[SPOILERS] Bacchus and India's many gods

[Bacchus]

Wow, it's been probably a year or more since I actually logged into an MP game of Civ. 

Here's a picture of Rob Zombie. Rest below.

[Bacchus]

I pick India

So, my pick is easy. Germany has been present both previous PBEMs, so would really not be exciting. We all know it's good, we've seen it played good, Hansas are good, extra policy is good. Not picking it.

China. Well, impressively piloted by Woden to MINOR SPOILER in PBEM2. Not really a reason not to pick it. What's stopping me is the railroaded gameplay. Wonders are so expensive for everyone but China and so useless that you can basically get whatever you want. Always build Oracle. Always build Colloseum. Find desert -- build Petra. May as well build Stonehenge, if only for Defender of the Faith (lol, you are now unconquerable) and Zen Meditation or, maybe, Work Ethic. Pyramids, of course, as key enabler of all of this. I'm bored just from writing this.

So, India.

I think India is pretty powerful, and if someone in the game thinks it's at the same power level as Spain, so much the better.

The stepwell is excellent, and may be the rare improvement that's better than a discount district. It's biggest downside is that we are in a New Age world, so I may not have enough plains. The stepwell is great not just or so much for food, as it is for housing -- the strictest cap in the game.

Varu. Well, Horsemen are great, best unit in the first 80 turns of the game already. Horsemen not requiring horses and effective melee strength 45? Nuts! The biggest problem with Varus is the melee unit speed, that really kills, no two ways about it. Not a great unit for rapid expansion via conquest, but a real enabler of massive farmer's gambits. Unmatched defensive capabilities, especially promoted into Barding. What's really, really cool about them is that their -5 aura debuff to enemy units remains relevant onto future eras, each Varu is like a mini-general.

Double war weariness for opponents. Ouch! There is a reason Statue of Zeus is banned in Civ4. There is a lot of war in MP, and weariness starts stinging pretty quickly. In later-era wars, when losses are inevitably massive, this can be just downright broken.

Does all of this add up to something as good as Germany's package? Of course not. But Germany I'm striking off the list a priori, we've seen too much of it, and this package is sure as hell more fun to play than China.

[TheArchduke]

Couldn't agree more, really. Doing all of us the favour of not seeing Germany again is a nice touch. I think you underestimate the Varu, They are boostable by Maneuver and by GG. Think of them as swordsmen on speed. I assume that one of the other will pick Greece and go for the early GG though, so you have a farmers gambit on hands, I agree.

But just by passively throwing out China and Germany, India is in a very strong position to be economically stronger civ in this game.

Upvote!

[oledavy]

I'll third the India pick.

I would like to see some diversity in picks and for players to take time to explore all the civ options over the course of these first few PBEMs (The primary reason I took Gorgo instead of Rome in PBEM2).

[Krill]

Mind if I dedlurk so I can ask inane and stupid questions?

[Alhambram]

I did some pending between India and Russia when I have pick a civilization to play with in PBEM2, ultimately choosing Russia.
Also support India pick just to see how it shall be in hands of a human player. 

[Bacchus]

Mind if I dedlurk so I can ask inane and stupid questions?

On the contrary! I have very little idea how this game works, and have the casual tendency to just go along with things, so having a dedlurker who doesn't take stuff for granted is very useful.

Glad India is popular. I'm thinking we might have a lower power tier roster in this game, not just because Rome, Germany and China are now all out, but also because others may follow similar thinking and push for variety.

@ArchDuke -- I would even say that "sword on steroids" is greatly underselling Varu, the problem is, that swords are pretty awful on offense, if they can't get extra mobility either through sea movement or general. If no-one picks Greece or Japan, and we have a chance at the Classical GG, we might actually get offensive use out Varus though.

[TheArchduke]

Yeah, we need a couple more games, but with the combat and especially the movement bonus, I think that apart from an early war over a pink dot, the early aggressor will most of the times be the one with the GG.

[Krill]

Well...how about this for an inane question.

How does the GP system actually work? It's a global pool everyone competes in right?

[rho21]

TL;DR: yes, everyone's competing.

As I understand it (having not yet played the game):

There are a certain number of great people of each type; only one (the most ancient) is visible for each type at any given time.
The number and age of the great people is fixed for a given number of players, but there are several different options for the actual great people who show up.
Some provide quite a strong bonus, others are much weaker.
There are many eurekas / inspirations associated with recruiting them.
Each type of great person has a type of great person point.
Civilizations generate GP points from districts, district-based buildings, district projects and some wonders.
The points generated go into their own pool, which is completely independent of other types of GP points.
Great people cost a number of points dependent on their age.
When a civilization has enough points of the relevant type to recruit an available great person, they must either do so or choose to skip.
If they recruit the great person, they spend the relevant number of points.
If they skip, they keep their points and can continue to get more but can do nothing with them until someone else recruits the great person they skipped, revealing the next one.
It is also possible to rush buy the remaining points required for a great person, paying in either gold or faith.
A great person can only be taken once, first come, first served.
Recruited great people appear on the map and are unkillable (but in many cases quickly expended).
Great people provide bonuses related to their type, usually as they are expended. In particular:
Great Prophets are the only way to gain a religion; there are fewer of them than players.
Great Generals provide a boost to nearby military units of the relevant era; they can later be expended for a small boost of some sort.