[NFP] Portugal (March 2021) - Patch Notes Discussion

[SammyKhalifa]

I kind of want to roll a floodplains Qin and build both Ekenanaki and Great Bath in the same city, then just farm the crap out of the floodplains. It's a pretty great wonder. Floodplains and Marsh Petra.

I still can't possibly get the bath, heh. Though with egypt it's probably kinda pointless anyhow.



As an aside, that volcano in the upper lefthand side has blown up my industry FOUR TIMES. You'd think I'd give up by now.

 

[Tuvok694]

Getting the marsh pantheon on the wetlands map is like settling the new world with Maori on a terra map: game over, not so interesting.

 

[kryat]

So Portugal is nuts. At T200, I have >2,000 GPT and >400 science/turn. It’s great. Portugal matches my play style so well I started it on deity (normally immortal) and I’ve shot past even Korea for science. Being able to just buy a new city a lighthouse, library, and a naval school when the districts are ready is amazing. And I can afford a settler nearly every turn, if I wanted. And their trade routes have major reach. Despite some early struggles with having valid international destinations, I’ve never really had issues finding somewhere to send a trade route, mostly because I always have a new city to send from. Also, some mildly mediocre cards are excellent in Portugal’s hands, like caravansaries, triangular trade, and trade confederation.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I'm still working through the early game in my first Portugal game. There aren't a lot of people to trade with yet (as others have reported). The only other civ with coastal cities is...the Zulu. So now we are best friends and I'm building them a snot-load of Feitorias. I'm confident this will not result in a massive Zulu hegemony on their continent.

 

[kryat]

Something to note: Portugal’s extra range on trade routes can be easy to underestimate in impact. In principle, it’s 50% extra range. In practice, that means that you can reach farther cities much earlier to bounce off of later with the trading post, so it feels like they’re more than double range, since normally, you might not be able to cross a modestly sized ocean to even get a foothold.

 

[walkerjks]

So Portugal is nuts. At T200, I have >2,000 GPT and >400 science/turn. It’s great. Portugal matches my play style so well I started it on deity (normally immortal) and I’ve shot past even Korea for science. Being able to just buy a new city a lighthouse, library, and a naval school when the districts are ready is amazing. And I can afford a settler nearly every turn, if I wanted. And their trade routes have major reach. Despite some early struggles with having valid international destinations, I’ve never really had issues finding somewhere to send a trade route, mostly because I always have a new city to send from. Also, some mildly mediocre cards are excellent in Portugal’s hands, like caravansaries, triangular trade, and trade confederation.

Very map dependent as even maps with lots of coast can have civs and CSs that are inexplicably inland. But, the extra trade routes combined with greater trade route yields really are powerful even if you don't do Owls of Minerva secret society and even if you mostly ignore harbors and commercial districts otherwise. And as you say, I'm playing some cards I normally don't, just because I have lots of trade routes.

 

[AntSou]

The extra +1 Sight so far is the most game changing bonus. (I'm in the classical era)

 

[SammyKhalifa]

The extra +1 Sight so far is the most game changing bonus. (I'm in the classical era)

I hope they add it to all scouts, possibly as a promotion. That's what they do after all.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Add Leif Erickson's +1 Sight and you can basically picket the entire ocean.

 

[tedhebert]

I’m beggining to wonder if activating zombies for a Portugal OCC would not be beneficial ? just prioritize defense 4-5 tiles away from city and let the zombies annoy everybody else while you concentrate on the OCC !

 

[Bechhold]

So the AI is still not improving resources in when Corp mode is enabled... They will not create a Corporation, and would only have 1 luxury resource subject to trade, that seemed to be due to the fact when they settled on top of one... just like in February.

 

[pokiehl]

I thought I saw some reports that Portugal’s 50% trade route yield bonus was not applying to Faith. Can anyone confirm?

 

[Klinn]

I thought I saw some reports that Portugal’s 50% trade route yield bonus was not applying to Faith. Can anyone confirm?

That's been my experience. I posted a trade route yield pic over in the funny screen shots thread, and it shows the +50% yield for other things, but not for faith.

Edit: Link to post

 

[SammyKhalifa]

So the AI is still not improving resources in when Corp mode is enabled... They will not create a Corporation, and would only have 1 luxury resource subject to trade, that seemed to be due to the fact when they settled on top of one... just like in February.

My game has a few AI with more than one resources improved, I suspect that a few are settled on a resource etc though.

 

[Pfeffersack]

My game has a few AI with more than one resources improved, I suspect that a few are settled on a resource etc though.

Another "source" for such exceptions is cities changing ownership (be it by loyalty pressure or force)

 

[AntSou]

I hope they add it to all scouts, possibly as a promotion. That's what they do after all.

I feel that would only make Portuguese Scouts even stronger.

I use the Watchtower Improvement mod, which is an improvement only Scouts can build. It definitely makes them more interesting.

 

[Disgustipated]

Considering that zombies spawn were an unit died, it might be a valid strategy to avoid killing units inside your territory at all cost, at least near your capital.

This. I found this out the hard way. Although I didn't have adequate troops to really enforce this anyways. I'm getting nearly 1 barbarian unit on average spawning every single turn inside my borders. I say average, sometimes it's 3, sometimes it's none.

The extra +1 Sight so far is the most game changing bonus. (I'm in the classical era)

Although hills and things still block your view. I landed a badly wounded horseman on a tile next to the coast thinking the zombie had wandered away. Nope, he was just on the adjacent tile. I couldn't see him from the coast tile. I almost lost that horseman, just a sliver of health left.

So the AI is still not improving resources in when Corp mode is enabled...

I'll have to check my actual map, but the AI is offering me up luxuries for trade, so I was assuming they have more than one improved. Unless they are offering their only luxury for trade which seems unlikely.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

That's wrong, though: in my first game with my boyfriend, he played the Netherlands and while Haarlem or Amsterdam were inland they had a harbor... But I couldn't send a trade route to them. Not until Haarlem built a canal that linked the city center to the sea.

In fact, in French, it doesn't say "International Trade Routes can only be sent to cities on the coast or with a Harbor", it specifically says that international trade routes can only go over water, meaning that if your city is inland, even with a harbor, you'd have to go on 1 or 2 tiles on land, which forbids you.

Which is way more limiting that I imagined, and I'm asking myself if it works as intended or not...

Apparently some people have reported that it works for cities whose harbors are in the second ring. But if the harbor is in the third ring traders cannot reach the city. I think it's not intended to be that way.

 

[Jkchart]

Portugal is so stupidly amazing.

 

[walkerjks]

Early Sinbad is nutso with Portugal. Discover civs faster = more trade routes. Discover CSs faster = more bonuses and suzeranships (assuming Owls of Minerva). Early money = buying all the traders you need. Oh, and Sinbad gets 4 sight, so he's even a better explorer than he normally is.