Standard 20k Demigod

[Spoonwood]

I like the curragh placement. I often don't know whether I want to build a granary before settlers in this type of game, but with this map and the forests around 003 I think a granary makes sense there. I probably would have put 002 there myself, but that's not necessarily the better play. I think I would have spread out workers onto each forest instead of putting them all on one. It saves turns spent just moving to unroaded squares. Sometimes it can make sense, but I don't see how so here.

Pre-turn swap 002 from fish to mined grassland and swap it to a settler. We have quite a bit of territory to fill and very little time now. Double-check with Japan and Zululand on Philosophy and Map Making. The Japanese won't take Philosophy for Map Making, but the Zulu will. So Japan almost has Philosophy. Thus, I trade Philosophy to the Zulu for Map Making and their 58 gold. A harbor won't do us any good with respect to trading on this map until we have Astronomy.

1-1125 BC Discover Literature. Raise science to 80% on Mathematics. It reads 6 turns at -5 gpt. Zulu start Museum of Mausollos. Japan doesn't have Philosophy. One worker helps finish a road, and two others move to the forests to chop them near 003. Swap 002 back to fish for growth in 2 turns. With 3 fpt you can use a 2 fpt spot for 1 turn. See iron on island near Japan

2-1100 BC Two workers chop. Another mines a spot near 003, since it'll probably need a 3 spot before we have other spots settled.

3-1075 BC Exploratory warrior spots a plains wheat. Curragh spots second source of iron on Japanese island. 002 uses both mined squares.

4-1050 BC Japan has Map Making. Maths drops to 2 turns. The Zulu have learned it. We could trade Republic for it, but at this level (or at least for a Deity 20k) I think it better to keep them away from Republic for a while. They'll probably research Construction next, so we should definitely go Currency. Trading for Construction with whatever need to may make good sense. Museum of Mausollos finishes. Start on little library. It reads 4 turns. Spot Mongolian borders off the island with two iron sources. Use fish in 002.

5-1025 BC The two chops complete. Both workers road. Contact Mongols who have an extra ivory source, 2 extra wines, 9 cities including the capital, 35 gold in the bank and lack Masonry, Ceremonial Burial, Philosophy, Code of Laws, and Literature. I don't think they know the Aztecs. Trade them CB for 35 gold. Zulu will give us Maths for 83 gold. We have 129 gold in the bank. We need 156 to short-rush the granary, so the library can finish next turn. Japan has 18 gold in the bank, and the Zulu have 5 gold in the bank. We have one warrior in the capital. There's just enough gold around. Disband warrior for 2 more shields. Lower sci slider 60% for positive gpt. Ring up Zulu and pay 1 gpt for their lump sum of 18 gold (that's the best rate), which leaves us 1 gold short of finishing the granary. Ring up Zulu and pay 1 gpt for their lump sum of 5 gold. Oh well. Short-rush granary with cash, leaving us 4 in the bank. Swap build to the little library, which now will finish next turn.

The warrior can head back to the capital. We can start on the big library next. Actually, scratch what I said before about Currency if you like. It might work out better to use the big library as a pre-build on the big wall in this game, then the colosseum, and then put in the big library after that, since Engineering will play a key role in this game, and we don't want to run out of builds or waste shields. I think we need two partners to have Construction to trade Currency for it, although I guess we could trade them The Republic for Construction, assuming they'd finish it within the next 15 turns. They do have a size 7 capital with a grassland cow. See how long Currency and Construction will take for us. Thinking more on it, it might work best to research Currency first, and then Construction until we can trade for it with Currency.

We have a weird situation with 003. The granary will finish in 3 turns and it will grow in 3 turns also. That's standard enough, but all other tile selections basically make them match. I've looked at lifting a citizen off the cow for a scientist for a turn, but that doesn't look like it'll work either. So, I don't see anything better than to just let the granary finish the same time as it grows.

