[Spoiler] Suboptimal's Next Attempt at Lurker Frustration

[suboptimal]

Turn 85

Lighthouse completed at Compo so I’ve got a third trade route available. Take a quick look at the ribbon scores, see nothing interesting. Take a look at the diplomacy windows of Egypt and Canada, see no new items except for one that I missed previously – Woden and Kaiser have a DoF. Ah, that explains Ichabod. Here’s something else I learned. If you have the deal notification icon showing in the lower right and you enter the diplo screen by clicking on a portrait on the upper right you can access the usual screen rather than going straight to the deal. That includes going to the deal screen – the deal they are offering won’t appear but everything else will. Given that Canada is low man on the totem pole and the two “big guns” are united I accept Brazil’s offer.

Time to get some districts on. First up, chop walls at Marina. Engineering is complete and the builder goes into retirement. I resume Construction, that’ll complete next turn. District discounts on everything but RNDs and Campuses kick in. I can tell this because the time to complete is halved, but looks like the tool tips haven’t updated:




The discounted district cost should be 84. Marina locks an Entertainment Complex in on the just-chopped tile and an Aqueduct on the tile to the NW. The Aqueduct is the first to be built, game shows 9 turns but my math shows 8. I’ll have to see what the production shows next turn. For kicks the city shoots at the scout for 50 damage. The city is being a pain in the ass in one regard – it’s going to grow to the 22 stone to the south next turn instead of the bananas to the north. I think it’s doing that because of the incense down that way. It’s still a 2 tile so that’s OK but I would have liked some extra as well. I think I might also want to buy that jungle directly between Marina and Wild – that gives me a bit better control of the area and if I decide to get aggressive with Canada an Encampment might go there instead of a Theater Square or Campus as the city’s second district.

Up at Foggy I buy the open plains second ring tile for 85 and swap it over to Howard. I put down a theater square (currently a 14 turn build) and will build that after the lighthouse completes. Compo locks an Aqueduct to its NE but starts a warrior. I’m going to build two warriors then see where I’m at. I’ll likely put some turns into the Aqueduct and then start the Industrial Zone once Apprenticeship is complete. Builder puts down a plantation and I think my next action will be a lumbermill back up at Foggy. Truly puts down its Aqueduct over the jungle to the NW.

District work complete, time to move some units. Horseman at Compo enters the Ogaden Desert while the warrior to its west moves up to the barbarian camp. The spearman is redlined so it looks like Yerevan has been busy. If they don’t take the camp next turn they’ve given me a nice gift. Compo’s warrior heads towards Marina and will garrison there. Galley reaches Compo’s crabs and will park there to heal for two turns.

Out east the builder moves to the forest and will chop in Nora Batty’s RND next turn, then mine the iron. Warrior starts the trek back to the city. Artemsia confirms that the coastal outcrops are just outcrops with no passage south. I’ll send her for Nora Batty and then decide if she’ll relocate from there. Quadrireme finds something mildly interesting:




I’ll need to check that out next turn.

Over in Canada there’s a new city in town:




Well, that blocks the passage around. Good thing I’m already through! Horseman heads southeast, finds nothing of note yet. Scout heads southwest and confirms the location of Blackhawks. I’ll head west/northwest nexturn and start scouting Egypt. Further north, Wild has chopped a jungle and is now 2 population. Loyalty pressure from population remains negative at -1.6. The city put the chop production into walls. The issue here is that Canada looks like they’ll be able to get a Golden Age as well. They’re currently four points short and so I likely won’t be able to flip Wild easily. I realized that for my earlier calculations I looked at the wrong column on my tracking spreadsheet and was looking at their empire score, not their era score. I think the long-term plan here is to use the Medieval to get some great works generated and parked in Howard and possibly Marina, boost Marina’s population and then see if I can flip Wild during the Renaissance.

Way out west my fast galley moves north, even with Antioch, and earns the inspiration to Foriegn Trade. I was never going to get that one.

[Alhambram]

Things looks good, though I remain somewhat cornered by science/culture yields from others.

[suboptimal]

I'm more concerned about culture than science right now, but here's what's coming up for both...

