TSG74 Opening Actions thread

Welcome to the TSG74 Opening Actions thread. This thread is used to discuss the game once you've started playing through your first 100 turns. There are no posting restrictions as such (apart from normal decency), although we encourage players to use the spoiler tags for screenshots. Here you can post questions related to the game and share your achievements/anger/frustration/victories while you play. Please remember that we are running a family friendly site, so express anger or frustration with this in mind.

STOP - Please do not continue reading this thread until you have completed at least 80 to 100 turns in your game.

Please use this thread to discuss your goals for the game and your opening moves through the first 100 turns. Anything after that should be posted in the After Action thread once you have completed your game.

- What did you consider in your decision of where to settle your capital?
- What were your initial priorities?
- What tech path did you follow and why?
- Were there any early wars and who started them?
- Did you use your UU with beneficial effect?
- What were your selections from the huts you uncovered?

- I wanted the mountain for science.
- Scouting and goody huts, second city site - too bad the AI were spaced pretty evenly so I got few huts.
- Bee-line Philo for Oracle. That's just what I am into now.
- No wars yet at t100.
- Yes and no, I wanted more huts, but at least I exposed the map.
- I took culture, a tech and a weapon upgrade.

I'm not real sure about the best way to open a calendar start like this. I went liberty and used oracle to close it out and then GE>HS to grab a religion. I plan to use FP, world religion and world ideology.

I don't like where England is located and my pop is real low.

- What did you consider in your decision of where to settle your capital?
Wanted a mountain nearby but not too many, so moved onto bananas sw, then spotted marble to the south so moved once more before settling to get that in range.
- What were your initial priorities?
Huts, CS's and more city spots.
- What tech path did you follow and why?
Pottery for shrine (never built managed to get a faith ruin), mining & masonry for marble and calendar. Have left Philo very late - only now building it (t112)
- Were there any early wars and who started them?
Me, excellent city spot just east of Poland (five salt!!), for some reason he ignored it so I raced my first settler over there. An american settler appeared before I got there. So DOW and used him to work Te-Moaks salt mines
- Did you use your UU with beneficial effect?
Built 2 more pathfinders (ignoring shrine), got 2 upgrades, 2 population, 1 culture and 1 religion (so haven't bothered with shrine in cap yet), plus a couple more. Was very lucky with ruins, I popped one within 5 tiles of Dehli.
- What were your selections from the huts you uncovered?
Culture, Upgrades, and/or pop, then religion.

After I moved the pathfinder to the SE hill then SE 1 more and saw the 3rd banana I settled on the forested hill across the river to the SE to have all 3 banana and a deer for the capital. City 2 was on the silver next to the river to the SE. City 3 on the riverside hill near the marble and next to the iron to the SW. 4th city on the coastal hill next to the mountain on the north coast with the gold in its 3rd ring.

As soon as NC finishes in a turn or two I'll likely build another city on the east coast for the truffles and on the NW coast towards Warsaw for the salt.

I have a DoF with Gandhi and Hiawatha. So far Elizabeth is the only one that's guarded, because she wants my lands.

My plan is to build up for a crossbow rush to take out England then Poland followed by everyone else except India and the Iroquois. That should be enough to make the diplo vote happen without having to go to the Info era.

I went with a Liberty start in this game based on the Liberty Domination Walkthrough thread. However, I didn't capture any workers to avoid the warmonger penalties from doing so. I built 2 workers and the Pyramids. I took a Prophet with the finisher to found my religion.

Religion
Religious Idols - faith/culture from silver and gold - Mainly for my 2nd and 4th cities, but also for when I take out England and the silver they have.
Tithe - Who doesn't like gpt from just having followers?
Asceticism - Happiness from shrines.

Enhancement plan
Religious Community - I always like more production where I can get it.
Either RT or Cheaper missionaries.

Policies
I'll most likely go into Commerce next followed by Rationalism and some Patronage.

Going Liberty, I feel much safer this way than going all in tradition, also seem to manage happy a lot better with liberty. Finished on T84, GE rush NC T85. Got a late pantheon(T64), Fertility rites, Probably going to import Ghandi's religion and spread it to England too. One civ left to meet. Pyramids T53.
Timeings


- What did you consider in your decision of where to settle your capital?
Moved SE with warrior, saw the next river and bananas/deer. So Settled one the SE Riverside hill.

- What were your initial priorities?
Scout, Find ruins(got 4), Steal a worker and go for the pyramids.

