[SPOILERS] The Legend Ends - Whosit's Adventure

[Whosit]

If you are another player, leave now, for you have entered my domain.


But if you are here to witness my journey, welcome, for you are about to behold:

[Whosit]

I haven't put my pick in my thread title yet because I think the others are still choosing and I don't want to give them any info. The choices I was given were:

Justinian of Greece
Kublai Khan(Cre/Chm) of India
Sitting Bull of Rome

I chose Kublai Khan of India. It seemed like the strongest in the group by far. I'll discuss my reasoning since I have nothing else to say for the time being.

Sitting Bull of Rome: This barely entered my mind. Sitting Bull (Philosophical/Protective) of Rome struck me as very weak. The last time I played as Sitting Bull was in an always war one-city-challenge succession game years ago. And those traits certainly don't mesh with Rome in any fashion. Weak leader, so-so civ without an Aggressive boost (in my opinion) led to this one getting tossed out.

Justinian of Greece: I thought about this one, briefly, because Justinian is Spiritual and I was hoping to get a Spiritual leader. However, his second trait is Imperialistic which isn't great in my opinion. Greece is also kind of weak. The UU is an Axeman that gets a defensive bonus against Chariots. It's not like I wouldn't want to build Spears, anyway. The unique building isn't so great, and I don't think the starting techs were spectacular (fishing/hunting) even with the hunting buff. So I somewhat reluctantly set this one aside.

Kublai Khan of India: This was my choice. India was the main seller. Even with the nerfs to the Fast Worker and the starting techs (mysticism/wheel instead of mysticism/mining), it's a great civilization. Kublai is pretty good, too, but I have a thing for Creative leaders (even with the slight nerf). The buff to Charismatic was nice, too.

I can settle without worrying much about what's in the first or second ring, I'm more likely to win border disputes, and I can grow my cities larger earlier without having to get as many happiness resources. India's unique building (assuming we get that far) will also let me push the happy cap higher. And Fast Workers are still very good units that are useful the whole game long.

I'm aiming to expand quickly from the get go. Hopefully I won't land next to any aggressive civs or players, but I've been reading a lot of veteran player's threads lately, and I think my game theory is better than it was before, even if some of the finer points escape me.

However, I am adding in a few wrinkles.

*I don't want to play a builder's game the whole game, even if I have the chance. I view Civ MP warfare as one of my weakest areas, so I'd like to fight (in different eras if possible) just to get that experience. I won't go to war if it makes no sense or will screw me up, but I will do my best to be prepared to take advantage of any opportunity that arises.

*I am doing a Zelda theme for my civ. I shall rule Hyrule, and based on the traits I have, I think I am working under the auspices of Farore, goddess of Courage and the giver of Life.

*I will build or capture the Pyramids of possible, and generally go after anything that's reasonably triangular. I'll try to found Judaism because that religion has the most triangles in it....

[BRickAstley]

Yay Zelda theme!

[Whosit]

I am sad though because "HyruleCastleTown" is one letter too long to fit in.

Should my capital be Hyrule or Castle Town?

[BRickAstley]

Hyrule Castle

[Whosit]

Hyrule Castle sounds good. I guess I'll build a castle there whether it needs one or not.

I know barbarians are on, and from my test quick game I think animals appear around turn 10, and human barbarians appear around turn 30. Roughly. If I don't get warrior rushed by another player, around Turn 30 is when I'm probably going to want more than token military forces.

Can't say without seeing the start, but I'll need some sort of food tech first (presumably agriculture or hunting--I can see why pastures were put into hunting, even if it doesn't make logical sense, because for a civ that doesn't start with either Animal Husbandry prereq, a cow/pig/sheep start would hurt). Mining and Bronze Working are going to want to be picked up quickly, I imagine.

If stone is nearby I'll make a Pyramids play just because, but otherwise, I can't think of many early wonders that I want. I'm not really interested in trying for the Oracle. Maybe if marble is around? If I have marble, though, I'd rather go for the Great Library and maybe the Parthenon, too. My primary goal is to combine Fast Workers and Creative to get a lot of cities planted and grown. Not entirely sure if I'll pursue horizontal or vertical growth, but considering that this is a small map and I'm creative, I think I'd like to stake out as much territory as fast as I can, so an earlier Currency may be in the cards.

[Whosit]

Alright, my opponents have been revealed! That's an excuse to write about something! I'll give my thoughts on the leader/civ combos. I don't really know any of the players well enough to pass judgement on their personal skills.

