[Spoilers] Woden takes on the World (PBEM18)

[Woden]

Turn 52
Start with finishing Mysticism. Put the envoy into Hattusa for 2 envoys. Double chop the Ancestral Hall for  116. Needed 106,  so got 10 overflow. Next, swapped governments...

 

I put in Discipline as the 2nd military policy to help with barbs. Everything else is useless for the time being. Don't have anything that costs maintenance and not going to be building ships anytime soon but will be fighting barbs. Also, notice I got the legacy card for Oligarchy since I finished the AH. Gondor starts a Settler. Most warriors are healing and the 2 units in the north attack the barb warrior. Here is how it looked at the end of the turn...



I slot Games and Recreation as the next civic and I can switch to Military Tradition if I need a quick policy swap. I will finish Military Tradition after G&R since I want Military Training as soon as possible to help with additional Cothons and some lighthouses for more trade routes going. Notice the 3-turn settler build time at Gondor. It should be a 4-turn build with the increased cost from the settler out next turn, but still, a 4-turn settler is pretty awesome. Can't beat building them at 250% production.

Poking around, I discover this...



Another unknown player has put an envoy into Bologna. I assume they used the 2-for-1 policy and either completed a quest or used their envoy from Mysticism. 

Internationally, Kaiser is still killing it with a civic, a tech, and an empire point. Suboptimal founded his fourth city. Ichabod finished a civic, gain 3 era points and lost a population. The civic was Political Philosophy and he is running Oligarchy. Probably in response to me running it. CMF gained an era point. 

So, settler at Osgiliath is out next turn and the city will start another. It will regrow the lost pop immediately and if I rearrange the worked tiles, it will take 6 turns to finish, accounting for the extra cost for the settler at Gondor. The settler will go to the Rohan pin and be settled on T55. Plan is to buy the horse tile and a trader when it settles and start working on a monument before I can build walls. The 2/4 trade route will help get the new city up and running. Will have to remember to finish Masonry before the monument is complete.

Settler at Gondor will finish on T55 and settle towards Egypt at the Moria pin. I will delay it by a turn so I can get the +2 era points for settling a different continent in the next era. Then, the next two settlers will finish T58 and T59 and they will settle Erebor and Rivendell. Osgiliath will then finish the trader before working on a few boats. Gondor will start another settler. I am thinking of buying the forest tile next to the Erebor tile right before I settle that city to chop out a settler at Gondor. It would be a third ring tile buy that I would grab when settling Erebor and cost around 110 but it would speed getting another settler out and then I could probably get a 7th city out before pausing to get some units and infrastructure done before another big settler push after feudalism. Not 100% on this idea but am thinking about it. For the sixth city, I am think about trying to push south of Rivendell by the double spice. I could get another decent Campus south of the geo-fissure. If Icabod grabs it beforehand, I will go for the northeast or western coast. Seventh city will go to the coast to get more Cothons up and running for the extra science during a golden age and more trade routes.

[NobleZarkon]

a 4-turn settler is pretty awesome. Can't beat building them at 250% production.

Astonishing, definitely the right moved to expand at this rate although, as you say, a consolidation period is needed soon.

[Woden]

Turn 53
Settler is out of Osgiliath and I start another. I rearrange the worked tiles to drop the time from 7 to 5 turns. It will lose a population next time but we get it out earlier...



I was wrong last turn, the new settler did not add a turn to the settler at Gondor.  It is due in 2 turns, which means it is a 3 turn settler!   

The slinger up north kills the red-lined barb warrior and my warrior moves west to find the barb camp...



The plan is to kill the barb spearman but hold off taking the camp until after the era change to preserve the points. 

Ichabod comes calling with a deal again...



Normally this would be a good deal but I need all my gold for a tile buy and trader at Rohan when it is settled. I counter offer spices for 2 per turn. Don't care if he takes it or not, though the extra happiness will bring Gondor to +3 and the +10% yields threshold. At least it let's him know I am willing to work with him for the time being.

[Woden]

Turn 54
I open the save to...



Really La Venta, really? I moved my warrior last turn just in case something was in the fog and their stupid warrior moves to where I want to go. He better move so I can still found my city next turn and not be one of those idiots that just stays on a tile for no apparent reason. Settler/warrior pair move to the tile next to the La Venta warrior and can possibly settle next turn if the warrior moves. 

