6otM 19 Opening Actions

[leif erikson]

Welcome to the 6otM19 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?
- How long did it take to find your neighbors?
- 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.

 

[Eliminator_Sr]

I think I'm going to have to downgrade my ranking of Brazil - their abilities seem pretty ineffective on immortal though the Pangea map limits their options. At least there is lots of jungle and forest around and the start was quite good! I've barely explored the map at all 100 turns in most of which were spent on an all out assault against Spain who forward settled me like crazy. Archers are horrible at city combat so it took me FOREVER to take Madrid. They kept fortifiying chariots there and pumping out archers almost one per turn. I think it took about 20 turns to finally capture it. This could be a long game depending on who the other civs are - someone is definitely snagging early writers and artists so I have a hunch it's Kongo or Russia.

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
SIP and built my second city a little to the East.

What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Beelined drama first for theaters then political philosophy. I don't remember really going out of my way to research a particular tech. I didn't make great use of Eurekas - missed some easy ones like bronze working and political philosophy.

What was your build order?
3 Slingers, monument, settler, warrior, builder (purchased), more units

How long did it take to find your neighbors?
Spain placed 2 cities right next door by turn 25 so not long. Other than that I've only found Teddy and have barely explored at all.

How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Built a few campus early then 2 or 3 theater districts. Mixed in some encampments in the lower cities since there was limited jungle there and poor adjacency. A few commercial districts too - kind of a mixed bag.

Did you try to build any Wonders?
No but I'm about to start the colosseum in one of the new cities.

Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
I didn't build too many settlers because Spain placed early cities right next to me and I decided to just acquire those instead. Unfortunately the war dragged on much longer than I thought and the conquered cities were in occupied status way too long which set me back in the early game. It probably would have been better to sue for peace around turn 50 and build up but I'm stubborn.

How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Military unit building policies and settler/worker production. I had the +1 prod/city card in for most of the opening.

What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Kumasi! I've put all my envoys there. The only other one I've found is Hong Kong - poor scouting.

Were your neighbors peaceful?
If plopping cities right on your doorstep counts as peaceful then yes.

How were the Barbarians?
Surprisingly tame.

Any surprises?
I thought Brazil's leader ability was stronger - haven't gotten any great people yet and it doesn't look like I will anytime soon so I haven't even been able to use it yet.

 

[Katakanja]

I got crushed by Philip after 38 turns when he declared a surprise war and my troops were off to the east destroying barb camps

A rookie error I know, but I always tend to do risky things and hope for the best

I guess since we're allowing a replay with the potential new patch I might try this game again next week since I didn't see much of the map.

 

[Photi]

I played the first 100 last Friday when the game became available for download, took some screenshots, and it is just now that i have been able to play civ again. so my build orders/district order/opening plan might be off a bit.

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

I settled on the Plains Hill SW of the settler's starting position. I may have moved my warrior to the that same tile, which then of course revealed another fox. My second city was settled east by the natural wonder.

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

I made the decision before i started that i wasn't going to warmonger, though i would fight back any imposed wars and take cities where practical. So this would have influenced my tech order. It looks like i have already researched Machinery and am currently researching Apprenticeship. It was last week, but probably my reasoning there was to get the crossbows for defense. On the civics tree, i beelined Drama and Poetry, then went for Feudalism and am now 4 turns away from exploration.

Edit: I have Machinery researched because i went for printing. A bit out of it, been hot as hell here working on my farm.


What was your build order?

Pretty sure it was builder, settler, then some slingers. I wanted to get those furs on line asap to sell them to the neighbors.


How long did it take to find your neighbors?

Not long.

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

Theater Square was my first (or possibly the Campus, which for sure was placed first), in the capital as soon as i had the civic. Been building Theater Squares then Campuses everywhere. Have yet to build a Commercial Hub. Been doing pretty well economically though, plus got an early relic for the Pantheon from Spain i believe, who threw it in with some gold for my fox. Sold it later on to someone.

Did you try to build any Wonders?

No, i thought about the Oracle, but never got around to it.

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

I went into the game thinking expansion, but somehow i got bogged down. I have 7 cities: 5 settled, one captured (Barcelona) and one received in a peace deal with Spain. I need to settle one more city to the south to the get the iron, and then 3 cities east of Piopotapi to pick up all the seaside there. The appeal isn't great there for the seaside resorts, but once i chop the jungle, plant some forests, and hopefully pick up the Eiffel tower, seems like great resortland there with all the diamonds.


