Uncle Dynamite
Chieftain
Well, as you can probably tell right from the onset, I'm the new guy out on the boards, so hello all! Don't kill me 
. No, just kidding, I've been really impressed with all of the posts around here. They've helped immensely with solidifying my Monarch-level strategies, and have even allowed me to toy a little bit with Emperor. I've been meaning to join the boards for some time, but I guess I never got that time until now (too much playing, too little talking...).
Anyway, I won't tire you with anymore of that. I was wondering what some of you thought about bad starting positions. Once in awhile, I get poor positions to begin with, but playing the Ottomans in my current Monarch game, my start point was terrible! A tiny island with mostly tundra and mountains (kinda ironic, since I expressedly clicked the "Pangea" option on the setup screen) was the opening grace I found myself mucking about in, with no rivers, no fresh water, no iron or even horses. I squeezed in six cities with severe overlapping problems, and was even more distraught to see that no nearby land mass was in sight for the 3-tile limit galleys. I tried to get the Great Lighthouse, but was beaten to it and had to instead settle for the Colossus (grr).
I wound up rushing some barracks and building up a nice horde of spearmen, archers, and catapults. I managed to get some galleys across the narrowest straight I could find without sinking, allowing me to load up galleys, send them halfway across, transfer the units to the other set of galleys, and safely bring them to the coast. Though the AI was already edging into the Medieval Age while I struggled in the middle Ancient, I managed to take a coastal town of the Carthaginians, my weakest neighbor. We're evenly matched, but I'm struggling to keep the war momentum up since my convoy of spearmen was ambushed at sea and regrettably lost.
I'll try to post a savegame when I get a chance, but my question after all of that is how do you all handle those sticky openings? Early war seems the best (maybe only?) option, but what would you do if that gambit fails and you find yourself defeated with the same crummy position you started off with? I might be able to pull this Carthaginian-Ottoman War through, but it's hard to say.
I'd be interested in any of the tales you folk might have. In any case, thanks for helping me out.
Uncle Dynamite
. No, just kidding, I've been really impressed with all of the posts around here. They've helped immensely with solidifying my Monarch-level strategies, and have even allowed me to toy a little bit with Emperor. I've been meaning to join the boards for some time, but I guess I never got that time until now (too much playing, too little talking...).Anyway, I won't tire you with anymore of that. I was wondering what some of you thought about bad starting positions. Once in awhile, I get poor positions to begin with, but playing the Ottomans in my current Monarch game, my start point was terrible! A tiny island with mostly tundra and mountains (kinda ironic, since I expressedly clicked the "Pangea" option on the setup screen) was the opening grace I found myself mucking about in, with no rivers, no fresh water, no iron or even horses. I squeezed in six cities with severe overlapping problems, and was even more distraught to see that no nearby land mass was in sight for the 3-tile limit galleys. I tried to get the Great Lighthouse, but was beaten to it and had to instead settle for the Colossus (grr).
I wound up rushing some barracks and building up a nice horde of spearmen, archers, and catapults. I managed to get some galleys across the narrowest straight I could find without sinking, allowing me to load up galleys, send them halfway across, transfer the units to the other set of galleys, and safely bring them to the coast. Though the AI was already edging into the Medieval Age while I struggled in the middle Ancient, I managed to take a coastal town of the Carthaginians, my weakest neighbor. We're evenly matched, but I'm struggling to keep the war momentum up since my convoy of spearmen was ambushed at sea and regrettably lost.
I'll try to post a savegame when I get a chance, but my question after all of that is how do you all handle those sticky openings? Early war seems the best (maybe only?) option, but what would you do if that gambit fails and you find yourself defeated with the same crummy position you started off with? I might be able to pull this Carthaginian-Ottoman War through, but it's hard to say.
I'd be interested in any of the tales you folk might have. In any case, thanks for helping me out.
Uncle Dynamite
)they are stuck on so they are out of it and everyone else is similarly placed to me. The Zulu's are declaring war on everyone as usual but Germany kicked their ass in the last war so everyone is about on an even keel.
