Revenge of the Nerds: An Amurite Story

[Darksaber1]

Can't...Resist...All your nodes are belong to Us.

 

[Skitters]

I've given this a go, but in standard FFH and at normal level. I've had some of the most outrageous luck ever in terms of popping lairs with the single starting scout

Came across Bradelines well on the other side of Sidar territory and reasoned that not exploring it would be contrary to the search for information - got an adventurer...it took some time to get him back to my lands as I got cut off by the Sidar (forcing me into a diversion of researching seafaring), but he's now a nice Wizard (who was to later lead to the Sidars downfall)

Then he came across Barbatos' old haunt (name escapes me) - and popped a Great Prophet who in turn set me up nicely with Message of the Deep and the OO holy city in my capital.

The scout then came across a graveyard (Fishing) and a hut (Exploration)

Fire of the Seraphic was next and that spawned a Great Scientist who in turn churned out Alteration.

The scout finally met its maker when it came upon an assasin spawned from its first bad result from a lair exploration.

The greatest (and only) scout the Amurite nation has ever known!

 

[readercolin]

Here's another idea for a game that could be interesting. Play as the Jotnar (FF) and be very isolationist. Do not explore the area around you. You cannot settle new cities outside your own cultural borders (jotnar are the giants that can only work 1 ring of tiles around their cities). You cannot declare war, only attack when provoked (I suppose this is optional too - that could make it too difficult to win). You cannot capture enemy cities - they must all burn. Optionally, you cannot build the guild of nine.

The above rulesets aren't too hard to do when you play on a map with lots of open space. When playing on a crowded map though... things could get tough. Just remember - Age hath privileges, don't let the uppity little short folk get in the way.

-Colin

 

[Diamondeye]

I intend to try this method of write-up (ie. "scenes" with casts) in a Lanun game I am playing. I just played the first 100, and I'll start writing right away.

EDIT: first part of Lanun: Greed and Exploits!

 

[Tholal]

I've found a problem with trying this RP strategy... Giant Spiders! I can't see the buggers, and Floating Eye doesn't reveal them (which seems like a bug to me), so they just wait silently until a unit passes nearby that they can munch on and I can't do anything about it. I've had two games now where there were multiple Giant Spiders just outside my borders that continuously ate all my adepts and wizards. I even tried setting the entire forest on fire, but that didn't seem to bother them much.

 

[Tholal]

And apparently there are also issues with the Cave of Ancestors not working correctly in FF.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=308061&page=80

 

[Shatner]

I've found a problem with trying this RP strategy... Giant Spiders!

Yeah, those buggers are nasty and honestly... I don't have a good answer. I think the Chanter would be permitted by (it casts, after all) and I THINK(???) that those can see hidden units. Otherwise, you probably want a wizard with Stoneskin or a summoned unit guarding each stack in spider territory. Failing that... can Firebows take the guardsmen promotion? Early on, skeletons will defend for adepts.

And apparently there are also issues with the Cave of Ancestors not working correctly in FF.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=308061&page=80

Yeah, I'd noticed that before. I'm glad to see a fix was found; I hope it's fixed whenever FF next updates.

 

[WarKirby]

Even with FF's changes, the amurites are still one of the weakest civs in the game. Their hero could be a nuclear missile and it wouldn't make a difference, since the main problem is surviving long enough to build him.

I think they really need some nice early game boosts. Like a library UB for a start. I'm surprised they don't have that. I think they should have the same Archives building that the elohim have.

 

[WarKirby]

Here's another idea for a game that could be interesting. Play as the Jotnar (FF) and be very isolationist. Do not explore the area around you. You cannot settle new cities outside your own cultural borders (jotnar are the giants that can only work 1 ring of tiles around their cities). You cannot declare war, only attack when provoked (I suppose this is optional too - that could make it too difficult to win). You cannot capture enemy cities - they must all burn. Optionally, you cannot build the guild of nine.

I'd personally not advise playing a serious game as the jotnar for now. They still have no worldspell as of yet, and I'd say they have a few balance issues. I'd consider them a work in progress civ. Still quite fun though.


For my personal recommendations, I'd say Sidar or Balseraphs. In FF, of course. The sidar have a few minor FF tweaks. Notably, their entire recon line can use the divide soul ability, not just that one unit. That said, ranged attack XP can be horribly overpowering for them.

 

[Tasunke]

Kirby ... are you saying the Sidar recon can used ranged attacks? I'm at a loss ...

