[Spoilers] SavageMoogle of the Celts

[SleepingMoogle]

Turn 4:



Fortunately that tundra in the south seems to be limited to a single tile. And that floodplan in the southwest corner of the screenshot is also a welcome sight.

I have been the only one so far to grow to size 2 at the end of this turn. Whether that is because the others have not been working a 3-food tile or they started with Workers is as yet unclear. In the latter case, chances are good BW is also being researched. If the other starts are anything like mine, having a Worker out is rather pointless without the ability to chop forests.

Are they underestimating raging barbs, or am I overestimating them? I keep expecting them to burst out of the woods pretty soon.

[SleepingMoogle]

Turn 5:

The Celts are the only Civ to have grown to size 2 so far, but both Rome and the Khmer learned a tech this turn. Bob most likely learned Mining, and with the later start timmy must have gone for Fishing (He already has hunting and hasn't had time to get enough beakers for any other tech). The demographics show that one Civ probably has a lake-start, so I guess this answers who that was.

My scout moved SE onto another hill which revealed more flatland tiles to the south. The river from last turn's screenshot appears to run south and then east, so this could be a nice place to expand to. The Warrior revealed more grassland tiles NW of the capital, right next to ice the and tundra to Bibracte's north (you can just make it out on the screenshot below).

Here's an early demographics shot. Whatever happens later on, I'll at least be able to say I did well at the start:



After I finished my turn, Buddhism was founded in Bibracte. Stage one of the plan is complete!

[SleepingMoogle]

Turn 6:

Still no techs from Twinkletoes and scooter. Germany plays right after me so they could still be going for Animal Husbandry, but at this point I'm fairly certain both are going for early BW and Workers. Bibracte is still the only size 2 city, so it's likely the others are on Workers as well. I'm curious to see if that is going to provide as much of an advantage as it would in a game on normal speed. City growth is pretty fast right now, and by the time the first Workers are completed, I may be working three tiles already. Not to mention having better defense and scouting. As a quick added note: Looking at the tech costs (which are also cut by a third), timmy could have accumulated enough beakers to another of the low-cost ancient techs by working a tile providing commerce so last turn's prediction may have been wrong. I guess we'll find out eventually.

Back to the turn itself, I converted to Buddhism. Without Anarchy, there's no reason to delay it and it should be fairly obvious who researched Meditation anyhow. A second warrior will finish next turn, after which I'll start investing some hammers into Stonehenge. Research is set to Archery, which will complete in 4 turns. At that point I'll get out an Archer for defense and start on my first Worker.

I'm still confident on my chances to get Henge. It's not that attractive a wonder for a Creative civ (of which there are three in this game), and by researching Meditation, the prospect of researching Mysticism is not as appealing as the chances of getting a religion are reduced.

Scouting-wise, my Warrior found Gold! That'll be a great help in a self-teching game, so I'll be exploring the area to see if there's any good city sites. A city directly south of the capital would probably be easier to defend though. The second Warrior will probably be defogging the tiles that way. In the meantime, the scout is moving further SW. His goal is to contact as many of the other Civs as possible before he inevitably gets captured by barbs.

After Archery, Mining and Bronze Working are still on the table. I'll try running some offline sims later on to try and plot out an effective worker path and figure out the order of the techs after that. Build-wise, I want to finish Stonehenge before getting out a Settler and escort.

Here's a quick picture of the scouting so far:

[SleepingMoogle]

After sandboxing a game with PBEM3's settings for a bit, it's pretty clear that quite a few standard conventions don't quite work in a Quick speed game. For one, forest chops are rather weak. The drop-off point for improvements lies at four turns, so while improvements like Pastures and Mines lose a turn, Forest chops still take 3 and only give 13 hammers until Mathematics. Whipping has had its teeth pulled in a similar manner, although whip anger only lasts 6 turns now.

Unfortunately the map appears to be quite forest-heavy, and requires efficient Worker movement to minimize the amount of lost turns. What I think I'll do is keep chopping to a minimum until Mathematics, and have a fairly large Worker force to ensure the tiles around cities are improved in a timely fashion. It actually makes getting Feudalism fast more appearling, as it makes the Serfdom Civic more powerful. And as a Spiritual leader, I can easily switch back and forth between Serfdom and Slavery for maximum effect.

Based on the sandboxing, Stonehenge will be finished on turn 27. The Great Prophet will then need 34 turns to be born, so we can expect him on turn 60.

Here's a Great Prophet's tech order up to Monarchy with the preference from top to bottom:

Meditation
Polytheism
Priesthood
Monotheism
Theology
Divine Right
Mysticism
Masonry
Code of Laws
Civil Service
Monarchy

The techs in Blue require Writing, and Divine Right requires Theology. So I'll have to research the six techs in white before turn 60 and avoid Writing. Writing is needed for Feudalism though, and needs to be finished right after (preferably on T61). So I'll need Agriculture, The Wheel and Pottery as well. Finally, Mining and Bronze Working are needed for forest chops and whips, Animal Husbandry to hook up the Pigs near Bibracte, and Archery for early defense.

