6otM 13 Opening Action

[leif erikson]

Welcome to the 6otM13 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 capital city? Your second city?
- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
- What was your build order?
- Were there any early wars? Did you start them?
- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
- Did you try to build any Wonders?
- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
- 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?
- How were the Barbarians?
- Any surprises?

Please use spoiler tags for any surprise details you'd like kept hidden. Thanks.

 

[Photi]

This is an interesting game. I don't typically play island plates and this is the first time i have started in anything but the ancient era. it's kinda nice actually, i will have to use later start option more often.


- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?

I first moved my archer 1SW which revealed 2 more fish, a banana, and a great +4 Royal Navy Dockyard (city center and 2 fish adjacency), so i moved my first settler 1SW also and settled there. My second city (Leeds) was settled on the west coast for another +4 harbor placement.

Spoiler Cities :

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?

Don't remember exactly what i researched and in what order, but my focus was on getting an economy and getting crossbows. Went for the boosted techs where i could.

Spoiler Current Govt and Policies :

- What was your build order?

Both my cities first build was a Royal Navy Dockyard. It seems like i started with a builder, maybe it shows up after founding first city. If not a free one, my second build must've been a builder or it was a holy site. London got its RND pretty quickly and then it didn't take long to get the holy site and then a shrine for as many great prophet points as possible.

Were there any early wars? Did you start them?

There hasn't been a war yet that i know of.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?

RNDs have been my first builds in most of my cities, decided on religion so Holy Site was my second district in the capital. for the last 20-30 turns i am finally getting around to theaters and campuses.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?

Not yet

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?

Settled a total of 11 cities

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?

Chose Classical Republic and picked the Ilkum (builder), Colonization (Settler), Diplomatic League (1st envoy counts as 2) and Revelation (Prophet points) policy cards.


- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?

I've met many, met Amsterdam first for the free envoy (which counted as 2) and then added another envoy for suze. Currently i am suzerain of Geneva and have my sights on Buenos Aires and Hong Kong

Spoiler City States :

- Were your neighbors peaceful?

Yes so far, but been denounced and Gorgo is itching for something. Which might be mutual, because she is leading over me in score and culture and she has five wonders, so as soon as i get muskets i might decide to fight her.

- How were the Barbarians?

They took 1 or 2 of my traders, jerks.

- Any surprises?

I was two turns away from receiving the first Great Prophet, and was well ahead of everyone else, i thought about gold purchasing him but decided i was enough ahead. 2 turns later expecting but not receiving the prophet, looked and some civ had taken it. I was able to get the second one though, and founded Protestantism and took Jesuit Education (faith purchase campus and theater district buildings) and Meeting House (+2 or 3 faith, +2 production) beliefs. Prior to that i chose God of the Sea pantheon for the extra production on those sea resources.

I feel like Gorgo is the going to be the biggest challenge at this point, so i need to get some spies and an army to face her. Been focused on economy up to this point, but am switching over to start trying to bring in all the tourists. Probably wont be a real early finish for me, but that's typical. I think i have a good enough base empire to pull this one out. Will have to keep an eye on Teddy as well.

Spoiler Other Screencaps :

 

[Eliminator_Sr]

I'm enjoying the medieval start so far - I haven't yet attempted any of the later start options so it's a nice change of pace and opens up some new tactics. I do think it makes the game a bit easier though as the AI is not well equipped to take advantage of it especially on Island Plates. I wasn't really paying attention to the turn count so I'm just posting after what feels like 100 turns but it may be a bit earlier or later - I'm just past 1500 AD.

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
I settled in place as usual and migrated to the opposite coast to get my 2nd city down but 1 tile off the shore saving a spot for a campus.

What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Square Rigging was the key tech for me but with a few diversions to cover Eurekas. On the policy side - I was targeting Exploration for Merchant Republic ASAP.

What was your build order?
Settler, Quadrieme, Settler, followed by a campus and RND.

Were there any early wars? Did you start them?
Yes and yes - I planned for a naval war as soon as I saw that Gorgo was next to me. In my experience she usually starts snowballing on culture so I wanted to limit the damage. My strategy on this one was to tech quickly to square rigging for frigates and start chipping away at coastal cities to reduce cultural influence. I'm not going to worry about warmongering penalties at all - everyone is a target. I got a few early great admirals which was very helpful and took 3 Greek cities but I'll probably have to wait for muskets to take Sparta.

