[SPOILERS] Woden gets swept away by the Gathering Storm in PBEM15

[Woden]

Choices:

Woden (CDT)
Phoenician
Persian
Polish
English
Khmer

Khmer, Poland, and England are meh and are out. The only real choice is between Phoenicia and Persia. Dido would be interesting on a water map, where you can spam Harbors and Settlers, but we are on a Fractal map and may not get a watery start. I think Persia is the only real option here. Their unique improvement will help with early culture, which has been shown multiple times to help with getting a winning edge. Their unique unit will be helpful if there is an opportunity for early aggression. 

I will go with Persia!

[Woden]

Turn 1

First attempt at starting a random map. Let's hope everybody has something to work with.  Here is my start...



Not too thrilled that I don't have freshwater and only a few hills but we agreed to randomness, so I took the first map I rolled. I don't think it is worth a re-roll. There looks to be a big desert to the east of me (I can see desert hills under the fog southeast of the city. I have bananas, copper, and turtles in the first ring. Cows and rice in the second and a couple of crabs in the third. 

Warrior will follow the coast west and hopeful find a decent second city. Starting builds (as of now) will be scout->settler->builder->slinger.

[Woden]

Turn 2

Wanted to wait to report until after we figure out if TheArchduke wanted a restart. Looks like we are going with this game and everybody has a subpar start, or at least they are playing it off as subpar.  Here is my turn 2 overview...



Found some freshwater and a barb. I think the warrior will circle around the lake and see if I can find a decent 2nd city location and find the barb camp the scout came from. I was the only player to settle on T1, so everybody else is looking for a better spot. I looked in the city to see what is the best tile to work. If I work the bananas, it will grow in 4 turns versus 6 if I work the turtles but would add 4 turns to my tech. I decided to stay with the turtles for now and get Mining done sooner. Not sure if that is better than growing sooner but will look at it again next turn.

[Woden]

Turn 3
Didn't take long to find the barb camp where the scout came from...



Might be a nice 2nd city down here. Warrior will attack camp next turn. I decided to keep working the turtles for the extra science. Shifting to the bananas now only shaves a turn off of growth and would add 3 turns to mining. Better to get the tech out quicker as I am going to be bumping up against the housing cap soon anyways. 

Everybody except TheArchduke settled on T2. My guess is he started on the edge of tundra and is moving out of it for a better spot. CFCJesterfool also has an Era point and probable settled near a hazard zone (floodplain or volcano). Not sure what else would 1 Era point. Pretty sure it is not a natural wonder as those give 3.

Turn 4
Warrior takes a whack at the camp...



Giving a little less damage than taking. I will hit it again next turn and then take a few turns to heal. 

TheArchduke did finally settle his capital.

[Woden]

Here is my start for the restart...



Can a lurker confirm if this is the start provided by TheArchduke?

[MJW (ya that one)]

Archduke stopped updating us long before he finished so we cannot but he can (just PM him).

[Woden]

Restart Turn 1

Here is my start for the restart...



Decided to settle in place, seems like the best option with the hills in the north. I start with working the 3 food rice for quick growth and start a scout. I send the warrior west as it was the farthest he could travel. He will head west a turn or 2 and then circle north. First tech is mining.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Have you played around with GS singleplayer much? If so, do you have any thoughts about it?

[Woden]

Have you played around with GS singleplayer much? If so, do you have any thoughts about it?

I have played a few games through the Medieval Era, so I have no experience with all the end game stuff but I do like the added quantity of resource requirements and am very interested in how it plays out in MP. I also think the natural disasters are interesting, they can add yields or destroy stuff but it is not hard to repair. World Congress just adds free stuff and I can take or leave it. I haven't played too far into the game because the AI was so screwy with trades and haven't had a chance to play much since they patched it.

[Woden]

Turns 2-6

Not much happening the first 6 turns, just out exploring...



Barb camp showed up this turn but my warrior moves across the river to try and meet the religious city state in the northwest. You can barely see the borders under the fog. Hopefully they have not met anybody yet and I can get an early pantheon. Warrior will turn around once he meets the city state and go after the camp and then head south. I think I will send scout east and north. I kind of regret going scout first. I usually don't but have got into the habit with in SP. Too late now. At least I will be able to find city states and my neighbors quickly. 

City grows this turn and I am first to a 2 pop capital. Will recheck next turn to see if anybody else grew. Reworked the citizens  to shave a turn off the scout (now due in 3) and will switch back to growth after he is complete.

River but the warrior might be a nice 2nd city with salt and spice but will have to investigate further.