[PB74 Spoilers] Donovan Zoi Celebrates 20 Years of Living Dangerously

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 21 - 3160 BC

I got to play a a rare wraparound turn and was instantly rewarded with new things to report after watching my Worker hack away at a new Wheat farm for the last few.




With the farm completed, I am able to use that tile for more food and hammers, getting a Quechua in 3 turns.  I was leaning toward building a second Scout, but that seems foolish now in hindsight.  Plus, real threats in human form that scoff at border agreements are right around the corner.  And as for the Worker, he will be deadheading to the plains hill to mine it (really the only thing he can do right now).


Demographics




The tile change shows us mounting a small comeback after expectedly languishing for the last few turns due lack of growth. And we're still at Size 1!  I'll be sharing demos for T22 and T25, when we grow to Size 2 and 3.


Powergraph

We now have enough EP to see how we compare to the Mali, but the only graph I'm really interested in right now is Power.




Ouch! So on the surface, this does not look good at all until you consider that most of the points have been garnered via tech: Opened with Wheel & Mining (6000 total) then Hunting (2000) and another 1000 for Size 2.  I am going to have to look into that last 4000, which looks like 2000 per turn, as well as the 12pt spike in PBSpy on T20 since I don't see any Classical techs on the table yet.

[Donovan Zoi]

What I'm hearing is you have plenty of time to tell stories then!

You would think, right?  I actually felt guilty for taking 30 minutes to post these last two updates because of all the stuff I have going on IRL right now.  But a promise is a promise.  Despite my lack of posting in most of my recent games, I do have a wealth of screenshots to choose from.  I've actually curated quite a few from the Black Sword era of PB59; I just need to find time for the words.  Thanks for holding my feet to the fire.

Going back to the Powergraph mystery....

It looks like I also gained +4 in PBSpy on T20, telling me that Magic may have gotten extra +2 points because of more land and the remaining 6pts could have only gone to Animal Husbandry (Sailing is the remaining 2000 tech he doesn't have, but no Fishing yet). A T21 Warrior explains the rest.

If my findings are correct, it means Magic now can view the location of Horses and can build Chariots once he connects the resource.  Was he scheming on getting them from the 3rd ring of his CRE capital or does he just need to farm some Pigs?  Either way, I'll need to consider adding Hunting (for Spears) to the matrix of upcoming tech choices.

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 22 Demographics

We reached Size 2 on this turn, so here are the stats I'd promised.  Not too shabby, considering the Worker-first contingent is already starting to reach Size 3 en masse.





Turn 24

Size 3 and border pops coming up next turn for us, but this turn we fielded our first UU.  I am going to try and stay in the forests while scouting because I can't risk losing this unit with a new city coming soon.




Speaking of which, I'll be moving production to a Settler on T25 but needed to put hammers into something else for now to ensure growth.  Some quick sims gave me the confidence to choose a Workboat (ETA T34) with the knowledge that I can get a Quechua out of our second chop the following turn if needed.  First chop completes the Settler with no whip (and no anarchy yet), so we get to stay at Size 3 utilizing some killer tiles.  And the WB gives the capital another decent food source when we have to share with City #2.

Not sure that I'll stray from the Cow tile plant, although the tundra tile north of it is a possible Plan B .  We'll see what the new borders reveal, if anything.  Kind of curious if there are some goodies to go along with the Fish across the pond to make Sailing more enticing.

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 25 - 3000 BC

New borders show Silver in the west...not bad.  Sailing before Writing could work, though a Settler/Galley combo would be quite the investment so early. It would be nice to have overseas domestic trade, but I also think it's important to claim as much of the mainland as possible.  Decisions, decisions.....




Also, I lied about sending the Quechua through the forest as I want to unveil the water tile north of the Cow site.  I think this is the turn that barbs are introduced, so I'm taking advantage of the 5x5 no-spawn zone before retreating to the forest.  If there are quality sea tiles I can't see, it looks like another coastal city NE could still pick them up later.

Demos show us still being competitive, but I'd honestly thought we'd be better off.  We're at least ahead of some FIN civs in gold for the moment.




Also, we're back in the Top 5 again at Size 3.  But there are already two Size 4 sites.  Did someone totally forgo building workers?  I suppose someone could have worked a flood plain during the first farm and then netted Fish soon after?  Doubt I'll have time to investigate, so I'll just stick with my own plan.

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 26 - 2960 BC

It's confirmed.  Settling on the tundra tile doesn't help me at all, so I'm founding city #2 on the Cows.  In doing so, we still get to share 2 food tiles with the capital, while allowing a chance to settle on a tundra up north if there's anything of value up there.

[Mjmd]

What I'm hearing is you have plenty of time to tell stories then!

Thanks for holding my feet to the fire.

So first city plans set; scout dead; real life I'm assuming is boring, so clearly story time!

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 27 - 2920 BC

We get Bronze Working next turn. I moved production from the 3h forest to the new 4h mine to shave a turn off the settler.  We'll save a couple more turns by completing a chop on the river grassland SE.  And actually. my first 2 chops will be river flatlands for two reasons.

--They'll eventually become the first Cottages.
--I want to preserve the 3h forest until I can road it.  Plus it's a nice supporting tile to keep in case I'm forced to build Quechuas fast in the meantime.

I'm sticking with Wheel > Pottery as my next two techs because of the above + Terraces.  Pottery should come fast since I'll have all 3 prereqs for it.




I sent the Quechua 1s through the cows so he can sentry from the forest hill in 2 turns.  That site, along with our first two cities laying claim to a mountain tile after 5 CRE turns, will provide a nice trident of visibility (3rd city will almost certainly be 2N of the Rice in the south).

[Donovan Zoi]

Turn 28 - 2880 BC

I felt bad not providing a screenshot of City #3 last turn when I mentioned it, but have no problem doing it now.  Because that's where the Copper is.




Looks like there's a bit of interest in this region too, with the Mali working their way back west, and a Lion doing it's best impression of Vanna White to showcase the future city site.  It boasts 3 Flood Plains, the Copper, the Rice and 4 river grassland.  I'll need to farm the one SE of town to irrigate the Rice, but am thinking Cottages for the rest and possibly the FPs too.

Oh, and that CRE mountain will come in handy now that the Magic's Mali have mapped us out a bit.  Hot damn, this desert town will be banger.

I'm also glad the Copper ended up here because this site was otherwise lagging in production opportunities.  I'm seriously considering mining the Copper first to 4-turn a Terrace so that we have rapid growth from Size 2 onward, meaning I can save the sole chop for later and not have to overextend a Worker to get there too early.

[Donovan Zoi]

Announcement

For those getting bored of me over-explaining each turn, there's still hope for you yet!  So sit still, kids (that includes you, Mjmd! ).  The following side projects are right around the corner, I just need to give them a bit of TLC.

Story Time!




Tier List!




Better late than never, right?

[Mjmd]

I don't think lurkers have been minding the over explaining. We just want MOAR!!!