Gotm20-Spain CONQUEST Bonus Pregame

[Ricardo]

Being able to build 2 cities early really adds a twist to the initial strategy. I like the idea of moving one city to the SW of the starting position and possibly one city to the hill but first I will send a treasure chest to the hill and see what I can see. That is a great idea of using the treasure chests in the first turn to explore in three directions, should really help in city placement. Personally I am going to do my best to turn one city into a settler factory and one city into a warrior producing city. That seems to be the strategy used by many people with good success. My first build order will probably be warrior, immobile defender, warrior, then it will depend on what the game looks like. I will probably use my chests to produce early city improvements. Definitely at least use one for a granary in the city that I want to be a settler factory. Using them for an early temple is an interesting idea but I always seem to lose games where I dont have enough cities and units so I am really going to try and emphasize a quick expansion and I am not sure a temple will really help you there or not.
This should be a really interesting game... good luck to all of my fellow conquistadors.

 

[AlanH]

I really can't see this enthusiasm for sending treasure chests wandering all over a barb-infested map doing wide-ranging scouting, as the first barb they meet they are toast. Am I missing something?

I think they should be used on the very first things you build, because the earlier you complete the first units or improvements the more impact they will have on the whole game.

Keeping the chests doing nothing is like keeping your cash under the bed. It doesn't do anything there except lose its value to inflation. And it's vulnerable to theft by a passing barb until you build a defender.

I think I want to get real scouts out, capable of defending themselves, pdq to find out how the land lies, try to quell the barbs, find the horses and make early contacts. So keep the chests close to the first settlers and use two as soon as the cities are founded to rush two warriors at the start. Use the third chest to accelerate granary-then-settlers in one town, and build a settler asap in the other town to grab a bit more land.

But, like all battle plans, this one will no doubt crumble at first contact with the "enemy" - which in this case is Cracker's infernal map

 

[Leovigild]

AlanH,

I think the only scouting people are proposing for the treasure chests is on Turn 1, sending them none space NE, SW and S in order to find the best locations for cities 1 and 2.

I agree that further exploration is unwise.

 

[Ricardo]

yeah I was thinking that I would just use the treasure chests to do first turn exploration. i.e. instead of sending a worker to the hill send a treasure chest thus possibly saving a worker turn. I dont know about using them to produce your initial warriors... usually you can crank out warriors pretty quickly so I was thinking it might be better to save them for a quick granary or temple but again it will depend on how the game goes I guess. If in the first 10 turns I see other civs or barbs I will probably use them for IDs if it looks like we are pretty isolated I will save them for a granary.

 

[Ricardo]

of course now thinking more about it.... maybe I will use the chests to help produce settlers quickly. If you could save four or 5 turns building a settler early in the game that might be worth it to get a quicker start.

 

[AlanH]

Originally posted by Leovigild I think the only scouting people are proposing for the treasure chests is on Turn 1

I was reacting to Denyd's post about using them for settlers after scouting duty is complete. That implies they are scouting around until at least one city gets to pop 3, which is going to take more than one or two turns.

Originally posted by Ricardo
of course now thinking more about it.... maybe I will use the chests to help produce settlers quickly. If you could save four or 5 turns building a settler early in the game that might be worth it to get a quicker start.

10 shields are just that - ten shields. It doesn't matter what you use them for as long as you don't waste them. I can't see why it's important to worry about what you will build with the chests. The most important thing is to get your initial build priorities right to maximise your position in the game, then work out where the resources will come from to achieve that build order in minimum time.

The total flow of shields has to mesh with the flow of food plus the research date for Pottery to enable this build order, and the chests are just one of the sources of shields available to us. They won't be very used very efficiently completing a settler if the city pop hasn't made it to three yet.

The options for using the chest shields are:

(1) to build a complete ten shield unit (warrior, fortress or worker). That will waste at least one shield, maybe more, produced by the city on the turn when the unit is built.

(2) to contribute ten shields towards a 30-shield settler or a 40-shield barracks or a 60-shield granary. Wastage will then depend on how well city production, maybe including a pop rush, can be micromanaged to provide the correct total.

I'm impressed that you guys can decide all of this apparently intuitively . I think it's time for me to build a spreadsheet ready for when the chests first give us that view of the neighbourhood, because I can't work all that out in my head.

 

[Leovigild]

So does everyone generally agree that Pottery+Granary is a must? I've seen other opinions and I personally am leaning toward Writing first.

Using chests towards settlers might well be nice if the initial position is food heavy (as it appears to be). Using 10 shields free per settler allows you to make use of fast pop growth + limited shields.

 

[maqabee]

First post- first tourney- 20- for fanaticland--- a great online community--hope I get to King Arthur age.

 

[Stone Wolf]

Originally posted by Leovigild
So does everyone generally agree that Pottery+Granary is a must? I've seen other opinions and I personally am leaning toward Writing first.

Using chests towards settlers might well be nice if the initial position is food heavy (as it appears to be). Using 10 shields free per settler allows you to make use of fast pop growth + limited shields.

Well, I think it's because with two settlers to start with Pottery just won't take that long to research. Especially with rivers in the starting area. Then you can build a granary in your settler pump for much faster expansion.

 

[GenMarshall]

Hmm, I think I have downloaded the Galleass for an unit Upgrade from the War Galley. This will be the GOTM that I will finish and Submit.

Orriginaly postrd by TedJackson
Let's hope that many more players see this as an opportunity to get involved in the GotM community.

I beleve it has convinced me to make a return to the GOTM .

 

[Borealis]

maqabee, welcome to the GOTM! There's a special graphics package you'll need to download, as well as a readme to help you set the game up. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or other members of the staff for help through PMs or the FAQ thread.

