TSG72 Opening Actions thread

[dthompson32]

Turn 116 now and seems like a good start for me. I might end up in the middle of the pack. I think a sub 300 SV is possible right now, which would make me pretty happy.

Starting off I had no real plan, since Assyria and SV don't seem to go together. I settled next to the salt, which seemed to be pretty good. I didn't know if I would need siege towers so planned to get Writing, then beeline Math and build the Hanging Gardens.

I found Mt Sinai very quickly, and was seduced by it. I've always wanted that in a religious oriented civ, seeing all that desert I thought it would be worth trying to get Petra. My past experience is that I never get Petra on Immortal, so I had to focus exclusively on getting there. Anyway, I was lucky to get Desert Folklore, even though I was the 3rd pantheon. I would have been happy with the NW pantheon if I hadn't. I also got the Hanging Gardens and Petra, so ended up with a good base. Happiness has been a challenge since turn 100, but now that I have Papal Primacy and Consulates I might be turning the corner.

SP Order: Standard Tradition Opening, Patronage, Consulates

Tech Order: Pottery, Archer (from ruin), Mining, Writing, beeline Math, Currency, Calendar, Philo, D+P, Theology, beeline Education (got it on turn 104)

Religion: Desert Folklore, Papal Primacy, Swords to Plowshares, Religious Community, Holy Order

Capital: Scout, Worker, Settler (need to start 2nd city ASAP), Granary, Library (bought), Caravan (for food to C2), HG, Settler (bought), Water Mill, Market, NC, Oracle, Hagia Sophia, Settler (bought), Borobodur, University (not til turn 107)

C2 (between Sinai and lake): Library, Granary, switch to Petra, Archer (barb pillaging me), finish Granary, Market, Garden, Worker (nothing else critical), Caravan (probably should have started University)

C3 (next to Mt. Kili): Granary, Library (bought), Water Mill, Garden

C4 (next to sea/mtn to NW): Didn't build it until turn 94, Granary, Workboat

Now I'm trying to convert all the CSes to my religion, beelining to Astromony for the Observatories, while waiting for all my salt deals to end so I have cash.

City sizes (at turn 116) 13, 7, 8, and 3, happiness at 0 (this is my biggest issue), faith rolling in at 30/turn, science is 87/turn, 11 turns from Astronomy

Overall, I'm not excited by this map, I can't find a bunch of CSes and while I loved the opportunity to finally get NWs in my civ, there is so much salt and a lack of diversity that it is making it really hard to keep my empire happy. Maybe I'm just used to game 71

- What did you consider in your decision of where to settle your capital?

I just wanted next to the river and easy access to a lux

- What were your initial priorities?

Once I saw Sinai it was to get a city next to it and generate faith

- What tech path did you follow and why?

Beeline to Currency to get HG and Petra

- Were there any early wars and who started them?

No wars at all, I have DOFs with everyone but Poca

- Did you use your UU with beneficial effect?

No, it didn't fit with my early wonder building strategy

- Was your UB helpful? Did you go for an early Great Work?

It's just a library for now, and I doubt I will need it. Frankly it seems to much work to get great works in there for super barracks. The UU is in the early game, getting GWs comes later in the game. When I get writers, I will need them for the culture. To me Assyria doesn't seem like a good civ unless you plan on early wars.

 

[sixteh]

Hey all.

I just picked up this Civ 5 a couple weeks back. I've had a ton of time on my hands lately to learn this game. After lurking here for a bit I decided to try my hand at the game of the month series.

The start position didn't appear great at first but turned out to be fantastic. I settled on the SE hill, and my scouts ended up picking up a ton of ruins, maybe 7 or 8 of them.

I went tradition, and I settled my 2nd city NW of Mt. Kilimanjaro, as well as my 3rd city SW of Mt. Sinai. Pocatello forward-settled me just east of my capital so I went to war with him around turn 80 with 4 composite bows and a couple siege towers, which turned out to be massively overkill. I puppeted that city (his 2nd), then continued east and took his 3rd and razed it since it had nothing worthwhile. Made peace with him afterward just because he had a pathfinder up near my 3rd, and he was about to snag a worker I mistakenly ordered to keep working.

For religion I went for One with Nature, Tithe, and Feed the World (thought I'd be at war for longer...maybe I should've gone with swords into plowshares but I figured I'd mix it up).

As of turn 101:
Partway through theology, +42 bpt
154g (+23 gpt)
+8 happiness (got a couple easy quests to ally malacca)
222/425 culture (+13 cpt), just finished tradition

Capital is 2 turns from finishing NC, 10 pop
2nd is 7 pop
3rd is 5 pop, 8 turns from finishing Petra
4th (puppeted) is 3 pop

I'm hoping I can really ramp up the bpt after I finish NC and education, then I can focus on economy for a while. I've carved out a pretty nice chunk of territory right in the middle of this continent; Byzantium took the spot on the west coast with crab/silk that I may need to go to war for, but at the moment I'm friends with about half the world (Indonesia, Netherlands, Byzantium) while the Shoshone, Portuguese, and Siam don't like me because I invaded the Shoshone.

