[Spoiler] Suboptimal Goes on a Pseudorandom Walk

[suboptimal]

Turn 118




Got it. No wonder movie but there it is. It should be increasing by 4 per turn for Scientists, Merchants and members of the creative class but the points haven’t updated yet. Pindicator’s milpower has updated with the turn rolling over. It’s up to 318 from last turn’s 251. I consider that to be a defensive upgrade – the math works out to some unit healing and a second crossbowman. The volcano notification in the screenshot is for Methana, which is the one on the coast east of LinCon.

The Acropolis at Mersenne Twister has been completed, the city starts on its walls. The builder there starts heading to the iron resource as the city will now claim it in three turns. I’ll mine the iron, one other hill and then head for LinCon with that builder. LinCon’s current builder puts down the second lumbermill. If I didn’t keep the city in growth mode for the time being its production would be just under 35 per turn. However, I want the city to get closer to population 8 before I go production heavy.

At Threefry the builder chops the jungle for 35 into the workshop and 35 into the city’s growth. That brings the workshop to completing next turn and the city will also grow next turn. Well, it should but nothing in the GUI updated. I swap the tile over to Acorn and place an Encampment. That will complete in three turns (cost of 112 as it’s discounted) and will start generating Great General points. Its completion will be simultaneous to Divine Right and I’ll put in the Veterancy policy when I switch governments. That should take about 7 turns though I may swap the lumbermill back to Mixmax when it starts the Entertainment Complex build.

In the east the scout meets up with someone:




It’s been there a while as it has a +6 fortification bonus. To avoid provocation I think I’ll head back south a little bit and wait for Cartography then cross the ocean there. I guess Woden may be content to watch his land approaches and build away. I once thought that might be a good idea, though I’m not so sure anymore…

[suboptimal]

Turn 119.

I check my GP generation to see how the Oracle has affected things and it is indeed doubled by Pingala’s ability. Point generation now stands at 16.1 (Scientist), 13.8 (Merchant) and 11.5 (Writer) and 5.7 (Musician & Artist). Once the Encampment is built I’ll be getting 4+ points there, another 3-4 with the barracks and another 2 with the Armory. Woden’s completed a Harbor and has started earning Great Admiral points but Pindcator will beat him to the first one.

Threefry’s workshop is complete and the city is at population 5. The city also expanded culturally and grabbed a plains woods tile. The builder I have that’s en route to the city puts down a lumbermill. The city’s production is now 22 per turn. That will rise to 25 per turn once the Aqueduct (5 turns) and Encampment (2 turns) are complete. I was originally going to chop the forest southeast of the district with the intent of mining it and the tile west for another +1 but a lumbermill will get me +2 on that tile. I also have nothing to put a chop into at this point in time. I think the lumbermill gets it. Of course, I have another intriguing possibility – I could chop the jungle W of the city for a +4 adjacency Commercial Hub. It would require the builder to stand around for a few turns to time the chop with the completion of the Aqueduct (and loses 1 adjacency for Acorn’s Campus) but I could use the cash (and more GM points and another trade route).

Interestingly despite having a valid location for a Dam district at two different cities the game is telling me I have no valid locations. I guess the mechanism that determines flood disasters also determines dam placement. There are a couple of tiles that are floodplains with 2+ edges that are rivers but the city has no valid locations. Good thing I didn’t want to construct any Dams. They’re stupidly expensive (currently 285) to boot.

Speaking of LinCon the Industrial Zone there is complete. It’s a +3 adjacency but I didn’t get any era points for it. I guess I misunderstand how that particular bonus works. A workshop takes 6 turns to complete and gets me another 3 production. I’ve got two turns to Divine Right completes. I start the workshop, then I’ll then do the Intelligence Agency (8-9 turns), finish the hoplite and workshop and go from there. I rearrange the city’s citzens to get growth to population 8 in four turns. I’ll run this until the city grows, then move into a low-food, high-production configuration that should push the city over 40 per turn.

