GOTM 09: Pre-Game discussion

[Civgeek]

No sign of the HOF-GOTM then ...

 

[armstrong]

In fact there are 5 if you count the tile the settler is on now. But due to unhealthiness penalties (-1 from each 4 fp, right?) I guess a clever move would be to settle 1N so you keep 4 fp and all the 3 special resources, while escaping from additional unhealthiness from those (likely) southern fp´s and getting those foggy northeastern forests in our capital´s fat cross.

Actually, I think FP's give .4 unhealthiness a pop, rounded down. So 3 fp's are 1 unhealthy, 5 are 2, and 7 are 3. Moving 1n would save you a health (but might cost you food.)

I'm not sold on moving the settler. Floodplains are key for financial civs because they're both +food and can be cottaged for 3C right off the bat. On the other hand, we don't see any granary health resources, so health could be a problem... still, at small sizes you can keep working fp's and growing while unhealthy since the +food counterattacks the unhealthiness. We could grow our capital to size 8 just working the sheep+floodplains cottages+gold for some serious commerce.

I'm still debating the opening - I'll need a few cracks at that starting position, thanks Blub! - but I'm considering using the Oracle to discover Monarchy. The happiness will be more helpful in the short-term than CoL.

Speaking of financial trait, I see our sheep are on a river. It's nice to get 3C and a pair of hammers from a food source

 

[ainwood]

No sign of the HOF-GOTM then ...

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=4324484&postcount=157

 

[DaviddesJ]

I'm inclined to move quechua SW. If this reveals a resource, then settling 1W or 2W is very reasonable, IMHO. Keeping the wine in the fat cross is not so important.

 

[HighDesert]

I tried the BLuB game (thanks!!) and got the CS Slingshot around 1200BC.

I had a couple of Quechua harrassing Louis quite successfully, however they were killed by multiple barb attacks, not Louis.

No trading with Louis as a result.

Later I got the Wave After Wave of barbs, which basically shut down my development.

I think this game is broken WRT barbs.

Apparently, every unit built is going to have to be a fog buster.

 

[DaveMcW]

Bronze working doesn't obsolete the quecha, does it? I'm pretty sure that last night I could build quecha, sword or axe.

I'm hoping that the second city will be in the forest and I'll be able to chop the oracle.

Quechas are not obsolete until Macemen.

 

[Markus5]

Quechas are not obsolete until Macemen.

Post the quechas on hills and let the barb archers attack. There will be promotions. Upgrade the top ones to macemen. Attack!

(Of course, the barb axemen might be trouble. Make that wooded hills.)

 

[Palpster]

July's game being my first ever Monarch game, I feel a bit afraid to take this on (even though I did finish the Monarch game succesfully). Oh well, if I can find the time I guess I'll give it a try.

I haven't heard anyone about the Epic speed this is set on....what does that for strategies/starts? (hardly ever played epic and never emperor, so curious to hear from more experienced members)

One more thing, I expect Warlords in a couple of days. Once I install it, can I still boot the game as just normal Civ and play this? (In other words, does Warlords have it's own .exe file? I guess it must have, but still would like to be sure)

 

[cas]

Well i made some mistake, if someone is interested the following is perfectly similar to the official start (for what we can see)

starting screenshot shows the gold hill with 2P+1C. does your file have 1F+1P+1C (plains hill versus grassland?)

cas

 

[Civgeek]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=4324484&postcount=157

Thanks! Sounds like a great solution.

 

[BLubmuz]

starting screenshot shows the gold hill with 2P+1C. does your file have 1F+1P+1C (plains hill versus grassland?)

cas

Another mistake ... damn ... thank you, i'll fix it.

I did not dare the CS slingshot, but in a practice i'll try.
and could be better settle 1W or 1 NW, at least we can get one more hill, and maybe farm 1 fp

HighDesert

I did nothing about barbs, just selected map options ... maybe in the official game they are less annoying ...
BTW in the notes Ainwood do NOT mention their level.

 

[Murky]

I played blubmuz's sample file and he's not kidding about the barbarians.
It is a very good starting position, but I only found 2 cities before the
barbs started attacking in force and had to focus exclusively on militaty.
I killed like two dozen with a mix of quechuas, archers and chariots - no copper.
They came from every direction and there was always 6 or so on the screen at a time. They overwhelmed me in about 1500 BC.

I played it too. Got fed up with the barb bonaza pretty quickly. You know something is wrong when they come in stacks.

I did manage to get a CS slingshot and got the GL with by 5 pop worth.

 

[PeteJ]

Can anyone make out the tile 3 N of the settler, I can't quite see on my laptop screen. And it looks like a desert hill north of the gold and grassland hill NW, correct me if I'm wrong.

