[SPOILERS] yuris125 the dueller, round 1 - vs 2metraninja

[yuris125]

We're the champions. Yes, I just said "we" about myself

[yuris125]

All duellers, please do not read this post!

I will mostly talk about the first round duel in this thread. A single thread for all duels would probably be too confusing. However, since this is the first round, there are some general things to say as well

First of all, let's have a look at the group

Mackoti
Catwalk
2metraninja
yuris125

I don't know how 2metraninja plays, it's going to be his first game at RB. However, I think it's safe to expect that Mackoti will not just 3-0 this group, but tear most opponents apart. The rest of us will be fighting for the 2nd place. Catwalk is a decent player, but I think I have a good chance against him. So, winning against 2metraninja will give me an excellent shot at finishing 2nd, and maybe even giving Mackoti a good fight for the 1st

I spent some time looking at traits today to determine my leader choices. Here are 5 leaders I plan to use in the perfect scenario

Group stage:
Spi/Phi - Gandhi
Imp/Org - Julius Caesar
Agg/Cha - Boudica

Play-off:
Exp/Ind - Bismarck
Fin/Cre - Willem

Of course, using these leaders will depend on the tournament situation. If I lose to 2metraninja, I may decide to use Exp against Catwalk to improve my chances of getting out of the group. Losing the group stage because of sub-par traits and never using superior traits would be stupid

The next questions is, which civs to use, and which leader to use against who

Mackoti, I think, is stronger than I am in an economic game. So the best chance of beating him is to take the aggressive combo and try to win early. Boudica of Rome will be my pick against him

On the other had, I expect to beat Catwalk in an economic game. I didn't see him being aggressive early, so Imp seems to be the right trait against him. Imp/Org is probably the weakest leader combo amongst my choices, but it can be nicely complemented by a good Courthouse-replacing UB. Julius Caesar of Holy Rome is the planned pick

Finally, 2metraninja is an unknown, so I think a solid pick which works well against most strategies will be the right one. Gandhi is definitely a solid leader. Spi allows easy switch between Slavery for whipping defences, Caste System for producing great people, and Nationhood for drafting. I want a draftable UU, and I expect 2-movers to be extremely strong on a tiny map. Thus, Gandhi of France

[Mist]

Random.org says you're second in turn order so here's a screenshot of your start as requested



The difficulty is Noble since 2metra mentioned that and you did not declare a preference. The save is with him already. Check that everything ( techs, units, settings etc. ) is in order and good luck.

[yuris125]

Thanks a lot, Mist!

I guess start will be Warrior 1W, and SIP unless there's something amazing. I start with Agri and Wheel, and opening with Mining-BW is probably the right choice. Obviously Worker first. Pity both food resources are dry, but +9 food is nice anyway, especially for a Phi leader

Another option is moving 2NW and settling on the plains hill. It's probably too much of a risk though, unless I know there's a 2nd food resource there too. Also it will depend on 2metraninja's opening: if he doesn't SIP, I might risk moving too

[yuris125]

2metraninja is playing Cyrus (Imp/Cha) of Mongolia (Hunting, Wheel, Keshik, Ger)

Charismatic Mongolia... nasty

Good news:
He starts with Hunting, so I can open Worker first much more confidently
He needs to research Agriculture before beelining HBR
BW is much earlier in the tree than HBR

Bad news:
I need to build a lot of Spears
Keshiks can get Shock out of the gate
I need my own 2-movers to fight Keshiks, otherwise they will go around front-line cities and wreak havoc
HBR doesn't help to reach either Nationalism or Gunpowder, the key techs for me

We'll see how it plays out. Not sure about synergy between Imp and Cha. Maybe he wants to build as many Settlers as possible built before HBR and Archery are in, then switch to Gers and Keshiks

The game will probably revolve around whether I will be able to get the right number of Spears before he gets Keshiks

[yuris125]

We played exciting 85 turns today. Just need to sort through the screenshots and write down what happened

[yuris125]

T0

Following the plan, I moved the Warrior 1W



2metraninja didn't settle on T0, so I was free to move onto the plains hill if I wanted to. However, I didn't want to move away from visible food, and tile bleed looked like there was desert next to the hill. After thinking for a few minutes, I SIPped

