I moved the scout to the marble hill first. It revealed another river to the north and some more hills that were not covered in forest. I did think about moving 1N, just like vranasm, but then decided that doing so means that I just might not be able to utilize the 2 seafood resources. So I settled in place:
This capital should be a great GP farm. Obviously it lacks hills for hammers, but it will still be quite decent with 2 hills. I can workshop the non-riverside flat tiles for more hammers later.
Now I did think about opening up with a worker first, but that would eventually run into problems because the worker will eventually end up sitting idle with nothing to do. I don't want to farm any tiles except for the corn, because that is a waste of time when I have 2 seafood resources. Plus, I am financial. I should be cottaging the riverside grassland tiles with this much food around. Mining the marble hill is also not too optimal because I will eventually quarry it anyway. So I opened with a workboat first:
Not a great tile to work, but it's the fastest way to get hammers for now. After the 1st border pop, I switched the worked tile to the marble hill which yields 3 hammers. That sped up the process.
As for tech path, I opened up with Mining → Bronze Working first, followed by Masonry.
Look what we found!
Yes, I get overly excited when I find stone and/or marble nearby. Some of you don't really care for wonders but I like building them even if I am planning on warmongering. These things can really change the game for ya. Even if I am not building any stone boosted wonders, this at least ensures that I get a production bonus for Oxford, which is never bad.
Turn 7 @ 3720 BC: Buddhism was founded in the distant land. Mining was finished and we started on teching Bronze Working.
A few turns pass by, as my scout continued exploring the land. Nidaros finished the workboat, and I switched production to a worker. I did think about going with 2 workboats to start, but then I decided that by the time the worker comes out, it will be 1 turn before Bronze Working. Moving him to a forest hill would consume 1 turn of moving, so that on the turn that Bronze Working is finished, the worker can start chopping the forest on the plains hill and speed up the production of the next workboat.
Turn 13 @ 3480 BC: Hinduism was founded in the distant land.
And on the following turn, a scout on the landmass across the coast south from Nidaros made contact with us:
In my earlier games, Wang was usually an AI that didn't do very well. But lately, he's been doing quite well for himself. Also I have noticed in other people's online games that he is perhaps not as bad as I initially thought. He doesn't expand as fast as some other AI, but he does tech very well. Getting him to friendly is not too hard either because he likes Caste System, which I do like to run frequently. Let's see how this game plays out.
Just like I expected, the build queue worked rather perfectly:
The worker was just finished on this turn and moved to the plains hill forest tile. Bronze Working will be done the next turn, which means he can start chopping without having to have wasted any turns sitting idle. I guess this works out much better than starting with 2 workboats. I am rather glad things worked out this way. ^_^
Now where is that copper?
It just happens to be right next to the capital. ^_^ Very nice. This should provide much needed hammer boost to the capital. No worries about not being able to build axemen or berserkers for that matter. This also gets me thinking about the Colossus possibility.
Soon, another scout from the same landmass across the seas from Nidaros where the Korean scout made contact with us, made its introduction:
Joao the backstabber. He expands fast and is generally annoying. I despise him just as much as I do Louis, but for different reasons. I would have to watch his city count carefully.
Masonry was finished soon. Agriculture → Wheel → Sailing were selected next to be able to farm the corn and to be able to connect the marble with roads once the quarry is set up. Once I get a 2nd worker and a settler out, I can then immediately work on the Trading Post → Great Lighthouse.
Turn 31 @ 2760 BC: Judaism was founded in the distant land.
A few turns passed by, as I settled my 2nd city:
It is not coastal, but the site was so tempting. It's got an irrigated wheat, can also work the cows, and have a lot of hills for hammer production, as well as a couple of floodplains. This will be a very good production city, and I am thinking about building the Oracle here.
Meanwhile, on the same turn, a workboat from another AI was exploring our modest sized island's northern coast and made contact with us the same turn Uppsala was founded:
Gandhi, founder of Hinduism, is quite predictable. He techs well, is very peaceful, and a serious threat for Culture Victory. It is almost a guarantee that he will beeline to Music and try to build the Sistine Chapel. If I can put a stop to that, I will try.
Meanwhile, on Turn 47 @ 2120 BC, Hinduism was spread from Gandhi to my capital city:
Since Wang and Joao have yet to convert, this means that they haven't founded any of the first 3 religions yet in this game. So it is probably a safe bet to convert, but I haven't yet revolted to Slavery either. So I decided to take Slavery for now and then adopt this new religion as I see fit soon.
Sailing was done a couple of turns later. It is now time to beeline to Priesthood. I think it was a misplay that I didn't get Mysticism early enough so that Uppsala can work on a monument for a border pop. No matter though... it is building me a worker for now. The capital was 2 turns away from building out my 1st axeman, and then after that, it should be a straight shot to the Great Lighthouse.
Turn 51 @ 1960 BC: Stonehenge was built in the distant land.
Some whipping action, a 2-pop whipping a Trading Post, and applying the overflow into the Great Lighthouse:
Nidaros, on the next turn, with the whip overflow and a tree chop:
Another whipping action, a 2-pop whipping an axeman (Barbarians were starting to encroach into my borders), and applying the maximum possible overflow into the Great Lighthouse with another chop to come next turn:
A short interruption from Gandhi. He came demanding to convert to Hinduism. I almost did it until I realized that Wang converted to Judaism. Since Joao and Wang seem to share the same landmass, it might be possible that converting to Hinduism too early might not be to my benefits. So I declined.
