TheArchduke in a critical Role as Scotland

[TheArchduke]

Best value for money is a monument. Units are best handbuilt with agoge, but as we want to rush Campi and we want some adjacency we will probably burn through a bit of money that way anyway.

I actually fear that the barbs could overwhelm Strat atm, I really should have gone slinger before builder. Buying a unit is really not cost effective. I may be forced to do so.

[TheArchduke]

In good tradition I am not happy with the naming sheme.

One of the best ones has been done by Chev with the excellent spacecraft names by the Scottish Science Fiction Writer Iain Banks.

[TheArchduke]

Turn 23

I did not post the settlervision for some turns. The likely australian capital.

   

And I switch to a slinger in 4 turns to get rid of those barbs. The builder is useless anyway, as long as they are around. The slinger will keep my back free from barbs whilst I attack Babylon.

   

[TheArchduke]

Turn 24

The barbarian slinger chases the warrior-settler tandem.

With some monies, a 4 adjacency campus is established.

   

[TheArchduke]

Turn 26

   

I nearly move the settler as quickly as I do the warrior, but then, wait a minute, what is there now to see?





The additional luxury right off the coast. A whale.

Well, this is a problem now. All of the sudden 2 more city sites make a lot more sense:

   

In front of the river on the coast in range of the whales.
On the spot behind the river, where the settler is now, where the whales are in the 3rd ring.
Or my original plan with the excellent city tile and a second tile to work off quite the bat with 1 faith.

The added luxury would be awesome for Scotland, but the sites are semi-decent. I could catch the whale with a city plan on the incense NW, but without fresh water or an aqueduct? I want to go tall.

My first instinct is to settle the plains hill regardless for more production, but then I really think about it. Another luxury, less cities. A coastal city?
Or do the compromise, stay inland, but make the whale reachable? Shipchops will be nerfed soon. But I could get maybe 1-2 galley chops in.

After a long, labourous moment, I decide I want to have the whale in sight. So Coast with a suboptimal city grid or inland on a suboptimal tile? But doing a settle in place, nicely fills out the settler view and establishes a no barb zone north.

Maybe it is my trauma from PBEM #11 but I decide on the coast.

   

Banzailizard if you disagree, I can still correct my mistake. But I maybe be able to chop out a galley and go exploring early.

[Banzailizard]

I think that I like your new spot (where the settlers is in the last screenshot) best.  You are giving up 1 production per turn for maybe 5 or 6 turns.  In exchange you get a nice primary and secondary tile to work for that city and that additional amenity.

My only reservation is this, that city wants a lot of stuff in the third ring which is either time consuming or costly to aquire.   Alternative suggestion would be to settle on the north wheat and then a second city on the south of the river by the rice or north of the river by the MT (though that would be better as a campus site). Early production would be crap for both cities though you could pick up the bananas and then second ring tiles quickly.

In general I still support your decision, better to get that city working now and run the policy to get cheaper boarder purchase when you can.

[TheArchduke]

Turn 27

New naming sheme. In any case, yeah, it was a long tough think, but I like the new location better. The whale may be in the 3rd ring, but thanks to 2-3 early plantations and 2 commercial CS I am loaded enough to make it work. I hope.

I am not planning any early aggression against players so I do not need to save up that much money, like I did with Macedonia or Mongolia.

   

[TheArchduke]

Turn 28

Big turn. We meet Korea.

   

In some ways this is good news. The layout so far suggests 2 more CS and a continent with 3 civs and a 2nd one with 2 civs.

There could be a land bridge lurking somewhere making it pangea, but I seriously doubt I find another civ east of me, what with me meeting BB first.

   

With me meeting 3 CS in the south first, I think both Korea and Australia really did scout the wrong direction. I will never scout south of the junglebelt like I did in PBEM #2.

EDIT: I imagine another CS between Australia and Korea is likely.

Center, aussie scout and barb is gone. A slinger is 1 turn away in the capital as well.

   

Still sandbagging techs and I am suprisingly competitive despite my low pop so far.

[TheArchduke]

Anyway, I like my position somewhat, although the settlerview irks me at Emon (I love filling the settlerview red with no tiles unused(although I know it is bullshit, you never get enough pop for this in MP anyway).

Rexxentrum

Worker->Slinger->Warrior->Campus->Settler->Settler

Emon

Worker->(doublechop)Warrior+Warrior->Campus 2 NE on the copped plains hill->Settler

5 warriors should aim for Babylon and I may be able to storm Zanzibar. Kandy will probably fall victim to Korea I assume.

[Banzailizard]

Any thoughts on how you want to use the era system? Do you plan to go for a golden age at a specific point to work with your strategy?