LK169, Italy, CCM 2.5, AWM

[LKendter]

1 AD (11)
The years are finally moving forward.
An elite enslaver attacks a Chinese archer. I gain worker #4. (16-1)
(IT) The Maghreb are building the Oracle.
Israel completes Solomon's Temple.


25 AD (12)
An elite archer attacks a Maghreb Numidian infantry. (16-2)
A veteran archer attacks a Maghreb Numidian infantry. It was scary, but they died. (17-2)
An elite enslaver attacks an injured Maghreb Numidian infantry. Normally I don't attack strength 2 with enslavers, but that one was almost dead. I gain worker #5. (18-2)
An elite enslaver attacks an American archer. It simply dies. (19-2)
(IT) I get lucky when an American archer hits a stack with an enslaver. I gain worker #6. (20-2)


50 AD (13)
Incan troops start showing up by the iron.


75 AD (14)
A regular archer attacks a Chinese spear.
(IT) 2 Incan Chasqui scouts retreat after attacking Sheepish Pig Iron.
Maghreb is building the Great Lighthouse.


100 AD (15)
Veteran archer attacks Incan Chasqui scout. (21-2)
Elite enslaver attacks Incan Chasqui scout. I gain worker #7. (22-2)
Veteran enslaver attacks Incan Chasqui scout. I gain worker #8. (23-2)
Veteran archer attacks Incan chariot. (23-3)
Another veteran archer attacks it. It runs away.

Pompeii is found by Tobacco.
(IT) The next tech choice is monarchy.
The Oracle is completed.
We instantly complete monarchy and construction. The revolt to monarchy begins.
Greece completes Hanging Gardens.

 

[LKendter]

125 AD (16)
Elite enslaver attacks Incan chariot. They simply kill it. (24-3)
Vet archer attacks American spear. (25-3)


150 AD (17)
(IT) We are now a monarchy.


175 AD (18)
The science rate collapses. Unit costs are killing us now. After city review I got us to 30% science with pottery due in 6 turns. Irrigation and city growth is now a priority to get us better science rate.
Antium has Roman Senate under construction.
Elite enslaver attacks American archer heading toward iron. It simply dies. (25-3)


200 AD (19)



225 AD (20)
Regular archer attacks a Chinese spear. (26-3)

 

[LKendter]

An overview of the empire. We have iron and 2 luxuries resources. The main problem is the empty is to skinny. We need to start getting more interior cities.

 

[LKendter]

Orange dot is my guess where to put the city toward probably USA.

 

[LKendter]

This is the dot map to expand toward China. They are the most backwards civ, so sending new cities there way is easy. The iron city area hits too many plains, so I'd prefer not to expand that way.

I know light blue dot is on a hill. I prefer to get it on the river to not need an aqueduct. It already has plenty of production.
Grey dot gives us another happy resource. China may not be much further that direction.
We will eventually have to explore a little more in that area. However, these two cities are clear without any more exploration.

 

[LKendter]

I played a double length set intentionally. I looked at the high unit count, Rome's production, lack of enemy units and more. I had a lot of things to coordinate.
I felt the Oracle was worth the gamble.
I got 2 techs via production. That includes the more expensive construction. We can now backtrack for the cheap tier 1 tech. Pottery arrives shortly, and I would like our cities to get granaries up.

Veii will complete the Limes next turn. Our golden age will begin during Greebley's set.
The Roman senate completes in Antium in 2 turns. This will give Antium a permanent barracks. It also gives a free unit every 4 turns.
Iron comes online next turn. Swords can start to be produced.
The workers near Pompeii are irrigating to start getting up that way. The irrigation to Pig Iron will have to go the long way. Blue dot will be able to take advantage of the water.

The Oracle is giving us a free settler every 15 turns. It is good until the next age with Navigation. I'm hoping those bonus settlers help offset the fact we haven't taken any AI cities yet.

The admin center in Rome isn't a mistake. It is still good for another content citizen. I'm also trying to NOT build units to avoid a science rate collapse.

 

[LKendter]

ROSTER:
LKendter
Greebley (up)
Jersey Joe (on deck)
Elephantium

 

[Jersey Joe]

Great call on the Oracle. I cannot recall us ever building it.

I think after Pottery we should learn the Wheel to locate Horses, then Math to build Siege Workshop and Ballista Shop in Pig Iron.
After that either Riding for Horsemen or maybe Literature if no civ has started building the the Great Library.

