ipecac tries crumpets with green tea [SPOILERS]

[ipecac]

[ipecac]

So, base BtS means FIN, I guess. And EXP or IMP would be great after PB 23. Not sure about civs though - still don't have that much BtS experience.

[Whosit]

You can't have FIN + EXP because Pacal is banned. Kind of a bummer how FIN is "The One Right Choice" ™ here, but so it goes. Alternatively, you could pick a non-FIN leader that might have some good traits anyways. By the way, we're last in pick order, so the best leaders will probably be selected, but we get the advantage of picking leader and Civ at the same time.

Edit: It might be a good idea to think about Civs you'd like to have, and then pair a leader with it when you see where the chips fall.

[Commodore]

Here's your capital. Stuff in the fog might change, but capital stays the same. Enjoy!

[Whosit]

So I made a quick list of civilizations who have either Agriculture or Hunting to start:

Civilizations w/ Agriculture
America: Fishing/Agriculture
Babylon: The Wheel/Agriculture
China: Agriculture/Mining
Dutch: Fishing/Agriculture
Egypt: Agriculture/The Wheel
France: Agriculture/The Wheel
Native Americans: Fishing/Agriculture
Ottomans: Agriculture/The Wheel
Sumeria: Agriculture/The Wheel

Civilizations w/ Hunting
Aztec: Mysticism/Hunting
Celts: Mysticism/Hunting
Ethiopia: Hunting/Mining
Germany: Hunting/Mining
Greece: Fishing/Hunting
Holy Rome: Hunting/Mysticism
Khmer: Hunting/Mining
Mongolia: Hunting/The Wheel
Russia: Hunting/Mining
Vikings: Fishing/Hunting

Both:
Persia: Agriculture/Hunting
Zulu: Agriculture/Hunting

Agriculture start is probably stronger, and a Hunting start means we start with a Scout instead of a Warrior. That means we can uncover tiles faster, but we're at risk if someone manages to beeline the capital with their Warrior. Not sure how far apart we'll be. WAIT: I see a scout in the image. Is everyone starting with a Scout instead of Warrior?

Plains Hill start is good, pretty much the standard RB start these days. What tiles does our BFC have?
10 Grasslands: 2 w/ Food bonuses, 5 riverside.
5 Grassland Hills
3 Plains: 1 riverside.
2 Plains Hills: 1 w/ Wine
7 Forests: 1 on Deer. Would like to keep that if possible

Coast visible to the north. There are a ton of hills here! A lot more than the typical 2-3 that a map normally generates (in a temperate start). Wet Corn and Grassland Deer means that at size 2, the capital will have a +9 food surplus. Working all of the hills would probably require some additional farms, but that won't be an issue until later.

Regarding traits, Expansive won't do anything for our first Worker, either way we'll be making 6 fhpt, so that's a 10 turn Worker (normal speed). I'd assume everyone is in a similar position at the start. That should be factored into decision making with early teching. We might want an Agriculture/Mining start to go straight for Bronze Working and ignore the deer for a little bit, but it would be best to sim things out to see how the timing works out. On the other hand, Mining could be researched quickly enough that our Worker just mines a hill or two before BW is ready.

I'm not sure what Civs you're interested in. Zulu is always a strong choice, and should be paired with Agg. Agg/Fin could be good, but Shaka is also an excellent leader for his own Civ. China is solid, as are most of the Agri/Wheel civs, I think. Would like to hear what you're thinking though.

[ipecac]

Thanks, Commodore.

Not sure how far apart we'll be. WAIT: I see a scout in the image. Is everyone starting with a Scout instead of Warrior?

According to tech thread yes.

Coast visible to the north. There are a ton of hills here! A lot more than the typical 2-3 that a map normally generates (in a temperate start). Wet Corn and Grassland Deer means that at size 2, the capital will have a +9 food surplus. Working all of the hills would probably require some additional farms, but that won't be an issue until later.

Well it's base BtS so we should be working mostly cottages and at most a couple of hills early on?

Agri is probably best, agreed. It's a bit late now so tomorrow I'll look at the civs and set up a spreadsheet and sim a bit. FIN/IMP is preferred but will probably fall, FIN/IND will be good but could be slow (maybe even with China) if there's no other IND especially since we have lots of forests to chop.

But since there is at least one weak player (that is, weaker than me) this may be a game where it's better to go AGG + CRE/IMP/EXP and aim to grab someone's land . Unless of course LT is lying and is a smurf

Need to go read Alhazard's threads. Otherwise the others are all new to RB and there's an information disadvantage since they can read my PB 23 thread. Ah well.

[Commodore]

But at least they have to wade through Ruff's home network setup spam first?

[ipecac]

But at least they have to wade through Ruff's home network setup spam first?

Well, hopefully they get to the part where we beat off an attack by {spoiler} and get properly intimidated

[Whosit]

I'm just gonna say that I'm gonna always vote for the AGG+ take someone's land option because it sounds more interesting. It's not optimal, and it's difficult, but I believe it's worked out before (through a combination of skill and luck, of course).

Edit: Kinda just realized there's a 12 hour difference between us, so that'll be interesting.

[ipecac]

I'm just gonna say that I'm gonna always vote for the AGG+ take someone's land option because it sounds more interesting. It's not optimal, and it's difficult, but I believe it's worked out before (through a combination of skill and luck, of course).

Could pick Zulu for that though not sure I can count on pulling it off. Also IMP will be very strong with all those hills so may be worth it to drop FIN for IMP...