Level up: Emperor & Immortal with 4 games

[Fippy]

Depends on what your workers do, with agri before BW
Probably best to settle where your scout stands, cows staying with your Cap is good for expansion.

 

[sampsa]

You need to park your scout on gems soon to prevent jungle growth.

 

[Gasp]

You need to park your scout on gems soon to prevent jungle growth.

Yep, good tip. Thank you
Actually if the only purpose of that second city is to work Gems, I don't need Agriculture yet. Matter settled

Let's start with AH-TW-BW then we'll see. Probably AG and Pottery after (unless I need Archery)

 

[Gasp]

Here is a little update to T31.
It may seems long but since I believe no hard choice had to be made it should be fine

Spoiler Turn by turn description :

T1
Settle on the PH south of Ivory
Moscow starts on a Worker (10T)
Research set to AH
Move scout toward Gems

T2
Scout is going East to check what’s along the river

T7
Sitting Bull’s land is discovered not far East.

T11
Worker is out. Starts to improve Ivory
Moscow now works the FP while doing a warrior

T14
Research set to The Wheel
My worker improves Pigs
We meet Saladin coming from the East also

T18
Worker has finished a pasture and now completes the Camp
My Scout dies to a Panther as he was preventing jungle to grow on Gems.

T19
Warrior #1 is out and goes to replace dead scout
Moscow does another warrior and works Pigs + Ivory (same growth, faster warrior= 3T)

T20
Saladin converts to Hinduism
My worker starts to improve Cows

T22
My Warrior kill than Panther
Warrior 2 is out and goes East to fog bust
Moscow reaches size 3 and start a Settler

T23
Now that we have the wheel, research is set to BW

T25
My worker now does a road to link to Gems

T30
Settler is finished and is heading south.
Moscow does a worker now (4T)

Spoiler The World as Peter knows it :

 

[elitetroops]

It may seems long but since I believe no hard choice had to be made it should be fine

There's always choices. Looking at the surrounding lands, the corn/pig site should at least be considered as second city. If SB gets there first, you're quickly running out of good city sites. Gems are not threatened and could wait a bit. No early UU, no horses and surrounded by PRO-AI probably means you want to grab a decent amount of land through peaceful expansion.

 

[Gasp]

Yes I considered settling in between Pig/Corn. In fact this is what I would have done if Fippy didn't advise to grab Gems first.
Now there's a real risk that SB will take the spot. My plan is now to build a worker (grow to size 4 most likely) and chop a settler to hopefully settle a 3rd city there. I'm pretty confident SB won't settle too close or lets say I hope he won't settle closer than 2E of Pigs.

I'd like to research Ag then Pottery then Writing in order to have a Library in Moscow pretty early. I don't think I'll whip much there and hopefully I have that 3rd city to whip settlers.

In the end this plan depends on if and where Copper appears

 

[Pedro78]

With the current knowledge, second city should most likely go 1S of the Pig. Allows to share the corn with another city settled on a sugar. You have ivory and 1 FP -- gems can wait
(I'd probably settle the gems right after, though, otherwise commerce will become an issue)

Edit: If you end up being boxed in and have to Elephant-rush, 2E of Moscow's pigs is a good city spot: it's a very good spot to whip 4-2 and you don't want to whip Moscow much while rushing, better work hammers (cows) and commerce..

 

[Fippy]

Uh i disagree lol, if cities are stolen here it's Elepult (great traits too especially with Phi), no way i would delay gems.
Does not matter if it's SB or Gandhi, Jumbos are too strong anyways.

 

[Pedro78]

Not sure what you disagree with, but just to make it clear I didn't say that I would settle 2E of Moscow's Pigs before the Gem spot

But if I have the opportunity to get the Pig+Corn spot then I'll make sure to grab it even if it delays the gems. If this was iso I'd settle the gems first ofc, but you just can't miss the opportunity to grab such a great spot

 

[Fippy]

Just overall with pigs + corn before gems, i think it's important to focus on commerce first with a great rush unit being possible that needs quiet some teching thou.

 

[Pedro78]

Well even if it delays the gems by 10 turns it's only ~60 commerce that you don't need that bad right now. And later on it's only 1T of research. I'd rather have a stronger empire and rush a bit later.

But our opinions usually differ when it comes to the minimalist vs expansive playstyle discussion

 

[Gasp]

Hello hello

I can't judge who's right between you too but I think that settling that Gems city was very nice as it allowed me to research very fast. I didn't lose turns as I usually do because I run out of cash every new city I settle.

My update of the day is here and leads us to T54.

