Best possible start with Spain?

[sdsgoa]

Hi! So, I was playing as Spain. Standard map size, 8 civs, 18 city-states, large islands, Deity difficulty, epic pace.

The idea was to play Deity, as Immortal has become too easy lately. But I still have some difficulties playing on Deity, especially when going for a Cultural Victory. So I thought playing large islands, with possibly a Natural Wonder on my island, would give Spain a decent start, to keep up with the AI as I would rush a second city. After 4 turns, I discovered, that not only did I have the Great Barrier Reef, but also Mt. Kailash, all to myself on my little island. Wow! I was happy like a kid in a candy store.

After reloading the start, so I could found my capital in reach of the GBR, as it quickly grew I was able to spend 680 gold to rush my second settler, and move it in reach of the Mt. Kailash. I was then able to get the first pantheon, 4+ faith from Natural Wonders. I was getting 36 faith every turn early game, and had enhanced my religion way before any of the other AIs had even founded a religion. On Deity! I was almost certain it was a win from the beginning, but it was still a lot of fun and a great tourism victory in mid 1700s.

I thought I should upload the save, in case anyone was interested in playing it. Also adding some pics.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I had a Spain start just before BNW came out that was magnificent. There were 7 civs on the continent, but somehow I got almost half of it to myself. That wouldn't be so great with trade routes, but this was before trade routes. There were 5 Natural Wonders scattered about, so I got 10 happiness right off the bat. Sri Pada was nearby too.

 

[Murrica]

How big did your capital grow with all those fish?

 

[Cissnei]

owow...

 

[Csjbo08]

I had a start where the first two wonders I found were Krakatoa (and settle-able) and the Great Barrier Reef and was able to buy 2 settlers to settle near them. It totally broke the game from a science perspective. The only downside was that they were pretty far apart.

 

[Zigzagzigal]

I love using the One With Nature pantheon as Spain. It makes every Natural Wonder awesome, seeing as the faith bonus is doubled compared to other Civs. I like to then get Holy Warriors and faith-purchase UUs later on.

The effects of the Natural Heritage Sites vote in the World Congress are also doubled for Spain, so the two halves of a Great Barrier Reef together generated me 8 food, 4 production, 4 gold, 8 science, 16 faith and 20 culture. I didn't finish that game, but if I would've, putting a Hotel, Airport and National Visitor Centre would get me 40 tourism out of it too.

I think Spain is somewhat underrated

 

[Snuffleupagus]

That is amazing, I didn't even notice at first that your capital also has 5(!) fish. That's a pretty great city spot even without GBR. amazing. I have never played above emperor, but I may try out this save game ...

 

[El Caballerion]

<---salivating

 

[joshua43214]

I played Spain once and walked into El Dorado on T3 and the Great Barrier Reef on T11.

I had to scout with my settlers to find good city spots...

 

[Ricard.Bossle]

Spain is one of my favorite Civs. Too bad I suck playing above King...

 

[Johnpecan]

Awesome spot! I actually would have settled 1 tile west. Same number of fish (you'd lose 1 but pickup another one), have a slightly slower start without GBR so close, lose the extra hammer from not settling on a hill, but you would have more hills to work mid-late game. This current city location actually has pretty low production, but still pretty cool.

 

[kb27787]

lolz (tell me about it) I've had a Pangaea game where I discovered THREE natural wonders first in 30 turns or so.... (Sinai, Uluru, Cerro) managed Petra on my Sinai capitol too.
Needless to say I proceded to take one with nature and holy warriors and crushed all my foes.
This was in GnK though.

 

[Redaxe]

For pantheon would you choose "God of the sea" +1 production from fishing boat or "One with nature"?
God of the sea would give your capital an extra +5 production, they both seem viable options.

 

[pozz]

For pantheon would you choose "God of the sea" +1 production from fishing boat or "One with nature"?
God of the sea would give your capital an extra +5 production, they both seem viable options.

Just a quick update... There's actually 6 fish

 

[rodrigoq]

I had a 4 GBR start.(had to move 3 tiles to get them in range) as Shaka.. wished I was Spain... Why does GBR have to take up so mant wonder slots? So annoying to have a wonder void map, only to discover later they are all GBR and krakatoa.

 

[Sotanorsu]

Pretty awesome spot overall. Good places for 3 cities immediately and Sinai providing happiness to stand the unhappiness hit. Instant religion and no neighbours in immediate vicinity.

There's a popup for both GBR tiles, do you get 500 gold from both tiles or just one time bonus? 1500 gold would be pretty unreal amoount of gold within the first 5 rounds. Haven't tried deity yet, getting my butt kicked in immortal. This could be nice way to try deity. Cheers for the savefile, will definitely try it once I get home.

 

[Halcyan2]

I had a 4 GBR start.(had to move 3 tiles to get them in range) as Shaka.. wished I was Spain... Why does GBR have to take up so mant wonder slots? So annoying to have a wonder void map, only to discover later they are all GBR and krakatoa.

GBR only takes up 1 wonder slot. If GBR is in the game, there is one "extra" Natural Wonder. So technically, you can figure out whether GBR is in the game after you discover the first natural wonder (which tells you how many are left) and comparing that to the normal amount you should have for a given map size.

 

[szieker]

I just started a game with Spain last night. Never tried them before. First city was a decent coastal start, nothing out of the ordinary. Copper, Gold, a few Stone...(Pangea, King, Standard).

However, while exploring, i ended up finding a coastal desert location in range of Great Barrier Reef x 2, with 3 crabs, fish, 2 sheep, AND a wheat. Ended up making that my 3rd city, AND managed to get Petra. This game almost feels like cheating at the moment.

By turn 150, that city is already out-popping and out producing my capital.

Not only that, but Ghengis, the only really aggressive civ in the game, is on the other side of the pangaea, and has ALL SEVEN civs at war with him at the moment. haha.

Needless to say, that city has the potential to be the biggest city I've ever created. Now i just need to manage to not screw it up.

 

[El Caballerion]

In my current game, I'm on a small continent that has three wonders: Mt. Kil, Mt. Fuji, & Krakatoa. I founded my capital next to Mt. Kil (for the food bonus), second city next to Mt. Fuji (for cultural/religious bonuses), and will eventually settle next to Krakatoa (for a great early science boost.

Also, I share this continent with one civ, and that is Venice. Hence, then entire continent is MINE!

 

[King_Course]

Ehh... I haven't actually played that far in BNW, I played too many hours and am burned out. But apparantly Epic speed had my going on, go figure.

Anyway I took Freedom ideology, only Germany had that. I was just overtaken by Russia in Science but was still in charge of the game I felt.

Then suddenly I went from + happiness to 32 unhappiness. I am not even sure I noticed at first, it was just there. Order was the dominant ideology and it has something to do with that. I bought up a merchant CS and was bringing unhappiness down. Then my middle city on the map revolted and became English.

What can you do to combat or prevent that massive unhappiness?