But anyways, Im playing 41a FFH, a recon only (with like ... three warriors ... and 5 archers) Sidar game, may I say a pretty epic Sidar game. I have 20+ ghosts playing james bond all over the place ... all four shadows lv 7 + ... just stole the Slyvan's Lyre from the Elohim .... did I mention the army of all ghosts? basically I have a warrior or archer "sit" in the city ... with a crack elite ghost guarding 3 cities each ... of course this can get quite hard when there are invasions ... which is where the rest of the ghosts come in ... its really quite Fun

I know I mentioned not adopting religions ... but I like the Esus music way much, and I've decided it fits , not like its a strong religion anyways ... but It allows MUCH more possibilities for the ghosts ...

I dont really have large armies ... but they rarely die. Back when I had very VERY small army .. most of my cities had NO UNITS protecting them and I would flee a city rather than lose a unit >> ... but now I have quite a few level 6 ghosts and one fine Shadow lv 10 with aeron's bounty, Orthus's Axe, and the Black Mirror (other Shadows are about lv 7) ... plus alot of newbie James Bonds learning the ropes on the growing barbarian swarms.

 

[readercolin]

I'd personally not advise playing a serious game as the jotnar for now. They still have no worldspell as of yet, and I'd say they have a few balance issues. I'd consider them a work in progress civ. Still quite fun though.


For my personal recommendations, I'd say Sidar or Balseraphs. In FF, of course. The sidar have a few minor FF tweaks. Notably, their entire recon line can use the divide soul ability, not just that one unit. That said, ranged attack XP can be horribly overpowering for them.

Yes the Jotnar are a work in progress - they're still very fun atm. Will try to find the balance discussion thread and post in there what I think would make them more balanced.

-Colin

 

[Tholal]

Yeah, those buggers are nasty and honestly... I don't have a good answer. I think the Chanter would be permitted by (it casts, after all) and I THINK(???) that those can see hidden units. Otherwise, you probably want a wizard with Stoneskin or a summoned unit guarding each stack in spider territory. Failing that... can Firebows take the guardsmen promotion? Early on, skeletons will defend for adepts

Well they wouldn't really be much of a problem if the Floating Eye revealed them. It does claim to reveal hidden units. I don't know if that isn't working at all or if it's just a problem with the Giant Spiders. But not being able to see them at all is the main issue. If you can see them then you can fireball and attack them. Otherwise, you just have to wait until they attack you, which is not a good solution.

I ended up abandoning two Amurite games because of Giant Spider issues (in one, there were no less than 5 in the nearby forest). I finally gave in and have allowed myself to build scouts and hunters.

 

[popejubal]

[*]You are secretive, isolationist nation of schemers. You are not allowed to go outside of your cultural borders with the exception of hidden units, CoE units (And divided souls perhaps?)

And Settlers?

 

[Ekolite]

You can settle inside your borders.

 

[popejubal]

You can settle inside your borders.

Yeah, but it's not even close to worthwhile until you have at least two border pops and even then, you're still looking at a rediculous amount of overlap.

My Sidar games often look like a One City Challenge just because I don't have the hammers to spare for a Settler when I'm building my next Great Engineer (i.e. Axeman), but Land = Power even for the Sidar.

 

[Ekolite]

Well that's just a part of the challenge right?

 

[Verdian]

I would like to see a game with the Calabim, mostly because I think it would be fun to make fun of the pampered aristocracy that they are comprised of.

 

[Algeroth]

And Settlers?

As Eco said, It would be no challenge with normal setlers outside your borders.

 

[WarKirby]

Kirby ... are you saying the Sidar recon can used ranged attacks? I'm at a loss ...

No.

The Sidar have a Hunter UU (in FFH) called Divided Soul.
It has a special ability to split it's soul from it's body. essentially a summon spell. The soul can move through impassable terrain, and has flat movement cost. Souls can cast the Recall Body spell, which teleports the unit to the position of it's soul.

Essentially, it's short range teleporting. And it allows your units to cross thin mountain ranges, or small bodies of water. Also to flank enemy armies, or just move rapidly in general.


In FF, that ability is changed a bit. It's no longer tied to just the "Divided Soul" unit. Rather, there's a "Soul Divider" promotion, which allows the spell to be cast. This is automatically given to Sidar recon units from Divided soul onwards. This should include ghosts, rangers, beastmasters, shadows.

I might be a little wrong. If it's not automatically given to the units, then it might only be given to a divided soul, but the ability is kept when the unit upgrades. Either way, it is possible to have teleporting assasins and rangers.

Sidar are fun

 

[FireBlaze]

So.... When are we getting more updates? xD