How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Lots or early campus and RNDs. I don't think I built any other district types but theaters will be next - and a few industrials.

Did you try to build any Wonders?
No wonders - too busy with districts, traders, and boats.

Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Yes - but I sacrificed some speed to settle some prime spots off of the starting island first. I captured 3 cities and settled 8.

How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
The harbor adjacency card has been fantastic with so many sea resources close by. I mainly stuck with the Classical Republic government. I chose God of the Sea pantheon for extra production.

What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I got a few early envoys for Amsterdam and Geneva. I've cultivated Geneva and Hattusa.

So far everyone still has <100 tourists. I plan to start planting theater districts as my 3rd option and then hopefully getting some early themed museums and ramping up tourism. Hopefully I can end it before resorts and computers but not sure how that will play out. Arabia seems like the strongest opponent now and I haven't found them yet.

 

[Alphons Rodulfo]

Did anyone notice the lack of an effect of founding or conquering cities? If its on another continent than the home continent you are supposed to get a free unit. It never happened. So I switched on the continent lens and I saw that all land belonged to the same continent named "Nuna". Is it a bug or a feature?


- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
The capital was settled in place, the second city close by, on the west side of the island
- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
I tried to get to cartography a.s.a.p.
- What was your build order?
Started with a builder, then a settler.
- Were there any early wars? Did you start them?
No wars, but I am planning to attack Greece together with Spain.
- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Royal Navy Dockyards everywhere!
- Did you try to build any Wonders?
No. Or perhaps maybe the Great Lighthouse.
- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
I have settled seven cities in the first 100 turns. No wat yet.
- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
I aimed for bonuses to settlers, builder and boats.
- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I thinks I have met them all. Only one ally at the moment. Gorgo's envoys are very busy.
- Were your neighbors peaceful?
Yes. Having some water in between civs is helpful for keeping the peace.
- How were the Barbarians?
They behaved very well. No funny stuff.
- Any surprises?
The biggest surprise was not getting free melee units when founding a city. I played a few test starts so I had gotten used to that.

 

[Eliminator_Sr]

Did anyone notice the lack of an effect of founding or conquering cities? If its on another continent than the home continent you are supposed to get a free unit. It never happened. So I switched on the continent lens and I saw that all land belonged to the same continent named "Nuna". Is it a bug or a feature?

Yeah the starting continent was large so no free units within short range of the start. Continents are more like plates than separate land masses in Civ6. I was confused about this the first time I played England too. Next time you start a new game pay attention to when you get the Eureka for foreign trade for discovering a new continent - the divide is often right in the middle of a large land mass. I did get a unit later on when I was far enough away.

 

[Alphons Rodulfo]

Yeah the starting continent was large so no free units within short range of the start. Continents are more like plates than separate land masses in Civ6. I was confused about this the first time I played England too. Next time you start a new game pay attention to when you get the Eureka for foreign trade for discovering a new continent - the divide is often right in the middle of a large land mass. I did get a unit later on when I was far enough away.

Ok, I checked again. There are other continents on the map but they are very far away and a good deal smaller than Nuna, the home continent of the English. So I guess I did not look carefully enough.
In my game Nuna spans the entire southern half of the map and large parts of the northern half too. I wish I could zoom out more to take a screen shot of the entire map, I wonder if we all have the same configuration of continents. I would assume that continental boundaries are set when the map is generated...

 

[Photi]

ok so i am on turn 313 and the game is prompting me that a unit needs orders. every time i click on "unit needs orders" it makes the clicking sound, but does not jump to unit. i have looked and clicked on as many units as i could find to complete their moves, but the game still prompts me that unit needs orders. i have clicked on the two sets of units that are linked up, and upgraded and such, and yet game still says unit needs orders. normally i would load an auto save from the turn before, and i suppose that might be the suggestion from this post, but in the interest of playing by the 6OTM rules, i thought i'd first post here to see what Leif says.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

Turn 243 (106)

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
In Place... moved 2nd Settler NW and settled before the coast thinking I could build a harbor later.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Aimed for Merchant Republic ASAP to get more policies.
I researched Education First and over to Frigates next. I never built them since GPT was high and just bought them.
I also bought a good amount of horses and upgraded them to Cav which the AI has a tough time with. I took out Gorgo with Frigates on the Coast and Cav on the Capital.

