Really wish we were picking 4/5 now...
The other thing with Portugal is that there's no reason Norway would or should be the only one trying to pilfer them. Declaring an early war to snipe a far flung trader is often going to be worth it, as is declaring war to prevent trading posts from being established. I'm anticipating that both Thrawn and the Portugal player will be in basically an always war situation, Norway voluntarily and Portugal because they have no choice. As nice as all those trade routes would be if left undisturbed... yikes. Not happening.
If we're worried about Thrawn turning stolen Portuguese gold into a winning edge, I still don't think that's a good reason to make it gold stolen from us. We could just as easily use Jongs to jump on a Portuguese team weakened by the loss of basically the only thing that makes them worthwhile, and snowball ourselves to a winning position that way. Us not taking Portugal also opens the possibility of a Portugal/Phoenicia combo for Chevalier or Woden, basically the only pairing that should neutralize longship pillages, which of course would put that team in an amazing spot instead of Thrawn.
My instinct here is not to get cute, and to stay out of the most obvious mutually destructive early war situations. We should take Indonesia, figure out the gold at #7, and plan to jump on whoever looks weak enough for us to obliterate them.
The other thing with Portugal is that there's no reason Norway would or should be the only one trying to pilfer them. Declaring an early war to snipe a far flung trader is often going to be worth it, as is declaring war to prevent trading posts from being established. I'm anticipating that both Thrawn and the Portugal player will be in basically an always war situation, Norway voluntarily and Portugal because they have no choice. As nice as all those trade routes would be if left undisturbed... yikes. Not happening.
If we're worried about Thrawn turning stolen Portuguese gold into a winning edge, I still don't think that's a good reason to make it gold stolen from us. We could just as easily use Jongs to jump on a Portuguese team weakened by the loss of basically the only thing that makes them worthwhile, and snowball ourselves to a winning position that way. Us not taking Portugal also opens the possibility of a Portugal/Phoenicia combo for Chevalier or Woden, basically the only pairing that should neutralize longship pillages, which of course would put that team in an amazing spot instead of Thrawn.
My instinct here is not to get cute, and to stay out of the most obvious mutually destructive early war situations. We should take Indonesia, figure out the gold at #7, and plan to jump on whoever looks weak enough for us to obliterate them.
jongs don't win unless you can fund them and that means defending harbors and trade routes with no naval UU. and unlike portugal i don't think indo can take victor 3 before pingala because they NEED the culture for mercs