Nobles' Club LVIII: Elizabeth II of England

dalamb

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The Nobles' Club series started out as a way for Noble-level (and below) players to improve their game. Most of the original participants now play at much higher levels, so this has become a way for advanced players to help others learn to play better. You can play your own game at any level and with any mod, but it would be nice to comment on the games of other players and give them advice.

By popular request our next leader is Elizabeth II of England, our very first leader in NC I and repeated in NC XII. We last played the English in NC XLIX with Churchill. They start with Fishing and Mining.
  • Traits: Elizabeth is PHIlosophical and FINancial, both fairly easy to play. PHI means faster Great People generation, and FIN gives +1:commerce: in each tile with 2:commerce:.
  • Her UB: Stock Exchange, a bank giving 65% :gold: bonus instead of 50%, which fits nicely with her FINancial trait.
  • Her UU: Redcoat, a very popular UU because of its 25% bonus versus gunpowder units; it's the only UU based on riflemen, already regarded as a strong unit on its own.
And the start:

Spoiler map details :
I used the Ring script, which generates an "island" for each civilization around the edge of the map and connects them with thin isthmuses. Thus you always have a neighbour to either side. There are usually some islands in the central sea. Ring maps are flat (no wrap in either direction). My edits:
Spoiler :
Regenerated until we got a seafood start. Verified that the AIs all have some early strategic resource nearby (copper, iron, or horses).
Finally, a cut and paste of our standard doctrine:

There are no hard and fast rules here: fun and learning are our primary goals, but we do request that you update your progress at various points in the game, using the Spoiler feature of the boards.

Tentative posting updates are suggested at:

4000 BC (starting thoughts, no spoiler required for that discussion)
1000 BC or so (how you decided to progress up the early tech/build paths, which AIs you have met, where you're thinking of putting cities, etc)
500 AD or so (after establishing some cities and a possible plan of action)
1200 AD or so (mid-game, Lib race, wars or peace, or whichever happened or didn't, met other continent if applicable, etc)
1600 AD (or when you have decided on a course of action and a specific victory condition)
End of game (Victory!!! or defeat, no shame in losing, especially if you tried a higher level. Learning is what we focus on, not fastest win or biggest empire)

Remember, these are only guidelines. What we really want are your thoughts as the game goes on, so if your strategies don't fall into line with those dates, feel free to adjust your reports accordingly.

We also welcome players to ask for specific game advice, as we have a number or stronger players who lurk and help out with solid tips, and of course, we help each other. Replies to specific questions should also be in spoilers, with a simple "@" in front of the person the answer is directed towards.

Special Thanks go to Bleys and TMIT, who really made this series a great one, r_rolo1, mapmaker extraordinaire, for his maps for most of the series, and all of you for playing.

The WB-saves are attached (zipped; they are bigger than standard saves). To play, simply download and unzip it into your BTS/Saves/WorldBuilder folder. Start the game, and load your favorite MOD (if you use one, if not, check out the BUG MOD), select "Play Scenario", and look for "NC 58 Elizabeth Noble" (or Monarch, if you want the AI to start with its usual Archery bonus tech, or Immortal for Archery+Hunting, or Deity to add Agriculture). This allows you to play with your favorite MOD at the Level and Speed of your choice. From Quick-Warlord to Marathon-Deity, all are welcome! We stuck with the name "Nobles Club" because it has a cool ring to it.

Note for those who hate goody huts: open the WB save file with a text editor and delete all lines that say
ImprovementType=IMPROVEMENT_GOODY_HUT
 

Attachments

  • NC 58 Elizabeth.zip
    54.6 KB · Views: 529
heh interesting start...

I think SIP could be good. Start building WB.

Techs...well that's a question. There is that cow, but we would have to tech 2 techs to work it.
I am almost inclined to tech BW first. after WB start building worker, then chop hills around into war+another WB.

that marble in BFC will be nice for some wonders...GL comes to mind.
 
Subscribing...

Marble, seafood, and cows? Nice starting location. Looks like more coast to the W from the screenie. If so, SIP may lose us some seafood that way, or it may be optimal. Unfortunately, there is no way to be sure since the warrior can't move far enough to see all possible seafood to the W. Bah.
 
