[SPOILERS] Cornflakes brings the popcorn (because creativity is overrated)

[Cornflakes]

Great to have you Thrantar It certainly will be nice to have someone to bounce ideas off (and catch my mistakes)

Heavy faith patronization is an interesting idea. That might work well in conjunction with an early religion. Choral music for the culture on HS buildings would fit the heavy culture theme. Jesuit Education would be another good one. Landing the 3rd religion though would be much worse off. I'll have to see what the rival civilizations are, and if either Russia or China (or even Japan) are in the mix it will be a lot less appealing.

You also make a good point about not falling behind in land military tech. I will definitely need to be wary of my surroundings and not let my military strength get too far behind (or my coffers too low).

[Thrantar]

So I did some more thought on heavy faith patronization.

I don't think it really works. With Oracle, classical GP are ~500, medieval ~1000, renaissance ~1900, industrial ~3200 to be patronized entirely from 0. I believe that this is actually quite affordable for classical GP. The problem is that good GP, such as Hypatia, are already likely to be highly contested, including with projects. And I'm not sure getting bad GP is worth it.

That said, with the Sacred Path belief, I think you can probably snipe the 2nd Great Prophet with project + patronage. I assume the first goes to Stonehenge, but I believe that aggressive placement of your first holy site(s) to maximize adjacency bonus can generate enough faith to patronize several turns faster, especially if combined with a project.

Also, regarding land military, some of the strengths of faith purchase w/ theocracy is the i) the speed of development of new units & ii) the economic leverage provided by paying less on unit maintenance (since you don't need to prebuild and sit on units for as long).

[Thrantar]

Preliminary thoughts on other nations and players

Aztecs - Pindicator
I don't believe that I've read through any threads for which pindicator was the primary reporter, so I don't have the strongest grasp on his strengths as a player. I think that the Aztec package is somewhat underrated currently. The Aztecs, with their builder capture ability and the ability to build districts with builders, have the shortest turn-around time to convert a military victory into an infrastructure edge. Also, the Aztecs get progressively better at military action as the game goes on. Due to the strong return from strength advantages, a late game war with the Aztecs is untenable. I consider the Aztec strength bonus to be the single strongest Civ bonus in the game.

Russia - TheArchduke
Pretty sure this is the odds on favorite to win. Russia is a strong civ, with an almost universally useful set of perks. The cheap holy sites offer easy competition to get an early religion, with both Jesuit Education and Choral Music as strong choices. Further, TheArchduke has played in multiple different PBEMs. While he has lost several, he has consistently managed to develop a functional economy and has demonstrated the ability to wage successful wars.

Rome - rho21
I think Rome is substantially overrated as a nation. While the fact that all of the Trajan/Roman bonus are decent and useful, with baths and free monuments being quite good, I think Rome suffers somewhat from a lack of focus. Also, there is not a completely amazing Roman bonus that defines the nation. I am of the general opinion that it's better to do one thing well than multiple things above average. While I admit that Rome has demonstrated great success in previous PBEMs, it seems worth noting that Sullla played Rome in both PBEM 1 & 7. I believe that a substantial portion of the perceived strength of Rome is do to the strengths of Sullla as a player.

More to come later

[Cornflakes]

Aztecs ... I forgot that their strength bonus extends beyond the Eagle Warrior (for some reason I was thinking only that unit benefitted from the +1 strength per luxury). I half want to start near the Aztecs so that Ican keep them in check, and I half want to start on the opposite continent so J don’t have to worry about them until MG. I will play the early game as though I will have eagle warriors crashing my doorstep until proven otherwise by exploring my continent.

Half the civs are more builder orientd long-term civs (Russia, Brazil, Germany) and half quick starting warlike civs (Aztec, Rome, Greece). We shall see this game whether good or evil shall prevail!

[Japper007]

You substantially undervalue Rome Thrantar , even I could wring something half decent out of Rome, and I'm about as bad a player as you get on this site... The Monuments could be the only civ ability and it would still be top tier, being first to Governments by a good 30 turns can swing the game on it's own, as well as the convenient extra border growth and actually keeping production cards lined up with the units they boost. The Baths and Legions are just an added layer of flexibility on top of that. Giving access to a strong builder or military/defensive strategic option respectively.

[Cornflakes]

I know slinger first is perhaps the most widely favored opening (the other being scout first) however I have run into trouble with barbs on many occasions that couldn't be handled effectively by a lone slinger. Often I will have to stop my builder or settler in production and pump out a 2nd slinger in order to keep the civilian safe. I have been going Warrior first with good success. It only takes 1 extra turn compared to a slinger, but a warrior can single-handedly tackle a barb camp even when it is erupting (and can beat a safe retreat from a horse camp where a slinger would be toast). My current favorite opening is Warrior > [Settler + Builder in some order] > 3x Slingers. Then upgrade the slingers and capture a city state.