Right now I'm 3rd on score, 5th on pop, 3rd on crop yield, 1st on manufactured goods, 3rd on gdp, 1st on land, 4th on soldiers, 6th on approval, and 3 techs behind the tech leader (indonesia). Some of those are very cheap techs (sailing, optics, I finished most of engineering) so in practice I'm not really behind on tech at all.

For now my focus is to really aggressively build up my cities' population. I better not get Petra stolen, because that'd really throw a wrench in my plans.

 

[leif erikson]

Welcome to CivFanatics and GOTM.

Best of luck in your game.

 

[shooter6947]

Hey all.

I better not get Petra stolen, because that'd really throw a wrench in my plans.

You're lucky it's still around -- it went in turn 89 in my game

 

[Blicero]

I decided to go the way of the sword in the beginning and think it has slowed me down. I'm hoping I can pick up quite a bit of momentum in the mid / late tech eras. Looks like I'll have Education around T120 which is far too late for my liking.

Pocatello forward settled on me twice before I could even get a settler out, so I dealt with the problem in the only way Ashurbanipal knows how. I took one city (not ideally placed) and razed another (terribly placed one tile away from the hill between Kilimanjaro and the river). After NC (T89) I quickly dropped two settlers and slammed into Marrakech with my shiny new siege tower (50% boost to all surrounding units is just awesome). He's surrounded by desert and Petra was inside…

tech: pottery / AH (popped) / archery / mining / masonry / wheel / construction … philosophy … education

stolen with UA: trapping / HBR / optics

BO: scout / scout / granary / shrine / archer x 4 (plus 2 purchased) / library / water mill / caravan

SP: full tradition

ruins: pop / tech (AH) / map

pantheon / religion: god-king (I figure it wouldn't last so why not get something I could make use of)

Spoiler :

 

[tommynt]

played about 50 turns:

was lucky with a early cult ruin and then went on with the original plan of trad/lib mix.
Having 4 cities up in turn 40 with still being able to buy/build other things is just too sweet!

Not 100% sure yet if i ll do some city capturing the free tech and the totaly op siege towers seem promising.
Did a testgame:
Even 1 ST supported by 2 or 3 units takes noncap citites in 2 strikes; 2 ST or a bit more support gurantees cap kills up till turn 100 or so.

 

[Alphons Rodulfo]

I settled on the hill to the south-east and first built two scouts who revealed some promising surroundings, and of course the land-grabbing Shoshone who clearly would have to be dealt with. I built up the Assyrian state and kept some units on the lookout. The Shoshone advance came as no surprise and was welcomed by composite bowmen and two catapults that were city state gifts. The remnants of the Shoshone army have now fled and Assyria intents to take the fight to them and take their capital, which is nicely situated next to a mountain. Crossbows have just conveniently been researched.

I have have built three cities (see screenshot below) and I have just completed the Liberty tree after having picked legalism and landed elite from Tradition. The free settler will build a city next to mt. Sinai and the free Great Engineer will build the Sistine Chapel.

Spoiler :

With help from a ruin I got an early pantheon. I stared at the list for a long time, and finally took Sacred Path (+1 culture from jungle tiles). I am pleased with that decision now, because both Assur and Nineveh to the south have plenty of jungle. I can just leave it there and harvest it for science and culture.

Decisions ahead (advise is welcome!):
1) Is it a good idea to settle in the desert next to Sinai without Petra or Desert Folklore? I assume I can build an observatory there...
2) What to do with captured cities that are not next to a mountain (for observatories)? Raze them? Puppet them and sell them?

 

[ense7en]

Moved warrior to the SE hill and was happy with what i saw, so settled on that hill the next turn.
Salt wasn't in first ring, but i worked gems (2f3g) till i could buy the salt tile.

I built two scouts to open, and by turn 6 had found both natural wonders.
I love Kilimanjaro as it turns units it incan units basically
I got a LOT of ruins due to my two scout zipping around over hills.

I did not focus on religion and will not likely be getting one as i've not built a single shrine @ t100 still. Okay w/ adopting AI ones if they spread to me, and my pantheon of faith from copper/iron/salt is okay for now.

Early on i saw a lot of space, and i was worried about being able to get all the city sites i wanted settled, so i decided to go Liberty instead of Tradition. Probably a big mistake, especially as i'd built two scouts+worker before a monument (due to expecting to be taking Tradition), so getting the free settler policy took forever.

I also made a huge mistake with embassies.
I don't sell embassies to nearby civs if they haven't already found my cap to try to avoid having them forward settle, but i thought the Dutch were far enough away that i could sell to them.
Nope.

