6otM57 Opening Action

[leif erikson]

Welcome to the 6otM57 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.

- How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
- 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?
- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
- 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 quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
- 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.

 

[Greenlocke]

- How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
I sent my warrior to the north and my settler to the north-east, finding Piopiotahi on turn 2 and settling west of it on turn 5. My warrior and worker continued to scout, finding several goody huts.

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Te Hokianga-Nui-A-Kupe (renamed R'lyeh) in the northwest. Kawhia in Zealandia to the west. Kapiti North of Kawhia on a small island. Opango southeast of R'yleh on an island.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Can't quite remember. I prioritized city state needs and culture. .

- What was your build order?
I built a slinger, settler, and holy site. Quadrireme, Hanging Gardens, Oracle, Settler, Theatre Site, Marae (94).

- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
God of the Sea. Seems like I may be building some fishing boats. Founded my religion on turn 58. Cthulhu will dominate the waves again!

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
I met Norway on turn 24. Dido soon after, who was hostile. Nobody really likes me so far.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Holy Site on Turn 24. Then Theatre Site. Most of my cities prioritized harbors. I see holy sites being critical to my strategy, though.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Hanging Gardens (Turn 52) and Oracle (turn 68) in R'yleh. Pyramids (81) in Kawhia on Zelandia.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
I circumnavigated the globe by turn 29. I've built 4 cities, but two settlers are on the way right now.

- How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
One trade route with city states.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Mainly emphasized economics, alternating between three of Urban Planning, Colonization, Corvee, and Land Surveyors. I had Maritime Industries for as little while to build by first vessel. Charismatic leader as soon as possible. Currently using Scripture.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Pingala in R'yleh to boost my culture and pitiful science. Liang in Kawhia for the builders, but pushed to Kapiti by Moksha for the future holy war. Amani sent to Kandy so I can get some relics if my apostle perishes.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
No. Golden Age on turn 57.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I've met quite a few. Brussels allied on turn 12, apparently. I'm not sure how that happened. Preslav on turn 78, but they've backed away. La Venta. I'm working on Kandy for the relics.

- How were the Barbarians?
Only one has mattered. Damage to my vessel. Currently trying to get rid of the hut north of city 3.

- Any surprises?
I was surprised that religion became important. I think I will be spending the game fighting religious wars, as a cultural win looks pretty bleak right now. I'm interested to see how others approached this puzzle.

 

[isopaha]

- How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
It took me ridiculously long, don't remember exactly but around 20 turns. I decided I wanna be a pioneer and go away from the visible costs and I went west/south-west looking for good spots. I did not do any test games so I just wanted to take a risk and get different results than most other players.

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Ended up settling on the small continent that Netherlands was already a resident of, next to a bunch a mountains on north-western shore. Second city on the same continent to the south.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Research was quite uninteresting after a few initial techs, but I worked toward universities via construction.

- What was your build order?
Slinger-monument-settler or something like that

- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
I got around a dozen goody huts and got 20 faith from one, then selected god-king supposedly for 5 turns, but then I somehow generated like 60 faith more from a good hut. I thought I did not have any interesting options so I took just god of the sea, which has not been very useful so far.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
Found Mali and Norway on my way to the settling spot and soon also my neighbor Netherlands. First NL was peaceful and sent me a trade route, but soon they declared on me and even took my 2nd city. However, I was smart and stepped out of the city with my archer before that and with the help from a good production capital I had an army of 4 archers and 3-4 warriors (later 1 of them UU) and I took my city back quickly and at a steady pace took out NL. That made others quite angry with me, but I am friends with 2 AIs currently and 4 others have denounced me.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Built a campus very quickly and in general prioritized science.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
I built ToA and pyramids quite late, though pyramids might not be so useful with this civ, as less workers are needed.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
I have on my original continent 2 built cities and 4 captured cities and 2 cities on other islands, one of them actually next to Piopiotahi where probably most people settled their capital.

