[SPOILER] Glory and redemption. yuris125, PBEM77

[yuris125]

There we go. Chops are in, game says the Settler will be ready next turn in any case, but I can still 2-pop whip




Press Enter, Settler completes, and Stonehenge is scheduled for next turn




Fingers crossed no one completes it before the save reaches me next time....

[Fenn]

Nice micro to 1-turn Stonehenge exactly off of your second settler overflow! At least, it's impressive to me.

[yuris125]

Thanks Fenn - I normally am quite bad at it, but finally feeling like I'm getting the hang of it (it's about time!)

And speaking of getting things - got the 'henge!

[pindicator]

[yuris125]

In addition to my nicely arranged stones, Buddhism was FIADL this turn. So this answers the question about which religion I want Polytheism research it is, right after Sailing

[yuris125]

Missed on Hinduism on turn order




Also, Oracle. That's a rather early one. If ipecac, who I believe is the one who got it, took Metal Casting and will also grab the Colossus, he will be very strong. Plans to take that Colossus off his hands may need to be made as soon as we make contact

I immediately switched research to The Wheel. It's tempting to finish a tech with only 1 turn remaining, but there's no benefit in having Poly right now, and I need Pottery approximately yesterday

On domestic front, I have a new settling list all ready to go. The next city to be founded will be the one on the horse island next to the capital




I just whipped Aksum, with overflow going into my first Galley. The city should be up in 4 turns




Lallibela's borders just expanded, showing that the gold island is indeed an island, not part of a larger landmass, and there's not one but two gold tiles! So that's the highest settling priority - I just don't want to go all around the main island with my first Galley before settling it. But the next Settler is definitely going there

The 6th city will go on the larger island due west of my starting position - not sure on the exact tile yet, but expect to drop a scouting unit onto that coast while sailing towards gold

The tundra city on the main island is relegated to a filler status for now. It's not a bad one, as fillers go - a fish and two tundra deer resources, all just for this city, can't complain too much. But I won't lose much by delaying it

[yuris125]

Here it is. My first offshore city




You can also see that I started a Settler in Gondar for the gold island. Will whip it in 2 turns, just in time for the galley to pick it up. And that should be the last whip without a granary (or at least without overflow going into a Granary)

[yuris125]

T50 overview

The north:



The south:



Aksum is currently not being whipped, as it can build 3t Settlers - whipping wouldn't allow that. Everything else whips Settlers and builds infrastructure in between

I don't want to connect the copper just yet, would prefer to keep the option to build Warriors for now. I roaded the copper tile and put 1t into a road on the cow, so that I can connect it quickly in an emergency

Both Galleys in the screenshots above have Settlers on board, who are going to settler the western island




Currently I'm planning to cover all of the island with two cities, don't think it has enough good land from three. But if the Warrior sees some seafood off the northern coast next turn, it might change things. So the planned spots won't be final until next turn

There's also some settlable land peeking in the north - will scout that asap




Demos look fine. GNP is likely inflated by Stonehenge culture, but still happy to see myself leading by so much. Crop yield is low, but this early in the game it depends quite a bit on where you are in the whipping cycle




Science




I still need to decide what to do with religion. I went to research Masonry with a vague idea to maybe go for Judaism, but that was founded this turn, and I was thinking that it could be better to go for Confu and get and a free missionary anyway (plus of course CoL is a more useful tech than Monotheism). There's also an option to use the Great Prophet, who is due in 14 turns, to bulb Theology - but I would need to clear all of Meditation, Polytheism, Monotheism, and Priesthood to make it happen, and Theology isn't even that useful. Pity that Theology is above CoL in bulb priorities. Worth considering nevertheless - depends on whether I can get to CoL first, suspect there will be competition for that

That said, there other interesting research options, especially if I want to use Ind to build some more wonders. Aesthetics branch for Great Library, Maths and Calendar for Mausoleum, or just Metal Casting for Forges are all worth a consideration. Will decide on this next turn as well

Let me know if you want to see anything else

[yuris125]

Quick update. I decided to finish Polytheism and then go for CoL via Priesthood. Economy is fine for now, especially with the gold island coming online, but I do need to have a way to stabilise it when it starts crashing. This can be done via Currency or via CoL, and I think CoL is a better option for an Org leader

For the western island, I founded the two cities as shown on the screenshot above. The Warrior found a whales resource off the northern coast of that island, and I may want to settle it at some point, but that was never going to be a great city, it's still legal with the two cities founded as planned, and whaling boats are quite far in the future. So making the two planned cities worse was not worthwhile

I need to start building units some time soon. My defences a currently limited to **some** cities being protected by a single Warrior. I still haven't met anyone, and didn't see any barbs (@pindicator - are barbs definitely on?), so for now it's not a problem. But when it does become a problem, I likely won't have much time to prepare

[yuris125]

T60 rolled in, so time to look around. Literally around, without paying attention to the Main Island, as not too many interesting things are happening there for the moment

My western colony. Flourishing, but needs more Workers. I actually have a shortage of Galleys to transfer Workers from the Main Island, where they're building random cottages, to the Western Island where they're sorely needed. I actually swapped Gondar (the city peeking in the top right corner) from Worker to a Galley and will whip it next turn to help with it a bit




I do have 3 Galleys currently active on the map, but they're mostly doing scouting and transporting Settlers and Workers to new locations. I'm going to end the practice of sending unescorted Settlers into the unknown soon enough. But not yet

This is my currently northernmost city. You can also see one of those unescorted Settlers on a Galley, likely going to settle that spices island. Also, first evidence that barbs actually are in the game. Never saw a barb unit for 60 turns, now see four at once




To the north of the Western Island, this is where I have the whales I might settle at some point (see the sign). Also some stone I might want to take advantage of. Pity the land is full of deserts. Still, worth at least taking a look, and possible settling for the stone




Further west, further evidence that I'm doing what I shouldn't do with Settlers. But it's paying off so far. It's an interesting dynamic in a game where I had no contacts with other players for 60 tuns. Here's I'm going to settle on the ivory next turn to get immediate access to it. I also marked two spots for potential future cities




Going south from there, we find a sugar island, which I would also like to settle in not too distant future




Finally, completing the circle, here's the south, and the biggest news - I actually got my first contact this turn




This prompted me to immediately swap the Gold Island city, Yeha, from Granary to a Warrior, lest Commodore gets silly ideas

Commodore has one fewer city, and pretty similar resources connected. Looks like he's also not connecting copper, presumably on purpose




I'm actually thinking it may be time to connect my copper, now that I got my first contact, and more can't be far away, especially considering how aggressive my expansion has been so far. It's time to have better defenders than Warriors in my border cities

Researchwise, I think CoL should be done in 7-8 turns. Hard to be more precise, I'm finishing two Libraries in the next few turns, but also founding at least two new cities before it's finished. Confu's still available - here's to hoping