Serdoa
Ok. I'm not convinced that CHA is really that strong. The buildings-doubler can safely be ignored imo, so it is really only the +3 happy. You mentioned that the +3 from Rep for just a few cities are often what makes Rep so strong (and more important than the spec-bonus) and I would agree. BUT I think the reason for these +3 happy to be so strong is that you have 2 traits that you use to fuel these +3 happy into something (like working more FIN-cottages, working PHI-specs, whipping IMP-settlers etc.). But taking CHA leaves you with just one trait to use this bonus with and that makes it imo weaker. I have played with CHA giving +2 happy in RB-Mod and it wasn't that big of a deal, I don't think +3 makes that much of a difference.
As for FIN: I'm ok not to take it if you don't want to, but I think it wasn't really nerfed all that much and even though I agree that our start doesn't indicate many rivers the same was true for PB12.
CRE is imo not good enough. Not that it was with +2 cpt imo. But that's a matter of our maps being very lush normally. And with lush maps you'll seldomly need a border pop to make a city viable at all imo.
NobleHelium
well pb12 was bts, so we got the fin bonus on all coast
compass is not an early tech
and you still need to build the building
Serdoa
AGR would be interesting just from the starting screenie at least. +12 fpt means on quick that we can grow in 7 turns from 3 to 6.
NobleHelium
we're playing on normal speed
Serdoa
ah... on normal we can grow like that
on quick would be even... quicker
NobleHelium
did you want quick speed? i voted before talking to you about it
lol
Serdoa
no normal is better
NobleHelium
well anyhow i'm mostly just looking at our capital and if we settle on the PH (and i don't see why we wouldn't), we won't have any production except via whipping
Serdoa
btw: I agree with your PB12 point.
Anyhow, FIN is for me out because I understand you'd rather play something else (and me too I think)
NobleHelium
yeah that's part of it
Serdoa
Settling is interesting I thought about that.
Is the PH really the best option?
NobleHelium
well what we lose? the rivered hills
what do we*
there could be seafood to the southwest that we might pick up
Serdoa
with AGR/PRO (Toku) we would have a 7 food pig, a 6 food corn (imo that corn is not irrigated) and 2 5 hammer PHs. That's a total of 18 fh per turn at size 4.
We could check for seafood with the scout
though obviously having PRO would be kinda dumb when settling ON the PH
I just look at that start and honestly I don't see what we work beyond the pig and corn if we settle on the PH. There is no tile we want to work imo. Maybe 1 grassland cottage - but beyond that?
NobleHelium
well we'd work a lot of nonriver cottages
and do a lot of whipping
i've never thought that settling for hills was a good idea at the capital
Serdoa
well I agree in base bts. with hills being 5 yield tiles I suppose that changes tbh
NobleHelium
remember the ph hammer bonus comes at no cost at all, and it's a substantial boost to the start because of that
yeah but we have to pick a trait for that, and it's only two hills
Serdoa
well, ok. so the plan would be pig, corn + several cottages and moving the damn thing sooner than later?
NobleHelium
i guess what you're saying is that i like CHA because of the hammerless capital and you like PRO for a two-hill capital
possibly, yeah. but is there really an issue with a cottage-heavy capital?
is it because there's no river?
Serdoa
well, I'm not sure I like PRO tbh, I pretty much put my thoughts in this chat at the moment of them appearing
No, yes. I don't think it is a good city, neither short nor long term.
NobleHelium
there are seven grassland cottage tiles visible, and it looks like four in the fog
Serdoa
I mean I wasn't impressed with our cottage-non-river-cities in PB12 tbh. They took a looooong time to be worth anything
NobleHelium
okay
well i'm open to moving the capital. but if you compare it to the SIP location, i don't see the appeal of that spot either
Serdoa
yeah, I'd need to do some sims for that to see how it really works out
NobleHelium
PRO with SIP you mean? or what
Serdoa
but basically my thought right now was to use this capital as a foodhammer-base to get as many (better) cities as possible, while using the 2nd and 3rd city with hopefully some rivers to fuel that expansion. Not sure that is viable
NobleHelium
that's my general plan too
it may just be fine to grow the capital after that phase though
anyway, that's why i was talking about CHA, for more foodhammer whips
Serdoa
yeah. I think we do have a different idea how to reach it but have the same idea about the goal that we try to reach. And I suppose settling on the PH with pig, corn and some cottages while whipping in mostly settlers and workers is actually not that bad
Anyhow, I guess we both like AGR?
