Standard 20k Demigod

[Spoonwood]

Oh... and if an SGL pops up, let's talk about what to do with it, before we do anything.

 

[Pacioli]

Of course Republic is an optional tech. I know this! I don’t know what I was thinking. I apparently lost sight of the basics. Concentration is necessary aspect of the game. Moving on… I got the save and will play tonight. Thanks for the detailed post of immediate goals and how-to's.

 

[Pacioli]

1-150 We learn Engineering. Next up Monotheism. 003 settler-settler. Settler moves to fish north of 013. 011 riots. My fault as I should have checked. Reassigned 007 citizen for plains wheat to plains. Reassigned 011 citizen from forest to plains wheat to stop riot and gain extra shields for library build. One worker moves toward 012. Ring up the Aztecs. Loan out 18g for 1gpt. Loan out 198g for 11gpt from the Zulu. Science slider to 60% at -30gpt with 304g in the bank. Monotheism in 12.

2-130 007 library-trebuchet. Order restored in 011. Foresting around capital continues. 2 workers near 010 move to a hill and will start a road next turn. Worker near 012 irrigates. 3 workers near 002 move to 3 separate forest squares and will begin chops next turn. 002, 003, 009 and 012 are about to grow. Loan out 48g for 3gpt from the Zulu. Science slider to 60% at -32gpt with 332g in the bank. Monotheism in 10.

3-110 008 library-trebuchet. Used Ctrl-Shift-M to make sure we do not forest any bonus grasslands. Checked 002, 003, 009 and 012 citizen assignments. 012 was about to riot. Reassigned citizen from forest/game to plains. 004 is about to grow. Loan out 48g for 3gpt from the Zulu. Raise science slider to 70% at -51gpt with 338g in the bank. Monotheism in 7.

4-90 003 settler-settler. Should this be our last settler for awhile or do you want some in reserve? 005 trebuchet-trebuchet. The Aztecs are building the Temple of Artemis. Move trebuchet to 008. Move settler toward fish/game south of 009. 4 workers mine grass 99 of 001. 4 workers mine grassland 96 of 001. 4 workers move to 1 of 014 and will mine next turn. 2 workers mine 6 of 014 and will finish in 2 turns. 3 workers move to 011. Next turn they will move to the cow north of 011 and start a road. They should complete the road before 011 riots. 003, 006 and 007 are about to grow. Loan out 48g for 3gpt from the Zulu. Science slider to 70% at -60gpt with 335g in the bank. Monotheism in 7. Same as last turn? Change the unhappy citizen in 009 to a scientist. Monotheism in 6 at -61gpt.

5-70 BC Mongols demand Polytheism. We are not in a position to fight a war, even a war across the water, so we give up Polytheism. 002 trebuchet-trebuchet. 011 is about to grow. Check 003, 006 and 007 citizen assignment. New citizen in 007 is an entertainer. Changed to scientist. The trebuchet in 008 will be a sentry. Move trebuchet to 001. Where it goes from here will be up to you. Worker near 012 moves to forest and will chop next turn to speed up the library build. 4 workers move to 9 of 014 and will mine next turn. 4 workers move to 8 of 014 and 3 will road and 1 will irrigate next turn. Loan out 48g for 3gpt from the Zulu. Raise science slider to 70% at -63gpt with 336g in the bank. Monotheism in 5. Sold Polytheism to the Japanese for all their gold, 14g. We check with our military advisor and he tells us that our army support cost is 30gpt. Should we build some barracks and attackers soon?

 

[Spoonwood]

I don't see any need to have settlers in reserve. We can play capture and keep. I kind of think it better to have cities grow to size 7 than not, and with our luxury situation I think it better consequently to focus on temples and cathedrals than to build an army. We don't necessarily need to clear off the island to win, and although an unwanted attack can come, it usually seems to come earlier than this. Of course, the Heroic Epic would come out nice, but it's kind of a crapshoot.