 

[Bucephalus]

We need 156 to short-rush the granary, so the library can finish next turn. Japan has 18 gold in the bank, and the Zulu have 5 gold in the bank. We have one warrior in the capital. There's just enough gold around. Disband warrior for 2 more shields. Lower sci slider 60% for positive gpt. Ring up Zulu and pay 1 gpt for their lump sum of 18 gold (that's the best rate), which leaves us 1 gold short of finishing the granary. Ring up Zulu and pay 1 gpt for their lump sum of 5 gold. Oh well. Short-rush granary with cash, leaving us 4 in the bank. Swap build to the little library, which now will finish next turn.

That was very creative, Spoons - nicely done.

BTW, guys, I'd appreciate a few pics now and again; it really helps to get a feel for the game.

 

[Spoonwood]

Our empire:

Spoiler :

http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1266777581.jpg

Best trade route:

Spoiler :

http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1266777580.jpg

Island with 2 irons.

Spoiler :

http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo146/Spoonwood792000/1266777579.jpg

 

[Pacioli]

I feel I could have and should have played this set better. The best use of the workers was not clear to me and now what I did just feels wrong. I’m concerned about 003. Timing growth and the settler build appears unlikely without using the mountain currently used by 001. I did not want to take any shields from 001 so I made no changes there. Sorry about the mess.

1-1000 BC Discover Mathematics. Set research to Currency in 10. 001 completes little library and now starts on the big library, complete in 20. Reassigned 002 citizen from fish to improved grassland for both growth and settler in 6. Worker moves to 003 8 spot and mines. One curragh explores and the other starts to backtrack for a few turns. See new island north of the Mongols. Science slider to 70% for Currency in 9.

2-975 BC Both workers mine. Fortify warrior in 001. See iron north of Mongols.

3-950 BC 003 builds a granary. New 003 citizen auto assigned to grassland as expected. Raise luxury slider to 30% as 003 has 1 happy and 2 unhappy faces. Lower science slider to 60% for 0 gpt. See Mongol galley on the move north of its home island.

4-925 BC Curraghs continue exploring. Nothing of interest to report.

5-900 BC Japan founded Nagoya on our home island near the dyes. Move worker to grassland and towards Nagoya to road. 003 will grow in 2 and settler in 4.

The choices I made with the workers seemed ok at the time but now I'm not so sure.

 

[Spoonwood]

I might have moved a worker south to develop those wheats, not sure though. With all this food around, we might not have any resources whatsoever on this island. I actually feel relieved that Japan decided to settle the dyes. I'd much rather have them plop down a bunch of cities on our island than to get aggressive prematurely on us and land near our capital.

1-875 Tacitus tells us we have the most advanced nation in the world. Anyways... some workers move about, one west of 003, one starts moving south to develop those wheats near 002, but first it lands south of the cows to road a square.

2-850 002 settler-settler. Send settler to spot near grassland wheats. It uses a mined grassland. Two workers road. Meet Aztecs. They lack Mysticism, Maths, Philosophy, Code of Laws, and Literature. I don't see any us for the curraghs as curraghs, so I'll start bringing them home either to disband or for galleys later. We have such a large island with Japan already on it, that we might just want to stay at home on this island for a very long time.

3-825 Found 004. It starts on a worker (maybe change to a settler later, mabye not, we'll need a lot of workers soon enough). Swap tiles in 003 to the lakes, which I think I could have done last turn. Scratch that, one lake, one scientist, with science slider raised to 80%, 20% luxes, -5 gpt with 10 in the treasury, Currency reads 2 turns. Worker heads north to road.

4-800 003 settler-settler. 002 uses a wheat now. Science down to 70%. Luxes at 30%. -7 gpt. Currency in 1. We would go broke, but with two even more backward AIs at this point, I think we have breathing room (in fact I'll say I know we do at this level, not such much if we played this at Deity though.) Ring up Mongols and Aztecs. Sell them Mysticism for their lump sums (21 and 17). Workers road, mine wheat, and move.

