[Spoiler] PBEM 77 Map Thread

[RefSteel]

I almost posted this in ipecac's thread since it's sort of like a mechanics question, but decided to play it safe even though this won't be news to most people here:

Why is PRO removed from the leader selection? This is BtS, right?

I think because in base BtS, PRO is considered the worst trait by a very wide margin; most players would consider a Pro leader among their options equivalent to no leader at all. I recall we've had games where it was found that even Pro/Fin wasn't strong enough to match two "regular" traits.

Why is EXP even banned? Not as many workers will be needed.

In base BtS, the value of EXP isn't really about getting lots of Workers cheaply. It's nice for getting the first Worker out quickly if the map cooperates, and certainly it helps with the rest of the Workers, no matter how many, but its big selling point is its cheap granaries. And with the Worker bonus on top of it, that's a very big selling point - enough so that when Seven balanced the trait for ToW, he decided the Worker bonus wasn't even needed to make it competitive!

[pindicator]

If we're not on a mirror, we're on something very close to one. Hopefully, it gets more random as it spins out further.

Sorry Commodore, I tried to be more random in earlier versions but kept getting worried I was screwing someone over. In the end I realized if I didn't largely mirror things I wouldn't ever finish the map

[Coeurva]

Alhazard's reading of the demographics has been spot-on, finding out that Yuri teched something with two prereqs and that the starts are all mirrored -- only he doesn't draw the conclusion that Yuri teched Agri -> AH to work his food resources as soon as possible.

Yuri doesn't want to plant the fish/2x tundra deer/crab city due to the marginal land surrounding it. (I had assumed it was because he thought it would invalidate the crab site.) He might be right -- maintenance is always a concern and the grass already looks greener on the surrounding islands -- but I think it could make a fine outpost for 2-pop whipping WBs and galleys, that food surplus is workable. Obviously, I'm not going to post that in his thread.

(You can't 2-pop WBs obviously, but you can overflow lots of hammers from 2-pop whips into them.)

ipecac is probably paying the most attention to circumnavigation, and most willing to sacrifice some early growth for this investment. I'll be interested to see how that can play out.

Commodore should write more. I'm curious whether he'll prioritize those gems overseas and settle his third city on the south-western tip of his island (second city probably has to be first-ring fish/corn).

I think Adrien's second city is a bit slow, I'd settle on the western wine instead -- still coastal and overlaps rice, but picks up first-ring fish saving hammers on a monument, especially if he wants a religion in the first place. Besides, he'll gain a 2c city center, which probably repays over the time it would take to grab Monarchy and build a winery on the tile instead. I'm hoping he'll land his religion, want to see how he plays with it.

[pindicator]

Forgot to mention. No bronze on main island so archery looks like more or less mandatory. because the area is food rich but happy poor. I believe I will research sailing before pottery to claim gold and fur ASAP.

Oh shit, how did we miss that?

[ipecac]

[shallow_thought]

Yeah, this game is definitely in a lively phase, and the reporting has picked up nicely to match.

[ipecac]

Yeah, this game is definitely in a lively phase, and the reporting has picked up nicely to match.

I'm afraid the time per turn I spent on the game went down sharply as did my play, but it looks like Al and yuris will give Commodore a run for his money if they just get out of the Tech/Build More mode.

7) Missing out on Sistine Chapel: Now I have to pursue a bloody victory condition.

Finally.

Commodore is on Steel by the way, and I expect going full speed towards Combustion, while I'm messing with Communism and Nationalism and Constitution. Yet another proud moment for me - proudly following the footsteps of Elizabeth and Victoria by focussing on economic research while behind in military

Sigh.

[ipecac]

Commodore seems depressed. I'd thought it was his game to lose, but maybe not. It is tricky for him to cripple both Alhazard and Yuris before they completely runaway.

[ipecac]

Maybe the biggest barrier to becoming a good player in Civ4 is psychological - lacking the killer instinct to drop everything and whip up a mass of troops to rush someone. It's hard for a not-so-good player to break past the 'keep gaining more economic bonuses' mentality. Yuris has been only half-heartedly attacking Adrien with essentially zero success while teching towards Communism, while Alhazard missed a big window of opportunity to hit Commodore while Comm was throwing the kitchen sink at me (losing 150k+ power in the last 2 turns).

Either may still win, but that's only because Commodore was unable to take all three of us out.

[ipecac]

May I never complain about another map again.  

The map was great. My main issue was that the players were too far apart for CKNs + galleys to be a really effective pirate force. Quick speed didn't help too, I guess.