[SPOILERS] Wilderness

[Jowy]

This is an opening post.

[Jowy]

Hey. I'll be playing as Egypt. It's a fun civ with good starting techs.

I'm planning to take Pericles for my leader. I played a Full of Resources lakes map in PB9 with Pericles, and although I didn't really put his traits to good use, I think he's a great fit for a lush lakes map. Maybe a more optimal pick would be to pair the philosophical trait with expansive or spiritual, perhaps even organized, but I enjoy not having to worry about border pops. There are some small synergies between fast libraries, the obelisk, and faster GP generation, but I'm not trying to tie my gameplay to fit a synergy gimmick. I think I can make use of all my stuff on their own.

Gonna try to stay out of trouble this game. If I can get through this without self-destructing that'd be cool. Even cooler would be if I could also deter my enemies from attacking me and dragging me down with them. While rarer for me, it has happened in every game where I haven't been an aggressor (PBEM4 Strike700 rushed me, PB12 Kurumi attacked me, PB13 dtay rushed us, PB18 HAK rushed me). War chariots will be fantastic units for just that, and they'll be around even longer in a normal speed game.

[Jowy]

It's the start. Haven't micro'd anything, but AH > Mining > BW > Hunting should work.

I will settle in place because that's how it will be balanced by the map maker.

[Jowy]

We have a cool setup with some familiar names.

Cornflakes I know from PB9. We were allies by geography in that game. He played a strong game and was one of the two victory contenders in that game. He successfully rushed Azza, which might encourage him to try it again. He might be a bit inexperienced, but he can cover a lot of his weaknesses if he puts as much time into the game as he put into PB9.

Bob I know from PBEM54, the infamous game started impromptu in a lurker thread. He was the only one I didn't attack in that game. He played decently enough, but couldn't keep up with thestick. He didn't attack his neighbor Mardoc while Mardoc was getting his stack killed by me on the other side of the world, nor did he attack thestick to try to stop him. Based on PBEM54 Bob is a passive player.

Retep played a strong game with an isolationist start in his first PB, but got killed early in the next two. I think he's someone who will take things personally, so I should stay on his good side and be careful not to provoke him.

ReallyEvilMuffin is a mystery. He seems to have a lot of MP experience, but it always varies how that experience translates to our games. Judging by his Byzantine pick, his meta is what we used to have before PB/PBEM became a thing here. I expect him to rush someone with cataphracts, and he'll tank his economy doing it.

[Jowy]

I will improve pigs and cows first. Then I'll mine the grassland hill. Tech path is AH -> Mining -> BW - Hunting. Delaying hunting is fine, the yield bonus for improving it is only 1H 1C and the happiness point won't be relevant yet. Horses in BFC would be nice, but I expect them to be in a second city location for meta reasons. I'll build two warriors after the worker and grow the city to size 4 ready to build a settler.

[Jowy]

We got a forest growth Our scout got an EXP for killing a wolf, and he didn't take any damage in the process. He's gonna go around the capital, prioritizing finding city spots over finding neighbors.
The X's are tentative second and third city spots.

[Jowy]

We got AH, there are no horses anywhere. We met Cornflakes who came from NW, which is now blocked by a lion.

[Jowy]

There are only two possible locations where I might have horses, NW and directly south. The lion moved back so I'm checking out NW first.

[Jowy]

Found horses, but they are in an awful spot. There's no food apart from a clam, and that's not much at all. Settling here early to grab the horses would slow me down too much in economy. I'll have to make do without war chariots for now, unless I find another source in the south.

[Jowy]

We met Retep and found another land bridge. We might border every Civ by the end of the expansion phase.