[SPOILER] Jowy - Peter of Egypt (Green Game)

[Jowy]

Oh yeah baby! It's on!
Really.
This.
Is.
Just.
Filler.
In.
Case.
Some.
Dumb.
Ass.
Player.
Happens.
To.
Step.
Into.
My.
Fucking.
Topic.

/END


[SIZE="5"]ENJOY THE GAME!![/SIZE]

[Jowy]

[COLOR="LightBlue"]
[SIZE="5"]Peter of Egypt[/SIZE]

Traits:
Philosophical ( Great People emergence rate increased 100 percent ) ( double production speed for universities )
Expansive ( +2 health per city, +25% worker production ) ( double production speed for granaries and harbors)

Unique stuff:
Building: Obelisk ( Can turn 2 Citizens into Priest )
Unit: War Chariot ( Chariot with +1 strength and immunity to first strikes )

Starting techs:
Agriculture
The Wheel
[/COLOR]


Good combo, lots of possibilities. To get anything outta Philosophical trait I need some great people. Earlier I get them, the more difference they'll make. With philo, I'll actually be able to land a very early GP. My unique building plays up to this: If the start is food heavy, I could work upto two priests for an early Great Priest. But what's it gonna do? An early shrine won't help me much. How about a bulb? I'll have to research Mysticism for the obelisk, then Meditation, Polytheism, Priesthood, Monotheism and Masonry until I get something good with the bulb: Monarchy. It'd open up Hereditary Rule, but I don't think it's worth it to beeline Monarchy just for some extra happiness. No way I'll focus on the religion techs instead of economy. Bulbing, no chance! I could settle the priest for +2 hammers and +5 commerce. That's kind of nice, but am not sure if it's worth it.

Now, there's another way I could get an early GP: That is the Writing tech. All I need is Pottery as a requirement, then I could start researching Writing. That's VERY early. Then I could get a library up, work two scientists (= 6 turns for Great Scientist) if map forbids, then use the Scientist to build an academy in my capital: That's 50% science bonus. Early on everyone will most likely run 100% research and get pretty much all their beakers from the capital.. Having an early academy should give me a huge edge in research.

I think I could crank out a warrior and a worker before starting on the library. I would have to build the library without chops and whips though, since BW won't be discovered before the library will be ready. Anyway it should still be a relatively fast build. After discovering Writing, I should concentrate on economic techs, depending on my starting location. Mining -> BW is also an option. As is Animal Husbandry, not just for delicious beef, but for horse. Why?

Egypt's unique unit is a War Chariot. It's a very powerful early two-mover, and best of all I have The Wheel as a starting tech and could research AH even as a first tech. That'd allow me to build some fast War Chariots for a rush. However, that's only if I have horses. Now, while this might sound like a good gamble in paper, I'm NOT going to do this. My plan for this game is to FIRST get a lead in technology, then worry about beating the shit out of everyone. See, I've already learned something. Anyway, War Chariot is still a powerful unit, though not as powerful as the Immortal which get defensive bonuses. The War Chariot will still be a good unit for me, as they'll make for excellent defenders early on. Mobile and strong. And it's not like someone's gonna rush me with Spearmen. AH will definately be a priority especially if I have resources that can be improved with it.

Nope, not done yet! There's still the infamous Expansive trait. Is this the best trait in the game or what! It's definately useful. ALWAYS. Cheap granaries are a no-brainer, as are cheap workers. Health probably won't be an issue early on, but it's still a nice to have bonus. I didn't use this trait enough in RPB2: This time I plan to build ALOT more workers (which I should build even without the expansive trait..) and get some early granaries up. I'd also get faster harbors, which I know are atleast a possibility since it's an Inland Sea map, but since I already get health bonus from the trait itself, it won't be that big of a deal. Sure, trade routes might help a bit.. I'm not really experienced with those though, so I can't really judge if it's a big deal or not.

Military-wise, I'll be WEAK until I get horses hooked up for some war chariots. Or research BW and get copper hooked up. I'm not sure which one to go for: I know I'll feel like a fool if I go for BW and end up without copper AGAIN (Thanks whoever made RPB2 map lol), but same goes for AH. Atleast they both offer other things in addition: Improvements, chopping, slavery. Anyway I think the Writing plan will still be worth the gambit, I don't expect a perfectly executed rush from anyone in the Green game anyway.. but this definately wouldn't be a gambit I'd take in the vets AW CTON game!

