I cast Wall of Text
wherein I idly and incorrectly speculate about the game solely for your entertainment (or torture)
Right….so having had some time to think about last turn’s developments I think I’m not as bad off as I initially feared. For starters, I’m helped out by a couple of different inferences about the map…
- Canada has only met Egypt and myself. This leads me to believe that Canada is cut off from Brazil/Phoenicia by Egypt.
- Kaiser, while running away early has been caught up with and likely has one of the other two “heavyweights” on his western border. That should keep him from casting his eyes towards my backwards neck of the woods.
- Given the population sizes I’ve seen in Canada and Egypt (nothing larger than 5 population) I have to assume that culture and science is being generated by city-states, Pingala and natural wonders (and maybe sphinxes), with one or two high-adjacency Campus districts tossed in. I can’t figure out how they’re getting yields that high unless they’re in a “better” part of the map.
So, what to do? Well, expand for one. My
and
is going to largely be driven by population, at least until I get some Theater Squares online. A lighthouse and some housing-granting improvements at Cleggy will have the city at 10 pop in no time. The Ullswater Coast will grow quickly with jungle chops though Mountain Silk and Iron Coast will be constrained due to a lack of housing. There is a temptation to go back to settling on the iron to alleviate the housing issue at Iron Coast, but then I need to find a spot for a third mine (and it kills the city’s available production).
I think once Armagh is captured I’ll send one galley to clear the fog from the eastern tip of the landmass while the other heads towards (and past) Yerevan. Themistocles will explore as far as Geneva to see if there’s anything tucked away to the north. I need to see if there are any coastal cultural or scientific city-states further along the land mass. I have one envoy coming in four turns and a second coming when I complete Military Training. I’ll hold onto both of them for placement in any “useful” city-states I find. Likewise, while being suzerain of Geneva is nice I won’t attempt to contest it if Canada or Egypt take it from me. Libraries at Cleggy and Foggy would be a “quick” 8
. However, that’s a ways off for both cities (get to that in a bit).
For military I’ve got the horseman getting built at Compo and have a slinger I could upgrade at Truly. Foggy will have an “open” build queue after the third settler is out after Turn 75, so I can crank out another horse or two (or slot Agoge and spit out some warriors).
Current city plans are as follows:
Foggy: Settler (completed “now”) → Settler (EoT72) → Settler (EoT75) → ? If things are “stable” I’ll build another settler for area NE of Truly – ideally the coast but if I need the era points then at Kilimanjaro.
Truly: Builder (completed “now”) → Encampment (complete EoT74) → Watermill (complete EoT81). The city will be gaining a housing along with two rice farms and will be food-flush. The Campus (+1
) could be built in 6 turns or I could get a barracks built.
Cleggy: Campus (EoT76) → Lighthouse (EoT82) → Trader (EoT90 est) → Library (EoT94). The trader will be used for a route from Mountain Silk → Foggy (3
2
), Cleggy → Foggy (3
2
roduction) or Cleggy → Geneva (6
1
). I’m leaning Cleggy → Foggy as that puts Cleggy into the low 20’s for
and I can use the roads to move units to the front lines easily. I could also build a settler out of here if Foggy gets bogged down on military builds. There’s a forest to chop up here but I’d rather save it for a lumbermill. This city will become my first production powerhouse.
Compo: Horseman (EoT75) → Lighthouse (EoT85) → Builder. I’m building the lighthouse because I’ll have Veterancy slotted. As for the trade route, if I built the trader I’d likely go Mountain Silk → Foggy or perhaps Compo → Truly to boost production here. The builder would be for a rice farm, wine plantation and a sheep pasture.
Ullswater Coast: Chop out the western jungles for a two population boost and to complete the RND. Third builder charge would be for whales for the amenity. I’d follow the RND with a military unit and then put up walls as soon as Limes is available.
Mountain Silk: Plantation the higher-yield silk resource, harvest the stone to the SE and then the jungle to the NW for population and to clear the spot for an Aqueduct. The harvests would go into walls which the city should complete. It might get to 3 population by Turn 91 but once I complete Engineering this city will build the Aqueduct before anything else. When the time gets closer I’ll see if I can figure out how to
Iron Coast: if I settle SE of the iron then I’ll mine the iron, chop the forest for the RND and put down a farm. The city would work on a Granary then a Lighthouse to solve its housing issues and get a trade route to Foggy for production. I might still settle on the iron as it gives the city fresh water access and better placement for a Campus at 4 population.
Armagh: After capturing I’ll repair the monument first, granary second. If I capture the builder then I’ll purchase the forest to the NW and chop out the RND once Veterancy slots. If I’m unable to capture and hold onto the builder I may resort to purchasing one here (for 288
) or using Iron Coast’s to chop out the RND and then have Truly build one for farm improvements at both cities.
Longer term the plan is to ensure my survival and continue working towards Engineering (Aqueducts), Military Engineering (niter, military engineers, armory) and Apprenticeship (Industrial Zones). Ideally I can get Foggy to 7 population and build its RND before Apprenticeship completes, as well as get Truly’s Campus complete. That would let me put down two discounted Industrial Zones, one each at Truly and Compo. I’d put an undiscounted one down at Cleggy since the city would have the production to build a full-cost district.
For techs the current intended path is Wheel → Irrigation → Engineering → Iron Working/Construction → Currency → Apprenticeship/Shipbuilding. For eurekas I’ve got Irrigation (rice farm at Truly), Engineering (walls at Mountain Silk), Construction (watermill @ Truly) and Apprenticeship (mines @ Cleggy & Iron Coast) figured out. Military Engineering will also get its eureka, I just don’t know which city would complete it first.
For civics I’ll complete Military Training then decide between Defensive Tactics or Drama & Poetry → Recorded History. I’ll likely do the former as that gets me a Pingala promotion faster. As for the other governor promotion I remain undecided. If Canada puts something south of Geneva then I might get Amani in preparation for giving her the loyalty malus promotion. Otherwise I might get Liang with the intent of getting her 20% district discount promotion to make getting out those Theater Squares a little easier.