Abegweit
Anarchist trader
This is a small crowded map with five different tech trees. Consequently, there are very few trading opportunities (two civs have no one to trade with at all) and little space to expand so the game is all about war.
As such, Ghana is clearly the best civ in the west. I really have no idea how to win with the others. The only possible way is to play a quiet game while praying that no one runs away with the situation in the east (and several civs are quite capable of doing it). I agree that Mali is better than Songhai for this, due to the defensive UU and the isolated start. Still, I don't like basing my game on prayers. Ghana can actually win, long before anyone else comes even close. It has the best UU (the only useful one really) and starts with two cities to give you the jump in REXing.
Here's your strat.
Research agri and offensive arms in that order. Then you can learn how to trade. Train three settlers in the capital and some workers in the other city. Because of the lack of space and luxes, shields are more important than food in this game so the capital should work the BG, not the FP, for the most part. As tiles get improved, you can let your cities grow a little.
One warrior stays home and the other goes out to explore. The main objective is to find the other members of your culture group for trading purposes. After that, he can come home to work as an MP. Further exploration is pretty pointless.
Start by building to the east. At Monarch, you should be able to beat the Songhai to the best site three squares to the right. I managed at Emperor but couldn't do it at DG. No diff. The spot just to the south is almost as good. Your fourth city goes to the southeast and the fifth to the west. Strict CxxC everywhere. There is no space for anything more.
Meanwhile, hook up the Iron (it will be available once the capital's borders expand) and start pumping out UUs forever. No new city should build anything else for a long long time. The inability to build barracks is annoying but you still have the power to attack without them. Take out the Songhai first and Mali next. Start your attack when you have about six swords.
At some point, when you have the military situation under control, start building a road to Morocco. Bring along a few UUs to protect the workers and later some Wagaris to explore. Remember that the barbs are slow so move one space at a time. All they are doing is feeling out the direction that the road should go. If you find a barb, it's best to attract it unto the road so the swords can kill them but the Wagaris may have to attack occasionally. If so, use them in packs.
Once the road is built, spread the swords out along it to protect the traders who race up and down it collecting the trade items which have been accumulating back home.
The only real danger is an attack from the Hausa, who are powerful. So long as you keep your military up, this shouldn't be a problem. Their UU is easy to kill.
This should lead to a win in the 1300s, long before anything nasty can happen in the east.
Edit on the subject of balance issues.
I don't think that there is very much you can do about it. The AI simply does not know know to play these kinds of civs. Either Ethiopia or Falasha will die, usually the former. The Stable is a neat idea. Too bad the AI can't adapt to the concept. Etc.
Still, I'm not sure that this makes too much of a difference. Ultimately, this is all about giving an interesting experience to the player, which I think you have done very well. One or two AIs will become very strong in the east, which poses all kinds of problems - both in terms of survival and in terms of the possibility of an VP victory. Similarly, the AI can't win with the nomad peoples but they sure can be menacing!
My main complaint is that several civs seem extremely difficult to play. Playing without roads or fast units can be very frustrating. Mali, Songhai and the worker people all suffer from a lack of offensive units. But then I kinda cheated on the rules, didn't I? I don't think that building roads in the desert or warmongering with the Makura was supposed to be part of the scenario.
It seems to me that a diplomatic victory would be very hard. I considered this but untangling the diplo picture amongst 14 civs who keep warring on each other is a daunting task. I never had any idea who liked whom. Furthermore, it's hard to bribe people into MPPs and the like when you have no techs to offer.
As such, Ghana is clearly the best civ in the west. I really have no idea how to win with the others. The only possible way is to play a quiet game while praying that no one runs away with the situation in the east (and several civs are quite capable of doing it). I agree that Mali is better than Songhai for this, due to the defensive UU and the isolated start. Still, I don't like basing my game on prayers. Ghana can actually win, long before anyone else comes even close. It has the best UU (the only useful one really) and starts with two cities to give you the jump in REXing.
Here's your strat.
Research agri and offensive arms in that order. Then you can learn how to trade. Train three settlers in the capital and some workers in the other city. Because of the lack of space and luxes, shields are more important than food in this game so the capital should work the BG, not the FP, for the most part. As tiles get improved, you can let your cities grow a little.
One warrior stays home and the other goes out to explore. The main objective is to find the other members of your culture group for trading purposes. After that, he can come home to work as an MP. Further exploration is pretty pointless.
Start by building to the east. At Monarch, you should be able to beat the Songhai to the best site three squares to the right. I managed at Emperor but couldn't do it at DG. No diff. The spot just to the south is almost as good. Your fourth city goes to the southeast and the fifth to the west. Strict CxxC everywhere. There is no space for anything more.
Meanwhile, hook up the Iron (it will be available once the capital's borders expand) and start pumping out UUs forever. No new city should build anything else for a long long time. The inability to build barracks is annoying but you still have the power to attack without them. Take out the Songhai first and Mali next. Start your attack when you have about six swords.
At some point, when you have the military situation under control, start building a road to Morocco. Bring along a few UUs to protect the workers and later some Wagaris to explore. Remember that the barbs are slow so move one space at a time. All they are doing is feeling out the direction that the road should go. If you find a barb, it's best to attract it unto the road so the swords can kill them but the Wagaris may have to attack occasionally. If so, use them in packs.
Once the road is built, spread the swords out along it to protect the traders who race up and down it collecting the trade items which have been accumulating back home.
The only real danger is an attack from the Hausa, who are powerful. So long as you keep your military up, this shouldn't be a problem. Their UU is easy to kill.
This should lead to a win in the 1300s, long before anything nasty can happen in the east.
Edit on the subject of balance issues.
I don't think that there is very much you can do about it. The AI simply does not know know to play these kinds of civs. Either Ethiopia or Falasha will die, usually the former. The Stable is a neat idea. Too bad the AI can't adapt to the concept. Etc.
Still, I'm not sure that this makes too much of a difference. Ultimately, this is all about giving an interesting experience to the player, which I think you have done very well. One or two AIs will become very strong in the east, which poses all kinds of problems - both in terms of survival and in terms of the possibility of an VP victory. Similarly, the AI can't win with the nomad peoples but they sure can be menacing!
My main complaint is that several civs seem extremely difficult to play. Playing without roads or fast units can be very frustrating. Mali, Songhai and the worker people all suffer from a lack of offensive units. But then I kinda cheated on the rules, didn't I? I don't think that building roads in the desert or warmongering with the Makura was supposed to be part of the scenario.
It seems to me that a diplomatic victory would be very hard. I considered this but untangling the diplo picture amongst 14 civs who keep warring on each other is a daunting task. I never had any idea who liked whom. Furthermore, it's hard to bribe people into MPPs and the like when you have no techs to offer.
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