[SPOILERS] The Autobiography of a Madman (specifically, Zaldax)

[suttree]

Oops - I crossposted you! If you can narrow down your civ choice (top 11?) I can give some constructive micro suggestions. List the techs you need to play your start and use that to make your choice.

You really, really need to build a worker first. Everyone starts with a scout AND you have a +2 tile for a 12T worker build - your opponents will certainly go worker first. If you do the math yourself, you can see how far behind warrior first will put you.

Remember that the crab tile costs you 30h for the workboat, 26f for the labour to work it, and a healthy number of beakers for the tech.

Remember that bronze working is also important for slavery (revolt during first settler move) and for uncovering copper.

[Zaldax]

Damn, you're right; I completely forgot about the fact that everyone starts with a scout. A warrior will have to come later, but I'll be building a worker first, for sure.

When to start working the crab tile will absolutely depend on the starting techs I end up with, yeah. Bronze working is still a priority tech, I'm just not sure if it will be the first thing that I research. It'll really all depend on what civ I end up with, I suppose.

I'm still thinking about civs and starting techs, but I'll post something about them soon! Thanks for all the advice so far!

[suttree]

Zaldax - will you be building the Oracle?

[Zaldax]

Do you think I'll be able to pull that off? There aren't any other IND leaders yet, which is a major plus, but there's still quite a few picks left, and I have no idea what my starting techs are going to be. Building the Oracle would be a HUGE boon if I'm successful, though; if I use it to grab MC, I unlock my cheap forces (and potentially the Colossus, too, for even MORE commerce on water tiles!)

The main early wonders that I'd like to shoot for are, in no particular order,

The Oracle (use it to grab MC for the Colossus and cheap forges!)
The Great Lighthouse
The Colossus

It'd be nice to grab the Parthenon, the Mausoleum, the SoZ, etc., too, but you can't win them all, and wonder-spam is a good way to lose against a more militaristic opponent.

[suttree]

Of course you can pull it off - assuming starts are relatively balanced, you are favoured to get to Priesthood first because of Fin and then favoured to actually build the wonder because of Ind. You just have focus your efforts. I asked because it affects the value of Myst as a starting tech.

Please note that nothing I say is intended to be "expert" advice in any way, shape, or form. Rather, I'm making an argument that I'm happy to back up with reasons if you're interested. The fun is in talking about the different options.

That said, here is a list of 10 civs you might rank (Zulu,Sumeria chosen) and a sketch micro plan (workable for all the civs in the list) up to the first settler to give you an idea of how things might run.

PICKED - China(Agr,Min) (Cho-Ku-Nu,Pavilion)

Persia(Agr,Hunt) (Immortal,Apothecary)

PICKED - Egypt(Agr,Wh) (War Chariot,Obelisk)
Ottomans(Agr,Wh) (Janissary,Hammam)
Babylon(Agr,Wh) (Bowman,Garden)
PICKED - France(Agr,Wh) (Musketeer,Salon)

Maya(Myst,Min) (Holkan,Ball Court)
Korea(Myst,Min) (Hwacha,Seowon)

Mali(Min,Wh) (Skirmisher,Mint)
Ethiopia(Hunt,Min) (Oromo,Stele)

Code:

t0,1    2f/t   3h/t   0f    0h    Queue Worker, Work Ivory
t12,1   3f/t   1h/t   0f    0h    Worker Finishes, Queue Warrior(15h), Work Wheat
t16,1   6f/t   1h/t   12f   4h    Wheat Farmed
t18,2   6f/t   2h/t   2f    6h    Grow to Size 2, Work Wheat/Grass forest
t19,2   6f/t   3h/t   8f    8h    Work Wheat/Ivory
t21,2   ?f/t   ?h/t   20f   14h   Camp or Mine finished
t22,3   6f/t   4h/t   ?f    ?fh   Warrior Complete, Queue Settler

Settler finishes t30 with one chop.

[suttree]

Couldn't resist the temptation to read the lurker thread, so I guess I'm global now
Have fun! Stay focused! Plan ahead!