[Spoilers] Cometh the Messiah - Varn Gosam and the Malakim

[Old_Lion]

Made calculations that are within my reach :

everybody has 21 tiles, except balseraph at 17 tiles and Doviello at 5 tiles.
So Only those two have access to sea or lake.

Now:
-What has you telling Mahala is about to have a kill?
- care to explain how you calculate

Second city founded on T32, third should be T46.

? I'll get my aspirin during that time.

Do you plan to settle red dot, then blue dot ?
Don't you feel like exploring the west some before going for blue spot ?

[Ilios]

Made calculations that are within my reach :

everybody has 21 tiles, except balseraph at 17 tiles and Doviello at 5 tiles.
So Only those two have access to sea or lake.

Hmmm, I don't want to question your maths, but are you sure about that? Amelia founded on T2, so couldn't have possibly popped the capital's border when that last demo screenshot was taken, right? (unless she got that 10 culture, 3 inflation event, or the free monument). Feel free to correct me, as I'm not very good at analysing the demoscreen...

What has you telling Mahala is about to have a kill?

Well, it's pure speculation ofcourse, and for all we know it's actually the elves who are threatening the Doviello capital. As mentioned before, both their threats have suddenly jumped in activity, as has the lurker thread.
But hell, they could be handing out cookies to the lurker who comes up with the best city-naming theme...

care to explain how you calculate ? I'll get my aspirin during that time.

I was lying when I said that. No, I wasn't: I had pegged the Settler costing only 100 hammers, while any self-respecting player knows it can be gotten at a whopping 145 hammers!
Anyway, second city is now founded at T36.

Do you plan to settle red dot, then blue dot ?
Don't you feel like exploring the west some before going for blue spot ?

Red dot cannot be my first site, as I don't expect to unlock the necessary techs to improve its food resources until around T60.

I will be exploring west with the scout I plan on building after the worker. But to beat blue dot, I would need to find one hell of a site.
Blue dot is instantly connected to Helios for two extra commerce. I will be able to farm at least two grassland river tiles around it by the time it gets founded. Allthough it overlaps the capital by only one tile, I will be paying minimum upkeep due to distance (I'm guessing an initial cost of 2 gold - remember, this is Emperor). And let's not forget my favorite tile in the game - river plains incense...

Thoughts?

[Old_Lion]

For some reason, I thought Amelia was Doviello.
So, that is Amelia that has 5 tiles. + Lanum by sea makes sense.

Blue Dot looks promising. Can't wait for scouting data.

[Ilios]

My sleep-deprived and alchohol-addled brain has finally recovered enough to manage an update...

A screenshot to sum up what's happenin':



Moving the Lightbringer on the hill tile confirms just how disgustingly good this site is. Corn, grass river sheep, river Ivory, floodplains and five hills...
I don't suppose I could beat Serdoa to this site?

My scouting unit also sees the Balseraph capital working an Oasis:

"It is not yours save by unhappy chance. It might have been mine. It should be mine. Give it to me!"

To the east, I spy a nice juicy hut, which I plan on popping next turn, and the first Ruins, 1N of the hut. For the uninitiated, Ruins spawn 4 strength, 2-move Lizardmen. The first Lizard will stay and guard the Ruins. As soon as a second one is spawned, it goes into Hunter-Killer mode and moves to the nearest bit of civilized world. As you can see, it is still empty.

This means that there might be a Ruins not far from Helios as well. Gotta scout more!

Finally, you can see both the Luchuirp and the Balseraphs have gained a pop.

Demo:



A city is working two 3-food tiles, which together with the center tile gives us the 8 crop yield of the rival best. Note the population increase. I don't remember why I circled the life expectancy...

In micro news, I have re-configured the worker moves, which should shave off two turns (ETA T34) for our next city to be founded.

[Ilios]

Two turns in as many days, woot!

The Cartograph... erm Lightbringer pops the hut, and has a vision of his surroundings:



I now have to decide whether to bring him back, and if I do, by which way. I'd really like to explore the area west of Clown City, and move him back into Malakim lands. Let's see what the Serdoa says about a T8 war declaration.
Serdoa has just finished a warrior, so no razing the city...
The ruins is still empty, Balseraphs got lucky if you ask me. Lizardman vs unfortified Warrior = coin flip.

Balseraphs have gems! I want me some for Kilmorph Temples...

Here are the MFG and Crop Yield graphs of the most recent turn:





So two turn of working a 1/2/0 tile (Grass forest hill next to the cap), then 4 turns working the Oasis, meaning his warrior build coincides with growth to size 2.

