Washington Monarch Cookbook Mark II (IC Concurrent)

[mintegar]

Well, here is my effort

Spoiler :

Tech path went AH, Mining, Wheel, Pottery, BW, Myst., Writing, Sailing
at 1500 BC now researching Alphabet, halfway done.

3750 Lost initial warrior (a little unlucky, lion had 11% odds)
2550 Contact with Monty (he sent workboat)
2400 settled 2nd city
1925 3rd city, besides horses
1850 Gilgameshs scout makes contact
1825 Contact with Pascal (his workboat)
1825 Signing Open Boarders with all 3 known AIs

Mistakes i made:
Should have built exploring workboat sooner. Still have no foreign trade routes @1500. Should have already sent an exploring warrior into Giggles territory earlier to establish trade.
Should have built more mines in capital earlier to have more production when at happy cap..
Whipping a granary after discovering writing. Which gave me no direct benefit since i was at happy cap anyway. Should have probably whipped library instead, or not whipped at all..

 

[bufo802]

Hasn't gone too badly so far-

Spoiler :

Been trying to get my military up fairly quickly as gilgamesh has a very good starting position, and if I don't manage to capture some of his cities relatively soon he'll probably become too strong.

Just got horses connected to capital so will be able to increase rate of building chariots (no bronze nearby, all near gilgamesh) but am not sure whether to try and take the barbarian city to the SE before attacking gilgamesh.

Spoiler :

 

[Hrun]

Here's my round (and first post after lurking for a while)

Spoiler :

Not too bad I don't think but I'm in two minds about everything although I have never lost at monarch so I can't be that bad, eh?

Early tech went AH -> Mining -> Wheel -> Pottery -> BW then mysticism, sailing and writing somewhere along the line too and finished having part researched IW but I'm floundering.

I settled NY to claim clam and then fish and corn and then third city for the gold and rice and have next settler hovering around the cow/fish/sugar area unsure what to do and for fear of maintenance although thinking about it my economy could probably handle it easily.

I've only met Monty and Gilly and have OB with both, I suspect Gilly to be hiding othere AIs as the continent seems to curve round, I probably should have gotten an exploratory workboat out but oh well.

Screens:
North:

South:

What do you think? I'm particularly interested to see other people's city sites

 

[Siran]

Here is my round:

Spoiler :

Decided to settle one west because I wanted to have more production for my capital.

Turn by turn record:

Spoiler :

Turn 1
Washington founded, begins: Worker

Turn 2
Animal Husbandry started

Turn 10
Buddhism founded in a distant land

Turn 14
Hinduism founded in a distant land

Turn 19
Mining started
Warrior meets and defeats wolf

Turn 24
Worker finished and I start another

Turn 25
I decide to build a warrior before finishing the worker

Turn 29
BW started

Turn 31
Warrior meets Bear and gets eaten

Turn 42
Warrior finished in Washington, worker continues

Turn 48
The Wheel started
I change to slavery

Turn 50
Worker finished, start another Warrior

Turn 54
Warrior finished, start Settler

Turn 62
Pottery started

Turn 63
Warrior meets and defeats lion

Turn 65
Settler finished, Warrior started

Turn 68
New York founded, starts on workboat
Washington finshes Warrior and starts on another worker

Turn 69
Meet Montezuma. Workboat from the northwest

Turn 73
Worker finished, another Warrior started
Warrior meets a Barbarian warrior and kills him

Turn 74
Mysticism started

Turn 75
Warrior in Washington finished, Settler started

Turn 83
Writing started

Turn 85
Washington finishs settler starts a granary
Judaism founded in a distant land

Turn 87
Warrior exploring in the southern jungle meets a Barbarian archer and wins!