Pre-turn Look at the cities with scientists. Why use a scientist in the middle of a Golden Age in a city that hasn't hit size 7 yet in a Republic? Accordingly, re-assign all scientists to tiles, and raise luxuries to 30%. I guess we'll put a city in the south now since we have a settler there abouts, but we really didn't need to hamper production of any city on an archipelago map. Swap 003 from settler to a palace pre-build... on a cathedral. Swap 007 from a trebuchet to a forbidden palace pre-build/build. How do we have two UNROADED tiles with 4 industrious workers on them and 3 industrious workers on a plains cow? I guess it we had cleared pollution, but even then that wastes turns on movement. It takes 2 turns for an industrious worker to road flatland. Stacking 2 industrious workers onto an unroaded square wastes one turn in movement that you usually don't want to waste. 4 workers wastes 3 turns. I see 8 worker turns wasted just in movement here. If you don't know how long jobs take, check to see how long a worker's jobs take, and plan accordingly. Check on worker chopping near 004. The harbor there will finish in 1 turn. The worker chopping will also finish chopping in 1 turn. This wastes the entire chop (when avaliable). Thus I wake the worker and have it start chopping again, so it'll finish in 3 turns.

1-50 The Zulus at Cautious demand Literature. I decline. They declare on us. This changes things. We accordingly get some of our gpt back. 004 harbor-numidian. Swap a few builds to Numidians and archers and one town to barracks. Lower luxes to 20%. Empty warrior and trebuchet from capital. Move trebuchet from 008 towards 001 (but it won't go in it).

2-30 Spot Zulu galley moving along the coast. 003 numidian-numidian. 007 barracks-archer. That galley will take about 5 turns to reach the capital, so no need to rush out too many units. Found 015-library. Luxes back to 30%.

3-10 BC 004 archer-aqueduct. 008 trebuchet-trebuchet. 013 worker-trebuchet. Aztecs complete SoZ. Mongols and Japs start/cascade to ToA. Found 016-harbor.

4-10 AD Zulu sign Japan in on us... I didn't see that coming. We lose 007 to Japanese warrior. 002 archer-archer. I zoom to 002 and cycle through cities to change builds. 005 changes from trebuchet to numidian. 011 from a library to a numidian. 012 from a library to a numidian. 014 also from a library to a numidian. 005 numidian-numidian (maybe change to trebuchet). 011 numidian-numidian. 012 numidian-numidian. 014 numidian-archer. 3/3 numidian defeats 3/3 japanese warrior near Shimonseski and promotes to 4/4 veteran. One numidian fortifies in 014. The one in 011 moves onto the road connecting 007 and 011. An archer an two trebuchets also come up near 007. Scurry workers about.

5-30 Learn Monotheism, and start on Theology. 003 numidian-barracks. Two trebbies fire at the warrior in 007. Only one hits. 3/3 numidian defeats warrior in 007, wounding to 2/3. Install new governor and we still have the barracks there, so it starts on an archer.

We probably won't need all too many more regulars. The Zulu should land next to the capital in 2 turns. As long as we keep the 1 spot and the 9 spot occupied, they should land in the 6 spot, and as long as we don't have the 6 spot occupied, we shouldn't have landings elsewhere. We need to keep some units there, while slowly getting other units to clear these guys out now. We do have a visible Japanes archer near 007 which will probably walk into our territory next turn (hence the num. merc. in 007). I'd say stay at war until we clear them out and have the Heroic Epic (we have war happyness going on), unless someone shows up with Monarchy, then make peace and trade for it for the Hanging Gardens. Cathedral next after ToA.

 

[Pacioli]

I got the save and had a chance to look things over. First, I want to make sure I understand the best use of workers. Only one worker should road an unimproved tile. Once the road is complete, only then do you stack workers on the tile to complete a task, i.e. mine, in one turn, correct? In all of my previous games, I’d stack workers on unimproved tiles to road in 1 in the following turn. I actually thought that this was a good idea. Wrong again. Another lesson learned.

Much of our territory in already improved. How would you use the worker force in the next five turns? Specifically, what would the worker stack north of 011 do next?

