[Spoiler] Suboptimal Goes on a Pseudorandom Walk

[suboptimal]

Turn 75

There’s a certain fsort of symmetry of having an eventful turn on a nice “round” number like 75. Clear out the notification of Military Tradition completing and the inspiration pop-up for Recorded History. First up, did Pindicator settle?



(Taken well after the other pictures from my EoT save because I forgot to take one while playing the turn)

Yup. That’s fine. I’m sure I’ll see some mountain tunnels popping up there. On to the main event. With the completion of Military Tradition I get a policy change. I’ve also got a governor promotion waiting for me due to the completion of the Ancestral Hall at LinCon. One thing that’s missing from the policies – Republican Legacy. Of course, that should show up if/when I swap out of Classical Republic. I take out Urban Planning and put in Colonization. I also resume Recorded History, which has four turns remaining.

The completion of the Campus at Acorn not only raised my rate to 24.2:science per turn, but it earned me three envoys: one in Auckland for building a Campus and two in Jerusalem (courtesy of Diplomatic League) for earning the inspiration to Recorded History. I also have an envoy in reserve, if needed.

With the governor promotion I give Pingala the Researcher promotion - +1 per citizen in the city. Acorn is now producing 15.6 by itself and, as a whole, I’m now at about 31, though nothing in the UI except the city display has updated that fact.

Changes complete, time to set the production queues. Acorn starts a settler, 5 turns to completion. LinCon says it is 2 turns from a warrior; I put that into a queue. However, that doesn’t account for Agoge (+50%), God of the Forge (+25%), amenities (+5%) and the +2 from envoys in Granada. My numbers say it’ll be done next turn. It also shows a build time of 4 turns on the settler, but that’ll likely increase once Acorn is done with its first settler. Elsewhere, LFSR is 8 turns from walls.

In the west I move the warrior to the spot I intend to settle and will stay there. Bologna has four warriors wandering around between Acorn and its territory and I don’t want to get unit-blocked out of my settlement spot, even though it will be the second one settled. The warrior by Pindicator’s new city moves to the bananas directly SE of its position, where I’ll sit to keep an eye on things. The other warrior up there moves next to Incan territory and finds a few districts. Switch to Empire View:





Both the Government Plaza (with Ancestral Hall) and the Campus (no buildings but +6 adjacency ) belong to Abberath. I’m guessing there are geothermal vents to the E and NE of that Campus, as that’s the only way I can get to +6 in that location.

Looking out west, the warrior by Bandar Brunei moves onto a hill and finds...two barbarian quadriremes off the coast. The hill is coastal so my warrior is a bit exposed. Fortunately there’s only one coastal tile so it’ll still be around next turn. Up near the Ottoman Empire I move north and confirm the presence of a dead end. To the southeast I see the purple and red borders of Persia:




Astute observers will also note that Jester’s milpower is ZERO. Ugh. My last troop movement of the turn is to move the warrior NE of LFSR and confirm there are no reachable luxuries.

[suboptimal]

Turn 76

I failed to note last turn that Pindicator’s science rate is around 40 and that he’s researched at least one tech in the Medieval Era. The good news is that the 20% era cost increase will slow him down a little bit. Just a little, though. He continues to maintain a small army, which is good news for me.

Open the save, warrior finished at LinCon in one turn as expected. I start a settler there, four turns to completion. I change over to Iron Working from Construction. If my numbers are right the overflow from Iron Working will actually leave Construction at one turn. I move the warrior down to the Government Plaza (and shift that slinger to the iron) for upgrading next turn.

Up north, Pindicator has brought a promoted warrior down to his Campus. Guess he thinks I’m feeling frisky. Well, I’m not. I move my warrior west. My warrior exploring NE of LFSR begins its trek home and I fortify the warrior keeping an eye on Ralakesh.

I decide to move the builder in Acorn out to the forest NE of the city center. The city has expanded to grab another 22roduction tile so I will chop the forest into the Acropolis next turn. That should put the district at 45/53, leaving one turn to completion.