Turn 89
Washington finishs granary and starts another warrior

Turn 90
New York finishes workboat and starts on monument

Turn 91
Washington finishs warrior and starts another settler
Montezuma(Aztec) from 'Tribalism' to 'Slavery'
Boston founded, starts on monument

Turn 93
Meet Gilgamesh

Turn 97
Mathematics started

Turn 99
Washington finishes settler and starts on library

I have three cities with a fourth on the way. Washington is a nice production city and New York will be after border pop and some improvments.
Boston works the gold and after border pop should bring those horses.

Research order was AH -> Mining -> BW -> The Wheel -> Pottery -> Mysticism -> Writing -> Mathematics (working on it)

I think scouting was abysmal but I needed my warriors up north to protect my settlers. Stupid bear...

3 workers, which is ok for the three cities I have but I'll need more soon. 5 warriors. That'll get better when I get those horses.

I've got space for two more cities south of Washington and probably one (not so good) city up north. I don't know if I can get any cities farther down in Gilgamesh's area.

North:

Spoiler :

South:

Spoiler :

Boston:

Spoiler :

New York

Spoiler :

Washington

Spoiler :

 

[Shrielkul]

Here is my save. Also, a bit about myself before the save. I currently play very casually at the Warlord level so the jump to Monarch is going to be tough for me, but I'll take the challenge. My play style tends to be more build oriented and reserved when it comes to waging war. With that in mind, let's see how I did.

Spoiler :

Overview:

I S.I.P. and my warrior took off south scouting out potential expansion city sites. The fact that we’re on what amounts to a very large peninsula made me believe that the best plan of action was to build coastal cities to take advantage of the seafood. I was beginning to think this was an isolated start until I met Gilgamesh at turn 50. Monte and Pacal were met via workboats near my boarders at turns 73 and 90 respectively so I am assuming this is an archipelago map script. The Great Lighthouse went at 1750 BC on my game so that option is out.

New York – Founded 2275 B.C. This spot was chosen to take advantage of the clam a.s.a.p. and the fish after I chop out a monument to get the fat cross.

Boston – Founded 1600 B.C. (Turn 90) Again, chosen to take advantage of the fish and the cows nearby.

Spoiler :

[/SPOILER]

 

[vranasm]

@siran

Spoiler :

That really is great position for washington you choosed.

NY shouldnt be building granary, more like WB... it would be very decent worker/settler pump and later GP farm.

i wont vote, but best save I probably saw yet. really like the wash move 1W.

 

[Siran]

@siran

Spoiler :

That really is great position for washington you choosed.

NY shouldnt be building granary, more like WB... it would be very decent worker/settler pump and later GP farm.

i wont vote, but best save I probably saw yet. really like the wash move 1W.

Spoiler :

Thanks, I'm really happy with these two cities. NY has only one turn into granary so it wouldn't be a problem to change that to wb.

 

[lymond]

I'll give this round a few more hours before posting the vote, so anyone feel free to post your game if you have not already or play out the round.

 

[Bibor]

Comments on other saves:

@ Aldor:

Spoiler :

I like:
- number of cities
- number of workers

I dislike:
- lacking exploration
- blocking positions of Gilgamesh
- location of Washington (making one fish and 2 grassland hills unusable)
- location of Philadelphia (could've gone 1S to grab that one grass hill)
- cities not connected for commerce
- no fishing boats, no monuments, no libraries

@ Trystero

Spoiler :

I like:
- exploration is okay
- the position of cities
- number of cities (3, 1 settler underway)
- position of future cities
- at least two cities are connected for trade

I dislike:
- techs: no sailing, no writing and it's going to be hard if you plant another city without either trade (sailing) or writing (libs)
- could be more workers (but not really complaining)
- three fishing boats active, but none sent to explore

@ enKage

Spoiler :

I like:
- having writing
- cottages in Washington
- library in washington

I dislike:
- number of cities
- blocking of Gilgamesh
- no fishing boats
- no sailing
- positioning of cities (you made two fish unusable!)