I see that no units are fortified in the capital. Is this to entice the AI to attack there? Don’t we want units fortified in the capital?

You mentioned that “We probably won’t need all too many more regulars.” Other than 003 and 006 which will both have barracks soon, all cities completing their current military builds should switch to aqueducts, correct? 003 and 006 should build mostly Numidian mercenaries, correct? I do see that we are currently building an equal amount of archers, Numidian mercenaries and trebuchets.

Thanks Spoonwood!

 

[Spoonwood]

Once the road is complete, only then do you stack workers on the tile to complete a task, i.e. mine, in one turn, correct?

Yes. Stacking to road can make sense in some circumstances, but you use turns in movement to do so, so it needs to come as worth it. It certainly doesn't make sense for 4 regular workers to land on a flatland tile to road it.

How would you use the worker force in the next five turns? Specifically, what would the worker stack north of 011 do next?

Forest and chop the forests, then re-work the tiles. That's for both questions, as the stack north of 011 currently forests.

I see that no units are fortified in the capital. Is this to entice the AI to attack there? Don’t we want units fortified in the capital?

Not exactly and no. I repeat NO units fortified in the capital. Pre-Amphibious War (and as long as you don't have the Vikings in), all land units must first land before they can attack. Capturing a city qualifies as an attack. So, by leaving the capital with all its wonders empty we've enticed the AIs to land NEXT TO the capital. Unless the landing spot gets blocked, they really shouldn't land anywhere else. We destroy any units that land immediately. So, we need to keep some trebuchets (we'll want more) and some good attacking units NEAR the capital such that they can get to the landing spot for a kill. Such a landing spot needs to come as directly adjacent to the capital and directly off the coast. We have the other square forested, so the grassland spot currently empty makes the most sense. Those come as the only two landing spots directly next to the capital on this map. KEEP A UNITS ON THE FORESTED COW DIRECTLY NEXT TO THE CAPITAL (the archer can move, and we can put the warrior there).

Other than 003 and 006 which will both have barracks soon, all cities completing their current military builds should switch to aqueducts, correct?

No, I'd say at least finish the current military builds, since we have Japanese and Zulu cities on the island and we might get a unit or two popping out from those cities until we can take them. That said, maybe 005 or somewhere else should go with a trebuchet instead of what it currently has going.

003 and 006 should build mostly Numidian mercenaries, correct?

I actually probably did this a bit poorly at the start, and may have put out so many numidian mercenaries due to overbuilding. A numidian mercenary costs 30 shields for an attack of 2 and a defense of 3. An archer costs 20 shields for an attack of 2, and a defense of 1. Any units landing near the capital need cleared out immediately, so that's really all archers there (unless we end up with an elite numidian which can stay near the capital for leader fishing). We'll need some numidians to help stacks when they go attacking those cities, possibly to defend a city or two, and prevent any units going into mountains, like near 008 and 007. Maybe no more than what we have right now. 005 can switch to an archer or trebuchet for sure, and 008 to a numidian to help with mountain block maybe... it depends on how the Zulu landing goes I think.

Make sure to bombard units before attacking when possible. And units that stay NEAR the capital NEXT to the landing spot can use the 'Y' button to sentry, so they'll wake upon landing.

 

[Pacioli]

Pre-turn Switch 005 to trebuchet as suggested.

1-50 002 archer-trebuchet. 011 riots. Missed it again. Numidian in 007 moves to 011 to fortify, heal and act as military police. Changed 008 to Numidian as a Japanese archer is 2 squares from both mountains. 2 trebuchets move to 001’s 9. 002 archer moves to forest cow and fortifies. Archer that was already on the forest cow moves to 001’s 9. Numidian moves from 001’s 8 to 014’s 4. Numidian in 012 will be a sentry. Worker stack north of 011 continues chop & reforest cycle.

