[SPOILER] PBEM21, "Zero to Hero" (Kuro, Pericles' Ottomania)

[Kuro]

Derp, forgot to add this to last post, don't feel like editing it in.



Jkioan sure has some nice land, huh?

[Kuro]

I'm turn-y to the extreme, Notepad's background whiter than sour cream...

Turn start and it's obvious from Ellimoogle's score that they have built the Colossus: A quick check of the logs confirms it. I am pretty sure I could of beaten them to it, actually, but it probably was not worth it. Anyway...

Ducky and Itchy arrive to farm Aradia Megido's corn, which will be 3T. Likewise, her Worker should be done in 4T: Then it'll be a defensive Archer while I try to secure another short NAP from Jkioan(17T?)

Let's see, aside from that...Abby starting Farm at Sollux, which the Worker which will finish EOT will help complete. Oh yeah, scouting!



Ellimoogle has some fine land too. I'll take my double Corn with a Gold though.



And Jkioan has some nice grasslands, though a severe lack of visible food there.

EOT, Erodan grew and completed it's Granary: I am going to put it on a naturally built 6T Worker, then whip a Settler there for either Lalonde or Leijon, both of which are pure profit post-Currency. I do wanna wait a bit on them both to grow cottages at cap up and to improve land though.

Feferi finished her Archer and will start on another. In addition, Buddhism spread there. Wish Hinduism would spread.

Sollux finished it's Worker and needs something to grow: Ergo, it will work a Granary, which can be completed in reasonable time thanks to the Copper mine. It'll work the Copper mine until the first farm is completed, then switch to grow.

And that's that.

[Kuro]

So turn in. As mentioned, Erodan finished it's Granary to start on slow building a Worker(6T), while Feferi finished it's Archer and will start on another(4T). The Archer is going to be put on the Galley and shipped to Equius, while the second Archer will stay in Erodan.

NobleLewwyn pushed even to us with 7 cities, which is why it is good that Karkat will be founded in 3T and Rose's settler is only 2T from being whippable. I think I may also build a Settler in Equius after the Worker finishes this turn: It depends on how fast the Granary would finish there. Using it to settle Leijon and a Settler from Erodan to settle Lalonde would give us two essentially pure profit cities due to Currency + TR. Actually, Maryam would be pure profit too I think, since the river connects it via trade route...would probably be a better option than Lalonde, but not Leijon.

Oh, right, Sollux's Worker finished too. It'll put turns into a Granary to grow, working the copper mine until the first farm finishes there in 4T, which means the Granary will go there pretty fast.

NobleLewwyn and Ellimoogle's power has spiked lately, fueled over a debate over a city site with stone in it. Supposedly. I will admit Paranoia makes me think Ellimoogle could turn those forces against me, since we have no offical NAP, but since Lewwyn's power spiked first I am not so sure.



Tailing the Settler still...

EOT, Currency comes in, making me go from +4 @ 40% w/ 39 bpt to +13 @ 40% w/ 46 bpt. Gotta love those Trade Routes. I can get Priesthood in 1T at that rate, so I will actually be doing that and then binary.

[Kuro]

So, we've got this turn, and it's in, see? And then, you play it, yeah?

That's what I'm sayin'!

Anyway, scoutin'...



Noble/Ellimoogle's "Stone" spot. Their "compromise" was to settle two cities with Stone second expansion and culture war over it. Um, okay?



Also that.

Equius has 20H overflow, for an 8T Settler, so I figure it is worth it to nab it. Newly produced worker from Equius Fin goes along with old Equius worker Trace to pasture the Pigs. Aradia's Corn is farmed and will finish a Worker in 2T.

I badly need to diplo post, but I feel tired right now...

[Kuro]

AND NOW THAT MY EVIL PLAN TO DELAY THE GAME IS DONE, I SHALL POST! HAHA! HAHA! HUHUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

...

No, I didn't really delay the game as part of an evil plan. I'll explain now.

Diplomacy:

As you may have seen, NobleLewwyn and Ellimoogle have founded a city with Stone in it: I had hoped that they would spend that time hitting themselves in the face over the Pyramids, but it is clear that is not the case, especially as Ellimist has specifically said he is going for the Hanging Gardens.

Here's the issue though: I'm not sure I can beat him. Even growing Karkat as fast as I could, it would not have a Forge for the 25% production bonus. Without it, assuming I got the full 29 overflow(Which would need a Size 8 city!), that'd be 209 hammers: Almost a full 100 less, which would take far too long with the whip to produce before Ellimist got it: He only needs, with a Forge + OR in a city and Stone hooked up, 120 base hammers or 4 forests chopped, which should be piddly. I could try chopping it at Equius, it could certainly reach the required pop fast: But with only 120 hammers from chops, I'd only be able to complete half, which is a no sell. I had hoped that getting Mathematics first would let me build it later than now, once Karkat was getting built up, but Ellimist discovering the Stone has clearly sparked their interest and they realize they can get it.

