[BTS] Monarch Shadow game - Tokugawa

[Salwen]

Hello everyone !
I've been lurking since a while, playing the nobles' club games at noble difficulty and winning pretty consistently at this level.
So I tried to get the difficulty level up, but failed to even have a shot at winning.
so, without further ado, here's the game.

Spoiler :

I would settle in place, and start workboat first
Tech wise I'd go agri then probably AH to start working the sheep as fast as possible
Warrior 1SE to reveal as much of the map as possible

 

[lymond]

Coupla bits of general advice:

1) Turn resource bubbles on for screenshots
2) Use the Custom Assets install (SP option) for BUG/BULL. The standalone option is not as accessible as not everyone has that installed. The custom asset install requires no mod loading as saves are compatible with or without the mod.
3) Also, please list the game settings.

With that said, I'd probably recommend doing the recommended install and then rerolling a game. This start is not particularly good for learning purposes as coastal starts can be tricky, and this one appears particularly less desirable. It's not that you need an amazing start mind you, but I'd prefer something better than this and ideally not coastal. At least one very solid food resource present.

If you are resigned to playing this one out, then my advice would probably be to settle in place. I can tell immediately from the screenshot that there is likely no more resources in the BFC other than possible another seafood and maybe, hopefully, pigs on the hill to the W, if it is grass.

Tech does not need to be decide for 5 turns. You can deselect tech for 5 turns and the game stores beakers. On turn 5, you must select a tech or the game will randomly place those beakers into a tech.

Warrior move does not help much here as there is no potentially settler move that I can see based on the info. 1SE seems fine.. I think FP there but of not matter. (note: if I was more set on the idea of moving the settler I'd probably move the warrior 1NW to reveal coast in case food revealed)

WB start not great with no power tile to work like a forest PH, but maybe one in the fog. Dry plains sheep is pretty poor. Generally I'm inclined to go worker first but WB may be best regardless. Need to settle first though before deciding to see if anything presents itself. If pigs over there then AH/worker first is obvious.

 

[Gumbolt]

Horrible start. Is that tundra to the SW? Possible further sea resource in fog?

I don't have this mod. So you are restricting people looking at your game.

Agriculture/AH looks painful here.

If you go worker first mining/BW will likely help get out the workboat sooner. Of course on monarch your tech pace will not be too slow. Is that a flood plain to the SE?

 

[lymond]

Pretty sure that is an FP.

I was thinking BW start/worker first may be best here too. Once settled things will become clearly.

 

[Pangaea]

1) Please turn on resource bubbles. It's very hard to see what's what without them. Had to gaze for a long time before I could spot where the talked-about sheep were.

2) I tried to load the save, but the game went into a permanent load-fail-try to load again cycle, because I don't have BUG as a standalone mod. So I couldn't try to move the warrior SE.

3) Think I'd recommend to reroll as well, but you can select Toku if you want. It's everybody's favourite! I'm sure there are lessons to be learnt by playing this one out too, but it's a bit tricky due to techs and resources, plus being coastal.

 

[Salwen]

So, I followed your advices, I installed the mods properly and rerolled a game.
I thought the previous one was interesting, because Toku offers no actual economic traits, and the start wasn't rich either.
That said, I rerolled to get a better map and character and this is what I got

Spoiler :

lots of forests here, so I'd rush BW asap.
I'd move the scout 1NE , and if I discover nothing of interest, settle in place

Map details:
Monarch difficulty
Continents
no huts/events
barbs on

Should I change thread after the reroll ?

 

[Pangaea]

Looking at that start, I'm thinking that settling on one of the plains hills are good options to SIP, where the 1E of rice looks most promising. It's possible that the tile 2E of rice is a floodplain, but it's kinda hard to see. (Nope, I opened the save, which gave a much better view, and it looks like a plains hill.)

There is actually tundra south of the river, so I'd say that strikes out the west PH option.

No need for a new thread, if that is what you meant. This one is fine

 

[Pangaea]

Moved the scout to the rice and then the PH, and moving there looks like a good option to me:

Spoiler :

Some nice green rivers and wine. Loses out on the (plains) silks, but that's not a big loss in my view. Get them in third ring anyway, and Calendar is miles off. Some risk for killing seafood as there is coast east, but think there is a third ring option as well, so maybe it's fine.

A good idea to wait for advice from more people, though, before you move on.

 

[Fippy]

Looks good yup.

Salwen, plains silk are among the most unimportant tiles but starting on a plains hill is always very good.

 

[lymond]

PH def looks like the target here for settling, but contrary to Pangaea my logic here would be to move the scout such that you see potential tiles that you likely won't settle, such as sending in a SW-ish direction. First, the BFC here again looks pretty clear to me. It's all forest with very high chance of no resources and certainly no food. Wet rice is okay and the focus of the settling decision. So moving here for a PH bonus tile seems logical as you don't lose anything. (By the way the PH 1SW also could be considered) Moving the settler also gives rise to the potential for hopefully more food resources.

So say with are solid on moving to one of the PHs. It's a given. The idea with the scout is to move in a direction that would reveal tiles in a direction that might reveal something interesting. Who knows....if there is a strong food resources to the SW I might consider settling in that direction especially given the river.

Generally, you are always going to tech for food first. Food is the most important thing in this game.

ha...Toku was fine by the way. I like him for learning as it uniques are irrelevant and his traits suck. But Rags is fine.

 

[Salwen]

T50:

Spoiler :

Unfortunately I have only a shared fish for feeding both my second and third cities, As I see here, I'd want to have at least another city soonish to claim those rocks and rice on the north.

Honnestly, I think my third city was founded too early, but I love the early horses that much

my tech path was agri-mining-bw-AH-wheel, I'm thinking about either writing or pottery next, or maybe even sailing to spread copper and horses