[Spoilers] Commodore as Darius of the HRE

[Commodore]

Butt out, all ye other players who click'd here.







Random image (and dropbox tester):



I hereby hope Gaspar gives me SILVAR and GOLD.









...thoughts to follow.

[Commodore]

Well, first of all, thoughts on my own pick, Darius of the Holy Roman Empire.

Darius I (fin/org) is an odd bird. I thought of all the games here only PBEM 4 had the guy, until of course I recalled that Nakor/DMOC in PB2 had the exact same combination. Ah well, it's a strong combination. No Pacal of Inca, but eh. The HRE's synergy is fairly obvious, naturally, but I honestly kind of regretted my choice as soon as I made it. Ragnar of Zulu would have had almost the same REX sustainability and a good deal less wimpy military. Tech is going to be important for me, especially Engineering, less for the so-so UU, more for the good road network for big-empire defense. Of course, the map could be kind to me and give me plenty of coastal/island city sites, where cheap lighthouses and financial coasts let me ICS to my heart's content.

As mentioned above, my main worry this game will be military. I have never played MP Civ before, so forget good C&D (hint, hint, dedlurker slot) and wise tactical movements. I also don't have time for WB sims unlike some of the guys here. I know humans will play smart and play to win, I'm just going to have to figure this out as I go along.

Once Mr. Nice Guy picks his civ I'll go through the other player's leader/civ combos and then I'll begin formulating blind strategies that I expect to promptly discard once the game actually starts flowing.

[Piet]

v8mark plays Darius of HRE in PBEM15, if you need another reference ;-).

But if you deduct something from his threads, please put it into spoilers. as I intend to lurk here now and then and I am also playing in PBEM15.

[Commodore]

Ah! Thanks, Piet. I couldn't call myself an unspoiled dedlurker of you there, because I know the map from 14, but you've been the only one I've been following in 15. I appreciate the regular updates.

[Sven]

Hey there, I'll dedlurk for C&D if you'll have me.

No real qualifications for it but I can promise you I'll do my best. :D!

[Commodore]

Sven, welcome to the team! Only caveat is that you're officially blamed if we lose. In all seriousness, I'd appreciate the help.

[Commodore]

Righto, thoughts on the other folks.


Mr. Nice Guy, who shall henceforth be know as MNG, is Hatshepsut (Spi/Cre) of France, which...actually, doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Well, I mean I do see the starting techs being pretty good, but Sumeria actually has a vaguely useful UB. UU is nice but that's going to be a heckuva short window for use unless the tech tree is being climbed really oddly. Hatty is really nice, she was pick #4 in my mental list of leaders, although the lack of Financial might prove rather painful. Only creative means borders ought to be fairly secure, and spiritual is a huge asset once more choices get rolling. The Pyramids will be rather attractive to this civ, if at possible to build. A well-run specialist economy would seem to be in order, as well as early Caste/Rep and Slavery/HR switching.

MNG claims he's not really for the huge diplo side of MP (although there's no Krill ramming through tech trades this time), so he probably would appreciate short-and-to-the-point messages. Ideally, diplo should be focused on early pressure tapering off before the dangerous (if short) gunpowder period. The temptation to ally with the Ottomans is probably being kicked around, for Jans/Muskee fun. He could prove me wrong, but I'm not putting MNG on the high-threat list.


Next up is yuri/Maestro with Huyana Cupac (Fin/Ind) of the Ottomans. Good ole' HC was my first choice in my mental list, although I figured he'd be snapped up before I got to pick. The usual awesomeness of Financial with the wonder-hogging (and forge-cheapening) Industrious? Yes please. The Ottomans are what I'd consider strictly second-tier, with a nice but not special UU and and a fairly ho-hum UB. Nice starting techs though. Still, the wonders...ugh. I really hate competing with Ind, especially Ind that need borders popped. Stonehenge is going to be a bit of a challenge, though I'd dearly love it. Beyond that, Oracle-to-Metal Casing is going to feature prominently in their calculations, I'm certain.

The two players are kind of voids to me, seem to be competent and reasonable. We'll just have to see how the diplo goes to get a better feel for them.


Team Werewolf (GES,Roland, Ichabod, scooter(?), Krill(???)) are Mansa Musa (Fin/Spi) of Egypt. This is a very solid pick, if not overly synergistic. War Chariots are scary, Obelisks can be nice if you know how to use 'em (and I'm sure at least one of this crew does). Another contender for Stonehenge, if not nearly as likely to get it. The powerful C&D gremlins will no doubt be steering them, either way. I expect these guys to start strong and confident behind WC, and keep going strong as Spiritual comes into its own.

The players are an odd assortment, but there's enough talent there to really scare me. I'm thinking Krill and scoot are just advising them main turn players, but they should be aggressive irregardless. I don't expect to get rushed unless I really screw the pooch, but I don't want to start near these guys. Friendly diplo is key, and I honesty think they will respond well to kindness. Just never show weakness.


Finally, Rananmar and Lew, Bismark (Exp/Ind) of Mali. Man I hate them for that pick. Industrious Mints, cheap workers...not to mentoin another set of wonder thieves. Eh, it was a smart pick, but darned if I'll be happy about it. The skirmishers shouldn't be a major issue unless Lew really pushes, but still, I don't want to get into choking fights with them.

Rananmar seems like a cautious, good, friendly player. We'll have to see how his dedlurker effects his normal (purportedly) peaceful outlook.

[Sven]

I don't think there's any way to pretend that we don't have the slowest start of this bunch. Three of our opponents get AGI/WHL as starting techs, the other is the only EXP leader, with WHL/MIN as techs. We've got strike one as the only civ with hunting, strike two as the only civ with mysticism, and strike three with no early UU. Deer in the BFC would be a godsend, although I don't think the mapmaker will be so generous. I think a coastal start is probably okay for us, even though it'll probably be the trickiest to actually play out.

War Chariots & Skirmishers are scary scary units that will maul us if we're unprepared, and the other two have uniques that kick in just as our economy does... Hopefully we can setup an empire good enough to blaze past the musket era and into rifles. :D.

We're going to have a very scary first 100 turns. :P. As long as we're remotely competitive landwise when the end of the medieval era rolls around, I think we'll be okay.

The Great Lighthouse feels like it could be really good for us, cheap lighthouses+financial/organized means we don't actually mind whipping them in and working the coasts. Hell, we can pack in our cities like rats in a cage and pretend our sea tiles are fresh river cottages. :P. Strategy of course though, is completely your call here. .

[Sven]

As an aside, do we want a junk email account to receive the save so that you can save me the trouble of nagging you for screenies? Make the name count if so. :P.

[Krill]

Team Werewolf (GES,Roland, Ichabod, scooter(?), Krill(???)) are Mansa Musa (Fin/Spi) of Egypt. This is a very solid pick, if not overly synergistic. War Chariots are scary, Obelisks can be nice if you know how to use 'em (and I'm sure at least one of this crew does). Another contender for Stonehenge, if not nearly as likely to get it. The powerful C&D gremlins will no doubt be steering them, either way. I expect these guys to start strong and confident behind WC, and keep going strong as Spiritual comes into its own.

The players are an odd assortment, but there's enough talent there to really scare me. I'm thinking Krill and scoot are just advising them main turn players, but they should be aggressive irregardless. I don't expect to get rushed unless I really screw the pooch, but I don't want to start near these guys. Friendly diplo is key, and I honesty think they will respond well to kindness. Just never show weakness.

I'm not playing...