[SPOILERS] Woden's Desfiles de Carnaval do Brasil!

[Woden]

Just out of curiosity, do you folks have a war brewing over there or something?

I think oledavy is fishing for information. I wonder if anybody will bite?

[Kaiser]

I am happy that I am not the only one seeing the benefit of the new smileys :D

Good luck withg you game and thanks for the reporting

[Woden]

@Kaiser: They were a good idea, Thanks!

Turns 73 - 74

Turn 73

I didn't expect much from this turn but it turned out to eventful. To start, the encampment finished, giving...




I move my galley in the southeast along the small island's coast and find...




Figured he was down here somewhere. Let's take a look...




3 cities (minus one that Japan razed), merucry and truffles, horses, and 10 per turn. His science rate is 14.7 , culture is 10.9 , and Military Strength of 130. All are less than mine.

South of my capital, I can start attacking teh barb camp...




I hit it with the archer and land the warrior on the island. By the time the warrior makes it around to attack, the archer should be able to kill the spearman. Let's hop there is not much else on this island.  I am surprised that there are no horseman being so close to a horse. May there is 1 under the fog and I will regret saying that.  This island is pretty pitiful for city locations. I can either have 2 non-freshwater locations. Two cities would be better than one but with the new settler cost increase of +30 for each one, one might be more realistic given that I have 4 locations on my starting island, the ice ball in the southeast, and at least 2 maybe 3 or 4 in the north.  By the time I settle all of them, my settlers will cost north of 400 . It might not be worth a second Settler. I have time to think as my next settler will go north and the second one will go on the southern location by the iron on my main land. Not sure where I want the third one yet.

I switch out of Military Tradition for Games and Recreation. I will switch back in 2 turns. Finally, here is my core...




Next turnn will be a nice turn with mulitple chops.


Turn 74

Start by chopping the Archer at the capital. Finihsing my third Archer and getting...




I put the CH in and it is due in 2. Next, over at Beija-Flor, I switch to the Warrior and check how much is left...




6 left. Chop is worth 88.5  , so 82.5 into the CH. Says it is due in 12, ouch! I will speed it up a little by putting a quarry on the stone. Might have to think about buying a 2/2 tile. I will have to work it out to see when I need to buy the watermill. Chopping the warrior gives me my 8th land unit and...




My galley in the southeast moves north and finds that the island to the west is not connected to Spain's. 




A lot of room between us. I am definitely isolated.  Give that fact, I had an idea when I meet him. He is fairly far away and I am in no threat of attack from him and seem to remember seeing a rumor  that Hong Kong declared on Japan when he declared on Spain...




Comfirmed. Let's see if we can kill a few birds with a stone. I decide to...




First, this gives me...




Because Hong Kong delcared war on me. Second, now I have met Hong Kong and, third, Spain knows where Stockholm is located. The last one might seem like an issue I don't want but he is falling behind and from what I can gather he should be next to Germany. Germany is about to get Hansas up and running and I don't want him to be able to steamroll a neighbor. I want him to attack his neighbor but want whoever he attacks to be able to defend themselves, or at least give him a good fight. I don't thin that target will be me since I am ahead in science, I have the second largest army,  and we are trading. So, it will be England, Spain, or Vikings (most likely). I want them to fight amongst themselves while I work towards Nationalism. Then maybe I can stop the runaway. I also wanted to do this before I became Lisbon's Suzerain. I don't want to much competition with them. Sorry to the lurkers but this will be a completely phony war. I don't plan on attacking him. Hopefully this all works out. I did state my intentions in the diplo thread and figured I can butter him not attacking me with a promise of an extra luxury (salt) at the end. Remember, I need him to stay relevant and that should help a little and help us become good trading partners.

[Woden]

Turns 75 - 78

Turn 75
Start this turn by mining the second salt at Salgueiro, giving...




This brings Apprenticeship down to 1 turn. I will switch to complete as soon as I get Construction down to 1 turn.  Only have 3 mines right now, so no huge deal. 

In the east, I move my galley and find...




One of Japper007's longboats, now I have met everybody. Let's take a look...




