[SPOILERS]Brian Shanahan comes late to the party.

[Brian Shanahan]

Ooh, lots of choices here. But first the obligatory spammy first post:

"It was an age of freaks, monsters, and grotesques. All the world was misshapen in marvelous and malevolent ways. The Classicists and Romantics who hated it were unaware of the potential greatness of the twenty-fifth century. They were blind to a cold fact of evolution ... that progress stems from the clashing merger of antagonistic extremes, out of the marriage of pinnacle freaks. Classicists and Romantics alike were unaware that the Solar System was trembling on the verge of a human explosion that would transform man and make him the master of the universe."

Alfred Bester Tiger! Tiger! 1956.

And now I'll ponder important stuff.

[Brian Shanahan]

As you can see I picked Catherine the Great. The boni are nice, a grocer courthouse start give me extra health and money and gpp, and also GSpy if I want one early. And I like creative (because I usually suck at building Stonehenge and go for Oracling CoL in SP), while IMP allows an earlyish rex.

The choice is probably not in the least OP or even the best one in the game, but she kind of jumped out at me really when looking.

As regards civs, taking the UB versions of Grocer, is Persia alone, giving an extra health. Kind of Meh, but I do get Immortals, which would give me a strong early UU down the mobile line, which as far as I can see is king in this type of game (the mobile line that is not the UU specifically).

For courthouse I've got the Rathous of the HRE, which is very meh all things considered, especially with the massively UP Landskneckt. I could go with Aztecs and their Sac. Altar (can anyone spell yippy, whippy, whippy?) or the Sumerians with their early Zigg (why in this case?).

Ok what I give up from each of these:
Aztecs (Myst/Hunting) turns the forested grass to plains, IMO not too bad, not great for growth or useful options, but could be worse. And the forested deer. Lose one hammer here not great, but not killer either IMO.
Persia (Ag/Hunting) give up unforested corn, big deal (not being sarcastic). We can farm it after BW but lose the extra food, from quicker farming. Same hunting penalty.
Sumeria (Ag/Wheel) gives up the unforested corn (see above) and the handy commerce from the village.

So from these three civs Aztecia is best given my current constraints. I'm not set on picking a civ which gains benefit of UB but I just wanted to look at them three first. Though looking at the rest of the civs' starting techs I could do Aztecia. Better look at UUs and which is best. My guess India if I get it (big suprise there, hah).

[kjn]

Want a dedlurker?

[Brian Shanahan]

Want a dedlurker?

Can you type "you're an idiot"? My only requirement.

Yeah I'd like one. I'm an MP novice (only played one game where I was erratic and chaotic at best). Seriousness is not my main goal here, but I'll do my best to win.

[kjn]

Can you type "you're an idiot"? My only requirement.

Yeah I'd like one. I'm an MP novice (only played one game where I was erratic and chaotic at best). Seriousness is not my main goal here, but I'll do my best to win.

Brian, you idiot, what are you doing here?

That said, I'm an MP newbie too, but at least having a sounding board can be helpful.

[SevenSpirits]

Brian, you idiot, what are you doing here?

That said, I'm an MP newbie too, but at least having a sounding board can be helpful.

Hey! He didn't say he was a newbie. Just that he was a novice.

[Brian Shanahan]

Hey! He didn't say he was a newbie. Just that he was a novice.

Permanent novice even!

Two things,

a) I'll play test the start (well what I can WB from a map of my own) tomorrow just to see what happens,
b) I've a most ingenious naming scheme. There's a very common surname out our way (Munster). I'll be naming all my cities after that family, but not in the way that you may think.

[Ichabod]

I wish I could be a novice in civilization...


If you know what I mean.

[Mardoc]

If you know what I mean.

[kjn]

Notes on the opponents

Serdoa: Suleiman of Vikings (Imp/Phi, Fishing, Hunting, Berserker, Trading Post)

No culture, no forest on deer, Grocer, Airport

The grocer is nothing special, but the Airport will make sure he can reinforce any city in the empire quickly. The -1 health can be troubling, but there are plenty of early health around.

I can't say I see any real synergy here.

Scooter: Joao of Mongolia (Imp/Exp, Wheel, Hunting, Keshik, Ger)

No village, no forest on deer, Grocer, Hospital

Again, I can't see any real synergy. Will be able to expand fast, and probably defend with strong mounted forces.

Commodore/Mist: Victoria of Byzantium (Fin/Imp, Mysticism, Wheel, Cataphract, Hippodrome)

No village, plains forest, 1 gold, Grocer, no scout

Again, no real synergy, but I think this combination gets the best of Scooter's and Serdoa's choices: FIN to fund expansion, IMP to make it fast, and Cataphracts for defence.

Lewwyn: Mansa Musa of Inca (Fin/Spi, Mysticism, Agriculture, Quechua, Terrace)

Plains forest, forested plains corn, 1 gold, 1 quechua, no scout

Two and a half traits here, with the faux-creative Inca. Will in all likelihood beeline BW. Starts with two 2-2-0 tiles. The large map is hardly suited for early aggression (which Lewwyn is fond of.)

Us: Catherine of the Aztecs (Cre/Imp, Mysticism, Hunting, Jaguar, Sacrificial Altar)

Plains forest, no forest on deer, Sacrificial Altar, Grocer

This is probably the most synergistic choice among the leaders. The early Sacrificial Altar will boost production, which can be turned into fast expansion via IMP.

4 IMP
2 FIN
1 PHI
1 CRE
1 EXP
1 SPI