Das Boot (directed by Wolfgang Petersen and Singaboy)

[Singaboy]

Turn 40:

Bronze Working is done and a look around shows three sources of iron, with one being on my continent in an excellent location. Even though Aachen will expand its borders in 3 turns, it won't grab the iron as its a third ring tile.



Research on currency is started (3 turns), Kiel switched to a slinger done in 5 turns as I swap a tile to the crab to gain more gold. I would love to lock the encampment that costs 96 hammers currently, but am unable to do so as we need the eastern hills for that. Cost for a 2nd ring tile has increased to 65gold.

Builder #1 lands on the shores to move to the rain forest west of Aachen, while builder #3 moves into Kiel. It will be a little too early for the chopping duty, but that can't be helped.

And in the very south, what do we finally spot...incredible, unbelievable, a miracle...a barbarian camp. Now, what am I going to do? My slinger is really far off and I would like to keep it in the north to protect the settler when it comes out of Aachen. I guess I will try and defeat the camp with the warrior that is down there. As I don't have the +5 policy card in place, I will need to proceed with caution and use the current forest hill as a nice defensive ground. Once I get that camp, I get an envoy for Buenos Aires and together with the mysticism envoy, I could get the nice suzerain bonus. We shall see what will happen.



As for the galley, it manages to sail past Woden's city to move south. Woden has iron nearby there too. The third source is near the marked city spot on the other continent.

The score has changed again, oledavy still has no GPP points but a score of 40 and overtaken me in the culture rating. Jester's score has increased by 8 points the last turn ans is at 38. My real score is now 40 as well due to BW.

[Singaboy]

Turn 41:

This is a more quiet round. I move both builders toward their destinations to chop the rain forests. Currently the campus costs 96 hammers (same as an encampment) and a chop of the rainforest only gives 17 hammers + 17 food. I thought, it would be more. This would give me 32 hammers for the first chop due to maritime Industries advantage. I am not sure, whether the cost will increase thanks to writing, but it should. Anyway, we talk about a missing 60+ hammers. A second chop would get me to 50 missing hammers and that would take around 7-8 turns to complete the campus, sadly. I might go for mysticism in the meantime as well as finish Military Tradition before getting the Eureka for State Workforce.

As the barbarian didn't move to attack (which would have been better for me), I move to attack and take 34 health off the spear while I get 29 health damaged. The spear might counterattack, for me to move into the forest the following turn to heal. I hope this will work out and no warrior pops suddenly in the forest.



The galley continues its southbound journey. We can tell from the diplomatic thread that both Woden and oledavy have met, that means there is no harm for me to run into Woden, even if I won't turn around now anyway. Both have met only one city state





In the ranking, oledavy continues his strong run. It shows that I waited for a second settler until Early Empire. I will pump out a lot more settlers though in the turns to come. When settlers get prohibitively expensive, this policy is a must.

[Singaboy]

Turn 42:

A quiet round with builder #1 moving on a tile to be chopped later on. The slinger moves to aid the settlers path which is being produced next turn. Writing will come in and finally, some action regarding districts can start.

The only action this turn is my second attack on the barbarian spear. Our warrior still has almost half its strength and with a third attack would earn a promotion. Let's see what will happen to the spear during the IT, maybe it will attack. 

In the east, the galley continues to sail south as I rather explore that area first before sailing further east. Next turn we will have a second galley and can start to explore northwards.

[Singaboy]

Turn 43:

A rather eventful turn. First off, my warrior did not get attacked by the spear. I need one more attack for a promotion. I do that and end up with the warrior at 12 health whereas the barbarian spear seems to have maybe 1 or 2 health left. Unless there would be a unit that spawns and attacks, the camp is mine the next turn. Of course, a promotion would also be possible to defend.



Next item to pay attention to. The second settler is out and will move north to reach its destination in 5 turns and found the city in 6 turns (T49). The next settler is started and after reassigning the tiles for production (16 hammers per turn), the settler will be ready in 6 turns with city growth in 4 turns. In addition, as writing is done, I start currency, done in 7 turns. I also swap from State Workforce to mysticism. There are of course, two reasons for that.
1. I do hope to get the campus built fast so that I get State Workforce finished via the Eureka.
2. With the barbarian camp eliminated (hopefully) and the Eureka for Military tradition done, I get a second envoy in Buenos Aires. With the envoy from mysticism, I would be its suzerain gaining many luxuries. It would be a boost for my empire.




