Sianic Entertainment Ltd.

[Sian]

Here goes nothing

*watchs nothing goes by*

crap

[Sian]

I believe it wise to have some combo of these Traits

Creative / Spiritual / Expansive / Philosophical

Maybe Hatty? always been one of my preferred Leaders in Singleplayer (which is my only point of reference)

on the terms of Civilization ...

Japan would probably be my first choice if it wasn't for the sub-par starting techs (but if we have a seafood start it'll raise quite a bit IMO)

Maybe Korea since the Hwacha should (at least in my theory) be a nice anti-stack offensive defender and Seawon is a free non-religion dependent, non-obsolveable Monestary rolled into the Uni which is likely to be built in 'many' cities

Or Maya for cheap massive Happiness in the ball court

[Ichabod]

Hey Sian,

dedicated lurker/alternative turn player checking in. Since you'll be the primary turn player, I think the final decisions should be yours. I'll just try to give some advice/help with whatever I can.

Initially, I guess you are pretty spot on with your desired traits. Fin, Exp and Cre are widely regarded as the best multiplayer traits around here. So, getting Suryavarman (exp/cre) would be a pretty good deal, if we get the first pick (he's likely to be the first one being picked). If we can't go for Surya, Hatty is actually a pretty nice choice, IMO. Being creative is very important in a no talking game, because border batles will be very common and it'll help a lot in defense (by putting neutral lands quickly under our control, for example). And spiritual will let you get out off slavery for quick amounts of time, which wouldn't be affordable otherwise (slavery is likely to be massive in this game).

If we are going for Hatty, it could be wise (or fail miserably) to risk taking a Civ first in the snakepick. I would question your suggestions, though. A maceman UU, while a pretty good one, replaces a unit that doesn't need to be much better. Macemen are grunt troops, to clean up after collateral. Samurai will die to shock Knights almost as easily as Macemen, so it's not that much of a boost (and the shale plant is completely useless).

As an aside, knights and muskets are way more useful in multiplayer then they are in single player. In a game where the tech will be slow (no talking for NAPs, emperor difficulty), they have a very big window of use. And mounted units are very important, because mobility is key in these games. So, a Knight/musket replacement could be a good choice. My first pick would probably be Byzantium, since Cataphracts are crazy good. Strenght 12 knights can tackle even Pikemen without much losses. From the musket replacements, France (2 move musket that can keep up with mounted stacks) and Janissaries (overall good unit, but especially because the hamman is a very good UB) would be my choices.

Another idea, based on the PBEM 18 from this site (a game with very similar settings), is getting Greece. The phalanx has no counter for a long time, so it could be a pretty useful unit for the eraly game wars. But I doubt this is more than theorycraft. Another early game interesting UU is the impi, that can be a real pain for the enemies, being able to choke/rush/annoy anyone that is unprepared. But the snakepick hurts the Zulus, because they fit so well with agressive/expansive, and I don't think we are going for Shaka.

Korea has a nice UB, albeit a bit late for a game with no talking. But the UU doesn't make much sense. Catapults are good for collateral, they don't need to win their battle to be effective. You use them to suicide. So, bonus gainst units doesn't make that much sense in a catapult. But I could be wrong, I'm not that experienced to know it, but I just can't see how. Ah, and it's worthless in defense, because if we get our catapult stack attacked, we are likely lost (and we would be attacked by mounted units, not meele, anyway).

Ah, just so you know, it was a bad game to start your multiplayer carreer :neenernee. We are playing against some serious competition. Novice/spaceman are two of the best players from this site, in my opinion. Mackoti is also very good and very agressive. Luddite and Nicolae are pretty good too (and also very agressive). So... Yeah, it's going to be hard.

If you have any questions about multiplayer, feel free to ask and I'll answer them as best as I can. I don't know that much, but I can give a little help here and there.

[Sian]

well ... at least in theory it should be possible to make short 10t NAPs by 'begging' 1g?'

Sury is legal? ... must have missed that one since it was a leader pulled as a possiblely banned one ... would be nice to have but 4'th on the list so likely not getting him, so lets just think him as off

Code:

Pick Order
1) luddite / pindicator
2) mackoti
3) novice / spacemanmf / sevenspirits
4) sian / ichabod
5) fierce
6) yuris (+ nicolae carpathia)

lets just go from the expectation that he's taken, would be much easier

how'd Sumeria handle? ... early Zig (priesthood, maybe making a push for Oracle if noone is choosing Industrious) and Vulture's which have a stronger base str.

Ottomans could be nice as well with Janis, trying to get Gunpowder early

that its going to be a hard game means 2 things ... it'll be very possible to learn loads, and i can only surprise positively

[Ichabod]

Well, Ziggurats aren't very useful in the "normal" game settings (noble difficulty), so if there's a game where they'd work, this is certainly it. Of course, we should think if we would be buildind corthouses so early that the ziggs would be helpful. I'm inclined to say that we wouldn't, since there'll be more valuable things to build during the early game. But I'm not too thrilled by vultures. They are early swordsman with some differences, so they work against AI. But we won't be seeing much passive archer defense and they are actually worst against axemen...

If we want a courthouse replacement, I was willing to try the aztecs. The sacrificial altar bonus gets slightly nerfed in quick speed, but it would help us to whip/draft a good army. The jaguars can be a nice choke unit, if the opponent is slow in cutting the jungle/forests, since they can get Woodsman 2 with a barracks.

But we'll see. With the 4th pick, maybe going Byzantium first could be nice... Lots and lots of possibilities, that's for sure.

[Sian]

never liked Jags so ...

[Kyan]

If you want, i could maybe be a half-assed ded lurker. I won't post in here much but i'm on gmail chat a lot and happy to give opinion/thoughts or act as a soundboard etc.

[Commodore]

Your start (everyone gets a scout and warrior):



The settings:



Snake pick away!

[Sian]

either start with Hunting or Hunting as first tech

Settleing 1e seems the way to go (gains deer instantly and Fish in second), going Worker first

Picks have been Sury, Pericles as of yet ... guess Creative is going to be a contested trait so unless She's taken by Novice and Gang i'll take Hatty when our turn comes around

[Sian]

okay then ... returning to the question of civs

my options are (unlisted order)

Byzans, which have a great Knight replacement (and since we can't revolt cities with spies they aren't able to go at their fullest force since they have to slug Siege with them), but my question hangs on if i'm able to get there in time or i'll crash and burn before, under pressure, and IMO Hippodrome is fairly meh, specially since its a UB of a building that i'm unlikely to build to much since i'm creative and have less need of the culture

Ottomans would have Jani's which would be able to demolish everything earlier than themselves, and Hammam is a flat +2 Happiness, nothing bad, but again, the question is if i'm still alive at that point

On to Sumeria, i seem to remember someone theorycrafting over at Civfanatics that the higher defensive bonuses the defender have (after everything is calculated), the better the Vulture is against Axes, that and Vultures is stronger against everything but Axes, due to their higher Base str, and early Zigs (which is even ever so slightly cheaper than normal Courthouses) could help keep the stream up, and if the map says so, let me stall CoL since its less important to take

Greece while having the argubly best defense axe seems fairly lackluster since its a purely defensive buff and as Creative the UB (which primary sale is the +culture and +1happy) seems less usefull

Any Civs i forgot and should think about possibles?