At last, a Great Leader has arived

[alva]

How should we use our first Great Leader, if ever do get one off-course

Shall we hold-on to him to build a great spectacle, or put him directly at work, to conquer more land for our beloved President

Again discuss

[FrustratedPoet]

that depends on when we get him.

we might want him to rush the forbidden palace or create an army so we can get the heroic epic. a lot depends on whether we are at the start or end of a war when we get one too.

[Meshelic]

Yes, it is timing 99% of the time.

And there would be a LOT of ground to cover if we created hypothetical scenerio's of what we could do with one. there is timing, there is location, there are the events of war or peace at the time of the great leader appearing. many more I believe. It's a good idea to have this thread, but in a way I doubt it's 'necessity' until we known what we're up against, both militarily and industrialy.

[FrustratedPoet]

Good things to do with a GL:

1) rush Forbidden Palace. getting a good Palce/FP axis is crucial to doing well. Ask Arrian about that....

2) make an army. A victorious army = Heroic Epic = more GL's = more wonders and armies = total domination.

3) a Great Wonder. Sistine, Sun Tzu's, Leonardo's. These are hard to get GW's because of cascading production. With a GL you can jump the queue.

If we get an Ancient Age GL should we:
1) build an army?
2) rush the FP?
3) rush a wonder? (Great Library?)

[zeit]

I'm really keen on scientific advantage, so if we have the option to- use the GL for the Great library, and reap the profits. Using it for FP might be tempting- on the financial aspect, but we can always build that one, and Wonders are unique, so we should have Wonder rushong our top priority, but of course, in the end the circumstances will make us call the shots.

[alva]

The first discussion will probably be 'Army or wonder ' though IMO
(having read some strat posts on these boards,.... this has the potential of a huge debate )

[Randolph]

Due to the number of units likely to be involved in wars, I seriously doubt that an army will be all that big of a benefit, certainly not compared to rushing a wonder (or palace/FP), which there is likely to be a lot of competition for.

[FrustratedPoet]

Ah, the debate begins ....

I see your point Randolph, but if we build the heroic epic (which we need an army for) then we stand a better chance of getting more great leaders, which in turn leads to more rushed wonders. It's the old complaint of it being easy to be a builder in Civ3 if you do a lot of warmongering.

It is a tricky decision, I agree, and will depend on the circumstance, but an army could be of enormous benefit.

[Arrian]

It totally depends on the situation. If the geography is just so, there is nothing more powerful than an instant Forbidden Palace. Often, though, your original start location favors buildng the FP manually 1 or 2 cities over from the capitol and then rushing the Palace elsewhere.

I tend to seek the "perfect" Palace/FP setup, but in a game such as this, a merely "good" setup will provide a huge advantage. Therefore, I really cannot think of a better use for our first GL. Frankly, I'd even hold the GL for a while until the appropriate city is under out control (if the GL comes really early).

I could see making an army if we turn out to have a largish number of neighbors on our landmass. If we have less than 3 neighbors, though, there simply won't be enough early cannon fodder for the HE to pay off (again, assuming non-militaristic civ - less elites).

-Arrian

[FrustratedPoet]

That's true Arrian, I'd forgotten that if we're a non-militaristic Civ (which is very likely) then we'll be getting less elites.

[Meshelic]

Arrian welcome!

[alva]

You see, I'm an optimist
-
This thread can now peacefully die...

[DeepO]

Alva, care to start a thread on "what to do with our second Great Leader?"? We might need it soon

DeepO