For culture I've got a monument in progress at Auntie Wainwright (EoT94), Howard's Theater Square will complete around T106 and I'm looking at 10 population growth across all cities through T11. Another 5 population will be added between T100 and T106. Three of those population are at Cleggy. Those two builds plus the population growth will net me just under 12.1. That gets me just to where Brazil & Kaiser are now (38-40 from 27). Cleggy will be building two traders and then the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The city is in the process of claiming its last second ring land tile and will start taking the three second ring coastal tiles. That'll get some additional culture from the MaH. The city will also be building a Theater Square and Amphitheater for another 4 once the MaH is complete. If for some reason I don't get MaH built but get a pile of fail-production then I'll try to get Hanging Gardens built on the wheat to the SW - a wonder there gets me adjacency for three TS districts, one each from Cleggy, Truly and Foggy.

One question is whether or not to build a Theater Square or a RND at Foggy as its next district. That's up for debate as I only get "good" (+2 or better) TS adjacency at Foggy by mowing down a jungle hill (no) or building a wonder somewhere to the NE of the city center.

If I manage to get the game's first Great Engineer there are also a couple of cultural wonders I could build (Pyramids and Colosseum are both still unbuilt).

For science the big one will be Pingala getting promoted on Turn 87. That'll be worth 10.35 immediately. Truly will be building its Campus (finish EoT92, +2) and then its library (EoT98, +4). The 15 population growth is worth 11.1 and both Foggy and Cleggy can build libraries in 3-4 turns (another +4 each) if necessary. So, before the "optional" library builds my science rate is going up about 27.5 in the next 20 turns. That gets me to 59. I've left out the Golden Age dedication - that will net me another 15 and once I slot Naval Infrastructure that's 30. Therefore, by turn 106 I could be looking at running 89 for 35 turns or so.

For what it's worth, Naval Tradition can be completed sometime in the early 90's. I'm going to use that civic to pull Colonization in the mid-90's and replace it with Naval Infrastructure while I get Feudalism done.

[suboptimal]

Turn 86

Construction is done, start Currency. Swap civic research back to Recorded History.

Off to the west it looks like city-state archers are busy. The spearman is not in the camp and I assume it’s dead. Warrior clears the camp. Up at Marina the scout is redlined. The city kills it off and resumes building the Aqueduct. I decide to use the camp gold plus 35 of my own to buy that jungle tile directly between Marina and Wild. That will give me the option of building an Encampment and going aggressive to take the city later on. Canada will see it coming but that’s fine by me. I continue bringing the horseman west from Compo and the warrior to Marina. I’ll hold back from the city-state for now – if Canada doesn’t have a Golden Age and the Yerevan doesn’t have walls I’ll take it. Horseman west of that city crosses the river and will explore the coastal region for the next several turns. Scout by Blackhawks doesn’t see anything interesting except for the name of the St. Lawrence River poking out of the fog. The galley does locate Brazil’s borders but that’s all I can see so far – there’s a city about 10 tiles NW of Antioch. Settlervision shows that I’m looking at a second ring tile. I’m likely close to Brazil’s coastal city.

At Compo the galley starts healing and the builder heads for Foggy’s remaining forest. At Nora Batty, Artemsia returns to the city center and the builder chops out the RND. Its farmer builder will be out next turn and I’ll get the Fedualism inspiration (and some much-needed housing) several turns later. I’ll also repair the granary since I’ll have food to accumulate, then get the lighthouse started. The “interesting” coastal spur I pictured last turn is a dead end.

Nothing notable internationally.

Next turn my plan is currently to do the policy swap I described on Turn 81 – Veterancy, Maneuver and Ilkum out, Conscription, Agoge and Colonization in. I feel that Agoge is not ideal (suboptimal, even ) because I’ll only have one city building land units (two warriors at Compo). If I leave Veterancy in I’d still get two warriors done at Compo but it would speed Howard’s lighthouse by 2 turns and allow Nora Batty to complete its lighthouse a few turns earlier (if I keep it through Turn 100). I think that’s a better option. I’m also going to put it back in when Military Engineering completes in order to build an Armory. I’m delaying Defensive Tactics until Turn 94 to allow Corvee to slot in place of Colonization.

