[PB74] Amicalola and Wills are Gluttons for Punishment

[El Grillo]

Best of luck and have fun! Any thoughts on your naming scheme?

[Amicalola]

Best of luck and have fun! Any thoughts on your naming scheme?

Thanks! I am a little worried that we will be doomed from the start, as the best opening I've found for playing this start with the Ottomans has been to grow on a Work Boat to Size 3, then build a worker, and only then build a settler. Not exactly a Power Move...  

I haven't really thought about the naming theme yet. I'm open to ideas! I have recently finished Lightbringer, the excellent penultimate book of the Red Rising series. Definitely one of the books I've enjoyed the most this year, so perhaps I can think of something to do with that? Alternatively, I've rediscovered my love for Australian Football this year, so going in that direction could be another possibility.

[Amicalola]

Well North Melbourne Football Club (my boys) just broke a 20-game losing streak... in the final game of the season!! Looks like a football theme is locked in - and the title is still relevant, as current NMFC supporters truly are masochists. Off to celebrate!  

Here is a 5-min video of the basics, in case anyone is interested in the sport. I highly recommend it, I truly think it's the best spectator-sport out there. 

Here is a video of this week's game's highlights, for anyone interested in watching a team break a basically season-long losing streak.   (The crowd is tiny, because this game was played in Tasmania, that little island no one cares about and supports neither team). It's not the best game of AFL I've seen (maybe I'll post a couple of those as we go), but as an NMFC fan it's one of the most personally satisfying.

 

North Melbourne's star (arguably only; we aren't very good  ) forward, Nick 'Souv' Larkey, kicks a PB ninth goal. 

[El Grillo]

Did you intentionally pick an AFL intro video where the top comment is poking fun at North Melbourne?

[Amicalola]

No, but that's hilarious. And fitting - due to a combination of bad luck and bad management, we have been the worst team for four years, in a league that also has equalisation measures . This year is the first glimmer of hope in a long time...

[Amicalola]

It's time for...
      Amicalola's Highly Out-dated, Potentially Mildly Offensive Opponent Analysis!       
I've written a lot of these, and at this point I feel I've already repeated myself a lot. So I'm just going to post my number rankings, and then if anyone has any questions they can ask.   There are actually quite a few players I don't know - unless something tells me otherwise, I'm generally guessing 3/5 for them. The deatiled list is in this spoiler:

Gavagai is Huayna Capac (FIN/IND) of England (Fishing/Mining, Redcoat/Stock Exchange)
Player Rating: 3/5
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 2/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 1/2
Total: 9/15 (Distant Contender)

Superdeath is Louis XIV (CRE/IND) of Babylon (Agriculture/Wheel, Bowman/Garden)
Player Rating: 1/5
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 2/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 0/2
Total: 7/15 (Respectable Food)

Commodore is Darius (FIN/ORG) of Maya (Mining/Mysticism, Holkan/Ball Court)
Player Rating: 4/5
Leader Rating: 4/4
Civ Rating: 0/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 0/2 
Total: 8/15 (Respectable Food)

Hubabl is Joao II (EXP/IMP) of Korea (Mining/Mysticism, Hwacha/Seowon)
Player Rating: UNKNOWN (Est. 3/5)
Leader Rating: 1/4
Civ Rating: 0/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 0/2
Total: 4/15 (Yikes)

Greenline is Justinian (IMP/SPI) of Aztecs (Hunting/Mysticism, Jaguar/Sacrifical Altar)
Player Rating: UNKNOWN (Est. 3/5)
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 2/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 1/2
Total: 9/15 (Distant Contender)

Plemo is Victoria (FIN/IMP) of Scandinavia (Fishing/Hunting, Beserker/Trading Post)
Player Rating: 5/5
Leader Rating: 4/4
Civ Rating: 4/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 2/2
Total: 15/15 (Um, What The Fuck??? How Did This Even Happen? We're All Gonna Die!  )

Bing is Napoleon (CHA/ORG) of Khmer (Hunting/Mining, Ballista Elephant/Baray)
Player Rating: 1/5
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 3/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 0/2
Total: 7/15 (Respectable Food)

Amicalola is Ragnar (AGG/FIN) of the Ottomans (Agriculture/Wheel, Janissary/Hammam)
Player Rating: 3/5 
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 1/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 1/2
Total: 8/15 (Respectable Food)

Magic Science is Willem van Oranje (CRE/FIN) of Mali (Mining/Wheel, Skirmisher/Mint)
Player Rating: 3/5
Leader Rating: 4/4
Civ Rating: 3/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 1/2
Total: 11/15 (Distant Contender)

Dreylin is Mehmed II (EXP/ORG) of Portugal (Fishing/Mining, Carrack/Feitoria)
Player Rating: UNKNOWN (Est. 3/5)
Leader Rating: 4/4
Civ Rating: 4/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 0/2
Total: 11/15 (Distant Contender)

