City Placement Question...

[SinisterDeath]

Hi all,

I used to play Civilization 3 and 4PTW but I got bored of it. I picked up Civ 5 the other day, and I'm loving it. While I'm not new to Civ itself, Civ5 has quite a few changes to it from the last time I played a Civ game.

I'm currently in a game now, I've had the Aztecs tell me not to settle near them. If you were me, and you wanted to get the gems on the following screenie, where would you put the city ?

I've circled in red, what I believe to be the best location, but it's on marsh which isn't very desirable. I'd prefer not to have to settle elsewhere and buy the gem tile, or have to buy multiple tiles to get the gem tile.

If you would be so kind as to tell me where you'd put the city, and most importantly, why...I'd really appreciate it. From what I've read so far, hills and marsh are bad locations to drop settlers on, but I don't really see a good alternate location. The spot I've chosen has fish, gems, stone and spots for lumber mills and / or farms, so I thought it was the best of the bunch.

Thanks in advance for your replies !

 

[zyx]

I would build the city on the stone tile sw of the oasis, as the horses would be within the city's three tiles reach, or 2 tiles south your red marked tile, as the silver would ad another resource to your city - you will have to buy tiles, if you need the luxuries now though. No matter where you build the city to get the gems, the Aztecs will not like you anyway, as you are building a city next to them.

 

[Civsassin]

I would build it on the desert tile next to the oasis. That would get you access to the fish, gems, stone x2, wheat, cow, horse, and of course the oasis, which is good by itself.

Remember that if you settle a bad tile, by virtue of the city occupying it, it becomes a good tile. Always try to settle the worst tile if possible.

 

[buchengshi]

As far as I know, settling on a marsh has no effect, since the marsh will be cleared by the city. Hill are avoided because they preclude you having a windmill in the city (but do get you a defensive bonus).

My choice of spot would be 1 hex SW. You'd have to buy the gems tile (if you want it now), and the stone and silver would fall within 3 hexes. You'll also end up with fewer (useless) desert tiles in your borders. The first tile the game will pop for you should be one of the plains, which with a farm will allow you to grow and add production at the same time. I'd farm the flat tiles, and lumbermill the forests.

I'd also check out the area under the fog first. A Cerro de Petosi or El Dorado could greatly affect my decision.

Edit:
Thinking about Civsasssin's choice, I like the desert tile above the one he chose. You could then (eventually) reach two cows, plus the same other resources. And then drop another city a little further south of my suggestion. Civ: Sooo many options.

 

[Keejus]

I'm pretty sure the tile should automatically become grassland if you drop a settler on it.

 

[Glassmage]

you get perma 2 f, 1 p, 1 g

 

[Vo01985]

you get perma 2 f, 1 p, 1 g

Except on a hill you get 2f, 2p, 1g, but will indeed be unable to build a windmill later on in the game.

 

[SinisterDeath]

As it was, the Aztecs ended up stealing that area after declaring war, so I ended up wiping them off the map. 2 archers, one in city, and one in the square behind it, held off an entire army for turn after turn.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll remember your tip there glassmage - I thought you got screwed if you settled a bad tile, but now I see that's not true.

 

[Glassmage]

settle on desert let you build solar plant later and that is way better than nuclear plant.