[Beorn]

Game over.

Looking back, I made good big-picture strategic decisions, pretty ok micromanagement and shitty tactical manoeuvers.

Points against:

• Isolated small island, 40% of which was desert and tundra, without counting mountains (got a volcano eruption that killed 2 towns)
• No domestic luxury resources
• Expansion opportunities were 1-tile islands, desert behind Killer, jungle in front of Killer, or halfway up the map
• Picked an ally I couldn't properly help in ynnek
• Wasted 2 entire armies (each large enough to win the game) getting cocky and pushing too hard without reinforcements or waiting for upgrades

Points for:

• Large amounts of food in the capital for expansion and
• Isolated from the early rampaging of CR axes and catapults
• International trade routes from GLH alone yielded more income than the average GDP for a long while until mercantilism
• Lots of forests to get pyramids up, and nothing else to do anyways
• Immense amounts of time on my hands - some days I needed almost an hour just micromanaging cities, workers, transport routes, etc. I may have all my head but, especially last spring, it moved very slowly

As for the other starting positions:

• Japan had the best but was completely crammed behind Portugal. Still, imo, the best one
• Portugal 2nd best, could've rushed bronze, denied metal to the Japs, taken over japan early and conquered his continent. In hindsight with full knowledge of resources, would be my choice
• America and Mongolia had large potential as well but I doubt they could've withstood a unified western continent. Mongolia was a 1st timer and deserves enormous congratulations for keeping up with us
• Rome was awkwardly situated geopolitically, and not rich enough in resources to make up for it
• Mali was rich in gold but poor in food, and most of all, too isolated for my taste
• Killer had a solid base of 2 cities (could've been 3-4) for a massive axe-cata surge, as he is wont to do. The right spot for the right guy. However, he made cottages too late to keep up, slowed further by a dense jungle of grasslands, and conquered too few high-commerce tiles/cities to make up for it
• Maarten and ynnek almost had twin starting positions, rich in FP cottage gold potential, luxuries, the works. Maarten had it better but ynnek had more room to breathe behind him. The most tense, high-risk high-reward positions.

Strategically I was best off building my super science city. Playing it safe early on (with extra early triremes) won the game. Still I wonder what might have been if I'd chosen to immortal-rush Killer from behind with his army up in Rome. The game would've been violently more interesting. Besides, I wish I could've helped ynnek more.

Matrix often said that it was an interesting stroke of luck that the veterans got clumped together and all the fun finns on the other side. Any one of us starting in Mongolia might've just crushed everyone. As would have either Matrix or Killer if they'd had the guile to take on the other after ynnek fell.

All in all, a very fun game.