Opening strategy for England/Archipelago

[Cptobvious]

I want give Emperor a go with a domination victory in mind on a naval map. I've been looking everywhere for a guide to playing on Archipelago and I cannot find one. I'd like to play as England for their SOTL so I crush the AI.

What's a good opening strategy to start with?

My first thoughts are tradition opening and try to get Great Lighthouse, but any suggestions on build/tech/policy order?

 

[Matthew.]

NC, Universities, Navigation. You can start building galleas and use Oxford on Navigation, then mass upgrade into SOTL. Don't forget the iron though.

 

[joncnunn]

England on Archipelago is a lot like anyone else on that map type, except that both your ships & embarked units will move somewhat faster.

Yes, Tradition opener works really well on this start. And also provides a fallback in case it turns out another major AI is on your landmass. (On that map on standard size its about a third of the time; on a larger map, more likely.) If you want a higher chance of starting on your own landmass, play on Large Islands in advanced settings.

Great Lighthouse : Only really worth building if the starting city both has production and also that there is at least one sea resource. (It's roughly 50-50 on water maps if there will be sea resources at start, sometimes the generator adds fish near by and other times it instead adds land bonus tiles.)

This tech path is probably: Pottery, Writing, Sailing, and then Optics. On Emperor, you need to beeline to the tech if you want to ensure you build the early wonder. (On Immortal, it wouldn't be worth going after early wonders at all)

Land production tiles (& forest to chop) would be highly preferred for building the wonder over several sea resources + God of the Sea. (It takes significant time to build 4 work boats)

This is probably going to be a 1 city NC going after any wonder; cash buy settler right before NC completes and move into position to found right after completion.

Sea domination: Pre-build Ships of the Line as the first naval bombard unit.
And build Privatters to go along with them (in a city that has barracks + armory so it can have 30 XP for Coastal Raider III)

That same city can build some Crossbows to hold the cities that you capture that you don't raze. And don't forget to build up a happiness surplus so that a successful war doesn't ruin your happiness.

 

[Jelster]

NC, Universities, Navigation. You can start building galleas and use Oxford on Navigation, then mass upgrade into SOTL. Don't forget the iron though.

As above,

Do a one city start, library and NC, then settle two more cities (islands?) and go from ther. You need the drive in science to get the SotL & longbows.

Good hunting !

 

[The Pilgrim]

Do not click!

 

[budweiser]

I's suggest taking a look at the Polynesia Diety Challenge. The problem with an island map is that you only need the gallealas. Everything will be under control before you ever get to the SotL. I think continents are better for England.

 

[Ra's Head]

No need for Great Lighthouse, I think. You will be fast enough with the English and you can take Commerce if you want. Maybe watch to see who builds Great Lighthouse and take them out to steal it, but I wouldn't spend time building it. Definitely build Galleass and upgrade them rather than hard building SOTL. Naval domination is surprisingly effective. One of my fastest wins was Egypt (random, I know) using frigates. Iron is an early priority for you to secure, though. With bad luck, the lack of iron can ruin it.

Then again, there is normally a CS with iron you can ally.

 

[Lanthar]

I like to get Great Lighthouse and the Commerce social policy - anything to increase ship speed. Super fast SOTL are unbeatable...especially with longbows thrown in the mix. The three hex range of the longbows are great for defense and for offensive bombardment from just out of range.

A large number of fast SOTL are very effective and make taking out the other capital cities a lot faster than you'd think.

 

[Jelster]

Having played (well at least started) a game as England on a small Islands map today there's a couple of things which you HAVE to change from a standard start.

Sailing & Optics are ESSENTIAL, even before writing. Without Optics you cannot get your units off the island, and to scout properly, find ruins and Wonders, and to meet potential trading partners, you have to get off the island ASAP.

It won't take you that long before you work every tile of your island, so you need to be scouting for potential city locations as well. Generally this means working the top of the Tech Tree, which is useful, as that's where all the educational stuff is too.

I found that I had to deviate from my normal 2 city NC start, and having a small landmass meant that to some extent I could relax on military units. Spread your cities out on your starting island otherwise the AI will plonk a city down right where you were planning to.

With limited tiles and trading partners available, your economy could suffer, so don't over do the military units unless you're in a war. Fewer up to date and well promoted units is a much better option.