[PB62 spoilers] BXL goes it alone

[BING_XI_LAO]

Second multiplayer civ4 game for me. In first game I went Cha/Fi and while that worked fine, I'll do something else just to shake things up. Maybe Agg/Imp

[Commodore]

A start for consideration:

[Charriu]

I see you've chosen Sumeria. What is your game plan with it? Which leader do you plan to combine with it?

[BING_XI_LAO]

I definitely want to go AGG and attack someone with Vultures.

Undecided on the second trait. I'm tempted by CHA/CRE for easier culture, but if no-one picks a Mysticism civ, I could bank on nabbing an early religion, since my UB comes from Priesthood.

Not picking:
PHI, IND, - these just aren't synergistic with my intended playstyle. And I don't feel like I have gamesense to feel confident about investing in Wonders or GPs yet.
PRO - early eco boost from trade but it's unsynergistic with AGG imo, given that I don't want to make Archers, nor do I intend to be on the defense.
EXP - doesn't seem useful to me. CHA happiness is always useful because you can leverage it against whipping, but in PB61 I have yet to see a single point of ill health.
CRE - very convenient, but I feel CHA is better as it gets you the bare minimum +1 culture from cheap monument with other useful things.

Unlikely pick:
SPI - no anarchy sounds fun, and could be synergistic with getting to Organized Religion for temples/ziggurats/judaism
ORG - I think it might be redundant with an already cheaper Courthouse. On the other hand, it's synergistic with earlier courthouses. And If I do conquer someone this is a nice scaling bonus.
FIN - powerful, makes it easier to comeback or accelerate economically. But I'd rather double down on vulture aggression.
All three of these are a bit too lategame-oriented for me.

Likely pick:
IMP - settlers being cheaper makes it quicker to get down like 3-4 cities and then look for someone to attack. Also, I didn't realise it boosts General emergence in general, I thought that was only within borders? Is that the Great Wall or a mod change to the trait?
CHA - good for enduring early whipping unhappiness, totally saved me in PB61. Also gives a cheap way to get culture via monument. And it makes it easier for victorious units to get more promotions. All three will be relevant from pretty early on.

[BING_XI_LAO]

Advice is very welcome!

[Charriu]

IMP - settlers being cheaper makes it quicker to get down like 3-4 cities and then look for someone to attack. Also, I didn't realise it boosts General emergence in general, I thought that was only within borders? Is that the Great Wall or a mod change to the trait?

The general emergence is base BtS behaviour. The Great Wall only has it's general bonus inside your border.

[BING_XI_LAO]

Lol, just realised Vultures actually lose fights to Axemen on average. I forgot how the combat strength calculation works (with bonuses not actually amplifying a unit's strength, but reducing that of the enemy)

At least once you add combat 1 in the mix, then Combat 1 Vultures become even with Combat 1 Axemen (in terms of performance against non-AGG axemen that is), so if I pick AGG (which I'd be fine doing even with a different civilisation), then this isn't really a problem. And at least the Vultures are better vs chariots, HA, catapults etc.

[Commodore]

Vultures are nice, it's rare to get a vulture vs. axe flatland fight. The higher base strength is good.

[BING_XI_LAO]

For my own future reference, here's the picks:

CRE-ORG China: Vanrober+Miguelito

A good pick but slanted towards later power. 

CHA-IMP Mongolia: Fabled-JR4
Those are two economic traits but he could easily end up getting some very highly promoted cavalry from CHA+Ger+extra Generals.

AGG-IMP Sumeria: Bing Xi Lao
I forgot how combat bonuses worked when I picked this and though Axeman vs Vulture was 5*1.5 vs 6*1.25 = 7.5 vs 7.5

Instead of leveraging the UU pick with AGG, I had to compensate with AGG. But while non-AGG Vultures are really bad, AGG Vultures are ok. The only other AGG picker has been Superdeath. 
Cheap, early courthouses will be nice too.


ORG-IMP Spain: Tarkeel+Civac
The only Mysticism pick, so they will get a religion and will scale well with those two traits.

FIN-IMP Mali: Mjmd
Clearly he wants to expand largely and safely and then build up cottages. Probably the least dangerous to have as a neighbour because of the Skirmisher 
(aside from getting chariot rushed turn 45 by Mali in PB61)

PHI-CRE Netherlands: Naufragar
I don't see the synergy here, but could easily pay off with lots of water on the map, or just good food income for specialists.
I wonder if he will get outpaced by four IMP pickers and a Superdeath though.

AGG-CHA Rome: Superdeath

[BING_XI_LAO]

And of course the first neighbour I scout is Superdeath. Maybe PB62 is going to be even more brutal for me than PB61.

The videos I make of this are going to be unlisted until the Pitboss is over.