- What was your build order?
I rushed out a good amount of settlers right away. Maybe too many actually but I am in Multiplayer Mode!
After that I built some districts and mixed them so I would have a mix of campuses, commercial hubs and harbors.

- Were there any early wars? Did you start them?
I Dowed Gorgo first but was peaceful for awhile since trade with the AI was good till I Dowed. After the DOW, trade was never good anymore.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Pretty early campus and commercial hub and harbor after that in a few cities.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Not at first but I built a bunch of them. I know you always want to get Col up pretty quick when you ICS but I had trouble getting up an Entertainment Center or just forgot basically.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Not sure about the first 100 turns. I know I settled 6 or so and took 3 from Gorgo but not sure if they were all in the first 100. I will have to check later and post a pic.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Classical Republic...Settler Card...Production Card... Trade Gold Card... Earning Envoy Card...Unit Maint Card

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Commerce First and after that the two Science ones. I ended up with a good amount of first meets and controlled most of the CSs from the get go.
I was upset to never find a Culture CS. I don't understand why we had two Science CS's right next to each other and no Culture CS. I know it was a CV so I guess your trying to make it harder.

- Were your neighbors peaceful?
I declared first and got double teamed a few times but the AI is horrid. Sending like one unit to a few cities... jumping in the water...two tech eras behind. Horrible AI on Deity.

- How were the Barbarians?
Hardly noticed any at all. I had a scout stay in my borders the whole game long and I never killed it and it never captured any units of mine even though I walked all around it.

- Any surprises?
Gorgo had an unprotected settler over by the Science Nat Wonder so that is why I DOWed!
No Culture CS at all. The AI can't even come close to competing on a water map. I was so far ahead on SPT and CPT and GPT all game long from the start.
However I expanded too much and had no production so it took a long time to get Tourism Rolling and I never like playing for CVs so I was neglecting Tourism for a long time.

 

[leif erikson]

ok so i am on turn 313 and the game is prompting me that a unit needs orders. every time i click on "unit needs orders" it makes the clicking sound, but does not jump to unit. i have looked and clicked on as many units as i could find to complete their moves, but the game still prompts me that unit needs orders. i have clicked on the two sets of units that are linked up, and upgraded and such, and yet game still says unit needs orders. normally i would load an auto save from the turn before, and i suppose that might be the suggestion from this post, but in the interest of playing by the 6OTM rules, i thought i'd first post here to see what Leif says.

Yes, please load up the autosave from the earlier turn, try to make the same moves and see if that gets you by this issue. Good luck.

 

[peurojoque]

ok so i am on turn 313 and the game is prompting me that a unit needs orders. every time i click on "unit needs orders" it makes the clicking sound, but does not jump to unit. i have looked and clicked on as many units as i could find to complete their moves, but the game still prompts me that unit needs orders. i have clicked on the two sets of units that are linked up, and upgraded and such, and yet game still says unit needs orders. normally i would load an auto save from the turn before, and i suppose that might be the suggestion from this post, but in the interest of playing by the 6OTM rules, i thought i'd first post here to see what Leif says.

It happened to me a few times, some kind of a glitch, when a unit still needs orders, but it doesn't switch to the unit. I usually open the unit list (click on the name) and check all the active units, highlighted in white. Makes it a lot easier, than clicking every unit on the map. Takes just a few seconds to solve the problem

 

[RedRover57]

Fun map so far. I have played to turn 250.

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Settled capital in place. Second city on the west coast. Third on the SW coast (by lake). Fourth on the connected island (iron area). Fifth by the natural wonder on the east coast. And sixth on the 3-tile island to the south (5 sea resources). Hoping that 6 will be enough, but I may need to do some conquering later particularly, if another civ has too much culture/tourism (*glares at Gorgo and Gandhi*).

What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Pretty much beelined for frigates after researching all the earlier boosted techs.

What was your build order?
A few quadriremes, then settlers and builders. Eventually ended up with a decent navy (7 frigates and a couple caravels)

Were there any early wars? Did you start them?
Peaceful so far.

How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
I went for an early holy site (took the God of the Sea pantheon and got the first religion - Jesuit Education and Defender of the Faith). Unique harbors everywhere. Eventually theater districts in all cities, then campuses, commercial hubs, industrial zone, etc.

