SAM-02 Silliness and Mao

[Glare Seethe]

I just noticed we can't even irrigate Shanghai. :\

Situation looks kind of dire. Pottery > Writing > Iron Working, I think, then maybe Masonry > Math > Construction or something. I am starting to rethink settling city 2, to be honest. It might be better to settle closer to home to save on expenses and make it easier to wage war. I'm not sure what's better in this scenario, though - settling good land far away or settle bad land closeby? I think the general plan is to kill someone ASAP, so that to me favors settling close, but on the other hand if we let the AIs have all the good land catching up will be even harder after the war. It doesn't look like De Gaulle has particularly exciting land in any case, so maybe we can block him and go after Pacal.

I can't play tomorrow so oynaz if you can maybe we can swap. Otherwise I'll play on Wednesday.

edit: We are not in Slavery for some reason. We're food poor, but still...
edit2: Maybe build Stonehenge in Shanghai? No way we'll get it but at least we get some gold. I'd also grow it to size 2 with one of the grasslands, we can afford it.

 

[Whosit]

You have a point about expanding too far, but the settler is almost at the designated site, and after all the trouble it took to get him there . . . . But we should probably focus on city sites closer to home from here on out. And we definitely need to tech in an aggressive direction and get to Construction ASAP.

As long as we keep France Pleased, we're safe on that front. Going after Pacal does seem best for two reasons I can think of now: He's Financial, so taking him out now may save us a headache later; "expanding" West will probably put us in a better position later rather than scooping up France, which as far as we know, is a dead-end.

Sorry, I never caught the Slavery thing myself. Beijing has enough food to be whipped, especially if we decide to add any farms for some reason. But, yeah, we should switch. I suppose we can grow Shanghai, but we'd want to be able to build a cottage for that grassland first, right?

 

[oynaz]

Got it.

I have a proposal. We have been screwed by the map generator, so why not take advantage of the map type? We could limit our expansion, beeline Astronomy, and go all-in on the colonization of the other continent. This would mean avoiding wars at home. Normally, I would advice against settling as far away as we try to, but the two farthest city sites are excellent. So, settle the dotmapped cities, beeline astronomy, colonize the other continent, and come back with a vengeance? It is possible to have Astronomy around 500 AD if we plan for it.

 

[Norvin_Green]

I'm not against oynaz's plan but this is one of the reasons I don't like a Terra map as it gives us the advantage of knowing that there's a new world out there.

 

[Glare Seethe]

I don't mind beelining Astronomy instead of warring on the home continent. Could make for an interesting game although I don't know how confident I am of a) reaching Astro before the other AIs with such terrible land (though we can easily bulb it), and b) supporting cities overseas with such terrible land at home (though we can whip the FP there ASAP I suppose).

Having never played Terra before, though, I am totally open to whatever you guys decide.

 

[Whosit]

I like the idea myself, but there's also the concern of the bad land we have here, and lack of decent ports. I think if we're gonna pursue a "seek the promised land" strategy, taking out France might be the better option since they seem to have OK land and a couple of towns placed in decent port locations.

I'd have to rely on you guys to deal with the strategy of reaching Astronomy quickly, because tech-pathing, bulbing, etc., are not my strong point at the moment.

Norvin: If it makes you feel any better, the AI knows, too, though they're not bright enough to make a beeline for it. But as soon as they get Astronomy, they'll head to the new world. Anyway, I console myself by considering that it's not what we know, but how well we're able to make use of our knowledge.

The maintenance costs are an issue, though the Forbidden Palace would help (if only we are so lucky as to nab Versailles). If we got a lot of towns down, we'd be hurting for awhile, but if the land out there proves to be halfway better than what we started with, 3-4 commerce towns . . . how long would it take to pay for itself? I don't know. Maintenance is a pain, but I still like it better than the Corruption in Civ III, because I could never make outlying towns productive.

I guess it's still a crapshoot, since the land will still be rocky, but if we make it there first, we'll have first pick. Galleons hold 3, right? As we get closer to Astronomy, we'll want to make sure we have some settler packs ready, and some spare workers, and plenty of troops to pacify any native resistance we encounter. On my first Terra map, I didn't send many troops with the colonists. That ended badly.

So, in short: I wouldn't mind making a beeline for Astronomy after we've grabbed all that's worth grabbing at home. Including maybe France.

 

[oynaz]

Astronomy can be bulbed by great scientists if you avoid Civil Service, IIRC.

There is a great way to avoid heavy maintenance costs: Move the capital to the new world. If we really go for it we will end up with more cities in the new world, so that move will make sense, IMO.

 

[Norvin_Green]

I'm game if everyone else is.

 

[Whosit]

So, it's supposed to be Mighty Dwaarf's turn, right? It's been a few days; do we skip him or wait another day?

 

[Glare Seethe]

Mighty Dwaarf said his laptop broke, I thought oynaz had it cause we swapped. Speaking of which, I need a skip for whenever my turn comes up and might be internet-less until Tuesday. Hopefully not, though, so I can still comment, but I definitely can't play.

 

[Whosit]

Oh, that's right. Totally forgot that. Well, oynaz, I think you can take it any time as we seem to have a plan in place.

 

[oynaz]

OK, got it. Will play tonight.

 

[oynaz]

Evil Frenchies!

The French insists on throwing spanners in our wheels, as you will see. We might want to reconsider wiping them out.

Things started according to plan:

Ghangzou was founded.


The barbs plunked down a city to the north. There are often interesting resources near barb cities, so Wei Yan went to have a look.

Ooo! Goody hut! Rice! Bananas! Grassland! Perhaps we should make a dotmap up here?

Meanwhile, our second warrior went south to the ice in order to fogbust.

