News: COTM99 - Sumeria - Pre-game discussion

[mad-bax]

COTM99 - Sumeria

For the 99th game of the COTM series we play as the Sumerians, who are widely regarded as the first of all civilisations.

You are pitted against aggressive neighbours, and abundant restless barbarians. Your tribe is considered scientific and agricultural and so you start with a knowledge of pottery and bronze working. Your unique unit is the Enkidu Warrior, which has the same stats as a spearman, which you are unable to build. The difficulty level this time around is set nominally to Monarch, but may present a slightly bigger challenge than that level suggests.

Saves are available here, and you should submit here before October 5th.

My apologies for the late posting of this thread which was due to a variety of other commitments.

 

[templar_x]

i believe this is the most horrible start i have ever seen in an XOTM - great!

worker south is a no-brainer i guess. that may be a lake after all. probably foundation somewhere down there...

t_x

 

[Racinante]

So I'm thinking settler south with worker doing road and irrigation at the starting point. My thoughts on that are if it is a lake, then no aqueduct needed and with a canal town between the lake and the sea, I may open up a passage through. I can still get the whales with a town on the peninsula. I may build a worker first to speed up the irrigation then perhaps a warrior, warrior, settler.

 

[Memento]

Scope of the Game:

Civilization: Sumeria
Civilization: Swiss Mercenary, replaces Pikeman

 

[Lanzelot]

worker south is a no-brainer i guess.

Is it really? At the moment 1S looks like the best settling site. So if we move the worker there and don't find anything better, then the worker has to move again, before it can start improving. Therefore I would move the worker 1SW. That also allows a good view across the lake(?), and if we don't see anything tempting in the fog, we can send the settler 1S.
On the other hand: is it worth it to invest a second settler move in order to settle on the jungle? Probably depends on what other tiles are available there.

 

[templar_x]

my words were misleading. i rather meant: 1 unit south... you are absolutely right.
t_x

 

[greatbeyond]

It is Monarch so maybe an even bigger settler move/gamble might be in order. There are Whales and Fish available if you settle in place, but little else to keep you there.


Definitely move the Worker first, 1SW and see what is revealed. We are at the lower part of the map and there seems to be a lot of jungle, which seems unusual. Normally I would expect a move south to encounter tundra and a poor food environment.

No map type mentioned, knowing in advance would certainly help with planning......

Surrounded by hostile Civs and restless Barbs... thanks Mad-Bax for not making them raging barbs! This does look like a start that will play well above it's difficulty level.

Will a dash for Philo be in the cards? We start without Alpha , but perhaps can make a trade for it early. I am thinking that while waiting, Iron Working might be the one to research, then go give a housewarming for the neighbors.

I don't see anything encouraging for a cultural win of either kind. Hmm, what would Gilgamesh do? Spread love and peace to his neighbors, or pacify them with the sword?

 

[AlanH]

Fixed.

 

[Acronym]

Think I'll give this one a go, too. I enjoyed finishing my first COTM for COTM96; I found it a fun incentive to play an epic game through to the end game, something which I very rarely do nowadays, playing mostly mods and scenarios instead.

I don't think I'll be any more competitive than last time, but I'll look forward to seeing what everyone else makes of this one.

 

[MrRandomGuy]

Well this will be my first GOTM attempt. I've never played the Monarch level before so this will be quite interesting.