BOTM 04 Pregame Discussion

[kcd_swede]

I'm liking the idea of 2SW, onto the plains hill then getting a settler out fairly quick to go north to the corn/gold. I also think we could be isolated on a rather large landmass, free of metal/horses, due to the whole Protective/Charismatic thing, and our start is too good.

Crossing river uses 1 movement, right? (I could be wrong). So that hill can be settled on turn 3 at earliest? I don't like that. I am biased by playing too much in Quick mode, perhaps... and some habits are hard to break.

 

[azzaman333]

Crossing river uses 1 movement, right? (I could be wrong). So that hill can be settled on turn 3 at earliest? I don't like that. I am biased by playing too much in Quick mode, perhaps... and some habits are hard to break.

That hill can be settled turn 2, since the settler has 2 movement. I believe it'd be a better capital because, a) probably more centralised since there is tundra to the north, b) leaves more space up north if other space is limited, c) I suspect there will be more resources around the pigs and d) allows more river cities.

 

[blastoidstalker]

I played around with the test save, settling 1 SW.
The site is very good long term but is very slow for early developement, there is no forest to chop, making for a slow start. SW SW is tempting because you get the extra hammer running early at pop 2 and settling the second city on coast East of gold. but it is a crapshoot on what is down there. Also if on challenger, the hill bonus could be usefull

I feel that if you go SW go for hunting- AH. I am also wondering about going E and starting with BW so the first settler can get chopped out.

 

[whb]

I think I spy jungle SW-SW-S. Maybe it's just because I haven't played fractal in a while, but doesn't jungle tend to come in large doses?

 

[Rajaat]

I think I spy jungle SW-SW-S. Maybe it's just because I haven't played fractal in a while, but doesn't jungle tend to come in large doses?

There is definately jungle SW-SW-S, but even if it is, SW-SW looks like a sweet spot. 4F4H2?C is a very nice size 1 city

 

[morpheus11]

I think I am going to settle in place, but I have a couple of questions.

1. Are grassland hill pigs 4 or 5?
2. Is grassland corn 5?
3. Is there anything special I should watch out for on Prince?

A second city site could be NE by the corn and lake and use one of the gold hills.

I find it ineffective to work 2 gold hills in one city b/c of the amount of food needed.

I have won 2 games on Noble, and have had 1 lose on Prince so, I am really interested in any advice the experts could pass along.

 

[blastoidstalker]

grassland hill pigs is 2-1-1 before improvementd and 5-1-1 after.

-biggist piece of advice is only build what you need. Do not wast production or turns. Unless the AI is really close do not be worried about them attacking early.

-as a newer player with protective it is not a bad idea to get archery relatively early and get BW and turn into slavery. This will allow you to whip archers if you need to to stop a Barb Rush if it happens.

-Another thing to do is if you find another nearby civ, camp the warrior out next to an improvable resource or tile and steal his worker. Then escourt the worker back and make peace. It will weaken your enemy and give you a free second worker. Later pick this civ to be first target for conquest if possible as they should be weaker than the others.

 

[OctavianFlu]

Cool this looks like a puzzle of an opening. Not sure exactly which way I will settle ... too many options. I think I am going to attempt another conquest victory. Knowing what happend last game I will probably end up in a cultural victory ~lol.

Anyone see a problem with settling 2W, where second city would be 1 SE of corn. I would need to scout with my warrior to the east to find out if there isn't a better location for the second city though, but I am reluctant to leave my city unattended due to the "barb" uprising. SO warrior first IMHO.

 

[mike p]

I think I am going to settle in place, but I have
2. Is grassland corn 5?

3 Food unimproved. 5 with a farm generally. In this case six due to fresh water from the lake east of the corn.

 

[morpheus11]

Awe yes, 6 b/c of fresh water. I forgot about that.

I kind of like a city being SE of corn and would have 1 gold hill, so I am thinking settling 1S of current spot.

 

[Niklas]

Eh? Do Pastures get +1F from fresh water?

EDIT: Never mind, you're talking about the corn, I should read before I post.

 

[MarkM]

Holy cow, I better get gong on BOTM3 I guess! Haven't gotten back to playing that in nearly 2 weeks.

Another prince game, eh? And Churchill on top of that? Maybe next month we'll finally get that Emperor game? (nudge, nudge)

 

[Niklas]

So what's the gauntlet for this one? Will we have a vote this time? Personally I think it's time for another builder VC, and that gold looks yummy for a research game...

 

[Harok]

First glance thoughts, which as usual will probably be completely changed after a couple of practice games, with some sort of military game in mind.

From the tiles we can see, 1W looks like a clear winner to me. It keeps the 2 gold and pig all of which are powerful tiles for the capital and opens up some additional tiles that may have resources and if nothing else they are all on a river. This also leaves plenty of room for another city up near the corn, possibly to steal 1 of the gold if desired. From previous games I find I value early commerce much more than others, I wouldn't dream of moving away from both gold and doubtful even 1 of them. I can see a case for many other places but I still see 1W as the strongest play, unless something shows up in that first turn.

I will for sure build a worker first and most likely a warrior or 2 next then settler. Ag > AH seems like a lock as farming and pasturing both will be a boom to early growth and expansion. Plus that way I can see that DS has not given us horses and assume he also hasn't given us copper or iron so we are forced into using our protective trait which is nearly useless for a human player if they have any of the war resources.

 

[kcd_swede]

That hill can be settled turn 2, since the settler has 2 movement. I believe it'd be a better capital because, a) probably more centralised since there is tundra to the north, b) leaves more space up north if other space is limited, c) I suspect there will be more resources around the pigs and d) allows more river cities.

I like the hill for the hammer and the defense bonus, but I still don't see how you settle turn 2. Turn 1 move settler SW, only goes one space because 1 movement over river, one movement SW. Next turn 2, 2 movement points SW to get up hill -- turn over. Turn 3, settle. Or am I wrong about that river crossing taking 1 mp?

Also, thats 3 (or 2) turns used up in order to take a lot of unknown tiles. On Fractal maps, it could turn out to be dogsh*t. Then what? Use 2 turns to get back to start pos? Its a risk... could pay off, or could cost you. Frankly, I don't think I can lose on Prince level unless I take a lot of gambles, so I am not keen on that hill.

1W is a better spot than in place, and it can be settled turn 1. However, playing challenger I do not want to give up those forests since early production may be critical. OTOH, the forests don't matter until pop2, so I could go that way. But then I can't chop settler. But I think worker should pasturize the pigs before choping anyhow. But... OK, I'm indecisive. We'll see what I decide when I get the download.

 

[kcd_swede]

Plus that way I can see that DS has not given us horses and assume he also hasn't given us copper or iron so we are forced into using our protective trait which is nearly useless for a human player if they have any of the war resources.

I agree with your assessment of the protective trait.

 

[kcd_swede]

I feel that if you go SW go for hunting- AH. I am also wondering about going E and starting with BW so the first settler can get chopped out.

I wouldn't give up the pig to get one forest tile. Sounds like a bad trade-off.

 

[LowtherCastle]

By the way, what setting puts that green bar over the warrior?

 

[LowtherCastle]

I wouldn't be surprised if we are alone

I also think we could be isolated on a rather large landmass

Since I'm from England, it's about time I did this...

Hmmmmmm.....

 

[Lehm]

Hmmmmmm.....

You mean there is a good chance of having a rather small (british) island and space for maybe only one more city before we have to move to the continent.