NCSG IV Redux - The Mummy Strikes Back

[grandad1982]

Hello and welcome to the replay of NCSG IV - The Return of the Mummy!

After being out REXed by the AI on an Arid map were we spent hammers on wonders rather than settlers, we've decided to re-roll the start. This time instead of mixing a Religious Economy [RE] with an espionage one we plan to focus on just the RE.

We're still using Ramesses on a Pangea map but this time its a temperate map rather than arid one.

Our leader

To help us power our RE we will need to do some wonder building!

So what our those wonders? Look in here to find out!

Spoiler :

IMO there are 3 vital wonders for us to grab here:
1. The Apostolic Palace [AP] - gives 2 per building of the AP religion along with its voting abilities for the resident.

2. The Spiral Minaret [SM] - 2 from all state religion buildings.

3. University of Sankore [US] - 2 from all state religion buildings.

There are also two other wonders to consider (well three if you count the Mids).

4. Angkor Wat [AW] - 1 from Priests.

5. The Sistine Chaple - 5 from state religion buildings.

Wonders 1,2 and 3 should almost certainly be built by us if possible. 4 and 5 would be nice to control but we probably don't need to worry about them that much (War. What is it good for?.....).

I have rolled 3 starts for some reason that still escapes me. Probably as I was chatting on the phone at the time....

Spoiler :

A

B

C

Vote for one please.

The roster is as follows:
GatlingGun
Bleys
Groogaroo
Krick19
S.ilver
grandad1982

This is open to re-arrangment as suits peopls needs.

We'll be playing a generous 24/48 but if you can't play please let us know and swap!

20 turns in the BCs and 10 in the ADs.

These are the saves. Please don't play them even if its not the one you voted for or we end up playing! The map regen process keeps the same AIs (I think) so it will be a spoiler!

 

[grandad1982]

Ok first things first.

I vote C

Why? Loads of production and I suspect a metal or Horses in the BFC.

Even with gold B just leaves me cold for some reason I can't explain.

A was a close call as it has lots of forests to chop in to wonders or settlers.

 

[Krick19]

C. We could also use it to run the priests we need.

 

[Bleys]

I vote A, then C, then B. A has the most visible food, but C also looks decent. B would likely be a slow-grower, and we will want to be whipping into Wonders with Ramesses.

 

[S.ilver]

A looks fairly far south, so would cause us to have to REX north to land in decent territory. A lot of forests also means a probable lack of metals in the capital. The initial site is a plains hill though.

B doesn't appear to have any food source in the BFC, although it probably does in the fog. We can move onto a plains hill to get a boost as well, and then we'll be able to see what's in the fog. It looks like it's in the deciduous band, which means there'll be jungle not too far away.

C has lots of food, clear lands, which suggest hidden strategic resources, and is on a plains hill already. It is also at the southern boreal transition on the map, so we're likely to have nice habitable land in all directions without too much work.

All 3 start on freshwater, so no big deal there.

My vote is for C first. Failing that, I'd go for B before A.

 

[Bleys]

BTW guys, I played the last game from 4000 BC for a while, and I can say with no hesitation that we blew it grabbing that Stone City. We have room for 8 STRONG cottage cities within 10 tiles of our Cap, which includes Horses, Gold (2), Gems and a few other solid resources. Eventually, I just took the stone, and the Mids with it, from Peter. Was a breeze. I was teching insanely with all those Floodplain Cottages, and still whipping like a madman!

So lets keep it tight this game, no more wild settling. Conservative play, grab the Horses ASAP, and use them to TAKE those cities we want.

 

[Bleys]

Oops, my bad, didnt notice the warrior was standing on Corn, not irrigated but still nice. I was thinking the plains-cow was the only extra-food tile in that start.

I change my vote to C, A, B.

 

[Groogaroo]

I have a good feeling about "A" for some reason, but with only one resource visible! I think I'm going to go for start "C", looks like a prime spot for a chance of horses and other goodies to pop up in our capital plus the plains hills.

So C then A then B.

 

[grandad1982]

Looks like its C then.

That leaves our early goals to decide.

Tech: AH > Mining > BW

I say we don't build the mids. Lets try to get 5/6 cities before the ADs kick in (pangea can fill up fast).

2 of the most vital RE wonders are speeded up by stone (SM and US) as is AW so while I agree with Bleys (no silly settling for stone!) we need to get some at some point IMO.

Game on!

 

[GatlingGun]

OK, I got C (the last one... I assume)

I'll post in the next 24 hours.

