[Spoilers] Suboptimal - Welcome to the Tlachtli of Blunders!

[suboptimal]

Turn 124

Guilds completes, netting the eureka for Banking. rho21 founded the city of Bryson this past turn. It is located northeast of Dinostratus, one tile in from the coast. Reachable if I needed to attack it. No sign of the hoplites yet.

With Guilds completed I go back to Divine Right. I’ll take that to one turn then start on Diplomatic Service. With all builders and settlers completed Serfdom and Colonization are out, Press Gangs and Town Charters are in. Income per turn goes from 30.7 to 42.3. Square Rigging comes in next turn.

I’ve also got Emile du Chatelet waiting for me. I take her because I could use the boosts. She appears in Cant, I get the boost for Education and the next Great Scientist is….Isaac Newton. Greece will claim him in 16 turns, not much I can do about that. Next Great Person due is Themistocles in 5 turns and Giovanni de’Medici in 6 turns. For the time being I thing Mq. Chatelet will be to poke around in the east. I’ll run her just north of Waffles, see what I find and then turn northeast around Xenocrates.

In a mild act of paranoia I’ve detailed the horseman in the north to stand guard out in the channel, just in case rho21 tries to be sneaky and make a naval end run. Catapult continues its march eastwards, other units reposition. I also reset all of my frontal troops to be on alert rather than just fortified. I’ve seen occasional reports on CFC the functionality is buggy, but rho21 has already woken up troops before. Settlers continue moving – 4 turns to settler Underneath the Bunker in the northeast, 8 turns to settle Green Grow the Rushes next to Pantanal. Harborcoat’s builder positions for the first of two chops for the naval operation.

Submarine’s trader is complete. I transfer it to Welcome and will run it to How starting next turn. With the IZ completed it’ll be a 3/2/2 route.

Down to builds. How the West Was Won queues up the Industrial Zone. The locked cost is 132, chop for 93. Two turns to go on that. I’ll mine this tile next turn, bringing the adjacency to +4. Three turns for now I’ll chop the jungle east of the IZ, mine it the following turn and the adjacency will be +5. I was going to plant the city west of the oasis, but after thinking about it northwest is the better spot – saves the grassland hill for a mine and lets me chop out walls using the forest up there.

At Find I’d start a mustket but I need to connect the second niter at Horse first. Walls will take three turns so I get those up. That’ll dovetail with the improvement, which will happen in three turns. I was going to run Harbor Shipping at High Speed but at 6.3 per turn thats…. 1 gpt. I start walls, that’ll be 13 turns. The city will expand in 3 turns (finally) so that will speed things up a little, as will the builder en route from the west. I can also get a mine down using the builder out of Find. The last build decision is at Submarine. I start the Commercial Hub there, that’ll be 13 turns to completion.

A quick look at my trade route situation:




Six of my routes will be expiring in 6 turns or less. All of the routes to Begin the Begin will be renewed. All routes to other cities will get sent up to How as that will be the highest yielding trade route. Welcome’s route starts next turn and I’ll have another trader coming online in four turns. I will probably run that one from Find to Cant to get Find’s production up a bit more.

[suboptimal]

Archduke, here’s the naval plan:

- T125: Builder chops forest for 186
- T126: Caravel completes with 12 overflow, starts Frigate
- T128: Builder harvests stone for 234 .  Divine Right restarted with 1 turn to completion.
- T129: Frigate completes.  Themistocles awarded, shows up in Harborcoat.  Activate to create Quadrireme.  Swap out Press Gangs, swap in Professional Army.
- T130: Galley & quadrireme upgrade.
- T131: Sail for Geneva
- T141: Attack begins.

The issue here is that I need to go the long way along the northern coast of the land mass.  If I could go west I could be there in 7 turns.  However, there’s a single snow tile that connects to the map edge and prevents all sea travel in that direction.  It’s two turns to get around the end of the continent and another eight to get into position to attack Geneva.  The good thing is that I can get past Perseus to Geneva without rho21 seeing it coming unless he's got a unit on the water.

My one concern with this is that the area north of Pantanal has not been fully scouted because of the barbarian presence – my galley needed to turn around and my troops never went that far north when dealing with the Egyptian slingers.  My expectation is that the route is open.  If it is a single tile blockage I can do a canal plant with the settler currently headed for the Pantanal.  I should have the answer to this question in two turns.

If I can’t get through in either direction I’ll get the muskets completed, detail a knight or two along with a crossbow or two and land an amphibious invasion on Apollonius using the frigates to take down the walls.

Question: After Geneva is razed should I capture or conquer & raze Perseus given that I’d possibly have the same problem holding it as I would Geneva?  For reference, here's a screenshot of that part of the map, from where my knights are currently positioned to the area east of Geneva and the snow blockage.  

[TheArchduke]

Imo there is no real benefit in keeping any of those cities.

They will only be worth something in a full conquest, and by then the game will be over.

Send that horse west to check the route by sea.

