[GS] Coastal Empire

[WideCoast]

Hi!

I'v always had a soft spot for coastal empires. It seems a bit odd to me, since idk if they ever have been a much better option than landlocked ones, but still I never got them out of my heart. (Might also be that lack of success is why I am sort of obsessed with them). So here I am asking for advice on how to make a proper one?

Production seems to have been my biggest problem usually, altought apparently, I have prioritized it a bit too much over gold.

I did try to do them most with the Dutch and Indonesia in R&F. Haven't had the privilidge to play GS much yet.

P.S. I don't really like archipelago etc. maps.

 

[Warwolf22]

Wait for them to release Chile as a civ. It needs to only be able to settle coastal cities, and get a ton of bonuses for it.

 

[knighterrant81]

First, pick a civ that actually benefits from settling on the coast, like Australia. You could try the Maori or Phoenicia from GS as well.

Understand that there are no inherent advantages to settling on the coast like there have been in past civ versions. This is especially true since you don't need to be on the coast in order to build ships (which also makes navies much less powerful).

Harbors are good for getting trade routes, but I'd say that Commercial Hubs are slightly more powerful, since they get Great Merchant points, which are much more useful than Great Admiral points. That said, you do get access to seaports, which can give a nice production boost.

Use Liang's fisheries. They are not spectacular by any means, but they help balance out the weaknesses inherent in coastal settlement in the base game.

Coastal settling does give you easier access to certain wonders, like the Colossus or the Statue of Liberty.

Consider putting Harbors and Commercial hubs in a triangle with your city centers. This will give you a significant gold bonus, but you will only get a trade route from one of the Districts (one trade route generated per city). This bonus helps your seaports become more productive later on.

 

[Sprenk]

P.S. I don't really like archipelago etc. maps.

That's a pity, because Indonesia thrives on archipelago maps, where nearly everything is a coast tile and where her Kampung are very useful (She can even viably settle tiny islands as a result). She and Australia both have very powerful coastal synergies.

 

[WideCoast]

Thanks to both of you! =)

I'v been using Indonesia the most, because of Kampungs. Never thought of doing those triangles tho, gotta try them out I guess while I'm also trying to get to the habit of buying buildings instead of using raw production. That's one "extra" district, but I guess I should be able to grow there if the coast is not entirely deprived of resources, but if it is I should avoid settling in the first place.

E: I also have settled those tiny Islands (probably some one tiles aswell with lots of fish around ) , because of Kampungs, which I wouldnt do with other civs and I really like the idea of big coastal cities, but at the same I dont want to hamper others with it.

 

[Haig]

Phoenicia is a new civ in GS and it's what you are looking for! Tons of cool mechanics, naval unique unit and district, wealthy traderoutes etc.

 

[WideCoast]

Sweet! Gotta try them out when my current game ends.

E: That capital moving thing applied to everything else, xept those government cards with continent stuff, right? Can't find the thread anymore where this was discussed.

 

[Victoria]

So here I am asking for advice on how to make a proper one?

Primarily remember, harbour first, the lighthouse gives great population. The gold you get then allows you to buy the shipyard. Every harbour is in a triangle with the city and another district so your shipyards produce at least 6 production... Any adjacent sea resource will add 2 production.
First you need to decide if you are making one good coastal city or many. With one you can be fussy with your spot.
You need to make good use of your government district adjacency point in your key city.
Try and use Magnus first in your good city so Reyna does not have to move later
You good city should have ideally at least 2 resources adjacent to your harbour.
The harbour double adjacency is good gold with many cities and great production with shipyards.
Buy your shipyards rather than building them mostly.
I used to triangle with commercial hubs but now I rather use a campus or theatre.

If the city has lots of plain hills then you need a Liang to add fisheries.

The rest is immaterial, above is all that is key... the main issue is getting the lighthouse in place, the rest just flows well after that.