 

[grandad1982]

should be labled ......4000.c

 

[GatlingGun]

I'm going to go ahead and mention this although I am not sure it will matter to anyone else... I was tempted to settle in place because long-term I have a preference for settling next to rivers, but...

I moved the warrior one square and discovered that we have a decision to make about settling...

We could settle in-place on the plainshill and have two food sources with fresh water...

or

We could give up fresh water and get 3 food sources.

Even if you consider that we loose the freshwater bonus, technically we get more food from the additional clams.

Thoughts?

 

[Groogaroo]

I'm still keen on settling in place to be honest and leave the clam for another city. The hammer bonus from the plain hill will give us a nice head start over the AI's and I think its really important we get off to a strong start with this game.

So in short I say settle in place.

 

[S.ilver]

While the argument to move does have merit (food is good), I'd still be inclined to settle in place.

Personally, I'm not too fond of coastal cities unless there is a substantial amount of food to make up for all the lousy water tiles. The clams would be the only water resource in the city (I think, I haven't actually looked at the save). If it were fish, I might consider it, but I think we have enough food with the corn and cows, even if we can't immediately irrigate the corn.

I, too, like the plains hill as the site for our capital, and since we're on a pangaea (we are on a pangaea right?), we don't have a pressing need for a coastal city.

 

[grandad1982]

I agree with in place. That head start from the plains hill hammer is to good to pass up IMO.

The clams can go to another city.

 

[GatlingGun]

Executive Overview
Explored, fed the animals, built a worker, completed AH


Timeline
T0 - Settle in-place; pop 45G from hut and start building a worker.

T1 - Start researching AH

T12 - Pop experience from a hut; Promote to Woodsman II

T15 - Warrior defending on a hill got killed by a bear; Buddhism FIDL

T18 - Worker > Warrior

T19 - AH > Mining. We have horses in the BFC.


Closing Remarks
I got one turn into building a road on the cows before we discovered AH and I halted work. We have stone and marble close by... as well as some gems. This could be a fun game.

Have you ever noticed how much the RNG hates Woodsman II units?

Southern shot

Northern Shot

 

[grandad1982]

Oh exiting!

Look at all those goodys nearby!!!!

We need a bit more exploration but lets start to look at some blocking city location soon.
Up near those gems would be sweet for a massive tech boost post IW.

Roster
GatlingGun
Bleys - up now
Groogaroo - on deck
Krick19
S.ilver
grandad1982

 

[Bleys]

Got it, playing now.

 

[Bleys]

Not much to report, farmed the Corn, pastured the Horses, started the pasture on the Cows, built 2 warriors, started a settler.

Islam FIDL, met Toku from the North (sign on the tile)

Finished Mining and started BW.

After a bit more exploring, including maybe a War Chariot to help, we should look to dotmap and crank out settlers. I started the first one earlier than I normally would so we could claim the Stone ASAP. If we find an AI close enough, a Chariot Rush is possible here, lots of trees to convert into units.

Logging by BUG Mod 2.30 [Build 742] (BtS 3.13)
-----------------------------------------------
Turn 21/750 (3475 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:12:43]
Contact made: Japanese Empire

Turn 22/750 (3450 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:12:48]
Islam founded in a distant land

Turn 27/750 (3325 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:14:15]
A Farm was built near Thebes

Turn 28/750 (3300 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:14:21]
Thebes grows to size 2
Thebes finishes: Warrior

Turn 29/750 (3275 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:18:50]
Thebes begins: Warrior (8 turns)
Tech learned: Mining

Turn 30/750 (3250 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:19:20]
Research begun: Bronze Working (23 Turns)

Turn 33/750 (3175 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:20:23]
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.56/2) defeats Barbarian Wolf (Prob Victory: 100.0%)

Turn 34/750 (3150 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:20:40]
A Pasture was built near Thebes

Turn 35/750 (3125 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:20:47]
Thebes grows to size 3
Thebes finishes: Warrior
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.10/2) defeats Barbarian Wolf (Prob Victory: 100.0%)

Turn 36/750 (3100 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:21:12]
Thebes begins: Settler (14 turns)
Warrior promoted: Woodsman I

Turn 37/750 (3075 BC) [02-Oct-2008 14:21:43]
While defending in the wild, Warrior (1.54/2) defeats Barbarian Wolf (Prob Victory: 99.8%)

 

[grandad1982]

If we settle stone we could settle on the stone IMO.