What should I do?

[Chemical Toilet]

As you can see, I am on an island by myself, with Kabul. Kabul has Mt Kailash, and the only (small) source of Iron in the region, as well as jungle which would be of use later in the game and whales.

To my knowledge, no one else has met Kabul. My question is, should I take Kabul when I have the army to do so, or should I befriend them?

I plan on doing a culture victory with at least 5 cities. I have the pantheon that grants 1 culture and 1 faith for incense and wine, so I figure Kailash would be a good boost to my faith generation.

 

[Krajzen]

If nobody else met Kabul - or not many people met it - YES, definitely take it. You won't receive diplomatic penalty and Kailash + whales + forests is a decent city spot. Especially Kailash.

 

[Bulldog Bats]

I would take it. Anyone who met them should have met you as well.

 

[Winsling]

Are you sure about that, Krajzen? I know it works that way for civs, but I thought City States were telepathically linked, and everyone knew about your conquest.

 

[Chemical Toilet]

Well, I took it, and I'm glad I did.

I don't think City States are telepathically linked, or if they are, they don't necessarily give you a penalty for conquering one of their own. My friendly status with several other CS did not change after I conquered them and I haven't gotten any denouncements. Although I do appear to have some warmongering penalties with a few other civs. "They have some early concerns about your warmongering (They overlook modest warmongering)". This is strange though, since I conquered them before Astronomy, and as Bulldog said, anyone that met them, I should have met as well. I have never encountered this type of warmongering penalty before.

As a general rule, is it a good idea to always conquer City States that have a natural wonder, so long as they are easily accessible and perhaps have some worthwhile resources? I usually leave CSs alone, as I always read it's best to just leave them be and become their allies, logically so.

 

[reddishrecue]

City states have a anger issue. When the cses know of your aggression against city states, cs ally points drop.

 

[seanflokstra7]

City states have a anger issue. When the cses know of your aggression against city states, cs ally points drop.

I once had a city state(we'll just call it Hanoi) asking me to kill another city states(call it Kabul). I did, leading to city states becoming pissed, and leading to an influence drop. Hanoi also had an influence drop. Motherf

 

[Bulldog Bats]

I generally do not invade CSs, unless either they are in the way of a military campaign (sometimes you get a group of 2-3 stuck together between you and another country, and you can't ally with them because your opponent is), or is it is early, and like you, the land is just too juicy to let sit.

 

[DWilson]

I also think you should settle the desert hill tile on the Eastern edge of your island for the two wheat, fish, and furs. It should grow really well, and can be a good city overall (and building cultural buildings shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[Memoryjar]

Settle near furs and ally Kabul. It will be more profitable to have its culture boost than its unhappiness.
You also need to waste resources to build your army.

You're nearly to meet two other civs, south west or north west and west. You'll need open borders to win. With a major warmonger penalty, you'll never had them.

 

[SoupJuice]

Take it, take it, take it. It is beautiful. No one needs to know. Life happens.

 

[Wodan]

I would settle that city spot to get the furs (and that's a good city spot regardless with the wheat and flood plains).

I also would not forget you're frigging Polynesia. You can go settle wherever you want in the early game, and that's a UA you shouldn't ignore especially when you're isolated on a smallish island. Pick the best lux/resource city spot available anywhere on the planet, before some other civ nabs it. Heck, pick the best 2 such spots.

Do not take Kabul until the midgame. Being isolated, you don't need to build any military except for scouting... that's a gift you would have to give up in order to build up to take Kabul.

I also wonder why you have 3 units sitting at home when they should be out scouting... all you need is one unit in case a barb camp pops in one of those tiles on your island, and moving him over to the east (until you found a city there) to sit and fortify will remove most of that by fogbusting.

 

[haniblecter]

Take it, take it, take it. It is beautiful. No one needs to know. Life happens.

Listen to this man, he knows where his heart (impulses) is best laid.