[SPOILERS] New setting, same RNG. yuris125, Civ6 PBEM26

[yuris125]

I have horses at the capital




This is good, means I have 4 good tiles to work without counting on border expansion - and I don't want to grow above 4 anyway until I get more amenities. No help with expansion decisions for now though

There's another horse resource in the east, and I'm going to poke around it a bit more. It is close to the coast, but tiles to its north are fresh water, so I have to check for anything of interest - I'm still not sure whether this area is my backlines or contested

[yuris125]

I did some testing over the weekend, and confirmed that I do not need an encampment for my unique great generals to spawn - in the test game one just spawned in the capital. This means I probably do not want an early encampment at all, stables are quite expensive in the early game, 25% more expensive than barracks, and I suspect putting those hammers into just making more horsemen would yield way more

When it comes to unique effects of great generals, I don't think they're particuarly valuable. The one I got in the test game would give +7 combat strength to a land unit upon retirement, which seems way worse than giving +5 strength to all units within 2 tiles, which is what he does when active. When I only get 1 unique great general per era, and can't earn regular ones, keeping them around seems much more important

The extra movement to military units I get at Political Philosophy is very real and as impactful as one would expect. Especially in this terrain, melee units can do flat tile + rough tile in one turn, not just one rough tile as they do now. Horsemen going from 4 to 5 is not quite as big, but still having the option of striking from farther away is always valuable

Prince AI folded to a horseman attack very easily. Of course, that tells me nothing when it comes to such an attack being viable in MP. But I'd be surprised if it isn't

Horsemen do require 20 horses, so I will almost certainly need more than one horse source for any serious attack

Of course, first I need to find a suitable target. Which would be pretty much anyone except Archduke - but against Archduke I would welcome having horsemen on defence. So I think early HBR is very much the plan

One more thing of note - the game seems to put city states into the tundra a lot. Which means I do need to explore that tundra area, especially when Political Philosophy is even more important than usual

[yuris125]

T14




Switched research to Mining. There's a decent chance I will want to settle the 2nd city on one of the western salts, connecting the luxury without worrying about a builder. As long as I can find decent food in the area. I should be able to complete Pottery and start Irrigation anyway by the time the builder is ready (and I might not even need it for the 1st builder, who likely will want to build 3 pastures, the horse and two sheep)

So far, the east looks more appealing, especially around Lake Valencia, but the good land is a little far away. Again, everything depends on whether it's contested, and how closely

Surprised I haven't seen any barbs yet

[yuris125]

Didn't take a screenshot this turn, but there's a natural wonder further to the east, beyond the salt. Not sure which one, but there's culture on tiles which don't normally produce culture

Think I'm definitely expanding east first, just need to figure out the exact spots now. If barbs continue to be gentle (I assume they were turned off accidentally - do other players get them?), I'd like to go settler - builder - settler (and 2 settlers before builder would be a consideration, but missing out on Craftsmanship eureka would probably be too costly)

[yuris125]

The natural wonder is Matterhorn




Not sure how I feel about it being the game. If I can get it within borders, removing hill movement penalty for the rest of the game, while denying it to everyone else, seems insanely powerful. And apparently the base game version also give +3 combat power when fighting in hills?! At least that's removed in BBG

It is a bit far, but I think settling next to the wonder has to be a priority. Then I can fill the gap with the third city

[yuris125]

One more thing, I got 3 era scora for discovering the wonder, which suggests I'm the first to do it

Where is everyone???

[yuris125]

I called a city state in the tundra!




Alas, it is fairly useless for Colombia. But they all count for Political Philosophy eureka. And maybe I can steal a builder?

Tentatively planted some city pins, although everything except maybe the coffee city is low priority

[yuris125]

Found a river next to the Matterhorn




That hill SW of the warrior looks like a prime city location

I would've liked to settle next to the wonder, but settling off fresh water is probably too much of a cost. I could explore more, fully reveal the area, and maybe find a better spot - but feel I have to go back and give at least some protection to the settler. Even if barbs haven't showed up yet, I'm too worried about sending the settler unescorted

Still hesitating between getting a builder next, or another settler right away. Both have merits

Decided not to attempt stealing a builder from Wolin. Its unique bonus may be useless to me, but since I got the first contact envoy with them, I am already getting 1hpt in the capital towards units - and units are all I'll be building for the foreseeable future. This bonus does apply to civilian units, and losing it to steal a builder (probably not with full charges) and spend a dozen turns escorting it back just doesn't seem worthwhile

[yuris125]

Looks like Archduke didn't pick up the save this evening, so we're probably on break

I think it will be builder after settler. I've been looking at the map, and think with the chosen spot for my 2nd city, the 3rd one will go not on the salt, but SE of the easter one. Puts it farther away from useless plains tiles, and closer to useful production tiles. But if I'm not settling on the salt, I need a builder just to bring at least one luxury online

[yuris125]

Settler is on the way. Will take way too many turns to get there, but I think claiming that territory is worthwhile. It has to be contested




That said, I remain perplexed at still not meeting anyone, and seeing no barbs

With the barbs, I don't want to ask in the tech thread myself, would be somewhat spoilery, and could be considered mocking, if other players are having barb issues, and here I come, posting 'hey, are we sure the barbs are on, I haven't seen any'. But - are we sure the barbs are on? Not having them could even be considered a downside, since camps can be a decent early game source of era score and gold. But in any case, it's important to know. Don't think there's a way to check the settings in-game