[SPOILERS] GeneralKilCavalry Eats Cans of Spinach in PB51

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Password is what's on the can.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

2nd in the snake pick!

I should probably lock in something significantly better than in PB44 lmao.


4) Pick method. Point-based snakepick; no duplicate picks. Everyone is limited by five points, features are priced as follows:
4: FIN
3: EXP, CRE, India, Inca
2: SPI, IND, ORG, IMP, China.
1: PHI, Agriculture Civs
0: CHM, AGG, All other civs
-1: PRO
Picks are done blind, before seeing starting positions.


I feel this is the game I want to put effort in the most of my current civ-related endeavors because it would be a decent comparison to PB44. Obviously, the players for this game will not be Gavagai or Commodore, but I can compare the first 50 turns of my gameplay pretty directly. The biggest mistake last time, of course, was the pick of mali with organized/industrious, it really was lackluster, although the skirmishers did slow down gavagai a tiny bit.

So....

Let's start fresh here. We want to look at first picks, not combos. There are 10 ppl and I have guarantee of getting what I want.

Financial picks:
Fin/Phi
Fin/Chm Fin/Agg + Agri Civ
Fin/Pro + China or Agri Civ

Non-Financial OP Civ Picks:
Inca 
India
China

Agri Civ picks:
Egypt (This is hailed as a great pick, but frankly I fail to see how it compares. Perhaps this is because I have never played Egypt. I obviously understand that their obelisk is great for an early prophet, but war chariots seem only good, not quite amazing like praets or chokunu. Still, this is better than many agri picks)
Ottomans
Zulu
France
Sumeria

Non-Agri Civs -- probably not for first pick except for
Rome
Byzantium (outdated meta tbh)

Ethiopia
Aztecs

Non-Financial Leader Picks (assuming not Inca or India):
Mehmed
Zara
Joao

This game is not emperor like last one. It is however toroidal and maintenance will be a factor, especially since there's going to be significant enough land per person.


Pick phase I think is my weakest part of my civving. I've always preferred to go random/random in ladder or singleplayer and play the hand I'm dealt.

In any case, I am first pick and I need to pick something OP without any question, as well as something suitable for early growth.

Fin/Chm
Fin/Agg
Fin/Pro ~ this is dubious bc/ china will probably get taken.
India
Inca

I will prefer Inca over India by a very slight margin just because I want to get that free creative trait and the superiority of the starting techs.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Wait seriously? SD chose Rome like that? Fucking hell, I was joking with my threat title looks like he was not fucking joke. What the hell...

I'm down to Hannibal or India or Inca

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Superdeath ???/Rome
GeneralKilCavalry ???/INDIA
Giraflorens Rameses II / ???
Vanrober ???/Zulu
Lazteuq U
PAmicalola ON DECK
Mjmd
Ramkhamhaeng
El Grillo
Plemo

Gira will probably be pairing with Egypt or Persia.
Vanrober probably wants something like agg/exp since ragnar will be taken by the time things get back to him i assume...
superdeath is superdeath.

I decided to go with India to force myself into thinking about worker micro.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Lazteuq with the egyptians woul be dangerous.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Lazteuq Pericles/France
Mjmd Elizabeth/Korea
Ramkhamhaeng Wang Kon/Mali
El Grillo Hannibal/Egypt
Plemo
5 picks are out.

Plemo, Ragnar/Netherlands :
Strategy: Clearly pushing for the long-run, looking to a semi-watery map where he can use the Dike (which is actually quite good) to its max.
If Neighbor: Do not be afraid of forward settling him. Since I am likely protective, his agg can be resisted. If he starts catapulting into a lead, drag him down.

El Grillo, Hannibal/Egypt:
Strategy: Superdeath's combo. Early game, it is great for growth and allows for whipping settlers in every city, not just the capital. Egypt will allow for early game militarism. Late game, CHM becomes a military trait, allowing for cheaper promos. Strong promos.
If Neighbor: Beware of those war chariots and maintain a tight border. Do not permit avenues of aggression throughout the game.

Ramkhamhaeng, Wang Kon/Mali:
Strategy: Defensive in theory, but maybe offensive in practice? Ramk could be planning an early choke using skirms, but given map size, this will be even less likely than in PB44, where I was too far from gav to do much before turn 50.
If Neighbor: Scout net, but possible target with maces. Do not expect a great early game from these traits.

MJMD, Elizabeth/Korea:

Strategy: Survive till mid-game and pop off with golden ages and seowon.
If Neighbor: Go hard at him and go early. Use fast workers for chopped axes and catapults and destroy before he presents a chance to do anything.


Lazteuq Pericles/France

Strategy: Cultural victory with musketeers for rapid defense and attack in renaissance. However, my experience in ladder has not been that favorable for musketeers. Frankly, they were more useful in civ 3 than in 4 in multiplayer games, just because muskets have such a short shelf life in civ 4. With pericles, there's no way he'll be able to get commando by the renaissance.
If Neighbor: Just take out early, doesn't seem like a threat.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Shit, Mao got taken.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

3: CRE
2: SPI, IND, ORG, IMP
1: PHI,
0: CHM, AGG
-1: PRO

These are the options left to me.

Pro/Cre
Ind/Chm
Org/Chm
Imp/Chm
Spi/Chm
Ind/Agg
Org/Agg
Imp/Agg
Spi/Agg

These are all kind of shitty, Mao was the hope, but I was naive in thinking it would not be taken.

Let's throw out Spi/Agg - that's just totally uninspired.
Ind/Agg is meh.
Honestly, Agg is boring and inferior to CHM. I am scarred by the low happy caps from 44 and non-lush map.
Spi/Chm - not a fan of SPI, plus IND gives better religious synergy anyhow for cheap Oracle and GPP pool increase and access to cheap forge for engi specialist.
IMP/CHM - one trick pony, falls off. Plus, CHM is a surprise tool that will make IMP irrelevant. Extra whip is the same bonus as imp will give towards settlers.
Pro/Cre - Ew, not worth it.


Ind/Chm - There's already an IND player in the game - plus, this is not a long-term game plan/
Org/Chm - This pairing is undervalued. CRE is not as good as it is said and CHM is better. ORG provides bonuses to key buildings throughout the game, and based on what we project the map to be, lighthouses and courthouses will be essential builds.

Org/Chm it is, unless Zulu takes it for no good reason.

[Gavagai]

Egypt is way better than Rome FYI (and WCs are better than Praets). I generally think that PB44 made people overvalue vanilla Rome massively, Praets are not that great of a unit (only 1 move).

[GeneralKilCavalry]

Fair observation, I need to try out an emperor or immortal game with Egypt.

Will make my move shortly, I am excited and anxious (in earnest, a bit more the latter) to see what Commodore has in store for me.