I'm still struggling with Prince but I am reasonably convinced that starting on a Plains Hill gives you so many tempi in getting the first worker/WB out that it's almost mandatory when the option is offered. If one validly makes that assumption, I'd start exploring now with the warrior, rather than moving to a square which uncovers things we'll see shortly with a border pop. So I'm for moving the warrior AWAY from the settler and founding before I move. But what do I know, I regularly get public humiliation in the CF prince series?
ALC Game #23: America/Lincoln
- Thread starter Sisiutil
- Start date
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
Round 1: 4000 BC to 2950 BC (42 turns)
As I pretty much indicated I would, I settled in place on the plains hill. As I'd been hoping, doing so revealed yet another food resource to the north.
Daaaaaaaang, that's a lot of food! Irrigated corn, no less. If I live to see it through, Washington will be an extraordinary Great Person farm (unlike the real-life version
). Still, I can't go counting chickens--or clams, in this case. Even with the extra happy citizen from Charismatic, this city won't reach its full potential for some time. In the near future, however, it will be whip central, don't you think?
Well, with nine civs on a standard sized map, I should have known that the neighbours would start showing up pretty darn soon.
Wow, turn four and he's already rearing his feathery head? I figured he must be extraordinarily close by, and as you'll see, I was correct. Huayna will be trouble, he always is--not Monty or Shaka-style trouble, but tech trouble. He's up there with Mansa Musa when it comes to tech-whoring in my book, but is not as willing to share. I may have to kill him before he gets a chance to run away with the game.
I sent the Warrior scouting to the south, as recommended. He discovered a that the land there was a tundra-encrusted peninsula, though not completely bereft of resources. I also had a little luck with the goody huts, popping this one for gold.
The next neighbour showed up exactly four turns after the first one. Hoo-boy.
Yeesh, talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place--or in this case, a tech whore and a psycho. One of them's gotta die, methinks. More on that later.
I finished researching my first tech...
...and then went after Bronze Working.
Then another neighbour came by, this one much more to my liking.
I can usually get along quite well with Hatshepsut provided she isn't right next door. Interesting how all three leaders I've met so far have been in the game since vanilla.
I finished my first work boat and then started work on a Worker. I was rather proud of the timing here, seeing as how the Worker would finish on the very same turn that he'd be able to chop things:
I lucked out and found another goody hut!
I considered that quite extraordinary, considering all the nearby civs and their scouts souring the map. Then again, sometimes the AI starting with Scouts--which I think they do at Immortal, correct me if I'm wrong--does them a disservice. The AI seems to keep trying to move Scouts 2 tiles every turn, and as a result, my units sometimes find huts deep inside "slow move" territory that the AI has obviously neglected to explore, as in this case.
And it turns out the neighbourhood is even more crowded than initial indicators warranted--our first non-vanilla leader finally put in an appearance:
Well, I did load the map up with a couple of extra civs, didn't I? Of course one of them would be a wingnut, the other a techmonger. Hammy, on the other hand, is another leader I quite often find myself chummy with. But he can be nearly as deft at research as Huayna, so he'll be a long-term threat.
I finished researching Bronze Working, and as you might be able to tell by close examination of the screenie, it appeared quite nearby.
Let's have a closer look, shall we?
Wow, copper and gems! Mind you, the gems are inaccessible until Iron Working thanks to that jungle. The only problem at first glance appears to be a lack of food in the area. This is why I decided to keep going a few more turns; I wanted to use my Warrior to thoroughly reveal the area around that copper tile so we could make the best decision around where the city should go. So I decided to go a few more turns until I'd done that.
Oh, and did you notice the barb Archer? Unless he appeared from a hut (hostile villagers = Archers!?! Yikes!), the barbs do indeed appear a lot earlier on Immortal, making the level scarier already.
So I kept researching and exploring. My Warrior managed to survive several encounters with animals and even a barb Archer, so he now has Woodsman II for super-scouting. I chopped another work boat and started work on a Settler while my Worker started farming the corn. I ended the round when I finished researching this tech:
So now I'm ready to get that copper on line as soon as the Settler founds my second city.