- What tech path did you follow and why?
Animal Husbandry(T10), Pottery(T10 Ruins), Mining(T16), Calendar(T25), Masonry(T33), Trapping(T39), Writing(T46), Philosophy(4turns), Archery(T54), Philosophy(T66), The Wheel(T69), Mathematics(T74), Construction(T80), Engineering(T86), Currency(T91), Horseback Riding(T94), Drama And Poetry(T98)

AH to see the horses, going Liberty so had a few turns to spare before pottery. Then on to lux(Cal+Masonry for clearing marshes). Next stop NC, should have hit Archery right after Masonry, had a little trouble with barbs around t40-50. Into construction for CB, Engineering for Aqueducts and now going education then probably astronomy and rounding back for banking. Counting turns in game tells me ~26 turns for Education. Saving cash for buying university now.

- Were there any early wars and who started them?
None yet, and hopefully I'll manage to make it stay that way.

- Did you use your UU with beneficial effect?
Pathfinders are nice, probably not going to war

- What were your selections from the huts you uncovered?
Culture > Tech > Pop > Culture. Still hoping to find a 5th one for the achievement.

- What did you consider in your decision of where to settle your capital?
Fast DV, so fast Information Era, go to mountain for observatory.

- What were your initial priorities?
Looking for room. Where is my neighboor, who are they, how many lux around, good place for settle.

- What tech path did you follow and why?
Fast NC.
Pottery / Writing / Mining / Calendar / Masonry / Philo T59 / NC T72.

Go for CB
AH T63 / BW T67 / Construction

Sailing for trade route and go to Guilds for Machu Pichu before Education. I need money and I'm in Emperor. By turn 200, I'll be tech lead with Public School.
I'm T100, I need 3 turns to complete Guilds. I'll miss Oracle maybe, but it doesn't really matter. Machu and several lux to sell will give me solid economy.

- Were there any early wars and who started them?
Steal a worker from Manilia protect by India, not yet contacted. No warmonger penalty.
Steal an isolated settlers from England. I'll crush it as soon as I can. So, I'll start T65 for free worker. I planed to settle 4 cities, I'll need at least 6 workers. Every free stuff is welcome.

- Did you use your UU with beneficial effect?
I love Pathfinder ability.

- What were your selections from the huts you uncovered ?
Pop Mason Khani.
Tech archery.
Upgrade to CB.
Pop Mason Khani.

Turn 120 update :

I always use the same ruin path when playing Shoshones if i can catch 3 of them. First one is for culture, then i wait for 2 Citizen to pop an extra one(to 3) then i get free gold one and finally(if possible) a free upgrade). I will take a free upgrade before gold at prince or lower if some cs are around but it's not the case here. I did get at least 5 ruins in that game. Went Tradition, as always for peaceful games(or mid-late rush games).

BO : Pathfinder-settler-granary-caravan-shrine(forgot about religion, should be after settler )-worker-library-units-NC

2nd city : granary-archer-settler

Stole a worker form Elizabeth then amde peace later. Rush bought one when i could. Improved luxs first to get high gpt rate to rush buy more workers-settlers after the NC(72).

Expanded to 5 cities and building infras. Got Chichen Itza(104) among the way. Beelined Education before Construction. DoF with Hiawatha and Ghandi. Built Oracle to time with Rationalism tree . Secularism turn 119.

Rush bought 2 universities, 1 built then 2 more for last cities. Will rush buy an aqueduct next turn for 5th city. Signed a RA with Hiawatha before entering the Ren. era. Finally reached a religion some turns ago(Tithe, plowshare) and i'm building HG to catch the slow faith pace(i need 300 faith to get a single missionary!)

Quite a good start so far, but i never really checked what is the right pattern to a fast diplo so i might finish average anyways.

Tabarnak, looking at you screenshot I am about to resign I am also in t120 but my bpt is less then half of yours not saying about gpt.

Moved pathfinder to the forested hill and Settler also, next to the souther hill and decided to settle next to the river near sugar with silver, marble and dyes in the range of capital.

TO: Pottery-Mining-AH-Writing-Calendar-Philo-Masonry->The wheel->Civil->Edu
BO (in capital): Pathfinder (x2)-Worker(part till pop5)-Settler-Worker(finish)-Library-Caravan-Settler-Archers...
SP: Tradition - Legalism - Monarchy - Legalism -> finish -> Patronage -> Consulates
Religion: Sun God - Tithe - Divine Inspiration

I found 4 ruins: t4 - pop+1, t9 - culture, t20 - +20faith, t30 - Trapping



Probably I shouldn't construct second pathfinder. My problem was infrastructure: didn't found worker to steal and I hard-build two and bought 1. Not enough.