Acorn has done something odd…




It was supposed to culturally claim the lake tile this turn. It’s claimed both the lake and the hill to the southwest. Interesting. In 6 turns it will claim the jungle 3NW of Kilimanjaro. The builder here heads for Mixmax. After a short debate about chopping vs. lumbermilling the forest I’ll be lumbermilling it. That will happen in four turns. The builder will then mine the grassland hill NW of the city that will be acquired next turn and head into retirement.

One thing I need to do is get a trader going between Mixmax and somewhere, either Acorn or Threefry, in order to get a road down. Two turns until Cartography, Divine Right and Monarchy. I will also run into another issue in about 6 turns. I’ll have a Great Writer and nowhere to put Great Works (well, one in the palace at LinCon but that’s it). Acorn will need to get its Amphitheater up at some point.

[suboptimal]

Turn 120

I’m up late tonight and the turn came around only a half hour after my normal window so I went ahead and got it in. This one should be quiet – no builds or reaserch completing, no cities growing, just unit movement. If this were Turn 121 I’d have waited until morning...that’s gonna be a relatively busy one.

The amenity situation has made things a little more tedious to track. The amenities move around and the cities switch between Happy and Ecstatic. This has some knock on effects. Nothing’s happened but my science is down a full point fro last turn, culture is likewise down a bit and LinCon, despite needing four turns to grow in pop as of last turn still needs four turns to grow. The flip-flopping involves LinCon, LFSR, Threefry and Xorshift.

Speaking of Xorshift, Triple-A is just off the coast and will land at the city next turn. Over in the far east the scout embarks onto the name-to-be-discovered body of water west of Persia. Good timing, too, because it will be able to go into ocean tiles next turn. Builder puts down a third lumbermill at LinCon. Builder at Mersenne Twister has reached the iron and will mine that next turn when the city expands.

Pindicator has recruited Marco Polo this turn, that leaves Irene of Athens for me. Woden will be getting Sun Tzu in 7 turns but by then I should be generating enough Great General points to be able to secure the next one, which is what I’m interested in getting.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Regarding Acorn, did you account for the extra tile from finishing the Oracle? Cities always grab a tile when completing a wonder.

[suboptimal]

Regarding Acorn, did you account for the extra tile from finishing the Oracle? Cities always grab a tile when completing a wonder.

I had forgotten about that.  Wonders actually grab two tiles.  I thought it was only one extra because it happened just before an expected cultural expansion and didn't see the city had expanded on T118 (even though it was in my screenshot).

[suboptimal]

Turn 121

Divine Right and Cartography are done. Time to make some changes around here. First off, government. I switch from Classical Republic to Monarchy. The downside here is that I lose the free housing and amenity from the government. The upside is that I’m first to a Tier 2 government so get a higher era point reward. Now for the policies….




As can be seen by my science rate, the deslotting of Natural Philosophy with the government change dropped my by 22, so it needs to go back in. This will be my policy set until I complete both Mercenaries and Medieval Faires, at which point I’ll need to make some changes for what I have in mind. I start Gunpowder, will get that to eureka + 1, get Banking to eureka + 1, do the same with Printing and then start finishing techs. I put in Medieval Faires as my civic, 6 turns to get that done.

Acorn starts a Stable. Why not a barracks? The XP bonus for stables affect cavalry units...and siege units. The latter is “undocumented” but if you look in the Buildings.xml file this bonus does apply to siege units. Found that out a few days ago in a CivFanatics post. It will take a turn longer han the barracks but that’s OK. The armory will take 5 turns after the stable completes but I’ll pull Veterancy once Mercenaries completes. LinCon switches over to the Intelligence Agency which currently takes 11 turns to complete. That will drop in three turns when I reconfigure the city after it grows.

Builders shuffle around and I put down the Iron Mine at Mersenne Twister. That city will grow next turn. My gold generation is down quite a bit and that’s due to Acorn’s trade route ending. It would be nice if the GUI did a better job of telling you what the remaining durations were. Makes things a littler more tedious to plan. I do know that I started the LFSR-Bologna route on T103 and the Threefry-LinCon route on T110. If my trade route understanding is correct that means that the LFSR-Bologna route should end on T135 and the Threefry-Lincon route should end on T138. Both of those traders will likely get rebased, though I should have a fourth trade route in about 17 turns. I send the Acorn trader back to Bologna for a 24-turn route.

