Warlord Game - Please Critique

[aftab.bb36]

Guys, so I petty much suck at Civ4. I do okay on Noble but then make some mistake and fall behind - so I quit. I decided it makes sense to be able to win consistently on Warlord before I make the 'big step' to Noble. I've played some games and generally I will do decently and win by the space race just as the game is about to finish. However, I play generally by which I mean that I don't specialize my cities, don't follow a certain tech path, automate workers - I just don't have a plan. Well that's all about to change! I've read various threads on the strategy forum and now I hope to put my better game brain to the test. Obviously though it be would be useful to have some experts making sure I'm generally making sense and offering advice. I've also just got BtS and installed it (patched to 3.13 and will the suggested unofficial patch too) so I'll need help with all the new stuff.

I start a custom game with the following setup:

I turned off barbs as it I'd prefer to do some games without them before I switch them on. Sorry if this annoys people. Also in this game any religion can be founded.

LAUNCH!

Cool, never played as Wang Kon before. And also perhaps financial and protective will tend to my more defensive style (can't war efficiently so I generally avoid it).

Here's my start:

o Mines - some early production, and I start with mining which means I could get Stonehenge and the free monuments would help expansion.
o Floodplains - I've heard these are good for a great person farm - never set one up before, probs should try one this game. Is this the place?
o Two forest, maybe chop a settler or some military if I see someone to take out. Or is this completely out of the question.

So should I settle here or move around a bit?

My ideas:
-UU is pretty good it seems: maybe I should wait until construction before I war. Also being protective I wouldn't have to leave many defenders back in my cities.
-I guess I should aim to run cottages on those floodplains rather than farms (that is if I settle in place) as I'm protective and my UB benefits from good commerce.
-I want to get a religion - I think I'll got for Meditation as I have advantages over the AI so I'll probably get it.
-I should building stonehenge making expansion easier.

Oh and by the way, thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.

 

[goldenhero]

I'd agree with the cottage-floodplain idea. However you have to watch your city's growth. you have 6 (visible) flood plains which means 2 extra green faces. Make sure you don't go over the health cap. other then that your plan seems ok. But after meditation, where do you plan on going tech wise? You should use the forests to help chop wonders, not so much settlers and military.

 

[pigswill]

Settling in place looks reasonable. Because floodplains start with an extra food they're nice versatile tiles. To counter that they've been given ahealth penality. It shouldn't be too bad if you settler in place (the river gives +2 health) and avoid chopping the forests too early.

Wang Kon is financial so as soon as you build a cottage on a floodplain you get a bonus commerce.

Early objectives should be explore, explore some more. I've generally given up chasing religions but on warlords starting with mysticism you should be able to pick up a religion if you start it straight away, making meditation or poly your first tech. Wang starts with mining so if you make a worker your first build he can keep busy mining the hills while you research other stuff for him to do (agric, AH,wheel, pottery and BW. Probably in that order.) If you're running cottages and mines in your capital then you needn't rely on the whip and you don't want to cut down the trees until you've got the sheep pastured and roaded.

 

[aftab.bb36]

4000 BC (0) - Settle in place, Seoul also has marble and silk in the fat cross. I'm seriously thinking about some wonders now. There's a one turn difference between worker and warrior, so I go for the worker, it'll take 23 turns.

3975 BC (1) - Get a scout from a hut. That's pretty sick.

3950 BC (2) - Pop fishing from another hut.

3875 BC (5) - Get 49 gold from a barb village.

3850 BC (6) - Get 90 gold from another hut, not bad.

3800 BC (8) - Meet Cesar west of Seoul.

3775 BC - Meet Willem Van Oranje to the north and pop a worker from a goody hut!

... and next turn:

I begin researching pottery so I can work the flood plains for an increase in science. Was this the correct tech?

3650 BC - The worker I got from the hut starts to build a mine on the hill directly south of the city.

3525 BC (19) - Cesar adopts slavery. Man, that's fast. He's either bee-lined to it or popped it from a hut.

3450 BC (22) - Start granary in Seoul and call my warrior back to defend - I got scared after finding out that Cesar has the potential to build Axemen and since I don't have BW yet I can't see if he has copper.

Turn 28 - Start researching agriculture so I can go to AH for the sheep.

3025 BC (37) - Agriculture discovered, move to AH. Oranje converts to Christianity.

From there on my research path goes BW---->priesthood----->hunting---->archery----->writing (for maths)

I think I made a mistake with priesthood - I went for it so I could build the oracle with my marble. (Just remembered that I had researched Masonry between Pottery and Agriculture and forgot to note it down) I should have probably researched it later, just before wanting to build the Oracle, as I won't be building it for a while and therefore it was a waste of valuable early turns.

Once my granary finished I started on Stonehenge. I was originally planning to build some archers but then decided against it because of this:

So he hasn't got copper - the threat isn't so bad now. Actually, the only source is SW of him. That could be a pretty good city location for me, netting Sheep and Crab as well as the copper in first expansion - only 10 turns after Stonehenge is built in Seoul.

But it has been 50 turns since he switched to slavery so he might have a settler ready and waiting to get the copper. But then again, take a look at this:

He seems to have built a second city - but not on the copper. This could be my chance.