The Settler is coming along, assisted by the two working clam tiles and a flood plain:
The Worker has 4 turns left to complete the farm, and that should accelerate the build of the Settler a little faster. Should I have chopped instead? The optimizers among you can debate that point; I'll be interested to hear the result. Frankly, I think the Worker's next few moves will be road-building to ensure the copper is ready to go ASAP.
I'm a little nervous about having so little protection, especially with barb Archers already wandering around the map. I would imagine that if they appear sooner, they'll also start attacking within my borders sooner. So after the Settler is done, I'm thinking of building some Warriors just to be safe. On the other hand, if those of you with experience tell me that the barb Archers are abnormally early and therefore likely the result of a very bad hut pop, then I could save my hammers for the copper and axemen.
So just to review, here's everyone I've met so far:
Which means that there are four other civs somewhere else on the map. It's hard to say with snaky continents; They could be on one or more other landmasses, or they could be on this one, but quite far away, or even blocked from reaching me at the moment because one of the other capitals is sitting astride a choke point. We'll see--if I live that long.
And now a look at the map:
So as I feared, the land surrounding the copper isn't exactly rich with food. I was trying to figure out where the second city should go. It should be placed on a tile immediately adjacent to the copper so that I can start on a mine without waiting for borders to pop. I'd love to put it on the desert 1N of the copper, as it would improve a tile that normally can't be improved, but that would lose the sole nearby food source, the cows. 1N of the lake, on the grassland, sacrifices a 3F tile in an area low on food.
Then I got inspired: what if I settle right on top of the copper? It would mean that the resource would be available as soon as the city's founded and a road to the capital is in place. It makes the copper practically pillage proof. And the city would have the fresh water bonus from the lake, would have the gems and cows in its expanded fat cross, and could work Washington's corn and/or one of its clam tiles initially to fuel its growth. After all, as I said, Washington won't be able to grow to its full size and potential for some time, so why not share the wealth? I would sacrifice the extra hammers from a copper mine, but there are some hills nearby, not to mention the three hammers from plains cows. Eventually, when Washington needs to work all its food tiles, New York will be a mediocre city, but at this point, it will get the job done. Thoughts?
Oh, I should point out that Huayna is extremely nearby. The plains hill and the plains tile NE of the cows and S of the fish in the top right-hand corner of the map are his. So I'm thinking I should axe-rush him, because he'll just become a bigger problem as time goes on. What with this being Immortal, where the AI gets a research boost, we could see a repeat of the 1st Saladin debacle, where I'm attacking Crossbows with Swordsmen... or worse. Oh, and did I mention he has a holy city? He founded Taoism (Remember that Choose Religions is on, before you panic and think Huayna has Philosophy already!)
However, any talk of war on this map must take Montezuma into consideration. I still don't know where he is, but he's somewhere north or northwest, I think, and since he appeared on turn 8, he can't be far. Now, I could turn Monty into a pet dog--all I have to do is be lucky enough for his religion (he still doesn't have one) to spread to just one of my cities so I can adopt it. I also give in to his early demands for tribute--and yes, they'll be coming. Finally, if I axe-rush Hauyna, I should end up with a decent early-era army and power rating, and I hope that will be enough to deter Monty. Normally I'd count on taking him on later in the game when I have a tech lead on him, but this being Immortal, I can't assume I'm going to have a tech lead on anybody. So he may have to be attacked shortly after Huayna.
Hatty and Hammy I can live with.
I hope.
Now, I'll be interested to see your dotmaps. In some ways the map generator has been extraordinarily kind, as if it was throwing me a few bones for this, my first immortal game. There's a nice variety of both happy and healthy resources in the immediate vicinity and certainly enough food for some good specialist economy cities. With all that desert to the west, I don't see a good commerce/alternative capital city over there (all the more reason to capture someone else's). But definitely some spots for good cities, I think. I should have scouted onto the southern tip of the peninsula where the deer is to see if there's any seafood or whales hiding in the fog 2 tiles from the coast, but then again, I might have missed out on that jungle-based goody hut. So I'll have to swing by there again before making a final decision.