- How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
Not very quickly, but traded with Mali.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Nothing special.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
First one was Pingala and second one Liang. Still do not have Magnus at all, that is quite strange.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
I have got 2 golden ages, Maori is quite good for this.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I have met a lot of them and most of them with meeting bonus. I am suzerain of Hattusa, Brussels and Babylon, probably in the near future also of Kumasi, Hong Kong and maybe Cahokia.

- How were the Barbarians?
Did not see a lot of them, though there was a barbarian navy of 4-5 ships that harrassed my galley.

- Any surprises?
Maori start can be quite random, but that is not very surprising. Good production in this map! AI is much more aggressive on this level than before and the AIs that hate me constantly demand tribute. I am not sure what will be the consequences in the long run as I refuse to give cash, let's see

 

[PamelalIsley]

- How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
I went west and settled just west of Preslay. I saw some coast to the east but figured most would go that way. Since you get the +2C +2Sci before settling, I sailed off for a bit.

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
1-just west of Preslay, 2- Opango 2 tiles west of the Piopiotahi wonder.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Currency, Wheel, Bronze. I have basically ignored religion to this point.

- What was your build order?
Capital: monument, builder, builder, granary, theatre square, gov building w/audience chamber

- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
Religious settlements. I didn't have much for mines or luxury. Since I'm not pursuing a religious games, border expansion made the best sense.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
After about turn 40. 1- Ottomans- (H). 2-Phoenician(H), 3- Swedish(H), 4th Dutch(F)

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Once I worked the bonuses, focused on cultural districts- theatre & Gov

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Hanging Gardens

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
As of turn 88, built 2 cities but one settle to build in queue

- How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
As soon as I had a trade route. Trading with Brazil for +12Gold

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Focus on Gold & Green. Currently, Oligarchy- Agoge, Ilkum, Diplomatic League, Inspiration

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Pingala in my city with the Natural Wonder. Liang- for the fisheries bonus in my capital.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
Regular, +1 era point for districts

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Met: Cahokia, La venta, Hattus, Preslav (next door neighbour/Suzerain), Brussels (1), Babylon, Buenoa Aires (1), Kumaso (3/suzerain), Kandy, Hong Kong

- How were the Barbarians?
There is a camp on a peninsula across the water from me. They have sent a 2 Quadrireme. No barbarian land units on my island.

- Any surprises?
no

 

[leif erikson]

Welcome to CivFanatics and Game of the Month!

Best of luck in your future games.

 

[Lord Yanaek]

So i played to T110. Hope it's not too advanced for Opening Actions but that's when the world entered the Medieval Era.

• How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
  Only a few turns actually. As planned from the screenshot i moved the Warrior NW and Settler East as i suspected some coasts in those directions. Turns out the east "coast" was a 1-tile island but the NW coast showed something bigger a little further to the north so i moved the Settler NE from the island to check how big the northern land was and found Piopiotahi there.
  
• Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
  I settled on the coastal hill east of the natural wonder T5 or something like that. I settled my second city to the west of the same NW but not before "expanding" by taking the 3 CS on my land. I don't usually go aggressively against CSs as i like their bonuses but the island wasn't big enough for 3 CSs and myself and i didn't plan to build Encampments or Industrial Zones anyway so they were not very useful.
  
• What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
  My research wasn't really very well thought, usual Animal Husbandry/Mining early, Archery after i got my Slingers and Irigation for luxury then Writing (roughly) and Harbour tech then more or less selecting Flight.
  For policies i went for Foreign Trade to get the 100% ship production card and crank some Quadriremes as Maori might very well be the only civ capable of using those effectively and i must say they are very strong when you get those that early. My conquests were mostly done with Quadriremes expect for the land-locked CS of course.
  