My warrior by Bandar Brunei was not attacked by the barbarian navy during the interturn. I move it north, remaining off the coast, and find this:




That’s a farmer’s paradise! Given the coastline and not being able to get to Woden to meet him I think I’ll send this warrior back the way he came in order to escort the eventual settler to the fur location.

Pindicator’s milpower this turn went up to 214. That’s fine. After looking around at city-states I estimate that he has three envoys in reserve – one each from Early Empire and State Workforce and a third from influence points. He has envoys in three city-states (Bologna, Yerevan, Bandar Brunei), all from first-meet bonuses.

Interestingly, Pindicator has passed on Euclid, realizing that doing so will get him Hypatia. IIRC I won’t have the option to pass on the Great Scientist, so I’ll be claiming Euclid. That guarantees Pindicator getting Hypatia – if she’s next, he beats me to her. If she’s not next, he can pass again and hand me Aryabhata 10 turns after I claim Euclid. While I would have liked the free library and the science boost I suppose 5 eurekas (Mathematics + four random) makes up for it, especially if I get a few of the more expensive Medieval techs to boot. For the record, I know that holding on to GS to “guide” their eurekas is a strategy but I’m only going to hold off on activating Euclid until LFSR completes its walls, as that eureka is already in progress. Actually…

Lurkers: Does anyone know what happens if you activate Euclid and already have the Mathematics eureka? Does it grant a second, random one or is that eureka lost?

I ask because with the chop at Acorn I’d be one turn from the Mathematics eureka. [i]Edit: I'd also get five era points for all those eurekas.[/u]

Looking at Woden, he’s in a very good spot strategically. He’s cut off from Pindicator and myself by the mountain chain along the Ottoman Empire’s southwestern flank and Jerusalem at the end of it. Once he eradicates Jester he will be in a good spot to go builder and attempt to take the lead from Pindicator. I’m going to keep my scout in the area in order to make contact with Woden once Jester falls.

[suboptimal]

Turn 77

Iron Working complete. There’s also a notification that we’re glad the rains have returned to relieve the massive drought outside...Istanbul. And hey, look! Jester’s milpower is nonzero again! YEAH! LFSR has also gained a population and I’ve got a great person waiting for me.

Upgrade the warrior at LinCon to send it off to the barbarian camp next turn. Warrior at Bandar Brunei starts to pick its way back west, as does the warrior NE of LFSR. The former is going to defog along the river between Granada and Auckland on the way back so that I can establish trade routes between the eventual fur city and those city-states. At Acorn I chop the forest into the settler, rather than the Acropolis. Settler completes, I start another settler. The city shows 8 turns but this will become 9 turns once LinCon completes its first settler (in four turns). The city will regrow to 6 pop next turn. The settler moves off to the northeast and will found the mountain pass city in 5 turns.

On the Great Person screen I have the option of recruiting Euclid or passing on him. If I pass, Jester would recruit Euclid in 17 turns, provided Jester lives that long. If he takes Euclid, then what? Pindicator still gets Hypatia. Why? Well, we’d both be well over the 60 point threshold for the next GS and Pindicator goes first in the turn order (you still accumulate GPP even if you can’t currently recruit a Great Person). If I take Euclid now, that leaves Pindicator to decide to take either Aryabhata or Hypatia, leaving me the remaining scientist (my GSP rate will lap Jester and Pindicator over the next 12 turns).

In thinking about it between turns I decided that I’d prefer to have the 5 eurekas over the free library and +1 to all libraries as I believe the net gain of the 5 eurekas has a better payback. I take Euclid, earning the eureka for Education and two era points (one for Euclid, one for the eureka). He shows up in LFSR and Hypatia is next on the list. I expect Pindicator to take her in four turns. That will leave me to claim Aryabhata in about 9 turns.

I’m not going to use Euclid until I complete an Acropolis for the Mathematics boost so I decide to send him east to defog the area northeast of Granada. Gotta get some use out of the four movement points before I activate him.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Lurkers: Does anyone know what happens if you activate Euclid and already have the Mathematics eureka?  Does it grant a second, random one or is that eureka lost?