Not much else going on this turn. Next setter due next turn and teh following settlers will be out on T58 and T59. Ichabod rejected my counter deal. 

Internationally, Ichabod finished a civic, gained an empire point, and earned 2 era points. Suboptimal gained an empire point. Kaiser and CMF stayed the same point-wise.

[Woden]

Turn 54
Very pleased the La Venta warrior did move away from where I wanted my settler to go. I settle Rohan...



Last to 3 cities.  I immediately buy the horse tile and a trader. Builder is going to pasture the horses, then throw down a farm for housing and move to the wheat north of the Erebor pin to harvest it when the city is founded. Rohan will build its monument, then put up some walls for the boost to Engineering. Settler finishes at Gondor and it starts another, due in 5 turns. 

Up north, slinger moves next to the camp and my warrior takes a whack at the spearman. I expect the spearman to hit my slinger, then I will whack it again with the warrior (if it doesn't kill him) or slinger. Out east, my warrior is healed and I decide to move east a little ways to see if I can find anything interesting. What I did find was a third ring horses for Moria. The warrior will probably move back next turn to ensure I can found teh city when I want to. Don't need one of those Bologna warriors doing the something La Venta tired. Moria will be founded in 4 turns, when the era changes. 

Speaking of the era change, I think I will do a summary of the world as I know it the turn before the era change. It will give a good perspective before I start my teching spree. I also have reworked my teching spree a little bit. I plan on switching to Pottery the turn before the new era to make sure I don't go over on Ship Building (with the 50% boost and era change discount), then I will hit Bronze Working and Masonry before finishing everything to Apprenticeship (leaving Wheel, Ship Building, and Irrigation unfinished). I will put a turn into Apprenticeship and probably Iron Working while I wait to place a few Campuses (no need to increase district costs unnecessarily). Then I will finish another spree of techs. So instead of one big tech spree, I will have to smaller ones with a few turn delay in the middle. Overall, I should get 12 techs done over 14 turns. All the Ancient stuff plus a good chunk of the Classical techs and a Medieval tech. This change is mainly due to not conquering La Venta earlier and having Osgiliath doing 2 settlers instead on 1 and going all growth, which I had planned earlier. 

Internationally, Kaiser gained an empire point and CMF gained 2 empire points, a tech, and 4 era points (maybe a district with +3 or more adjacency). Ichabod is now second in military power with a MP of 93. Probably is healing a few wounded units plus finished a new unit or 2. My MP is a 100 and I still have a few wounded units.

[NobleZarkon]

Glad to see La Venta co-operating a bit.

Really interesting to see your detailed planning, a lot of work but I guess with 1 turn a day it's a bit easier!

[Woden]

Really interesting to see your detailed planning, a lot of work but I guess with 1 turn a day it's a bit easier!

I get a little obsessed with these games, constantly thinking how I can make my play better. I come up with a plan and then constantly see if I can make it better. With only 1 turn a day, I get a little too obsessed, because it takes weeks, if not months, to see a plan go through. I am not the best with delayed gratification.

[Woden]

Turn 56
Yesterday's turn, didn't have time to put it together yesterday. Start turn with a trade route out of Rohan...



Send it to Gondor for the 2/3. Should help the city grow. The city is currently getting the -50% growth housing penalty but once I place a farm, it will be good to grow to size 2 at least. As soon as I can build an aqueduct, this city will do it. Part of me is thinking I should hit Engineering before Apprenticeship to get it available sooner but I am not sure. I have a little time to think about it. I have the builder pasture the horses. The trader route at Osgiliath also ended and I renew it. 

I have the eastern warrior come back to the Moria pin and I am going to have him trade guard duty on the settler next turn so the other warrior can head south to guard the next settler. 

Icabod comes offering another trade...



He really wants to trade me his spices. I do accept this one, for a little good will and it will bring Gondor and Rohan to +3 happiness for the extra +5% to yields. If all goes as planned, I probably will grab my own spices in 15 or so turns but I think the good will was worth it. 

Internationally, Kaiser gained 2 empire points and 2 era points. Ichabod planted a city, gaining 8 empire points. He may have also finished a district, maybe the Holy Site at Belem. He also gained 2 era points and is 5 from a Golden Age. CMF passes suboptimal in points and no longer in last place. He finished a civic and gained an empire point. No score change with suboptimal. 

Since Icabod founded a new city, I looked to see if I can see where it went...



