- the scout will enter our eastern neighbor's expected first ring next turn.  The only thing that can stop that is an animal eating our scout very soon.

Maybe the scout can move far enough north that we can fool our eastern neighbor into guessing it came from the northwest.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 25 (3000 BC) - Part 2 (C&D)

Everyone except superdeath gained 17 points, for 12 land tiles held by their capital's second ring for 20 turns.

1000 soldiers appeared.  This is superdeath finally growing his capital from size 1 to size 2.  I don't think he could have produced a settler in 13 turns, so I think this is a second worker.

superdeath's capital also expanded to third-ring this turn, and he has no water tiles in third-ring either.

No other points were gained this turn, so no new technologies.

[OT4E]

You have choke point to the west and simmetric choke point to the east, why are you planning your 2nd city the south then?

[Dark Savant]

You have choke point to the west and simmetric choke point to the east, why are you planning your 2nd city the south then?

It's the fastest developing site.

[Dark Savant]

We're planning to put all subsequent cities towards our neighbors, incidentally -- just not this first one.

Turn 26 (2960 BC)

I move our scout north then northeast again.



There's a good plant site for our mystery eastern neighbor, but it's a trifle distant for a second city I think.

Still no contact, but it ought to be coming within a couple turns at most.

Our lone worker finishes chopping the forest west of King's Landing, providing enough hammers so that our second worker is due next turn.

C&D: 2000 soldiers appeared this turn.

The only score increase was wetbandit gaining a technology.  This time, I'm marking it down as Animal Husbandry, which covers that soldier increase.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 27 (2920 BC) - Part 1

Normally, moving the scout southeast onto the hill would be the best move, but I'm expecting our mystery eastern neighbor's capital to get in the way if I move there.  Northeast it is, then.



That's not close enough to make contact, but it's a border that definitely belongs to Charriu, Expansive/Aggressive Shaka of the Khmer.  That capital is exactly 16 east, 5 north of ours, as predicted.

Our second worker emerges; I swap to a settler this turn to catch the overflow.

I'm wanting for names to distinguishing our workers; I'll go with non-noble non-soldiers from A Song of Ice and Fire.  Worker #1 is Gendry (yeah, his father is the king ... neither legitimate nor legitimized though), #2 is Hot Pie (I'd be very surprised if he turns out to have noble blood or becomes a soldier).

Gendry moves to the copper hill to mine it.  Hot Pie moves to the forest at 6 o'clock to chop it.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 27 (2920 BC) - Part 2 (C&D)

No soldiers appeared this turn.

The only rival to gain points was Charriu -- +6 points for a technology researched in 5 turns.  With that speed and no soldiers, that must be Fishing.

Charriu's expected technologies are Bronze Working, Fishing, Hunting, Mining, and The Wheel.  Being Expansive and without Agriculture, he probably won't settle the first-ring area the scout has already unveiled.

Charriu is a new player, I think with dtay as a dedlurker (lurkers, please let me know if that is inaccurate) -- I haven't seen him post to Charriu's spoiler thread, but that doesn't mean they aren't conferring like we are.  dtay normally isn't inclined to assault neighbors early on, but he will do so given an obvious opening, and that's far more likely playing as Expansive/Aggressive.  The distance between us makes an axe rush relatively unlikely.

We have the option of avoiding contact, but I'd rather sink our espionage points somewhere.  We can make contact and have the scout remain out of sight, as well, but with the nearby terrain, if we press eastward that will cost several turns of exploration and vision on Charriu's capital.

We also can make contact, not leave the scout within Charriu's vision, and then reverse the scout into the fog east of King's Landing, and then push to figure out who our western neighbor is -- it might be some time before either of us makes contact on that side.  That information is valuable in its own right, so the choice I should make is to either push east (it'll be rather obvious where the scout came from), or backtrack after making contact.

Charriu is more likely than not to figure out where we are before too long, even if our scout avoids revealing itself.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 28 (2880 BC)

Since Charriu is likely to figure out where we are anyway, I'm going to try to get a look at his capital.



That forest plains hill is in my way.  And he's got riverside grass pig in place of riverside grass corn, which is better in this mod.

King's Landing swaps to a quechua; growth to size 4 due in 2.  Gendry starts a copper mine and Hot Pie starts a chop.

C&D: I remember to move all espionage spending over to Charriu so it doesn't get split up.

8000 soldiers appeared this turn.

ipecac gained 6 points for a technology, which is very probably The Wheel (4000 soldiers).

superdeath gained 4 points for growing his capital to size 3, and probably also produced a warrior while growing (2000 soldiers), which would be his first.

Someone else produced a warrior, but I can't tell who it is.

At least one other player is in anarchy now.