Leader / Civ selection

[scooter]

I'm addicted to Cataphracts. What techs does Byzantium start with?

Darrell

Wheel/Myst. Pretty awful.

[Lord Parkin]

I'm addicted to Cataphracts. What techs does Byzantium start with?

Darrell

A mixed bag... Wheel/Mysticism. Slow compared to the Agri/Mining/Wheel combinations.

No love for Egypt or China yet?

[Shoot the Moon]

I'm a fan of Egypt. Good starting techs, and I think a better UU than either Mali or ottomans. The UBs for all three for me come out being nice but not really decisive either way--extra happy really just means building a couple less cheap MP defenders as with cottage spam I suspect we'll be in HR for a good long while.

[pindicator]

A mixed bag... Wheel/Mysticism. Slow compared to the Agri/Mining/Wheel combinations.

No love for Egypt or China yet?

I've got China first. After PB7 I've fallen in love with the CKN all over again -- and what's not to like about starting Ag/Mining?

[Lord Parkin]

I would love to see what we could do with CKN's. Not to mention it's a unique and powerful starting tech combo.

A question to ask ourselves: are we really likely to research Pottery before Bronze Working? If not, Mining is probably a preferable starting tech to The Wheel. (Though it's nice for early Chariots, especially with Egypt.)

[Gold Ergo Sum]

A question to ask ourselves: are we really likely to research Pottery before Bronze Working? If not, Mining is probably a preferable starting tech to The Wheel. (Though it's nice for early Chariots, especially with Egypt.)

We have Pacal, so getting granaries up ASAP would be a higher priority than usual.

[Lord Parkin]

Granaries before Bronze Working though? When we only have our capital city (or maybe 1 extra)? I'm not so sure.

Heh, if only we could have three starting techs...

[Shoot the Moon]

Yeah, I agree with LP, BW will likely come before pottery. You need some way to get granaries built--either chops or whips.

That being said, I'm not entirely sure even the starting techs tip the scale for China.

[Sullla]

Cho Ko Nus are not very good against anyone who knows what they're doing. Yes, they're pretty sweet when you can double-move and ensure they attack first. In more practical terms, they come at a terrible time on the tech tree for offensive warfare, don't do well against cities, and get shredded to pieces by knights. CKNs are not valued very highly in MP at all. China is always picked for starting techs, and while those are outstanding, we can get more value in a completely unrestricted field of choices.

I talked briefly about this with Speaker, and he likes Ottomans best, followed by Egypt second best. I strongly suggest focusing discussion on one of these civs, and dropping the interest in China/Sumeria. (Sumeria is REALLY bad. Don't even consider this civ.)

[novice]

I prefer Egypt over Ottomans, the only downside I see with Egypt is painting an even bigger target on our backs.