RB Pitboss #2 [SPOILERS] - Ragnar of Zulu

[Mortius]

At the beginning I would like to apologize for my poor English and to ask for the large dose of patience at reading my posts


Let me explain my choice first.

[SIZE="3"]Ragnar[/SIZE] (financial, aggressive) of [SIZE="3"]Zulu[/SIZE] (Impi, Ikhanda).

We will play on Monarch difficulty with no tech trading, and it means the tech pace will be the main bottleneck. We can not rely on our allies here. That’s the reason I need a strong economic leader. Financial is the most obvious and the strongest choice, with Philosophical being second. I think Financial is much better here, because you can’t lightbulb an expensive tech and gain an additional value from trading it away. The additional 1 commerce from a 2 commerce tile can amass through your empire and give you a significant economic boost, particularly on a water heavy map.

I were certain I need a Financial leader, but the question was what should be his second trait. We have some possibilities here:

Philosophical (Elizabeth) – +100% GP generation. Second economic trait for an all around economic approach. I would choose Elizabeth if I had a chance, but after I saw Sulla above me in the random snake I knew it isn’t happening

Aggressive (Ragnar) – a free combat I promotion is great because it opens you the way to the most important promotions right of the gate. With barracks you can field a fresh shock Axeman, a cover Swordsman or a pinch Rifleman. With the combat system, where even the slightest power difference gives you a big advantage it’s priceless. The only problem here is the fact, that only melee and gunpowder units gain the free promo, and in MP the main attack forces are usually mounted units. But even taking this into account the aggressive trait is good and useful through the entire game, no matter the era, if not for an attack it’s good at defense.

Creative (Willem) – I have mixed feelings towards this trait. At the start it’s great, probably even the best, but it’s importance is diminishing very fast. The good part are cheap libraries and + 2 culture in every city, cheap colosseums and theatres are just meh.

Expansive (Pacal) – The best part of this trait are cheap Granaries, and a little cheaper Workers. The additional +2 health is just a minor addition. This trait is very good at start but loose it’s importance later, where your empire is established. If I only can mix it with financial and Incans it would be a steal, but I know it isn’t happening here

Organized (Darius) – I am not a big fan of the Organized leaders. -50 civic costs is meh at the start of the game, and when it starts to matter, you are already winning or just loosing the game. A better part of the trait are cheap Lighthouses, Courthouses, and Factories, but I feel it’s too little to make this trait better than Philosophical, Aggressive, Creative or Expansive.

As it has appeared, all the above financial leaders besides Ragnar were taken before I had a chance to pick them, so I didn’t really had a choice here, and I took Ragnar.

It’s a good leader. Financial gives me the long term economic bonus, and aggressive gives me much needed protection, particularly at the start of the game, when I would be most vulnerable. With Ragnar as my leader, the civ choice was just a formality.

I wanted Rome or Zulu. Rome was taken by LiPing, so Zulu was my choice here.


What is so cool with Zulus?

The synergy between aggressive trait and Impis and Ikhanda.

[SIZE="3"]Impi [/SIZE]– I think it’s a second best early unit, just after the uber Praetorians. Its strength isn’t higher than a normal spearman, but it has much more uses. Impis have 2 moves and on top of it a Mobility promo. It means I can move very rapidly even through difficult terrain (forests, jungles, and hills) and use them to attack my enemy in an unprotected backyard, or as an ultimate pillagers. Impis are also very good at defense against chariots and horse archers, and extremely good at killing enemy pillagers too. In short it’s very versatile unit.

[SIZE="3"]Ikhanda[/SIZE] – A barrack with -20% maintenance. -20% isn’t much but when you add a courthouse it’s -70%, almost as good as an HRE Rathause. At a start at Monarch difficulty and 3 cities it’s usually up to 1 gold savings, but 1 gold from every city counts. If you want rexing the importance of Ikhanda is even greater. Oh, and it’s cheap too


How do I want to start the game?