@ Siran

Spoiler :

I like:
- good locations of present and future cities
- number of cities (soon to be 4)
- having writing
- okay number of workers

I dislike:
- not having sailing for trade routes (and going Math instead)
- too many improvements around washington (can support pop 7, has improvements for 10, while the southern city suffers a bit)
- lackluster exploration

@ Stephen

Spoiler :

I like:
- nice blocking of Gilgamesh
- Cottages near washington coming up soon

I dislike:
- missed out two fish
- Boston not coastal for trade (and questionable gains in land since Gilgamesh's city is close)
- New york missing out the grassland hill, not having a monument has a fishing boat not sent exploring
- no monuments, libraries or granaries (one granary in Washington)
- no sailing for trade routes
- cities not connected thru roads

@ Hrun

Spoiler :

I like:
- number of cities
- position of cities
- buildings in cities
- cottages around Washington
- good tech pace (have sailing and writing and going IW)
- exploration is okay

I dislike:
- 1 fish went away

@ Mintegar

Spoiler :

I like:
- very good tech pace
- position of cities (except Washington/fish again)
- exploration (Fount Monty and has fur as I suspected!)
- buildings in cities (monuments yea!)

I dislike:
- blocking of Gilgamesh could be better

@ Shrielkul

Spoiler :

I like:
- okay tech pace
- cottages around washington

I dislike:
- number of cities
- blocking of Gilgamesh
- exploration
- position of cities

@ bufo802

Spoiler :

I like:
- roading
- exploration (although not great)

I dislike:
- tech situation
- barb city spawn
- positioning of cities
- number of cities
- cities building granaries first, monuments second (unworked gold!)

My votes so far:
1. Siran
2. Hrun
3. Mintegar

(that 1 fish really bothers me and Siran's current situation is what I'd want to play from, although I'd change his city spots a bit).

 

[Abegweit]

Spoiler :

Congrats to those who found the proper site for the Washington especially since it seems that no one in the Immortal game found it. But Siran, that this not a "production city". It is simply a fine bureau capital. There is plenty of food for the hills and the flood plains should all be cottaged.

It should be visible from the start actually. Move the warrior SE, which is clearly correct since it gives you the info about the coast. At this point, you see that the start position loses a fish. That's a no-no so SIP is out of the question. There are three possible spots:

1. The plains hill to the s/e. This is great spot for early production. The Extra hammer at the start position together with pigs and stuff gets your empire off to a good jump at the beginning. But it has little long-term potential.

2. The point of land to the n/e with the crab, fish and wheat. Once again this is a great spot for a settler pump and eventually a GP farm. But it has the same problem as the plains hill. No long-term potential. On top of that you are settling to the the north (check the treetops) and you want your capital to be central.

3. 1W. Four flood plains - and plenty more greenery - are clear and it seems that there are more hills to the west as well. There's a river running through it and plenty of tiles (11 to be precise are on it). All this can be seen at the start.

I count eleven cottage tiles with plenty of food to support the plains and the hills. Eight of those cottages are on the river. You could even consider cottaging the hills eventually. Simply a great site.

Kudos.

 

[vranasm]

Spoiler :

Congrats to those who found the proper site for the Washington especially since it seems that no one in the Immortal game found it. But Siran, that this not a "production city". It is simply a fine bureau capital. There is plenty of food for the hills and the flood plains should all be cottaged.

It should be visible from the start actually. Move the warrior SE, which is clearly correct since it gives you the info about the coast. At this point, you see that the start position loses a fish. That's a no-no so SIP is out of the question. There are three possible spots:

1. The plains hill to the s/e. This is great spot for early production. The Extra hammer at the start position together with pigs and stuff gets your empire off to a good jump at the beginning. But it has little long-term potential.

2. The point of land to the n/e with the crab, fish and wheat. Once again this is a great spot for a settler pump and eventually a GP farm. But it has the same problem as the plains hill. No long-term potential. On top of that you are settling to the the north (check the treetops) and you want your capital to be central.

