pineappledan
Deity
Thanks for the writeup!
I agree the Chola can get going quite well, but they aren't a "safe" civ. They aren't as risky as a civ like France, but I was surprised at how many things had to go my way, since they are such a slow starter. They have relatively late component unlocks, and trade route completion takes a while to snowball for your. In the meantime you have to give up on just sending your TRs to the same, most profitable routes in order to accumulate guilds in more cities long-term. And, as you said, if the leader, or your continental rival doesn't have a coastal capital, you have no military edges at all. In my own game, I had a rather surprisingly difficult time fighting against Timur, who is usually a pushover, because I had cut him off from the coast early, but could never manage to push further inland. I had to refocus on a nearby Indonesia, and leverage all my gains from winning that naval-focused war before I could turn back on Timur.
Not sure where the right balance is to be struck, but they definitely have a unique tension between wanting tons of international trade routes while also wanting to kill everyone. The big levers that I am interested in getting right are the Thirvai's bonuses on TRs.
I agree the Chola can get going quite well, but they aren't a "safe" civ. They aren't as risky as a civ like France, but I was surprised at how many things had to go my way, since they are such a slow starter. They have relatively late component unlocks, and trade route completion takes a while to snowball for your. In the meantime you have to give up on just sending your TRs to the same, most profitable routes in order to accumulate guilds in more cities long-term. And, as you said, if the leader, or your continental rival doesn't have a coastal capital, you have no military edges at all. In my own game, I had a rather surprisingly difficult time fighting against Timur, who is usually a pushover, because I had cut him off from the coast early, but could never manage to push further inland. I had to refocus on a nearby Indonesia, and leverage all my gains from winning that naval-focused war before I could turn back on Timur.
Not sure where the right balance is to be struck, but they definitely have a unique tension between wanting tons of international trade routes while also wanting to kill everyone. The big levers that I am interested in getting right are the Thirvai's bonuses on TRs.
- Did you take much advantage of the 4
for trading with a guild city? - How did the 20
GAdmiral points feel? Is that still too fast, with too many GAdmirals and Thirisadai?
International Trade Route targeting a city with an Ainuruvar Guild is more appropriate.
