SGn00b - for those new to SG's

[Sir Toma]

Okay took a while but i finally got around to making some more dot maps.

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The three dots that are close together (yellow, that fleshy colour and brown) are our different options for that area. I personally think that brown is the best one of them but the others are okay.

The green dot would be great for our second settler or maybe even our first as it would deprive the Incas of some good land. The blue dot would also be good for our first settler.

The red dot to the west is only there because it is a source of copper. It would be a pretty crappy city otherwise, but if we don't get any iron then it could be a life saver. Invading with archers doesn't sound that good.

In the south i just placed three possible cities although there is a bit of overlap. Grey would be good for the stone it provides. Purple gets Gems, Copper, Sugar and Rice. And Black has cows and silks but is otherwise not that useful.

These are just my ideas and you don't have to follow them as they're probably crap and i haven't taken into account where the Incas will settle.

 

[pling]

The green dot would be great for our second settler or maybe even our first as it would deprive the Incas of some good land. The blue dot would also be good for our first settler.

The red dot to the west is only there because it is a source of copper. It would be a pretty crappy city otherwise, but if we don't get any iron then it could be a life saver. Invading with archers doesn't sound that good.

In the south i just placed three possible cities although there is a bit of overlap. Grey would be good for the stone it provides. Purple gets Gems, Copper, Sugar and Rice. And Black has cows and silks but is otherwise not that useful.

These are just my ideas and you don't have to follow them as they're probably crap and i haven't taken into account where the Incas will settle.

I like the idea of going for the green one first, then back-filling for blue - though given where the incans are I'd be inclined to go for founding the next two cities as quickly as possible on green & blue otherwise we might lose one of those spots.

As far as the yellow/flesh/brown choice goes, I'm also more in favour of brown. I know it 'wastes' some tiles, but I've personally found in Civ4 that it makes more sense to go for the better city rather than making sure that you get the maximum cities on a given space ... we'll get that ivory with culture soon enough, won't we? (or is it 2 pops out?)

But take everything I say with the requiste large amount of salt After all, I'm the lass who announced when she joined the game that she only plays on Warlord

 

[Sir Toma]

But take everything I say with the requiste large amount of salt After all, I'm the lass who announced when she joined the game that she only plays on Warlord

Don't worry about it. I only won my first noble game last night. It took me 55 minutes on epic .

I was the Romans on a duel map with 2 other civs (Mao and Toguwaga). I Praetorian spammed their arse. I ended up with a score of 40 000 or so. I now feel less like a n00b.

edit: Just relized that this is my 50th post. YAY!!!

edit2: i had to get rid of some smilies because i was over the limit

 

[pling]

I only won my first noble game last night. ... I now feel less like a n00b.

Hehe! Congrats

 

[BeefontheBone]

Not sure what I was thinking with what became Toma's yellow dot - I was a bit stoned last night. My preference would be blue first then green to keep the inca off if possible, then yellow and 1SW of brown. That's only a total of 3 overlapping tiles, and how many size 21 cities do you see? Even if they do get that big there's plenty of food for a couple of specialists, much more useful than they were in civ 3.
I reckon green dot is going to be hugely important as it's an ideal specialist factory - if Huayana gets there before us we'll need to take it by force, especially since he's agressive and the desert in the north is so grotty. In that case I reckon we go for elephants ASAP, since construction is also close to Machinery on the tree, for our UU, stopping to pick up IW along the way, if not for anything other than showing us where the Incans' resources are. They may try to found one to the east of their capital for that ivory and gold, which is why we should get blue dot up first methinks.

 

[chriseay]

I'm thinking green, blue and then if we want to be really bold red, otherwise some backfilling or just stop expanding for a bit. I really think that green and blue should be our next big priorities, to get those resources and also to take some land away from the incans. On the ivory, if it's important we'll have to go for the closest dot to the capital, because otherwise I think it's quite a ways off. Beijing will need two more border pops to take it in I'm fairly certain.

 

[Admiral Kutzov]

don't fixate on OCP. grab the resources.