I can see borders by the "New City?" pin, not sure if this is his new city or if his 2nd city grabbed a tile. At least it was not towards me and no in the area north of Hattusa. It makes me a little curious on how big his back lines are. Is his area like mine where he started near the coast or is there enough land down there for a full first ring on cities. One thing I have been thinking about is putting my next envoy into Hattusa for scouting purposes. I currently have 2 envoys there, compared to Ichabod's 1. Depending on where their units are, I could get a bunch of land down there defogged. I didn't check when I earn my next envoy but should be in the next 15 turns. 

Lastly, I am also toying not chopping the tile near Erebor into a settler at Gondor but rather buying the Gypsum tile and hooking it right away. It would keep more of my cities at the +3 happiness longer, be a little cheaper to buy (2nd ring versus 3rd ring), and give Erebor a decent tile to work. The chop won't fully complete the settler but it would be worth 4 turns. Is 4 turns worth it? I am not sure but it might be a while to get a builder out to hook up the gypsum if I don't now do it now. I have 7 turns to figure out the best move.

[Woden]

Turn 57
I start by swapping guards for my settler...



Settler gains a little vision north of the city site and finds a couple of stone. This is ending up being a pretty decent city site. Hopefully, one of the desert tiles has some iron. 

Not much else going on. Builder at Rohan moves to farm a tile next turn. I go poking around to see if there are anymore envoys in the city states and see that someone has 3 envoys in Bologna. This means who ever it is will see me in 2 turns when Moria is founded. Also...



Ichabod has placed 3 envoys into La Venta. pretty poor choice. That city only has about 15 turns left of live, but he does have vision on my back-lines so I will have to keep an eye out on my movements. 

Internationally, Kaiser finished a tech and gained 2 empire points (population or district), Ichabod regains the 2nd place spot with 2 empire points and 3 era points. Most likely the Holy Site in Belem, having more +3 or more adjacency, which also means his first Holy Site did not have +3 adjacency. CMF gained 3 empire points and 2 era points. Not sure if this is a district and something that gained a few era points but maybe he is the Suzerain of Bologna. Suboptimal gained 3 empire points.  Actually, since CMF is the only one unmet civ to gain 2 era points, he is the Suzerain of Bologna. Good to know. Not sure if he is my eastern neighbor or if he is south-east of me. I guess I will know in 2 turns or whenever I come across a Bologna warrior.

Two turns until the era change. Next turn I will give a rundown on the world as I know it but here is a preview of my current tech tree...



As expected, most of the ancient stuff sits at 1 or 2 turns. After the era change, all these will be discounted by 20% and when I take Free Inquiry, all the boost will add 10%, meaning all the ones that show 1 turn will be pretty much complete and all the 2 turn techs will be completed in 1 turn with some overflow. Here are the classical techs... 

 

Currency and Horseback Riding show 5 turns each and both are boosted. Apprenticeship shows 18 turns un-boosted, so probably 10 turns boosted.  That is 20 turns to get to Apprenticeship? Nope, with the 7 techs in the ancient era and the extra 10%, it will take 5 turns, plus Shipbuilding will be finished. It is not that my tech rate is going to skyrocket, free inquiry will only be worth +5 plus the 10% to boosts. It is that with the discount, all the ancient techs are pretty much completed, so when I am completing those, I am really working on these techs, since most of the science will overflow. So, by delaying finishing anything and researching the available techs to 2 turns to completion, I gain 20% on the remaining ancient techs and +10% to all boosts. Kaiser is in the tech lead with 10 techs. I have 5 completed. I switch to Pottery next turn, since Shipbuilding will be almost finished (minus boost plus discount). I am not sure if Pottery will get the discount before it finishes but it would only be a small amount anyways. Better to lose a little bit than waste a bunch on Shipbuilding. Pottery will kick-off finishing 12 techs (including Iron Working) in 14 turns. So, the question is, can Kaiser finish seven techs in fifteen turns to keep the tech lead? I don't think I have the highest tech rate, but with all the discounts and extra 10% to boosts, I think I might be able to take the lead ad maybe even gain a slight advantage.

[Cornflakes]

It looks like you are planning to chain overflow from cheap ancient era techs. Is the science overflow still bugged, with the overflow disappearing when you trigger a eureka? I would be afraid of chaining the overflow off nearly completed techs because it might evaporate into thin air.