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

[Brian Shanahan]

I did open the save to a massive hurricane of the coast of Ground Blizzard...

Nuke it!

Edit: Sorry I couldn't resist.

[Woden]

I did open the save to a massive hurricane of the coast of Ground Blizzard...

Nuke it!

Edit: Sorry I couldn't resist.

  Too bad I don't have nukes right now. Might be fun to see what happens!

[Woden]

Turn 155
Hurricane fizzled out before doing any damage to my coast. Open the save to...



And...



Time for a policy swap...



Taking out Conscription drops my income from 104 to 62 Huge drop but still do-able. I won'y be running Conscription again for a while as I have some military needs. I put the upgrading discount cards for upgrades and will switch out next turn when Naval Tradition completes. I upgrade 2 catapults to bombards and 2 immortals to muskets, with the former giving me the boost to Siege Tactics.

With Serfdom running, I can settle Flash Flood...



Not much for a city but it is in range of the Colosseum. I switch the grassland mine to the city so it has some food and production. I place a Harbor but start working on a granary. Trade route finishes at Ground Blizzard and I sent it here to help speed its growth along. It is already generating 2.4 and has +2 happiness thanks to the Colosseum and will not cost anything (happiness-wise) until it hits size 7. I could buy a desert tile and a jungle tile by Ground Blizzard and trap suboptimal's writer but then he would be lurking until either of us declared war. Figure it would be better to let him leave.  

In the northeast...



My boat came across a barb camp with a few boats. I will attack them until I need to heal. My boat should already have a promotion, so I should be able to kill one before I have to retreat. With how close I am to Square Rigging, I don't want to hang out here for too long, as a Barb Frigate might show up at any time. 


Turn 156
Start with...



And...



Upgrades complete, so I swap out of the upgrading policies...



I keep Maritime Industries in for the time being to chop out a few boats at Thunderstorm when it settles in a few turns. It hurts a little to not run Conscription but I have the spare income right now to manage.

With the 2 envoys for Colonialism and 1 from Naval Tradition, I send them to Bolonga for extra science and get vision around the city...



I gain vision on Acorn and the back half of Xorshift. Nothing over by pindicator's land. I am pretty sure suboptimal has a few extra envoys laying around, thanks to getting on every time he builds his unique Theater Square. He will take back suzerain before the next World Congress. Too bad scientific city states don't provide their bonus (resolution in world congress). The extra great people points would be nice. 

Not much else going on this turn. I put Siege Tactics in to finish next turn and Nationalism to finish in 5 turns but will probably switch to Civil Engineering as I chop out boats.

[Woden]

Turn 157
Finish...



Get a slew of notifications. Pindicator and suboptimal have made peace. That was a whole lot of nothing. Suboptimal put 2 envoys into Bologna and I am no longer suzerain. And then this...



A violent storm breaks out at Bomb Cyclone and is heading west. If I only had some nukes! Or does that only work with hurricanes? Encampment is already damage, including all of the buildings. Campus is probably toast too. I know we turned the dial up on event but I am feeling a little targeted here. I live on the continent of Europe and there are 2 other continents. One where pindicator is located and the other where suboptimal is mainly located. On the events screen, there has been 14 events in Europe and 5 not in Europe. What the hell? I don't know if the others aren't recorded if I don't have the area defogged but seems a little one-sided. Anyways, I will finish the Industrial Zone and chop out a workshop before I fix the other districts. Then, at least my production will be higher. It would really suck if the tornado hooks north and damages La Nina. 

Up north, the barbs might help me out a little...



My knight started on one of the flat tundra tiles south of where is shown. The barb skirmisher popped up this turn. I decided to promote my musket instead of killing the Pike and Shot, since the latter would leave him vulnerable and possibly dead if the skirmisher attacks. I move the knight up to block suboptimal's scout . Due to the ZOC from the Pike and Shot, I am pretty sure he can't move past my knight. Hopefully, at least the skirmisher attacks his scout this turn. Not sure if it will have enough to kill him but maybe. 

Derecho finishes an University and starts a bank. I start researching Printing, due in 3 turns. F1 finish Ancient Walls, starts Medieval Walls.

[Woden]

Took awhile for the turn to back to me, especially for a Sunday but pindicator might have forgot to upload the save because it moved around shortly after I posted something in the tech thread. I usually wait 24 hours (which it was) before I post something. Don't want to be pushy. 

Turn 157
Let's see what damage was done by the tornado...



