[spoilers] wetbandit Goes 5150 in PBEM 51

[wetbandit]

Ramesses would be a good choice too, AH->BW I would know right away where the strategic resources are. I may be overvaluing Inca and undervaluing IND and Mining start. Lots of forests to chop, I suppose I could think about Stonehenge too with Ramesses to replace the terrace bonus.

If someone takes Bismarck obviously that weakens Ram, but I can't see someone taking that choice.

[wetbandit]

On reflection, I'm probably not good enough to get enough use out of BOTH Spiritual and Philosophical at the same time. Nice builder traits then?

Ramesses of China it is.

[wetbandit]

Initial sandbox, I can get the worker finished a turn earlier if I go to the Sugar and get the first settler out two turns earlier. I lose the commerce from working the sugar tile and the farmed 4 food sugar, but it's possible that the Sugar Capital may pick up some better tiles. I'll move the scout that way to see if it what lies out there.

I'm sure I can optimize this better, or even go Worker-Warrior-Worker if that makes more sense. Everything is end of turn.

Sugar: T9 Worker, T21 Settler (2pop whip) (T23 3 Warriors), T26 Worker, T30 Settler, T33 Granary, T36 Worker

Non-Sugar: T10 Worker, T23 Settler, T29 Worker (3 warriors), T33 Worker, T34 Granary

Sugar plan has awkward timing for the granary, or at least I've awkwardly timed it so it doesn't really fill up until T36 or so.

This is probably too light on workers. I'm not that familiar with quick speed, but from what I understand, it is correct to have more workers than normal speed.

[Ceiliazul]

This is probably too light on workers. I'm not that familiar with quick speed, but from what I understand, it is correct to have more workers than normal speed.

Workers spend more time moving on quick, but generally the 1.5*cities is still the rule. Depends on your micro planning, macro strategy and nearby terrain. (i.e. specialist economy may get away with less workers, heavy forests require more.)

Any thoughts on macro? How will you win?

[wetbandit]

I was planning on accepting unconditional surrender in about one week.

My initial thoughts with macro is to leverage IND to land a big early wonder, Oracle or mids. With Oracle, get MC and attempt the Machinery Bulb. Then, use CKNs to overwhelm one person, eat their land, and go from there. Specifically, I would hope to found Hinduism with polytheism and get happiness from that.

I realize now that my pick is halfway inspired my Mackoti, so I should at least pay lip service to the idea of going for the mids. The mids are great, Spiritual would even let me switch into Police State if that becomes beneficial.

It's Torusland, and a few test games shows me that marble and stone seem to be abundant. So IND alone doesn't guarantee much of anything, so the priority would be to focus on one. If I find the multiplier for either one, and it's close, that may be the way I will lean. I have the first 15ish turns (AH-BW completion) to figure out what the map will tell me.

In the short term, there will be whipping. I'm still considering a detour to pottery for an early-ish granary. I will be happy limited, though, if that's the route, it looks like Mids will be better.

This was written when I conveniently forgot MC required pottery. Derp.

[wetbandit]

Scouted to the sugar and found lots of ugly, empty coast.

I decided to settle in place. The thinking was, I would have a chance at 2nd ring resources to my south and would at least have one riverside grassland that I would abandon 2NE. I don't have any intention to prioritize fishing or sailing; especially with no resources. A city 3E can pick up that tile.

There's lots of empty grassland and plains, here's hoping that's a horse or bronze. That Cow 2NW is very awkwardly positioned. There was no chance I was going to be able to reveal that with the scout, it would have made settling on the hill interesting, that's for sure.

[wetbandit]

Brief update:

Second city will share the sheep, probably settle to claim the 2nd sheep when Capital's third ring pops. Lots of forests for 2nd city, too.

I've got an Ancient Era happy resource, furs! It's in a terrible spot. And has a crappy yield. And doesn't fit any planned city anytime soon. In future news, tundra location becomes World's Slowest Moai Build.

Only 1 capital was settled with water first ring. I have the only 3 yield commerce tile, so far. The appropriate emoticon for this discovery would be a smiley half-heartedly blowing on a party favor.

Obligatory Naming Scheme Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VaEdKwXJhM
Why Can't This Be Love

[wetbandit]

Oh man, it’s time for one of those Opponent Analysis posts!