2-70 My notes say 002 archer-archer which can’t be right as I had 002 archer-trebuchet last turn. Our treasury is getting low. 011 is still rioting??? I thought that military police could quell riots. Reassign citizens in 007 and 011 to stop the riot. The Zulu land 1 archer near 001. 2 trebuchets drop it to 1/3. One archer finishes the job. We see 2 Japanese galleys by 015. 007 archer moves and kills an Japanese archer which had moved to 007’s 87 endangering workers nearby. The archer goes to 1/4. Set regular curraghs back to sentries as they have little chance against an veteran Zulu galley. Numidian on mountain will be a sentry. See a Japanese archer north of 008. Science to 50% for -20gpt with 50g in the bank.

3-90 001 ToA-cathedral. Luxes to 20% for -2gpt with 30g in the bank. Theology in 7. Order restored in 011. Changed 007 and 011 citizen assignments back to pre-riot status. 003 barracks-archer. 008 Numidian-archer. 010 trebuchet-trebuchet. 014 archer-trebuchet. We see 1 Japanese and 2 Zulu galleys near 011 heading to 001. Moved archer off 001’s 6. Numidian to mountain by 008 as a Japanese archer closes in. Wake Numidian in 012 and move toward 008. Wounded archer goes to the mountain.

4-110 002 trebuchet-archer. 009 aqueduct-archer. 007 archer-archer. One Zulu galley moves towards 009??? Move trebuchet from 002 toward 009 just in case the Zulu galley is carrying another military unit. Change 016 from harbor to archer. We see 2 Japanese archers near 008 now. Send Numidian and an archer to defend 2 workers between 007 & 008. Numidian on mountain near 007 will play sentry. Fortify the Numidian on the mountain near 008. We see a Zulu archer near 014. Send Numidian to 014 and fortify.

5-130 003 archer-archer. 011 Numidian-trebuchet. The Japanese land an archer, a swordsman and a warrior near 001, all regulars. We start the attack to clear these units out. 2 trebuchet miss and the other two take the swordsman to 1/3. One archer kills the Japanese warrior without taking any damage. One archer kills the Japanese archer but goes to 2/3. One archer kills the Japanese swordsman going to 1/3. We also see 3 Japanese archers between Nagasaki and Shimonoseki. Move archer and Numidian to 008’s 8 to be able to defend both 008 & 012. Our 1/4 archer fortifies in 007. Move 003 archer to 008. Move 011 Numidian to 007’s 1 to be in reach of 007, 011, 014 and the killing forces near 001. CivAssist states the Zulu are willing to negotiate.

May the next round of learning begin.

 

[Bucephalus]

I thought that military police could quell riots..

lurker's comment:

They can, but only in certain governments - Despotism, Monarchy, Communism (probably Feudalism and Fascism too, though I cannot be sure since I've never used either) - but certainly not in Republic.

They can quell resistance in any government, though.

 

[Pacioli]

lurker's comment:

They can, but only in certain governments - Despotism, Monarchy, Communism (probably Feudalism and Fascism too, though I cannot be sure since I've never used either) - but certainly not in Republic.

They can quell resistance in any government, though.

I greatly underestimated the amount of training I needed to play effectively at this level. Live and learn.

 

[Spoonwood]

Pre-turn wake numidian in 011 and move it towards 014 as possible help on the Zulu archer.

1-150 Japanese units sort of retreat. Zulu archer enters our territory. 002 archer-barracks. 005 trebuchet-trebuchet. 008 archer-archer. 007 archer-archer. Scurry worker away from Japanese archer. Both willing now to talk peace. Two trebbies ping the Zulu archer down to 1/3. Veteran archer defeats Zulu 1/3 archer no damage. Chop forest near 011... it's already gotten chopped. We can only chop a square ONCE to get shields. That's all for the moment.

 

[Spoonwood]

1-150 Debate whether to land units near Nagaski to try and take it. Not quite yet with the Japanese archers around. Empty 008 of units so Japan wants to send units near there. Wake worker ROADING FOREST near 012. Remember, chop FIRST, THEN road. Wake two workers near 009 and have them road instead of re-foresting chopped squares. Swap 009 to trebuchet. Core cities build barracks and units. More corrupt cities and small core cities cheaper artillery. That's how I usually do things at least. Change 012 to a trebuchet. Loan out 36 gold from the Aztecs and raise science to 50%.