Invading with archers doesn't sound that good.

no but invading with horse archers...

slow down a bit people. IMIO, this is not all about early expansion.

hey boss, Sir Toma, don't worry about spouting crap, that's what we're here for.

just remember we're gonna lose money on new cities til we get get better civics.

also need to decide if we are going to be a simple peaceful people or war like and agressive (how do we get guilds first and still stay in the tech race?)

did we miss oracle? sorry, i'm pressed for time and skimming

 

[Sadan01]

Seems I had a little problem with playing last night as work decided to take over my Friday night. I have the game right now and am about to start playing my 20 turns. I'll report back in just a matter of a few hours.

I want to catch up with what has been said thus far first and go from there. Won't be too long folks.

Sir Toma, congrats on the Noble win!

 

[Sir Toma]

@Admiral
I think we should be a relatively peaceful people but we will probably end up attacking (or being attacked by) the Incas or Aztecs. If we don't go on the agressive at any point we will probably have very little room to expand.

Sadan i'm eagerlyawaiting your report on our many great achievments

 

[Sadan01]

After looking through all the dot-maps and everyone's opinions and then taking a good look at the game (been looking at the map for 10 minutes thus far without doing anything) I think we have numerous options here (obviously).

I am of the opinion that the blue dot would be the safer option for the first settler as after looking at the land around the Incan's, I have a feeling that they will send their settler south/southwest first to pick up the copper and gems (in a lot of the games I've played, the AIs seem to like to pick up the luxuries as a matter of some priority). The problem I think with the green dot, even though it is an excellent location, is that if we send our first settler down there, we will need to send the escort further (I plan on using that warrior in our city as our escort, as the archer can easily hold off the Mali warrior if necessary), and in addition, if the Incan's do decide to build a city towards their east, we could find we have our second city south of theirs. We'll also have higher maintenance (although not much at the moment).

I do believe the blue dot is the better (note, not best) way to go for our first city. The other point I just thought of it that those hills southwest of our capital (in the radius of the blue dot) could be a quite an inviting target also for the Incans. Let's take it before they can and we can go from there.

Sadan01 the Nubist

Edit: Ahhhhhh.. The pressure is on Sir Toma Some before first-turn pics coming up... Think of it as a pre-SG-game report on our standing.

 

[Admiral Kutzov]

just a silly post here. sometimes I leave the hometown undeffended to send out escorted settlers. putting paper bag back over my head and going to sleep

BTW, sadan, OT, are all tasmanians insane? i'm on IM with one now.

 

[Sadan01]

As promised, here are some pics of our tech tree thus far, diplomacy screen and the status of religion. There isnt much to report in these pictures however but I know how nice it is when reading about an SG in progress to actually SEE how it is going too without having to download the save for further information.

Besides, if you were scanning the succession game forum, and you saw a thread entitled "SGn00b" wouldn't you be interesting in taking a look? I know I would. So this is essentially for those that wish to lurk and to keep up and as things are going to get interesting soon.

Ok, first up, our diplomacy situation. As I said, there isnt much detail here except that everyone is cautious towards us and that everyone that we know of at the moment has contact with everyone else. This will become a factor I am sure later on.

Just a quick shot of our tech tree and where we are going. I do agree with a religion choice (hey, we can convert the Incan infidels!) and also with the Oracle if we can build it in time.

I don't remember seeing this in a report (however I am sure I did miss it somewhere) but another Civ we haven't met has founded Buddhism.

Ok. I am going to start my first turn and the Blue Dot is going to happen. Depending on what Civ4 throws at me, I do hope to be able to pump out another settler for the Green Dot or another choice. We'll see. Wish me luck Team. Newbie Sadan may need it.

 

[chriseay]

Nothing wrong with leaving the hometown undefended. That settler is more important than the few turns it'll take to redefend anyways. Should be moot though, I seem to remember building an archer before the settler.

 

[Sadan01]

Should be moot though, I seem to remember building an archer before the settler.

You certainly did build an archer in Beijing, thus that's the reason why I feel it is safe to move the warrior out of Beijing and escort the settler.