Did you try to build any Wonders?
No, but trying for a late Colossus and will build Venetian Arsenal too.

Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Six cities total (see above)

How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
The usual stuff

What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Early faith CS helped. I think I am suzerain of 2 CS now (science and gold).

Were your neighbors peaceful?
Yes

How were the Barbarians?
Not much of a threat, except when a barb caravel came out of nowhere to kill one of my quadriremes.

Any surprises?
Not yet. I'm a bit behind in tech but not too bad. Starting to ramp up the culture.

 

[^MeSSiaH^]

Had a save from turn 255.

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
SW from starting point - gives +4 harbor.
Second city NW, on opposite side of the island - another +4 harbor.
Then went with a city SW of the small lake (+5 harbor) and then 3 more on south part of the island (Elephants + iron, Nat Wonder and south coast)

What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Pretty much beelined for frigates.
Naval tradition into exploration beeline.

What was your build order?
Settlers, harbors. quadriremes.

Were there any early wars? Did you start them?
As soon as I had enough quadriremes (4+) I went to DoW Sparta and took 2 coastal cities before peace.
Figured out, that with late start I'll be hated warmonger anyway, so went all out war. Beelined frigates helped with taking 2 coastal cities from Spain, Amsterdam, Jerusalem, 4 coastal cities from Arabia with their ally Kanly and 3 cities from Ghandi.
In the meantime I have settled near science natural wonder and on Arabia island (silver).
With cash bonuses from harbor + naval tradition card, its far too easy to buy+upgrade all quadris to frigates.

How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
I went for an early harbors in 3 first cities. Then campuses. Overall, I prioritised harbor > science at first, then went all out theatre districts with archeology.

Did you try to build any Wonders?
Yeah. Lighthouse for better mobility. Colosseum for any chance at happiness.

Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
9 cities settled (incl. capital)
14 captured (2 Spartan, 3 neutral, 2 Spain, 3 India, 4 Arabia)

How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Production + settlers, then builders wave, then Harbor bonus

What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Science duo, Amsterdam, Jerusalem.
Cared only bout cscience duo. Later allied also Buenos for happiness.

Were your neighbors peaceful?
What neighbours?

How were the Barbarians?
Pretty much pain in the ass in the first turns. On southern part of the island I got horseman camp. Quadriremes helped a lot.

Any surprises?
Basically, I was always a Pangea lover. Warmongering potential of early frigates + caravel is insane. Having 6 frigates and 2 caravels I could easily capture 2 citiies at once in 2 turn siege.
This is sad, as I'd expect the Diety AI to go all out naval, while they were going knights like crazy. Really hard to fight frigates on horseback.

Two surprises that raise questions:
- is it a bug or intentional feature, that 3 item museums (archeology) are themed automatically for England?
- is it an exploit to peace deal enemy allied city states the very first turn after being DOWed? (i.e. Kanly DoWs me as their suzerain Arabia DoWs me - is it an exploit to peace Kanly the next turn?)

 

[Bachelor Panda]

So disheartening...I wrote a big file and then it got deleted...can't find it....so sad.

Anyway...I'm a first time player here at GOM. Decided to give it a shot.

My idea is to take a domination start and leverage it into a cultural victory.

By 100 turns in I have taken out Gorgo...have America's Cap...now what do I do?


I know what to do lol.

 

[leif erikson]

Welcome to Game of the Month. Sorry to hear about your write-up, bet it was exciting.

Best of luck as you continue.

 

[Bachelor Panda]

Ok, I'll type it out again lol.

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?

I moved the eastern settler onto the incense (1W) and settled there. The 2nd settler moved NW to the coast. I settled him on the coast vs the river to give London more room (still had a good spot for aqueduct).

What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?

Tech I went to Machinery, Stables less one turn and then Frigates.

Civics I headed towards Exploration for the government. I used the lower half of the civics tree to switch policies when needed.

Being so close to Feudalism it was easy to time the builder policy switch and get a lot of 5 build, cheap builders. I utilized the 50% reduction to build up my slingers...swapped out to 100% navy for quads then Merc for upgrade to x-bow and again when upgraded quads to frigates. Utilized 50% settlers once to build 3 settlers and fill up my island, +2 influence points towards city-states has been in place for ever (already got the 1 free envoy for Amsterdam and Geneva). Once up to 5 trade routes, trade confederation (+1 culture, +1 sci) found its permanent home.

