It's Chevalier's Thread and He Can Do What He Wants To

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn 112

Another slow turn rolled in and once again, friends, I am in a quandary. Not sure what to do. ("Yes, Chevalier, that is what the word quandary means." Shut up.)

I played through the turn, which had little of note, and I totally forgot to take screenshots until the very end! I could reload it - I still have the original PYDT save - but, uh, I don't wanna. It takes ages to do that and I'm a busy man. Here, let me post the two screenshots of the score and talk through things:






So, the first builders are starting to trickle out, but I suspended all except Morales as they hit one turn. I would have stopped Moose's builder, too, except I forgot because I"m stupid. Anyway, the reason I need ONE builder and only one builder is because I'm researching Feudalism. If I hold off, I get +2 charges on every builder. Throw in the Pyramids, and Liang - who I stupidly forgot to move to Escobar or Zobrist, whichever one I make a builder pump (probably Zobrist) - and I'm looking at 6 or 7 charge builders across the map! In other words, my builders are twice as good as default. 

Why Morales, then? Because my weakest area right now is culture, and I haven't landed the Feudalism inspiration yet. I need 2 more farms, by my count - there are 3 at Zobrist and 1 at Gordon. Morales has two lovely flatland tiles just to the west that I won't use for anything else. The geography of my island makes farm triangles really hard to achieve, but the extra two farms here are a worthwhile boost to research rates and to Morales' growth. 

So, the plan is to plant the farms at Morales, then swap back to builders across the board and pop them out. 

Okay, what comes next?

I have two choices, and herein is my quandary. I HAD been thinking that the Archduke was impossibly far ahead of me, and I needed a last, desperate throw of the dice to get back into the game. Except...he's really not. 

I double checked science and culture rates. Culture remains the same - the Netherlands are fully 20 points ahead of anyone else, which is a significant advantage. But science? His science rate is only ONE point higher than mine at the moment - and I have NO research infrastructure up at all, other than the madrasa at Escobar. 

So, what to do?

The initial plan was to skip infrastructure, research Stirrups while building 10 Mamluks or so, and then land on Archduke's island in 20 turns hopefully undetected more or less and then try and win the game. My apostle buys Crusade just before I declare war. Everything is dependent upon surprise - his frigates catching my army in open water around Perez would lead to an unmitigated massacre.  But...His science isn't as far ahead as I thought. In fact, just two points - and my science could be many points higher if I were using population specialists in Escobar (there's an argument that 8 points of science is worth giving up the marginal food, production, and faith I'm getting from that pop anyway). Furthermore, my empire score is higher, with fewer districts - which means, in turn, that my long term growth potential is higher. Archduke's island is more fertile and he seems to have a higher population cap than me, but not by as much as I initially feared.

In other words, right now we feel about evenly balanced, and I think that as time goes on the advantage will shift to me. Archduke is a great player, but I think in terms of raw building I might have an edge over him.

So what I COULD do is go with my original idea: Chop out campuses, holy sites, and harbors across the map with this builder wave, Limes, and Maritime Industries. Get my research far ahead, and then beeline the NEXT key tech. My apostle next turn buys Wats, which cost only about 30 faith and give me +3 faith and +2 science. Christ, that alone makes a Holy Site in every city worth it, except I need lots of shrines and temples, and temples are expensive. That seems like a safer plan, but it has some drawbacks, too.

First, it means forgoing the Mamluk invasion. I COULD still run it against Rowain, though, and I might. 
Second, it means exposing myself to 7 Provinces. The key to weakening those is to take the offensive - their bonus applies to ATTACKING cities, but if I'm taking Archduke's cities, well, then no worries! 
Finally, I'd still need to find a way to fend off my two neighbors and win the game down the road. It'd be similar to where I am now - a timing push at Subs or Battleships, near as I can figure, or perhaps a backdoor religious push.

For all those disadvantages, the economic boom plan really appeals to me, and I'm almost certain it's because of my own natural instincts. What I'd REALLY like to do, then is both: Build a Mamluk army AND build 2-3 campuses, 2 Holy sites, or so, and then start filling them up with faith purchased Libraries, Madrasas, and Wats. Get two Apostles, and use the second to buy Crusade. 