T5

The first turns of scouting were quite interesting



I sure was glad I didn't move the Settler - the plains hill is decidedly weaker. Those juicy flood plains promised exciting future

I researched Mining-BW first, building Worker-Warrior-Worker-Settler

T12

BW was discovered (research is really fast on a tiny map), and I was even more glad I settled in place



T17

More scouting. Paris is building Barracks for a turn to grow to 3 before starting the 2nd Worker



T19

The scouting Warrior met Mongolian Scout on the hill 2E of the clams and killed him

[yuris125]

T27

Without drawing much of a dotmap, I decided to found the 2nd city 1N of the oasis. I wanted to start utilising my Phi trait as soon as possible, and a spot which has fresh water, captures most of flood plains, and is close to the capital looked perfect to me



I was constantly behind 2metraninja in land area in the early game, so I think he went for more spread out cities. But I prefer building early cities close to each other lately

T31

AH in. Horses nearby - nice!



Don't tell me I should've researched Hunting before AH if I needed it - I know! But I didn't realise Hunting was required for Spears

The 3rd city was going to go 1SW of the horses and be the production centre. Getting ahead of myself, there's also iron 1W of that spot

T32

Scouting in the south. The mirror line is clearly visible



The Warrior is going to meet an Archer in a few turns and die

T35

More scouting



T50

Empire overview



In this screenshot you can see that I founded Hinduism, and almost finished researching Priesthood. 2metraninja built Stonehenge some time around T40, so I knew he had Mysticism, and thought he was going to immediately go the Oracle route. When I didn't get a religion founding message in the next few turns however, I started to think about going for Oracle myself. I didn't plan for it, but I felt I could do it. So after finishing Mathematics, I went for Mysticism-Polytheism, grabbed the religion, and by T50 had Priesthood almost done, and 2 Workers in position for chops (can't see them in the screenshot, but I promise I did put 2 chops into the Oracle )

I landed Oracle on T55, and grabbed Currency

[yuris125]

T63

A lot happened in the last 13 turns. Apart from Oracling Currency, I added 3 more cities, researched Iron Working, and am on the verge of founding Judaism



I'm also building an assortment of units - Axes, Spears, Chariots - because I'm preparing to settle a city which is going to be a huge annoyance for 2metraninja

T75

Here is the city of Chartres, founded 3 turns ago



It is just over the mirror line, and it makes the corn and sheep on Mongolian side much more difficult to get. Maybe I founded it too early: the path to it is not roaded yet, so reinforcements can be a problem. But I saw 2metraninja roading towards this area, and was certain I had to act quickly if I was to get this spot

Initially I had 2 Axes and 3 Spears ready to defend it. 2metraninja's stack is displayed, so I had just one extra unit. I also had reinforcements being produced everywhere, but without a road 1-movers needed 3-4 turns to get to the city

Fortunately, I managed to sneak a missionary into the city, so 2metraninja knew he had to do something before the border pop. We danced units around, then 2metraninja started moving his stack towards Tours



This was when I knew I held the city. Tours had enough Workers around to chop 4 forests into instant Axes. With nearby Rheims also producing 2 turn Axes, and a stream of reinforcements from backline cities, I knew there was no chance for 2metraninja to do any harm. 3 turns later, he retreated

I just realised I didn't capture screenshot at the end of the session. Here are overview shots from T79

The empire. Note the popped gold near Paris



The south, still mostly unsettled



Demos



My economy is not in the best shape. Without Wealth builds, I'm only getting +11gpt at 0%. Fortunately, I have some nice production cities where I can build Wealth. Otherwise, things are looking good

I also have 2 Great Scientists waiting for their moment, with the 3rd on the way. I want to research Civil Serivce, then bulb Paper and Education, Lib Nationalism, research Gunpowder, and go for the win. For now, I'm going to chop the forests around Chartres into units, hold the north at Chartres and Tours, and settle the south as much as possible

Keshiks still didn't show up, so I will need to watch out for them. But I think my frontline cities should be able to produce enough units for defence

All in all, I think I have an advantage at the moment

[novice]

Nice play and nice narrative. Fun to see 80 turns of MP play in one report.