Played the turn last night, but didn't discover anything of consequence with the scout; found some nice stuff along the coast, including an ocean clams, but I'm still hoping for an inland settlement site. The hut became a good chunk of gold (50+ IIRC); not quite as nice as a tech, but still pretty darn nice. We're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way, I suppose. Also, it appears Uberfish got something techwise.
No detailed report because the save came in after I was in bed but before I was asleep. Hoping very much this doesn't become a trend
.
So...now that we're essentially into the 'press enter' portion of the game, it's time to go back to considering the bigger picture.
Which civ is it most important that we understand? Presumably the one belonging to the best player - Ilios' Bannor. In base FFH, there's not much to say about them. They get the vanilla options up until Fanaticism, at which point they gain Crusade, their world spell, Demagogs, and Flagbearers. They're solid, since they don't have penalties either, and a crusade can be a scary thing to recieve. But, well, they're one of the only civs that can be described in the manual in a single page.
What's changed in EitB? For the Bannor in particular, not a lot. Capria is now Spi/Fin; a very nice leader (particularly for the Crusaders). Demogogs are now available at Smelting instead of Iron Working (to be trained, although I'm not sure why the Bannor would want to train demogogs when they can have them free). And...that's about it. What's more significant is the general changes in EitB that benefit them.
First and foremost, cottages cap out at a better point; with Republic and Taxation they can be +0/+1/+6. Since Bannor want to build cottages anyway for crusade, this is a blessing to them. In addition, if they run Foreign Trade, they can boost their cottages up to towns much more quickly. This is useful for peaceful econ *and* for making their worldspell and crusade hit that much harder. Alternately, if he chooses to run Apprenticeship/Conquest, all those Demogogs can start with 5XP. Of course, with a spiritual leader, Ilios can swap between these as convenient - make his towns first, then go Conquest while Crusading for the XP, swap back when the towns have all downgraded to villages...
Second, as Gaspar notes, Iron Working is more accessible. This is huge for the Bannor Demagogs who can use Iron. Fanaticism, I believe, is also more accessible. As are most religions. This helps the Bannor a lot; they want a lot of different sections of the tech tree, and now they can get them.
Basically, therefore, what do I expect from Ilios? A straightforward beeline first to Education then up toward Fanaticism, with econ stops along the way, and probably a religion (or several). Towns everywhere. And likely not much investment in military beyond Priests; once he's got towns and his worldspell, he can make one from thin air, after all. Once he's gotten to Fanaticism, he'll be a constant threat; I need to act as though he has a horde of Demagogs on hand. One possibility for him, since Demagogs don't consume maintenance, is to use his world spell and/or call a crusade early, and just keep the demagogs on hand rather than use them immediately. If he's feeling defensive, that is.
Oh, yes, and he's also the civ that would be able to best feed Basium. Or Hyborem, if it comes to that.
How to counter him? Well, the obvious answer applies to all my foes (except perhaps Uberfish and the PZ's) - hit him before he's set up. Of course, I can't hit them all, and depending on the map I might not even be able to hit any of them in time. Post Fanaticism, anti-horde answers still ought to work. Rust, Ring of Flames, and something to clean up the wounded demagogs is probably the best solution on either offense or defense. I could get by with catapults or mages (and I'd probably best make sure I have access to catapults in case of Lacuna, anyway).
Basically, make sure we have collateral and military on hand, even if his power graph is low. Of anyone, Ilios is best positioned to Pearl Harbor somebody; let's make sure that's not us.
Of any game here, this is looking like the one least likely to end in blood. Maybe I'll manage to build an army that can roll over everyone, but more likely we should just race up to Tower or Altar or Culture.
No detailed report because the save came in after I was in bed but before I was asleep. Hoping very much this doesn't become a trend
.So...now that we're essentially into the 'press enter' portion of the game, it's time to go back to considering the bigger picture.
Which civ is it most important that we understand? Presumably the one belonging to the best player - Ilios' Bannor. In base FFH, there's not much to say about them. They get the vanilla options up until Fanaticism, at which point they gain Crusade, their world spell, Demagogs, and Flagbearers. They're solid, since they don't have penalties either, and a crusade can be a scary thing to recieve. But, well, they're one of the only civs that can be described in the manual in a single page.
What's changed in EitB? For the Bannor in particular, not a lot. Capria is now Spi/Fin; a very nice leader (particularly for the Crusaders). Demogogs are now available at Smelting instead of Iron Working (to be trained, although I'm not sure why the Bannor would want to train demogogs when they can have them free). And...that's about it. What's more significant is the general changes in EitB that benefit them.
First and foremost, cottages cap out at a better point; with Republic and Taxation they can be +0/+1/+6. Since Bannor want to build cottages anyway for crusade, this is a blessing to them. In addition, if they run Foreign Trade, they can boost their cottages up to towns much more quickly. This is useful for peaceful econ *and* for making their worldspell and crusade hit that much harder. Alternately, if he chooses to run Apprenticeship/Conquest, all those Demogogs can start with 5XP. Of course, with a spiritual leader, Ilios can swap between these as convenient - make his towns first, then go Conquest while Crusading for the XP, swap back when the towns have all downgraded to villages...
Second, as Gaspar notes, Iron Working is more accessible. This is huge for the Bannor Demagogs who can use Iron. Fanaticism, I believe, is also more accessible. As are most religions. This helps the Bannor a lot; they want a lot of different sections of the tech tree, and now they can get them.
Basically, therefore, what do I expect from Ilios? A straightforward beeline first to Education then up toward Fanaticism, with econ stops along the way, and probably a religion (or several). Towns everywhere. And likely not much investment in military beyond Priests; once he's got towns and his worldspell, he can make one from thin air, after all. Once he's gotten to Fanaticism, he'll be a constant threat; I need to act as though he has a horde of Demagogs on hand. One possibility for him, since Demagogs don't consume maintenance, is to use his world spell and/or call a crusade early, and just keep the demagogs on hand rather than use them immediately. If he's feeling defensive, that is.
Oh, yes, and he's also the civ that would be able to best feed Basium. Or Hyborem, if it comes to that.
How to counter him? Well, the obvious answer applies to all my foes (except perhaps Uberfish and the PZ's) - hit him before he's set up. Of course, I can't hit them all, and depending on the map I might not even be able to hit any of them in time. Post Fanaticism, anti-horde answers still ought to work. Rust, Ring of Flames, and something to clean up the wounded demagogs is probably the best solution on either offense or defense. I could get by with catapults or mages (and I'd probably best make sure I have access to catapults in case of Lacuna, anyway).
Basically, make sure we have collateral and military on hand, even if his power graph is low. Of anyone, Ilios is best positioned to Pearl Harbor somebody; let's make sure that's not us.
Of any game here, this is looking like the one least likely to end in blood. Maybe I'll manage to build an army that can roll over everyone, but more likely we should just race up to Tower or Altar or Culture.
EitB 25 - Perpentach
Occasional mapmaker
Occasional mapmaker
. Especially if we went City States, it's quite possible that conquests will be profitable.
![[Image: Civ4ScreenShot0012.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/gazzbbw/Civ4ScreenShot0012.jpg)
Just not *that* early.