[Spoilers] RFS-81 and haphazard1 don't know RtR, but won't let that stop them

[RFS-81]

A few turns (3, I think) have passed.

The barb at Rocky Paths died attacking the city. The city will grow next turn, even without the rice tile, so I shifted one worker to the copper mine that was just finished this turn. Since Rocky Paths will then be at its pop cap for now, I can pass the rice back to Golden Void, which is useful because it's going to whip a settler next turn.

Lighthouse has finished the barracks after the chop and has started on an axeman. It's also out of whip anger in two turns, and you know what that means I've shifted the citizen from the mine to the corn, so that it will grow in exactly two turns. I then plan to whip a worker and (hopefully) finish the axeman with the overflow.

About my plans for roading to the gold site:

   

There's a builder behind the axeman in this picture who just finished the road he's standing on. Another pair of workers from Rocky Paths is incoming. They'll end next turn on the cottage near Lighthouse. So let's see if we can give the upcoming settler a little more boost with some micro! Would be nice if someone can double-check my understanding of the movement rules.

• t+1: Worker #1 moves north, Workers #2 and #3 reach cottage, settler whipped.
  
• t+2: Settler ends turn on the hill 2 east of Golden Void (roads don't help when crossing rivers). Worker #1 moves to first desert hill, Workers #2 and #3 move to the forest 2 north of Lighthouse.
  
• t+3: Worker #1 starts a road on the desert hill. Worker #2 starts a road in the forest. Worker #3 also moves to the desert hill. The settler ends his turn in the forest. If I understand correctly, this should be possible even if the road in the forest is incomplete: The settler can move to 1 north of Lighthouse and still has 0.5 MP left, so he should be able to move one more tile.
  
• t+4: Workers #1 and #3 finish the road on the desert hill, Worker #2 finishes the road in the forest. Settler can now move to the desert hill for 0.5 MP, and finish his turn on the next hill after that. This shaves off one turn of travel time.
  

Player comparison:
I'll look at some more stats next turn. I feel like other players are overtaking me. You can't completely trust the scores, because everyone's whipping at different times, but I used to float up closer to the top after regrowing, I think. Power is solid for now, I've slightly overtaken Charriu again, and I'm a bit below shallow_thought. I'll build more units in Golden Void after the settler. After the current one, there won't be as much need to settle a particular spot quickly, and I want to wait for iron to be revealed.

Warring:
I have to see how the power ratings develop before making definite plans. I'll have to build more units to avoid looking like food to shallow_thought, in any case. I really really hope that Charriu fails to keep up because I want those horses! They're conveniently located close to the border. I could pillage them two turns after declaring war, to limit the number of chariots I have to face. Problem is, if I get Gold City, it has to be well defended. Otherwise, Coeur might decide that my war is a good opportunity to take it away. So my plan would probably be to turtle in the horse city rather than wipe out Charriu. Would he want to make peace though? I'd rather be kicked out than be reduced to also-ran status!

For future reference, how are turn splits negotiated? PM or posts in the tech thread?

[Dark Savant]

For future reference, how are turn splits negotiated? PM or posts in the tech thread?

It's best to send a heads-up via PM at this stage of the game.  Saying you have a turn split in the tech thread risks giving information to third parties at this stage of the game.

You also don't negotiate it.  Whoever declares war decides which half to take, and is also responsible for not double-moving on the eve of the war.

If you're in a settler race (or other race that doesn't get listed in the turn log) that gets tricky.  You stick to whichever half you had (you can establish it in advance if you know it's coming), but it's entirely possible for one or both parties to not even know they're in a race; simply telling the other party they're in a race can betray information that shouldn't be given.

[haphazard1]

I think the road micro should work. Worker actions on desert tiles require more worker-turns than normal tiles, but you are allocating three worker turns for it and that should be enough.

Good luck on keeping up in power rating! Shallow_thought does seem to be building up a sizable force. Looking like a difficult target will hopefully encourage any attack to go against someone else.

[RFS-81]

Deserts are annoying. The quarry at Rocky Paths is going to take 8 worker turns I'll build a plains-hill mine instead, first, because they have equal hammers and I need the hammers more than the stone.