• What was your build order?
  (Free Builder is great) - Scout - Monument - Navy - land Army - Oracle (i think) - Stuff
  
• Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
  During his round of exploration before coming back for some military duty my warrior revealed a religious CS (among others) so i didn't really had to "try" for a Pantheon, i got first one and took Earth Goddess for some great early faith output. With so much faith i decided to try and get a Religion. I have a hard time resisting the temptation when i'm rich in faith even thought i know it's rarely the best idea. I thought Jesuit Education would help me get the Marae faster which was true but i'm not sure it was really useful. I built a single Holy Site in captured Preslav so at least the effort wasn't huge.
  
• How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
  I met Dido quite early but i actually tried to avoid exploring too much while i was capturing CSs stealthily. Then as i had enough Era points for a GA i waited for the Classical Era to get the 5 circumnavigation points and stopped exploring again.
  Mansa is extremely friendly, as is aunt Willie but i suspect it won't last as i can't trade with her currently. Dido isn't very friendly and probably never will considering she doesn't like coastal civs and Victoria is as unfriendly as ever.
  
• How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
  One Holy site early. Others too late. I prioritized the Theater Squares and Harbor for trade and improved growth. I probably won't build Commercial Hubs as my land tiles are quite precious on this water-heavy map. I really should have more campuses but thought.
  
• Did you try to build any Wonders?
  Oracle.
  
• Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
  So i have 7 cities now and will probably add some sort of poor excuse of a city in the snow east of Brussels just to get the tiles for terrain-based tourism.
  
• How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
  The first one early. I have 4 Trade Routes now and trading with CSs mostly as i have bonus culture.
  
• How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
  Maritime Industries rush. I went for Classical Republic as first government as i often do when not going conquest heavy and mostly switched between different economic cards to increase trade and production.
  
• Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
  Pingala first and promoted him until he had the culture and science from population then Liang for the Fisheries (you can see i recently rotated her into my capital and Pingala is going back to business). Recently i got Reyna and will probably promote her for gold from unimproved tiles. I plan to take others to benefit from Audiance Chamber.
  
• Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
  Nope. Classical was a Golden Age and i went for Monumentality which allowed me to get the settlers i wanted and some workers. Now for Medieval (also Golden Age) i will go for the Science GA as i have a lot of Harbors available which should help me with research as i'm badly lacking Campuses. I don't think i need a second round of Monumentality as i don't need as many workers as most civs until i can actually plant forests and i have good gold income to buy them the old way if need be.
  
• What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
  I met plenty and so far the AIs have been extremely passive trying to become Suzerain. I'm Suzerain of several CSs with only 3 Envoys, i don't recall Emperor AI being that bad with envoys, probably all the early contacts i got helped me.
  
• How were the Barbarians?
  Absent.
  
• Any surprises?
  A great looking landmass nearby with a nice Natural Wonder that turned out not so great (not a lot of forests/jungles compared to my Maori early-game test). We'll see how it turns in the end.

The Maori lands at the start of the Medieval Era

Spoiler :

 

[assegai]

- How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?

took 12 turns (got free envoys in at least 5 cit states in teh process) I went around towards the east with the settler and west with the warrior

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

west of Ngazargamu by the river, then towards Hattusa

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

mysticism for the early holy site, foreign trade and then the ones which give governors

- What was your build order?

settler, settler, then galleys and warriors to conquer nearby city-states, and holy site in betweeen

- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?

Earth Goddess early -- I think it was better than god of the sea as it gave me so much faith throughout the game

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

Found Kristina and Dido around t20, they were skeptical but not aggressive

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

Holy site for the religion, then theater squares everywhere for the marae, and a couple of campuses in between

- 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 think I settled 3 or 4, and I conquered 3 city states (the militaristic ones, and Hattusa)

- How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?

As early as possible, sent to city-states for envoys

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?

Production towards galleys and settlers

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

Pingala in capital to get more culture to get government plaza for more governor titles (Magnus) and settlers- expansion

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

Normal age

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

I met most of the city states and got suzerainship first with Kandy for free relics and then gradually also the others

- How were the Barbarians?

Not a big deal

- Any surprises?

that I missed the natural wonder to the north when passing by in the early game

 

[martyb36]

Hi, first GOTM for me!