In terms of research, I was thinking that Mysticism should be next for monuments, followed by Animal Husbandry. After that, I think Pottery and Writing will be needed in order to get the SE up and running. I don't see a need for Hunting and Archery for a while; I won't be settling the deer site for a while, and with copper so close, Archers would be superfluous. If Huayna or Monty have horses, however, I might need Hunting for Spearmen, otherwise my Axes will be quite vulnerable.
Anyway, the proximity of copper is a relief and bodes well for the game, but I have to get to it before Huayna. The map looks promising but challenging too; I think this will be a very enjoyable game--provided the Immortal-level AI doesn't kick my sorry butt.
As I pretty much indicated I would, I settled in place on the plains hill. As I'd been hoping, doing so revealed yet another food resource to the north.
Daaaaaaaang, that's a lot of food! Irrigated corn, no less. If I live to see it through, Washington will be an extraordinary Great Person farm (unlike the real-life version
). Still, I can't go counting chickens--or clams, in this case. Even with the extra happy citizen from Charismatic, this city won't reach its full potential for some time. In the near future, however, it will be whip central, don't you think? Well, with nine civs on a standard sized map, I should have known that the neighbours would start showing up pretty darn soon.
Wow, turn four and he's already rearing his feathery head? I figured he must be extraordinarily close by, and as you'll see, I was correct. Huayna will be trouble, he always is--not Monty or Shaka-style trouble, but tech trouble. He's up there with Mansa Musa when it comes to tech-whoring in my book, but is not as willing to share. I may have to kill him before he gets a chance to run away with the game.
I sent the Warrior scouting to the south, as recommended. He discovered a that the land there was a tundra-encrusted peninsula, though not completely bereft of resources. I also had a little luck with the goody huts, popping this one for gold.
The next neighbour showed up exactly four turns after the first one. Hoo-boy.
Yeesh, talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place--or in this case, a tech whore and a psycho. One of them's gotta die, methinks. More on that later.
I finished researching my first tech...
...and then went after Bronze Working.
Then another neighbour came by, this one much more to my liking.
I can usually get along quite well with Hatshepsut provided she isn't right next door. Interesting how all three leaders I've met so far have been in the game since vanilla.
I finished my first work boat and then started work on a Worker. I was rather proud of the timing here, seeing as how the Worker would finish on the very same turn that he'd be able to chop things:
I lucked out and found another goody hut!
I considered that quite extraordinary, considering all the nearby civs and their scouts souring the map. Then again, sometimes the AI starting with Scouts--which I think they do at Immortal, correct me if I'm wrong--does them a disservice. The AI seems to keep trying to move Scouts 2 tiles every turn, and as a result, my units sometimes find huts deep inside "slow move" territory that the AI has obviously neglected to explore, as in this case.
And it turns out the neighbourhood is even more crowded than initial indicators warranted--our first non-vanilla leader finally put in an appearance:
Well, I did load the map up with a couple of extra civs, didn't I? Of course one of them would be a wingnut, the other a techmonger. Hammy, on the other hand, is another leader I quite often find myself chummy with. But he can be nearly as deft at research as Huayna, so he'll be a long-term threat.
I finished researching Bronze Working, and as you might be able to tell by close examination of the screenie, it appeared quite nearby.
Let's have a closer look, shall we?
Wow, copper and gems! Mind you, the gems are inaccessible until Iron Working thanks to that jungle. The only problem at first glance appears to be a lack of food in the area. This is why I decided to keep going a few more turns; I wanted to use my Warrior to thoroughly reveal the area around that copper tile so we could make the best decision around where the city should go. So I decided to go a few more turns until I'd done that.
Oh, and did you notice the barb Archer? Unless he appeared from a hut (hostile villagers = Archers!?! Yikes!), the barbs do indeed appear a lot earlier on Immortal, making the level scarier already.
