[R&F] 6otM33 Opening Actions

[leif erikson]

Welcome to the 6otM33 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? Were they hostile or friendly?
- 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?
- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
- How were the Barbarians?
- Any surprises?

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

 

[Chalcedon]

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

Settled the Capital on the marsh and the second city pretty close on the desert s/e of the little lake north to Sterling, in direction of Chandragupta. He didn´t like me anyways due to his agenda, so having a little bulwark there and the opportunity to build two Golf Courses next to city centers AND a single Entertainment Complex seemed worthwile. 3rd city went close to the two copies of Iron in the east as I felt I might need some swords...

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

For science I beelined Writing/Archery, after that Iron Working/techs for siege support. With policies I beelined Oligarchy, and actually used Corvée twice!

- What was your build order?

Scout, Slinger, Scout (as I haven´t used Highlanders before and like the opportunity for SpecOps, decided to go for two), Builder, Settler, Slinger, Campus, Trader...

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?

I bet anyone`s going to answer the question the same: ~5 turns, Chandragupta, obviously not

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

See above, Campi... at least two. In the third city I "Magnus-chopped" an early Government Plaza and Warlord´s Throne, which I refer to as the Iron Throne as placed in my "no value but Iron city"... really liked the idea of another 5% prod additional to the UA.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?

YES
Normally I don´t, but I managed Temple of Artemis for extra Amenities (I found the AI is not going after it really often, and played R&F A LOT recently), and added a little Colosseum for...well, more Amenities

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

Not really, had no time due to constructing wonders No, they together took ~20 turns, I was busy with Chandragupta (who deterred my first counter-invasion with Elephants) and a barbarian horse storm. Build 3 with two more in the next 3 turns, captured one from India with Cap next turn... 5 more indian cities to go... does anyone know if the Warlord´s Throne production bonus stacks?

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?

See above.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?

Nope, but did just managed two normal ages so far.

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

Nan Madol, Kumasi, Lisbon and Brussels. The latter is mine for the IZ bonus, and it really helped with the two wonders. Didn´t choose Amani cause early on, I think she only helps to get some era score by cultivating CSs to my side in a row, but for the boni you have to build the relevant buildings, e.g. Amphitheaters/Markets...

- How were the Barbarians?

Except for the one huge horse storm, they were calm.

- Any surprises?

Only R&F civs so far (new India, Zulu, Georgia)... I´ll bet there´s at least Seondok out there as well, as "someone" is making 12 GS points per turn, as I do.

You haven´t asked for the Governors, which I think is really interesting, too.

At first I took Pingala for his boost, then Magnus for better chopping, then Liang only for the +builder charge (together with Feudalism and kindly pre-build Indian Pyramids she´s going to be super awesome ).
Promoted Pingala with Science building boost and +GPP and Magnus with Provision.

Thanks a lot for making it, I think I will enjoy this session a lot, tho I won´t go for any ranking

 

[leif erikson]

Thanks, forgot Governors. Added now. Late night...

 

[StrideColossus]

Turn 82

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Settled in place as we start on a plains hill, means the silk to the s/w is only in the 3rd ring but we have Ivory immediately available.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Initially went for techs to improve the local terrain as planning early builder (Animal Husbandry, Mining), Writing, then Archery and Bronze Working for defence.
Actually went for the +recon card for once in a futile attempt to get some XP on my scout (this did not work out, see below).

- What was your build order?
Scout, Slinger, Builder, another Slinger, Settler, Trader, then more Archers (again, see below), then Campus (quite late).

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
Found India almost immediately (great!), Georgia about T20, didn't meet Zulu until realised he's taken Brussels to the south about T80.
Haven't had much chance to explore any further.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Campus in the capital, Encampment (quest) in second city. Again haven't got round to any others yet for reasons that will become obvious.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
No chance, or at least not yet.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Built 2 further cities after settling in place, one to the north next to the lake near Kumasi, other on coast to the west near oranges.
Just captured Mumbai before saving for the evening and writing this, intend to keep pushing and get a few more if we can.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Usual bee-line to Political Philosophy, chose same government (Oligarchy) as Georgia, even though Tamar and India joint declared T58. Hopefully we can be friends later.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Chose Magnus as was initially thinking he would be useful to chop districts and maybe wonders later (that did not work out!).
Opened whats-her-name for the +1 builder charge and Pingala for the capital.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
Still only T82 and think we should avoid a dark-age, though might be more interesting if we don't.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Like normal they were dropping like flies, little or no chance to cultivate any relationships except for Kumasi, and they almost fell to India, had to put my army in the way to save them.

- How were the Barbarians?
Initially fairly normal, couple of camps nearby to deal with and get some era score.
Then came the biggest barbarian horde I've ever seen in any game of civ I've played - something like 10 to a dozen warriors, couple of spearmen, a smattering of archers, at least one horseman.
This was about T50 a few turns before I got joint DoWed, thankfully I'd anticipated India declaring so was building archers, more warriors and spears.
Had to pull all the fog-busting units back to skulk in fear in the (nice) jungle around our capital and pick em off slowly, managed to avoid losing any units amazingly, so we had a massive army for India .

