This is us. Rhoanna, leader of the Hippus. I've decided to generate a Large Pangaea, Epic Speed, Emperor difficulty. I actually don't have that much experience with Emperor, but I, uh, should be fine...? Better to learn by doing!
And this is our land. So far, it looks pretty crappy... so I'll move the starting settler on a hill to see whether the land beyond is anything better...
Eh... I have to say I expected more, but this will probably do, at least for our capital. Still no river, which is a shame, and the food is not where the hills are.
Well, this is the city I settled. Looks a bit strange at first sight. Why not settle the site to the southeast with Cow/Corn?
However, this Altheriol-ta-Mealthiel has several advantages:
- It's on a plains hill, which means it is easily defensible and gets an extra hammer each turn for free.
- We have a bunch of hills in the city radius, and a plains cow, granting us good production.
- We have two silk and one incense around that will give us good commerce to start with, and cotton in the foreseeable future - that's two to the happiness cap.
And the big disadvantage:
- No real food to speak of.
To capitalize on the advantages and get the disadvantage out of the way, our first technology will be Calendar, for plantations and Agrarianism. Also, our first build is a worker.
Worker first is rather risky in Fall from Heaven (as opposed to the correct choice in 90% of cases in Beyond the Sword), but we need farms, and a plantation on the incense makes it into a seven commerce tile, almost as good as gold. We're garrisoning the warrior to give us some protection.
But then, at the End of Turn...
That's crazy fast. Thessa must be right on my doorstep. Not my favorite first rush target, because of several reasons:
- Ljosalfar specialize in the archery line, which is a pain to dislodge from cities. Also, they get their hero early at Archery. Horsemen have 40% bonus against archery units, but that means it's just more or less even. They tech Archery rather fast... I'd really have counted on only facing Warriors.
- Forests are difficult to get through in the first place. Elves have double movement through forest. I will not have the mobility advantage.
- Thessa is expansive and will get cities plopped down faster than others.
I'd be a lot more cool with the situation had I chosen Tasunke. Commando would have allowed me to use their roads through their forest, and Cover would be within reach for every new Horseman. But oh well, I chose the long term and will now have to muscle through this.
Evermore isn't founded on a hill. Good.
Free Ancient Chants! Awesome. Great free tech to have because I'd not necessarily research it on my own, but having Monuments is a great boon.
Scout after besting a griffin in battle. I can't remember the last time a scout survived a Griffin attack. (He fought off a scorpion clan goblin and another Griffin later on, but perished to a bear. RIP Brave Scout.)
There isn't much to say here. I finished Calendar and went Crafting -> Mining, to get plantations on the forested silk done and some mines online. I don't think we're going to have a successful rush without production.
Do note the effects Agrarianism has to ensure Altheriol actually has enough food. For now, the city should be able to get to size 8 or so - it's going to stall later on, but the size is perfect for now.
Visible on this screenshot is my second city, Conrond Mor, and my difficulties in fending off the barbarians around it, had some unlucky rolls with my warriors in forests. I can't exactly hole up in the city either because it's on a desert, and thus difficult to defend.
Conrond's a decent city, actually. It has reagents, four hills, cotton in the second ring and corn. Bunch of desert, though.
This shot shows that Thessa already has mining, has copper, and has it hooked up. Ow.
More Thessa progress - Mysticism, this time. You can see her second city to the west.
...well, crap. Orthus is uncomfortably close. I'll need to get some warriors out and to Conrond, although he could also go for another civ.
And, of course, if I best him I get his axe, which can be really devastating on a well-promoted Horseman.
...
...
Well, okay, I didn't expect him to take his sweet time waiting for the free XP to kick in and then show up at my gates promoted to Combat V. I lost around six warriors to this, and have barely any left. If I really lose here, it'll be embarassing.
Thankfully, he left Conrond unprotected by going for my capital. Sucker!
And the big man falls after attacking Altheriol. I get less experience than I hoped for out of it. Also, I don't have many warriors left. But the Axe will surely be useful. He pillaged a few plantations before attacking, though, setting back my commerce output to really-not-pretty levels temporarily.
After several setbacks, we are finally at Horseback Riding. Time for a recap.
My tech path was Calendar -> Crafting -> Mining -> Animal Husbandry -> Exploration -> Horseback Riding, with a free Ancient Chants thrown into the mix.
Thessa has Mining, Education and Mysticism. It's likely she is going to research Archery soon enough, which would not be swell. (I could research it in 30 turns, myself, she should have roughly the same tech speed if not a bit slower.)
Empire view. Notice the third city, Radonnor. It's got a whole bunch of food, so it will probably support cottages or specialists or just churn out Settlers. Good production should I implement Conquest, as well. Another Incense, too.
Thessa does not have any unit stronger than a warrior, which is a relief for now. But Archers/Gilden Silveric could be on the table soon enough...
...well, what to do now? I'm obviously only thinking of a rush, once we have a few cities of Thessa's we're going to have far more options and breathing space. It's going to be tricky, definitely. Are there any proponents of a peaceful solution around? We can still expand west of Conrond Mor and there is some great lands around. What should be our tech path? (I was thinking of Mysticism -> Education. Mysticism for God King, Education for Apprenticeship)
Either way, it's going to become very interesting soon.
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Topic: Heaven or Hell, who cares - let's rock Erebus! (Civ4: FfH - Rhoanna of Hippus) (Read 2706 times)