So I kept researching and exploring. My Warrior managed to survive several encounters with animals and even a barb Archer, so he now has Woodsman II for super-scouting. I chopped another work boat and started work on a Settler while my Worker started farming the corn. I ended the round when I finished researching this tech:
So now I'm ready to get that copper on line as soon as the Settler founds my second city.
The Settler is coming along, assisted by the two working clam tiles and a flood plain:
The Worker has 4 turns left to complete the farm, and that should accelerate the build of the Settler a little faster. Should I have chopped instead? The optimizers among you can debate that point; I'll be interested to hear the result. Frankly, I think the Worker's next few moves will be road-building to ensure the copper is ready to go ASAP.
I'm a little nervous about having so little protection, especially with barb Archers already wandering around the map. I would imagine that if they appear sooner, they'll also start attacking within my borders sooner. So after the Settler is done, I'm thinking of building some Warriors just to be safe. On the other hand, if those of you with experience tell me that the barb Archers are abnormally early and therefore likely the result of a very bad hut pop, then I could save my hammers for the copper and axemen.
So just to review, here's everyone I've met so far:
Which means that there are four other civs somewhere else on the map. It's hard to say with snaky continents; They could be on one or more other landmasses, or they could be on this one, but quite far away, or even blocked from reaching me at the moment because one of the other capitals is sitting astride a choke point. We'll see--if I live that long.
And now a look at the map:
So as I feared, the land surrounding the copper isn't exactly rich with food. I was trying to figure out where the second city should go. It should be placed on a tile immediately adjacent to the copper so that I can start on a mine without waiting for borders to pop. I'd love to put it on the desert 1N of the copper, as it would improve a tile that normally can't be improved, but that would lose the sole nearby food source, the cows. 1N of the lake, on the grassland, sacrifices a 3F tile in an area low on food.
Then I got inspired: what if I settle right on top of the copper? It would mean that the resource would be available as soon as the city's founded and a road to the capital is in place. It makes the copper practically pillage proof. And the city would have the fresh water bonus from the lake, would have the gems and cows in its expanded fat cross, and could work Washington's corn and/or one of its clam tiles initially to fuel its growth. After all, as I said, Washington won't be able to grow to its full size and potential for some time, so why not share the wealth? I would sacrifice the extra hammers from a copper mine, but there are some hills nearby, not to mention the three hammers from plains cows. Eventually, when Washington needs to work all its food tiles, New York will be a mediocre city, but at this point, it will get the job done. Thoughts?
Oh, I should point out that Huayna is extremely nearby. The plains hill and the plains tile NE of the cows and S of the fish in the top right-hand corner of the map are his. So I'm thinking I should axe-rush him, because he'll just become a bigger problem as time goes on. What with this being Immortal, where the AI gets a research boost, we could see a repeat of the 1st Saladin debacle, where I'm attacking Crossbows with Swordsmen... or worse. Oh, and did I mention he has a holy city? He founded Taoism (Remember that Choose Religions is on, before you panic and think Huayna has Philosophy already!)
However, any talk of war on this map must take Montezuma into consideration. I still don't know where he is, but he's somewhere north or northwest, I think, and since he appeared on turn 8, he can't be far. Now, I could turn Monty into a pet dog--all I have to do is be lucky enough for his religion (he still doesn't have one) to spread to just one of my cities so I can adopt it. I also give in to his early demands for tribute--and yes, they'll be coming. Finally, if I axe-rush Hauyna, I should end up with a decent early-era army and power rating, and I hope that will be enough to deter Monty. Normally I'd count on taking him on later in the game when I have a tech lead on him, but this being Immortal, I can't assume I'm going to have a tech lead on anybody. So he may have to be attacked shortly after Huayna.
Hatty and Hammy I can live with.
I hope.
