Turnplay Log

[Conroe]

Conroe, so does that mean that you are for settling on the ivory or to the south??

I still vote on.

Well, it really is not my decision -- I will plant the Settler where ever the team decides. I really don't like this city site at all and would have preferred the silver site. But, we're here now and we need the happiness ...

Plus, I really think this city is going to be troubling to Epsilon. Look at it this way, how would we feel if they had planted a city where Brilliant is now?

It'd probably be best to plant on the ivory with the intention of gifting the city to Epsilon at a later date. Maybe we make an effort for the west coast isthmus ivory (~30 turns)?

 

[Sweetacshon]

Well, it is not too late at all. We can either take the settler somewhere else (it is better to waste a few turns transporting than to be stuck with a liability), or talk to Epsilon about selling the city to them in the future.

 

[Tubby Rower]

wouldn't we be in the same situation with Aloha if we settle the west coast ivory?

I'm a bit indifferent at the moment. If we do settle near the "epsilon" ivory, then I'd advocate settling in the elephant herd.

 

[Whomp]

Personally, I never liked the site to begin with. There seems to be plenty of land to settle for resources and luxs to our south. Horses included which ultimately will be more useful than th one move WE's. I realize this leaves the military at a woeful 5 or 6 attack but it seems to me that's a position everyone's in.

 

[pindicator]

So who does like the ivory site? I don't either; I'd prefer the silver site myself. It makes for an interesting diplomatic position, I will say that. If we go with Epsilon's trades and plant that city: boy, I wonder what would be going through their heads?

 

[Conroe]

Turn 118 - 75AD

We are showing one turn remaining on Machinery. I dial research down a notch to 80% to show Machinery due 2 turns.

We have 10-16 turns left to deliver Construction to Aloha. Aloha still does not have Meditation and I have seen no log messages about any Great Scientist being born We are on track to found Taoism in 2 turns.

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The barb Axeman did indeed attack our promoted Axeman during the IBT. We were victorious but at the expense of 75% of our health. Our Axeman will need 8 turns to heal. Normally, I would promote the unit to cut the healing time in half; however, that did not go over so well last time. He currently has 9/10 xp and is set to heal. We have 3 other Axemen in route to the barb city, including the axe MP from Gepid.

Out west, our Galley set sail for the mouth of Pearl Harbor to continue the exploration of the Hawaiian coastline. Meanwhile, our exploring Warrior steps atop a hill to meet Innovia's Woodsman I promoted Warrior.

Would someone care to draft a formal letter of greeting? From the trade screen we see that Innovia has 5 cities down. The civics they are running are Hereditary Rule, Bureaucracy, Slavery, and Organized Religion.

Innovia and Aloha have open borders. Epsilon and Innovia do not. This tells me that Innovia's Warrior has probably crossed Aloha's territory from the eastern side of the map. This also means that Innovia is most likely the front runner for the circumnav bonus. It should also be noted to the diplomats of the group that Innovia will be able to see that we have open borders with Epsilon.

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Next is our Settler. This dude has been trampling all over the countryside for the last 15 turns. He is finally loaded up into a Galley, along with an Axeman, to be sent to the isthmus ivory. And then it turns out that nobody (nobody? ) was in favor of planting a city there!

Ok, so what do we do with him? Well, fortunately Firaxis programmed into the game a button to solve all of our problems ...

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Balderdash -> Move a citizen from a mine to a grassland cottage to speed up the city's growth.

Hamburger -> No changes. An Axeman is due next turn. What's next? Another axe or another spear?

Treacle Cottage -> Hire back the 3rd scientist. We have 174/200 GS points at +18 per turn. The city is starving at -4 food per turn with 4 food in the bin. Our Great Scientist will be born in 2 turns! Next turn though, that 3rd scientist should be fired or the city will lose pop!

Brilliant -> No changes. This city is in limbo until we switch back to slavery. Once that happens, we can immediately whip the Granary for 2 pop. Once the city grows to size 6, the Forge can whipped for 3 pop. After that, a Library will need to be whipped.

Gepid -> No changes. The city is still undefended.

 

[Tubby Rower]

how's this?

To the Wise Saggioun of Innovia,

We understand that you have been trading with Aloha. They have been overcharging us for techs that they likely have been overcharging you for. What say you to cutting out the middle man and trading together?