- Any surprises?
1. How difficult I found this game has been in comparison to the other R&F games I've played (all also at Immortal).
2. That horde.
3. Georgia joint-declaration with India, I thought we were buddies.
4. Losing my nicely promoted scout who found himself surrounded by 4 CS warriors when the war was declared .

Not sure if I'm playing poorly in this game, or I've just been a little unlucky (missed out on 2 huts to AI scouts, my scout getting ganked, the horde attacking at same time as DoWed), but it's certainly been interesting!

 

[cas]

Turn 100

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Settled in place. 2nd - 4NE of capital towards Madurai. Obvious we are going to have to war India, no concern about diplomacy. 3rd - 4W of capital for 2x lux. 4th - 4W of 2nd city near horse. Connect the dots = Parallelogram. 5th - Iron to the east for knights later. 6th - west of Madurai to block India. 7th - east of capital by lake/horse. 8th - 2x dyes in jungle to the east of Brussels.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
AH-mining-archery-BW-pottery-writing-irrigation-currency I think. After that, towards the bottom of the tree to machinery, now researching chivalry.

- What was your build order?
slinger-Builder-scout-monument. Then more slingers/warrior and a builder for chops. Should have gone scout first.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
India quick...very evil Leif. Guaranteed war due to his agenda. And his UU Varu are nasty early. Met Tamar T30ish...she is ok. I see there is someone to the east due to loyalty on the east coastal tiles, but haven't met them yet. My scout just got south and I will meet them in the next 5 turns. I made it a point to butter up Tamar and declare friendship asap so I would not have to fight 2 fronts.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Gov Plaza 1W of capital after marsh chop was my first...a little before Political Philo, I think (T45?). I have zero campuses at T100. I have 5 commercial districts and building 3 more. I'm hoping to use xbow + knights to take out India, then take the closest Tamar cities before she gets too far ahead. Not sure I will reach Tamar in time. Need money for upgrades, so I'm prioritizing commercial districts and letting population + Eurekas handle science.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
No way. The only one I considered was pyramids with Magnus chops, but I'd rather have the extra settler(s) right now. Tamar is close to completing Pyramids in former Brussels, so I may be able to take it eventually.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
I don't know if 8 cities at T100 and 2 more on the way in the next 5-10 turns is considered 'emphasizing'. I captured one of India's cities around T60 but loyalty was going to flip it in 3 turns, so I razed it to the ground. I could not get to India with enough firepower before he got Varu. And Varu crush archer+warriors. So I had to sue for peace and concentrate on expansion + boxing him. He is in a dark age middle age, so I should be able to take him with xbow + knight and the loyalty issue will be lessened, but not irrelevant.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Standard Political Philo -> Oligarchy. I think Tamar was in that government, and I wanted to declare friends as early as possible. I'm still in Oligarchy at T100.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Magnus first for chops, of course. Then Reyna for loyalty in peripheral city and/or Kumasi suzerain. Then Victor in 2nd city in case I needed defense + loyalty. Upgraded Magnus -> Provision. Then Liang so I can have more governors to spread around for loyalty if needed.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
No dark ages. 13/12 ancient age = normal classic. 30/26 classical age = normal medieval

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
India took Kabul early. Tamar took Brussels semi-early. I met Kumasi T27 and had to DoW India to keep him from taking them out. Semi-pro tip: I should have prioritized 2-3 extra warriors and piggy-backed their attacks on Kabul / Brussels last minute to capture the cities. That has to be the best early strategy for emporer+ difficulty with close CS + neighbors. So obvious now. Firaxis really needs to beef up CS defense on higher difficulty. Also met Lisbon late ~T80?

- How were the Barbarians?
Surprisingly tame. No issues at all. Only a couple scouts made it to my borders. I did clear a couple of camps.

- Any surprises?
I'm surprised how well my diplomacy is working. Keeping Tamar 'declared friends' so she can't attack is allowing me to expand and concentrate on India.
Also, Goddess of the Harvest pantheon is awesome. I didn't get a golden age to buy settler/workers with the faith, but I will be able to buy a couple of great people with zero Holy sites and zero religious CS suzerain. One GM so far, and either another GM or GG for 2nd.

 

[Formersd]

Turn 90ish

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Settled in place, built my second city along the coast just west of the lake. My 3rd city went to the NW (since lost to Chandragupta), new 3rd city went by the Iron to the SE.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Land development techs - animal husbandry, mining, archery, pottery, writing.