So, what am I going to do? There's a few ideas:

Ellimist, despite my above musings, does not think he can beat me to the Gardens...but thinks thanks to all the multipliers involved, building it anyway is worth it for fail gold. Therefor, I can't bluff Ellimist out of this.
From the sounds of things, Ellimist is going to use his Caste to force an Artist at his city for a while. So, while I might drop Noble a line, it's unlikely Noble can stop him from getting the Stone.
So...if we can't beat Ellimist to the Hanging Gardens, what is the best alternative? Cut a deal to grab something else.

So what would be a good wonder, that I can cut a deal on, playing on me "giving up" the Hanging Gardens even though I can't get them? The Pyramids!

As I mentioned, Karkat can get 209 hammers with chops + 29 overflow. All I need to do is add in a Forge, possibly as the overflow item, and I can easily 1T build the Pyramids or close to it anyway(Going through the 25% Forge modifier, how much is 209 hammers? Lurkers, please help!). Even with just 209 hammers w/o a Forge, with Stone that would not be too hard to do.

Therefor, I will propose the following to Ellimist:

I "allow" him to get the Hanging Gardens, in return he lends me Stone to build the Pyramids ASAP. Depending on what I can grab from him, either before or after he builds the Gardens. The Pyramids are a pretty good wonder for us, so.

He also has been propositioning a Settling agreement about...



This area right here.

He wants me to settle a city 1N of the pigs, while I want 1S of the Banana(Despite being 1 tile off the coast, it gets a grand total of 2 coastal tiles, which is inconsiquential until a VERY large size and, with being non-Fin, a 2/0/2 coast is almost a peak anyway). Considering how much useless water we get here, combined with how much more grassland we get here, I reeeeeeally wanna get my spot. For comparison:

My site gets 9 Grassland Flatland, Rice, Spices, Pigs, Banana, Sugar, a Grassland hill, a Plains forest, a peak and two coastal tiles.
Their site gets 4 Coastal tiles, 2 Ocean tiles, Pigs, Sugar, Rice, Banana, two Grassland Hills, a Plains Forest, a normal Plains, 4 grassland tiles and a peak. Pretty clear difference, huh?

So, my proposal will be:
I allow Ellimoogle to build The Hanging Gardens
He allows me to build the Pyramids and loans me Stone for it
I settle 1S of the Banana and place no more cities more than 12 tiles from my capital, while he places none more than 12 from his.
A 24T NAP(Negotiatable, including even if it is here at all).

If it really bites, I will agree to their settling agreement, because they have:
2 Axes
3 in the cue

And Ellimist making really unobvious passes that they want to use Numidian Cavalry and, well, you can't use them against Skirmishers really. Buying time for a decent Spear/Axe defense is key.

Oh, also, my NAP with Jkioan is now to T100.

Anyway, as for the actual game...



Here you can see Tony scouting stuff...

Eridan whipped it's Settler. The idea is for it to run two Priests and pop Theo to build the AP, but in retrospect it is probably better to just research Theo straight up. All the same, I will want it to run two(Three post-Christianity) priests for a shrine, but I will wait for Feferi to pop a scientist now I guess.

Gold is set to max until I can research Mono and MC without delay: I get +44 GPT @ 0% and lose 30 GPT at max science and have 18 gold in the bank. Karkat will presumably cut into it some, but I should be able to go to the 100% phase of binary in roughly 5T. My tech path will likely be Monotheism -> MC -> Theo or Monotheism -> Theo -> MC, depending. Theo first for guarentee sounds good, since I am liable not to get Forges up quite yet.

Even at my breakeven research rate, I am #1 in GNP. Good.

Itchy and Ducky, done with one Corn farm, move to the other. Aradia Megido's soon to be produced Worker will head towards Karkat's pigs and should arrive just in time to begin pasturing them.

Sollux's Farm finished, so it can grow in 5T now, which will almost perfecly coinencide with the second farm. Two farms should do it for surplus, as further Flood Plains add even more food and the grassland copper mine is food neutral.

Fin and Trace arrive to start pasturing Captor's pigs next turn.

EOT, Eridan's Settler and Aradia Megido's Worker finished.

[Kuro]

Playing turns while dropdead tired is FUN!

Aradia Megido completes Worker...

I have it train an Archer, both in need of something to grow, to posture defensively and for, well, defense.

Trace and Fin start pasturing Captor's pigs, a 2T task, while Eridan's Settler moves to be Galleyed.

Karkat gets founded and, honestly, I can't see the Hanging Gardens being completed here in time, so I have it start on a Granary so it can grow. Apparantly it has TR connections too, so it is basically pure profit.

EOT, Feferi makes an Archer. I'll screenshot and shit tomorrow, when not dropdead tired.