2-170 The Japanese have 5 stray 3/3 archers around. 001 cathedral-marketplace, hopefully that's a pre-build. 003 archer-archer. 014 trebuchet-trebuchet. Culture pops from the ToA. Zulu start Sun Zulu's... Tzu's Art of War. Ping Zulu archer down to 1/3 with trebbies. 4/4 archer defeats 1/3 Zulu archer without any HP lost and promotes to elite. Since the Japanese archers all lie next to each other and pose no immediate threat except to Numidians on mountains (which they've seemed to have avoided), decided not to attack ANY of them THIS turn. Loan out 18 gold from the Aztecs.

3-190 006 aqueduct-trebuchet. 007 archer-archer. Japanese land a spear and a warrior in the kill spot. Ping them both down to 1/3 in 4 shots.... but I used the wrong set of trebuchets. Zulu archer peeks out of Isipezi. The elite archer in the off-chance that it spawns a leader. It doesn't, but suffers no damage defeating the 1/3 spear. 3/3 archer defeats the warrior with no damage and goes to 4/4. 4/4 archers loses to 3/3 Japanese archer near 007 wounding it to 1/3. Ping Japanese archer down to 2/3 near 008. 4/4 archers defeats 2/3 Japanese archer wounding 1/4. 4/4 archer defeats 3/3 Japanese archer near 007, no damage. 4/4 archer defeats 3/3 archer near 007, no damage. 4/4 archer defeats 1/3 Japanese archer wounding to 1/4.

4-210 Zulu land impi near capital. Japanese spear comes near that 012 which I switched to a trebuchet which has its shields finishing this turn. 003 archer-archer. Cycle through to that 012 and swap it to a numidian. 008 archer-trebuchet. 009 trebuchet-trebuchet. 011 trebuchet-trebuchet. 012 numidian-aqueduct. The Golden Age will end this turn. Theology says 1 turn, but that won't happen. The market will finish if we let it. Ping Impi to 1/3. 3/3 archer defeats it wounding to 2/3. Ping 3/3 Zulu archer near 014 to 1/3. The elite defeats it wounding to 3/4. Ping one Japanese archer near Nagaski to 2/3. 3/3 archer defeats 3/3 archer near Nagaski, wounding to 2/3 on the free shot. 3/3 archer defeats 2/3 archer, no damage and promotes to 4/4. Move units so we have 5 archers and 3 numidians ready to attack Nagasaki next turn. I don't want to lose shields producing a market, so ring up the Zulu. Trade them Monotheism and Engineering for Feudalism. We might now miss the Hanging Gardens, but oh well. Swap 001 to Sun Tzu's as a pre-build. Luxes up to 30%, as I can't project how happiness will change. Trade Aztecs Feudalism for 31 gold. Fortify 1/4 archer near 008 as barracks lay too far away.

5-230 002 barracks-archer. 004 aqueduct-marketplace. 007 archer-archer. Mongols start Hanging Gardens. Both them and the Zulu have Monarchy. The Mongols have Feudalism now (everyone does), but they don't have Monotheism or Engineering! Trade Mongols Engineering for Monarchy and 2 gold. Swap 001 to Hanging Gardens which reads 7 turns. Lower science to 10%, Theology due in 1 turn, at +9 gpt. We've got some 80 gpt in unit support at the moment. 4/4 archer defeats 3/3 spear in Nagasaki wounding to 1/4. Another 4/4 archer does the same. 4/4 numidian defeats 3/3 archer in Nagasaki and we capture it (keep all cities). It starts on a library. Switch some builds to infrastructure. Move curraghs to 002 for disbandment next turn.