Since writing is done, we can finally get to the business of a campus. The campus costs now 102 hammers and the rain forest chop gets me 19 hammers. This means that after the chop, 34 hammers are put into the campus, leaving it with 68 hammers for completion. If I work 7 hammers a turn, it means 10 turns for the campus left. There are two more rain forests I can chop to make way for CH. One is SW of Kiel, the other is the rain forest builder #1 is standing one right now. If I chop both, I would gain another 38 hammers, shortening the time to 5 turns. There is of course the possibility to swap back to the slinger which has still 2 turns to go and get 1.5 times the yield. I have to do some calculations to see whether this is actually a better way to chop.



With the completion of the second galley, I earn the Eureka for shipbuilding. The galley immediately sails north to spot the builder that chopped a rainforest and built a farm for Valletta. It sits there with one charge left. As I am thinking of starting a war with Valletta to get out of this quest for a Great Merchant, I might actually chop the slinger and then take the builder with a war declaration.



The last image shows the east and the new sightings the galley there made. I know that there has to be a commercial CS near Woden and it might be a good idea to sail back as there is nothing of real interest in the south there.

[Singaboy]

Planning til T50:

T44: defeat barb camp for Mil Tradition Eureka and 2nd envoy Buenos Aires
Kiel - Campus at 41/102, builder #3 moves toward rain forest

T45: Kiel swaps to slinger currently at 22/35 (campus at 48/102), builder #3 reaches rain forest

T46: Mysticism done, 3rd envoy to Buenos Aires. Luxury issues solved
Kiel: builder #3 chops rain forest -> slinger at 33/35 done, 17*1.5 hammers into overflow campus 73/102, Kiel grows to pop 5
Slinger at Kiel will move toward Valletta and attempt to steal the builder, depending on the position of Valletta's warriors. The aim is to get rid of the Great Merchant quest before the next age has been reached via currency. The secondary aim is to defeat a unit with a slinger gaining the archery Eureka.

T47: Kiel campus at 80/102, builder #1 chops rain forest -> campus at 99/102

T48: 3rd city founded, campus finished -> State Workforce done, PP starts (55 culture needed, roughly 5-6 turns)

T49: 3rd settler done, moving toward Salt, Aachen starts to produce 2 warriors + 1 slinger

T50: currency done, CH locked for Kiel and Aachen, Salt city lock to follow once founded
-> decision to go for shipbuilding or apprenticeship
By now, research should be at around 13 (10 via pop + 3 from campus) netting ship building in 8 turns. The mid term goal would be to build a colony in the west securing a second horse source. In order to be able to defend this city, masonry and archery would be researched while producing another settler to move there. The 3rd city we build has a very strong food and production base and should be able to support building military, builders and settlers in addition to the capital.

Once, the 4th city has been built, some builders are needed to improve the cities (there are plenty of tiles in need of improvements:
Aachen: stone, sugar, cows
Kiel: fish and crabs
3rd city: 2 sugar, bananas
4th city: salt

[Singaboy]

Turn 44: 

The campus is actually at 43/102 now and not only 41. With some luck and additional happiness stuff, I might end up getting the campus on T47 instead of T48. We shall see what is happening there.



The new galley continues to sail north to spot more land, but also runs into a Viking longship   I hope he sticks to his promise of a friendly relationship. Might have to entice him to stay peaceful. I pull my slinger over just to be safe. In two turns we get a chopped out slinger in Kiel to make me feel a little safer. After the current settler in Aachen it is definitely time to shore up my defenses.



In the south, it is time to finish off the camp and with a deep red, we defeat the barbarian. Not only do I get the Eureka, it means a second envoy in Buenos Aires. In 2 turns, we can be suzerain of the city and gather more intel over there as well. I would really wish to settle the marked city there to have better control over Buenos Aires as well. We also get additional 50 gold which we really can put to good use such as slinger upgrading etc.



At this moment, nobody has any GPP except Norway. I actually assume he spent all his cash to rush the longship, but that is simply a guess.