How did you play your governance cards, priorities?

I went with +1 production, pre-built a bunch of builders with the 30% card, and swapped in the settler card when needed.


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

Kumasi, Vilnius, Zanzibar, and Seoul. I need some trade routes and Commercial Hubs to make use of Kumasi and Zanzibar, but mostly i will be satisfied with standard bonuses.

Were your neighbors peaceful?

Spain DOWed me, i took a city and got one in the peace deal, plus lots of gold. I have an alliance with Hojo and Teddy, declared friends with Gandhi (he doens;'t have civil service yet for the alliance) and am on friendly terms with Trajan. Cleo has been ambivalent, pretty sure i can get Frederick to ally with me once i can get around to giving him a city as i "occupy" one of his.

I missed two of the great writers, the first and the third. Got the second and fourth. I was able to purchase Gorgo's great works of writing, and am saving up now to buy Hojo's, and if i pay attention, maybe i will be able to recruit all great writers in the future.

How were the Barbarians?

Pretty tame iirc.

Any surprises?

Just that i feel i am behind on my city count. Not sure what happened, but i usually have 10-15 by now even when using built settlers. Not feeling especially efficient, will see how it goes.

Spoiler :

 

[Jendass28]

Superfun game with couple surprises. The starting location is wicked and the map seems balanced. Just the CV condition would be actually pretty tough as Japan, Rome and Corgo are spamming Theatre squares like crazy.
Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
On the hill SW - having 2F2P for a city and two furs in tier one seems fine. Second city - I got actually quite lucky: initially went down with my Warrior, met Spain on turn 4, ran in his settler on turn 6, took him and settled on spot - on the Riverside SE from the Capital.
- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Usual - rushing archers and swordsman, then infrastructure.
- What was your build order?
scout, slinger, builder, 2xslinger,2x wariors, 4xsettlers
- How long did it take to find your neighbors?
4 turns for Spain, 15t for US&Egypt, the rest continuously till turn 60 (got lucky with huts and got second scout pretty early)..
- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
around turn 35 I built 2 campuses (with marvellous bonuses from mountains and jungle), then Commercials and industrials
- Did you try to build any Wonders?
I conquered pyramids (see below) and now I'm building Forbidden palace, Potala palace and Colloseum - so fingers crossed ;-)
- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
stolen settler from Spain very early. then build 4more settlers (t.30ish) and settle around the capital, 4 cities more later on. Conquer Hong-kong and two cities form Egypt (see below). so 12 in total
- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
governance as usual: +1 faith to get pantheon (got the +1 on great people), then military and settler production ones, later oligarchy with campus and worker's boost, merchant republic around turn 80 (don't remember precisely)
- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Two scouts ran over the whole map, so met all of them; Kumasi, Hong-kong and Preslav early on, the rest later. currently I'm suz of Preslav, Hattusa, Zanzibar, Jakarta and Brussels, targeting to get Kumasi, Soul and Kabul on my site as well
- Were your neighbors peaceful?
this was the fun part of the game: as said, war with Spain very early on - steal his settler, but without enough power to conquer Madrid, I peace him around turn 15. This locks Philip in the corner and he is irrelevant for the rest of the game with only two cities. My plan was to upgrade couple swordsman and then take the Madrid, but about two turns before envisaged DoW, O got declared war jointly by Teddy and Cleopatra (about turn 25, with Hong-kong on their site as well). So I got to change the plan and turn all my units north. three turns later, Cleopatra declared war on Teddy (LOL) and they start fighting each other like crazy (both loosing 70% of military might in 4 turns). So they did not send on me a single unit and I can concentrate on the Hong-kong: with a ram, 4 swordsman and 4 archer, it was easy job. Then seeing very little defence on the Cleopata site, I just keep going north with all my troops and conquer Egypt Capital and one more city by turn 45(ish), keeping then only one tiny city further north. Meanwhile Teddy restores a bit and I was not able to blitzkrieg him (mostly due to his +5 homeland bonus), so I peace him around turn 60. That piece lasts for 40 turns, that son of the beach Declared me a surprise war on turn 102 - at time where I was completely unprepared and fully focused on infrastructure (my bad not to have a border patrol in place) - so it's gonna be interesting 10/15 turns with lots of pillaged districts on my site probably.
- How were the Barbarians?
Pretty easy actually, compared to the German game.
- Any surprises?
Yep, the joint declaration of war by teddy and Cleopatra followed by DoW themselves made my day. Now amount of culture site by three other civs surprise me in a negative way - CV is long ahead me.

printsceen tbu

 

[antimony]

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Capital in place, second city about 4 tiles east.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Animal husbandry, mining and archery, bronze working, then the pottery to apprenticeship line. I plan to get machinery next for defence.
For culture, mostly followed eurekas up to feudalism which is up next.