Pleasantly,
Pilfering People of Piffle

 

[killercane]

Hamburger -> No changes. An Axeman is due next turn. What's next? Another axe or another spear?

How bout a worker? We also could benefit from some courthouses after the next 2-3 settlers.

Oh and plant that city down on the ivory so we can get some happiness, and just have it build a worker or hire a merchant until we readopt slavery if the expenses on it are high.

On the foreign front, should I tell Epsilon we slowed research this turn or leave it silent? I plan to send them an acceptance on the tech deal. I wonder what Innovia's stance will be toward us.

 

[Whomp]

I'd be careful telling Innovia anything. I sense they're very tight with Aloha and we don't want that to get back to them. Let's ask if they're interested in further dialog. That's it.

 

[Kickbooti]

Real life and vacation have conspired to make me less involved than I had hoped at the begining. I am furiously reading/assimilating so that hopefully I will have SOMETHING to contribute.

I do remember that I was in favor of the Ivory; I am the kind of player that puts the 'B' into subtle and liked the idea of a quick lux plus a city that could (with a lot of work and expense) serve as a fortress on the land bridge. So I can take the blame for that one.

As to the rest, you guys are more engaged and subtle, there will be no second-guessing on my part.

Okay, back to real life, and eventually reading and assimilating...

 

[Conroe]

Turn 119 - 100AD

Machinery is due next turn. We have 9-15 turns left to deliver Construction to Aloha. Aloha still does not have Meditation and I have seen no log messages about any Great Scientist being born We are on track to found Taoism next turn. That, of course, assumes that Innovia or Loco hasn't been researching it directly ...

In other news, Epsilon has completed research into Compass.

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Our promoted Axeman still has 7 turns remaining before he is fully healed. Meanwhile, Gepid's MP closes in on the barb city. Two more Axemen are enroute, as well.

Our western Galley continues its cruise along the Hawaiian coastline. Meanwhile, Innovia's Warrior is heading east. Hmmm ... I send our Warrior west. My intention with this Warrior is to maximize horizontal movement, rather than exploration, with an eye towards the circumnavigation bonus.

Meanwhile, Aloha has a Galley sailing towards our empire. I also notice that they have a new city, as does Innovia.

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Balderdash -> Move some citizens around emphasizing hammers over commerce. Forge due in 4 turns.

Hamburger -> Another Axeman is completed and I queue up a Spearman. The citizens are reworked to get the Spearman next turn, at the cost of some food. I'm thinking of going with a Settler next. Possibly go after the ivory/fish city on the western pennisula.

Treacle Cottage -> Fire the 3rd scientist. He will no longer be needed. We have 192/200 GS points at +12 per turn. Our Great Scientist will be born next turn! The city is no longer starving and remains at pop 3.

Brilliant -> Food uber alles! This city is in limbo until we switch back to slavery. Once that happens, we can immediately whip the Granary for 2 pop. Once the city grows to size 6, the Forge can whipped for 3 pop. After that, a Library will need to be whipped.

Gepid -> No changes. The city is still undefended.

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It's been 5 turns since we switched civics and we can now revolt. I didn't do it, obviously, so that our GS would not be impacted. I was planning on switching to Hereditary Rule, Bureaucracy, Slavery, and Pacifism after we lightbulbed Philosophy. However, this is showing as a 2 turn anarchy. Since Pacifism carries with it an extra 10gpt troop expense and we will not see much benefit until Taoism is spread to our cities, I am considering holding off switching to HR until a later date. Basically, I'm looking at spacing out our 2 turns of anarchy.

 

[Conroe]

Turn 120 - 125AD

Machinery comes in. I dial up both Epsilon and Aloha and send it to them. Not sure if we should ask for Construction and Literature this turn, or not. I decide not to. I figure it would probably be better to let them wait a bit longer. We have 8-14 turns left to deliver Construction to Aloha.



Aloha still does not have Meditation and I have seen only a single log message about any Great Scientist being born. To us of course! A certain Merit Ptah has been born in Treacle Cottage. And, Taoism is still available ... for the moment at least.

