[SPOILERS] You know nothing, Mahala Tholal

[The Black Sword]

Wow, it'll take a while to get through those lair guardians.

Good to hear that Mance has some goblins to snack on, he could use some xp to make sure he survives any of the wildlife.

Looks like a city with those gems and wheat in first ring could be nice to alleviate commerce problems also.

[Tholal]

First two goblins were slain. Have another moving up from the south and a skeleton coming from the north. The goblins are Scorpion clan, so there must be a goblin fort nearby. I'm guessing that there's another barrow to the north. Turn 10 and we already have four spawned barbs coming at us! I have a scout exploring north, Mance and a Beastman guarding the capitol (with another beastman being trained this turn) and a 3rd beastman exploring to the east. That should be sufficient defense for the moment. I'll start on a Settler next turn.

Here's a map of the local area.


Looks like there is a sizeable river out to the east, and a smaller one to the south. Along with the gems and gold, I should be able to keep a decent economy going.

And demos prior to ending turn.


I'm not really sure why my GNP is 2 less that everyone else. Brain has the Creative trait which gives him +2, and I'm pretty sure that someone settled a Sage, which would also push them ahead of me, but I'm stumped in regards to how the other players are passing me in this demo. At least I have the longest life expectancy... 90 years! I'm guessing that we have a strong Social Security network established.

[The Black Sword]

Heh, size 2 settler - the power of expansive.

Regarding the GNP: maybe a pre-req bonus is possible for some since they already had a starting tech? That drop from 21 to 17 is funny though, means that player has the sage, was researching a pre-req to begin with, is not now, and is not creative nor Barbarian.

[Tholal]

Regarding the GNP: maybe a pre-req bonus is possible for some since they already had a starting tech? That drop from 21 to 17 is funny though, means that player has the sage, was researching a pre-req to begin with, is not now, and is not creative nor Barbarian.

Ah yes. I always forget about the research bonus from prereq techs. Must be researching Calendar. From the scores, it looks like a couple of players managed to get techs from a hut.



Here's a map of my area along with a few city-sites marked. The 'A' spot will likely be my first city. It's a little far away, but I need to put it right next to the Gems since I have no way to expand borders at the moment. My third city will likely be next to the river to the southeast. Haven't yet finished exposing the map there so I haven't designated a city site yet. The 'B' spots will be for later cities. Feel free to comment and offer suggestions.



And here are the current demographics.



A Skeleton from the north interrupted my farming of the Cow tile. Since Crafting is almost done, my Worker is just doing busy work until we can start harvesting the Wine.

[The Black Sword]

City sites all look good to me, though I'm not sure about the order. The river site by your capital seems better than the SE one to me. Similar resources and river tiles, but maintenance will be lower, there's less travel time and it will get up to speed faster due to the overlap with the capital. After that, SE, then NE sounds good.

Btw, I'd probably drop Deruptus from the capital's river to one of the inland sites with more river tiles. Cottaging that land early to get the GNP going still looks like a good idea though.

Have you got any gold from events/huts yet? Or will founding that second city slow down Mining?

[Tholal]

Good point about the city sites. I think I'll actually settle on the nearby river/coast site first. Gems site after that.

Mining due in 13 turns. I did happen to get an event last turn that gave some gold, so I now have 113 and should be good to stay at 100% tech even with another city.

Settler finished next turn. Mance is still wounded from his fight with the skeleton, but I'll send him out to guard the city site.



My Warrior exploring the river basin to the SE discovered the source of the Goblin incursions!



It will be a while before that fort is looted. In fact, it could actually be a major security issue if a Barbarian leader comes along and starts recruiting troops there. Looks like the fort is also blocking access to that hut. I'm assuming that the non-Held Archers are set to some defensive AI type since they haven't come after me yet. Any city down that way will need an active defense.

Current demographics:

[The Black Sword]

Hmm, I just ran a quick test, seems like a city there will get a trade route with your capital, through the river and lake. Definitely the right choice then.

[Tholal]

Yes, that trade route makes it all worthwhile. Second city established. Mance is guarding it while Tormund Goblinsbane is keeping the nasty critters away from the capital. Research income from my new city and trade routes cut a couple of turns off of Mining research (and put me in 2nd place for GNP). It will be done in 9 turns. Winery will be completed at the end of next turn. Building a few troops while letting my capital grow a bit.

[Tholal]

Things are moving along well. Mining done in 4 turns. My Worker should be on the gold tile, ready to start work right when the tech is completed.

Urslo is training another Beastman. Complete in 2 turns, which is the same time that the city will grow to size 5 and hit its happy cap. After that we'll go Worker - Settler - then maybe another Worker depending on how things are going.

Fjirgard is going to grow one more pop, then switch to production to finish the Beastman, and then maybe switch to a Worker. I'm going to want to clear those forests next to the river.

Despite being last in score, I'm doing well in the overall demos.



Getting more barbarian activity from the south and east. My exploring Warrior is being chased by two goblins and a skeleton. Luckily I was able to circle around a lake to escape their trap and now they're all following him back to the capital where another Skeleton is approaching, with a Goblin not far behind. Tormund is there to handle the first wave, but I'm also moving Mance back to help fend off the 3-unit army.



I might need to place my third city at the nearby northeastern spot to keep everything close and defensible, delaying settling of the Gems or the southern river. My first scout died to a Bear in the north, so my new Scout is heading East to try and map out the river to the east of the Barrow.

[The Black Sword]

Should Fjirgard steal the wheat from Urslo and grow to size 4 before building the worker? Doesn't seem like you have a huge need for worker turns atm, you could chop those trees but non-agri farms aren't a great return on 7(?) worker turns either.

That said, chopping into your settlers to make the most of expansive would be a good idea. I'd still go for the gems site personally, and build an extra beastman or two if necessary. I tend to prioritise commerce resources until education or CoL come in.

Is Tormund a special unit or something, what's with his cool icon?

Also, nice demos .