Opponent selection

[Thlypsis]

I've submitted a few Hall of Fame gauntlet games now, but there's an aspect I have not yet figured out - opponent selection. I have looked at the excellent spreadsheets of leader characteristics, but always seem to pick a dysfunctional bunch. It would be great to hear other people's strategies concerning opponent selection.

Assuming you have a technological target that you want to make a beeline for, is a better to have a friendly group where everyone trades with you and each other? Or is it better to just have one (or more) solid tech trading partners?

Is it generally beneficial to have a pariah on your continent that everyone else is initially annoyed at?

Are there must-haves for a given situation? I know Mansa Musa is quick to trade technologies, and that Gandhi can be rejected without fear of diplomatic repercussions.

I know there are nearly countless variables to take into account for each map, but some general advice would be appreciated. Or perhaps a link to a post-BtS thread where this has been discussed before.

Thanks!

 

[bestje]

its all a personal preference amd varies depending on how you want to win or if there are unusual victory conditions
e.g; if a PA is required then someone who will sign one fairly easily is needed

personally i like to avoid the good warmongers (GK, ragnar and shaka) but like to include monty as everyone will hate him and he isn't much of a threat or isabella because she rarely builds a decent army
so i tend to play with the more peaceful civs (gandhi, asoka, fred, liz, roosevelt, hattie etc) with a few wild cards thrown in to upset the others tech pace

also if everyone is friendly with each other it makes it very difficult to attack people although you don't get you traded with our worst enemy modifiers at least

 

[VirusMonster]

Opponents depend on what strategy you want to pursue. I like to play against imperialistic leaders, because I like to capture their capitals after they have settled 2 or more GGs

If you want to build the Oracle, it is probably best not to put Izzy as one of your opponents.

If you want to found as many religions as possible, whether for cultural or espionage reasons, don't put any leaders starting with Mysticism.

If you want to do an axerush, don't put the Sitting Bull in game.

If you are going for cultural Victory, don't play a map full of warmongers.

If you want to win by conquest as early as possible, don't put any Protective civs in game.

You get the idea. It makes sense to add some warmonger dudes to each map to distrupt tech speed of others.

 

[Misotu]

My advice would be that it's fairly complex, as the other posters have indicated, but for your early games I would decide what victory you want to go for, at what level, and then take a look in the Hall of Fame to see what the best games so far did. That will give you a very good idea of what to try - and when you play the game, you will see how it works for you and will then start to develop your own strategies.

Every player is different & has a different experience. For example, many players choose Victoria, but I almost never do (unless I'm desperate!) because she almost always attacks me. She is famous for this - lovely to most, a nemesis for a few. Similarly, Hatshepsut attacks me regularly, although I notice that she is a favoured opponent for many peaceful gamers (presumably because she likes heriditary rule which is a very useful option). So it's a process, but definitely checking out what other high-scorers have done is a great start.

The key factor is favourite civic - if you're wanting to get along with some or all of your opponents & you know which options you're likely to choose to run for the majority of the game, choose opponents who favour those civics. Other than that, it varies from game to game but that comes with practice.

 

[Misotu]

PS The killer is that, as you know, favourite civics for each civ vary between Vanilla/Warlords (which is really silly) and probably they vary in Beyond The Sword too. So watch out for that it has caught me out a few times but then I'm a bit blase on stuff