Alright after coming back from my year hiatus, I dug into the Beta and finished up a few games. I'm a bit rusty so ran them on Emperor. This isn't going to be as big a deep dive as I've done in the past with state of the games. Just highlighting a few things I've noticed.
Important Note: I never placed 4UC before this beta, so this is my first experience with it.
1) As Germany. Lost to SV from Ghandi on Turn 345.
2) As Portugal. Won SV on Turn 396.
A Few AI Notes
1) The AI has gotten way better at SV. The fact that Ghandi pretty efficiently got an SV on Turn 345 on Emperor is very very impressive. It would be closer to turn 400 before the AI would even hint at spaceship parts once upon a time.
2) When it comes to pillaging, the AI is weird on this one. One thing I'm seeing is they will pillage sea resources more readily now. But they really are stingy with pillaging on land. In my last run as Portugal, Rome had a unit just sitting deep in my territory (all of my units were out fighthing). He just hung out for like 5 turns....he could have gone on a tear and really knocked out my capital eco for a bit. The AI should be much more aggressive with it pillaging.
3) The AI seems to struggle with its navy in the face of defending air forces. 3 times multiple nations sent huge navies to my doorstep....but I had bombers upon bombers and just ripped them to pieces. It just kept sending in wave after wave of ships to be wiped out. The AI doesn't understand basic air defenses for its navy once bombers come online.
4) AI's WC proposals were smart, often countering my own proposals with hostile ones I had to defend.
Germany and Portugal 4UC
Brewhouse: The brewhouse is "fine", its just a nice little value add. The building in theory provides a new reason to mass gift units after the +1 inf per turn bonus stops being relevant...but I find at that point the culture just isn't worth the sheer amount of manual labor in doing all of those unit gifts. No issues with the build per say, its just not a big factor.
Krupp Gun: Didn't get a chance to really put this one to the test.
University of Coimbra: I liked this one. Portugal already had a rock solid kit, so I wasn't looking for anything too radical. I found this UB a nice fit. It gives a nice boost with the GS, the free university is nice little value add. The trade unit speed is fine enough, and you get a little boost in gold. The Age of Discovery promotion is fun enough for that age of sail phase, again not a major change but nice enough. Ultimately this UB isn't that strong but I don't think it should be, Portugal already has enough things going for it.
Cacador (or as I called it, the "Cock of the Walk"). This is a damn fine UU. G Guns are already the dominant unit for a long while, so having a G Gun UU is always great. The big factor is the extra speed, giving it a lot of the mobility that only America used to have, it may seem like a simple change but its completely changes the logisitics of the unit. Portugals only real weakness before was it didn't have much in the late game and had to get carried from its age of sail boost....but now you can easily do late game conquests with a carpet of these units. Very strong, pretty solid.
Quick Note on Lebensaum
Tried out the change. I will say its still quite strong because you can push them during war, but withotu open borders you can't do the same peacetime shenenangs and get everything how you liked it before declaring war. So the change is good, the heart of what the old Lebensaum is there, but this is a more balanced version. Its still incredibly powerful in human hands, but its a step towards balance without removing a lot of what made this tenent so fun.
Spying
After all of that work on the revamp, how do I feel about spying?
In general, the spy system works pretty well. Its cleaner, more exact, easier to use. I would argue its still principally a vessel for tech steals...but that's ok in my book, I still use other missions on occasion, with the tech steals being the heart of the game.
A few notes:
1) CS influence gains deserves another look. It is pitifully small in the early stages but can scale to very large numbers if your willing to commit your spy to a place all game. I would rather see a system that starts out higher but has a max cap.
2) Capital Security is practically non-existant. The population penalty to security is so high that the security buildings basically do nothing. And I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, the pace of Spy Points in the capital feels pretty reasonable to me. I honestly question if the security buildings are even needed in this model, would it be better just to drop them and move on?
3) Mission wise: Tech Steal remains the default. Gold steal is far too small to warrant use of my spy points. The great work steal is decent and often my default for non-capital spies. The mission that blockades the city requires a lot of pre-planning but is solidly useful if you use it well. I don't see much point in the other missions right now.
Do I still hate Caravansaries?
