I'm making the jump from Noble to Monarch (Beyond the Sword).

I play Marathon, 15 Civs, 5 Custom Continents, No Tribal Villages, Raging Barbarians, No Tech Brokering, Large Map, Temperate, Low Sea Level.

What Civ/Leader do you recommend for my first Monarch game (given the game conditions above)?

Basically whichever leader you like. I suppose if you're going for the Great Wall (which you should given the raging barbarians), I'd start with an IND leader who starts with mining so you have easy access to both BW and Masonry and can set the wall up nice and easy. Other than that, I can't really recommend anyone particular.

Huayna Capac

A random civ.

Seriously, taking one of the one-trick civs can give you the wrong impression of how to play a Monarch game.

But if you will consistently be playing large/marathon/raging, then I suppose it can't hurt to take Ind, since you will probably still be building the GW even after you wean off of Ind -- you'll just having a little more trouble doing it.

Rome.

After 2 weeks trying to crack Emperor militarily (I can win by culture already), I chose JC and abosuletly wiped the floor with the map. On this particular fractal, I was able to destroy the Khmer empire while expanding into a vast jungle, ending up with 12 cities in 1000 AD, 2 shrines, the Taj, and Lib to Mil T. Now I am going to coast to space for late game practice.

So, try Rome and get some iron hooked up. Your Prats will eat archers and the enemy won't attack your stacks because they are 8 str.

Mansa Musa is imo the best leader. Just regenerate until you start on a river so you can exploit the Fin trait.

Huayna Capac is a good choice too, especially with the IND trait. I'd probably choose him in a raging barbs map.

edit: Wait, why are you skipping Prince?

No, no, Charlemagne is the best leader.

If you like pain, I mean.

Sury seems fun and challenging. The UU is really useful if you have ivory. More interesting to play.

Why play a leader that will make things too easy?

Random your first 20 monarch games.

You might loose 19, but you will get a general good feeling who and what and where this difficulty level actually brings.

Afterwards you can try going for particular heroes to suit your specific playstyle/needs

Thanks for the advice, everybody. Since two of you recommended Huayna Capac, then I'll try him first. Then Mansa Musa, then Caesar.

Choose Darius.

Research AH

If Horses found
claim, rush, expand, conquer, win.
else
tough-titty.

Marathon > any leader.

Just pick someone you like. The warfare will be good for experience.

Thanks for the advice, everybody. Since two of you recommended Huayna Capac, then I'll try him first. Then Mansa Musa, then Caesar.

You dont learn higher level by playing broken leaders like HC.

Khmer's a powerhouse without giving you any advantage to expoit; the UU is mediocre at best, the UB isn't gamechanging. You get to quickly set up your cities because of the cheap libs and granaries and the early borderpop, but that's about it. You're forced to play the map because there's nothing special about the Khmer.

JC:goodjob:

You dont learn higher level by playing broken leaders like HC.

You're probably correct, but since I jumped straight from Noble to Monarch I wanted some good leader choices for my first game.

I'm discovering that there's a lot more micromangement needed at Monarch than Noble. I'm having to work really hard since my understanding of capturing workers and whipping and CE and SE is not expert. Huayna Capac has given me the ability to be competitive in this first game. I'm still probably going to lose this first game anyway.

i've just finished my first ever Monarch game with Huayna Capac - first ever HC game, that is, not first Monarch game. Was the most convincing victory EVER. Way too easy :blush:

As Bostock said, "taking one of the one-trick civs can give you the wrong impression of how to play a Monarch game."

I'd pick the civ you enjoyed playing the most on prince.

No, no, Charlemagne is the best leader.

If you like pain, I mean.

I gave up on my first 10 to 15 emperor attempts. Then I finally won one with Pericles. Then I lost some more. Then I won another one…with Charlie.

Have you played as him before? His UB is as good as having FIN or ORG, so it makes it like he has three traits. Charlie’s great and he gets no love.

Well Charlie, if you’re reading this, I love you man.

Charlie's starting techs make me cry.

Charlie is great if you manage to get to engineering early