Early game build order

[DeAnno]

When people want Stonehenge, do they pretty much universally go Monument->Stonehenge?

Pyramids seems a little more open to different things, if only because you could give up on founding or not, and I guess if you were on gold lux you could go Mining/Worker->Pyramids too (I've never tried that, but I should at some point.)

 

[CrazyG]

When people want Stonehenge, do they pretty much universally go Monument->Stonehenge?

For stonehenge I would go monument 95% of the time. The other 5% would be me doing something else first because my civ has unusual bonuses.

Pyramids seems a little more open to different things, if only because you could give up on founding or not, and I guess if you were on gold lux you could go Mining/Worker->Pyramids too (I've never tried that, but I should at some point.)

I've done this on gold before (as USA). It works but only because the worker gives culture through improving the tiles, and you can a second point of culture from a pantheon, and as USA you can go worker first and still get a shrine build in a reasonable amount of time though buying tiles.

 

[stii]

You can also go worker first with netherlands for a similar reason. But not building a monument first slows down your early culture so much. It is also slightly more efficient to use gold to rush a worker than a early building.

 

[dasaard200]

First game on Vox Populi ; INCA, Prince, 6 Tradition, 4 cities, #2 Religion by T180 ; and raging barbs .
My Religion : Goddess of Festivals, Holy Law, Mandirs, Stupas, Iconography .
#4 Settler hits map in 2 turns to found 5th city; currently at +6 happy ...
I've been able to hold my own against local northern barbs, and I can force #5 city to secure a banana tile; but in the south (about16-20 tiles away) past 2 mountain ranges; my scout climbed a hill and counted 16 barbs IN SIGHT, and more than likely many more in the 'fog of war' clouds ... HOLY SNIT !!, that's 2-3 times my total army strength !
Map size is set for 10 nations (6 were deleted), 20 CSs, Highlands, {{first game to test the waters, remember}} .

I might erect a final defense line funneling the incoming Volkwonduring in between my southern lakes and mountains; it'll get expensive, but I think I won't lose a city . Other than that, how am I doing ?

My Inca's had a hard time with early raging barbs, forcing a scout, scout, monument, warrior, 2 slingers, worker, shrine build order . Once I was able to keep barbs at bay, then I could work into a second city .
Using terrain to get a 4f4p tile takes a secondary build, but these are quite helpful !
Capital took gems,
2nd city tool olives,
3rd city took crabs,
4th city took truffles, and
5th city will get bananas .
So far, on this map, there are NO damn HORSES !!; which I'll need for the southern front .

 

[dasaard200]

Ah, 'tis Monday, and by T 212 the map is becoming more defined by exploration :
Venice is in the upper northwest, and lately found by my Incas ;
Indonesia is somewhere off in the northeast corner, shrouded in mystery and rumor ;
There is a 4th nationality lurking perhaps in obscurity in the southeast ;
While I'm working the southwest quadrant, having met 6 CSs, settlers and road crews are driving to scoop up new found HORSES and other unique resource types .

Even if I suffer a Cultural Defeat by Indonesia, it's been a good run .

 

[LifeOfBrian]

Dasaard200, try playing with "Strategic balance" option in the resources' part of the setup. That will ensure you have at least a few copies of horses and iron around your capital.

 

[azum4roll]

Horses don't appear on hills, after all. The Inca should likely lack horses.

 

[dasaard200]

Heartily agree with LifeOfBrian and azum4roll !!, finally found unclaimed horses near Venice at T205 ... had to trade with an allied CS to get 4 nags .
Road crews [4 workers] are driving past city 6, Vilcas {bananas, olives, Cerro de Potosi}, to nail down 14 horses, and monopolize Gems and Amber; settlers hard on their heels !
I should've held off MACHINERY to build 4-6 more slingers, Logistics carries over to at least Artillery ...
A Culture Victory could be salvaged; I set the Max Turns to 990; it's only T220, so I might pull it off .

BTW, what are "tech reduction" ?, and just how is Paper (a) generated, and (b) how/where is it found on the map ??

 

[LifeOfBrian]

Dasaard, I recommend you start a new game thread with pictures/details about your game so we can help you with improving your game. Paper is generated by national wonders (Scrivener's office) and by each Great Diplomat. It's not located anywhere on the map and cannot be traded.

 

[dasaard200]

LifeOfBrian, in my public Library, please see screenshots "C5Vx-01-06" for details; I'm not quite sure how to post on this forum ... yet.
As for paper, the tech SAYS that it will show up on map ... hmm .

 

[LifeOfBrian]

Dasaard, I can assure you that the paper does not appear on map like coal or iron, but rather it "appears" in the sense that you can start using it to build diplomatic units.

As for uploading pictures, when you start a new thread, you can also select an option "Upload a file" (next to the Create Thread option) and then you can upload pictures.

 

[dasaard200]

OOPS !, I misquoted my 'shots title; so new corrected group of 6 shots is found as "C5VxP-01 through 06" . Soon I'm getting the 2nd 'dip' of Authority, (upper right) science for kills; which dovetails with my Empire wide University push .

It seems to me that most folks don't use my 4 worker ROAD CREW idea to set up a series of "cities-on-the-march" reaching out to grab some mid-game turf of extreme value [ N.Wonders, monopoly finishers, chokepoints] ;
1] N.Wonders grant a bit of 'happyness', but are most of the time are halfway across the map [20+ tiles away]; and only 1 worker carving out that road, will see somebody else getting there first ;
2] Monopoly finishers [if the game lasts that long] put gold in Our pockets ;
3] Chokepoints and tripwire cities are good for range benefits [religious and TRs] on large and huge maps .

METHOD : 1849 Gold rush ! {{6+ cities minimum}}
1] Send out a ROAD CREW and ESCORT off to YONDER ; road crew does only roads until reaching YONDER, and using a follow up Settler, to 'blitz build' your new California ;
2] Queue up a Settler, worker, and escort every 10-12 turns to follow Road Crew, dropping cities, villages along the way, and escorts as needed ;
3] After Yonder is blitz built, the road crew an trickle back to the 'whistlestop' cities and villages .

I've noticed my habit of going off after 'high dollar' wonders, waaaay out of normal supporting ranges; happyness being no issue, damn the cost !, I'm take Sutter's Mill, it's the Comestock Lode or bust !!

 

[Heinz_Guderian]

This thread is excellent for people trying to improve. The early game is obviously the foundation to getting a good game