RLC#3. Genghis Khan.

[pigswill]

He is The Man.

Greatest Military Leader of all time.

He always fought his land wars in Asia (and won).

He introduced Blitzkreig seven hundred years before it was even invented.

And because this all happened in central Asia he's been ignored by western history.

In Civ4 the Mongols starts with hunting and the wheel, which somewhat conveniently open up AH and archery.

Genghis adds aggressive and imperialistic traits. Aggressive for combat1 melee and cheap barracks, Imperialstic for cheap settlers and lots of Great Generals.

The Mongols' unique unit is of course the Keshik. A basic standard horse archer until it comes to galloping over hills and through forests. Its a shame that because its an ability and not a promotion it doesn't transfer to upgraded units.

Ger (no I'm not growling). A superstable (4xp instead of 2xp) which goes fairly well with the keshik and not at all with aggressive.

All in all its a bit of a mixed bag. One of the weakest trait combos in the game which don't really synchronise with the UU or UB. At least Keshiks and Gers fit together nicely, however its a one trick pony and that's all that Genghis has going for him.

Its BtS 3.19, no mods.

General intro to the series:

Spoiler :

As said in RLC#1 this is a continuation of Sisutil's ALC series with a slightly different title to avoid copyright infringement .

In terms of settings I'm going to go for standard size, normal speed, fractal map script, temperate with normal sea level. That's nothing to do with the relative merits of map size or speed (a debate I find slightly puerile tbh) but everything to do with familiarity. I'm also going to avoid huts and events partly to do with eliminating some elements of randomness and also partly due to familiarity. Barbarians will be normal because that's the default option and the AIs appear to be programmed to respond to normal barbs.

edit1: mods. I've decided not to use any mods in this game either. That's not because I think that mods are a bad idea, in fact I reckon that many mods enhance gameplay. However if I'm playing a mod it means that people may have to load the mod to follow the game so it would limit participation to the people who have the mod installed.

I'm sticking with the same settings as RLC#2:

Spoiler :

I'm anticipating a difficult game though much will of course depend on the map

We have a starting screenshot:

We have a starting save:

 

[Manco Capac]

Good leader. Top tier to me.

First move is indeed to move the scout SW and then W. That is the most revealing. Unless finding something spectacular, SiP is fine.

 

[Smilingrogue]

Well, the good news is, you actually have a good reason to go AH, instead of simply looking for horses.

Should be a fun game, good luck!

 

[FlyinJohnnyL]

Don't know if he gets mentioned around here, but Dan Carlin does the best history podcasts (Hardcore History) and the last 4 installments have been all about Genghis and the Mongolians. Awesome stuff.

You cant help but want to go on a Keshik spree after listening to him. Genghis really just may be the best military leader of all time.

Okay, you can have your thread back now.

 

[Merovech]

I've always thought the Keshik should be a knight replacement. That would be more historically fitting, and wouldn't be game-breaking. This start isn't very nice looking. Hopefully horses are nearby...

 

[Manco Capac]

Keshiks aren't gamebreaking as much as war chariots or even worse Quechuas.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

They really should replace knights though. The Mongol curb-stomping of a good portion of the world was definitely NOT a BC's thing .

 

[vranasm]

They really should replace knights though. The Mongol curb-stomping of a good portion of the world was definitely NOT a BC's thing .

that would be a shame though... since unlike HBR Guilds are pretty terrible tech to aim for. But I have to agree that Guilds would fit them better.

If you don't find horses nearby...well I would be very tempted to reroll the map :-D

seems to me like good writing->hbr scenario out of the HA rush strategy article... let's cross fingers for horses and nearby AI's.

 

[Manco Capac]

seems to me like good writing->hbr scenario out of the HA rush strategy article... let's cross fingers for horses and nearby AI's.

You sure have an obsession over that article.

 

[vranasm]

You sure have an obsession over that article.

you have to forgive me...it's one of the few I remember from there the other one is know your enemy and that is kind of irrelevant now...

 

[pigswill]

I followed Tachywaxon's eminently sensible advice and moved the scout:

Yum, lots of lovely jungle. Wait, Genghis doesn't start with iron-working!