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Our promoted Axeman still has 6 turns remaining before he is fully healed. Meanwhile, Gepid's MP steps atop a hill to get a better look at that barb city.

A total of 3 barb Warriors. The question becomes, do we want to keep this city or raze it to put it in a better location. If it was coastal, it could pick up the fish. In its current location, with all of those hills and the wines, it could be a nice hybrid city.

Meanwhile, a barb Warrior is approaching Treacle Cottage. I move the city's lone defender, a 1xp Warrior to intercept before our corn farm gets pillaged. One of the Axemen heading towards the barb city is diverted to head towards TC. It will NOT reach the city in time if our Warrior loses to the barb.

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Our western Galley continues its cruise along the Hawaiian coastline. Meanwhile, Innovia's Warrior turns to the south. Our Warrior continues to head west.

Aloha's Galley, meanwhile, continues sailing towards our empire. I also note that Aloha has founded another city. Two cities in as many turns?

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Balderdash -> No changes. Forge due in 3 turns. The city will grow in 1 turn.

Hamburger -> Our lastest Spearman is trained and heads west. The city begins a Settler for the west coast fish and ivory spot. An engineer is hired, since the city will not be growing.

Treacle Cottage -> Now that our GS has been born, the 2 scientists are fired. The city is configured for max food. We are showing growth in 3 turns with 9 excess food.

Brilliant -> Food uber alles! This city is in limbo until we switch back to slavery. Once that happens, we can immediately whip the Granary for 2 pop. Once the city grows to size 6, the Forge can whipped for 3 pop. After that, a Library will need to be whipped. The city will grow to size 5 in 1 turn.

Gepid -> Rename the city to Twaddle. Otherwise, no changes. The city is still undefended. However, an Axeman from Hamburger will arrive in 2 turns.

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Taoism has been founded.

To quote somebody, "I love it when a plan comes together!"


Twaddle becomes the holy city for Taoism. I was hoping that would be the city, as I immediately send the Taoist Missionary to Hamburger. Hamburger, as our highest hammer city, will need to build a Monastery and get Missionaries out to all of our other cities. I'm thinking of its Settler first, though. Any thoughts?

I revolt to Taoism. No need keeping the founder a secret, since it will only be a secret to Loco. I also wanted to give everyone who wants to a chance to comment on my civics suggestion from last turn.

I wonder if Aloha is going to be upset?

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Epsilon's capital has grown to size 11. If we have to get in bed with someone, there is something to be said for climbing into bed with the top dog!

 

[killercane]

Taoism has been founded.

Whoo hoo!! This can only hurt our relationship with Aloha, but we had to do it.

RE Pacifism and HR- if we continue to build settlers and workers out of the capital for the next 5-10 turns or til we can spread our religion, we can do without them.

 

[Whomp]

I think relations may be strained with Aloha but honestly as they say "Epsilon is growing on us like foot fungus".

Nice work Conroe. Let's hope that barb warrior doesn't cause harm.

 

[Tubby Rower]

I would argue to keep Zapotec. It saves us a settler and I think that it's in an ok spot, although a coastal barb city would have been better. I don't think that the extra trade route (from coastal) and the immediate fish are enough to justify wasting a settler on moving it. The fish will eventually be in our borders.

 

[Conroe]

Turn 121 - 150AD

I accepted the tech trades from Epsilon, per the discussion in the strategic affairs thread. This has the effect of jumping us ahead, albeit temporarily, of both Aloha and Loco in terms of score.

I'm not convinced it is the right decision, though. We are basically obligated to forward Construction on to Aloha. Which means it will quickly be spread to the other two, as well. Hopefully, I won't forget to send it before pressing enter. According to the terms of the deal, we have 7-13 turns left to deliver. I'm not sure that we can delay that long, but this turn is at least delayable.

Interestingly enough, Aloha still does not have Meditation. I also note that Innovia has not received Machinery, yet.

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Our promoted Axeman still has 5 turns remaining before he is fully healed. Meanwhile, Gepid's MP takes out a barb Warrior for some free experience. Even though he had 100% odds, he does get banged up in the altercation.

The question of whether we want to keep the barb city of Zapotec is really a question of food. The city is surrounded, not only by wine, but hills and forest-covered tundra. Without the extra food, the production will never be used. Although, the city should make a pretty fair hybrid city.

