[SPOILERS] Cornflakes - PBEM 17

[Cornflakes]

Yeah with potential Barb horses you need more units for sure.  Is it worth buying one or is gold planned for something else?

Somehow I missed this question earlier. Gold is very precious, primarily because upgrades are so powerful. Any unit purchase now is an upgrade lost later. Agoge makes purchasing military units a particularly poor gold-to-production conversion. I considered buying a 2nd scout a couple turns back right when I got to 120 (scouts can’t be boosted by Agoge) but ultimately decided that I would rather save the gold for future use, probably upgrades. 

I hope and think that my warrior will be quick enough to prevent the camp from erupting. If it does erupt I should be able to beat a hasty retreat into Aquileia. I should just be exposed 1 turn on the flat grassland, then safe due to the 3 movement cost of the grass forest hill, then safe inside the city center.

[Cornflakes]

   

TheArchduke founded his religion with Choral Music and Defender of the Faith beliefs. His pantheon is now revealed as Earth Goddess so he will have considerable faith generation for golden age Monumentality synergy. Personally I would have chosen the +2/city belief but I suppose DotF is fine and will help deter aggression before Cossacks.

   

In the south I attacked the slinger this turn. Hopefully the barb scout stays south and doesn't try to run past my warrior. If it does move NW I'll probably have to retreat my warrior next turn in order to prevent it from getting behind and disrupting my settler movement.

[Cornflakes]

T41: The barb skirmishes continue!

   

Thankfully things appear to be under control at the moment. In the southeast after killing the slinger last turn I moved back NW to block the scout again. I'll fortify and heal, then take out the camp (hopefully in time to claim 3 era score towards a Golden Age). In the north Akkad is living up to its name as a military CS and assisting against the barb camp. Hopefully it attacks once on the interturn, then fortifies to heal while I take out the camp and claim the gold + 3 era points.

Pingala was promoted this turn via State Workforce completion, and as a result my Science shot up ... to match Cree. Where are they getting their extra science [+4 vs 2 turns ago]? City state(s)? I forgot to check for districts but a campus seems most likely given the large score increase as well, and also matches timing for State Workforce inspiration. I'm the first to reach 5 civics as confirmed by score. We'll see how long that lead lasts. Alhambram was only 3 or so turns behind me in reaching 4 civics. I have guaranteed sub-T50 Political Philosophy now.

   

Check out the yummy 2nd city Cree has: 2 horses, sheep, and silk [which I think is under the city center due to how early it was connected]. Yum yum! I’m guessing this is their completed campus site as well.

[Cornflakes]

City #3 founded!

   

There is actually a 3rd sea luxury there so I made the decision to slip Sailing in. I used the 2nd builder charge to farm the wheat and will use the 3rd and final charge to connect a sea luxury for the +5% amenities (either bonus, or negating the malus from -1 amenities). I'll have an excellent +5 adjacency harbor available here

It is very difficult to see the road but unfortunately it did not make a straight east/west connection through the hills but instead jogged south through the wheat and then east across the floodplains. I'll only save 2 turns from the road instead of the projected 3

Check out the aggressive Greek settlement of Pharsalos, 12 tiles from the Greek capital and 11 tiles from Rome. This aggression cannot go un-punished! This is not an unexpected city location from the Greeks (see my earlier comments regarding the unfortunate location of the Accona Desert), but I did not expect this to be their City #3!

   

Barbs are causing more trouble than hoped in the north (but less trouble than feared based on the proximity of the horse camp spawn). The camp spawned a horseman while the spear was redlined. I killed the spear earning 40 and 3 era points but my warrior was hit hard down to 28 HP on the counterattack. This turn I tried running past the CS warrior in hopes that the CS will stand and fight against the barbs on my behalf may end up losing this warrior. I'll be opening next turn with much trepidation.

As you can see I decided to build a slinger to try for the Archery inspiration, in order to shave a couple turns off the Construction timeline (and therefore G&R inspiration). The scout is my target and I think I'll be able to achieve that goal. I'm hoping to have Archery unload by the time I plant Pink_Dot in order to immediately start and Archer for defensive purposes.

[Cornflakes]

I hold my breath while clicking "Start Turn" ...

