[SPOILERS] Whosit Plays Alone for Fun (and Profit?)

[Whosit]

OK, thought a bit about this at work so gonna spam some thoughts down, as much as I can recall that made it through the sheer, blinding rage I endured.

Scout will probably move 1W-1NW onto the hill, should expose the most tiles.

Agg/Cha of Aztecs. So.... I remembered the Deer now needs AH to be improved, so tech order will probably be AH > Mining > BW > Wheel > Religion*
Don't know if those first 4 techs can ALL be researched before the 2nd city is founded. I'd like Wheel so there's a trade connection. But plan would be to chop out stonehenge at 2nd city (yeah, I still wanna do this). I think I'd build 2 Workers out of the capital before the Settler.

Overall strategic plan: Get stonehenge at 2nd city and found religion there. 2nd city will be a typical "helper" city. Then found 3rd as quickly as possible in a high-value location. After that, pick a target, settle aggressively towards them, and smash face. If operation: smash face doesn't work, might have a shot at Oracle or... shrug?

Oh, and naming theme. I think I'll be the "Peacenik Empire" or some such. I'd want a new name for all unit types, like Warrior would be "Diplomat" and Axemen can be "Candygram," idfk. Very open to suggestions and ideas along this route.

[agent427]

I realize this is casual game, but no need to even micro this:
AH is 100 beakers, Mining is 50, Bronze Working is 120, Wheel is 60, Buddhism is 80.
You're going to be making 9 beakers a turn starting out: 8 from Palace, 1 from Capital city tile, and I assume you'll work the 0 commerce deer tile first- even unimproved, that's the best food hammer yield.

So by turn 30.. by which point you definitely should have city #2 up... you should have accumulated 270 beakers total, if I've figured that right.

[Whosit]

There should be more than 270 beakers by turn 30 because of the free beaker, and also the city will start working the pigs as soon as they are improved, which has river commerce. Actually good catch on the 2/2/0 deer; I had managed to not notice that, assuming it was a 3 food-hammer tile like everything else (yes, I know it was right there on the screen). Wonder if everyone has very similar starts, but in any case we'll be getting 6 fhpt towards the Worker, so a 10-turn worker! WOW! Expansive players will get an extra hammer out of this setup, and get their Worker out in 9 turns.

Probably start working pigs as soon as Worker is popped, actually, to get the capital growing. Deer will be improved 2nd if we do go AH first. Sheep 3rd. Would like to work Silver as 4th tile, but it's a long 3-turn trek just to reach the silver from the Sheep or Deer. Hmm.... Might still be worth it.

Anyway, probably more like 320 beakers by turn 30, but still not enough to pick up everything, so I guess city 2 will get planted before it has a road connection. Could conceivably not tech AH until later, but I see no reason to leave the Deer unimproved, and we'd still get vision on Horse.

Other notes:
Julius of HRE... so we'll see that combo again, though honestly wouldn't be a bad neighbor because they should be in the middle of trying to push out cities when it's time for us to smash face. Also, religion/stonehenge path lost some luster with the additional mysticism civs. If I were Julius of HRE, I'd try to land the 'henge. I'll still set it as a goal, but no biggie if we lose it. Just shift tracks to facesmash that much sooner, I guess.

[Commodore]

Get a bonus on the AH, BW, and Meditation tech due prereqs, too.

[Whosit]

Ah, that's right. Wasn't it 10% per pre-req?

[Whosit]

OK, did really fast sim on a Standard-Size, Monarch-Difficulty world. Tech costs different than what you thought, Agent:

AH ~149 (13 turns)
Mining ~74
BW ~179
Wheel ~89
Meditation ~119
Polytheism ~149

Turn 24 - Still working on BW. 2nd Worker would have nothing to do. Cap size 4, 6 turn Settler.
Turn 30 - Settler pops. Silver mine finishes. 3 warriors built.

