Let's talk settling

[Kornaki]

I had this start playing on noble:



I eventually decided to settle where the settler is now, and went for calendar (already had agriculture for the wheat) to get the dyes up and running ASAP for tech. I'm more convinced now than I was before this is the right move (since it worked) but was wondering what other people would do... in particular, being a bit unorthodox and moving 1W gets the fish and the wheat, although you're no longer coastal so you'll need another city to set up the fish. Still, could be better for the long term. Also moving 1S so you don't waste the fish, but food's pretty easy to come by with agrarianism + sanitation

 

[Emptiness]

A non-coastal city with 7 water tiles in its work area is a bad idea, so 1W is out. 1S loses the Wheat and the Reagents and covers one of the Dyes with the city to gain one Fish, a very bad trade. Based on what I see I'd go 2W. There appears to be a hill in that square, so good defense. You lose the Reagents but gain a Fish, bad for economy but good for growth. That would be a better position for your first city, especially if there is one or more other resources in range of that position in the unexplored area to the west.

 

[Kornaki]

A non-coastal city with 7 water tiles in its work area is a bad idea, so 1W is out. 1S loses the Wheat and the Reagents and covers one of the Dyes with the city to gain one Fish, a very bad trade. Based on what I see I'd go 2W. There appears to be a hill in that square, so good defense. You lose the Reagents but gain a Fish, bad for economy but good for growth. That would be a better position for your first city, especially if there is one or more other resources in range of that position in the unexplored area to the west.

Hmmm... for some reason I didn't even consider that possibility. Having actually played some, there are reagents in range from that spot, but you also get five mountains in the BFC, but that doesn't detract from the soundness of the idea

 

[cabbagemeister]

If this was BtS, I'd agree that 2W looks best. for FFH, I'd rather have the reagents than the fish, because you can always get tons of food with Agrarianism, but good commerce tiles like reagents are hard to come by. Working wheat, dye, dye, reagents in your capital at size 4, you'll be a (relative) research powerhouse.

 

[ICanHasName?]

I would go 2 west. Its the capitol's job to spam settlers, workers and warriors, which the fish and extra hills will help with. Reagents are nice, but I think they would be worked by city 2, which I would put around 2 NE from your settler.

 

[ZHONN]

Based on that map I think that the original settler has the best starting place. Going straight for Calendar is very good too, since all the resources in the area require it.

But I wouldn't have really settled anywhere without a more thorough scouting of the area. I'll gladly sacrifice a few turns at start if I can get a superior starting place and maybe scout the places for the next couple of cities as well.

 

[Monkeyfinger]

Based on that map I think that the original settler has the best starting place. Going straight for Calendar is very good too, since all the resources in the area require it.

But I wouldn't have really settled anywhere without a more thorough scouting of the area. I'll gladly sacrifice a few turns at start if I can get a superior starting place and maybe scout the places for the next couple of cities as well.

This. I'd have made a beeline for that desert hill in the very northwest of your sight range and tried to spot something better. A river or something.

 

[Kornaki]

Do you guys scout more with your settler in FFH than in regular Civ? Or do I just plop my cities down too fast always

 

[Senethro]

Given that your starting settler has 4 movement and huge visibility, its very often worth it to stick him on a nearby hill to see whats around you. Try not to spend more than 3 turns moving though.

 

[cabbagemeister]

Look especially for ancient towers to put your starting settler on. The settler can see a LONG way from an ancient tower.

 

[Emptiness]

I usually don't like to lose more than one turn placing my starting settler. There are exceptions, though. I was playing a game the other day and was in a really bad starting area - at the end of a peninsula with almost no resources on the entire thing. I was about to restart and decided to try my luck by exploring Bradeline's Well. Out popped a Great Engineer and I felt compelled to play the game for some odd reason. I ended up walking my original settler all the way off the peninsula and dropping it next to the Calabim (and three Wine) and then warrior rushing poor Flauros to free up my BFC. That was about 12 turns of walking, the longest I've ever done. The game was only on Monarch; I seriously doubt losing that much time would have been okay on a higher difficulty.

 

[Willgar]

Although it maybe a bit exploitative, i use my settler for exploration and goody hut popping for at least 3 turns to give myself a better choice of optimal placement

 

[JoDiamonds]

I would have at least checked the square 2W. I often spend one turn looking around for a better spot, and sometimes a little more but I prefer to settle within 0-2 turns.

 

[ICanHasName?]

Playing on classical start is nice, because you can explore for 1-2 turns without any penalty because you are switching to God King / Military State / Agriculture / whatever on turn 0.

 

[Deckhand]

Although it maybe a bit exploitative, i use my settler for exploration and goody hut popping for at least 3 turns to give myself a better choice of optimal placement

Do you ever pop techs?
It's my understanding that techs won't pop unless you have a city. So, I avoid popping huts until I've settled.