Just want to throw something different for everyone to think over while we wait for the patch and game. I hear lots about military strats, but I think we can take good advantage of our civ traits in other ways...
What about a run on religions? Oh yeah, I know we're playing Rome. Which means we start with fishing and
mining. Anyone remember what mined gems get you? 2 food, 1 shield, and
six commerce. That's seis for you spanish speakers and six for the frenchies out there.
So first of all,
settle one tile east. (One tile south has been mentioned a lot in this thread, and I think that may be the better over-all starting position. But I'm playing with hypotheticals here, so don't deny me my fun yet!
) Settling one tile east keeps us on the river to help us with trade routes, and it also puts us right beside the mines. This is important as it saves us a turn in getting the gems mined.
First tech to research is mysticism. Of course. We want religions here. What it also will do is show us where the other civs start. If we see hinduism fall while we research, we know there probably is 1-2 spiritual civs out there. If we see both hinduism and buddhism fall early
... well, time to find a new strat.
First unit to produce is a worker. This I haven't even tested, but I've crunched some numbers on. Of course we want to push that worker out as fast as possible, and the silks on forested grassland by a river will give us 3 food-shields towards production with even a nice +1 commerce bonus. The worker will take 15 turns. By this time we should have Mysticism researched and be well into our next tech. Since we're playing hypotheticals here, let's assume we're going for all three and have picked up Meditation next.
Once the worker is out, have it immediately mine the gems. During the four turns that the worker is mining the gems, work the corn for the extra food. After the mine is finished, switch over to the gems for the +6 commerce for the next 5 turns until city growth. Upon growth the new citizen should work the corn and subsequent new citizens can work the dye tiles for their commerce. The bonus is that your city will have addition growth potential, as the gems
are already hooked up! Benefits of the river. Who needs roads?
Running this will net you right about 400 beakers by turn 35.
With random opponents we have 5 out of 20 possible opposing leaders starting with Mysticism. I'm okay with math, but probability kills me, yet I know enough to figure the odds are good (over half) there will be at least one. So don't expect to monopolize the religions. I sure wouldn't.
If anything, I hope this gives people different ideas than the expand-and-dominate-with-praetorians approach. Who knows? Maybe when the save is out I'll feel nutty enough to try it myself
many thanks!![[c3c]](/images/smilies/c3c.gif "Civ3 Conquests [c3c]")
). I'd suggest that everyone who plays for QSC or SG's check it out.