 

[Sadan01]

Folks, I should let you know that I was on Turn 5 and pressed enter at the end of the turn to go to turn 6 and the game crashed on me and went back to the desktop. For once, I am thankful for the autosave feature as I was able to start again on Turn 5. I can assure you that the same moves were done from the crashed turn to the "replay" of it.

As a bit of an update, Blue Dot is soon to become a reality. I'll be pushing through the turns as quick as I can manage to post the log and the save for Bone to play.

A little OT: I've found this SG to be a kind of confronting experience in terms of making the "right" decisions in-game. I guess in some ways the "pressure" really is on to play at your best and hope that you dont make any glaring mistakes. Have you all found the same thing?

 

[Sadan01]

BTW, sadan, OT, are all tasmanians insane? i'm on IM with one now.

I could say a lot about Tasmanians, Admiral. But none of it is nice No, they are nice people. I think a more "correct" statement would be that most Australians are insane.

 

[Sadan01]

Well I'm done and we have some interesting turns. Let's get right into it:

Before 1st-Turn

Checked all F# screens and everything looks in order. In fact, there is very little to report in this area.
Polytheism in 3 turns. Beijing looks good too. I don't bother moving citizens around the city radius. I think they are in their best locations anyway.

TURN 1 (1750BC)
Not much to report. Beijing settler in 8. Warrior in far west heads south down the hilly range. Warrior near Monte heads
South-West on hill to find more grasslands. Mansa's warrior is wandering near our capital's radius. Try our Archer my friend!!!!
Poly in 2 turns.

TURN 2 (1725BC)
Hinduism has been founded in a distant land... We are 1 TURN away from Poly! The Civ that founded religion instantly has 19% influence. Hrmmm.. I think I might make a beeline to Judaism (it is 12 turns away after Poly next turn) which I do hope to get. We can also convert to Organised Religion for a nice bonus to building buildings - I don't know about you folks but I would much rather this civic than Slavery as sacrificing population, unless absolutely dire or if the city is in a food-rich, production-poor area, will hurt the city/empire. I think Organised Religion is a better bonus.
Far-west Warrior is moved south-west along the ridge-line. Uncovers nothing but more trees and hills. We can also see a little more of the Roman border to the north-west.
Warrior in South heads south-east (another hill) back towards the southern part of Monte's borders. What can I say? I like running along the ridgetops!

TURN 3 (1700BC)
Poly researched.

Choice... Hmm. I've had a few over this decision. Two techs do stick out at me: The Wheel and Monotheism (I believe it is too early to try and build the Oracle Wonder in Beijing or elsewhere, through Priesthood (even though the tech only costs 5 turns from this point)). The Wheel for roading may be a good help in the case of pushing reinforcements or other units around our empire and it is never too early to get started. Here are the turn stats: TW: 5 Turns; Mono: 9 Turns. However there is one other problem. For us to get Mono/Judaism, we need Masonry (5 Turns). So our technology costs are as follows: TW: 5 Turns; Masonry: 5 Turns; Mono: 9 + 5 Turns at this time; Priesthood: 5 Turns. I've decided on Priesthood to shake things up. If I can give the next player the choice for building the Oracle, I want that as my legacy and that free tech could be a help as that is probably all I am going to be remembered for... Seriously, I do think we are going to have to start on The Wheel and Mono/Judaism soonish however. Think Cho... Ko... Nu... in the distant future.
Ouch! Huayna Capac of the Incan's has converted to Hinduism (he founded it). Will he try and convert us!? I don't know now about trying for Judaism as it will strain our relations. What do you folks think? I still think we should try and found a religion no matter what hit to our relations with the Inca.
Move warriors around. Monte has a scout over near the Romans and our exploring warrior finds both Pigs and Horses due south of Roman territory. Settler in 6 turns; Priesthood in 5 turns.

TURN 4 (1675BC)
Nothing happens except that our southern warrior runs further south-west away from Monte's territory and finds a lovely pack of wolves, howling on some tundra in front of them. Next turn should be interesting.
Beijing worker finishes farm on Wheat square. Move one citizen off flood plain square to wheat. Settler now in 4 turns. Worker to move next turn.

