Monarchy as a research target?

[Gumbolt]

So in terms of Monarchy and happiness only.
None of the nearest Ai have HR as fav civic.
You do have wine which inceases the happiness cap. You have prebuilt a few extra warriors.
With a few more cities the fogbusting warriors could return for HR happiness in capital.
I think the downside here is it's a low food capital. So it will struggle to reach size 10 by 1ad. It would need to use the farms to speed up growth. Don't be afraid to grow into unhappiness if you know you have HR on way.

In terms of keeping AI happy. If your religion spreads then that should help.
Close border tension could be an issue.
You could gift resources. Do the Ai have metal or horse? If not diplomacy matters less. They need 2 different units in capital to declare.

 

[gavenkoa]

I think the downside here is it's a low food capital. So it will struggle to reach size 10 by 1ad. It would need to use the farms to speed up growth. Don't be afraid to grow into unhappiness if you know you have HR on way.

I played it to T150 earlier and I struggled with growth. I had Great Library in the capital (for GS pumping) and needed extra food surplus for regrowth if whip.

Actually all spots a bit limited for the food, I think I need to incorporate more farms into my games: when I waged a war all cities were unproductive and whip was slow because of slow regrow.

I don't know what is desired food surplus, +2/+3/+4 (that I usually play) it is not enough. Using the conversion rate 1F => 2.5H it relates to city productivity 5H/7.5H/10H per turn. It is not that great. At best 1 Catapult each 5T (50H/10HpT = 5T).

Do the Ai have metal or horse? If not diplomacy matters less. They need 2 different units in capital to declare.

Could you explain more? Does IA have to have some military prerequisites that are related to metal/horse (and why not Copper?)?

 

[Gumbolt]

I think they need 2 attacking units in the capital before they can declare. I don't think this includes archers.

You had some good spots to settle but I wasn't intendng to review whole game as you chose a strategy to beeline monarchy. This requires sacrifice on expansion and other areas .Your play style is very different to mine and I suspect you are happy in how you play.

 

[Lexicus]

The most costly tech is Metal Casting. Unfortunately I feel it is a wrong choice as it gave no immediate benefits

Am I missing something or are forges not an immediate benefit of MC?

 

[gavenkoa]

Am I missing something or are forges not an immediate benefit of MC?

Forges are for cities which whip or high on hummer production. Early you might not have such cities.

I also tend first 100 turns to grow on cottages without much military build: I have no experience with early wars. I try to keep small amount of military for better research rate.

 

[Lexicus]

My understanding is that it's best at the start to try to get hammers and food for expansion, and commerce can come later. I also am under the impression that the forge is one of two buildings (the other being the granary) that get built in every single city with all other buildings being situational.

At the very least, you will need some forges to build the Ironworks.

 

[Gumbolt]

Remember Gavenkoa has his own way of playing. I would certainly not spam forges. If you look at SGOTM games teams spamming buildings rarely finish fastest.

 

[gavenkoa]

and commerce can come later

The only thing I picked from Lain YT videos is concentrating on commerce earlier.

It is a real goal: when will I build my first cottage?

And the discussion about cottage sharing for uninterrupted growth (because of whip in one city so can be continued by another)...

I personally find Forges don't help with early Wonders unless you get MC from Oracle... But I try to get Mathematics right before Parthenon / Great Library for +30H chops... On Immortal lvl self-teching of Math is forgiving ))

 

[gavenkoa]

At the very least, you will need some forges to build the Ironworks.

https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Ironworks_(Civ4) - WOW, never built it. Playing Small maps (to simplify & speed up game) I end a game around Cannons ))

 

[Heathcliff]

when will I build my first cottage?

You want to expand to four cities quickly and then start building cottages when you have four cities.

 

[gavenkoa]

You want to expand to four cities quickly and then start building cottages

Second city, depending on placement, could positively influence research rate (especially if there is a river path to the capital). Other cities reduce research rate which have to be offset by cottages.

I saw PRO players drive Horse Archer rash with 3 cities: you grow investing in HA instead of settlers...

 

[Heathcliff]

If you have room expand, if you have no room, rush.

 

[sylvanllewelyn]

You want to expand to four cities quickly and then start building cottages when you have four cities.

If you have room expand, if you have no room, rush.

I like this style. Simple answer correct 90% of the time. Better than complicated-comprehensive answer correct 99% of the time.

I often self-research monarchy in difficult maps, even when non-isolation. Sometimes I need monarchy to work the cottages to research up to something to trade around.