Four cities, he has been expanding. He is last in science with 11 techs and 12.7 ; fourth in culture with 12.1 ; and a military power of 133. He better improve that one quick as Germany looks to be think about attacking. Japper007 mentioned in the diplo thread about a Germany warrior on his island. That makes me think Singaboy is out for some revenge and scouting out invasion locations. I don't blame him becuase the Vikings did declare war on him earlier and he does look like an easy target. I am trying to get a ship over there to see the map set up. If they are right next to each, this could happen sooner, rather than later. If they are close and Sinagboy probably figures he can expand through war instead of through settlers. If that is the case, I may have to rethink my current startegy because Germany could (is already starting to) become a monster. Maybe I can hit Singaboy's rear as his army is occupied, IDK. I will re-evaluate while oledavy is on vacation. 


Turn 76
Finish...




Time for a different policy...




Replace Maritime Industries(?) wih Colonization. The CH finshed at Carnival and started a Settler. Time to start expanding. With the CH, I get 3 districts, meaning...




Not much else happening. The Archer at Salgueiro finshes next turn and I thin I decided to build a water mill there before a settler. I am going to buy one of the plain hill and add a mine. With teh add production, it shouldn't delay the settler much and I get the eureka for Construction sooner. I put in Games and Recreation for a few turns, then will switch to Drama to slow research it. No time to build a wonder right now.


Turn 77
Slow turn, not much going on. Singaboy retook the sciene lead...




Meaning he has one more tech than me. No biggy, I do switch to Apprenticeship to finish next turn and have Iron Working and Construction down to 1 turn when I get a watermill built. Germany is really pulling away in score...




He must be cranking out the districts. I am starting to worry that he might get too far ahead before anybody can do anything about it. He is starting to hit his sweat spot...




I think he has 2 Hansa now. Probably building them in every city. He has much more production than me. I juct need a little time and I can get a few more high productin cities going and then at least I can stay competative with him. I am thinking if I can jack up my culture, I may be able to hit him and slow him down around Nationalism but that is still along way off. Guess we will have to see where this game goes. Maybe everybody in the west will join together and take him out. One could only hope. 


Turn 78
Start with...



As you can see behind the pop-up, my units have landed in the north and found their first barb victim. 

Since I haven't shown my core laterly, here it is...




The Settler at Carnival will go north and then I will start another. I will also start one at Sangueira after the watermill and another at Beijo-Flor after the CH finishes and I build a monument. This will be sped up by a mine on the hill next to the mountain that Mangueira will grab next turn. Should shave a few turns off of the CH. That Settler will go found a city up by the desert and will start Petra soon after. 

In the north, I think I have figured out a dot map from what I can see...




Places for at least 3 cities. Of coarse this might change as I de-fog more of it. The first city will be in the middle, that way I can buy a builder and out 2 farms down and get closer to 6 for Feudalism. I did see a Japanese Settler heading towards the island south of his starting island a few turns ago, so hopefully he is focused on settling south and I can have this land up here all to myself.

[Woden]

Turns 79-82

Pretty boring set of turns as everything is being built, so no real break down by turn. To start, a barb horseman, horse archer, and spearman tried their best to kill my warrior and archer but they failed miserably and now are dead. 

On turn 80, I got my 2nd great scientist...




Not the one I was expecting. Looks like Spain ran a project or 2 to take one before I could get it. No big deal, this one is better. Provides 1 eureka and 20 hit points to units within a tile plus +5 healing to units. That last bit is the best part. Now my units can heal faster, especially when out of my borders. I decided to send him up to the north to heal the wounded units fighting barbs. Better to not waste any on it. 

The only other surprising bit og news is that oledvay is putting his science into overdrive....




Must have completed Recorded History and running Natural Philosophy. He now has 3 campuses and 3 libraries based on his GP points (6.9). No big deal. As long as I am keeping up I should be good. I am now shifting focus to culture and that is what matters now. Here is the current score for reference...




That is about it for the last set of turns. Next turn will be big as I have walls, a watermill, and a commercial hub finishing. We are stopped until Thursday evening with oledavy taking a vacation. I plan on writing up some on my short-term to long-term strategies moving forward and have some overview shots I will share then.

