French Decisions

[Fluphen Azine]

Lately I have been playing Civ VI RF and it gets boring unless you can share games and watch other players teach you how to play better. I thought this was an interesting start as France. Of course I only played up to turn 22 so the map might be boring. I have been trying to learn how to get back to back Golden Ages recently and not doing very good at it and since this start has a Natural Wonder next door I figured this would be a good map for players to showcase how easy it is. I am sure that having Double Horses nearby makes this game even easier as well but I guess this is the bait to get players to actually play.

I moved the Warrior at the start but you can choose where to settle. I don't really care if anyone finishes out the game I am more interested in the first 50-100 turns and Build Orders. I would rather players use the GOTM rules when playing though since re-rolling and playing with known information isn't what I am after. If you do Re-Roll or you have problems and Restart just let us know so we can take that into account.

France
Deity
No Mods
Map: Pangaea
Standard Settings
Civs: 8
CS: 12

 

[eleven11]

I'll check it out tonight... but my initial thoughts are to settle in place. BO is Warrior -> Settler to get at the science and gold of Yosemite ASAP. If there aren't any serious threats I would go builder 3rd to get Craftsmen, if not I would go Slinger. Warriors stay within 10 tiles to answer barb threats. Research would be Animal Husbandry -> Archery. Mining won't be needed until the first expansion. Early game tech will be to rush horsemen to take advantage of those resources so any warring will try to be delayed until then unless I would find a free settler. As a result, my early military would be archer heavy until mixing in a ton of horsemen. Irrigation is a priority as you have the eureka plus a luxury. I have a good feeling there may be iron in your capital because it's quite bare but I could be wrong. At any rate, I'd tech Bronze sooner than later just to see because production is adequate in early game but could be a problem after awhile. For Culture, it's Craftsmanship to State Workforce to Military Tradition for cavalry production bonus . I will rush buy a monument in the 1st expansion and build one in the capital as soon as I can. Oligarchy is a priority with cavalry

 

[BarbarianHunter]

Spoiler Spoiler---Do not read if you intend to play :

Settled on the 3/1 horse near Yosemite and got rolled by Shaka on turn 20.

Spoiler :

I think perhaps a slinger 1st.
As for how to achieve back to back golden ages. Never made it to the point where I gave it much thought. There is that barb camp up to the Northeast between Preslav and LaVenta.
EDIT: I could have told you this outcome before I ever settled. Whenever I see Yosemite Valley, I usually just start another game, as it almost always ends badly.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

@BarbarianHunter

Turn 22

Spoiler :

I started playing this game but became very tired yesterday so saved it at turn 22 and haven't messed with it since. I settled on the wheat because I wanted to save the forest and I was thinking that you got something extra but forgot you just lose the Farm. I was thinking of settling on Yosemite but if I settled where you did I couldn't settle the NW and get the era points and it just seems too much of a risk to lose those 2 or 3 turns. My build order was Scout because I am trying to earn these 24 era points in about 50 turns which is difficult for me and after that Settler because I want to settle the NW. I first met Shaka with my warrior and killed a Barb Camp by Yosemite. I met Bruce right away with my scout and was able to steal a Settler and get him back by the Bananas near the Capital. I guess it may have been better to stay at War with Bruce longer and try to steal more goodies but I decided to settle for White Peace. I settled Yosemite and have 13 era points. After Scout/Settler I went Builder. It seems Shaka is killing Preslav so I am going to have to get some Army up quick or try to be Friends with him. I guess in my Expo beside Yosemite I should get a Warrior and I am building a Monument in the other but I might switch that. Thank You for your input and I look forward for future input from you and others.

Yosemite and Double Horses is definitely a Trap! This is not usually how I play. I usually get up an Army with one Builder but I am trying to press for Double Golden Ages and I find that I need a Scout First for that. I have to risk the Trap and getting Rolled early because of the Era Points when you settle the NW but I think now is the time to switch into production of some Troops. Hopefully I can get up Magnus soon and Chop out an Army in time.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

I'll check it out tonight... but my initial thoughts are to settle in place. BO is Warrior -> Settler to get at the science and gold of Yosemite ASAP. If there aren't any serious threats I would go builder 3rd to get Craftsmen, if not I would go Slinger. Warriors stay within 10 tiles to answer barb threats. Research would be Animal Husbandry -> Archery. Mining won't be needed until the first expansion. Early game tech will be to rush horsemen to take advantage of those resources so any warring will try to be delayed until then unless I would find a free settler. As a result, my early military would be archer heavy until mixing in a ton of horsemen. Irrigation is a priority as you have the eureka plus a luxury. I have a good feeling there may be iron in your capital because it's quite bare but I could be wrong. At any rate, I'd tech Bronze sooner than later just to see because production is adequate in early game but could be a problem after awhile. For Culture, it's Craftsmanship to State Workforce to Military Tradition for cavalry production bonus . I will rush buy a monument in the 1st expansion and build one in the capital as soon as I can. Oligarchy is a priority with cavalry