I was able to get a general (AEthelflaed...medieval/ren) with just Stratgos (+2 great gen points) and didn't build an encampment...got an armory when I took Sparta

What was your build order?

Scout/builder/slinger/settler bought a slinger when I had the money then districts


Were there any early wars? Did you start them?

On turn 184 Arabia and Spain declared a joint war on me. Never saw Saladin but Spain sent a quad and pillaged my dockyard in Bristol (the city on the far southeast of the island). I had a crossbow stationed there and took out the quad in a couple turns.

At some point Gorgo also declared war on me, and I decided, "fine...lets go get a couple cities" At the time I had 3 crossbows, one catapult, the original spear-man, one heavy chariot and 4 quads...only 1 near Greece though. I went a little too early. There was only 1 hex that a quad could attack Knossos, the closest Greek city, and I stationed a quad there to soften up the city while my army landed in the north (again only 1 hex not cliff so it took a while). Gorgo built a caravel and with the city wall attack took out my quad in one shot...I couldn't retreat to heal That caravel did more damage too. In bringing my quads (3 left now) together near Leeds (NW coastal city) I had to fight off a barb caravel and all 3 were wounded...they were healing with 2 x-bows on the coast for support but that dang caravel had a death wish and dove right in and took out another quad before I could kill it off. I had to hammer out another quad and buy one outright to get the 4 I wanted to upgrade to frigates.

On the land front, Gorgo only sent 3 land units at me. 1 knight and 2 musketmen. But she sent them one at a time and it was easy for my x-bows and heavy chariot to take time out of the siege of Knossos and kill them. After Knossos I took the other Greek coastal city on their island (Corinth) by cycling my quads to the one hex they could attack from and with my catapult and general backed x-bows. Then, as I had originally planned, I tried to make peace and get the 2 cities ceded to me. Gorgo would have none of that though lol. She would not cede me even 1 city. So, plan B...time to take her out! By that time (turn 212ish) I had finally upgraded to frigates. While my land army (5 x-bow, 1 knight, one spear, a catapult and general) took out Spatra, my 4 frigates and 1 knight made short work of the 2 coastal cities that Gorgo had built on the American land mass.

Since Roosevelt was already mad at me for fighting on his continent...I declared a formal war and used my frigates and knight to take New York. Looking for a 2nd city to take before trying for peace, the mountains to the west of New York would make it hard to attack in that direction so I went north with my land army (redeployed from the Greek island) and found Washington. What a nice mountain surrounded campus with a library and university! Teddy was more reasonable and ceded New York and Washington to me and we made peace. As per my general gameplan, I took the Greek city of Ephesus (on the American landmass between New York and Washington) and after chopping out all the forests to get a bombard and swapping all the land I could to Washington and New York...I traded Ephesus to America in return for open borders.

The only other military action so far...I took a tundra city from India and 2 frigates took the Spanish city of Cordoba to 0 health. Here I made another mistake. I had purchased a knight to land in Cordoba...but thought I could afford 1 sea attack and get the city a turn earlier. The amphibious assault almost killed the knight...he was just hanging on with 3 hit points left. Then Spain built a quad and killed him So even though I had Cordoba at 0 hit pts...I had no melee unit to take it. I purchased a horseman (all I could afford) and sent him that direction...but Spain upgraded the quad to a frigate and then offered me a sweet peace deal (250 gold and 30 gold per turn)...So Spain got to keep Cordoba. That was also the time when all my other wars were ending and I used my saved up envoys to re-take suzy of Geneva...Finally I get the 15% science boost!

How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?

I prioritized dockyards and commercial districts. I was able to get a general with only using the +2 great general card so I didn't build an encampment. I've only built one theater on my island (captured 5). The land is pretty production poor and so after frigates I picked up apprenticeship to get my IZs up.

Did you try to build any Wonders?

I captured Chichen Itza in Sparta...what a great city! 5 plains/hills/jungle, 2 with bananas and 1 with elephant! I have "God of the open skies" pantheon and there are 2 sheep pastures too! Thank goodness Gorgo didn't want peace lol. Of my current 199.6 culture/turn Sparta alone provides 32.3

I've built the Colosseum in London and am about to finish Terracotta Army. I just finished Natural History and archaeologists are next on the list.

Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?