The encampment and buildings were destroyed last turn. This turn, the library, both spice plantations, and a lumbermill were destroyed (Edit: also lost a mine and Pairidaeza) and Bomb Cyclone lost 2 population. It might not look like it, but I think I am a little lucky here. La Nina's commercial hub is undamaged and only the library was destroyed, not the whole Campus. The builder from Flash Flood moves up to Bomb Cyclone to chop out some tress and will repair at least 1 spice to get the happiness. I bought a builder a couple of turns ago to improve a few tiles around El Nino and Micro Burst. He will moved down here afterwards and replace the remaining tiles. The Library and Encampment will have to wait until the Industrial Zone and workshop are finished. 

Speaking of Bomb Cyclone, Magnus has established and I have enough faith to buy a settler...



I post a screenshot because I just noticed the value I am getting for the settlers. This settler costs 410 or 450 Thanks to Monumentality (-20%) and Theocracy (-15%) bonuses, that is a 1 to 1.1 ratio. Pretty good return on all this faith generation. Definitely worth all the production into religion. And to think, the others have pretty much ignored it. Now, I only have 25 or so turns left with Monumentality and it is not available after this Era, but I have more plans for all my faith and will continue trying to generate as much as I can, namely Governor Moksha and the ability to buy districts with faith. 

Lost a boat to barb ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I decide to bring all my boats back home. Don't need to lose anymore and I need to start preparing my defenses. With suboptimal and pindicator not at war any longer, they may soon come to the realization that they need to turn their attention to me, especially if I found a bunch of cities in the next 20 turns. I need to be ready and I have been planning for such case for a while. Starting with...



I have the entire coast defogged with boats looking out for suboptimal's forces if he tries a sea invasion and soon there will be Frigates instead of Quadriremes. They should give me plenty of warning. Up north at the land bridge and sea between pindicator's land and CFCJesterFool's land...



Thunderstorm will settle next turn and will chop out 3 quadriremes before I finish Square Rigging. I think with all my boats, I don't think a sea invasion from the west will be possible. I am fortify the land bridge and will work on the encampments I have pinned as soon as the walls are finished. It will be tough to fight through here and I will keep an army around F1 to protect the mountain pass. This leaves an invasion from the east. In the northeast...  



This is probably my most vulnerable area. Long, unsettled coast. It will be settled shortly but will still be vulnerable. My new cities will act as buffers if an invasion comes here. They will get slowdown while I gather my forces.   I will have most of my cavalry stationed around La Nina to be able to react to where ever a threat may pop up. I will also have my eastern fleet keeping an eye out in the eastern ocean.I might need a few more boats. 

Finally, my core...



I should be fairly secure here. I will have the coast filled with cities and have it all visible once I get more settlers out. I will also have an army down here to fend off any invaders.  I have 2 major advantages right now: (1) I can get DotF spread around if need be and (2)...



I am 3 turns from Nationalism and corps, while the others are still at Humanism/Diplomatic Service. I figure I got at least 10-20 turns before they can get to Nationalism and pose much of a threat to me. Something that might hurt is if they form a Military Alliance, which would give them +5 strength against me, equaling DotF. I think I should be fairly protect in 20 turns if left alone for that long.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

I have to admit, a few weeks ago, I was bashing you in the lurker thread for not having a clear plan to win the game despite your advantages. You've really turned things around since then and have been playing a really focused, dedicated game. Great work, and keep the reports coming! I read every one!

[Woden]

I have to admit, a few weeks ago, I was bashing you in the lurker thread for not having a clear plan to win the game despite your advantages. You've really turned things around since then and have been playing a really focused, dedicated game. Great work, and keep the reports coming! I read every one!

Thanks, I think! I have an end game strategy sketched out and will share in the coming turns. Usually would do a turn 200 updated but I think since I will start implementing it shortly and the political landscape is changing (pin and subs peace and my snowball is about to explode with 7 more cities), I will work on something this week/weekend.

As a very brief summary, I want to try a cultural victory against 2 players (one being Gorgo) on a map sized for 6 players (need 750 tourism per tourist). Is that even possible in multiplayer? I don't know but want to try. I think it will be quicker than spaceship. Let's see if we can break the cultural victory. 

Honestly don't think this game will go long enough to get the cultural victory. Once I start pulling away in all categories, the other players will probably give up and concede. I am kind of hoping they get their act together and attack me together; see if they can break the fortress I am developing. But that will be hard with no diplomacy. We will see....

[Woden]

Looks like we are going to be on a break for the next 2 weeks. Good timing for my strategy write up. Gives me time to work out some the finer details. Anyways, here are my last 2 turns. 

Turn 159
Start this turn off with settling Thunderstorm and immediately buying 2 forest tiles...



