Pitboss 18 Lurker Thread of Infinite Wisdom

[Commodore]

Lurker civ claimed, password is:

lurk

Remember to keep it 100% on EP spending and avoid finishing techs.

[NobleHelium]

Uh, did we remove India's starting techs? I hope we did.

[SevenSpirits]

Known tech bonus is zero to start anyway, right?

[NobleHelium]

Yeah, it'd only be a problem if someone researches a classical tech before everyone gets India's techs. But it would not be surprising if someone put off Mysticism for a long time for example.

[Ceiliazul]

1/34 of the available known-tech total, even in the classical age... would that even register on less than 100 gross beakers? you were right about the mountains for trade routes, but there wont be trade routes until astro anyway. hopefully no significant impact.

[NobleHelium]

It's not 1/34, it's been changed.

[Commodore]

Because really, the reason I did 10 hours of mapmaking was to be able to do this:

Ruff(esoteric, his own man) as Augustus Caesar (Imp/Ind) of America (Agri/Fishing, Minuteman, Mall)

Ruff is going for a Boston theme, so he had to stick with America, although he dislikes his leader. I get that, although this is a decent combo. Gus is all about the hammers; hammers for settlers, hammers for feeding into cheap forges. The nerfs to stone, marble, and Metal Casing cost all indirectly improve Industrious' heft, while Imperialist is a nice trait here...claim the land fast, and trust me, once Economics comes in with the Free Market civic he'll want to spam cheap customs houses everywhere. The civ is a nice if generic help, decent enough techs with decent enough UU/UB. Nothing exciting but this is hardly a stinker. See also, Ruff's skill level.

Azza (Bigger's Bane, pinkdotter) as Washington (Exp/Chm) of Arabia (Agri/Mysticism, Camel Archer, Maddrassa)

Wow. I might be in the minority here but I love this combination. New Expansive isn't as fast as the old version, but it is much much nicer midgame. Free Market's power makes harbors golden, plus markets/grocers are wonderful. Chm is the same booster it always was, just stronger sooner. Arabia, now armed with cheap madras and an actual food tech, is one of the best civs in the game. Azza has the skill at planning to use this combo well, assuming he can keep his compulsive pink dotting at bay. Or he pink dots the right guy for once.

Old Harry Fintourist (strong, sleek) as Victoria (Fin/Imp) of the Aztecs (Hunting/Myst, Jaguar, Sacrificial Altar)

Finarry, as a unit, are a dang scary newcomer. Watching from the wilds of Canada in PB13 I am seeing them thwart The Mackoti, kick ass, and take names (Enrique and Cecil, to be exact). They're rocking a strong combo here, the classic economy/expand-o-mommy Vicky, now with cheaper courthouses and with a buffed +50% city attack Jaguar. Um. I don't want to start near them, and I don't think anyone else does either. I predict a strong bronze finish here.

Krovice (peanut butter, chocolate) as Willem (Cre, Fin) of Babylon (Agri/Wheel, Bowman, Garden)

Here's the best bet for gold medal, clearly, as either player would be top seed alone in this field. Krill has a reputation for aggression, but it's more that he is powerful; he fields large armies and uses them well all the time, while managing solid empires. Novice is a micromachine, and good elsewhere. Willem isn't going to win interestingness awards here, trading Libraries for Observatories/Banks. He gets cheap Gardens, for all that's worth (nice in factory era, maybe useful one or two times before). Bowmen aren't sexy but they're darned useful...this combo in a blurb, really.

I'll do four of these a week for the next eight weeks...

[Commodore]

I'll do four of these a week for the next eight weeks...

...minimum. Faster if bored.

Queeg (Ragnar refuser, vowel-needing) as Zara (Cre,Org) of Byzantium (Fish/Myst, Cataphract, Hippodrome)

Queeg rerolled Ragnar of France; I know we talked about it a lot, but this is kind of astonishing and needs to be noted early and often. He instead got an okay leader of a weird civ; he's rolling in a fish start so he could opt for Hinduism for great success, or he could work earlier on redressing the horrific start tech situation. Zara isn't going to be doing much for him until courthouse time, but he should be fine and hey cheap hippodromes, I guess. The Cataphract isn't much, like a C1 knight but lamer...still, you don't want to tangle with him right at Guilds I suppose. No idea how this will all work out for him, honestly. But it's worse than Ragnar of France.
Jowy (troll, ineducable) as Alexander (Phi, Agg) of Carthage (Fish/Mine, Numidians, Cothon)

Ah, Jowy, Jowy. Read his PB17 thread for Mackoti schooling his foolishly aggressive ways...he's going to be bad here, with Aggressive boosting his already boosted horse archers. Krill would romp everyone's face in with the war traits while using better harbors and Phi to get a good economy. I don't see this happening to the Jowster.
Barry Lyndon (smurfish, impatient) as Hatsheput (Spi,Cre) of Celts (Hunt/Myst, Gael, Dun)

Xenu had a crazy theory that this is actually Lord Parkin; he knew that civstats wouldn't work for 34 people and so he signed up to become a living nightmare of double moves and clock game, undetectable. I doubt it. But he's got a pretty okay leader with a much fun civilization. 50% city attack 50% withdraw swords that can two-move through hills are a scary thought. Probably won't come to that, though.
pindicator (planning, thinking) as Qin Shi (Pro,Ind) of China (Agri/Mine, Cho-ku-nu, Pavilion)

Pindicator is an excellent player; he's been China before to great entertainment in PB7, and I think he's improved quite a lot since then. His weaknesses are morale and focus...which are hard weaknesses to exploit. He's playing a Bismarck-of-China analog here, with the dubious trade of CG1 on his CKNs for cheaper workers. Still, solid leader because if you have only two buildings cheap, you can't beat granary+forge, and China is still China: Good techs with decent UU and silly UB. All-in-all, this is a contender package folks.

[NobleHelium]

Yeah, Ichabod's fucked.

[mackoti]

Which start you would enjoy to play?I know boldly is very strong one...,I dont remeber having one of those in al my games till now(MP i meant, in sp i played with triple gems)