[PBEM9 - SPOILERS] Willem van Oranje of Mali

[Kodii]

"The world is more like it is now than it ever has before."
- Dwight Eisenhower

[Kodii]

It's good to be back at RB and trying out something I've never done before.

I tend to be a sloppy player, rushing through turns for the sake of time. I hope that in a PBEM setting, when I am analyzing gameplay turn by turn, I can be a much more effective player. Should be an interesting ride.

[athlete4life10]

Hey Kodii,

Welcome back! When you get a chance could you post your reasons for your picks please?

Thanks!

Athlete

[Kodii]

I am very fond of being Creative, perhaps unreasonably so, but as someone who often neglects early culture and the early religion tech tree, the free border expansions will help me get a solid foothold on the land available to me. I also feel like Creative is one of the stronger traits in regards to double building production, with cheap libraries and theatres (and colosseums)

It was a little more of a toss-up whether I wanted to be Expansive or Financial, but in the end I decided I would try for being more of an economic powerhouse. Plus, being Financial can be a huge advantage; something I've definitely not been able to capitalize on in the past. I'm hoping I can manage my gameplay to make full use of the trait.

For civilization, I was deciding between Babylon and Mali. Both have solid ancient era UUs, which works well with my game strategy. The Babylonian Garden would have nice synergy with being Creative, and would have been like half an Expansive trait. I decided in the end to go with the Mint and further build on the Financial trait. Mining and The Wheel are also solid starting techs, with only Agriculture/Fishing in between Pottery and allowing me to research BW immediately if I so choose.

In terms of game strategy, I want to attempt (with a solid early UU, and building upon being Financial) to stay ahead of the game technologically. But above all, I'm in this to have fun, and I feel like I chose a combination that would allow me to do that!

[Jowy]

Here is your start.
Good luck!

[Kodii]

While I wait for the save to get to me, here are some of my initial opening thoughts.

Warrior: Move 1NE
Settler: Likely to settle in place
Tech: Bronze Working -> Agriculture -> Fishing -> Pottery
Build: Worker

Opponents:
Sylon - Pericles (Cre Phi) of Maya (Holkan, Ball Court)
mackoti - Peter (Exp Phi) of Inca (Quechua, Terrace)
Pegasus - Pacal (Fin Exp) of Ottoman (Janissary, Hammam)
Ruff_Hi - Mansa (Fin Spi) of India (Fast Worker, Mausoleum)

I don't have a clue about any of their playing styles except for Ruff. I expect he will be doing a LOT of reading into the game to trace our every move. I'm excited to play against him and to get the game started.

[Kodii]

I moved the warrior 1SW instead of 1NE because I was going to get a lot more information from that.

As expected, there was nothing of note so I settled on the spot, set the city to a Worker, began research on BW while working the fur grassland forest.

Here are some screenies. I didn't do much reading into the demographics (yet). Sylon is the only one who hasn't settled his capital.

[Kodii]

Here is the world as I know it so far. I got some interesting grassland forest marble nearby. Also, jungle appears to be towards the west, indicating the possibility of a tilted axis map.

[pocketbeetle]

I got some interesting grassland forest marble nearby

Jowy you nooby mapmaker!

What's the unimproved yield on that?

[Kodii]

Two food, two hammers I believe.

Not sure whether or not a quarry would clear the forest. I'll have to check that.

I feel like it might be intentionally editted in by Jowy for resource balance.