As to the leader, I suppose I should enlighten the dear lurkers 
.
Originally I was thinking of something along the lines of Phi for cheap Elder councils, combined with Arc for good Shamans (buildings and civics don't affect the warrened unit, but traits do), and if there is one thing I've learnt it's that getting Mages is damned hard, and they sure do come in useful. I figured that Potency would be rather useful in getting Shamans up to scratch, and Phi would be good to get half price elder councils in all my cities so minimal help is needed to get them productive.
Then it got pointed out to me that markets might actually be a bit better, and it's true if you are spamming settlers to an extent, because you'll be losing gold at max slider, so markets are going to be better without multiplier buildings which I'm going to be lacking in simply because of the extra output a market gives compared to an elder council. And Fin is a better trait IMO, especially for a civ that is designed around working as many tiles as possible. So I dropped Phi and added Fin. Fin/Arc, though, doesn't exist, but AGG gives a promotion to all units that I want to build - melee, disciple, arcace, mounted, but especially recon.
Wait, recon? Why recon?
Because goblins, a CoE unique unit, crappy at 2 strength and only 1 move, can be upgraded to a wolf rider, a cool strength 4, 3 move unit if they simply beat a wolf. Without any other tech needs. And Goblins can get Subdue animal with 5XP and Animal Husbandry researched, but due to AGG, I'd only need 2 XP. 2XP, a tech I might need early on anyway, and a wolf, and thanks to the mapscript there should be some tundra around for early wolf spawns. So it is possible to get a strength 4, subdue animal unit by t30.
Hmmm, aren't goblins a bit weak though? Like, they die quite easily. Yes, yes they do. And I start behind the tech pace, down one tech. I'm intending to just push out a few before a worker - it's not like the worker is going to have a lot to do, is it?
So, that's my leader sorted. Kandros Fir, but I forgot something. He has a third trait. Ingenuity, and what a useful trait for me that is. Half price upgrades aren't something I'm going to sneeze at, but starting with 50 gold when I'm already 1 tech behind, well, that just means I need to find a way to turn gold into beakers, right. I think I can figure that out somehow.
So, there you have it, I got 3 routes to victory. True half price units, fake hunters, and food>gold conversion. Hopefully at least 1 of them works out.
Also, I hope for the Sheaims sake they don't start next to me. When I can build a warrior for 8 hammers, pyre zombies must start looking slightly less appealing.
.Originally I was thinking of something along the lines of Phi for cheap Elder councils, combined with Arc for good Shamans (buildings and civics don't affect the warrened unit, but traits do), and if there is one thing I've learnt it's that getting Mages is damned hard, and they sure do come in useful. I figured that Potency would be rather useful in getting Shamans up to scratch, and Phi would be good to get half price elder councils in all my cities so minimal help is needed to get them productive.
Then it got pointed out to me that markets might actually be a bit better, and it's true if you are spamming settlers to an extent, because you'll be losing gold at max slider, so markets are going to be better without multiplier buildings which I'm going to be lacking in simply because of the extra output a market gives compared to an elder council. And Fin is a better trait IMO, especially for a civ that is designed around working as many tiles as possible. So I dropped Phi and added Fin. Fin/Arc, though, doesn't exist, but AGG gives a promotion to all units that I want to build - melee, disciple, arcace, mounted, but especially recon.
Wait, recon? Why recon?
Because goblins, a CoE unique unit, crappy at 2 strength and only 1 move, can be upgraded to a wolf rider, a cool strength 4, 3 move unit if they simply beat a wolf. Without any other tech needs. And Goblins can get Subdue animal with 5XP and Animal Husbandry researched, but due to AGG, I'd only need 2 XP. 2XP, a tech I might need early on anyway, and a wolf, and thanks to the mapscript there should be some tundra around for early wolf spawns. So it is possible to get a strength 4, subdue animal unit by t30.
Hmmm, aren't goblins a bit weak though? Like, they die quite easily. Yes, yes they do. And I start behind the tech pace, down one tech. I'm intending to just push out a few before a worker - it's not like the worker is going to have a lot to do, is it?
So, that's my leader sorted. Kandros Fir, but I forgot something. He has a third trait. Ingenuity, and what a useful trait for me that is. Half price upgrades aren't something I'm going to sneeze at, but starting with 50 gold when I'm already 1 tech behind, well, that just means I need to find a way to turn gold into beakers, right. I think I can figure that out somehow.
So, there you have it, I got 3 routes to victory. True half price units, fake hunters, and food>gold conversion. Hopefully at least 1 of them works out.
Also, I hope for the Sheaims sake they don't start next to me. When I can build a warrior for 8 hammers, pyre zombies must start looking slightly less appealing.