For the time being, though, I think we should keep it around for the troop training opportunities.

Meanwhile, that barb Warrior has planted itself onto Treacle Cottage's corn supply. Our Warrior has 65% odds of winning. Those really aren't very good odds. But, I went for it anyway. And halfway through the battle, I was starting to regret the decision.

Pheww! That one was just a wee bit too close! Our boy picked up 3xp out of the deal! Didn't even know that was possible against barbs!

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Our western Galley continues its cruise along the Hawaiian coastline. Meanwhile, our Warrior continues to head west.

Aloha's Galley is under the fog, but I assume that it is still sailing towards our empire.

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Balderdash -> No changes. The city will grow in 1 turn.

Hamburger -> No changes.

Treacle Cottage -> No changes.

Brilliant -> No changes. The city will grow in 1 turn.

Twaddle -> No changes. The city is still undefended. However, an Axeman from Hamburger will arrive next turn.

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I revolt to Bureaucracy and Slavery. It is a 1 turn revolution. Once Taoism gets spread around a bit, we can revolt to HR and Pacifism for another turn. If we had done all 4 now, it would have been a 2 turn revolution. Not really saving any turns here, just spreading them out a bit.

Here is a comparison of our GNP before and after the switch:

Notice that we still trail Epsilon. They have a size 11 capital versus our size 6, which accounts for the bulk of the difference. Also reflected in the comparison, is the fact that our city does NOT yet have a Library. But, we did narrow the gap considerably and will continue to do so as the city grows.

 

[Tubby Rower]

wow.. shaved that one a bit close.

 

[Conroe]

One thing that I forgot to mention in my report ...

Christianity was founded. Since Theology isn't available in any of the trade screens, that means that Loco was the one to found it. It also means that Aloha is running out of options on acquiring their own religion. Islam is the only one left and Divine Right is one of those techs that doesn't have a lot else to offer.

 

[Tubby Rower]

can we fill this out yet?

buddism -
hindus - Innovia
jews -
taoism - us
confusionists - Epsilon
chrisitians - Loco
muslims - not founded yet

 

[Conroe]

Turn 122 - 175AD

We have 6-12 turns left to deliver Construction to Aloha. I also note that Aloha has finally acquired Meditation. It looks like swapping into Caste System was definitely not required. Ah, well ... that is the beauty of hindsight. I should also note that Aloha's capital has finally grown to size 6.

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Our promoted Axeman still has 4 turns remaining before he is fully healed. I'm going to let him heal for a couple more turns before sending him towards that barb city. Since he has 9/10xp, he can easily grab that last xp needed to allow us to build the Heroic Epic. With so many other cities to found, I have no plans of taking Zapotec anytime soon. It is free city maintenance and free troop training.

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Our western Galley continues its cruise along the Hawaiian coastline. Although, I'm probably going to have to start calling it our "northern" galley. Meanwhile, our Warrior continues to head west.

Aloha's Galley is under the fog, but I assume that it is still sailing towards our empire.

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Our Settler has arrived at the east coast food city site. The city of NeedaName is founded on the tundra hill and begins constructing a Granary.



Meanwhile, our Taoist Missionary has a change of heart regarding Hamburger. Instead he heads on to Balderdash. We need Workers and Settlers. I'd rather a capital be growing rather than stagnate.

In other news, the Piffle Winery opens up at Treacle Cottage.

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Balderdash -> No changes. The city will grow to size 7 next turn. Forge due in 2 turns. Taoist Missionary set to arrive in 2 turns.

Hamburger -> No changes. Settler (due in 5 turns) will be in 3 turns. He is destined for the west coast ivory spot.

Treacle Cottage -> No changes. The scientists have already been fired and the city is MM'ed for max growth.

Brilliant -> Changed build to a Granary and for 2 pop. The city will grow to size 3 next turn.

Twaddle -> No changes.

NeedaName -> City founded and begins a Granary. This city will need to have a Caravel chopped after Epsilon sends the tech over.

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Research on Paper was showing 10 turns until I Brilliant. It is now showing 11 turns. We'll get some of it back, though, as the city grows. We should probably coordinate with Epsilon on when they will have Optics completed. They cannot start Education until we send them Paper.