I filled up my island quickly...that took only 3 extra settlers, one bout of 50% settler reduction card. I did found a throw away island city that I planned to give to Greece to improve relations but Gorgo wouldn't accept peace so I still have it for later.

8 cities founded (including first 2 settlers)....8 cities captured (one traded to America)...current city count 15.

How did you play your governance cards, priorities?

I've gotten better at switching out policy cards. With the start so close to feudalism one priority was to get cheap 5 build builders. Another was to fill up island...get a x-bow army with heavy chariot support and frigates. I'm an Oligarchy/Merchant Republic guy.

What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?

Amsterdam has been a godsend! I've been Suz to her all game and it is my best trade route destination...no money problems here

Geneva is nice too. I'm finally at peace and saved up envoys to gain Suz to her also now for the 15% science bump.

Also Suz of Hattusa with 6 envoys for the campus bump.

(on a side note...when I went to war with America my income went down from 150+ per turn to 40 per turn to 9 per turn...and I can't figure out why? I thought maybe I had a lot of trade routes end and would have to reassign them...no...only 1 trade route to redirect...I thought maybe I lost Suz of Amsterdam...nope still Suz. I couldn't figure it out. Now that I'm at peace my income has recovered and is 283/turn....just couldn't figure out why it dropped off....and it wasn't war weariness....if anyone knows what happened please let me know)


Were your neighbors peaceful?

Not really, they kept declaring war but really didn't back it up. I utilized their declarations where I could and have only declared war once myself against America.

How were the Barbarians?

Not much of a problem this game. The only time I took a hit from barbs was when a caravel wounded my quads and led to Greece killing one of them.

Any surprises?

This game is all surprises lol. I've never played Islands before, I've never played England, I've never played for a cultural victory and this is my 1st GOM!

All that said, I am surprised at how bad the AI is at sea....as bad as they are at a land war...they are worse at sea! (not that I'm complaining lol)

I'm really enjoying this game so far. I feel in command of the situation and now have to see how fast I can turn my position into a cultural victory. I like the fact of playing through your mistakes...no reloading. It has been an eye opener...and I have learned from it.

I think I might have one more war this game...or maybe not...looking forward to finishing this!

 

[Eyswein]

6OTM 13, end of Turn 235 (100 turns in)

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Started by moving archer 1 SW and scout 3 W/NW to see stuff; then did London – 1 SW onto rainforest (for Dock synergy with both fish and city center) and Sheffield to the west on the river/coast (again for Dock synergy with both fish and city center)

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
The why: Decided to skip religion in total due to starting era. Beelined Exploration for +2 trade routes, then Natural History for Archeologists, now going for Cultural Heritage. For science focused on getting to Industrialization for more production and the other stuff you get along the way; plan to own the seas. Now beelining Radio (seaside resorts), then Computers (2x tourism). Held off on Feudalism/Machinery a bit to get Archers from Agoge. For the most part tried to get Eureka bonuses, but skipped that completely for Square Rigging, Humanism, Mercantilism, and Guilds as there was no way to get there quick enough or took me down a path I didn’t want to go.
The what:
Culture- Feudalism (163), Medieval Faire (176), Mercenaries (182), Naval Tradition (189), Exploration (189), Humanism (198), Civil Service (209), Mercantilism (211), Colonialism (219), Natural History (223), Guilds (224), Diplomatic Service (226), Enlightenment (229), Civil Engineering (232); continue beeline to Cultural Heritage (policy for tourism and shipwrecks)
Science – Machinery (163), Apprenticeship (171), Education (176), Mass Production (185), Cartography (189), Stirrups (197 by accident), Square Rigging (201), Industrialization (207), Astronomy (210), Banking (219), Electricity (229), Scientific Theory (231); next Flight & Radio

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
137- Autocracy Government: Conscription, Agoge, Urban, Colonization (50% for archers/settlers); 163 – (Conscription, Maritime, Urban, Serfdom (100% ships / better builders); 189 - Conscription, Professional, Urban, Naval (upgrade a couple galleys and 100% DOCK adjacency bonus!!); 189 – switch to Merchant Republic (Conscription, Naval, Caravan, Merchant, Serfdom, Natural); 209 – replace Serf/Nat with Meritocracy & Retainers; 211- Triangular replaces Carav; 219 – Raj & Press Gang replaces Merchant & Retainers; 224- Professional Army again; 232- Conscription, Naval, Triangular, Raj, Meritocracy, Liberalism