[Sullla]

Let me be the first to wish you good luck, Jowy. It sounds like you learned a lot from the last Pitboss game.

[Bobchillingworth]

I can already tell this will be a fun thread to lurk


Good luck!

[Jowy]

[SIZE="4"]Strike700[/SIZE]

[COLOR="LightBlue"]Pacal II of China
Expansive / Financial
UU: Cho-Ko-Nu (x-bow men in steroids, aka colleteral damage!)
UB: Pavilion (+25% culture)
Starting techs: Agriculture, Mining[/COLOR]

I know Pacal II. He's awesome. And Crazy. But awesome. Seriously though, there's a good reason I picked Pacal II in RPB2: Those traits are very good economic traits, especially in a NTT game (just like this one is). Cho-Ko-Nu's are the results of an archer, a mace and a catapult having a threesome. No seriously, that's how little Cho-Ko-Nu's are born. They'll have alot of uses, but they are expensive. I predict they won't see much action in this game. Pavilions are kinda meh, good for a cultural dominance and victory (yeah, try to pull that off) I guess.

Meta-game -wise:

New guy at RB. Here's what I found out: Has atleast played since Civ3. Found some Civ4 posts from 2006. Might be a green, but probably knows a thing or two.



[SIZE="4"][COLOR="LightBlue"]Kyan[/SIZE]

Catherine Of Maya
Creative / Imperialistic
UU: Holkan (+50% vs. Mounted units (down from 100%!), requires NO resources, immune to first strikes)
UB: Ball Court (Replaces Colosseum, gets +2 extra happiness)
Starting techs: Mysticism, Mining[/COLOR]

At first look this particular pairing looked weak. Boy, was I wrong. Or should I say half-wrong? I still think that Imperialistic definately isn't one of the best traits out there.. it has it's uses, but is probably best when supported by an economic trait. Creative gives +2 culture, which will help early on. However, it also speeds up Theatre, Library(!) and Colosseum (!!!). Yeah, that's their UB. That gives +2 extra happiness (+3 total). Not bad! The unique unit, Holkan, gave me another surprise: it requires no resources. That's a huge thing if no-one has copper/horses planted near their starting locations. My exact words earlier were "it's not like I'm gonna get rushed by spearmen!" Think again Jowy, think again! Good thing I decided to spy a little.

Meta-game wise:

Kyan's probably the strongest candidate to win this game. He's playing in the RBP3 and is included in one of the leading teams (by score). I'm staying unspoiled for that game, as I used to play in a team until I got busy and had to drop out. Anyways that means I don't know exactly how much of the team's success is thanks to Kyan, but I'd imagine he atleast learned a thing or two. I think he's also lurked through the whole Sullla thread as he posted there at like first page. Reading a Sullla write-up is pretty much the best thing a 'green' can do to improve their game. Plus, he should know everything about me, while I don't know much about him. Not good! Expect great things from this guy.


[SIZE="4"][COLOR="LightBlue"]Malakai[/SIZE]

Suleiman of Inca
Philosophical / Imperialistic
UU: Quechua (a warrior with +100% against archers)
UB: Terrace (a granary that gives +2 culture)
Starting techs: Agriculture, Mysticism[/COLOR]

Again, I don't quite get imperialistic. Sure, it gives some ability to spam cities since you don't need to worry about culture (Kyan had creative trait for that, Malakai has the Terrace building). But I just don't think it's a very good trait. Philosophical trait doesn't really fit with that either.. Joao with Imp/Exp might have been a better fit.. Actually, that might even be a little bit OP. Hell, I should just be glad it's not Joao of Inca. Quechas might be troublesome for Seifer, but not for the rest of us (I don't expect many to use archers as main garrison).

Meta-game wise.

He's a very new guy and has confessed he's not very good at the game (neither was I when I joined, but I made sure I didn't say it out loud!). Couldn't find much info on him, he's probably pretty new to Civ, recruited by Kyan. What I AM worried about is his relationship with Kyan. I just see no way that these two WOULDN'T be allies. But that also paints a target in their back. Malakai might play beyond his abilities with the help of Kyan and become a stronger contender, but I don't expect him to win. Then again, nobody expected Kathlete to wipe out Byzantines in RPB2, better not underestimate anyone.