5-775 Learn Currency. Have research at -7 gpt on Construction which reads 11 turns. We can do a bit of deficit research, then pull it back so we remain solvent. Worker mines BG now in 003's range (should have moved worker now mining wheats here instead, but it's too late now.

The settler stands where I think it should go, so it has a plains cow right away. We want a city on the bonus grassland west of 003 so it lies next to two cows. We want to settle next to the grassland wheat in the north, at the 3 spot starting from the mountain up there. The worker roading there, accordingly, doesn't make sense, but I hadn't figured that out when I did it. The reason comes as that if we can do that, then we can place another city on the lake on the plains square at the 1 spot starting from the sugar. We also have a pretty lopsided empire right now, but I think settling near food bonuses to produce our last few settlers and then workers earlier makes sense right now. Foresting 8 squares takes 48 turns of worker work for us. Not your typical 20k in my opinion.

Oh... and thanks for the feedback Buce!

 

[Pacioli]

I do appreciate the training you're providing me through this game Spoonwood!

I found your comment regarding food interesting. Is there a relation between the amount of food nearby and resources nearby? I know I’ve played some food rich maps that I thought were resource poor. But I thought I was just being pessimistic. By the way, thanks for the heads up on settler placement. As we close in on 100 turns, how do you think the game is progressing so far? You previously stated not typical. But winnable, correct?

1-750 Founded 005, citizen auto assigned to cow. Changed assignment to bonus grassland for growth and worker in 10. 003 grows, now shows 2 happy and 2 unhappy laborers. Worker moves east. See Japanese warrior and settler nearby the mountain. Darn.

2-730 Worker roads. Thought about using the worker as a blocker against the Japanese warrior & settler but decided not to in hopes the move on. Curraghs continue the voyage home. The Zulu have some gold to spare. They will pay 10gpt and 90g for Currency. We could use this gold to build embassies. We decline for now.

3-710 Japan builds Nagasaki on the plains wheat near the mountain north of us. After the worker near 004 completes mining it is moved to wheat nearby to start mining again. 003 grows and will riot next turn. Raise luxes to 40% to prevent this. Stop our worker near Nagasaki from completing the road and move back toward our settled land. We do not want to help Japan in any way. The road would allow us access to Nagasaki but we would still have a river to cross to get there.

4-690 The Mongols are building the Statue of Zeus. 003 builds a settler which is moved west to bonus grassland. Luxes to 30 % and science to 60% for +2 gpt. Worker moved to bonus grassland between 005 and 003.

5-670 004 builds a worker and will make another. Luxes back to 40% to prevent a riot in 003. We have 16g in the treasury but are losing 7gpt. Move science to 50% which still gives us Construction in 7 but now we are losing only 1gpt. Founded 006. Assigned 006 citizen to grassland cow just south of 006. 006 set to build a worker. A worker mines the bonus grassland. Moved new worker from 004 to hill west of 002 to start improving that hill. Check with the Zulu again. They will now pay 10gpt and 150g for Currency. We decline again. Let the pot get sweeter.

 

[Spoonwood]

I found your comment regarding food interesting. Is there a relation between the amount of food nearby and resources nearby?

It feels that way to me, but I don't really know or have any real evidence. Only thing I can say for certain though. Given a random enough distribution of resources, the probability of getting a resource on say n tiles decreases as you have more food tiles f. This would happen this way, because resources only appear on non-food bonus tiles, and consequently there exist
n-f tiles on which a resource can pop up. So, if f gets bigger, n remains constant, then n-f gets smaller. The probability of getting at least one resource equals 1 minus the probability of getting no resources. The probability of getting no resources equals the probability of a getting a resource in a tile times the number of possible tiles which can have a resource. If the number of possible tiles which can have a resource decreases, then, since all probabilities here belong in (0, 1), the probability of getting no resources comes out higher. Consequently, 1 minus the probability of getting a resource comes out lower. Since that equals the probability of getting at least one resource, the probability of getting at least one resource comes out lower.