Now, I'll be interested to see your dotmaps. In some ways the map generator has been extraordinarily kind, as if it was throwing me a few bones for this, my first immortal game. There's a nice variety of both happy and healthy resources in the immediate vicinity and certainly enough food for some good specialist economy cities. With all that desert to the west, I don't see a good commerce/alternative capital city over there (all the more reason to capture someone else's). But definitely some spots for good cities, I think. I should have scouted onto the southern tip of the peninsula where the deer is to see if there's any seafood or whales hiding in the fog 2 tiles from the coast, but then again, I might have missed out on that jungle-based goody hut. So I'll have to swing by there again before making a final decision.
In terms of research, I was thinking that Mysticism should be next for monuments, followed by Animal Husbandry. After that, I think Pottery and Writing will be needed in order to get the SE up and running. I don't see a need for Hunting and Archery for a while; I won't be settling the deer site for a while, and with copper so close, Archers would be superfluous. If Huayna or Monty have horses, however, I might need Hunting for Spearmen, otherwise my Axes will be quite vulnerable.
Anyway, the proximity of copper is a relief and bodes well for the game, but I have to get to it before Huayna. The map looks promising but challenging too; I think this will be a very enjoyable game--provided the Immortal-level AI doesn't kick my sorry butt.
I vote for Axe-Rushing HC. But I dunno if that works in BTS Immortal. :/ (I only play Vanilla)
Teching - Mysticism for Monuments as you said, but I'd get Pottery before AH and set up a few Floodplains Cottages to lay the groundwork for an economy (And help support your rush) before you get Writing.
Monty is gonna be a pain. He always is. So after rushing HC, maybe lay the groundwork to take him out in a Medieval/Rennasance war, and become friends with Hammy and Hatty. Use them to help trade techs once you get alphabet.
I'd also get NY 1N of the copper. That way, there's no desert in the BFC, and no overlap with Washington.
Teching - Mysticism for Monuments as you said, but I'd get Pottery before AH and set up a few Floodplains Cottages to lay the groundwork for an economy (And help support your rush) before you get Writing.
Monty is gonna be a pain. He always is. So after rushing HC, maybe lay the groundwork to take him out in a Medieval/Rennasance war, and become friends with Hammy and Hatty. Use them to help trade techs once you get alphabet.
I'd also get NY 1N of the copper. That way, there's no desert in the BFC, and no overlap with Washington.
Bandobras Took
Emperor
I don't think you can afford to let the Incans live. They only get stronger as the game goes on, not weaker. If Montezuma and Hammurabi are right next to each other, there's at least something of a possibility of getting them to kill each other. Granted, how to actually beat the Incans is for wiser heads than mine. 
LightSpectra
me autem minui
Perhaps you should get the wheat/pig/wine city first, since that gives you lots of whips for early worker production.
I don't think you can afford to let the Incans live. They only get stronger as the game goes on, not weaker. If Montezuma and Hammurabi are right next to each other, there's at least something of a possibility of getting them to kill each other. Granted, how to actually beat the Incans is for wiser heads than mine.
So you're saying that Axe Rushing them doesn't work at BTS Immortal?
Then maybe Swords. Or Cats/Trebs.
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
I like your Pottery-before-AH suggestion, I'll consider it.
Why wait to take out Monty that long? I was thinking if Huayna falls fast, I follow up with an axe-rush on Monty. Or, at the latest, a Swords-and-Cats classical-era beat-down.
Overlap is not always a bad thing, and sometimes you just have to live with unworkable tiles. I'm sticking by settling right smack-dab on top of the copper unless someone can convince me there's a better option.
I think that might be city #3. I'm worried that if I leave that copper site too long, Huayna will claim it; even if he doesn't yet know if there's copper there, there's cows and gems. (I can't recall if I saw an announcement that he'd adopted Slavery, so I don't know if he's researched BW yet, but I doubt it, since he founded a religion first.) Besides, the earlier the copper is available, IMHO, the better.