[Woden]

Game Review

Before I get into my strategic review, I figured I would review the game and my opponents.

Singaboy's Germany
Score: 145 
Civics: 22  - 11 civics and a rate of 21.6 plus 12 domestic tourist
Empire: 88
Great People: 3
Religion: 0
Technology: 32  - 16 techs and a rate of 27
Wonders: 0

Military Power: 340 (1st)
Cities: 6 cities, 22 pop (non-Cap)
Districts:: 1 Encampment, 3 Hansa, 2 Commercial Hubs, 1 Campus
Resources: Salt, Sugar (2), Wines, Horses, Iron
Gold: 196 plus 21 per turn

Germany is the leader in this game and is starting to get in position to be the favorite. Sinaboy is doing much better than PBEM2 and is set-up to be a tough competitor. He is hitting Germany's sweet spot by getting multiple Hansas up and running and will be a production monster. He looks to be gearing for war and I hope his aggression is pointed towards someone in the west, most likely the Vikings since he is scouting out his island. Hopefully he does go to war and it drags on a little while, while I can continue to build and keep up with him. I think I might be able to get close to his production if I can get Petra and Chicken Itza built. Then I should have at least 3 cities with good production. For the near future I need to be on his good side and continue to trade with him. 


oledavy's Japan
Score: 117
Civics: 20  - 10 civics and a rate of 15.4 plus 12 domestic tourist
Empire: 60
Great People: 3
Religion: 4
Technology: 30 - 15 techs and a rate of 45.1
Wonders: 0

Military Power: 201 (3rd)
Cities: 5 cities, 14 pop (non-Cap)
Districts:: 2 Holy Sites, 3 Campus with Libraries. 
Resources: Cotton, Spice, Mercury, and Horses
Gold: 14 plus 4 per turn

Japan has gone all out on science but his economy sucks. He does look to be sending units to clear some islands and does have 1 city off his home island. Luckily for me, he is focusing on settling the island south and east of his home island and leaving the western part of his home island for me, if I can get there in time. Japan will be a threat with their strong science. I will have to watch and make sure he doesn't get to far ahead. 


TheArchdukes's England
Score: 114
Civics: 16 - 8 civics and a rate of 12.2 plus 6 domestic tourist
Empire: 70
Great People: 0
Religion: 0
Technology: 28 - 14 techs and a rate of 19.3
Wonders: 0

Military Power: 163 (4th)
Cities: 6 cities, 14 pop (non-Cap)
Districts:: 4 (?) Royal Navy Dockyards. 
Resources: Citrus, Sugar, Wines, Horses (2), and Iron
Gold: 60 plus 26 per turn

England could be a sleeper player this go around, meaning they could break out and become a monster. Looks like TheArchduke has been focused on expansion recently. They are probably my biggest threat to settle the northern island as it is just west of their capital.  They also might be a threat to capture Stockholm. I am the only one with any envoys in them and you would think since they know they are there that sending an envoy would be a priority for the extra science. I don't know how that would hurt our relationship, I don't really want to attack them first but might have too. We will see. 


Woden's Brazil
Score: 105
Civics: 16 - 8 civics and a rate of 14.4 plus 9 domestic tourist
Empire: 51
Great People: 6
Religion: 0
Technology: 32 - 16 techs and a rate of 36
Wonders: 0

Military Power: 248 (2nd)
Cities: 4 cities, 13 pop (non-Cap)
Districts:: 2 Campus with 1 library, 1 Encampment, 1 Commercial Hub (+1 due next turn)
Resources: 2 Salt, 2 Wines, Horses, and Iron
Gold: 210 plus 22 per turn

I am current tied in number of techs with Germany but have Iron Working, Construction, Engineering, and Mathematics at 1 turn left. Construction should finish next turn when the watermill completes. It is slightly over half researched. I am waiting to be able to put down a Theater Square at Beija-Flor before I finish any of them. And might wait a little longer because I don't need any of them right now. We will see. I think I am still competitive in this game and on of the leaders. I am moving into an expansion and culture phase of my plan, which I will discuss in another post. 