Towns less than size 6 probably should get watered for faster growth. Don't feel afraid to use specialists in cities that have hit size 7. Shimonoseki lies close to our units for capturing next, and the Japanese have spears running around there. If the Japanese land an archer or spear on the hill near Nagoya next to our worker, I'd advise moving two numidians there to defend it. The Dyes could help us a lot. Still, we don't need to rush through the Japanese war though, and I'd advise against it so that we can get more infrastructure up now. Just make sure to keep the units (especially the 6 or so trebuchets) we have near the capital there right now, along with the elite archer which can move closer on the next turn ONCE it finishes healing next turn.

Hanging Gardens then the Sistine Chapel. Education next. Once a city hits size 7, do NOT raise the luxury slider to keep it happy. Use a scientist, as we do need earlier rather than later research in THIS game. If a city finishes a market before Education, put its build on a cathedral. Consider changing some builds to cathedrals now also, if that seems better. Once a city has a cathedral, even without a temple, and we have the Sistine Chapel, that's a large deal of the happiness problem taken care of.

 

[Pacioli]

I got the save Spoonwood. I'll play and post no later than Friday night.

 

[Pacioli]

I have reviewed your notes and the 230AD save. I have a question before I start my set.

I understand the reason for the build orders for 003 (cathedral) and both 005 & 009 (courthouse).

Consider changing some builds to cathedrals now also, if that seems better. Once a city has a cathedral, even without a temple, and we have the Sistine Chapel, that's a large deal of the happiness problem taken care of.

Once we learn Education, any temples built by the ToA would disappear requiring us to build a temple first before a cathedral. I may be wrong, but I would build a cathedral in most cities that were less than 90% corrupt on this luxury poor island. I know we could trade later for luxuries but prefer to be self reliant. I would change the build orders of 003, 005, 006 and 009 to cathedrals and possibly 002 and 004 also. This is my gut feeling. What are your thoughts?

 

[Spoonwood]

Once we learn Education, any temples built by the ToA would disappear requiring us to build a temple first before a cathedral.

Not necessarily. If we have the build on a cathedral BEFORE we learn Education, and don't change it we can build the cathedral without having a temple there. Trust me, I've done it before.

We DO want to trade for luxuries later... even probably with some cathedrals. There exists no reason for self-reliance. In fact, on higher levels the fastest finishes often rely on the AIs doing semi-well. That said, we need research before later comes and that requires more contentedness, so cathedrals.

I think we need some markets for a little more cash now (look at our economy), and cities that stand at or below 50% corruption probably need a courthouse for production and commerce, then a cathedral if it can finish the courthouse pre-education. Courthouse then cathedral works out faster than cathedral than courthouse in terms of shields, and since some commerce might go to luxuries via the luxury slider here also, the city can grow bigger from a courthouse also... given that the courthouse will actually do enough. A city losing 3 of 12 shields to corruption probably won't benefit enough from a courthouse.

 

[Pacioli]

Thanks for the information Spoonwood. I'll leave the builds as is for now.

 

[Pacioli]

1-250 The Japanese request an audience. They have nothing to offer but peace and will not give up Nagoya and Shimonoseki. We do not accept. Theology-Education. The Oracle is now obsolete. 010 trebuchet-trebuchet. Move 5/5 archer and 3/3 archer to join trebuchets at 014’s 4. 3/3 Japanese spearman enters our territory near 008. Ping spearman to 1/3. 4/4 archer defeats 1/3 spearman wounding to 3/4. Move two 1/4 archers to Nagasaki to heal and end the city resistance along with the 4/4 Numidian already there. Move 3/3 archer & two 3/3 Numidian to 011’s 88. Disband two curraghs in 002. One trebuchet joins the others at 014’s 4. Three 4/4 archers and two 3/3 archers move 008’s 89. 3/3 Numidian moves to 008’s 9. Citizens in 003, 007, 009, 011 and 012 are changed to scientist to keep those cities from rioting. A citizen in 005 is changed to an entertainer. Loan out 36g for 2gpt from the Aztecs for -7gpt with 60g in the bank.

