Leader / Civ selection

[pindicator]

We'll have to get a vote tally, but that's a win-win situation for a civ. HRE is a late-game pick. Early on it's horrible starting techs and a situation where if you go worker first you can be stuck twiddling your thumbs waiting for something for your worker to do. Very much a trap civ for this reason.

But if they get the opportunity to catch up in the mid game and land a few corporations then the Rauthaus could start to shine. The problem for them is getting there, but maybe a combination of diplomacy and espionage can do it. I just wouldn't want to gamble like that with a civ choice.

[Nicolae Carpathia]

Okay, I've been convinced towards Egypt. EXP/Ag/Wheel is a blindingly fast start. The only concern is that Ag/Mining is slightly better on Normal speed than Quick speed, as chops are nerfed on Quick.

[SevenSpirits]

Okay, I've been convinced towards Egypt. EXP/Ag/Wheel is a blindingly fast start. The only concern is that Ag/Mining is slightly better on Normal speed than Quick speed, as chops are nerfed on Quick.

That's true. The bigger factor though is that on a natural map, chops are even more important because most starts have the every-tile-forested bug going on which means you can't even build basic non-resource improvements before chopping. I don't expect Plako to give us such a start.

[Amelia]

Speed doesn't change the fact that Egype has pretty much everything it needs to explode early. Voting for it as well.

[darrelljs]

Man that HRE pick was nice. I love the Darius team not getting them.

Darrell

[Cyneheard]

Man that HRE pick was nice. I love the Darius team not getting them.

Darrell

And I'm underwhelmed by Mehmed. Who they'll presumably take.

[pindicator]

And I'm underwhelmed by Mehmed. Who they'll presumably take.

I'll take Mehmed in an archipelago game with FIN banned any day!

[T-hawk]

Has Zulu been considered at all? The Ikhanda is actually as cost-effective as a courthouse: -20%/50 hammers is just about the same as -50%/120, plus of course it's a barracks. Impis can really disrupt neighbors who have to be wary of settler and worker steals. Starting techs are half good, Agriculture and Hunting.

[SevenSpirits]

It's only -20%/60h unfortunately but worth noting, yeah. Courthouses also give 2ep and spy slot which are important too, though.

I would rather have Sumeria.

[Lord Parkin]

Zulu without Aggressive is a bit of a pain - early on you pay more for the same building and get nothing different in return. Plus, Hunting's pretty meh... would much rather have Wheel or Mining.

Looks like the consensus is starting to shift towards Egypt. I'm happy with that... we'll be off to a brilliant start in this game, which is what we want.

The Holy Rome choice was pretty dubious from the perspective of the team choosing them, but from our perspective it's great. I guess they only have 1 leader that can be picked before them though, so they've still got plenty of options for pairing. Mehmed seems the most likely choice, but Roosevelt wouldn't be bad either. Zara/Asoka are also slight possibilities.