[SPOILERS] - WK does it again

[WarriorKnight]

I can't think of anything noteworthy to put in here as filler, so you'll just have to live with no filler at all. :neenernee

[WarriorKnight]

So, this'll be interesting. Practically all of the players have a decent amount of skill, so standing out amongst them will be quite a challenge. So let's get started on brainstorming pick selection.

FIN, Sury, India and Inca will probably be banned. For leaders that means quite a few choices are unavailable. The best leaders to choose will probably have one of EXP or CRE and one other trait. The ones I'm leaning towards are:

IND - With only 5 teams, the chance that someone else takes IND is quite low, and being the only IND civ would be a nice boost. Of course, someone else could already be following this line of thinking, and take IND before I can. Not worth picking if that happens.

SPI - The flexibility to quickly switch between Caste/Slavery and Pacifism/OR/Theo mid game is interesting, although it requires some micro to use correctly.

IMP - Expansion trait. Since both EXP and CRE are both expansion traits, choosing IMP would mean some extreme REXing. Not a bad strategy at all, but not exactly a flexible one either.

PHI - Quite hard to use effectively and highly depends on how many specialists/wonders you use. I'm not ruling it out, but I would prefer something else if possible.

ORG/AGG/CHA/PRO - Probably not


As for civs, with Inca and India out, these are some of the civs that I have an eye on (in a rough order):

Maya
Byz
Ottomans
China
England
Mali
Egypt

And that's probably enough. I'll have to wait until I know where I am on the snakepick before deciding anything else. Don't have anything else, but that's plenty right?

[SevenSpirits]

I have cropped everyone's screenshots to remove tile bleed. I decided I didn't want anything to ride on people's differing abilities to read the fog of war from a screenshot. I will say however that the lake you see is only 3 tiles big, and that the bottom right grassland is riverside. I've not cropped out any visible tiles. Naturally, if you choose a hunting start, your warrior will be replaced by a scout.

To repeat what I posted in the organizing thread:

Here is some very important general info, which everyone gets:

[SIZE="3"]The map is 30x30, has toroidal wrap, and has NO saltwater.[/SIZE]

Settings are as you discussed - standard size, emperor difficulty, and no barbs being the main ones to remember.

Good luck!

[WarriorKnight]

Looks like a nice start. Plains hill, pigs, Freshwater fish, couple of floodplains and hills and lots of forests. The plains hill wants EXP to cut a few turns off the first worker, although with no other 2 hammer tiles in the first ring it's not that bad.

Fishing isn't a bad starting tech, although for a worker first start it probably doesn't matter that much. Mining isn't that bad either as there's lots of forests to chop. 30x30 means roughly 9 cities per player, which is kinda cramped. Perhaps a expansion civ is the way to go?

I'm quite happy with the last spot in the snakepick, as it ensures I get synergy with whatever I pick. With only 5 people there's still bound to be some good choices when it gets to me. Still have no idea what to choose though, so I guess I'll wait and see everyone else picks.

[WarriorKnight]

OK, so why Louis of England?

England starts with Mining and Fishing, the two best techs given this map (since you can go BW first and chop out a workboat with the first worker). Both the Redcoat and Stock Exchange are rather decent, although a bit later than what I would like. It was mostly the starting techs though.

As for Louis, I favored CRE over EXP because I've been EXP twice but CRE only once. IND was for the reasons I listed above, hopefully being the only one to take it, but even if someone else does pick it cheap forges are very nice anyway.

[WarriorKnight]

So now the snakepick is done, let's go through the snakepick and see what I think of everyone's choices:


1) TMIT - Shaka: Shaka is alright, but AGG doesn't really help that much unless it's a crowded map. Not one of my top choices, but one of the better ones.

2) oledavy/mackoti - Rome: The rusher civ, but with the start revealed they also have the best starting techs. Useless UB though, but for Praetorian's, it's worth it. A pretty good pick

3) Serdoa - Carthage: Not sure about this pick. Sure, another Mining/Fishing start, but the UB is useless on this map. UU is fairly useless unless they go for a rush. Don't like this pick, especially when England was still available.

4) plako - Isabella: Good choice. EXP and SPI are two nice traits. No complaints here.

5) WK - Louis of England: Decent leader. Pretty good civ even if UU and UB are both fairly late.

6) plako - Native America: Nice choice. Fishing and Agriculture is probably the 2nd best starting tech combo. UU and UB are both fairly decent given how early they come.

7) Serdoa - De Gaulle: I really don't like this choice. No EXP or CRE. IND when someone else has already picked it. If the aim was a Numidian Cavalry rush why pick IND? No clear direction here.

8) oledavy/mackoti - Kublai: Of course Rome has to have a AGG leader, and with Shaka gone they went with the next best option. Strong yet predictable play.

9) TMIT - Ottomans: Interesting pick, probably not the best pairing with Shaka though. Techs are decent, although the worst out of everyone. UB is decent, but UU is kinda weak unless your outteching everyone.


I would say that plako and oledavy got the best picks, followed by myself and TMIT with Serdoa bringing up the rear. My main problem is that everyone else has some sort of early military advantage either with AGG or a early UU (or both in Rome's case). If I can make it to Redcoats then I should be in good shape.

[WarriorKnight]

So with nothing spectacular in the fog, settling in place seemed a no brainer. Everyone else also settled in place which is hardly surprising, suggesting we have mirrored starts. Set research to BW and build a worker.

[WarriorKnight]

Just played T11. Haven't been posting since nothing is really happening. Went BW first and now going Agri -> AH. Just chopped out a WB and will probably chop out another worker next. Somewhat risky opening, but got to scout the surroundings somehow.

Map so far:

[WarriorKnight]

Guess I missed this last turn:



Hello TMIT. Since he doesn't know I'm here, a warrior rush is a possibility. Sadly various hills will prevent me from hiding unless I approach from the south, and quick speed will probably ensure that he'll get a warrior out in time anyway. So I'll quickly contact him (moved NE), get the known tech bonus and be on my way.

Hi TMIT

As you may soon find out for yourself, I have managed to find your glorious Ottoman empire. On behalf of the English, I'd like to say hi. May the future of our empire's be glorious and fruitful.

Greetings aside, how are you? I'm afraid nothing particularly interesting has happened in the English empire yet, but given how early it is I'm sure that will change someday.

Regards,
WK

In other news, the various terrain nearby matches the terrain NW of my cap confirming a mirror map (which was a easy assumption anyway, nice to have proof though). That corn tile is 6S 12E of my version, which fits nicely in the 30x30 grid. I don't know why I'm saying this (as you lurkers probably know the map already) but I may as well say it so I don't forget it.

[WarriorKnight]

It's been a while so may as well update. My warrior found another civ:



Sadly they are the one's with AGG Preats. Since everyone is equidistant, I'll avoid contact so I don't put myself on their target list.

In other news, I'm trying to decide where to place my second city:



The corn/horses/floodplain spot is my current thinking, although that doesn't leave much food for a copper city (might be something in the fog though).



Demogs suck right now (mostly due to working a unimproved pig and floodplain), but I do have 2 workers instead. Also my settler arrives next turn.