Hard to tell without seeing the starting position, but I don’t want to rush anyone with my Impis. Eliminating an opponent such early would paint a big target on my back. It’s something I want to avoid at all costs. I am more a builder than a general, so my Impis will serve as a defense and diplomatic argument. Not the most effective way to use them, but it can work

[Mortius]

(reserved)

[Mortius]

(reserved)

Unrestricted leaders make me dizzy I wanted to go to my Zulu thread and by accident opened Shaka of Rome Fortunately didn't read anything, but I really wish we play normal leaders.

[Krill]

Bookmarks. I always saved everything to do with Civ into folders and put it onto the bookmark tab (ie Civ> Strat thread folder, each game folder> turn tracker thread, publiic discussion thread, private forum). Saves alot of time in the long run.

[Mortius]

Bookmarks. I always saved everything to do with Civ into folders and put it onto the bookmark tab (ie Civ> Strat thread folder, each game folder> turn tracker thread, publiic discussion thread, private forum). Saves alot of time in the long run.

Thanks. Not a bad idea

[Mortius]

This is my start ...



Not bad

Zulu starts with Agriculture and Hunting, and it means my future Worker will have much to do.

Irrigated Wheat is one of the best food resources I can have, second only to a Corn. 5,1,1 is huge for an early game.
A Fur is nice too, it rises my happy cap, and gives 5 commerce too. It's a shame it isn't forested or next to a river, but I can't have everything I guess.
And I have a second food resource. Clam is nice as apart from 4 food it gives me additional 3 commerce, ... but first I have to waste 30 hammers on a workboat

Where to settle?
If I want to have all the resources inside my FC I have only two options settle on place or move 1N. I don't think going away from a river is a good thing, so I probably settle just on place, but first I scout a little with my ... scout

I will move my scout SW, S on a plain hill to have a much better view on my surroundings, and then I decide. If there is something tempting to the south, which will make up for loosing Clams, I can settle SW, or even S,SW or SW, SW and still have Fur and Wheat in the FC.

I am really tempted to start with a worker It can be risky, but it speed up my growth a lot. I will see, when I settle.

[Mortius]

OK, the game begins





To be continued ...

[Square Leg]

Looks like a solid production city you have there - not great commercial promise though... How do you see iy developing?

[Mortius]

I wouldn’t call my capital a production powerhouse, but it’s decent. 3 grassland hills, 2 plain hills, city centre, plain Furs and Wheat as a food resource give 20 hammers total. Unfortunately it’s not the way you should count the production output of a city. The first question is, do I have enough food to reach the max production output and still grow? The answer here is “no”. But even this is not the way to evaluate a production city, but the true method is to count how much food at a given city size do you have and how much hammers could you have for the food. The food is the key to everything, it fuels your civ. That’s the reason a grassland hill is way better than a plain hill. It gives you 3 hammers for 1 food, while a plain hill only 2, and that’s why I would prefer two additional grassland hills instead of that two plain hills. Oh … and I wish I have more forests to chop

Looking only at the production part I agree my capital is quite good, but during the first 50-70 turns the capital serves not only as a production base but also, or I even say mostly as a research facility, and my capital sucks at it. There is an easy way to improve prodution, just relase the whip , but there is no easy way to improve your commerce output early.

I have a short river, but not even one tile next to it is cottagable If I can choose I would change the two riverside hills into two grasslands. The difference between a rivered grassland and non-rivered is huge, particularly for an financial leader. Normal cottaged grassland gives you 1 commerce at the start, while a riverside grassland gives you 3 right of the gate. Take two such tiles and you have 6 commerce. It almost doubles your research rate! Fortunately I have Clams, and Furs and that two tiles should be worked almost all the time if want to keep up with the rest’s tech pace.

What to do with the city, hard to tell.
I created a sandbox game and already planed the first 40 turns.
I will go fishing =>mining =>wheel =>pottery=>bronze working. What to do next? It will depend on the overall situation and on what my scout reveals. I can go for an early wonder if I find Stone (Pyramids, Stonehange) or Marble (Oracle), or invest the hammers in workers and settlers, and go REXing

[Mortius]

I've just discovered the first traces of my neighbor. Let’s think, what civ this lovely purple color belongs to?





I understand that placing the two aggressive civs close is part of the map balancing It becomes boring, but to be honest I was expecting it.