[Spoilers] Whosit is playing for second

[Whosit]

Work from home is great. I spent 2 hours making a spreadsheet for my capital....

So, tl;dr, I can still finish Gov Plaza, Ancestral Hall, Commercial Hub, Builder, Temple of Artemis, and the Pyramids by Turn 77, the same as I previously estimated.

This time, I made sure to track the number of amenities that would be available. Next turn, when I swap into Early Republic, I'll get the +1 amenity when the Gov Plaza finishes (I actually goofed this, and gave myself the amenity a turn early.... it actually put me back a turn but I think with some micro I can stay on track lol).

Ancestral Hall will get 1 chop on turn 58 and should be finished on T59. I will delay the founding of Chartreux by 1 turn so it can get the free builder. If I make sure to have Irrigation teched, I can connect the silks, then run this builder allllll the way back to the capital.

After the Hall, we'll get the Commercial Hub built. That ought to finish on Turn 64. Then we'll pop out a quick Builder, and put a turn into our Market so the Builder can harvest the Maize (I think it'll be worth more than 100 gold so I definitely don't want to just lose it). I will have left Military Tradition at 1 turn from completion so I can swap from Early Republic to Autocracy to get the 10% wonder building bonus. Also, it'll be +2 yields at the capital. With the extra amenities I've connected, the capital will still be Happy.

On turn 69, the builder from Chartreux will have arrived at the capital's spices, and the cap's builder can quickly move to the woods north-east via the road. They'll chop both woods simultaneously, and the Temple of Artemis should basically be finished in 2 turns. I can connect the spices with a plantation, and I'll figure out what to do with that other Builder's last charge I guess.

I'll have to slow-build the Pyramids, but at this point the capital will be Ecstatic with the extra amenities from the ToA, and it will be growing fast. I think it will only take 7 turns to build the Pyramids.

It's entirely possible that someone else will have built the Pyramids by T77, since they are a REALLY good wonder and everyone else does not seem to be expanding as fast as I am. If that happens.... I dunno. I'll dump the production into the Market, I guess.

I don't really have a plan beyond that at the moment. If I land both wonders, that'll be some nice era score going into the Medieval age.

Lastly, I realized one advantage Korea has over me, besides science, is that they have a lot more Woods to chop in their two cities. I'm expecting them to get cut down soon to build their +1 sciences mines. Wonder what all that extra production will be put into. Units?

When I have masonry in hand, I may want to put walls up in Bengal. I want to chop out all that Jungle, and after ToA gets chopped, Magnus can be moved. I don't think I'll give Magnus any additional promotions, because my idea is to just jump him from city to city, chop out everything I need, and repeat. Pingala will end up living in the capital permanently, I think, since it should become the largest city in my empire with the food and happiness from Artemis.

Related to that, we'll see what becomes of Venice. Korea taking that city would create a much wider front I'd have to deal with. Right now, Korea could only strike me at Bengal, but if they have Venice, Bengal and Burmese can be forked. If that happens, I'll definitely need walls at both cities.

[Whosit]

We are the most cultured.







Next turn we're swapping out Land Surveyors for Maritime Industries, and I guess we're swapping out Ilkum for... Caravansaries? +2 gpt isn't much (it's something), but I don't think there's another economic card that does anything more until the next switch.

I was doing a little more planning in my spreadsheet, and I'm going to need to make sure I finangle my Civics research so that I can make my next government swap on the right turn.




After quite a few minutes of hemming and hawing, I decided to change where Bengal's Encampment is going to go. The original position was meant to block any attempts to get past Bengal and go for Bombay, but now I think the bigger worry is going to be Korean troops moving north through Venice. I haven't made a thorough plan for Bengal yet, but I think I definitely want the Encampment, if not the Barracks, done before friendship expires. That way when I get walls up it'll provide some extra defense.

The players across the pond got another turn in today, so I think I'll be getting another turn before bed time.

[Whosit]

Wait.... doesn't completing the Government Plaza allow you to switch your civics cards??? Uh, I did not get that option. Shit. Did I really forget a fundamental mechanic like that??