Spoiler :

You don't want to save that Forest for a Chop later? I settled on the Wheat because it is closer to the Lux and to save the Forest. I suppose if that was a Plains Hill I would waste the Chop. For me I thought about the NW but too far and want the Era Points with an Expo for the Golden Age. I thought about the Sheep but wasting moves again for the Hill and I forgot you just lose the Farm when you settle on the Wheat... it isn't Rice lol.

Good Point on your Tech Order though I went AH/Mining/Pottery. Most likely going to be a mistake but I was trying to detour to Irrigation for the Lux. I think my Tech Order is a bad plan compared to yours and most likely others. I guess you want to get up Archers and get to Horseman ASAP. Not only for a Crushing Army but to get up that Horse to send him off Scouting for Era Points.

 

[eleven11]

Spoiler :

You don't want to save that Forest for a Chop later? I settled on the Wheat because it is closer to the Lux and to save the Forest. I suppose if that was a Plains Hill I would waste the Chop. For me I thought about the NW but too far and want the Era Points with an Expo for the Golden Age. I thought about the Sheep but wasting moves again for the Hill and I forgot you just lose the Farm when you settle on the Wheat... it isn't Rice lol.

Good Point on your Tech Order though I went AH/Mining/Pottery. Most likely going to be a mistake but I was trying to detour to Irrigation for the Lux. I think my Tech Order is a bad plan compared to yours and most likely others. I guess you want to get up Archers and get to Horseman ASAP. Not only for a Crushing Army but to get up that Horse to send him off Scouting for Era Points.

Spoiler :

Oh it looked like a plains hill. I think I'd move 1 NE to get closer to a production tile. I'll fire it up tomorrow... was a crazy day

 

[DanQuayle]

Spoiler :

 

[Fluphen Azine]

Nicely Done DanQuayle... I expected you to get an easy Golden Age but not the way you went about it. Yosemite Sam with Double Horses is just that strong obviously... if you get time or a chance a small B.O. and storyline would be much appreciated.

Thank You for posting up the turn 70 Save File.

I noticed you have no Forestry left in your turn 70 Screenshot

 

[DanQuayle]

Spoiler :

Capital BO: Scout, Slinger, Warrior, Builder, Settler, Monument (greedy)
Usually, you want a least two slingers before Archery, but combination of settling late and high science from Yosemite changed the timing.
Got denounced by Shaka 1/2 turns after meeting him. He had a high standing army and my scout saw him moving units my way. He also not so subtly parked some units near my border, so I knew it was coming.
+3CS from leader bonus made the hold easier/possible so I didn't build any more units.
Science: Delayed Irrigation, went for Mining/Horseback Riding first
Civics: State workforce then Military Tradition
Era points timeline available in save file.
Going for Domination, Austalia would be next target. Currently nicely set up for a Knight push.
Also, there is a lot of forestery left in former Zulu territory

 

[Fluphen Azine]

Turn 60-64

Spoiler :

What can I say? I play bad. First I completely messed up the Tech Order and obviously got distracted in other areas. My Tech Order was AH/Mining/Pottery/Writing/BW/Irrigation/Archery/HR... I managed to not get Dowed by Shaka for some time. He decided to kill some CS's and as he was doing that I had a Barb Rush of some Warriors and Slingers but at that time I had a large enough Army to destroy them. Unfortunately I wasn't able to kill enough Barb Camps in time and I only had 20 Era Points when the Classical Age rolled in around turn 44/45. My Era Score has gone down since that time and I hope I can get another Normal Age in time for Medieval.

I decided to steal a wayward Settler from Egypt when I was scouting and I had to walk it back to get my 4th city up. I had two builders with Magnus but I wasn't able to make him work so good with the Policy Card I had in place. I managed to get a couple Horses and an Archer and hard build some other Horses as well and killed many Zulus when he Dowed me after the Barb Rush. So I marched up and just took Perslav back but it looks like Loyalty might be a problem and this is where I saved the game on turn 64 deciding what to do with the city. I haven't resorted to any exploits in general this game unless you count getting other Civs to join my wars which seems to be pretty simple. I notice it isn't hard to get them to join your War for 1 Gold not GPT but just 1 Gold Coin.