Scooter is Elizabeth (FIN/PHI) of Japan (Fishing/Wheel, Samurai/Tatara)
Player Rating: 4/5
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 1/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 0/2
Total: 8/15 (Distant Contender)

Piccadilly is Tokugawa (AGG/PRO) of India (Mysticism/Mining, Fast Worker/Mausoleum)
Player Rating: 4/5
Leader Rating: 2/4
Civ Rating: 3/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 0/2
Total: 9/15 (Distant Contender)

Miguelito is Roosevelt (IND/ORG) of Egypt (Agriculture/Wheel, War Chariot/Obelisk)
Player Rating: 5/5
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 4/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 0/2
Total: 12/15 (Strong Contender)

Tarkeel is Julius Caesar (IMP/ORG) of Germany (Hunting/Mining, Reisengarde/Assembly Plant)
Player Rating: 3/5
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 1/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 2/2
Total: 9/15 (Distant Contender)

General Kill Cavalry is Nebuchadnezzar (PHI/IND) of France (Agriculture/Wheel, Musketeer/Salon)
Player Rating: 2/5
Leader Rating: 2/4
Civ Rating: 3/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 1/2
Total: 8/15 (Respectable Food)

GT is Kublai Khan (AGG/CRE) of Zululand (Agriculture/Hunting, Impi/Ikhanda)
Player Rating: UNKNOWN (Est. 3/5)
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 4/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 2/2
Total: 12/15 (Strong Contender)

Pindicator is Zara Yaqob (CRE/ORG) of Sumeria (Agriculture/Wheel, Vulture/Ziggurat)
Player Rating: 4/5
Leader Rating: 4/4
Civ Rating: 3/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 2/2
Total: 13/15 (Non-Plemo Favourite!)

Xist10 is Wang Kon (FIN/PRO) of Rome (Fishing/Mining, Praetorian/Forum)
Player Rating: 2/5
Leader Rating: 2/4
Civ Rating: 4/4 (Bronken Civ - Plz Nerf)
Bonus Synergy Points: 0/2
Total: 8/15 (Respectable Food)

Donovan Zoi is Suryvarman II (CRE/EXP) of Inca (Agriculture/Mysticism, Quechua/Terrace)
Player Rating: 2/5
Leader Rating: 3/4
Civ Rating: 3/4
Bonus Synergy Points: 2/2
Total: 10/15 (Distant Contender)

And if that's too long for you and you want the abridged version, here is my North Melbourne Pitboss Opponent Analysis! Players within tiers are also arranged in rough order. It is worth noting that there is so much map and neighbour variance that even if I analysed this perfectly (lol) I'd get most things wrong anyway.  
Nick Larkey Tier (We're All Gonna Die!) 


Plemo: Victoria of the Vikings (15/15)

Harry Sheezel Tier (Strong Contenders)


Pindicator: Zara Yaqob of Sumeria (13/15)
Miguelito: Roosevelt of Egypt (12/15)
GT: Kublai Khan of the Zulus (12/15)


Eddie Ford Tier (Distant Contenders)


Dreylin: Mehmed of Portugal (11/15)
Magic Science: Willem of Mali (11/15)
Donovan Zoi: Suryavarman of the Khmer (10/15)
Tarkeel: Julius Caesar of Germany (9/15)
Piccadilly: Tokugawa of India (9/15)
Greenline: Justinian of the Aztecs (9/15)
Gavagai: Huayna Capac of England (9/15)

Luke MacDonald Tier (Respectable Food)


Commodore: Darius of Maya (8/15)
Scooter: Elizabeth of Japan (8/15)
Amicalola: Ragnar of the Ottomans (8/15)
Xist10: Wang Kon of Rome (8/15)
GeneralKilCavalry: Nebuchadnezzar of France (8/15)
BING: Napoleon of the Khmer (7/15)
Superdeath: Louis of Babylon (7/15)

Tristan Xerri Tier (Yikes)


Hubabl: Joao II of Korea (4/15)

[Qgqqqqq]

Thanks for the list! I enjoy the tiers, even if I don't understand them.

I do think you are over weighting lesder/civ/synergy and undertaking player quality. I wouldnt expect me with the best combo would be competitive with TBS or mackoti with the worst combo.

[Amicalola]

Yeah, you're probably right. I'm not gonna go back and change them now, though.

In fairness, I think that start quality (semi-depending on how random this map is) and neighbour luck matter just as much, and I obviously can't rank those. So really, this list is useless beyond the fun spent creating it.

[klops]

Thanks for the list! I enjoy the tiers, even if I don't understand them.

+1  

So is Australian Football, what we call "Rugby" in Europe or is there a difference?
I liked this sport since I read Asterix as a teen.

[Qgqqqqq]

Heh, good comic.

Also if you call rugby Aussie football I am obliged to tackle you as a New Zealander (who has no interest in any form of rugby).