[RFS-81]

Two turns later. The good news: Micro is going as planned, no settler from Charriu is in sight. The bad news: OH COME ON!

   

I've positioned my woodsman warrior as bait to damage the barb axeman. The spearman from Golden Void is moving up but won't arrive in time, so I've started an axeman in Rocky Paths. I can whip it after one turn of production, and then we can find out at what time barbarians move in multi-player. This city just isn't meant to be happy! There are still 4 turns left of whip anger from the previous one, so it'll be capped at 2 pop for 3 turns after that!

Here's a bunch of depressing stats:

   
   
   
   

[haphazard1]

So barb axes are now on the scene. Ouch, the timing is pretty bad here.

I would have retreated the woody warrior. He is not likely to do much damage to the axe, and may give it enough XP to promote. Having the warrior in the city as a warm body to buy another turn may be useful, and if you do make a coordinated attack to wear down the axe it is better to do so all together so it does not have time to heal between attacks.

Let's hope for a good RNG result and some damage to the axe, but a warrior (even a woody I in a forest) just is no match for an axe. Spears are not a lot better, although the spear is likely to inflict at least some damage.

For the graphs, shallow_thought has quite a lot of production, which is being turned into military. Not a good sign.

[RFS-81]

You're right, that would have been a better choice. Anyway, the axeman is down to 4.3 strength. An axeman is coming up next turn, only thing left is to hope that it happens before barbs move.

Micro is still going as planned, but it appears that I'm in a settler race.

   

I should probably PM Charriu, though it doesn't seem like it would matter, if he's aiming for the same spot I do. By the way, I think the spot next to the rice is not quite optimal and I should settle next to the gold instead. It will take longer for the new city to get off the ground, but that's a small price to pay for having another working citizen in each of my three cities sooner and not in over 10 turns. Plus, a hill location is more defensible.

Also whipped another worker at Lighthouse, as planned.

EDIT: I have a turn split with Charriu, he's taking the first half.

[haphazard1]

Good luck with the settler race! That is an interesting position for Charriu's units -- maybe he was heading for just north of the lake? That would require a turn for entering the forest, so plans might change now that a race is on.

The hill would be more defensible, and a bit closer to your core. Not getting the food for a while would slow the city's development quite a bit. But it is what it is, assuming you manage to win the race.

Hmmm, I see superdeath's borders further north. Looks like there will be a lot of interest in this region.

Barb axe damaged a bit more than 10% is not bad for a warrior. Hopefully it will not promote before you get a chance to finish it off.

[Hollybombay]

how would you rank/say the field is doing right now?

[RFS-81]

First things first, production happens before barb moves, and my new axeman successfully defended. That's one crisis averted.

Now, can you spot all differences between this picture and the one from last turn:

   

A forest grew right in Charriu's path

My settler is behind the axeman, his settler behind the archer, together with two workers. We'll see how he moves next turn. If he's heading to settle on my Gold City marker, I would have the opportunity to settle where my settler is standing right now, before he can. That's a horrible site, but it could grab the gold eventually. And be perpetually starved. With the maintenance cost, it could even be worse than nothing, I don't know.

Other news: Golden Void is unhappy because it's grown and I had moved the spearman out to Rocky Paths. That'll be fixed when it produces an axeman next turn. A plains-hill mine will be finished at Rocky Paths next turn. Lighthouse produced a worker and will produce another axeman from overflow next turn. The worker goes to Rocky Paths to quarry the stone, and the axeman will head in the direction of Gold City. And I have my first hamlet at Lighthouse!

how would you rank/say the field is doing right now?

Shallow_thought and Charriu are the only players I have graphs for yet. Shallow_thought is going strong, and keeps increasing his production. I'd say he's getting ready to swallow somebody and snowball ahead. Charriu seemed to be about equal to me for most of the time, but has been pulling ahead lately. Although in the latest graphs, some of his stats have gone down again... Coeur seems to be doing well, score-wise. Superdeath was very low most of the time but has been floating up towards the middle, and I'm dead last. My score is being depressed by lots of whipping recently, but it still looks bad. Magic Science seems to be squarely in the middle now, like superdeath.