Yuri as Isabella (Spiritual, Expansive) of England (Fishing, Mining; Redcoat, Stock Exchange)

I believe Isabella was considered a pretty good leader in BtS. In the Mod, Expansive got nerfed with the loss of the cheap Granary, though a few other useful buildings got added. Spiritual is just very strong. England seems like a good civilization so long as you get to Rifling first and go to war with the Redcoats. Their +25% bonus against other gunpowder units in addition to the bonus against mounted is great (on paper, anyway). Stock Exchanges are.... good? Banks were already very good gold multipliers for their cost, so I guess squeezing an extra 15% out isn't going to hurt. Both of these bonuses are early Industrial era, so the game will have to make it that far for England to kick in. Ah, and the starting techs: I'd say Mining is good, Fishing could be better.

Overall, I'd say that this combination could be very strong if utilized correctly. If Yuri focuses on growth and making it to Rifling and gets Nationalism, it would allow a Spiritual switch for drafting and what have you. Well, that's what I would do, anyway. Build and tech peacefully until I could unleash the beast.

Dhalphir as Mehmed (Expansive, Organized) of France (The Wheel, Agriculture; Musketeer, Salon)

I doooon't think Organized is going to be especially useful, though I could be completely wrong. I forget how Monarch treats you on a small map. I don't know what Dhalphir's other picks might have been, but Mehmed might use Expansive to get a large empire, and Organized to help pay for it. France: Wheel and Agri are the best starting techs from what I hear, so that's solid. I believe it was a Commodore game that showed me how useful the Musketeer could be, especially when combined with Knights. The Salon got a slight buff, so it might actually be useful if utilized well. The trait combination strikes me as alright, and this is another Civilization that gets started relatively late, but I'll have to keep an eye on Dhalphir's city count.

Gazglum as Brennus (Spiritual, Charismatic) of Sumeria (The Wheel, Agriculture; Vulture, Ziggurat)

A Brennus, eh? Spiritual is great, and Charismatic is stronger than in BtS. I've seen that Brennus can be used well in the right hands. Sumeria has great starting techs. The Vulture is the same as in BtS (I thought it was changed in the RB mod, but maybe that was an earlier version). Unpromoted Vulture vs. Unpromoted Axeman, the Vulture actually has worse odds, but that extra point of strength makes it better vs. everything else, and it will gain the edge once Promotions kick in. No Aggressive bonus, but Charismatic means that these Vultures could be packing extra promotions. And the Ziggurat is a cheap courthouse you can get earlier than a normal courthouse, but only if you go down the religious path. With the Spiritual trait, Gazglum might found a religion or two.

This is one of the combos I would prefer to not start adjacent to. I expect some aggression, either hot or cold, in the ancient era.

Ilios as Cyrus (Charismatic, Imperialistic) of Inca (Mysticism, Agriculture; Quechua, Terrace)

Charismatic and Imperialistic. Besides the extra settler production, a lot of warring will produce highly promoted units and a lot of Great Generals. Possible aggressive combination, but just as likely to be used for REXing and a combination of horizontal and vertical growth. Inca, even with the nerfs, is still a good Civ in my opinion. Terraces mean that with Pottery, no reason to build Monuments ever. They are even more of a sure thing to build than the buffed Barracks. Quechua's will still be a problem if I have to rely on Archers for some reason. Vanilla Quechua's could be a real terror since no one else is Aggressive, but alas.

I believe Ilios has played a lot of FfH games. I wonder if he's likely to Quechua rush? I think I'd prefer to be around this civ than Sumeria, but not by an awful lot. They are best equipped to compete with my Creative borders.

[Whosit]

And might as well count up traits:

Charismatic: 3
Expansive: 2
Spiritual: 2
Creative: 1
Imperialistic: 1
Organized: 1

Lots of Charismatic civilizations! Mine included! I wonder if that will have a noticeable effect on how things shake out. Another thing to note: No Industrious civs! I don't know how often that happens, but since we were picking from random combinations blindly (that is, we didn't know what the others were picking), it's not awfully surprising. So landing a wonder will come down to planning and some luck (anyone with Stone or Marble will have a massive advantage).

Two civilizations have their goodies in the ancient era, while two get theirs in the gunpowder age. I get the advantage of having a useful UU all the time, but it can't fight. If I end up near Sumeria, I'll just hope that I have Horses nearby (Lon Lon Ranch, anyone?).

[Rowain]

Looking forward to another Whosit-epic . Good Luck.

[Whosit]

I actually had a dream that I started next to Sumeria, and they had Copper in their BFC, and I had nothing. Oh boy, what a disaster. At least the real game won't be that bad... right?

Looking forward to another Whosit-epic . Good Luck.

Thanks! I am going to try to make this one the most epicy one yet.