[SPOILER] Krill rambles on

[Krill]

So you weren't spamming screenshots in peoples threads?

[Krill]

I wanna sim. It's that or be drunk for the entire weekend.

[Krill]

Woo, just need to find out whom has the map so I can pester them for a starting screenshot.

Also, new combination evaluations coming up.

[Krill]

Cheater hater: AGG/PRO/Carthage to EXP/CHM/Inca. About same quality.

EXP/CHM is nice for the ease of having taller cities,. but border pops are that much harder. I've leartn that when Inca you still can't play it like a CRE leader as much as you may want to, you will have to settle for food immediately, but smart dot mapping means you can still settle reasonably wide and overlap on the outer ring second food resource of an earlier city, and use that as the first food resource of a later city whilst borders pop to grab a new food resource. Plus cheap Colosseums, late game promotion whoring, easier managing unhealthiness from factories. Decent combination. Keep.


Retabod: FIN/PHI/France to CHM/ORG/Greece. Improvement.

CHM Greece means that all cities get +1XP from teh Odeon onto gunpowder units, so can reach 3 promo gunpowder units or 2 promo drafted units. Not the fastest starter, but the Phalanx helps stop chariot rushes. PLay teh start smart, don't get screwed over by barbs or resources and your fine, and those concerns are the same for almost everyone else anyway. Keep.


Plako: IND/SPI/Ottomans to CRE/PHI/Germany. Small improvement.

Blah, PHI. CRE for wider spacing and cheap libs though, so the Academy rush is probably more viable here than elsewhere. Germany is blank until the IND era. I'd reroll ccos I hate PHI, and I think Plako will too.


Barteq: CHM/CRE/Inca to ORG/PHI/Byz. Fell of a cliff in quality.

Slow, and no synergy, and Cataphracts won't win you this game. Reroll,


Grimace: CRE/PRO/Aztecs to AGG/CHM/Japan. Slight worsening in quality.

Ho fuck KEEP. Just for the roleplay. But he should have kept the first roll IMO.


REM: PRO/PHI/NA to ORG/IMP/Russia. Definite improvement.

Keep? If only for IMP, ORG will help a bit. Russia is again blank until the Ren era, but Cossacks are balling and IMP will keep you relevant. RI are cheaper at 150 base hammers now, so I'd probbaly keep.


Adrien: FIN/AGG/Japan to FIN/SPI/Portugal. Slight improvement unless he fights war in first 80 turns. Maybe?

Eh, Ottowa porn to be replaced by Lisbon porn with additional quays? SPI instead of IMP though, but if the map isn't as bare as the PB13 map was for COmmodore, I'd say this is OK. Carricks are always a bitch to deal with, so play it right and most people want want to screw with you. Keep and hope you get a coastal start.


Commoodore: IND/PRO/something to CRE/EXP/Ottomans. Fucking bastard lucked out.

That's an obvious keep, +2 happy at Maths on a 40 hammer improvement and the UU doesn't matter. Brick's probably just been paid enough money for a nice holiday in the bahamas. Keep.


The Wannabe: FIN/ORG/India to IND/SPI/France

Reroll, IND/SPI would probably be the weakest trait combination in the game? And why did he reroll FIN/ORG/INDIA!!! That's the Queeg stamp of approval right there, rerolling ORG/FIN/India is probably worse than rerolling FIN/AGG/France.


HAK: IMP/SPI/Russia to AGG/PHI/Maya. Improvement in most cases? Maybe?

Meh, AGG Holkan needin no resources. unchokeable, with a 3 happy UB at Construction and the cost is you have to play PHI. Keep.


Yuri: PRO/SPI/Spain to IMP/SPI/Khmer. No change.

Good start, good end game, nothing working inbetween. Khmer is boring. Reroll. Yuris deserves a good reroll.


Nyles: ORG/PHI/Korea tp EXP/SPI/Aztecs. Improvement.

Keep, Izzy is probably one of the better all round picks, little bit of early strength from EXP, into the ton of cheap buildings, into SPI mid to late game, combined with 90 hammer court houses. Well worth keeping.


Gavagai: AGG/ORG/Arabia to IND/ORG/Mali. ABout the same.

Keep, if only because IND/Mali works for the UB a bit, and the skirm is a sound UU. Sure, could probably reroll and get a better combintion, but it's also possible to get one that's a lot worse. Just get off to a good start, but the skirm is enough to dissuade any but hte most psychotic of players.

[Krill]

Commodores combination is fucking hilarious.

He spends 60 hammers for a granary, same as everyone else except those lucky PRO players. But he gets the free border pop and cheaper workers, so early on it's not really a huge issue if he is smart or the map isn't insanely tight.

If he settles wide to grab the land, he needs to spend 160 hammers on a lib, market and hammam for minimum size 6 cities, maximum size 14. He spends 10 hammers more than I would on a market and he gets everything he needs to grow to late game city sizes by T130. He'll probably prioritize the HG to help with that as well.

I hope he starts next to Tasunke.

[Krill]

I've been trying to figure out a game plan, and the only stuff I can come up with is this: Get Banking then beeline to Free Speech and grow a ton of cottages. And take whatever I can in the mid game.

I want to head to Feud for Serfdom and Vassalage early, but no way in hell is that going to be more viable than bee lining Currency and Calendar for the various happy and free commerce. Even if all three metal happy were available I doubt that going MC>Machinery for early CKN and tile improvements because still need Serfdom to plonk them down and Emancipation to make them worthwhile.

Ancient era tech path is fairly simple now that the starting techs are so cheap. You grab everything that you need in whatever order and you generally finish with Writing by T50. I can get BW done in 15 turns, so I will have time to research one starting tech before doing BW whatever happens: work boat starts take Fishing>BW or Fishing>Hunting, and build the worker at size 1, unless double seafood in which case it's possible to go work boat*2>warrior*2>1 pop worker>chop settler.

Classical era tech is where things get more interesting now, Currency doesn't need to be #1 tech path under most circumstances. I'd be tempted to rush to Judaism and see what I could do about grabbing a shrine, or even trying to steal Oracle but that's really just a fantasy; I'd never be able to take anything other than Monarchy or MC with Oracle. I feel I need one major ancient or classical era boost of some sort with this combination to have a modicrum of control in the mid game. Oracle>MC and get an Engineer to bulb Machinery would do it, or Henge, Mids, most of the early game wonders would do it but they ain't happening in this game. The wonder of settlers and workers and not being stingy with cottages is probably going to be it for me.

[Krill]

Tech costs for PB27 (Monarch difficulty, Normal speed, Huge map)

Start techs: 38

Masonry/Archery/Priesthood: 75

Meditation: 90

Polytheism/Pottery: 107

AH/Sailing: 140

BW/Monotheism/Writing: 174

IW/Lit: 320

HBR/Maths/Alpha: 415

Monarchy/MC/Aesthetics/Drama: 514

Currency/CoL/Construction/Calendar/Compass: 614

Theocracy: 927

Feudalism: Machinery/Music/Paper/Banking: 1145

Civil Service 1367

Philo/DR: 1592

Guilds/Engineering: 2053

[Krill]

So yeah...about those starting screenshots?

[Krill]

Trying to figure out stupid off the wall bulb paths and only thing I can see is that bulbing anything other than machinery is a bitch to do. But MC as fourth tech has something going for it. Rush a forge and then bulb MC or rush Mids after crippling the none existing economy sounds like fun.

More likely going to just play the start out sanely and see what happens. Still hoping for a coastal start with 2 fish though.

[Krill]

How am I going to live up to my thread title when no one is posting starting screenshots?