[PB58] Tarkeel and Amicalola's rule through fear

[Tarkeel]

Turn 158-159 (980 AD)
We've been knocking out techs towards Nationalism, and this turn we're finishing Philosophy on overflow alone. We were afraid that Nationalism would take three turns, but it looks like it will be closer to one than three. Assuming it takes two turns, here are our overall plans for Project Blizzard:


159: Meditation completes; Produce 17 hammers into market, putting it at 59 total; Cancel orders for Thunderflare
160: Philosophy completes; Whip baray in Hoth; Cancel orders for relevant workers; move Thunderflare
161: Hindusim spread; Whip market; Move relevant workers
162: Nationalism completes; Start Taj; Chop forests

Meanwhile, things are getting interesting elsewhere:


Three people know Guilds, which should be Jowy, MrCairo and AutomatedTeller. We lost research vision on Superdeath for a few turns, but he's likely to be going for Education and Liberalism. We've caught up with Jowy, our chief competitor for Nationalism, and MrCairo is about to come into possession of some very annoying Oromo Warriors. AT's Astronomy research is slightly troubling; we just got vision on the astro-land, and while lush it's not that enticing.


The land down by AT might be better of course, and there's still room for some more islands in the fog, but that's not something I'll give up Colossus this early for.

Lastly, we joined in on the stomping of Ruff:

I'm sorry to inform you that the Galactic Empire will not tolerate Rebel scum, and we are now at war. We will be taking the second half of the turn timer, like everybody else.

Here is the theatre before declaration:


Our goal in this war is to secure Salmagundi, and then sue for peace.

[civac2]

Don't you just hate it when you research so fast the overflow sequence doesn't line up.

[Tarkeel]

Turn rolled, so I can confirm that we 2-turn Nationalism, and are only 400 odd beakers away from 1-turning it, or half a turn of 100% research. We have gold for 2 turns, so will just see us to the finish.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 160-162 (1020 AD)
The war against he-who-must-be-renamed continues as expected: slowly. We've paused to bombard the defenses, as we don't really have the forces for such a war. It should fall in two turns though.


The goal for our first Golden Age is achieved, knocking out 6 techs (and a seventh on overflow next turn) and Hoth completing Taj Mahal EoT.


One-turning that is one of the coolest things we've ever achieved in Civ.

We swapped into serfdom this turn after, netting us an immediate 30 commerce and 20 hammers. The immediate plan is researching Theology and building the Apostolic Palace in Kuat. Once our second GA fades we'll likely spend five turns in slavery saving gold and whipping out buildings most places, before starting a third golden age. We're still deciding on the goals for that; we want to pick up some first bonuses, but also want some military edge with an end goal of drafting rifles from the fishing villages.

I forgot to post the obligatory Golden Moai shot earlier:



Lastly, an updated overview shot of the Empire:


...and the eastern astro-land:

[mackoti]

I realy hope  you chanched from plains to a water tile at maoi...

[Tarkeel]

I realy hope  you chanched from plains to a water tile at maoi...

Whoops It still beats a spy specialist, right?

[Amicalola]

Well I'm not sure if there was too much suspense in the end, but...



We Got Taj!

[Mjmd]

Grats. So obviously this was billed as the "plan to get back into it". What is the plan now???

[Amicalola]

Grats. So obviously this was billed as the "plan to get back into it". What is the plan now???

Thanks! We've been gradually clawing our way back into relevancy, and this Taj build should seal that. We're trying to work out how to use these two GA's to establish a clear lead over someone, enough that we can conquer them. AT is by far the most likely target, with an unsustainable border and the long-term threat of FIN (and also he wrecked our game ), but it could also theoretically be Superdeath.

We thought about going for ships, but the Colossus is the only reason we're competitive in GNP, so we can't really do that yet. The recent plan was to use the 2nd GA to establish an economic lead with freebies at Economics and Liberalism, since right now we're only at parity with the rest. Then we were going to use the third to tech rifles/cannons/cavalry and draft out an army. We'd need to act then, as no-FIN and wonder-obsolescence makes us economically weak long-term. However, it looks like Superdeath is also going for liberalism now, with probably enough gold to get there first, so that plan might be getting thrown out. 

I haven't spoken to Tarkeel about it yet (he's asleep), but what I'd like to do instead is grab the monk wonders for our economic boost during the Taj GA, and still use the third to grab that army. He's also been advocating for the monk wonders, and I love them, so it looks pretty likely. They also should work quite well with a cannon/rifle army because we'll want to delay Scientific Method as long as is realistic, and this way we'll have a lot of good techs to grab first. A major downside is that we don't have the holy city, so no shrine for us. But spreading 8-10 turns faster felt worth that price. 

This Taj build probably changes the others' perception of us from 'irrelevant' to 'back in the pack,' so the biggest obstacle I foresee is mass cancellation of trade routes, or a general increase in hostility. Hopefully not. Everyone is quite equal right now, we seriously have no idea who's the favourite to win.

[Amicalola]

Flunky had achieved a contender position with his extremely food-rich Indonesian islands after conquering Japan and thus the Great Lighthouse. (Since this is BTS it is indeed the Great Lighthouse, not merely the Good Lighthouse as in the rb mods.) It is a truism that a water-based Empire falls off heavily in late game. So Flunky teched Chemistry and Military Science and made an attempt to conquer Australia (shade, Genghis Khan). 

From the latest PB88 summary, in which civac describes our ticking clock better than I did before. This is the reason we think we need to go for an attack soon-ish, rather than try to tech up peacefully long-term. Thanks for the help reporting, civac.