Oxy: Joao (Exp/Imp) of Khmer (Ballista Elephant, Baray) [Hunting, Mining]

I was very tempted to choose this pairing and probably would have if I had the chance. He will be the fastest starter. I expect that he will have a similar tech opening to me (Agri/AH, to BW, onto Pottery) and get into BW quickly to leverage whipping into his worker/settler bonuses. I will be interested to see how quickly he expands in light of Toroidal maintenance and if he manages to crash his economy.

I also suspect there is a significant possibility that he has Ivory uncovered in his start based on his comment that he will use BEs to conquer us in spite of his vote to ban them. BEs are obviously strong and countering them even harder. The best counter for me would be CKNs and collateral his stack, the operative part getting to CKNs.

Azza: Wang Kon (Fin/Pro) of Zulu (Ikhanda, Impi) [Agriculture, Hunting]

Unlike some of us, Azza has enough of a history in past RB games to discuss his personal play style. Azza is a solid player, which is probably understated for the expected skill level of this game.

Civ is strong, Impis will be helpful, with decent starting techs, and he has Financial. Ikhandas will help him with maintenance. I predict that he will play a more conservative game to last into the mid-game where Financial will have to pull up his civ with its Protective lead weight.

Retep: Julius (Imp/Org) of Mongolia (Keshik, Ger) [Hunting, Wheel]

I wasn’t inclined to take this pairing, but I loathe starting near this Civ as I’ll be forced to build significant military. The combo and selection scream rush. I intend to be playing with my shiny wonder(s) and crossbow schematics in the early era; which won’t do any good except to provide kindling for Keshik stacks. He has some long term potential with Org, but the key here is for Retep to conquer land quickly.

In a perfect world, Retep spawns far away and rushes Joao before Elephants come online.

Yuris: Hammurabi (Org/Agg) of France (Salon, Musketeer) [Agriculture, Wheel]

Yuris also has some history on RB, but I don’t have much recall of his games at this time.

Great starting techs. His combination of traits and UU gives him the flexibility to tech and be relevant in the midgame or be aggressive early. I would play this combination very opportunistically as three civs appear to be designed for the mid-game.

Originally, retep was the player I least wanted to be near, but I now realize it is yuris. With retep, I know that I will have to build spears. With Yuris, it won’t be clear if he will attack me and he’ll have the AGG advantage with his axes. There is far more uncertainty here than with retep.

wetbandit: Ramesses (Spi/Ind) of China (Cho-ko-nu, Pavilion) [Agriculture, Mining]

This is Always Peace, right? I have two mid-tier traits which require planning and precise implementation to be effective. If there’s anything the wetbandits are known for, it’s their planning and precise execution.

I am hoping to land the Oracle or the Mids; also wishcasting on landing religion with Polytheism. I am planning to throw flowers at the feet of my enemies in the hopes that their allergic reactions cause them to fall upon their swords. I am very tempted to build all the Shinys, although if I start near retep or even yuris, that plan will need to be scaled back. Three of the other four opponents have some way to reduce maintenance, either by trait or extra building. I will be taking the full brunt of Toroidal maintenance and will need to use IND to its full extent to compensate. Two potential avenues:

1. Oracle MC, bulb Machinery; use CKNs to acquire territory. CKNs can be expensive to build, will require lots of whipping. Obvious issue: actually getting the forge done in time to get Great Engineer before GP.

2. Oracle COL, build pyramids, switch between Rep/Caste and Police State/Slavery. This option becomes more attractive if I miss religion at poly. Stone would further enhance this option. The problem is actually being able to do both. Also puts big target on my back.

For the time being, I am planning on building a granary first and abuse the capital for whipping.

So to rank how I think this will turn out:

1. Joao
2. Hammy
3. Wang
4. Ramesses
5. Julius

Don’t get me wrong, I like my pick; I have the “most different” civ in comparison to the rest, but my plan will be obvious to all: build wonders and deter attacks. I think that will make me a target, but we’ll see how it goes.

Edit: Typed this up in wordperfect and didn't realize how Eye-Assaulting it would be. Edited for readability.

[TheHumanHydra]

My favourite kind of post! Thank you!

[Ceiliazul]

Nice analysis, I think you'll get a lot of value out of being the only IND civ. Maybe I'm biased, but it was a huge help in my first game.

Toroids firmly punish early era warfare, UU or not. I'd be more afraid of Retep's temper than his Keshiks. (Haven't read his thread)

Although 2 promo knights are scary too...