- What was your build order?
Scout, slinger, builder, settler, archer

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
Chandragupta almost immediately. Very hostile, took my 3rd city, we fought a second war when I stole a settler from him. Tamar about turn 30, she's a declared friend and looks to be a good alliance partner candidate as I built a lot of walls early. I meet Shaka's scout in the far south about turn 60.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
I think I finish the campus just before the first war broke out. I build an Encampment between my two cities for defense after the war.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
No

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Built 5 cities but lost one. I've captured none.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
God-king for the pantheon, switched from Discipline to Agoge early once it was clear that Barbarians weren't the threat. Worked towards Political Philosophy ended up in Classic Republic since the first war was over about the time I got it.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Magnus for capital development and had to take Victor to defend my second city in the early war.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
No, I've been escaping Dark ages by narrow margins.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I meet Kumasi, Kabul which have both fallen to India and Brussels who is my vassal.

- How were the Barbarians?
Non-issue. So minor that I actually never got a slinger kill which ended up hurting my development.

- Any surprises?
Goddess of the Harvest has been very nice, over 600 faith with no Holy Sites. I misplayed my early war and lost two archers. I think my chances of winning are quite small, I expect I'll flip it around on India in the second hundred turns, but I think I've fallen too far behind to actually win.

 

[Fivethumbs]

First game in R&F. Good times !

Situation at t100 : India is conquered, Kumasi liberated (no such luck for Kabul). Army is on the Georgia border, and it doesn't look like Georgia will last more than 10 turns (22-25 Georgian city defense doesn't look impressive, after getting over 35-48 defense of Chandragupta). Korea are best-friends-forever, and they're still winning at science (107 vs 40) & great scientist points.

Scottish yields at t100:

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Settled capital in place.
Second city - few tiles to the west, next to deer/orange/silk (for luxuries and some chopping).
Third city farther to the south-east, close to the coast and next to dyes/river. Barbs forced to settle a little earlier than planned.
(blundered with selling Ivory for lump cash to Georgia - did it too early and lump amount (~120) was not enough to buy settler right away).

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Husbandry for Ivory, Mining for quary, then Bronze working for Encampment. Beelined Horsemen, then then Archery -> Horseback riding, then Irrigation, Writing, Currency, then Wheel and Stirrups.

- What was your build order?
Scout, Builder, then forgot. Most likely Settler, then with Agoge pumped out slingers (6) and warriors (2), then two Encampements, Barracks, one project to secure GG.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
India was OK, but taking out city-states (Kabul, Kumasi). With India's agenda thought Scotts need to bagpipe him first before doing anything else. Hence Encampements->GG. Shortly after found Georgia. Georgia was friendly initially but then soon became red because Scotts had no walls. Still sold some stuff to Georgia. Georgia took Lisbon city state. At around t90 Korea appeared. Didn't find anyone else, and its OK while cleaning up the continent.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Two Encampements for GG, asap. Then Campus in second city and Commercial hubs in first and third city. Then commercial hub in second city and campus in first. After Industrial Zones will get researched (in turn 101) it will be some IZ and then Campi everywhere.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Not yet. Got Pyramids from India. When will finish IZ and suzerain Brussels, maybe will try to get several wonders.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Capital + 2 semi-fast cities (built/purchased settlers). Just in time for Stirrups settled fourth city to the east next to the two Irons.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
+1 production almost all the time. Switched in between Builders/Military (Agoge, then Horsemen). Used GG card. Ancient walls trick to get some campus/libraries completed. Mercenaries in time for Stirrups/Iron.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Mostly random choices. First went for Merchant (switched locations several times), then Science (in capital), then military defense one (when conquered some India cities, for defence/loyalty).

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
First Age was normal, next one was Golden. Got this "Commercial hubs produce Science" thing which was nice.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Brussels (first) / Kabul / Kumasi (first) / Nan-Madol (first) / Lisbon. All city states got conquered by other civs except Brussels. Still got use of some culture boost. When Scotts went Horsemen rampage, chose to liberate Kumasi (for juicy trade routes), but did not liberate Kabul (unit XP is good, but army was built already, and city had Commercial / Faith districts already). Planning to liberate Lisbon.

- How were the Barbarians?
Quite soft, however managed to lose two slingers and one warrior to the Barb archers (camp next to Iron, close to third city).

- Any surprises?
So far game pace feels slower. I like the eureka/inspiration nerf.
Surprised how many times timing was off by several turns:
- when finished researching Horsemen, had no Horses. Luckily, just scrapped enough cash to buy two tiles west from capital and sent some far-away builder to get those horses
- warriors couldn't get upgrades to Swordsman for a loong time (fourth settler to get Iron was too late)
- simple miss-click on builder/settler navigation means basically two-turn mistake (to connect resource, build city etc), which compound over time quite notoriously.
- to capture first India city had to sacrifice 2-lvl Archer even, to lure Varu away from the city - not sure if that gave era points or not

 

[Eyswein]

T102 as it is a nice break point with a new government.