   

I was so relieved to see my warrior alive and no sign of the barb horseman that I forgot to take this screenshot when playing the turn and had to reload just now to get the screenshot for the report. I'm slightly confused how the CS warrior isn't damaged, and somewhat concerned. The barb horseman must have run west instead of the usual "suicide into nearest enemy" behavior. Hopefully it doesn't ambush my slinger in a bad position.

Kaiser requested friendship. I ignored but may re-offer after thinking it over for a turn or two.

   

I haven't shown the northern exploration in a while. This turn I found something interesting ... Lake Khanka (according to Google) is in Russia, so that hints at the identity of my northern neighbor. Interestingly the lake further north has a Greek name, suggesting that the initial Greek warrior followed the coast, while the initial Russian warrior circled counterclockwise south. Kaiser may have been unlucky enough to not get any first-to envoys. I can see coastal housing on the cotton in the north so I will shoot the gap between the lakes and try to locate the Russian motherland.

Cree reached 5 civics this turn so I was only 4 turns ahead due to missing Foreign Trade and State Workforce inspirations. This prompted a look at the great people screen, and I see that Cree, Russia, and Greece also have campuses completed. Russia has 2 Holy Sites as well so TheArchduke is going for the tried-and-true earning of the 40% district discount on the campus (and every subsequent non-Lavra district).

[Cornflakes]

   

A new barb camp spawned north of Lugdunum. This will be another 3 era score which should be just enough to squeak out a Golden Age. This is now Barb Camp #4 near me already this game. Fortunately with the desert around this camp I don't anticipate horses in the fog. My warrior will escort the settler for City_4 and then take out this camp. 

Unfortunately in the east the barb scout suicided into the city instead of attacking my slinger so I'm not sure if I will be able to achieve the Archery inspiration ... possibly from the horseman if it turns my direction instead of continuing to attack the CS warrior.

Sailing completed this turn and you can see my builder embarked south of Lugdunum. Turtles will be claimed next turn and I'll be able to net them just in time for pop_2 growth next turn as well ... This is rather late for a first luxury connection and I have been missing out on the amenities production/food bonuses.

[Cornflakes]

TBS of the Cree requested a loan this turn:

   

Not sure why TBS needs the money urgently but I agreed to the loan. I'm saving my gold either long-term for unit upgrades post-Mercenaries (after the 30-turn payback period), or short term for cash-rushing a watermill for the Construction eureka instead of building it. I have at least 10 turns before I would need the cash for a watermill and with the 40 from a barb camp I'll earn enough. Might as well start building up some positive diplo points with a neighbor.

Current scouting suggests that the bulk of the Pangaea lies to the west, with Greece on the eastern edge. Conquering eastward would therefore leave a smaller front to defend and also won't bring my borders in contact with any new enemies. Therefore Cree seems like a natural friend (so far, at least).

   

Political Philosophy completed this turn and I chose the above policies. Alhambram also had 18 cultural points this turn but I still received 2 era score for first Classical civic and 3 era score for first Tier 1 government. Either Alhambram researched his PP end of turn and I received credit from last turn, or Alhambram may have completed something else for his 6th civic.

[Cornflakes]

T50 update: DoF signed on the western side with Cree this turn (I offered last turn), and with Greece as of a couple turns ago (I re-offered after thinking about it for a couple turns). 

   

I have 2 settlers in position for cities #4 and #5 next turn. As far as I can tell from the score, I should be the first to 4+ cities. TBS and Pindicator have 2 each, the rest have 3 each (including TheArchduke who also has 3 districts). Everyone else has a Campus. Comparing yields in the above screenshot I'm pleased with my position, especially after two more free monuments next turn. Here are my build plans for the upcoming turns:

Rome is building a settler (200 cost), and will have enough food in the box to remain at size 5 upon completion. The next settler will cost more than Pyramids. I had penciled in the southern site for this settler due to the wheat farms for Feudalism inspiration. But south is clearly backlines and not all that lush (would require immediate builder labor which I don't have in the area). The western city actually has 2 wheat in the 3rd ring which would work at the current cost of 210. That's a bit steep, but I would need to purchase one 3rd ring wheat anyway since the southern site only has 1 first ring. My current leaning is to send this settler to the stone tile 1NW of the sign between Rome and Lugdunum. That gets a 2 city center, two 2/2 tiles 1st ring, 5-yield deer and a hill stone 2nd ring. Also the abundance of grass forest hills will become 2/4 with lumbermills and get me to 33 base at size 8! Rome has planted an Encampment to lock in the cost, but I won't complete it until right when needed for the Military Training inspiration.