They walked a billion miles to put their second city over beside me, to the SW :<
Luckily it was placed where i would have put it myself, but it meant i had to put a third city where i would not have settled till later, and it ensured i'd be going to war with them eventually (once our friendship ran out).

Shoshone also put a city just east, snatching up my cap's third ring bananas :<

I went to war with them first and easily took Te-Moak.
I knew taking their cap was going to be almost impossible due to it's defensible location, so i took peace + their other city.
Then sold that city to Siam for a nice 115g+13gpt since my happiness could not support it and i was bleeding gold badly due to all my units.

Indonesia meanwhile asked me about going to war against Willy, so i asked for 10 turns, and am waiting for that prompt to come up, and will then attempt to claim Rotterdam as my own.

Hopefully i won't be hated too much for taking two (well three if you count the peace deal) cities from two different civs, but if everyone starts despising me i might consider going war-crazy instead of trying to peacefully grow...we'll see.

Screenshots @ t100:

Spoiler :

 

[xiziz]

So, here I am at Turn 102. 59 Beakers, 28 pop. ~10-15 turns from education. Had met all civs by turn 39. Found 4 ruins, 2 culture and 1 faith and a barbcampfinder. Got late into both pantheon and religion so got second rate picks, only Tithe which I'm happy with, earth mother for pantheon and Religious Centers for follower beleif.
NC completed at T86 with three cities.

- What did you consider in your decision of where to settle your capital?
Scouted SE just to make sure there was something nice across the hill. Saw the three Bananas and gems so I settled the jungle hill. Long stretch of river and plenty of hills for hammers and lots of good food tiles and a decent amount of grassland for academies.

- What were your initial priorities?
Expansion, found the gold up NE and Mt. Sinai and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Unfortunately the dutch forward settled to the south so Mt. Kilimanjaro was a lost cause(could have gotten it with a poorly placed city before Indonesia took the spot.

- What tech path did you follow and why?
AH(Ruins) -> Pottery -> Mining -> Bronze Working -> Writing -> Sailing -> Masonry -> Calendar -> Philosophy -> Engineering(thought you needed it for free aqueducts, got it two turns after finishing tradition but to my supprise I had the ducts in place before it was finished.) -> Currency -> Civil Service

- Were there any early wars and who started them?
I was planning a war, but never got around to it, probably wont bother now. No other civs have been to war.

- Did you use your UU with beneficial effect?
Nope

- Was your UB helpful? Did you go for an early Great Work?
No great works yet.

Spoiler :

 

[FeiLing]

Quite some nice land to grab ... and the AIs sure did that quickly. Gaja even pulled a Shaka and had 8 cities by when I had two and everyone else 4-5.
Unfortunately I didn't get to grab any worker and I didn't want to dow anyone either until one dutch worker very late from barbs. And that delayed me further as I didn't have the money to buy settlers quickly. Not to mention that I didn't get any culture nor pop ruin. AWFUL. This can easily be seen by my current state:
Turn96:
Tradition completed on this turn.
Only 34 beakers (interestingly caravans would give me two science per turn at most, meaning everyone is quite poor on science in this game? I expected 4-5 beakers from caravans at that time since it's Immortal...).
Capital size 10 - starting NC just now.
City2 (Kilimanjaro) size 6.
City3 (Coastal Mountain) size.
City4 (Sinai) size 3.
No wonders yet (HG was built by Pocahontas so I didn't even start it when I wanted to (and he did finish it a few turns later), gonna try Collossus now at least. Got 3 comp bows. Paid Siam Salt + 3gpt to declare on Shoshone, as they'll be trouble for me (capital in the mountains -.-). At least I might get some techs by razing his other cities later. The other problem is Indonesia. They declared a few turns later on Siam, so on that front I'm safe for now.
Portugal however is gonna rob the Oracle from me... weird that they started building it so early.

PS: Went with Pagodas (oh man am I in dire need of happy faces!), Initiation Rites (as I really needed the early cash to get my settlers/workers earlier... as they already were late) and of course One with Nature (with 2 NW).

Gonna be a terrible finish time. I blame the lack of early/useful ruins.

 

[Owean]

Went tradition with 4 cities, settling 4th after NC. Cap on hill by gems, 2nd city 1 tile ne of Kilimanjaro, 3rd on coast next to mountain near crabs, 4th next to mountain in east near Marrakech. Only wonder so far is Oracle which I completed just after NC, picked patro opener, got consulates now. Just entered renaissance era turn 129, can open rationalism soon, currently at 170+ bpt.

Growth of cities is good and so is gold income, production is kinda low for me at moment as well as culture.

 

[Rygaros]

Just finished the game and it sure was one of my most hectic ones! Good fun

But this was actully the first game were I got my hands on the Great Library on difficulty 6 and above, so that was nice I also layd my hands on Oracle AND Hanging Gardens. Thats quite sick in my oppinion

Anyone else got all theese early wonders?