How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
I sent my warrior to the north and my settler to the north-east, finding Piopiotahi on turn 1. I settled on the coast just to the west of it on turn 3.

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Capital - see above. 2nd City was to east of this on the river.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Mining to use the copper and get the inspiration for craftmanship

- What was your build order?
I built a scout, settler, slinger, warrior, warrior, warrior, warrior, holy site

- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
The tundra bonus for holy site, was a good spot for it. Got it on turn 46

- How long did it take to find your neighbours? Were they hostile or friendly?
A long time, I think maybe turn 60 I found Dido, then they all sort of came along in the next 20 turns

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Holy Site, can't remember the turn, maybe about 30I thought I'd need the bonus faith for later purchases of either civilian units or Jesuit education buys. Also needed boost for Governor Plaza civic.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Oracle turn 81

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Settled 3 captured the 3 city states. Got one about to settle and one more settler being produced. All on the island I started on.

- How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
One trade route myself to start. Now trading with Dido.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Went for the 50% melee/ranged early on and the +1 production card. Changed up to 100% naval units then switched them around a lot, but keeping Conscription and +1 production on al most all the time.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Pingala in Capital to boost culture and then science per pop. Then got Magnus for no pop cost for settler later on.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
Narrowly missed a golden, so had to stick with a normal.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Preslav before I got on land in turn 1 or 2, Brussels and Buenos Aires shortly after landing. Captured all 3.

- How were the Barbarians?
Didn't have any on my Island at all. No issues.

- Any surprises?
Mainly that I had absolutely no problems from barbarians. Also I was a bit sloppy at the start and marched an army of Warriors over to Buenos Aires early on and realised I can only attack it from one land tile..... So I quickly produced a Quadrireme and then took it. Would have been much quicker if I remembered Kupe starts with Quadriremes and Galleys!
Was also surprised to find Piopiotahi so early as that's really set everything up for a great start.

 

[leif erikson]

Welcome to 6otM.

Best of luck in your games.

 

[Carto]

Hello, this is my first 6otM and my first post here on CivFanatics since IV, probably. It's been a lot of fun so far.

- How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
On the first turn I move the settler and warrior a two hexes in opposite directions and then circled them both towards the north. I lucked out and found Piopiotahi on my second turn, and then spent another six turns scouting the area for the best spot. I could have done it faster, but opted to consolidate my settler and warrior in order to venture inland. I found three city states and had enough visibility to fully plan my city before settling.

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
I opted for a spot two tiles west with access to the following:
- Fresh water from a lake
- A +4 Holy Site & +3 Era Score from the adjacent natural wonder
- 4 fish resources w/a +4 harbor and room for fisheries
- plenty of features and just enough bare ground to spit out a theater district and aqueduct, if need be, with a waterpark added later
- 3 city states to protect from barbarians and encroaching civs

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
I went after astrology followed by celestial navigation first, then worked through the ancient era techs. I did not play a good eureka game this time around and slogged through archery and many others. I deliberately put bronze working off; I didn't anticipate needing it just yet and wanted to place a district on a hill before any revealed iron might block it.

As for civics, I grabbed Craftsmanship, Foreign Trade, and State Workforce as they became available. Then I pushed to drama and poetry without a wonder, and then slowed down to consolidate the civics I bypassed, this time with the help of inspirations.

- What was your build order?
Scout, settler, holy site, settler, shrine, slinger, slinger, quadrireme

I decided to take a risk and rely on the surrounding city states to protect me from barbarians and AI expansion. An early scout allowed me to find three locations for future settlement, and I quickly grabbed two before settling in to wait for a Golden Age and Monumentality to supply additional settlers.

- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
First pantheon on t23, Fishing Boats. By that time I had decided that every city would have a minimum of 4 fishing boats.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
I ran into neighbors on turns 24, 36, 44, 51, 73, 75, and 91, being the first to meet all civs. I tried to stay away from them, tbh, figuring that I was safer grabbing smaller islands scattered around the large ocean. I made friends with the Ottomans and will groom them for an Alliance. I tried to pair up with Harald, but declined a joint war at the wrong moment and things haven't recovered. Mali loves me, but the Dutch don't and probably never will.

