Now THIS is a bad start!

[Chukchi Husky]

Maybe the Egyptian capital "Thebes" should have been given it's Egyptian name (I think it's "Wase") to avoid confusion with the Greek city "Thebes"?

I don't think I had a start as close together as that one, but I had one where I shared a small island with 3 civs...

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Well on the plus side of this situation, if you fight aggressively enough you could well have 2 competitors out of the way before you reach the AD's leaving you with little to stand in the way of conquests of other civs

The glass is always half full

 

[TriangleMan]

all the Egyptian cities in the game are given their Greek-ized names. Heliopolis, for example. "Polis" is Greek, not Egyptian at all.

 

[teccuk]

I love bad start screenshots for some reason, anyone got any more?

 

[budweiser]

Umm, I guess it's too late now, but I was going to mention this. You kept comenting about how egypt had only made two towns and Thebes was only defended by three spear. I'm betting this is because they were building the Pyramids! If it was me, I might have waited until they were finished before striking.

 

[tR1cKy]

@Total War: yeah, it wasn't so ugly after all. Perhaps. Most of the map is still unknown, i hope the greeks are not too powerful. Their hoplites are a real pain, i'll need legions to deal with them.
BTW, i've been a little lucky. A failed assault on Thebes would have forced me to quit immediately. And a failure on Memphis would have meant almost the same. Memphis in on hill, this means spear defending at 3. I was betting on Memphis having not more than 3 regular spears, as Thebes. In this case, an army of 6 archers, 4 vets + 2 elites, mean a decent chance to win, and so it was. RNG gods have been merciful.

@sennomulo: good advice, i'm going to poop a settler ASAP and send it to the hill where the lone spearman is. I will grab more good territory and i'll have a decent starting point to invade the egyptian city to the north.

@Chieftess: have you got a link to that game? I'd like to see it...

The turn isn't finished yet. Next moves will be:
- Meet the greeks and put an embassy.
- Offer peace to Cleo, trying to extort her as much things as i can.
- Trade contacts and maps.
- Readjust production on cities
And, in the next turns:
- Figure out what to do with Thebes and Memphis.
- Settle the unclaimed land.
- Prepare for next assault on Egypt (or Greece, if they're really weak, but i don't count too much on it)

 

[TriangleMan]

I love bad start screenshots for some reason, anyone got any more?

I played one game where the AI (Romans) started at the end of a peninsula with only room for a capital, and then a huge mountain range on the other side, like a good 4 or 5 squares of solid mountains, no hills or anything. I was on the other side, and had blocked him off right away, not even on purpose. Needless to say, I took him out pretty soon after. Sorry, no screenshot.

 

[Peck of Arabia]

Well I played as the Romans (always the Romans isn't it?) and I was playing a hotseat game with my dad, he was the Cartheginians. He god lush grasslands, perfect plains, gently rolling hills, and no AI.

I got disease ridden jungles, murky marshes, massive marshes and I had to contend with the Americans and the Byzantines. Guess who one? ME! (I have no idea why)

 

[Chris1111]

Well in my current game I saw on the retire screen/replay that an AI started on this island. All my games are modified in that you can't build on tundra(I like it for some reason ) so this AI start is extra worse. Its the middle ages and this AI is stuck with two cities and literally nowhere to go(massive neighbor next door). I don't 'technically' have contact with this civ yet that is why I have the editor screenshot.

As far as the topic creators post. I would of reloaded but then again I am just a lowly regent player lol

 

[Sargon of Agade]

Abydos is also a City in Greece and in Egypt.

 

[sennomulo]

Well, without the ability to build cities on tundra I'd probably build one city 2 NW of the cow to encompass all the green land (the oil and aluminium would be swallowed up by my borders by the time I see them, if that ever comes around). Then I'd beeline to Map Making and immediately start sending out suicide galleys. It's your only hope. But when the AI gets that kind of start, you can just march in with your more advanced units and conquer them, provided you have a navy. It may seem too easy, but that has to happen sometimes. It's the randomness that makes Civ 3 fun.

 

[Gogf]

Perhaps you should make a story in stories and tales ?

 

[tR1cKy]

@budweiser: no, they weren't. To be more precise, they were building the Pyramids before, but Babylon finished them first. Persia had already built the Colossus and Greece had the Oracle. Egyptians didn't have Literature (now they have it) so there were no wonder left. This resulted in a significant waste of shields - another lucky strike for me, i guess.

@Peck of Arabia: maybe you're a little too optimistic, but i'm pretty confident i'll wipe out at least the Egypts before entering the AD. Dunno if i'll be able to incorporate Greece so early, they have Hoplites...

I've met Greece and (phew!) they're not the superpower i feared. They have only 6 cities, but they have iron an this means swordsmen.
I've offered peace to Egypt. Cleo isn't that bad after all. She agreed to hand over:
- contact with the Aztecs
- Pottery
- Iron working
- Mysticism
- Mathematics
- Her territory map
How sweet! Alas, she has irons too.
I traded maps with greeks and aztecs. North of Aztland there is America. Aztecs are in bad shape, but America may have a big slice of land. I guess they have at least 10 cities. We'll see...
I'm building the settler in Thebes, to minimize the chances of cultural conversion. There are 2 egypt people, so there's a 50% chance that the settler will be Roman. Memphis need at least a temple to defend itself from Greek cultural pressure (yes, they have big culture). The other towns will poop units. I can build legions now, but i'll stick with archers and spears. I don't want to waste my golden age while still in despotism. In 20 turns i should be able to build 8 archers and 2 spears, enough to conquer Alexandria, then to head south for Elephantine and Heliopolis.

Drawbacks: 5 civs on the same continent. The other landmass should be about the same size, but with only 3 civs sharing the territory, and this means more room to expand. One is Babylon (damn Babs! ), one is Persia and the last one is still unknown. I'm not using any map stat/revealer/spoiler etc. - i spotted babs and persians from the wonder screen.

Will tR1cKy the Lionheart be brave enough to prevail in this struggle? Only time will tell. For now, here's the known map:

 

[sennomulo]

And you just know there's either barbarians or maps in that goody hut.

EDIT: Back to the game this thread is about... First you ought to eliminate what remains of the Egyptians, then when you think you have a fighting chance against the Greeks try to make an alliance with the Aztecs and/or Americans so a big chunk of their military is sent northward while you beat them back on the southern front.

 

[Admiral8Q]

Definately finish of Egypt if you can. That would bring you more up to par with the Greeks. The open space between the Egyptian cities leaves room for dropping a few settlers. I'd plan to drop two settlers to the west and north-west of Thebes, and one on the hills to the north right away.

 

[Rik Meleet]

I love bad start screenshots for some reason, anyone got any more?

The worst I can think of is a 2 tile island in the middle of a huge ocean. 1 tile Plains or Tundra or Grass even, The second a Volcano...

 

[Tomoyo]

Two tile island, one tile a wheat floodplain, the other a volcano.

 

[sennomulo]

On a Pangaea map.

 

[Tomoyo]

Surrounded by a ring of volcanos, so you can't escape.

 

[Admiral8Q]

...with a barbarian SOD of big purple aliens with three eyeballs attacking from the volcanoes...