Is AH first the right call? A 4/2/0 deer tile is pretty good, and the capital sitting at size 4 on the pig, sheep, deer, and silver is nice, but that's a pretty slow BW. We'll have to see what surrounding terrain looks like, but I imagine city 2 will borrow either the sheep or deer. Having a second worker out earlier would be nice, but it needs something to do. I'll sim mining > BW > AH later when I have more time to see if things look any better or worse.

[Whosit]

Looks like 2 repeat combos from PB 23, and Charlemagne, who is considered among the worst leaders in BtS, but now in RtR might not be so bad. Interesting.

[Whosit]

Okay, updated opponent post with all their picks and stuff. So there's 3 other civs with Mysticism out there, and Sumeria has some motivation to go the religion route for their UB (interestingly, I think every Unique Courthouse is in this game).

So on the one hand, going the religion route is riskier. On the other hand, everyone else might feel that way. Well, we're not gonna rush for a religion either way, so the plan will stay fluid. Maybe we get stonehenge without a religion, or maybe we get nothing. I'm sure a Great Prophet could be burned on something useful if we got it.

Another note is that Imperialistic is the most chose trait, so a lot of people are gonna be expanding hard. Could be good for us if we play our cards right. Don't really have much more time to muse today. I'll take a shot at opponent analysis in the next few days, but to be honest I don't remember what people do very well and I'm not good at that sort of meta analysis, anyway.

[Whosit]

OK, I've done a little bit of opponent scouting (not too much, it's hard to chew through those really long threads), so time for some analysis, which I'll later post to the front page. Wish I could do it Commodore style, but I just don't have that knowledge and talent.

Grimace/Caledorn: Genghis Khan of Zulu
AGG, IMP; Agriculture, Hunting; Impi (Spearman), Ikhanda (Barracks)

Two returning features from PB 23: Grimace/Caledorn combo and GK of Zulu. I don't really fear Grimace considering I actually managed to trounce him in battle, but he pulled some good naval tactics and I have no reason to think he hasn't learned from the experience. I'm less familiar with Caledorn's skills.

Strong Leader/Civ combo, obviously. Impi are a terror when used right, and even the threat of them requires neighbors to be on guard. I wouldn't want to start next to him, but as long as I'm not too slow to hook up Copper, I think I can handle it. Will just hope he doesn't successfully Impi rush someone and get all their land early. High threat level.

Yuri: Catherine of Maya
CRE, IMP; Mysticism, Mining; Holkan (Spearman), Ball Court (Colosseum)

Though Yuri is probably a known element, I don't recall much about his play and I haven't caught up on any of his older threads yet. My vague recollection is that he's at the very least competent, though I am unsure what his aggression levels are. Requires further investigation.

As far as the pick, CRE has been rebuffed by getting cheap Libraries back, so that's nice. CRE was a BtS trait I always liked, because I'm lazy and hate building monuments, but turns out in older versions of RtR, lacking the discount Library was enough to turn me away. Anyway. Catherine seems a pick to spam settlers and grab large swathes of land with that free culture. CRE discount on Ball Court means that by the time the classical era hits, should have a nice happy cap to grow into. Main weakness I can see here is that the combo doesn't really have anything in it to specifically help with the cost of that large empire. I also recall Krill talking about how CRE cities should be widely spaced to maximize land grab. Will have to see what Yuri does with that.

Starts with Mysticism, but should have no reason to get Stonehenge. Might make attempt at religion, but starts with zero food techs, so I don't think it'll be a fast race. Overall, would be an annoying neighbor and might be a target when the land grab starts to stall.

Borsche: Zara of Germany
CRE, ORG; Mining, Hunting; Kanone (Cannon), Assembly Plant (Factory)

This pick is going to be slower starting that Catherine, but has stronger long-game potential in my opinion. Germany offers nothing but the starting techs for the parts of the game that matter, but I'd take a guess that it was picked so they could go BW first. Wouldn't be the worst neighbor to start next to; I think I could overpower him if I switch on aggression early.

