[spoilers] Pax Commodorica: Pharaoh of Rome

[Commodore]

Gaspar (curmudgeon, guffmaster) as Zara (Creative, Organized) of Ottomans (Agriculture, Wheel, Janissary, Hannam)

Winner of the picking phase, laddies and gentlemen. Best leader available, best techs available, naturally a Gaspar Choice. He's in it to win it and Zara bumps his chances up quite a bit. I love Zara Yaqob; he can ignore the religious line entirely and his economy game is really strong. The techs are the best here as ever; I'm personally wishing I'd picked Babylon for this pairing's beaker saving alone. I rate janissaries pretty low, as I'm sure does Gaspar, and the UB is basically +2 in your capital, maybe one other place, before the factory era. Even so, this is a solid all-rounder that can zestfully attack the meat of the tech tree early.

I am certain “all around solidity” is going to be the hallmark of Gaspar's game here, and if he won't have the lead in cities (TBS is Joao, remember) he will probably still be in the actual lead going into the midgame. Given Gaspar's greatest strength is the midgame, he'll keep that lead leaving the midgame too I'll wager. Assuming his neighbors Thoth don't get frisky, this will be the initial favorite. Here is another great missionary prospect, although that's certainly a two-edged sword. I don't have a simple plan for overcoming this one, beyond “be more betterer”. A grammatically as well as strategically fraught proposition, that.

Gaspar will probably underrate navy and focus a bit more strongly on his land borders; the script here is actually surprisingly naval so that is a potential avenue to keep in mind. But basically, the chief hope is that someone else takes a leak in cheerios Gaspar considers his.

Leader: A+
Civ: A
Combo: A+
Player: 168 on LSAT, opted to work instead.

[Dp101]

Could someone please explain who owns the smurf accounts, because I am getting really confused

[Ceiliazul]

love your test scores. spot on, as always. Good luck!

[Commodore]

Pindicator (planner, plotter) as Washington (Expansive, Charismatic) of Carthage (Fishing, Mining, Numidian, Cothon)

My PBEM 24 leader with my PBEM 26 civ here, I am a big fan of both. Carthage's fishing makes me wonder if maybe there is some start varriance, but hey, I took it as a null tech. The rest of the Carthaginian toolkit is very nice; Numidians are lovely horse archer replacements that Chm makes sense better given their monster withdrawal rates. Cothons are worth it, particularly for an Exp leader, for all the annoyance of the Compass tech requirement. Washington is just strong, the best whipper in the game. Pin is a decent contender for Stonehenge, given Chm, but the good news is that means less religious competition early.

Pin will have a strong start with Exp here, Chm helping his economy whilst expanding with higher cottage numbers. He's not one to go on a crazed rampage but he will make an effort to field a Numidian army and rattle sabers along the border. Pin loves him an involved plan; he's going to be assaulting the tech tree for targetted goals and he'll be among the top techers. Discouragement is always a danger with Pin but he's eager and involved now, at least.

If Pin shows up and plays his 100% best game, he's the clear favorite here. I think the challenge is going to be morale with Pin here; I want him demoralized but not in my direction. So simple. :rolleyes:

Leader: A-
Civ: C+
Combo: B+
Player: Several PhDs from semi-reputable online universities.

[Commodore]

Thoth (micromachine, party-animal) as Hatsheput (Creative, Spiritual) of Zulu (Agriculture, Hunting, Impi, Ikandha)

We have a winner in the “don't wanna neighbor” race, kids! Congrats, Thoth, you're a monster. Hatty's issues are fairly obvious, not to belabor the point, her traits push her in two different directions. Still, she's got a decent toolkit and the civ she's paired with is a touch scary; impi can choke the living daylights out of you and of all the players here Thoth is the most likely to push early aggression. The ikandha is...okay. If Thoth's start is like my start (and again, I suspect we're all Hunting/Agriculture/AH food splits), solid tech pair as well.

I expect Thoth to play smart and have a well-planned early start, if he has the free time the man is a fiend for micro. He will use his impi mixed with chariots/horse archers without hesitation; the first serious (non-scout/warrior) war declaration is probably out of Zululand. I'm keenly curious to see where his tech path leads; if he snags stone or marble he's a good bet to go wonder chasing, and he'll move up the tech tree in nonstandard ways, but he'll keep those cottages worked and I don't think he'll be too far behind.

Thoth respects strength; he's always up for a fight but he's not really a loon, he just plays on on TV. A solid border with real units is called for on his quarter. Hopefully, he'll be a spanner in the works of one of my rivals, not me. And hopefully, unprofitably for himself; Thoth if he wins this will definitely do it via blood for soil.

Leader: B-
Civ:A-
Combo: B
Player: 45 on MCAT*
*slept with test administrator so validity is in doubt.

[Hashoosh]

What's the golden one? Magellan's voyage? Are you going for circumnav? SO MANY QUESTIONS!

[Commodore]

What's the golden one? Magellan's voyage? Are you going for circumnav? SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Yep! IF I opt for Hunting research and IF it's possible: Just use GOTO to find map dimensions, score for #land tiles, divide latter by former. It's it's >.3...we're good.

[Hashoosh]

Xenu's not disclosing that info?

How do you know everyone's test scores, don't tell me you work for a shadowy network of hackers and cyberterrorists! Or worse...

THE NSA?!?!?

[spacetyrantxenu]

Am I supposed to disclose that info? If there's anything else you guys ought to know that I haven't said, post it in the tech thread for everyone to see and I'll get you some answers.

[Hashoosh]

I don't know lol

I've just noticed map-makers saying if maps will be circumnavigable, sometimes with % of water tiles in exact, sometimes the full X/Y dimensions of the map.

But that's a sample of like, 3 games I've payed attention enough to notice. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if that info is out for 18 or 59, but it definitely was for 16.