[SPOILER] Close to Win

[Old Harry]

I really want to see your spreadsheet now. Let me in!

[Charriu]

The first sheet is my current plan. It's a monster of a spreadsheet, but I managed to implement enough of the gameplay logic in there. You only meant to change the green fields.

I already successfully used it in PB40

EDIT: It's a madmans creation. 

[Charriu]

Opponent analysis
(In snake pick order)

Superdeath+Chumchu
Catherine (CRE/IMP) of China (Pavilion, Chu-Ko-Nu, Agriculture, Mining)
Past PBs: All of them since 38

What can I say about Superdeath that hasn't been said before a million times in his many PBs. We all know his strength and weaknesses by now and he's (maybe) sick and tired to read about them time and time again. So let's talk positive about him. He's playing with Chumchu here, which is great for him, as they were a good team in the past. Now he may be annoying for his direct neighbors, but he always makes sure that the game stays entertaining for the lurkers. But his best qualities lie outside of the game. He's an excellent admin for all of the games he plays in. Always there to extend timers and all. Respectful outside the game and all in all a good sportsman. I would say Superdeath is a great addition to the RB community. Thank you for that SD.

To be honest I would not have expected this combination when he first took Catherine. Knowing SD I would have guessed he takes a civ with a mounted UU for the stable bonus from IMP. Well now he has some synergy with the Pavilion. He's the only CRE player, but I'm not so worried about that. By the time he really pressured you with culture SD surely already attacked me, so no worry.

Please be my neighbor?:
Neighbour rating:

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pindicator
Charlegmane (IMP/PRO) of Carthage (Cothon, Numidian Cavalry, Fishing, Mining)
Past PBs: 7, 13, 15, 18, 19, 26, 31, 33, 34, 38, 46

Hey, I wanted to play that. But it's not his fault. My start wasn't fitting for Carthage. Pindicator goes into this game as one of the veterans and top players. From what I've gathered he's great at micro management and implementing his strategies. His biggest flaw seems to be his morale. His not playing any other PBs so all his focus will go into this. Definitely dangerous.

With his traits and civ he's going all in with trade. He becomes especially dangerous if he gets the Great Lighthouse under his hands, but this could also draw more attention towards him then is good for him. One upside to all this trade is that he was not able to get (EXP/PRO) thanks to some other player   . IMP also synergies well with the Numidian Cavalry, I need to be aware of it as my spearman will have a harder time with them.

Please be my neighbor?:
Neighbour rating:

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Mjmd+El Grillo
Victoria (FIN/IMP) of India (Mausoleum, Fast Worker, Mysticism, Mining)
Past PBs: 51

Now here is our first group of "newbies" from PB51. I can't say much about Mjmd except that he's got a good thought process and some good additions to the mod. Before PB51 Mjmd stated that he's a "total Multiplayer noob", which might be an advantage for me. Now I'm actually playing with El Grillo in PB51 so spoilers are necessary here.

El Grillo looks like a very competent player. Honestly I'm surprised that he's playing in a "Greens" PBs as he already has quite a lot of skill

They are going full economic boom in this game. I'm not sure how good this holds up especially now that the Fast Worker was nerfed as well as FIN. We will see. All in all I'm not too afraid of them and if they are my neighbor I'm very happy about it.

Please be my neighbor?:
Neighbour rating:  

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Automated Teller
Boudica[b] (AGG/CHA) of Maya (Ball Court, Holkan, Mysticism, Mining)[/b]
Past PBs: 9, 18, 27, 32, 47

Looks to me like a solid player from his past games. He had some good games against Jowy, which might come into play here. Krill said about him that he lacks this "killer instinct" and looking at his last PB47 it looks like he leans more on the builder side of player types. One funny thing about that PB. Back then he said he wanted to play more casual and that it's not about winning. And then he outright wins his (first?) PB in that game.

Now his leader/civ combo is interesting. He basically said to his doctor give me all the happy pills and chose a combo that gives him 6 happiness from different buildings. Now this is one player that has no need for Monarchy or Calendar. I'm a little bit worried about his Woodsman 1/Combat 1 Holkans. They can't endager my cities, but they will be a mayor annoyance outside of them. If I happen to neighbor him I have to go into a major deforestation program on his border.

