r_rolo1
King of myself
Welcome to the 25th edition of the Lonely Hearts Club for BTS. In the Lonely Hearts Club we explore strategies to cope with one of the most dreaded situations in Civ IV ( possibly the main reason for reloads after the military collapse one 
): starting in isolation....
For the 25th game in BTS the choosed leader was Hatshepsut of the Egyptian:
I wonder why I postponed Hatty for such a long time, being her one of the most popular leaders in Civ IV. A good trait combination, a strong early UU and a pretty decent UB make Hatty a strong player and it is not uncommon at all to see her as the strongest civ in game, regardless of being the human or the AI using it. Spiritual allows you to change civics without anarchy ( that in itself it is a huge asset ) and cheaper temples ( again a huge asset, especially in a high level ), and Creative is one of the big traits in game IMHO, because of the cheap libraries and theaters and the less need to worry about border popping in the early game.... Her UU is one of the strongest in game due to its earlyness ( in spite of this being a dubious asset in a LHC ) and the UB is the earliest specialist slot provider in the game. A strong package... lets see how it fares in here.
Her UU
I already talked more extensively of the War Chariot in the Ramesses LHC... It is a pity that a UU so strong ( not OP like others, but pretty strong ) will be relegated to anti barb duties......
Her UB
Again, i already pointed my opinion on the Obelisk ( the vanilla name for the monument in Vanilla, BTW ) in the De Ramesses LHC.... I love this UB. It is the earliest specialist slot provider in the game and it can generate a prophet in a very early date and that in it self is a huge asset. The hired priests are also a decent hammer provider in cities without much of prod , but big food potential ( besides whipping that is ). It is a strong UB and I think it will be a strong asset in here.
The start (for reasons that I'll explain below, the warrior may not be exactly in that spot in your game ):
A all forested start..... coastal, 2 lakes, corn , 2 sugars ( well, atleast it is a
resource )...... A pretty decent start ( it would be better in the hands of Willem though 
). And that gap in the forests right N of the settler suggests that there is something more......
Regarding the saves: given some complaints about the efects of the AI starting without archery in high levels ( giving a unfair advantage to AI that have early UU and/or have early warmongering tendencies ), I decided to make 3 WB saves ( all in the same zip file ). The WB saves are equal except for the fact that one of them ( labeled Monarch ) has all of the AI with archery as starting tech ( corresponding to a game started in Monarch ), one ( labeled Immortal ) has all of the AI with archery,hunting and agriculture as starting tech ( corresponding to a game started in Immortal ) while the last is the corresponding to a game starting in Noble ( labeled Noble ). All WB saves are playable in all levels, but ( for a example ) if you use the Monarch one the AI will start with archery ( and archers ) in any level. This has only a slight effect in the human directly ( mainly via the garrisons of barb cities ), but has a huge effect on the AI gaming in the outer lands ( avoiding scenarios like Pacal, Shaka or Sitting Bull to take all the barb cities and becoming moguls ). I strongly recommend the usage of the Monarch save if you want to play in Monarch+ and the Immortal at Immortal/Deity.... All the speeds are working well ( no more games ending in 1900 ) The saves are zipped... you only have to unzip this to the worldbuilder saves or for the PublicMaps folder ( either one will do ) and load it from the scenarios.
Any problem PM me...
P.S WB saves are crosscompatible between 3.13 and 3.17 if they don't have No Espionage ticked. No problem with the patches here
Again a small request ( not mandatory ) :
We ask the participants to do, if possible, a write-up with the victory save and a description of your game ( strategies, techs researched, wars,...). All the info should be in spoiler tags ( to not disturb other people's games ). If you want ( we would like to ) post reports at this moments of the game:
Checkpoint 1 - when we have explored the island and are aware of what resources it has. Its not so important when this is, but this is a time to discuss city sites etc. Don't look into a checkpoint 1 spoiler until you have reached this point yourself.
Checkpoint 2 - first contact - when we have met all the other AIs. At this point we can discuss our strategy to get to this point and our plans for dealing with them.
Checkpoint 3 - when we are committed to a victory condition (or at least think we are).
Checkpoint 4 - Victory (or defeat).
The last words are to wish good luck to all
. And let the games begin!