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Stirling – SIP, Edinburgh - 4NE on river (4S of Madurai)
- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Started Mining/AH, skipped Astrology initially (never got a religion), after a lot of the early once went for Commerce so I could get Commercial districts, then seafaring capability to find the others
Beelined Political Philosophy with Military Tradition added in
- What was your build order?
Started scout, builder, settler, then 6 slingers and some warriors, then 4 more settlers
- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
T9-India, thought it was just the two of us for a while, then finally explored better and found T41-Georgia; saw T-65 Zulu scout, but didn’t see where they were for about another 15 turns; found the other 4 from T89-99 with ships
War with India first from T29-57, then finished them T67-72; was hard as they got Varu before I could wipe them out; ended up getting Swordsmen to finish them
War with Georgia T84-95, left them with 1 city – now 2 cities
Zulu thinks I’m a warmonger
Allies with Netherlands on T97 which may be bad as no one else likes them
- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Commercial and Harbors in almost every city, first one around T70
Campus and Theater districts to follow; built one Entertainment Complex
Built no Holy Sites or Encampments – captured some from Georgia, though
- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Yes. T51-Pyramids, T83-Colloseum, T90-Petra (Madurai from crap to awesome!)
I wanted Stonehenge, but it was built on T27 before I even thought about starting it.
- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Generally yes. Total of 15 cities right now (4 from India – one of those was Kabul that I kept, 1 captured settler from India, 4 from Georgia; rest me). I just built 2 more settlers – headed toward Natural Wonders for the extra Historic Moments points.
I didn’t get a Pantheon until a TV gave me 60 faith on T48; Goddess of the Harvest wasn’t available so I took City Patron Goddess; with Harvest and a Monumentality Golden Age one can go nuts with settlers, oh well, not this game
- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Agoge/Urban early, then Colonization, then synergy bonuses; as of T102 I just got Merchant Republic and have Town Charters / Naval Infrastructure (doubles adjacency bonuses), Merchant Confederation (+gold), Trade Confederation (+1 sc/cul with 6 trade routes), colonization for a few more settlers (then going to serfdom for more builders), and professional army (plan to switch to conscription)
- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Magnus with Provision (chopper!!!!! and settlers)
Amani (help with CSs)
Reyna with Harbormaster / Tax Collector (double Adjacency bonus + gold for pop)
Liang (+1 on some builders)
- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
No, but I had 11/12 points at T40 and was nervous, wondering if I should hold back and experience a dark age. Decided to push it. Pulled off two golden ages.
T52- 28/24 took Free Inquiry (commerce/harbor adjacencies also give science; also get better Eurekas, which seems awesome); didn’t have any districts to start, but focused them after this
T98- 92/61 Free Inquiry available again, yea!; now focused on getting to 140 points somehow (as of T102 I’m at 101 points; I still have the following points available on a quick look – 9 for 3 more splendid districts, 9-12 to settle 3-4 cities near natural wonders, 4 for first golf course, 4 for 2 barb encampments I see, emergency 5 to finish off Georgia, emergency 9 if I wipe out the Zulu, maybe another wonder, so I think it is very possible to get three in a row this game with 36-56 turns to go)
- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Currently Suz with Kumasi, Brussels, Geneva; was Lisbon, and want to be Nan Madol
- How were the Barbarians?
Not too bad – need more of them so I can get more Historic Moment points; lost a warrior to them early, but kept up with the scouts to avoid any big rushes
- Any surprises?
Well, not meeting anyone but India until T41; I thought we were alone; as such I never focused on building heavy chariots or I might control the continent
No faith Villages until T48; I didn’t do any of my own faith, so religion was a total bust (didn’t get one and didn't get Goddess of the Harvest)
Actually pulling off the first golden age going from 11 to 28 (+17) points in the last 12 turns before the Era change
While it should never be a surprise, India still managed to surprise me with a Varu when I was overwhelming their limited warriors and archers- nothing like coming up on an empty city with warriors/archers and a Varu appearing in it

 

[killerloop]

Long time since last post. 1st Game played with R&F, learning a lot. Now at t100.



- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Settled in place. 2nd City East, 3d City South. Now 8 cities with one between Brussels & Shaka

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Science: AH-mining-pottery-Irrigation I think. After that, towards Education ~t85
Policies: towards Drama and PPhil

- What was your build order?
scout-builder-settler. got 3 huts

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
Georgia ~t5. India found me ~t8 and ran into Zulu~t20. I quickly befriended India & Zulu. With Georgia I had a love/hate, currently improving. No wars at all.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Chopped some Campus 1st ~t35. Directly After coming available Gov, then mixed Commercials and Theater

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
None sofar, will try Colosseum soon

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Founded 8 cities. India captured Kabul and Kumasi though

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Political Philo -> Classical Rep.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Pingala, Magnus, Reyna, Amani, Victor, Liang

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
No dark ages, just entered Golden age with 46. Here I Need to learn. I guess I could have done better early on.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Suz-ed Brussels, till Shaka took over. Kumasi Nad Kabul were taken by India. In Geneva I put Amani

- How were the Barbarians?
None. Cleared 3-4 camps early on, that was it.