Triple-A comes ashore at Xorshift. In the east the scout travels into the ocean and finds something curious…




Hmmm..where have I seen that name before? Oh yeah…




Interesting.

[suboptimal]

Turn 122

Open the save to a notification the Sawanqaya has blown its top in “one of the deadliest explosions known to mankind”. This deadly event affects nobody, though it does drop some volcanic soil on the grassland hill in Mersenne Twister’s second ring. Looks like my builder might hang around here for a bit. Of course, the city is going to grab the desert hill sheep next because resource. My builder might be here longer than I want.

Xorshift has completed its library and Mersenne Twister has grown to 2 population. Builds at Threefry and Mixmax complete next turn. City growth at LinCon, LFSR and Acorn over the next two turns as well. Barring some sort of unexpected aggression or a disaster at the World Congress in 11 turns things are starting to look reasonable. Up north Pindicator is using Omar as a scout:




I’ll need to keep that in mind. I’ll also be curious to see if he takes to the ocean or not. He might be going for circumnavigation. Pindicator’s scout has shown up in the east as well:




I expect he’ll go for a swim to get to my capital area for a look-see. I can move my warrior at LinCon to a choke point that will prevent southwards passage on the eastern side of the city.

Mixmax queues up the Entertainment Complex, that’s currently due in 10 turns. Builder moves to the forest and next turn I’ll have two options – chop and mine or lumbermill. I’m inclined to lumbermill at present. Xorshift starts a monument.

I shuffle some units around and keep Triple-A moving eastwards. The scout continues deeper into the eastern Pacific Ocean.

I think when Acorn grows to 11 population I’ll also finish Mercenaries. I don’t need Civil Prestige for the time being and can put in Caravansaries for some extra gold. I also look at the Great People situation. Encampment + Pingala’s Grants + Oracle = 6 Great General Points per turn. I am also generating 4 Great Engineer points though can only find 3 points of generation – two IZ’s and one workshop. I also poke around at LinCon and find out that by not working the amber for a turn (and working the sheep instead) I can grow the city’s population next turn.

[suboptimal]

Turn 123

Both Pindicator and Woden have been active in their own threads the past few turns and posting almost every turn. That’s a bit of a change of habit. Interesting. On opening the save I see that Pindicator’s scout has moved closer. He might be able to get through if he’s got the +1 movement in hills promotion, which is likely. We shall see.

LFSR and LinCon have both grown in population. I switch both over to a high production configuration. At LinCon this pushes the city’s production up to 44. At LFSR this gets production up to just under 20 (19.8, to be exact). This cuts build times in the cities to 6 turns for the Intelligence Agency and 7 turns for the University. Threefry’s Aqueduct is complete and gains the Industrial Zone another +2 adjacency. That city’s production is now 26.4 and will go up with the lumbermill and niter mine that will be put in shortly. The builder chops the forest and the city starts a Commercial Hub – this does cost me 2 per turn as the Campus at Acorn loses its jungle adjacency bonus. Builder at Mixmax puts in a lumbermill.

I switch from Gunpowder back to Banking as the former is at eureka + 1. I also switch civcs to Mercenaries. I’ll complete that next turn, swap Caravansaries for Civil Prestige and put an envoy into Granada for a unit production bonus at Acorn.

In the east I find Persian borders:




It’s Sun Dogs. According to the deal screen the city is Pop 2 and has a Harbor (placed or under construction as Woden isn’t generatin GA points), salt and crabs. The scout is going to turn southwest and maintain its distance from the borders for the time being. Speaking of Great People it looks like Omar may have run into some...difficulty:




Whoops.

[suboptimal]

Turn 124

Once the save loads I take a look in the north for Omar. It looks like Yerevan’s city attack may have saved his bacon. However, I’ve lost sight of him so he’s disappeared into the fog. As for Pindicator’s scout, well, he’s now “inside the line” as it were.




I have intentionally put the scout off-center to highlight the territorial gap in my borders. Get that tile and the scout cannot take the short route to my core. It’s third ring to both Threefry and LFSR and would cost 160 to purchase. But, hey lookey! I finished a civic, have an available policy change and Land Surveyors is available!

