[spoilers] Pax Commodorica: Pharaoh of Rome

[Commodore]

[Commodore]

Players:
Commodore is Ramesses of Rome (here)
Thoth is Hatty of Zulu (here)
Gaspar is Zara of Ottomans (here)
Pindicator is Washington of Carthage (here)
Dtay is Roosevelt of Mali (here)
TBS is Joao of Mongolia (here)
Oxyphenbutazone is Pericles of Maya (here)

Settings:
BtS with deep bans
BAN Leaders: Pacal, Willem, Mansa, HC, Elizabeth, Darius, Victoria, Hannibal, Ragnar, Sury, Isabel, Bismarck, Mehmed
BAN Civs: Inca, India, China, France, Sumer, Egypt.
No WE/Nuke/Blockades
Difficulty is Monarch
Speed is Normal
Vassals are off
TT is off
Huts are off
Events are off
Barbs are on
EP: on [Spies off, please]
Map Size: Standard
Map: Cylindrical, PB9-style Full of Resources lakes with islands added for IC-TRs. 200+ tiles per player (more spread out than normal).

[Commodore]

So, top leaders, picking blindly, are probably Zara and Louis by a fair bit. But I just did Zara and Louis leaves me cold...

...so whom next? I can see cases for Joao, Peter, and Pericles. Maybe Wang Kon; he's null+Financial, but Financial is a big freaking deal...

...but for my first choice, I'm going to try giving someone a second chance.

[Hashoosh]

Can I dedlurk this? I hope I can learn some more from Mr. Durden & Co.

Edit: Peter also seems like a pretty good choice, and so does Pericles. What was the reasoning for those civ bans?

[Commodore]

Can I dedlurk this? I hope I can learn some more from Mr. Durden & Co.

Edit: Peter also seems like a pretty good choice, and so does Pericles. What was the reasoning for those civ bans?

Sure, welcome aboard. I hope this is educational; this is the first game I've signed up for 100% trying to win since 48.

Civ bans are mostly because those six are "duh" picks you see every game they're available. At least the other two agriculture/wheel civs have weaksauce UU/UBs. Peter is indeed my second choice most likely; he's very solid given bans.

[Commodore]

Realms Beyonders Assemble!

Suddenly, a wild Pitboss appears! The surly and perfectionist “back ender” Space Tyrant, Xenu has made a world of torture and pain, designed to crush the souls and minds of the primitive and directionless inhabitants. They need powerful and immortal leaders to help them out!

(Image is a simulation of what Xenu's Realm might look like. Actual parameters of the world are unclear)
So what do we have here? The general direction we handed Xenu was “like PB9, but with IC-TR islands”. That means Full of Resources script or something similar, unless of course the mapmaking spirit moved him a different way. But that's generally going to mean a lot of water and lush land, with “real world” climate bands. Generally, it also means canals are a big deal and navies matter; however, the lakey nature of the seas also means you can't rely on your navy completely. Generally, poles mean more secure but less good land, equator means high-quality, insecure holdings. Middle fellows will have some more danger but that's fine. It's an interesting script, one I'm happy to revisit.

We're going to have a whole lot of land to peacefully expand into and develop here; strictly speaking, we can all launch spaceships with our “fair share”. But practically, you need more room to win. So an aggressive REX is very much called for here, with the boundaries of economy, barbarians, and other players your initial constraints.

The long and landy land-grab phase has several implications; expansion traits like Exp, Cre, and Imp are notably stronger for longer. Military action in the pre-Guilds timeframe is probably a mistake, so Agg and Chm are late-game traits (and not generally recommended, but given bans Exp/Agg, Cre/Agg, and Exp/Chm are all reasonably defensible choices). The super-capital is still a good idea to hold up your smoking economy as you REX, but it isn't going to carry things for you when cottages mature and your other cities embiggen. Finally, choke points and hard points are good ideas to claim, to naturally cram fillers in behind. Settlers will have a non-combat roll even in Ren Era for fillerization.

So, let's REX-and-roll, kids.

This calls for Realms Beyond's Mightiest Heroes!

[Hashoosh]

At first I thought that was a map of GRRM-land (I forget what the world's called), but it's titan...

Peter of Ottomania looks really solid actually, but are you a fan of the GPs?

[Commodore]

At first I thought that was a map of GRRM-land (I forget what the world's called), but it's titan...

Peter of Ottomania looks really solid actually, but are you a fan of the GPs?

Lake-world Titan, yep!