[Kuro]

Let's see...turn in and Feferi finished her Archer, so let's go after a Hammam: It could use the happiness to grow. The Archer itself goes off to be Galley'd at Erodan. It's a 14T effort which is liable to be sped up later, at the end of which Feferi can stick at Size 8 and be awesome working Ivory, Gold, Fish, Rice, 2 Grassland Hills and two Scientists, which with the Academy will give decent science + 13 base hammers, which with a Forge will be sufficient for building(The other two Grassland Hills willhave to be Windmilled due to food).

At Aradia Megido, the corn is being farmed up and will be done in 3T, then it's off to road and connect it while at that point Aradia will probably be putting out another Worker to improve her land.



We can see some of that inner island there. Plains Incense is a fairly good tile, at 1/1/6 or the equivolant of one less of a Plains Town, but instantly. Feed it and it's like Gold.

Scouting revealed little of interest, but as Tony enters Noble's borders I'll start updating that more regularly.

Captor's pigs finished getting Pastured: Next, the Sheep. Grassland Sheep is an awesome tile, 5/0/1, food with some commerce on the side. If only it was riverside, like Leijon's.

That Leijon site really is quite nice. Perfect little backbone city.

Jkioan founded another city this turn, JC Denton.

I must say, I like their naming scheme. It'll be such a shame when I have to kill them.

Anyway...nothing else happened, so yeah.

[Kuro]

Who's a silly turnplayer? Who is? You is!

...I don't know where I'm going with this reference.



As I said, time to start posting Scouting pictures. This turn: NobleLewwyn's sexy fine city, Carbon. It's pretty sweet.



You can also see here that Jkioan has a sweet city right here, Corn/Clams/Fish. Well, city spot: He's still expanding slowly. I'd love to be able to poach it, but quite frankly I cannot defend it.

Oh well.

Let's see...what else...

Last turn of 100% gold this turn...

Settler gets on the HMS New Zealand...

I'll probably post graphs in 4T. Got graphs on everyone, yeah.

EOT, Eridan's borders expand, Erodan's Worker finishes, Captor grows.

...Witty comment here?

Not much to say, given my gameplan right now is the none to exiting "sit back, expand a little, grow". No complex troop movements, not much interesting diplo(Just me going back and forth with Ellimist about jungle settling agreement)...yeah.

[Kuro]

Turn in, Erodan finished Worker. It'll start on a Settler for Lalonde, whippable in 3T or 4T, not sure due to overflow. I think 4T, though.

Pure profit, baby.

In international news, Noble completed the Kashi Vaswanath and Ellimoogle nabbed the Temple of Solomon. Too many TEMPLES and VASWANATHS.

The Worker at Erodan...at first, I thought to swing it over to the mainland, but eventully Erodan will start growing and Feferi will be up to Size 8. So I'm actually keeping it on the starting island, first stop to mine around Feferi in preparation for the Hammam. Thinking of moving Equius or Erodan's settler up to the big jungle city, so far codenamed Vriska Serket: I could get in enough military to make it defended enough.



But first, scouting!

Not an actual question there.



If I could poach that spot, Corns/Copper/Fish/Clams, it would be nice. Don't hold your breath, though.

Sollux Workers done with Farm, next up is a cottage...

I'm actually thinking I should go for CoL before MC, because maintanence is more biting. Courthouses to shave off even just a little GPT cost would be nice. Both are 3T techs due to overflow.

Also would unlock CS, which is nice. I might try to slot in cheap IW somewhere too, for the jungle spot.

EOT, Aradia Megido grows, Sollux grows, Eridan grows and I can confirm that it's a 4T Settler.

[Kuro]

So, more turnage! Woohoo!

Settler heads towards Rose. Equius Settler will go to Leijon. Erodan's Settler will then head to Vriska Serket, at which point it can have some adequate guard.

Fin and Trace will be off penning those sheep to a life of eternal servitude, which will surprisingly only take 2 turns. Ducky and Itchy, on the other hand, have to go nab the Gold so that Aradia Megido will be like whoa.

And recently make Worker Doze is off to go chop a forest and mine a hill at Feferi.



Also, scouting Noble cities and junk out. Good sites, quite a fertile map overall really.

Now then, the big tough descision here: CoL or MC first? I agonized on this a little and went for CoL, because I can't build Forges for a while anyway.

So that'll be done in 3T. I'll also be getting a Hindu Missionary circa T98, which I can put in Feferi over Eridan for Priestmaking.

Only needing 1pop to be whipped now, Eridan whipped it's lighthouse. Overflow will go into a Granary as it grows, presumably to whip it.

Nobody founded anything, diplo has been slow aside from me probably getting nothing from the HG stuff and maybe trying to pull a fast one on NobleLewwyn in the form of a friendly question("I was wondering if you were going for the Hanging Gardens and, if not, what kind of deal you might be interested in for the stone.")...

After that...uh...

Nothing, really. Not even at the EOT.

Wait, yes, one thing: Karkat expanded it's borders!

I really need to decide if I wanna fleet/expand or what with it's forests...