That's the more ambitious plan, and it's almost certainly more likely to fail. BUT! But! If it works, and I torch Archduke's core while making my own core a religious/scientific monster, then the game is absically sewn up. 

So yeah, let's focus on getting those Heavy Chariots out next. We'll fall abck on the build up if it fails, because everything one way or another depends on a showdown with the Dutch, and I'd rather it be on my terms, not his.

[williams482]

I think your assesment of the situation is more or less correct, but I'd be wary of sitting back and focusing too much on infrastructure. Sevens are scary (they have +5 ranged and defensive combat strength over regular frigates, on top of the +7 against districts), and that culture lead will probably translate into faster corps/fleets as well. He's going to have a window there where his fleet is much better than yours, and I think you want to avoid that if at all possible. 

When does your DoF run out?

As you say, the nightmare scenario for you is that you launch this attack, and Archduke sniffs it out and ambushes your army while they are still in the water. On the other hand, if he can see you coming a few turns in advance but can't declare war until you land your troops, there isn't a ton he'll be able to throw together to stop you. With that in mind, I wonder if it's worth making some infrastructure sacrifices (possibly including using chariot chops instead of walls/ships?) to hit that DoF window if you can.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

I think your assesment of the situation is more or less correct, but I'd be wary of sitting back and focusing too much on infrastructure. Sevens are scary (they have +5 ranged and defensive combat strength over regular frigates, on top of the +7 against districts), and that culture lead will probably translate into faster corps/fleets as well. He's going to have a window there where his fleet is much better than yours, and I think you want to avoid that if at all possible. 

When does your DoF run out?

As you say, the nightmare scenario for you is that you launch this attack, and Archduke sniffs it out and ambushes your army while they are still in the water. On the other hand, if he can see you coming a few turns in advance but can't declare war until you land your troops, there isn't a ton he'll be able to throw together to stop you. With that in mind, I wonder if it's worth making some infrastructure sacrifices (possibly including using chariot chops instead of walls/ships?) to hit that DoF window if you can.

All great points. I think that sitting back and developing is the wrong move. Instead, it's right to take the offensive against the Dutch and knock 'em out - or fail. Develop after the Mamluk moment has passed. 

The DoF I need to double-check on, I mentioned it in my planning earlier, I'll go through the archives and get back to you.

As for landing earlier, I've considered it. The main issue is the timing of Mercenaries. I need ot hit that as soon as I can in order to get the cheap upgrades. I also need to start gathering gold - I made one (to my mind) necessary Caravel upgrade to spearhead the attack on Mohenjo-Daro, which exhausted most of my treasury, and I need a lot of gold. I plan to save 2 charges on every builder: one for a gold chop, and one for a real chop after the Chariots are out. Anyway, as I was saying, I need Mercenaries unlocked before I embark my army, so I can upgrade to Mamluks. I plan to do that as soon as humanly possible, then get most of the way across the sea or even land before the DoF expires. But it's going to be a small window to hit, mostly held back by my culture.

 I've also got to keep an eye on Rowain, whose military power is near mine, and is hoarding lots of gold. He has a low population, but his science and culture are tied with me, and he has his own religion. Most of my cities are on the western edge of my island, but he could hit Hosmer, Moustakas, and Cain hard. I think an attack by Rowain on me would probably throw the game to the Archduke, but if he goes for Japper, well, then he stands a good chance of pulling ahead while England, the Netherlands, and Arabia fight. 