I know that sometimes gold shows up in pairs, and gold likes showing up on desert hills, so it might be worth sending my Quecha NW to check it out along with the tiles to the West. I am hoping for a food resource somewhere to the west and if that is the case, I will settle either NW or 2W on the grassland/hill/river tile. Otherwise I will probably settle in place and hope for the best, making the sheep a high priority for health reasons.

My plan will be an early religion(Happiness is a serious problem on emperor) then mining/BW. Quecha rush if nearby neighbor, otherwise steal a worker and try to settle bronze before getting swarmed with barbs. Hopefully we will be near a coast or 2.

Is Buddhism worth going for on emperor or should I go Polytheism?

 

[Thrallia]

July's game being my first ever Monarch game, I feel a bit afraid to take this on (even though I did finish the Monarch game succesfully). Oh well, if I can find the time I guess I'll give it a try.

I haven't heard anyone about the Epic speed this is set on....what does that for strategies/starts? (hardly ever played epic and never emperor, so curious to hear from more experienced members)

One more thing, I expect Warlords in a couple of days. Once I install it, can I still boot the game as just normal Civ and play this? (In other words, does Warlords have it's own .exe file? I guess it must have, but still would like to be sure)

I'd give it a try if I were you, the last Emperor GOTM I went ahead and played despite the fact I'd never even won on Prince, and not only did I hang in there, I was only 4 spaceship parts away from victory...I also learned a ton of stuff that helped my middle game.

Epic speed is funner, to me at least. It makes the game longer, makes it a little more forgiving for mistakes, and also gives builders a chance to compete with warmongers militarily.

Finally, from what I've heard from everyone, Warlords gives a second .exe just like Conquests did, which would let you play 1.61 and Warlords.

 

[PeteJ]

Hmm... Is that Jungle of the screen to the west or forest? If jungle then scratch the idea of settling west.

 

[DaviddesJ]

I know that sometimes gold shows up in pairs, and gold likes showing up on desert hills, so it might be worth sending my Quecha NW to check it out along with the tiles to the West.

Good point. I'd feel pretty stupid settling in place, or 1W or 2W, if it turns out there's another gold just north of what we can see.

 

[DaviddesJ]

Epic speed is funner, to me at least. It makes the game longer, makes it a little more forgiving for mistakes, and also gives builders a chance to compete with warmongers militarily.

Surely this is backwards. Epic speed heavily favors warmongers. Builders are more competitive at normal speed.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I know that sometimes gold shows up in pairs, and gold likes showing up on desert hills, so it might be worth sending my Quecha NW to check it out along with the tiles to the West. I am hoping for a food resource somewhere to the west and if that is the case, I will settle either NW or 2W on the grassland/hill/river tile. Otherwise I will probably settle in place and hope for the best, making the sheep a high priority for health reasons.

Gold isn't that common in a starting location and this is the 2nd GOTM in a row that gold has been there. I wouldn't want to actually accuse anyone of anything , but you might consider the possibility that that Gold isn't a natural occurance. If not then it's less likely there's more of it around.

But that is a good point, it's well worth checking North with the quecha before settling in place.

Is Buddhism worth going for on emperor or should I go Polytheism?

Polytheism is usually safer since fewer AI's seem to go for it. Neither one is guaranteed though. If you are going for it, make sure you are working a gold-generating tile during those turns.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I played blubmuz's sample file and he's not kidding about the barbarians.
It is a very good starting position, but I only found 2 cities before the
barbs started attacking in force and had to focus exclusively on militaty.
I killed like two dozen with a mix of quechuas, archers and chariots - no copper.
They came from every direction and there was always 6 or so on the screen at a time. They overwhelmed me in about 1500 BC.

Welcome to emperor level You seriously have to have units out fogbusting to avoid swarms of barb invasions. Also, after about 2000BC you're taking a big risk if you don't have two units accompanying (or at least guarding the way) for each settler. That's also one reason why I plan to chop settlers as fast as I can - to get a core of cities founded before the barb onslaught starts, and why I'm keen on getting the COL slingshot - the high culture will help a lot there. The good side is quechas will be able to hold off archers fairly easily, though you will need something more before the barb axemen start appearing (about 1000BCish I think).

If it's any comfort just remember the AI civs will be encountering just as many barbs. And think of the sense of achievement you'll have if you're still alive in about 500AD, by which time AI expansion should have crowded out the barbs...

 

[Thrallia]

Surely this is backwards. Epic speed heavily favors warmongers. Builders are more competitive at normal speed.

yes, if they want to compete in terms of speed to warmongers for peaceful victories...but if a builder wants to attempt a conquest or domination victory, epic makes it easier for us not used to building tons of troops to do so and succeed.