[SPOILERS] yuris125 as Gilgamesh of China, or Protective is the new Financial

[yuris125]

Dedlurkers of all countries, unite! Half a kingdom for a dedlurker!

Seriously, if you want to join me and help me to avoid mistakes in this game, I would very much appreciate it

[yuris125]

First of all, a few words on my leader/civ choice

Before the pick started, I decided that I wanted to use a leader with traits modified by RBMod. I also wanted the traits to differ as much as possible from the ones I have in PBEM19 (Fin/Ind), because using the same strategy in two parallel games would be boring

I decided to take Protective simply because it's never used in BtS multiplayer, and I thought it would be interesting to see how its buff (cheap Granaries) works, and if it makes the trait competitive. Of course, I wanted to take Inca with Protective, for half-price Terraces. Terrace is nerfed in the mod, but still is a good UB. Unfortunately, I was last in the pick, and Krill took Inca before I could choose

When the pick got to me, I decided I didn't want Wang Kon. He is a good leader, but Financial is significantly nerfed in the mod, and is no longer an uber trait. I'm playing a Fin leader in PBEM19, I wanted something different. Hence Creative. It's also nerfed, but not that much, it only lost cheap Libraries in the mod. With free culture and cheap Theatres, it's still a decent trait

For the Civ, China
* Has an archery UU, so would benefit from Pro. Cho-Ko-Nus are of course offensive units, so don't really need a CG promo - but who knows when one might need it. Should I go to war at Construction, it would allow Cho-Ko-Nus to act as emergency city defenders if necessary
* Has a Theatre replacement UB, which benefits from Cre. Will let me have a huge amount of culture mid-game. The question is how best to use it, but I'll figure it out when the time comes
* Has the best starting techs, Agri+Mining

All in all, maybe not the best choice, but I think it's solid, should let me have fun in the game - and that is the main purpose, after all

[yuris125]

I will be playing against

dazedroyalty - Willem of Russia
mostly_harmless - Sury of Greece
Krill - Wang Kon of Inca
Twinkletoes89 - Boudica of Germany

All the players have much more experience in multiplayer than I am (I played 21 turns of MP to date ), so if I'm eliminated by T100, I will blame it on my inexperience :neenernee

First thing to note - no India in a game where it wasn't banned I don't think it was nerfed that much. Maybe people are just bored playing it? Not sure. I definitely considered India for my pick, and somewhat regret that I didn't go with it

Willem of Russia (Fin/Cre, Hunting/Mining, Cossacks, Research Institute)
Willem still is the first pick, even with RBMod. Will be interesting to see how the strongest BtS leader will fare with nerfs to both traits. Russia will shine mid-game with a University replacement UB and relatively late UU. If this civ gets to that point in good shape, it will be difficult to stop them. Starting techs are not the best, although a Scout start could be useful in a game with huts

Sury of Greece (Exp/Cre, Fishing/Hunting, Phalanx, Odeon)
Another very strong leader, who was significantly nerfed in the mod. I think loss of cheap Granaries hurts Exp leader a lot. 35% bonus to Worker and Workboat production is quite nice, however. Cheap Grocers probably won't play a significant role. Phalanx is not my favourite UU, but I see its uses. Odeon with Creative bonus is a decent UB. Starting techs are far from the best; if we're playing on a map similar to PB4, early Fishing could be useful, but it's situational

Wang Kon of Inca (Fin/Pro, Agri/Mysticism, Quechua, Terrace)
This is the combo I wanted! Nothing more to say. Terraces now give only 1 culture, but they are cheap with Pro, and you want them everywhere. So basically instead of a Granary + a Monument you build a UB at half-price - nice! Leader is excellent, starting techs are OK, UU is decent. And from what I heard, Krill is one of the best players at RB. This civ is the biggest threat

Boudica of Germany (Agg/Cha, Hunting/Mining, Kanone, Assembly Plant)
Now, this is the pick I don't understand. Agg isn't changed from the base game, I believe; Cha now gives +2 happy, but no happy from Monument. Apart from the happy cap being raised early, there is no economic value in these traits. The civ has bad starting techs and lategame UU and UB (Kanone is a Cannon which is 20% cheaper, Assembly Plant is an early Factory - enabled at Steam Power). How does this work together, I have no idea. We'll see, I guess

[yuris125]

...and right from the start, I miss an important thing: benefits of Hunting and AH are now swapped, so Hunting no longer gives a Scout start, and allows pastures right from the start. Not that bad then, I was wrong criticising choice of civs with Hunting

[darrelljs]

Good luck!

Darrell

[yuris125]

Wow, that's one crazy start! Thanks Darrell!

[yuris125]

My first impulse is to settle 2NW on the plains hill, build Worker-Warrior-Worker-Settler, and found the 2nd city 1SE of the fish. Probably will move the Warrior on the plains hill first though, to have better knowledge of the surroundings, but unless I see a lot of tundra in the north, it's my preferred location

Research will probably go Hunting->AH, then Fishing, BW and Archery in some order. Being Protective, I want to get Archery early, especially with Hunting now being an important early tech, not a detour (although with this start I would research Hunting early in any case). Fishing is obviously needed for fish BW is only important for Slavery early on: I don't see a lot of forests to chop, there are no barbs, and protective Archers would be better than Axes for city protection. Slavery is of course nerfed in the mod, but I think 2-pop whips are still good. But with 3 good tiles to work in the capital (if it's on the plains hill, I have corn, pigs and silver), I won't really need Slavery until size 5

That's the initial thoughts... but we'll see what the game dictates

[scooter]

Here is your start. First turn will be started soon. Enjoy!





(note: Some starts were changed, and this was purely for balance and had no interest in messing with anyone's plans.)

[yuris125]

Where is my fish! You stole my fish from me!! :neenernee

Thanks a lot Scooter, looking forward to it

[yuris125]

T0

Moved the Warrior is planned. What I discovered can only be described as cottage paradise



Everyone who played before me (i.e. everyone except Dazedroyalty) settled this turn, but I decided that moving onto the plains hill is worth it. Will settle next turn