A song that I happen to like right now (don't blast from your speaker at work)...
And more fun to come...
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Always War (CTON)
Raging Barbarians
Emperor difficulty
Map:
20x20 to 24x24 Tiny Toroid, a mirror like 34/42 designed with two different centers. Maybe a salt water body in one center for Moai/Colossus, etc fun.
See starts before picking.
Lakefood start (buffs fishing, gives at least one unchokable food)
Some form of CG3 guardian(s).
Bans:
Maybe India?
War Elephants
Spies
Statue of Zeus
Nukes
Great Artist bombs in cities below fifth-ring*
The 34 shadow I'm playing in has been great fun, a pretty fast game even now in the workers-have-pants era. Obviously I'm not in the super-leets or greens categories, but I think any vets or intermediates qualify for skill. Being able to play a sure 1t/day at least would be a must, but no need for the insane 100t/month rate of 34s here.
Players:
Commodore is DuGaulle of France
Sian is Hannibal of Mali
Slowcheetah is Pericles of China
BoldlyGoingNowhere is Willem of Orange of Inca
Generally, I like to get off to a fast start (who doesn't?), so starting techs that help get us up and running are preferred. Counting beakers too, Agriculture is usually one that I want. Fishing is usually weak, but it appears we'll have a safe seafood resource, so fishing may be an option too, despite not giving as many "free" beakers. I also think it will be important to hook up bronze early, especially with emperor + raging barbs, so mining wouldn't be bad either. Agriculture/Mining is China, which I don't particularly care for in this setup. I think I'd prefer something that will give me an advantage on deterring aggression earlier than the CKN can provide.
I like Agriculture + Wheel because I can get the maximum free beakers from starting techs. But, the only Ag/Wheel civ I like for in this game is Egypt for the WC. Ottoman/France upgrade a musket (too late, IMO), Babylon's Bowman I tried already in 29g. It would be useful against raging barbs early with the +50% vs melee, but after that meh. Sumeria gets a Vulture, which I don't esteem too highly, because it sucks. So that would leave War Chariots and Egypt, and I'm not looking to reprise a certain high profile game on this site currently underway.
Another option: Mining + Wheel: Mali. Skirmishers are good for defense, but wouldn't do much against a choke. The mint is ok, if you care to run some wealth builds, after the mint itself.
There's always Inca and Quechuas/Terraces. If that's there, I would be an idiot to pass, especially if India is banned. I can live with Mysticism, even though it gets me away from early Bronze. But, Quechuas are a good hedge for defense. Or for choking and making enemies. Now that I think about it, someone is certain to take Inca if I don't, so I should have something to break an early choke, which means bonus to melee, which makes the damned Bowman (Babylon) appear attractive, which I despise. However, everyone hates Impis early on, and on a crowded map I could have a lot of fun with them. I'm a builder at heart, though.
Round and round in circles we go. I'm going to eat some lunch and come back to this later. Glad to hear some other thoughts on this.
I think Mysticism is actually a pretty good starting tech on a map this small. An early holy city gives massive cultural dominance, have a look at my start in 42 for an example. I was the only one with Mysticism, and I managed to put both Buddhism and Hinduism in my expansion city. Going off on a limb here, I'd go so far as to suggest picking a CRE leader with Arabia for a cheap way to get +6 culture in all your cities. To top that off, the Madrassa doubles for another 4 culture after 1000 years. Arabia even gets Mysticism for an early holy city. On this map culture is not about economic border pops, it's about massive tile denial. Tech path:
1) Any of Fishing, Hunting and Agriculture (depending on map)
2) Mining
3) Bronze Working
4) Either Polytheism or Meditation
For the record, I've seen all of two lions in 42 by t29. I think they're only a threat to very early scouting, after that the entire map will be pretty much defogged.
Good input. I haven't read 42, I'll take a look when I get a chance. Good point about culturally domination. Tiles will be scarce, and expanding fastest may not mean you can hold it, but cultural domination will assist with that. I'm thinking tight city placement to maximize the number of tiles I can get in play early, but not necessarily cottage spam. I'm expecting lots of units marauding through my territory at times, and cottages can be very hard to protect. Bulbing mixed with cottages probably will be better. This would synergize with the Madrassa build you suggested. Mysticism + Wheel just doesn't give me a fast start, unless I can research Agriculture before my worker completes. Fishing I'd have to complete and then start the WB, which would be very slow. Inca again is a good choice here with Mysticism + Agriculture. Hmm... Man, I'd really like them.
Re: tight city placement... Small land means players are likely to do just what I've mentioned, packing cities in closely. This could present some opportunities for offensive forking, so Impis look good again. Just something else to think about. But, no matter how much I think about this, if Pacal is there, I'd be an idiot not to go for him. Just cottage spam and build units to protect my investment.
And, for double-post Rego style points, Go Braves. Win the Wild Card (bah) by 6 games (yay!) and have to do an NCAA play-in game like you're the 65th-68th best team in college basketball? Gah... :mad:
Inca can definitely work well for early cultural domination. I don't think I'd want EXP on this map though, which blunts them slightly.
As for Mysticism + Wheel, I agree that Wheel is not ideal. Fishing, Agriculture, Mining or even Hunting (if a relevant resource is nearby) would be better. I agree that discovering copper very early is crucial, especially if you want to go for an early holy city expansion. I think choice of starting techs will depend heavily on what resources we get in our BFC. I have no idea if Financial is good or not. In 34s noone picked it, whereas in 42 3/4 picked it.
I don't care about any of this, I vote we take Mao because that's the only leader you need to get to the place we're going to end up:
last
Just do a /roll and let's do this thing.
Oh, and don't forget you have halo tonight. Long week at work and I feel like shooting people in the face.
Played: Pitboss 18 - Kublai Khan of Germany Somalia | Pitboss 11 - De Gaulle of Byzantium | Pitboss 8 - Churchill of Portugal | PB7 - Mao of Native America | PBEM29 Greens - Mao of Babylon
Catwalk Wrote:Inca can definitely work well for early cultural domination. I don't think I'd want EXP on this map though, which blunts them slightly.
As for Mysticism + Wheel, I agree that Wheel is not ideal. Fishing, Agriculture, Mining or even Hunting (if a relevant resource is nearby) would be better. I agree that discovering copper very early is crucial, especially if you want to go for an early holy city expansion. I think choice of starting techs will depend heavily on what resources we get in our BFC. I have no idea if Financial is good or not. In 34s noone picked it, whereas in 42 3/4 picked it.
EXP goes very well with Inca for el-cheapo Terraces. Suryavarman (CRE/EXP) could be good, but I'd be hard-pressed to pass on Pacal. You can cover all the tiles you want with culture, but if the other guy can keep up in expansion, pack 'em in tight, and slap cottages all over the place, then he'll be able to keep up in tech and take what he wants from you. FIN is OP for a reason. I don't know who was in 34s, other than Commodore maybe, I haven't looked at it. But, the players could have just wanted a different experience. FIN is the best, period. Maybe not for a tight map, but you'll have to seriously convince me otherwise. Maybe if I could get 'mids, and only if I could guarantee getting them, but I'm not taking IND on a tiny map, AW CTON game. That's begging for a rush. Call it Commo-cide.
spacetyrantxenu Wrote:I don't care about any of this, I vote we take Mao because that's the only leader you need to get to the place we're going to end up:
last
Just do a /roll and let's do this thing.
Oh, and don't forget you have halo tonight. Long week at work and I feel like shooting people in the face.
:mad:
![[Image: Xenu%20-%20Suck%20It.jpg]](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/59892754/Xenu%20-%20Suck%20It.jpg)