[Singaboy]

Turn 45:

We have met England (TheArchduke), he has 3 cities. Norway seems to have traveled south, but without our open borders, he won't get far unless he declares war. I don't expect him to do that yet, I guess it would need ship building for that and according to the tech screen, he has not advanced to that age. I can't offer mutual open borders just yet, I guess he doesn't have Early Empire yet.

I switch Kiel to a slinger which will get chopped out the following turn (making me feel a little safer). The northern slinger moves to occupy the city spot we want to take. This way I can ensure no delay for us with founding the city. Once the city is done, I might start my move against Valletta. In 4 turns when the next settler is out, we start military production and I will feel more confident to take on the city state. I will need the Eureka and archery.

In the south the warrior moves a tile to the east and promotes.





The northern galley spots a city, it does look like a city state to me with white borders. I am not able to spot anything English though. The game felt so isolated and peaceful, with more players coming into view, the world gets scarier again. The eastern galley continues the journey, spots the barbarian camp Woden and oledavy must have talked about. Let's hope I can spot the city state there.




In the ranking I am slowly falling behind, not on techs or civics, but on city score. Still no GG points beyond Norway, but others have 3 cities. I knew waiting for EE and Colonization would put me in that position. Well, I hope the two settlers now will make up for that.

[Singaboy]

T46:

The threat of pillager long boats.... (I will get back to that)

An eventful turns starts with us getting mysticism and the envoy I wanted. I invest it in Buenos Aires and become suzerain. If I had expected my amenities to skyrocket, I am in for a rude awakening. Either there is something wrong with the suzerain status, there is something wrong with the display. To me is seems as if Buenos Aires supplies a mere one amenity. Better than nothing as can be seen later on during the turn.



Time to chop out the slinger, getting the over flow into the campus. I won't be the first to a campus as Woden has just started accumulating Great Scientist points. The result of the chop, of course, is a finished slinger and a campus done in a mere 4 turns. The display updated. The grown Kiel now makes 8.4 hammers. That should be enough to get the campus next turn with the additional last chop coming in next turn.



I move the slinger north and to my displeasure, discover the Vikings there. What is this fellow up to. I had hoped by giving him the location of Mohenjo, that he would bugger off. I pull over the second slinger.

I have played a tiny test game with Norway and those long boats can attack cities with their strength 30, no easy enemy. They can steal settlers and builders and pillage tiles but in my game I wasn't able to attack military units from the sea. This is the great chance for me. Now the question for lurkers:

If a district or improvement is covered by a military unit, can it still be pillaged?

That would be somewhat mean but might not be impossible. Judging from the Viking military strength, there might be another longboat somewhere. Once the settler is done in Aachen, it is time to shore up the archer type defenses. I would like to get the Eureka for archery to avoid a lengthy 6 turn research, but if that is what it takes, so be it. Archers might be the only deterrent against those pesky boats. I might have to hold off the war declaration on Valletta if Jasper doesn't sail away. I will also pull back my galley once it has uncovered that city state in the north, It is almost there.
Lucky for me, besides the current campus, all other planned districts are not coastal. This is critical to avoid those irritating raid runs.

A small issue playing in my hands, Kiel will claim the second crab next turn and deny the Vikings the chance to sniff around Kiel without a war declaration. It will also give me the chance to assign the citizens in such a way to make a lot of gold. Kiel will be really poor in production in turn. However, from next turn, it will make an additional 6 gold a turn.



In the east, I sail towards Lisbon and get a really really lucky break Just look at that task I am given. Absolutely brilliant. From next turn on, I will make +4 gold for the time being. This will be right in time before entering a new age with new tasks. Currency has dropped back a turn and will be done in 5 turns now, maybe the additional 3 science from next turn will shorten it another turn. 




In the score, I am now fourth, but with mysticism, population growth in Kiel, a district and a new city in 2 turns, my score will increase significantly.

[Singaboy]

Turn 47:

Opening the save, I feel a little relieved. Maybe I panicked too early about Norway, but I think from now on, it is important to play it safe here. Anyway, his long boat is gone. I hope my slinger was enough of a reason to send him away. He might come back though and the sooner I have archers the better.

Currency has dropped by another turn and is now ready on T50. This is even before the campus kicks in. I can also see that there are now 18 hammers left for it and it can be chopped out. The image also shows that Kiel grew in the right direction and there isn't much Valletta can grow into. Anyway, this city is part of my acquisition plan sooner rather than later.

