[BTS] What's next for my Zulu?

[Jellybug]

Hi guys,

I've been focusing on limiting cities to their power tiles and planning expansion a few steps ahead. It was going fine until right about now, when I find myself with a settler I'm not sure what to do with, and another on the way. It's 725BC, with Monty to my Southwest, DeGaulle to my direct South (seperated by sea, joined by land bridges), and Saladin to my North, with some contested land SW and SE.

Edit: settings are Emperor/Fractal/Normal

Spoiler Southwest meh site, lacking IW or hill defense :

Spoiler The Southeast :

I'm looking for general advice. Eight turns ago, I thought between Monty, Alex (met by his workboat), and Degaulle, enough people would have teched Iron Working that I could trade Alpha for it. I was wrong. So I'm stuck here weighing this question:

Should I
a)I settle here now, expecting IW to be tradeable soon (I'm guessing no)
b) settle the hill 2 tiles SW and brace for suicidal Monty
c) wait in place and settle once I have IW or once I see a settler party (maybe)
d) move the settler to the southeast, planning to settle the cows first (immediately useful production and blocking site), then the rice and gems with the second settler coming, then take the barb city with some axes.

I'm inclined to d)delaying southwestern expansion, moving the settler to the southeast, and staking that gem land for myself, even if it means letting monty or deGaulle close the gap to my capital (on a hill btw) by taking the SW fish site, because that will delay border tensions until I'm ready for battle.

The other question I have is grander. What now? With no pyramids (haven't gone yet, but the start felt too cramped to build them myself), no financial, and not a lot of cottageable land, I think the answer is a mid-game war. But I'm not sure whether to use Horse Archers, Knights, or Cuirassiers, or do it slow with Mace/Treb.

Here's the tech picture:

Spoiler Tech :

And my land Northwest, for good measure.

Spoiler NW lands :

My gut says research currency, settle the gem areas SE, and plan for a cuirassier bust on seven or eight cities. What are your thoughts?

Much love,
Jelly

Edit: Pay no attention to the useless workboat my capital is making. I started it thinking of scouting, then found that this was a lake last turn. I'll give you a pair of red slippers if you just let it slide

 

[lymond]

Save would help. Also, knowing your settings and difficulty.

 

[Jellybug]

Save would help. Also, knowing your settings and difficulty.

Save is attached. I use the BUG mod but I'm not sure whether the save will work on other people's computers, as I've never uploaded a save before.

 

[lymond]

Well, not too bad really. I like your city spots for the most part. Nob settled away from the wheat, but since it is your only viable cottage city it can be overlooked with focus on the cottages early.

My one technical pointer here is some of your worker management. The roads to the East seem irrelevant to me when you still have plenty to do and plenty to chop.

GLH would work well here. Hard to say if there is still time but I would have put a priority on it earlier. Ulundi, Bul, and uM are candidates to build it with LH having some use in each. Each could two pop on LH into GLH. Bul has the most forests, Ulundi has one and some production. uM has the best natural production and one forest chop..but galley needed.

Mycenian looks interesting. I'd have my eye on that, plus I see at least 3 potential spots over there, including a city to grab stone. Interesting landmass to the NW ..possible island..would be really nice with GLH.

For banana/rice/fish, you might consider settling on the banana. Yeah, it kills banana as outright food, but in the short term you don't have to improve it, plus it does add 1F to city center. And 2 hill later on for production. But another nice thing is it creates a canal on that side of this crazy inland sea, so your scout workboat now has a purpose. (and you can keep those red slippers..ugh)

If you were thinking about Elepults here, I think that is a good idea. Probably target Sal. You might consider bulbing Maths here since academy is not necessarily all that great with low commerce, though GLH could change that. However, you might be able to trade for it sooner than that...doubtful..but maybe, and ..well...not sure it would speed up things that much since you should finish HBR before 10 turns. Or just use Currency as placeholder for a bit after HBR until the GS pops. Elepults should be strong here for some time.

IW could open up to you any moment now. Maybe Alex.

DeG is about to finish Alpha though..you can just gift it to him this turn.

I like to promote at least 1 barb busting warrior along the Woody line...might make good super medic later.

 

[sampsa]

Yeh, overall not bad at all. Some nitpicks: a bit too many workers, way too many roads, not enough chopping, capital sugar cottage would've been a priority for me. Why not take fur from Saladin btw? Road to Saladin for trade routes... A bit poor planning to be building settlers and not knowing what to do with them. That jungle nana-rice city... Why not put fish to the first ring as it's available. Of course you could've built the boat from a different city in advance... What to do with the next settler? Well there is a fish up north, just remember to build the work boat in advance.

 

[Anysense]

I'd settle with fish and forest in first ring - much faster development. No need to be afraid of Monty when copper and ivory are at hand, just keep a scout in his land to see if the danger is coming. Keep settling near the best food available.

I don't think its HBR next, you dond't need it without construction (for war elephants). Math and then Construction, perhaps, insert Currency before Construction because you are going to have some 10 cities before you start any wars.

 

[Jellybug]

Thank you all for the help. You are a marvelous lot, and the games I've played since joining this forum are going into the top part of my hall of fame. Winning more, and even 50-75 turns earlier thanks to you.