Nidaros, the turn after the whip, with the whip overflow plus a tree chop:
On Turn 64 @ 1440 BC, I finished researching Pristhood:
This was via Meditation. I would normally prefer to go to Priesthood via Polytheism usually, since it is a prerequisite to Literature and unlocks some key wonders. Meditation is, of course, required for Philosophy, but that's not until much later. But in my case, since I already had a religion spread to me, this gives me the option to build monasteries if I see fit. Also it is slightly faster due to Meditation being a little bit cheaper in beaker cost.
Since Uppsala just finished building its cheap barracks, I started on the Oracle in that city right away, while researching Pottery now to make sure that I can take Metal Casting as a freebie tech.
On the next turn, I finished the Great Lighthouse in Nidaros:
That was fun. Not my personal best in getting this thing built in fastest time, but this will do. Now the capital should be pumping out a settler and a worker or two.. or maybe more axemen... Barbarians are starting to become a problem. Just look at this!
At least they are only warriors. Now this gives me a great opportunity to farm some experience and get at least one unit to level 4 to unlock the Heroic Epic.
But first, I have another pressing matters at hand. That is, getting the Oracle. And what do you know?
HA! Who says Ragnar can't or shouldn't be building wonders? ^_^ Taking Metal Casting is a no brainer at this point. I am thinking that the AI would most likely put a heavier emphasis on researching this due to the map being water heavy. Why is that you ask? Because the hammers are in shorter supply which forges can address, as well as having to deal with barbarian galleys with triremes that are unlocked by Metal Casting. Normally I would never consider trading Metal Casting since AI are slow at getting it unless they built the Oracle themselves, but in this case, I might just use it as an early trade bait. We shall see.
After I dealt with the horde of barbarian warriors, I soon built my 3rd city:
I might as well use the advantage I have with the Great Lighthouse and build my cities on the coast as much as I can possibly make it happen. I didn't want to build cities too far apart to start with, so I chose this site as a stopping point for my expansion up towards the silver/wheat/fish site to the north as you will soon see.
Turn 74 @ 1040 BC: Great Wall was built in the distant land.
Turn 78 @ 925 BC: I finished Writing. Now I am at a stopping point, so I am going to stop here.
Cities:
Diplo:
Foreign Advisor:
Wonders:
Local Map with Dot Mapping, South & North:
Nobody has Alphabet, so I can't see where the others are in terms of tech. I do know that Wang has Monarchy because he is running Hereditary Rule though. Gandhi also has Monotheism because he is running Organized Religion.
Everyone is kinda getting along at the moment, with no worst enemies yet. I do have the option of converting to Hinduism, but I think it is a bit premature.
I have yet to meet 3 other AI on this map. They are most likely due east, since all the ones I have met are either from the south or to the west.
My goal is to go into expansion mode, taking full advantage of the Great Lighthouse and build as many coastal cities as I possibly can. Exploring more of the map with my fast ships is also desired to reveal more of the map and the 3 unmet AI and their cities as well. Since I have Metal Casting, I should build at least 1 trireme to protect my seafood from barbarian galleys which will most likely be a problem.
I also need more workers and need more defensive forces to deal with barbarian spawns as well. However, I am trying to get one of the existing axemen to level 4 to unlock the Heroic Epic. Hopefully I will be able to manage that.
I also think I need to build a library up as soon as possible to increase my research rate. As for wonders, I am seriously considering the Colossus now that I have Metal Casting and copper nearby. Having that would really provide a huge boost and make any coastal cities viable anywhere with a Trading Post, if food becomes a problem. Our continent has some spots where there aren't any special resources nearby and are only looking good as filler cities, so having them coastal is preferred.
Other than the Colossus, the only other great wonder I want is the Great Library, preferably in my capital, which should be a great GP Farm.
As for research, I just finished Writing so I am at that point in the game as to where to direct my research. I am thinking Aesthetics, but the problem with that route is the possibility that Gandhi might be going that route as well. I could go for Alphabet, or maybe even Mathematics. The probability is very high that my 1st Great Person may be a Great Merchant, in which case, I will most likely bulb Currency (after getting either Mathematics or Alphabet) to get one more trade route in my cities as well as to use it as trade bait.
I do want to try going for a Great Engineer, but I don't think I can get a forge up in time soon enough to secure a high chance of popping one. Uppsala has the Oracle so I don't want to chance it by building the forge there and hope that I don't pop a Great Prophet. The 3rd city has just been built, so it will take some time to get it going. As for Nidaros, I suppose I could build a forge there... I want to build the Colossus in there to stack the Great Merchant GP point bonus, and the forge is a requirement for that...
Pretty interesting map with lots of possibilities. The AI seem to be researching quite well so far, especially Wang and Gandhi. There isn't any warmongering AI to cause trouble and slow down the tech race yet, so I just might have to be the culprit and try to play an aggressive game.
seriously, Biology? 
Do you remember your Lib time? Mine was 1070 and Wang had it one turn later, I was far away from Bio at that time. Depends probably also from the philosophie bulb. I guess, war is faster, following the suggestions from the other players here. Still, it was good fun to race to space.
