Competing VC's (take 2)

[shyuhe]

Since the previous game was so much fun, we're kicking up another competing VC game! Here are the rules (slightly modified from the previous incarnation):

(1) no player may remove the current item being built in each city (except wealth/research/culture);
(2) no player may disband units or gift units;
(3) responding to AI demands are ok (such as demands for tech, gold, stop trading) but the decision is up to the current player;
(4) you may initiate/terminate resource trades as you see fit;
(5) you can NEVER give up a city and must defy any UN/AP resolutions that try to change ownership of cities you control;
(6) no player may raze a city that contains one of the following wonders: Sistine, AP, and UN;
(7) no player may spread a corporation that will remove an existing corporation in a city except you may remove corporations spread by the AI;
(8) no player may change the tech selected for research at the start of his turn set UNLESS that tech will take longer than 15 turns (as measured by the slider at the first positive break-even point); and
(9) no player may bulldoze a town.

(additional "rule") players should not abuse slavery/nationhood in a way that detriments the next player.

The starting position:


And the game settings:


It's hemispheres with 3 normal continents, low seas, tiny islands, and an extra AI.

Roster:
-------
shyuhe
Dhoom
Habitus
rolo
???

I think everyone from the previous game has expressed interest in playing again except for mysty. If you don't respond in a few days, your spot is going to bbp

 

[Habitus]

Nice start, *prays for a nice VC*

 

[r_rolo1]

I'm in ... hopefully not for culture again

The starting spot looks nice. My only doubt is if it is worth to settle in the shore insteast of in place.

 

[Habitus]

I wouldn't move, 3W & 1N3W look to be the only spots we might miss seafood. If we decide for TGL since it's often good on Hemisphere we could found a good production site next for it

 

[r_rolo1]

Anyway, any doubt about that can be taken before settling by moving the warrior 1W

 

[shyuhe]

I can move the warrior 1W tonight while we figure out what's going on with the roster

 

[shyuhe]

Looks like mysty is out so bbp, you're in! Now I need to find someone to help distribute VC's again...

In the mean time, here's what the warrior move revealed:

 

[r_rolo1]

Yup, settle in place

 

[Cam_H]

lurker's comment:

I'm not going to be responsible for handing out dud VCs two games in a row!

I'll ask vranasm to see if he's willing to do it given he lurked your last game.

 

[vranasm]

hey guys,
I sent to 5 people
shyuhe, dhoomstriker, habitus, r_rolo1 and babybluepants message about supposed victory condition he has to achieve.

method used was "randomize list" at random.org where I put 5 VC's each into own row
cultural, conquest, religious, un and space and randomized order, then I put each VC to player along the order of players on roster.

Wish everyone good luck with game.

 

[shyuhe]

Thanks vranasm!

Here's the play order for the first set:

bbp
rolo
shyuhe
Dhoom
Habitus

 

[Habitus]

Sip, wheat, cows, 3 grass hills, & a plains hill. Good production esp at pop6 if find an early happy resource, farm fp for growth and cottage later as CS is researched

 

[babybluepants]

Checking in.

God damn! I'm up in 3 SGs simultaneously. And this is crazy week IRL... At least this one will only take 3 minutes.

SIP, yes. And, obviously, AH.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Egypt starts with The Wheel and Agriculture.

So, Animal Husbandry sounds good to me.

Settling 1SW WOULD turn the Lake into an Oasis equivalent, but since we'd be giving up a Flood Plains square (also a +1 Food square but that could be more powerful later if we Cottaged it) and would also be squeezing a potential off-continent City (for better Domestic Trade Routes) on the island to the west if we moved 1SW, I'm not seeing much of a benefit to moving.

Thus, I am fine with settling in place.

 

[shyuhe]

@bbp - yes, the benefits of playing in a non-cooperative SG

I didn't post an updated save so you'll have to make the same warrior move when you start your set.

 

[shyuhe]

bbp - do you need/want a swap?

 

[babybluepants]

No. Sorry about the delay. Just played the first 15t. Nothing much to report. The warrior took a hit from a panther down to 0.1 strength, unfortunately. Haven't met an AI yet.

Spoiler :

Mining next was pretty obvious, I thought.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

In this case, I assume that it's Cow before Wheat, since Grassland Cow = dry Plains Wheat in terms of Food but gives +1 Hammer.

Assuming that we'll want some Cottages in the capital, we'll definitely want to "save" (i.e. not put a Cottage on) at least one of the SW or W Grassland Forest squares to become a Farm, since the Lake allows said square to be Farmed pre-Civil-Service but giving us the +1 Food on the Wheat post-Civil-Service.

I can't say that the land to the north looks very exciting. I'm not a big fan of settling Cities early on whose Food sources can't be improved until after Iron Working + Calendar.


After improving the Cow and Wheat, is it better to build a temporary Farm on a Flood Plains square or are we likely to be large enough that a faster-to-build Riverside Grassland Hills Mine will be a better choice for our 3rd improvement?

 

[Habitus]

Quick Calc

Worker - (Forest), City 3/22, Warrior (1/15)
Worker - (Cows 1/4), City 6/22, Warrior (2/15)
Worker - (Cows 2/4), City 9/22, Warrior (3/15)
Worker - (Cows 3/4), City 12/22, Warrior (4/15)
Worker - (Cows 4/4), City 16/22, Warrior (7/15)
Worker - (Forest), City 20/22, Warrior (10/15)
Worker - (Wheat 1/5), City 24/22, Warrior (13/15)
Worker - (Wheat 2/5), City 7/24, Warrior (16/15)
Worker - (Wheat 3/5), City 12/24, Warrior (4/15)
Worker - (Wheat 4/5), City 17/24, Warrior (7/15)
Worker - (Wheat 5/5), City 23/24, Warrior (11/15)
Worker - (Forest), City 29/24, Warrior (15/15)
Worker - (Hill~FP), City 12/26
Worker - (Hill 1/4~FP 1/8), City 19/26
Worker - (Hill 2/4~FP 2/8), City 26/26
Worker - (Hill 3/4~FP 3/8), City 8/28
Worker - (Hill 4/4~FP 4/8), City 14/28

We can stall growth at 3 of course with worker or settler, but seems like Hill is better option as we're already possible at pop 4 by time we can get that improved without stalling. Worker - Worker could work too (can always road to next city if spare worker turns) thou growing to 3 as we finish our 2nd warrior is nice and neat

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Yeah, I'm fine with Worker -> Warrior, since Bronze Working will be a long way off. We also need to know where our next City is going to go, which means getting out a Warrior to find a non-Jungly-Food location.

So, yeah, it sounds like the Worker actions are clear: Cow -> Wheat -> River Mine

It also sounds like we'll need to heal out first Warrior to give it a chance of surviving.

Thus, it should be a pretty straight-forward turnset.

The bigger question is whether we should build 2 Warriors or just 1 before starting on a Settler. I'd be fine with either approach.