[SIZE="4"][COLOR="LightBlue"]Seifer_MD[/SIZE]

Victoria of Babylon
Financial / Imperialistic
UU: Bowman (an archer with +50% vs melee units)
UB: Garden (Colosseum with +2 extra health)
Starting techs: The Wheel, Agriculture[/COLOR]

Yet another imperialistic leader. What's up with that? Anyway, this is an OK match.. Financial will help support the city spamming (thought no free culture!) and Bowmen can pretty much repel any non-horsey attacks except Quechua rush (I hope Seifer and Malakai start next to eachother.. would be an interesting thing to watch. Both UU's gain an extra advantage over eachother, but quechua's is 100% while bowmans 50%. I'd still expect Bowmen to end up pretty strong especially if defending in cities). Financial is a good tech for NTT regardless of city spam. The UB, Garden, is imo weaker than it's Mayan counterpart the Ball Court.

Meta-game -wise:

Mentioned that he can hold his own on Emperor / Monarch. That's more than I can say! (although, my test game with the Peter of Egypt actually had me leading on monarch.. never got to finnish [see wut I did there?] that.). His posts seems to have a pretty serious tone. Not someone you'd want to make angry. I guess. He could be a big power in this game, depending on how his "limited MP experience" comes into play. Oh, I'm willing to try out his MP skills if I get a chance!


[SIZE="4"][COLOR="LightBlue"]Cull[/SIZE]

Darius of Ottomans
Financial / Organized
UU: Janissary (musket with 25% vs. Archery, Melee, and Mounted Units)
UB: Hammann (an aquaduct with +2 extra happiness)
Starting techs: The Wheel, Agriculture[/COLOR]

I wonder what's up with the Organized trait. Seems pretty useless and not really connected to anything else in this combo. Financial is a good economic trait, blabla you've heard it! Now to the interesting stuff: Expect some drafted Janissaries if he gets that far. They're a good all-around unit and the first gunpowder unit, which mean they'll ignore walls. The UB is alot like some earlier UB's.. +2 extra happiness IS a very good thing. Ottomans should do good if they can survive the early game.

Meta-game wise:

Unfortunately I can't search his posts in RB anymore (he has quite a lot) since he got his thread up already. Not much I could dig up of him. He's been around since the beginning of this year and has quite a lot posts, so I'd imagine he's atleast a bit more experienced with RB -style of gaming than some of the newer and/or inactive members. As for civ skills, no idea! I don't think he'll be a power player, but he could surprise us all.




Some extra notes:

Two civs with mysticism as starting tech. I'll be surprised if they don't snatch a religion or two before they become my own priority.
No industrious civs: Will help with getting wonders for GPP (yet to be planned which wonders I might try to build if given the right circumstances).
Expect some fast expansion by some civs if they want to use their traits effectively. This might be a problem if I go with the Writing plan.. that means my first settler will be pretty late! I really don't wanna run out of land in a game where I know I'll have a civ on each of my sides who have pretty much a 50-50 chance to expand towards me.

[Jowy]

Let me be the first to wish you good luck, Jowy. It sounds like you learned a lot from the last Pitboss game.

Thanks! You'll be surprised how much I've learned. Hell, you'll be surprised AND terrified when you see my RPB2 thread Anyway, I'll have to shush about that for now.

I can already tell this will be a fun thread to lurk


Good luck!

Thanks Bob! Hope it'll be. I'm planning to put some more thought to this than the last one. That should mean more updates. And the quality should be better now that I have some experience. Reporting and civ skills -wise.

[Jowy]

I'm this excited.

[Jowy]

Would LOVE to settle on a plains hill for an extra hammer. However, I'd miss the corn. Regardless, let's move the warrior first and decide what to do then. 1NW seems the way to go if I want to grab that corn, so let's find out what's there.



Marble! You don't yet realise how excited I was to see that. More on that in the next post Anyways, now I had to think if it's worth moving for. I lose some plains forests in the southeast, however those tiles will be little of use once they're chopped off. Northwest looks more fertile with a river and grassland tiles. I'd lose the 1 hammer bonus and the defensive bonus. I'd gain two resource tiles in BFC, an irrigated corn that is a treat, and a not-as-awesome but still-pretty-cool plains marble tile. I need a strong capital for my plans. I'll move for sure. But where to?



