OPPONENT ANALYSIS - PART I
(These are my opinions only and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the mapmaker, host, or supreme being.)
DTAY - Augustus Caesar (IND/IMP) of Sumeria (Agr/Whe, Vulture/Ziggurat)
Leader rating: 6
Imperialistic is always a decent trait with the fast settlers, allowing you to expand faster than your neighbors, all other things being equal. The customs house benefit isn't often that big of a deal in MP since games often don't make it that far and even when they do open borders are not a given. The GG benefit, while not stellar, can be pretty useful, but the bulk of this trait's benefit is the settler bonus.
Industrious is a middle-of-the-road trait. The wonder discount can come in handy, but I've noticed in MP wonders are hard to get so it will only really help you a handful of times during the entire game. The forge discount is another one that's good, but not great. Earlier in the game when you get MC and can build forges, you typically won't put them in all of your cities because some of them won't benefit (compared to, say, the cheap granary or courthouse).
Civ rating: 8
Sumeria is a pretty good civ. The starting techs are top-tier, being good in almost any start (except maybe a Forest-hell Totestra start). The Vulture is a pretty good UU. It has a higher base power than the axe, but less bonus to melee units. This makes it more effective against archers, spears and chariots, while very slightly less effective against other axes (which I learned to my detriment in PBEM68). The Ziggurat is a cheaper Courthouse that can be made available earlier...if you want to go for Priesthood. Not a bad UB, but not a great one either.
Synergy: 4
There's no real synergy here between the leader and the civ. Of course, even without synergy these two individually remain quite good, so there are many worse combinations that could have occurred.
Player skill: 7
Dtay seems to be a pretty good player, with a strong grasp of the mechanics of the game and an ability to do well. I would categorize him as a top-tier player, but not at the top end of that tier.
Player aggressiveness: 8
Dtay definitely doesn't seem to shy away from violence, and I would definitely expect to see him start some trouble as soon as he is able to.
FINAL SCORE: 33/50
Dtay will be a contender, but if he survives to the end game will probably not be one of the winners.
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Serdoa - Wang Kon (FIN/PRO) of England (Fis/Min, Redcoat/Stock Exchange)
Leader rating: 5
Financial is nerfed in the RtR mod, which takes it from being totally amaze-balls to pretty good. Still a trait worth having, but no longer (arguably) the best. It is better now than it was in earlier versions when you didn't get the commerce bonus from river tiles. Now you still get the same commerce bonus, it just kicks in later and doesn't affect stock coastal/ocean tiles. The addition of the Quay in this version of RtR allows you to get the bonus on coastal tiles, though, which raises this trait's score over earlier versions.
Protective, despite the improvements made in RtR, still remains one of the lesser traits. It's only real benefit now is the cheap granary, which is very helpful, but otherwise it's very "meh". Unless you're the Celts building Duns everywhere, the cheap walls won't help much, and the defensive bonuses to archery & gunpowder units, while helpful on the defensive, is fairly limited. With the right civ, it's a decent trait, but it's usefulness really depends on the civ it is paired with.
Civ rating: 6
England's starting techs are not among the best. Mining, is, of course, always a great tech as it allows you to research BW. Fishing, on the other hand, is a mixed bag. If you have a seafood start, it can be really useful, but most of the time it doesn't help until you've built a few cities, when you could have researched it and would have been better off with a different starting tech.
The redcoat is a great unit. More powerful than a standard rifle, which makes it more resistant (though still vulnerable) to grenadiers and allows it to dominate standard rifles and cuirs. The stock exchange is a decent building. It shows up late in the game, but to be honest its benefit can't really be felt until the latter parts of the game when cottages have matured so that's not a bad thing.
Synergy: 6
There's some decent synergy here between the civ and leader. The defensive bonus from protective makes those redcoats even more dangerous, especially on the defense, and allows you to more easily go up the Drill line of promotions. The commerce bonus from Financial will also help boost the benefit of the stock exchange in the late game. Not the best combination, but also far from the worst.
EDIT: Revised after reading through his PB8 thread.
Player skill: 8
Sertoa definitely has a strong grasp of the game mechanics and is good at maximizing his play. He's very analytical and will probably not make too many mistakes. On the other hand, it looks like he hasn't played a PB game in a while, so maybe that will make him more cautious.
Aggressiveness: 6
Sertoa is not afraid to fight, but he doesn't seem to let emotion dictate his battles. I don't expect to see him attack someone that he is not absolutely sure will benefit him.
FINAL SCORE: 31/50
With the new information for player analysis, I move Sertoa up to the level of contender. I think he will be held back a little by his civ in the early-mid game, but if he makes it to Rifles I think he will have a good chance.