Full turn report soon, but here's an experimental Cornflakes-style Round Number Roundup on an Unround Number (a square?):

T113 Civ Comparison

Civ	Cities	Pop	Techs	Civics	Gold	Faith/turn	Districts	Military
Japper	9	36	15 (+23/turn)	13 (+27.8/turn)	508 (+17/turn)	26.6	5: (2) Harbor (2) HS, (1) C	305
Chevalier	10	38	19 (+47.7/turn)	12 (+26.9/turn)	66 (+45.5/turn)	37.8	6: (2) Harbor, (2) HS, (1) C, 1 GP	358
Emperor	5	26	17 (+44/turn)	12 (+29.1/turn)	725 (+25/turn)	1.1	5: (3) Harbor, (2) C	320
Archduke	8	40	19 (+47.4/turn)	15 (+44.5/turn)	904 (+45/turn)	3.2	8: (2) Harbor, (1) IZ, (3) C, (2?) TS	515
Rowain	5	28	21 (+45/turn)	13 (+24.9/turn)	603 (+26/turn)	9.4	5: (2) Harbor (1) HS, (2) C	367

District and population numbers are best guesses, I haven't tried to reconcile my estimates with Empire score yet. This is just a test of the system.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn 113

So yeah, the revelation of Rowain's high gold reserves has me majorly paranoid now, and I'm going to have to secure that flank for sure before launching an attack on the Archduke. 

Playing the turns a bit less carelessly now, since it's a much closer game than I thought. 




We're way behind Archduke to this, but we can reach Square Rigging before the end of the DoF. I go ahead and slot it in, juicing up Escobar's science rate as I do so. We jump from 45 beakers to 54 beakers per turn, enough to slash Stirrups from 12 turns to 8 and Square Rigging down to 14. We'll lose a lot of that in a few turns when Monasticism goes away, but it's enough to get the job done and bridge the gap to a mass madrasa push. 

I upgrade 1 caravel, which will spearhead the attack on Mohenjo Daro. I have a sword and battering ram and a host of quads in support. It should be enough. Yes, I am bitter about the fact that Hattusa never built walls at all, while Mohenjo Daro had them up 30 turns ago, why do you ask?

I recruit my first apostle, as well:




Now, at current faith rates, it'll be about 12 turns before I grab my second one - but I expect my faith will tick up, as well. Given that, and the intention NOT to evangelize Crusade until the last possible moment, I think it's safe to take Wats. Wats cost me 1 turn's faith income but pay for themselves in 10 turns of production, so I'll not delay the next apostle at all, and I should still have it in time to launch my Crusade. 

Of course, I thought of all this math AFTER playing the turn. So we'll evangelize next turn! :D A wat will be just the ticket in Escobar, worth 3.5 science for the few turns Monasticism remains to us. We'll get anotehr one in Zobrist for sure, and I think two more Holy Sites in Hosmer and Davis apiece, to grab us a total of +8 science and +12 faith, all in return for the upfront investment of 120 faith (+400 for the apostle). Not bad at all, I think. 

The builder at Morales pops up and places a farm:




Oh, that was all I needed. I forgot about Colon's farm, out in the corner! :D That's good news, and drops Feudalism to 4 turns. It's time to start producing land units to boost Mercenaries, so I queue up my first Heavy Chariot. We'll take Maneuver at our next policy swap. Chariots take about 9 turns to build at my poorer cities, faster at Zobrist or Escobar. With the build time on builders, we're looking at about 15 turns until we have all the units I want. Need to double check the DoF ending date, but we can stage out of Perez. Finish Stirrups 6 turns (ideally) before the expiration, upgrade, and use 5 turns to cross the water. That's the ideal time, but I don't think it works out in practice. I'm not that precise! 

Trying to give a view of the wider world, so here's the land between Indonesia and America:




Note Japper's weak cities - he's not built anything more powerful than a galley, ever. It's been peaceful in this half of the world. He'd be easy prey for America, no doubt about it. I don't intend to be the same. The annoying part, of course, is that Rowain gets +5 combat strength against me, because of course of all the continents in all the world, Rowain and I share one. Figures. Anyway, I think most of his strength is in ships, but I haven't seen it. I'm going to play things cautiously, and probably kick out more ships of my own as soon as I can - forgo the Limes chops, Maritime Industries and Quads work just as well, and I'll want as many Frigates as I can afford later. 