 

[Spoonwood]

The Zulu having gpt only happens because they have their golden age going on. So, even though their lump sum has gone up, we don't have any idea how much longer it will last. Consequently,

Pre-turn first I check 003. A worker will finish roading in a turn. So, luxes down to 30% and science up to 70%. Construction now reads 5 turns, at -5 gpt. But, I ring up Shaka and trade him Currency for 10 gpt and 155 gold. Deals like this in the ancient age come as rare enough (not the lump sum, but the gpt). Again, it only has happened here almost surely to him having a golden age going on. So, it comes as risker to wait much longer. What will embassies get us? An increased probability of the AIs not wanting to attack us. That's not necessarily good here, and we want some cash to get buildings in. Swap 001 off the mountain... this has no effect on the Great Library finish date. 002 uses the mountain.

1-650 003 swaps mined grassland to the brown cow, and the mountain to the mined and roaded bonus grassland. A worker mines the brown cow.

2-630 003 uses a scientist so it won't revolt. It'll still put 5 food in the box, and get the settler in 1 turn. Worker moves to develop green cow.

3-610 003 settler-settler. The settler moves towards the two brown wheats.

4-590 002 settler-settler. This one heads to plop down in the 1 direction at CxxxC spacing from 002, that's 1111 in terms of movement. This will grab the green cow. 005 swaps from a worker to a library so it doesn't finish the worker too soon. Notice 005 used the bonus grassland instead of the brown cow this whole time. Whoops! Irrigate that brown cow, since it doesn't have any other food bonuses around, a lot of forests, and a lot of plains. Lower science to 60%.

570 Construction learned. Start on Polytheism, which reads 6 turns. Swap a tile in 001 from a mined grassland to a fish square for more commerce. The Great Library will still finish next turn. 002 will get a settler next turn. The Zulu do have 8 gpt and 68 gold in their treasury, so I guess we could have waited to sell Currency, but I really didn't expect this. I wouldn't sell Construction still, since by the time we have a lock on the Great Wall, they probably won't have gpt.

No one else has Construction. Only trade it for Polytheism, or if we learn Polytheism first ourselves, don't trade it until we have a few turns left on the Great Wall. More importantly, 001 and 002 BOTH need tile reassignment on the next turn when the Great Library finishes. Remember, 001 can have 21 shields, so make sure it does. We might want to partially buy the colosseum and try to put it in before the Great Wall. I'll leave that up to you though.

 

[Pacioli]

What's our plan to rid Japan of our home island? Should we start building a military after the next round or two of settlers is complete?

 

[Spoonwood]

I guess we could do that. But would that help our capital get culture faster? I guess it might, if we sucessfully spawned a leader first. But, I think it better to at least put up libraries, harbors, aqueducts, and maybe since our trading situation comes as poor, temples and cathedrals, so that we can do research for wonders and buildings for our 20k site. Maybe universities also.

In a game like this, I would usually put up a bunch of infrastructure, even putting up factories, banks, hospitals (Battlefield Medicine), and stock exchanges (Wall Street) before building a serious military to clear out a neighbor. That all said we might want a few decent units to defend the capital in case anything bad happens. And we might want to do that sooner rather than later. Maybe the library build going should come a catapult or three or barracks for this.

We'll need to forest 8 sqaures to max the capital out on production. So, I think for sure we want a lot of workers first. After that maybe it comes as best to build infrastructure, or maybe it comes as best to build some military to clear out Japan, with some of it left near our undefended capital (no units in the capital, but with a spot for them to land... see my HoF thread for an example) to fish for a leader. Definitely workers first and probably some units for the capital (we don't need any defensive units there provided we have enough artillery and archers) either way, so let's see how things go before deciding here.

 

[Spoonwood]

I forgot who we played as. An archer attacks at the same level as a numidian, and we could get a GA this way. Still, I think workers as a priority for a bit to get the capital up once we learn Engineering (this part doesn't come as typical in a 20k game, most HoF 20k games don't need all that much foresting). The Hanging Gardens would also trigger our GA. Usually trading for Monarchy works out fine at some point in the middle ages. We'll want to think about this.