- Any surprises?
I'm surprised how well my diplomacy is working.
Ran in some Bugs, and when I entered 1st dedication Change I got stuck. Found solution quickly on Forums.

 

[Khalid]

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Settled in place. Second city SW towards Georgia on the tea tile with sugar.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
AH, mining (to improve tiles) pottery, writing, archery to fight India.

- What was your build order?
scout, scout, settler, (builder bought), slingers, warriors. Got 2 free scouts from huts and found a lot of them.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
met India and Georgia very early, Shaka later on. Scouted the whole continent, but no info on the other one besides someone getting 16 Great scientist points per turn.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
build a campus in capital for the state workforce inspiration. Two campuses first, then Commercial hubs, harbors, theater squares and more campuses.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
No. Usually do not try on higher difficulties.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Very much, but failed early. Plan was to get early empire soon and spam settlers. Got early empire, but I had just 2 cities on T60. Build units against India and barbs instead of settlers. However by T100 I had 6 cities.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
God king for pantheon (divine spark), +1 production, +5 against barbs.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Amani to fight loyalty issues first. Then Liang for builders, Magnus.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
No Dark age. Fell short of golden age by a few points each time. The science dedication was very useful.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Met Kabul, Brussels (both Indian and now mine), Kumasi (liberated), Lisbon, Geneva, nan mandol. Got 2 free envoys.

- How were the Barbarians?
a bit annoying, but not much of a threat. Cleared a lot of camps. Actually my scouts were Quite useful in killing some barbs horses.

- Any surprises?
1) foreign trade inspiration -

Spoiler :

I learned that you have to settle the capital first, then discover a new continent to get the inspiration. You can actually see the green continent in the fog on the lenses from the start save

2) Liberation war - I planned to use the liberation war ability to free all the city states, which India conquered. I learned that you cannot declare a liberation war due to conquered city states. Really pity.
3) Varu is tough - my war with India was tough due to Varu and I made peace for lot of gold and gpt without taking any cities. That's why I ended with 2 cities on T60.
4) Kumasi emergency saved my game - soon after I made peace with India, he conquered Kumasi ans an emergency was called. I joined, Tamar did not. I managed to kill his army around Kumasi and free it for 1600 gold. Bought 3 settlers and went on to conquer India completely. This has saved my game.

 

[Monthar]

Turn 109
- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
In place - north between my capital and the first Indian city I found.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
AH, mining, archery. bonus vs Barbs then Agope all to prepare for taking out India before they got to their UU.

- What was your build order?
scout, slinger, builder, slinger, slinger, warrior, warrior, archer, warrior, archer.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
Met India in the first few turns, they weren't very friendly. Once I had archers I attacked them capturing their 3 cities and wiping them out.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
As soon as I my initial army was built, I build the first campus. Next was the government district in the first Indian city I captured.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Petra in the first Indian city I captured.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Initial expansion was conquest of India. Once the Ancestral Hall was completed I built 3 more cities and am continuing to expand. I currently have 7 cities.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Classic Republic to be able to run +1 production in each city, settler production bonus and builder production bonus cards, plus the bonus to housing amenities and great people. Initially I run first envoy counts as 2 card, then change it once I have the first envoys in each CS I've met.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Magnus for the chop bonus and promotion for settlers don't use a pop. Then the lady that adds +1 builder charge and promote her for bonus production of government plaza buildings then bonus production for district.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
No dark age yet.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I don't recall the names, but I got a couple of them on my side.

- How were the Barbarians?
I hate playing with barbarians due to not being able to stop the early scouts before they report back and unleash a flood of units, especially the horse units.

- Any surprises?
Zulu and Georgia are both my friends.

 

[Eliminator_Sr]

It's been awhile since I've played a GOTM but figured I would get back to it with R&F.

Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
SIP and then 4 tiles NE towards India

What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Just finished Stirrups - planning to finish India with Knights and Xbows but my gold is really low right now so it might take awhile

What was your build order?
I don't really recall but I know I built a scout and settler early. I think it was scout, warrior, settler, slinger

How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
India almost immediately and then Georgia and Zulu a little later. India was hostile early and I knew I would have to prepare for war.

How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
I researched writing pretty early so I think I had a campus down around turn 30ish. I built 4 of them plus 1 encampment, 1 CH, 1ED, and the Govt district

Did you try to build any Wonders?
Yep - there was a lot of stone around so I harvested almost all of it and built Temple or Artemis, Pyramids, and finished the Colosseum right at turn 100 which is fast for me. I rarely focus on wonders but the starting location seemed to favor it and decided to go a different direction than usual by turtling up grabbing wonders and focusing on amenities. It was surprisingly easy to get the wonders with Magnus.

Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
No - I played it cautious and turtled. I was a little worried about India's Varu. They did declare on me very early and I captured one of their cities, but I only have 6 total cities right now. I probably could have taken them out if I went aggressive military but I like the way things played out. I'm friends with Georgia and Zulu right now and actually might go peaceful SV for a change.

How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Agoge and Ilkum a lot and limes briefly for some overflow for ED and arena

Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Magnus first as always, and then 4 others - planning to go with the government building that gives amenities for governors. I placed the loyalty governor at Kumasi to become Suzerain.

Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
Yup - followed by my first heroic age (unlocked the achievement)! I totally forgot there were DA policy cards - no I didn't use any of them.

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

How were the Barbarians?
Not bad at all. They seem easier to handle with R&F so far.

Any surprises?
Just that I'm actually making use of diplomacy and going after wonders - I like that R&F is opening up some new avenues for me.

 

[MetalmindStats]

This has been my first Game of the Month. It's been fun so far, even though I'm rather behind right now (as of turn 101).

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
I settled my capital in place, then my second city (Roxburgh) followed on the tea adjacent to the southwest lake.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
For research, I went for animal husbandry first (to improve the ivory) and beelined writing afterwards to build an early campus. Then, my tech path was somewhat unfocused, going something like this: mining -> archery -> bronze working -> irrigation (to improve various luxuries including the tea I settled my second city on) -> masonry (for walls) -> apprenticeship beeline -> mathematics -> sailing (to improve the fish near my third and fourth cities and for a galley to explore the coast) -> iron working (for swordsmen to beef up my cities' defenses against Chandragupta) -> education -> machinery beeline.

My civic progression was fairly standard, without strong priorities. It went something like this: code of laws (obviously) -> craftsmanship / foreign trade -> state workforce -> early empire -> political philosophy -> mysticism -> etc.

- What was your build order?
In my capital, I went for a slinger first (for barbarian defense and the archery eureka), followed by a builder (to improve the ivory among other resources and gain the craftsmanship eureka. Next was a settler (for a reasonably early second city), followed by a warrior for further barbarian defense, then a campus after researching writing.

I had Roxburgh produce a builder first (my standard opening action in any expansion), followed by a trader (for the currency eureka and to boost the city early), then a campus and subsequently a settler. In my third city (Aberdeen), I went for a builder, followed by a spearman (for a quest by Brussels), then a campus. Dumbarton (my fourth city) went for a builder, then a galley (for coastal exploration), and an archer afterwards.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
I met Chandragupta on turn 10, who denounced me turn 37, then finally declared war on me turn 85 before I peaced out on turn 95. Tamar was immediately friendly following my turn 34 meeting, and I declared friendship with her on turn 38, renewing it twice by turn 101. Finally, I encountered Shaka on turn 84.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
I prioritized campuses first and foremost, completing one in my capital sometime in the 30s. I then started work on a commercial hub on turn 63. By turn 101, my capital had those two districts (with first-tier buildings) along with an industrial zone completed. My other cities have completed two campuses and one industrial zone between them.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
As of turn 101, I haven't tried to build any wonders. The Temple of Artemis would have been nice, but some AI or another had already taken it by the time I would have wanted to build it.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
No, I didn't emphasize expansion as much as I probably should have due to my perception of the nearby land as being lacking. In the first 100 turns, I settled four cities (including my capital) and didn't capture any.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
My first picks were Discipline (to defend against barbarians) and God-King (to acquire a pantheon); on turn 39, I would up choosing God of the Open Sky. I switched to Urban Planning on turn 40 for the all-around production boost, then I chose Classical Republic as my new government type twenty turns later. My wildcard became Inspiration for the extra Great Scientist points on turn 62, and I switched to Oligarchy sometime in the early 80s to slot Bastions for Chandragupta's incoming DoW.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
My first governor was Magnus, who I appointed to Stirling on turn 47 for his doubled harvest benefits. I then shuffled Magnus around my empire a few times before turn 101. Pingala was my next choice at turn 53, for the science and culture boost, followed by Victor to Aberdeen when Chandragupta declared war, as his units were targeting it first and it had no walls at the time. Finally, I promoted Pingala around turn 100 for the extra production speed on my capital's university.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
I managed to avoid slipping into a Dark Age, settling for a normal age in both the classical and medieval eras.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I met Brussels on turn 5, becoming the first civilization to meet them. Brussels was also my first (and so far only) suzerain, with an early second envoy from the military tradition inspiration, followed by my first spare envoy. Kabul followed on turn 11, but they were attacked and conquered by Chandragupta soon after. I later met Kumasi on turn 35 and Nan Madol on turn 99. Shaka had already conquered Geneva by the time I found it.

- How were the Barbarians?
The barbarians weren't too bothersome on the whole. A barbarian camp with horse access northwest of my capital proved a minor hassle but failed to even knock out any of my units before being extirpated on turn 36.

- Any surprises?
There were quite a few surprises to me.