3. 1W. Four flood plains - and plenty more greenery - are clear and it seems that there are more hills to the west as well. There's a river running through it and plenty of tiles (11 to be precise are on it). All this can be seen at the start.

I count eleven cottage tiles with plenty of food to support the plains and the hills. Eight of those cottages are on the river. You could even consider cottaging the hills eventually. Simply a great site.

Kudos.

Spoiler :

lymond did. He was last to post.

 

[Abegweit]

Spoiler :

lymond did. He was last to post.

Spoiler :

Ah. More kudos required.

 

[Bibor]

Spoiler :

Ah. More kudos required.

Yes, Its probably the best capital site, but I wouldn't say the other starts are "doomed". I just LOOVE strong bur. capitals, but I traded one bur. cap. and one city site for 3 city sites, which I think is a good trade-off.

 

[Abegweit]

Yes, Its probably the best capital site, but I wouldn't say the other starts are "doomed". I just LOOVE strong bur. capitals, but I traded one bur. cap. and one city site for 3 city sites, which I think is a good trade-off.

I didn't say that the other starts are doomed. This isn't a either/or. Actually, it is possible to get four or more good cities from all four starting positions. 1W is simply the place from a long-term perspective.

By far.

Maybe I'll play this and show you what I mean. I have a few hours this afternoon.

 

[Siran]

@ Siran

Spoiler :

I like:
- good locations of present and future cities
- number of cities (soon to be 4)
- having writing
- okay number of workers

I dislike:
- not having sailing for trade routes (and going Math instead)
- too many improvements around washington (can support pop 7, has improvements for 10, while the southern city suffers a bit)
- lackluster exploration

My votes so far:
1. Siran
2. Hrun
3. Mintegar

(that 1 fish really bothers me and Siran's current situation is what I'd want to play from, although I'd change his city spots a bit).

I settled Boston on turn 91, I really didn't have the time to do much there. I moved one there to improve the gold immidiately after I settled it and I started building the road down there with another.
I improved around Washington because I had nothing better do to with the workers and I thought it better to do them than to let them sit around, doing nothing.

I wanted to explore more but the eaten first explorer slowed me down and all the later warriors met stupid barbarians and took forever to heal up. I'm not proud of the exploration, I think I said so myself but it just didn't work the way I wanted.

By the way, it's her.

 

[Bibor]

I settled Boston on turn 91, I really didn't have the time to do much there. I moved one there to improve the gold immidiately after I settled it and I started building the road down there with another.
I improved around Washington because I had nothing better do to with the workers and I thought it better to do them than to let them sit around, doing nothing.

I wanted to explore more but the eaten first explorer slowed me down and all the later warriors met stupid barbarians and took forever to heal up. I'm not proud of the exploration, I think I said so myself but it just didn't work the way I wanted.

By the way, it's her.

okay, miss

 

[Abegweit]

My promised effort from the 1-west location.

Spoiler :

The screenshot below shows how it is possible to see what this location is going to be like. You can clearly see two more flood plains to the south and, if you fog-gaze close enough, you can see that there's two additional hills to the west. With the river, this is going to be a fine capital.

Tech order started AH to corral the pigs and mining to get some production in place. As usual, DC started by training a worker followed by a warrior. Once the worker was trained, he went after the pigs (always go for the square with the most food) and then the corn. Next came the two river grass hills. Notice how the worker is starting on the far hill. Saves a turn because he finishes in the right spot.

As I planned to turn the capital into a size four settler/worker pump, this would be the end of any development for this city and the worker could move on to developing the next city. Getting the timing right took an unusual kind of micro-management. For one turn I took the city off the Corn and put it on a flood plain. Even though this actually slows growth, it slowed the training of the warrior even more and thus the city reached size four at exactly the same time as warrior was completed.

