Choosing a map for Polynesia

[Minor Annoyance]

Obviously a water map, but which one? I'm torn between Archipelago and Terra. Archipelago seems to offer the most coastline without giving me too little land, but Terra would really let me use the early ocean embarkation. I might be over valuing having a continent that is cut off by ocean. Even with nearly everything connected via coast in Archipelago, it can still be hard to get around other units and territory with just one tiles of coast to work with so open ocean could still be a large advantage by not having watery chock points to worry about and being able to box in other civs by building around there territory and cutting off there shorelines. There are however several other maritime themed civs that can use Archipelago to their advantage. The only two civs that I can think of that play well on Terra maps are Polynesia and Spain, and I am also trying to play as many different maps as possible and not repeat too many, so I'm not necessarily trying to pick the best map because that might be the same for several civs and one might not be the best for any civ, but if it's good enough for one I'd play it rather than repeat another.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[smallfish]

Go for Hemispheres or Small Continents

 

[S.K. Ren]

Why not terra? Stealth expand across the ocean and form an empire in complete safety.

 

[Sprenk]

Don't forget the Tiny Island map, too. Lets you get your starter warrior and early scout right out there, grabbing the lion's share of the ancient ruins and CS first visits. Also forces the other CIV's to tech Optics before they can expand past their first city. Polynesia rules on that map.

 

[Minor Annoyance]

Tiny islands doesn't seem to generate enough ocean for it to be a legitimate barrier. Lots of coast. Also I need enough land to place moai statues

Archipelago with high sea levels has more 'walls' of ocean, and enough shore for moai. Would still like to do terra but would probably save it for Spain. Although it never seems to spawn enough natural wonders in the new world to make Spain's ability worthwhile.

 

[Xile]

Also I need enough land to place moai statues

Off topic, but are they even worth building?

 

[Minor Annoyance]

Off topic, but are they even worth building?

Building several next to each other adds extra culture. The first just adds one. Add a second and they both add two, so it squares the culture they provide. Also they can be build over sheep, cows etc. instead of pastures. So yes, they are like having landmarks without needing a great artist.

 

[Bl00dmage96]

Large Islands anybody???

small continents is also good, espcially if you find too little land on island maps

 

[FromBirth]

I'll throw my hat in for small islands as well. It's important to have some inland tiles to develop as well as the coastal Maois. Often a complete ring of Maoi gets interrupted by strategics or luxes you'd rather work.
This map also gives enough opportunity to grab ruins on isolated landmasses first.

 

[Arcoolka]

Giant Earth with modified starting positions and no Native Americans works REALLY well. You can take over all of the American continent, Hawaii, and Polynesia. Australia if you get there quick enough, but it's quite a whiles away.

 

[slobberinbear]

I would vote for Archipelago first, followed by Large Islands, and I play Kamehameha a lot.

What follows is a mini-Polynesia guide:

The trick is to get out several maori warriors before the barb galleys show up; after that, your wayfinding warriors will need triremes to clear the way. Triremes with wayfinding are awessome, too

On a side note, it is vital after turn 20 or so to try to have your embarked units in ocean tiles or on land whenever possible, to prevent getting crushed by barb galleys.

Moai statues are great in clusters, particularly on empty/junk land tiles. Even if your city only works one or two of them, the non-worked tiles boost the culture output of the Moai tiles being worked. The downside to Moai statues is simply the opportunity cost of not farming/mining/trading posting the tile in question. You should therefore take policies and religious beliefs to offset these costs.

Moai statues allow you to expand while keeping a strong culture output, and as a bonus make your settlements easier to defend. For this reason, I see Kamehameha as a policy-grabbing expansionist with all victory conditions on the table through the late game. As for policies, don't forget to take Honor. These maps are prime barb-hunting grounds and Honor will pay for itself many times over.

Lastly, make sure you build plenty (8+) of Maori Warriors because the Haka Fear bonus remains when you upgrade. This is a serious bonus in late-game and stacks with everything else. Early-game, promote your Maoris with Amphibious after some barb hunting and you are ready for an island invasion with just a little iron and some upgrade cash.

 

[Bl00dmage96]

Argh its always them barbarians attacking my scouts!!!