I started a war with Dido just before t100. She had a decent score lead and a terrifying science lead, so I tried to hinder her progress and brought in Norway and England to help. Unfortunately, Norway tapped out early, so I'll need to militarize.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
My first district (Holy Site) was up on t19, with my second and 3rd (both Harbours) on t58. So far I've prioritized Harbors, Theater Districts, and Holy Sites. I have plans to put up two campuses, but right now I'm getting science from other sources. I'm building the districts first with the help of a governor, then pushing the buildings. I built temples in my Holy Sites, anticipating a relic rush (I found Kandy early).

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
No.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Much more so than usual. Feeling safe thanks to the surrounding city states, I used all my units to explore early on and revealed most of the ocean and islands around the start position. I opted to stick to the outermost islands to avoid aggression or loyalty influence. After some scouting, I decided my criteria for settlements were (1) at least 4 sea resources, (2) at least 1 new luxury resource, and (3) lots of features with just enough empty space for a Holy Site and Theater Square. I compromised (3) on two cities to focus on Libraries instead. No conquering, all settlers were built or purchased with faith.

At t100, I have 7 cities, the largest with an ecstatic 12 pop. They from a ring around the ocean starting location, mostly sharing islands with city states.

- How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
Not many. Not yet, anyways.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Focused on experience for my scouts and production. With the fishing boats and natural wonder I had no need for gold or faith. I also reached early empire really fast and slotted the settler production card for my second settler. Later, I slotted Holy Site and Harbor adjacencies.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
This is where I got really lucky. I was already working towards an early State Workforce when I received a governor title from a goody hut. I received a third shortly after, can't remember from where. Anyways, I put all three titles in Liang to grab the bottom three skills (builder chargers, fisheries, and district production). I rotated her through my cities one by one, using faith to buy workers while the city built districts. The workers spammed fishing boats and fisheries.

I established Pingala as my second governor once my capital started booming from the fishing boats and fisheries.

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

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
I was able to get the exploration bonus with almost every city state. I noticed that when I find so many city states in the ancient era, there's a lot of overlapping quests. I was able to complete 5 quests before the Classical Era, plus two of the new quests, to become suzerain of two city states without spending any envoys.

I focused my envoys on Kandy and Buenos Aires. Kandy to help with the cultural victory, and Buenos Aires to provide an amenity stop-gap while I wait for water parks.

- How were the Barbarians?
I only engaged them on my terms. It allowed me to build an ocean empire, but I lagged behind the tech & civic game for a bit as a result.

- Any surprises?
The biggest one is that Dido is solidly in the lead. So far she's been the first to fall to other AI in all of my games. As of t100, though, she's pulling 70 science, with 30 being the next best. Her city defenders are musketmen, so I anticipate a tough fight ahead.

As far as the Maori go, I'm waiting to see if I crash hard in the next two eras. I've been able to build a very productive empire on the back of fishing boats, but my army and navy are really weak. I'm depending on the ocean to keep people away until I can get my dockyards up. As long as I can keep my cities protected, I should have a lead pushing through the civics tree.

 

[leif erikson]

Hello, this is my first 6otM and my first post here on CivFanatics since IV, probably. It's been a lot of fun so far.

Welcome to CivFanatics and Game of the Month.

Best of luck in your game.

