Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
All Leaders Challenge Game #25:
Celts/Boudica
Celts/Boudica
Pre-Game Thread
Starting Position (this post, below)
Round 1: 4000 BC to 2725 BC (51 turns)
Round 2: 2725 BC to 1675 BC (42 turns)
The idea of the All Leaders Challenge is that I'm going to play a game with each of the Civ IV leaders. With the help of all the posters who participate, I will attempt to make the most of the leader's unique characteristics: traits, starting techs, unit, and building. Aside from the leader, the other game settings are (mostly) kept constant for the sake of comparison. I will post the saved game files, screenshots, and status reports here as the game progresses. Everyone then has a chance to chime in with their strategy ideas, or voice their frustration (or glee) when I make a mistake.
Everyone is invited to offer opinions and advice, and to make your own attempt at playing the same game. But if you do play a "shadow game", I kindly request that you refrain from posting spoilers--i.e. any facts or even hints about the map, opponents, and so on--before I'm there myself. I'm trying to play the game as authentically as possible.
In this ALC game, I'll be playing as Boudica, leader of the Celts. I'm playing the game using the Beyond the Sword expansion pack, its latest patch (3.17), and Solver's unofficial patch as well. (EDIT: I have now applied Dresden`s unofficial update to the unofficial patch as well.) The difficulty level is Immortal and the speed is Epic.
Here are some details about the map and other settings:
In addition, I added two civs, bringing the total number up to nine (including me) from the standard seven. I've been doing this for a few games now and I find it does add a lot to the game--more diplomacy, trading, and war options.
I've used a Fractal map (Standard size as usual) this time. While I enjoy the tectonics maps, I don't know if the AI is really capable of adjusting to the challenges of that map type. Many of you suggested Shuffle, but that would randomly choose Pangaea (a map too much in Boudica's favour), archipelago (too much the other way), or continents (boring!). Fractal would give me the unpredictability some of you were after with Shuffle, while still offering some balance in terms of challenges and advantages. Provided the map wasn't odd in some way; hence my decision to have someone screen it.
I generated three starts. I then had regular ALC contributor Oyzar choose what he thought would be the best map for an ALC Boudica game from the three maps that I generated. I gave him no specific criteria beyond that. In addition to his insightful contributions to these threads, Oyzar and I talk off-line regularly; I trust his judgement.
Regarding the custom options I've chosen: I'm hoping that these settings will add a little more challenge to the game. Immortal has not proved quite as intimidating as I'd thought it would; I noticed, however, that in both the Lincoln and Hammurabi games that I relied heavily on tech brokering. Hence my decision to turn that option on. It seems to be one of the few custom game settings that--at least in my experience with it--doesn't add more of a challenge for the AI than for the human player.
I am also finding that goody huts can be overpowering because they appear in the oh-so-crucial early turns of the game. In addition, since Boudica starts with Hunting and, therefore, a Scout, that gives her an advantage in finding tribal villages (though as I recall all AI civs start with a Scout at Immortal level--am I right about that?). Random events, on the other hand, tend to increase in frequency and import only as the game progresses. Which is why I left them on.
I did not select Aggressive AI because I find that it only makes the early game a little more challenging; if you survive, you'll rocket ahead of the AI in technology while it struggles to pay for all those extra units.
A reminder as to Boudica's unique characteristics:
And finally, what you've all been eagerly awaiting, the starting position:
I'd guess that I'm located in the southern hemisphere and not too far from the pole. The silver and the crabs are certainly nice, but not too unbalancing right away, as I will need to research techs I don't currently possess in order to work those tiles. Does researching Fishing followed by Mining make sense to everyone? The start also has some grassland tiles (including at least 3 beside rivers) for cottages to leverage Bureaucracy later on. Hills for production too. Overall, it appears to be a decent capital, not too overpowered.
The only alternative to settling in place would appear to be 1W, across the river; I might gain some more riverside tiles as a result. That, however, will cost me a turn. Should the Scout move 1SW to see if it's worthwhile? On the other hand, we discussed building Stonehenge; it can be challenging to build on Immortal, so the loss of a turn may not be worth it. There's a 3 hammer tile (the SE forested plains hill) I can work right away (at the cost of growth, however).
So deciding to settle in place or not may depend on us agreeing on our initial plan--Stonehenge or not? That will also affect the initial Scout movement: pass on Stonehenge and he should probably go 1SW to see if moving the Settler is worth it; go after the 'henge and I'm probably going to settle in place, so the Scout can head off to explore--probably 1NE and then whatever tile looks best.
And should I start building the 'henge right away and delay my initial growth, or attempt some other builds like a Scout or Warrior, Fishing Boat, and Worker? It's a big tradeoff--freeze early growth and development for the wonder, or focus on growing and improving tiles while losing the wonder.
I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks! I'll try to play the first round tomorrow, and post it, so we don't spend too long debating the start...