Imperium Europa

[Kaez]

Imperium Europa
A History of the Germanic Peoples

4000 BC
All things considered, my settler's starting tile was a pretty solid one. Though Berlin's initial reach doesn't contain any resources, -four- are within one tile's reach. Italy is also a formidable location militarily, and not unlike the several real-world civilizations that have existed in this part of the world, expansion around the coast of the Mediterranean has the potential to be very powerful -- but depending on how nearby other civilizations are, and which civs those are, it might require pretty rapid expansion in order to secure it. I decided to start with Pottery (leading me into the Calendar for the wine, the Shrine for religion, and the various aquatic techs) and a Scout rather than a Monument (to ideally snag some useful ruins early on).




3505 BC
My early interest was snagging any ruins I could. This did mean skipping over some barb camps that I would've ordinarily taken out, but also was somewhat successful and I did get some early bonuses in gold, faith, and a free tech. The area nearby is heavily populated in City States, but I don't mind that. I'm just glad that I'm the only major civ in, at least, Western Europe. There are barb camps in Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland, and England and I have my starting warrior sitting just west of Manila -- I'm not sure whether I should secure those camps. Exploring into Northern Europe or Scandinavia could secure some more ruins, but it would leave me relatively unprotected at home. At least I don't have any farms or resources going yet that a barb could ruin -- I think I'll likely go exploring a bit more.






Bucharest and Manila, unlike the other city states, didn't give me the "you're the first!" bonuses -- I knew somebody was lurking behind them. Byzantine is the first civ I've met. They've got a strategic spot on the map, and they're far enough from me as to not be much of a concern. The big factory they'll likely play in the future of the game is religion -- starting a religious and having it flourish with Byzantine competition can be a little tricky. I have the option of focusing my efforts elsewhere, ignoring faith, and letting the Byzantines convert my city's if they choose. But I think I'll try to compete -- so, eventually, I see Byzantine and I butting heads a bit. But that's going to depend a whole lot of what other civs are around.






The question now is: which direction ought I expand into? I'd like to get a second city up and running as early as I can -- the longer you wait, the slower it seems to develop. Eastern expansion looks promising and is currently the best bet. Ivory, marble, and gold are all within reach, and if I were to place the city in a very, very specific spot -- just south of the ivory -- I think I could snag the wheat, too. I'll have to look at the tiles to be sure, but if that's possible, that's an extremely advantageous second city. There's also the possibility of letting Berlin reach out for the marble and popping the second city on the southern tile between the two freestanding mountains.



Westward expansion has the potential of the Rock of Gibraltar, which would certainly be nice, and there's wheat there too. It's also a much more secure location, at least until contact with the New World comes along, and I'd be able to make a coastal city here, allowing for naval trade routes rather than land ones. The more I dwell on this, the more tempting it is.



Northward expansion doesn't appeal to me at the moment -- few resources and the Alps are a tricky barrier. I think I want to go for more of a Roman Empire reach. So, the third possibility is the northern coast of Africa. Unfortunately, my hunt for Byzantine distracted me and my scout hasn't made his way into the Dark Continent yet, but we'll know soon enough what kind of resources are there. I've got a strong suspicion that I'm going to have another civ on my hands in the Sahara. We'll deal with that as it comes.




Comments directly in the thread are more than welcome.

[ASGetty ((Zovo))]

My second city would be placed on the tile directly East of the Marble to your North East.

It immediately give you access to the iron and ivory and is within spitting distance of the gold. Additionally, if you're expecting conflict with the Byzantines, you couldn't pick a more defensible location. The combination of the mountain rages and rivers to the North and East creating bottlenecks and hazardous crossings, as well as the forest and hills to the south and west slowing any and all approaches; couple those factors with the presence of Antwerp north of the mountains and a city in said location essentially closes the door on any land-based marches against your capitol. This would basically allow you to expand westward with little or no concern for conflict outside of the occasional barbarian. Not to mention the ridiculous production values of the hills and forests in the area. Incidentally, this would be a -fantastic- city to build the Great Wall.

In contrast, building south of the ivory leaves an open avenue, and worse, and actual obstruction (the mountain) preventing you from firing against land units marching in from the North or East. yeah, you'll be able to get a few shots off; but you won't bring them to a dead stop. You'll have a little more free land to play with once you clear the forests, but the goal of this city isn't to be your breadbasket. It's to prevent attack and create a safe environment to expand westward and exploit -all- of that land.

At least until naval units become a real threat to cites.

[Kaez]

Sept 16, 2013 18:36:53 GMT -5 ASGetty ((Zovo)) said:

My second city would be placed on the tile directly East of the Marble to your North East.

It immediately give you access to the iron and ivory and is within spitting distance of the gold. Additionally, if you're expecting conflict with the Byzantines, you couldn't pick a more defensible location. The combination of the mountain rages and rivers to the North and East creating bottlenecks and hazardous crossings, as well as the forest and hills to the south and west slowing any and all approaches; couple those factors with the presence of Antwerp north of the mountains and a city in said location essentially closes the door on any land-based marches against your capitol. This would basically allow you to expand westward with little or no concern for conflict outside of the occasional barbarian. Not to mention the ridiculous production values of the hills and forests in the area. Incidentally, this would be a -fantastic- city to build the Great Wall.

In contrast, building south of the ivory leaves an open avenue, and worse, and actual obstruction (the mountain) preventing you from firing against land units marching in from the North or East. yeah, you'll be able to get a few shots off; but you won't bring them to a dead stop. You'll have a little more free land to play with once you clear the forests, but the goal of this city isn't to be your breadbasket. It's to prevent attack and create a safe environment to expand westward and exploit -all- of that land.

At least until naval units become a real threat to cites.

Mmm, that's smart.

Yeah, I think I'm going to shoot for that. Next post will be up tomorrow evening.