Two turn reports. Maths is in and it's time to save gold.
The barb warrior died, but put a dent in my warrior.
The western barb is tricky: watch it disappear...
(No comment on how bad these are).
Turn 070
...and remain disappeared but not actually dead. I made a mistake, I should have fortified the warrior on the plains cow, but I didn't realise that the barb didn't attack and die until after I'd played the turn. As it is, I'd still have made every other move the same.
The axe had to move forward: if that barb warrior was an axe instead of the warrior, how stupid would I feel if I had a unit get the hill bonus rather than the forest bonus? And there is another western barb! I can't safely move any of my fogbusters around at this point, so I'm going to have to micro the axe movements to kill as many of them as possible. Maybe I can get the axe to 8XP?
That crop yield is bizarre. How it's that high I have no idea, but then I look at the MFG and realise we are working one hill mine as of this turn. OTOH, this turn I performed a triple whip, so this is a low ebb as I'm not planning on whipping the capital again. By T74 we should be at an MFG of 31 and CY of 64 which will be a high ebb, which is going to be around average for the slowest starting leader/civ pairing in the game, with some pretty naff food resources.
The GNP is actually OK, it's depressed due to not researching and supporting 9 units outside borders and whipping off two FIN coast tiles. THe pop regrows quickly, and the units will be inside my borders by T73. I just need to fix the MFG whilst not letting the CY drop and everything should be OK...for a given value of OK.
our GNP seems really high to me, considering that we have no metal mines and slider is at 0%. CY and MFG, OTOH, is tragic, but not much we can do about right now.
Barbs don't like attacking axes with warriors. Odds aren't good enough. Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands:
The barb warrior threatening Owlthorpe is dealt with as expected: offer it the 50/50 and have two warriors to clean up. Not ideal but no other options at this point.
If it beelines WT instead I will be annoyed, and I will send the warrior pair 2SE. If the warrior then decided to move back north to attack Owlthorpe I'll have limited choice but to bring one of the warriors back and probably lose the cow pasture. I expect it to take the 50/50.
I've had to tighten the micro up for Westminster, because of the happy issue. Westminster will not be happy at size 7 until T79, so the galley has to complete on growth to size 7 and overflow out maximum hammers (30 hammers minimum), but if I do this then I can get the settler down to a 4 turn build.
So the plan is:
T71, T72: to work fish/rice/grass hill mine/coast/coast. Worker5 chop/cancels. Galley 24/50, growth@6 eot T72
T73, T74: work fish/rice/grass hill mine/river grass hill mine/coast/coast. Worker5 mine/cancels. Galley 40/50
T75: work fish/rice/grass hill mine/river grass hill mine/plains hill mine/coast. Worker5 chops the last remaining forest and galley completes 82/50, growth@7 eot75.
T76: work fish/rice/grass hill mine/river grass hill mine/plains hill mine/coast and build settler 48/100. Worker5 mine/cancel. 1 unhappy face has no effect as building a settler. Gilbert loads onto galley, moves E - E.
T77: Worker5 mine/finish, swap coast for grass hill mine. Settler 66/100. Axe2 completes in Wetheral. Galley move E - unload Gilbert onto grassland - W
T78: Settler 84/100 , 1 whip unhappy wears off eot. Axe2 SE - SE. Galley - W - end turn. Worker5 N - N onto galley
T79: New pop works any tile (grass hill mine available), settler 102/100 eot. Axe2 SE - E onto galley, Galley E - end turn, Worker5 moves NE onto sheep hill.
T80: Westminster builds settler (due eot84 unless we give the fish to island city, in which case eot85). Settler SE - NE onto galley, Galley E - end turn, axe2 unload onto sheep hill (if no need to leave borders) or onto grassland if need to build fortification bonus.
This is pretty tight, theoretically it's possible to trade 2 hammers for 3 commerce by working a coastal tile whilst building a settler, but better to save that until later, if it is needed. I don't think there will be barbs on the island, but Gilbert can safely explore a tile at a time. and there is an axe as back up. Or I could settle between the clam and copper, and Westminster can supply the workboat. Whatever works, but we have scouting aims for Gilbert at least.
3.13% of this happening. Perfect coin toss, and 2XP in the bag. And more barb warriors!
Unfortunately, I can either fortify in place, or move a tile north, because this victorious warrior is still needed to barb bust hte incense. Every other tile is covered, but that. God I wish I had managed to pop borders at Owlthorpe.
I'me going to leave the warrior fortified in place, at least for this turn, as I am wary that the western warrior will head to Owlthorpe. I think it will head for the unprotected worker, but I don't think leaving the warrior in place this turn is that important. Not that moving it north would make it reach Scarrowhill any faster.
My axe is going to be busy protecting the workers, but this is why I'm being aggressive with the chops.
I've got new worker micro for the city5 location (after looking at google maps, going with the name Scarrowhill).
I'm unhappy with the idea of waiting for the horse hook up. Extremely unhappy, because if an axe turns up I have no sound counter. Therefore, library before granary. FWIW, even if the sheep were magically pastured, Scarrowhill could not grow until eot78, or eot80 if the plains cow were improved, so it's not like there isn't leeway to actually make things work.