 

[WideCoast]

- How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
Too short.. Like 3 turns or something. I moved my warrior first and then just decided that I go with my settler to the other direction.
- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
On a bad spot xD Second was probably a bit better, but I guess it could have been better aswell.
- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
I went for those government stuff and harbors quite early and then on to unlocking all the districts. Then I decided I want a religion, but missed on it, lol.
- What was your build order?
I started to build a worker and then noticed I already have one, but decided to culture bomb my capital to almost max land xd Settler then and probably some stupid stuff inbetween settlers.
- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
+1prod from fishing boats, since it seemed like a good idea, but I start to try and get a religion too late and wasted quite a lot of turns and gold for it.
- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
For my suprise everyone likes me. They war with each other
- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Campus pretty early and then harbors. Idk this Island plates confused me and I'v been switching between them lol
- Did you try to build any Wonders?
I finished Colossus, havent had the chance to try other one.
- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Sort of... This map just seems to throw me off for some reason. I had 7 cities back then, 6 of my own and one conquered from Sweden
- How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
Quite soon. Been going with the most gold, xept now I moved on to give food to a city which wasnt growing, but I forgot why I wanted it to grow.. Descripes my game pretty well lol
- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Been switching between religion and gold. Some naval +% also
- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
I went with Pingala. Thought too late, since I tried to think which would be the most useful , but then I forgot to add the promotion and the game didnt alert me again so I forgot it for quite many turns...
- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
My first age was golden age so no dark cards for me.
- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Quite many. I tried to take culture one, but it ended up being conquered by Dido. Then I went to science and started to go for a science victory, because there were atleast two which no one else had met and then I remembered that I was supposed to go for a CV...
- How were the Barbarians?
Tumbled upon few, but nothing that disturbed me
- Any surprises?
How badly I played. I mean yes I guess I should have checked what map I was on etc. etc., but I guess I was in a too much of a hurry to get it started that I just started it up and did stuff that I wasn\t supposed to do so I was constantly switching my focus so my game is in shambles atm... Well I guess the only way is up so let\s see what I can get done!

Not the start I wanted for my first GotM! xD

 

[Half Nelson]

Turn 110. I have 11 cities, 4 settled, 6 captured and one from a captured settler. Phoenicia has not stood the test of time. I moved the settler S from the starting spot but, seeing what appeared to be a CS barrier, turned NE and on turn 8 settled the 6-tile island discovered by my scouting warrior:- it isn’t perfect but it’s home and fairly central. I used my founding worker to improve 2 sea resources which were immediately destroyed by a cat-4 hurricane!!:- fortunately I didn’t lose any units. I built a second warrior for scouting, then settler, warrior, 2 x trireme, 2 x settler. Two settlers went S to occupy the islands shared with Hattusa and Ngazargamu , the other settler went N and settled the coastal Piopiotahi Natural Wonder. I managed to take out some barbs and a camp during my warrior circumnavigations and met all civs bar one and all extant CS. I managed to get early suzerainship of Hattusa and Vilnius The returning warriors were upgraded to Toa. I used these with archers to capture Ngazargamu, then headed E towards Phoenicia, who had DoW Vilnius. Vilnius resisted their land attack but fell to biremes. Having safely landed my army S of Vilnius, I DoW Phoenicia and liberated Vilnius before heading S to conquer their empire with help from a GG, knights and my new fleet of quadriremes:- the latter whittled away at the bireme menace from ocean tiles.

I have a nice set of +3Science campuses and am building up theatre squares. My capital has a marae which provides great bonuses to turtle reefs as well as wooded land tiles. BUT, I am still generating 0 tourism.

My army is heading S to Sweden in search of Wonders to capture and show to tourists from elsewhere.

The basic plan is to beeline flight for marae tourism and get trade routes up to the remaining AI civs (although England looks a tempting target after Sweden). I need to look deeper into the late GS game changes for tourism tips.

 

[Alphons Rodulfo]

A very interesting game! But just after turn 100 I seem to have run into a problem. I became suzerain of Vilnius quite early in the game. I was rather happy with that, but shortly afterwards Dido occupied the city state. At the time I could do little about it (virtually not army), but I did get the option to call a special session of the world congress. That option appeared on the notifications list at the bottom right of the screen and stayed there for the following turns. Shortly after turn 100 I called the special session and spent 30 diplomatic points to bring the call to free Vilnius to a vote. A message said voting would take place at the end of the turn. But nothing happened at the end of the turn, and the next turn too there was no mention of the world congress vote anywhere. It was like nothing happened.
Is it supposed to work like this? Or have I run into a bug? I was really planning to make use of the emergency to declare war on Dido without the need to denounce, and to get bonuses during and after the emergency.
Anyway, I don't know how to continue now.