 

[denyd]

AlanH, you're right, chests are too vaulable to chance on a stray barb. My plan is to use them to short range (2-3 turns) of scouting, hoping to find quality starting locations for the settlers. They'll end up creating either ID's or helping with either a temple or granary.

Leovigild, that's my plan, pottery at full science, then a granary (maybe in both cities, depending on contacts). After pottery, probably writing at minimum science.

I'm expecting the other European rivals (France, Germany, England...) to be nearby, I'm just hoping for a choke point to allow me to expand before they get there. I'm hoping some of the non-science AI's are in the game to start a couple of big wars (to slow down the science).

My biggest fear is reaching 1AD and meeting cavalry & riflemen from an aggresive AI.

 

[Iver-P]

Quote: Conquest Class players will have three (3) chest of gold/shields available to them at the beginning of the game.

Maybe this makes no difference today because everyone has probably started, but ...

Note that the announcement says "available" it does not say "on the starting square". I guess I was assuming that I would need to explore a bit to FIND the chests. Only then would I be able to move them according to my purposes.

This would have a huge impact on those who are planning to use the chests as "explorers" in the first few turns.

 

[feght]

Late comer to the pre-game discussion, only because I have been finishing up my practise sessions, so that I had at least a passing knowledge of the world of deity.

I'm scared of barbs, and I'm scared of the AI. So, if the chests are on the starting square, I'll be moving one to investigate the hill to the NE, one due south and the other towards the NW hills. I will likely settle on the NE hill first, having seen how much of a difference that makes to the barbs at this level, and then depending on what I see with the chests probably either on the hill to the NW or just south of it - I think that's a coastline there.
After that, the chests are coming home. I will most likely be building two immobile defenders and saving one for my next city. I will probably rush a temple in my second city, since we're religious and it's a little easier.

I intend studying writing at a low rate - in my experience somebody offers me pottery fairly cheap early on anyway, and there's a good chance of getting to writing first and selling it off for whatever I'm behind on (everything). Of course, I will be avoiding Bronze Working for as long as possible. I'm not sure if it's possible to advance to the middle ages without it though (someone?) so I hope to do the majority of my expansion as early as possible using the advantage of the extra settler.

I will pay the AI every demand they make (making sure I sell them writing before they can demand that), until I get a good idea of what the map is about. Any military desicions I make will be very cautious.
I don't hold any hopes of getting to Navigation at the rate of the AI, so I will set up a city with the intent of suicide galley-ing insistently so that I can make first contact with any overseas dwellers and profit from trade with them.

All in all, my main aim will be to reach the modern age intact, and get as many points from losing as I can! Fingers crossed!

 

[Sailorstick]

Does it really matter if you lose a chest to a barb? A warrior is just as likely to be killed anyway so why not use the chests to explore? You have them right from the start and you won't waste a turn converting them to warriors. The shields you save in not building warriors equates to the shields lost when your chest is attacked. The only downside is that chests won't give you nice mountain views, but it doesn't look like there are any nearby anyway.

 

[mdm]

My game won't load! It says I need treasure.ini, but it's nowhere on my computer, and I have all of the GOTM20 Spain Conquest d/ls.

Help?

 

[cracker]

MDM,

This problem sounds like you may not have the game files properly positioned in the correct folders.

Contact by email at gotm@civfanatics.net and we will locate and fix the missplaced file for you.

 

[aces4high]

Originally posted by Iver-P

Note that the announcement says "available" it does not say "on the starting square". I guess I was assuming that I would need to explore a bit to FIND the chests. Only then would I be able to move them according to my purposes.

Iver-P,

I haven't started yet, although I agree with your thoughts. If they are at some position away and you need to find them first, then that changes a lot. I guess we'll see on the first turn pretty quickly how they operate.

I think the GOTM modifications sometimes lead to confusion, especially with newer GOTM players like me. GOTM 19 was (and still is ongoing) my first. I guess I missed some of the mods that were installed in early GOTMs. I remember saying "what the hell are these grey mushy clouds doing". Even with over 25+ Civ3 games completed, I still frequently refer to the terrain/units/science cheatsheet that I downloaded from Civfanatics since my frequency of play is on the low side anymore. I would love for these cheatsheets to be updated with the evolving GOTM mods.

 

[AlanH]

Originally posted by Sailorstick
Does it really matter if you lose a chest to a barb? A warrior is just as likely to be killed anyway so why not use the chests to explore?

A warrior has a defence value of 1. A chest's defence value is a big fat zero. A chest is a certain loss if it meets a barb warrior.

The combat calculator gives an unfortified regular warrior on open ground a better than 70% chance of surviving a barb conscript warrior attack. A fortified warrior on a hill has an 85% success rate, and survivors are often promoted. Keep your warriors on tiles with defence bonuses as far as possible, and fortify when you can. Try to avoid attacking - let the barb come to you, as your survival rate as an attacker reduces to around 50%.

 

[alamo]

Originally posted by maqabee
First post- first tourney- 20- for fanaticland--- a great online community--hope I get to King Arthur age.

Welcome to the forum, even if you're not reading this thread any more.

I am a bit late to get started. I must admit my D2 exploits are still a distraction. It also explains my poor showing in GOTM19 - yeah, that's the ticket - D2's fault

I thought the starting position looked ok until I read some of the posts. Guess I'll do the explore-with-all-hands trick at first. Taking advantage of bonuses seems to be very important, especially for diety.

I too hope to last to the middle ages. Maybe I'll even find a use for the galleasses, if not the galle asses - I mean conquistadors.

Cheers and see you in the spoilers.