[SPOILERS] yuris125 on a Pitboss77 boat

[yuris125]

[yuris125]

Early pick thoughts

With all the naval civs banned, don't think there's any particular civ so much stronger than others that it's worth spending the first pick on. I expect to first pick a leader, unless I think of something that changes my mind before Commodore posts starts

Cha is one of the few ways to get navigation 1 ships out of the gate with vassalage and theocracy. With mobility advantage being so important in MP games, I'd say it's a must

For other traits
Agg - seems meh. As we know from previous games, it's a decent econ trait in mid-to-late game, when unit build-up starts. Since I can get any leader I want, don't think Agg is in contention
Cre - seems meh. I don't expect much border tension where free culture shines. Cheap libraries are good of course, but think there are stronger options
Exp - seems meh. Funny how it fell out in favour in CtH, with worker production bonus gone. Not that it would've been that good even with worker production bonus, archipelago maps usually require fewer workers. Cheap granaries are good to speed up the early game, but double-whipping granaries shouldn't be a problem anyway, and I would rather have a trait which has value in the later game
Fin - banned
Imp - seems alright, faster settlers are always nice, but not game-breaking, and it's another trait with little late game value
Ind - don't think I will pick it, but it's not a bad option. Production usually is hard to come by on archipelago maps, forges are a pain to whip, and CtH giving extra boost to production of national wonders, especially Moai, is not irrelevant. Also, Pyramids
Org - banned
Phi - I think it's one of the stronger options, archipelago maps usually have abundance of seafood, birthing great people should be relatively easy, and Phi makes it possible even in the later game, when they become expensive
Pro - stronger than usual, since all cities will have intercontinental trade routes. Don't think it's top tier, but it does seem strong to me with these settings
Spi - another strong option, I think freely swapping in and out of military civics for production of fast ships will be very powerful, and the power will only grow as the game progresses

So I think Brennus and Lincoln are the two leading options to first pick, Churchill and De Gaulle options worth considering

[yuris125]

Actually, now that I identified 4 leaders I wouldn't be unhappy to play as, here's an idea. Since I expect the game to be specialist-heavy, why not first pick America, which accelerates specialist production and has good starting techs, and then take whichever of those leaders is available

[civac2]

Exp has been picked a lot in CTH, especially recently. Not sure how it interacts with a water map. It does give 100% to harbors.

[yuris125]

Interesting - I couldn't remember a game where it was actively picked rather than rolled in a random game. Maybe memory playing tricks with me

Don't get me wrong, cheap granaries are still very strong. I would've been looking at it more closely if it had more long-term economic value. And it is entirely possible that I'm undervaluing the boost to harbours

[civac2]

Harbors get an extra 50% bonus from having circumnavigation in CTH and of course there is Carthage. CRE is useful to get to 2nd ring seafood quickly. Not saying these traits are necessarily amazing, just pointing things out. I like the traits you highlighted as well.

[yuris125]

Cre I think is weakened by the fact that I'm set on picking Cha, so will want monuments everywhere, and they're cheaper for Cha in CtH. Also I definitely will want religion to take advantage of theocracy. So apart from very early cities culture shouldn't be a problem, and the first cities probably can be settled with food in the first ring

Even if do end up first picking America (which I probably will tbh, it being strong in CtH is well established by now, there's no chance it will still be available on the wheel, and I'd be curious to see what others think on leaders before making my pick), I doubt Cre will be worthwhile

[Commodore]

A reward for being early on the thread-posting train:

Fog lies.

[yuris125]

Thanks Commodore!

Time to get testing tomorrow, but it looks like pretty obvious SIP for the capital, don't think I would want to give a plains hill, and moving onto the one NE gives up first ring food and is almost certainly worse. Probably 3W for the second city, if it's not a mountain

I will need both AH and BW relatively quickly, will be an interesting question how to prioritise them. Probably BW first, we can live off seafood to begin with, improving the sheep can wait

[yuris125]

One other interesting pick in Japan. Cha Japan can get triple-promoted units out of the gate with Vassalage / Theocracy, doing their best "Vikings at home" impression. What brings it down is starting techs - Japan starts with Wheel, one of the more expensive starting techs, but also one that's not useful in the very early turns. I will need to test how much it slows down the start

On another note, did Dropbox break image embedding? The image in the opening post no longer shows for me