[Spoiler] Fintourist loses his multiplayer virginity

[Fintourist]

Turn 91...

... was exactly as eventful as forecasted:



And here is the new island site, "Soft Hands", visible:



I believe that the swap to OR now (instead of at the end of the turn) was the most questionable of my actions. I don't build currently infra in the cities where I have religion and it costs me 4 gold per turn in civic upkeep. However, ability to build missionaries has already some value for me.

Btw, can you think any use for my confucian missionary. Should I settle it in the capital so that I have an option to build two Monasteries (I doubt that I'm going to build even one..)?

[AutomatedTeller]

Once I am in a religion, I would generally put a 2nd missionary into my cap. You might want that monastery at some point - or you might want a couple of temples. Worst case, it's extra happy if you ever go FR.

other option is to send it scouting (don't remember if you have barbs on or not in this game)

[Fintourist]

Once I am in a religion, I would generally put a 2nd missionary into my cap. You might want that monastery at some point - or you might want a couple of temples. Worst case, it's extra happy if you ever go FR.

other option is to send it scouting (don't remember if you have barbs on or not in this game)

Thanks for ideas! I guess I'll spread the religion into my capital... Although while barbs are off it could also serve as a sentry somewhere.. Hmm..

[Fintourist]

Turn 92

The main event of the turn was founding "Drop Shot" NE of my core:



With two food resources that will be a decent city. Apart from +1 happy those furs are however not really that useful, but better than a bare plains tile I guess.. You can also see here the overall layout of islands between me and Sareln. If I had been arrogant I would have settled that island with sheep and fish, but to be honest the site that captures both sheep and the fish is very close to Sareln's core and at this point my defensing resources would have been limited. But if he simply takes too much time, maybe I will settle there eventually, perhaps on plains hill. Maybe I was too conservative with my plant... Btw, in the south Azza settled his first island city very close to Hydra already 20 turns ago. At least for now there are no signs of aggression from Hydra's part.

As you can see, I turned my research on and will get CS in 4 turns. Currently I'm thinking a lot about my long-term tech plan. Could I afford to skip Machinery+Guilds and simply tech Gunpowder through Paper+Education. That would also put me quite close to Liberalism..

And here are my Golden Age demos with comments:

As one expects, GA makes me look kind of good here.
Rival best in GNP is Sareln with 0% research.
The fact that I'm not really ahead in Production shows of course that I'm not utilizing that bonus fully. But oh well, the point of this GA is really saving 3(/4) anarchy turns, getting CS faster and producing Great Scientist for Academy.

[Fintourist]

Turn 93

So this time we'll take a look at the situation in the west, meaning my border situation with Azza:



I would love to get that site with pigs and clams. If Azza is not faster I will settle it ~T102. That site would provide a stepping stone to the island visible in NW, which is not amazing but provides a couple of okayish city sites. Unfortunately that pig-island is significantly closer to Azza's core, which means that I kind of wait him to settle it any turn now.

If I get the site, it will surely cause some tension in the area. Currently I feel okay about my safety. You can see that I just produced in CC my third galley for these waters. I already have a spear and an axe in the area and I will increase my defenses if I get to settle that island.

Azza has a galley SW-SW of Soft Hands. I'm kind of paranoid that he has something in it so I try to cover all my cities and workers as good as possible assuming he heads toward my region. I'm pretty sure it's empty though, but better safe than sorry..

In other news, my cities grew 4 pop points this turn. Hydra, Viqsi & Sareln have all settled a new city within the last couple of turns. So the current city count is following:
Azza 10
Fintourist 9
Hydra, Viqsi & Sareln 7
I expect Sareln to start pushing horizontal expansion now. At least he has whipped his cities hard during the last two turns.

[Old Harry]

I think you should definitely settle that pig-clam spot, enrage Azza, have a big war and take all the cities on his bit of the mainland!

You'll get more lurker comments...

[Fintourist]

I bet!

I did some sandboxing and if nothing unexpected happens I'm going to settle that spot ("Pig Dot") on T101. If Azza goes there first I will have an axe and a spear ready to raze his arrogant settlement... I will steal his crabs next to Inshalla ~T108

[Fintourist]

Turns 94-96

Ok, time to do some catching up! The reason for lack of updates have been 1) fairly uneventful turns 2) eventful student life and 3) Dynamic optimization/programming is a pain in the ass

Anyways, here is a short recap. Let's start with my core:


Notes:

• Settlers for cities 10&11 are produced currently and will complete in couple of turns
  
• I finished Civil Service EOT95, I still need Caste for a turn so I'll swap into Bureaucracy on T98
  
• Irrigation chaining is already in use, you can see a worker near RG that will improve my corn tile from 5f to 6f
  
• Next techs include IW & MC, possibly Archery.. After that there are couple of different interesting paths..
  

In the east Sareln settled that nice fish-sheep spot:

I think these cities will form quite a comfortable and natural border for this area. At least for a while. If I feel later that Sareln is running away or I want to do an opportunistic attack otherwise, I can hit that city thanks to circumnav bonus even with gallyes completely from the dark.
Btw, I got a free spread here in the "Drop Shot". It was about time to get one

In the SW, things will surely become interesting at some point:

Azza's most Eastern city finished a monument EOT95 (I believe) so it will grab crabs in its second ring. However, it should not be difficult for me to steal them unless Azza really pushes culture there.

C&D news:
I hate Sareln's GLH. That wonder makes it simply impossible for him to crash his economy. Every new city Sareln settles gets immediately +6 commerce from trade route income compared to other teams. As he starts getting Harbors up things will simply get ugly. Without that wonder my tech position would be excellent. Blaah.

Sareln also received a great prophet, used it to build Buddhist Shrine and revolted into HR & OR. That's surely a nice bonus for him. Hydra also adopted HR. I'm still wondering why he has not taken Judaism as a state religion. He is SPI and I'm 100 % sure that he was the one to get it.

Rival power average has been rising significantly during the last turns and Azza is now the new No. 1 in power. However the levels are still at "barely enough to organize a defence" and not anywhere near "I'll invade you". I try to keep up and defend myself as well as possible from opportunistic attacks.

I'm sure in ~20-30 turns it becomes increasingly clear what the key dynamics in this game will be as everyone's snowballs get going (or then not).

[AutomatedTeller]

of course, his lighthouse is a single point of failure for his entire economy. kill it and kill his economy...

[Fintourist]

of course, his lighthouse is a single point of failure for his entire economy. kill it and kill his economy...

I've actually thought about it. Unfortunately it is located pretty much on the wrong coast from my perspective. I would need to sail my ships more or less through 10 tiles of Sareln's culture to do it. That gives a quite a lot of time to whip defenders... With Astronomy everything is possible, but at that time he has already benefitted the most from the wonder and it might be too late.

I think Janissary-beeline and a surprise attack that hits multiple cities at the same time would be a more realistic dream. But still a dream. That can also be too late if he uses his cheap forges to pump up defenders.. Oh well, at least for now my own economy is competitive too. I just need to keep observing the situation and react accordingly.