- What was your build order?
I was planning scout - builder, but had to go with 4 slingers due to the early Spain DOW. Then I finished the builder and started settling.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors?


- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Campus in first two cities, then commercial in the capital. Got one theater up now and building it first in my newer cities.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
No.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
I was hoping to get one city from Spain but ran out of time before the barbarian horses arrived. I got 14gpt from a peace deal around turn 45 and decided to switch to a peaceful game with early empire expansion. Got 6 cities now and 2 settlers, which will probably end this expansion phase.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Agoge was mandatory due to the early war, and colonization for expansion. Now switching to builder production and campus adjacency bonus cards. Wild card slot is for great writer points for the moment.
I picked Divine Spark for the pantheon and Classical Republic after pol. phi. I'm hoping to get the 2nd great scientist (Teddy got the first) and eventually catch up to Gorgo on great writers to take advantage of Brazil's bonus.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Met about two of each kind by now, I think. Most envoys is 3 at Kumasi.

- Were your neighbors peaceful?
I expect a DOW from Spain every 30 turns now, but am friends with my other neighbors (Spain and America).

- How were the Barbarians?
Ok except for the horses to the west.

- Any surprises?
Despite the early war, I was happy to have a lot of space to expand. There's a line of jungle east and west from the capital which is amazing for Brazil's bonuses.

 

[Victoria]

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
In place, 2nd 4 tiles east

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Animal husbandry, mining and archery, bronze working, pottery to currency, then horses to near finish knights then apprenticeship
Cuture was great ... govt about T42 Feudalism about T60 then mercs before knights as gold was tight.

- What was your build order?
scout, builder, slinger x7 +2 warriors, settler

- How long did it take to find your neighbors?
About 5 turns, I was greeted by a Spanish settler, then teddy and cleo. Wasted spain then ploughed into Teddy as him and Gorgo are major threats...just poised to pop over to have a spot of roman whine as they are spreading and one must not put up with that.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Encampment ...I expected to take out Philip so decided on 3 initial commercials as enough routes to cover the rest, most of the rest initial theaters as I wanted to see if I could culture push OK (I normally now science culture to death)

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Colliseum only

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
At T96 currently. Settled 5 Captured 6, liberated 1 (I also settled 2 cities in ice I sold)

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Urban planning/agoge - discipline/conscription

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Was lucky with Kumasi, got them early but not that fussed as high level a lot of CS get taken, still really helped up until now
Also am fighting over Hong KJong with Cleo but have it more than not as I haqve a large culture edge

- Were your neighbors peaceful?
No, Phillip got fruity so I juiced him.

- How were the Barbarians?
Quite unpleasant couple of nests, if I started again I would have been a bit more thorough, wasted a few turns on them alone.

- Any surprises?
Plenty, mainly my inability to get a scout through the throng of civs, damn mountains!... Still not found the west coast and lost my scouts. Gutted about the east coast, I should have gone more sciency. nice land unused.

I think I'll finish this tomorrow, its my first but a nice map, lots of interesting stuff happening

Edit, further through now and happy with the culture rush strategy. Computers and Eiffel are just a lot harder to get while keeping writers down. Looks like I'll never have to war with Ghandi which is a shame. I have no idea why I ignore Cleo with her sphinxes but that's life and she does not seem to be pushing culture so have been lucky. I have just been working off the CPT victory screen but should really have paid more attention to abilities, ah well.