I'm scratching my head over the GNP graph:



The way it looks, Serdoa has been switching between technologies every two turns. Not sure what is going on here...


Balseraph Scientists hard at work

[Ilios]

Serdoa might actually be setting research at 0 to hoard cash. You should always have about 50 gold in the bank for when of those Free Prophet events hit you.


Looking at the graph, you can see three possible turns of max gold, which would get Serdoa about 30 gold in total. Not sure if that's worth it...

[Ilios]

Message to the clowns:

To the good attention of the First Clown,


Good sir,

When we sent out our Lightbringer east, through the Gap of Dawn, we had
initially planned on swinging him south around the mountain range, and
back to Malakim lands before Barbarians make their appearance.

After reaching your borders, it became clear that our Lightbringer would
have to move further east around your lands in order to move him back
as originally intended.

Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that glorious Jubilee is a
coastal city, and as such the south, and the way back home, is blocked
by the Balseraph nation.

This brings us to our humble request.

Would the travelling people agree to grant right of passage to the
Lightbringer, allowing him to continue his travels back west
and south?

We understand that, lacking the proper diplomatic tools, our nation
would have to temporarily declare war on the followers of Perpentach.
However, our Scryers have informed us that a newly trained warrior has
appeared in your capital. Our weak Lightbringer should not pose a treat
to an entrenched warrior in a city.

Although we hope you can agree to our modest request, the Malakim empire
would not bear a grudge should you refuse access to your lands. In that
case the Lightbringer will take a good look at your magnificent city, and
head further east, into the unknown...


Yours,


Ilios

I hope he acccepts, that Lightbringer won't stand a chance in the Wilds...

[Ilios]

Good news, Serdoa accepts my request!

By the time the Lightbringer moves near Malakim lands, borders will have popped again, so he should be safe.

Also, I have noticed that a Scout/Lightbringer pair is actually a very good scouting force. The Lightbringer's Sentry ability is enhanced by the Scout's ability to see hidden units.

So I might team them up once I actually have a scout...

[Ilios]

Turns are flying!

Not much to report, I've moved the Lightbringer north of the Balseraph borders, I will be moving him into clown lands next turn. Depending on the terrain, it should take him between 7-10 turns to get back into my borders.

The vamps have grown to size 2 as well. I suppose they will use their worldspell once they hit size 3, forcing me to rework my microplan...

Agriculture research done by ending turn. Worker will be ready to use turn after next.

Here's a screenshot of the capital, with the numbers representing the turn a Farm is finished:



To the east you can see Serdoa's warrior.

[Ilios]

T8: Advanced Technology discovered:



Malakim peasants can now construct "Farms".

I've declared war on Serdoa, and have moved the Lightbringer next to his capital.

T9

Moved the Lightbringer to the western outskirts of the Balseraph nation:



Oh vey... Now that is a crappy starting location...

The only food resources are plains cow and plains hill sheep, which need Animal Husbandry to be improved, a pretty expensive technology at 180 beakers. AH resources are considered much weaker in FFH, since farms and Agrarianism get a grassland tile to 4 food right away. The only tiles Serdoa can farm right away are a grassland tile SW of the Incense, and the Cow tile.

I'm not sure what I'd do in Serdoa's situation...

Balseraphs start with Agriculture, which allows AH to be researched. Warrior build first while waiting for a decent tile (Oasis) to become available. Then switch to worker. The worker should finish around the same time as AH. Then on to Exploration, because the worker will be out of things to improve rather quickly (1 farm, cow and sheep, for a total of 10 worker turns). Switch to Settler build as soon as possible to claim better lands.

Settler first isn't a winning strategy in FFH...

Notice the empty barrow south from Jubilee. Now this is pretty weird. A ruins and a barrow empty on T9? Mathematical anomaly, or Map error? Probably a perfectly valid explanation...

Question for Lurkers:

If Serdoa offers peace and I accept next turn, the Lightbringer should be pushed outside Balseraph borders. Question is where? Logically it would be pushed out west, but I'm not sure.
I'll be getting a free move in any case.

T9 Demographics:



Calabim have grown to size two and have discovered a tech (Agriculture probably). I'm guessing they'll head straight to Calendar. Vampires at 20 GNP? If they've reached 15 base beakers, they'd get 3 bonus from the pre-req, plus 2 from culture. Them or the Stunties in any case...

Doviello have discovered a tech as well. Agriculture as well probably, or Exploration if Mist popped Agr from the hut. Looks like they lost a scout.