P.S We don't have any kind of problem with defeats and reruns. Just play and enjoy
): starting in isolation....For the 25th game in BTS the choosed leader was Hatshepsut of the Egyptian:
Spoiler :
I wonder why I postponed Hatty for such a long time, being her one of the most popular leaders in Civ IV. A good trait combination, a strong early UU and a pretty decent UB make Hatty a strong player and it is not uncommon at all to see her as the strongest civ in game, regardless of being the human or the AI using it. Spiritual allows you to change civics without anarchy ( that in itself it is a huge asset ) and cheaper temples ( again a huge asset, especially in a high level ), and Creative is one of the big traits in game IMHO, because of the cheap libraries and theaters and the less need to worry about border popping in the early game.... Her UU is one of the strongest in game due to its earlyness ( in spite of this being a dubious asset in a LHC ) and the UB is the earliest specialist slot provider in the game. A strong package... lets see how it fares in here.
Her UU
Spoiler :
I already talked more extensively of the War Chariot in the Ramesses LHC... It is a pity that a UU so strong ( not OP like others, but pretty strong ) will be relegated to anti barb duties......
Her UB
Spoiler :
Again, i already pointed my opinion on the Obelisk ( the vanilla name for the monument in Vanilla, BTW ) in the De Ramesses LHC.... I love this UB. It is the earliest specialist slot provider in the game and it can generate a prophet in a very early date and that in it self is a huge asset. The hired priests are also a decent hammer provider in cities without much of prod , but big food potential ( besides whipping that is
). It is a strong UB and I think it will be a strong asset in here.The start (for reasons that I'll explain below, the warrior may not be exactly in that spot in your game ):
Spoiler :
A all forested start..... coastal, 2 lakes, corn , 2 sugars ( well, atleast it is a
resource )...... A pretty decent start ( it would be better in the hands of Willem though ). And that gap in the forests right N of the settler suggests that there is something more......Regarding the saves: given some complaints about the efects of the AI starting without archery in high levels ( giving a unfair advantage to AI that have early UU and/or have early warmongering tendencies ), I decided to make 3 WB saves ( all in the same zip file ). The WB saves are equal except for the fact that one of them ( labeled Monarch ) has all of the AI with archery as starting tech ( corresponding to a game started in Monarch ), one ( labeled Immortal ) has all of the AI with archery,hunting and agriculture as starting tech ( corresponding to a game started in Immortal ) while the last is the corresponding to a game starting in Noble ( labeled Noble ). All WB saves are playable in all levels, but ( for a example ) if you use the Monarch one the AI will start with archery ( and archers ) in any level. This has only a slight effect in the human directly ( mainly via the garrisons of barb cities ), but has a huge effect on the AI gaming in the outer lands ( avoiding scenarios like Pacal, Shaka or Sitting Bull to take all the barb cities and becoming moguls ). I strongly recommend the usage of the Monarch save if you want to play in Monarch+ and the Immortal at Immortal/Deity.... All the speeds are working well ( no more games ending in 1900 ) The saves are zipped... you only have to unzip this to the worldbuilder saves or for the PublicMaps folder ( either one will do ) and load it from the scenarios.
Any problem PM me...
P.S WB saves are crosscompatible between 3.13 and 3.17 if they don't have No Espionage ticked. No problem with the patches here
Again a small request ( not mandatory
) :We ask the participants to do, if possible, a write-up with the victory save and a description of your game ( strategies, techs researched, wars,...). All the info should be in spoiler tags ( to not disturb other people's games ). If you want ( we would like to
) post reports at this moments of the game:Checkpoint 1 - when we have explored the island and are aware of what resources it has. Its not so important when this is, but this is a time to discuss city sites etc. Don't look into a checkpoint 1 spoiler until you have reached this point yourself.
Checkpoint 2 - first contact - when we have met all the other AIs. At this point we can discuss our strategy to get to this point and our plans for dealing with them.
Checkpoint 3 - when we are committed to a victory condition (or at least think we are).
Checkpoint 4 - Victory (or defeat).
The last words are to wish good luck to all
. And let the games begin!P.S We don't have any kind of problem with defeats and reruns. Just play and enjoy
) while browsing the map ( WB when lags is prone to putting stuff where we don't want... like lions 
) . That is clearly a grassland FP . Will correct ASAP and sorry for the inconvenience.
- before I start on this one. Egypt can be strong in isolation (since you're practically ensured christianity with your prophet generation, which means no trouble with getting a religion for OR/pacifism). Perhaps pulling a religious diplo win might be in order here. 
.
Some bright idea about having early Granneries...