 

[Pacioli]

1-550 001 builds the Great Library. After checking with all the AI, set 001 to build colosseum as no one else learned Construction on this turn. Reassign 001 labor force to produce 21 shields. Colosseum in 6. 003 settler-settler. 006 worker-worker. 002 grows. Changed 002 production from library to worker which will waste 4 shields. Oh well. Let it be so… 007 founded. Set 007 to build an archer which can be changed to worker after it grows in 7. Move 003 settler north to build 008 on grassland next to the lake. I considered moving toward the cow and whale northeast of 007 but it would have taken 5 movement turns to get there. Three workers road and one moves to grassland. We see a lone Japanese warrior east of 005.

2-530 005 worker-worker. 008 founded. Set 008 to build an archer. The Japanese warrior is in our territory by default. One worker roads, one mines, and two others move. We do not have enough gold to rush the colosseum yet.

3-510 The Zulu are building the Great Wall so they now know Construction. The Mongols are building the Statue of Zeus. 009 founded. 009 will build a worker. Moving the science slider down to 50% still gets us Polytheism in 3. We need 312g to rush the colosseum. We have 211g and are earning 23gpt after lowering the science slider. After checking with the AI, only the Zulu have Construction. The Japanese warrior is moving out of our territory.

4-490 004 worker-worker. 2 workers move to the grassland north of 001 to start foresting. We hurry the colosseum for 228g. Increasing science will not give us Polytheism any sooner than 2. Lowering it to 40% gives us Polytheism in 3. Stay put at 50% science and 30% luxes for +24gpt.

5-470 001 colosseum-The Great Wall in 15. 003 settler-settler. 006 worker-worker. I had a brain fart last turn. Workers can’t forest until we learn Engineering. Move those 2 workers closer to 007 to start roading and mining. Move the curragh into 001 to help build the Great Wall. At 21spt, 001 would need just 6 shields to complete the Great Wall after 14 turns. Disbanding the curragh should net us 7 shields; therefore we complete the Great Wall in 14. Move settler from 003 southeast. I would settle south of 001 along the coast. Polytheism in 1. No change in AI tech knowledge. I originally set 008 to build an archer. I changed this to warrior in 2 to be followed by a worker in 5 which will be when it grows.

 

[Bucephalus]

Disbanding the curragh should net us 7 shields; therefore we complete the Great Wall in 14..

lurker's comment:

Disbanded units - like forest chops - do not contribute shields towards Wonders.

 

[Spoonwood]

1. If it says you've wasted 2 shields when changing a build, you've actually wasted 4 shields+however many shields the city would produce on that turn.
2. I wouldn't advise changing a build so that it overbuilds a worker like you did. Let it finish something else, and then build a worker. We save shields this way.
3. Since we've already scouted, we don't want regular units (unless we get into a crisis). We need vets, except for artillery. So, if we want it to build a unit quickly, then a worker, put the city on the artillery-type unit we have available.
4. Maybe they don't need it, but 007 and 008 both lie very close to a Japanese town. So, I've changed them to libraries to at least help prevent a flip.

I've got the save, I'll play later.

 

[del62]

This thread inspired me to a small deity 20K game with carthage, and I can see their merits, particularly in terms of starting techs and early UU, which saved my game when on the same turn both polite mongols and zulus turned up at my capital and declared on me, triggerring a golden age and holding my capital

 

[Pacioli]

Disbanded units - like forest chops - do not contribute shields towards Wonders.

It's sure easy to tell who the trainee is in this succession game, isn't it? Spoonwood has had to deal with a number of mistakes on my part.

 

[Spoonwood]

1-450 Learn Polytheism. Enter MA. Consider raising sci. to 90% and using an entertainer in 003, and decide against it. Set research to 70%, 30% taxes, with Engineering due in 15 turns at +1 gpt. Move some workers around.

