Help me with this Monarch Elizebeth start...

[kgsolomon1]

I'd like some help with a new game I started, here is the starting pic:



I'm trying to decide if I should settle in place, or if I should go two west to pick up the marble and phants but lose the cows. I could settle in place and send my first settler in that direction, but it looks like a peak and desert west of it. I already moved the warrior to the hil he stands on now which revealed the marble. Thoughts?

 

[futurehermit]

I would settle in place. You can grab the marble with your 2nd city probably. Settle in place and work the cow, gold, and some cottages and maybe the grassland hill on the river after chopping it. I would spare the whip in this case in favour of growing to max size and working your tiles while expanding. See many of Snaaty's game threads for examples of this where he researchs archery fairly early and grows to max size while building archers (after a worker) for fogbusting and to allow growth followed by workers/settlers for expansion while working max tiles in the capital. Don't forget a GS asap after researching writing as that capital will really benefit from an academy.

 

[Gumbolt]

You have flood plains and a river. Thats cottage spam territory. You have a gold resource too. If you picked a financial leader you are laughing all the way to the bank. I would settle where you are.

Theres so much good terrain around you its hard to pick a better spot. If you go 1ne you would gain the marble but lose the gold and a flood plain. The marble could easily be settled by a second city.

 

[Diamondeye]

Settle 1S if I read the terrain correctly;
2W1S is Plains/hill, so is 2W2S (?) and 2S.

Plenty of production despite the loss of 1N2E. River. Access to Gold off the bat (and no need for road on gold due to river). No "suspicious empty tiles" lost.

When scouting, ignore east. It's desert from what I can see here. Might want to check whether there is a resource for the Ivory/Marble locations though (preferably some food).

 

[Johan^^]

only thing you should not due is to settle in place. You have to settle by a river. With all those rivertitles you will get a production boost (~15 hammers) when leeves come online.

So either 1 East or 1 south or 1S1E.

Think i would move SE and see. Probably settle there.

 

[Gumbolt]

1 South would allow a second commerce city above. You would lose a turn on the forest and 2 flood plains. That being said the current location for settling is strong too.

I can see oracle/Great lib and MM in this capital or empire.

 

[kgsolomon1]

All good points, I'm usually a fan of settling in space, and I don't think it will hurt me by doing that, and I hate gambling, I always seem to lose haha. I'll pay some turns and post again. Thank you for the advice!

 

[CivCorpse]

I would have settled 1S to get the river for a later levee. It also means uoi can settle the hills 2E2N to claim the marble and have river access for that city as well.

 

[CivCorpse]

When scouting, ignore east. It's desert from what I can see here. Might want to check whether there is a resource for the Ivory/Marble locations though (preferably some food).

Desert or floodplains. Floodplains look the same as desert from the nonriver side.

 

[kgsolomon1]

Alright, I played until I started my first settler. I settled in place and found one more FP to the south. I start a worker and start with hunting so I can get archery and archers out quick. I start scouting east to try and find some food for my marble city and find some incense, then a river w/ more FP, and then Isabella...She's right next door with some purdy land...she'll have to go soon.

When hunting is done I start archery. I probably should have done another worker tech but he has gold to mind and I'll do agriculture after so he can farm one maybe two FP's while teching. Bud is founded somewhere, but not by isabella so she must be pissed Soon afterwards I find Joao, who turns out to be another neighbor N to me...with jungle in the south there must be one or more civs left to find.

What do you know, two turns later my warrior finds Khan! Great, this is going to be interesting. Hindu is also founded somewhere, and I decide to go wheel->pottery after agri. There's a lot of prime real estate but I will have to get some cottages to support a quick expansion.

Once the worker is done I sent him to mine the gold and then builds two farms on FP to help my quick growth while making an archer. Then I find another "friend" huayna who founded bud. And then Pacal comes around! He founded hindu, so religions shouldn't be a problem, but man standard fractal map with six of us on one continent...this is going to get crowded quick!

After pottery I went for BW to find bronze and then AH for the cows and for potential horses. I now have archers fogbusting most of the land around my capitol and am building a settler in my capitol at size 6 thanks to the gold. I got writing and started masonry so I can get the marble going for GLib.

So I went hunt->arch->agri->wheel->pot->AH->writing->masonry started
I have gold mined, two farmed FPs, two cottaged FP's and am finishing mining the grassland hill for the hammers to go into the settler before I build a pasture for the cows.

Here are screenshots of the north and south:

North



South



I'm thinking send the first settler NE to get the corn and marble and block joao, then either NW for horses or SW for the copper. Should I go for lit right away? Someone else must research alpha which I can trade asth for, but my capital doesn't have many hammers or forests to chop for it. There are tons of calendar resources to the south in the jungle, but I can probably trade for IW too. Thoughts on my play and where to go from here?

 

[kgsolomon1]

Wow that's what I get for not paying enough attention. No one responded and I'm bored at home so I decided to play a little more. I founded two cities, one for the marble and corn and another for the bronze/cow/rice. Started monuments in both cities and then suddenly barb archers/warriors come straight for my capitol and take it. Time to try again

 

[Bleys]

Nice looking map, fantastic for Lizzy, she loves those Floodplains, they are a cottage and 1/2 a specialist!

Got the 4000 save around?

 

[futurehermit]

Too bad about the barb invasion. Fog busting and active defenders are important.

This map is pretty insane for Liz. Definitely gotta settle along those long, snaky, delicious rivers. Ample health resources to deal with the floodplains unhealthiness. Lots of beautiful green to the south.

 

[Diamondeye]

Would it make sense to settle a city between Copper and Rice (2E1S from Copper) early, for some real firepower against barbs, then try to expand south and east asap, ignoring NW (which is awful)?

 

[futurehermit]

Part of the problem with that though is that the rice is covered by jungle. Another is that you would need a monument to pop borders and the wait time on that could be too long. Another is that there are other, much more desirable, locations to be settled. In this case, I would probably go for archery (the horses aren't in a great location either) and fogbust like nuts while settling those excellent commerce cities along the rivers. It should be no problem getting an insane tech pace meaning you could war during the English era of dominance (i.e., Renaissance) and proceed to clear your continent.

 

[Bleys]

I would plant cottages on every single Floodplain in sight, dropping my first few cities where they need to be to accomplish that. You give Liz a lead like that, and its game over.

 

[Tacgnol]

So much food...

 

[Skallagrimson]

The tradeoff to the gorgeous floodplains and rivers is the cruel joke that they put the mountains right between your rice and copper. If you want a city that'll grab the copper and get (eventually) fed, it has double the chances of those building-nuking events all throughout the game (volcanos, UGH). Not to mention the unworkable tiles.

One way or the other you need the copper ASAP so that barbs won't own you. And to gain at least the option of early war in case an AI is too close for comfort.

I'd mix cottages and farms on the FPs. Makes a CE whippable for libs, barracks, etc., since there's not much chopping to be had.

 

[futurehermit]

I would say go archery for barbs and bank on iron for offense if necessary (I don't think it will be necessary).