So, Which Boring Leader And Civ Do We Pick?

[luddite]

Yeah I'm still liking Darius the best of those.

[Shoot the Moon]

Put my vote down for Mansa. I still think you guys are rating org ridiculously too high.

[waterbat]

Based on the starting tile we saw, there really isnt much water there. I know Commo described the water, but I am a little wary of expecting us to be able to build a good number of ORG-powered lighthouses.

That being said - I like the idea of 3 half-priced buildings (lighthouse / courthouse / factory) to go with our reduced maintenance. I'll vote for Darius - but don't let me be the tiebreaking vote - I absolutely have no idea what I am doing

[luddite]

I suppose we could also take a big gamble and pick Bismarck or Isabella, gambling that this could be a map where the pyramids are better than financial cottages.

Probably wouldn't work, but the odds might be >20%.

[Mardoc]

I vote Mansa. With Bismarck as a second choice, and only if we commit to winning the Pyramids/GLH race whatever it takes.

[pindicator]

For me its between Mansa, Darius, and Bismark. I'll try to decide tonight.

Does 24 hours from now sound like long enough to debate? Too long?

[kp]

My vote would be for darius followed by Elizabeth.

[xanes]

I absolutely have no idea what I am doing

I actually feel the same, especially when it comes to comparing FIN vs EXP in our case. Maybe we could come to some kind of consensus first as to which route we should take (EXP or FIN), as I feel they are fundamentally different approaches, where Mansa, Darius or Elizabeth are merely different flavors.

Regarding ORG I don't think it is the best choice and definitely not the most interesting one.

I like the idea of 3 half-priced buildings (lighthouse / courthouse / factory) to go with our reduced maintenance.

factories probably won't matter and lighthouse overall impact depends on how much water there is. Half civic upkeep is totally passive.

I like SPI but it's a rather late game trait, you need a religion and its usefulness depends more heavily on the skill level than other traits. It aids little in getting the expansion ball rolling.

PHI would be my choice if we go FIN, we could go fast acadamy as I think StM suggested earlier and cheap Universities are great once in the race to Oxford. More great people also gels well with grabbing MoM.

[WarriorKnight]

Change my vote to Mansa. As much as I don't like giving up EXP terraces I think we need FIN to ensure we don't need to race for GLH/Mids.

[luddite]

/*So I was talking to Pindicator about possible strategies, and he had a fun idea. What about picking Peter (exp/phi), build the oracle, oracle metal casting, get a quick engineer, and use that to build the
pyramids? The advantages are:
1) Gets us the pyramids for a lower cost than building them normally, especially if the map doesn't have stone easily accessible
2) Probably gets us the colossus too
3) Gets us an early forge (small benefit)
4) Gets us expansive, and a philosophical-pyramids economy
5) Fun and different

It's risky, of course. Very risky. Someone else might beat us to them (although with only 4 other players, and (probably) all of them being financial I don't think that's likely.

More likely, they might just outtech us with financial cottage economies. I still think Darius is the better option, really. But there is a chance that this strategy could work, and surprise everyone.