[SPOILERS] Four Score & Seven Dynasties Ago: Pindicator plays Lincoln of China

[kalin]

Thanks for the quality updates. Another lurker following here! I just didn't have all that much too say, and I am trying to be as careful as I can not to spoil.

I missed the elephants comments... but now that you mention it, you are right, no WEs by rule (unless khmer).

Kalin

[pindicator]

Thanks for the quality updates. Another lurker following here! I just didn't have all that much too say, and I am trying to be as careful as I can not to spoil.

I appreciate that. When I post I try to keep it to encouragement, or asking someone to explain something the thinking behind what they've already done. It gets dangerous after that, although I've certainly stepped my foot into it and even recently.

If you're really unsure if something's a spoiler, post it in the lurker thread. I'll get to read the comment it after I'm done in this game. You may have to be a bit more specific about what you're commenting on since there are 15 other teams around still

Oh, and I just made a startling discovering: You don't need to have Fishing or Sailing researched in order to build the Colossus. Because who in their right mind would build the Colossus when they can't work water tiles? I may skip Currency and go straight for Metal Casting now. I need to figure out how the timing and the percentages are going to work first.

[waterbat]

"Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead"

Except when it comes to building the HG. In that case, BAIL at the first post in the diplo thread

Thanks for the great updates - its great how you are keeping pace with those civs that got gifted second starting spots!

[pindicator]

"Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead"

Except when it comes to building the HG. In that case, BAIL at the first post in the diplo thread

well said!
Now everybody knows how to beat me in a wonder race with public diplo.

[pindicator]

So after looking it over, if I'm going to build the Colossus it's got to be here:



And frankly, I just don't see how it's worth it. Let's assume I can plant a city and get it to size 2 before Metal Casting comes in and without chopping any of those lovely trees. I don't think size 4 is realisitic at all without Fishing. That means I'd have 3 trees to chop into a forge, whip the forge the next turn, and the following turn I'd only have 3 trees to chop into Colossus, which wouldn't finish the wonder. So 6 trees to mostly build a wonder.

Maybe if it was going in a better city, like if Beijing was coastal. But I'm going to nix the colossus idea. Ah, it would have been fun though: just to build that wonder for it's GM points.

So instead my plan is going to be tech Currency, and then use Wealth builds to speed along my research of Metal Casting. I'm going to assume 15 - 18 turns to get Currency, and then 10 - 13 for Metal Casting if I can use Wealth. Hopefully we don't have to wait too much farther than t100

[pindicator]

Turn 081

Turn rolled before bed, so I got the turn in tonight rather than doing it after a day at work.

First off, Hanging Gardens has not been built and Team FFH has not settled new cities yet. If Hanging Gardens isn't built by t85 I am going to be physically sick. I will be so pissed at myself for being so easily talked out of it.

3-pop whipped the settler in Spiny, and Goomba is starting a settler that will finish in 4 turns. After that I need military, monuments, and workers and not much else.

[Ceiliazul]

Turn 081

Turn rolled before bed, so I got the turn in tonight rather than doing it after a day at work.

First off, Hanging Gardens has not been built and Team FFH has not settled new cities yet. If Hanging Gardens isn't built by t85 I am going to be physically sick. I will be so pissed at myself for being so easily talked out of it.

3-pop whipped the settler in Spiny, and Goomba is starting a settler that will finish in 4 turns. After that I need military, monuments, and workers and not much else.

I haven't read the FFH thread so no spoilers are possible: I wouldn't generally get scared away from a wonder so easily. I know your demo analysis supported their claim, but Civ is a 'go big or go home' game.

...or set up a permanent alliance with the wonder-stealers. It worked for you in 26! :neenernee

P.S. Also this:

Thanks for the great updates - its great how you are keeping pace with those civs that got gifted second starting spots!

[pindicator]

Yeah, I am a bit upset at how quickly I backed down. And it isn't exactly a first-time for something like this: see "racing" Rego to the Oracle in pbem26. Honestly, I'm pretty wonder averse in the early game. I don't have enough confidence in my timing, something more MP experience (like this) can help with.

I think the biggest complaint I have against myself is that it's a fun game! What does it matter if i get it or not? I should just try shit and have fun with it. Ugh, this makes Lincoln sad.



[SIZE="1"]*Doesn't look too much like Lincoln, but whatever[/SIZE]

[pindicator]

Turn 083

First to 7 cities:



Bob-Omb is taking the rice from Spiny for this turn, and next it will switch to the flood plains. This way when the chops for the granary come in the city will be at 11/22 food and ready to grow with the rice again. Step 2 will be expanding the borders with a monument and then it will have some pigs to work for itself. I'll probably have this be another hammer city, but we may have to cottage those grassland tiles for now because of costs. Planting Bob-Omb cost me 8g in city maintenance/civic upkeep costs. Time to stop expanding until Currency comes in.

Okay, maybe one more... You can see the settler in Goomba is almost done. I'm not going to settle the marble city if it's going to cost me 10g to do so. That's just going to have to wait. But a city by the northern corn and flood plains would be worth 10g. So when that settler finishes we're going to hold on to him for a little bit until we get enough military to feel comfortable defending it and then we'll send him north.

I need more workers. I whipped one in Piranha this turn (really need a library there as well). That will bring me up to 8. Hammer Bros is going to make 1 and my capital will probably make another after its settler finishes. (Hammer needs to get a barracks up.) Then we just limp towards Currency.

Demos:

[pindicator]

Turn 084
Diplo Update

With all the back and forth in the diplo thread I think it's time to do a post dedicated to diplomacy. (And it gets me something to think about besides my Hanging Gardens cowardice.)

Let's start with the wonderful "who's winning" banter:

Also for all the "OMG GOLD TILES" in this thread, kudos for the multiple civs higher than me in GNP who are avoiding scrutiny here. And, kudos to the civ who I know has top food and suspect has top production as well, while also escaping notice.

I'm curious who. Certainly it's no one in our corner of the world.

I don't know the identity of the top GNP folks. You're probably right that Lewwyn's culture really helps him, but assuming he's top GNP he's still not the only civ higher than me. I do know who the top food and suspected top production is.

Well, I guess I could take that as an invitation of peaceful intentions from sunrise. He had two opportunities to rat me out as tops in food & mfg but declined to do so. Although people who really are digging the diplo will probably be able to guess, with how sunrise was talking about my "good demos" earlier.

From yesterday:

It isn't all sugar and rainbows though - my neighbors are financial Praetorians, financial Skirmishers, and pindicator's strong demos, plus I'm already boxed in in most directions (hence the border deals) and the remaining land is a lot more meh unless you love your cities needing jungles chopped from every single fat cross tile

Anyway, I think we have to look at this as an olive branch and try to work with sunrise in a cooperative fashion.

Secondly, if sunrise is telling the truth about there being multiple people with larger GNPs than him, then there have to be a number of people out there with beautiful starts. Because sunrise and lewwyn are pretty much neck and neck in GNP:



I hope he's lying here because I don't want there to be multiple people out there with GNP like his. And I don't think I've seen as many 12+ point increases from other teams as I have from sunrise (12+ point increases indicating possible Classical Era Techs). So I'm going to say he's fibbing there.

Oh, and as to sunrise's bad event: