[no players] Area 51: What Lurks Therein?

[SevenSpirits]

I propose we give them this:

Julius ORG IMP of Mongolia HUNT WHEE
Sury EXP CRE of Spain FISH MYST
Ramesses SPI IND of China AGRI MINE
Washington EXP CHA of Germany HUNT MINE
Bismarck EXP IND of Aztec HUNT MYST
Gandhi SPI PHI of Inca AGRI MYST
Hammy ORG AGG of France AGRI WHEE
Wang Kon FIN PRO of Zulu AGRI HUNT
Joao EXP IMP of Khmer HUNT MINE
Pericles CRE PHI of England FISH MINE

(It's the 10 combos below India in my previous post about it, from Bismarck down to Hammy - shuffled randomly.)

[Commodore]

Sury, Ramses of China, and Gandhi of Inca seem a lot better than the others there. What about Gus/Maya for Rammer, and Monty/Greece for Gandhi?

[Serdoa]

I think Julius is - correctly played - as strong as Sury, you just have to live through the early game and with Mongolia you might even force others to play more defensive while you expand behind a few troops. Ramesses on the other hand is imo not really good. China is nice as it opens up many possibilities, but SPI/IND is not really helping you expand early on. And later on it isn't really making you money either. Also it basically forces you into Pyramids. Without Stone nearby that can hurt. Its a gamble basically.

Gandhi is the only one I would agree with it being a strong combo, but that's mostly for Inca. PHI itself is imo a wasted trait, you will at best get 1-2 more GP, that's it. And that only happens if you actually do manage your GPP, which I am not sure we can expect to happen. And Inca is already nerfed by not having EXP. Without that, Terraces are nice, but they still cost 40 hammers or 3 chops pre-math. That's not the same as getting them with 1 chop and a little bit production with EXP as for them the bonus is to get them early and quickly in newfound cities to gain the benefit of Granary + the added culture. If you have to grow to size 4 to double-whip them that loses much of its potential.

Also, I think if you replace them, you will have the same issue again, just with different civs. I don't see how anyone would ever pick Monty, Augustus or Pericles over Joao or Julius.

[Krill]

I'm not sure the China start is all that strong: It's stuck behind 3 "choke points" and has difficulty expanding to the same size as most of the other starts IMO. That said, if India is being removed, then I think it's OK without the grain. I think that the lack of Fishing starts on this map means the lack of Fishing civs is also OK.

I'm not sure though, about the lack of Agri civs. There are only 4 such civs, and three of them are China, Inca and then the only FIN leader in the game. Not a balance problem per se, just wondering if we will see those get snapped up as the first 3 picks.

[BRickAstley]

This game will be interesting to lurk for me due to the mix of players. Two players that are considered "veterans" at this point, yuri somewhat more than Azza I think, two players that this is their second game on here but I can't tell anything about their plays the due to them being in a game that I'm in as well, and one completely new player. That works out good for not having any sort of preconceived notion who will win or not.

[Commodore]

Looks like everybody but the Ottomen have some access to ivory; and apparently we hate the Ottomen in every other way, so that's fine:

...Chinese gotta reach, though...

[Commodore]

Well, he'll need to hustle, but Joao is ideal for that. Oxy ought to have some Ballin' Pants fun.

[Commodore]

Okay, Gandhi of Inca is good.

[SevenSpirits]

Their picks, taken from my ranking:

Bismarck EXP IND of Aztec HUNT MYST 15
Sury EXP CRE of Spain FISH MYST 15
Gandhi SPI PHI of Inca AGRI MYST 14.5
1) Joao EXP IMP of Khmer HUNT MINE 14
3) Ramesses SPI IND of China AGRI MINE 13.5
Pericles CRE PHI of England FISH MINE 13
Washington EXP CHA of Germany HUNT MINE 12.5
4) Julius ORG IMP of Mongolia HUNT WHEE 12
2) Wang Kon FIN PRO of Zulu AGRI HUNT 10.5
5) Hammy ORG AGG of France AGRI WHEE 10.5

(Note: I moved Khmer up a point from before since they unbanned ballistaphants.)

[Ceiliazul]

How is Yuris possibly doubting Gandhi of Inca? Good thread so far though, hopefully he reports this one all the way thru.

Take Gandhi!

Edit: Didn't notice he already picked. For me:

For Yuris: