Zechnophobe
Strategy Lich
So, Let me start out by saying that my favorite civ is the Chirp, partially because I think they are the most consistent, and partially because I like fire wielding golems. Since I get a lot of use out of Dwarves, I can't help but compare their effect to those of the khazad.
I want to talk a bit about my experiences playing the Khazad.
1) First lets talk the early game, the first 75 turns on standard speed. I play on at least Emperor level whenever I play, and remove AI building requirements. The Khazad have one of the poorest expansion plans in the game early one, due to their Vaults, which actually penalize them if they don't have enough money. Their immediate access to Gold can only SOMEtimes make up for it, because while a city needs a trade route with the capital to get the gold, it doesn't need one to suffer the draw backs of an empty vault. This makes the early game expansion a fair bit of work. Further more, if you happen to be near Gold tiles, you can't get 'even more' happiness from them, which means gold tiles aren't nearly as effective early game as they are otherwise.
The only early game advantage held by the Khazad are workers that can move quickly through hills.
2) Religion: It's really hard to justify playing any religion other than RoK. It isn't my favorite, by any stretch, but if you want quick cash, then RoK temples + Marketplaces is definately the way to go. Since most if not all of the benefits of the faction come from cash overload, it is hard to rationalize using any other. However, I think it's hard to give up the fact that RoK has both the worst Heros, as well as the worst Priest level disciple units. I feel you are sacrificing access to a good religion, simply to make up for short comings already extent in your faction.
3) "The Hump". For those who manage to get the Khaz working, you probably know about The Hump. It's where your juiced out production can grow your economy fast enough to allow you to expand. +40% Prod and +3 Happiness help with that greatly. Getting here, however, takes a good bit of effort. A few Great Merchants, perhaps, or founding multiple religions can work. I feel like the actual game I'm playing as the Khaz, is in acheiving the Hump as early on as possible. However, they have little in the way of extra means to cause this to happen.
4) Late game: Pretty solid. If you are over The Hump, and perhaps have access to Druids, then you can support pretty effective military campaigns. The real question though comes from both of those 'if's. You need tech AND commerce to get here.
Suggestions: So, been thinking about the tools available in Civ to create and strengthen a civ in unique ways. And something that'd work pretty nicely occurred to me: A Khazad Corporation. Here's how it works:
* Khazad Great Engineers can Incorporate this Corporation ("The Underhome Guild"?)
* Works like a normal BTS corporation that generates money in cities. Uses Gold, Bronze, Iron, Mithril, and Gems. (Things findable with mines).
* Provides +2 gold in Headquarters city for each city with the guild.
Reasoning: This gives an early-mid game goal for the khazad, and an additional reason to consider going for engineering and Earth Nodes. In fact, the various pressures working on them will likely cause this to tie in many elements into a very cogent gaming experience. RoK provides income, but also a Holy City with Earth mana. They start with Gold in their capital, which means this corporation always has some effect. Conquering cities to get access to more Incorporated resources will raise your nationwide income. The Mines of Galdur (RoK wonder) which provides 3 Iron, instead of just 1, will be an obvious boon (It also generates Great Engineer points, if they still need to create their corporation).
All in all, I think this ties everything together so nicely, that it is hard to put this idea down.
I realize that there are some people who praise the Khazad, in my opinion, overly much. While I can, and have been known to, argue the syntax of strategy for hours upon end, I would proffer that this addition to the faction would be worth a slight down tweak to some of their other systems.
Second thought: Instead of making the corporation created by a great engineer, instead make this the new Khazad world spell. Incorporates in your largest city, and spreads the corporation to all your other cities. Down side? You can't spread it any other way. (I.E, you don't want to cast this first turn necessarily).
I want to talk a bit about my experiences playing the Khazad.
1) First lets talk the early game, the first 75 turns on standard speed. I play on at least Emperor level whenever I play, and remove AI building requirements. The Khazad have one of the poorest expansion plans in the game early one, due to their Vaults, which actually penalize them if they don't have enough money. Their immediate access to Gold can only SOMEtimes make up for it, because while a city needs a trade route with the capital to get the gold, it doesn't need one to suffer the draw backs of an empty vault. This makes the early game expansion a fair bit of work. Further more, if you happen to be near Gold tiles, you can't get 'even more' happiness from them, which means gold tiles aren't nearly as effective early game as they are otherwise.
The only early game advantage held by the Khazad are workers that can move quickly through hills.
2) Religion: It's really hard to justify playing any religion other than RoK. It isn't my favorite, by any stretch, but if you want quick cash, then RoK temples + Marketplaces is definately the way to go. Since most if not all of the benefits of the faction come from cash overload, it is hard to rationalize using any other. However, I think it's hard to give up the fact that RoK has both the worst Heros, as well as the worst Priest level disciple units. I feel you are sacrificing access to a good religion, simply to make up for short comings already extent in your faction.
3) "The Hump". For those who manage to get the Khaz working, you probably know about The Hump. It's where your juiced out production can grow your economy fast enough to allow you to expand. +40% Prod and +3 Happiness help with that greatly. Getting here, however, takes a good bit of effort. A few Great Merchants, perhaps, or founding multiple religions can work. I feel like the actual game I'm playing as the Khaz, is in acheiving the Hump as early on as possible. However, they have little in the way of extra means to cause this to happen.
4) Late game: Pretty solid. If you are over The Hump, and perhaps have access to Druids, then you can support pretty effective military campaigns. The real question though comes from both of those 'if's. You need tech AND commerce to get here.
Suggestions: So, been thinking about the tools available in Civ to create and strengthen a civ in unique ways. And something that'd work pretty nicely occurred to me: A Khazad Corporation. Here's how it works:
* Khazad Great Engineers can Incorporate this Corporation ("The Underhome Guild"?)
* Works like a normal BTS corporation that generates money in cities. Uses Gold, Bronze, Iron, Mithril, and Gems. (Things findable with mines).
* Provides +2 gold in Headquarters city for each city with the guild.
Reasoning: This gives an early-mid game goal for the khazad, and an additional reason to consider going for engineering and Earth Nodes. In fact, the various pressures working on them will likely cause this to tie in many elements into a very cogent gaming experience. RoK provides income, but also a Holy City with Earth mana. They start with Gold in their capital, which means this corporation always has some effect. Conquering cities to get access to more Incorporated resources will raise your nationwide income. The Mines of Galdur (RoK wonder) which provides 3 Iron, instead of just 1, will be an obvious boon (It also generates Great Engineer points, if they still need to create their corporation).
All in all, I think this ties everything together so nicely, that it is hard to put this idea down.
I realize that there are some people who praise the Khazad, in my opinion, overly much. While I can, and have been known to, argue the syntax of strategy for hours upon end, I would proffer that this addition to the faction would be worth a slight down tweak to some of their other systems.
Second thought: Instead of making the corporation created by a great engineer, instead make this the new Khazad world spell. Incorporates in your largest city, and spreads the corporation to all your other cities. Down side? You can't spread it any other way. (I.E, you don't want to cast this first turn necessarily).
