Openings

Please post some of your early opening strategies for BNW. I haven't really played since Vanilla and I'm a little overwhelmed right now and just simply need some advice.

Just some general openings to get in a decent position would be awesome! I usually play Standard, King, Random Map and Random Civ.

THanks in advance guys!

Assuming Tradition start (I wouldn't claim to be good on other starts, but they're perfectly viable I hear).

Don't build a monument, let it pop from your policy. Don't build a caravan early (at least not on King). Don't build more units than you need, you have a gold issue. Bronze working is slightly more useful now, since it reveals Iron for extra hammers and selling for gold early on. So, don't completely ignore it unless you're bee-lining for a specific tech. Work all culture specialist slots as soon as you make them.

Everything else is the same. Oh, if your first city isn't by the coast, make it a priority to get your second city up on a coast. Make graineries a priority in all cities, so they can send food to your capital, especially if your capital's by the water.

Buy settlers with gold still, no need to hard build with a Tradition start. Also consider buying other stuff with gold after your first settler, since there's much more stuff in the beginning and AI expands far slower, so the space will still be there even if you wait.

There is ONE gigantic huge change in BNW.

Food Trade Routes, if you don't use them your going to have 10ish pop towns when the AI has 20+

Wanna be the next Athenai? Tradition. Wanna be the next Imperium Romanum? Liberty. Wanna be the next Veni, Vidi, Vici? Honour. Wanna be the next Imperium Byzantium? Piety.

Tech Pottery-Writing- after that depends on what you have in your rings.

Scout-Monumnet-Depends on open space near you on 3rd choice- if lots of barbs, warrior, if not bad, Shrine- GL if you think you can if not library. That will get you up and running. After that it depends on what is around you. The GL is not so much needed, this is just for denial to the AI's. I always go for free amps not monuments, so hard build them. Not like you have a lot of options at the beginning. And just building units is no longer a valid strat for me, gold is to hard to come by early game.