For now, this will be the tech order:

Meditation (finished on T6)
Archery (finishes on T10)
Mining (~T13)
Bronze Working (~T20)
Masonry (~T24)
The Wheel (~T27)
Agriculture (~T31)
Animal Husbandry (~T35)
Pottery (~T39)
Polytheism (~T44)
Priesthood (~T47)
Monotheism (~T53)
Writing (Aim to finish on T61)
After Writing, Mathematics and Iron Working are probably up next (better chops and enabling my UU respectively)

Hopefully it will work out that way. The biggest danger to this strategy is someone else aiming to go for the Oracle. The best cue for that will be Hinduism being founded. If it's likely the Oracle is going to be built before T61, I'll prioritize Priesthood research if needed and get started on it myself. With Marble available I should have a good shot.

[SleepingMoogle]

Turn 7 has been played and forwarded. Scooter gained a tech last turn, which I expect to be Animal Husbandry. It also looks increasingly more likely that I'm the only one who didn't start with a Worker.

The turn itself wasn't too eventful. The second Warrior was finished and moved south to reveal some tiles there. Production has swapped to Stonehenge until Archery finishes (3 turns). At that point I'll switch to an Archer. It will be timed to finish on the same turn Bibracte reaches size 4, and create just enough overflow to finish a Worker in just 4 turns after that.

The second warrior has found what looks to be either a lake or a coast to the NW. Next turn I should know which one it is, and after that the Warrior will return to the capital. The scout continued moving SW.

[SleepingMoogle]

Turn 8 before I call it a night. In between turns, the Warrior NW of the capital was attacked by a wolf, but he killed it without a scratch. Sandover researched another tech as well. It's a bit uncertain what he's going for, but my best guess is either Mining or Archery.

The first Warrior moved one more tile NW to gain visibility on the lake. The land isn't that great, but I'll want to pick up that gold resource fairly quickly regardless.



Down south, the Scout is still on his merry way. The land is quite resource-poor, but there's a lot of grassland river tiles around that will make expanding here worthwhile.

[darrelljs]

Congrats on Buddhism . Uh...is your capital completely unguarded?

Darrell

[SleepingMoogle]

Thanks.

Bibracte is unguarded right now, yes. If this map is anything like the sandboxing I did earlier this week, it will take a short while longer for the barbs to start coming out of the fog. The Warrior NW of the city will start heading back next turn, moving east a bit and then south. The southern one will defog a few more tiles to see if expanding south is an attractive option and come back as well after that. And with Archery finishing soon, I'll be getting an Archer as well. That should be pretty safe for the moment. Every other Civ seems to have started on Workers, so most don't even have a unit to pull back to the city just yet.

I'm hoping to be able to finish Stonehenge before getting out more defense. In a worst-case scenario though, Bibracte can always go into full military production mode. Archers can easily be built in just 2 turns at size 3.

It'll actually take a while before the first Settler will finish, because it'll need a proper escort (2 archers will hopefully be sufficient for that). It's not too bad though, because it means there's a ton of buildings to be constructed right around the time Organized Religion becomes available.

[SleepingMoogle]

It looks like we got the tracker to work so the game is back on track. Turn 9 came in this morning:



Bibracte is size 3 now and working the Deer, Sheep and Oasis. Archery finishes next turn and Stonehenge will be briefly put on hold an Archer and Worker are built. If I switch from working the sheep to the furs next turn, the archer will finish right when the city grows to size 4, and with enough overflow to train a Worker in 4 turns. After that it's back to the Wonder.

The scout continues heading SW but didn't reveal anything of interest this turn. However, the Warrior currently south of Bibracte unfogged several more flatland tiles and a plains hill on the east side of the river. It looks like a pretty decent spot to plant a city soon-ish. The terrain is mostly flat and nestled in between mountains to cover from barb encroachment. I'll try and defog some more tiles in the next turns, hopefully there will be a food resource or two in range as well.

One other Civ had its capital reach size 2 this turn. From the score, it's likely Twinkletoes (the scoring for population in this game seems slightly weird, but not there's not much that I can do about it. That also means he wasn't on a Worker after all. Strange.. I would have imagined him to pump out a Worker first as an expansive Civ. He also researched a tech last turn, which I'm guessing is Animal Husbandry. Germany didn't plant their capital in the first turn, and I don't quite see them researching BW, even if working a tile providing extra commerce. Timmy also discovered a tech, and given the power figures in the demographics tab, it probably was Archery.

[SleepingMoogle]

Turn 10 was played rather quickly as I was pressed for time. Archery research finished and Bibracte has switched to an Archer for defense. It will finish in 4 turns, and the city will grow to size 4 at the same time. A Worker is up next to start improving the terrain.

Scooter finished a tech this turn. I'm not quite sure what it might be; the previous one I guessed might be Animal Husbandry, but it is possible he went Agriculture first and picked up AH now. Second best guess is that he went for Masonry, if he has Stone or Marble at his capital. If all Civs have been provided with those resources at their capital, it may make it more appealing for someone else to quickly chop out Stonehenge. I'll have to see if I can perhaps shave off some turns of my own build if that is likely.

I took a quick snapshot of the demographics this turn. Right now my lead is somewhat artificial. Once the other Civs start improving their resources, the gap should close soon enough.



In between turns, a wolf took moved onto the tile I was going to move the Warrior NW of the capital onto. He fortified on the spot, hopefully the wolf will suicide himself (he'll be attacking across a river onto a Warrior fortified on a forest tile) and give my Warrior his first promotion. The southern warrior revealed a number of peaks, which may limit the use of a southern city; it will be quite safe, but have relatively few tiles to use.