The Young Apprentice of World Conquerors

[Creatureboy11]

Hello. I am Creatureboy11, and this thread is yet ANOTHER continuation of my quest to win a game of Civilization 4 on Noble difficulty. NOW, I am playing as Mansa Musa of Mali. He is good because of:

1. His Spiritual trait, so there is no need to worry about Anarchy.
2. His Financial trait, so I have more commerce; and therefor more research.

The picture is of the start of this Standard sized Fractal map. The save is, obviously, the game.

 

[lymond]

Don't forget resource bubbles on for your screenshots. Oh...and a correction on your point about Financial. Financial provides extra "commerce" not gold. There is a big difference.

Checking out the save now.

 

[Creatureboy11]

Don't forget resource bubbles on for your screenshots. Oh...and a correction on your point about Financial. Financial provides extra "commerce" not gold. There is a big difference.

Checking out the save now.

Okay. I edited the Financial thing (confusing; same symbol), and I will add the resource bubbles.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

I wonder what effect a trait would be if they got 1 gpt from each city, as opposed to the financial commerce bonus?

 

[Creatureboy11]

Lets keep this to me trying to rock at Civ4.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

So what are you gonna do with your start?

 

[Creatureboy11]

So what are you gonna do with your start?

I've been told to wait for advice.

 

[babybluepants]

Ugly start. Move the warrior 1NW 1N. If no seafood, move settler 1W. If no food revealed, move settler 1SE.

 

[lymond]

Good man

actually this is the symbol for gold =
and this is commerce =

I can explain the concept of commerce in the game and how it works, but I'm trying think of a good way to do so for someone who may have little knowledge of economics. I'll work on that.

Okay...so the start. Coastal and nothing "wow!" showing as far as resources. These are starts that I often consider moving, but I don't want you to do that yet. SIP is probably fine, but let's move the warrior.

I think there are 2 possibilities for moving the warrior. You could move it 1NW to reveal more coast and possibly seafood. Or move him 1SW onto the hill to reveal a bunch of tiles down south. My preference is the latter (1SW). The logic behind that is that if you SIP, you will have minimal coastal tiles anyway so I don't think it hurts you either way. Revealing tiles to the south however might show something that makes moving the settler a better option.

So I think the next step is to just move the warrior 1SW and then post a screenshot. After that we can talk about settling, builds and techs for the opening turns.

 

[Creatureboy11]

Here is the photo:

 

[babybluepants]

I would've preferred Warrior north, as I suggested. Now you don't know whether there's seafood making SIP playable, or if you should be moving. Jungle doesn't look promising... I guess SIP, but not sure. (Probably shouldn't advise blind wandering in a learning game.)

 

[AutomatedTeller]

Oh - that start just got a LOT better.

I think SIP is right.

The lack of great food bonuses is going to be a problem, but the gems will make up for a lot of that.

 

[lymond]

Well, the start is food poor indeed, but the good news is I suspect there is a strat resource in the BFC. And the Gems will be very nice and at least food neutral.

I'm inclined to SIP simply to focus more on the production side of the house, although that grassland the Settler is sitting on would love a farm or cottage. 1S is a possiblity, but I hate to lose the production.

What do you think bbp?

My gut tells me that there is no seafood

 

[Creatureboy11]

Well, the start is food poor indeed, but the good news is I suspect there is a strat resource in the BFC. And the Gems will be very nice and at least food neutral.

I'm inclined to SIP simply to focus more on the production side of the house, although that grassland the Settler is sitting on would love a farm or cottage. 1S is a possiblity, but I hate to lose the production.

What do you think bbp?

My gut tells me that there is no seafood

I'll SIP, hopefully there will be a neighbor to early rush for food resources. And I also NEED that production regardless (wonders for Culture win, units for Conquest/Domination, UN for Diplo, and the parts for the Space Race.)

Now the question is: "What should my initial build be?"

 

[lymond]

Well, food is production too, but yeah..I think SIP is fine.

Move your warrior to reveal a circle around your cap...at least 10 tiles radius, but keep in compact for now.

The jungle is going to be a hindrance for now with it so close, so it will be interesting to see how the settling pattern will unfold.

Mali starts with Wheel and Mining. Build a worker first using the cow tile or silk (same dif) and tech AG/AH and probably BW next with all that forest, but do an update in 20 turns. Worker can mine that gem first. The extra commerce and happy early will be welcome.

 

[babybluepants]

It's quite ugly. He'll need to research Agri-AH just to get one 3fpt tile, and then BW to get one more. Then that's it for food... And, slow worker movement... I tend to agree about seafood, but I'd still hate to risk it. 1S seems slightly better to me now, if only to delay settling so the warrior can reveal a few more tiles. It gets 3 extra farmable grass, which will be important, I expect.

Edit: xpost with both

 

[Creatureboy11]

Okay. I'll post in 20 turns.

 

[lymond]

^^^true...there are at least 2 to 3 farms to be had after BW which is good enough early. On Noble this cap will by fine for getting a start. CB is not trying to set any records. We're just trying to keep it fairly simple. (CB is 12 and a trooper )

 

[lymond]

by the way, we need to get CB hooked on the BUG mod

 

[Creatureboy11]

Alot happened in 20 turns. I popped the hut by Timbuktu and it revealed a map. They are generally useless (based on what I hear), but this time it was GOOD! It revealed that Saladin was near me (guess that my early rush will work! ) I researched Agriculture first for AH. When my Worker was done I began on a Warrior to defend. I built a road to the cows, then a road to the gems for mining. I met Kublai Khan but couldn't find his city. I met Saladin on turn 20.