[SPOILERS] Stonehenge First: scooter's thread

[Bigger]

was Inca banned? Besides the awesome UB, seems like Quechas would actually be handy on such a small map.

[scooter]

was Inca banned? Besides the awesome UB, seems like Quechas would actually be handy on such a small map.

Against anything other than archers, Quechas are just an Aggressive warrior. We do each start with 2 archers, but even a Quecha does not get odds on a CG2 Archer. So I don't really think I'd get any mileage out of a Quecha. Quechas are really only useful for high difficulty AI games where the AI tends to spam archers.

[scooter]

T0 experiences some serious deja vu

Haven't I done this before?



Yep. Also, do you like how I've already got my first city spot picked out? Um, yay for shadow games ? I'll dump some screenshots tomorrow of the WBSave of the surrounding land. Not in every game you get to dotmap ahead of time. Also, I'm using the neat trick Seven taught us - don't need to choose my tech yet. I'm still debating between Fishing and BW. BW comes out slightly ahead by a turn or two but uses fewer forests to get the job done. Also, when I tested, I used the wrong difficulty level so the tech pace will be all wrong, so I'll need to start over. Anyways, settings:



Nothing out of the ordinary. Emperor Toroidal etc.

[Shoot the Moon]

That's QotM material right there.

I thought the exact same thing when I read it

[Krill]

Plagiarism is the greatest form of flattery.

And QotM for sure.

[scooter]

Plagiarism is the greatest form of flattery.

Wait what? Did I plagiarize something?

[scooter]

So I had really mixed feelings about doing leader previews. I kind of gave my thoughts on most of the leaders during the snake pick, and I've already analyzed this scenario to death in my original 34V thread. So really, what's the point of writing full blown leader/player previews? Someone nudged me and said I really need to write up previews though. I thought this was lame though.

So I decided to get lazy and make other players write my previews for me like I did in PBEM36. I had some free time on chat so I just started chatting with people and asking for them to preview a leader. I first asked SevenSpirits, but he was apparently busy talking to Novice about some incredibly complex micro trick that no human could possibly understand. Strike one. Then I asked Mackoti. I didn't hear from him at first, and then he and Seven simultaneously message'd me and said they could do it. Well, long story short, I ended up in a group chat with them both as they broke down my first opponent. Then Novice joined in just because. I probably should have split them each onto different previews, but the trio from the insane PBEM23 game all joined in to explain the finer points of Pindcator and his choice. Or at least, that's what I thought I was going to get. Below is what actually happened.

(split them into 3 posts for length, so the next 2 previews will come in following posts)

Player: Pindicator
Leader: Zara Yakob
Civ: Maya
Previewer(s): SevenSpirits, Mackoti, and Novice

scooter: thanks guys for doing the preview
Seven no problem
Mackoti: so what do they chose
scooter: hang on, Novice is joining too
novice has joined the conversation
scooter: Ok, it's Pindicator and he chose Zara Yakob of Maya
Mackoti: organzit very strong
Novice: scooter
scooter: huh?
Novice: sorry, habit
Seven Ok Cre/Org with Mining/Mysticism. Holkan UU as resourceless spear replacement, Ball Court UB as Colosseum replacement, made cheap by CRE. Let me make a sandbox.
Novice: already done
scooter: ... wait what? how? I just told you, how do you have a sandbox done? And Seven do you have those memorized or something?
Seven yeah I wrote a flash card program last weekend that would drill me on all the techs, traits, etc.
Novice: I make a lot of sandboxes. I wrote a program to simulate the best possible opening given a leader, civ, and BFC, so I'll have the results shortly.
scooter: I feel like we're speaking different languages right now. Mackoti, thoughts?
Mackoti: Well organizit is very good. If he build Pyramids and mOm then he probably win.
Novice: Ok done. I'll email you his first 35 turns.
scooter: thanks?
Novice: Zakalwe
scooter: maybe I need to ask a specific question. How do you guys think his leader compares to mine?
Seven I suspect you will start slower, but if you can overcome that, your economy has more potential
Mackoti: did you not take organazit?
Novice: your start is slower. ran your start through my program and then did 6-7 more manual sims and got it a little closer via black magic fast worker abuse
Mackoti: do what I do in 41
Mackoti: pretend to have secret plan and tell lurkers to guess
Mackoti: then pick best plan
Novice: uberfish
scooter: I feel like this isn't really previewing anything.
Seven It's very simple. You know the map, Pindicator's CRE will be a pain early, but you have some more long-term potential if you survive the early game.
Seven Plus this guest preview thing is just not a very good gimmick. It was funny the first time, but this is really pushing it.
scooter: Last question. What is Pindicator's chances of victory in comparison to mine.
Mackoti: he will beat you sory
Seven Well you did come in dead last in 34V.
Novice: Stonehenge
scooter: I won't do it again!
Mackoti: LOL. good lukc. i telld you take organizit and you not do it. i will read thread thouhg. bye.
Mackoti has left the conversation
Novice: yeah you have no chance here sorry.
Novice has left the conversation
scooter: well thanks guys. good talk.
Seven has left the conversation

Um, well that was depressing. I edited out a bunch of nerdery that went WAY over my head. Thankfully, next should be a bit more cheery. Oledavy previews AT in the next post!

