r_rolo1
King of myself
Welcome to the 30th 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 30th game in BTS the choosed leader was Pacal II of the Mayan:
Well, one of the new boys of BtS. Pacal adds to the number of Fin civs that the game has, and given his traits ( Fin/Exp ), it is a very solid leader by it self ( Exp is a very solid trait IMHO, and I think that it is very underestimated.... the ultimate punch line in Civ IV SGs is "We need more workers" ( there are not much parts of the game where you have more than enough workers and in certain times of the game having that crucial worker is a gamechanger ) and anything that helps getting them earlier is a good thing )..... and if you add to it a UB that gives extra
and a very solid and early UU ( the nemesis of MP duel games along with quechuas , atleast in the first months of BtS 
), we have a very solid civ package to play with, and I really doubt that isolation will be a chalenge for it.
His UU
The Holkan...... One very solid UU IMHO. the fact that it is resource-free ( in spite of needing hunting and BW as every spear in the game ) makes him a very solid early asset ( pretty much in the line of the Incan UU ), as in early choker ( his imunity to first strikes make him pretty much immune to archers in the open ) and anti barb actions ( atleast until axes
)
In here... well, same old, same old: early UU do not shine a lot in isolation ( besides fast worker )
His UB
Nothing like a UB that gives extra, regardless of what economy you're using ( is power ). And in that regard having the Mayan UU, a beefed colosseum that gives 3 base instead of 1 , is a certain helper, especially in happy constrained enviroments as isolated stars use to be
The start (for reasons that I'll explain below, the warrior may not be exactly in that spot in your game ):
Interesting start.... cows, corn, stone, coastal ( with no seafood ), river 1 tile away..... I wonder how this will unfold.
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 30th game in BTS the choosed leader was Pacal II of the Mayan:
Spoiler :
Well, one of the new boys of BtS. Pacal adds to the number of Fin civs that the game has, and given his traits ( Fin/Exp ), it is a very solid leader by it self ( Exp is a very solid trait IMHO, and I think that it is very underestimated.... the ultimate punch line in Civ IV SGs is "We need more workers" ( there are not much parts of the game where you have more than enough workers and in certain times of the game having that crucial worker is a gamechanger ) and anything that helps getting them earlier is a good thing )..... and if you add to it a UB that gives extra
and a very solid and early UU ( the nemesis of MP duel games along with quechuas , atleast in the first months of BtS ), we have a very solid civ package to play with, and I really doubt that isolation will be a chalenge for it.His UU
Spoiler :
The Holkan...... One very solid UU IMHO. the fact that it is resource-free ( in spite of needing hunting and BW as every spear in the game ) makes him a very solid early asset ( pretty much in the line of the Incan UU ), as in early choker ( his imunity to first strikes make him pretty much immune to archers in the open ) and anti barb actions ( atleast until axes
)In here... well, same old, same old: early UU do not shine a lot in isolation ( besides fast worker
)His UB
Spoiler :
Nothing like a UB that gives extra
, regardless of what economy you're using ( is power ). And in that regard having the Mayan UU, a beefed colosseum that gives 3 base instead of 1 , is a certain helper, especially in happy constrained enviroments as isolated stars use to beThe start (for reasons that I'll explain below, the warrior may not be exactly in that spot in your game ):
Spoiler :
Interesting start.... cows, corn, stone, coastal ( with no seafood ), river 1 tile away..... I wonder how this will unfold.
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
I obviously spend way too much time modding and not enough playing. 
