This is my first game ever on Emperor, so I'm not playing for big points here. Not even for a win
Any suggestions are highly appreciated. I'm at turn 114 now, last of the base point ranking (about half as much as the leading AI) and struggling.
- How did you decide to work with the start location?
I settled in place after my warrior didn't see much besides mountains on NE hills.
- Were there any early wars and did you start them?
I was just harassed by some barbs from the south. They managed to pillage my gems and wheat and I had to withdraw my worker to the save confines of the city for some turns. I didn't spend much thought on defending my city, so I had to take care of the bars with city bombardment only.
Oda started a minor war with Askia, but besides that the game is very peaceful so far. Probably I'm on nobodys radar as I'm not really a lucrative target
- What Social Policies did you choose and why?
I went for Liberty and Collective Rule to get the settler, but I was too late. Oda beat me on turn 32 to the silver/wheat spot off NW. So I put my 2. city next to Great Barrier Reef. Since then I stuck with the Liberty line and took Citizenship and Republic - totally forgot about Honor. I guess the +25% against barbs would have been quite useful in the past
- What tech path did you follow?
I focussed on techs to make use of my tiles. Started off with mining and got masonry off the first hut. Next I took pottery, then writing. Focussed back to AH, Trapping. GL gave me Philosophy, then I took Calendar. Moved to sailing then as I was stuck on the southern part of the continent and could not expand.
Now on turn 114 I've just finished Civil Service and started Education. As money is always an issue I've also researched Currency.
- What Wonders did you prioritize?
GL in first city, Colossus due to lack of gold (mistake?), National College in Great Barrier Reef city, National Epic in first.
- How did the crowded map affect your play?
I could not expand and have been stuck with 2 cities for the most part of the game. I churned out a settler right after the first trireme, hoping that I find something good near the E coast. Wasn't so... I had to sail the full trip, going aaaaaall around the continent to find this little island with spices. Just in time to see the Ottomans approaching with a settler! I wanted to play nice, but in this situation I had to sink them with my trireme. 3. city is now placed on top of the spice on the island.
I've met all but one of the AIs, struck 3 RAs so far, home continent is quite friendly, CS on home continent are either friends or allies. I've two pikes and two archers hunting for barbs on the home continent and just got a swordsman. I'm happy to have access to 2 spices soon, so I might be able to turn this game a bit more to my favor. Oda is the one I'm most worried about, but it looks like he doesn't see me as a threat or a good target so far...
Not sure what my focus should be for the next turns...
Edit: Update at turn 150
...I completed Liberty for the free Great Person and took an Engineer to rush Porcelain Tower later. Education was just some odd turns off completion. I also managed to complete Hagia Sofia and I took another Engineer. With Education finished I not only rushed Porcelain Tower, but also Notre Dame. I didn't find any useful wonder in the techs in the near future and thought a happy boost is not a bad thing. Two turns later Gandhi beats me on Machu Pichu - I had still 5 turns to go for it.
Question: should I have spend the GE to rush the last turns of Machu Pichu? I guess so...money is a problem for me now. Any feedback from the experts would be highly appreciated.
The DoF with Oda ended and he didn't want to renew it. Which made me wary. Open borders was still in place and I could scout his teritory a bit with units gifted to me from the northern CS. I saw that Oda still had not developed the iron next to the silver/wheat city, so I put Chariot Archer on top of the tile. Oda didn't really seem to mind as he busily developed tiles around a newly found city from him. Some turns later I saw the first samurai as he massed some troops on my northern borders. When he watered them I freaked and asked Gandhi for a defensive pact. Oda used the last turns of our open borders to put the units next to my cap. And then he declared war to Gandhi!
Question: Although it was quite obvious that Oda planned to cross me, do you think the defensive pact with Gadhi provoked Oda? Gandhi also has a settlement west of Oda, so there might be a slim chance, that Oda wanted to go for that.