But seriously folks, first question. Settle in place or move to scout's starting position. Lose a turn and lose PH free hammer but swop plains hills for grassland hills and get a plains cow (3f,3h) which is a very nice tile indeed (particularly in combination with a hilly pigpen). Also with all the jungle to the south settling in place would make a southern plaincow fairly marginal until mid game.

 

[vranasm]

i would settle on the hill, you still have 3 hills and hilled pigs for plenty of production... you have other things to solve then production.

 

[Smilingrogue]

If you are ok with using foreknowledge from some one that's played until turn 90 or so, then read the spoiler. It's not exactly game-breaking advice as you will find out soon enough.

Spoiler :

Settle where the scout started or you will waste two food resources without the ability to place a city that can use them.

If you want to purely play based on what you see, can't argue much against SIP. (Which I did)

Edit : The spoiler's going to be obsolete after you SIP if you choose to do so. Nothing major.

 

[pigswill]

Aargh spoiler based on foreknowledge .

The temptation ....

But I shall stay strong.

Hmmm. Blue circle north of the settler? Most likely to suggest another resource up that way, probably food, maybe even seafood . Or maybe there's uranium up there, who knows.

I've had a quick glance through vicawoo's excellent article in the strategy sub-forum (really must learn to insert links to relevant threads). Pottery commerce isn't that tempting, fishing could be an option though not much food, writing/library perhaps, we have the production even if we ain't creative. However running 2 scientists at pop 5 would need a bit of food. The more I think about it the more tempted I am to go for cowpig city. The extra food for faster growth will make up for the loss of a turn. If there is seafood up north then that could well be a spot for an early city.

Another consideration is locating and using a strategic resource. Starting BFC has 1 visible resource and 5 forests which could well indicate an early strategic resource if we SIP. On the other hand its most likely to be iron iirc with something like a 30% chance of horses.

Tricky indeed, will ponder further while hoping for some more advice.

 

[Manco Capac]

This thread got underviewed; it's not like that was boring stuff like my thread.

For some reason, I'm tempted that one of the future cities settles on banana and works cow, sweet grass hills and rice later. Yes, jungle worth +0.25 each up to +2 (rounded down as usual).

For some reason, I'm unjustifiedly tempted to settle on that trap blue circle, so to settle a city 1S of pigs.

Still, lack of info forces to think too hard.

 

[Doshin]

I'd SIP.

PH + pasteurized pig will give you a quick start. This is Genghis, after all, who can spam cheap imperialistic Settlers. It's obviously not going to be a great Bureaucracy capital... but who cares? You can take someone else's lovely, wonder-ful(l), fully cottaged capital with your Keshiks.

 

[Manco Capac]

Objection!!!

Spoiler :

@HoF_Tachywaxon

What about the risk of killing possible fish/clam spots up there. I did the effort to open the save and look it up at least...

And seriously, losing a turn of research and production for unfounded gambles and nothing better based on real visible info. You suck....!!!

 

[Manco Capac]

@S&T_Tachywaxon

Spoiler :

You can have my middle finger where you think...

====================================================



We have Mansa on sight. Sweet...

IMM level soldier counts:

2000 : Hunting tech
2000 : Mining
4000 : Wheel
6000 : Archery
3*Skirmisher: 3*4000
---------------------
26000

Why I'm so sure? Starting a game, he always gets the strongest soldier count. Next is Hammy.

 

[Manco Capac]

Hmmmm the starting location normalizer sucks hard here. Big surprises await you....

 

[klonoklown]

Spoiler :

@S&T_Tachywaxon

Spoiler :

You can have my middle finger where you think...

====================================================



We have Mansa on sight. Sweet...

IMM level soldier counts:

2000 : Hunting tech
2000 : Mining
4000 : Wheel
6000 : Archery
3*Skirmisher: 3*4000
---------------------
26000

Why I'm so sure? Starting a game, he always gets the strongest soldier count. Next is Hammy.

Thanks for the info Tachywaxon. I never realized you could get information like that straight from the start!