Izmir Stinger
Deity
Hi, long time lurker, first time poster, blah, blah, blah. I don't do intro threads.
The strategy articles and tips at CivFanatics have taken me from struggling on Monarch difficulty to owning it's face on a regular basis. I would like to thank you all profusely for the help - this is a great site! Now that I have stroked your egos, I am going to ask you for more help. What? I'm needy.
I feel I am ready for Emperor difficulty level, but my first dozen or so attempts have been uber-epic fail. I've tried doing SE and CE, a number of leader traits... noting seems to work. It is getting very frustrating. I decided to start a new Emperor game with fairly run of the mill settings and document all of my decisions in the early game. My previous defeats have all been during the Middle Ages or Renaissance - or at least that is when it became clear I could not win - so my early game is obviously what needs work. I have played 128 turns and have come to what I see as a crucial decision point. I invite you guys to critique my game so far and maybe point out where I went wrong (if I have gone wrong).
I am going to ask a lot of questions throughout my narrative of this game. I don't expect anyone to address every question - though that would be freaking awesome - so feel free to just answer a few specific questions (quoting them would help), or simply make general comments/recommendations. If you can't beat Emperor either, please refrain from trying to give advice, or at least make a caveat. All of my questions are in Blue text. (to appease those with white backgrounds) The screenies are mostly to help me remember what I did; you probably only need to click on them when I am referencing terrain.
Here goes - leader and game settings:
Willem of the Dutch, Continents, Medium Sea, Temperate, all defaults on, Epic speed, and of course, Emperor difficulty. Are there any optional settings like "No Huts" or "No tech brokering" that I should consider to help me ease into Emperor? I am worried about developing bad habits by selecting them. Is Pangaea or some other map type easier/harder than the others? I seem to get raped no matter what I choose, with my closest game on Archipelago (as Hannibal - hax!). I have decided to try the dutch out on emperor for the first time. UU and UB come too late to help my early game, but I have a good feeling about Financial/Creative. I plan to focus on a cottage based economy this game; is this a good idea? I am playing on epic gamespeed because it is my favorite from lower difficulty levels. Do gamespeeds significantly effect the difficulty on Emperor? Should I consider a faster/slower game?
My starting location:
I moved my warrior south to see what he could see, and he saw sparklies. I decide to move my settler south to get the gems in it's radius. I am usually reticent to move my starting settler - loosing a turn is a big deal - but this seems worth it. Was giving up my first turn a good idea?
I still got the corn I didn't know was there, and there are plenty of trees and hills and river tiles. When the borders pop I will see if I missed out on anything to the north. I start building a worker right away because I want those gems sooner rather than later. Was this wise? Should I have waited until the city grew before building a worker?
Turn 4: I have already met my first neighbor. He must be close. I hate that.
Turn 5: Borders popped - no resources north. I believe my decision to move has been vindicated. I am researching mining obviously. Should I be working the gems tile for the extra gold, or the corn tile for the faster worker (as I am)?
Turn 8: I meet the Greeks. Damn it's cramped in here. I think he started south of the jungle region. I'm going to steal this hut from him. With my luck, they will be hostile, or give me some lame map of the ocean.
Turn 12: I decide to go Bronze Working next, for the usual reasons. I typically go strait for BW; is this an appropriate research path?
Turn 13: Buddhism founded.
Turn 17: Lucky! A hut I almost lost to Saladin gives me hunting.
Turn 19: Stone discovered, not too terribly far from my capital. I consider a wonder rush, but none of the early stone wonders seem appealing. If I discover an early stone resource like this, how should I leverage it to my advantage?
Turn 26: Hinduism founded. But not by Saladin. Isn't he normally a religion whore? The Greeks are pretty agnostic, maybe I can found the only religion on this continent. Is pursuing an early religion worthwhile on Emperor, and under what conditions? My worker is starting on the gems, I am building a scout to learn more about the world. Are scouts even worth building on this difficulty level; should I have built a warrior?
Turn 29: Lost my warrior to a freaking wolf. Typical. I now have no military whatsoever.
Turn 33: Finished BW. I revolt to slavery immediately; should I have waited? I am researching Animal Husbrandry next. I am concerned that there is no copper on my map. Maybe I can hold off the barbarians with a few chariots. I don't usually depend on archers for defense; is it smart to skip archery like this in favor of techs for resource dependent units?
Turn 39: Scout dispatched, warrior next. My dumbass ambassador has gone and pissed off the Greeks. How do I even have an ambassador to Greece? I don't know where it is!
Turn 45: There is Mecca; I was right about it being close. I am improving the pig tile and researching the wheel now.
Turn 50: Wheel done. I am moving on to pottery. I need to get my cottage economy off the ground.
Turn 52: I dispatched the warrior I built earlier to find Greece so I can apologize for my ambassador. I switched my production to a settler at size 4; should I have started my first settler sooner or later than this?
Turn 55: found Greece. Barbarians are spawning, did they start at turn 50?
Turn 57: got pottery, going for writing. I considered iron working next, was IW or some other tech a better choice than Writing? So much for my scout, BTW. This is why I asked about the utility of scouts; a warrior could have survived this encounter.
Turn 60: more info about Greece. They will get marble unless I can steal it from them. The Arabs second city founded in a less than optimal location touching my borders. I don't think we are going to be friends.
