Spain and Natural Wonders

[ezzie]

Hi! First time poster here. I'm playing as Spain for the first time, and I'd like to find as many of the Natural Wonders first as possible.

I've heard that there are certain start biases for the natural wonders. (Mt. Fuji is never on the largest landmass, Baringer Crater is usually in tundra or desert, Gibraltar is always on the coast attached to a mountain, etc.) Is there any truth to this? Do the other natural wonders have a bias?

If anyone else has a great Spanish strategy to suggest, I'd be interested in that too. Thanks!

 

[DaveMcW]

Get astronomy and open borders and you'll find them all eventually.

But finding them early when you really need the gold is important. So reroll the map if you don't find a wonder within 10 turns.

 

[joncnunn]

As long as your not on a real earth map (which only has 1 Natural Wonder); finding a natural wonder nearby is actually fairly easy.
If you didn't find one within 10 turns you explored in the wrong direction.

 

[prince_caspian]

If you found El Dorado and received 1000 don't quit the map! That's your lucky day

 

[snarzberry]

I played as Spain once and walked into el dorado on like turn 3, I used 500 of the gold to ally a coastal cultural city state which revealed the two great barrier reef tiles near their borders. lol right, so I have 2K gold by turn 3... chalk that up as a win, next game.

 

[Optional]

They all have placement criteria, but those are still so broad that knowing them wouldn't help you finding them. You also don't know which wonders will be on the map. You just have to explore in every direction.
Krakatoa is surrounded by sea on all sides. Gibraltar must also have sea around it, but a few tiles may be land. Barrier Reef will be surrounded by sea, but there must be some land in the second ring (this is the only wonder where the second ring gets checked).
Most natural wonders have the requirement that they are on all sides surrounded by land, and they're not brushing a lake or river. Further details usually determine something about the terrain. Fuiji, for example, must be in flat terrain, and it can't be desert or tundra (and indeed it can't be placed on the biggest landmass of an ocean map). Old Faithful needs some hills and mountains around it. If you really want to know the exact details, you should pick up the file C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\sid meier's civilization v\assets\Gameplay\Lua\AssignStartingPlots, and scroll to the middle of that file. It's all mentioned there in Lua, but reading all that won't exactly help you find them in your game.

 

[NukeAJS]

When I play Spain, I go all-in on exploration. That means more than one scout, getting optics sooner rather than later, getting writing ASAP, prioritizing Astronomy and Chivalry. Getting astronomy/caravels first is probably the easiest way to get wonders first.

One thing that will help you get natural wonders first is paying attention to rival scouting units. If you are moving north, and meet a rival scouting unit coming from the north, change direction. Seems pretty obvious but I've seen people continue north before. This is just as important if you aren't Spain too because if Spain is on the map, you'll want to reduce their UA by finding the wonders first. Also because of El Dorado possibly existing.

 

[FeiLing]

Note that the great barrier reef always comes as two tiles which both count as 1 natural wonder each. Double the fun for Spain.

(Playing Spain though sucks, because all the AIs start with so many extra units on higher difficulties which will make it near impossible to be the first to discover any of the natural wonders).)

 

[joncnunn]

(Playing Spain though sucks, because all the AIs start with so many extra units on higher difficulties which will make it near impossible to be the first to discover any of the natural wonders).)

I discovered three wonders first as Spain on Immortal level.
In fact, I seem to recall on the map I was on "Small Contientants" one of them being on my starting landmass.

 

[Optional]

If the AI starts with a scout, that's an advantage for them, but their extra warriors just sit around the capital, the AI doesn't scout with them. It builds more scouts.
So yeah, your chances are a bit less on higher levels, but with 6 wonders and 8 civs on a regular map, your chances are still good to find a wonder first.
If your not first, that's always a disappointment, but the extra happy still helps your early expansion. Find a couple more, maybe a wonder you can get actually into your territory, and you're talking about a solid trait, even with a bit less luck.

 

[Rex_Mundi]

As Spain exploration is everything.
Find those NW and settle them is possible.

As Spain I seriously consider capturing city states if they have a NW.

A little trick I have had success with once (and only once) is going for chariot archers early and scout with those. If they find a ruin and upgrade you get the Conquistador.
I found the ruin on a small island off the coast.

 

[CYZ]

I usually end up with a spread out empire, 2/5 cities close to my capital and then several cities all over the map, whereever I can get my hands on a Natural Wonder. It's lots of fun because it's not the kindof empire you normally have.