[PB67] Tarkeel flips the table

[Tarkeel]

[Tarkeel]

Password is 'bgg'

Summary:

Starting Screenshot

[Commodore]

Screenshot of your start.

[Tarkeel]

Question: Is the clam coastal or lake?

Edit: I'm so going to complain if I don't start with that archer :P

[Tarkeel]

So, that's an interesting start, but not necessarily in a good way. There's a lot of forests which probably means a double worker and early BronzeWorking, but the only Agri/Mining civ is China. It's also The river is only 4 tiles, only one of which is grassland, which sucks for this high-tech start. We also have 4 food resources, but they all cap out at 4 food in the early game and come with their own liabilities:

• Wheat is the only decent foodtile here
  
• Sheep needs AnimalHusbandry so I'd have mined it if it was a hill
  
• Crabs needs fishing and a workboat, and we don't even have a 3h tile to get it out before borders pop
  
• Clams might be a lake, but if so they aren't even reachable by workboat from the capital!
  

Right now I'm thinking Julius (IMP/ORG) of China as my preferred combo, but this might actually be a start to try Inca so we atleast have a 5f tile. Copying Jowy's early lighthouse play in PB60 with Darius (FIN/ORG) of the Scandinavia might be another option.

[Tarkeel]

With Darius gone it matters less if it's a lake, but considering Rome or China. For leader Julius is still available and great, but my old friend Teddy Frankie beckons. If the map has some room then IND has more value. Would probably pair him with Rome for the deterrence.

[Tarkeel]

I found the time to test Rome-with-lake, and it looks viable to farm the wheat, mine the barren plainshill while waiting for BronzeWorking while growing on a workboat, then do some tile-dancing and chop out a second worker (with 20h overflow) on T30. The big question then becomes which traits.

Everybody else has picked a leader first, which is interesting. Bing is the only one with IMP, deciding to pair it with CHA, and Charriu is the only one with CRE (paired with PHI), while IND has been picked by Ginger/GKC (paired with FIN).

I'm usually a big fan of ORG, and I don't see a reason to deviate from that here. Pairing IMP for more cheap cities is actually quite decent, with the main attriaction being how just about any city can easily 2-whip out a settler as needed. Doubling down on the late-game traits with IND can be tempting, especially with Rome providing deterrence from meddling. A late addition to my thinking is Zara, and Commodore maps usually can make good use of CRE.

[Commodore]

Clam is freshwater. But no archer, sorry.

[Tarkeel]

I'm pretty confident that Rome is the correct civ for this start, but China would also have been a good option. I believe Rome doesn't need IMP or CRE to toss around their neighbors, so I hope the threat of Praetorians will give me room in the early game to get Roosevelt up and running.

I'll miss those 2-whipped settlers though.

[Tarkeel]

Turn 0 (4000 BC)
Moving the scout to the other plainshill reveals something interesting:


Moving to settle is actually an option for once. I'll lose the crabs and coastal capital, but pick up a grasshill pig. Losing the coast can be both a boon and penalty, but in this case I think it's more of a penalty. We'll need a city on that lake for a workboat, and planting N of the pigs could be a decent Moai.


I settle Concordia in place, and start with worker and agriculture.



Concordia (BGG/Steam) is somewhat of a hidden gem from 2013, in which the players control trading empires in Roman times. The mechanics are quite simple, consisting of picking an action card from hand and performing it, but the available actions give great strategic depth.

C&D:

Charriu has settled before me, with 6 food, 2 hammers and 20 gnp, which implies settling on a food tile (sugar or banana?) and working a 3f tile, while 20gnp should imply he's working on a pre-req tech, which is likely to be AnimalHusbandry.