Spoiler Turn by turn description :

T33
Settle St Petersburg on the hill SE of Gems
Worker mine Gems
Warrior goes south to explore a bit
Slider to 80% allows to finish BW in 3T without losing gold

T34
Worker2 is out goes 1E into forest, will road 1T then chop
Moscow does a Warrior

T36
Warrior 2 is out
SB settles 1N2E of Pigs.
BW reveals copper a bit more far east

Spoiler :

I can still settle a third city SW of Pigs thus allowing me to settle a copper city SE of copper by the river.
Slider to 0% and research set to Agriculture
Worker starts to chop for Moscow’s future settler

T37
Worker from St. Petersburg goes near Moscow to chop another forest (2S1E, not the best place but faster)
Slider to 100%

T38
Moscow grows to size 4, Warrior3 is out and we start a Settler

T39
I lose a fog busting warrior to an Archer east of Moscow…

T40
a worker goes south to improve Corn, will road 1T then farm. Meanwhile the other road east of Moscow toward Pig city

T42
Settler is out in Moscow heading east. We do another worker there
St.P finished a warrior. It builds another one
Slider to 0% and research set to Pottery

T44
Novgorod is settled 1N of Corn
Slider to 100%

T46
Worker is out in Moscow, we do another settler there for copper city

T47
Worker3 starts a chop 1W of Moscow

T48
We get Pottery and research Writing
Slider to 0% though

T50
A worker completes a chop into the settler
Another worker starts a chop here for the granary to come
A warrior destroys my farm in St.P

T51
Settler is out
A worker does a cottage on the FP

T54
Rostov is founded SW of Copper
Slider to 100% 5T to Writing
My worker in Novgorod has done a farm and a pasture and is now roading Pigs to connect with SB

Spoiler Financial Advisor&Stats :

Spoiler The world we know :

I marked some spot I think will be good for future cities. I really like that Pig+Gem southern spot, it could become a great Bureau capitol.
I don't plan on settling a city north of Novgorod. I don't thing it's worth it, I'd rather let SB do this and take it later.

A few things I have to do ASAP are:
-roading to Novgorod (I have a worker in position)
-re-farm that corn in St.P and cottage any tile there to avoid working forest
-improve and road to the copper.
I'm not planning on settling any more cities in the near future. I think city 5 could be the sugar one. Or it could be Horse city...but it's quite far?

I didn't switch civics yet. So no slavery at the moment as I didn't want to whip Moscow. I'm not sure when to switch to slavery though. I don't think I need it before I have a Library in Moscow.
My neighbors don't seem to be a problem at the moment so no rush in getting construction/HBR right?

I'd like to focus on building a Library in Moscow, let the city grow and start running GS here. It came to my attention that Aesthetics will soon be available to bulb. Should I consider it? Or rather bulb Math and research Aesthetics?

Edit: I am not able to make a plan regarding wonders. I think the Great Library could be nice. The Parthenon perhaps (I usually read this one isn't worth it)?

 

[Fippy]

Hmm, switching into slavery can wait i guess.
While whipping granary in St. Peters would be at a good time, libraries to make use of overflow are not available yet as option.
I guess you could switch thou and use overflow for a worker.
Slavery would def. be good for Nov library, typical 2 scientists city with PHI.

With your nice happy cap and hammers, chopping the green river tile 2w of moscow makes more sense than whipping library i think.
Would like Moscow at size 7 and working cottages, GS for Academy from Nov.
I do not think bulbing something like maths or Alpha would be great here, maths for construction but it's not looking like a map where you need that war.
You can do Philo & Edu bulbs later instead, and first an Academy for your very good cap.

Aest wonders are usually built with marble (or IND), without bonuses Glib can still be fine (maths chops) if going for music, but def. not Parthenon.
IW has some priority this game, self teching is rarely good thou. Better if you tech Alpha and trade for IW imo, while SB is terrible for trading Sally should give away

 

[Gasp]

Happy new year!
Thank you Fippy, I've been away for quite some time but I read you. I need to get back in the game. Good thing that it's just the beginning!
I'm going to switch to slavery once I've Writing I think, just to be able to whip a Library as you suggested in Novgorod. I also agree with chopping in Moscow instead of the whip, it's what I had in mind anyway.
I obviously have to research Alpha myself. Trading it for IW from Saladin would be nice I think. I need the tech if I want to expand further into that jungle.
Let's play..

 

[Gasp]

Spoiler To turn 70 :

T55 to T57
Workers road and prepare a chop for Moscow

T58
Switch to slavery (to whip Granary with max OFH)

T60
Research set to Alpha, slider to 0% for some turns
Moscow switch to a Library a receive a chop

T63
In the end I whip a library (2pop) in Moscow to avoid growing into unhappiness
OB with Saladin. I hope to see a Hindu missionary to help with diplo later.

T64
OF into a worker
Whip a Library in Novgorod

T66
Both Moscow and Nov run 2 GS

T69
I finally turn slider to 100% 8T to Alpha

T70
Nov’s borders pop allow me to temporarily work a cottage from SB, sweet.

I make a pause here.

Spoiler Peter's land :

Spoiler Stats :

Moscow will produce a GS T75 for an academy. It’s also the turn I’ll have Alpha. Nov will produce a GS 8 turns after that.
I’m building Barracks mostly for lack of other things to build.
St.P is slow building a settler now I’m not sure if this is going to be the first out (e.g. Novgorod could do one faster).
I don’t really know what is best to do with my workers. They prepared roads so far when they had nothing to improve. I can use them to pre-chop forest as well, it’s probably best.