Aachen has grown back to pop 6 and it makes now 18.8 hammers thanks to +2 amenities. There is some amenity count here, though I am still not certain which are the ones counted. 18.8 hammers will grow back to 16.6 once the settler is done, but it will give a very healthy 25 hammers for military production. 




Time for the last chop currently. Three chops means an entire builder was turned into food and hammers. Hope it is all worth it. I will need more builders soon. With the chop finished, the campus is done and State Workforce finished. Woden is unfortunately at 6 GPP for science. I am behind by 6 points and only a fierce run for scientific points would stand me a chance.



With State Workforce done, I reassign the policies. I want to make a little more gold to buy more tiles. One tile costs 70 gold at the moment and I would want to buy them before currency is done. One tile is the hill east of Aachen to lock the encampment (needed to produce horseman and swordsman). The other would be in the new town to be founded next turn. The tile next to the mountain is planned as yet another campus. That's 140 gold which will be aided by changing Maritime Industries to Conscription to save 2gpt currently. Not to forget the +4 gpt from Amsterdam for getting the Inspiration for State Workforce.

I reassign the tiles in Kiel for maximum gold and set it to a warrior (5 turns) after some time of deliberation. However, while having Agoge in place, I might as well produce more units. Production is poor but income is great with a total of 21gpt.



In the east, we meet Woden as expected but there is no way past it but to take the long way back. Woden also makes 9gpt expectedly thanks to Lisbon. He has 2 cities like me (TheArchduke has three). I will need to sail southwards as Lisbon has closed borders.



The last image shows my Island and the world rankings. I am still seen as 4th in score though my actual score is now 50 which is more than anyone else. oledavy as the current #1 has a score of 47. I am leading in science and culture. Some of them have poor culture with 2-5 per turn. That's the difference of a monument and a city state. Norway is leading in military score with 110 thanks to two long boats I assume. I have 90, not too far behind.

I have of course swapped to PP and it will be done in 6 turns. A new government is waiting and I hope to be first for this. In the score I can see that nobody else has 6 civics, oledavy is close with 5.

[Singaboy]

Turn 48:

Opening the save, I discover to have contacted yet another city state (number 5), Carthage which has a quest to build a heavy chariot. That could be done eventually. The white borders in fact, are TheArchduke's English borders. I sail a little to the west and find a passage away from the English Island to another land in the west. I shall follow that. You also note that currency has dropped to one turn until completion.




I found the new city, Zuckerstadt and work a sugar. As we will get currency next turn, tile costs would increase, I purchase two tiles to lock an encampment (east of Aachen) and a campus south of Zuckerstadt. Both cost 107 hammers. That's not an issue for Aachen, but for Zuckerstadt it is. It is working the sugar currently and will grow before being able to produce anything substantial. However, I want to use the policy in place, Agoge, and go for yet another slinger.




Kiel's slinger moves north and I don't spot any long boat, but Valletta's 1 charge builder. Time for action. I declare war on Valletta, I hope I can actually take the city after getting archers and a warrior. Thanks to the rain forest chop by Vallette, I can have two archers to fire at the city while a warrior attacks. Remember that Germany gets +7 strength, that might help.  I rob the builder and move Zuckerstadt's slinger toward the warrior there too.



The goal will be to eliminate a unit using slingers. If I can accomplish this, archery would be a mere 2 turns to research. Once I get that, I could upgrade some slingers and attack Valletta.
I want archers as soon as possible to be able to defend against coastal raids and other intruders. It will take some time until someone has ship building, but it won't take forever. Being #1 in score now will attract attention, no doubt. My current score is shown as 50, but in fact, due to the additional city, it's 56. I need to be really vigilant here.
I was thinking about defending the Island and besides city walls for coastal cities, it would be good to have archers to fire at boats and units. Also, a good network of roads is needed together with fast units. Hence, I will research archery, masonry and HBR next. All do not take too long before going for ship building. The trader has now been freed up and I will establish a new route from Zuckerstadt to Aachen to complement to road network.

Next turn, the 3rd settler is produced and currency done, time for some slingers and warriors for defense while heading up to HBR.