[Spoilers]Auro is prepared: You shall not pass!

[Qgqqqqq]

I don't feel confident enough to give advice on Hyborem/Basium in PBEM. I know there were some issues in the past, potentially surrounding the takeover turn, and I know Sareln did some work to address them. I'd recommend making a test game - shouldn't be too hard to do.

[Aurorarcher]

T1.

Pig news of the turn!



This makes my early simulation useless. My gut feeling says I need to settle 1S of the starting position. Then I will have all 3 AH resources within the 3rd ring of my capital. I also gain some new hills/riverside cottage land in the south. Downside is losing hill (defensive bonus) + early hammers. But I think this is worth it.

So Minas Tirith has been found!

[RefSteel]

I'm excited to see this get rolling! I love the Kuriotates but always have trouble playing to their unique strengths and limitations - I look forward to seeing what you can do with them here! Do the pig and capital move change your plans for the very early game, or will it mostly be similar play with different timings?

[Aurorarcher]

No changes to the early turns (~20 turns). I haven’t done simulation yet but I predict that first settler will be out 2-3 turns later than in my previous sim.

I haven’t played with Kuriotates much before and this was my motivation to play with them exactly! I’m eager to figure out new ideas and how to use them to their advantages. Some of the advantages are obvious like megacities with 3rd ring+extra happiness but some are more hidden. Like how to use settlements properly? They neither add to maintenance cost nor can grow beyond size 1. They also can’t build anything. but they can actually still bring me something useful (commerce, resources etc.). Also gold/beakers with religions or settled temples from priests for example. Also they of course benefit from a lot of TRs so some civic choices are going to be quite obvious. More ideas later…

[RefSteel]

Sounds cool! I didn't realize all the rules around settlements - never played a Kuriotates game beyond the opening, actually; my experience with actual FfH gameplay is quite limited - but they look very fun and potentially powerful; I look forward to seeing how you lead them here!

[Aurorarcher]

No changes to the early turns (~20 turns). I haven’t done simulation yet but I predict that first settler will be out 2-3 turns later than in my previous sim.

I haven’t played with Kuriotates much before and this was my motivation to play with them exactly! I’m eager to figure out new ideas and how to use them to their advantages. Some of the advantages are obvious like megacities with 3rd ring+extra happiness but some are more hidden. Like how to use settlements properly? They neither add to maintenance cost nor can grow beyond size 1. They also can’t build anything. but they can actually still bring me something useful (commerce, resources etc.). Also gold/beakers with religions or settled temples from priests for example. Also they of course benefit from a lot of TRs so some civic choices are going to be quite obvious. More ideas later…

Actually this is not true (did some tests) unfortunately .

[RefSteel]

Actually this is not true (did some tests) unfortunately :(.

Awww ... I suppose it would have been a problem for the game economy to allow tone of trade route commerce at cities that don't contribute to maintenance costs, but it sounds like there are some cool things to do with settlements anyway! I really want to try the Kurios out myself now....

Any further news?

[Aurorarcher]

Yeah, there is finally!

T15 findings.



Decent potential 2nd city spot on the hill where my scout is. Horse, Clam, Rice, Gems + Pig from capital. Fish and Sheep will be missed. Only issue is a bit of sea (or inland sea). That could also be useful, who knows, maybe for Pearls or being able to build a galley. Downside is coast tiles are kind of meh for Kuriotates. Another downside is that it has some overlap with capital but I think it's fine.

My scout made first his way to SW but I went a bit too far and found nothing too useful. I was actually hoping I could get through those mountains in the south and get back to W of my capital, eh, but no - I turned away and went to check east where I found the Gems. Anyway, here's the overview of my scouting so far.



Capital is putting a couple turns into settler while I'm researching Mysticism. Then revolt (Religion + GK + Agri), that plan is still the same.

Demos as of T15.



Someone (Brian) has a very low population. I believe he is at size 2 for some reason. Dave has a size 6 capital.

Going to give a player analysis / thoughts of their picks when I meet them.

[Aurorarcher]

T16.

Found more seafood, Fish. 2nd city could go 1S of the planned plain hill tile. Need to think about this.



I am moving worker out of my borders with some escort. Plan is to road towards 2nd city in advance. There's a wolf but it shouldn't be a problem.



One advantage of Sprawling is that happy cap is so high so I can even move my units out of the city (cap is empty now).



I will finish the settler, then probably rest of my warrior. Actually, warrior sits at 12/16 completed from T14. How many turns before I start to lose those hammers? Is that even 5? I could test it but if anyone knows let me know...

[Qgqqqqq]

I think it's 10? But worth testing. Definitely not 5.

Do you need the 1c to finish Myst in time?