Archduke's fleet is gathered here, where it can sail either east towards the strait with Hattusa, or west straight at Emperor's core. I bet I know which way it's going, just as soon as Archduke hits square rigging. :D There's more ships just out of sight, which I forgot to capture. It's the bulk of Dutch naval power, to be sure. 

Here are the scores. I can't reconcile district counts, population, and empire score - I don't know how many points monuments and granaries give.

[williams482]

As for landing earlier, I've considered it. The main issue is the timing of Mercenaries. I need ot hit that as soon as I can in order to get the cheap upgrades. I also need to start gathering gold - I made one (to my mind) necessary Caravel upgrade to spearhead the attack on Mohenjo-Daro, which exhausted most of my treasury, and I need a lot of gold. I plan to save 2 charges on every builder: one for a gold chop, and one for a real chop after the Chariots are out. Anyway, as I was saying, I need Mercenaries unlocked before I embark my army, so I can upgrade to Mamluks. I plan to do that as soon as humanly possible, then get most of the way across the sea or even land before the DoF expires. But it's going to be a small window to hit, mostly held back by my culture.

It's hard to tell if there is an eligible spot for this, but one possible way to speed up the attack while still constrained by mercenaries research would be to bring a settler with the HC force, settle on Archduke's island, and upgrade within the new city's borders. Obviously settlers are expensive (although you get +100% production on them with Colonization, right?) but if it looks like the timing window is going to get tight, that's an option.

Here are the scores. I can't reconcile district counts, population, and empire score - I don't know how many points monuments and granaries give.

I don't think buildings matter for empire score (at least they didn't in vanilla). It's just 5 points per city, 1 point per pop, 3 points per district.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

As for landing earlier, I've considered it. The main issue is the timing of Mercenaries. I need ot hit that as soon as I can in order to get the cheap upgrades. I also need to start gathering gold - I made one (to my mind) necessary Caravel upgrade to spearhead the attack on Mohenjo-Daro, which exhausted most of my treasury, and I need a lot of gold. I plan to save 2 charges on every builder: one for a gold chop, and one for a real chop after the Chariots are out. Anyway, as I was saying, I need Mercenaries unlocked before I embark my army, so I can upgrade to Mamluks. I plan to do that as soon as humanly possible, then get most of the way across the sea or even land before the DoF expires. But it's going to be a small window to hit, mostly held back by my culture.

It's hard to tell if there is an eligible spot for this, but one possible way to speed up the attack while still constrained by mercenaries research would be to bring a settler with the HC force, settle on Archduke's island, and upgrade within the new city's borders. Obviously settlers are expensive (although you get +100% production on them with Colonization, right?) but if it looks like the timing window is going to get tight, that's an option.

Here are the scores. I can't reconcile district counts, population, and empire score - I don't know how many points monuments and granaries give.

I don't think buildings matter for empire score (at least they didn't in vanilla). It's just 5 points per city, 1 point per pop, 3 points per district.

Actually, that's not a bad idea. There's some spots on the shore that could work. It also looks like our timeline to Mercs is 8 turns, so the real constraint now is getting heavy chariots out and shipping them over. I'm swapping most builds over to that, and directing builders towards gold sites. I think I need about 16 more turns to be ready - reminder to myself to find out when D-Day is, again.

I have a settler out of Zobrist, which I WAS going to place at Rios (not a terrible site, actually, just food poor), but now I think I can divert to Archduke's coast, which is eligible. I land, harvest, and promote as many as 7 units in one turn, and then next turn we barrel straight for his capital. Take it and he's gutted, more or less. This might actually work. 

Or I give Archduke a free settler. What the hell, it sounds fun, so let's give it a shot! 

As for Empire score, R&F changed the formula to count some buildings. I've got eyes on Emperor and Archduke's capitals, so I know for a certainty their population, and there's still significant discrepancies that can't be explained with a few more districts. Plus my own empire, too. We'll look at it tonight when I get the report up.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Turn 114

This is going to seem redundant, but we leave the Classical Age at last and enter the Medieval Era! I get a Heroic Age, my first ever (I never get Dark Ages in SP), so let's see what we get.