Please be my neighbor?:  
Neighbour rating:

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Jowy
Hannibal (FIN/CHA) of Khmer (Baray, Ballista Elephant, Hunting, Mining)
Past PBs: 2, 6, 9, 12, 13, 17, 18, 28, 29, 32

Now here is a player, whom we haven't seen in a long time. I'm very happy that CtH managed to bring some of the "older" players back (AutomatedTeller also falls in that group). From what I've gathered from his past games is that he's a very solid player, leaning more towards the aggressive side. I've also read that he may be somewhat erratic and better in the early game then the late game. I also like that another long time player is choosing FIN here. Will give me great data for the further development of the mod.

Khmer would have been great for me, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Now one thing that I need to be wary of is the Ballista Elephant which stayed at his OP 8 strength level. Spearmans will have a hard time against them. All the more reason to get to Engineering faster, which I want anyway for the Castles. I think he will play a great game here and is one of the top contenders.

Please be my neighbor?:
Neighbour rating:

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Mr.Cairo
Tokugawa (AGG/PRO) of Zulu (Ikhanda, Impi, Agriculture, Hunting)
Past PBs: 32, 36, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47, 49

Ah Mr.Cairo. If superdeath wouldn't be here, we would talk about him about being one of the consistent players. He played some great and interesting games in the past and won one of the PBs with the most entertaining finish in recent years (PB43). And he won it in his classic play style: Passive builder. I'm curious to see how this goes here.

AGG Zulu is a classic, but with the recent nerf to Impi, they are no longer that frightening. All in all a solid combo and another player going for PRO. I actually hope that he's not our neighbor in this game, not because I'm afraid of him or his Impis, but rather because he can be an excellent trade partner with more distance between us.

Please be my neighbor?:
Neighbour rating:

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Giraflorens + Vanrober
Cyrus (IMP/CHA) of Japan (Tatara, Samurai, Fishing, The Wheel)
Past PBs: 51

And here is the other "newbie" team from PB51. I actually can't say much about them. Vanrober described himself the same way as Mjmd did as a newb to MP. On to the leader/civ combo.

Now with Japan I do hope for them that they have a coastal start, otherwise they will have a hard time. Now I'm not so sure about their CHA choice. A barracks together with the new Tatara (Forge replacement) gives their melee +5 XP, enough for two promos without CHA. The only thing I see going for CHA here is the easier culture from Monument with added happiness. I think they could have better gone for IND here as there were only two players left choosing leaders and they have a great synergy with the Tatara here. At least IMP will give them an earlier start. It remains to be seen how good this will be.

Please be my neighbor?:
Neighbour rating:

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Some additional data:

Trait distribution:
IMP: 4
PRO: 3
CHA: 3
FIN: 2
AGG: 2
CRE: 1
EXP: 1
IND, SPI, PHI, ORG: 0

One last thing that makes me very happy as a developer and game designer. Everybody chose traits and civs that were recently changed, except for pindicator and SD, who only chose changed traits (booh ) This will help the mod a lot.

[Charriu]

T0:

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It begins! I settled in place as planned. Some early discoveries from scouting:

• The land to my NE is a tiny peninsula as expected
  
• The water in the north turned out to be a lake. I could already see a city on the plains hill 1N of the sheep.
  
• The scout found more ocean tiles in the south. He will move to the sign there next turn. Hopefully the land to our east turns out to be a bigger peninsula.
  

From what I've seen the settings look good, except that we are green. Not a biggie and if need be could be changed via the server.

[Hollybombay]

Isnt cyrus imp/cha?

[Charriu]

Thanks, I knew there must have been some mistake there.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

i av updated the sim

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2i4nk0imm6yhty...dSave?dl=0

[Charriu]

Thanks a lot.

[Old Harry]

How would you feel about a scout instead of a warrior? In the latest RtR the warriors are useless vs animals, so I've got into that habit. Probably better off with the warrior here though, right?

[Charriu]

That's certainly an option, but I want to see how initial exploration goes and decide depending on that. I won't have to decide for the next 10 turns about that anyway. Right now I'm leaning more towards warrior.