Advice Needed: From the Beginning

[Bannerman]

Hello, I've been lurking on this forum for a wee while, and I've found it incredibly useful. I've also been impressed by the help everyone is willing to give to noobs.

I've played my way to Noble on a wing and a prayer, and now I realise I have to get serious about learning how to really play. I've read Orion's walkthroughs, and some of the Noble Clubs. Very helpful. It all seems so logical and easy when you follow along someone else. But when I have to do it myself...

Here is the opening screenshot. Immediately I'm indecisive because of that wretched blue circle. Should I SIP or should I move to the blue circle? It looks like I have only one food resource, which is not great, right? Settling on the hill would give my capital better defence, yes? What else do I need to take into consideration when settling?

(I am playing Julius Caesar, Noble, Small, Hemispheres, Epic speed.)

 

[vicawoo]

Blue circles tend to indicate a concentration of special resources (but sometimes you'll end up settling on unrevealed bronze).

Pro settling in place:
Your capital probably has enough to qualify, so the blue circle likely doesn't tell you anything. Furthermore, the map generator tends to spam forests to compensate for less "rich" starts, and unforested tiles tend to have unrevealed special resources. If you settle left, there's a good chance you'll settle on a bronze/horse and lose out on the improved tile yield.

Pro 1 west:
you're on the coast, so there could be an unrevealed seafood resource. If you move your settler 1W (but just move), it will reveal all sea tiles within 2 squares of line of sight. So it will let you know for sure whether there's a seafood 2S2W or 3W1S.
You also get an extra hill.
Your eastern tiles are crappy plains tiles.

So either settle in place, or move 1W, and if there's seafood, settle 2W (but you'll lose a turn, which isn't to be underestimated) to keep the hidden strategic resource.

 

[lymond]

Actually the hills would wash really.

SIP is fine but Vicawoo is right that you should move the settler 1W to reveal tiles. I think there is a strong chance that you have a metal or horse on that tile so depending on what you see, settle 2W or go back to the hill. Losing a turn is really not a big issue at all, especially on Noble.

Farm of cottage the Spices early depending on food needs. Cottaging is probably better if you have enough food. Keep in mind that the lake will turn into a "lake farm" with a LH.

oh... before moving the settler, move the warrior 1SW to see if he reveals anything at all over there.

 

[coanda]

Definitely move warrior 1SE (I'm sure that's what Lymond meant - 1SW is a lake ).

Not much to say so far as it's the start of the game and nothing really weird has come up, but offhand thoughts...

Epic speed, small map, and JC as your leader means you can probably go crazy with praets to secure victory, so already I'm thinking about early Iron Working. Possibly BW -> AGR; build worker -> warrior -> barracks (to size 2) -> worker -> settler -> barracks. If you've met nearby neighbors and have a source of copper then follow that with Wheel -> IW; build some axes while you wait for IW and go axe rush your first victim. Spam Praets, kill your nearest 2-3 neighbors and seize or raze their cities, tech Pottery -> Writing -> Alphabet -> Currency, and declare victory. Of course everything could change based on what you discover once you get started, but that's the most likely way I'd play a Noble/Small/Epic/Rome game. And obviously that doesn't mean it's the only way to win... just one of the more obvious ones. If you prefer a peacemonger game, or don't like rushing, or just feel like trying something different, there are plenty of other options.

Attach your saves.

 

[lymond]

ha...yes it is...i'm directionally challenged

 

[Bannerman]

Thanks! I moved the warrior and the settler to have a look, but no more resources showed. (And there was no coastline to the west.) I settled in the original spot. As Vicawoo predicted, horses popped up on the square highlighted by the blue circle.

coanda: I found the chinese SE on my continent and tried your suggestion for a praetorian rush. I need practice at that, clearly. Qin had and iron mine on the square next to Beijing, so he had axemen, swordsmen, and archers. I'm going to practice my rush technique on this start some more.

Sorry about forgetting to attach the save.

 

[ithinkiamawesom]

first of all welcome, im also a long time lurker that just started an account.
you're playing rome, so depending on how far china is away, i would tech to iron working and build a settler to get iron to build a $Hi&load of praetorians that eradicate all. especially epic, and noble, you should be able to pull this off.

 

[coanda]

If you already settled, researched all the way to iron working, built praetorians, and walked them to Qin, you went way too long in between updates. I'd recommend about 30-40 turns between updates on Epic speed.