Move Warrior 1SE to the hill and explore some more terittory. If nothing interesting there, move to the plains hill to push WBs faster.
 
Move Warrior 1SE to the hill and explore some more terittory. If nothing interesting there, move to the plains hill to push WBs faster.

I don't know. I can't think of a valid argument not to SIP. The warrior 1SE will just reveal what will be revealed with the new city. Might as well send the warrior on his merry way...this is a pretty strong starting cap for food and hammers.
 
heh interesting start...

I think SIP could be good. Start building WB.

Techs...well that's a question. There is that cow, but we would have to tech 2 techs to work it.
I am almost inclined to tech BW first. after WB start building worker, then chop hills around into war+another WB.

that marble in BFC will be nice for some wonders...GL comes to mind.

hmmm... I'll SIP and try some wonders in this game. I haven't done that for a while. With marble and Phi, the north tech route sounds more attractive now.
 
Move Warrior 1SE to the hill and explore some more terittory. If nothing interesting there, move to the plains hill to push WBs faster.

Which plains hill are you referring to? The one that loses the clams or the one that loses the marble? :crazyeye: Not to mention that both lose a turn.
 
Monarch/Normal through 1610 (AD)

Spoiler :
SIP, work boat first. Doesn't seem to matter, my start felt horrifically slow to me, with only 5 cities at 1 AD with GLH, but I wasn't playing very seriously. Figured I can nail out a victory at Monarch no matter what by now. But MAN, talk about some tough AIs. Is this conditioning to help us move on to Civ 5? Monty next door, Brennus, Izzy to the south, Kublai, Mehmed and Tokugawa on the other ends of the ring. Just thank god there's no Shaka.

I teched alright, nothing stellar, but not near enough green land to abuse FIN. More annoying was that the AI was competing pretty well, primarily Monte (who, with the Jewish shrine, nearly snagged liberalism off me before I took Rifling off of it), Mehmed and Kublai, who seems to be swimming in happiness resources - which seemed to be my primary problem this game. Mass-produced trebs, and used a London-produced GM to fund upgrades to cannons. That combined with drafted rifles has gotten me to Bibracte, although I'm wondering now if it would have been better to go after Monty instead. Oh well.

London in place ended up being a decent bureau capital - nothing godly, but it's a way to get research in a land-poor start like this. Will likely finish off Brennus and potentially Izzy, but my competitors are teching so fast I think a military victory might not be so feasible (if I continue as lazily as I have been). Probably gonna go for a lazy space. I was expecting more of a romp than this, but the ring map has challenged my meagre skill at this game.


May update later with pics, but first I'll need a Photobucket :D
 
I don't know. I can't think of a valid argument not to SIP. The warrior 1SE will just reveal what will be revealed with the new city. Might as well send the warrior on his merry way...this is a pretty strong starting cap for food and hammers.

Very true indeed. However, I pushing me those WBs faster allow to get 10 cities instead of 8 (which is very possible depending on the amount of land available) I'd like that better than a better capital.
 
@Framesticker

I wouldnt settle on forested PH. I would instead use it for the first WB.

You have another 3H tile 1NE of the starting position. If you settle on a plains hill, a WB will take 6 turns to complete on size one, which is VERY fast.
 
Hmm, if you settle 1W, you have a fairly hammer poor capital (on a plains hill is good, but only 2 other hills in the BFC is bad). If you settle 1NE, the capital loses both seafood and the only way you'll be able to work them is to put another city on the FH, which wrecks one of the best tiles in the game. If you must settle a plains hill, 1W is the better choice but I'm still in the SIP camp on this one.
 
The only thing about settling 1 west is that you lose the marble in the bfc. I know you can hook it up once you get a border pop or by settling a city nearby. I think the Great Library and the orcale are important wonders to be considered in this game.The Taj would be nice also later on. Settling in place, or moving 1E, and working the plains hill might be better for the long term. Even if the warrior moves 1SE
 
1W seems too uncertain. There is clearly another peak right next to the one we see so that is 2 useless tiles in the BFC, plus taking away even more hammer possibilities with hills/marble. SIP is too strong me thinks.
 
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