PBEM5C - Map and Lurker Thread - No Players!

[T-hawk]

Players get lost!

[Krill]

Jacking another forum :b: I approve wholeheartedly

[T-hawk]

Both players are Boudica of Sumeria. They picked Boudica, I picked Sumeria for them. The knock on the Vulture is always that it loses to axemen, so let's see what it does when axemen aren't around. And Sumeria has an expansion focused UB to create tension there.

First a closeup of the starting area, since lots of action will happen there. They wanted to start near each other in the center of a Mirror map, so here it is.



Each capital starts on a plains hill with three food resources, so they both settled right away in place. (I pre-revealed the fish tile since it is not directly visible from the starting tile thanks to that forest.)

Both the north and south shores of the lake should make for some wild combat. The copper is in 3rd ring from each capital, accessible from turn 25 on quick speed. But they can't settle on the copper since it's 2 tiles from the capital, and the rest of the land around the copper does not make for any strong defensible city sites. I'm hoping for some frantic wars of pillaging and counterattacking. Smart players will FORT the copper for defense.

On the south shore, first I placed those plains hills for visibility purposes. On quick speed, each capital expands to cover the plains hill on turn 3. That extends visibility far enough for them each to see the other's border, so they know how close they are. And they can each see any incoming warriors and build one in time to defend. So I protected against a Mortius situation, although both players moved their warriors in the opposite directions anyway.

The peaks 2SE/2SW of the capital do the same thing for visibility. From turn 25, each player will have them for visibility... over that lucrative area with gems and furs. Will somebody try to settle and claim them -- in full view of the other? And if not, there is a long-term situation there, where each player might try to push his capital's culture to steal the other's gems.

The lake itself also provides a battleground. Naval warfare is possible between the capitals, to pillage the seafood. Will either player pursue that?

Finally, beyond the capitals, the players wanted fertile land to expand into. I crafted that flood-plains area you see at the upper corners. And that brings me to a wider overview. This is the left half of the mirror, it's the same on the east side of course.



Pretty standard stuff for a Mirror map, although I added lots of resources on each side, including the coal which the script missed entirely. Iron, horses, backup copper, and ivory (I didn't know they were banning elephants) are all available some distance away. There's not much to fight over at the mirror line beyond the capital area, so the action should be concentrated there.

[darrelljs]

This does look fun. I predict most of that land doesn't get settled .

Darrell

[Krill]

They can see the gems from turn 3.

Edit: furs too, actually...

[plako]

Looking good. One question though. Is the connecting lake big enough enabling ship building?

[T-hawk]

Yes, the lake is big enough. Needs to be 10 tiles and this one is 12.

Krill, right; the blind spot until turn 25 is the two blank tundra tiles south of the gems. I don't think anyone will sneak an attacking force through there that quickly though.

[plako]

Yes, the lake is big enough. Needs to be 10 tiles and this one is 12.

Game seems to have started so this is just academic discussion, but I just thought that the limit to build galleys was 20 unless it scales down with the map size.

[Krill]

I think this problem might have occured in PBEM1, with Ruffs' gold spot?

[T-hawk]

http://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/showp...stcount=13

Oh, you're right, plako. There's two thresholds. 10 tiles makes a water mass non-fresh and allows coastal city improvements. 20 water tiles allows combat ships, so not here.

Well, that information makes better the other reason I set up the lake start: the seafood is choke-proof.

This also brings to mind another cute strategy: An extra work boat in the lake would serve as a permanent unkillable sentry. And if parked at the right spot (2 tiles towards the center from the capital, past the clams), it blocks the other player from doing the same.