EDIT:

Suboptimal, if it is possible for you, you can send me your active turn and I can do a comprehensive lookover.

[suboptimal]

Imo there is no real benefit in keeping any of those cities.

They will only be worth something in a full conquest, and by then the game will be over.

Send that horse west to check the route by sea.

EDIT:

Suboptimal, if it is possible for you, you can send me your active turn and I can do a comprehensive lookover.

Didn't see this before I played the turn this morning.  Do you want the start of turn save or the end of turn save for T126/7.  The exact turn will depend on how many turns go through this evening.  T126 will get played, T127 will depend on whether we get it around before rho21 goes to bed.

[suboptimal]

Turn 125

Going to be another builder turn. Square Rigging is complete. Japper and rho21 have formed an alliance, so Japper’s reached Civil Service. I’ll need to keep that in mind as I move forward with any scouts or attacks. I start Education, one turn to complete. Move some units around, chop a forest, caravel complete in one turn. Units reposition, horse scouts west over the water. The swordsman in the northwest will be the one to reveal the passageway situation as it’ll be the first to get there. I have to recall the galley to Harborcoat in order to ensure it’s back in time to be upgraded.

[suboptimal]

Turn 126

Open the save to getting the boost for Civil Engineering, which I need to look up to realize is seven different districts.  For some reason I didn’t realize that an Aqueduct counted, but I’ll take it.  Education is also complete.  Everything else is quiet.

In the east a couple of Greek knights have shown up to see what Mq. Chatelet is up to.  I move the one tile to the east that I can, reveal nothing much and expect her to be back in Cant next turn.

In the north the swordsman moves up to explore the tundra and comes across a swordman and a scout.  There’s still room for a passage up here, but it’s tight.




I start the caravel in this direction since it doesn’t need to wait around for a promotion.

Settlers and builders reposition, as do some other troops.  I completed the crossbow in Cant and that will move to reinforce the southern chokepoint there.  

I start Banking since I’ve got the boost for it and it’ll give me some additional income from my quarries (I’ve got four).  After that I’ll do Metal Casting.  I’ll put one more turn into Divine Right, two turns into Diplomatic Service and then switch back to Divine Right to complete it for T129.  

Harborcoat starts its Frigate.  Time to complete is listed at 13 turns.  That’ll be shorter in a couple more.  At Kenneth I take the citizens off the 2/3 mines and put them on cattle.  Gotta get this city growing for a bit since the housing cap was lifted.  It’ll grow in 6 turns and then I’ll get some production back.  The production drops to 8.4 per turn.  I start a Commercial Hub investment project here for a little more income.  Cant starts a University, that’ll be done in 10 turns.  How starts a University and I rearrange citizens there to get food output up to +6.6 from zero.  The builder will chop the jungle in two turns, that’ll both grow the city a pop and put 46 into the University.  It’ll then mine the hill and that should get per turn production here up over 30.  The universities will get me another 8 per turn, some extra housing, the Astronomy boost and complete Printing.  

One other thing I’ve noticed this turn regarding rho21 and Geneva.  He’s currently getting two luxury resources from the city-state (pearls and truffles).  If Geneva is razed he’d lose both, though he could get truffles from Japper in a trade if he needed (Japper doesn’t have pearls hooked up in his territory).

[suboptimal]

Turn 127

Swordsman was attacked by barbarians, Mq. Chatelet is back in Cant, three trading posts have been created.  Otherwise quiet start to the turn.  Look around, rho21 finished Exploration last turn and has adopted Merchant Republic.  Interestingly this has caused his science to drop a few points to 98.5 (from 101.9).  His culture, however, has skyrocketed to 60.4.  He’s also started to build a harbor in Dinostratus.  I think I might have to upgrade my southern galley and go pay him a visit at some point.  Japper has only 16 gold and his income dropped by 5.  He spent or traded 200 last turn.

First things first – get out of Divine Right.  Checking out the barbarians in the north:




Holy crap!  I move the swordsman east and there’s an archer in that direction.  The frigate in Harborcoat will be completed with the stone harvest next turn and will immediately go up there to start shelling these guys. I'll get about three turns of loitering to do some damage.  That swordsman is toast, though I may be able to run around enough to defog the passage before it dies.  Oddfellows’ build is complete, I start walls as a precaution.  This also means I need to hold my settler in Welcome until I can get an escort unit out.  Builder likewise pauses at the Encampment.  I also send Submarine’s trader up to Welcome.  I’ll start another trade route out of there and get building a musketman next turn after the catapult completed.  I also see Feudal Contract getting put back into use shortly.  I also transfer Oddfellows’ trader to How, also to boost production there next turn.  The jungle chop will get out the University and then that city will also be on musket building duty.  

I transfer Mq. Chatelet to Maps and Legends.  I’ll try going across the river at the Encampment and see what shows up there.  Speaking of great people, Admiral in 2, Merchant in 3, and then a Great General in 23 unless I speed it up a bit.