2-430 005 worker-worker (5 turns). The Zulu have started losing cash. And they have less gpt than last turn. Engineering reads 14 turns at 70% sci., -1 gpt.

3-410 007 grows to size 2. One worker roads, one mines near there. The Zulu have more gpt and I think a bigger lump sum than last turn.

4-390 003 settler-settler. 004 worker-worker, 009 worker-worker. Japan had a significant increase in their lump sum last turn, while the Zulu lost 50 gold. Found 010 which starts on a worker.

5-370 The Zulu have placed a city on our island. 002 settler-worker. 006 worker-worker. The Zulu now have a slightly larger lump sum in the pot.

The settler that stands in 007 should go to the 2 spot from the brown cow north of 007, so that it jams into the coast for maximum commerce. The settler in 001 should go to the farthest point southeast of 001, so that it can eventually grab the whale... if we can get there before anyone else.

 

[Pacioli]

1-350 The Aztecs are building the Statue of Zeus. Reassigned 010 citizen to grassland tobacco for extra gold.

2-330 005 worker-worker. The Zulu sold Currency to Japan for 87g. The Zulu now have 281g. Japan 0g.

3-310 003 settler-settler which moves north. Found 011 which starts on a library. 007 will riot next turn but a worker will also finish a road so no change is needed.

4-290 002, 004 & 009 worker-worker. Our treasury is running low so move science slider to 60%. The Aztecs are building the Great Wall. The Zulu are building the Temple of Artemis. The Zulu learn Polytheism. The Aztecs learn both Currency and Construction. There was no big exchange of gold so it must have been a gift. The Japanese learn Construction. The Mongols will give us 9g for Construction. Pass.

5-270 006 worker-worker. Our treasury is running low so move science slider to 40%. We see a lone Japanese settler northeast of 008. We will complete the Great Wall in 5 turns. Engineering in 9. We could sell Literature to everyone for all their gold and pump up research again. I’m not sure that we want the AI building libraries yet so I’ll leave it up to you. Selling Republic would bring the Zulu into the MA so we definitely do not want to do that. Do we have enough workers yet?

 

[Spoonwood]

Republic won't put anyone into the Middle Ages, it's an optional tech. In this sort of game, I usually will trade away Republic, and keep Literature. We'll need something for Monarchy, so we probably want to keep Republic for that.

 

[Spoonwood]

Do we have enough workers yet?

How many do we need/want to develop our capital and other squares as fast we can? We have 18 workers, and 11 cities. With how much we need to forest our capital, I don't think that's enough. Additionally, later on we'll probably need to train even more workers to add into 001 once we get Shake's and then at least 16, if not 24 workers to stay fortified in 001 to clean pollution (8 does a regular square, 16 a forest or hill, 24 a mountain if playing as industrious) ASAP.

Pre-turn wake worker roading forest 2 squares north of 005 and had 3 turns left of work left. Did I mention this before? For industrious workers it takes 4 turns to road a forested square, and then 3 turns after that to chop it, which you probably want to do eventually... that's 7 turns of work. It takes 3 turns to chop and then road the flatland square which USE to have a forest in it.... that's 5 turns of work. So, why road a forest? Only if you want to keep that forest around (as in the 20k site for some games) does this make sense to me. Otherwise, chop, road, and then re-plant later if you want extra shields there. Or ignore that square and work another one (as in a settler factory where you want a citizen to work a forest upon growth in other types of games). The worker near 005 chops which will finish in 3 turns, with the worker finishing there in 2 turns.

Look at treasury situation. We could sell the Zulu Engineering in a little bit, which I would prefer over Republic or Literature at this point. But, it still does seem a bit bad right now I admit. They have 302 gold in their treasury. What the heck. Lower taxes to 10% for the moment. Ring up Shaka. 302/18=16.77777... So, loan out 288 gold form Shaka for 16 gpt, since 16*18=288 and 17*18=306. Raise science slider to 60% at -32 gpt with 299 in the bank. 70% wouldn't have done any better, both read Engineering in 6 turns.