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
At a glance I'd say settle 2N of the corn, settle on the wines, break out the whip, and get ready to knock some heads.
slobberinbear
Ursine Skald
Nice blend of resources. I would settle the bronze first, on the grassland 1N of the lake. There is plenty of food there to work the good tiles, and it will be a decent production city to complement Washington. The cow and grassland will each give +1 food surplus. With the city tile, that's +4 surplus, and the gem mines are food neutral. That gives you 4 extra food to work the desert copper mine and the plains hill, or keep growing while working the food-neutral grassland tiles after cottaging them. I think the short-term gain of getting copper quicker is offset by the loss of production -- and remember, this will be a production city. We just need enough food to work the production tiles.
City three I would place 2 NW of the corn. That sucker will grab six floodplains but will have fresh water and forests to counteract the unhealthiness. This is the commerce/science city.
So with your first three cities, you have GP/whipping, production, and cottaging, and you've blocked off your peninsula from Monty and Huayna.
City four could go on the desert hill 1N of the wine tile. You miss fresh water, but you pick up clams, wine, and two floodplains. I see this as a SE city running a couple of scientists and whatever other specialists you can pick up with the odd building here and there. You could also run it as a medium-strength production city with the hills.
City five would be 1s of the wheat, to get the wheat and pigs. This too is a SE city.
City six is marginal, 1S/1SW of the spices for the spices and deer. This one should wait until after calendar and your military action. It is probably a Moai candidate.
Military-wise, I would go after Monty first. Huayna can be dealt with peacefully for awhile; Monty is a nutcase who will attack you sooner or later. Pummel him early before he gets his Sacrificial Altars and starts whipping like a madman. Although his land appears to be in an equatorial jungle area, if he's to the NW.
After AH, I think you have to consider taking Pottery then Iron Working. Both will go a long way towards cranking up your economy (cottages and two gem mines -- and maybe some iron!). After that, I urge you to grit your teeth and tech up to Monarchy via Mysticism, Meditation/Polytheism, and Priesthood, possibly with the aid of the Oracle chopped out in Washington.
Lastly, I would probably have waited until size four for the settler, so you could work all three clams and the corn for uber-food output and fast production.
City three I would place 2 NW of the corn. That sucker will grab six floodplains but will have fresh water and forests to counteract the unhealthiness. This is the commerce/science city.
So with your first three cities, you have GP/whipping, production, and cottaging, and you've blocked off your peninsula from Monty and Huayna.
City four could go on the desert hill 1N of the wine tile. You miss fresh water, but you pick up clams, wine, and two floodplains. I see this as a SE city running a couple of scientists and whatever other specialists you can pick up with the odd building here and there. You could also run it as a medium-strength production city with the hills.
City five would be 1s of the wheat, to get the wheat and pigs. This too is a SE city.
City six is marginal, 1S/1SW of the spices for the spices and deer. This one should wait until after calendar and your military action. It is probably a Moai candidate.
Military-wise, I would go after Monty first. Huayna can be dealt with peacefully for awhile; Monty is a nutcase who will attack you sooner or later. Pummel him early before he gets his Sacrificial Altars and starts whipping like a madman. Although his land appears to be in an equatorial jungle area, if he's to the NW.
After AH, I think you have to consider taking Pottery then Iron Working. Both will go a long way towards cranking up your economy (cottages and two gem mines -- and maybe some iron!). After that, I urge you to grit your teeth and tech up to Monarchy via Mysticism, Meditation/Polytheism, and Priesthood, possibly with the aid of the Oracle chopped out in Washington.
Lastly, I would probably have waited until size four for the settler, so you could work all three clams and the corn for uber-food output and fast production.
Kill early, kill quick, kill many.
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
And remember, with Charismatic, they'll be fast promos.
Okay, here's my own attempt at a dot map:
Yellow city is the one I suggested before, right on top of the copper; road it to the capital and the axerush is a go. With two immediately-farmable grasslands, fresh water, 4 hills, 2 gems, and cows, it won't be a half-bad city, frankly.