That leads me to the next question – what to do with all of these trade routes? For starters, Compo’s trade route will end on Turn 93. Cleggy will be finishing traders EoT90 and EoT93 and Compo one EoT99. The first available trader will start a Marina → Foggy trade route. I’m inclined to have Compo recycle its trade route to Foggy as the city could use the production. I’ll likely send the third one running Howard → Foggy to get the city growing and building. The fourth would need to be for Auntie Wainwright as its production is also limited. The district build decision at Foggy also plays into this – an RND adds 1 to the trade routes while the Theater Square adds 1. The other factor here is that a trade route to Geneva, via the sea, is 61. It’s tempting but I think I’ll wait for Triangular Trade to become available before considering international routes.

[suboptimal]

Turn 87

Open the turn to a city-state biting the dust. Dunno which one since it’s unmet but Woden’s empire score is up 11 points. Recorded History done, resume Defensive Tactics. Maneuver and Ilkum out, Conscription and Colonization in. Gold income jumps up to 33 per turn. I’ve got a governor promotion, that gives Researcher to Pingala, boosting Cleggy’s to 13.8 and my overall yield to 39.3.

In looking at how things work out I think I’ll go straight into Naval Tradition. It’s currently 5 turns to complete, will get me the Naval Infrastructure policy and an envoy and slotting Corvee two turns late doesn’t slow down Cleggy’s build. I’ll likely take Urban Planning out to put Naval Infrastructure in. It’ll slow down the smaller cities slightly but that’s what trade routes are for. I’ll be taking Amani with the next Governor promotion. I’ll send her to Antioch for some extra lighthouse

Horseman is complete at Foggy, start a settler. It shows 8 turns to completion but Foggy is picking up a population in three turns. Horseman heads for the Ogaden Desert via Compo. Truly hit 8 population last turn and grew to the jungle hill. Back down to -50% growth until the barracks completes...next turn. Given the income of the city (base 12 yield) I might use the 9th population (due turn 95) to run a specialist for a bit of and rather than just yield.

Reposition some central units with Marina now being garrisoned and the builder back at Foggy for a lumbermill in two turns. Warrior that killed the barbarian camp heads back north. Farmer at Nora Batty puts down the first of three while the other builder moves to the iron for a mine next turn. Warrior hangs tight, as does Artemsia. I start the three turn Granary repair.

Western units don’t see much interesting, either by Brazil or in Canada. There hasn’t been much downward movement on milpower. In fact, Kaiser’s milpower shot up to 390 (from 290) so it looks like he had some units in the queue. His strategics aren’t depleted (50 horses, 36 iron, max resource count of 50) and city defenses haven’t gone up so it doesn’t appear to be anything new (four archers, maybe?). My scout does show one thing interesting:




Bortus looks like it was an effective forward plant to keep Canada off the Saint Lawrence River though it was also his 5th city, so Canada may have messed up on their expansion plans. I’m going to cross it next turn and continue prodding Egypt. I’d like to find those city-states he’s suzerained.

There is one...problem...with Kaiser being at 390 milpower. Woden’s still ahead of him on that score.

[suboptimal]

Turn 88

I’ve been thinking about the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. It’s a 15-turn build time and I think that the production now is better spent elsewhere. Instead of starting it now I think I’ll build it in the mid/late Medieval and get some military out. In looking at the build times the best fit is to build four galleys, slotting Maritime Industries when Defensive Tactics completes. I can send two of them around the long way to Nora Batty and keep two at Cleggy for coastal defense, or set up all four as eastern pickets. Given how much I’m depending on my RNDs in the Medieval Age (they’ll be providing 30 and when the age rolls, along with 4-5 trade routes) I think investing in their defense now is prudent.

That’ll put me in position to buy the marsh down by Truly, swap it to Cleggy and build out a non-discounted Industrial Zone and a Workshop from Turns 102 – 114. After that the city will be at 32 per turn and if I’m still in Autocracy I’ll slot Corvee and get out the Mausoleum in 10 turns then start working on Quadriremes. If the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus goes in the meantime then I’ll build the Hanging Gardens for a nice Theater Square complex:




Note that the “Foggy, +4” should be “Foggy, +3”. The Theater Squares would be each city’s fourth district – Foggy is placing the RND once the population hits 7 and will build it out after going settler → archer → builder x 2.

