[spoilers] Off balance, missed the bus

[DaveV]

Password is Horseman, because a Centaur is a horse plus a man. Bah dum tish. Thanks, I'll be here all week.

So, Cardith Lorda of the Kuriotates. All the Fall from Heaven civs are substantially different from each other, but the Kurios and Balseraphs are the ones with the most unique features.

The starting point of the Kuriotates' differences is that they can only have three cities. To make up for that handicap, each city can work three rings instead of the usual two. They also get +3 happy, so the Kurios are the ultimate case of "tall" instead of "wide". The Kurios can build settlers and establish or conquer cities beyond the limit of three, but those cities are settlements. They have no build queue, generate no income and cost no maintenance, but can be useful for claiming resources. On a very large map where the other players will probably have 15 or more cities, it will be hard to win with only three.

On the plus side, all horse units are replaced by Centaurs. These units don't require a building to enable them, unlike the other players' horse units. In addition, they get defensive bonuses and can gain +1 movement at a cost of -10% strength. The Kurios also have two unique buildings: the Tailor, available at Crafting, gives the unique happy resource of Fine Clothes and +10% gold for each of Dyes, Cotton, and Silk. The Jeweler, available at Smelting, gives the unique happy resource of Jewelry, and +10% gold for each of Gold, Gems, and Pearls. So, with a Tailor, Jeweler, and Deruptus Brew House, and the appropriate resources, one city can have +90% gold; the other two can have a mere +60%. One would also hope that Fine Clothes and Jewelry can be used to buy friends. There is a real danger of getting stuck in builder mode with the Kurios, though.

Also, Cardith is an Adaptive leader. I can pick a new second trait (I'll always be Expansive) on a 75 turn interval, starting on turn 70.

I probably have to mention pocketbeetle's winning game as the Kurios in the very first FfH game on Realms Beyond. It was well written and entertaining for the lurkers, but, as a dedlurker to Bobchillingworth I found it snide and condescending to the other players upon reading after the game was over. Sorry if you're still around and reading, pocketbeetle.

[DaveV]

The cast of characters:

mackoti: Luchuirp-Beeri Bawl (FIN/IND)

Beeri is an economic powerhouse, and can field a decent army if you ignore the powerful but appallingly slow golems. The world spell is one of the strongest, letting you pile a bunch of engineer specialists into a single city if you're willing to sacrifice the units to carry the hammers. Luchuirp Mud Golems are the most efficient workers in the game (+50% workrate), saving you support costs. Their hero, Barnaxus, is a golem who makes other golems stronger, so not very helpful if you're not playing a golem-centric game. Mackoti is one of the best, if not the very best, players at Realms Beyond.

Miguelito: Svartalfar-Volanna (AGG/CRE)

The elves are slow starters with a strong late game, possibly a good choice for a roomy map. Part of their trouble at the start is that their workers are lazy (-20% workrate), and it takes extra turns to build improvements under forests. The Svarts' gimmick is +1 attack strength on recon units; Volanna is probably the best animal capturing leader, since it only takes 2 XP to grab Subdue Animal after starting with C1. Their hero is late but very strong. Miguelito is a new face in the FFH multiplayer crowd, but has performed well in vanilla pitbosses.

Aurorarcher: Khazad-Arturus Thorne (IND/ORG/ING)

I'm not a fan of the Khazad, but Auroarcher already won PBEM 43 with them. Their Vaults mechanic is a trap trying to discourage you from building cities, but I think it's best to ignore it. Dwarves have fast workers (+25%) and strong siege units, but they can't build Mages or Archmages, who are usually the game-winning units on a big map. Aurorarcher is a very good player, who has won a bunch of these games.

Mr. Cairo: Sidar-Shekinah (CRE/ARC)

Two strong traits; I just said that spellcasters are usually the game-winning units, and free culture is very useful in a game where culture is hard to come by. I'm not a fan of the Sidar's waning mechanic, where you turn your best units into specialists. But Divided Souls are a scary unit, and being able to turn all your guys invisible is pretty scary. Mr. Cairo has a reputation for passive play, which he is well aware of. I expect him to force himself to play aggressively. Cairo should be careful about giving open borders to Miguelito once he has settled great people, to avoid the first use of the Kidnap mechanic in one of these games.

[DaveV]

Reserved 3.

[DaveV]

Reserved 4.

[Tarkeel]

I have no idea about the mod but I applaud your thread title.

[DaveV]

It was meant to be temporary, but now I may have to keep it.

My new tagline: terrible at Civ, competent at puns.

[naufragar]

Here is your start. Fog-gazing is dangerous magic. In case it's not clear, the tile the settler is on is a plains hill.

Here are your pick options. Let me know if you'll play as one of these or want three new choices.
    Grigori-Cassiel
    Elohim- Ethne
    Kuriotates-Cardith Lorda

Edit: Yeah, that floodplains plains isn't surviving.

[DaveV]

But the floodplain incense is intentional?

[naufragar]

Correct.

[DaveV]

Creative is one of my favorite traits, but the Elohim don't have much going for them other than March (which, granted, is a lot). Grigori are a good civ but are lacking in economy and not one of my personal favorites.

Quick back-of-napkin math: three Kurio cities at 37 tiles each = 111 tiles, which comes to just over half of my 210.6 tile fair share of the map. On the other hand, small map means faster teching and higher city costs, which is to the Kurios' advantage. I think I'll run some sims before making a final decision.