[SPOILERS] Woden and ljubljana like boats

[Woden]

If one thing the last water games have should us, it is that navies determine the game, so I am ready to confirm "Vikings and Phoenicia" if you are. I would probably prefer Vikings since I am playing Dido in another game but really don't have any hang-ups on playing them again if you would prefer the Vikings. I definitely know how to play the opening turns with them.

As for strategies, you can skim the first 50-60 turns of my PBEM18 but I will probably write something up over the next few days to lay out how I think the ancient era should shake out. We should be able to get the Sailing boost and Cartography boost fairly early and be able to find where it is located, so no worries on that part.

[ljubljana]

Okay, let's do it! Woden - Vikings and ljublana - Phoenecia sounds good to me!

I'll do that, and also hopefully get in a few practice games between now and Thanksgiving-ish.

...how would you feel about a thread title change to "Woden and ljubljana like boats" 

[Woden]

...how would you feel about a thread title change to "Woden and ljubljana like boats" 

I like it. I'll put it in the game thread, unless you would like the honors.

[ljubljana]

Go for it

[Woden]

I am split on starting on the same landmass versus separate landmasses. One land mass will be easier to defend and require a small home army, then again 2 islands will be harder to conquer. Two landmasses equals more coastal cities for more Cothon and ship building opportunities. Overall, I don't think we have to worry much about our coastal cities getting attacked because we should have very large navies and, although frigates are city eaters, then are vulnerable to caravels.

What are your thoughts?

[NobleZarkon]

Hello again - signing up to dedlurk here :-)

[ljubljana]

Yeah, I think separate landmasses favor us as the aggressive seafaring team - two islands should be harder to defend, and easier to isolate from one another if we can put a strong navy in the strait between them. We can then divide and conquer whichever opposing team we end up targeting. Moreover, the more coastal cities everyone else is forced to have, the more easily we'll be able to translate naval superiority into territorial conquest; that'll be true for others attacking us too, but if we have to worry about that, most likely our "dominate the seas" gameplan will have already failed.

[ljubljana]

Suboptimal/Roland pick China! Interesting, and probably good for us if it sets up a fight with Japan over the good religious beliefs with no effort required on our part. This team could be a good target for our attack if we're nearby, since Indonesia in particular will likely build many coastal cities but neither civ seems to offer much in terms of naval defense (or military in general).

[ljubljana]

Chev and Marco take Russia! I'm...not sure how to feel about how the religious situation is shaking out here. It's great that everyone else is lined up to fight over the good beliefs without us having to get involved...but of course that means our team's going to be the only viable target for whoever takes Crusade. We're really going to have to focus on keeping ships in the water between us and the Crusade power to keep their units and missionaries from reaching our territory...

I've been doing a few test games, and Phoenecia's surprisingly hard to get rolling with the tech/civic shuffle on. Sailing and Shipbuilding keep ending up on opposite sides of the tech tree, which really complicates beelining. I'm wondering if Writing should actually be my first tech target, since we're actually going to know where it is, and it'll speed the large number of researches I'll likely have to do to get to Cothons. Phoenecia also likes getting a fast GP even more than usual (free trade routes + stacking the AH with Cothons), and State Workforce seems extra important with shuffle mode on because it gives two governor titles, which are otherwise harder to reliably come by. Building an early district is really tough with shuffle mode on, though, another reason to go for Writing early.

[Woden]

If it is a large map, there will be 6 religions, so no problem getting one. I don't suspect we can race for Crusade or DotF, so all we need is a religion to spread around, then keep some inquisitors around to remove the crusade religion when it is spread. The key will be to spread our religion to the coastal cities so it is harder to spread the crusade religion.