[Whosit]

Yeah, despite all the games of Civ 6 I've played, I got mixed up. Government Plaza doesn't allow you to switch civics, but completing the buildings do.  Plan isn't ruined, I'm just going to have to recalculate and be a little less optimal. I will also have to remember that when we enter the Classical Age, we get the opportunity to pick new civics, too. I don't think the timing is beneficial to me, though.

I'll be going ahead and completing Military Tradition in 2 turns so I can still swap to Maritime Industries. I can still finish the Galley before the end of the era and lock in my Golden Age. Sucks to tech an extra civic I don't need to since that could increase district costs but it is what it is.

It is fun that I have my Tier 1 government and no one else has even been able to start Political Philosophy though.




Looks like I'll need to make slight alterations to my sims, too. I thought the capital would be getting 15.4 but it's getting 15.3 instead. I can only assume that the 1 production from Urban Planning does not get the 10% boost. Makes me wonder if the yields from Autocracy get boosted or not....




Looks like Krill is sending greenline a trade route. No doubt to get that +1 science from the Korean cities.

I feel like, in competent hands, Venice out to be able to hold out. Archer in the city center should focus on taking out the warriors, because Korean archers can't actually capture the city. I give Venice 2 more turns.

[Whosit]

I've been having a lot of insomnia this week, and thought maybe I could cure this night's bout if I could solve a mystery in Korea. Korea's gold went 52 > 59 > 52. Korea is netting 7 gold per turn, so they should have had 66 gold.

Greenline bought a 3rd ring tile in their capital. It's a floodplain. No resources that I can see, and no particular value to it. I'm not sure what the gold cost would be....

Found this for culture cost:
the culture cost of a tile is 10+(6*n)^1.3 (where n is the number of tiles obtained by culture already...not sure if gold bought ones count)

For gold costs, I know it starts at like 70 for 3rd ring, and goes up by 5. Culture costs are on a per-city basis, but gold costs are empire wide. I'm just going to guess that it would cost greenline 75 or 80 gold to buy that tile. Where did that money come from? If it was a barb camp, there would have been an era score increase. I thought maybe they harvested their maize, but it's still there. Also, to end up back at 52 suggests spending something that wasn't a multiple of 5, which I cannot think of. Very puzzling.

Things I do know:
The chop was worth 32 or 35 gold. Whatever Governor greenline put in S. Fair is not established yet.
The only reason I can think that greenline would have bought that 3rd ring floodplain would be to block another civ's unit from moving past. I guess that was worth the cost?

I'll be double checking if Korea is still earning 7 gpt when the turn comes back to me.

I know that if any lurker knows, they cannot tell me.

OH! If greenline is using Land Surveyors.... if the cost were 80 base, then it becomes 64. 52 + 64 = 116. That equals 66 (expected gold) + 50. Where did the 50 come from? I had assumed a barb camp, but like I said, that would have given Korea +2 era score.... Maybe it will show up next turn? I know that unit power updates the turn after a unit is produced or upgraded.... I'm still not certain which parts of the Civ 6 UI take a turn to update.

Something else this tells me is that, well, Korea isn't running anything better in their only Economic slot, and that greenline was likely planning to purchase that tile for at least a couple of turns? Last opportunity to swap civics was on Turn 51.

Well, mystery mostly solved, except for where the gold came from. Maybe I can get back to sleep lol.

[Whosit]

No era score increases for Korea, so the source of the 50 gold is still unknown. I'm probably forgetting something obvious, but.... oh well.

Also confirmed that a 1 point score bump for Khmer a couple turns ago was a Shrine, as they are now getting 3 great priest points a turn.

And to show how slow I can be sometimes, Japan's extra science is from working the two turtles. Maybe I realized that before and forgot, I don't remember.  




Keeping CMF on a merry chase, but it's going to end soon since I'm stuck in a dead-end. Sent a peace offer, but I expect it to be rejected.




Shot of Korean territory for reference later. Venice falls next turn. Looks like China had sent the TR to Venice, no Korea.




China had gotten an envoy with Venice. Wonder if they'll be peeved at Korea's conquest, too.

Not a lot else to update. Everything is running according to (modified) plan.

