LK153 - Australia

[Northern Pike]

The below is all a cross-post with Tusker's round, including the screenshot. But a lot of it is still relevant, and I wrote it, so I'm going to post it.

LK's Green Dot looks good as our next-but-one foundation. After that, 1 and 2 on the screenshot below would be fairly promising semi-corrupt sites in the same area.

We'll settle Grey Dot on the central plains eventually, but since it'll have so few non-desert tiles to itself and will push better places down the corruption ladder, I'd leave that one until we're in a less corrupt government.

I'd suggest that Hobart, Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Brisbane can all start barracks after their present builds. Cairns might stockpile a curragh or two for upgrading when we get MM/galleys. We can certainly afford it.

Our settler factory is such a pain. One lousy turn I forget to zoom in, and the growth cycle gets screwed up.

The generally ignored wealth setting can be useful for getting a disrupted settler pump back on cycle in one turn, rather than letting the process become an epic. We could use it in Canberra right now.

 

[Northern Pike]

 

[Northern Pike]

No longer cross-posting , I like Tusker's idea of trying to beat the Indonesians to New Guinea with settlers. As usual it'll be easier to settle land than fight for it.

I suspect that any cities we might found in New Zealand would be fully corrupt, so we'd be doing it just to avoid the distraction of having to invade NZ later. (Then again, if we could abort Lorde's career...)

 

[LKendter]

Tasmania is so close that we want that. The others are after we get our home island filled. I am hoping we have enough cities to get the FP build.

The Great Library felt like a non-event this game. It almost felt too easy.

One thing I didn’t see is trading after getting all the techs. Any cash / worker grabs will help.

ROSTER:

LKendter
Elephantium
Greebley (up)
Northern Pike (on deck)

 

[Greebley]

For one things I haven't seen a demand from the AI for lit or anything. Its an isolated start. Choosing whether to give Lit is often an issue. We also started very early.

I got it.

 

[Northern Pike]

We also started very early.

In effect we started sixty shields early, due to the good idea of giving the pre-build city an artificial expansion with our placement of other towns.

 

[Greebley]

Preturn: Get 118 from India. Also trade Lit to Egypt for 325, and 34 from Zulu.
Keep most builds the same.
IBT: Indonesia demands lit so I give it to them.
730 BC: Spot Argentina curragh.
IBT: We got Monarchy so I revolted immediately
710 BC: Argentina picked up Philosophy and gained gold. We were able to trade for these (509 gold). Started the FP. Not sure its the best place but its northward as most our cities will be that way.
Get 300 gold + 3 gpt from Egypt also aroun 100 from Mongols
670 BC: Meet the Sioux. We get small gold for Polytheism.
650 BC: Our Curragh isn't blocking much, the Bankah can go in See tiles. They send one towards us.
They also got to the island above us first - before we could have gotten a Settler there.
IBT: We got Construction.
630 BC: We are Monarchy.
610 BC: Sioux will give 100 odd gold + 11 gpt for Monarchy. Currency is now known.
590 BC: Meet the Aztecs.
550 BC: We put a Settler on the Galley. The Spearman is NOT on and should be put on before the Galley moves next turn.
Notes:
There is another settler heading around towards Darwin and the new road. Adalaide is on a Settler so the town grows first. It just got it's Granary. It could then build workers.
As stated above, our blockade is useless as Bankh can go in Sea, but I didn't un-fortify the Curragh as we have no Harbor to upgrade it.
Started working on a town North of our capitol we should clear this Jungle and Settle soon as we don't want the AI to have that spot. It will be a low corruption high commerce town with a lot of coastal squares. We can get 2 Whales.
Started building some Warriors. I think we should use our money for doing an upgrade of Warrior to Sword.

 

[Northern Pike]

I've got it. I'll probably play tomorrow.

I like the idea of leaving iron unconnected until we've built some veteran warriors for upgrading.

What destination did you have in mind for the settler on the galley?

 

[Greebley]

I think we can share the near island. If that is full we can also settle the island south of us just off the coast.

 

[Northern Pike]

View attachment LK153-350BC.SAV, end of turn

 

[Northern Pike]

550 (0): We cut the lux rate to 20%, which all our cities will tolerate at the moment.

All our builds make sense considered individually, but overall I think we've got too many long-term projects going when it's time to build up seriously for our attack on Indonesia. I change Perth's aqueduct build and Newcastle's temple build to catapults.

Canberra warrior (to get back on a 5 --> 7 cycle) --> settler, Hobart warrior --> warrior, Perth catapult --> galley.


530 (1): We contact the Aztecs off RL British Columbia. They're behind us just by Monarchy, and can give us only pennies for it, so we don't make the sale.

Melbourne barracks --> warrior, Brisbane barracks --> warrior.


510 (2): Melbourne warrior --> warrior, Hobart warrior --> warrior.


490 (3): Cleo demands 100 gold, and I'm sorely tempted to refuse for the war happiness. But since paid allies can always cause trouble--in particular, right now, to our exploring curraghs--we yield.

The Great Library brings in Currency, and we enter the Middle Ages.

Melbourne warrior --> warrior.


470 (4): We found Bathurst on the eastern half of New Guinea, facing Indonesian Bogor on the western half.

 

[Northern Pike]

 

[Northern Pike]

We sell Currency to the Sioux for 62 gold and 13 gpt--the first decent offer we've had, though we're checking everything every turn.