I get a notification that the trade route in Compo has completed. I resume the route since the city needs the production. Currency is complete, start Apprenticeship. The completion of Currency has also negated district discounts for anything that isn’t a Holy Site or Commercial Hub, at least until I complete another district. With Apprenticeship I’ve got two options – put three turns into it now, get the eureka and wait until the Medieval starts to get the 60 age penalty removed before completing it OR just plow through and complete it at the higher cost. I think I’ll wait, particularly since the Industrial Zones won’t be discounted until the Campus and at least one other district complete, which won’t be until Turn 101 (Marina’s Entertainment Complex)

Cleggy’s builder is complete, start the first trader. The barracks at Truly is (are?) complete, start the Campus build and then onto the library after that’s complete. Builders at Foggy and Cleggy enter the forests for lumbermills next turn. At Nora Batty I put down an iron mine and move the farmer into the marsh – it’ll farm the wheat next turn. I send Artemsia up to Cleggy. I’ll position her along an eastern coast spur up there and when I get Lief I’ll send her straight across the ocean.

Out west I move the warrior up to Wild’s borders and find the city still empty. Scout crosses the St. Lawrence River, nothing of note yet. One horse remains at the edge of the Ogaden Desert and does a little hilltop dance to reveal two Yerevan archers, while the other moves out from Compo and the third moves onto a hill on Canada’s eastern border:




The Campus is +4, that’s Aryabhata standing in it and a +4 Commercial Hub under construction to its west. Looks like Brazil likes walking through territory. Can’t blame Ichabod for it though he hasn’t offered Canada a DoF.

Fast galley rounds a bit of tundra and finds Brazilian borders to its north. I’ll reveal the city next turn.

[suboptimal]

Turn 89

No builds completing and no population growth this turn. Only notification is the appearance of a barbarian camp on the other side of the river from my scout. I intend to ignore it for the time being and not try to sit around for a camp poach. I also see that Issac’s defense has risen to 39. The horseman in Bortus is now a courser, so there’s that answer. Kaiser’s upgraded a few since he’s down about 260. I head northeast to try to get a view of Bortus. Despite the fog being there the blue movement border says I can move to the tile 2NE of the scout. That reveals Bortus and a chariot archer:




That city to the north is Klyden and the district under construction is a Commercial Hub. This is the last city that Kaiser founded (it’s at the bottom of the trade list) and is 2 population. Given that there were two other cities settled before Klyden I think it’s now very safe to say that Bortus was a forward plant. I’m also guessing that the capital is probably 10-12 tiles north of here – Gordon was Kaiser’s third city.

Back in the Columbia River valley area my desert horses reposition slightly. Southern horse moves west and reveals The Blues:




He’s got a Commercial Hub under construction (think I noted that previously) and I think there’s a Government Plaza NW of the Campus; that’s how both visible districts are +4. He’s building walls in the capital as well. I back off the border and will return this horse to the Kalahari Desert outside Yerevan.

Builders put in two lumbermills and a wheat farm. That gets me the Mass Production eureka and I’m now one farm short of the Feudalism inspiration. I’ll pick that one up in three turns. That puts Foggy at 20 yield per turn and Cleggy will join in next turn when the first of two volcanic mines goes down. Reposition one or two other units and sit tight at home.

Go over to the fast galley and there’s a Brazilian horseman two tiles of the coast saying “Hello, declared friend!”. I move up the coast and find Sao Paolo:




The Goverment Plaza has the Ancestral Hall and he’s just completed an Encampment (Ichabod just got his first Great General point last turn). He’s got eight cities, three of which are 1 population and Sao Paolo is tied for second largest of the cities in the deal screen (Manaus is at 4, Belém is at 6). Wonder if he’s got food issues… Eventually my scout will get over here. It’s currently 21 tiles east of this coast. The galley will now try go find Phoenicia.