[scooter]

So next I sent a message to Oledavy asking him to do a preview. He seemed very eager to do it, a stark contrast from the rest of my previewers . He said he'd email it to me, which was nice because I was in the middle of wading through the above mess of a chat. Here's what he sent me:

Player: AutomatedTeller
Leader: Louis
Civ: Sumeria
Previewer(s): Oledavy

PBEM34s Preview

I wanted to start my preview off with this:



No reason. Anyways, so scooter asked me to do a preview and I was like



And then I saw I was previewing AutomatedTeller. He won the greens version of this game convincingly and was like:



And we were all like



And scooter started his game with Stonehenge first and we were all like:



So that got me up to speed. I saw AT picked Louis of Sumeria and I was all like:



Because that's pretty interesting. He's the only IND leader, and Louis was the leader of France. That's not the same as actually picking France like I always do, but close enough. But then I saw scooter picked Gandhi and I of course strongly approve of that too. So in conclusion, due to my newfound excitement for this game, I am now like:



End Preview.

Well then. Last preview will be another chat I had. Commodore preview coming up next.

[scooter]

Ok for my last preview, I figured I'd get the ultimate chat duo of Gaspar and NobleHelium. What could go wrong? Even better, I signed them up for Commodore. Of course this preview HAD to be done by chat, so let's dive right in.

Player: Commodore
Leader: Kublai Khan
Civ: Greece
Previewer(s): Gaspar and NobleHelium

Gaspar: ok we can do the preview now
NH: I'm here too
scooter: great. so, any thoughts:
NH: you didn't tell us who we are doing yet
scooter: oh sorry, it's Commodore. He took Kublai of Greece
NH: was he forced to pick that or did he actually pick that?
Gaspar: LOL COMMODORE
scooter: something funny?
Gaspar: Cataphracts are funny.
NH: did he pick Greece first or what?
scooter: No. He took Kublai on the way up, then Greece on the way back
Gaspar: more like LOLODORE
NH: Was Rome banned? I'm confused.
scooter: Nope, he just wanted Greece just for fun. So now that that's out of the way, preview please?
NH: well his picks were stupid
Gaspar: I don't like your chances
scooter: why's that?
Gaspar: He's got it out for you. he's going to build a massive stack of phalanx and come at you so neither of you will win
scooter: why me?
NH: Um you picked India duh
Gaspar: Yeah seriously that was not a bright decision. LOOGIT ME I'M LIKE SO ORIGINAL
NH: Cramped AW and your UU is a fricken worker? What next, you're going to go Stonehenge first?
scooter: too soon, man
Gaspar: BUILD ALL TEH WONDERS LULZ.
NH: Yeah I can't imagine why that didn't work out for you. Also Red Cross is not a key wonder
scooter: typo, I didn't actaully think it's a key national wonder
Gaspar: **actually, not actaully. SEE I CAN NITPICK TOO. NOW WATCH ME BRUTALLY EXECUTE ALL CONCEPTS OF HUMOR.
scooter: ... I don't even.
NH: Humor concepts? Since when are there different concepts?
scooter: Ok can you guys fight later? I need to get this preview finished before T15. what are my chances?
Gaspar: NH == stick in the mud. Back to the preview. Honestly I don't know what to tell you. Best case you can at least beat Commodore when he Lewwyns you.
NH: You're screwed.
Gaspar: Maybe I'm being a bit too pessimistic for a game that hasn't even started
NH: No you're too optimistic IMO
Gaspar: probably right.
scooter: well this is a depressing preview. Do I have any chance?
Gaspar: Not really. And honestly, this is probably going to be my swan song on guest previews
NH: you always say that
Gaspar: If you were stuck teaming up with you, you'd quit too. Anyways, this will be my official retirement and I'll retreat back to being a lurker after this.
scooter: too bad. always enjoyed your stuff.
Gaspar: Thanks. I'm just not cut out for previews anymore.
NH: Especially for people with no real hope of winning.
scooter: I was hoping to get you guys to do another preview next game I'm in, but I guess I'll have to find somebody else
Gaspar: OKAY I'LL DO IT.
scooter: Well your mind changed fast. Anyways, I feel like nothing actually got previewed here. Can I get a brief summary?
NH: Well Kublai means he'll kill somebody because Commodore == Lewwyn, obviously you are the target because you're India duh. Also Greece was a terrible pick so just expect Agg Phalanxs constantly.
Gaspar: Just remember you have no chance of winning and everything is Commodore's fault.
scooter: Got it. Thanks guys.

So that's that. SHOULD BE FUN.

[Merovech]

Well, that was actually pretty funny. Certainly not a subtle as last time, but hey, I laughed.