Image tag limit reached. To be continued...
The strategy articles and tips at CivFanatics have taken me from struggling on Monarch difficulty to owning it's face on a regular basis. I would like to thank you all profusely for the help - this is a great site! Now that I have stroked your egos, I am going to ask you for more help. What? I'm needy.
I feel I am ready for Emperor difficulty level, but my first dozen or so attempts have been uber-epic fail. I've tried doing SE and CE, a number of leader traits... noting seems to work. It is getting very frustrating. I decided to start a new Emperor game with fairly run of the mill settings and document all of my decisions in the early game. My previous defeats have all been during the Middle Ages or Renaissance - or at least that is when it became clear I could not win - so my early game is obviously what needs work. I have played 128 turns and have come to what I see as a crucial decision point. I invite you guys to critique my game so far and maybe point out where I went wrong (if I have gone wrong).
I am going to ask a lot of questions throughout my narrative of this game. I don't expect anyone to address every question - though that would be freaking awesome - so feel free to just answer a few specific questions (quoting them would help), or simply make general comments/recommendations. If you can't beat Emperor either, please refrain from trying to give advice, or at least make a caveat. All of my questions are in Blue text. (to appease those with white backgrounds) The screenies are mostly to help me remember what I did; you probably only need to click on them when I am referencing terrain.
Here goes - leader and game settings:
Willem of the Dutch, Continents, Medium Sea, Temperate, all defaults on, Epic speed, and of course, Emperor difficulty. Are there any optional settings like "No Huts" or "No tech brokering" that I should consider to help me ease into Emperor? I am worried about developing bad habits by selecting them. Is Pangaea or some other map type easier/harder than the others? I seem to get raped no matter what I choose, with my closest game on Archipelago (as Hannibal - hax!). I have decided to try the dutch out on emperor for the first time. UU and UB come too late to help my early game, but I have a good feeling about Financial/Creative. I plan to focus on a cottage based economy this game; is this a good idea? I am playing on epic gamespeed because it is my favorite from lower difficulty levels. Do gamespeeds significantly effect the difficulty on Emperor? Should I consider a faster/slower game?
My starting location:
I moved my warrior south to see what he could see, and he saw sparklies. I decide to move my settler south to get the gems in it's radius. I am usually reticent to move my starting settler - loosing a turn is a big deal - but this seems worth it. Was giving up my first turn a good idea?
I still got the corn I didn't know was there, and there are plenty of trees and hills and river tiles. When the borders pop I will see if I missed out on anything to the north. I start building a worker right away because I want those gems sooner rather than later. Was this wise? Should I have waited until the city grew before building a worker?
Turn 4: I have already met my first neighbor. He must be close. I hate that.
Turn 5: Borders popped - no resources north. I believe my decision to move has been vindicated. I am researching mining obviously. Should I be working the gems tile for the extra gold, or the corn tile for the faster worker (as I am)?
Turn 8: I meet the Greeks. Damn it's cramped in here. I think he started south of the jungle region. I'm going to steal this hut from him. With my luck, they will be hostile, or give me some lame map of the ocean.
Turn 12: I decide to go Bronze Working next, for the usual reasons. I typically go strait for BW; is this an appropriate research path?
Turn 13: Buddhism founded.
Turn 17: Lucky! A hut I almost lost to Saladin gives me hunting.
Turn 19: Stone discovered, not too terribly far from my capital. I consider a wonder rush, but none of the early stone wonders seem appealing. If I discover an early stone resource like this, how should I leverage it to my advantage?
Turn 26: Hinduism founded. But not by Saladin. Isn't he normally a religion whore? The Greeks are pretty agnostic, maybe I can found the only religion on this continent. Is pursuing an early religion worthwhile on Emperor, and under what conditions? My worker is starting on the gems, I am building a scout to learn more about the world. Are scouts even worth building on this difficulty level; should I have built a warrior?
Turn 29: Lost my warrior to a freaking wolf. Typical. I now have no military whatsoever.
Turn 33: Finished BW. I revolt to slavery immediately; should I have waited? I am researching Animal Husbrandry next. I am concerned that there is no copper on my map. Maybe I can hold off the barbarians with a few chariots. I don't usually depend on archers for defense; is it smart to skip archery like this in favor of techs for resource dependent units?
Turn 39: Scout dispatched, warrior next. My dumbass ambassador has gone and pissed off the Greeks. How do I even have an ambassador to Greece? I don't know where it is!
Turn 45: There is Mecca; I was right about it being close. I am improving the pig tile and researching the wheel now.
Turn 50: Wheel done. I am moving on to pottery. I need to get my cottage economy off the ground.
Turn 52: I dispatched the warrior I built earlier to find Greece so I can apologize for my ambassador. I switched my production to a settler at size 4; should I have started my first settler sooner or later than this?
Turn 55: found Greece. Barbarians are spawning, did they start at turn 50?
Turn 57: got pottery, going for writing. I considered iron working next, was IW or some other tech a better choice than Writing? So much for my scout, BTW. This is why I asked about the utility of scouts; a warrior could have survived this encounter.
Turn 60: more info about Greece. They will get marble unless I can steal it from them. The Arabs second city founded in a less than optimal location touching my borders. I don't think we are going to be friends.
Image tag limit reached. To be continued...