First was missing out on the foreign trade inspiration the same way as Khalid above. Then, without knowing all of the Rise and Fall leaders' agendas beforehand, Chandragupta's agenda came as a rude surprise. Missing out on a medieval-era golden age by one point was also unfortunate.

I was more pleasantly surprised by the Scottish prowess at recruiting great scientists: I managed to score the first great scientist on turn 62, followed by the third on turn 78. Also, Chandragupta's belated war against me proved feeble indeed. He only attacked with one varu, two archers, two warriors, and a scout that for the most part just sat in the water to the left of my fourth city, failing to even remotely threaten my cities. Ten turns later, I managed to extract a favorable peace deal from him, scoring all of his one GPT plus 100 gold and his only copy of incense.

 

[Casualty of war]

Used to be casualplayer but I lost that login info when my hard drive went poof. The contact email for the account was compromised and now inaccessible, so yeah 2017 e-life was a pain in the kiester.

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

Settled in place because of the close-by elephant. Edinburgh went up by Kumasi (and Mumbai) on Turn 18.

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

Found my second horse so I rushed Horsemen. Had to go back and get Mining after Horseback Riding so I could Magnus-chop an army.

- What was your build order?

Scout always first then right into Settler, a couple of Barb control units, Builder, early Temple of Artemis (Turn 42)

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?

Kumasi by Turn 2 or 3 then Chandragupta, Brussels, Zulu, Georgia, Korea on Turn 110

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

Not counting the Government Plaza, I jammed on an Entertainment District to get Colosseum ASAP for the culture

- Did you try to build any Wonders?

Settle in Place made for a beautiful Temple of Artemis spot, and happy Scots are sciency Scots. Mumbai was the Petraiest spot that ever Petra-ed (turn 110.) Decided to see how far i could push it in Immortal R&F and ended up with a heap of Wonders.

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

6-7 city Colosseum seems like the way to go if you have the room. Some of my early cities had Indian names and I also kept Kabul (India's last city and the only one that got Walls up.) I could have liberated them and the Era Score would have given me a Golden Age but it was within my Colosseum radius.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?

I wanted to crank out Horsemen, Settlers and Wonders the first 100 Turns, and I chose cards accordingly.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?

Magnus was a priority because he's ridiculous. Eventually I picked them all and promoted Magnus, Pingala and Reyna quite a bit.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?

Impossible to Wonder Spam and get Dark Ages. Mostly Golden.

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

Kumasi for Culture, Brussels came along later. Pretty sure I had to hard build Political Philosophy as i didn't meet Geneva for a while.

- How were the Barbarians?

A pain and really helpful too. Barb camps kept popping near Horses and had to be dealt with ASAP. Chandragupta got his first army caught from behind by Barbs when he tried to conquer Kumasi, and it didn't go well for him.

- Any surprises?

A joint DoW from Chandragupta and Tamar almost cost me Edinburgh. I had to burn some major gold on units and suicide some into Chandra's melee units just to hang on. He got Varu much later, when he was on the defensive and 4 Horsemen can take down a Varu and survive. Barely. Trying to take cities with Varu fortified in them ain't easy.

I took Telavi because Tamar made me angry but I couldn't hold it because of Loyalty. I sold it back in the Peace Deal for everything she had and eventually came back for it.

Zulu took some effort but we made friends and were Allied throughout most of the rest of the game.

I forgot to save at or around Turn 100 but here's Turn 125.

 

[Half Nelson]

Turn 105. My first R&F game. In fact, my first Civ6 game for quite a while (bar some Achievement hunting with scenarios).
I settled in place, built warrior, worker, slinger, settler and laid down my second city on the W coast (citrus and good production hill range). I built up a small army (3 warriors, 3 slingers), upgraded to archers and DoW India. I captured their nearest city easily, but Varu appeared around their capital and I sued for peace and gold:- this also eased the immediate loyalty issue with conquered cities that I guess I will grow to appreciate. I turned my frustrated troops on Kabul which fell to me after a sharp conflict:- it is actually a rather nice city spot. I improved a few tiles then completed a pair of +50% bonus settlers, one founding a city N on the river (bridging to my Indian conquest) and the other heading E to grab a lake spot with 2 iron.
The next stage was to start building campuses and preparing my capital for constructing the Colosseum, which I completed with the help of chops supervised by governor Magnus. After a second (5 charge) builder wave, I built 3 more cheap settlers to fill in areas covered by the Colosseum effect. This gives me 9 cities.
The plan is to use my upgraded army (swords, crossbows plus a brace of knights) to complete the conquest of India (adding 3 cities) then focus on science and infrastructure. Gold is harder to come by in R&F so I will need some CH and harbours. The governor system is interesting (I have 3 active to date) and I have constructed a government centre in Stirling, plus the level 1 building that gives cheaper settlers and free workers. I have only met India and Georgia to date and my pair of triremes are yet to find any shallow route to a new continent.

