TBS: The Long Erebus

[The Black Sword]

Pick order incoming. I'm feeling Elvish.

[The Black Sword]

1. Arendel(Cre/Spi) of Ljos
2. Os-Gabella(Spi/Cha) of Sheaim
3. Beeri Bawl(Fin/Ind) of Luichurp
4. Rivanna(Org/Summ) of Svarts
5. Capria(Spi/Fin) of Bannor
6. Varn(Spi/Cre/Ada) of Malakim

[Dp101]

Why are you valuing elves so highly? Relying on there being softer targets for any more warlike neighbours? Sorry for the kind of basic question, I've just always felt that I don't really understand FFH that much so I figure this game is a good one to learn from.

[GermanJoey]

Picks before even seeing the start, eh? *quickly deletes all trees*

[The Black Sword]

Picks before even seeing the start, eh? *quickly deletes all trees*

Why are you valuing elves so highly?

Actually I consider the elves a rather weak choice because their early game is so bad. Their workers are lazy, something like -20% workrate, which is actually worse than that due to rounding. And then it takes an extra 3 turns to build any improvements over forests anyhow, you don't get that for free. And even then, you're only gain +1h on the tile. But you don't get the commerce bonus from the river in the early game either because the trees are still there. Arguably that tech is more important than the hammer in early game FFH, so the bonus from these really slow workers kicks in really late.

My general experience of elves in these games is that they fall behind in tech and expansion and never really catch up. But I've never played them myself and I wanted to test that. I don't always look for the most optimal pick.

[GermanJoey]

Here is your start for EITB PBEM XLVIII!




FYI:

Your starting settler has the standard FFH2 bonus promo, so choose your capital wisely. I also "squared" it's initial view range to keep that the same for all players.

The map was created according to settings requested in the thread, but as for what that ends up meaning exactly... you'll have to discover for yourself.

Q wanted one week to make picks, so feel free to take up till then. However, once all 8 players have their picks posted, I will lock them in that instant.

Good luck!

[The Black Sword]

Thanks GJ. The Lanun look really good here but I'll stick with my pick order.

[ReallyEvilMuffin]

Picks before even seeing the start, eh? *quickly deletes all trees*

Why are you valuing elves so highly?

Actually I consider the elves a rather weak choice because their early game is so bad. Their workers are lazy, something like -20% workrate, which is actually worse than that due to rounding. And then it takes an extra 3 turns to build any improvements over forests anyhow, you don't get that for free. And even then, you're only gain +1h on the tile. But you don't get the commerce bonus from the river in the early game either because the trees are still there. Arguably that tech is more important than the hammer in early game FFH, so the bonus from these really slow workers kicks in really late.

My general experience of elves in these games is that they fall behind in tech and expansion and never really catch up. But I've never played them myself and I wanted to test that. I don't always look for the most optimal pick.

Lol. I'm trying to follow this too to get some insight, but all you've talked about is how slow an early game they have and you'll struggle to make it to the late game! Is keeping the forests for health a big late bonus here too? Or is it more from the extra hammer? The paltry chop bonuses go somewhat to allay not chopping, and you get free forest attack and double movement so I guess You save not needing to road?

[GermanJoey]

Here's your sim for EITB PBEM XLVIII:

http://media.rhizzone.net/civ/eitbpbem.t...wordWBSave

You currently have a random leader set, but it is very easy to change:

1.) Put the save in your saves/Worldbuilder directory

2.) Open Windows Explorer, and go to your saves/Worldbuilder directory. Sort by date modified.

3.) Open Notepad (or your favorite text editor).

4.) Open EITB

5.) Go to Single Player -> Custom Game. Set number of players to 2, the difficulty to emperor, and select the leader you want. Other settings will not matter.

6.) Once the game loads, open the worldbuilder. Click on save, and choose a name like "eitb_simset.CivBeyondSwordWBSave" or whatever. Don't close the worldbuilder.

7.) Go back to windows explorer. Drag eitb_simset.CivBeyondSwordWBSave into notepad.

8.) Press Ctrl-F, and search for "BeginPlayer" (with no quotes). Copy from BeginPlayer to EndPlayer, like this.

9.) Now drag your sim file into notepad. Again find BeginPlayer and select to EndPlayer. This time, paste and save.

10.) Going back to the worldbuilder, select Load and choose your sim file.

11.) Once the game loads, go into the worldbuilder and set the correct starting tech for your civ. Alternatively, you can set it in notepad by doing a similar procedure as above but with BeginTeam/EndTeam.

Let me know if you run into any problems!

[The Black Sword]

Thanks GJ.

Lol. I'm trying to follow this too to get some insight, but all you've talked about is how slow an early game they have and you'll struggle to make it to the late game! Is keeping the forests for health a big late bonus here too? Or is it more from the extra hammer? The paltry chop bonuses go somewhat to allay not chopping, and you get free forest attack and double movement so I guess You save not needing to road?

Heh, yeah, that wasn't a great sell for the elves was it. Of course they do have some advantages to make up for the weaknesses. The biggest thing is probably the elvish economy where you can an extra hammer and an extra food on every tile with an ancient forest in the late game. That's obviously really good and in this larger than usual game we might have a better chance of reaching it. The health is a minor thing, but with all that extra food you tend to get big cities and it comes in useful. The March of the Trees world spell is a great defensive tool for reaching the late game. I've always wanted to try using it offensively too, maybe we'll get a chance; settled right up on a civ in a heavily forested zone, hold the city until the (Creative) borders pop then cast the worldspell to get BFCs full of expendable treants.

I don't want to get too much into theorycrafting until the pick is confirmed though. Once it is I'll try to go into the advantages in more detail.