Well, this never happened to me, and I do play Isabella quite frequently. I thought of it as impossible. Might be because of gaming configuration (I usually play continents on huge or large setting)
I usually play on Large or Huge, of various Landmasses. Believe me, if I was guaranteed a 'near' NW site as Isabella, I'd play her a lot more often than I do (which is a lot).
Well, indeed it is. But you blatantly ignore many aspects of my argument. It is much easier to acquire horses for a Knight UU than for horseman. Be it by settling near the resource or by acquiring city-state alliance. And in the Mongols case, their starting bias for plains make it easier for horses to spawn near them.
Actually, I didn't ignore it. First and foremost, I'm not sure if I've ever BUILT a Cataphract as the Byzantines. This points out two things: they are very lackluster, and they are perfectly superfluous to the Byzantines.
I would also argue that the Dromon makes it more likely to obtain CS Horses by killing Barbs in their territory, but that's a minor case.
Finally, I actually agree that the Cataphract should be a Knight replacement.
I will reiterate, though, that the Cataphract should never be an integral part of Byzantine play. In order of priorities, it should be 1) Dromon, 2) Religion, and about 20) Cataphract.
No. Dido has a starting bias for coast, while Theodora may just as likely start in the middle of a landsmass.
A bias (Venice notwithstanding) does not guarantee a Coastal start. Theodora may not be guaranteed a coastal start, but I think I can count the number of games I have seen Constantinople not on a coast on one hand.
And, unlike Dido, a non-coastal start for Theodora is much less costly. I can build/buy Dromon from any Coastal city, while the free Harbor aspect of Dido's UA becomes a chore if she does not start on the coast.
This happens much easier with Theodora. Player skill does come into the fray, but with an unit as early as the dromon, the opportunity window for player skill playing a role gets diminished.
Um, the Dromon does not get replaced until the Galleass in the middle Medieval period. I don't quite consider that the 'early game'. On that note, the OP's mention of moving the Dromon to Optics makes the window of opportunity to use it _shorter_, not longer. Inexplicably so.
My example was the one using tithe as the bonus. My argument was that there are many civilizations able to generate money in other, more efficient ways. I did not mean there were other civilizations able to get two founder beliefs, and I am still puzzled that was your interpretation. I supose it was a rethorical maneuvre.
It was not rhetorical. You do not seem to prize flexibility. There are very Civs that can 'trade in' or 'tailor' their UA to a certain playstyle. While the Byzantines aren't the best at this (that would probably be the Maya), the Byzantines are even more flexible, and therefore warrants higher risk.
I admit that there's some things unique to Theodora. They usually revolve around making a lot of faith (generally with pilgrimage) - and maybe spamming holy sites with cheaper prophets. Now, with BNW, Theodora also has the ability of (better) spamming faith bought buldings that generate tourism. But nearly every other possibility fits a niche already well represented by other civilizations, and getting these (unique) bonuses depend on you getting lucky with leftover beliefs.
Ironically, not one of these is something _I_ use Theodora, which underscores the point that Theodora's strength is her flexibility.
All in all I'm not trying to bash Theodora.
The OP certainly seemed to. 'Why would you play Theodora?' The answers are there. If those answers don't satisfy someone, go play something else.
There are positive aspects. It's just I feel her game is too random, and I do not think many of us find fun in getting a gimped start. For that reason, I tried to point out the many ways you can get gimped with her.
Sure, and I can get gimped with any other Civ as well.
Byzantium needs fixes that make you, at least, more able to use their uniques. Preferably one that does not tip the power scale too much, but makes it harder for you to utterly fail at the start for reasons beyond your control.
Download the Peristyle mod for Byzantium, and see what happens when you give the Byzantines a Faith UB. And the kicker is that it's NOT that powerful compared to the Shrine. It's almost an impossible point to make.
To me, the Byzantine UA could be changed to 'You are allowed to recruit the Dromon' and give them no other uniques, and they'd still be a good Civ. The Byzantine Civ is a truly transformational Civ. It gets perhaps the only 'mounted infantry' UU in the game, a naval UU that completely changes the way the early Naval game is played, and a UA that gives it the ability to have a very different religion.