I met all civs, I am friend with Gandhi and Hiawatha.

I harded built two workers, steal two and bought 2.

Well I went about this on the warpath. Figured I would CB rush half the map and XB rush the other half. Thought about changing that plan at around T10 when I noticed the world was likely only 3bn years old, but already had Casimir's little screams on my mind.

Founded cap on the hill to the W nested in the mountains. Still think that is a good spot. Second city S of marble, also on the hill+mountain. 3rd city way over by Casimir in the middle of all the salt+Uluru. He didn't like that, but that was nothing compared to 7 CBs upgraded on his border. Am about to plant a fourth city in between there on the coast, also on the mountain.

At T101 Poland and America are gone. Army marching to Osininka where we will upgrade with the spoils and kick west to Portugal and Egypt. Somehow I need to turn my science around. NC on T85-ish but still quite a way away from Education. Will come back towards the end to clean out India and leave Lizzie the last lady standing.

This is my first TSG, and my first game on Emperor! Super exciting!

I opened with PF-Monument-Worker, and rushed for the Parthenon. I figured if I wanted to win a diplo victory, I should have a dominant culture and tourism so that the other civs will be influenced by my ideology later on.

I polished off the Liberty tree pretty early for a GP, and decided to try something a little different with my holy city...


I figured it would spread better if it was closer to other civs.

I think I used the pathfinders pretty well: if only poor Ghandi's scout had been one tile to the left, he might have gotten two more ruins... I used one for culture, two for faith, and the rest for sciences and population. Turn 120 now, and I'm going for Education and then Banking, rushing for the Forbidden Palace.

ThePowerofTower said:

This is my first TSG, and my first game on Emperor! Super exciting!

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Welcome to CivFanatics and GoTM.

Best of luck in your game.

What did you consider in your decision of where to settle your capital?
Growth. Moved my pathfinder SE two tiles. Decided to also move settler SE to settle on riverside hill with three bananas in range.
What were your initial priorities?
Explore! Find as many huts as possible, meet as many CS and AI as possible, and find good city spots.
What tech path did you follow and why?
pottery, writing, archery, (animal husbandry from ruins), calendar, mining, masonry, (bronze working from ruins), philosophy, trapping, the wheel, horseback riding, sailing, construction, mathematics, construction, engineering, drama and poetry, theology, currency, civil service, education

Started toward writing since you need science for every victory type.... Then calendar, mining, and masonry to develop luxuries. Sailing for the second trade route.
Were there any early wars and who started them?
Are you kidding? This start location is so easily defensible, no one is ever going to come in here. Especially now that I have the Great Wall.
Did you use your UU with beneficial effect?
Yes; I got lucky with quite a few (seven!) huts. Used them to grow my capital quickly, to establish a religion relatively early (well, third), and to catch up in science.
What were your selections from the huts you uncovered?
population, culture, technology (Animal Husbandry), population, faith, upgrade, technology (Bronze Working)



More Details
Religion:
Started with religiouos idols for the gold and silver bonuses.
Founded with tithe and mosques.

Social policies:
Filled out tradition (opener, Legalism, Landed Elite, Aristocracy, Monarchy, Oligarchy).
Opened patronage. Consulates.

Hard-built one worker, bought one, captured one from barbarians, bought another.

Moson Kahni build order
pathfinder, shrine, granary, archer, settler, library, worker, archer, archer, caravan, national college (turn 78), oracle (turn 90), great wall (turn 102), borobudur (turn 112), circus, stable

Second City
Settled my second city on the southern-most of the pair of silvers (with 3-silver and marble in range), next to a mountain for future observatory. Used my first caravan to sane food to Te-Moak so it could get big enough to hard-build a library, then switched location and sent the food back to Moson Kahni.
Te-Moak build order:
library, granary, shrine, caravan, settler, pathfinder (since one got trapped behind Egypt), colosseum

Third City
Settled my third city (purchased the settler) on the gold on the northern coast; will be source of future cargo ships to get gold.
Agaidika build order:
granary, library

Fourth City
Settled my fourth (and final) city on the Kyzyl River, between wheat and cows, with two more sources of silver in range. Bought a worker to develop the land right away.
Goshute build order:
granary

took me like 10 minutes to settle.. i was really torn between the mountain and the silver.. finally decided to settle river hill next to bananas/sugar, SSE of start.

cap so far was pathfinder - granny (worker bought) - worker - settlers (3x) - caravan - worker - lib - NC - settler - oracle.

