[PB59] Ichabod realizes Civ 4 PB is for closers only

[Serdoa]

Today is my birthday and what I want for a gift is the CtH equivalent of Pacal of Inca as my random pick. Anyone care to enlighten me what it is?

Happy birthday Ichabod   I hope you had time to celebrate albeit most likely only with a few people if our Covid19-rules are anything to go by. 

As for the pick: I think the most valued is Victoria (FIN/IMP) right now? Not sure which civilization though, none I can think off that I feel is universally good, it just depends on the land and what techs we need for it more than anything else.

[darrelljs]

In fact, I have way too much hair

Darrell

[darrelljs]

Wait, Ichabod you have no idea what the mod changes are either? Should we play this like its base BTS then blame any poor outcome on ignorance?

Darrell

[Krill]

You've been using that excuse since PB2, and that was base BtS.

[Ichabod]

Today is my birthday and what I want for a gift is the CtH equivalent of Pacal of Inca as my random pick. Anyone care to enlighten me what it is?

Happy birthday Ichabod   I hope you had time to celebrate albeit most likely only with a few people if our Covid19-rules are anything to go by. 

As for the pick: I think the most valued is Victoria (FIN/IMP) right now? Not sure which civilization though, none I can think off that I feel is universally good, it just depends on the land and what techs we need for it more than anything else.

Thanks! Yeah, it was just me, my wife, my parents and my brother. Perhaps not the best time to gather family, but this one year of constant confinement is making me crazy. I have a very confortable situation, both my wife and I are able to work from home. But even so, I really miss going out with my friends and doing social activities. At least my family I need to see from time to time.

My cursory glance of Charriu's analysis of FIN compared to ORG makes me think ORG will shine here. We are playing emperor. The game data I've seen was from a monarch game, with a better version of FIN, and I feel the traits are comparable. So, in this setting, ORG has potential to be even better.

Not going to worry much about picks in a random game, though. Lets just wait for the actual choices before doing that.

Wait, Ichabod you have no idea what the mod changes are either?  Should we play this like its base BTS then blame any poor outcome on ignorance?

Darrell

To be honest, I don't think I need that as a made up excuse, since it's likely to happen for real during the game. Not that I remember base BTS all that well either...

There are a lot of players that I don't know in this game. Apparently, there's a crowd from a german civ forum. And a crowd that played in the most recent PB's as well, that I haven't lurked. Who are the best players from this new generation?

[Serdoa]

How do you rank mediocrity?

[Ichabod]

How do you rank mediocrity?

     

So, it's going to be Mack against TBS, as usual? 

To be fair, I'm sensing that we will neighbor one of Mack or TBS and we'll conquer them in the Medieval era with Maces and Trebs. Just a gut feel.

[Serdoa]

Well, I do not know all of them, but as a brief ranking:

Godlike:
Ichabod and team

Pretty ok:
The Black Sword
mackoti
Miguelito + Rusten
Tarkeel
civac2
Cornflakes
Commodore

so/so:
Jowy
Amicalola
naufragar
Mr. Cairo
Mjmd
Automated Teller
superdeath
Lazteuq

don't know, never played or can't remember:
Ramkhamhaeng
General KilCavalry
pindicator
Elkad
Donovan Zoi
Frozen + Dulland (! I think Frozen is pretty good but had only a brief look at the German forum weeks ago and might misremember / missed important information)
Piccadilly + Flunky
Charriu
Joshybravo963


In general, the German forum guys I think know what they are doing but how good they play I can't say. They do have a much stronger "Play the hand you're dealt"-vibe there though, which might be beneficial in this game. mackoti will have to show that he can adapt to such a big game though I expect him to do well, especially early on. 

Honestly, there is no one that I see on that list that makes this game a foregone conclusion and I am honestly believing that we can win this. With 25 players not getting into a dogpile will probably be more important at the start than if you settle your second city a turn before the other guy does.

[Ichabod]

I also believe we can win. I just need to be a bit more organized with my planning. Since I never got used to use a spreadsheet or something similar, I kinda have to rethink a lot of my plans each turn. I think a bit more organization will go a long way to make the time investment less steep.

I think I remember you using a spreadsheet, Serdoa? That or a sandbox would be useful, to make testing scenarios easier. I am used to do back of the envelope calculations when I try to plan things in a more serious manner, but when I return to my notes, it's very hard to understand what all the loose numbers mean. 

[Serdoa]

Yes, I can (will) supply a spreadsheet which can be used for planning. You'll just have to input the available tiles and then can choose which ones you work via a number-code and of course also input what to build, if you whip etc. Calculations all done by the spreadsheet so you don't have to fear that you miscounted something. Takes some getting used to but at least for the early game it works great imo. Certainly lets me get through several starting scenarios rather quickly. 

As soon as you get your second and especially third city you have to start doing it differently, though at that point you are also starting to transition more to per city decisions which only in case of wonder-races need exact spreadsheet-calculations imo. Using signs to signal what you are going to do where though is very helpful. Noble did help me realize the value one can actually gain from that, though I'm far from using it as well as he does.