[SPOILERS] Iskender and the Sidar

[fantasticsid]

Passive xp units can eventually be really handy. No ideas for the early/mid game though, beyond the obvious of running xp civics.

Priests are good - if you go with a decent religion, they double as halfway useful defenders as well, and they get a boost from each stage of the altar (levels of the altar are IMO more useful than settling spare great prophets.) Since "wane" only works on living units, OO probably isn't a great pick for a religion because most of their religious line are undead or demonic.

Apprenticeship is obviously good, conquest is incredibly situational due to the build-with-food thing. I would imagine in an MP game that there's going to be a race to Form of the Titan because nobody wants the Sidar to have it.

[Iskender]

And priests is exactly what I have in mind. I've decided on the religion as well.

Post #2 updated with Into the Mist and Settled Specialists info.

[Iskender]

Immortal
Quick
No Tech Trading
Raging Barbs
Wildlands
Living World
All Unique Features
Acheron pre-placed

A few words on the settings:

Immortal + Raging Barbs + Wildlands = a lot of experience to gain and a very tough early game for some of us. A worker-warrior opening might be risky. A lot of XP means more Shades early on, but also more promotions on enemy units.

All Unique Features and Acheron pre-placed: this sounds like the map has been heavily edited to give players equal chances vs Acheron, OR the dragon has been moved to some remote island.

[haphazard1]

Thanks for the updates to post #2. I am curious why you do not seem to be valuing settled GEs after the early game. At 4 hammers each, 6 with God King, adding a few of these to your capital will have you building almost anything you want in next to no time. Add Industrious for wonders and you could spam out any wonder you can reach the tech for.

I can certainly see the benefit of some GM and GS as well, but a big chunk of additional hammers can be extremely powerful.

[Mr. Yellow]

It takes some turns till animals starts popping up and barbs getting decent amounts i believe. Only really early threats are goblins spawning at the beginning. Not to mention warriors gets produced ridicolously fast. I'd put my finger on worker start even with those features on.

[Tatan]

It doesn't have a tech requirement so it's possible to pull a crazy stunt on turn 0, make the starting settler invisible and move him to the other end of the map making a mess out of starting positions.

DO THIS! You know you want to. :D

[uberfish]

[Iskender]

I am curious why you do not seem to be valuing settled GEs after the early game. At 4 hammers each, 6 with God King, adding a few of these to your capital will have you building almost anything you want in next to no time.

That's because I have something that Pb would probably call 'an upgrade fetish'. GM gives 7gc and 1 food. If that 1 food is used to feed half of a merchant specialist GM gives 9 gc before modifiers and 22,5gc with God King palace and the Bazaar. That's about 11 hamers worth of upgrades, compared to GE's 6. I am going to settle GEs in cities but only enough to be able to train one low-end upgradable unit a turn.

It takes some turns till animals starts popping up and barbs getting decent amounts i believe. Only really early threats are goblins spawning at the beginning. Not to mention warriors gets produced ridicolously fast. I'd put my finger on worker start even with those features on.

I'm mostly worried about lizardman Ruins, if there are none in sight and there are many improvable tiles in the BFC I might go worker first.

DO THIS! You know you want to. :D

Oooh don't tempt me cause I might actually do it

[Iskender]

The grassland hill between the flood plains look like a good spo... REMNAN- what could that be???

[Iskender]

Had to switch out of Pacifism so I decided to get some visibility around Patria:



Patria is on a desert, more deserts around it and a lot of water tiles. Not worth it. I'm moving to the original spot and settling next turn. (EDIT: or moving NE-N to grab that hills deer - it's 1/3/0 unimproved, good!)

There is only one goblin at the fort, not seven! Thanks uberfish Means that Clans' world spell won't be uber-awesome, just plain awesome.

Score says that Bob is also looking for a better site. Every civ started with two warriors, except one that got a warrior and a scout. Could be Luchuirp - two dwarven warriors are quite powerful with their double movement on hills.