 

[Half Nelson]

Brazil turn 102. Very interesting game so far. I settled 1N to free up the initial settler tile for a district with rainforest adjacency bonuses. I started with a scout (given a pangea map and possibility of early culture / tourism goodies) then 2 x slinger (given proximity of neighbours to N and S) then builder, slinger, settler. City 2 was to E with lots of stone and possible Great Zimbabwe site. I took Stone Circles as pantheon. I made early DoW with Spain, capturing a city and a settler (establishing city 4 to S of the Natural Wonder near the capital), then made peace for cash. I then expanded with 3 settlers (2 to W, 1 to SE for iron) and built some chariots and warriors for a second war with Spain to remove military threat to S. I captured Madrid (waving goodbye to Spain) after upgrading warriors to swords. The plan was to attack America with knights and crossbows, but moving units N I realised that America had adopted the +10 religious combat bonus alongside their standard home combat bonus:- ouch!! I am reconsidering this plan, but will need to cut back Teddy at some point. I currently have 9 cities, having expanded further E after scouting another nice Natural Wonder there. Seems to be room for another couple of cities there, which might be the better option at this point. I am third in score and most yields, behind America and Japan. Attacking Japan by sea with early Minas Gereas may be preferable to a head-on assault on America. There is still one religion up for grabs and I am trying for it using Holy Site projects in Madrid. I have DoF with Greece and Egypt. I just lucked out with Printing Press tech from a hut and have bought 2 Great Works of Writing from Gorgo at very competitive prices (lux and horses) for my amphitheatre in capital.

 

[Vlad Dracula]

SIP For my first city.I sent my warrior south and found a Spanish settler with no escort.I rolled the dice and declared on Phillip.I snagged the settler and dropped it NW of the rice along the river.I went mining,pottery,and then things I had eureka's for.Build order was a scout then 3-4 slingers and a few warriors.I found Teddy,Cleo,and Gorgo fairly quickly.I built another scout after making peace with Phil.I built a street carnival first for amenities.No wonders.I only had 3-4 cities.One with another captured Spanish settler.50% build card for military and settler and builder cards and +1 production before I had those.Kumasi,Hong Kong,and Prelasv who I have since it seems nobody else wants them lol.Other than Phil the neighbors are fine.I'm friends with Teddy and Cleo.Barbs not bad.No surprises really.Just trying not to die lol.I don't usually play at this level.

 

[Nickgj9!]

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
SW of start position, second city quickly afterwards along the river south - with spain's settler.

What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Archers in case spain became a threat, then prioritized commercial and industrial districts. Aiming for a merchant republic now to get the most out of Kumasi's bonus

What was your build order?
Slinger - builder - monument. Spain did not seem like much of a threat so I waited with building archers until I got the bonus production policy card in play.

How long did it take to find your neighbors?
2 turns to find Spain, but have not found anyone else so far. Should really get myself a boat

How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Theatre square was my first district. Then a couple of commercial ones, and industrial ones in the hills south-east.

Did you try to build any Wonders?
No

Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Have not captured any cities. Settled 6 cities, which seems enough for now. I forward settled Spain so he's not got a place left to go.

How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
+1faith and gold to get a pantheon, but it turned out that was not needed because I could also just have pillaged spain's holy site for the necessary faith. Then production bonus on archers, followed by settlers production bonus.

What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Kumasi and hong kong. Both are on my side

Were your neighbors peaceful?
Spain was peaceful, but I could not resist not taking his unguarded settler. That turned into an ancient war, I tried to take Madrid, but stopped as soon as he built an archer and one-shot mine. Still got some pillaging rewards and some cash out of it from the peace treaty. Most of which was used to buy builders - to build improvements needed for eurekas as well as to make room for districts. He looks harmless now, I'm thinking about letting him convert me to his religion, to get back on good terms with him. He congratulated me on my strong culture as well, so looks like his hidden agenda is favorable towards me as well. He also pays handsomely for my foxes

How were the Barbarians?
virtually non-existing. I managed to kill three though, for the Eureka

Any surprises?
The natural wonder to the east. I discovered it way too late, my second city should have been there. Also I like all the hills to the south-east. Settled three cities there, let's see if I can get some industrial districts going there and use the production to my advantage to build wonders or perhaps a navy later on.

 

[Lily_Lancer]

On the new version I think I can finish a super-fast victory. I mean, compared to my previous GOTM approaches, this one will be super-faster I think.

Also, Brazil has very good benefit! (I got my first archeaologist at T97.) I think they're eager to see live antique items (Since some Civs are still Classical at that time)

 

[Victoria]

On the new version I think I can finish a super-fast victory. I mean, compared to my previous GOTM approaches, this one will be super-faster I think.

What makes you suspect this? A bug? A new benefit? Walls in every city early?