Here is the micro:
T73: Worker5 chop. Worker6 chop. Build granary, work plains cow.
T74: W5 chop. W6 chop. Granary 6/60, food box 4/22.
T75: W5 chop/finish. W6 chop finish. Build library 107/90, food box 6/22.
T76: W5 move NW - pasture. W6 move SE - W chop/cancel. Build granary 19/60. Food box 8/22. Culture 2/10. [Worker7 whipped in Owlthorpe].
T77: W5 pasture/cancel. W6 move NW - W - pasture/cancel. W7 moves NW - NW - W - chop/cancel. Work plains cow. Granary 22/60. Food box 10/22. Culture 4/10.
T78: W5 move NE. W6 pasture/finish. W7 chop/finish. Granary 57/60, food box 13/22. Culture 6/10. [Worker3 finishes mine at Westminster]
T79: W5 road. W6 move S - road. W7 move S - road. Granary 62/60. food box 16/22. Culture 8/10. [Worker3 moves into Wetheral]
T80: W5 road/finish. W6 road/finish. W7 road/finish. Build...whatever. Food box 19/22. Culture 10/10. [Worker3 moves W - SW - road/cancel. Whip worker in Wetheral]
T81: W5 moves S - SE - S - pasture. W6 moves NE - SE - S - pasture. W7 pasture. W8 [Wetheral] moves W - SW - road/finish. W3 moves SW - SW - pasture/finish. Food box 22/22 > 6/24
T82: W5+W6+W7+W3 move N - NW - N - pasture/finish. Work sheep and cow. Food box 11/24
Before anyone asks why not speed up the granary by working a plains forest...it's actually a wash in terms of output, the saved food from the granary is equivalent as teh food generated by just growing faster and working the sheep a turn sooner (but you get the extra hammer and commerce from teh sheep but pay city maintenance costs for the extra pop point). Mainly though, it's an emergency whip a turn sooner. Growth@3 eot85.
Next turn one unit disappears, a new scout is built, and 5 units (included the disappeared settler) will "re-enter" borders, but that newly built scout and Worker1 will leave borders (so 7 units will be outside borders). I think that saves 2gpt, maybe 3? Let's see what the city maintenance will jump to. I'm guessing 9.
Next turn is a 10 food jump. And 8 MFG increase. Add in the costs changes and I'll be interested to see how the next 10 turns play out. If the barbs can be handled without significant cost I think we'll be in as competitive position as Hannibal of England with a low food start could hope to be.
I'm putting the assorted worker micro at the bottom of this post and linking it in the second thread. for you, AT. Thank you for offering to play the turns whilst I'm away.
Scarrow Hill went down without showing any new barbs, but there could still be a barb 3N1W of the city. I'm still toying with the micro, but that's mainly because I'm indecisive about what the longer term plans are.
The barb warriors just will not stop coming, but at this point I think I have to expect each warrior to be respawn as an axe. There are so many warriors though, they are basically barb-busting for me and I need to keep Cavendish alive. That's a further 3 XP for Axe1 if it can kill all of the warriors sequentially, so I think I ought to try and farm it? That'd be at least C1/Shock and 4 XP from HE unlocked.
I've adjusted the barb busting net slightly. There will be a worker barb-busting the row of tiles including the incense, so with moving warrior3 1N this completes the net up to Scarrow Hill. Just need a sentry for the north, and to then push through the flood plains region with axe1. If an axe passes through the dyes area, well, I just have to withdraw the warrior and rush a chariot over there.
If I were to take a step back, I should acknowledge tht Scarrow Hill is an important city, and the number of forests it possesses means it opens up significant options. For example, I am using 3 forests to get the granary and library down, but that leaves 7 forests. I could just save them and try to rush the GL. Or I could save two forests for the wheat/dye city library for border pop, use the expected 3 forests for infrastructure, and then chop out the Great Wall. Or chop a worker and settler and try to catch up with expansion. Or actually chop military, given I have one real unit in my entire empire and I'll shortly have 7 cities.
I'm disregarding all the wonder builds, but I will make one comment: GW could be chopped T81 and all those barb problems disappear, right? Wrong. I think they'd get worse, because the barbs would start wandering around and wrecking my sentry net, and I'd have to use real units to escort settlers and workers. If I had a real military I think it would be reasonable, same if I wanted to use a relatively early GA as the gpp would be useful, but...I reckon worker and settler and grow on military and cottages/ is the right choice.
I was right. City cost went up to 9 (inclusive of pop growth in three other cities).
I need to start working cottages...
FWIW, I think 4th place in crop yield is at 64 or 65.
Below is all of the assorted worker and city micro I've posted. I expect to play T74 later today (When Adler can get around to playing his turn), and T75 tomorrow morning, which should leave T76 on Tuesday, possibly Monday evening EST, and T77 before the Thanksgiving Slow down. Maybe T78, but I expect to be back by T79. I think the only military unit movements that are going to require some thought over those turns are to deal with the barb warriors running at Scarrow Hill.
