What's your favourite resource

[Diadem]

But your trade gets autocancelled when you declare war right?

So you have to do this a looong time in advance to give them time to build those 'weaker' units. Takes a lot of planning.

[Blake]

Well it's like this.
Imagine you have an ample supply of horses, and a 3rd player (across the map a bit) has Ivory. You plan to eventually invade that 3rd player, but there's another in the middle. You should make the horse/ivory trade, because once you're done trampling the guy in the middle the next guy over will be ready to be destroyed by your elephants and your elephants will probably be getting a bit long in the tusk anyway. So as such, that Horse/Ivory trade was win-win-win for you.

And planning is what wins games.

[DrFaustus]

I love having elephants. Yes, ivory is a great resource, etc. But...

I just love having elephants.

[cyric100]

My favourite resource is coal. I just like my railroads I guess.

I'm not trying to say it's the best or anything, just my favourite

[Common Sensei]

It's very rare, but if you start with gems in your first city's cross, it's basically a huge head start. It's like starting with a town improvement once you get a worker out. Since it's in the starting cross, there is no jungle, so you don't have to wait for Iron Working.

The most ridiculous case I ever saw of this was one start as Korea. There were two gems in the starting city's cross. It was like starting in the Classical Era with everyone else in Ancient.

Of course, you can't always win the lottery, so I do like fish followed by cows.

[darrelljs]

Originally posted by Common Sensei
Since it's in the starting cross, there is no jungle

Wow, I didn't know this . That's pretty neat...

Darrell

[rah]

I didn't either, I've only seen it once so i didn't make the connection.

The only problem I have with sea specials is protecting them sometimes. Even if you park ships on them, those surprise attacks can kill the ship and pillage them. On your land based ones you get a turn or two warning once you have some culture.

But yeah grassland gems are pretty good.

[Diadem]

Gems are much better than gold to have in your starting cross. Gold is usually on desert hills, sometimes on plains hills.

2/1/5 is much better than 0/2/6 or 0/3/6. There can be no doubt about that.

[Common Sensei]

Originally posted by darrelljs


Wow, I didn't know this . That's pretty neat...

Darrell

Any undesirable terrain features are removed if it falls in the fat cross area around where your first settler starts. Tundra becomes grassland, jungle is removed, etc.

[Diadem]

At least on Pangea, Continents and Archipellago maps.

On Great Plains, Highlands and Desert maps you can have mountains and desert in your fat cross. Not sure about jungle, tundra and ice.

[Common Sensei]

Originally posted by Diadem
At least on Pangea, Continents and Archipellago maps.

On Great Plains, Highlands and Desert maps you can have mountains and desert in your fat cross. Not sure about jungle, tundra and ice.

You're quite right. Now that I think about it, I do remember mountains bring in the initial fat cross on numerous occasions even on the more "standard" map types.

[Krill]

I depressed no one else has admitted to liking committing nuclear genocide against AIs

[uberfish]

(strangely enough) Coast fish.

[JackRudd]

Fish are very nice to have in your fat cross if you start with Fishing, agreed. Work Boat first is a tremendous starting play in that sort of position.

[Diadem]

Originally posted by Krill


I depressed no one else has admitted to liking committing nuclear genocide against AIs

I like genocide allright. Nothing like conquest victories on OCC

But nuclear genocide? I must admit I have really never tried nukes. Well, I have tried them, to admire the pretty graphics and see what they did. But those were always world-builder created nukes. I think I've only ever built two real nukes - and never used 'em.

Perhaps I should. But well, the problem is. Either you are ahead of the AI, in which case you don't need 'em. Or you aren't ahead, in which case the UN will have banned nukes before you can stockpile 'em. And they seem a bit underpowered as well. In the time it takes to build manhattan project and nukes, you can build a lot of tanks.