[SPOILERS] Roland and Suboptimal Team Up

[roland of gilead]

need to sort out some scouting coordination.

I think I will go south to the lake then west into the desert.

you don't need to scout the stone for me if you don't want to. I can do that with my slinger.

I think I have my next 2 cities roughed out. Stonehenge one then pyramids one.

We need to find you a good spot.

[roland of gilead]

crater lake is hard to work but with TOA.....

[suboptimal]

That does look like Crater Lake -- the letters fit and wonder names use a different font than location names. It's definitely a hand-picked location given it's next to a lake since most NW's are flagged to not appear adjacent to fresh water.

Your one pinned city location doesn't look like a good spot - it invalidates all city locations that can get a stone-adjacent tile in the first ring.

Your scouting plan sounds good. I'll skip scouting the stone and move up to swamp truffles next turn, then head north to defog the area immediately N/NW of the wheat. I know that tundra is up there but that's where the rivers go. If I decide to settle west first I can jog the settler south slightly (tile NW of the capital's truffles) to use its 3 sight range to defog a little bit. We know that the area immediately southwest of my capital is coastal based on your initial Settlervision screen shots. There might be some room for a city between the coast and Chao Lake if there's a one-tile lake tucked in there. My expansion area is likely to my east, yours is likely south (or possibly west). One thing I haven't done (and usually do) is check for map borders when I start - I'll do that when the save comes around to estimate how much land we have to our north.

For my settlement plans, based on what I see now, one city needs to go in the area of the wheat. Settling on the wheat loses a potential food source but gets both of the truffles in the second ring. A plains hill settlement would leave the southern truffles for a city somewhere to the south but it'd likely have a bunch of tundra second ring to the north. Both rivers head north but the tundra is just in the fog; there looks to be a city site north of the capital but it's likely all tundra up there.

[roland of gilead]

Yeah I am sure it is crater lake.

That pin for a city is from before and is indeed awful.

I need to settle near the stone or on it which isn't great for you.

I don't need to I suppose but if we want choral music I do.

[roland of gilead]

May well be better for you to settle crater lake.

[suboptimal]

Settling on the stone doesn't affect any city I put near the wheat - the stone and the tile to its NW are both four tiles from the wheat and the plains hill to the NW. The main decision would be how the second ring gets split up (swamp truffles, the rice and the marsh in between). A city on the fogged tile NW of the stone would let you settle a second one at the south end of the lake but that, in turn, would affect your ability to settle near crater lake. IMO you should be settling the Lake Chao area and Crater Lake - you might find yourself space restricted.

The primary scouting objectives are locating city sites and seeing how much land we have. From a meta perspective I wouldn't be surprised if TBS gave everyone a sparse start and put more fertile lands on smaller islands scattered about the place.

[roland of gilead]

Agree on that.

Boats will be high priority.

[suboptimal]

Turn 4

Warrior moves to swamp truffles.




All of the newly exposed tiles are not fresh water. The good news is more tea. The less good news (but not horrible) is that the tile NW of the stone is forest. The warrior will move NE next turn as that’s a hill and should give me view to several tiles to the north.

My initial inclination would be to found the city on the stone as it has good food and high production second ring, along with a spot for a Harbor. The forest chop yields more than a direct builder charge if you’ve got four techs completed. Having three civics completed is break even and I’d say just use the builder charge.

No changes in score.

We do have a very high appeal area, though:




I’m definitely taking Earth Goddess since the first three tiles I’d be working all get from the pantheon.

[roland of gilead]

Yeah earth goddess is epic for you.

Is losing the forest worse than losing the stone as a chop.

[suboptimal]

No. Since one of the patches this year bonus resources and features all chop out at the same value. As I see it:

Settling the Stone
Pros: 3 tile first ring, Stonehenge goes on the forest, 3-adjacency Harbor available, tea and plains hill forest second ring (chop & mine)
Cons: lose Masonry eureka

Settling the Forest
Pros: Both tea first ring, Masonry eureka available
Cons: No 3 tile first ring, need to buy and overwrite the rice to place Stonehenge

I think the plan should be to research Astrology while getting at least one builder out. If I can work the truffles (capital acquires them in 5 turns) and build up we should be able to pool our cash to buy your second builder. One builder should mine the plains hill SE of the city. When Stonehenge gets place the city switches over to working that tile. Use a 3-charge builder first, that way you can put in two charges in one turn. Two more charges from a second builder and five turns of production (city center + mined plains hill) completes Stonehenge.

After you as you reveal Crater Lake and Astrology's place on the tree you need to beeline it. I'll finish Pottery and head for Sailing regardless of where Astrology lies since my generation is likely to triple (or quadruple) on Turn 14 and I should be able to get a boat out around Turn 31 or 32.