GeneralKilCavalry BUGs his way to victory

[GeneralKilCavalry]

I want to try something really aggressive, like protective.

[Commodore]

Try something more isolationist, like Expansive.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Last in snakepick, 6 players, reminds me of playing settlers of catan.

Looks like a pretty decent start. With lighthouse and cottaging the floodplain, i have something like 16 food surplus? Sounds like a great person capital.

Two food, three hammers capital. So a guaranteed +1 production on center city tile alone from expansive.
Micro will come down to something like - fishing civ, build 2 workboats and then a worker, or mining civ, tech BW and worker first? Or perhaps since BW takes so long, Mining + fishing would allow workboat then worker, extra 2 commerce towards BW, chop out a workboat, grow into a warrior, a few settlers.

So Carthage, England, Portugal, or Rome. Mali or Japan are acceptable too, the worker would have something to do. 

Edit: quick sim shows early granny might be the way to go with CHM/EXP

Traits:
Tier 1:
Small map, so something to counter superdead Rambo mode. (Protective) also cheap granary for super capital
Want expansive. Duh.

Tier 2 generally ok
Philosophical - look at that capital and tell me it can’t run 5 specialists. Would want to pair with Japan for MC/Machinery rush.
Organized - always a decent choice. May not be as relevant on this map.
EDIT: forgot CHM. Goes here.

Tier 3 pair with certain civs only.
Agg - yea not a fan, but may do so with Rome.
Financial is an extra 6 commerce for a capital like this. Banks come too late for a game like this. 
Creative - the game will be decided so early this might matter.
Imperialistic - makes early chops on settlers behave like math chops. Maybe worth considering, but never been a fan.

Tier 4, why?
Spiritual
Ind - not after PB44 and PB45

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Haven't even looked what other people have picked yet, but I'm choosing between civs:
Babylon, Carthage, Rome, Mali, Japan

Traits:
Fin/Pro/Exp/Phi/Chm. Not really feeling org, even though a cheap early lighthouse will do as much for my capital as a granary.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Note to self: load the mod and hunt bugs.

Ok, back on topic. I want to pose myself a few questions

Starting techs. How necessary is it to have both or even one of them? How much time does it save? Workboat -> worker with BW is an interesting proposition. The worker then goes and chops three or so forests and a settler can be put by turn 25. If BW comes only after an exp worker work boat with a mining/fishing civ, we don’t even need exp then? Or just build another workboat first then.

EXP saves 30 shields on workboats and 40 on workers in the first 35-40 turns. Perhaps this is wrong, and I shouldn’t be thinking in the “savings formalism” since workers are in foodhammer land, and our main foodhammer production comes from our clam and fish. Micro should be more goal oriented here than ever since this is likely an extremely “short run” game.

6 players small map - is there going to be an innate cap on expansion that will hit before borders and stacks collide? Is a worker gambit going to be feasible? Mali provides an excellent deterrent very early, and paired with financial, skrims can be acquired super early. Wanker Kon gives added security and early dev.

What are opponents thinking:
AT- Inca is cheese, Quechuas ain’t shit.

Krill - he envies my PB46 pick. Half joking but his strategy is abundantly clear. Jags are less a threat since they require iron, so with good scouting, he won’t pull too much of a sneaky on me.

India- smiley face granary with a 15hammer discount and a useless UU for a small map.

Native America - scout spam, archer spam, stonehenge, Zoop doop, generally predictable. He can spam archers and choke effectively but won’t be able to take cities with any greater effect. So drill 4 archers assuming Cairo takes protective which he should. Idk how else to counter those but horcher spam. More incentive to do Carthage.

Superdeath - Boudicca - the ravenous bugblatter beast of RB himself. SD seriously thought I’d take Boudicca before him. Maybe he thinks he’s playing a mind game to avoid disclosing his civ pick, but I’d wager it’s Rome, or if he’s really edgy, the Zulu. Frankly playing denial and grabbing Rome before his grubby hands get on it wouldn’t be a bad idea. I of course would then choose Boudiccas mercantile???? cousin Ragnar, or her deranged grandson Shaka.

Ok so we have our thesis of requirements, antithesis of opponents, what’s the synthesis?

