Superdeath wants to be the very best Piñata.

[Fintourist]

Not that i can identify almost any building built... but got visibility on Serdoa's capital :D

Almost forgot to swap around Shanghai to work the copper mine.

Next turn is a complex one with all the worker and warrior shuffles..

[superdeath]

5th city location.... Corn/horse OR pigs OR fur/clam.. HMMM

[superdeath]

Looking pretty good! Sad to see you go soon though

[Fintourist]

Let's discuss big pic after you play T50, but you have a decision to make this upcoming turn. Ie. what to do with Shanghai. I think a decent approach for the city is now to at size three is to get 40 hammers into a settler, grow to size 4 and double-whip it . I think in all the continuations you want at least a couple of additional cities very fast. E.g. fur happiness is something that can't really wait as you don't have at the moment any luxuries. (do you know if this is as challenging for your neighbors as well?)

Another option would be to build a 5th worker. You will still definitely need a 5th one fast from one of the cities in order to maintain the growth curve. You maybe can delay the 6th worker if you plan to be efficient with the micro once I switch to lurking 

[superdeath]

3rd to 4 cities? ( dunno how bob is doing, hoping i can slip a scout thru and find him.



So... Rusten is getting pretty ballzy/cocky with that PinkDot of a location from him. IMO. True, i want to settle NE-E from that location, but still... Rusten is a greedy lil shit so i sent Serdoa a War v Rusten for War v Rusten as he is our current major rival id say.



With PRO trade routes, i should be able to crap out some more settlers for the fur and pigs locations i think. After that, another settler for the clam/stone city, and then id hope to have scouted for something else to settle.. Also Sailing is probably next for an island city. Probably before the Stone city if im being honest.

[Fintourist]

Turn 50 / Final thoughts


Current position vs. competition

Based on demos I think your position looks quite competitive. Raw foodhammer output is clearly above average and GNP will also look reasonable when you turn tech on and remember that you don't produce any culture at the moment. 3 granaries in place might well be the most and 4 workers is also a healthy investment for the future growth. Sure, IMP leaders still shine with their early city timings, but we are now entering the era where the EXP will start to show results. 

The next 30 turns should be quite fun to play as your growth curve explodes, but this is also the most intensive period of the game in terms of micro planning (aside from late-game military logistics). So if possible try to put effort into the next phase and you will be happy when the game starts to become more about the macro.

Strategy going forward

I think in all scenarios you want to reach 6-7 cities ASAP. After that it's more about what you believe that you have to do in order to win. Hit 8 cities and attack somebody? Shift focus and build wonders? Get a religion? However, unless you have better ideas, the base case would be pushing for ~11 peaceful cities. PRO will help with that approach, but getting some cottages up, settling an island city if there is any food and fast currency are all needed as well.

For the tech path this would mean: Writing --> Sailing --> Math/Alphabet (math if you can afford it, alpha if you need to build research to get currency fast) --> Currency. After that you have the ability to build wealth, which might be very much needed in order to get IW+Calendar and improve those bananas+sugars and keep the snowball rolling.


Build priorities

• As discussed, I think you want to get to 6-7 cities ASAP in any case (pigs, furs, island?), so obviously more settlers needed.
  
• You currently have 4 workers and 5th will be needed very soon. The timing of further workers is something that you need to evaluate. But unless you stop expanding soon, five workers won't cut it either as you would very much like to have two workers around every time you found a city. Fast granary chops and immediate improvement of resources are required to keep the snowball going
  
• With regards to military you need to look around. You might be able to settle couple further cities with limited military, but after that the tensions will increase. At that point you don't want to be a target or somebody to push around
  

Worker priorities

• Obviously supporting new cities is the main thing, but you have stuff to do elsewhere as well. Capital will soon want those grass river tiles cottaged, so that it can give away the deer and the fish if needed. Farming the sugar might also be a thing at the capital.
  
• Worker at Shanghai: After cottaging the FP this worker surely heads to support new cities
  
• Worker at G: Horses and silver as the priority
  
• Workers at N: One worker heads soon to support the next city as planned while the other chops a granary and a work boat. After that you have to evaluate. Getting cottages up for the capital might be a thing.
  

City priorities

• Beijing: Capital supports your fast horizontal expansion. Pretty soon this will mean building a galley and a work boat as well. Eventually surely a library and potentially your first great person.
  
• Shanghai: Again, supporting the expansion is the key in the short-term. Maybe you want to turn this city into a military pump in the mid-term?
  
• G: 30 hammers into library and size 4 double-whip..
  
• N: Supporting city that won't really contribute in the near-term. Granary --> WB --> Lighthouse --> Whip whatever you need
  
• New cities: EXP granary first! Try to complete them at size 1 so fast that you can still get the extra 11 food in the box when you grow the first time
  

Border areas

In the short-term your border with Gaspar and Noble is clearly the most vulnerable and the area where most attention is required. If you reach ~11 peaceful cities things get of course tighter everywhere..

It seems to me that you have a short straw layout-wise in multiple directions, but maybe you can claim something at the stone area near Serdoa or northeast of Guang. But you have to see how the game develops and whether peaceful expansion puts you in a position where you need to initiate something aggressive or can you be more patient and opportunistic.


***

Thanks for the co-operation! I was way more busy than I was planning to be, so I could not put in the time that I was hoping. But hopefully this gets you going and at least it will be more fun for me to lurk the game going forward. 

I'll refrain from opening other threads for a day or so in case you have any questions or stuff you want to discuss.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

I'll use this as an opportunity to try to be more active... college has been eating all of my time ;(

[superdeath]

I'll use this as an opportunity to try to be more active... college has been eating all of my time ;(

Welcome back!



So i sent Serdoa that War vs Rusten for same... and the moron accepted it. GAH. Now Rusten most certainly knows that he cant trust either of us. Great. Way to go Serdoa.




Turning research on next turn to 2t Writing, which should line up nicely with getting a library into G.

[civac2]

So i sent Serdoa that War vs Rusten for same... and the moron accepted it. GAH. Now Rusten most certainly knows that he cant trust either of us. Great. Way to go Serdoa.

That is amazing.

[superdeath]

So i sent Serdoa that War vs Rusten for same... and the moron accepted it. GAH. Now Rusten most certainly knows that he cant trust either of us. Great. Way to go Serdoa.

That is amazing.

Yeah, super amazing. Wonder what Serdoa or Rusten will say if they update their threads about this. Also forgot to mention my scout cant get past Rusten due to culture.. so this 10t peace sucks AGAIN. ( although im sure even if im careful not to step on resources... Rusten would probably kill my scout )