Demo Game: Early Religion (Isabella)

[Grashopa]

Didn't even see your game Mario, and TMITs game went nasty so I expect a much earlier finish than that even with grabbing 4 religions in the capital

 

[Dhoomstriker]

grabbing 4 religions in the capital

All in the capital? A bit of overkill, no?

Oh well, plan to whip some Temples and hire some Priest Specialists ASAP. If you're going to delay founding Cities, you might as well go for broke and keep delaying doing so, playing the first part of the game as a One City Challenge.

You certainly have enough Food Resources to make such an approach work.

The great part about a Holy Shrine is that it acts as a mini Wonder, giving you additional Great Prophet Points. So, building one Shrine quickly translates into a self-fulfilling prophecy of building more Shrines, since you'll be more likely to spawn even more Great Prophets that much quicker.


The biggest shame is that the capital appears to be on the Coast, where it will be unlikely to culture flip AIs' Cities. Had it been in the middle of a continent, you could have avoided an early rush and potentially still ended up with some of an AI's Cities.


Now the question becomes... which National Wonders? Wallstreet for certain. So, that only leaves you one more to select.

 

[dalamb]

To OP: Why not start nw of your original position? You have access to fresh water, you're on a hill for added defense, and you still have access to the fish upon expansion.

The original location is a plains hill, which gives +1 over 1NW; I've heard a lot of people saying that can make a critical difference in the early game. It also costs a turn to move. I have no idea how important these things are at Emperor, but I can imagine they make enough difference that giving up fresh water is acceptable.

 

[obsolete]

4 religions in the capital can call for a late break out type approach.

I believe the proper term for 4 religions in a capital is "A big mistake".

 

[Grashopa]

^ Haha

 

[Dhoomstriker]

The original location is a plains hill, which gives +1 over 1NW; I've heard a lot of people saying that can make a critical difference in the early game. It also costs a turn to move. I have no idea how important these things are at Emperor, but I can imagine they make enough difference that giving up fresh water is acceptable.

The biggest reason that I can see to move 1NW would be for the additional production from having more Hills squares available to be worked.

It is painful to lose a Grassland Hills square, to lose a Forest, to lose a turn, and to lose the extra Hammer in the City's Centre, but the extra production for your capital might just warrant the move.