Babylon - 10% of what we need from starting techs, and 50% of a protective trait (in both aspects). This civ has no direct synergy except invalidating protective. Pacal with this would be developmentally amazing. Hannibal would also be great and gives a slight military edge. I’m increasingly liking charismatic due to small map considerations. So:

Babylon with {Fin, Exp, Chm}C2

Next civ is japan. We’d be better off on starting techs, 60% of the way, and have a worthless UB. You pick Japan for the samurai spam and an MC rush. That’s something that requires phi or ind and is too predictable. Takes 80 turns at best to get ready. NOPE

Carthage:
Perfect starting techs, shit UB for Pangea, excellent UU to counter praet spam from SD (need to see how they do versus drill 4 archer spam).
To get HBR I would like financial and for horchers which retreat I prefer CHM to agg. Hannibal of Carthage. Lol. Other options aren’t amazing. Pacal just generally works here too.

Mali: probably the most versatile combo wise - not a plus when I’m last in snake-pick. IND works obviously, call it obsessive but it’s very boosted. Pro works with skirmisher rush. Phil works with mints well enough. Exp is great because wheel, so worker has something to do before BW (still need to run a sim). CHM + a mint with gold makes 8 happy, so no need for hereditary rule.

Rome: Ragnar and go to town, enough said. Would be denial for superdeath.

TO BE CONTINUED WHEN I GET HOME

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Just finished making dinner and eating and mulling over this.

Rome: Pacal, Ragnar, or Shaka.

Mali: So much can go here, but I'd really want the semi-obsessive pairing with protective to get mega-skirmishers. So, let's see what other things we can pick with mali. Not really in a Phil mood, don't want to do ind. Pro/Chm would be pretty interesting simply in terms of denying it to Mr. Cairo.

Mali: Churchill, Wanker Kon, Mao

Babylon: Hannibal, George Washington (I doubt anyone ever picked that), Pacal

Carthage: Hannibal, Pacal, GW

12 combos to choose from.

So, I think that Mali is the least interesting pick here. PB44 I played it, it's been buffed surely, but still not what I'd want.

So down to 9. Probably prefer shaka to ragnar for rome, and not doing agg rome is a bit pointless...
So down to 7.
Carthage, probably want financial for the max speed to HBR. no GW. Down to 6:

5:35pm
Shaka of Rome, Carthage with Pacal or Hannibal, Babylon with Pacal/Hannibal/or exp/chm
Micro for Rome and Carthage is the same and they face the exact same problem - horses and iron could be finnicky on a tiny map. Babylon doesn't satisfy my itch for unequivocal violence, but it may be a safe play.

In terms of counters, Bowmen will counter praets favorably enough on hills or forests. Numids will however crush them. Numids will also crush any other UU chosen so far (not counting india)
Praets are always great.

Micro-wise, I think the starting techs of rome/carthage+ pacal give the earliest possbile settler (Hannibal may be not as good for carthage, plus exp gives the trivial 100% towards its special harbor)... Babylon helps in the long run though. Best whipping capability is Hannibal of Babylon.

6:12 PM
So torn between:
Shaka of Rome.
Pacal of Carthage.
Hannibal of Babylon (no starting techs means getting a faster worker/workboat won't help as much)

Reiterating pro/cons again
Rome/Carthage - faster initial micro - pair nicely with expansive, good offensive UU's, Carthage is prickly and can counter offense anything, Rome is MAX aggro and would deny SD of his prize. Con is the potential to get shafted in terms of iron/horses and becoming neutered. I would have to trust commodore to choose these combos.

Babylon - defensive, prickly UU, and cheap granaries. Wheel is not a bad starting tech. Just an overall decent pick and would pair nicely with Hannibal for getting a really garden and whipping out a bunch of bowmen.

[Irismono]

My pick would be Pacal of Carthage, Numidian cav are fun to play with and difficult to maneuver against, especially on a small map. you could also go Hannibal of Carthage since you mentioned you liked the CHM idea. CHM would make it easier to attack someone else if you don't get rushed by SD, otherwise happy cap is never bad. EXP is EXP though so it's ultimately in your hands.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Yea, this is supposed to be a bit more relaxed of a pitboss, and carthage would be fun to play with. In any case, simming showed babylon as inferior, so it was between that and rome.

Now to choose between 3 leader options

[Irismono]

I'd go for Hannibal or Pacal, mostly because I rate Fin over Exp.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

I love the great people part of the tech tree in the BUG mod.