Orange city would be either another GP farm or commerce city, what with 6 flood plains and 6 grasslands (one of them riverside). It also has 4 hills for production and sugar for extra food on top of the flood plains. I'd lean toward commerce with this one, and possibly move the capital there. That's why I made it #2, so I can get a commerce city going ASAP. It seems a waste to cottage Washington's flood plains when I'll just farm over them later. It has only one unworkable desert tile, but who knows--maybe oil will appear there later.
Blue city has 3 flood plains and three food sources and I think it's another GP/whip farm that will benefit from Philosophical and drive the SE. Its surfeit of food is why I think Orange can go commerce--with two excellent food cities, orange can take advantage of its riverside tiles for cottaging.
Red doesn't have a number because it won't be needed for a while, and is sub-optimal what with all those tundra and plains tiles. It's just there to claim the spices and deer. Spices aren't available until Calendar and deer won't be needed until I start having health problems (though with 6 flood plains and no fresh water bonus, Orange will suffer from that sooner rather than later). Plus the other cities block off that part of the map, significantly reducing the risk of the AI beating me to that part of the map. We also don't know where iron or horses are yet, and I wouldn't be surprised to have one of those resources appear down here--the map generator loves placing horses and iron on tundra, I've noticed. If so, those resources appearing there may necessitate moving this city's location; fortunately, the food source (deer) is accessible from almost any position in that area, but the spices would have to wait until a later border pop if the city moved.
The only problem with all this is that the other AIs are apparently quite close, so I could get beaten to these spots; but REXing, even modestly to 4 cities, may slow down the axe rush. That's another reason I made Orange city #2, because just by making it #3, Monty might beat me to it, or at least nearby.
popejubal
Emperor
Since you have an outstanding GP farm (with enough food that you can donate the Corn to the Copper city) and there appear to be so many civs close by, it looks like you won't have a whole lot of cities.
When you have lots of cities working lots of tiles, a Golden Age is an enormous benefit. When you have just a few cities, settled great people make a big difference because each city is a much greater percentage of your entire empire.
This map looks like a situation where settling Great People will be a nice option to consider - especially any Great Scientists, Prophets or Engineers. Those extra hammers are quite helpful on an Archepelago map. Just make sure they're settled in a city outside of Washington so that you can get the most benefit from them.
When you have lots of cities working lots of tiles, a Golden Age is an enormous benefit. When you have just a few cities, settled great people make a big difference because each city is a much greater percentage of your entire empire.
This map looks like a situation where settling Great People will be a nice option to consider - especially any Great Scientists, Prophets or Engineers. Those extra hammers are quite helpful on an Archepelago map. Just make sure they're settled in a city outside of Washington so that you can get the most benefit from them.
LightSpectra
me autem minui
If you're really going to put New York right on top of the copper, I suggest you move your capitol there as soon as the option is available.
Some reasons for 1N of the copper:
Since the city itself gives 2 food you can work the improved copper during stagnation.
You have places to farm if desired but otherwise you can work grassland cottages early on.
Later on you gain 2 grassland hills that you can windmill for food and commerce plus keep the hammers.
If you need production later you can farm grassland and windmill the plains hills.
Once you get biology the plains become useful if they do not forest over first.
You give back 3 of 4 overlap tiles: the corn and clams and 1 grassland forest.
You cover up the desert but you add two mountains.
You do not need to wait for the second culture pop to close off the pass.
All that said, given the lack of production and the necessity of early war those shared two food early probably more than make up for the long term loss of commerce and give you the ability to whip early on.
Since the city itself gives 2 food you can work the improved copper during stagnation.
You have places to farm if desired but otherwise you can work grassland cottages early on.
Later on you gain 2 grassland hills that you can windmill for food and commerce plus keep the hammers.
If you need production later you can farm grassland and windmill the plains hills.
Once you get biology the plains become useful if they do not forest over first.
You give back 3 of 4 overlap tiles: the corn and clams and 1 grassland forest.
You cover up the desert but you add two mountains.
You do not need to wait for the second culture pop to close off the pass.
All that said, given the lack of production and the necessity of early war those shared two food early probably more than make up for the long term loss of commerce and give you the ability to whip early on.
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