- What was your build order?
London – Settler (143), Settler (148), Builder (152 gold), Settler (153), Settler (158), Warrior (161), Builder (164 buy), DOCK (166), ENCAMPMENT (173), Quadrireme (177), Galley (184), Colosseum Wonder (187)
Sheffield – Archer (145), Archer (150), Settler (163), DOCK (169), Trader (178), Trader (184), Builder (184 gold), Galley (186, 188)
In general – Built 5 settler for 7 starting cities; built 6 archers (total 7) and 6 galleys for light protection and mainly exploration; only got builders with gold, DOCK early (only archers/settlers before), went for Shipyards for major production bonus with Naval policy (2x adjacency bonus) and Theater districts in most cities; focus on Shipyards and Archeology Museums in all cities; on turn 223 bought 3 archeologists

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Docks in All Cities (only settlers/archers ahead); Entertainment District in 3rd city so London could build Colossus next to it; 1 Campus; Encampment in Capital; Industrial in 3 cities (only 2 needed factories); Theater Districts otherwise [note: London did Dock/Encampment/Industrial to all +1 food / +4 production trade routes]

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
187- Colosseum, 224- Terracotta Army, goal of Eiffel Tower in the future

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Only expanded to home island to start with 7 total cities; finishing enough military for a single war while it is ongoing (3 ironclad and 3 submarines now, working on knights for interior Sparta); starting on settlers again for remaining space on map; at Turn 100 I have 10 total cities (7 original, 1 built this turn on Greek starting island, 2 captured from Greeks)

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I’d met all of them by 197; started Suz of Geneva (15% science boost), then held off for a bit till I realize there were no culture ones, so did Hattusa and a couple others that still had a 3 level for Suz

- How were the Barbarians?
Early on had barbarians on both the top and bottom half of my island, but pretty easy to deal with; only problem later was running into Caravels with Galleys that hadn’t been upgraded, but was able to run away

- Were your neighbors peaceful?
Generally yes. As soon as I met folks I did open borders and sent delegation soon after – even made friends with Sparta on T151, but they wouldn’t let me renew it when it expired; with good relations, by T210 I had +126 gold from trades (iron/horses/excess luxury), though that is moving downward; currently I’m Allied with 3, Denounced by 3, and at War with Sparta

- Were there any early wars? Did you start them?
No one declared war on me and didn’t notice any other ones; America and Greece went to war on T196, they are still at war; I started war with Greece on T229 (Joint War with India) and quick captured her two coastal cities; now working on building Knights for the city of Sparta; amazingly America still gives me diplomacy hit for starting a war on the continent even though they are at war with Greece – even though Allied, I’m now in negative diplomacy per turn; Sparta must fall, though I wish her roaming settler would build a city so I don’t get the warmonger hit for eliminating Greece!, I just want her trapped in one tiny city I can take out later

- Any surprises?
1) The fact every place I want to go is the same darn Continent
2) For some reason my one warrior didn’t get an Agoge production bonus, but Archers did; Galleys/Quad got the Maritime bonus; not sure if this is a bug or part of starting in a later era; see 3, didn’t get to find out for Chariots
3) For Stirrups, I got Feudalism for Eureka on T163, then somehow got Stirrups completed by a GH on T197 without putting a single bit of science towards it; had no idea this could happen or why it did; actually hurt as my plan was to build lots of Heavy Chariots and upgrade them with gold – now taking 4 turns per knight in London so I’m buying them with gold since I’m at war
4) Culture Victory Condition – For win requirement, must pass 102 for Gordo (main reason I went to war); Saladin/Teddy require 82; I have zero tourist so far, India is in the lead with 1 whopping tourist – this isn’t surprising, but when someone is already over 100, eak!! I didn’t want to have big wars, but know I will have to do so, hoping to get ahead in Tech so I can do Colonization war (50% warmonger penalty reduction) against someone without beyond insane warmonger penalties

Spoiler Map at Turn 235 (T100) :

 

[RaidandTrade]

Turn 239

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?

Settled London in place. Liverpool west of London between the mountain and the river on the coast.

What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?

Mostly focussed on culture and getting to Natural History and doing science so as to not fall behind. Have been running the Great Writer card from the start otherwise choices largely situational.

Went Classical Republic into Exploration.

What was your build order?