For Korea, Venice will be a pretty good city, especially since it comes with a couple of improvements. And I think greenline will capture a builder with 1 charge left. Venice will also give Korea access to sea turtles as a luxury (vulnerable to pillaging by my boats when war comes, though). I expect greenline to buy that tile ASAP. Main weakness I see in the city is that it will be a slow grower.

...Actually, I don't think that greenline can improve those turtles? The cliffs would prevent units from embarking, right? There's one available beachhead just south of Burmese, but if I see them move a worker there I'm just gonna buy the tile and block 'em.

[Whosit]

Well, there's definitely some loyalty problems. Of course, all greenline has to do is more their governor there. Hopefully as I grow my cities' populations, and get the Golden Age loyalty boost, it'll cause some more problems.




Bigger Barb problem than I thought. Should have waited for Warrior to heal before moving out with Slingers. If my luck is bad, I could lose the Slinger on flatland and that would be.... REALLY inconvenient.




Policy swap.




We're gonna cross the finish line!

Not a lot of big news I can see this turn. China got another tech and has now researched the most techs. Wish I had any idea what their tech rate is. Japan finished their second holy site.

I suppose I'm having a bit of a chuckle that both of my known opponents are netting +7 gpt while I'm getting nearly +20. :3c And it's only going up from here!

[Whosit]

We've got Iron.







There's also Iron in Burmese's 2nd ring, which it will grab in about 7 turns. City will make a Builder after the Galley, so it can mine the Iron, quarry the Stone, and do something else. I'm kind of glad I have Iron under a district so I can start to accumulate it a little faster. Bombay truly turned out to be an above average capital. Korea is going to get a 2nd source of iron with its Settler, no doubt, but I'll have 3 sources, and Legions take less iron than Swordsmen. I'm not too worried. 

I will say, this game has really made me appreciate the +1 science from iron more. In SP games, I don't even register it, but in this game, where I'm fighting to be neck and neck with Korea, the extra points it gives out to either player really adds up.




Scarborough Fair grew, Arirang produced a Settler. Interesting. I wonder in which direction it will go? I think I will be holding on my 5 cities until I've had a chance to develop them a little. Then I'll do a big wave of Settlers. Though that will probably be after a builder wave with Feudalism.




As expected, governor moved, loyalty under control. Still hoping that Golden Age will give me enough edge to put pressure on Venice.

The Khmer got their 3rd city settled as well.

One thing I've been wanting to mention is that I REALLY undervalued Rome's free roads. They've been huge, honestly, especially on such a hilly map. Greenline still hasn't produced a Trader, so has no internal roads. I wonder if the Settler is a sign that Korea is going to turtle, but I'm still going to beef up my military. Actually, the barbs up north are becoming such a problem, I'm getting Archery a little early.

Bengal plopped down its Encampment to lock in the cost, but won't finish it for a little while. Greenline will surely see. I wonder if it will be viewed as provocative?

Thinking about the chatter in the out of game thread. I'm sure Fet already sees himself as out of the game (it sucks to lose motivation this early). Krill doesn't seem happy with their position, either, but hard to say what's going on over there. I think it's still way too early to say that I have a 100% lock on this game, but I wonder if we'll see concessions early compared to a normal game?

[Whosit]

Wanted to show off my "tactical" decision making, since not a lot of action has been going on.




Newly upgraded Archer takes a big chunk of health of barb warrior from a safe distance.




Slinger can for sure secure the kill, but use our roads to make it harder for healthy barb Warrior to retaliate (I just realized this may do nothing, I think barbs can use my roads actually...).




Take out this weakened Slinger. Warrior earning a promotion, but....




I thiiiink my Warrior will survive. Then he can heal with a promotion.




Did some math, realized that, against all odds, Civ 6 is actually calculating the chop yield WITH Magnus. Base yield was 44, based on my 9 techs. Actually, on second look this doesn't make sense based on my understanding of the formula. (I also realized I accidentally got Irrigation earlier than I meant to. I thought I had switched off to Masonry last turn. I wanted to delay it to make my new city's district a tad cheaper.)




Completes next turn. Galley finishes next turn. Will settle 5th city next turn, with free builder. Will switch policies. Urban Planning and Ilkum for sure. I think the plan was Strategos in wild card slot as long as I can spare it.