Yes...yes I do
That's all for now, I may post later. Feel free to add in your own thoughts after playing the Beta.
Important Note: I never placed 4UC before this beta, so this is my first experience with it.
1) As Germany. Lost to SV from Ghandi on Turn 345.
2) As Portugal. Won SV on Turn 396.
A Few AI Notes
1) The AI has gotten way better at SV. The fact that Ghandi pretty efficiently got an SV on Turn 345 on Emperor is very very impressive. It would be closer to turn 400 before the AI would even hint at spaceship parts once upon a time.
2) When it comes to pillaging, the AI is weird on this one. One thing I'm seeing is they will pillage sea resources more readily now. But they really are stingy with pillaging on land. In my last run as Portugal, Rome had a unit just sitting deep in my territory (all of my units were out fighthing). He just hung out for like 5 turns....he could have gone on a tear and really knocked out my capital eco for a bit. The AI should be much more aggressive with it pillaging.
3) The AI seems to struggle with its navy in the face of defending air forces. 3 times multiple nations sent huge navies to my doorstep....but I had bombers upon bombers and just ripped them to pieces. It just kept sending in wave after wave of ships to be wiped out. The AI doesn't understand basic air defenses for its navy once bombers come online.
4) AI's WC proposals were smart, often countering my own proposals with hostile ones I had to defend.
Germany and Portugal 4UC
Brewhouse: The brewhouse is "fine", its just a nice little value add. The building in theory provides a new reason to mass gift units after the +1 inf per turn bonus stops being relevant...but I find at that point the culture just isn't worth the sheer amount of manual labor in doing all of those unit gifts. No issues with the build per say, its just not a big factor.
Krupp Gun: Didn't get a chance to really put this one to the test.
University of Coimbra: I liked this one. Portugal already had a rock solid kit, so I wasn't looking for anything too radical. I found this UB a nice fit. It gives a nice boost with the GS, the free university is nice little value add. The trade unit speed is fine enough, and you get a little boost in gold. The Age of Discovery promotion is fun enough for that age of sail phase, again not a major change but nice enough. Ultimately this UB isn't that strong but I don't think it should be, Portugal already has enough things going for it.
Cacador (or as I called it, the "Cock of the Walk"). This is a damn fine UU. G Guns are already the dominant unit for a long while, so having a G Gun UU is always great. The big factor is the extra speed, giving it a lot of the mobility that only America used to have, it may seem like a simple change but its completely changes the logisitics of the unit. Portugals only real weakness before was it didn't have much in the late game and had to get carried from its age of sail boost....but now you can easily do late game conquests with a carpet of these units. Very strong, pretty solid.
Quick Note on Lebensaum
Tried out the change. I will say its still quite strong because you can push them during war, but withotu open borders you can't do the same peacetime shenenangs and get everything how you liked it before declaring war. So the change is good, the heart of what the old Lebensaum is there, but this is a more balanced version. Its still incredibly powerful in human hands, but its a step towards balance without removing a lot of what made this tenent so fun.
Spying
After all of that work on the revamp, how do I feel about spying?
In general, the spy system works pretty well. Its cleaner, more exact, easier to use. I would argue its still principally a vessel for tech steals...but that's ok in my book, I still use other missions on occasion, with the tech steals being the heart of the game.
A few notes:
1) CS influence gains deserves another look. It is pitifully small in the early stages but can scale to very large numbers if your willing to commit your spy to a place all game. I would rather see a system that starts out higher but has a max cap.
2) Capital Security is practically non-existant. The population penalty to security is so high that the security buildings basically do nothing. And I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, the pace of Spy Points in the capital feels pretty reasonable to me. I honestly question if the security buildings are even needed in this model, would it be better just to drop them and move on?
3) Mission wise: Tech Steal remains the default. Gold steal is far too small to warrant use of my spy points. The great work steal is decent and often my default for non-capital spies. The mission that blockades the city requires a lot of pre-planning but is solidly useful if you use it well. I don't see much point in the other missions right now.
Do I still hate Caravansaries?
Yes...yes I do
That's all for now, I may post later. Feel free to add in your own thoughts after playing the Beta.
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