[SPOILERS] Whosit Plays Alone for Fun (and Profit?)

[Whosit]

I wonder if there will be enough forests left for Woodsman II Jaguars to be any good....

No jungle land I'm guessing, the way these maps get rolled and wrapped. I was just reading some old PB threads and... well, I guess 24 isn't that old, just sad, but I do kinda agree with Com about map aesthetics and having a place in the world and etc etc etc. I do like random, unbalanced things in theory, if only because I hope I'll get dealt a good hand. And as far as Civ goes, not like I am skilled enough for it to matter either way. Tangent.

Definitely hoping scout lives long enough to find Dreylin. I'd like to know what the "fair share" between us is so I can do my best to take the most. I think it's going to be really easy to get cities that can produce at least 13 hammers, meaning 2-turn Axes or Spears. Everyone can do this. I can do this slightly easier because I have an extra 2 happy and can work those extra tiles. Still not sure how much whipping I'll do, so maybe dumb to pick Aztecs for their UB, but you know what? I like the Aztec's color a lot.

[Whosit]

Quick note to self: Why did I think Axe/Spears were 25 hammers? 35 hammers. Interesting note also: Jaguars are 35 hammers as well, so a discount to the base Swordsman (good, because that -1 strength is painful). So to 2-turn those units, I need a reliable production of 18 hammers per turn. Capital can do that if I gear for production (could be a decent commerce capital if I also cottage all the grass hills though). Anyway, with all the hills out here, getting that much production shouldn't be a challenge in many cities.

Plan is for capital and a few satellite cities to be heavy on cottages, the rest on hammers, and yeah, wealth/research builds. Working on dot map; is tough to select sites, and especially since my east and south aren't as well-scouted as I'd like now that I know those are the directions I need to push. My west coast is lush, too, so I can't ignore that long.

[Whosit]

I don't seem to have great luck with partners who stick around, huh?

Anyway, did a little more scooping on the Drey, and I guess a lot of the games I remember him playing in were longer ago than I thought. Anyway, I'm going to keep assuming he's competent, though I don't think he's particularly aggressive. Maybe I can make things interesting by finding Jowy to my east.... Ah, and I'm not sure if Dreylin is a consistent reporter when left to his own devices, though that really says nothing about play.

I kind of wonder what the other players are saying about me. Am I still "that one guy with the Praetorians from PB2?" I hope not. I like to think I've gotten a little bit better since then. At least the references to that game are now few and far between. I still try to avoid naming that game directly if I can avoid it. But as for self-analysis, did I do that? Besides all the bits and pieces in my ramblings. Well, Whosit is low-middling tier as far as raw skill goes, at best. Tendency to get distracted, try to do too many things at once, and latch onto ideas with difficulty adjusting to changing situations. Hm, seems right. I don't expect that to change much in this game with my scramble for the henge, hope to get a religion, and then ??? prophet? My goal in this game is to have fun and break someone's sand castle, and hopefully not die too soon.

Anyway, that's me. Then there's my pick. Dreylin probably isn't too pleased to be finding Agg/Chm Aztecs to the north. Possible responses: KILL KILL KILL!; do not provoke; make a grab for land, settling defensively. I guess there's also "roll over and die" but that seems unlikely. Map's looking too big for any early rushes (sad noises from me), so I'm going to bet he'll at least make a grab for some defensive spots.

Speaking of, in the screenshot a few posts back, see that spot with the hill and the lake to the south and the rivers on either side? Awesome fortress! Too bad it's too close to my capital to be a front-liner.

[Whosit]

Hmm... good intel this turn.



So, 14 tiles from capital to capital, or 13 between. "Fair share" might be 2 cities each between. That fortress location is actually closer to the front than I thought. Need to find a way to get more than my fair share.



It'll also play a bit of havoc with my west coast dots. I plan to Move scout 1SE-1S next turn unless it looks like Dreylin has a Warrior waiting for me. Then loop back west a bit to bust up the rest of the fog there. I have a Warrior pushing east, will recall the one that went north, and after the Settler Pops it's: Worker > Worker > Worker > Warrior (size 5) > Settler. Pretty sure that was the plan. I know I'll be slow to city 3, but I'm gonna need all those workers. I hope Copper pops close, as I might settle for that before Horses.




Someone's at 20 food. Guessing that's wetbandit with the second city. Unless someone has a capital with better food resources than me.

