Gavagai's spoiler thread

[Gavagai]

Amusingly, Ragnar would look good in this position. The problem is that I a) want fin, b) want some early-game advantage. And all fin leaders paired with strong early-game traits are banned. Victoria is another option... Let's see what those above us would choose.
Also, Greece is an option here... Their starting techs suck but I really love their UU and this start has hunting resources... But seriously, I think we need to take someone Hunting/Mining...

[Gavagai]

Fuck, this is a toroidal map. I hate toroidal because of a mess it makes of climate zones. We are supposed to live on a planet with only one pole...

[Gavagai]

No Marble/Stone means a buff to Ind leaders... It looks like we should just grab Huayna if we can. Don't think it would be possible, though.

[Oxyphenbutazone]

Well HC is probably the best leader under these settings, though I do expect him to be taken first. Darius would be a nice grab, especially if Serdoa bans the GLH which would mean that the map is pretty water-heavy. Sury is also good, though ironically his CRE trait would be more useful for getting out a faster first worker than his EXP trait.

I'm less sold on hunting/mining. Put simply, every civ with that combination sucks and is essentially blank. I really don't see that start as necessitating a BW beeline. We can grow to size 3 and work all three food resources for 14 fhpt, with a little overflow that's a 7-turn settler. I'd rather pick a civ with Agri/Hunting(Zulu) or Agri/Wheel(Egypt, Sumeria, France).

[Gavagai]

Mali is also an interesting option, especially if we would manage to grab Huayna... The problem with Darius is that Org is more a late-game trait and, as I stated earlier, this game may very well become very bloody from start, possibly will be decided early. For the same reason I would prefer a civ with a strong early UU (read: Egypt).

[Oxyphenbutazone]

Emailed you a sandbox, chose Darius of Zulu just because, but you can just edit the WB file to put in a different leader.

Why do you think this game will become bloody? Seems like the trend is more buildery maps for these large PBs.

EDIT: Dammit, I somehow selected quick speed....

[Gavagai]

Keep in mind that it's Prince difficulty and we will research early techs really fast. So, starting techs aren't as important as usual...

[Gavagai]

Why do you think this game will become bloody?

Skill disparity.

Edit: Sandbox received, thanks.

[Oxyphenbutazone]

Sent a second one with normal speed but this time as Sury of Egypt. Call it subliminal messaging.

I think the map will determine more than the players how bloody the game will be. Of course, an early UU would be great as usual, but I think its a bit of a stretch to completely discount organized.

[Gavagai]

I think the map will determine more than the players how bloody the game will be.

This is the reason I predicted bloodiness as a possibility not as an inevitability... Sury is an option too though I would love to have these broken instant 3c cottages...