Pong Report

Bonne nuit! I've played Catherine a few times, not my favorite but a pretty solid leader/civ.  I enjoy the extra level of visibility, the wonder bonus mid-game, and to be Queen of the spies! Jungles, not my favorite. Enough bananas to feed Paris, though, and maybe a decent campus spot to the West. Build order was Scout > (Free Scout from Hut) > Monument > Builder > Slinger. A bunch of grassland to expand into to my north, plains and deserts to the south. Found Germany and two city states pretty quickly. The city states provide a decent buffer between me and the AI. Decent two-luxury city to the south. Found America to the north, closer than I'd like.  I begin to ponder where my first settler will go, with Northeast leading in my mind. I've got 2 scouts, so I play that card.  I take faith & gold over production because I want a pantheon, preferably pushing my presumed cultural advantages. ...

This game was exceedingly frustrating. It has one of the best beginnings that I've ever seen in a multiplayer game, but it quickly takes a turn, just before we quit, that sucked all the air out of this one for me. I learned a valuable lesson about the invisible rules of the game, but it probably cost me this match.