We are on turn 43. I'll even things out to 50.
Go over the towns. Alesia is building a granary, can't say no to an early settler factory. Notice we have a conscript warrior, so not all GHs were bad
I also check our opponents: Inca, Dutch, Germans, Mongols, Byzantines, Vikings, Japanese. Me like very much. To avoid tedium, I vote to go after Theo first
We have a lot of commerce in our core, we're in a true corner, ... I like this start very much so far.
0) 2030BC
Switch a tile in Lugdunum for an extra gold. Stack worker at Entremont to finish irrigation early. Probably nothing invested in WC, so switch to Masonry. We have Ivory after all. Research to 100% at -1gpt for three turns, maybe we'll be able to hold on to that single turn we gain by going negative for now.
1) 1990BC
Alesia grows and I switch to max production (1/6spt corrupted for now) at +2fpt to get the granary in 5. Lugdunum is working unimproved tiles only, so keep the workers stacked to irrigate a plains tile in 2. I send out a spear from Lugdunum to do just a bit more recon east.
IT
The barb warrior on the mountain north of Lugdunum starts to fight someone. I cheer him on, but to no avail: a yellowish warrior appears in his stead.
Entremont: Spear > Worker
2) 1950BC
Say hi to the polite Mongols, who have Masonry, Alphabet, Wheel, WC and Myst, 50g in the kitty, and 6 towns in all.
Move new spear to Lugdunum, explorer spear continues for now.
Masonry has dropped a bit, but have to dial back research to 90% and +1gpt. Swapping tiles every turn here for extra commerce while maintaining growth and production...
IT
Mongol archer joins his buddy on the mountain
3) 1910BC
Recall the explorer spear, too bad, but I won't risk our improvements. One worker moves forward, the other back to start improving Alesia.
IT
Archer moves to NE of Lugdunum, warrior still healing (4/5 now).
Entremont: Worker > Spear
4) 1870BC
At this point I have to start thinking strategy already... We need one town in between to get to the iron. A have a new worker in Entremont. Pink dot seems the natural place to go towards the iron. Red dot supports that nicely, and is away from the front. So I start roading towards red dot for now. If we decide otherwise, it also goes towards the BG.
Cover the Lugdunum worker with two units; two units remain in Lugdunum so all safe.
Research could go down again, but I keep it high in hopes of saving a turn (we get it in 4 at 90%, we could do 3 at 100%, if only we had some gold).
IT
Archer waits for his now healed warrior buddy.
5) 1830BC
Research back to 100% to save a turn, but will have to go down again next turn.
IT
5/5 warrior attacks, redlines our spear in Lugdunum, but ultimately dies
[1-0]
Alesia: Granary > Settler
Our cave gets a new front door.
6) 1790BC
No luck on the research. Dialing back to 50%, Masonry in 2. I started out with 14 turns indicated without MM, and will end up with 8 turns, so I'm happy.
IT
A barb horse appears on the Ludgdunum mountain. Will he avenge his brother? Most likely the archer will get some target practice.
7) 1750BC
Research down another notch, Masonry still in 1. Then up again because of Alesia MM for growth.
I will stop here. The strange MM in Entremont is a consequence of commerce MM and governor choice on growth. Alesia's 5th shield is corrupted, but not its 4th and not its 6th. If you need 5spt, you need both forests, else you get 4spt anyway, so you might as well use the river gold. Because Lugdunum has unimproved tiles, switching to the gold may also be beneficial if it doesn't hurt growth. I swapped tiles almost every turn to get max commerce. I hope the other players will be prepared to do the same, until we get a sufficient number of tiles improved to stabilize the MM.
After masonry comes in, I'd continue beelining for maths, and go for SoZ prebuild immediately in Lugdunum (change barracks build). After the current spear, Entremont can build another in 4, and in then more in 3 after growth (using the forest until the BG is improved). That should do for troops. Depending on the military situation, try to go for pink dot first, red as an alternative. When Alesia is improved to a 4-turner, concentrate on building roads.
. Alesia and Lugdunum grow. It would take 20% lux
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