Peter of the Ottomans is completely solid; but I just played that exact combo, albeit in an RBmod duel. If Peter I was thinking of pairing him with Carthage if I get fishies, otherwise Babylon. But that's my second choice.

First choice is my man:

Gonna give him a second chance.

[Commodore]

All props to Pindicator here, who told me in chat that he didn't wait for anything so silly and substantive as “leaders” and “civilizations” to begin ranking PB13's field. So sans bias (Imma gonna win) or picks, let's predict player performance in order from last place to first!

7th place: Dtay

This should make it fairly obvious how strong and balanced the field is; Dtay is a strong new player and an obviously sharp guy; he dominated the midgame races in PB13 with a capstone Liberalism win, which he then followed up with by a hard draft campaign unto conquest. Basically, the old-school metagame ideal, executed with perfection. We've moved past that a bit, but he's able to learn...and PBEM 53 is already showing some evolution in his play. My placement could be totally wrong; I would be neither shocked nor dismayed if he won.

6th place: Oxyphenbutazone

If we're going to count “number of people beaten in BtS”, Oxy here actually is tops. He and Suttree played a brilliant game in the admittedly weak field of PB14, starting with the unconventional pick of the Natives (perfect for their start) and ending with their wise avoidance of Liberalism (right choice for their civ). Oxy's proving his solo mettle in PBEM 57 right now, picking the perfect leader for the map and romping out to a commanding lead; no spoiler details, but he's definitely the best bet to win it there. His first game, PB11, reassures me that even if he falls behind he will most certainly not be a pushover...there he turned back cuirs with horse archers and cats. Good man! My placement could be totally wrong; I would be neither shocked nor dismayed if he won.

5th place: Gaspar

Gaspar's back, folks. I appreciate Hashoosh dedlurking me here but I don't expect anyone else, not with these reporters in the mix. Gaspar is a good civilization player and phenomenal poker player who's prone to touches of despair that hurt his chances. He's also one to talk about rage but he's not actually going to go off on anyone unless he thinks he can't win. So, not a great neighbor but nobody here is. He'll make a smart pick and follow it with the “Gaspar Road” down the middle of the tech tree; I expect him to be relevant until the end. My placement could be totally wrong; I would be neither shocked nor dismayed if he won.

4th place: Commodore

I'm probably the most bloody-handed passive builder on these forums, which is about as weird as it sounds. At heart I'm a nerd for planning and an entertainer for posting, neither impulse is exactly trustworthy for winning instinct. I'm also a very good dueler, which kind of explains my issues; I can win relative to one person very well. So, I make do with what I can, which explains the flashes-of-brilliance-with-stupidity hallmark of my very average record. I certainly have more games under than my belt than anyone else here, so I think that experience is telling. My placement could be totally wrong; I would be neither shocked nor dismayed if I won.

3rd place: Thoth

Thoth is one of the best players of Fall From Heaven mod on this website; the skills don't transfer perfectly but the fundamental strengths are still there. He's a good planner and a solid tactician, and doesn't come pre-loaded with some of the prejudices the rest of us have. He performed very well in the weird little game PB15, just building at peace while the world fought. Ah, I'm not expecting that exactly here; he's got a very good instinct for when to attack. Dangerous player; watch with care. My placement could be totally wrong; I would be neither shocked nor dismayed if he won.

2nd place: Pindicator

Pindicator is the best or worst player in this field depending on engagement level. I'm expecting his level to be “high but not 100%”, given PB18 is also kicking around. He is very prone to despair, perhaps even moreso than Gaspar, but that doesn't always translate to incompetence. Pin is prone to very detailed and strong plans that have a certain rigidity about them; the key to his success or failure is initiative. This is going to actually be a fairly swingy placement here because momentum is absolutely key to the Pindigame. However, a nice big map means he's likely to go quite far before the cheerio-urinators appear on the far horizon. My placement could be totally wrong; I would be neither shocked nor dismayed if he won.

1st place: The Black Sword

This may be a touch controversial, but I like TBS' chances most of all here in this pitboss o' fun. I was going to say he's a wonderful newbie, but this is his fifth game on RB so you can't really say he's green. His pair of FFH games could not be more different in terms of game style and planning, but he won the earliest game ever in his first and is well on his way to winning the longest rush ever in his second...and both are against excellent opposition. PBEM 53 is ongoing, but he's playing amazingly well there too. I smell the mackoti gene in this one, folks. My placement could be totally wrong; but I would be neither shocked nor dismayed if he won.

[spacetyrantxenu]

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