GOTM 50 - Pre-Game Discussion

[ainwood]

GOTM 50: Arabia

Civilization: Arabia.
Unique Unit: Ansar Warrior (A/D/M: 4/2/3).
Rivals: 11.
Difficulty: Monarch.

Map Size: Large.
Map Type: Pangea.
Age: 5 Billions.
Climate: Wet, Temperate.
Water: 60% Ocean.

Barbarians: Raging Hordes.

Conquest Class bonuses:

1. Your ansar warriors fight with Uncommon valor - attack strength increased to 5.

Predator Class Equalisers:

1. AI forces are strong - in fact, unit support is increased to Emperor level.
2. The Ansar Warrior riders union is very strong (Ansar warrior cost increased to 70 shields).

Starting Location

Minimap:

Given that it is a large map, and the holiday season is upon us, you will be given until the end of january to submit.

 

[DBear]

Since I passed on the Sid game, and gave up GotM49 after a settler relocation fiasco (kept looking...and looking...and looking for better land that wasn't there), I should be well rested for this one.

CotM12 also featured the Arabs on Monarch, that one was a standard continents map.

Interesting topography on the screenie...

 

[Redbad]

All bonusses just out of reach when we settle in place

If all water is salty it is indeed a strange topography for a pangea map on the equator. However it is technically possible we are on island. But that spoil some of the fun using ansars.

The foodbonusses are the most important in the short run. And for not to settle on a bg, settle 1 SE or 1 SW seems the way to go. The cow is better than the wheat, so 1 SW I guess.

 

[ainwood]

The cow is better than the wheat, so 1 SW I guess.

If you look really closely, its a near-mythical BG-Wheat!

 

[Redbad]

bg-wheat? why this generous start, on monarch.

maybe ainwood took pity on dbear and me for our untimely deaths in gotm49

 

[Megalou]

Looks like a choice between good RCP and a bonus in Mecca. My scout is definitely walking towards the cow to see how bad the trade-off is.

 

[King Of America]

Maybe SE,E with a 3/3.5 ring?

 

[klarius]

SE, E or NW, W looks tempting because of the strong early development of the capital.
But it will not allow to fit in a real nice city for the other food bonus.
So either SW or SE, looks stronger to me.

 

[denyd]

As I gaze into my crystal ball, I begin to wonder if the entire land mass is made up of 1 tile wide strips of land.

Aside from that, I'll head 1 SE and settle, that will give me the BG Wheat & incense after 10 turns. I'll send my scout N and my worker NE to mine & road the BG. Research will be either The Wheel (for horses) if no Japan or Mysticism to head towards Monarchy. I'll build at least 2 more scouts and hope to pop a couple of tech huts.

Question for Ainwood? Do you get a settler or worker from a huts.

Just to confirm, the Arabs are Expanionist & Religious, starting with Ceremonial Burial & Pottery and with 1 scout.

 

[Capt Buttkick]

Large, 60% could take ages, except the difficulty level is ok and the UU is really good.
We should see some early finishes here.

 

[Nata]

Hmm, how about 20K here - we are religious, and you won't have to conquer those huge tracts of land. I'll try that.

 

[Xevious]

I think moving 2 will be a good idea here. This might be pangea, but it looks like there might be a lot of lakes or long inlets. Leaving that hill to settle for moving ships through might be a good idea. In fact, settling in place may actually be optimal, with all the goodies designed to move us away from an optimal ring placement.

 

[ainwood]

Question for Ainwood? Do you get a settler or worker from a huts.

Workers. And iron is stationary.

 

[Più Freddo]

Without knowing if and where there could be fresh water, it is impossible to say which capital placement is better. The two food bonuses are equal. The Wine is better than the Incense, since it also has a food bonus. As has been said, cities close to the capital must be planned to receive all these gifts.

It seems to me we have to first taste the water and move the Scout, then decide whether to settle in place, one tile away or two tiles away adjacent to a food bonus. Then we can move the Worker and finally the Settler.

So, where should we move the Scout? There's no Hill in reach. The only hint as to where the big landmass is is that there are four more apparent tiles in the south-eastern corner, whereas there are only one or two in other directions. I'll move the Scout in this direction unless the taste of the water solicits otherwise.

A later question will be whether it'll be worth it to build more Scouts. If we are on an island off the coast, it obviously isn't. If we are on a peninsula blocked by other civilizations, it's questionable. If we are far off, we must.

 

[PaperBeetle]

I think the salinity of water, and the identities of our rivals, should both be part of the pre-game information. These are things we will all check for ourselves before taking any actions, so giving out this information is not spoiling. Witholding it only means that some of our pre-game planning can't be done in this thread...

 

[Più Freddo]

I think the salinity of water, and the identities of our rivals, should both be part of the pre-game information. These are things we will all check for ourselves before taking any actions, so giving out this information is not spoiling. Witholding it only means that some of our pre-game planning can't be done in this thread...

I agree. Actually, it's funny that the option to show food on the map doesn't reveal fresh water. Put some of those green peas on the water!

 

[Megalou]

Regardless, we must consider the tactical excellence of the starting position as far as ships are concerned. Ships that go through this tile can move in every direction.

My guess on the starting area: Island in a lake, few shields available. Could still be salt water if there are sea tiles out of sight.

 

[tR1cKy]

Will play this one, of course Not sure if to toss a second challenge or not, i saw some of the top players go for domination last game. How about a domination challenge? Would Megalou and Klarius pick it?

About the position, settling in place seems the better thing to do, salt water or not. The good RCP should more than offset the initial food disadvantage.

 

[bio_hazard]

I'll probably give this one a try. I'm really bad at military victories, but may attempt one on this game. With a fast/cheap(?) UU, it seems like Domination/conquest might be do-able. My strategy will probably be something like-
Ancient era- work more on infrastructure/tech rather than immediate early conquest. Expand enough to get a good eeconomic base. Try to get a gov't tech quickly (probably Monarchy, although with religiousness, there's not much penalty to getting Republic first and switching to Monarchy if later war-weariness gets bad). Depending on cash flow, either hoard my techs or sell to fund later Ansar warrior upgrades. Early wars will just focus on securing needed resources/luxuries or wiping out a weak neighbor if things get tight. Make lots of horsies
-Middle Ages Research toward Chivalry, or else set up a pre-build and go for Leo's workshop. Upgrade UU's. Turn off research. Kick butt. With the big map and number of Civs, it might be tough to get through everybody before rifles show up, so hopefully somewhere in there I can capture the great library.

In terms of the starting position. Hmmm, not sure. I'll have a look around. Hopefully if our starting region isn't too good I'll be able to get a timely FP in one of the AI cores...

 

[k-a-bob]

Since we have until the end of January, I might just wait until I have my Mac Civ 3 Complete package and play it in PTW!

However, I don't know if I can hold off after looking at this very interesting start. I may think about 20K for this one (something I have never, ever done)
in a city 2 NE of the current location. I'm thinking of moving SW for the capital, and having a ring-3 around it.

I ask the experts - is 20K feasible in this location? Or is that a pipe dream for a guy who has never gotten a 20k game?