Japper007's Vikings
Score: 92
Civics: 16  - 8 civics and a rate of 13.7 plus 7 domestic tourist
Empire: 43
Great People: 4
Religion: 4
Technology: 26 - 13 techs and a rate of 14.8
Wonders: 0

Military Power: 133 (6th)
Cities: 5 cities, 10 pop (non-Cap)
Districts:: 1 Holys Site
Resources: Tea, Horses, and Iron
Gold: 161 plus 10 per turn

Japper007 is starting to fall behind and I really don't know what he is doing. He has declared war on Germany and Spain. I think it is just for pillaging opportunity. He is making enemies quickly and I don't think he will be in the game in by the time we hit Turn 150. I am curious about what he has been building. His military is weak, he has minimal districts, and small cities. If he is not building up his military, he will be toast if Germany comes calling. Then Germany will definitely pull away and we will have to try and work on a dog pile with other players. 


CFCJesterFool's Spain
Score: 87
Civics: 18 - 9 civics and a rate 9.9 plus 10 domestic tourist
Empire: 40
Great People: 3
Religion: 0
Technology: 26 - 13 techs and a rate of 17.2
Wonders: 0

Military Power: 155 (5th)
Cities: 4 (?) cities (can't see, currently at war), 11 pop (?) or 3 cities and 16 pop
Districts:: 1 Holy Site, 1 (or 3) Campus, 1 Commercial Hub
Resources: ?
Gold: ?

I don't have vision as I am currently at war. Spain has been everybody's wiping post recently. Japan set them back by pillaging a city. Other than that I think CFCJesterFool is doing pretty good give his set backs. I am pretty sure he is out of contention to win but may be a good partner to help me attack someone else, maybe Japan. I will see if I can get on good terms and use him a little bit.

Overall, I think the four players from PBEM2 are still in contention for this game with Singaboy currently in the lead. I am working on putting a grand strategy together to see if I can come out on top and will post it later.

[Woden]

Game Strategy Review

Here is my short-term to long-term game strategy moving forward. As stated at the beginning of the game, my main goal is to race towards Nationalism as fast as I can while staying relevant against the other players. Now that I am getting close to Theater Districts and able to invest more into culture, so I am shifting gears to build up my culture. I think I have a solid science base to work with right now and can afford to focus on culture. I also need to improve my production somewhat to keep pace with Germany. My basic drivers to develop my current strategy: How can I increase my production and how can I put my culture in overdrive?

Currently, next turn will be a big turn as 3 of my 4 cities will complete builds and I will get a few Eurekas and Inspirations. I will complete walls for Engineering, a watermill for Construction (which will finish), and with Construction, I will get the Inspiration for Games and Recreation. G&R and Engineering will have 1 turn left after the boosts. I am going on an expansion push right now. A settler is due in 2 turns at the Capital and I will start another plus one at Salgueiro when the water mill in done. Salgueiro currently has the same production (more with the water mill) as my capital and I should be able to get the 2nd set of settlers out around the same time.  Here are the locations in the north I want cities...




And in the south...




I have 3 locations on the island to the north, one on the northeast tip of my starting island, and one on the southern island that are priority locations for cities. I haven't decided yet if I am going to have Salgueiro build a 2nd Settler yet, I really want it to hit size 7 so I can put the Industrial Zone down and it should grow pretty fast if I go heavy food after the first Settler. So, for now I will assume 3 Settlers during the next expansion phase. Initially, I was going to send the first settler (in 2 turns) to the northern island but now I am rethinking it.  I can finish Mathematics any time I want (1 turn left) and the sooner I settle that city by the desert, the sooner I can start Petra. With Petra, that city will be a production monster: 3 desert hills, a desert hill sheep, and a desert salt, all boosted with +2, +2 , and +1 .  Doing this will delay settling the north by 8 or 9 turns but I think it is a chance I need to take. I will send another archer up there as a look out off the western tip to make sure England is not going to make a move on it. The settler out of Salgueiro will go to the north and the second one out of the capital will go to the southern island. Then I can let my cities grow a little and maybe have some of teh smaller cities build Settlers while the high production cities build infrastructure. I am also think about not going for the Civil Service inspiration (size 10 city) and having my capital build a few more Settlers. IDK, I will have to think about it.