I did a little gamble here. First I moved 1NW, which I suppose is a very good spot itself. But I couldn't see past the river and wasn't comfortable settling 1NW. I decided that spending a turn moving to 1W wouldn't hurt: I'd get to see what's on the other side of the river (furs, sweet), I could settle right there in that tile the next turn since I didn't exactly lose anything valuable from the east, and if I didn't like what I saw, I could have still moved back 1E and settled on Turn 2.

Was it worth it? I don't know. Kinda feels like it will be. I'm the only one so far (Cull hasn't played yet) that didn't settle on turn 1. Either I'll gain on it and get the lead, or I'll lose on it and have to catch up. Atleast I can say for sure, with the information I have, that settling on where my settler is (or 1E of it) is definately better than settling on place.

[Jowy]

[SIZE="3"]NOTE: These are some of my notes (pun not intended) on possible wonders and my research path. They're incomplete, but I thought I'd post a part of them for you guys. I'm still missing a reasoning why pick these (I have my reasons, but haven't written them down yet), a tech path (got the groundwork done for that, but I'll keep them from your eyes yet :P) and another wonder I thought of after writing these (Mausoleum of Maussollos). Anyway this should explain why marble is good and what I have in my mind. Btw if you're wondering, I'm really going to basics on some stuff because I simply don't know about them, I'm writing this mainly for myself. Sorry vet lurkers! [/SIZE]

_________________________________________________


[SIZE="5"]Wonders and Research[/SIZE]

So we've got our first goal set up as an early Academy. I've been thinking of the next step after that. Nothing is set in stone yet, because it's good to maintain a certain amount of flexibility to be able to adapt for new circumstances. So this is still very much a pipe dream, but might as well give it a thought since I have nothing else to do yet! Anyways, here's the deal:

- The Great Library
- Ol' Good CS Slingshot!

First, let's take a look at the buildings and mechanics involved:

[COLOR="LightBlue"]The Great Library

Available once the Literature technology is discovered.
Cost: 350 hammers (double production speed with marble)
Reqs: Library

Effects:
+ 8 culture per turn
+ 2 free scientists
-> + 6 GPP (scientist)
-> + 6 beakers per turn
+ 2 GPP (scientist)[/COLOR]

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]Bureaucracy

Civic (legal)
Reqs: Civil Service tech
Upkeep: High

Effects:
+ 50% hammers
+ 50% commerce[/COLOR]

[COLOR="LightBlue"]The Oracle

Available once the Priesthood technology is discovered.
Cost: 150 hammers (double production speed with marble)
Reqs: None

Effects:
+ 8 culture per turn
+ 2 GPP (priest)
+ A Free Technology (that you can currently research)
[/COLOR]


[SIZE="5"]Research mechanics[/SIZE]

Gotta admit I've never really paid much attention on how research and commerce are interlinked :P That's probably a pretty large thing to overlook, but it's one of those subtle mechanics that the game doesn't really throw at your face. Anyway I needed to find out how it all works to find out exactly how useful The Great Library and Bureacracy are.



Let's see then. That's a picture from a (very quick) test game I played.

Base commerce: 14
Comes from Palace (+8), Trade Route (+1), Tiles that you don't see (+5)

+ 50% commerce for Capital (This is from Bureaucracy civic, which is enabled by Civil Service tech).
1.5 x 14 commerce = 21 commerce

Next modifier is the research/commerce glider.
I have it set up as 100% research, so:
1 x 21 commerce = 21 research
After that, the research from Specialists (the city has two, 3 research each) is added to the base research (which means that the research from specialists is not affected by the research glider, so if you have a specialist economy, you can run 0% research and still get quite some research done by all the specialists)
21 research + 3 research + 3 research = 27 research

Next step is adding research bonuses onto the base research (we already added commerce bonuses back in the first step, before converting the commerce to research):

Base research: 27
Bonus buildings:
Library (+25% research
Academy (+50% research)
They're added together first, to 75% increase.
So: 27 research x 1,75 = 47.25 research.

And that's the final number for this particular city: 47,25 (rounded down to 47?).

[Jowy]

Should be toned down soon. Alot. :neenernee