With Aztecs in the game I want to have a decent military presence early on. I'm contemplating whether it would be wise to aim getting a Heavy Chariot or Horseman in the field early (depending on resource availability) if indeed I find them an immediate neighbor. The last thing I want is to become another statistic. Or even Swordsmen early? I need Bronze Working anyway to clear Jungle tiles, so if I don't have pasture resources nearby I could skip AH and push a straight beeline to IW. If I can get the 3 barb kills early I should be able to land BW in time to see iron before founding city #3 and could therefore continue straight into IW. This foregoes the chance for early Campus or HS but is the quickest most science and production efficient means of getting advanced military in the field (and doesn't require the civics detour for the cavalry production card). In this case I'd skip the slingers altogether and pump out a couple extra warriors before obsoleting them. Something to keep in mind at least throughout the early turns. Unless I have pasture resources at the capital (unlikely if I get a jungle start) I'll set research to Mining first to keep my options open. Might go mining first even if pasture resources are present since I'll have time to pick up AH regardless before the builder is ready.

Advantages: Would make me an unappealing target from pretty much everyone. City state capture would be a breeze with 3 Swords that early vs warrior/slingers. Possibility to make opportunistic attack vs a weak neighbor.
Disadvantages of early IW: Off the economic line towards Apprenticeship. Swords cost additional maintenance. Only district it unlocks is Encampment which doesn't play to Brazil's bonus (district cost scaling mechanic, which is a whole separate post). This is more in line with an early rush civ than a long term builder civ.

I think that a swarm of archers will be sufficient to dissuade Aztecs from an early rush, and I would rather play to the strengths of my Brazilian civ. At the same time though early IW (with a stock of gold in the bank) is an insurance policy against an early exit.

[Cornflakes]

A deeper look at the district cost scaling mechanic

Starting with a table:

NOTE: the numbers are calculated based on the formulas and I have not yet verified any of this in game yet. As I play I'll compare the number I see to what is in the table.
NOTE: When using the right-most equivalence section, always start by counting the number of civics. Then compare the value for techs found in the corresponding table row with the actual number of techs research. If the number of techs completed is less than or equal to the number shown in the table then civics govern costs, if the number is greater then techs govern costs.

   

Some initial observations:

• The cost scaling is a uniform increment per tech/civic, not exponential. Therefore the increase is magnified early game as compared to later in the game.
  
• Each tech increases the district costs by about 7, each civic increases the costs by about 10
  
• For projects, the GPP yield is approximately ( cost / 5) + 5 [always rounded down] for an easy in-game back-of-the-envelope calculation.
  

Looking deeper at costs for districts in the early game (assumption is that techs outpace civics for the first 40 or so turns).

• HS with only Astrology completed: 61
  
• Campus with only Pottery + Writing: 68 (10% more than HS)
  
• Campus after first picking up AH and Mining: 82 (20% increase over Campus ASAP)
  
• Campus after first beelining IW + AH: 96 (40% increase over Campus ASAP)
  

To play to Brazil's bonuses an early campus seems most logical, collecting both adjacency from Jungle as well as starting to earn GScientist points. It will also help speed tech progress towards more advanced military to counter the early game strong starters. Religion as the alternative would be very good if I could be sure of Jesuit Education, with the added benefit that I could skip 25 turns of God King if I am getting faith from a HS. Choral Music as a fallback is not nearly as good simply due to the amount of required to get it up and running, otherwise religion has a very poor return on early investment if I miss both of these. I'm thinking therefore that I wait to make a play at a religion until Russia lands theirs, and once seeing their beliefs I can choose to rush Stonehenge if Jesuit Education is available (and especially if Church Property is still available). 

This is about as far as I can go planning-wise until I see the map. The rest is determined by which city states I find (and their quests, which might tip the balance) and who my neighbors are. Also the resources will help guide my pantheon choice. For pantheons I thing my thoughts are:

• Culture generation via Oral Tradition or God of the Open Sky (depending on resource availability). Culture advances the snowball through policies and governments, unlocks MG, and almost as important it acquires new tiles at cities.
  
• Possibly Lady of the Reeds depending on terrain
  Goddess of the Harvest for culture purchasing Frigates shortly before completing Nationalism, and targeted GP patronization
  
• Sacred Path??? Only if there is a huge tract of jungle in the immediate vicinity. If that is the case, I may abort the Campus strategy and go for religion first. The problem is what to do with the faith if Jesuit Education is not obtained (other than Theocracy purchases much later in the game). Or maybe that's the best play? Push culture and faith, never spend any faith until Theocracy and then purchase an army the turn I discover Theocracy with a hoard of 3000 or so faith saved up, completing the tech for the next generation of military a turn later and upgrading everything with a hoard of gold. In this case Choral Music makes sense ... hmmmm if Jungle is abundant then this might actually work.
  

