[SPOILERS]-! Churchill and the natives, a true story.

[superdeath]

cant believe we are getting started. i hope i dont fail too badly.

[superdeath]

[img][/img] im liking a possible city site to the south, can borrow the pigs to get started. havent decided where though.
[img][/img] #1 in production, going to try and keep that throughout the game. although i hope the map makers gave me a good neighbor to throw it at

[superdeath]

im hoping that the mapmakers were kind enough to compensate the newer players in this game for what i can only assume is a huge skill difference. i wont likely pull a win, but i could place given a nice defensible position. if i can setup a couple fortress city sites and fill in back-lines, i see no real reason i cant at least live till the end/near the end. also a side note- never knew scouts didnt have any " soldier points " learn something new everyday.

Also, if any lurkers know of any rivalry's between players that i can take advantage of, ( that is common knowledge ) that they can either tell me, or point me in the direction of the threads to read, that would be great. anything that i can use to my advantage :D

[RefSteel]

im hoping that the mapmakers were kind enough to compensate the newer players in this game for what i can only assume is a huge skill difference.

On skill difference:  You never know unless you play it out!  On compensation:  We have played games with handicaps before (I was a dedlurker in one of them - PBeM 31, I think it was) but on the rare occasions when we do, we make that explicit in the sign-up thread.  In general, we don't want lurkers' (mis)perceptions about player skill skewing things, and when a brilliant new player shows up and takes a game by storm, we want it to be something they can take pride in, and not seem like a hollow victory aided by a favorable-to-them map.  So standard practice here is to try to balance stuff within reason and since imbalances will exist, distribute the start positions among the players at random to make sure that at least there's no bias leaking in.

Also, if any lurkers know of any rivalry's between players that i can take advantage of, ( that is common knowledge ) that they can either tell me, or point me in the direction of the threads to read, that would be great. anything that i can use to my advantage :D

I guess what you'd have to do is start with our list of old games and their outcomes and review people's threads for the ones that look promising?  The completed games subforum should have all the relevant threads, though most of the old images will be broken because of various image-hosting providers changing their rules and/or links.

[Coeurva]

From one newb to another, it's probably not a good idea to try the "psychological" approach especially when you're new. Focus on what's on the map, and consider what you would do in anyone's position. Odds are, if you're both being rational, you'll come to similar conclusions; if not, then there's rather little you can do to predict/prevent what's coming, anyway.

Check demographics often.

[superdeath]

im hoping that the mapmakers were kind enough to compensate the newer players in this game for what i can only assume is a huge skill difference.

On skill difference:  You never know unless you play it out!  On compensation:  We have played games with handicaps before (I was a dedlurker in one of them - PBeM 31, I think it was) but on the rare occasions when we do, we make that explicit in the sign-up thread.  In general, we don't want lurkers' (mis)perceptions about player skill skewing things, and when a brilliant new player shows up and takes a game by storm, we want it to be something they can take pride in, and not seem like a hollow victory aided by a favorable-to-them map.  So standard practice here is to try to balance stuff within reason and since imbalances will exist, distribute the start positions among the players at random to make sure that at least there's no bias leaking in.

fair enough. makes my eventual win that much more glorious :D lol

[superdeath]

Check demographics often.

can do, i do that very often in any sp/mp games ive been apart of, the only thing i actually am very very new to.... is espionage. Do i put it on whomever is the biggest threat around me? several people? people who are putting alot on me? Uggg, this mechanic.

[superdeath]

trying a couple things.

updates for turn 2.
 [img][/img] deciding between going to the hill northeast, or going north/west.


[img][/img] a little look at the inner workings of Red Fern Grows.

[img][/img] a REALLY rough tech path ive settled on. ( will change if something interesting happens )

[RefSteel]

the only thing i actually am very very new to.... is espionage. Do i put it on whomever is the biggest threat around me? several people? people who are putting alot on me? Uggg, this mechanic.

This is actually simpler in RtR than in base BtS because all "active" espionage missions are disabled. (That is, you can get various kinds of passive information gathering, but no tech stealing, city revolting, etc.) My comments from a recentish succession game, modified in brackets to reflect these changes in RtR:

The basics as I understand them: Espionage screen (ctrl-E) shows how many EP you have on each opponent and how many are needed for demographics, research, [etc.]. The idea is to prioritize what you want to get out of your different opponents (early on, generally just the graphs, but later this includes research visibility and sometimes eventually [city visibility or even city inspection] and focus espionage on the priority target until you get the information that you want. The necessary amount is a moving target because they'll be spending EP on you too, but as long as you keep it close and make sure you'll have a small cushion if something important is coming up (e.g. research visibility when getting close to Lib) you can always spend a little extra later on to get the graphs back.

One thing that leaves out (because I was talking about the AI, which never stops spending on anybody) is that 43 EP is an important number: If two players have each spent the same number of EP on the other (total, over the course of the game) and that number is at least 43, they both can see one another's graphs without any further spending. If they spend more on one another, they'll reach a point where they can each see the other's graphs even when the EP difference is very large, but the earliest you can both have graphs at the same time is when you're both at 43. As a result, it's common to micromanage EP spending to put exactly 43 EP into another player before switching over to somebody else - as long as they cooperate and do the same!

[superdeath]

the only thing i actually am very very new to.... is espionage. Do i put it on whomever is the biggest threat around me? several people? people who are putting alot on me? Uggg, this mechanic.

This is actually simpler in RtR than in base BtS because all "active" espionage missions are disabled.  (That is, you can get various kinds of passive information gathering, but no tech stealing, city revolting, etc.)  My comments from a recentish succession game, modified in brackets to reflect these changes in RtR:

The basics as I understand them:  Espionage screen (ctrl-E) shows how many EP you have on each opponent and how many are needed for demographics, research, [etc.].  The idea is to prioritize what you want to get out of your different opponents (early on, generally just the graphs, but later this includes research visibility and sometimes eventually [city visibility or even city inspection] and focus espionage on the priority target until you get the information that you want.  The necessary amount is a moving target because they'll be spending EP on you too, but as long as you keep it close and make sure you'll have a small cushion if something important is coming up (e.g. research visibility when getting close to Lib) you can always spend a little extra later on to get the graphs back.

One thing that leaves out (because I was talking about the AI, which never stops spending on anybody) is that 43 EP is an important number:  If two players have each spent the same number of EP on the other (total, over the course of the game) and that number is at least 43, they both can see one another's graphs without any further spending.  If they spend more on one another, they'll reach a point where they can each see the other's graphs even when the EP difference is very large, but the earliest you can both have graphs at the same time is when you're both at 43.  As a result, it's common to micromanage EP spending to put exactly 43 EP into another player before switching over to somebody else - as long as they cooperate and do the same!

Thanks!