PB81 - Continental Drifters (TBS)

[The Black Sword]

Looking forward to obsessing over some civ again.

[ljubljana]

hi TBS! dropping in to say:

tier list tier list :D

[The Black Sword]

I haven't really kept up with the most recent games, so a tier list is a shot in the dark. One shouldn't turn down free lurker interaction though, so my best guess for the two continents is:

TBS
Naufrager
MJMD
Dreylin

Xist
Superdeath
Gira
Greenline

I probably go into the game as the favourite unfortunately, thinking about maybe going for later game traits to not look too strong early.

[thrawn]

If you want a dedlurker I'm practically unspoiled. I know who'll be on your continent but can avoid commenting on that until you've met everyone, and I know nothing about the map or the other players' plans.

As probably the best player, what do you think about picking early traits to beat the others to cats and using that to conquer someone? From there it should be straightforward to win the 1vs2 to consolidate the continent, which should also win you the rest of the game.

[Zed-F]

How much are you planning to report? Will having dedlurkers encourage you to report more?

[The Black Sword]

Would be great to have you on board Thrawn! I hope to update fairly regularly, but not every turn. More ded-lurkers would have the desired affect if you're sticking around too Zed-F.

Regarding early game traits, I think I'd be quite comfortable taking two early ones and snowballing. I think I've done that a lot, whereas I think the only game I took two late traits was PB18 with Phi/Spi. Which was not really a normal game at all. So the novelty is one thing pushing me this way.

It is a good point though, that if we are essentially a 4 player game for a long time, the threat of a dogpile is a bit diminished. 

I had a look at the CTH traits again.

I still really don't like Agg and Pro. Though if we can't trade with the other continent until Astro then Pro at least gets some decent value. They do have the novelty factors too.

Phi is probably the trait I think is the best, though I play it too much. Those two things are probably linked. I think Cre is really good too with getting the library bonus back. All the others are at a similar level. It's not like those two are super far ahead either but I think they shade it for me. If we end up on Emperor difficulty then that's a point in favor of Org.

[Zed-F]

Sure, count me in as a ded-lurker then.

PRO is pretty good in CtH, though of course it varies depending on whether the map, variant, and your civ suits it. PRO is best if you expect trade routes to feature heavily in your income stream, relative to other income sources, and it’s kind of a build-around pick as a result.

America has recently been the darling of PHI trying to break it, but circumstances haven’t really lined up for anyone to do that just yet. At some point it’s bound to happen, though, in the right game for it.

[thrawn]

CRE sounds good for an early conquest + being able to settle all the land without giving away much to the other two. It saves beakers in addition to hammers so I like it better than EXP or IMP.

The thing about AGG is that if most hammers go into units, it's a direct multiplier on that. Barrage 2 makes cats 25% more effective over 1, and Barrage 3 is 33% over 2. Similarly cheap barracks and being able to take shock out of gate can be very useful. The maintenance discount can also be good but probably not so much in this game.

Other than CRE no second trait stands out to me but if this needs to be fast maybe CRE/EXP or CRE/IMP Egypt with mining as the extra tech. No gnp traits but winning the continent means developing in peace which beats any traits.

What would you do with PHI if you pick it? I haven't looked into GPs yet and don't know much about them.

[Zed-F]

I’m personally not very chuffed about CRE. There are enough other ways to get culture efficiently that spending a whole pick on CRE seems like a waste. But it does mean you can afford to be more aggressive in settling your borders.

[Tarkeel]