[Thrantar]

Some random thoughts, especially pertaining to a heavy faith plan. (I am curious to know how good a heavy faith plan ends up being, and enjoy watching divergent gameplay, which I expect heavy faith to generate more of than an early campus.

W/ sacred path &, later, the double adjacency bonus policy, cities will achieve a very high base faith income. This makes % production steroids relatively better than flat production steroids. Happiness is a source of % production steroids, and Brazil has the Carnivals. We should plan to build the Colosseum, especially in conjunction w/ the Sacred Path belief.

Reading through the wiki, and yet to be verified in game, the Carnival project looks to grant twice the normal returns of a project, with the yields of a normal theater project of the same cost, and half yields for both merchant and engineer. As a result of this, I think patronizing a great writer is very achievable.

Regarding religion, further thoughts. The problem w/ waiting for Russia, then rushing Stonehenge depending on available beliefs is simply this: Brazil is not good at building Stonehenge. Due to the jungle start bias, we probably won't be that near stone. Further, rainforests are a worse source of hammers from chops than regular forests. I think a warrior -> settler -> builder -> holy site (-> project?) while chopping slings can get us first pick of religion. (The second city starts a holy site promptly also.) It does cause us to research craftsmanship without the boost, but both state workforce and early empire will be boosted. And we can avoid God King, running urban planning in two cities instead. (Foreign trade is rather unpredictable.) An aggressively chopped Stonehenge remains faster than any Holy Site plan can possibly be.

Remember, an army you don't yet have is a policy slot saved on conscription.

[Cornflakes]

Remember, an army you don't yet have is a policy slot saved on conscription.

Yes, but an army you need but don't have when the Aztecs or Greeks are burning down your village is a quick trip to the dustbin of history

I am curious to know how good a heavy faith plan ends up being

I think that with the right civ (Russia/Arabia) it is viable and effective. I don't think that Brazil is that civ. I think Holy Sites and faith is trying to chase too much at once. The Jungle adjacency is my biggest early game boost but faith (as a yield) has the lowest early game ROI. I need to use the adjacency to get out ahead of the warmongers. I want to reserve my highest jungle adjacency tiles for Theater districts. The 2nd best tiles will go to Campuses. Commercial Hubs also benefit from Jungle adjacency, but the +1 is of less value than +1 or +1. Two early campuses will get me the Recorded History boost, which my high strategy will be able to reach earlier than other civs and thus unlock Natural Philosophy for the +100% campus adjacency.

I have been trying to figure out how to best fit the Carnival into the Grand Strategy. The biggest problem is that they eat up a district slot The project itself seems intriguing. The math works out to about 1.5 per GPP, with the GPP split many ways. It would take about 6 projects to recruit an ancient age GPerson, but would have a shot at multiple ones. I don't think the project would be able to single-highhandedly recruit GPP, but it can aid in natural recruiting and patronizing. Each GPP costs 10 during patronization, so it is an efficient conversion of 1.5 into 10 allowing the faith to be used in other ways. It is still a large sink for though which is already a scarce commodity. The scientist GPP seem to be the most impactful yet are not included in the melting pot of GPP provided by the Carnival project. If nothing else, it will help me achieve the boosts for recruiting a Great Merchant and Great Writer. Brazil's 20% refund is in actuality more accurately described as "10% savings off the each GPerson except for the first of each type" since it is a refund and not a discount, and the costs double with each era ... less useful than it appears at first glance. If is was a 20% bonus to GPP production it would be much better since it would help in recruiting that first GPerson as well as scale through the game.

[Thrantar]

Yes, I agree that rebates are certainly far worse than discounts. I think that fundamentally, you need to consider how far down the research tree you need to go. If your plan is to push civics hard to MG, and win with early MG, your research doesn't need to research any tech past somewhere in the Renaissance/Industrial era. (What unit will be capturing cities for you?) Do you need to research any land units after knights? (Maybe muskets, maybe cav?)

Owing to the rapidly scaling cost of GP as the era advances, careful consideration should be given to patronizing them at a time when the replacement will still be in the earlier era.

Macro victory plan, assuming domination/conquest win condition:
Have a competitive land grab, don't get snowballed on. Prioritize culture, with enough science to survive the land war. Make contact with other continent using caravels. Hit MG early, conquer all coasts of home continent. Sail MG to foreign continent, conquer coasts there. Hope this prompts concession.

I continue to advocate the Colosseum. Having a Carnival gives you access to a place to build the Carnival project, as well as a place to build the Colosseum, which should be worth ~10 culture, +other yields from happy.