5BC (173):
Preflight check. Ok, so I can understand the concern about our dismal GNP and everyone beating us in that department. Recall, however, that this is a water map, and we don't have many towns living off the water. We have the most land of all civs so far by quite a bit, so let's work on leveraging that into an advantage. All that land also gives us top production, by just a bit.
So yeah, Alex still not talking so we need to wait until that fool cools off a bit. Zara hates him already, and he'll go back to hating Zara once we are done hopefully. However, we can't shed power due to this unstable situation to our west.
So we huge lack of workers considering all the lousy jungle we need to shred, so that will be my focus. Infrastructure! The infamous warmonger will build things!
Our workers are all working individually to cut jungle. Not a huge fan of that, but we don't have enough workers, and that's the root problem.
In a more traditional sense, I'll also work on squeezing some swords out to kill that barb city. Nothing good will come of leaving it there, and we need to secure those horses sooner rather than later. It is a raze job though, due to the crappy positioning.
Ok, so time for my traditional zoom around of the cities to see what MM evilness I can inflict.
Looking at Madrid, we are building a 7 turn settler. This is either for Purple Love Dot or Crap Filler Town. While it is of course important for us to grab more land, we're severly lacking in work force. So I switch the settler to a worker, which is due in 4 turns. I also take work off the corn and move to our solitary cottage in Madrid to boost commerce at no loss to the completion time on the worker (we are drowning in production as it is).
Barcelona just started a lighthouse, so we can swap that out too. It is stagnant and the lighthouse would unstagnant us, causing minor problems. We'll dial up a worker here too, as we don't like working unimproved tiles.
Seville working on an axe, which is very important to keep Alex off of us, so keeping that in place for now. We need to get improvements up here, since Alex can't get to us anymore anyways, and we don't want the jungle to grow back (this is a Boff-0 game so the RNG WILL screw us over).
Cordoba is stagnant and only has 1 gold mine working, which is a problem. We take back our corn from Santiago, as we need this town contributing.
Toledo is set to grow in 4 turns, with no improved tiles possibly finishing. BUG nicely tells me that this is the PERFECT time to execute a 2 pop whip for maximum overflow, so dropping the whip on the courthouse.
At Santiago, we whip the monument. Probably should've been done earlier, and it really doesn't matter now that Hin spread here.
Delete Kushy Koo the fog busting warrior, as he has become basically redundant with Santiago there now. We save 1 gold. Can get Currency in 7 turns at a modest -2gpt deficit, so going for it.
10AD (174):
Vandal barbarian uprising occurs, and as a bonus?
It doesn't happen to us! Celebration!
Toledo's whipped courthouse comes in and we have the sweet 45 hammer overflow. I put that into a worker because the town just regrew a pop last turn as well. 3 turn worker is up. Gogo expansive!
Santiago just finished it's whipped monument as well, so dialing a Granary. Usually I whip that stuff too, but we'll have to wait a few turns there obviously...
Barc's worker gets whipped as well this turn, as I want this area improved so I can hand the south FP to Cordoba.
25AD (175):
Seville finishes it's Axe and defaults to a Courthouse that we were previously working on. Meh. I switch to the worker that is further back. Whip anger wears off next turn, and we get max overflow. You know what that means...
. We also spread Hinduism here as our Missionary finally arrives.
Barc is done the worker, and thanks to the whip, will have another one in 2 turns. This is due to our awesome 48 hammer overflow. Combined with base production and food, we are squeezing 75 hammers into the new worker. Nice!
40AD (176):
Zara gets Currency this turn and will trade with us... eh... He wants Maths for Currency and 80 gold. We have 4 turns left, so naw... BTW, I remember that Hannibal likes us, so I go and beg 100 gold off him
.
We drop our 2 pop whip on the unsuspecting citizens of Seville to push out the worker and overflow into the Courthouse.
LMAO, 4 workers finishing next turn.
55AD (177):
Colossus is BIAFL and now MC is up for trade with everyone.
Well, naming the 4 workers this turn and getting them to work.
Barc gets to work on a sword to help us out with the barb town problem.
Toledo starts on a Temple as we will need the happy cap.
70AD (178):
Cordoba is the site of excitement this turn. It grows and finishes the courthouse, saving us some cash. It also gets back on a Barracks that we don't really need yet. So switch in a temple, and get to work on that gold.
Barb town seems to have built a worker, which is now threatening the forests there, so sending Howie to chase him away...
85AD (179):
We get a good event with Hannibal.
Great, so we get diplo with him and it delay's his growth in that town. Yay.
Speaking of Hannibal...
Bad news in this department... Hopefully that Galley is empty.
100AD (180):
We gain extra cash from our trade routes yay. Dialing up Calendar in 11 turns.
Alex still not talking, sigh...
115AD (181):
Nothing happens this turn. I think I started chopping a jungle or something. Oh, we got the border pop at Santiago, so need to get workers to those pigs!
130AD (182):
Must be a new feature of BUG, but it says that Churchill founds Oxford in a distant land. Bad news, that means he has lots of island chains to work with.
Alex will talk this turn and will take peace for 85 gold. We need him off our backs, so take it.
Madrid finished a courthouse, and this is the one place we REALLY wanted the market, so dial it up.
145AD (183):
Fabulous. Alex still hates us a bit more than Zara. Ok, well hopefully time will fix that.
We can whip Santiago's granary this turn as it grew, so do so.
160AD (184):
Alex gets a slave revolt in Thebes, yay the RNG is not screwing us.
AND the idiot is in WHEOOH mode AGAIN! Good thing it cannot be us for sure. So Zara is about to have an unpleasant experience if past events replay themselves...
We finish a Sword in Barc, and order another. Send him towards Santiago so he can head for the stupid barb town.
Hindu temple done at Toledo, going for a Library before we hit the Barracks.
Santiago's whipped Granary finished, so onto the courthouse which will undoubtably be whipped sooner or later lol,
.
175AD (185):
Get this... we somehow PASS HANNIBAL in SCORE! By 10 points. WTH indeed...
190AD (186):
Churchill wants OB. No.
Alex declares war on Zara. Wow, this psycho doesn't waste any time.
Wow, the worker clearing the jungle for the pigs is being stopped every turn due to the barb town. Annoying...
Chop finishes in Barc this turn, so dumping it into a settler for one turn.
205AD (187):
Peace ends with Hannibal. And Alex immediately shows up to demand we declare war on Zara. Uh, how about no? Yay for more diplo hits with this sucker.
Cordoba's Hindu Temple finished and we are back to a barracks, so might as well build it before it decays.
220AD (188):
Madrid going angry next turn. Ack, wasn't watching it. Ok, well 3 pop whip of the market this turn will be just enough to eat the 3 pop with max overflow, so do it. A chop also goes into it. Wow.
235AD (189):
So with Madrid's market finished and 70 hammers overflowing, it is a prudent time to start a settler here. It's 5 turns.
250AD (190):
A GG and a GA are born far away. Well, we know the GG is from the massive beatings happening in Zara/Alex land.
We immediately broker Calendar to Zara.
I revolt us to HR immediately as there are no downsides.
Tentatively dial up Metal Casting as the next tech. Obviously up for discussion.
Alright, so leaving it here as we are in a tech crossroads of course. Also, our settlers are due soonish. IMO, we need to block off Purple Love Dot with a settler, and kill the barb city so we can see what's on the other side, and possibly use the other setter for that. Crap Filler Town can wait, not because it's crap, but because it's safe within the folds of Madrid's culture. Hannibal's Galley was indeed empty, but I wouldn't count on it remaining so for long.
. Bothersome though, that it only has a few colours to choose from.