Canberra settler --> settler, Melbourne warrior --> warrior, Brisbane warrior --> warrior, Hobart warrior --> warrior.


450 (5): We found Townsville at site 2 in the southwest of our continent.

We meet the Songhai on the west coast of central Africa. They're backward and broke and no business results.

The Great Library produces Monotheism and Feudalism.

Melbourne warrior --> warrior, Perth galley --> galley, Newcastle catapult --> catapult.


430 (6): We sell Monotheism to China for 10 gold and 57 gpt.

Melbourne warrior --> warrior, Brisbane warrior --> warrior, Adelaide settler --> warrior (to let the city gain population before building workers), Hobart warrior --> catapult, Alice Springs granary --> worker (beginning its service as a worker pump).


410 (7): Sydney harbour --> galley, Melbourne warrior --> warrior, Freemantle temple --> catapult.


390 (8): We found Toowoomba on the two-whale site on the jungle peninsula north of the capital. Since we've decided to do this, there's no reason to wait until all the jungle is cleared.

Canberra settler --> settler, Melbourne warrior --> warrior, Brisbane warrior --> warrior, Alice Springs worker --> worker, Broome galley --> galley.


370 (9): We found Ballarat at site 1 on the central south coast.

We send Monotheism to the Sioux for ivory, incense, and 3 gold. We're then able to cut the lux rate to zero, and we're at 158 gpt.

We sell Currency to the Aztecs for 201 gold.

Melbourne warrior --> warrior, Adelaide warrior --> wealth, Perth galley --> galley.


350 (10): We upgrade a curragh to a galley in Sydney.

We send Currency to the Mongols for wines and 3 gold.

Derby has been building a temple for a long time, but since the only function of a cultural expansion there would be to claim one whale, and the town is at the level of corruption where a courthouse would be valuable, I change the build to the latter.

 

[Northern Pike]

The waiting:

 

[Northern Pike]

We have fifteen veteran warriors, all in or adjacent to Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, and Sydney. When we have twenty-six, which should be in seven turns if we stick with warrior builds in Brisbane and Melbourne, I'd suggest that we hook up iron and upgrade 20-22 of them directly to macemen, for 1800-1980 gold. A few will probably be stuck on MP duty and won't need immediate upgrades. By that time, or at least by the end of the next round, we should have a small but useful catapult force and at least ten galleys. Once Melbourne is no longer pumping out warriors and iron is hooked up, the city can produce a couple of two-turn pikemen as stack anchors, and we'll be ready to strike Indonesia.

We've pillaged the roaded iron tile between Darwin and Freemantle, so that it won't interfere with this plan when it comes within our borders due to Freemantle's expansion in two turns. We still have a road link between the two towns.

The settler/spear pair just south of Sydney can board the adjacent galley next turn, and head south to settle Tasmania.

I wouldn't advise taking Indonesia's paltry 120 gold for a tech, because we don't want to help them at all before we attack them.

Similarly, I wouldn't let the Sioux have the expensive Feudalism for just 173 gold.

Once the Great Library brings in Engineering, the really careful play would be to have a homeless scientist begin a forty-turn run on Invention.

Setting Adelaide up as a two-turn worker pump has been tricky, because when it gains two shields on growth, it loses one to corruption. But after building wealth this interturn to get on cycle, it can switch to a worker and it should be stable as a size 6 --> 7 pump.

Alice Springs is a better-behaved worker pump, but will need MM whenever it yields a worker.

The warrior adjacent to Sydney can garrison Perth.

The curragh that will activate in Sydney next turn can upgrade there.

Our workers in the far southwest are extending the line of irrigation to Townsville.

 

[Northern Pike]

As stated above, our blockade is useless as Bankh can go in Sea

Just because the AI will move Bangkas in and out of sea tiles on an individual basis doesn't mean that it will plan landings that have to pass through dangerous tiles. Its decision-making is mysterious with ordinary naval units, never mind those invented by LK. It's unlikely to be a coincidence that we haven't seen a single AI naval unit along our coasts, so I think we should do our best to keep a ship at Point A until we go to war with Indonesia.

 

[LKendter]

I see it, but Sunday night is the earliest I can touch it.

I was surprised to see the heavy military focus since we never talked about timing on the war with Indonesia. In addition, we still have multiple city sites to fill in. I am more concerned with getting the rest of Australia filled in. I don’t want to start sharing it with AI civs.

LKendter (up)
Elephantium (on deck)
Greebley
Northern Pike

 

[Northern Pike]

Well, we founded three cities on our home continent and got a settler headed for Tasmania during my round, so we're hardly falling behind in that respect. We only need another three foundations on (pretty bad) sites in the west to lock up the coastline, and I'd be surprised if we're bothered by enemy cities on our continent in this game.

 

[LKendter]

350 BC (0)


330 BC (1)
(IT) We get republic for free.


250 BC (5)
Mongolia has some cash, so I sell him Monarchy for $261.


230 BC (6)
The Sioux have made it to Asia. I ran into a galley of theirs above Siberia.
(IT) We get Theology for free.


190 BC (8)
Port Augusta is built on Tasmania.


170 BC (9)
(IT) The FP has been completed.

 

[LKendter]

Summary:
Red dot will have corruption problems, but it does get several grassland, and the whale tile, into play.
These two already have settlers on the way.

Yellow dot will be just okay until rails. It needs a temple to get the oasis.