Build was mainly quick infrastructure and then a bunch of settlers to add to the one I stole from Spain. I’m now at 6 Cities that are working on their museums. Cash bought an Art gallery in a low production city as I’ll likely pop an artist.

Were there any early wars? Did you start them?

But the Settler was just sitting there. All alone. Next to my Scout. How could I not take him...?

(Thanks Phil).

How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?

Lay down districts ASAP. Science then Culture.

Did you try to build any Wonders?

Went for and got Great Lighthouse. Wanted to get Venetian Arsenal but messed my my IZ placement. Forgot that I had to build it IN the water, not on a coastal land tile… I may try for it in another city but I think I’ll lose it.

Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?

I want a few more cities but don't have good spots. I have 6 and filled my island. Now trying to find space for 2 - 4 more.

How did you play your governance cards, priorities?

Production, Science and Culture mainly. I ran a Wonder card for far too long (forgot to switch it out).

What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?

CS-wise, I am running the Raj policy and have Amsterdam, Geneva and La Venta. (I need to generate some faith for a national park on Pantanal so will build some silly heads as well).

Were your neighbors peaceful?

Towards me, yes. I've seen some wars against Brazil and denouncement of France (not yet met).

How were the Barbarians?

Where?

Any surprises?

I was surprised that the “continent” I’m on is so big and I appear to be right in the middle of it. Looking for an expo site but have no real military/navy to speak of and I’ll be using production for Archaelogists… Only viable site I’ve found so far is north-east of Kandy.

Key stats:

- 97.9 Science/turn
- 80.9 Culture/turn
- 15 Faith/turn
- 151.3 Gold/turn
- 21 Tourism/turn

I have 59 Tourism and Gorgo is killing it on 164 - she needs to die…

 

[Fuggaak]

- Where did you settle your capital city? In the spot the right settler started on
Your second city? on the river to the left of the island 1 space away from both mountains and the coast to the left
- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why? went for cartography to get naval advantage and to get a scout of my area, as for civics i chose to speed toward sea dogs to further my naval advantage as a strong navy will win me what I need. I chose oligarchy with the policies Agoge, Colonization, Diplomatic league (worked out very well as I met 3 city states and became suzerain right away), and maritime industries
- What was your build order? both cities built settlers first, then royal navy dockyards
- Were there any early wars? Did you start them? Yes, vs Spain to grab 2 settlers from him at once. Didn't last long he sued for peace quickly because I had so much navy. I'll visit him later with frigates after the peace expires.
- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize? RNDs right away to get the boost for Cartography, then commercial hubs to combo with them.
- Did you try to build any Wonders? The sea wonders but war got in the way.
- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns? 7 built
- How did you play your governance cards, priorities? I prioritized settler, builder and envoys, now I'm focused on naval production and trade routes
- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side? I've met all of them and am working on all of them I have 5 that I am suzerain of
- Were your neighbors peaceful? other than my war with spain america declared on brazil
- How were the Barbarians? No threat
- Any surprises? that spain put 2 settlers in the water with no escort near my caravel

 

[leif erikson]

Welcome to CivFanatics and Game of the Month.

Best of luck in your game.

 

[Hezzer]

First time playing diety and later start, so I fully anticipate getting smashed this game. That being said, I'm probably playing it far too safe so far but that's ok. I imagine I'll play this one twice.

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
London in place, Bristol a little NW.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Tried to beeline stuff for Navy, but that's taking a bit of time. I read somewhere online that boosting civics helps to get you culture points, so I've been trying to get as many boosts as possible.

- What was your build order?
RNDs, A few settlers, archers, and holy sites.

- Were there any early wars? Did you start them?
Nope not yet. 'Bout to be as soon as I get a decent navy. Gorgo's been talking a lot of mess.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
RNDs and Holy Sites, then Theater.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Nah, not yet. I may try for Colossus or the Great Lighthouse as both are still open.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Not as much as I probably should have. I have 4 - but will be going to war hopefully soon.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
I didn't really have any priorities.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Suzerian of Amsterdam and La Venta.

- Were your neighbors peaceful?
So far. Like I mentioned, Gorgo is talking a lot of crap - but she hasn't done anything about it yet. Most are willing to trade with me.

- How were the Barbarians?
Almost non existent. A few scouts here and there, and one pikeman - but that's it.

- Any surprises?
I guess that I stayed alive long enough to post this