In the meantime, the starting warrior went out exploring. At Monarch you get big bonuses against the barb animals so it's worth taking some chances to get promos. At one point I deliberately moved onto a (jungle) tile where I was attacked by a lion and a panther simultaneously. He survived easily. I next hunted down a lion I had seen earlier and slew him for three point more EPs. Instant woody II! As a consequence I mapped out the area really quickly and the warrior came back home to spawn-busting duties.

New York was founded at the Crab/fish site to the south-east. It built two workboats, one for the crab and the other to go find out where Monty lives. We have EP on both Monty and Gil. As I can't see how either would be able to explore past the other, I have to think that there are civilizations in both directions and thus we need to explore both ways.

Tech path continued with The Wheel, Pottery and Mysticism.

Meanwhile, the capital trained two workers and two settlers in quick succession. The first worker went off to mine the plains hill at New York and built a road back to DC. Then all three workers combined to build a road down the center of the peninsula where the blocker cities of Boston and Philly would be. I didn't work it out beforehand but the timing came out really nicely. Here's a shot of Boston as it was just founded. There are two workers on the gold, ready to mine and one on the forest, about to chop a monument.

You can see from the shot that I had planned to push further down towards Gil but I soon found that this wasn't going to happen. Instead Philly was settled just west of the Rice.

After finishing the chop and the mine, the workers then continued with a road to Philly. They next irrigated the rice and mined the hill. Boston will work nothing but the gold until the Rice finally comes online. As for Philly, it's honestly a useless city and will be so for a long time. Really, its only purpose is lay claim to our land.

DC is now in growth mode to get it into proper Bureaucratic shape. After the third settler was trained, it built a granary followed by a warrior and is well into a monument. All three workers have come back home to develop the site. They're already built one cottage and are starting on another. After the (chopped) library the city will stagnant at size eight, working six or seven river cottages, occasionally switching to the mines when production is needed.

The Pigs will be given over to New York which will take over settler/worker pumping duties. New York has almost finished its granary but has switched to a settler. That will be whipped and the overflow will finish the granary. Boston and Philly both have monuments to close borders. Boston has already expanded.

Tech path continued with Writing and Sailing. We have trade routes with both Gil and Monty. Next will be Iron Working so that Boston and Philly can finally grow. Not to mention that we really need some metal to fight off Gil's Vultures. In the meantime we put aside a bit of money until DC's library is finished.

Oh. The starting warrior is off exploring again. At the moment, he's just east of Sumeria recovering from a vicious bout with a barb archer. He's looking for Gil's friends. And also for his Woody III badge. Just one more EP to go!

 

[lymond]

Round 1 Voting is Now Open​

The voting will last for 2 days and will close at approximately Midnight EST on Tuesday. Please post a request for additional time needed to vote, but I would like to close by early Wednesday at the latest to get the next round going. (The voting round could end sooner if everyone gets their votes in earlier)

Standard cookbook doctrine: Its not always about voting for the best save but the save that will be most interesting or challenging to play. Anyone that submitted a save is free to vote.

Please rank your top 3 in order.

First place 3 points.
Second place 2 points
Third place. 1 point.

PLEASE NOTE!! To keep voting fair you cant vote for your own save. You are expected to vote for 3 saves and give reasons for your voting. Remember this is a learning game. I would encourage everyone to act within the spirit that the cookbook is intended.

The saves:

Bibor

Stevoh

enKage

Trystero

Aldor

Mintegar

bufo802

Hrun

"I'm a Girl" Siran!

Shrielkul

Makaz


Please let me know if I missed anyone. thanks

 

[lymond]

Note: I only count votes that follow the vote announcement thread, so please vote again if you have already.

I apologize for being a bit late with the vote announcement. NFL is king on Sundays

 

[Bibor]

My votes:
1. Siran the Warrior Princess
2. Hrun the Barbarian
3. Mintegar the Viking

(that 1 fish really bothers me and Siran's current situation is what I'd want to play from, although I'd change her city spots a bit).

EDIT: Reasons are in the above post.