NobleHelium
i like it if we have an overall setup that works well with the overall food
maybe i'm underestimating the amount of luxuries we'll find though
Serdoa
hm.. just realized that with AGR/PRO and settling in place a worker would take at 6 pop a total of 2 turns.
NobleHelium
is that food + four hills?
i dunno, it sounds like you wish you were still playing pbem47
Serdoa
if BRick hasn't deleted them than Torusland should produce nearly all of them I think. Doesn't mean we can reach them all of course, but I think luxuries shouldn't be too hard to get. - that's pig, corn, 2 PH and 2 GLH (16 food total, or +6 and 17 hammers +50% = 30 foodhammers per turn)
yes, probably. Btw: That's not saying we should take it (yet), but I want to but out what I realize, just so we can both look at it. Whipping with CHA might still be stronger
NobleHelium
i haven't actually played on torusland, but seven has always stated that the luxury count on his mapscripts is the same as default
which is not that much
my general thought is that you want to avoid slow building foodhammer units whenever possible, because with a granary the food tiles are stronger as food than as hammers
Serdoa
Hm, did he? My feeling was that his script tries to put out every luxury that exists and not in too few numbers. Maybe its because of the open setup of Torusland that makes every tile "easily" reachable that it just doesn't feel that constrained.
NobleHelium
ok, well i can roll some maps tonight but we might be up to pick before that
we could just make them wait of course
Serdoa
I don't think its necessary. I can see the point of CHA - I just don't like it. But if we play to the strength of the trait it certainly can work. I think I just generally don't like traits which I feel I can emulate by other means relatively easily.
NobleHelium
hmmm
okay let's say we don't pick CHA
we pick AGR and what, ORG? or ORG and IMP?
what do you think about picking zulu btw
not for first pick, but after yuris goes
Serdoa
I think we need something for the economy definitely. AGR ad ORG most likely would therefore be better - if a little bit slower - than AGR and IMP. And from our start I guess we will want some lighthouses (to the east seems to be even more water) and we certainly want courthouses
just not sure the water is big enough for those lighthouses ...
NobleHelium
we're playing on inland oceans
the bodies of water are big
Serdoa
Zulu ... Agri/Hunting with Impi and Ikhanda right?
NobleHelium
yes
Serdoa
Sounds good. Maybe in that case I'd actually prefer CHA ... Ikhanda would be quicker built and would help with costs, so would partly emulate ORG with CHA letting us work more tiles for more commerce
NobleHelium
yeah that was kind of my thinking
there is a possibility that yuris will take the civ though
Serdoa
well, tell me that, than I wouldn't have to think for myself :P
NobleHelium
hey i said it in the thread :P
so either we take the civ first, or we take cha and be willing to take an agri/wheel civ if zulu is taken
which wouldn't be terrible i don't think
i mean i've never played egypt
Serdoa
well, it would cost you the synergy between CHA and Ikhandas of course
NobleHelium
well
if we're thinking zulu
let's think about which cha leaders we'd be happy with
and if there are two or more, then we take the civ first
Serdoa
FIN/CHA and EXP/CHA are gone
NobleHelium
yeah
EXP can't be bad but it's pretty stale
so i'm not really sad that it was taken
and as you know i don't really want to play FIN
Serdoa
well, we still have AGR/CHA and IMP/CHA.