Worker, city and unit micro for Westminster:
T71, T72: to work fish/rice/grass hill mine/coast/coast. Worker5 chop/cancels. Galley 24/50, growth@6 eot T72
T73: work fish/rice/grass hill mine/river grass hill mine/coast/coast. Worker5 mine/cancels. .
T74: work fish/rice/grass hill mine/river grass hill mine/coast/coast. Worker5 mine/cancels. Worker3 moves NW - W. Galley 40/50
T75: work fish/rice/grass hill mine/river grass hill mine/plains hill mine/coast. Worker3 mine. Worker5 chops the last remaining forest and galley completes 82/50, growth@7 eot75.
T76: work fish/rice/grass hill mine/river grass hill mine/plains hill mine/coast and build settler 48/100. Worker5 mine/cancel. 1 unhappy face has no effect as building a settler. Gilbert loads onto galley, moves E - E.
T77: Worker5 mine/finish, swap coast for grass hill mine. Settler 66/100. Axe2 completes in Wetheral. Galley move E - unload Gilbert onto grassland - W
T78: Settler 84/100 , 1 whip unhappy wears off eot. Axe2 SE - SE. Galley - W - end turn. Worker5 N - N onto galley. Worker3 mine/finish.
T79: New pop works any tile (grass hill mine available), settler 102/100 eot. Axe2 SE - E onto galley, Galley E - end turn, Worker5 moves NE onto sheep hill. Worker3 move NW - NE - NW [Into Wetheral].
T80: Westminster builds settler (due eot84 unless we give the fish to island city, in which case eot85). Settler SE - NE onto galley, Galley E - end turn, axe2 unload onto sheep hill (if no need to leave borders) or onto grassland if need to build fortification bonus.
City micro for WT:
T74: Build settler
T75: Build settler
T76: Build settler (42ish/100)
T77: Triple whip settler (124/100)
T78: Dump overflow into work boat (~52/30)
T79: Build settler
T80 onwards: Build work boat until
Worker and city micro for Scarrow Hill:
T73: Worker5 chop. Worker6 chop. Build granary, work plains cow. New scout in Wetheral (rename Yeld) move W - SW - SW.
T74: W5 chop. W6 chop. Granary 6/60, food box 4/22.
T75: W5 chop/finish. W6 chop/finish. Build library 107/90, food box 6/22.
T76: W5 move NW - pasture. W6 move SE - W chop/cancel. Build granary 19/60. Food box 8/22. Culture 2/10. [Worker7 whipped in Owlthorpe].
T77: W5 pasture/cancel. W6 move NW - W - pasture/cancel. W7 moves NW - NW - W - chop/cancel. Work plains cow. Granary 22/60. Food box 10/22. Culture 4/10.
T78: W5 move NE. W6 pasture/finish. W7 chop/finish. Granary 57/60, food box 13/22. Culture 6/10. [Worker3 finishes mine at Westminster]
T79: W5 road. W6 move S - road. W7 move S - road. Granary 62/60. food box 16/22. Culture 8/10. [Worker3 moves into Wetheral]
T80: W5 road/finish. W6 road/finish. W7 road/finish. Build...whatever. Food box 19/22. Culture 10/10. [Worker3 moves W - SW - road/cancel. Whip worker in Wetheral]
T81: W5 moves S - SE - S - pasture. W6 moves NE - SE - S - pasture. W7 pasture. W8 [Wetheral] moves W - SW - road/finish. W3 moves SW - SW - pasture/finish. Food box 22/22 > 6/24
T82: W5+W6+W7+W3 move N - NW - N - pasture/finish. Work sheep and cow. Food box 11/24.
Worker micro for City6 (Aldeburgh)
T72: Worker 1 moves SW - road/cancel. Worker2 enter WT.
T73: W1 road/finish. W2 SW - SW - road/cancel. Warrior1 moves NW. Gilbert move N - N.
T74: W1 SW - road/finish. W2 move S - SE. Gilbert move NW - N.
T75: W1 S - road. W2 road. Gilbert move NE - NE - NW - NE (Westminster micro).
T76: W1 road/finish. W2 road/finish.
T77: W1 move SE - S - S. W2 moves E.
T78: W1 chop. W2 chop.
T79: W1 chop. W2 chop.
T80: Settle city 6 (Build Library>Granary>work boat>Lighthouse, work crab) then W1 chop/finish. W2 chop/finish.
T81: W1 road. W2 move N.
T82: W1 road/finish. W2 road
T83: W1 move W. W2 road/finish
T84: W1 chop. W2 chop.
T85: W1 chop. W2 chop. (City 6 borders pop and growth@2 eot, work crab, sheep)
T86: W1 chop/finish. W2 chop/finish. (City 6 completes granary)
T87: W1 move N - pasture. W2 move SW - SW pasture
T88: W1 pasture/finish. W2 Pasture/finish.
T89: (Worker micro varies from this point) W1 road/finish. W2 road/finish. (City 6 completes work boat)
T90: W1 moves SE - SE. W2 moves NE - N. (City 6 growth@3 eot, work crab crab, sheep)
T91-T94: W1+W2 mine.