[Whosit]

I could try to push all the way down to that hill/lake "fortress" spot with an early claim, but I'd need to put a lot of worker turns into connecting it with a road, would need decent military to escort/defend it, and it's really not necessary I think. My land is great, so probably better to settle closer and push out from there, rather than plant strung-out cities that need heavy investment to pay off.

[Whosit]

Meh.

[Commodore]

You know what's exciting? JAGUAR RUSHING.

[Whosit]

Well, I am strongly considering getting Iron Working before Currency. Maybe right after Maths.

Although on a more serious note, I'm unsure of the logistics of that and how much it would set me back if it fails (or even succeeds). I'm sure you're already spoiled, Com, otherwise I'd ask if you'd want to help write up the battle plans. :P

I'm not an expert in ancient/classical warfare by far, but from what I've seen it appears very hard to score a knockout before catapults. The other question lingering in my mind is how many cities should I get down before I start revving up for war? I don't think there's an absolute number; it's probably more relative. Plus, Woody II Jaguars have poor odds on defending Axemen. However, I suppose the point of Woody II Jaguars is trying to hit cities that aren't stuffed full of defenders.

[Whosit]

So this turn definitely makes me think Dreylin (and probably everyone else) have similar geographical situations. Coast in 2 directions, land in 2 directions. Can't be 100% sure but seems legit.

So there was another something I wanted to do: Discuss how powerful I think all the traits are on this map. Traits:

Traits
IMP: 4
AGG: 3
ORG: 3
CRE: 2
EXP: 2
PRO: 2
CHM: 1
FIN: 1

I'm not sure I can actually rank them in terms of best/worst on the map, but here goes.

Financial: I think Jowy is going to end up pleased with this. There are relatively few rivers on the map, so that makes financial relatively more powerful. If he can avoid getting bogged down in war or revenge and plants lots of cottages, he'll be in good shape.

Organized: Always good. Big map, so that makes it better, if my understanding of the trait is right (civics costs will be higher, and more courthouses will be invested in, and also greater chance of getting to late game).

Imperialistic: RtR has really made this much more popular. With the amount of space out there, very valuable trait. Those who play it well should wind up with a good share of land.

Expansive: Might be slightly better than on a typical map? I could be very wrong, it just feels like you're gonna need a few more workers than is typical what with the terrain. In any case, discounts to something you're going to make a lot of is always good. Plus, as people point out, savings on Workers gets invested in other things.

Aggressive: Large map and more cities might mean the city discount is slightly more valuable, but the larger distance makes rushing tougher. Of course, I know AGG isn't all about rushing, but I was hoping to.

Protective: Good for the Granaries. I don't think it's any better or worse here than on any other map.

Creative: Not sure if it's any better here than elsewhere. It's been buffed since previous versions, so that's nice.

Charismatic: I'm the only one with this. So far it seems there are 2 early happy available, and 2 mid-game happy available. My free 2 happy is basically +33% early on, then +25% later. That'll decrease if more happiness resources show up, and as people find other ways to boost the happy cap. In any case, I'll have an advantage in growing tall.

There's some very good picks out there. In fact, I'd go so far to say that everyone but me tried to make a good pick. We'll see what I can do about that.

[Whosit]

So a warrior showed up:



So, Dreylin played twice since my last turn. I don't know if I was technically double-moved, since I'm not sure he knew my Scout was there or this was just a coincidence. In any case, retreated Scout.

Borsche settled 2nd city last turn (29) by the way, 3rd player to do so. Mine will be settled T32.




My wandering Diplomat encountered Dreylin's wounded scout. Probably encountered that Lion that was wandering around. I expect the scout to bolt. If for some reason he doesn't, I'll kill it.

Chances are his warrior to the south is escorting a Settler. It's a nice spot.


Maybe he'll settle 1W of the spice? I'd love to settle 1W of the pigs, but they'd have to be flying pigs for me to get down that far.



Silver finally mined. Does nice things for GNP, though crop yield is diminished. Fair trade, I'd say.

So the first to settle 2nd cities so far are Yuri, Wetbandit, and Borsche. The two CRE players and Inca. Neither should want Stonehenge. This turn is young, so others might be settling this turn or next, and if they go for Henge they'd have a 1-2 turn head start on me. Not too much of a worry. I'm feeling OK about my chances.

Also, based on new land area, I think everyone's second cities so far are coastal.