emperor AIs really suck - no closeby workers, london and warsaw had no improvements till t50... CS got his first t37 when he just gave me an easy quest so i played without stolen workers for the first time in ages..i rush bought 2 more and built another one for a total of 6.

opted for tradition 4 city NC - duplicate luxes were many so I could buy two libs to finish NC T78. a single barb slowed me down heavily, somehow maneuvered through the mountains to pillage my silvers and make me unhappy for a few turns :/

found at least 10 ruins. culture - pop - gold - faith - pop - upgrade - faith etc. really helpful to be able to grow cap while spamming settlers =) cities are 18 (cap) 10 10 8 3 now - last one was definitely settled a little bit too late.

religion was hard, without ruins i wouldnt have gotten one. got religious idols but hardly able to work the silvers while growing. founded ~t70 with plowshares/tithe. 3fpt.. great. i just met la venta, needed them 50 turns ago. also i havent met one civ (wtf?), there is only one more possible isthmus where i can go, it really blows not to be able to scout for wonders.

anyways had enough cash for 2 unis + granny in 5th city, hardbuilding 2 unis, bpt is insane, will have astronomy t117 with oracle hopefully.

probably will play this map again with trad/lib mix. dunno why i didnt go for it, instead i put 2 policies into commerce now (going for mercantilism before schools).

Settled my cap on the bare Hill next to the Mountains, and probably shouldn't have because food got scarce before Civil Service rolled around. Tough start because it looked like a Calendar start but was an even more brutal Calendar/Masonry start because of all the marsh.

2nd city went on the Silver to the south, between the Lake and Mountain. 3rd city was to the West at the tip of the mountain range. 4th city was in Casimir's face, poaching 3 Salt and Uluru, the turn after he asked for a DoF. I'm hoping to turn him into the monster of the world by getting him to backstab me. Then I'll take all his stuff and it shouldn't even make Gandhi mad.

I'm trying something different. Poland and Iroquois both have strong religion, as do I, so I'm trying to get some cities caught between (India, England and CSs) to pressure-flip back and forth between mine/not-mine for the beakers. If I can get it to work, and I have before, it should jet propel my Science. If not then I'll still have 3 solid Observatory cities and should do fine. I actually built Borobudur, of all things.

I currently have DoFs with India, America, Iroquois and Poland with plenty of cash for RAs. I may avoid the "Kill all but Two Civs then Vote" DV just by being able to hit Info Age early enough.

Hi all..first time trying this..we'll see how it goes

1. Wanted the hill tile just west of start for mountain/river/production to start a PF
2. Explore, get some huts, get the lay of the land, find good spots for cities 2,3,4 of Tradition opening
3. Pottery (T9), AH (T15), Calender (T24), Mining (T29), BW (T37), Writing (T44), MAsonry (T50..way too late), Philo (T68)
4. No early wars
5. Hard not to with Pathfinder
6. Pop, Culture, Upgrade,Pop, religion

Mac1961 said:

Hi all..first time trying this..we'll see how it goes

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Welcome to CivFanatics and GOTM.

Best of luck in your game.

This is my first attempt at a GOTM. Decided to go for it as Shoshone is one of my favorite civs.

- Moved the pathfinder to the SE hill, saw the three bananas. I was planning on going tall, so that would give me a monster capital.
- Ruins, local terrain, closest AI, getting a two city NC up quick.
- Pottery, Animal Husbandry then straight to Philosophy. Made a detour to Masonry after I got Mining in a ruin. Next went to Civil Service. Then, Bronze Working to find iron to trade, then straight to Education. Theology in seven at T100.
- None
- Yes, had two CB upgrades which I used to finish off some CS requests.
- Population, Culture, Tech(mining), CB upgrade, Population, Faith, Tech(Sailing), CB upgrade. Yeah, I had eight ruins. Very lucky, as the last three were with AI scouts adjacent to them.

I did have a run of bad luck with completing CS quests, had three of them snatched from me by AI scouts after I cleared the camps with my CB. Two of them had captured CS workers, which meant I had to buy two workers I was planning to get for free. Spent so much time on the CS quests I haven't found the last AI and know nothing of the map west of India.

Swissy said:

This is my first attempt at a GOTM. Decided to go for it as Shoshone is one of my favorite civs.

Click to expand...

Welcome to GOTM.

Best of luck in your game.

The funniest thing that happened in my game was finding a hut on turn 91. By then, I had researched all ancient era techs, so I couldn't choose a free tech. I found 5 huts, culture, upgrade, pop, religion, and lastly more religion.