TURN 5 (1650BC)
Warriors continue exploring. No sign of the wolves - seem to have pooped themselves and run away at the sight of our mighty warrior. Team up Worker and Warrior in Beijing to move to gold-hill near Blue Dot. Settler is only 3 turns away so will get an early start on working the terrain. Nothing really else to do in Beijing anyway.
Press Enter to go to next turn and game crashes to desktop. Lovely! Thankfully Civ4 had autosaved on this very turn.
Reload from autosave (I've set it to autosave every 2 turns but I might change it to every turn instead).

 

[Sadan01]

TURN 6 (1625BC)
Game seems to have moved on to this turn okay. Thank God!
Warrior in south fights Wolves that came out of fog. Warrior beats them without losing health. They continue to head in a south-westerly direction.
Warrior over near Roman empire moves south-west.
Worker and Warrior continue to Blue Dot Gold Hill.
Priesthood in 2 Turns; Settler in 2 turns.

TURN 7 (1600BC)
Meet Tokugawa!!!! His scout appears south-west of Beijing. He is third in the points score, behind the Incan's and the N00b's. As much as I would like to tell him his head would look good on a pole, I choose peace instead. He knows the Romans, Incan's, Monte, and Mali. He also seems pleased with Monte and the Incan's but pissed with Mali (annoyed). Lucky him. Tell him to go away as I have more important things to do.
Warriors turn up nothing of interest. Priesthood and Settler both in 1 turn.
Worker and Warrior continue to Blue Dot Gold Hill.

TURN 8 (1575BC)
Meet Saladin of Arabia, who I think has a lice-problem in his beard. I choose peace. He is the founder of Buddhism. He knows the Romans, Japan, Monte and Mali. He is pleased with the Romans and cautious with everyone else. Once again, I tell these people to stop bothering me and he goes. It wont be long before he knows the Incan's.
Priesthood discovered. I think a Mono push now is at hand for Judaism. Start on Masonry (5 turns). TW is going to have to come soon for roadage. I may leave that for the next player to decide as to "when" or if at all.
Wonder (ha! ) about building the Oracle or Stonehenge. Oracle in 33 turns. Stonehenge in 26 turns. I think they are too long, especially since we only have one city at this time. Settler in 13 turns; Worker in 8 turns. I decide to push further along with another Settler even though this unit will finish on BeefontheBone's turnset. It really was a toss up between another settler and a second worker. I think we should REALLY push in getting a third city (even if the science rate has to come down to 80-90%) as that land is not going to last for long.
Move Settler towards Blue Dot.
Warriors are still moving around but found nothing of interest.
Tokugawa has adopted Slavery.

TURN 9 (1550BC)
We are now fourth on the score list behind Saladin on top, second is the Inca, and third is Japan (Japan and us are 4 points apart).
Move Warrior to guard hill where worker is about to start his mine once Settler gets there. Worker set to sleep for a couple of turns (note that if I had kept the Worker in Beijing, there would not be enough time to say, irrigate something and then have the worker down at the new city site before the new city was built. In fact, I do remember that to irrigate a floodplain it was something like 8 or 10 turns in this game. I'd rather have the worker do nothing for 2 or 3 turns and then get to work in a more important location than waste turns irrigating something we don't need right now and we will need GOLD for when a third city is thrown out there).
Masonry in 4 turns, Settler in Beijing in 12.

TURN 10 (1525BC)
Warrior fortified on gold-hill due-west of to-be new city. Settler in is position and will build Shanghai next turn. Worker will wake next turn to start a mine on the gold-hill.
Didn't mention it before but Saladin has at least two cities due-west from Monte. They may be his only two.

TURN 11 (1500BC)
Shanghai built.

