[SPOILERS] Quick, think of a cool thread name, I'm too busy working on my sunburn

[Brian Shanahan]

Well in long standing tradition I'll post a bit of music as my first post here.

Meet Roberta Flack:


Yes, she's good. I found her indirectly through this song:


a bit of mid-90's trance music I was entranced with at the age of 13 or 14 (so about the time it was released). The lyrics really intrigued me, so I asked my father (who knows a bit about music from before my birth) and he pointed me towards the original.

And to round of my music thing, here's my favourite song of all time:


Wubble-U should really have gotten far more exposure than they did.

[Brian Shanahan]

Leader: Averax the Cambion

Civilization: Sheaim

Alignment: Evil

Traits: AGG, CRE, BAR


[Image: Averax%20the%20Cambion.jpg]


Purpose: Sheaim Pyre Zombie specialist. CRE abets a PZ rush via helping get Bronze more quickly, and saves hammers that might otherwise be spent on monuments. AGG + PZ is a def. power combo, but should be held in check by the Sheaim's lack of a melee line past T2- like Tasunke, this guy will live or die by the early-to-midgame rush. Without Summoner, his arcane line is hardly better than anyone else's, and CRE will lose power as the game goes on. AGG will keep him at least nominally competitive though, since it still works perfectly well with mounted, recon and discipline units after players have developed counters to PZ. I considered suggesting PHI instead of CRE, but that seemed awfully powerful.

EDIT: Barbarian is also a sensible additional trait. It means that Averax can focus even more singly on getting his PZ out, but at the same time he is hampered in teching to later-game units. Barbarian also means that the Sheaim can summon AC-spawned barbs without necessarily fearing the consequences for their own empires. And seriously, just look at this guy- the trait fits him as snugly as that horrible gimp mask-thing.

So yeah, I think, go festivals, go BW (and maybe the additional worker techs if so desired), and go after my nearest neighbour. For religion it is obvious where I'm going (though if I rush well enough or too poorly I won't get there), and my mid game army will have to be portalled in. Further thoughts are going to come after I see a start.

[Whosit]

Hey! I can follow along. I read about someone else doing the Pyre Zombie thing. I don't remember how, or exactly how that went, but I guess it's a thing.

[Mardoc]

Hey! I can follow along. I read about someone else doing the Pyre Zombie thing. I don't remember how, or exactly how that went, but I guess it's a thing.

I tried it once. Main recommendation: don't have Ljosalfar and Elohim as neighbors.

[Brian Shanahan]

Hey! I can follow along. I read about someone else doing the Pyre Zombie thing. I don't remember how, or exactly how that went, but I guess it's a thing.

I tried it once. Main recommendation: don't have Ljosalfar and Elohim as neighbors.

Or Keelyn and starting in Jungle.

[Mardoc]

starting in Jungle.

Ah, yes, back before we realized Erebus Continents is really a SP map...

[Brian Shanahan]

starting in Jungle.

Ah, yes, back before we realized Erebus Continents is really a SP map...

True that. I'll put up some thoughts on the game and my opponents' civs later today (just gone midnight here, and with good weather training was really tough tonight). Not going to analyse the players themselves as I don't keep a close enough watch on games to pick out traits and strenghts/weaknesses.

[Brian Shanahan]

Ok looking at the other players:

1) Dave is Furia of the Balseraphs. Ok we all know about the clowns, they get recon buffs melee buffs and especially mage buffs (albeit heavily toned down by EitB). They are a very viable civ in many situations due to their varied path choices, allowing them to take advantage of many situations. I'm not too worried about Loki as I'm creative, and if he steals money, I can declare war and chase him out of there.

Furia is actually a rush leader with Rai/Cha/Bar, and IMO doesn't really suit the long-term nature of the Bals, but then again they're such a strong civ and the Rai/Cha pairing are strong traits that it shouldn't matter (Furia of the Clan now would have me quaking).

Best strategy; kill early don't let them tech up.

Hiding Kneel is Rhoanna of the Hippus. Well what can you say of the horselords other than "Horsey, horsey won't you trot". They get advantages in the horse line, and a WS which makes their punch even harder, and their UU is a horse merc which gets metal bonuses. If they're playing a mid-game strategy then Guild of the Nine is a beeline. Oh, and they are guaranteed horse units.

Rhoanna is the builder variant of the Horselords, with Exp/Fin. She won't kill as early or as efficiently as Tasunke. However she will stay in the game a lot longer, due to the fact that she can support an economy.

Best strategy; kill early, don't let them get HAs or GoN.

Ellimist is Auric of Illians Well Auric, old friend. You're pretty much my favourite to play with, my least favourite to play against. Ok, Auric has lots of stuff he can do to mess everybody's game . Early on he can summon Mokka and friends, a load of barb units which pack a punch and appear randomly. There are two problems, they hurt Auric, and I'm friendly to Barbs. Then you've the priests and all the Ice mages in mid-game, and finally you've The Draw late in which'll turn your land into a winter wasteland and kill your economy (in SP it usually comes just when I'm about to go clear out the scum off my world, if I don't kill the b'stard* early).

Auric's traits lend to his strengths, Cha/Arc lead to a Priest and Mage game, supported by axes. The only worry for who's playing him is the lack of financial traits. But the Illians are a strong civ, and you can work around the lack of financials.

Best strategy; kill early don't let them get to Philosophy.

Tholal is Mahala of the Doviello. For such a peacefilled name this crowd love war. They're a pure rush oriented civ with all their goodies loaded early. Mahala is Exp/Rai/Ing, allowing her to get her cities out earlier, her attack running faster and her upgrades cheaper. Upgrading from workers and warriors to axes is their real trick.

Unfortunately for the Doviello, after the early rush they're in trouble. Little by way of infrastructure or real goodies mid-game bog their economy down, and stronger techers will outstrip them. They need to start near a civ or two early and rush them, and leverage their 2Xciv land into a winning position before too long into the game.

Best strategy; point them at someone else early, and kill them mid game when you've out-teched them

Tomorrow, I'll have a stab at a bit of strategising on breaking the world

*Free internet cookie for the reference, without using google.

[Whosit]

So, basically, your strategy is to kill everyone early all at once.

[Brian Shanahan]

So, basically, your strategy is to kill everyone early all at once.

Except Mahala, kill her late when she's no longer a threat.

Well honestly I was being a bit facetious, but my strategy will involve blood, and sweat and tears, and fighting on (other people's) beaches.