Canada has reached 50 era points, which is enough to get them a Golden Age. I’ll still proceed with the various Theater Square and Entertainment Complex builds and see if I can muster enough era score to get a Golden Age in the Renaissance (not likely). Ichabod also landed a large number of inspirations last turn as he’s jumped up by 8 domestic tourists. That’s 700-800 points of ! I also need to check the GAP counts from the last couple of turns….Woden might have just completed a project as I don’t remember him being that close to me in score.

So, tech priorities in the Medieval. Well, Apprenticeship and Military Engineering are 1-2. Getting to both Caravels and Shipyards is important, so Mathematics → Buttress → Cartography → Military Tactics → Education → Mass Production is the line. I can divert for Stirrups → Gunpowder if I need defense. I’ll debate Square Rigging later. As far as boosts go, well, I won’t need any for the 300 column since those will be four turns or less – I will have Apprenticeship and Machinery boosted before they complete, though. Military Engineering & Stirrups will get their boosts, Castles might (depending on how quickly I can get up to Exploration) while Education is iffy. For Renaissance techs I’ve already got Cartography and Mass Production boosted, Gunpowder and Metal Casting will get boosted. I should be able to build two universities and maybe I’ll build catapults for upgrades into bombards for Siege Tactics.

That leaves civics. Defensive Tactics completes after next turn, Naval Tradition after Turn 95 and Feudalism around Turn 101. After that it’ll be Mercenaries, Medieval Faires (once I get four traders out), and Exploration. After that I’ll go back for Civil Service, Guilds and Humanism. Naval Tradition, Exploration and Humanism are “the big ones” in my game plan – double RND adjacencies, Tier 2 government and museums.

Speaking of civics that means I also need to do something about my cultural output. In an earlier post I had mentioned that I expected to gain about 12 yield from population growth and builds, which will get me up to about 39. I also have five cities without a monument (that’ll be four once Auntie Wainwright completes its current build in 9 turns). I suppose if my gold generation is high enough I could start buying monuments in to a few cities. It also makes the Hanging Gardens build at Cleggy look better for the Theater Square complex.

[suboptimal]

Forgot to mention in the report that it's official - the Classical Age ends in 10 turns. I missed the banner when I played the turn but saw it when I loaded the EoT save to look at a couple of things in my cities.

[suboptimal]

Turn 90

Open the save to find out that the Rubicon flooded. Being in Egyptian territory it is inconsequential. I also find out I’ve met Phoenicia and earn three era score. Where’d I meet them?




Getting closer...

Foggy has grown to 7 population. The autogovernor put the new population on the farm to the southwest. I move the citizen to the highest production tile available (a flatland jungle) and lock in the RND at a cost of 75. It’s a three turn build with Veterancy slotted...that’s...quick. Since I was planning on holding the settler until I knew where niter was and I won’t know that until Turn 100 or 101 I can afford to delay the settler a little here. Instead of the archer after the settler I’ll build the RND. That’ll be worth another 4 in ten turns. I’ll put one more turn (at +100%) into the settler then get the RND done and go back to the settler (that’ll complete Turn 98). I’ll build the archer here or at Truly later on.

Compo’s first warrior is out. I’m going to send that one to Truly as a backline defender. The next one out will stay put in Compo. Nora Batty has completed its granary, solving its housing issue for the time being. It starts its lighthouse. Builder starts to head for the open plains down by the iron; farm there in two turns. Builder at Cleggy moves to the 6 tile; it’s a hill so mines start next turn. Naval units up here reposition. Down at Yerevan I move some horses around. Marina’s second warrior fortifies in place, keeping the center of Wild in view. My scout at Bortus attempts to move southwest but there’s a barbarian welcoming party in the way:




That’s inconvenient.

