[spoilers] Pax Commodorica: Pharaoh of Rome

[GermanJoey]

Turn 112
The most glacially paced Hanging Gardens attempt ever grinds slowly forward! I dun goofed and the aqueduct is now a 2-pop whip; that's fine though I needed at least three more turns to set up all the chops. Hispana is a pretty crummy place for an aqueduct but it's a fine place for engineer points, so I'm content. We'll not be much in position to actually gain failgold; as with any HG attempt the aqueduct is the chief speed bump; the gardens themselves will be a 1t build. Just in time for my sixteenth city, I believe!

You know, I wouldn't say the Hanging Gardens is the most powerful wonder (although I'd definitely argue that it is vastly underrated by most people), but, IMHO, it has the most satisfying "wonderfeel." The Oracle is perhaps the most powerful of them all, but its like, an orgasm, I dunno, you land it and you're like "YEAHHHHHH!!!!!!!" and whooping hype as all hell around the room while that construction video popup plays, but then, once you click Close, you realize, oh, I guess I don't need to queue up a lot of courthouses or forges or whatever just yet, hmmm, I wonder what they're serving in the work cafeteria for lunch tomorrow. The other big guns, the MoM/Mids/GLH/Kremlin, sorta feel like Graduation Day of some sort, with Sid standing there in regal provost robes, shaking your hand and handing you a diploma while saying "Congratulations son, your hard work paid off, now your future is secure." But the HG on the other hand... once you click close on the wonder vid and start looking around your empire, you feel like this:



I guess the Taj is kinda like this too, but the feel of that one is overshadowed by the more instant gratification of a GP golden age. HG FTW...

[Ceiliazul]

awesome gif Jojo

[pindicator]

Pindicator needs to make that his avatar for a while.

I need to work on this whole 'not dying' thing.

[Commodore]

comment, gif...

I suspect you wrote that entire comment just to be able to use that gif...

...I approve. BRO HUGS!

[GermanJoey]

I absolutely, 100% wrote that post just to use that gif.

[Commodore]

I absolutely, 100% wrote that post just to use that gif.

Gotcha!

If your loins are still burning with hate, there is another chance for me to lose in inglorious fashion. Two fogged tiles, and they still manage to spawn an axe. D'oh.


Actually more annoying is Mr. Thoth here. His impi is screwing around with my chop-micro something fierce, and since I apparently don't believe in anything but the most minimalist of garrisons, it's a problem. A single extra legion here would make all the difference.


The good news is that those little towns don't exactly need the MP happiness. Gems: Online. Also, with a tiny bit of wealth, working the gems gets me to a perfect 3-turn Feudalism. I'm probably going to dip into serfdom as well as vassalage for a short while as I finish up the last improvements around my empire. There really isn't much more to do; it's all Alae all the time shortly.

[GermanJoey]

IIRC, the less tiles available there are for barbs to pop, the more likely it is for them to pop in those little nooks and crannies. Fog itself has nothing to do with it, its just that barbs can't spawn within 2 tiles of any unit or border.

[spacetyrantxenu]

it's all Alae all the time shortly.

I didn't follow that game super closely, but does that roughly mean it's killing time all the time soon?

[Commodore]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ala_%28Roma...ry_unit%29

[Commodore]

The grimly named Rapax will be my last or next-to-last city before I tilt. Hopefully, it's also going to benefit from the Gardens, but we'll have to see.
   
I realize I didn't do my PB15 era-power rankings for the picks here. It might be illustrative to look at them, given we're in the midgame now. All rankings out of five.

TBS/Joao/Mongolia
Combo Power:
Early Game Power:
Midgame Power:
Late Game Power:

Thoth/Hatty/Zulu
Combo Power:
Early Game Power:
Midgame Power:
Late Game Power:

Ox/Pericles/Maya
Combo Power:
Early Game Power:
Midgame Power:
Late Game Power: