6otM 108 opening actions

[Knowtalent]

Welcome to the 6otM St 108 Opening Actions thread.
STOP - Please do not continue reading this thread until you have completed at least 80 to 100 turns in your game.
This thread is used to discuss the game once you've started playing through your first 100 turns. Apart from normal decency, the only posting restrictions are to please not post videos until the deadline is finished and 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.
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 Actions thread once you have completed your game.

- Where did you settle your city?
- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
- What was your build order?
- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
- How did you place your districts?
- Did you bother with Religion??
- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
- Were your neighbors peaceful?
- Any surprises?
Please use spoiler tags for any surprise details you'd like kept hidden.

 

[Planktonic]

OK, I made it through 100 turns and it's been a pretty wacky but fun ride so far. I really didn't know what to expect, since I haven't played Apocalypse mode, Dramatic Ages, or Zombie mode, but it turns out that Kupe on Terra is so naturally strong I'm doing pretty well even though I haven't done anything particularly clever afaict.

Where did you settle your city?
I decided to split the settler and warrior up, figuring this was the best way to guarantee a lot of early first meets and take best advantage of the situation. The settler has enhanced visibility and should be safe in the water, and wouldn't settle until there was a clear field, even if that meant turning around and going the other way to the New World. The settler went right and the warrior left. I encountered Valetta first, then explored the coast of the New World before settling close to another city state (Johannesburg).

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
It's a culture game and I usually like to have a religion for those, so I went first straight to Astrology, then Animal Husbandry.

- What was your build order?
Scout, then settler, then slinger. But then prioritized getting a Hero. Actually used the discover hero production mechanism because I didn't want any of the ones that were available and was rewarded with Hercules.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Hercules built three holy sites in my first three cities.

- Did you bother with Religion??
Yes, definitely. Chose Reliquaries for founder belief, but made a mistake here. I chose Tithe as the second belief, forgetting that I was on C+M mode and alone on the continent and so should have no issues with gold, and thinking about it now would have been much better off with Cross-Cultural Dialogue for the boost to science.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Pingala, of course.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I sought out a second hero- Himiko! She gets eight envoy charges, so I'm busy becoming suzerain to most city-states on the continent. Finally I found Caguana, so now have access to a culture-and-tourism granting improvement through builder charges. Trying to get Maui.

- Were your neighbors peaceful?
haha. No neighbors on Terra.

- Any surprises?
Nasty barb encampment near the natural wonder up North. I settled a city near it thinking that as long as Hercules was there it would be invulnerable. Sadly even the mighty Hercules can fall prey to multiple barb and zombie attacks. I would have lost the city altogether but at the last minute a got enough envoys to suzerain Valetta and was able to faith-purchase ancient walls.

All in all, pretty fun and surprisingly easy (so far) to chain together Golden Ages alone on Terra with so many city states around. The Old World is having many more troubles. They keep warring with each other (and presumably generating more zombies) and Netherlands is already kaput, with all of its cities having gone to free cities from a Dark Age. Ottomans look to be next....