[SPOILERS] Vive l'Afrique libre : Bowsling and Aivoturso are Mansa Musa of the Zulu

[Aivoturso]

Yeah. Playing turns this early isn't really the problem. It's the planning that takes the time. And later on the fall I should have more time on my hands. It should be just until next week end that I am busy.

[Bowsling]

Well, I'll have more time for this than I thought I would, with the CFC Intrateam about to come to an abrupt end for me.

Dinosaurs built a work boat, got a population increase, and now have a scary Crop Yield of 10! Luckily, this is quite suboptimal, and they probably just screwed their chances of winning right there.

In other news, we finished AH, and have started Mining! There is a source of horses in the far southeastern corner of the known world, on the other side of that inlet - quite far away, sadly. The good news is we're Zululand.

[Aivoturso]

Don't write off Dinosaurs just quite yet. Remember that this is a diplo game, so being sub-optimal might not matter at all in the long run.

That reminds me. IMO, when the scout maps area SW our city, we should send it searching for neighbours. Not only can we start diplo but we will also start to get "known tech" bonus.

BTW, what's our diplo strategy? And how do we conduct diplo? I suppose that we don't need to appoint ambassadors, except maybe for our closest allies (if we want to have Instand Messaging capability).

[Bowsling]

You're right, I shouldn't be so quick to say someone screwed their chances to win. However, these starts are extremely similar, and starting with a work boat is not really a great plan IMO.

I didn't report the last two turns, I was in quite a rush to get both played. The scout was at 64/100 after beating up a lion on the hill 7-8 of where it is now. Figured it'd be safer to move onto the forest hill to heal... didn't expect to discover a jungle with a panther in it!

Our worker finished and started the pasture last turn.

As for diplo, I think it really depends on who we meet. If we run into a civ with an ancient unique unit that we think we can outtech, we might as well try and get a long term NAP with them. With M&M, Orgynized, Yossadorn, DMOC, etc., we might as well keep them on their toes. The advantage of pointy-stick diplomacy conducted with Impis should not be overlooked.

Later, when there is a lot to discuss, I wouldn't be averse to IM. This we can decide based on timezones, since the two of us are usually online at different times.

[Bowsling]

Holy shit, team M&M just got a whole lot more... interesting? Explosive?

[Aivoturso]

The adjective I would use is unpredictable. Even if they manage to work out their differences, we'd better stay wary of them. Not sure what we can expect from them in diplo front.

[Bowsling]

Our scout beat the panther, at 33% odds! Thanks, Civ!

He is now sitting on that hill at 80hp healing, with a woodsman 1 promo. A lion is two turns away, although we may be able to evade it depending where it moves. Or just kill it and take woodsman 2.

Also, the pasture finished and has been switched to, and eagles and condors grew, and MLP discovered a tech.

[Bowsling]

Four hours left on the timer, and I might not be able to get to the turn. I requested a pause in the tech thread, but it's even easier if you can play it.

Scout should probably sit there and heal, or run away from the lion. I think it'll have good odds, but if there's a good tile to move to, no harm in avoiding a fight. Mining just came in, BW is next. Worker can move towards the deer now since the pasture is done.

[Aivoturso]

We got our pause and now I played the turn and then the next. I left the scout in place to heal to full health. No threat from lion as it stayed 2 squares away from us. We are now researching BW and will pop population next turn.

[Bowsling]

Great, thanks!