I ask because with the chop at Acorn I’d be one turn from the Mathematics eureka.    [i]Edit: I'd also get five era points for all those eurekas.[/u]

The Eureka is lost, judging by my SP experience. Some of the later GS that boost Chemistry or Computers are usually worthless to me - I've triggered them to see what would happen and gotten nothing, basically.

[suboptimal]

Hmmm...maybe I'll keep him at LFSR and use him as soon as the city completes its walls. Of course, with my luck I'll get the 20 eureka for Sailing from him.

[suboptimal]

Turn 78

Construction completes. Start Currency, complete in 3 turns. I was expecting Recorded History to finish this turn but it looks like I’m short an amount of culture equal to 1 population at Acorn. Acorn has also regrown the population it lost last turn. Next time I check the food levels first. The city will gain another population before the next settler completes. I may take that opportunity to lock in a Commercial Hub though it’ll cost me about 80 to buy the tile to do so. I also get a notification that Uwinas is now an active volcano. However, it’s NE of Yerevan so not of any importance to me.

After CMF’s comment about losing eurekas I move Euclid back to LFSR. I also continue moving the various scattered units on their chosen routes. The swordsman will take four more turns to get to the barbarian camp.

Looking around at the situation, Ralakesh is already Population 3 due to the terrace farms. Jester also got his milpower up to 59 so I wonder if Woden has stalled out a bit.

[suboptimal]

Turn 79

Recorded History is complete, start Games & Recreation and it has 4 turns to go (might be 3 with overflow). I change policies, taking out Diplomatic League and Agoge and putting in Charismatic Leader and Natural Philosophy. I’ll get Games & Recreation to one turn, then switch over to Military Training. I’ll save one of the two for a policy swap to remove Colonization once I’ve got three more settlers out. The switch to Natural Philosophy gets my up to 39, which is within shouting distance of Pindicator’s 43.9.

The “big debate” this turn is the governor promotion from Recorded History. What to do with it? Since nothing’s really changed since my last look at governors (Turn 44), it currently comes down to two choices: Liang for Zoning Commissioner (+20% to districts in the city) or Grants for Pingala (+100% GP generation in the city).

Given that I’ll be building more districts before I need the extra GP generation in Acorn (that’ll be useful after I get the Acropolis built there) I’ll take Zoning Commissioner now and Grants later (with Defensive Tactics). I also move Liang to LFSR as that will be the first city to build a builder and start working on a new district.

Units move around, the only discovery of note is in the north – there’s iron in that mountain alcove NE of Acorn:




I do get a little curious (and have some time) and the Bolognese warriors are returning to their city. I move the warrior south of the city-state towards the woods NW of my intended settlement location. From the forest I’ll be able to see if there’s anything tucked to the west of the mountain chain or if it’s all just coast. Fog gazing makes it look like there’s a land tile tucked in there.

[suboptimal]

Turn 80

Currency has completed. The increased output from Natural History got it done early. I start Apprencticeship and will work on that for the time being. I won’t have the eureka until I get the central river valley city planted and build a third mine there. However, I’ll be able to switch over to Engineering and then work on Machinery while I wait for the city to be founded. I go ahead and buy the tile for the Commercial Hub at Acorn (80) and put down a Commercial Hub at LFSR, removing the jungle east of the city. I rearrange the citizens to work both of the 13 plains forested hills. I’ll start a builder after the walls complete and when the first lumbermill goes down I’ll switch a ciitzen over to to the 3 farm to get growth going again. Edit: I'll build the district first, then the builder, since I can't put lumbermills down until I complete Machinery

I take a look around the map. Pindicator’s scout has finally made it east to near the Ottoman borders and he’s met Jester, presumably from the trader moving between Istanbul and Brussels. Pindicator’s slinger is shadowing my warrior next Tukohama Reborn and the warrior by LFSR has entered the northern mountain pass to the east. Everything else seems quiet.