So...Woden...42, 40, 432 milpower. Deal screen indicates 12 gold per turn income at present. Only one of his listed cities is at 5 population, the rest are 4 and under. He must have been working the eurekas overtime early on. He’s currently in Autocracy. He’s got seven cities on the deal screen, one of which is “LA VENTA”. Now, whether or not that’s actually La Venta remains to be seen (or not). He’s got one city with an IZ and Aqueduct listed but it generating no GE points yet. Two listed cities have Cothons, I have to assume that his capital has one. His bireme might be stuck, though, if he does not have open borders with Ichabod. Given the fact that they are neighbors I find this to be unlikely. My galley goes northwards through Sao Paolo and finds Recife:




I’ve zoomed in a little so the districts in the fog at Sao Paolo can be seen – Government Plaza in Sao Paolo and the Street Carnival in Rio de Janiero.

Kaiser’s milpower has gone up to 540. He’s currently the leader in terms of , and milpower. I appear to have the largest civ by population (37) unless Kaiser’s capital is 7 pop or larger (likely). Interesting. This also makes it possible, but not probable, that I might get the era score award for first city with 10 population. I also think there’s a possibility that the others will see my science jump at the turn of the age and have some...concerns….

[suboptimal]

Turn 91

The turn opens with news that Ichabod has built the Pyramids.

Apprenticeship has reached the point where it will be 1 turn from completing once the age rolls. I switch over to Military Engineering and will put some time into that. The idea here is to be able to finish these two techs on the first two turns of the new age. That will mean resuming Apprenticeship on Turn 98 for a Turn 99 completion (if I remember the start of turn sequence of events). Defensive Tactics has completed. Start Naval Tradition and make the policy change – Colonization out, Maritime Industries in. Conscription and Veterancy stay put for now, as does Urban Planning. Urban Planning will be pulled for Naval Infrastructure when Naval Tradition completes and then Maritime Industries will get pulled once Feudalism completes. I take my governor promotion, recruit Amani and send her to Antioch. In five turns that’ll be worth 6 per turn income and possibly suzerainty, which will net me silks (don’t need) and MOAR IRON.

Up at Cleggy the first trader is done. It relocates to Marina and will start the Marina → Foggy route next turn. I start another trader and it’ll be done in three turns. Builder puts down a mine for extra and an era point. The city has also grown in population and I leave the citizen on the marsh. The citizen’s actual worked tile doesn’t matter much now as it won’t speed up or slow done growth or build times at this point. The city is now at 20 yield, along with 15.5 and 10.5. It will reach 8 population in 8 more turns. I’ve also realized that my plan to use Artemsia to circumnavigate has a slight flaw – Great People are not “naval units”. She will return to Cleggy and pair up with the quadrireme for defense. I’ll use one of the upcoming galleys to do the circumnavigation (and a second to explore west of Geneva).

Foggy starts its RND, three turns to completion. Reposition some of the interior units (builder, warrior) and move the southern horse up to the river. It just flooded, fertilizing four tiles and pillaging a farm:




Yerevan is also building a Harbor. I’d love to be able to take that city. The problem is that I’d never hold it if Canada and myself are in the same type of age – I’d need to be in a “higher” age or the city would have to have significantly more population. I’d have two options for stabilizing loyalty: settle that valley city or slot Limitanei, place Amani and run Bread & Circuses at Marina until I could get Yerevan up to 3 or 4 population. It would be feasible and needs to be looked at some more. The fact that plantations are +1 at Feudalism helps the situation some as well.

Out in Egyptian lands the scout moves west and runs into the cavalry gaggle:




These guys are heading somewhere that’s not barbarian camp. Wonder if there’s a soon-to-be-eaten city-state out here? Settlervision does show a third ring city tile to the northwest of the northern courser. Out at Recife my galley moves past a Phoenician bireme. It would have had to move 5 tiles to get to that position and I wasn’t going to check if the other one was there – it could be the same one or it’s a different one. Also wonder if he’s set up like this to prevent my passage?

Ichabod’s science took a big jump this turn, wonder if he put in Natural Philosophy? Actually, that’s likely, because he’s now in Monarchy. His score also jumped a pile (313 to 362) but a full 40 points of that as distributed between era score (10) and the wonder build (30). Speaking of scores, here’s the current rundown. The “ETC” score is just Empire + Techs + Civics

Ichabod: 362, ETC 209
Kaiser: 266, ETC 191
Woden: 264, ETC 197
Suboptimal: 257, ETC 191
Canada: 198, ETC 142