[Spoilers] The Network assimilates ipecac, Ruff_Hi & Dreylin (Monty of Vikings)

[Dreylin]

So here we are in our very-own thread.

...

Just enjoying the quiet before it all goes horribly wrong.

[Dreylin]

So here's what I'm thinking; while I had hoped to gain more experience 'n stuff, Ipecac is the "true Green" here, so Ruff & I should try and impart what knowledge we can while sharing and learning ourselves. Unfortunately it sounds like for mod/platform combo reasons it's unlikely that Ipecac can play the game directly, so we're going to try to make it as hands-on for him(?) as we can.

Here's what I think are my strengths and weaknesses (Ruff, anyone else, feel free to add / correct).

Strengths:
Mechanics (SP, BtS)
Short-term detailed planning

Weaknesses:
Mechanics (MP)
Mod-specific
Long-term planning
Shiny things (insert Up reference here)
Maintaining sufficient Military (not being a paper tiger)

What I want(ed) to learn:
Mod specifics
MP metagame considerations
Military focus, build-up & targeting
What to worry about, and what not to

I am learning some of these from pitboss22, so hopefully I'll be improving during this game as well!

[ipecac]

So here's what I'm thinking; while I had hoped to gain more experience 'n stuff, Ipecac is the "true Green" here, so Ruff & I should try and impart what knowledge we can while sharing and learning ourselves. Unfortunately it sounds like for mod/platform combo reasons it's unlikely that Ipecac can play the game directly, so we're going to try to make it as hands-on for him(?) as we can.

Thanks, that sounds good

A quick intro to my civ skills: Steam says I've clocked 17 hours of BtS. The great majority of my experience has been on Vanilla Civ. Though I'm still unfamiliar with all the new-fangled changes, I can beat Monarch BtS AIs comfortably, while using little of spies, UU, UBs etc (if I actually use them ).

I'm not sure I have any strengths at this point of time; maybe a small one would be to make short-term plans (I don't guarantee that they'll be good though )

Weaknesses:
Little BtS experience, no mod experience
No MP experience
Long-term planning

Things I want to learn:
How to play MP BTS, how to pick city sites, how to balance economy and military, how to implement non-cottage economies.

Oh, and I'll like to give C&D a shot if it's convenient for Dreylin to take down all the numbers every turn.

[Dreylin]

Things I want to learn:
How to play MP BTS, how to pick city sites, how to balance economy and military, how to implement non-cottage economies.

Oh, and I'll like to give C&D a shot if it's convenient for Dreylin to take down all the numbers every turn.

City sites, expansion vs. Economy vs. Military I can certainly do, less sure about non-cottage economies. I've never really run a PHI bulbling economy (TBH it sounds like a lot of extra work), although I've run semi-specialist economies. Also the RtR mod has a lot of changes to make Watermill/Workshop economies viable in concert with revamped civics ... but I've not played that either! Maybe Ruff can help us out, or we can try muddling through together.

I don't really have the patience for full in-depth C&D myself, but I'll certainly try to take what shots are necessary so that you can give it a go!

[ipecac]

Dreylin: I'm rather ambivalent on the settings (except for preferring no Mod, but looks like that won't happen), so feel free to vote for our team.

I've scanned through the RtR changes. They've really nerfed financial

[spacetyrantxenu]

Your start:

[Dreylin]

we're first and last in snake pick...
what's more important: the civ or the leader?

Yes.

I confess I'm not great at this part of the game either; a lot depends on whether you have a meta-plan for the game, what you know about the map/opponents, etc. So we have a nice start here Pigs/Fish, a river for cottaging and some hills to Mine. Ideal starting techs would probably be Hunting/Mining and then research BW->Fishing, although Fishing/Mining and Hunting->BW wouldn't be much worse. It looks like a wet map, so a naval civ wouldn't be a bad option (Vikings/Dutch/Portugese/Carthage).

The traits in general have been a lot more balanced out in RtR, so "bad" and "good" combos are less biasing. FIN has been nerfed for rivers, but you still get the Coastal bonus, which looks like it would be good for this map.

From my side, I'd prefer to try something different than what we're playing in PB22 (FIN/EXP, Portugal). I'd quite like to play the new Aggressive with the cheap Barracks to provide Culture (never need to build a Monument again); I'd also like to give Arabia a go soon, picking up an early religion and then using the Madrassa to get an early Prophet for profit. That would probably run a specialist economy and want a PHI leader pairing, but Arabia's starting techs are entirely unsuitable for this start and going straight for a Religion would gimp us severely.

The other consideration is that if you can't access the mod, the experience you gain with some of the more-altered combos would be potentially less applicable / relevant for you. In that case maybe we should stick with some of the less-changed ones?

My gut feeling is that for this start, civ is more important to select first and then we see what leaders come back round. There are only 7 teams, so it's not like we're going to have a very limited choice.

I'll ping Ruff and see if he has any thoughts...

[Ruff_Hi]

I'm here. I will cycle back after I look at the mod (again). BTW ... 'rivers for cottages' now means nothing .

I initially like your seafaring civ (will have to wait until mod review has been completed). I would also like to look at playing a spiritual civ and then to leverage the civics (again, pending mod review).

BTW ... do you have a link to the mod?

[Dreylin]

Mod is here: http://realmsbeyond.net/forums/showthread.php?tid=7098

Rivers for cottages means nothing for FIN (other than the extra 1c for the firt 10 turns of working), but is still meaningful for non-FIN civs (unless I'm very confused).

[ipecac]

I confess I'm not great at this part of the game either; a lot depends on whether you have a meta-plan for the game, what you know about the map/opponents, etc. So we have a nice start here Pigs/Fish, a river for cottaging and some hills to Mine. Ideal starting techs would probably be Hunting/Mining and then research BW->Fishing, although Fishing/Mining and Hunting->BW wouldn't be much worse. It looks like a wet map, so a naval civ wouldn't be a bad option (Vikings/Dutch/Portugese/Carthage).

I have no meta-plan. Naval civ sounds good, though none are Hunting/Mining; Portugese and Carthage are Fishing/Mining.

From my side, I'd prefer to try something different than what we're playing in PB22 (FIN/EXP, Portugal). I'd quite like to play the new Aggressive with the cheap Barracks to provide Culture (never need to build a Monument again); I'd also like to give Arabia a go soon, picking up an early religion and then using the Madrassa to get an early Prophet for profit. That would probably run a specialist economy and want a PHI leader pairing, but Arabia's starting techs are entirely unsuitable for this start and going straight for a Religion would gimp us severely.

Aggressive looks good. I'm looking at Spiritual because imo the Serfdom upgrade provides a significant indirect boost...financial would fit very well with a naval theme though.

The other consideration is that if you can't access the mod, the experience you gain with some of the more-altered combos would be potentially less applicable / relevant for you. In that case maybe we should stick with some of the less-changed ones?

I'll be fine with altered traits; with BtS I just roll random leader and civ and just play whatever hand I get