Turnplayer Thread #2.

[mostly-harmless]

Well, the yellow line is the border of Templar territory as we know it (at T84 when Constantinople's border pops). We might have to adjust the southernmost route if we encounter Libyan border there.
This route is not set in stone and will be adjusted on a turn basis I expect.
I only want to show that we can use the scout in an useful way now that we have OB with IMperio, while the galley sails around the NE passage.

mh

[regoarrarr]

Right. And I definitely agree with you - I am just wanting to make sure that we can get Sharon up there.

Do we have OB / ROP with Imperio? If Lakamba's borders have popped (to the BFC) then Sharon will be stuck - not able to pass the tile 2E1S of the city center.

Could we arrange / negotiate for her to sneak through? Probably. And would they even notice since they don't log in - but it's something to consider

I can run the numbers on Math / CoL if someone can give me the data - maybe post it in the tech thread?

[mostly-harmless]

Ah,... We recently signed a OB agreement with Imperio.
Without it none of the movements illustrated would be possible, because:
1. Chichen Itza blocks all Navy routes along that coast and
2. Lakamha has already its 3rd ring popped and blocks all access to the SE by that 3-mountain cluster.

mh

[Sullla]

The Grand Tour sounds like an excellent idea. We'll actually be spending much of that time in neutral territory in the SE, so it shouldn't irritate Imperio too much. (If they even notice, that is! They don't seem to be too devoted to this endeavor.) The main goal is to locate the location of Libyan. I also want to build a second scout at Cape Town immediately following the galley, to board the ship right away. We can do it in 2 turns, and that way we'll have one guaranteed unit on the other continent no matter what happens with Sharon.

We have just signed Open Borders with Imperio, and offered it to PAL. In the diplo thread, PAL stated that they would have Alphabet next turn, and would trade us Writing/Alphabet over the following two turns (T81 and T82).

Now with the OB, can we get a breakdown of our commerce and the various gold / science ratios, along with when we think we'll be trading for Writing / chopping the library / etc.?

Here goes. We have 62g in the treasury at present, and are making +21gpt. Non-existent research is on Masonry.

100% science: 30 beakers/turn @ -9gpt
90% science: 27 beakers/turn @ -6gpt
80% science: 24 beakers/turn @ -3gpt
70% science: 21 beakers/turn @ 0gpt
60% science: 18 beakers/turn @ +3gpt
50% science: 15 beakers/turn @ +6gpt
0% science: 0 beakers/turn @ +21gpt

Note that I didn't list the "True" beaker count, because it depends on what tech we choose to research. I'm also not sure it's even worth estimating at this point, because:

- We will complete a library at the capital in about 5 turns (with chopping help).
- We are currently in a shields configuration at the capital. We can boost our science up to 35 beakers/turn just by changing tiles, and that's still pre-library.
- Our numbers will change again once we have Open Borders with PAL.

For the moment, I think the best plan is to continue running cash until the library completes at Airstrip One and we swap back to a max-commerce configuration there. That will also give us time to figure out what religious techs, if any, we will be able to pick up with trades from Templars.

[sunrise089]

@Sullla - Sorry I wasn't able to log into the game yesterday and check unit movement options for our barb defense. Really any configuration is fine, but if it were me I'd just move the archer SW and force a decision with the southern warrior next turn.

[Zeviz]

I like the grand tour idea.

For reasearch, I'd stay on cash until we get a library up, assuming that doesn't delay monarchy. Then I'd start with Mysticism, since that tech would give highest discount.

EDIT: I wouldn't waste production on a second scout, considering the high chance that PAL will deny us RoP to explore their continent.

[Swiss Pauli]

Not sure it's worth the 2nd scout: with human barbs at large we may not get much bang for our buck.

[mostly-harmless]

Yep, I would go back to the idea to send that warrior with the galley instead of building another scout.

In the unlikely case Imp & Tmp declare war on us we can use that warrior for a sneak naval attack. ;-)

mh

[Sullla]

Alright, that's three votes "nay" on the second scout. We'll send Jennifer, our warrior, along instead.

[ruff_hi]

we also have time to send Jennifer overland to the galley load point if we want to - will need to highlight that with Imp.

Re the overland tour - nice idea - just don't get him killed by barbs . We could board the galley a few turns earlier by cutting back on some of the southern tour (with a suitable 'shows cancelled' announcement), board 2 tiles NE of the current boarding location and get onto meeting the other civs ASAP.

[mostly-harmless]

Possible, I actually expect to spot Libyan sooner, so a shortcut of the tour is possible. Also keep in mind any roads, Imp might have constructed will speed us up.

Barb danger should be pretty limited, as we travel almost all the way through foreign culture land.

mh

[Sullla]

Turn 81 is finally underway! Here are some of the major events:

- The southern barb at Pink Dot suicided itself on our archer Svava, who was on a forested hill tile. She is highlighted in yellow below. The northern barb moved into our territory, and Betty Hur got a favorable matchup:



Yes, I know the barb was on a hill, but the day I'm too scared to attack at 99% odds is the day I stop playing. Needless to say, Betty won without a scratch and gained 2 XP. We can select another promotion at our leisure, likely Combat II or Medic I.