NobleHelium
right
we could also impi rush seven
Serdoa
lol, I'm up for that
NobleHelium
well he'd probably get angry that we're not testing the mod heh
Serdoa
yeah, probably. - well, anyhow, I don't think I like any other combo with CHA particularly. ORG/CHA in theory, but I think it doesn't help the start. Still doable imo, but maybe hard to keep up till the combo actually shines (if it does at all)
NobleHelium
ok
well i'm currently thinking zulu first pick would be interesting
i'd like to sim it before we pick though
to see how much having hunting compared to say wheel hurts us
we'll tech AH first, so obviously the double prereq will make up some missing beakers there
Serdoa
Honestly, I doubt it is much. Depends on second city location of course but that can't be simmed right now.
And if not Zulu what else? There are imo not many great civs (and Egypt is imo not one of them)
oh wait, Seven has to pick before us still.
NobleHelium
yeah i think egypt is overrated, but i've never used WCs and it's agri/wheel
yeah seven has to pick
we're not up yet
don't post our pick before our turn
basically i was saying that egypt may be the best agri/wheel civ so we would take it for that reason
well
Serdoa
Sumeria
NobleHelium
there's always sumeria
lawls
i keep forgetting
Serdoa
lol
NobleHelium
yeah sumeria is better than egypt imo
did you participate in the ISDG at all? i didn't see you post but i don't remember if you were around at the start
Serdoa
yeah, I think so. but in general I wonder, is agri even desirable? Mining would be better actually to get BW earlier for our whips (mining 50, agri 40 beakers)
NobleHelium
oh i see what you're saying
well it all depends on whether we can tech AH in time or not
Serdoa
no, I think I looked at it once but the ISDG was too much people talking for my tastes. Have we lost that already?
NobleHelium
if we start with no prereq
yeah we lost it haha
Serdoa
Well... I'll open my excel-tables now
NobleHelium
i think we're on standard/toroidal/prince
ok i really need to run out and grab some food. keep talking but i might be a bit to respond
Serdoa
grab something and take your time, I'll certainly need a few minute for that now anyway
NobleHelium
okay back
Serdoa
wb
so I tested a little bit
it is possible not to start with Agri and research it before AH but only IF we have Hunting instead as starting tech
BUT: we have generally an issue what to do with our worker. it pretty much has at least 10 turns with nothing to do after pasturing the pig. or he can build roads (if we start with wheel) but then we need even more turns to get to BW
but if we don't start agri/mining, we won't really have a good way to deal with our worker (even with I'm not sure, I was getting ready to plug that in)
yeah... even with Agri and Mining we just get BW at EOT27 while our worker finishes the pasture on T20
NobleHelium
hmmm
i hadn't considered that as a potential problem
how long does it take to research AH if we pick zulu?
Serdoa
me neither, but it is. I'm not sure how to circumvent that tbh. Not getting a 7 food tile in play seems dumb. starting with mining -> BW first seems dumb if settling on PH (and potentially even if settling in place)
NobleHelium
well one thing we could consider is super early settler at size 2
Serdoa
I did that already - but the worker still sits around doing nothing for 10 turns. - with Zulu AH takes 11 turns (just research-turns after we settled)
oh wait
NobleHelium
can we research AH and then wheel in time for the worker to start roading to the second city site?
Serdoa
yes
NobleHelium
it does sound crazy not to go for bw asap if we're going for a cha whipping strategy, i know :P
Serdoa
not sure we will need to road for so many turns, but we may pre-road hills. not the best but oh well
yeah it kinda is
but seriously,if we go AH -> Wheel -> Mining -> BW we get BW on T41
NobleHelium
how long to get the settler out at size 2, counting from when we first settle the capital?
Serdoa
EOT28 (so 27 turns after settling). 8 turns to build it
NobleHelium
ok
so we'd have like an 8 turn gap between finishing the pasture and having the settler?
maybe 9
that's a lot of roads
Serdoa
7
pasture finishes T21, so he can road from T22 till T28 at which point the settler finishes.
