[SPOILERS] Woden gets swept away by the Gathering Storm in PBEM15

[Woden]

Turns 7-8


Move my warrior to see the city state...



Find Jerusalem. Nice, should be able to get my pick of pantheons. Probably going with Earth Goddess, since my unique improvement provide +2 appeal to surrounding tiles and should be able to get quite a few breathtaking tiles for the improved +2 faith. 

On turn 8, I moved to warrior to the spice tile to see what was up there before moving back south to deal with the camp (sorry, forgot to grab a picture). Looks to be a nice 2nd city location. I will start a settler next turn when the scout finishes.  Probably settle on the hill tile southeast of the east spice. Hopefully that volcano can add some nice yields to the west spice.

[Woden]

Turn 9

Scout finished and set east...



Finds coast. Warrior is heading to the camp. He will kill the camp and then come over to protect the settler. Mining finishes next turn and I will start Animal Husbandry.

[Woden]

Turns 10 - 13
Fast turn pace this weekend and we went through a bunch of turns. Not much going on during these turns. Scout found coast east of capital and warrior is heading to camp. Here is a look on T13...



I did hit the barb scout with my scout this turn because I had the movement points to spare. I don't really want to fight that scout with my scout because I will have to stop and heal and might lose out on some first-to-meet envoys. We will see where he goes. I will be able to start chopping at the barb camp next turn with my warrior. 

Turn 14
Big turn, lots to report. Start off with...



Which lead to my first civics...



No need for God King since I have met Jerusalem. I attack the barb camp with my warrior...



Scout moves along north coast. Barb scout moves out of sight. I check the leader board and notice something interesting...



pindicator is leading the religious board, meaning he also has met a religious city state and since he has not grown to size 3 yet, he still has +1 happiness and getting the bonus faith. Not sure when he met them, so I might not be first to a pantheon but when I pushed the end turn, I did hear the "meet a city state" sound, so maybe he just met them or he met another one. No real way of telling. 

Turn 15
Continue working on the camp with my warrior and I did find the barb scout...



Camp will die next turn and I am dead last in military power. Not sure if anybody else went scout first. 

Turn 16
Kill barb camp with my warrior, gain a promotion. Check the scores...



Looks like everybody has finished the first civic and suboptimal and pindicator are still at size 2 capitals. CFCJesterfool grew to size 3 before me and I assume he has 2 3-food tiles to work. The others must not have any 3-food tiles or are choosing to work 2/2 tiles instead.

[Woden]

Not much going on in the game right now, just exploring to reveal more of the map. Here are the highlights...

Turn 17

Promote warrior and send scout north. Notice this on the leader board...



Pindicator is either working a science yielding tile or has met a science city state. He has less population than me or CFCJesterfool but leading in science. I am leaning towards a city state, since not too many available resources provide science.

Turn 18
Start off with...



Start Bronzeworking, will continue with it until I hit the eureka threshold or complete the the if I can kill 3 barbs. Warrior heads east and scout heads north and finds what he is looking for...



Turn 19
Scout moves closer to north city and sees purple boundaries...cultural city state   Warrior heads to where I last saw barb scout.

Turn 20
Scout moves to get eyes on unknown city state...



Finds Antananarivo and get the first-to-meet envoy. They want me to build a campus, very do-able. Barb camp pops up on the east coast. This was the last turn before the June 2019 patch and it dropped just in time, I get my pantheon next turn. 

Turn 21
First turn on the new patch. Open the save to choose my pantheon...



New pantheon screen. I choose Earth Goddess, +2 faith on Breathtaking tiles. This should be helpful in the long run but it might take some work...



Ok, maybe a lot of work. Not too many breathtaking (darker green) tiles around. The plan is to go straight for Early Empire, no waiting for the inspiration for Foreign Trade. Early Empire will unlock my unique improvement, which grants 1 culture/2 gold and +2 appeal to neighboring tiles. Put a few of those down and my appeal will greatly improve. I will have to think about the best places for them since they can't be placed next to each other and can't go in floodplains. I will post something about it when I figure it out.

[Woden]

Turn 22

Another turn today. Move scout north. I really need to stop and heal a few turns in case I stumble across a barb warrior or camp. In between turns, the barb scout suicides against my warrior and I move him south to protect the settler due next turn. 

I took some time to layout my capital...



To start, I might attempt to build Stonehenge and get a religion. My capital is going to be a cultural powerhouse. The Pairidaezas should get a few tiles up to breathtaking appeal. The ones around the Theater Square and/or Holy Site will get an additional +1 I might rework it a little to see if I can get better adjacency form the Districts but it is a good start.  

Other strategy notes, my second city will be a science city and I need to find a good production city for my military pump. Maybe in the southwest, looks to be fairly hilly there, will need to scout it out soon.

[Woden]

Turn 23
First contact! I move my scout north and run into CFCJesterFool's warrior...



Settler finishes and I send him on his way to spice mountain. Warrior will intercept to protect him. City will be founded right when Foreign Trade finishes and I will immediately buy a trader to send back to my capital. Start a slinger to go after the barb camp east of my capital.

Turns 24-27
Not much happens during these turns. Settler moving into position and my scout finds some tress to hide in to heal. Both pindicator and suboptimal have founded their 2nd cities. And suboptimal and CFCJesterFool have completed a 2nd civic. Here is the score on T27...



My second city will be founded next turn and I will complete Foreign Trade. The plan is to go right into Early Empire to get my unique improvement online. My second city will grow like a weed with a 4 food spice tile and a 3 food bananas, so I will have the inspiration before I need it. Slinger finishes next turn and both cities will go for a builder. Builder at capital will go for the Craftsmanship inspiration, while the builder at the second city will chop out an encampment for the State Workforce boost. 

