I've started to rethink the Palmy, mostly because I seem to get them in random a lot. The +.2 wood gathering (from .56 to .76/sec, a 36% increase!) makes a big difference in the dock first strat. Essentially, every three palmy woodcutters is a little better than 4 non-phoeny woodcutters. An example timeline:
At 0:20, you have 3 "locals" and and one guy headed for the shore. If you can find just 25 more food, you can build one more v. By 0:40, the 4th v pops out, my 3 locals have been able to return with some food (maybe a lion or gator) and the point man has started construction on a dock. All 4 locals grab the straggler trees. BTW, they chop as if they were 5.4 villagers. I am currently ahead of non-phoeny in wood collection. By 1:10, the next "local" appears. My 5 are the equivalent of 6.8 woodies, and if the stragglers hold out, I can wood pit. At around 1:30, my dock is done, a FB queues up and my dock builder makes a house. Around 1:50 my first boat is fishing, another one queued, and I almost have enough wood for the second dock without slowing the first docks production. It takes a little more than 3 Palmy woodcutters to support each dock. Somewhere around 2:10, the second dock begins, and I have 2 FBs. Shortly after 3:00, I have enough food for real villie # 7. 9 boats are required for non-stop v production, and I only have 7, so there is another 10-20 second lag between #7 and #8. Dock 3 can begin immediately upon completion of dock 2, but from then on, I can boom uninterrupted from TC and 3 docks until about the 7 minute mark, when I have to start saving food to click tool in the early 8's. I don't have to stop booming the boats, but I do have to find berries, or just set down a granary anywhere.
I have incurred a 2 minute v lag, or 6 v's, but still have accumulated at least 17 real v's (equivalent to 23 other civ woodchoppers) and have produced somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-45 boats, including 6 trade boats.
Food is usually setting at least 750 or so when tool completes (35 boats have a collection rate of around 300/minute, counting some travel time), and pulling all woodies to build tool bldgs lets you click Bronze by around 10:20, for a sub-13 bronze. Then power bronze and/or slingshot better civs to Iron with your free tribute.
Of course, when I am rushed there is a race to the sea, because that is where I have/can queue up 3-6 scount ships while running v's around non-stop.
The two parts of Palmy that bite: I can't really explore and wall with just one v, so the 2 v allocation really hits pretty hard. They don't explore 20% better, or build walls 20% better. Secondly, every v lost to lions or whatever is much more costly than to other civs, and they don't stand a chance against two lions, either.
Anyway, I've rambled on too long already.
Comments?
Keep your stick on the ice.