Swap civics back to Medieval Faires which is down to three turns thanks to overflow. Take a look at city status to see how many amenities and housing I can do away with on a policy change…




Well, taking out Civil Prestige takes 1 amenity and 2 housing from Acorn and LinCon. They drop to happy from Ecstatic. Housing is a bit superfluous so taking out Republican Legacy would also work, though taking out both drops cities from Ecstatic to Happy and then Happy to Content. It’s only three turns and I could use some flexibility. I take out both policies in the wildcard positions and slot in Land Surveyors and Caravansaries. If I don’t like the effect I can reslot Republican Legacy in three turns. Science and culture drop a few points each. I buy the tile for 128 and seal the border. While I’m here I swap out Banking for….Printing. I’m running out of stuff to get to eureka + 1. I can run that for 4 turns and then I’ll switch to Military Tactics.

I notice while making my score updates that both Woden and Pindicator appear to have changed some things up as their science and culture rates have also decreased slightly. Pindicator is now in Monarchy and Woden remains in Autocracy.

Completing Mercenaries gained me an envoy, giving me 6 in reserve. I spend two of them, one each in Auckland and Granada. This gives me suzerainty in both and as the first suzerain I get 2 era points for that. Then I remember that Jester had suzerained them first so that will leave me a touch short on era points once the hoplite comes out. Maybe….

Acorn has grown in population and has completed its Stable. That Stable should get me another 4 Great General points (+1 for the building, +1 for Bologna, doubled by Pingala), boosting my totals to 10 per turn starting this interturn. I start the Armory, 5 turns on that. As for the new citizen it works the unmined hill for 12. The city will grab a jungle hill next turn and I’ll I’ll probably also move the specialist out of the Campus and that tile.

At Threefry I decide to move the chariots back a bit. If Pindicator comes that way with his scout I want them out of view. Because of terrain he will not be able to see anything within the borders of Threefry, Acorn or Mixmax from the currently accessible borders unless it’s in the border tile. He can LFSR’s Campus, but that’s about it district-wise. I’ll leave the donut hole scout where it is. I also move the builders around. The one at LinCon puts a farm down west of the 5 wheat, raising its yield to 6. If the builder uses its remaining charge on the unmined hill I could swap over the sheep or horses and eke another out of the city.

In the West Pacific Ocean the scout moves SW and finds a second salt resource in Persia’s borders. This one isn’t improved yet.

[suboptimal]

Turn 125

Should be a quiet set of turns coming up as builds in my cities progress. Pindicator is sending his scout northwards instead of across the northern end of my territory. Good. One less thing to worry about. In other news I’ve determined that I need to hold Medieval Faires’ completion for a turn or two to line up my builds and my policy swap. I’ll put the extra time into Naval Tradition to set it up to use later for a double policy swap. I’ve also decided that I’ll run Printing to completion.

I’ve got two Great People waiting for me – Murasaki Shikibu and Irene of Athens. I immediately send Irene from LinCon to Xorshift for an ocean crossing beginning next turn. Irene goes to the Commercial Hub in Acorn and I activate her, picking up Amani and placing her in Threefry.

The builder at Threefry moves to the niter and mines it, getting me the eureka for Rifling. In two turns that builder will get the lumbermill down. Triple-A moves to LFSR and will stay put in the city for the time being. Builder at LinCon heads for the unmined hill. I could mine it but I’d have one to work it. Mersenne Twister will expand to the desert sheep in three turns. I’ll see how long it takes to acquire the forested hill and then decide if the builder will stick around or not. Of course, picking up the volcanic soil tile isn’t bad either – that’d be a 33 spot with a mine.

In the West Pacific Ocean Woden has come out to welcome my scout to Persian lands with a galley. I move southwest, check my options and then enter open ocean. If he doesn’t have Cartography I’ll be safe from his galley if he gets frisky.

Looking around at deal screens I see that Woden is still in Autocracy. Pindicator has started a unit build requiring iron as his reserves dropped from 46 to 28. I’ll keep an eye on his milpower to see if he gets out a swordsman or a knight and, more importantly, how long that takes. It’s not being built in any cities that I can see based on the Strategic View.