The tile buys cost about 340 and I need them to chop out 3 quadriremes. I can justify buying the 2 tiles because it will get me back in Conscription sooner and can earn the gold back in least than 10 turns. Would be much longer if I slow built them. The city is working on the granary because the chops will be more than enough to complete the quadrireme and with the broken overflow, I lose it. About 80 per chop and it doesn't matter if I am working the same thing next. But I need to have some sort of defenses in the northern ocean, so I need to do what I need to do. 

Engineering is in position to put a fort down at El Nino and places the first one. The second will go down next turn. I decided to build just one engineer because I have other things more pressing at the moment. I was going to build two, so each could use a charge and be around when I can lay railroads but I decided I can just build one later.

Up north, I kill the skirmisher with my knight and don't see suboptimal's scout anywhere, so he either escaped by the ocean or got roasted by the barb.

I earned a couple of envoys last turn and didn't use them. I was going to save them for Antananrivo but changed my mind. I have 2 universities and want to see if suboptimal has anymore envoys, so I through my 6th envoy into Bologna...



He will only need 1 envoy to gain suzerain back, so let's see if he has anymore envoys. Finally, I needed to decide where to send my new settler I bought last turn. I was originally going to send him north but now am thinking to settle the desert junk city next turn. There is a little more damage at Bomb Cyclone than I initially saw, 5 improvements were stripped from the landscape and need to be replaced. I can use some of the builder's charges to get Bomb Cyclone rolling again. So, I send the settler to the desert spot.

This turn was a surprise morning turn and then when it can back to suboptimal again later night, he didn't play it and I started to worry that I would have to wait 2 weeks to get the next turn. Luckily, he play the next morning before he left on his vacation. Good, since I have a few things to do in this turn that I might forget over the next two weeks.


Turn 160
Start off with...



The Grand Master's Chapel finishes at Polar Vortex. Until recently, I didn't realize you get a policy swap when you finish a government building. But before the policy swap, I found my new city (will show it in a minute). As for the policy swap...



Need to found the city beforehand to get the extra charges on the builder. Out goes Serfdom for a while and in goes Gothic Architecture. Why? Well... 



The Great Bath provide the city 3 housing and 1 Amenity. Don't really care about the flood protection because those are broke. Bomb Cyclone can use some housing. Builder moves to the forest with a stripped off lumbermill and chops it for 151 and the wonder completes, thanks to the policy card and Brussels. If I didn't have the policy, I would have been short by a few and need to put a turn into it. As it stands, I can go straight back to the Industrial Zone.  Pretty nice, not even a turn of production into it and I can replant the forest in about 15 turn.  I swap out of Nationalism and into Civil Engineering. I will swap back next turn, just need an extra turn to chop out the last Quad.

Alright, my new city, Sun Showers...



Sun Showers typically make me smile and this will be a happy little city, thanks to the Colosseum. Builder places a Pairidaeza and will mine a grassland hill before moving to Bomb Cyclone to replace some of the destroyed tiles.  City is already contributing 4.2 but will be slow to grow. At least it will be happy for free for a while.  It needs a trader to help the granary along and probably won't get above 4 or 5 population before I get sewers available. I will get a Theater Square in to start and maybe a Commercial Hub for the trader route a little further down the line. I will start with the TS because it should still be discounted. 

Suboptimal did not send an envoy into Bologna, so maybe he is out. I decide to send my last envoy to Antananavio to deny him suzerain and then I send Amani with the governor title from the GMC. Speaking of the GMC, it finishes a big part of my defensive strategy. I can now buy land units with faith. This will be handy if the others attack...



And they are not too expensive. I can probably buy top-of-the-line units every 3 turns.

Okay, I will work on my end game strategy and share while we are on this break. This will give me time to go back into the save and work on some of the details. I will probably post chunks of it over a few posts. Stay tuned...

[Woden]

A couple more thoughts on Sun Showers. The city has no water, so only has 2 housing and already under the 0.5 growth penalty but that doesn't matter right now. I need it to grab some tiles and force the cites around it to pick up other tiles (the jungle tiles around Bomb Cyclone and Ground Blizzard). Sun Showers will have a mine and camp and a few forest tiles to work, so should be good on production for a small city. I am going to try and keep it at 6 population, so it doesn't cost an amenity and can build a few districts. Not looking for much from this city, so I think it is worth settling. 

I will be able to buy another settler next turn and will ship him north. Then I might move Magnus to another city that needs some chopping but I am getting ahead of myself. I will discuss that in my strategy update.

[Woden]

Persia: The End Game

I went through the last save and pinned most of the builder actions I should do so I can figure out what I can can do, how I am going to need to do it, and how I am going to win this game. This post will provide an overview of potential improvements.  I won't be able to get it all done unless this game goes another 100 or so turns but at least this will get me thinking about what I need to do. 