That did not end well. He found himself surrounded be warriors and barb archers. He sold himself dearly.

Good new from Beijing. We're rich! RICH!!!!!

Bad Frenchies! Baaaad Frenchies!!!

Well, to sum up. Ghangzhou was founded and is growing nicely. There is some interesting land north of it, but the barbs have made a city there.
The icy mountains between us and the Mayans is crawling with barbs. We might have to consider sending in some archers. On the other hand, we are protective, and some of those barbs have got to head for the Mayans.
We found gold in the hills of Beijing, so he finances look solid, especially when we get cottages up in Ghangzhou. Pottery is in, I decided to head for writing, so we can get some scientists to bulb astronomy.
The French have made Rheims in one of our chosen spots. I decided to switch to slavery, and Beijing can hurry a settler for 2.

 

[Norvin_Green]

Looks good oynaz. I get the feeling DeGaulle has no place to expand to so he's headed our way. For that reason I'd like to see us settle city 4 instead of 3 next as we could use the stone and walls. Hopefully the barbs will keep the northern spot warm for us until we can get a proper army and remove them.

 

[oynaz]

I agree, city 4 has priority. We might want to use the whip in Beijing in order to get 2 settlers out quickly.

 

[Norvin_Green]

Roster:

Mighty Dwaarf (up, nd hopefully we can say the same for his laptop)
Norvin Green (next)
Whosit
Glare Seethe (let us know when you are set to play again)
oynaz (just played)

 

[Norvin_Green]

Mighty, are you around? Let us know if you need a skip, ok?

 

[Mighty Dwaarf]

Sorry guys Motherboard has gone so need a new computer which will take a few days to sot out so skip me please. I'll dig out the tech pref lists so we can judge best way to bulb Astro I know Scientist is needed but we should see what we need to avoid.

 

[Norvin_Green]

Sorry to hear that Mighty. I think oynaz said we need to avoid CS but a more detailed tree would be appreciated (by me anyway). Glare any chance you can give this a go?

 

[Mighty Dwaarf]

Bulbing preferences of Great People, in order, are as follows...


Great Prophet:

Meditation
Polytheism
Priesthood
Monotheism
Theology
Divine Right
Mysticism
Masonry (Warlords patch & BTS)
Code of Laws
Civil Service
Monarchy
Literature
Music
Writing
Philosophy
Printing Press
Drama
Aesthetics (BTS)
Alphabet
Paper
Education
Liberalism
Calendar
Masonry (Vanilla & unpatched Warlords)
Animal Husbandry
Construction
Future Tech

Great Scientist:

Writing
Mathematics
Scientific Method
Physics
Education
Printing Press
Fiber Optics
Computers
Laser (BTS)
The Wheel
Alphabet (BTS)
Philosophy
Chemistry
Fission
Fusion
Optics
Paper
Astronomy
Biology
Electricity
Flight
Genetics
Compass
Satellites
Aesthetics (BTS)
Sailing
Alphabet (Vanilla & Warlords)
Calendar
Medicine
Ecology
Advanced Flight (BTS)
Iron Working
Metal Casting
Engineering
Steam Power
Liberalism
Agriculture
Masonry
Bronze Working
Machinery
Gunpowder
Refrigeration
Superconductors (BTS)
Rocketry
Fishing
Combustion
Plastics
Composites
Stealth (BTS)
Mining
Military Science (BTS)
Radio
Meditation
Drama
Theology
Music
Civil Service
Democracy
Corporation
Communism
Economics
Hunting
Archery
Animal Husbandry
Construction
Robotics
Monotheism
Mass Media
Horseback Riding
Replaceable Parts
Rifling
Artillery
Future Tech

Great Artist:

Literature
Drama
Music
Polytheism
Monarchy
Mass Media
Radio
Mysticism
Monotheism
Divine Right
Alphabet (Vanilla & Warlords)
Aesthetics (BTS)
Meditation
Priesthood
Theology
Nationalism
Writing
Philosophy
Printing Press
Liberalism
Pottery
Horseback Riding
Democracy
Education
Military Tradition
Communism
Astronomy
Computers
Feudalism
Constitution
Fishing
Sailing
Paper
Biology
Archery
Masonry
Metal Casting
Civil Service
Guilds
Fascism
Hunting
Animal Husbandry
Bronze Working
Construction
Railroad
Robotics
Future Tech

Great Merchant:

Currency
Banking
Economics
Corporation
Metal Casting
Code of Laws
Mining
Constitution
The Wheel
Alphabet (BTS)
Pottery
Sailing
Paper
Railroad
Industrialism
Monarchy
Civil Service
Guilds
Fascism
Mass Media
Agriculture
Writing
Mathematics
Printing Press
Flight
Machinery
Replaceable Parts
Satellites
Mysticism
Priesthood
Divine Right
Nationalism
Calendar
Scientific Method
Medicine
Horseback Riding
Compass
Steam Power
Future Tech

Great Engineer:

Machinery
Assembly Line
Industrialism
Combustion
Metal Casting
Mining
Iron Working
Engineering
Replaceable Parts
Steam Power
Steel
Robotics
Railroad
Feudalism
Fascism
The Wheel
Plastics
Masonry
Construction
Guilds
Bronze Working
Corporation
Electricity
Animal Husbandry
Gunpowder
Priesthood
Monarchy
Code of Laws
Constitution
Agriculture
Economics
Chemistry
Fission
Genetics
Fusion
Optics
Civil Service
Nationalism
Communism
Ecology
Pottery
Calendar
Currency
Banking
Scientific Method
Physics
Writing (BTS)
Medicine
Refrigeration
Superconductors (BTS)
Computers
Divine Right
Fishing
Mathematics
Flight
Fiber Optics
Hunting
Horseback Riding
Rifling
Future Tech