 

[Chakerino]

This is my the first time I do a GoTM.
- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
In starting place, a second city a little bit northeast, by the river and mountains.
- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
First I did animal husbandry for getting the fur camps eventually, then I went for archery because I got declared war by Phillip by turn 20~, after that I went for writing so I could keep up.
- What was your build order?
Scout, Slinger, Monument, Slinger, Slinger, Slinger, Settler, Slinger, Builder
- How long did it take to find your neighbors?
Around 10 Turns I found Phillip and around 30-40 I found Teddy, still haven't found anyone else.
- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
I'm prioritizing Science and Gold atm because I can't build Theather Districts yet, but all my cities have Monument.
- Did you try to build any Wonders?
No, I've been In war since really early against Phillip.
- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Yes, since I got declared war I thought it was better to crush Phillip otherwise he would be a problem all game, so I build around 5 archers and 2 warriors and start invading, got from them 3 settlers, 2 builders, and one city, they still have their capital left but I'm about to capture it.
- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Agoge for Fast unit production, then Conscription for -1 unit maintenance, and always kept Urban Planning for the +1production . Just finished Political Philisophy.
- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
None yet.
- Were your neighbors peaceful?
Phillip started war since really early, I have declared friendship with Teddy, still havent met anyone yet, after finishing war gonna start exploring again.
- How were the Barbarians?
Unluckily for me the barbarians raided one of my cities when I was trying to capture madrid and destroyed it, they have a lot of tropps to the east, I need to capture Madrid fast and move the archers Northeast.
- Any surprises?
The barbarian razing my city, I thought it would be another civ but never the barbarians, they caught me really by surprise.

 

[antimony]

What makes you suspect this? A bug? A new benefit? Walls in every city early?

District cost reduction must make a big difference when you have 20+ cities and most of your yields come from adj. bonuses and city-states, not buildings.

 

[redrum68]

District cost reduction must make a big difference when you have 20+ cities and most of your yields come from adj. bonuses and city-states, not buildings.

Agree though you'd think the settler and archer cost increase would balance this out a little bit by slowing down initial expansion.

 

[Lily_Lancer]

I suggest changing this thread from first 100T to first 50~60T or so, 100T is just too much for an "opening" that in some games players have begun late-game chopping.

 

[leif erikson]

Thanks, will keep that in mind for future games. This one is half over.

 

[mckinney156]

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
In place, 2nd 4 tiles east

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Animal husbandry, mining and archery, bronze working, pottery to currency, then horses to near finish knights then apprenticeship
Cuture was great ... govt about T42 Feudalism about T60 then mercs before knights as gold was tight.

- What was your build order?
scout, builder, slinger x7 +2 warriors, settler

- How long did it take to find your neighbors?
About 5 turns, I was greeted by a Spanish settler, then teddy and cleo. Wasted spain then ploughed into Teddy as him and Gorgo are major threats...just poised to pop over to have a spot of roman whine as they are spreading and one must not put up with that.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Encampment ...I expected to take out Philip so decided on 3 initial commercials as enough routes to cover the rest, most of the rest initial theaters as I wanted to see if I could culture push OK (I normally now science culture to death)

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Colliseum only

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
At T96 currently. Settled 5 Captured 6, liberated 1 (I also settled 2 cities in ice I sold)

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Urban planning/agoge - discipline/conscription

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Was lucky with Kumasi, got them early but not that fussed as high level a lot of CS get taken, still really helped up until now
Also am fighting over Hong KJong with Cleo but have it more than not as I haqve a large culture edge

- Were your neighbors peaceful?
No, Phillip got fruity so I juiced him.

- How were the Barbarians?
Quite unpleasant couple of nests, if I started again I would have been a bit more thorough, wasted a few turns on them alone.

- Any surprises?
Plenty, mainly my inability to get a scout through the throng of civs, damn mountains!... Still not found the west coast and lost my scouts. Gutted about the east coast, I should have gone more sciency. nice land unused.

I think I'll finish this tomorrow, its my first but a nice map, lots of interesting stuff happening

Edit, further through now and happy with the culture rush strategy. Computers and Eiffel are just a lot harder to get while keeping writers down. Looks like I'll never have to war with Ghandi which is a shame. I have no idea why I ignore Cleo with her sphinxes but that's life and she does not seem to be pushing culture so have been lucky. I have just been working off the CPT victory screen but should really have paid more attention to abilities, ah well.

 

[Zeppa]

Settled in place. At turn 96 have 6 cities, 110 victory points. I B-lined to swordsman for the special, also built 4 warriors for upgrades. Currently all cities are building districts or settlers. Having fun. Thanks for the game!!