 

[LKendter]

This AW has been way different than the rest. Usually we had one close contact that we took over quickly. USA isn't that far away, but we still haven't taken a single city from them.

I think this set the record for quickest build of Slavers Hut. That has been paying off big time, as we have gained a lot of workers already. Our cities are well developed for this time in the game.

 

[LKendter]

I think after Pottery we should learn the Wheel to locate Horses, then Math to build Siege Workshop and Ballista Shop in Pig Iron.

Wheel is a tier 1 tech, so that is a soon target.
Pig Iron is going to take ages to get irrigation to. Do we really want Siege Workshop there?

 

[Jersey Joe]

Pig Iron is going to take ages to get irrigation to. Do we really want Siege Workshop there?

Right now Sheepish Pig Iron has the most production potential of any of our cities. Pompei is probably second.
We should take the long term view. The Limes gives all of our cities barracks. So all cities will be able to produce veteran troops. So a small delay in getting irrigation to Sheepish Pig Iron should not be a consideration. Catapults get built just as quick if it is size 2 or size 12.

 

[Elephantium]

Thoughts on these sites? I added to LK's screenshot.

 

[Jersey Joe]

Thoughts on these sites? I added to LK's screenshot.

I like your black circle (which also is where LK put a blue dot earlier in the week) over the Orange Dot. In general I prefer spots that are built with hills and mountains in their fat cross as opposed to spots with nothing but grassland.

Unfortunately, White Dot suffers from to much Grassland, giving it low production. The pearls are nice but even after building a dockyard it is not going to be a real production city.

 

[Elephantium]

My own priority right now would be: Black ring, blue dot, grey dot, unknown dot, white ring. By time we get grey dot settled, we'll be considering other sites, and I agree that we have other, stronger options than the white dot site.

 

[LKendter]

Right next to hills is a mixed bag. It also means you have to worry about the AI civs getting onto the hills.

For now, I'm more worried about the cities heading toward China.
Horses may change target area.

 

[LKendter]

ROSTER:
LKendter
Greebley (up)
Jersey Joe (on deck)
Elephantium

 

[Jersey Joe]

I redrew the map you map of city sites in the China side of our nation. Basically, I wanted to not build a city on a hill. The reason for yellow dot's placement is to get Wines quicker. However in the long term Yellow is probably better, where you located it, on the other side of the river.

 

[LKendter]

Moving Red dot off the hill commits us to and aqueduct. The site has a ton of hills and forest.
Your location gets 7 hills, and 1 forest. Mine gets 4 hills and 3 forest. The production is about the same. Is your slight gain worth the cost of an aqueduct?

I care more about long term potential that fast win access. I'll stick with my original proposal for yellow dot.

 

[Jersey Joe]

Some thoughts about Rome:
If the research slider is moved to 50% we get Pottery in 2 turns and Rome could use the Admistrative Center as a prebuild for a Granary.

We will be in our Golden age, if we go for Literature right after Pottery, we should have a good chance of building the Great Library. No civ that we know of is close to studying Literature (they haven't learned trade yet). I am guessing it will take us 5 turns to learn Literature. Next step is to improve Rome.
Rome builds Forge then Administrative Center. Also, we need to mine all Rome's Forest, starting with the Furs and Hardwood, to get Rome to produce 50 hammers per turn. There isn't anything Rome could use for a prebuild. Further, we probably need to irrigate the bonus grasland tiles. I doubt we can do all the landscaping before Rome starts building the Great Library, but se should continue until we finish.

 

[Jersey Joe]

Moving Red dot off the hill commits us to and aqueduct. The site has a ton of hills and forest.
Your location gets 7 hills, and 1 forest. Mine gets 4 hills and 3 forest. The production is about the same. Is your slight gain worth the cost of an aqueduct?

Your right it is a slight difference. It is not until we can build Calvary that I might have a small advantage. Up until size 10 we take the same time to build things. At size 10, you gain a 2 turn advantage while I build an Aqueduct. I didn't look for buildings were I could gain back the lost turns by completing that building a turn quicker turn you could. Even at Calvary it is close, and with Windmill and Printing Press added in it is most likely the same build time.
Also, you have 2 more wet tiles than I do, so you will always have an advantage in commerce.