Aquileia is building the Government Plaza for [probably] Pingala's 2nd promotion for 1/citizen. The cost is only 54 for 5/turn. Settler costs have scaled to the point where it made sense to build the district. The location isn't the greatest for future adjacencies, but I didn't have to spend gold purchasing a tile and Aquileia's build queue was open. After this I'll likely build a builder next (with Ilkum slotted)

Lugdunum's builder will net Whales (acquired in 2 turns) and hopefully wheat will be picked up next for another required Feudalism farm. 3rd charge will likely be a Lumbermill.

Western_city will purchase 2nd ring desert floodplains and immediately start building Pyramids, ETA T71 based on preliminary projection (some uncertainty depending on exactly when Lumbermills are unlocked). Corvee policy would only shave 1 turn off the wonder completion timeline so I likely will run something that has more empire-wide effect.

Cotton_City will probably start with a Builder. I'll slot Ilkum after Rome's settler is completed and start pumping out builders everywhere so that I can put down mass lumbermills in a dozen turns. Also with more total builders I can preserve 1 charge on all current builders for a free charge once Pyramids completes.

Tech path is headed towards Construction (ETA 12-14 turns). I'm trying to minimize this as much as I can because I have at most 12 turns that I can delay without wasting culture at Games and Recreation. I picked up Mysticism this turn so I have an envoy in my pocket. I considered dropping the envoy into the 2nd militaristic CS to the north, but that wouldn't have been enough to shave a turn off the in-queue settler. All the additional production would have been lost anyway due to the overflow-loss mechanics. So I'm keeping the envoy for now and I'll see if my scout finds any more city states in the near future.

[Cornflakes]

Pyramids ETA reduced down to T68 by adding a trader with a 2/2/x route to Aquileia. The production helps directly, and the food helps indirectly by speeding pop growth. Rome will build the trader (3 turns) after the settler, with the trade route established T57.

I will have at least 4 builders with 1 charge remaining when Pyramids completes, which is the equivalent of a 2nd free builder that the Pyramids grants. Right there that is around 160 value in builder charges, plus 60 in monument-equivalent culture breaks even on the 220 cost of Pyramids. The extra builder charges for the rest of the game is pure profit.

[Cornflakes]

T51:

   

Two cities settled this turn as planned. Notice the science and culture yields at the top of the screen. Cree science shot up from 12 > 18 this turn ... I suspect 2nd Pingala promotion (from Government Plaza). My culture shot up from 14 to 18 (+30%).

I also purchased the desert floodplains tile for Pyramids but was unable to start Pyramids this turn because I'm 1 turn short of Masonry. I decided a few turns ago to get Irrigation first in order to immediately connect Cotton for amenities. I forgot that I was aiming to have Masonry when I founded the cities this turn. Reviewing my spreadsheet confirms that I shouldn’t have any delay on the back-end since this is a low-production turn with just 5 compared to the final turn which is 19/turn ... it just removes some of the buffer and makes the timing of the lumbermills more critical.

What didn't go according to plan is the barbarian archer popping out of the camp in the south    No gold or era score in that direction for a while   With the era ending in 10 turns there isn't much time for contingency planning. Hopefully the northern barb camp doesn't follow suit! Assuming I get the northern camp here is where I stand:

Points required: 25 - 18 = 7
Norther barb camp: 3
Meeting northern neighbor (Russia?): 1
Classical tech (not first): 1

Need 2 more ... hmmm ... I could use Amani to suzerain one of the city states for First Suzerain historical moment. That would just barely complete in time (4 turns for the GP + 5 turns to establish). I could build a galley for my first naval unit. That is all that comes to mind. I'll have to check the lists and see if anything else seems feasible.

One more thing I noticed this turn is that the water body north of Revena is actually coastal NOT lake ... Upon further investigation I noticed that mouse-over of the water near both of the city states to my north also says coast NOT lake. Current working theory is an inland-sea. That could have huge implication regarding Russian-Cossack geopolitical situation. I still haven't located Russia even on settler-radar but working on the assumption that they are to the north (due to lake name as previously theorized), an inland sea sounds like a decent barrier to deter Russian aggression and turn cossacks in another direction.