Starts on an Archer to show some "strength" - built in 13 turns if I place a citizen on the forest to the north.
Question: How does everyone feel about the good ole forest chop?
Worker to mine the gold hill.
Science rate brought back to 90% as we have gone to -1gpt at 100% (we have nothing in our treasury anyway). At 90%, we are getting +2gpt. Masonry still at 2 turns left.
With the addition of Shanghai, we have gone back up to third in the score rankings and actually catching Saladin (who is now second) and the Inca in first.
Hesitant to move to Slavery Civic as we really have no use for it at the moment. Shanghai only has 1 pop and Beijing is still building the new settler.
Masonry in 2; Settler (Beijing) in 10; Archer (Shanghai) in 13.

TURN 12 (1475BC)
Nothing to report. 1 turn to Masonry. Monotheism will be next up.
Most A.Is are keeping to themselves at the moment. Probably due to no one discovering Writing yet to piss us off with open border agreements.

TURN 13 (1450BC)
Masonry comes in. Start on Monotheism - due in in 12 turns. I've managed to get that back to 10 turns by changing the citizen utilisation in Shanghai (working the lake instead of the forest for more commerce). However, it does mean that it is 30-odd turns to build that damn Archer. We do have that Warrior nearby to defend if necessary. I do think we are going to be left alone for now so probably safe. I think we need a good go at Judaism anyway and if not, go on to other things. Constructive critisism is welcome here and everywhere else in this turnlog
Beijing's borders to expand in 3 turns. Monte has sent up a Warrior to snoop around Shanghai. I dont think he means harm at the moment but remain vigilant.

TURN 14 (1425BC)
Monotheism in 9 turns.
Saladin has marble due south of what could be his capital. His borders haven't expanded over it yet.
Monte's warrior disappears.
Nothing else on this turn. We are getting closer and closer to Saladin in points - We are on 181; Saladin - 186; Inca - 192.

TURN 15 (1400BC)
Move Warrior further south around Saladin. Warrior seems to be at the bottom of the world now.
Settler in 6 turns; Mono in 8 turns.

 

[Sadan01]

TURN 16 (1375BC)
Beijing expands its borders. Horses due-east of city are now under borders.
Monte's warrior has reappeared south-east of Beijing.
Nothing else to report on this turn.

TURN 17 (1350BC)
Warriors move again. Warrior near Saladin has found a huge mass of tundra on Saladin's southern borders. Lucky him.
The other warrior has been moving steadily south-west from the Roman borders and has just found the coast.
We are now second on the score list, 2 points behind Saladin.

TURN 18 (1325BC)
Nothing at all to report.
Monotheism in 5 turns; Settler in 3 turns.

TURN 19 (1300BC)
One of our warriors meets a barbarian warrior. It should attack us next turn. Our warrior has 20% jungle defense and we are in a jungle at the moment. Shouldn't be a problem for us to win.
The other warrior has reached the end of the line in terms of land. Saladin seems to be a the bottom of the pangaea tucked into a corner of sorts.
Nothing else here to report.

TURN 20 (1275BC)
Monte and Julius both adopt Slavery.
Our warrior fights the barbarian warrior and wins however it is down to 10hp (/100). In other words, 0.2/2.0. He has also gained a promotion. I will leave the promotion for the next player and in addition, the decision on whether to let him heal - 9 turns - or not.
Gold-Mine finished near Shanghai. I left the citizen working the lake instead of the mine as it does not make a difference to our coinage at this time. The only difference is either the city is growing in 9 turns (working the lake) or stagnant and producing the archer faster. I leave this decision, if needed to be changed, to the next player.

So the save is of my last turn with the warrior still able to move.

Monotheism in 3 turns. We might just get it first

I'll post the save here and then post some more screenies of how we are going.

Save...

And the Roster
Sir Toma
Pling
Chriseay
Sadan01 (Just Played)
BeefontheBone (Up Now)
Admiral Kutzov (On Deck)
Pie-es Tasty

 

[Sir Toma]

Great turn Sadan, i can't believe we missed out on Hinduism by 1 turn!!!

Next i think we should research the wheel (i've looked at the save), build an archer in beijing and the a worker. We're really low on defence. I think the settler that is being produced in Beijing should go straight to Greendot along with the archer in our capital. About the forest chop the only thing i can say is chop away!

Good luck BeefontheBone.