NobleHelium
ok
+1 turn min when the settler moves
so we'd be able to build at least three roads if some of them are on rough terrain
i imagine we'd road the pig and then road SE or NE of the city
and then we'd road one more tile after that
Serdoa
would agree on that roading plan
NobleHelium
that works out decently but i'm not sure if it's a good option overall
so if we pick mali we can't research agri and AH in time for the pasture to start immediately
Serdoa
yeah, I don't like it. but more because besides the worker roading several turns (which might be ok) he would have to do something at the new city for 12 turns before he can chop
NobleHelium
hmmm
i guess part of the issue is that we don't have any hills to mine huh lol
Serdoa
well, he can mine at least
yep
and that we can't get pottery for cottages either
NobleHelium
well we could get pottery if we delay bw some more :P
Serdoa
well, actually the issue is just that we need AH. That's something that is better in RB-Mod imo
NobleHelium
i'm sure we'd be able to get pottery before bw
well yeah i guess if pastures were at hunting then zulu would be great for us
Serdoa
we can get pottery actually directly after AH and finish it probably at the same time as the pasture
NobleHelium
hmmm
what do you think of that?
we could still build a settler early, wouldn't have any roads though
oh wait
pottery requires wheel
what am i saying
what are YOU saying, lol
Serdoa
we probably can finish wheel shortly after the settler - if we can use the river (maybe settling on the PH east) we could get a road connection still in time
lol
forgot about that
NobleHelium
well it sounds like the path would be ah -> wheel -> pottery -> mining -> bw
Serdoa
well, that speaks more for Agri/Wheel again actually. In that case AH takes slightly longer but we could go AH -> Pottery and would have wheel till we finish pottery
yeah... doable as well actually
Pottery finishes the turn after the settler
NobleHelium
are there any hunting/wheel civs
nah that would be stupid
we'd still need agri
Serdoa
well, if we go Agri/Hunting as starting techs and research AH -> Wheel -> Pottery -> Mining -> BW we get BW sometimes around T50
I'm not sure if CHA makes sense in that case tbh
NobleHelium
yeah
we could pick something like AGR/ORG
and then an agri/wheel civ
i'm not really sold on AGR's power but it feels like it would be cool to try
Serdoa
I'm not sold on it either, but I can't really get a good handle on it so trying it might help to clarify that (what is part of the reason for this game after all)
AGR/ORG - Sumeria? Guess that would be the best pick but not really interesting for you after PB12
NobleHelium
yeah if we take agr/org and sumeria is still available coming back i wouldn't mind that
unless you think we should take civ first?
Serdoa
... hm, we could take AGR/IMP and still use Sumeria I guess, right?
NobleHelium
agr/imp seems excessive
i think org is important
Serdoa
in that case AGR/ORG first and civ second
NobleHelium
who the hell is agg/org anyway
Serdoa
and maybe Sumeria -> France -> Egypt for Civs
NobleHelium
i hope that's an actual leader
Serdoa
Hammurabi
NobleHelium
ah yes i remember now
not sure about france vs egypt
obelisk could be useful
Serdoa
probably a wash tbh, I think neither is that strong
I guess Sumeria first and if that is gone pick whatever Agri/Wheel civ you like most, because for me all of them are pretty equal (in that there UB and UU are not really important)
NobleHelium
yeah that makes sense
i think i'd prefer egypt just to try them out
the WCs i mean
Serdoa
spears still kill them
NobleHelium
yeah they do
Serdoa
but yeah, they can be fun if the target isn't preparing (or is and you instead rush with Axes)
NobleHelium
heh
well i think they'd be useful for utility and i don't see there being much time for musketeers, if we get that far
and i've only built like 3 observatories ever, so yeah
Serdoa
yeah, that's a good reasoning. And like I said I don't think either makes a difference so if you want to try them that's perfectly fine with me
NobleHelium
all right
so what if seven takes hammurabi?
Serdoa
don't know yet. IMP/ORG maybe
NobleHelium
yeah maybe
Serdoa
I'll head to bed now and think about that. if he really takes Hammurabi I'll let you know tomorrow morning (so approx. 8.5 hours from now) if I have any better idea.
NobleHelium
okay later