I get to make a dedication, and all my cities exert extra loyalty. That might matter when I attack the Archduke - any city planted will rebel within 5! turns unless I can get Loyalty flipped quickly. I have Amani ready to drop in when needed. What dedications are available? Well, boringly, the exact same ones that you get with a Golden Age...except wait, you get three! Check it out:




By my lights, that makes a Heroic Age more than TWICE as good as a Golden Age. Nice! I think that the Heroic Age slingshot should be what everyone aims for in every game, and Era score is something to be avoided. It's perverse, but that's the game the designers built. Why is this so?

Well, first, Dark Ages aren't bad. Actually, they're kind of great, if you have the right set-up. You take loyalty pressure, sure, but that's effectively useless so far, at least on this map. Maybe if we had a more crowded map like PBEM11 it would make a difference, but so far that's not been a drawback at all. In return for this total non-factor, you miss out on Golden Age dedications, BUT 

a)You get THREE dedications one age later
b)You get a dedication specfically to help you get there
c)You get Dark Age policy cards!

Any one of these would be fine on its own - the triple dedication alone would make a dark age worth it, I think - but the policy cards make this truly absurd. I was able to keep up in science with only one campus for the last age, because Monasticism was giving me +75% science out of Escobar and Zobrist with their Holy Sites. At one point over half my science output was coming out of Escobar. This syncs perfectly with Arabia, as Madrasas, Holy Sites, Wats, and Monasticism all feed off each other to drive your science and faith sky-high, which of course you can use to boost even more science! 

There are other good cards. If I avoid a Normal or Golden age in the Renaissance, I can slot in Letters of Marque, which gives +100% production and +2 movement towards Naval Raider units. I assume that can be stacked with Press Gangs, to get Privateers built three times or even four times as fast, if the bonuses are additive or multiplicative. Imagine Emperor K's England with that - build a massive fleet of Sea Dogs and seize the seas for yourself. If he's smart, in fact, I think that should be Emperor's gameplan. The downside is you get 50% yield from trade routes, but in R&F trade routes are really hard to come by anyway. I have the same default one I started the game with, I'm only just now finishing up a lighthouse in Davis to unlock a second, and I miiiiiight get a third and fourth from Gordon and Mohenjo-Daro (if I succeed). So I'm giving up a paltry amount of good for doubled privateer production and +2 movement. Pump that, research towards Electricity, then upgrade your new, massive fleet of Submarines - not a bad plan for a science leader.

So, what do I take?




I get to choose three of the four, so I'll take...basically everything! Free Inquiry makes Harbors a lot more attractive. Right now, they're mostly only good for GA points and a bit of gold generation, neither of which is a high priority for me. The lighthouse requirement for trade routes hit this district really hard, because lighthouses are so damn expensive. I've placed Harbors, but they're basically bottom rung for me at the moment. Now, though, getting the 3-4 of those I have down finished up will be a great move, worth another 10-12 science or so. Harbors are trivially easy to place with a +2 or +3 bonus. 

Pen, Brush, and Voice obviously boosts culture to an absurd degree, and is probably a big reason why Archduke has been doing so well. Joke's on him, now I've got it, too, in addition to free inquiry! Not only do I drop the -25% penalty from Monasticism ("true" culture was about 32 points per turn), but I gain +6 right away and my eurekas add 10% more, making me a mini-China for the age. 

FInally, I opt for Exodus over Monumentality. Why is that? Well, right now I can't make great use of Monumentality. I've got a ton of demands on my faith generation, even though it's the highest in the game and has been ever since I took Earth Goddess. I need to buy one more apostle, I'd like to buy another handful of missionaries to fully convert the Netherlands, I need to buy libraries and madrasas soon, I need to buy Wats. Buying settlers and builders on top of that is a bit much, ESPECIALLY given I can run colonization for +100% for settlers, EACH of which is also a builder thrown into the bargain. On the other hand, juicing up my apostles and missionaries is a nice move, especially for Arabia. Every foreign city converted, remember, is worth +2 gold and +1 science, with Crusade lurking in the background. Easy call.