The numbers above the pins are the number of builder actions needed to improve the tile, including removing a feature, adding a feature (trees), and adding the final improvement. This gives me an idea of the amount of builders I will need and it is a lot. I will briefly go over each city, what it will build in the near future and the improvements needed, including the number of builder charges needed. 

Starting in the east west (I can tell direction  )...



F1 Tornado
The city will work on walls until it finishes Renaissance Walls and then build its Encampment and filling it out. This can be sped up with some chops of all the old growth forests and jungles. It has room for 5 seaside resorts, a bunch of lumber-milled forests, and a low priority National Park. It will need lots of builder labor, requiring 22 builder charges, not accounting for a few tiles 3rd ring tiles in the east, which will be a while before it grabs those.  

Thundersnow
Thundersnow will finish all of its walls and then chop out a shipyard before building its campus and spitting out builders. It has locations for 6 seaside resorts and possible ski resort location. It will need a few tiles reworked, as the Pairidaeza west of the city is not in a good location. Lots of jungle to chop here , might need to get a neighborhood here so I don't waste the food. The city needs 27 builder charges to get everything done. 

Thunderstorm
Thunderstorm is one of my new cities and is currently working on a granary while chopping out a few quadriremes. The builder will have 3 charges after chopping and will place a Pairidaeza and mine before going to harvest the stone at El Nino. It will work on walls and an encampment after the granary and may need a aqueduct or neighborhood in the near future for some extra housing. It has a good location for a higher priority national park and 1 seaside resort. I also plan to put down a bunch of forests to increase the appeal of the national forest and added production from lumbermills. It will need 14 builder changes (including what the current builder will do) and should be a decent city when complete. 

Drought
Drought is currently working on a Trader and will push out its walls afterwards. Then probably push out builders until I have enough. The city needs minimal builder attention and only need about 5 charges to get this going. There are a few mines I can put down that aren't marked and a few forests I can place when it grabs its 3rd ring tiles and I could also put farms on the flood plain tiles but those are not a very high priority. The fishery also has to be repaired and the currentt builder at Micro Burst will come over and fix it as soon as he is done over there. 

El Nino
El Nino is currently working on an amphitheater and will push out an Archaeology Museum afterwards for a boost, then a neighborhood and archaeologist. The city needs minimal builder labor, just need to plant some tress and Pairidaeza where the forts are located, plus a few farms in the west. I want to get this city as big as I can for the Pingala bonuses. This has become one of my best cities thanks to Jester building the Temple of Artemis. 

La Nina
La Nina is currently working on its Industrial Zone and will build a workshop before put down its walls. The city has locations for 2 national parks that will be top priority. Why do I want national parks? Well, they provide tourism equal to the appeal of all 4 tiles and provide 2 amenities to the home city and 1 amenity to the four closest cities. Once I settle my next 6 settlers, happiness is going to start being a problem, as I only have 4 types of luxuries. These national parks will help alleviate unhappiness while providing large amounts of tourism. Naturalists are expensive but I should have a good amount of faith. I have 6 potential locations and don't think I will get to them all but teh 2 at La Nina will take priority,as they will provide happiness to my more developed cities. The city will need lots of builder love,as it needs 27 builder charges for everything, including replacing a few mines with forests. I will also need need to remove the bananas for the NP, which also removes an amenity from the ToA but I will gain it back with the NP. I also placed a spaceport here. No plans to build it but will faith buy it after the I buy the one at Micro Burst. I will need them just in case I a cultural victory becomes to hard. 

Micro Burst
The city completed its workshop and started a watermill this last turn. The city is in desperate need of food to grow, so it can work all of its awesome tiles. After the watermill, it will complete its walls and then spit out a bunch of Builders. I will improve what I can here until I unlock Steel and can build the Eiffel Tower. Then I will chop all the trees and most of the stone into it to rush it along. It needs 29 builder charges and has locations for 2 seaside resorts. Liang will move here when I am ready for builders. The city should be able to push them out fairly quick and will become my high production city. I will faith buy the spaceport when Rocketry finishes (if we get that far) and will need to build a neighborhood eventually so the city can get large. Might also build a discounted Water Park if amenities become an issue. 

That is the east. I will work on writing up the remainder of my cities next. I did notice going through this that I now have the same amount of cities as the others combined. I have 15, and will get 6 more before the era ends, pindicator has 8 cities, and suboptimal has 7. Their cities combined are more developed than mine but as I develop mine, I should start pulling away in all categories. 

More to come...

Edit: For reference, I need 133 builder charges for these cities.  If we assume every 3rd builder has 7 charges, that will be a 21 builders for these cities.