 




I'm curious how the overflow will work, so I'm recording the numbers here. I'll need to see how many actual production points were put in the builder on turn 60. I'm very excited for the turn of the era....

I don't think I'll be getting another save today. It's the weekend, but I figure most other people have a life on Saturdays.

[Whosit]

Turn 59 had a lot going on.




And with our first naval unit, our Golden Age is secured!




Warrior did survive. Pulled him back 1 tile and promoted with Battlecry.




I realized the barbarian incursions are bad enough that I needed to slot in Discipline instead of Strategos like I hoped to.


  

Also needed to upgrade another slinger to an archer. I need to push this back and deal with the camp spawning them before Friendship with Korea expires. I can't afford a two-front war when the time comes.

Peace with Japan, but as expected, he finished off my scout first. Inconveniencing me to the end....




Chartreux has been founded, along with its free Builder. 2 barbarian scouts were revealed to the south, so warrior escorted the builder to the Silk. Will connect next turn.




Moving scout to the tile south-west of Zanzibar to prevent Korea from attacking until our treaty expires. No idea if greenline was planning to, but may as well take the precaution. I am losing out on scouting, so I may change my mind after the scout is healed up. Could send it back out east.




Greenline used that builder's last charge on the farm here. Gets the +1 from being adjacent to the Seowon. I believe that the city is unhappy (-1) and at 4/6 housing.




The monument has been repaired, but loyalty is growing less than last turn? With Burmese growing in 2 turns, and a Golden Age around the corner, I'm feeling more confident that I might actually cause the city to revolt. >:3




So, I had forgotten that I would get another Governor title from the ancestral hall. I didn't need a new promotion on Pingala or Magnus, so I ended up grabbing Liang to get more Builder charges. For now, I'm planning for Burmese to just produce as many Builders as possible. I'll probably need to put a turn or two into a Granary I guess, just to make sure Liang establishes before the Builder finishes.




So, some unpleasant news in Bombay. I expected that the city would be happy, as there are enough luxuries and amenities available to do so, but I guess I'm still not very familiar with how the game determines amenity distribution. Seems it cares more about making everything as even as possible. I'll have to recalculate things but now I'm not sure if it's really worth the effort of trying to plan things out to the level of detail I have, because of things like this that are out of my control.

My galley is out, but I think I will avoid meeting China until the era rolls. The extra point of era score does nothing for me right now. It will also show up as 30 power next turn, which will at least make me look stronger.

So, here's my rough plans for my cities:

Bombay: Commercial Hub > Builder > 1 turn into Market > Temple of Artemis > Pyramids > Finish Market?

Bengal: Commercial Hub > Builder > Encampment > Archer? > Walls as soon as I have Limes > Barracks/Market

Burmese: Builder (delayed for Liang) > Builder > Builder > Walls as soon as I have Limes

Persian: Commercial Hub > Market

Chartreux: Commercial Hub > Market

With walls in play, I think I'll be safe with 3-4 Archers defending the Burmese-Bengal front. I want to get the Encampment and Barracks built to start building up Great General points. As commercial hubs and markets come online, my gold income is going to skyrocket (as will my science during the Classical Age). One advantage I think I have over Korea is my gold income, so I can afford more troops and upgrades.

Korea's power went from 148 to 177. I thiiiink that's consistent with a new Archer and some troops healing, but maybe it's just healing. 2 Warriors and 4 Archers at full health would be a power of 140. That's the army I thought Korea has. Clearly there's at least 2 more troops. It's been hard to track while Korea was fighting. No Swordsmen or Horsemen yet, as I haven't seen any strategic resources used up so far.

The Khmer got another tech which I believe was their first classical tech, as they gained 1 era score the same turn.

China got a new tech (9 now, and 2 finished a turn each, meaning split research), and one more empire point which could be a pop or a building.

I was hoping the turns would move with some speed today (would love to reach the next era lol) but looks like that won't be the case. I'm sure we're going to settle into the 1 or 2 turns a day pace, even on the weekends.

I remain convinced that I am in a commanding lead, but my objective must remain DON'T DIE. Hubris would still lead me vulnerable to a surprise attack because I am not focusing on my military. Hopefully the game will give me a more favorable allotment of amenities when Silks are connected next turn. Would really love the production boosts from a Happy capital.