I need more units as it looks like Jester has 2 warriors, a scout, and most likely a slinger compared to my warrior and scout but I want to wait until Agoge is in play. Once Craftsmanship is finished, I will pump out 3 or 4 warriors. I also need to make sure I mine iron if I have it close by. I need to start accumulating it to upgrade my warriors and it is slow going at 2/turn per mine. Luckily, each upgrade costs 10, instead of 20 pre-patch for unique units. That is correct, right? I better double check on that, I was playing around with Cyprus yesterday and did discover that the extra movement doesn't come until the turn after the surprise war declaration, which seems stupid. Must be a check against hiding in the fog then rushing in and capturing a city on the same turn, but isn't that the point?

[Woden]

Turn 28
A bunch of not really much going on and then, bang! Whole bunch of stuff going on. Start turn off with...



Just in time for my new city...



I immediately buy a trader for the bonus gold and culture. For government, I leave what I have in place, no need for anything else. I start Early Empire. With the 4/1 spice tile, the new city will grow like a weed. Slinger finishes at the capital and I start both cities on Builders. Capital builder will improve the rice and horse and iron if it is reachable, otherwise will lay down a Pairidaeza. 2nd city builder will chop out an encampment and lay down a Pairidaeza. Get that early culture going. 

In the north, scout moves away from the Ottoman warrior and finds...



Nope! I have enough movement points to move back to the jungle tile. Probably should have headed west but I think the scout may check out the Ottoman city. Warrior will head towards camp next turn to see if I can snipe it from Jester. 

Internationally...



I am currently tied with Suboptimal at 30 points with my new city and civic. I am third to 2 cities and last to a third tech. I am guessing everybody did the cheap techs and I am almost done with Bronze Working. Still a close game but if Jester doesn't found a 2nd city soon, he might fall behind.

[Woden]

Turn 29
SLinger moves towards the barb camp and I get my first trade route...



Have to like Cyprus' added value to trade routes. More gold and culture. This will help Bomb Cyclone expand boundries. 


Turn 30
Looks liek Jester has Archery...



There is another one just west of the visible one. Scout move south and going to see what is between Jester and  Jerusalem. No need to provoke his archers. I need units in case he tries something funny. Bronze Working is down to 1 turn with the boost, so I switch to Archery. I should get the boost for archer about the time I needed, which will also boost BW. 


Turn 31
No much going on hear. My warrior is healed and heads towards the barb camp between Jester and me. His archers might be heading there to get the camp. Will have to keep an eye on them. Bomb Cyclone should be safe as the terrain will be tough for an attack from the north.


Turn 32
Barb spear comes out to meet my slinger. Slinger gets first strike, throws some rocks, and does 23 damage...



Slinger should be able to kill him since I got first strike. Jester's power is more than double mine. I need to get some units out sooner rather than later. Polar Vortex will spit out a couple of warriors after the builder finishes. Maybe chop a jungle at Bomb Cyclone into a Archer once Archery finishes. 
 

Turn 33
Hit the spearman again with the slinger. He should retreat this turn and I will move up and hit a few more times to kill him. Up north...



Jester's archers are moving towards the camp. Hopefully he holds there but I am going to move my warrior back just in case. Scout defogs a few mountains. Looks like there might not be a route west, south of Jester's capital. Hopefully he is on the western edge of the land mass and everybody else is east, otherwise I might me anybody else until I can get open borders with Jester or we go to war. Scout will defog the last tile to see if there is a route and then go west if there is or go east by Antananarivo if it is blocked by another mountain. 


Turn 34
Start turn off with...



Polar Vortex grew to 4 pop, giving me 6 total pop. As predicted, barb spear moves back to camp. I move up and strike again. He will die next turn. Up north...



Jester gets the camp with his warrior. He now has a scout, 2 archers, and a warrior. That is a lot of units to take a camp. I have to assume he is heading down to my city or looking to plant a city in this valley and wants to show force to protect his settler.


Turn 35
Bonus turn as the save shows up as I was typing this up. Start turn off with kill the spear, which gives me...



Also gives me the boost for Archery. Builder finishes at Polar Vortex and I start a warrior, due in 5 turns after I rework the worked tiles. Builder farms the rice for the irrigation boost. He will pasture the horses next and either mine iron if it is available or place my unique improvement somewhere for gold and culture. 

Up north, my scout finds the path west is blocked by a mountain, so he heads east and finds all of Jester's units...



He didn't move south again and looks to be setting up a front between us. My best guess is he might be planning a city plan where the fortified archer is sitting. He should be getting out his first settler soon, since everybody else has 2 cities. Will have to keep an eye out. Switched research to Bronzing Working and will finish next turn, along with Early Empire. I bought the tile for the encampment at Bomb Cyclone before the price goes up next turn. I will place it next turn and assign Magnus to the city, so I can chopped it out.

[Woden]

Turn 36
Start off with...



And...



I like to post when techs and civics complete for easy reference and to compare to other games. I see I have iron in the 2nd ring of my capital...



I will have it in 6 turns. Not sure if I should buy to get Craftsmanship done sooner or just wait to save gold. I will think about it. I will need gold for upgrades. My slinger grabs the camp for more era points and some gold and my builder moves to the horses to pasture next turn. Assign Magnus at Bomb Cyclone.

Turn 37
Fourth turn of the day, nice when you can get those in the early game. Here is the current score...



Looks like pindicator and I are tied. He has more techs complete, I have more civics and population. As for my turn, I pasture the horses and my slinger moves towards Bomb Cyclone. My scout heads east. I rework the tiles at BC to finish the builder next turn. Will probably jump right into the Encampment to be able to chop it to completion when Magnus establishes. I should have Agoge in play by then for some military.

[Banzailizard]

What are your plans for your local city states, especially given the houserules for this game?