Believe I went SW with the starting warrior, because it looked like there was coast east and maybe south, so much of that would be covered once borders expanded. Settled in place. Warrior was parked in the west, without much exploration, for fogbusting. Not many tiles, but at least the area is clear, apart from two tiles in the very south. First self-produced warrior actually went down there. Both to see for food, and to make sure our south is clear. Still some tiles unfogged in the east, but a later warrior takes care of that.
So far barbs have only come from the north, in a nice train through the forest there. It's been rough, but we've been able to handle it so far. A few losses, but not many. Most annoying was losing first a 70% defensive fight, and then the 60% counter fight too, entirely losing fogbusting to the north.
Difficult to know what starting techs are best here, because there is so much we need. I went Agriculture first for the wet wheat. Decided AH next would be suicidal, I needed
, and the pig could be farmed. After Mining I went Hunting->Archery. It was bound to be needed. And barbs kept coming into the NW tiles anyway, so the pig was dangerous. Barbs ruined a mine, but otherwise we've coped okay I think. Have had to counter them a few times, though, and this chance was probably overly risky, but this time it turned out okay. Phew!!
Was producing a settler before this archer came out, but had to get out an archer instead, because a train kept coming at us. First city was therefore quite late, almost 2000BC in the SE. Next city went SW. Both close to seafood and somewhat protected from the dangerous north.
Went directly into another settler there, which I believe was 2-popped. OF went into a worker, which was chopped out. Then another archer (we had a barracks quite early, when there was a brief lull in barb assaults).
Sad to get BW and not see a single blob of copper. Not near our capital, nor anywhere else we have discovered. Could be something further north, but I can't get there yet.
Next it was again a choice between AH and something else, like Pottery. I went for the latter. Economy is already a bit wonky, and the pig can wait. But once the fogbuster in the NW was able to dare himself into the naked desert, and spotted another pig, it was easier to go for AH next ahead of Writing. Will probably put a city there, maybe on the green hill to catch Wine later. Don't like to settle on a spot like that, ideally, because it kills a forest and an otherwise quite nice hill tile, but it makes most sense here I think -- unless we see something better in the area.
Surprisingly that warrior up north won the fight. He had gone north in the forest, risking some now-unfogged tiles further south for a turn, to be safer in the forest once he moved SW (where he is now). But I was sure he was lost. Okay, it's a 60% winning fight, but those still feel lucky with the way the RNG tends to work in this game
(myth, feelings, biased memory, whatever one calls it, it always feels risky to take on fights with marginal winning odds).
Thankfully the barb archer took on this fight against our experienced archer in the forested hill. Otherwise the new city would have been in risk, and I'd probably have had to chop out an archer instead of a workboat.
Sadly a spear has come from the north now, the first one, so the warrior (still injured from before) has had to run away. No chance to win that one. But I'm also able to move out some archers now, including our top dude. He's perhaps a bit oddly promoted, because I wanted diversity in countering warriors and archers that were trying to ruin our tiles, primarily that farmed pig.
Very early, a warrior in the east spotted borders, which really surprised me because I thought this was a total isolation map. Should be possible to make contact there, with a city e.g. on the PH. There is also land or perhaps more likely an island in the NW. I can see the outlines of a tile there, and the crab can't be worked from our continent.
The area feels a bit safer now, but we need to deal with that blasted spear up north, and then to fogbust the rest of the land. Hopefully we don't get more spears and then axes, because they are pretty rough to handle with only archers, especially if they bypass us.
Next task is to get up some cottages. We need to build an economy here, and I don't see any commerce apart from coast tiles. Later there is the wine, and marble, but the only way to grow the economy in the near future is via cottages.
With that in mind, perhaps a case can be made for settling a resource-less city directly south, but think I'll put it by the NE clam, or maybe the wine-pig. Need a bit more info first. And may have to postpone that fourth city anyway. Not sure we can handle it right now. Awkward to get the marble within workable area now, but I wanted that clam in inner ring (and the jungle was spreading like crazy over there).
Now then... what to do with that blasted border in the east? Do I just ignore it, or put a city there and put an explore boat over?
Edit: Stats at T60. 15 kills!
short. Boudica must have had a unit somewhere that we didn't spot. She lacked Compass too, and I traded it to her for HBR + Masonry. Had to pay a little gold, but got some of it back next turn with Optics for Currency. Completed Poly ourselves from Astro overflow.
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