[Spoilers] Ichabod, the Civ King

[Commodore]

I don't have 6, but I'll meme with you exclusively. Rush 'im.

[Ichabod]

Let's talk a bit about our opponents.

Krill is our main opponent, he knows his stuff and knows how to put the needed dedication into the game, as seen in PBEM5. His posts there are too dense for me to read, as he tends to overcomplicate things, and, I feel, not always for a good reason (perhaps he's the type that thinks while writing, so he isn't doing it to be understood, but rather to understand). But it's fairly obvious that he's a very bright guy, perhaps not the most didactic, though.

Bacchus is very intelligent and creative, I think, but he was pretty undecisive in PBEM3 and he doesn't seem to have the cold and calculating take on the game that is required to be a top player. I get the feeling he sees the game more as a sociological study than a math puzzle, if that makes any sense. His teammate, Archduke is making some waves in Civ 6, but he also lacks that micro-intensitive, exploit-seeking Civ 4 spirit to further improve his game. I don't think they'll calculate how to get a discount in every single district, as Krill will do, for example.

Rowain and Emperor K are here to play a game and have fun, so no masochistic top level Civ to be found. Rowain can take the game, if things line up his way; Emperor K will need a bit more than that, I think, as he's stretched with a lot of games and still needs to improve a bit more.

I think I have a pretty good grasp of Civ 6, what works and what doesn't, after PBEM3. I think I have become more of a active player in my last Civ games, which is good, and I can grasp the simpler math needed for this level of Civ 6 MP (compared to what is required for Civ 4 PB, which is above my capacity).

Let's hope for a good game!

I suck at being dark, so I guess I'll stick to being concise and to the point, sounding as I'm 100% confident of the bullshit I'm spewing.

[Ichabod]

Ah, and welcome, Commodore. Feel free to jump ship when I inevitably stop updating. Only the captain needs to sink with the ship.

[Commodore]

I suck at being dark, so I guess I'll stick to being concise and to the point, sounding as I'm 100% confident of the bullshit I'm spewing.

You literally just promised to post chipper updates full of the power of positive thinking.   Dark fail indeed.

[Woden]

Here is your start...




Good luck!

[Ichabod]

Thanks, Woden.

Very nice start, with lots of 4-yield tiles of multiple types. SIP seems obvious, as there's nothing special to be gained from moving.

I'm not exactly sure how long you should work full food in early game civ 6. Growing to size 2 is pretty fast, so no doubt I want the 4f tile worked until then. After that, though, it's more questionable. Growing to 4 means losing prod from unhapiness (if I'm not mistaken), which doesn't seem worth it. I guess my best bet is to try and finish a settler at size 3, with enough food on the box that I stay at 3 after it's ready.

Builder seems a nice early investment, since I can upgrade hammer tiles in the pastures. Getting a rice to 5 food also seems decent enough. And I'd love to build military using Agoge bonus straight away, so I need that Inspiration.

With all that in mind, I think scout -> builder -> military as needed -> settler is a good way to go. I like opening with a scout, because meeting opponents and City States is always worth it, even if we don't get first to bonuses (at least we open quests). There's no need to go slinger straight away, as I'll have time to get the archery Eureka later (and if the situation becomes dire, I can always skip that Eureka).

[Ichabod]

The game still doesn't update its UI mid-turn, but I'm glad the Devs are making polders buildable near hills...

[Ichabod]

So, we have a game going on. I proceeded with my plan of settling in place and starting a scout. The picture of my Capital didn't take, but it's very good and it has 3 pasture tiles, which makes the culture from pastures pantheon really nice. Too early to think of that, though.

What I already decided is to go for an early settler. Take a look at this second city spot:



2 4/1 tiles, a 2/2/culture tile... Can't get much better than that. It also doesn't require worker labour to be good. It's perfect for a fast expansion, very close and on defensive terrain. I'm in love, basically.

Speaking of love, the much loved Hypatia is the scientist avaiable. I probably am out of the running for that, considering Lavras are better and the likely competition.

[Ichabod]

Early game Civ 6, there's only one thing people want to know. City-states!



Moving 1W next turn, as hill/jungle tiles count as double height and gives better vision. The red shade indicates a city nearby, sice a settler wouldn't be able to settle there. A CS there goes very well with my planned second city, as a prospective conquest target. It all depends on the quality of the city, if we get the erly envoy, the type, etc.

I think I'll make the warrior head SW and then back to the capital. Meanwhile, the scout starts going SE, and later NE, because the jungle i to my north, which seems to indicate I'm in the southern part of the continent (that is, it's better for the scout to reach land that he can keep going forward).

[Ichabod]

I wonder if going settler after the scout and skipping the Craftsmanship Eureka to build the first builder with Ilkum wouldn't be better than the expected builder -> settler. The idea would be to settle the second city on the coffee tile, getting a 2/2/culture city tile, working a 4/1 tile straight on. That's quite a lot for a builder opening to catch up...

Only the city would add 1,3 culture per turn, quickly 1,6 due to fast growth from spices. The crafts eureka is only 20 culture, so we need about 15 turns of faster second city to catch solely on culture. I don't see that happening, but culture is not the only advantage of a settler first. We get double agoge cities pretty early as well... I don't feel going for Foreign Trade while we wait for the builder is a good idea, since not getting the Ilkum/Agoge bonus would only hinder us.

I think it'd be worth a sim, if a sim was something easy to do.

Let's wait to see what type of CS we get. The Capital tiles are so flexible that we can afford to go a bit more food or more hammers and still get similar results in the end.