I know I didn’t play as good as I could this turnset. I was late in bringing garrison, running GS and happiness management wasn’t optimal neither. Still I’m in a good position I think, especially because my neighbors aren't a threat at the moment. SB has iron and swordsman though.

I’d like to know if I’m doing something wrong here and what to do next that hasn’t been discussed, meaning expansion and techs. I know Saladin to be South of SB. I’d like to be sure I can settle a city south of Rostov (copper city) to secure some land then I would settle western spots.
Sugar city could be placed SW of my actual mark, is it worth getting another sugar tile? Thus the other city south would go even more south. With these 2 extra cities I'll have 6 in total, not too many for my economy I think. I need IW though
What about going for Currency after Alpha? I could then research CoL, get Math, Myst and Med to be able to bulb Philo. After that a plan could be to get to Optics and bulb Astro.

 

[Gasp]

Hello CFC,
I bring you a fresh update, I hope some of you still follow
This time I played to T94, quite a long turnset!

This is what Peter's land looks like now:

Spoiler :

As expected I got Alpha and a GS T74. I built an Academy in Moscow and started to trade techs.
I'm happy that I researched Alpha instead of waiting for someone to have it because I realized that none of my neighbors had Writing... I traded that tech to Saladin for Myst and Fishing... Then I traded Alpha to him for IW and Archery.
From there I researched Currency, then Math and now I'm 5T away from getting CoL.

Spoiler Tech status :

We got lucky and Hinduism had spread in Rostov allowing Saladin to get Pleased with me. This dude won't DoW me now and that's a good thing I don't have to bother with early war.
Talking about war, I was actually thinking to either reach HBR or Construction and rush my neighbor Sitting Bull. I was wondering if I should rather expand peacefully or not. And I chose peace, and founded 3 new cities for a total of 7 cities.
Here is the city screen of all but the latest (fish+horse) city:

Spoiler :

With CoL in the basket I'm going to get to Med (I probably have it in 1T at 0%). Thus I could bulb Philo on T100 (not bad I think). After Philo my plan would be to get to Optics in order to bulb Astro.

BUT before aiming for Astro I have to get some military techs and rush a neighbor (SB most likely). Construction is available if I get Masonry from SB against Alpha. Could Elepult be enough to take care of him (he has Iron) ?
Any remarks or suggestion from someone will be appreciated

 

[Fippy]

I believe Elepult would do against SB, yup.
He's far away from longbows.
Still a very nice amount of forests around Nov too.

You could be at Construction fast (self teching masonry, they are not trading actually) would be not more than 6-7 turns.
Then starting with Cats (and some Axes, good cleanup and anti-spear) while teching HBR.
But if you go for war, do so now and wait with CoL until later
Better done earlier than later.

Some advanced gameplay, checking for what AIs might tech can be useful.
Even without espionage you can find out that SB techs maths currently, and take 30g.

Spoiler :

What would make this deal work?

Oh okay, almost done (he needs ~90 more beakers).

For 30g it's not a huge gain, but if you see they have more available it can be really good cos he would give you 70-80g too.

 

[Gasp]

Thank you Fippy for that tip! Very useful. I'm going to take his gold for it then. I don't know what you think of this: I could also trade Sailing and gold for Math to Saladin in the same time (not sure I want to give him Math so soon though).

So I delay CoL (and also the Philo bulb) and tech Construction. I planned for an early Philo and getting Monarchy from Saladin but going for war now and not wait another 10-15T (CoL + construction + HBR) will indeed make it easier. I probably don't need HR now anyway.
I believe that I don't have to fear Saladin as there's no way he could be bribed against me. It could be nice and fast to get rid of SB. Perhaps I should completely destroy him

 

[Gasp]

A little update to turn 111!

I initially planned to show a T99 Philo bulb and telling you I'm about to get my military techs but it went otherwise.

I changed my research to Masonry (adjust slider just enough to get it in 1T)
Get 30 from SB for Math
Get 20 and Sailing from Sal for Math
I then research Construction
T99 I start building Cats and Axes. I also start to chop some forest.
T104 I have HBR and start to build Elephants
In the meantime I avoided to whip Moscow until I got my GS. I now have 2 GS standing there. One is for Philo, the other may be for Astro ??
Here comes the interesting stuff:
T111 I have my army at the border of SB. It's probably big enough to take Mound City and move directly to his capitol the turn I DoW him.

And there're more of them coming as Stats screen shows:

Spoiler :

@Fippy I don't know if you were advising me to start building units right away or wait for Construction to be researched. I figured that since I wasn't fully prepared to start building an army on turn 94 I had to wait (also because of the GS production). In the end I believe that I could have had such an army not before T120 (maybe even later) in I went for CoL first.

Before I DoW I present trades screens, I've been getting what I can from these dudes: I gave Alpha to SB for 50

Spoiler :

 

[Fippy]

Wealth is more important if needed while teching Construction, just if you had spare hammers for some Axes it's nice starting on them so all good

Remember begging from Sally before declaring ~~
(and there's a Sword near your fogbusting warrior south)

I also like moving 2 workers with my main army, in case they need a road somewhere.