[SPOILERS] The Ministry of Truth. A factual account of Thoth's PBEM 50

[Thoth]

I've got 19 hammers into henge mostly 'cause I needed something to grow on a few turns back. I'm still going back and forth on whipping Henge t39 or just leaving it for the 19 failgold.

Shrine would be nice.

Theo bulb would be nicer.

And I'll have some GE points in the mix for a roll of the dice at Mids.

[Thoth]

the main reason I figure I might have a shot at Henge is that it's an obvious play for Chuck so the other players may well have dismissed it from their plans.

I'm not counting on it (I've got other options for border pops and the happy from monuments can wait) but if I can ninja Henge after Oracle.

[Thoth]

Thankfully Serdoa built SH last turn so I'm not being tempted.

Worker/Gran next from Cap. And I'm currently paying 6gpt for two expansion cities both at minimum distance from capital.

Commerce is going to dictate effective expansion rate.

[Thoth]

Turn 41: (all screenies are after ending turn)

Baiting a Chariot:

Serdoa will have ~95% odds on the warrior, but so long as my warrior scores a hit or two, I'll have odds on his chariot next turn.
Bit of a risk, he may score a flawless victory, in which case I'll need to pull back. But I've got a solid shot at scoring 2/3 xp for the chariot unless the rng is either a bit wonky in Serdoa's favour or massively wonky in mine (warrior wins at lottery odds).

Kyan front:

I'll be reinforcing the forest tile in a turn or two, but I'm not aiming to push any deeper. Sitzkrieg here suits me fine, but I don't want to let Kyan into my side of the chokepoint.

Cities:

SS Botany Bay

Just completed it's granary. Aiming for size 7 with Monument and Forge eot 46. T47 work cows, clams, 4x mines, 1x engineer. 17 base hammers=21 net with forge. 15 food produced, 15 food consumed (+1 unhealth at size 7).

Ceti Alpha 6:

Whip settler t43, overflow into Gran. Grow then whip worker.

New Eden:

I'll complete Hunting at eot 42. So I'm going to swap the warrior back into the queue, whip it t42. It should queue upgrade and complete with enough overflow to complete the chariot t43. T44 both the chariot and the spear are occupying the Kyan chokepoint forest. Then gran/settler or sthing like that.

[Thoth]

Gotta somehow remember to build a cottage or two someday.

[Mardoc]

Gotta somehow remember to build a cottage or two someday.

Can't you just swap to aristocracy?

[Thoth]

No, but I'm aiming for Colossus t57. 1st GP due eot56 ~35% chance for a GE to rush mids, 65% of a Gprophet to either shrine Hindu or bulb Theo.

With all the lakes and seafood I've got, Colossus is a very solid stand in for cotts.

Especially as I almost certainly won't be either running Bcracy or working capital cotts heavilly.

This is a good capital location for food and hammers but it's a pretty manky Bcracy cap. Vassalage has its own charms especially in an AW game.

I'll be aiming down the southern end of the tree for Guilds/Banking before I head up the Uni/PP line. Bulbs will depend on the RNG as my GPP pool in the capital will never be pure. But I can make use out of anything.

[Thoth]

I'd almost prefer a GProphet TBH. AP hammers from Mons/Temples be good. If I can bag either UoS or Sistine then they become mad good.

Also sexy Theocracy/Vass/Cha built boats. :love:

[Thoth]

Bah.

Serdoa's chariot won flawlessly.

So I'm falling back with my (slightly damaged) chariot. Serdoa can kill it next turn with good odds, but that pulls him out of position for an opportunistic strike on my holy city.

If he goes for a chance at the strike, I'll whip in a spear next turn. Settler be damned.

[Commodore]

By the way, I've been thinking a bit more about it, and this was an excellent map to go Oracle. Colossus is normally the weakest of the "Big Three" but on Mirror/Torusland, with the lakes all over and no need for Astronomy, like, ever, the Colossus is really dang strong.