The surge in culture boosts Feudalism, finishing it 2 turns earlier than I expected:




That means it's time to swap policies. We need to build chariots, I've got one chop ready with a Quad in Moustakas (for another campus), and I need Serfdom for the builders. That means the last spot is probably either Conscription or Urban planning, and I decide 10 production is worth more than 10 gold:




Farewell, Monasticism, we hardly knew ye. Seriously, though, great policy, and probably the reason I still have a shot in this game. The new government and dedications combine to not only push my science back to near where it was before the loss of Monasticism, but my culture nearly doubles! In fact, we're as cultured as the Dutch now, and we don't have Mohenjo-Daro or any Theater Squares. If we successfully take the city, in fact, I'll be ahead of the Archduke in every major category except military power. Let's keep this snowball rolling and activate my apostle:




Next one is 430 faith, which is 11 turns' generation from now. That should be plenty of time to grab him and evangelize Crusade in time, so let's take the 22 extra science and 33 extra faith. I evangelize my religion for the first time, and naturally take Wats.




Given the heavy demand for faith, and for missionaries, Synagogues or Mosques would be worthwhile backups if Rowain or Japper had gotten here first. Note that oddly, despite only 5 players, there are 4 religions available (and Stonehenge is yet unbuilt!). Seems excessive, but maybe 4 Great Prophets is the minimum amount? Otherwise in a 2-player game whoever's first to a Great Prophet wins religious victory automatically, which would make Stonehenge the ultimate wonder. Or it's half of players, rounded up, THEN plus one? Or half+1 of players, rounded up. Probably something like that. 

Anyway, Saladin must take a worship building as soon as he realistically can, because that activates another one of his abilities:




90% discounts on worship buildings! The Wat costs 180 production, which is still 8 turns of production for Escobar at this point. OR it costs 35 faith...less than one turn of faith production. Jesus. It'll pay for itself within 10 turns, an absurdly good return on investment, and then start generating bonus faith. PLUS it gets 2 science. PLUS it adds +10% Science, Faith, and Culture to Escobar. 

Look, I don't think Arabia is a good choice for multiplayer games. Getting their entire kit activated takes a LOT of investment - I needed to build a Holy Site, a Shrine, and a temple to set all this up in ONE of my cities, and to make it really good you want it in LOTS. That's an investment other players could skip. But I do think that, just a little bit, we're starting to see glimmers of what makes this civilization great. Again my instincts are screaming at me to turtle up and build science. If I build up my navy to match Archduke's...well, no. That's what he expects. I won't do that. 

I send my settler towards his coast, to that end. There's a few spots left:




Here in the north I could even snatch that iron. More likely, though, I'll land in the south, which is really close to his capital. Loyalty pressure will devastate the city, but I can bring in Amani to slow things down. It shouldn't take 5 turns to take the capital. 

Scores, then a fresh "Round Number Round Up" to account for the massive internal changes that Arabia went through this turn. Let's see how everyone else did. 






Things to note: Archduke and I are still basically neck and neck - his score advantage is entirely a result of era score inflation. Note also that Emperor K has fully 30 points from Great People, and 5 of them are great Admirals, I think. He's doing a bit worse than Japper, not about tied. 

I also get vision on Archduke's capital, letting me know his population with 100% accuracy. 

Here's the round up, based on my end of turn numbers:

Medieval Era Civ Comparison

Civ	Cities	Pop	Techs	Civics	Gold	Faith/turn	Districts	Military
Japper	10	37	15 (+26.1/turn)	13 (+32.9/turn)	376 (+16/turn)	33.3	5: (2) Harbor (2) HS, (1) C	305
Chevalier	10	40	19 (+56.2/turn)	12 (+47.5/turn)	106 (+36.7/turn)	47.7	6: (2) Harbor, (2) HS, (1) C, 1 GP	416
Emperor	5	27	17 (+44/turn)	12 (+28.8/turn)	750 (+25/turn)	1.1	5: (3) Harbor, (2) C	321
Archduke	8	43	19 (+47.4/turn)	15 (+52/turn)	1025 (+45/turn)	3.2	8: (2) Harbor, (1) IZ, (3) C, (2?) TS	543
Rowain	5	31	21 (+45.5/turn)	13 (+25.2/turn)	629 (+26/turn)	9.4	5: (2) Harbor (1) HS, (2) C	367