 

[Victoria]

Is it supposed to work like this? Or have I run into a bug?

This is quite confusing if you do not know it, but not a bug.
The first world congress is at the start of the medieval period.
Before this you do get a notification saying you can raise an issue with the world congress but that will wait until the Medieval period.

 

[Alphons Rodulfo]

Thank you Victoria. The world congress not existing yet would nicely explain nothing happening with the emergency. Not a bug then, but the game informing me that a vote will take place in the next turn is seriously misleading.
The game is close to the medieval era, I'll see what happens then.

 

[Victoria]

Last night I played and had the option of complaining about Eleanor is I did and had to wait.
When the Medieval period came The was also an emergency against me.... and the same civ joined both emergencies which ended up with him not being able to attack me.
How you can submit emergencies to a non existent congress is beyond me but we are where we are, good luck! Glad to see more people playing a GOTM, they are great maps and a good shared experience.

 

[Kasemodder]

- How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
Settled Turn 5 on the same island with Hattusa to the east. Saw a bit of coast, and went that way

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
Turn 5. Second city on the island right next to it with Ngazaramu on turn 25.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Went based on what I had inspirations/eurekas with a slight focus towards naval units. Discovered Dido to the east pretty quickly with a bunch of coastal cities

- What was your build order?
Warrior Warrior Settler (Had a pair of huts give me scouts)

- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
Yes, God of the Sea, got it turn 29. Was expecting to always have coastal resources in every city on this map type

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
Phonecia, Turn 11. Was neutral, but I covet thy neighbors land
Netherlands, Turn 38. Made several demands of me which I refused
Ottomans, Turn 46. Indifferent
Mali, Turn 48. Indifferent
Norway, Turn 50. Seemed friendly
England, Turn 61. Indifferent
Sweden, Turn 84. I can tell they won't like me since they've made numerous bad trades at my great works

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
Campus Turn 45.

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
Started Petra on an island to the west that's got a ton of desert. Going to prioritize Venetian Arsenal and probably Hermitage

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
Taking this out to turn 113. Took advantage of an emergency, Phoenica captured Vilnius and triggered an emergency. I captured Aynook and Tyre from Phoenica using a Quadrieme and Galley strike. (Original Capital capture!). I had also expanded settlers around the "ocean rim", so I had one to the north of my two original cities on that island, one next to piopiotahi, one on the island to the southwest of Piopiotahi, and one in the Maniototo desert (with petra under construction). All told, built 6 (with a 7th planned), and captured 2. Did not take any city-states.


- How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
Not very fast, and I pretty much kept to internal trade routes/city-state quests

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
Oligarchy Turn 62. Kept the naval 50% bonus most of the time, switched between settlers and builders boosts, and used the campus adjacency bonus in the wildcard quite often, since my campuses were in big bonus territory

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Liang, and rushed Aquaculture. Then Pingala, and Connoisseur and Researcher.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
No, actually a golden age

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
Hattusa and Ngazaramu right away, and Vilinus would be the early "city-state focus of the game".
Took the strategy of "spread the wealth" and went for 1/3/6 envoy bonuses, not really focused on suzerain of any particular one, but ended up holding status with several

- How were the Barbarians?
Relatively tame, except for one camp to the north that spawned with no land-access to it, so it kept pumping out naval units, harassing the western half of my empire

- Any surprises?
For a "naval" culture, Phoenicia didn't build a navy and was an easy faceroll in the early game.