I think where I really messed up was building 3 Campuses in my 3 cities because I had no threats and it took only about 8-10 turns but it most likely would of been better to build Army and use Magnus in a more optimum way. I built my Gov Plaza Bordeaux. So basically I built Monuments and Builders and chopped some Army as I hard built other Army. I think I could do many things with this game like make peace and play nice and go for a chop expansion using Ancestry Hall.

I dunno the whole point was to work on getting Golden Ages and I am still just unable to make it work. Back to the Drawing Board. I will play this game out some more and post up in a day or so but I am pretty sure the game is over from this point but no chance of any type of speedy finish time but my games never are fast wins.

 

[eleven11]

Spoiler Notice.. :

Notice how in Dan's last 2 screens he shared... he has chopped at least 6 tiles more than you. Those 6 chops with overflow are huge. Instead of the campuses probably go builders and time chops with Agoge or Maneuver to get that sweet sweet overflow.

This is the kind of play that delays me too - I try to play a longer game by fitting in things that will be of benefit more in 20 turns but is negligible now.. Almost every action Dan takes is based on the best thing to do right at this moment to gain advantage and then leverage that advantage.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

@eleven11

You speak the truth. I play too fast and do not calculate chops well enough to get that slingshot of overflow. This has always been a weak point of mine. I think I must have read that Civ VI isn't really a game it is a chop simulator and he who chops the most and best wins the fastest.

I seem to have this problem of missing when my Governor is available either from a bug or playing too fast and not choosing and clicking past it and forgetting it. Many games I will be 10 turns down the road and click on the Governor Button and I have two points in it. I do this with Government Choices sometimes as well. I get absorbed in Warfare or Building and click past it thinking I'll decide later and I plum forget lol.

I also have always struggled on the worker/builder aspect. I either build too many or too few and I never seem to use them in an optimum way. I have to keep working on that aspect of my game. The truth is I don't have a game or game plan and I need to work on that. You look at the map and see a clear tech path and build order based on your options and what works best for the map. I am pretty lazy thinking it doesn't matter what I do the damn AI can't beat me and if I get too far behind I will just sell some Artwork lol.

I do appreciate the constructive criticism though because it is clearly showing me major flaws in my game that I keep forgetting and need to work on and remind myself.

 

[BarbarianHunter]

@eleven11 I am pretty lazy thinking it doesn't matter what I do the damn AI can't beat me.

Spoiler :

I often times have the same lackadaisical attitude. This time I went slinger 1st, and acted immediately upon meeting Shaka (selling him the horse resource below the Paris settle for 105 gold). I immediately used it to buy a 2nd slinger, which proved enough to scare the crazed warmonger off. He is presently sieging Preslav with a couple of warriors I saw there before they disappeared. I figure by the time I get there, his warriors should both be half (or more) dead from warring with Preslav. If I continue (which I don't think I will because I already lost and don't much care for rerolls) I think I would head to Preslav then continue to his home territory (as I will have 3 archers built).

Slinger 1st, and attention to detail seems to have made all the difference.

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

 

[eleven11]

@Fluphen Azine In case you don't know, always say "Nice to meet you but I gotta get going" to Civs that you suspect are near your capital. Don't accept gifts from nearby civs either until you can defend yourself.

Both of those actions give them the location of your capital and more information on your civilization which most likely will go against their traits increasing their eagerness to attack. They will eventually find your capital on their own but no need to make it easy on them.

 

[row2infinity]

I have to say just finished a fractal emperor standard game as France, won a domination victory, and France is pretty much worthless. I never built their unique unit because by the time it was available, I had killed off all the civs on my original continent, built maybe 1 wonder during the window of opportunity (I normally don't build any wonders), and I built maybe 3 chateau's (so maybe +10 culture per turn...wooo.......). Sad. Does anyone love love love France, or am I just being petty?

 

[eleven11]

If you play peacefully (it takes restraint which is sometimes hard, I know), then they get powerful starting at Castles but it's a peaceful power (even though the combat bonus from higher diplo visibility helps). Their bonus to spying is insane and with the extra spy, free promotions and that spy policy you can easily be raking in 500 gold per turn on average once you have 4 spies. This allows you to keep up by buying units and buildings while you are pushing production on wonders. They are a late blooming civ but I do actually like playing them. It's their spy capabilities that make them one of the best peaceful civs in the game.

 

[MarigoldRan]

ALWAYS go mining first on Diety if there's forests to chop.