King of the World #15: Ragnar

[Raizer]

I've played on this map, with this start, before, and even without Raging Barbs on, this area of the world starts getting flooded with constant waves of barbs. (Kind of like Egypt in the Normal Earth map)

As others have said, building the Great Wall would be a huge advantage - maybe too huge? I don't know.

 

[Camikaze]

Obligatory subscription post. The blue circle looks pretty good as a start.

 

[dalamb]

If I'm not mistaken..this looks like North America maybe?

I'm pretty sure I recognize this. I believe it's Europe and the waters to the se are the shore of the Black Sea. We shall see.

Actually,...

Spoiler :

It's France; that coast is the NE Mediterranean.

 

[Neal]

Pieces move!

Suddenly, the coast is looking awfully juicy. We'll be the poor man's Industrious with both Stone and Marble in our fat cross (which begs the question-Are we France?). We'll have Deer and Pigs (Both on Grasslands!) to feed our people. And, well, we will be able to build our Unique Building in our capital. Not to mention the fact that moving back will now delay us by a turn. Still, I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

 

[Fei Kelei]

Yeah, that definitely looks like France. The northern Italian stone and marble are in the same place, as well as the mountains, river, and wine (tundra wine?). On the normal Earth map there are also horses on the tile where your settler started, but I kind of doubt that they're on this one. I wonder if copper and iron pop in different places too.

 

[rilke]

So this will be a prequel to the Louis game then? Fantastic!

 

[Rubbaduck]

That certainly does look like France, with your settler sitting around the Marseille area, which would obviously be a wonderful starting position with expansion opportunities to northern France, Germany, Italy, Iberia and the Balkans, maybe even Poland, Hungary and Romania if there's no AI in eastern Europe and/or Anatolia.

This would also mean less need for the Great Wall, if you can get the Istanbul/Constaninople area and a Baltic city, and make wonders like GLH, Oracle and Pyramids more attractive options.

 

[ConsoleCowboy]

If the AI's Starting Locations really are that screwed, it won't matter anyway if you build the great wall or not. Maybe building the GW is even better for the AI (most of em cannot reasonably build it anyway or waste their time trying). If you alternatively build pyramids or other wonders, you will have such a big advantage in commerce, GP or whatever that the AI is screwed whatsoever. Land is Power and if the AI sits in the Ice, nothing you do will help that.
I say play however you would play without knowing the AI is stuck and deal with the few surviving (and REXing) AIs that survive. Of the 18 Civs maybe 12 will be meaningless and the other 6 will be like China in the ordinary game - maybe.

 

[The Dark One]

I'd be happy enough with settling where you are now on a normal map - on an ice age one it's paradise. I wonder if there's any seafood 2S as well. Maybe that would be too much to hope for. Definitely going to shadow this, although as a Prince level player I might dial down the difficulty a notch... Good luck!

 

[IAM]

I like the sea side city site. And as for the Great Wall. Why play where you handicap yourself. Of 17 AI's only one could build it anyway. Go for the Gold and do what's best for your civ. Your the Viking leader not a charity organization.

 

[madscientist]

Settle already and go get some Viking warboats!

Given you have stone and marble I think you should start wonderspamming in the capital. A WonderSpam/Settle Specialist type game may be in order here. I will assume most leaders will struggle doing that given the likely terrain.

Also you can use the next few cities to fuel military/navy buildup for Viking Pillaging.

 

[brassnuts]

If only my athlon 3200+ didn't hate huge maps so much

 

[Daedal]

Early wonderspam/SS then destroy any survivors of the barbarian horde. Should be amusing.

 

[Jaaboo]

Oh man what a good start - Bibracte. This should be a fun romp.

I say settle where your settler moved, build the damn great wall and have yourself an Isabella-like game. Mercy is for the weak, sweep the leg, all of that. Have fun with this gift of a start. You couldn't ask for a better start on this map. Let the Ice Age be the Age of the Viking!

 

[IAM]

Might is right!

 

[CHEESE!]

Might is right!

Yaarrr!

Good luck!

 

[Neal]

So, okay, settle on the coast (for that delicious ice wine, if nothing else). What then? Where do we go, research-wise? We have Hunting and Fishing. AH first? Jump right into Archery? Go Mining-BW or Mining-Masonry (After all, if anything, Masonry is a better anti-Barb tech than BW is)? Worker-Warrior? This is the first "real" Immortal game I've ever played, in which the AIs get their full complement of bonuses. And (assuming we're in France), even if we can expand happily into Iberia and all that, it looks like there's a big stretch of Tundra where the North Sea used to (is gonna?) be. So we're not exactly safe.

 

[IAM]

If you are going to build the Great Wall then go masonry but if not any tech that will provide us something better than a warrior is a safe bet. With raging barbs I would grab archery since it's a sure thing. Metals and horses are nice but iffy.

 

[capnvonbaron]

I think we need to see some galley-fueled berzerking

It's good to be a viking

 

[Shoot the Moon]

I definitely say go worker first while researching AH. After that, I'd say go mining-BW (so many yummy forests) then masonry. Chop out a settler or two, then chop out the GW I'd say.