Hey guys,

I just started a game as washington and was given 4 food resources to start with (a couple work boat resources and an irrigated farm). These four resources alone will generate 20 food. What should I do with my capital from here? I was originally planning on turning it into a GP farm city, as I will have more than enough food to supply specialists. I could also make it a gold farming city, with the colossus and plenty of room for cottages. Plan C would be to use it to whip out settlers and REX like mad.

One other thing that is important to note, I'm on a peninsula in a tundra map and boxed in by shaka.

It's hard to see the full situation without a screenshot, but from what you describe here the best solution is usually to build your first few cities closer to your capital so that they can share some of the food resources without wasting them. This is especially applicable in situations where you are boxed in by an AI.

Early game, you don't have specialists to run, and you usually have very small happy caps. At that point, I'd use it as your settler/worker pump. Don't build settlers or workers in any other city.

Later on, sounds like it'll be an ideal GP farm.

Without a screenshot of the area around your capitol it is hard to say. I would make it into a settler (and other units) pump to establish other cites (or to take shaka out). I would turn it into a GP farm after moving your capital to another location if you are stuck on a peninsula.

Edit: Like Artichoker and UWHabs said-crosspost.

:whipped: :whipped: :whipped: :whipped: :whipped: :whipped: :whipped:

Boxed into a tundra peninsula by Monty?

1. Whip units
2. Whip units
3. Whip units

Oh by the way, whip units.

Boxed into a tundra peninsula by Monty?

1. Whip units
2. Whip units
3. Whip units

Oh by the way, whip units.

I would also suggest you whip units. NOW. :crazyeye:

Take Shaka before he's ready to take you, or he'll be a thorn in your side for the rest of the game.

I'd use it as a settler/unit pump, then later on switch to GP farm and change your capital to your best production city (that has enough food/grassland to support a lot of mines/workshops).

Boxed into a tundra peninsula by Monty?

1. Whip units
2. Whip units
3. Whip units

Oh by the way, whip units.

I think when he said "shaka" he meant the Zululand leader, but your advice holds up anyways.

Although personally, upon hearing that you're on a peninsula I'd have thought it was obvious that killing your 1 neighbor was the obvious choice.

Oh, Shaka's not always so bad. As long as he has someone else close to him to occupy himself. Right now, he's so backwards I'm getting gunpowder and he doesn't even have code of laws yet.

@Cashew :I think skallagrimson was generalizing about Monty.

Oh, Shaka's not always so bad. As long as he has someone else close to him to occupy himself. Right now, he's so backwards I'm getting gunpowder and he doesn't even have code of laws yet.

Did you kick him in the teeth already? Or do you need to bump up a level? :mischief:

Either raise your happy caps to get use out of the food, or whip the heck out of Washington and rattle Shaka's cage.

Oh, Shaka's not always so bad. As long as he has someone else close to him to occupy himself. Right now, he's so backwards I'm getting gunpowder and he doesn't even have code of laws yet.

I was just saying that to myself in my last immortal game and then I got hit by a tidal wave of knights, cuirassers, maces, and catapults. Over 80 units pre 1000 AD after he vassaled 3 other guys. Fun fun.

Shaka is my least favorite AI to get a start where he gets a lot of land. Prior to nukes dealing with stacks of such sheer size is quite difficult.

I use the whip way too little, but in this case I have to agree with Futurehermit : WHIP!

With a monument and one or two happiness resources you should be able to run 3-4 specialists in your capitol .. and still grow lots with a granary. Use those excessive pops to get good stuff build. Like settlers and workers in the beginning :)

Once you either build the 'Mids (would be SOOO nice :lol:) or get Monarchy/HR, you can really start working those specialists and popping GP. Once you've secured Shaka (which I also recommend since if you don't, he will secure your ass), you should concentrate on getting higher populations in your REXed cities and especially that food rich capital.

You could also consider moving your palace to a different city which can support cottages and have your original capital location be a Great Person farm. Since capitals are supposed to have some hills, this has the advantage of ensuring that your GP farm has some production.

@Cashew :I think skallagrimson was generalizing about Monty.

Obviously. But my point was that generalizations about Shaka would be more pertinent to the discussion.

The generalization works both ways. They're both crazy war nuts! But of course you're right.

I was just saying that to myself in my last immortal game and then I got hit by a tidal wave of knights, cuirassers, maces, and catapults. Over 80 units pre 1000 AD after he vassaled 3 other guys. Fun fun.

Shaka is my least favorite AI to get a start where he gets a lot of land. Prior to nukes dealing with stacks of such sheer size is quite difficult.

Definitely painful. Although I prefer that pain over facing a 20 high stack of modern armors from a fast-techer AI when I don't even have artillery yet. The "numbers beat all" game mechanic only seems to work in the AI's favor. Sid Meier's amendment to Murphy's law.

I'm not so sure whipping is enough.

If you want to make use of all 4 food resources, the lower bound on the whip should be 4 (otherwise, you're not using some of the food some of the time, and overlap would be better). It is hard to get more than 2 pop whips from early units, so you would have a 6-4 whip cycle. If the resources give +20 food and you have a granary, you would regrow in a couple turns, way before the WW wears off. 8-4 might be better but it is hard to find (multiple) 4 pop whips, maybe except for settlers.

After caste system and globe theater or HR, this city will rock as a GPP. Until then, I think the only way to use all that food is as a settler pump (with some whips thrown in) or by building overlapping cities. If there is good cottagable land next to the capital it might be good to build overlap cities, let them grow off the surplus food of the capital pre-HR/GT&CS, and switch to more cottages when the capital needs the food.

I think that using all the food resources early on is a bit unnecessary. There's no way he'll have the happiness to grow large enough to need that many. 2 at the most is fine.