Starting Position

[SilentConfusion]

Here's the sandbox start I made in WorldBuilder. This can be used for testing initial city builds and techs. Obviously scouting won't be realistic. So you might just want to fortify the scout or kill it.

Also if you notice any mistakes please point it out so I can fix it.

EDIT: I added a start with horse in the BFC. I think having horse in our BFC would be just too perfect, but here's hoping. The second one has horse, the first one does not.

 

[mariogreymist]

SIP is obvious here, and I'd say SE/NE with the scout. It appears to be solid forest to the E, so moving NE means a single move on turn 2, where SE/NE could find open ground to take advantage of our lion chow, er, I mean scout.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Thanks SilentConfusion This is a must have!

 

[Lord Civius]

Plains hill start with two grassland sheep and two grassland silvers... That's a pretty awesome start. I assume that the other teams got a similarly awesome start. With starts like these I think it will tempt more people to go worker first to get these great tiles improved. This means less risk of anyone even attempting a warrior rush.

I am not an experienced multiplayer but I would expect that a rival with warrior/archer UU will see this as an opportunity. I agree that we should go worker first but let us not assume all of our rivals will do the same. I also vote NE for scout move.

 

[remake20]

Thanks SC.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Looking at our start location and trying to figure out what kind of map layout we have, I notice:

1. We are on the north end of the map (snow covered pines in our NW)
2. We have an ocean/large sea completely covering our West
3. We have an ocean/large sea to our south

That means that we can only expand in one direction, East.
If there is anyone close to us AND East of Us, they have us completely pinned against the sea to our west. That would be an unworkable start and it is just not possible that we would get a start like that.

Since we cant go North(snow) and we cant go South or West (water), and thus we MUST expand East... added to the reality that the mapmaker would not pin us to the ocean, FORCING us to kill a neighbor to our west just to get acces to the land west of us... We might be either:
1. On our own island,
2. On an island with another team at the other end, in a similar position as us
3. In the Northern Corner of a Doughnut Map with an ocean center.
4. The only other possibility is that we are on some wacky Snaky Island penninsula.

 

[damnrunner]

We could be at the top of the map at the center of Pangaea type continent that has a large "bay" to our West.

 

[remake20]

Good reasoning Sommerswerd. I think we can cross out the doughnut, because on all of the doughnut maps I've played on they are round, no little funky change like one tile sticking out, round. An island seems to be the only good conclusion. I don't think it looks like a SC peninsula. I have a feeling though, if we are on an island that we can meet everyone by at least galley, because the teams that put in, not just the map type put early contact with everybody.

 

[mariogreymist]

It's good reasoning Sommerswerd, but the one direction we can expand is East, unless we mount our immortals on sea horses.

 

[SilentConfusion]

It's good reasoning Sommerswerd, but the one direction we can expand is East, unless we mount our immortals on sea horses.

Oh yeah, that ways East. I always get those mixed up. But seahorses might be a good idea. If when we tech AH we don't have horses, hopefully we'll have some seahorses in some of our coastal tiles.

 

[mariogreymist]

played the test start through 30 turns...we can whip a settler by turn 35 from this spot, with significant overflow into another worker with four warriors built. (which from our preliminary look, is probably enough to find us a good second city spot and spawnbust the immediate area)

worker/warrior/warrior/warrior/warrior
worker action: S/Pasture, SE/Pasture, NW/N, NW, Mine, NE, Mine

the only thing that might be done differently (but I don't know that it will make any difference this early, and the extra turn before getting the silver up is unacceptable imo) is hooking up the sheep with roads. Apart from that, I don't see any other way to play the bfc for this stage.

 

[remake20]

It looks like the tile NE of the silver in a hill. (not the silver hill )

 

[Sommerswerd]

It's good reasoning Sommerswerd, but the one direction we can expand is East, unless we mount our immortals on sea horses.

Yea oops I meant east... we can only expand east... I edited my post.

Playingin the "sandbox" now.