 

[Stephano]

I went north with my warrior and found this lovely mountain fjord, but for some reason my settler kept going east past the one-hex-island and on to the next not much bigger island and settled my capital there, probably thinking it was a bit larger than it was. The warrior kept exploring and was soon joined by a scout. I then more or less did 4 settlers as fast as I could and expanded with one city on each side of the fjord and one on each island south, both shared with city states and built mostly on coastal lowland which might get interesting in the later eras if we are still around... Managed to attract a great prophet but didn't have any good place for a holy site so just recently founded our religion. Found most other civs and city-states (but not all yet). Everyone is behaving very nicely, no wars or threats or even demands so far. Got a few trade routes up and a few city-state allies. Got one Kandy-relic which I hear is a good thing, but no more great work spaces so probably missed one because of that and might miss more, need more temples I guess but still working on my first shrine. Tried to build Machu Picchu on the mountain in my capital, mostly because it would have looked cool, but Dido beat me to it, going for the Colossus now instead! Even the Barbarians have been super-nice to me, which is a good thing since I have almost no military. So far so good, but I feel I'm gambling a bit, it's been fun so far at least.

 

[nikAlto]

My first GOTM for about 12-18 months. Really enjoying this game. Maori are a very enjoyable new civ.

- How long did you search for a site for your first city? How did you decide which way to go?
warrior went north. settler east. but ended up taking settler north. bumped into the natural wonder, piopiutchi, and thought this looks good enough.

- Where did you settle your capital city? Your second city?
T5. Settled to the east of Piopiutchi. Not a great spot. Second city to the west of Piopiutchi, inland north of the small lake. Then went to the islands nearby. Sharing with Hattusa and one with Nyazargamu. One just north of Vilnius (which fell to Dido). 6 cities now. About to settle a 7th. maybe one more after that. all with settlers. none captured.

- What did you research and which policies did you choose and why?
Following eurekas. And filling out each era. Not going for the fastest win. enjoy getting most of the science and civics.

- What was your build order?
slinger, settler, monument, slinger, settler, slinger, granary

i ended up building settlers a lot earlier than i normally do. i was worried on emperor that the other civs might take the spots i want. but with the large amount of ocean, i shouldn't have been. haven't really seen any other civs with embarked units yet.

- Did you try for a Pantheon? Which one did you select and why?
God of the Sea. Not really taking much of an advantage of it yet, but expect i will over next 100 turns.

- How long did it take to find your neighbors? Were they hostile or friendly?
found first civ on T38 - suleiman. have found all of them bar one. i think it is england, as noticed someone captured hull.

- How soon did you build a District? Which ones did you prioritize?
campus on T45. focussed on campus to start with so i get to flight relatively fast. now harbours - for trade - and theatre squares

- Did you try to build any Wonders?
none yet. close to finishing the oracle. was mainly setting up good city structures - buildings and districts - and building a small navy. expect to build more wonders now.

- Did you emphasize expansion? How many cities have you built/captured in the first 100 turns?
yes, way more than i normally do in the first 100 turns. i normally have 3-4 by now. but in this game have 6, and about to settle 7th.

- How quickly did you get Trade Routes working, who did you trade with?
only really starting to come on line now. i have two, many more soon with harbours.

- How did you play your governance cards, priorities?
i have classical republic now, so focussing on the economic cards i need to help. otherwise slotting in and out as i need them.

- Which Governors did you choose and why did you choose them?
Pingala for the culture/science. Reynes for the coin.

- Was your first age a Dark Age? Did you take any Dark Age cards?
no. GA. picked monumentality - used faith for two settlers and two builders. super helpful.

- What City-States did you meet and which ones did you cultivate to your side?
heaps!! really assisted me get a good lead compared to other civs by finding most of them first. helped my science, culture and coin.

- How were the Barbarians?
pretty much non-existent. i wonder if the CS taking most of them out.

- Any surprises?
the number of CS nearby, and how many i found first. it really helps with the early game getting those free envoys for being first to meet. its also a peaceful game. no aggression near me except dido taking vilnius. also - surprisingly dido doing so well, as hasn't in my other games. she is leading on score. i get the sense she may DOW me soon. i also popped a relic this game, which is super helpful with early faith and a nice starting chunk of tourism.