EDIT:- Yes, my first age was a Dark Age (oops!, a bit rusty) and I took a Dark Age card (food and production on trade routes) for the achievement. I have rebounded into a Heroic Age. My governors are Magnus, Pingala and Liaing so far.

 

[leif erikson]

EDIT:- Yes, my first age was a Dark Age (oops!, a bit rusty) and I took a Dark Age card (food and production on trade routes) for the achievement. I have rebounded into a Heroic Age. My governors are Magnus, Pingala and Liaing so far.

I asked because in testing I think I got a Dark Age in 7 of my 10 attempts. Was really wondering how many others got one and what did they do about it.

 

[Willburn]

My first 6otm.T99 report. I used to be active during civ4. (I got a great spy named after me eysteinthewise )

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
On the spot. The hill production bonus was better than an early chop. I think i settled to the east near horse to trade it early for 2nd city.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Standard stuff really. Went for Early empire. Expanded and fought war at the same time.

- What was your build order?
Scout then builder then i think slinger slinger.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
Very early. They where hostile. But 2nd civ i met was friendly.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Campus. I prioritized getting theaters as soon as possible.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Absolutly. Colusseum is a must every game.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
11 cities total. I think i conquered around 5 and built 6.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Conscription is always amazing. Levy during wall chops is good as well.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Magnus., For the chop. Reyna for the money

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
No sadly I did not micro this wish I got a dark age for the heroic age to follow.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Messed up and got kumasi due to loyalty pressure.

- How were the Barbarians?
Ruthless. Albeit I had a big army of archers so no biggie.

- Any surprises?
Georgia was friendly...​

 

[Zeppa]

Settled 3 cities early game. Researched my standard for difficult settings direct to archers. India attacked both of the city states around me and captured Kabul. When they attacked the second CS my archers and warrior declared war and repelled them. I eventually gave Kabul it's freedom and India was severely weakened by the warriors from two CS they attacked. Kabul loves me.

Any surprises--No at this difficulty lvl figured I'd be in a dark age and was,

 

[Khalid]

I asked because in testing I think I got a Dark Age in 7 of my 10 attempts. Was really wondering how many others got one and what did they do about it.

My experience so far is that on higher difficulties the ancient age goes by fast and there is not much to get era score (meeting civs, huts and barb camps). So my expectation is a dark classical age.

but somehow I managed to clear a few camps this game, which meant a normal age. Since then it easy with a correct dedication to get a normal age.

 

[stefanos85]

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Capital in place, second city 4 tiles north along the river.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
I actually prioritized the bottom of the tech tree since I knew Chandragupta's Agenda, which meant he had to be dealt with.
As for culture, the standard Early Empire > Political Philosophy, then rushing Defensive Tactics to exploit Magnus+Limes for Colloseum.
Now going for Feudalism into Mercenaries to finally take Chandragupta's capital with a Knight+Xbow attack.

- What was your build order?
Standard Scout > Slinger > Builder > Slinger > Settler.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
Found India and Georgia both before turn 20.
Have been friends with Georgia the whole game, and at war with India since turn 40 or so.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
First Disctrict was an Encampment in the Capital to get Horseman and a GG (Ended up with Hannibal)
After that 2 Campuses, and an Entertainment Districtfor Colloseum.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Chopped Pyramids Turn 74, and Colloseum turn 98. Both in second city with Magnus.
Temple of Artemis was gone by turn 40 so I didnt even had to try for it.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Built 4, Captured 2, Razed 2.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Started with Urban Planning and Discipline, into Ilkum + Agoge.
Colonization + Magnus to chop 3 PoP free Settlers.
Had to use Limitanei for a while to keep Loyalty on the captured city by INdia's Capital.
Natural Philosophy + Conscprition as soon as I got them.
Limes to chop either Pyramids or the Entertainment district (I can't remember)
Corvee to help with Colosseum
Strategos to get Hannibal.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Magnus (Uber OP).
Liang For extra builder charge and 30% Government Plaza buildings.
Pingala looking long term, I probably couldve gone with Reyna or Amani here.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
Yes.
I did not, while those cards look strong they were not suited for the kind of game I played.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Kumasi (Im suze)
Kabul (Before India conquered it, now it's mine)
Brussels (India was Suze so it was at war with me but never sent any units, maybe because Georgia killed them all since they've been at war for the entire game.

- How were the Barbarians?
Easy early game, so I got Bronze working eureka and Military tradition inspiration easily.
A horde attacked and pillaged my Capital while my whole army was fighting India up north so that was annoying.

- Any surprises?
I'm at 51/30 into an Heroic age without actively going for Era score, which is gonna make my next golden age treshold huge and I will probably fail to get it.
I met Shaka but I still have no idea where he is.
Georgia didn't forward settle me, so I was able to settle my 3rd city South of Stirling on top the Tea by the big Lake next to Brussels.