(These are my opinions only and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the mapmaker, host, or supreme being.)
DTAY - Augustus Caesar (IND/IMP) of Sumeria (Agr/Whe, Vulture/Ziggurat)
Leader rating: 6
Imperialistic is always a decent trait with the fast settlers, allowing you to expand faster than your neighbors, all other things being equal. The customs house benefit isn't often that big of a deal in MP since games often don't make it that far and even when they do open borders are not a given. The GG benefit, while not stellar, can be pretty useful, but the bulk of this trait's benefit is the settler bonus.
Industrious is a middle-of-the-road trait. The wonder discount can come in handy, but I've noticed in MP wonders are hard to get so it will only really help you a handful of times during the entire game. The forge discount is another one that's good, but not great. Earlier in the game when you get MC and can build forges, you typically won't put them in all of your cities because some of them won't benefit (compared to, say, the cheap granary or courthouse).
Civ rating: 8
Sumeria is a pretty good civ. The starting techs are top-tier, being good in almost any start (except maybe a Forest-hell Totestra start). The Vulture is a pretty good UU. It has a higher base power than the axe, but less bonus to melee units. This makes it more effective against archers, spears and chariots, while very slightly less effective against other axes (which I learned to my detriment in PBEM68). The Ziggurat is a cheaper Courthouse that can be made available earlier...if you want to go for Priesthood. Not a bad UB, but not a great one either.
Synergy: 4
There's no real synergy here between the leader and the civ. Of course, even without synergy these two individually remain quite good, so there are many worse combinations that could have occurred.
Player skill: 7
Dtay seems to be a pretty good player, with a strong grasp of the mechanics of the game and an ability to do well. I would categorize him as a top-tier player, but not at the top end of that tier.
Player aggressiveness: 8
Dtay definitely doesn't seem to shy away from violence, and I would definitely expect to see him start some trouble as soon as he is able to.
FINAL SCORE: 33/50
Dtay will be a contender, but if he survives to the end game will probably not be one of the winners.
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Serdoa - Wang Kon (FIN/PRO) of England (Fis/Min, Redcoat/Stock Exchange)
Leader rating: 5
Financial is nerfed in the RtR mod, which takes it from being totally amaze-balls to pretty good. Still a trait worth having, but no longer (arguably) the best. It is better now than it was in earlier versions when you didn't get the commerce bonus from river tiles. Now you still get the same commerce bonus, it just kicks in later and doesn't affect stock coastal/ocean tiles. The addition of the Quay in this version of RtR allows you to get the bonus on coastal tiles, though, which raises this trait's score over earlier versions.
Protective, despite the improvements made in RtR, still remains one of the lesser traits. It's only real benefit now is the cheap granary, which is very helpful, but otherwise it's very "meh". Unless you're the Celts building Duns everywhere, the cheap walls won't help much, and the defensive bonuses to archery & gunpowder units, while helpful on the defensive, is fairly limited. With the right civ, it's a decent trait, but it's usefulness really depends on the civ it is paired with.
Civ rating: 6
England's starting techs are not among the best. Mining, is, of course, always a great tech as it allows you to research BW. Fishing, on the other hand, is a mixed bag. If you have a seafood start, it can be really useful, but most of the time it doesn't help until you've built a few cities, when you could have researched it and would have been better off with a different starting tech.
The redcoat is a great unit. More powerful than a standard rifle, which makes it more resistant (though still vulnerable) to grenadiers and allows it to dominate standard rifles and cuirs. The stock exchange is a decent building. It shows up late in the game, but to be honest its benefit can't really be felt until the latter parts of the game when cottages have matured so that's not a bad thing.
Synergy: 6
There's some decent synergy here between the civ and leader. The defensive bonus from protective makes those redcoats even more dangerous, especially on the defense, and allows you to more easily go up the Drill line of promotions. The commerce bonus from Financial will also help boost the benefit of the stock exchange in the late game. Not the best combination, but also far from the worst.
EDIT: Revised after reading through his PB8 thread.
Player skill: 8
Sertoa definitely has a strong grasp of the game mechanics and is good at maximizing his play. He's very analytical and will probably not make too many mistakes. On the other hand, it looks like he hasn't played a PB game in a while, so maybe that will make him more cautious.
Aggressiveness: 6
Sertoa is not afraid to fight, but he doesn't seem to let emotion dictate his battles. I don't expect to see him attack someone that he is not absolutely sure will benefit him.
FINAL SCORE: 31/50
With the new information for player analysis, I move Sertoa up to the level of contender. I think he will be held back a little by his civ in the early-mid game, but if he makes it to Rifles I think he will have a good chance.