That allowed Syme, our worker, to start the road towards Pink Peaks, as discussed in the previous turnset.

- We finished our second chariot in Airstrip One! The new unit, christened Lady Godiva, can head to either the Pink Peaks area to snoop on Templar activity, or go to Cape Town for added security. Suggestions here are welcome.

- Similarly, Airstrip One will now spend two turns on a spear or axe, then go to library. Do we want a spear or axe first? I have selected axe for the moment, but this can be changed.

- As the previous post indicated, we now have copper via Cape Town. Yay! O'Brien, the worker there, is going to pasturize the cows next. Cape Town has also grown to size 2, and is working the 1/5 copper over the 2/1 cattle until it is improved. Galley due in 2 turns.

- Sharon has begun the Grand Tour by moving into Imperio territory. She found a Templar quechua snooping around there with the same idea!



- Internationally, PAL has indeed finished Alphabet, as they told us last turn in their email. I have proposed Sailing for Writing in-game to them, as we agreed earlier. (We can do OB as a separate deal, I wanted to get the tech exchange finished first.)

- Soldier point spying confirms that Templars learned Iron Working last turn. Not a surprise, since we were 95% certain of this. Templars also received 20 points from land this turn - right, mh?

- Imperio and Templar GNP have been flat over the last 10 turns, while PAL's GNP has been steadily rising. Clearly, they are the biggest long-term threat. PAL also gained 12k Soldier points last turn, which I believe works out to four population increases (2k) and two military units (maybe spear + axe?) We always knew there would be some fuzziness with C&D, and it's getting harder to be exact...

- A big picture vision of our exploration efforts, because it seems like some people are unclear on this:



This is a rough, ROUGH drawing of the two continents. We don't really know what the eastern one looks like, but I'd guess it's at least somewhat close to ours. PAL started in the southwestern corner of their continent. When we cross over to the east, we'll be sneaking through in the extreme north, as shown. Unless PAL has settled some igloo cities far away from their capital, we do NOT need Open Borders with them to reach the other civs. We will definitely find at least one simply by circling the coast in clockwise direction. Hopefully Sharon can find the other civ by running straight through the middle in unclaimed territory. Hope this clears up confusion on the part of those who can't log into the game!

OK, I think that's all. Let's make sure we've got the right plan going.

[sunrise089]

I say spear first. That's normally the correct play versus humans.

[Zeviz]

Additional reason for spear first: Imperio has several Holcans/Chariots, and I suspect most of them are actually chariots, because nobody needs that many spears.

Should we send trade offers discussed in another thread to Imperio and Templars? If we do, we should avoid giving away C&D information and also offer IW for something to Templars. And perhaps ask Imperio for a tech we know they don't have.

[Sullla]

Two requests for spear - spearman in the capital it is!

PAL logged in and made the trade: we now have Writing, in exchange for sending them Sailing. They also offered Open Borders, which I accepted. Those intercontinental trade routes are worth a LOT! We were previously getting 2/2/2/1 commerce in our four cities, from Imperio's three cities and our one domestic route. Thanks to PAL, our cities now get 3/3/3/3 commerce! Of course, PAL is equally getting the same benefit in their own cities... but better OUR team is the one trading with them than Templars or Imperio, right?

Next turn, we'll have Alphabet and can clear up any remaining confusion over which techs Templars and Imperio possess. Zeviz, I'd stick with accurate info when negotiating with Templars, if only because there's a need for some speed with our tech trades. We don't want to be waiting on a negotiation to go through, stopping us from beginning Monarchy research.

With Writing in hand, I want to outline a plan for China Beach. Tell me what you think of this...



We swap over to library immediately. When the city grows to size 4 in three turns, we double-whip the library to completion. (Remember, Creative gets double-speed libraries.) While recovering from whip unhappiness, the city finishes its granary. We use the excess food at China Beach to run first one, then two Scientist specialists, with the goal of producing an early Great Scientist for an Academy in Airstrip One.

I want to push this because getting an early Academy in the capital is immensely helpful, especially in games where the capital is configured for commerce (as we are). Airstrip One will be able to support 10 cottages - maybe more! Library + Academy will give us a cool +75% beakers there, and we can stack that with Bureaucracy civic for even better results.

Do not rely on getting the Great Library. I hope we'll have the chance to build it, but we're going to have to go for Monarchy early on and a determined push to the top of the tree from another team stands a great chance of getting the wonder. And if the Great Library isn't in the cards, China Beach is our best option of landing a Great Scientist. Airstrip One doesn't have enough surplus food to run specialists, Pink Dot does but is going to be busy with workers/settlers/military, Cape Town is a barracks town, and the Pink Peaks area will probably be a hybrid location. If we're going to get an early Scientist, it *HAS* to be at China Beach, and the sooner we start, the better.

Did I manage to persuade anyone?