Drama will finish in 3 turns, then I will finish Games and Recreation (1 turn), and then Military Training for the envoy followed by Defensive Tactics, Feudalism, Mercenaries, Civil Service, and Guilds. Once Drama is finished, I will place a Theater Square at Beija-Flor before finishing any more techs to lock in the cost. Once I have Limes at Defensive Tactics, I will build walls everywhere and chop into districts to finish them. The Harbor at Salgueiro and Theater Squares at Carnival and Beijo-Flor. I think all new cities will build a Theater Square as the 2nd district, with a Harbor or Commercial Hub being the 1st. I am thinking the first build will be a monument. Both should help get my culture going. 

After my expansion phase and a little infrastructure, I think I might go for some wonders. Stonehenge to get the last religion, maybe the Great Lighthouse for the extra movement, and Petra for production. Then, after some infrastructure and maybe a few units I should be ready to build the expensive wonders: Chicken Itza and the Great Zimbabwe. Those are a little ways off, so we will see how it goes when we get there.

[Ituralde]

Will the city on the Southern Island go at the position where the warrior is at? I'm assuming because you didn't place an additional sign there.

Also thanks for the Reporting and Strategy Updates!

[Woden]

Will the city on the Southern Island go at the position where the warrior is at? I'm assuming because you didn't place an additional sign there.

Also thanks for the Reporting and Strategy Updates!

Thanks for following along!  It will go on the wheat northwest of the warrior. I will have to place a pin next turn. I was going to try and put 2 cities down here but with the increasing Settlers cost and better city sites elsewhere, I figure it would be better to put only one on this island. It will grab most of the resources, only really leaving out the 2nd truffles tile and the seafood to the northeast. Also, there is not a lot of production on this island so 1 city is probably the better move.

[Woden]

Turn 83 - 84

Good news is we are back after a short delay due to oledavy's vacation.  Bad news is Japper007 stated in the organizing thread that he will only be able to play a turn-a-day during the week. We should be still good as long as we can average 10 turns a week. Anyways...

Turn 83

Big turn as may things finish. Starting with walls at Mangueira, giving...




Next, the watermill at Salgueiro, finishing...




Which gives...




I start the Harbor at Mangueira, a Builder at Beija-Flor, and a Grainery at Salgueiro. Why a grainery at Salgueiro instead of a Settler? I was rethinking my plan that I laid out and will shift it a little. The grainery will help it grow as it is bumping up against the housing cap and I might just let it grow to size 7 before I build a Settler here so I can put down the IZ and I might straight build the Harbor and chop into the IZ for more production. I want this city to be able to crank ships out. This might delay my expansion a few turns but I will switch to a Settler at Beija-flor next turn to make up for it. 

One of my ships in the east came across Tronoto...




Quest is to train a Pikeman. Not sure if I can do that. May have to declare war to clear it but I do have a spear and if I research the tech I can upgrade it. We will see, I will have to think about it.  Maybe I will move the spear to kill the barb scout in the north to get the eureka. 


Turn 84

Settler finishes at Carnival, start a Settler(?). I was going back and forth between Builder and Settler but think I did end up going with a Settler. I did switch Beija-Flor to a Settler (due in 12, probably 14). It has been 10 turns since I declared on Spain, so keeping to my word...




Hopefully this mends any ill feelings. 

Here is the score for reference...




England is starting to pull ahead thanks to building Royal Navy Yards everywhere. I think he is making 9 Great Admiral points per turn. Must have a few lighthouses too. I am starting to fall behind but am moving to expand over the next 20 turns. I do think I will have to play a tall game here. It looks like Germany is getting ready to hit the Vikings (I hope) and become very wide. We will see. I think if I can get 3 cities out and then develop my core and shift expansion to the newer cities, I can keep up in science and culture. We will see...