IT 1000BC: All this exploration and we
still haven't seen horses? Ouch! Nasty stuff.
I must admit I have always found it a little strange how taking sci from 80% to 90% when lux stays constant at 10% can change the amount of luxuries distributed (in this case, Thermopylae has 5 commerce, 1 going to lux, 4 to science, but all 5 will will go to science if science -> 90%), a little strange, but that's the way it works, so science stays at 80%.
My big aim this turn will be to solidify our build.
1 975BC: Mycenae worker -> worker. If we explore much further we will be *bound* to make contact, but I really want to find a supply of horses. One warrior move north does it! There are horses north-east of Herakleia! I'd just love to say it was my exploring brilliance that did it
Securing them will be difficult though, to be sure. It's an aggressive reach up there to get them. Still lots of closer cities to get first. Lux -> 20%.
2 950BC: Athens settler -> settler. Sci -> 100% with the settler build and furs being hooked up this turn, we can afford to nix luxuries, and get math in 3 turns.
3 925BC: Sparta hoplite -> hoplite. Thermopylae sword -> sword. Thermopylae grew to size 6 this turn, and I gave it a tax collector rather than raise lux by 20% costing us 6gpt. We could pull a worker out of it, but I am loathe to pull a worker from such a low-food city. With us likely having the only two luxuries we can see for the majority of the game, happiness is going to be a big problem.
4 900BC: Pharsalos barracks -> sword.
5 875BC: Math -> literature. Due in 9 @ -3 gpt. Knossos is switched from barracks to catapult. Lux -> 10% as Athens reaches size 6.
6 850BC: Thessalonica is founded to fill in the gap between Argos and Herakleia. I did choose a position that is a little more spaced than the rest of our build (3 tiles between it and the next city to the SW, NW, and SE), but I think it's in a location that makes sense. It could have been settled one tile to the south-east I suppose. *shrug*. It was settled next to a village, which was deserted. Now we have a very straight-lined border to the north-west.
7 825BC: Herakleia worker -> worker. Athens settler -> settler. lux -> 0%. This settler will make a grab for the horses. Well, he'll settle a city that'll have them in range after border expansion anyhow.
8 800BC: Corinth barracks -> sword. Knossos catapult -> catapult.
9 775BC: Ackkk! An evil people who we have heard rumored as being known as the 'Japanese' have just founded a city next to OUR horses! We do not have contact with this evil and insidious people, but we have heard that that is where they have settled their city!
Our swordsmen (all 3 of them) are moved into the region so when contact is made, we may strike the city to the ground as soon as possible, if that's what we want to try. Our settler who was heading for that spot is sent to a more conservative location.
10 750BC: I leave the settler unmoved; my plan is to settle him on the bonus grassland, because although it wastes the bonus grass until the city is over size 6, I still think it's the best-spaced location. We might want to send him somewhere else entirely though, especially considering whether we want to make contact with Japan.
On that note...do we want contact with Japan? We might be able to go for who knows how long still without making contact. But....the time for wonders is going to start creeping away at this rate. The Pyramids might already be close to gone, and surely we don't want to risk missing out on the Great Library. Risking not getting the FP until much later is also a danger.
War without horses would be damn hard. Perhaps we want to try to muster as many swords as we can, and go and raze the Japanese blight, replacing it with our own city? I really don't know.
This is getting even more intense. Our settler was only a few turns away from that site when the Japanese city popped up! It could only have gotten closer if we had met the Japanese settler at the site.
It would be nice if we could get some cities all the way up to the lakes in the north-west, because the lakes will offer natural protection. If we can do that, our entire land front could consist of only about a dozen tiles. This is certainly alot of fun!
-Sirp.
The Game
Given that the AI will be coming after you, just hold the fort and blast them.
my bad guys. That's what happens sometimes when you are up in 2 SG's on the same night.