2-260 The Aztecs are building Sun Tzu’s Art of War. The Zulu are building the Hanging Gardens. Lost 1 archer to the Japanese. 4/4 archer defeats 2/4 Japanese archer and moves to hill at Shimonoseki’s 2. Two 3/3 archers and one 3/4 archer move to the same. Two trebuchets, one 3/3 Numidian, one 3/4 archer and one 3/3 archer are one square away from the same. One citizen in 003 becomes a scientist.

3-270 016 harbor-trebuchet. The Mongols are building Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Two trebuchets, one Numidian and two archers join the forces on the hill near Shimonoseki. We see three Japanese galleys moving but no landings. Fortify two Numidian and sentry one archer on hill near Nagoya to wait for reinforcements.

4-280 Two trebuchets ping two 3/3 Japanese spearmen in Shimonoseki to 2/3 each. 4/4 archer defeats 2/3 Japanese spearman wounding to 1/4. 4/4 archer defeats 2/3 Japanese spearman wounding to 1/4. We have destroyed Shimonoseki and liberated 0g. Change 008 from trebuchet to settler in 2. Japan says no to peace treaty and Nagoya for peace with us. 006 citizen becomes a scientist.

5-290 One 3/3 Japanese swordsman lands near 001. It takes seven trebuchets to ping it to 1/3. 5/5 archer defeats 1/3 Japanese swordsman wounding to 2/5. However will get a MGL, Hamilcar, in the process. Hamilcar joins the trebuchet stack. Spoonwood, you can decide the best use for our first MGL, i.e. use him now or later. Now as I type this, I think I should have move him closer to Nagoya and not wasted any movement turns. Fortify one 1/4 archer on old Shimonoseki site to heal. Move forces toward Nagoya. A 3/3 Japanese warrior and settler land northwest of Nagoya.

 

[Spoonwood]

Not sure if I like using specialists in some of those pre-size 7 cities. I guess we'll have the Hanging Gardens in 2 turns, so I'll leave that alone. There's a few things on MGLs

1. Pre-Conquests Civ III MGLs COULD rush great wonders and anything else. However, in Conquests, they can ONLY rush small wonders and buildings.

2. You can't spawn another MGL if you have either an MGL or SGL in existence.

3. You need to HAVE HAD a victorious army to build the Heroic Epic or Military Academy.

4. The Heroic Epic costs 200 shields and gives you 4 culture per turn.

5. The Heroic Epic increases the probability of an MGL spawning from a non-starred leader from 1/16 to 1/12.

Consequently, it (almost) always makes sense to form an army straight away and get an army victory in Conquests. That said, you spawned it on your last turn and it looked like no more Japanese units to kill around. I'll play later.

 

[Spoonwood]

Pre-turn wake units in Nagaski, as we don't have any more resistance there, and we could only quell one citizen per unit there anyways. Move them towards Nagoya. Wake unit in 012 and move it also. Wake Hamiclar and form army with him. Put a 3/3 and a 4/4 archer into the army. It then goes to the square where the elite star archer lies.1-

1-300 008 settler-cathedral. Japanese land a veteran horsemen and two veteran swords. They found Matsuyama. Bombard Japanese horsemen and swords. Elite star loads into the army. 3/3 archer defeats 3/3 archer near Nagoya wounding to 2/3. 9/12 army defeats 3/4 horsemen wounding to 6/12. 3/3 numidian merc loses to 1/3 sword. 3/3 numidan merc defeats 1/3 sword wounding to 2/3. 3/3 numidian merc defeats 1/3 sword no damage. Move units towards Japanese cities. That's all for now.

 

[Spoonwood]

1-300 Swap 011 to a settler. Mostly worker moves elsewhere... including waking a worker in a square we have irrigating which we can't use. One new city uses a scientist so it won't riot, I don't remember which.

