[SPOILERS] *Placeholder* Zakalwe plays a soldier

[zakalwe]

Anyway, the best plan I've come up with so far based on what I can see is to go settler first at size 1. Research fishing and slot in a 4-turn workboat working the plains forested hill. Then continue with the settler, and settle on the tile S-S-SW of the capital, sharing the fish. After fishing we can research basic worker techs, either aiming for bronze working or pottery. After the settler, the capital grows to size 2 while completing a second workboat. The second city probably also grows on a warrior build - two turns working a two-food tile, and two turns working the fish. Then we can finally start building some workers.

When I get the save I think I'll move the scout to the plains hill E-SE to see if an inland city is viable. In there's a good site there, I'll need to consider that option, too.

[zakalwe]

Turn 0 arrived and none of the others had settled. So yeah, definitely something in the fog inland.




I decided to go NE next, since there wasn't much more to reveal by going SE due to all the forests behind it.

[zakalwe]

Before even sandboxing this, the fact that Novice started with fishing but didn't settle in place should be a pretty strong indication that moving is the right thing to do.

[zakalwe]

I did a quick sim just to be 100% sure (really don't want to lose this game on T0), and moving is the right move.

Even more so in hindsight, of course:

[zakalwe]

Sandbox: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/49396026/rb/pbe...dSwordSave

[zakalwe]

Looks like the map has a tilted axis, i.e. it wraps N-S and not E-W.




We are on the western half of the map, and that sea is a "backyard" sea, perhaps not even connected to any of the others. (My guess would be some forting can connect them.) We moved two tiles to the east with our settler, and the guys on the eastern half probably moved two tiles to the west. Looks like we started in the 7th column of tiles and moved to the 9th.







Two very different proposed paths to the east there. Guess that means mountains and seas are in the way, but not sure how exactly to interpret it.

Just to confirm, the map does wrap in the N-S direction:

[zakalwe]

Novice will take the early lead here with the hammer-rich start to complement his imperialistic trait. But I'm cautiously optimistic now that we found some things for a worker to do.

I think we should tech Agriculture before Animal Husbandry. We don't want to settle for the seafood just yet if we find better inland cities, so we may need it to access Pottery, anyway. And there may well be grains for a second city somewhere close by.

[zakalwe]

Here is a quick settler option, might be a good way to get all three resource tiles in play ASAP.

Build worker -> settler -> warrior -> stonehenge (or more warriors).

Research agriculture -> AH -> mining -> BW.

Second city builds worker right away, will borrow the grass deer afterwards to grow in 3.

[zakalwe]

This is better. Build a worker, grow to 2 on a warrior and build a settler then. The timing works out very nicely both for growing to 2 and for completing the settler. Second city settled T19, just one turn later than the previous run. Also completed two warriors, which probably isn't necessary, so that worker in Aachen could be one turn further along instead.

[zakalwe]

Actually I like mining -> BW -> AH better. The two cities can share the two deer at a minimum, and maybe there is more in the fog. I only had to work the unimproved cow for a couple of turns, and the early chopping can be leveraged into faster growth. Just using the tiles revealed so far I could get the third city settled on T30, with five workers, three warriors, and cities sized 2-3-1. (One of the workers just moped around a bit, too; presumably there will be more forests for him to chop in the fog.)