As for Borsche... coulda sworn I just read one or two of his threads, but I was half-asleep and apparently don't remember much. I think his skill level is "meh"? I won't underestimate him because I could eaisly be wrong.

Fenn: Mao of China
EXP, PRO; Agriculture, Mining; Cho-Ko-Nu (Crossbowman), Pavilion (Theatre)

Fenn is an unknown element. May have experience from elsewhere?

RtR Mao is BtS EXP with a few extra goodies. China is solid but not scary. How dangerous this combo is is pretty much down to how well Fenn exploits his traits and terrain. Would have as neighbor. PRO Archers don't scare this AGG/CHA nutcase.

Wetbandit: Charlemagne of Inca
PRO, IMP; Mysticism, Agriculture; Quechua (Warrior), Terrace (Granary)

RtR has been good to the Burger King. PRO is now the combo trait for the Inca. Wetbandit is a solid player from my recollection, but I don't recall any peculiarities he might have. Expect him to spam Settlers, get early granaries, and generally be obnoxious. Can build cheap garrison units for a long time. What's to say about the combo?

Also has Mysticism. Should not compete for Stonehenge. Might try for religion, but might just be too busy building Settlers.

Dreylin: Mehmed II of Russia
EXP, ORG; Hunting, Mining; Cossack (Cavalry), Research Institute (University)

Dreylin hears Voices. Far as I can tell, he's a skilled player when dedicated to a game, but this game is meant to be casual so it's up in the air in regards to how try-hardy he is. I'd be wary of him, at the least.

Mehmed seems solid to me. I recall Gavagai saying the traits are anti-synergistic, but Elum/Mackoti put on a killer show with the guy so what do I know? In any case, seems well suited to getting the dreaded snowball rolling early and keeping it affordable later. Russia was probably picked for the techs, allowing BW first. EXP should allow it to be a fairly fast-starting combo, but won't really shine until ORG kicks in. If Dreylin is my neighbor, potential target just to interrupt snowball. I think he's rather competent in a fight, so not an easy target.

Jowy: Ragnar of Sumeria
AGG, FIN; The Wheel, Agriculture; Vulture (Axeman), Ziggurat (Courthouse)

Jowy... I think he's a weaker player, or at least more prone to making mistakes. I did review a couple of his recent games and brought to mind two important things: He's aggressive and will start a blood feud if attacked, and he may drop out of this game part way through. Simply based off of personality, wouldn't be my first choice of target.

As for the combo, Ragnar is solid even with FIN nerf. Sumeria has solid techs, and I'll be curious if Jowy goes down religion route early to get to Ziggurat. Prickly due to Jowy and AGG, I'd peg this as a slow-starter combo. Expect him to bully his way into getting as much land as possible and waiting for FIN bonuses to kick in.

Adrian/Mardoc: Julius of the HRE
ORG, IMP; Mysticism, Hunting; Landsknecht (Pikeman), Rathaus (Courthouse)

Haven't read up on these guys much. They probably know what they are doing at least.

Also a combo from PB23. I know it can be really scary. Grab a ton of land with IMP Settlers, then basically pay nothing for it between ORG discounts on civic costs and cheap Rathaus. Will be economic powerhouse if not stopped.

If neighbor, big target. Of all the mysticism civs, I think this one is definitely going to make a Stonehenge play. I think CH got it in PB23? I forget. But, yeah, free monuments would be a real asset to this combo. May also go for an early religion. If I start nearby, it might actually be a better choice to just let them build Stonehenge and then take it from them.

Whosit: Boudica of Aztecs
AGG, CHM; Mysticism, Hunting; Jaguar (Swordsman), Sacrificial Altar (Courthouse)

Then there's this asshole. Capable of putting on a decent show if he really tries, he's more prone towards flight of fancies and sometimes lets roleplaying guide his decisions. Took a pick with zero economic support and is probably going to warmonger himself into the stoneage and get conquered with knights.

[Whosit]

Oh, yeah, if you have your own thoughts Agent please share.