1-250 Japan founds Shimonoseki with warrior now in it. Worker near 009 could move to chop and then road there, but wouldn't finish all that to get to 001 the turn after we have Engineering, so it moves to help workers finish jobs on the hills. Worker near 006 moves to mine a spot in between 003 and 004. Found 012. It starts on a library.

2-230 003 settler-settler. 005 worker-barracks. Depending on where the chops go, this may change. Double up some workers irrigating brown near 008, even though it only takes time from 3 turns to 2, so that those workers can do something and then go to 001 soon after. Do something similar with forest square about to get chopped near 008. Zulu have 76 gold in their treasury now.

3-210 002 worker-worker. Lots of roading. Found 013-worker (it'll at least want to connect to the rest of the empire ASAP). Swap square in 005 to a BG so it stays happy and grows faster. Zulu have 106 gold in their treasury.

4-190 004 worker-aqueduct, it does need to start growing sometime I guess. 009 worker-aqueduct. 010 worker-worker. 005 changed from library to catapult, as it only got one of the chops. Found 014-library. Sci. down to 50%. Two workers move to a square to road quickly, so they can get back to 001. Some workers start moving to 001. Swap squares in 001 so it maximizes commerce.

5-170 Great Wall finishes. This triggers our GA? I knew it as militaristic, but I forgot it as industiours (Colossus-Seafaring) 006 worker-aqueduct. Zulu cascade to Temple of Artemis. Luxes down to 20%. Sci. down to 40%. Engineering due in 1. Start ToA which reads 15 turns (not sure if we'll beat the Zulu). I didn't do this immediately, but I also changed 002 to a catapult, and 004 to a harbor (it can only work 4 grassland tiles). Shuffle workers around mostly towards 001. 6 workers manage to get to the 11 spot from 001.

It only has two shields right now in our GA, meaning it's a regular grassland and thus can benefit from foresting. All of the cows and the wheat can benefit from forest. DO NOT FOREST ANY BONUS GRASSLANDS AS THEY CANNOT BENEFIT FROM FORESTING. 6 industrious workers can forest a square in 1 turn. So, the 6 stack at the 11 spot can complete the forest next turn for an extra shield. 3 workers will finish a mine on a hill near 002 next turn. They can move to the 14 spot from 001 to forest there along with 3 more workers currently on a cow. We have 3 workers near 003 which move to the wheat and get that job done in 2 turns. Two workers near 014 just finished a road this turn. They can move to the cow on the 63 spot and start foresting it next turn, which will take three turns.

I'd forest all the river squares, as we can use all the extra commerce we can get. Other workers can help out, once they finish their current jobs and can move there via roads. See how I've put the stacks more-or-less at the edges, so they can work towards the center? This helps to manage not losing any turns in movement.

We can use another city north of 013, near the fish over there. We might put two cities jammed into the coast near 004 and 009 for more commerce eventually, but I think it better not to do so, in order that these cities get decent production. I think it best to research Monotheism next... actually, it makes sense to do this last thing, though it hurts a bit to do it. Build embassy with the Zulu for 84 gold. Alright, we should have a lock on the Temple of Artemis (see below). Thus, there exists no need to research Monarchy right now, and we should research Monotheism next, then Theology, then Education.

We basically have two options right now. Loan out the Zulu's lump sum for with gpt at the rate of 18 gold for 1 gpt OR wait a few turns and get as much as we can for Engineering. Since they'll research Feudalism, I think it best to loan out their lump sums for a while... AT LEAST until they've have Feudalism for a few turns. Just turn the science and luxury sliders down, do the loans then, then raise the luxury slider back so no city revolts and the science slider so we can get our techs ASAP. I generally don't like to go higher than 30% luxuries from here on out. However, if it helps some cities get to size 7 faster, we might want to do that. Just don't feel afraid to use a scientist once a city gets to size 7 so it won't revolt. With any luck the ToA will help this for a bit, and then we'll get the Hanging Gardens to help a little bit later. We will see.