[SPOILERS] - GES & TT, Huayna Capac of the Zulu

[Cyneheard]

Hmm.. You should be all set for characters, but I wonder how many city names you can get out of the series.

You could use Bal'more neighborhoods for city names, then. Not sure which ones get mentioned in the series (being a Bal'more resident, but having never seen the Wire. Shame on me), but there's like a hundred of them in the city proper.


And you've now got one fan for your team.

[Gold Ergo Sum]

Moved Alma SE-SE, and will be able to ride the rails next turn. I am imagining meeting all the other Civs in the middle of some sort of spoke and hub config.

Found some marble in the west by moving Stinkum NW. As an industrious Civ, that will be valuable.

[Gold Ergo Sum]

So this map just got weird:



NW onto another hill for Stinkum:

[Twinkletoes89]

Interesting....

That double clams coastal spot just E of the capital may be worth exploring fully asap.

Just to repeat myself, what wonders are you looking at targeting right now?

We get that marble and Oracle and Great Library must be major targets?

[Gold Ergo Sum]

So as promised, an analysis of why I chose what I chose:

Everyone knows that Financial is the best trait period, with Expansive and Creative also holding high value for multiplayer. But with Tatan's list in place, we were essentially prevented from coupling two of those traits together, so by necessity, we had to really consider the other traits.

1. Is Financial good enough to take a bottom tier trait alongside it?

I ultimately decided that the answer is yes. In a NTT game, self-research is the most important aim. And Financial dwarfs Philosophical in value for pure research strength. Also, because there are so few Financial civs available, the trait is even more valuable than usual. Less than half the teams can be Financial (and only two ended up going that route). That increases the value of the trait.

2. Of the secondary traits, which do I value most?

1. Philosophical--Not only do you get more great people, but you get earlier great people. An early Academy in the capital can really increase the tech rate. Bulbing key techs in a bee-line in a NTT game is very powerful. And you can get extra Golden Ages late when they are very valuable. Half-priced universities will allow you to get Oxford up quickly.

2. Organized--With the toroidal map settings (even at Prince), this would've been a valuable trait. It would've increased tech speed (slider rate) late and allowed for more aggressive expansion early, because your economy isn't tanked as much by over-expansion with the reduced maintenance. Organized gives half speed construction on some useful things, but the courthouses are less valuable for Organized civs since their maintenance is already reduced by half, and factories come super late.

3. Spiritual--With the quick speed, this is a truly valuable trait, especially if you can leverage it correctly by making the proper civic changes depending on the production and research goals of your civ. Also, Spiritual lets you change to useful civics sooner, without feeling the need to wait to double up on a change or wait for Golden Age. Those extra turns of utilizing a valuable civic sooner add up.

4. Aggressive--In multiplayer, I assume it is always valuable to have the most promoted units in a war. It also gives you some of the value that Protective would, by making attacks against your civ less desirable, while also holding offensive value too.

5. Industrious--While wonder construction in multiplayer is considered a bit of a sucker's build, this trait has solid value from the half-priced forges alone. I would like to put a forge in nearly every city, and they are a pretty hammer-pricey building for the era you construct them. In addition, wonders became much less of a sucker's build when you get them for half-price. But I think the best aspect of this trait (especially if you are the only Industrious leader) is the pre-emptive power of the trait. It will make other civs much more reluctant to build a wonder if they know you can out-race them to it. Also, I might be able to gain some diplomatic concessions by agreeing not to race for a wonder another civ desires.

I considered Imperialism to be the best of the remaining traits, with Charismatic and Protective to be avoided.

In light of those analyses, here was my civ list:

1. Isabella (Exp/Spi) Fishing, Mysticism. Warrior:
I rated Isabella as the best civ choice. Expansive is the second best civ trait in my mind, and on quick, Spiritual is very valuable. Before the game started, I told myself that if the game speed was Quick and the difficulty setting was less than Monarch, I was going to choose Isabella. I still think she was the best leader available. So why didn't I choose her with my first pick? I was too chicken. I couldn't get past the self-research thing. I also preferred Agriculture to Finish and didn't like Mysticism.

2. Huayna Capac (Fin/Ind) Agriculture, Mysticism. Warrior:

I thought Huayna was the best of the Financial choices, with the cheap forges and the preclusion effects of half-price wonder construction. I also preferred Agriculture to Fishing, and that turned out to be the right choice based on the map.

3. Victoria (Fin/Imp) Fishing, Mining. Warrior:

I really liked the starting techs of Vicky. I like to go Bronze Working early and Mining plus a food tech is always valuable. But on this map, I am glad to have Agriculture to start. I just didn't value Imperialism too high. Fast expansion is great, but if you don't have the workers to develop it, then it is all for naught. Double-speed GGs could be useful, even if just for extra Golden Ages.

4. Frederick (Phil/Org) Hunting, Mining. Scout:

This was my pure research option. I love Great People and I think I leverage them fairly well usually. The Organized trait would be valuable given the map settings. I think Frederick was easily the best pure research leader available given Tatan's ban list. I am surprised no one picked him. I did not dig the scout start, though, even though I like the lack of Mysticism.

5. Shaka (Exp/Agg) Agriculture, Hunting. Scout:

Again, didn't dig the scout start. But no Mysticism is good. I think Shaka would've been a solid combo of Expansive for a fast start and Aggressive for later conquests/defense.

6. Asoka (Org/Spi) Mining, Mysticism. Warrior:

Organized for the tech benefits and early expansion. Spiritual for the benefits of gaining extra turns on Quick. Didn't dig Mysticism, but Mining is useful and I preferred the warrior start.

7. Alex (Phil/Agg) Fishing, Hunting. Scout:

Philosophical for the tech and Aggressive for offense/defense at war. Would've preferred Agriculture over Fishing, and I didn't like the scout start.

So I chose Huayna Capac over Isabella, who I thought was the stronger leader. I did seriously consider Frederick, but never seriously considered Vicky over Huayna. In the end, since I ended up one of only two Financial leaders, and the only Industrious leader, I think I have the strongest leader in the game. Industrious is very valuable now I think since no other leader has that trait. And Financial is, well, Financial.

More on the choice of civilization later.

[Cyneheard]

Starting techs belong to the civ, not the leader.

[Gold Ergo Sum]

Shows how little I know.

[Gold Ergo Sum]

[Gold Ergo Sum]

Turn 5:

CONTACT! Got some diplo to do with Plako.









Nothing new down around Bal'more. Stinkum is moving back towards home since it seems like we may have guests soon.

[Twinkletoes89]

*nudge* :-)