[suboptimal]

Archduke, here's the save for the end of Turn 127.  A couple of notes about what I'm doing with cities and planning for unit upgrades.

- I'm trying to focus trade routes into How, Begin, Cant, Maps, Find and Welcome to keep their production rates at or above 20.  This lets me build things reasonably quickly for this stage of the game, particularly units once I get Feudal Contract back in.

- The builder at sea is going to the marked tile at Find for a lumbermill.  That mill will make that a 1/5 tile and bring Find's production up to 27 per turn

- Larger cities against their housing cap are focusing on production rather than growth.  The exception is How until next turn.  The jungle chop will get it close to size 7 and then I'll use the 5 tile to get it the rest of the way.

- I'll be upgrading the following units once Professional Army is in:

- Galley (135) & Quadrireme (125) at Harborcoat
- Archer at Oddfellows (90)
- Two archers at Near (180)

That'll leave me with about 250 gold or so with 25-30 per turn as income.  I'll upgrade a sword a turn or two later to improve city defense and then get the catapult at Near upgraded once Metal Casting is in.


  MONTEZUMA 127 275 AD.Civ6Save (Size: 628.65 KB / Downloads: 1)

[suboptimal]

Turn 128

The swordsman is still alive! I move it northeast one hex and reveal the eastern portion of the passage.  The caravel moves up and with the exception of one hex still in the fog the way through seems clear.  

Themistocles is available now.  Well, that’s a turn before I expected him.  Interestingly the interface says I’ve still got a turn left to go but that I’ve got 60/60 points.




I claim him, get the boost for Enlightenment and he appears in Harborcoat as CMF predicted ().  I move him out of the city and create the quadrireme. I switch to Divine Right and can do the upgrades next turn.  The next GA is Francis Drake, which gets you 75 and a 50% bonus to plundering sea trade routes.  At Harborcoat the builder harvests the stone, finishing the frigate.  It moves off to go deal with the barbarians.  Harborcoat starts a lighthouse.  

Elsewhere the knight healing up at Horse is ready to go.  I’m going to embark it, sail down to the barbarian camp, land and attack.  That’ll be faster than overland travel and avoid problems with any units that may have spawned.  I send the traders at Welcome and How to Near.  Builder at How chops the jungle – the yield cuts the University’s time down to 6 turns and the time to grow the city down to 2.  Reposition some other units and send Mq. Chatelet out to the lone grassland tile that’s on my side of the river at Near.   rho21 has a crossbow in the Encampment.  I have movement left so move into the jungle to see what else I can find.  rho21 still has a warrior hanging about:




I have one minor dilemma with the settler at the northeastern gap – settle on the grassland hill or desert?  Grassland hill gives me rapid expansion from the food, which is what I’m after for more science and culture.  The desert hill gives me an immediate chop for walls.  I decide to settle on the grassland hill.  One of the forested grassland hill tiles will come into the city on its second expansion (the rice will be first).  Underneath the Bunker is founded and starts working the oasis:




I start on a monument in the city.  Horse gets a pasture for its horses.  Welcome starts a musket.  

Next turn I’ll take out Press Gangs and Natural Philosophy and put in Feudal Contract and Professional Army.  The loss of science will be a hit for 7, but I figure better to keep the cash flowing right now.  However, getting some muskets built in the west ASAP is a priority for defense.  I’ll put it back in once Diplomatic Service is completed.  Begin’s crossbow is one turn from completion so I switch to a musket there as well.

[suboptimal]

Turn 129

The swordsman in the north is dead.  Banking and Divine Right, along with a trade route or two, have completed.  Time for some changes around here:




This drops my science down to 81.4 from 88.8.  No matter, it’s not what’s important right now.  Besides, I get 2 of that back putting Near’s new citizen into the Campus specialist slot.  Start Metal Casting and resume Diplomatic Service.  Restarting the three ended trade routes (Cant → Begin, Find → Begin, Find → How) brings my income up to 47.7, but that’s going back down a bit once my upgrades are completed.   Feudal Contract has cut my completion times on the muskets to 6 turns at Find and Welcome and 7 turns at Begin, though I’ll keep that one a turn from completion.  

The caravel rounds the bend, finds the barbarian camp and that the passage to Geneva is open.  Frigate moves up and can start target practice the turn after next.  Ships at Harborcoat upgrade and the northern pocket navy is completed.  It’s four turns of movement to the barbarian camp from Harborcoat and another five turns from there to the staging point for the Geneva attack.  If I’m fortunate my Frigates can earn enough XP targeting barbarians on the way by to get a promotion.  Bombardment would be quite handy for what’s to come….

Builder at How mines the hill, move a citizen and How’s production is at 32.5 per turn.  Not too shabby, I think.  Mq. Chatelet moves northeast to see if  there’s anything on “my” side of the river.  Nothing yet.  Up at Near I upgrade both archers to crossbows.  I’ve got 330 left, which is just enough to upgrade two swords if I need to.  I’ll wait a bit as my income is at 37.4 per turn after the upgrades.