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[Fruit Pie Jones]

It's already been said, but just to be clear, I'm definitely in.

[BeefontheBone]

Well, I'm going to kick something off and post a start location for everyone to have a look at. More people would be nice, but if it's just me and the Jones then so be it

I make an executive decision and start us on a Standard Terra map with random climate at Noble difficulty. We are Beefpie ontheJones, the Spiritual and Expansive leader of the Spanish people, and this is our initial location:



Some gems, cows, plenty of fresh water including a nice big freshwater lake for some early commerce (early religion grab could be productive) and some hills and forest for production - very nice. The only slight downside is that it's not coastal (that's a lake we're on) so there's a chance of us getting trapped - some fairly rapid expansion towards the nearest coast should be a priority).

Some notes:

• Noble is the "average" difficulty, where the AI gets no advantages against the player, and no disadvantages (except that it's thicker than us, or at least we hope so).
  
  Terra maps are fun, mimicking the Old World / New World of Earth's history - the civs start on a single continent, and there are one or more other continents out there to be colonised.
  
  Spiritual leaders enjoy anarchy-free Civics switches and cut-price Temples, while Expansive ones rule over healthier citizens and can construct granaries and aqueducts more easily.

[Fruit Pie Jones]

I've been reading some SG threads over at CFC. Will we be following the "standard" conventions of posting turn summaries (presumably in this thread) and such?

Also, are we using any mods at all? I haven't installed any yet.

[BeefontheBone]

D'oh, knew I missed something off my list. I meant to add that we'll be playing on version 1.52 of the game (at least to start with) and that I've got the Blue Marble terrain graphical mod installed (which is why my interface is grey and the terrain looks sexier ). I'd recommend it, but it's entirely compatible with the vanilla game since it just alters the graphics.

Will we be following the "standard" conventions of posting turn summaries (presumably in this thread) and such?

That was the plan - might get more people interested

[Fruit Pie Jones]

Sounds good. I'll look into the Blue Marble mod.
There were a couple of people expressing interest in the other thread, but none of them have shown up in this one. Do you want to get this started, or shall we wait a little while longer to see if anyone else signs up?

[BeefontheBone]

In a fit of unbelievable stupidity, I just managed to write up 20 turns for this and then close the browser window - damn photoshop online help! I'll try to remember it, but it's not going to be nearly as detailed as I'd like

I've played 20 turns, we'll do 10 turns at a time from now on.

4000 BC:

Our warrior opens a tribal village and gets 42 gold for his trouble. Madrid is founded on the Settler's starting location and its worked tile switched to the gems (the lake would've been equally good). I start to put some hammers towards Stonehenge - not my usual choice, but the Great Prophet points and extra culture will be very useful if my religion grabbing plans come to fruition. I'm after getting the first 3 religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism) founded in Madrid.

A border expansion reveals a bit more terrain:



Buddhism founded:



Another hut popped in the West, revealing more coastline to the north and Asoka's India in the west. There's some Stone near him that I'd like to poach with the first settler if we can.



Hinduism founded:



At some point in here, we made contact with Hatshepsut of Egypt and my pizza arrived. I also started a settler when Madrid grew to size 4.

Turn 20 - 2950BC:



It's a three-fer! Start research on Mining and rearrange Madrid's worked tiles to speed up the settler. I recommend we grab Hunting, Archery and Bronze Working next, then Priesthood and start the Oracle while we get the other prerequisite for Metal Casting - if we can use the free tech from the oracle to get the Colossus built we'll be quids in, since it gives +1 gold on all coastal squares including the freshwater lakes. Cities which are on both the sea and a lake also get a huge bonus from lighthouses, since their lake tiles then produce 3f/2g (or 3g with the Colossus) - that's as good as an Oasis.

The first settler should head over towards Asoka's stone if at all possible, forcing him to stick to the western coastline and grabbing the resource to speed our production of wonders.

Obligatory overview shot:

[BeefontheBone]

Oh, I meant to say that I deliberately didn't adopt a State Religion, the Holy Cities produce more culture that way. Once one of them spreads to another city we should probably adopt it and send some missionaries around the place.

[Fruit Pie Jones]

Pre-turn:
Everything looks OK.

Turn 1: 2800BC
Moved warrior SE.

IT: Research: Mining complete. Researching Agriculture (due in 4).

Turn 2: 2850BC
Moved warrior SW. Revealed clams. Can see red (purple?) border to SW across water.


Turn 3: 2800BC
Moved warrior NW. More clams.

IT: Madrid's borders expand. So do those of India. He's 2 squares away from the stone now. (Hmmmmm, I may have been wrong about that. He may be 3 squares away.)

Turn 4: 2750BC
Moved warrior NE. I think I'll just fortify him near next city site.

Turn 5: 2700BC
Continued moving warrior.

IT: We meet Qin Shi Huang and establish peace. That's whose border that was.
Research: Agriculture complete. Researching Hunting (due in 2).

Turn 6: 2650BC
Continued moving warrior.

IT: Wolves spotted E of Madrid.


Turn 7: 2600BC
Continued moving warrior.

IT: Research: Hunting complete. Researching Archery (due in 3).

Turn 8: 2550BC
Warrior heading toward Madrid to escort settler (due in 3).

Turn 9: 2500BC
More of the same.

Turn 10: 2450BC
Warrior still heading toward Madrid. Wolves have slunk away.
Settler and Archery due next turn.

Overview:


If we settle directly NW of the stone, we'll get access to it immediately (assuming Asoka doesn't get there first), but if we settle one more square N, we'll also get the rice and elephants. We won't get anything until the borders expand, though, so it could be risky. Whaddya think?

[BeefontheBone]

I think I'll try to keep it on the lake if I can. Finishing Stonehenge will help with expanding the borders, too

[Bobbin Threadbare]

Doesn't this game take long boring hours (5-6 at least) out of your time. That is why I don't like Civ.