Currently trying to find ways to make the Cathage city squat on Rome work effectively. Presently there are two possible starts to it (obviously starting with me reaching Rome with my Settler in turn 1).
First issue is where do the Romans spawn?
We really want them to spawn above us, or at least settle there, as otherwise their nature will be to attack you at some point (even if you are best friends, it WILL happen).
If he starts below you, the best idea is once you have Athens, go for the one, or two cities he has in the South. (By simply having a few drops to block his way into Northern Italy you basically have him. Issues with this is you need to maintain defences against the normally HUGE barbarian assult, and you are not the Romans.
Also Tunis is likely to get 'pwned' by barbs at some point (always weird how it happens that way...).
So what you really want is the Romans above you, it creates a buffer between you and the Barbs, he will generally survive them, or at least kill enough you don't care, and he isnt so likely to kill you.
This enables you to continue into Babylon and Egypt with a strong capital (Rome owns!) and mostly self-defending locations.
Or if you just fancy ignoring the UHV, basically you now have a bridgehead on most of the major fronts. My technique is to take the Balkens and then once the Europeans have settled, go for France then Spain.
Also an interesting factor of this all is that Christainity can get stomped out. (now i prefer this for the warmonger in me which likes Europe to have at least two strong religions fighting).
I've only really looked at Cathage though, and am not the strongest player. However the Rome start looks a strong one! Anyone else got good starts for other squats?
First issue is where do the Romans spawn?
We really want them to spawn above us, or at least settle there, as otherwise their nature will be to attack you at some point (even if you are best friends, it WILL happen).
If he starts below you, the best idea is once you have Athens, go for the one, or two cities he has in the South. (By simply having a few drops to block his way into Northern Italy you basically have him. Issues with this is you need to maintain defences against the normally HUGE barbarian assult, and you are not the Romans.
Also Tunis is likely to get 'pwned' by barbs at some point (always weird how it happens that way...).
So what you really want is the Romans above you, it creates a buffer between you and the Barbs, he will generally survive them, or at least kill enough you don't care, and he isnt so likely to kill you.
This enables you to continue into Babylon and Egypt with a strong capital (Rome owns!) and mostly self-defending locations.
Or if you just fancy ignoring the UHV, basically you now have a bridgehead on most of the major fronts. My technique is to take the Balkens and then once the Europeans have settled, go for France then Spain.
Also an interesting factor of this all is that Christainity can get stomped out. (now i prefer this for the warmonger in me which likes Europe to have at least two strong religions fighting).
I've only really looked at Cathage though, and am not the strongest player. However the Rome start looks a strong one! Anyone else got good starts for other squats?
