Tier 2: Players that think they know what they are doing.
This is where rankings get tricky. Out of the 23 single teams and players here, I’ve got 20 left included me. There are 3 teams I just don’t know that I won’t rank (Nyles, TheWannabe and von Adler/tao tao), leaving 17. I don’t know how to split most of them, so I’m going to be arbitrary now.
The tier 2 eanking contains three players, and like the first tier is in no particular order.
Gavagai: Roosevelt (IND/ORG) of Mali
Gavagai has played in a few games here, subbed into PB18 but really played in PB22 where he took continental hedgemony but couldn’t quite win. Knows how to build an economy, and how to attack effectively, but he doesn’t understand how and why people react in to his actions ie lacks empathy (yeah, fuck off, I understand empathy). Comes from the Russian civ forum IIRC, and has Bacchus as a team mate in this game.
These’s not an awful lot to say other than that. I know Gavagai has played the first turn and not settled, the only person not to have done so. Given that everyone has settled for a coastal capital so far, I think Gavagai did it because he wanted double land food. This is REALLY interesting though, because Gav had one of the only 3 IND leaders in the game, and had the one that can rush GLH best. He has Mali so he is basically unrushable. Roosevelt is slow, perhaps even the definition of slow in terms of leaders, but at least he has synergy between teh UB and IND.
I don’t know what Gav is going to do. I have expected him to rush for GLH but I think he may lose that to anyone now. I know I’m reconsidering beelining it. Maybe get Mids. Other than that I think he has even fewer options beyond basic growth and see what happens with neighbours.
Commodore the storyteller: Suryavarman (EXP/CRE) of Ottomans
I’m never going to be able to describe what, how or why Commodore acts and plas the way he does on this forum, in a manner that does it justive. What I can write about is my views on his play styles that he employs, and the simplest way I can describe it is this: He plays like I play. He can read a map and the demographics screen and draw the same conclusions, and he will anticipate players strategies as well as anyone.
The difference between us is that I am more cruel. Commodore will employ strategies that make you want to give up a game, but won’t actually help him win. He will try to mind game you, and that is a very good weakness to be aware of. You beat Commodore being focused. You design a strategy and you beat him back one turn at a time and make him not want to fight you whilst you roll over him with a small tech or large production lead. Never give him an inch, not because he will capitalise on it, but because that is the frame of mind you need to keep.
The combination is one of the easiest to play in this mod. Settle wide-ish, with some overlap on food but never CxxC except for coastal cities. Go Writing>Maths>Currency and build half price libraries, hammams and markets to up the happy cap and commerce multipliers for large cities in the mid game. The only issue is trying to build granaries at full price, but that’s no different for the rest of us. Commodore just needs to set up a good hammer city to pump out settlers and he should be able to hit a point around T100 where he is just larger in most demographics than anyone else, and tries to maintain that from larger cities so he doesn’t have to duplicate the city improvements in multiple worse cities. Essentially, all the cities becomes jack of all trades cities although he will likely still specialise them in terms of cottages.
There is one more to come, but that will likely be tomorrow now.
This is where rankings get tricky. Out of the 23 single teams and players here, I’ve got 20 left included me. There are 3 teams I just don’t know that I won’t rank (Nyles, TheWannabe and von Adler/tao tao), leaving 17. I don’t know how to split most of them, so I’m going to be arbitrary now.
The tier 2 eanking contains three players, and like the first tier is in no particular order.
Gavagai: Roosevelt (IND/ORG) of Mali
Gavagai has played in a few games here, subbed into PB18 but really played in PB22 where he took continental hedgemony but couldn’t quite win. Knows how to build an economy, and how to attack effectively, but he doesn’t understand how and why people react in to his actions ie lacks empathy (yeah, fuck off, I understand empathy). Comes from the Russian civ forum IIRC, and has Bacchus as a team mate in this game.
These’s not an awful lot to say other than that. I know Gavagai has played the first turn and not settled, the only person not to have done so. Given that everyone has settled for a coastal capital so far, I think Gavagai did it because he wanted double land food. This is REALLY interesting though, because Gav had one of the only 3 IND leaders in the game, and had the one that can rush GLH best. He has Mali so he is basically unrushable. Roosevelt is slow, perhaps even the definition of slow in terms of leaders, but at least he has synergy between teh UB and IND.
I don’t know what Gav is going to do. I have expected him to rush for GLH but I think he may lose that to anyone now. I know I’m reconsidering beelining it. Maybe get Mids. Other than that I think he has even fewer options beyond basic growth and see what happens with neighbours.
Commodore the storyteller: Suryavarman (EXP/CRE) of Ottomans
I’m never going to be able to describe what, how or why Commodore acts and plas the way he does on this forum, in a manner that does it justive. What I can write about is my views on his play styles that he employs, and the simplest way I can describe it is this: He plays like I play. He can read a map and the demographics screen and draw the same conclusions, and he will anticipate players strategies as well as anyone.
The difference between us is that I am more cruel. Commodore will employ strategies that make you want to give up a game, but won’t actually help him win. He will try to mind game you, and that is a very good weakness to be aware of. You beat Commodore being focused. You design a strategy and you beat him back one turn at a time and make him not want to fight you whilst you roll over him with a small tech or large production lead. Never give him an inch, not because he will capitalise on it, but because that is the frame of mind you need to keep.
The combination is one of the easiest to play in this mod. Settle wide-ish, with some overlap on food but never CxxC except for coastal cities. Go Writing>Maths>Currency and build half price libraries, hammams and markets to up the happy cap and commerce multipliers for large cities in the mid game. The only issue is trying to build granaries at full price, but that’s no different for the rest of us. Commodore just needs to set up a good hammer city to pump out settlers and he should be able to hit a point around T100 where he is just larger in most demographics than anyone else, and tries to maintain that from larger cities so he doesn’t have to duplicate the city improvements in multiple worse cities. Essentially, all the cities becomes jack of all trades cities although he will likely still specialise them in terms of cottages.
There is one more to come, but that will likely be tomorrow now.
). Whilst I think I know how to play out pretty much any given start in a regular type of RB game to get into a good position, I am not that comfortable with playing from a position that does not have a food and territory lead from T75 onwards. I tend to prefer larger games, so anything less than 8 players tends to a tighter metagame were you have to compete more forcefully for first to bonuses, and I usually screw those kind of games up. 