Over by Bologna my warrior moves up to the coast and finds a deer tucked into the mountain chain, along with a barbarian scout:




In the north I defog the remainder of that small valley, finding only marshland next to the iron. Other units continue on their merry way.

Next turn I’ll have LinCon’s first settler out and the walls at LFSR will complete, allowing me to activate Euclid for the first couple of eurekas. Pindicator will be able to claim Hypatia next turn if he so desires. I’ll get Aryabhata in seven turns. I also see that Pindicator has completed a Commercial Hub as he’s started earning Great Merchant points. First up is Marcus Licinius Crassus, who has 3 charges with each charge annexing a tile and earning 60. He’ll definitely be getting that one.

[suboptimal]

Turn 81

Open the save, Engineering eureka has been earned as walls are now complete in LFSR. LinCon’s first settler is complete, the city will regrow the lost population in one turn. I’ve decided to shift the city back to the west, onto the wheat:




This shift does a couple of things for this city:

- Puts two 22 tiles first ring
- Puts the Industrial Zone 6 tiles from the most cities
- Allows for the possibility of an Entertainment Complex or a Commercial Hub at the marked locations
- The Aqueduct is not needed for housing but increases the possible adjacency of the IZ from 2 to 4.
- I could harvest the deer into the IZ and put down a lumbermill to get back lost production without waiting for cultural growth.

Looking elsewhere on the map I see this oddity:




Not sure what Jester is trying to do here but I don’t plan on declaring war to capture it. Pindicator also claimed Hypatia as expected. In other news, Woden’s milpower decreased a bit. He was in first place (> 243) and is now in third (< 216). Woden is also in the Great Scientist race, though he’s only generating 2 GSP per turn and I’ll lap him shortly.

Alrighty...on to doing instead of looking. I switch over to Engineering and will complete that. Then I’ll start working on Machinery, upgrading three slingers to archers when I’m at eureka + 1 turn to go. Of course, that depends on what Euclid does….here goes nothing…I get Mathematics (worth 80) and...



Well, that’s worth 156, so not bad. Is it worth more than 90 and the +4 per turn I currently would have gotten? That’s up to the lurkers to debate.

Warriors in the north and east continue homewards. I go to start the Commercial Hub in LFSR and notice that I have NOT promoted Liang as I thought I did. I must have gone into the interface and moved her without promoting here. I do so now and start the Commercial Hub. LinCon starts another settler (for the furs settlement) and with a slinger escort it starts moving north. Scout continues defogging in the east.

[suboptimal]

Turn 82

Games & Recreation is down to one turn, Engineering is complete. Up north Pindicator now has two units trailing my warrior. No matter, as the settler sets up shop:




The northern warrior moves NW from that position. I also bring the warrior now in the city center NW to fortify on the jungle hill as an added measure. The city is in a well-protected spot. The jungle hill to the NW blocks all visibility from the north so there’s no ranged attacks on the city from that direction. Likewise, the eastern approach is one tile wide and I may clog that with an Encampment. Two land units plus walls should keep this route blocked for quite a while.

I place a Campus (+4 adjacency) on the marked tile – cost of 131, 44 turns to completion (for now). I send the builder towards Acorn. What it does depends on Acorn’s cultural growth in two turns. Acorn has been flipping back and forth between several 22 tiles. If it picks the forest to the north then I’ll swap it to Mixmax, chop & mine that tile and then put a mine SE of Kilimanjaro. If it takes a jungle then the builder make a couple of improvements around Acorn (mine, lumbermill) and then head back to Mixmax for a chop. Other units continue on their journeys.

Central river valley settles in four turns, Acorn’s settler will be out at the same time, LinCon will follow with its settler three turns after that. I may consider a diversion to Shipbuilding once the coastal city west of Acorn is founded and stall LinCon’s settler. That would give me a chance to send the warrior to the seas SW of Bologna to see if there’s a larger island over there. There is a reef two tiles off the coast and I think that reefs only occur adjacent to land. If there is one (and it has a luxury resource) I may send the settler in that direction.