Note how much more favorably Arabia compares to the Dutch at this point. An advantage in culture is almost perfectly balanced by an advantage in science, and I have a lot of infrastructure ready to come out. Gold generation is sans Conscription, otherwise it would match the Dutch. Need to get those harbors down for more science and gold, and campuses, and holy sites...basically, we're ready to stop producing settlers for a bit and ready to shift to districts.

After lots of horses and ships. I want a navy to match Rowain's, at least. Which I think it sort of does, actually?

[RFS-81]

Oh, you're back in the race! Awesome!

Look, I don't think Arabia is a good choice for multiplayer games. Getting their entire kit activated takes a LOT of investment - I needed to build a Holy Site, a Shrine, and a temple to set all this up in ONE of my cities, and to make it really good you want it in LOTS. That's an investment other players could skip. But I do think that, just a little bit, we're starting to see glimmers of what makes this civilization great. Again my instincts are screaming at me to turtle up and build science. If I build up my navy to match Archduke's...well, no. That's what he expects. I won't do that.

Sorry for recommending them. I underestimated how long it takes to get those bonuses online. But regarding the UU, would you still prefer Legions over Mamluks on this map?

Also:

Civ dev: We introduced dark ages to simulate the ups and downs of civilizations...
Civ player: Well, first, Dark Ages aren't bad. Actually, they're kind of great...

[suboptimal]

Enjoying the reporting! I'm very curious to see where your plans lead.

Regarding the number of great prophets available in a game it's based (almost) solely on map size - 2 for duel maps and one more for each size above that. It's "almost" solely because the Maps.xml file notes in a comment that the number of prophets is additionally limited by the number of beliefs available in the game.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Oh, you're back in the race! Awesome!

Look, I don't think Arabia is a good choice for multiplayer games. Getting their entire kit activated takes a LOT of investment - I needed to build a Holy Site, a Shrine, and a temple to set all this up in ONE of my cities, and to make it really good you want it in LOTS. That's an investment other players could skip. But I do think that, just a little bit, we're starting to see glimmers of what makes this civilization great. Again my instincts are screaming at me to turtle up and build science. If I build up my navy to match Archduke's...well, no. That's what he expects. I won't do that.

Sorry for recommending them. I underestimated how long it takes to get those bonuses online. But regarding the UU, would you still prefer Legions over Mamluks on this map?

Also:

Civ dev: We introduced dark ages to simulate the ups and downs of civilizations...
Civ player: Well, first, Dark Ages aren't bad. Actually, they're kind of great...

Oh, hey, you're still around! Great to hear from you! :D 

Anyway, yeah, Rome would be easier. A legion rush would have been much better timed than a Mamluk rush during Archduke's first war with Emperor K. But we knew going in that Arabia was going to be a much more challenging pick - I just didn't quite appreciate HOW challenging it was to get all their bonuses activated. It really is a massive investment. If I can maintain position just a little longer, more and more of that will come online and we might start to snowball.

Enjoying the reporting!    I'm very curious to see where your plans lead.

Regarding the number of great prophets available in a game it's based (almost) solely on map size - 2 for duel maps and one more for each size above that.  It's "almost" solely because the Maps.xml file notes in a comment that the number of prophets is additionally limited by the number of beliefs available in the game.

Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone in here! And good to know about the prophets - does that mean we'll always have a bunch of prophets, given the method we use to make our maps? That will make getting anything other than a fluke religious win very difficult to achieve. 

Sorry for the radio silence last week - I was travelling for Thanksgiving and away from my computer. I kept the turns moving, more or less, via TeamViewer but no screenshots. I think we played 3 or 4 turns? I'll hit the highlights when the save rolls back around.