My plan is as follows. I'll finish the Henge, then set to work on a couple of Archers (don't want to fall to low on power) and finally chop a settler to get the copper. My financial trait should offset the maintenance of the city for the time being. Hopefully I can grab the copper - mainly to take it away from the other two Civs - and then go about defending myself with archers and expanding to a few cities. East of Seoul looks like a good location - getting horses, cows, rice and silk as well as being coastal. Then once I get catapults and maces I go kill everyone (probs Cesar first - or will I die to Praetorians?) - getting a large landmass. Then financial trait kicks in and I tech all the way for a space race.

Finally, here's a final look at my city:

 

[BalbanesBeoulve]

You need to rush one of them, you're in a pretty tight spot squeezed in between two civs. A chariot + archer rush would be very easy to pull off at this level. Settle your 2nd city to grab one of the nearby horses and start building troops. I'd take out Julius as he's a lot more aggressive and a less friendly neighbor than willem.

 

[aftab.bb36]

Here's a dotmap:

The city marked Z is a very late founded city just for the happiness resources.

I think I'll have to take that middle land from Cesar. I'm not going to get good cities in that bit between Seoul and the copper city.

Slight worry, not many production spots. I think I'll take Cesar earlier than expected and then shore up my territory. As I don't seem to be any production powerhouses down here, I'll have to go all cities working on military before I take on Oranje. I'll want a good number of them by then.

 

[aftab.bb36]

You need to rush one of them, you're in a pretty right spot squeezed in between two civs. A chariot + archer rush would be very easy to pull off at this level. Settle your 2nd city to grab one of the nearby horses and start building troops. I'd take out Julius as he's a lot more aggressive and a less friendly neighbor than willem.

That makes sense, my only worry is that if I don't go for the copper he'll get it and be able to produce spears.

 

[BalbanesBeoulve]

That's a fear, but get a few troops over there to guard it and make sure he doesn't settle there.

 

[Gooblah]

Ah yes.. Warlord->Noble is one of the hardest jumps in the game. But once you make it, there's no looking back!

Okay, as for the game:
1) I would settle 1W of the red spot. This ensures that the Copper can be improved right after settling. I also suggest building a Settler right after Stonehenge is done. Take the Worker and Warrior with the Settler and move to the city site. The reason for this is twofold: Barbarian animals don't enter cultural borders (and I don't think Warriors have started spawning), and the Worker can start on the Copper ASAP.

2) I assume you'll be Axe-Rushing Caesar. To make this work, you might want to grab Sailing while the Settler Group is moving. Thus, your capital and the other city will be connected immediately. After 'Henge and the Settler are done, tech Sailing while building a Warrior, then a Worker. While one Worker builds the mine, the other should build some Cottages on the Floodplains (instant 3F 3C tile), which will pay for City 1's maintenance

3) Final advice:
Build Order:
Seoul- 'Henge-Settler-Warrior (or Barracks if you don't have one)-Worker-Axemen (Fortify first Axeman in city if you built a Barracks after the Settler).
P'yong'yang- Workboat-Barracks-Axemen

 

[ParadigmShifter]

No barbs anyway, no need to worry about animals or barbarians.

 

[bhavv]

Wait a minute - How did you found Islam from Pottery???

O.o

Or are you using the select whichever religion you want option?

You got an ok start location, but if you want to get a really good one, try using an advanced start and reloading untill you get a really good start location for three cities. It helps an awful lot when increasing the difficulty.

Although your start location was great with three resources, if it were me I would have moved south and settled on the hill as I dislike wasting the output of a flood plains by putting a city on them, and hill city locations are great, even more so for a protective civ.

After you have a barracks put up, you can give your new archers +20% hills defense on top of the free City Garisson and Drill to make them impenetrable on a hill city!

If playing a Protective civ I always look for hill cities for that reason alone.

 

[Gooblah]

He has Choose Religions on, and got it from Meditation.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

I think choose religions is on. It was meditation not pottery

I hear some people have religious experiences while on pot though.

 

[DMOC]

Since Caesar's city is on the river, unless you have open borders with him, you won't be able to connect copper to your capital unless you waste time with a really long road.

I still think you should found the copper city, but make it one west like the above poster said for the same reason (and that you lose a couple of ocean tiles-yay!). Make sure you research Writing quickly and get open borders with Caesar to SCOUT OUT HIS DEFENSES. If he's got 3 archers per city, take at least 7 fresh axemen (possibly more depending on promotions and hills). If he's only got one, just take 3 or 4 axes.

Just a tip: Since Stonehenge wouldn't be taken up so fast in this game, I would have suggested building a settler before stonehenge. My build probably would have been this:

Worker 1st (good), then a couple of warriors to reach size ... I would say 3 is good. After that, a settler, another worker, then stonehenge (2 workers for 2 cities). Also, since you can't work all the cottages you made at this point, I would have made another mine. You made 5 or 6 cottages but only 1 mine so remember that in the early game, mines rock. Especially since you are trying to construct a wonder.

In the future, if you play on higher difficulty levels, the best thing to do at this point would not to found a copper city at all but use chariots. But on warlords I think founding the copper city won't be a bad idea.

 

[aftab.bb36]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm busy tonight but I should be able to post an update tomorrow at some point. Thanks for reading.

 

[aftab.bb36]

I'm sorry to report this, but my computer went bust today and I had to format the disc so I've lost the save file. Sorry, but thanks for reading.