2-310 We complete the Hanging Gardens. Start on Heroic Epic. If no one starts the Sistine Chapel before we finish it, we finish the Heroic Epic. If someone does start the Sistine Chapel, we swap to the Sistine Chapel and put that in first. I don't circle through cities and put them on tiles, as according to HoF rules I have to wait until the next turn to do that. 011 settler-aqueduct. Found 017-harbor. 3/3 archer defeats 3/3 warrior in Matsayuma (or something like that), promoting to 3/4. A fair number of units move right next to Nagoya, including two workers on the forest Dyes (we can DEFINITELY use this luxury sooner rather than later, so wasting worker turns makes sense to me). Borrow 18 gold from the Mongooses.

3-320 4/4 archer loses to 3/3 spear in Nagoya, wounding it to 1/3. 4/4 archer loses to 3/3 spear in Nagoya promoting it to 3/4. 4/4 numidian merc loses to 3/4 spear in Nagoya. Whoops, forgot about the trebbies. 2 trebbies bombard the 3/4 spear to 1/4. 3/3 numidian merc defeats 1/3 spear promoting to 3/4. 3/3 numidian merc loses to 1/4 spear promoting it to 2/5 (auto-promotion). 4/4 archer attacks across the river and defeats 2/5 spear in Nagoya wounding to 1/4 in the process. We capture Nagoya. No resistors. We'll starve down a population point for a turn. Move a few units into Nagoya for disbandment next turn. Ring up Japanese. Make peace for the city of Yokohama in the process. Check out happiness, nothing has really changed. Yokohama-worker.

4-330 Irrigate some green for growth. Disband some units in Nagoya. Loan out 54 gold from Shaka to raise science some more. Finish road for dyes and adjust things accordingly. I keep the luxury slider at 30%, so a size 6 city can grow to size 7 faster. Science at 50% losing 36 gpt with 63 in the bank, Education reads 8 turns. Swap 004 to a cathedral, since it might not now finish a market in time.

5-340 010 harbor-cathedral. Found 018-harbor. Loan out 54 gold from Shaka. With 81 gold in the bank I raise science to 70% at -68 gpt, with Education reading 5 turns. It'll probably take us a bit longer, depending on how much gold the AIs come up with for us.

If we can get Education in 5-8 turns and the Zulu and the Mongooses don't get Theology (not likely, probably Invention or Chivalry for both of them first), after the Heroic Epic, the turn before we learn Education, I think it makes sense to put the army and a bunch of units in the capital... but DO NOT hit spacebar to end those units turns or even fortify them. We just use 'w' for wait until we finish all other units and workers moves. AFTER that use the lower right box's ellipse button in the upper left-hand corner to go to the next turn. Then once we learn Education we use "what's the big picture" to disband units (not workers though) AND EVEN THE ARMY in order to immediately (or as close to as possible) finish the university. Then we go with the Sistine Chapel. The army disbands for 100 shields, trebucets and numidian mercs for 7 shields, and archers for 5 shields, so try to take that into consideration when disbanding. Even if someone wants to attack us, we'll probably see ships coming, and we can safely predict where they'll land (right next to the capital), so disbanding the army (I repeat, I DO MEAN DISBAND THE ARMY TO SHORT-RUSH THE LITTLE UNIVERSITY IN 001), as far as I can see makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't worry about Isipezi. It could even flip to us at some point.

003 should finish its cathedral and then start on the Forbidden Palace. Don't raise luxes above 30%, but if it won't riot with luxes at 30%, I would swap tiles away from other cities to 003 so it finishes the Forbidden Palace ASAP. I put the Forbidden Palace in the queue. We'll need a lot of infrastructure for the rest of this game to do research decently. Temples, cathedrals, markets, courthouses, libraries, universities, and banks, stock exchanges, and hospitals for small wonders eventually. Even with 70% science and 30% luxuries, I'd still let the few market builds we have going now, since the supply of gold we've gotten the last two turns could dry up, or lessen significantly. And we'll need markets for banks, which we need for stock exchanges, which we need for Wall Street eventually anyway.

 

[Pacioli]

I got the save. I have taxi duty for my daughter and her friends tonight so I play and post tomorrow night.